A communication method in a third communication apparatus of a first node located between a first communication apparatus of the first node and a second communication apparatus of a second node, the first communication apparatus and the second communication apparatus performing data communication based on PPP.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data conversion apparatus, a signal, a data conversion method, a DCE (Data Circuit-terminating Equipment), a gateway and a communication apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to a data conversion apparatus etc. for inhibiting octet/bit insertion in a section which does not require octet insertion or bit insertion (hereinafter referred to "octet/bit insertion") during communication on the basis of PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol). The present invention further relates to a communication apparatus which reduces control packet on the communication line.
2. The Relevant Technology
PPP is present as a data link layer protocol of OSI reference model. PPP is a bit/byte synchronous and an asynchronous link control protocol by a serial circuit. PPP is specified in RFC (Request For Comments) 1661 and RFC 1662 of IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force).
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a PPP frame configuration (frame format). The PPP frame has a flag field, address field, control field, protocol field, information field and FCS field. The number of bytes of respective fields are 1 byte for the flag field, 1 byte for the address field, 1 byte for the control field, 1 or 2 bytes for the protocol field, and 2 or 4 bytes for the FCS field. The address field and the control field may sometimes be compressed by negotiation of LCP (Link Control Protocol) ACFC (Address and Control Field Compression). Further, the protocol field may sometimes be compressed by LCPPFC (Protocol Field Compression) negotiation. Still further, the FCS (Frame Check Sequence) field may sometimes be compressed by LCPFCS negotiation.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of communication between DTE (Data Terminal Equipment) through a communication network and PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network). In FIG. 2, an exchange 8 and a gateway 10 form a communication network 5. DTE 2 and DTE 14 perform communication through DCE 4, exchange 8, gateway 10 and PSTN 12. The communication network 5 can be, for example, a mobile communication network, and DCE 4 can be, for example, a mobile station.
In this case, it is considered that data communication between DTE 2 and DTE 14 is performed on the basis of PPP. Heretofore, when a data signal is transmitted from DTE 2 to DTE 14, the data signal has been transmitted after making octet/bit insertion in DTE 2. Further, in DTE 14, octet deletion or bit deletion (hereinafter referred to "octet/bit deletion") has been performed to the received data signal. On the other hand, when a data signal is transmitted from DTE 14 to DTE 2, octet/bit insertion has been performed in DTE 14, and octet/bit deletion in DTE 2.
Further, it is also considered that only data communication between DTE 2 and a given point (point for terminating PPP) in the network is performed on the basis of PPP. As the given point in the network, for example, the exchange 8, the gateway 10 or the like is considered. Here, description is made for a case where the gateway 10 is the terminating point. In the past, when a data signal is transmitted from DTE 2 to DTE 14, octet/bit insertion has been made in DTE 2, octet/bit deletion made on the received data signal in gateway 10, and then the data signal has been transmitted to DTE 14. On the other hand, when transmitting a data signal from DTE 14 to DTE 2, octet/bit insertion has been made in gateway 10, and octet/bit deletion has been made in DTE 2.
However, in data communication based on the prior art PPP, even in a section not requiring octet/bit insertion, a data signal is transmitted and received in the octet/bit inserted state. For example, it is considered that octet/bit insertion is unnecessary in the section between DCE 4 and gateway 10 in FIG. 2, however, in the prior art, octet/bit insertion has been made even in this section. When octet/bit insertion is made, data transmission amount is increased, and throughput is deteriorated. Octet insertion means, for example, a specific 1-byte data is escape processed with a 1-byte escape character (1 byte) to form a 2-byte data (will be described later in detail with reference to FIG. 9). Further, bit insertion is described using an example, when a flag ("01111110" in binary notation) is to be distinguished from other data portion, bit insertion is made, to data other than the flag, when five "1s II continue, "0" is inserted after the data.
Incidentally, as a DTE data link layer protocol used for the purpose of connecting to internet/intranet through public communication network or private communication network, PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) is frequently used.
PPP enables transfer of various network protocols such as IP (Internet Protocol), Appletalk, and the like. The PPP specifications are specified as RFC (Request For Comment) of IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force).
FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a communication example. In the example of FIG. 17, a DTE (Data Terminal Equipment) 52 and a DTE 60 perform communication through a DCE (Data Circuit-terminating Equipment) 54, a network 56 and a DCE 58. Here, the DCE 54 and the DCE 58 can be, for example, mobile stations (portable telephones).
FIG. 18 shows a PPP frame format. Flag represents start or end of PPP, and is used for identifying a frame partition. Address field is information representing address of this PPP frame, for which a fixed value is generally used. Control field is information used for identifying frame type, for which a fixed value is generally used. Protocol field is used for identifying the protocol of packet included in the information field, and protocol packet shown in the protocol field is included in the information field. FCS (Frame Check Sequence) is used for making error detection from the address field to the information field.
FIG. 19 shows a PPP procedure. PPP transfers to a link establish phase when a physical layer starts in a link stop phase. In the link establish phase, link setting procedure of LCP (Link Control Protocol) is carried out, after LCP link establishment, transfers to a verification phase, where a verification procedure is carried out as necessary. When verification is successful, PPP transfers to a network layer protocol phase, where NCP link setting procedure corresponding to each network protocol is performed. When each NCP link is established, packet of network protocol corresponding to each NCP becomes transferable. Further, PPP transfers to a link end phase by a communication end request or the like. LCP instructs to transmit an end request packet, when its identification packet is received, so that PPP link is closed and the physical layer is cut off. Further, close of the PPP link is notified to the network layer. When the physical layer is cut off, PPP returns to the link stop phase.
An LCP or NCP link establish sequence example is shown in FIG. 20. Here, link: establish condition is that node A and node B transmit and receive respective setting identification packets. In respective packets, ID is used for correspondence of setting request packet with response packet (setting identification packet, setting negation packet, or setting rejection packet), and ID value received in the request packet is included in the ID value of the response packet. When transmitting a setting request packet, an option (Opt_A˜G) can be designated.
Reception side of the setting request packet, when all options included in the setting request packet can be recognized, and those values are all tolerable, accepts all options included in the setting request packet in the setting identification packet and performs a response.
The setting request packet reception side, when an unrecognizable option is present in options included in the setting request packet, in the setting rejection packet makes a response including the unrecognizable option.
The setting request packet reception side, when all options included in the setting request packet are recognizable, however, intolerable option values exist, in the setting negation packet includes only intolerable value option, however, changes these options to tolerable values and performs a response. Further, when options other than those included in the setting request packet are to be requested to the setting request packet transmission side, those options can also be added to the packet.
The setting request packet transmission side, when receiving a setting rejection packet, such rejected options are removed, and then transmits the setting request packet again.
The setting request packet transmission side, when receiving a setting negation packet, a setting request packet with option values changed to those included in the setting negation packet. However, when a plurality of values exist in the options of the setting negation packet, one of them is selected.
A negotiation procedure example up to LCP or NCP link establishment will be described with reference to FIG. 20.
(a) Setting request (configure request) packet was transmitted from node A to node B, however, lost halfway in the transmission.
(b) Node A, because a response packet to setting request packet of (a) is not received for a certain period of time, transmitted the setting request packet again. At this moment, only ID value was set to a value different from the setting request packet of (a).
(c) Setting request packet was transmitted from node B to node A, however, lost halfway in the transmission.
(d) Node B, because options Opt_C, Opt_D, and Opt_E in the setting request packet of (b) cannot be recognized, made a response including these options in the setting rejection (configure reject) packet.
(e) Node A, removed options Opt_C, Opt_D, and Opt_E in the received setting rejection packet of (d), changed the ID value, and then transmitted setting request packet.
(f) Node B, because all options in the received setting request packet of (e) were recognizable and these values are all tolerable, in the setting identification (configure ack (acknowledge)) packet made a response including all options in the setting request packet.
(g) Node B, because a response packet to setting request packet of (c) is not received for a certain period of time, transmitted again the setting request packet of the same format as the setting request packet of (c).
(h) Node A, because option Opt_G in the setting request packet of (g) cannot be recognized, made a response including this option in the setting rejection packet. (i) Node B, removed the option Opt_G in the received setting rejection packet of (h), changed the 1D value and transmitted the setting request packet.
(j) Node A, because value w2 of the option Opt_A in the setting request packet of (i) is tolerable, however, value z1 of the option Opt_F is intolerable, and it is tolerable if the value is z2, in the setting negation (configure nak (negative acknowledg.e)) packet changed the value of option Opt1 F to z2 and transmitted it.
(k) Node B, changed option Opt_F in the received setting negation packet of (j) and transmitted the setting request packet.
(l) Node A, because all options in the received setting request packet of (k) can be recognized and these values are all tolerable, in the setting identification packet made a response including all options in the setting request packet.
An example of LCP link cut sequence is shown in FIG. 21.
(a) Node A transmitted end request (terminate request) packet to require link release.
(b) On receiving the end request packet, node B transmitted the end identification (terminate ack) packet. Node A receiving the end identification packet became a link close state.
(c) Node B, after waiting for a certain time from the end identification packet transmission, transmitted an end request packet.
(d) Node A, on receiving the end request packet, transmitted the end identification packet, cut off the physical layer, and transferred to the link stop phase. The node B receiving the end identification packet became a link close state, cut off the physical layer, and transferred to the link stop phase.
FIG. 22 shows a keep alive sequence example using LCP echo request/response packet.
The LCP echo request/response packet is used during LCP link establishment and can be used for determining whether or not the link is held.
(a) Node A transmitted LCP echo request packet to confirm whether or not LCP link is maintained.
(b) Node B on receiving the LCP echo request packet, transmitted LCP echo response (echo reply) packet to respond that the link is maintained.
(c) Node B transmitted LCP echo request packet to confirm whether or not LCP link is maintained.
(d) Node A on receiving the LCP echo request packet transmitted LCP echo response packet to respond that the link is maintained.
As one of characteristics of packet communication, since the communication line is used only when data is generated, a communication node exists in which adoption of a communication fee system based on the data amount is possible. As a requirement in such a communication node, it is desirable that communication fee is not required when user data to be communicated does not exist, that is, actually the communication line is not used.
In the past, when PPP is used as DTE data link layer protocol in a communication node adopting a communication tariff system based on the data amount, by transferring PPP control packets at the communication start time and communication end time, LCP echo request/response packet for making continuity confirmation of PPP link periodically, and the like, there are problems that an extra communication tariff is required from the user point of view, and communication cost and communication traffic amount tend to increase from the communication enterprise point of view.

Communication method for data communication based on point-to-point protocol


An apparatus is provided. The apparatus comprises a reference circuit and a startup circuit. The reference circuit is adapted to provide a startup current, while the startup circuit receives the startup current and outputs an output voltage. The startup circuit includes a current mirror, a first NMOS transistor, a second NMOS transistor, diodes, and a third NMOS transistor, and a control circuit. The first and second NMOS transistors are coupled to the current mirror at their sources and are coupled to one another and to the reference circuit at their gates. The diodes are coupled between the gate of the second NMOS transistor and the source of the second NMOS transistor, and the third NMOS transistor is coupled to the source of the second NMOS transistor at its gate (which also provides the output voltage at its source). The control circuit is then coupled to the drains of the first and second NMOS transistors.

Reference circuits are commonly used in many devices. Generally, bandgap circuits are used in combination with startup circuits. These startup circuits, especially with high voltage applications (generally between 6V and 40V) like automotive applications, can consume great deal of power. Some examples of conventional circuits are as follows: U.S. Pat. No. 6,222,399; U.S. Pat. No. 7,286,002; U.S. Pat. No. 7,323,856; and Khan et al., "Low Power Startup Circuits for Voltage and Current Reference With Zero Steady State Current," Proceedings of the 2003 International Symposium on Low Power Electronics and Design, pp. 184-188, August 2003 ("Khan").
One configuration disclosed in Khan and U.S. Pat. No. 7,323,856 employs a capacitor in the startup branch. Essentially, the capacitor (as well as internal resistances) are employed due to their resistor-capacitor (RC) delay or "time constant," which provides a peak current to start the circuit. A problem with this system is that if the supply ramp is about the same order as the time constant then circuit may not startup. Thus, this configuration does not possess the desired characteristics.

Reference circuit with reduced current startup


An apparatus for scarifying an interior surface of a sewer pipe, which includes a vehicle moveable along an interior of the sewer pipe and a scarifying assembly connected to the vehicle having a fluid nozzle assembly. The fluid nozzle assembly has at least one branch with a fluid nozzle coupled to a distal end of the branch. The nozzle is positioned proximate the interior surface of the passageway. The fluid nozzle assembly is operative to rotate or oscillate and to emit a jet of fluid from the one nozzle against the interior surface of the passageway and to scarify the interior surface of the passageway as the vehicle moves along the passageway.

Pipes used to carry liquids and gases commonly transport all types of materials including water, natural gas, solid and liquid sewage, as well as various other accumulations from the pipe. Currently, during initial installation, sewer pipes must be scarified first in order to provide a clean and profiled surface for the subsequent coating with such materials as polyvinyl chloride sheet. Older sewer pipes eventually need to be scarified to remove contamination, corrosion and loose material. The term "scarify" is intended to mean a removal of a layer or portion of the interior surface of the pipe whether or not it is contaminated or corroded in order to provide a profile to that surface. The term "profile" refers to a surface having peaks and valleys giving it a granulated texture similar to that of sandpaper. Such a surface provides a greater surface area so as to maximize bonding of the coating material. Profiled surfaces can range from fine-grained similar to the granularity of #150 Fine Sandpaper to a coarse-grained similar to the granularity of #60 Coarse Sandpaper.
The interior surface of a pipeline carrying solids, liquids and gases generally degrades over time as the pipe walls interact chemically and physically with the substances flowing through them. In particular, a sewer system's interior walls corrode and deteriorate because corrosive materials contaminate the surface degrading the metal and concrete used to build the sewer. The corrosive material arises from both the sewage and from the wastewater itself, and also from the digestive by-products of bacteria found in the sewage, which proliferate in the anaerobic environment. The corrosion causes the walls of the sewer pipe to physically decay, eventually reducing their overall thickness.
The principal source of corrosion is sulfuric acid, which arises as a product of the materials transported in a sewer pipe and the sewer environment itself. Various metal sulfates found in the sewage quickly convert into hydrogen sulfide by: reducing to sulfide ions in the waste water, combining with hydrogen in the water and out gassing above the liquid as hydrogen sulfide gas. Additional hydrogen sulfide originates from bacteria containing contaminants, which accumulate on the relatively rough concrete below the maximum liquid level. Bacteria found in these accumulations thrive in the anaerobic sewer environment producing hydrogen sulfide gas as a respiratory bi-product. Oxygen from the liquid below and oxygen condensing from the water in the air react with the hydrogen sulfide on the pipeline walls creating the highly corrosive sulfuric acid. The sulfuric acid attacks the calcium hydroxide in the concrete sewer walls leaving calcium sulfates, which ultimately crumble and fall off of the interior of the wall substantially reducing its thickness.
The waste water level in a sewer varies over the course of a 24-hour period. The flow is at its lowest level between 1:00 AM and 6:00 AM in the morning but it rises distinctly in the daytime and the pipe may operate near capacity. Because of the gaseous nature of the hydrogen sulfide, the pipe walls are predominately corroded in the portions of the wall above the minimum liquid level. Portions of the walls which are always below the water level are not subjected to such high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide gas or sulfuric acid and consequently do not experience the same levels of decay.
Eventually the sewer walls must be restored or they can suffer permanent damage leading to great expense. The restoration process is a two-step operation that consists of first cleaning all of the contaminants (and possibly outer layers of corrupted concrete) from the surface of the pipe and then applying a protective coating over the newly cleaned pipe surface. Attempting to apply a protective coating without first cleaning the pipe surface is futile because it does not stop the decay that has already begun underneath the coating. Furthermore, the protective coating itself does not adhere well to the contaminated surface. Thus, cleaning is an essential element of the restoration process. Even new sewer pipe must be scarified to provide a profiled surface and to remove the laitance and any dirt, oil or grease.
As previously mentioned, a sewer system typically operates at high capacity during the day with decreasing flow overnight. In order to restore the sewer pipes without diverting the flow (a costly and sometimes impossible alternative), a bulk of the work must be done at night during the brief period when the flow is at a minimum. As previously outlined, the restoration process involves both profiling the pipe surface and then applying a protective coat. In practice, the rate of restoration is impaired because manual scarifying (i.e., grinding) takes a proportionally greater amount of time than does the application of the protective coat. Consequently, a need exists for an automated scarifying process. Such a process will improve the rate of cleaning of the pipeline's interior walls making restoration without diversion a cost-effective possibility. Further, automation of the process can help to ensure that the same intensity of cleaning is applied to the entire surface without the quality variation that is inherent in manual execution.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Scarifier for the interior surface of a pipeline


A control apparatus to be connected to a route guidance apparatus, comprising: a hand information detection part for detecting information on a hand of a user from a taken image; and an operation command generation part for outputting a control command to at least one of the route guidance apparatus and a plurality of apparatus connected to the route guidance apparatus, the operation command generation part being configured to output the control command to the at least one of the route guidance apparatus and the plurality of apparatus based on a direction of the hand of the user detected by the hand information detection part.

This invention relates to a control apparatus for guiding a route, and more particularly, to a control apparatus for recognizing a hand of a user and controlling an apparatus depending on a motion of the hand of the user.
Apparatus required for traveling, apparatus for creating a comfortable space, and switches operated by a user for controlling these apparatus are installed on a vehicle. Examples of the apparatus required for traveling include a steering wheel, mirrors, lights, and turn signals. Examples of the apparatus for creating a comfortable space include an air conditioner, an audio, and a car navigation apparatus.
As the number of these apparatus installed on the vehicle increases and as the number of functions for operating these apparatus increases, the number of switches tends to increase. The increase in number of the switches and the advanced functions of the switches make operations for controlling the apparatus complicate, resulting in a load imposed on a driver. Therefore, an interface for decreasing the number of switches to decrease the load imposed on the driver needs to be provided.
For example, as a non-contact interface, an interface for detecting a gesture of a user (behaviors including body motions and hand motions) and controlling an apparatus based on the detected gesture is known. This interface eliminates necessity of the operation of switches by the user, and enables control of apparatus by means of the gestures which can be intuitively used, resulting in reduction in the load imposed on the driver. However, in the case where the number of installed apparatus is large as exemplified by the vehicle, even if the number of switches can be reduced, the number of motions of gesture required for operating the apparatus increases, resulting in a load imposed on the driver.
As the background art in this technical field, there is a technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-171476. This publication includes a description, "The hand pattern switch apparatus recognizes, based on shapes of the hand and fingers recognized from an input image of the camera 3, that the driver (switch operator) has an intention to operate a switch apparatus, and then, the switch control target setting means 14 recognizes subsequent shapes and motions of the hand and fingers, selects one control target out of a plurality of grouped control targets, and outputs predetermined switch operation information. A plurality of switches for each of the control targets are grouped into sets of switches similar in form of operation and adjustment, and the switches in the set can be associated with each other so that it becomes easier to remember, resulting in an increase in operability".

Control apparatus, vehicle, and portable terminal


A computer implemented method for predicting preferences of an observer for two images, the method comprising the steps of: receiving the first image and an associated salience map indicating regions of the first image that are likely to be scrutinized by the observer; receiving a content masking map indicating differences between the first image and the second image that the observer is likely to be able to perceive; determining a number of preference measures; and processing the salience map and the content masking map to determine a distribution of a set of values of the preference measures predicting the preferences of the observer for the first image and the second image, the set of values of the preference measures having a number of degrees of freedom.

A key problem in the field of image processing is how to predict whether an observer will prefer one image over another. A key selling point of many imaging devices such as cameras, scanners, printers and displays is the subjective quality of the images that the devices are asserted to produce. As the technology in imaging devices advances, the images produced by these devices become larger and the computing resources required to process them increase, thus becoming more onerous particularly on low-power devices such as cameras and smart phones. When allocating resources to processing/storing/displaying or printing an image based on assumptions about the subjective quality of the image it would be advantageous to use a reliable method to quantify the increase in subjective quality (also referred to as observer preference or observer preference score) between the original image of interest (also referred to as the target image), and the transformed image expected to be obtained from processing the original image.
From a terminology perspective, a "preference measure" is a measure of the degree to which an image will be selected over another image (or other images) based on desirable characteristics. In the aforementioned example the desirable characteristic being measured, is "subjective quality". The preference measure measures the degree to which one image is preferred to another based on subjective quality. The "value" of the preference measure is the quantitative value that is determined for the measure in question. This might for example be a numerical score of 6 in a possible range of 1-10. In this description the value of the preference measure in question is also referred to as the observer preference or the observer preference score.
There are many methods known in the prior art for predicting observer preference between two images where one has undergone a transform. Preference scores based on signal processing techniques such as Mean Square Error (MSE) and Peak Signal To Noise Ratio (PSNR) have been shown to have some ability to predict observer preference, but fail in many cases to make reliable predictions. There exist known methods that analyse the structural content of images and estimate observer preference based on the notion that observers prefer structural details to be preserved or enhanced in the transformed image. Other methods attempt to use machine learning to predict observer preference based on features extracted from either the original image, the transformed image or both images. Yet other methods attempt to partition the problem of estimating observer preference for an entire image into a sub-set of problems each attempting to estimate observer preference for a sub-aspect of the image. For example, sub-aspects of an image might include the relative quality of colour reproduction between the original and the transformed image, the quality of brightness reproduction, the quality of detail preservation and the presence or absence of artifacts in the transformed image. By merging the observer preference scores for each of the sub-aspects, a prediction of the overall observer preference score for the transformed image is obtained.
There also exist methods that attempt to quantify observer preference based on considerations of human cognition and vision. For example, recent methods have emerged that make use of salience and content masking information. Salience relates to image content within an image that attracts a user's attention. Some methods for producing salience maps represent salience information in the form of a "heat map" that indicates the regions of an image that are likely to be more closely scrutinized by observers. It is widely accepted that differences between an original and a transformed image have more of an effect on observer preference when these differences fall in salient regions of the image. Content masking (also termed "visual difference" in the prior art) technology takes advantage of the observation that not all changes to an image are noticeable by human observers. Changes to an image that are not noticeable are not likely to affect an observer preference for a transformed image. Content masking techniques produce a content masking map that indicates changes (ie differences) between the original and transformed images, ie changes arising from application of the transform to the target image, that observers will probably be physically able to see (ie differences that are visually perceptible) and also indicates how strong the differences will probably appear to the observer, ie the strength of the perceptibility. Stronger differences are more likely to affect observer preference than weaker differences. Recent methods to predict observer preference combine information extracted from salience maps with information from content masking maps to create a prediction of observer preference.
However, the prior art methods to quantify observer preference fail to perform well in many circumstances.


Method for detecting the presence of a driver's hands on the steering wheel is described. By a mathematical model, at least one part of a steering system of the motor vehicle is modeled. In addition, a rotational angle of a lower end and/or an upper end of a torsion bar of the steering system is determined. A torque acting on the torsion bar is determined by a measuring device. A sum of a torque with which the driver acts on the steering wheel and a counter-torque generated by friction in the upper part of the steering system is estimated by a Kalman Filter. In addition, the counter-torque is estimated, and the estimated sum of the torque and the counter-torque are used to determine whether the driver's hands are on the steering wheel.

In motor vehicles with an electromechanically assisted steering system, the electromechanical steering assistance can act on the steering system with a torque and thus assist the driver while driving or steering the vehicle in a certain direction. In particular, the electromechanical steering assistance can steer the vehicle automatically, i.e., without a corresponding steering movement by the driver in a certain direction, for example, based on data from a camera or other sensors. The automatic steering of motor vehicles is used in particular in control systems, at least partially in motor vehicles that move autonomously. An example of such a control system are the so-called lane keeping assistance systems, which help the driver to maintain a lane. However, the driver of the motor vehicle should be able to take full control of the motor vehicle again at any time. The presence of the driver's hands on the steering wheel provides a reliable indication for this purpose.
In the case of fully autonomous motor vehicles, the control system should automatically control the motor vehicle as long as the driver does not want to take control of the motor vehicle by himself. When the driver puts his hands on the steering wheel, this is a clear indication that he wants to take control of the vehicle. On the contrary, if the driver takes his hands off the steering wheel, the automatic control system should take the control of the motor vehicle.
Therefore, it is necessary in both cases to be able to detect the presence of the driver's hands on the steering wheel. One way to detect the presence of hands on the steering wheel are additional sensors on the steering wheel. The sensors detect, for example, via capacitance measurement whether the hands are on the steering wheel. However, additional sensors generate additional costs.

Method for detecting the presence of hands on the steering wheel


A circuit for controlling a switched-mode DC-DC converter. An inductor is connected between a switching node and an output node, and an output capacitor is connected in series with the inductor. An RC circuit is connected in parallel with the inductor to compensate for ripple voltage. In a discontinuous current mode, a pulse is applied to the switching node and then removed. In this mode, an RC time constant for the RC circuit is increased during the falling edge of a difference signal such that the difference signal does not drop below zero.

A DC-DC converter is an electronic circuit that converts a source of direct current from one voltage level to another. DC-DC converters are widely used in portable electronic devices to provide power from a battery, and are used generally in electronic circuits to regulate an output voltage. For example, a DC-DC converter may be used to compensate for varying load current and/or variations in the input voltage.
A switched-mode DC-DC converter, also called a switching regulator, is a circuit that uses a power switch, an inductor and a capacitor as the primary components to transfer energy from input to output.
FIGS. 1 and 2A, illustrate a DC-DC switching regulator circuit of the prior art as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,595,624. The switching regulator includes a pulse-width modulation (PWM) controller 52 configured to alternately activate 10 a high-side transistor 54 and a low-side transistor 56 as shown at FIG. 1. The PWM controller 52 controls the duty cycle of pulses provided to both transistors 54 and 56. Transistor 54 has a drain terminal that is connected to a supply voltage source VDD. Transistor 56 has a source terminal connected to ground. Transistors 54 and 56 have a common terminal that produces switching voltage VSW. An inductor 60 is interconnected between the common terminal and an output terminal producing a voltage VOUT. A freewheeling diode 62 is interconnected between one terminal of inductor 60 and ground.
During an on-time, controller 52 activates transistor 54 while transistor 56 remains inactive. When transistor 54 is on, voltage VSW increases to approximately VDD. Consequently, current through inductor 60 increases. During an off-time, the controller 52 deactivates transistor 54 and activates transistor 56. Consequently, voltage VSW decreases to approximately ground. Current through inductor 60, however, tends to remain unchanged. Thus, the voltage VSW becomes negative relative to ground so that inductor current is supplied through the freewheeling diode 62. Accordingly, the switching regulator operates to maintain the current flow through inductor 60, thus providing an output voltage VOUT across a load capacitor 64 and a load resistor 66.
The switching regulator also includes a PWM comparison circuit 68 to determine the relative off-time and on-time of transistor 54. The output voltage VOUT is applied to the PWM comparison circuit through a voltage divider 70 that includes resistors R1 and R2. The voltage divider provides a feedback voltage VFB as an output. The PWM comparison circuit includes a ramp signal generator 72 configured to generate a ramp signal, preferably by alternately charging or discharging a capacitor. The feedback voltage VFB and the ramp signal are added together by adder 74. A resultant modified feedback voltage VFB2 is provided to a comparator or error amplifier 76, which compares the modified feedback voltage VFB2 and the reference voltage VREF. The comparator 76 thus provides an output to the PWM controller 52 to switch between the on-time and the off-time. In this manner, on-time (TON) is approximately equal to the switching time (TSW=TON+TOFF) multiplied by VOUT/VDD, where the switching regulator frequency is equal to 1/TSW.
As the operating frequency of the switching regulator circuit of FIG. 2A increases, several problems limit circuit efficiency. Due to noise or other effects, reference voltage VREF can be subject to error such that output voltage VOUT is compared to VREF, thereby producing error voltage VE as shown in FIG. 1. This error voltage produces a next on-time error T0 and a premature output ripple voltage 12.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,595,624 discloses an improvement as shown in FIG. 2B. The maximum feedback voltage VFB is added to reference voltage VR to produce modified feedback voltage VFB2. The relatively steeper slope of VFB2 decreases the uncertainty on-time from TUNC1 to TUNC2.
The circuit of FIG. 2A was subsequently improved with the addition of the current sense circuit 300 of FIG. 3A connected in parallel with inductor 60 as disclosed in Application Report SLVA453 (February 2011), by Texas Instruments Inc. The current sense circuit 300 includes series-connected resistor 301 and capacitor 302 in parallel with inductor 60 and produces positive current sense signal CSP at node 325. Series-connected resistor 304 and capacitor 306 are connected in parallel with capacitor 302 and produce negative current sense signal CSN at node 326.
Referring now to FIG. 3B, a timing diagram shows operation of the current sense circuit 300 of FIG. 3A in continuous current mode (CCM). CCM means that either transistor 54 or 56 is always on. At time t1 transistor 54 is activated and voltage VSW goes high. Responsively, voltage CSP at node 325 emulates the inductor current IL until transistor 54 is turned off and transistor 56 is turned on. At time t2, voltage CSP at node 325 again emulates inductor current IL and goes low to a valley at time t3. Voltage CSN at node 326, however, has a constant intermediate value between the peak and valley of CSP.
Referring next to FIG. 3C, a timing diagram shows operation of the current sense circuit 300 of FIG. 3A in discontinuous current mode (DCM). DCM means that either transistor 54 or 56 (FIG. 2A) is on or both are off. At time t1, transistor 54 is activated and voltage VSW goes high. Voltage CSP at node 325 again emulates the inductor current IL until transistor 54 is turned off and transistor 56 is turned on. At time t2, voltage CSP at node 325 again emulates inductor current IL and decreases until time t3 when transistor 56 is turned off. Between times t3 and t4, both transistors 54 and 56 are off, inductor current IL is zero, and CSP and CSN vary as capacitors 302 and 306 discharge. However, the offset of CSN in the CCM and DCM operating modes is not constant, and therefore, is difficult to cancel when compared to the signal CSP. Further, there is still a voltage ripple developed around the regulated output voltage in DCM operation, primarily from the inductor, due to the inherent delay in the switching of the power device. Voltage ripple may also be developed from ceramic capacitors that are fabricated on-chip with the DC-DC converter. Compensation can be provided for these ripples by incorporating a ripple injection or emulation circuit that synthesizes an artificial ripple and provides it to a feedback circuit. Such circuits are currently available as integrated circuit DC-DC converter chips, such as TSP53513 and TSP53915 made and sold by Texas Instruments, Inc. These DC-DC converter chips incorporate a control mode architecture that provides ripple control for enhanced system stability.
However, one problem that has been observed in the operation of integrated DC-DC converters that implement a large LC time constant is the presentation of two pulses instead of one at the switching node. This "multi-pulsing" issue can cause improper operation of the converter. Thus, it would be desirable to prevent multi-pulsing at the switching node, as further described herein. Various embodiments described herein are directed to solving these problems and improving operation of the switching regulator.

Advanced control circuit for switched-mode DC-DC converter


A process for the purification of a diolefin hydrocarbon stream containing acetylene and sulfur compounds.

This invention relates to a process for the purification of a diolefin hydrocarbon stream containing trace quantities of acetylene and sulfur compounds and the cyclic regeneration of an at least partially spent selective hydrogenation catalyst containing at least one metal. More particularly the present invention relates to methods of reclaiming catalysts which have become deactivated and to the catalytic reduction of acetylenic bonds in the presence of dienes without substantial destruction of the diene compounds.
The selective hydrogenation of the acetylene compounds is generally conducted in the presence of a selective hydrogenation catalyst and hydrogenation and conducted at an elevated pressure and temperature. Such selective hydrogenation catalysts are well known in the art and include, for example, a catalyst containing copper metal associated with one or more activator metals impregnated on an alumina support. During the acetylene hydrogenation, polymers are formed and deposited on the catalyst thereby reducing the activity of the catalyst. One method of regenerating spent or partially spent catalyst is to perform a controlled carbon burn with oxygen and subsequent metal reduction with hydrogen to remove catalyst contaminants which are formed as an undesirable by-product of the acetylene hydrogenation. The carbon burn regeneration technique necessarily requires that the reaction zone contain spent catalyst be taken off line and that ancillary regeneration equipment be provided.
Another alternative technique for regenerating spent or partially spent catalyst is to contact such catalyst with hydrogen and a polymer solvent in order to restore at least a portion of the fresh catalyst activity.
Some of the diolefin hydrocarbon stream containing trace quantities of acetylenes also contain trace quantities of sulfur compounds. These diolefin hydrocarbon feedstocks produce a deactivated catalyst which is not satisfactorily regenerated via the known and conventional regeneration techniques.

Process for the purification of a diolefin hydrocarbon stream


A method is disclosed for controlling the fuel injection system for an internal combustion engine having a fuel injector for injecting fuel by a series of steps including: determining whether the engine performs stable combustion at the engine start depending on operating conditions of the engine; setting a fuel injection pulse width for the fuel injector in accordance with the operating conditions of the engine; and then generating a first pulse at an intake stroke of the engine and a second pulse at an exhaust stroke of said engine, when the engine does not perform stable combustion at the engine start, a total width of said first and second pulses corresponding to the set fuel injection pulse width.

The present invention relates to a control method for a fuel injection system of an internal combustion engine where an optimum injection timing or fuel injection pulse width can be set in temperature ranges of the engine in a completely warmup state from an extremely low temperature state.
In general, in a fuel injection control of this type, all cylinders are injected at the same time at the time of starting an engine to cope with a quantity of required fuel and to reliably start an internal combustion engine. A fuel injection pulse width to be set in this case is determined on the basis of an engine temperature (mostly detected from a coolant temperature) without parameters of factors for determining an engine state such as an engine rotating speed, an intake air quantity, etc., since the factors of the engine rotating speed, the intake air quantity are unstable.
On the other hand, in a fuel injection control after a stable combustion immediately after starting the engine, the fuel injection is transferred to sequential injections. Since the engine is cooled, hence a fuel injection finishing time is set to a relatively delayed crank angle of an intake valve opening range so as to prevent adherence of fuel to the wall of the intake port and valve, and a fuel injection starting time responsive to the fuel injection pulse width set on the basis of an engine rotating speed, an intake air quantity, an engine temperature, etc., is determined in accordance with the fuel injection finishing time as a reference.
Since the engine is cooled in the start of the engine from a cryogenic temperature state, fuel atomization is difficult, and hence the quantity of required fuel is increased. When a fuel injection pulse width responsive to the quantity of required fuel is set for all cylinder simultaneous injection, an injection is started in a certain cylinder after the intake is finished, or fuel is continuously injected even after the intake stroke is finished, and the quantities of fuel to be supplied to the cylinders are different. As a result, the quantity of fuel adhered to the wall is the high at starting timing. Hence a misfiring easily occurs in the cylinder in which the quantity of actually supplied fuel is small, and thus the engine starting not only becomes unstable, but also fuel consumption is increased due to adherence of fuel to the wall.
On the other hand, since it is difficult in the sequential injections to accurately decide the fuel injection timing because of unstable engine rotating speed at the time of starting, starting properties of the engine are impaired.
The engine temperature rises as the time lapses while warming up the engine after a stable combustion is performed. Therefore, atomization of fuel by the heat in an intake port occurs by injecting fuel when an intake valve is closed even in the warmup range. However, in the conventional engine in which the fuel injection finishing time is fixed, exhaust emission and fuel consumption are relatively deteriorated as the engine temperature rises.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open 60-11652 discloses a technique for improving fuel consumption, the output and the exhaust emission by variably setting a fuel pressure of fuel supplying to injector in response to a quantity of intake air and supplying fuel for obtaining an optimum combustion condition in an intake stroke range. A variation in the quantity of required fuel at the time of starting strongly depends on an engine temperature as compared with the quantity of the intake air, and hence it is difficult with this technique to obtain preferable starting properties and warmup performance after a combustion is performed in the engine.

Fuel injection control system for an internal combustion engine and method thereof


The present invention aims to provide a non-alcohol, beer-taste beverage having Shimari in taste.

Malt and hops are essential ingredients in producing beer. Polyphenols derived from malt and hops add richness to beer, and Shimari in the taste. Aromatic components derived from hops add a delightful flavor to the beer. Further, bitter components derived from hops add a crisp bitterness and excellent foam retention.
The bitterness of beer is affected by the weight ratio of malt and hops. In relation to this, Non-Patent Document 1 reports in p. 78 to 79 that decreasing the amount of hops in a rich-tasting beer obtained using a large quantity of malt leads to a beer that is unpleasant to drink due to the lack of Shimari in taste and an undesirable snappiness; and increasing the amount of hops in beer with relatively bland taste obtained using a small quantity of malt leads to a beer with an unbalanced flavor characterized by strong bitterness. Hence, it is common to increase the amount of hops in a rich-tasting beer obtained using a large quantity of malt, and to decrease the amount of hops in beer with relatively bland taste, when producing beer.
The recent health consciousness of consumers is increasing the demand for non-alcohol beer-taste beverages, that is, beverages with 0.00% alcohol. Since fermentation produces alcohol, non-alcohol beer-taste beverages are often produced without fermenting the ingredients. Patent Document 1 describes that vegetable protein hydrolysates and a malt extract are used as ingredients to produce a non-fermented, beer-flavored, carbonated drink that is essentially free of ethanol, having a beer-like bitterness and richness, as well as thickness and unity in flavor.

Non-alcohol, beer-taste beverage having Shimari in taste

Abstract: It provides a non-alcohol beer-taste beverage having a weight ratio of the polyphenol(s) to the total amount of the extract component(s) in a specific range.


A tape 3, 4 with a zipper member and a bag film 5, 6 are continuously moved by rotation of a rotary drum 32 while being overlaid with each other such that the tape 3, 4 travels in a tape introducing groove 33 for a tape with a zipper member, the groove formed along a circumferential direction of the rotary drum 32. The tape 3, 4 with the zipper member is continuously welded to the bag film 5, 6 on a circumferential surface of the rotary drum 32 by a seal bar 35 that has a welding surface 34 in a curved shape corresponding to a circumferential surface shape of the rotary drum 32. The whole tape 3, 4 with the zipper member is accommodated in the tape introducing groove 33 for the tape with the zipper member and a seal surface of a tape body 31, 41 is adapted to be substantially flush with the circumferential surface of the rotary drum 32, so that heat applied from the seal bar 35 to the tape 3, 4 with the zipper member is restrained from transferring to the rotary drum 32.

A reclosable bag that is a bag openable and closable by belt-like zipper members (an engaging unit) of a male and a female, the zipper members provided to an opening/closing portion of the bag, has been used for many fields such as food, medical products and miscellaneous goods.
In manufacturing such a bag with the zipper members, a method has been known in which the zipper members are formed by extrusion molding while being welded to a surface of the bag film. However, the method contains a limitation on flexibility in combination of the zipper members and the bag film since the zipper members are welded at the same time as the molding. In addition, the molding of the zipper members cannot be conducted independently and the molding needs to be conducted with a limitation in cooling. Hence, it has been difficult to stably manufacture the bag with the zipper members.
As one example of related art technique for manufacturing the bag with the zipper members, there has been known an arrangement in which bag films are overlaid with each other while sandwiching tapes with the male and female zipper members in engagement, flat-plate-like seal bars are provided on outer sides of the bag films such that the seal bars can advance to and retract from the bag films, the bag films and the tapes with the zipper members are intermittently sent at a constant length pitch and the seal bars are brought into contact with the bag films, so that the tapes with the zipper members are welded to the bag films by utilizing heat of the seal bars (Patent Document 1). In Patent Document 1, a separator is disposed between the facing tapes with the zipper members.
As another example of the related art, there has been known an arrangement in which, when the tapes with the zipper members are welded to the bag films, the tapes and the bag films are continuously moved by rotation of the rotary drum while the tapes and the bag films are overlaid with each other such that the zipper members travel in a zipper member introducing groove formed along a circumferential direction of the rotary drum (Patent Document). In Patent Document 2, the zipper member introducing groove is formed in a rectangular shape. In the zipper member introducing groove, the zipper member is accommodated. A tape portion integrally provided to the zipper member has a larger width dimension to be welded to the bag film, the tape portion disposed along an outer circumferential surface of the rotary drum such that the tape portion can be welded to the bag film.    [Patent Document 1] JP-UM-B-H03-36825 (FIGS. 2 and 3)    [Patent Document 2] JP-A-H09-39121 (FIGS. 2 and 3)

Method and device for manufacturing bag with clamping device


A gas supply system is provided herein. The gas supply system includes a fuel oxygen reduction unit having a circuit defining a gas flowpath for a flow of a stripping gas. A reservoir is in selective fluid communication with the fuel oxygen reduction unit and is configured to store a portion of the stripping gas from the circuit. The reservoir is further configured to be in selective fluid communication with the fuel system component when installed in a vehicle to provide the stored portion of the stripping gas to the fuel system component in response to detection of a purge condition.

Typical aircraft propulsion systems include one or more gas turbine engines. The gas turbine engines generally include a turbomachine with the turbomachine including, in serial flow order, a compressor section, a combustor or a combustion section, a turbine section, and an exhaust section. In operation, air is provided to an inlet of the compressor section where one or more axial compressors progressively compress the air until it reaches the combustion section. Fuel is mixed with the compressed air and burned within the combustion section to provide combustion gases. The combustion gases are routed from the combustion section to the turbine section. The flow of combustion gasses through the turbine section drives the turbine section and is then routed through the exhaust section, e.g., to the atmosphere.
Certain operations and systems of the gas turbine engines and aircraft may generate a relatively large amount of heat. Fuel has been determined to be an efficient heat sink to receive at least some of such heat during operations due at least in part to its heat capacity and an increased efficiency in combustion operations that may result from combusting higher temperature fuel.
However, heating the fuel without properly conditioning the fuel may cause the fuel to "coke," or form solid particles that may clog up certain components of the fuel system, such as the fuel nozzles. Reducing an amount of oxygen in the fuel may effectively reduce the likelihood that the fuel will coke beyond an unacceptable amount.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplifications set out herein illustrate exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, and such exemplifications are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure in any manner.


An electronic part-mounting socket includes a socket body having an electronic part-receiving portion for receiving an electronic part, and a plurality of contacts having a resilient contact piece portion projecting into the electronic part-receiving portion, and the electronic part is connected to a printed wiring board via the contacts. The socket body includes outer casing having a bottom plate and a contact holding member that is detachably received within the outer casing, and holds the contacts. Each of the contacts includes a board contact piece portion projecting from a lower surface of the contact holding member so as to be held in contact with the printed wiring board, and the printed wiring board is held between the bottom plate and the contact holding member.

This invention relates to a socket for mounting an electronic part, mainly such as a camera module and a semiconductor device, on a printed wiring board such as an FPC.
In recent years, portable electronic devices, such as a cellular phone, have been required to have a more compact (thinner) design, and to achieve such a compact design, a flexible printed wiring board (FPC) capable of incorporating an electronic circuit in a narrow space in a folded condition has been used within such an electronic device.
In the case of mounting an electronic part, such as a camera module, on a flexible printed wiring board, the electronic part, having a low degree of heat tolerance, can not be directly mounted thereon by soldering, and therefore a socket for electronic part-mounting purposes is beforehand attached to the FPC, and the electronic part is inserted into this socket to be mounted on the board.
In the above related technique, however, there was encountered a problem that the operation for connecting the electronic part-mounting socket to the flexible printed wiring board such as an FPC was cumbersome, and the efficiency of the operation was low.
And besides, in such a structure, it was difficult to shield the electronic part, and in such a case, a separate shielding member such as a shielding case, must be prepared, which invited problems that the process of the operation increased and that an installation space increased.


When insufficient traffic is present in the network to maintain synchronization in this manner, other methods must be used. One approach involves making direct measurements of the timing between base stations. This is accomplished in one of two ways. The base may interrupt its transmissions on all sectors for a short interval during which it determines the time of arrival of signals from other base stations. Given knowledge of the other base station locations, time errors relative to all other base stations may be derived. Alternatively, the base may send a short signal at high power in the mobile transmit band. This time-of-arrival of this signal is measured by the surrounding base stations and the time errors between pairs of base stations are computed. In some cases, a base station may be isolated sufficiently from all other base stations in the network such that direct base-to-base measurement is not viable. In this case, a fixed mobile is placed at a location in the handoff region between the isolated cell and another cell in the network. The fixed mobile either performs measurements of base station pilots on command of the base and reports the timing information, or sends a burst transmission at a specified time and power level to be measured by the base stations.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to communication systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a novel and improved method and apparatus for synchronizing base stations in a wireless communication system.
II. Description of the Related Art
The use of code division multiple access (CDMA) modulation techniques is but one of several techniques for facilitating communications in which a large number of system users are present. Although other techniques, such as time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA) and AM modulation schemes such as amplitude companded single sideband (ACSSB) are known, CDMA has significant advantages over these other modulation techniques. The use of CDMA techniques in a multiple access communication system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,307, entitled "SPREAD SPECTRUM MULTIPLE ACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM USING SATELLITE OR TERRESTRIAL REPEATERS" and U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,459, entitled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GENERATING SIGNAL WAVEFORMS IN A CDMA CELLULAR TELEPHONE SYSTEM", both of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention and are incorporated by reference. The method for providing CDMA mobile communications was standardized in the United States by the Telecommunications Industry Association in TIA/EIA/IS-95-A entitled "Mobile Station-Base Station Compatibility Standard for Dual-Mode Wideband Spread Spectrum Cellular System", referred to herein as IS-95.
In the just mentioned patents, a multiple access technique is disclosed in which a large number of mobile station users, each having a transceiver, communicate through satellite repeaters or terrestrial base stations (also known as cell base stations or cell-sites) using code division multiple access (CDMA) spread spectrum communication signals. By using CDMA communications, the frequency spectrum can be reused multiple times thus permitting an increase in system user capacity. The use of CDMA techniques result in much higher spectral efficiency than can be achieved using other multiple access techniques.
A method for simultaneously demodulating data that has traveled along different propagation paths from one base station and for simultaneously demodulating data redundantly provided from more than one base station is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,390 (the '390 patent), entitled "DIVERSITY RECEIVER IN A CDMA CELLULAR COMMUNICATION SYSTEM", assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated by reference herein. In the '390 patent, the separately demodulated signals are combined to provide an estimate of the transmitted data which has higher reliability than the data demodulated by any one path or from any one base station.
Handoffs can generally be divided into two categories—hard handoffs and soft handoffs. In a hard handoff, when a mobile station leaves an origination base station and enters a destination base station, the mobile station breaks its communication link with the origination base station and thereafter establishes a new communication link with the destination base station. In soft handoff, the mobile station completes a communication link with the destination base station prior to breaking its communication link with the origination base station. Thus, in soft handoff, the mobile station is redundantly in communication with both the origination base station and the destination base station for some period of time.
Soft handoffs are far less likely to drop calls than hard handoffs. In addition, when a mobile station travels near the coverage boundary of a base station, it may make repeated handoff requests in response to small changes in the environment. This problem, referred to as ping-ponging, is also greatly lessened by soft handoff. An exemplary process for performing soft handoff is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,501, entitled "METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING A SOFT HANDOFF IN COMMUNICATIONS IN A CDMA CELLULAR TELEPHONE SYSTEM" assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated by reference herein.
An improved soft handoff technique is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,261, entitled "MOBILE STATION ASSISTED SOFT HANDOFF IN A CDMA CELLULAR COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated by reference herein. In the system of the '261 patent, the soft handoff process is improved by measuring the strength of "pilot" signals transmitted by each base station at the mobile station. These pilot strength measurements are of assistance in the soft handoff process by facilitating identification of viable base station handoff candidates.
The base station candidates can be divided into four sets. The first set, referred to as the Active Set, comprises base stations, which are currently in communication with the mobile station. The second set, referred to as the Candidate Set, comprises base stations whose signals have been determined to be of sufficient strength to be of use to the mobile station but are not currently being used. Base stations are added to the candidate set when their measured pilot energy exceeds a predetermined threshold TADD. The third set is the set of base stations which are in the vicinity of the mobile station (and which are not included in the Active Set or the Candidate Set). And the fourth set is the Remaining Set which consists of all other base stations.
In IS-95, a base station candidate is characterized by the phase offset of the pseudonoise (PN) sequence of its pilot channel. When the mobile station searches to determine the strength of the pilot signal from a candidate base station it performs a correlation operation wherein the filtered received signal is correlated to a set of PN offset hypotheses. The method and apparatus for performing the correlation operation is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,591, entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING SEARCH ACQUISITION IN A CDMA COMMUNICATION SYSTEM", which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated by reference herein.
The propagation delay between the base station and the mobile station is not known. This unknown delay produces and unknown shift in the PN codes. The searching process attempts to determine the unknown shift in the PN codes. To do this, the mobile station shifts in time the output of its searcher PN code generators. The range of the search shift is called the search window. The search window is centered about a PN shift hypothesis. A base station transmits to the mobile station a message indicating the PN offsets of base station pilots in its physical proximity. The mobile station will center its search window around the PN offset hypothesis.
The appropriate size of the search window depends on several factors including the priority of the pilot, the speed of the searching processors, and the anticipated delay spread of the multipath arrivals. The CDMA standards (IS-95) define three search window parameters. The searching of pilots in both the active and candidate sets is governed by Search Window "A". Neighbor Set pilots are searched over window "N" and Remaining Set pilots over window "R". The searcher window sizes are provided below in Table 1, where a chip is 1/1.2288 MHz.
TABLE 1SRCH_WIN_ASRCH_WIN_ASRCH_WIN_NWindow SizeSRCH_WIN_NWindow SizeSRCH_WIN_R(PN chips)SRCH_WIN_R(PN chips)048601698028101003101113041412160520132266281432074015452
Window sizing is a trade-off between search speed and the probability of missing a strong path lying outside the search window.
The base station transmits to the mobile station a message which specifies the PN hypotheses that the mobile station should search relative to its own PN offset. For example, the originating base station may instruct the mobile station to search for a pilot 128 PN chips ahead of its own PN offset. The mobile station in response sets its searcher demodulator 128 chips ahead in the output chip cycle and searches for the pilot using a search window centered about the specified offset. Once the mobile is instructed to a search a PN hypothesis to determine the resources available for performing a handoff, it is critical that the PN offset of the destination base station pilot is very close in time to the directed offset. The speed of searching is of critical importance near base station boundaries because delays in completing the necessary searches can result in dropped calls.
In CDMA systems in the United States, this base station synchronization is achieved by providing each base station with a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) receiver. However, there are cases where a base station may not be able to receive the GPS signal. For example, within subways and tunnels the GPS signal is attenuated to a degree that prohibits their use for timing synchronization of base stations or micro base stations. In addition, there are national agendas that discourage dependence upon the GPS signal for operation of critical services.
The present invention describes a method and system for providing timing synchronization in these circumstances where a fraction of the network is capable of receiving a centralized timing signal and achieving timing therefrom and a portion of the base stations are not capable of receiving the centralized timing signal. This situation is addressed in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/933,888 (the '888 application), entitled "MOBILE STATION ASSISTED TIMING SYNCHRONIZATION IN A CDMA COMMUNICATION SYSTEM", filed Sep. 19, 1997, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated by reference herein. In addition, the present invention describes a method and system for providing timing synchronization where no base stations rely on a centralized timing signal.
In the '888 application, the slave base station attains synchronization with the reference base station through messages transmitted from and received by a mobile station in the soft handoff region between the reference base station and the slave base station. First, the round trip delay between the mobile station and the reference base station is measured by the reference base station. Next, the slave base station searches until it acquires the signal transmitted by the mobile station, referred to as the reverse link signal. In response to the acquisition of the reverse link signal, the slave base station adjusts its timing so that the mobile station can acquire its signal, referred to as a forward link signal. This step may be unnecessary if the timing error in the slave base station is not severe.
Once the mobile station acquires the signal from the slave base station, it measures and reports the difference between the amount of time it takes a signal to travel from the reference base station to it and the amount of time it takes a signal to travel from the slave base station to it. The last measurement necessary is a measurement by the slave base station of the time difference between the time it received the reverse link signal from the mobile station and the time it transmitted a signal to the mobile station.
A series of computations are performed upon the measured time values to determine the time difference between the slave base station and an adjustment of the slave base station timing is performed in accordance therewith. It should be noted that all of the measurements mentioned are performed during the normal operation of an IS-95 CDMA communication system.

Method and apparatus for providing wireless communication system synchronization


A system and method for mounting a plurality of antenna elements onto a cell tower is disclosed. A plurality of antennas are mounted onto a mounting system. The mounting system is configured to attach to a cellular antenna mount using the same physical mounting system as the cellular antenna elements. The plurality of antennas provide multiple point-to-point links that may be used for wireless backhaul links or other applications.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of communications, and in particular, to communication antennas.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Most cellular backhaul uses Incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) TI circuits. ILEC circuits are expensive and do not scale economically as cell backhaul demand increases, especially for wireless data and video. Using point-to-point or point-to-multipoint radio or microwave links for cellular backhaul links can be costly. One of the cost drivers is the cost of real estate on cell towers. In this application the term "cell tower" includes all manner of cellular mounting structure, for example building sites, towers, treelike structures, and the like. Cell tower leasing agreements typically charge a fee for each antenna element mounted to the tower, and a fee based on the number of cables running up the tower that attach to the antenna elements.
Therefore there is a need for a system and method that allows multiple antenna elements to be mounted onto a cell tower at a minimum cost.
The spectrum available for the radio and microwave point-to-point and point-to-multipoint links is also restricted. Common carrier bands at 2, 4 and 6 GHz, especially the 4 GHz band, are under utilized today. The original and primary use of the bands was for long distance telecommunication across the US. The long distance links where typically operated by AT&T, MCI and other telephone companies. The long distance radio frequency (RF) links had link distances of 30 miles or more. These long distance links require large antennas. These antennas had to be mounted individually on cell towers and the leasing cost on cell towers is based, in part, on the number of mountings used. The large microwave antennas also created wind loading problems on cell towers. Today these companies and new operators typically utilize fiber optic transcontinental networks for Long Distance telecommunications. Deployment of fiber networks has rendered the 4 GHz band as highly under utilized and available for other uses.
Therefore there is a need for a system and method that utilizes these common carrier bands for point-to-point links.

Multi-link antenna array that conforms to cellular leasing agreements for only one attachment fee


Systems and methods for efficient transmission of packets within a network communication device are described herein. Some illustrative embodiments include a network communication device that includes a plurality of ports (each port configured to communicate with one or more network devices), and a bus coupling the plurality of ports to each other (the bus providing a shared path for one or more bus transfers originated by a first port of the plurality of ports, and the one or more bus transfers including information). The bus includes a plurality of port map bits, a port map bit of said plurality of port map bits corresponding to a second port of the plurality of ports. The second port is configured to forward the information to the one or more network devices if the port map bit is asserted.

As the number of networked computer systems has increased, so has the demand for high-speed networking hardware such as network switches, bridges and routers. Whereas in the past the internal bus speeds of such devices far outpaced the speeds of the networks themselves, today's networks and network switch fabrics are now capable of data transfers that are well within an order of magnitude of the internal bus speeds of the network devices used to interconnect such networks and network switch fabrics. As a result, the performance of network switches, bridges and routers has become an important factor in overall network performance and throughput. Efficient routing and transmission of packets within these network devices can be a significant and even limiting factor in the overall performance of a high-speed network and/or network switch fabric.
One technique that is sometimes used to reduce network traffic and increase network efficiency is to transmit network messages using multicast or broadcast addressing. In such addressing schemes, a single network address is assigned to either a group of devices (multicast) or to all devices (broadcast) within a network address space or sub-network. But the efficiency gains obtained through the use of multicast and broadcast messages can be adversely affected if such messages are transmitted more than once within a network switch, bridge or router. Such redundant transmissions may be necessary if the devices being addressed within the network address space or sub-network are coupled to the network switch through more than one device port.

Efficient transmission of packets within a network communication device


A method and apparatus for white balance correction using illuminant estimation includes calculating a weighted average of the color coordinates of points in a color image to determine an estimated illuminant of the color image in the color space of an image sensor and selecting white balance correction factors for the color image using the estimated illuminant of the color image and color coordinates of one or more of a number of reference illuminant points in the color space of the image sensor.

Solid-state image sensors have found widespread use in cameras and imaging systems. Some solid-state image sensors are composed of a matrix of photosensitive elements in series with amplifying and switching components. The photosensitive elements may be, for example, photo-diodes, phototransistors, photo-gates or the like. Typically, an image is focused on an array of picture elements (pixels) containing photosensitive elements, such that each photosensitive element in the array of pixels receives electromagnetic energy from a portion of the focused image. Each photosensitive element converts a portion of the electromagnetic energy it receives into electron-hole pairs and produces a charge or current that is proportional to the intensity of the electromagnetic energy it receives.
Solid-state image sensors may be fabricated using several different device technologies, including CCD (charge-coupled device) technology and MOS (metal-oxide semiconductor) and/or CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) technologies. Typically, these technologies are silicon based. However, other material systems, such as III-V or II-VI compound semiconductor systems may be used, depending on the specific imaging application and/or portion of the electromagnetic spectrum to be imaged (e.g., visible light photography, ultraviolet imaging, infrared imaging, etc.).
The pixels in silicon-based image sensors that are used for light photography are inherently panchromatic. They respond to a range of electromagnetic wavelengths that include the entire visible spectrum as well as portions of the infrared and ultraviolet bands. To produce a color image, a color filter array (CFA) can be located in front of the pixel array. Typically, the CFA consists of an array of red (R), green (G) and blue (B) polymer filters deposited on top of the pixel array, with one filter covering each pixel in the pixel array in a prescribed pattern. The polymer color filter over each pixel passes a limited range of electromagnetic wavelengths (e.g., red or green or blue) and reflects and/or absorbs other wavelengths. CFA's can also be made with complementary color filters such as cyan, magenta and yellow, or any other color system. However, the RGB system is used in the majority of color imaging systems.
The apparent color of an object depends on the color of the light that illuminates the object. If the source of the illumination (the illuminant) is not white, then the object will have a color cast that reflects the color of the illuminant. In photography, white balance is the process of removing unrealistic color casts arising from different lighting conditions so that a white object appears white in photographs of the object. If the white balance is correct, then all of the other colors in the photograph are rendered more accurately.
Illuminants are characterized by their "correlated color temperature." Color temperature describes the spectrum of light that a black body emits at that surface temperature (a black body is an idealized absorber/radiator of electromagnetic energy). The light emitted from a black body appears white to the human eye at approximately 6500 degrees Kelvin. At lower temperatures, the black body spectrum shifts toward the red end of the visible spectrum. At higher temperatures, the black body spectrum shifts toward the blue end of the visible spectrum. The correlated color temperature of an illuminant is the color temperature of a black body with the same (or approximately the same) apparent color as the illuminant. For example, daylight (clear day with the sun overhead) has a correlated color temperature in the range of 5000-6500 Kelvin, candlelight has a correlated color temperature in the range of 1000-2000 Kelvin and fluorescent light has a correlated color temperature in the range of 4000-5000 Kelvin.
As noted above, digital cameras typically utilize arrays of red, green and blue pixels to capture the colors of an image (where the red/green/blue ratio determines the apparent color). In digital photography, the current industry standard for white balance in low-end cameras is the well known "grey world" algorithm. This algorithm assumes that, on average, a scene will contain equal amounts of red, green and blue, so that that the average color of the scene is grey. Correction factors for red, green and blue are calculated such that this assumption is imposed on the image. Although this is a very simple algorithm, and leads to reasonably good results on most scenes, the algorithm fails completely on scenes with a dominant color like a blue sky, green grass or skin in a close up portrait because the average color in these cases is far from grey.

White balance correction using illuminant estimation


A method of controlling color lighting in a vision system is provided which is capable of rapidly searching for a voltage value which allows an optimal product image to be obtained in a vision system including a plurality of lightings. In accordance with an embodiment, a voltage value allowing an optimal product image to be obtained can rapidly searched for in a vision system including a plurality of lightings.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of controlling color lighting in a vision system, and more particularly, to a method of controlling color lighting capable of searching for a voltage value of color lighting rapidly, which allows an optimal product image to be obtained.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically a vision system is embedded in examination equipment developed for automatically, rapidly and accurately performing various naked-eye examinations for appearance of an examination target object. The naked-eye examinations rely on human vision. The vision system plays a role of capturing and collecting digital images for the examination target object, and transferring the digital images to a processing system having a function of determining a quality of digital images.
This vision system includes a lighting device illuminating an examination target object, and a camera capturing the examination target object and creating digital images. As the camera, not an expensive color camera but a monochrome camera is mostly used.
Although the lighting device employs a predetermined monochrome lighting, nowadays, vision systems are on the increase, which employ controllable color lighting in order to effectively detect surface defects of an examination target object, like LCD appearance examination equipment disclosed in Korean Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-0027225.
However, since correlation between image quality and color lighting conditions for a monochrome image captured by a monochrome camera is ambiguous, an operator is required to manually find out and set optimal color lighting conditions one by one.
This scheme is not only very cumbersome, but also ambiguous, since whether the found color lighting conditions are optimal is determined according to an operator's vision and this cumbersome setting job is performed again each time an examination target object is changed.
Due to this inconvenience, when various kinds of examination target objects are to be examined, a separate vision system is embedded to each examination target object, which increases costs of the examination equipment.
Accordingly, in the case of a vision system employing color lighting, a processing system determines a quality of an examination target object through images collected by a vision system and an optimal color lighting control method is an important development target. The method maximizes image quality to allow the processing system to read images captured by a monochrome camera, and rapidly and accurately determines their quality.
In the vision system, since a large standard deviation σ of grey level I indicates that there are different contrast differences over an entire captured image, a large standard deviation value is desirable to obtain optimal images.
Meanwhile, since the grey level I varies according to a voltage V of lighting and a standard deviation σ and also varies according to a voltage of lighting, it is desirable to rapidly search for a voltage value to allow the standard deviation σ to be a maximum in order to obtain optimal images.
In the related art, as shown in FIG. 1, a scheme is used for searching for a voltage value corresponding to the largest standard deviation σ from among all standard deviations measured for a voltage value range according to each varied voltage when the voltage is continuously increased by a predetermined size.
However, in this scheme, since measurement and operations are performed for all the voltage ranges one by one, it takes a very long time. In particular, for color lighting, since a plurality of lightings is included, a more processing time is necessary.
For example, when n level voltage values are adjusted for each m lightings, nm voltage value adjustments and operations are repeated to search for optimal voltage values. Accordingly, when it is assumed that a voltage is adjusted by 0.05V in the range of 0 V to 5 V for three RGB optical sources, optimal conditions are obtained through million times voltage adjustments, which take a very long time.

Method of controlling color lighting in vision system

KOREA INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY


Embodiments of the present invention provide a multi-user interference suppression method, terminal and base station. The method includes performing layer mapping on and precoding service data of each of paired users to obtain precoded output data, mapping the precoded output data and a common pilot sequence to a port of an antenna array for sending to each user by using the antenna array. Correspondingly, the embodiments of the present invention further provide a data receiving method, base station and terminal. By using a common pilot sequence based on the paired users, the same pilot sequence is used for each user in the paired users of a cell or a collaborative area, which is different from the technical solution in the prior art where a user-specific pilot is used and pilots of different users are orthogonal.

Enhancement of a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology and Coordinated Multipoint Transmission (CoMP) are important ways to accommodate requirements on increasing peak spectrum efficiency and average spectrum efficiency of a Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) system. In the current Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) Release 10 (R10) edition, the enhanced MIMO technology is a spatial multiplexing technology supporting eight layers at most, which may adopt a codebook-based precoding solution or a non-codebook-based precoding solution. With principles of a distributed antenna, CoMP reduces interference by using collaboration of multiple base stations, thereby enhancing data spectrum efficiency. As a key technology of LTE-A, CoMP may effectively increase the average throughput of a system and performance of cell edge users. The Multiple User-Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) technology is adopted in a CoMP system so that multiple User Equipments (UEs) are served simultaneously in a multi-cell collaboration manner, which improves the system average throughput and improves an edge throughput by using inter-cell interference suppression. Therefore, application of the MU-MIMO under the CoMP system is a hot technology at present. Critical issues studied in the MU-MIMO technology under the CoMP system include how to support a demodulation pilot sequence collaboratively transmitted in multiple cells and interference suppression between multiple users.
In an existing MU-MIMO transmission mode based on non-codebook precoding, the base station precodes the service data and the pilot sequence Demodulation Reference Signals (DM-RS) and transmits them. The DM-RS is used in channel estimation of the receiver. At the receiver, channel estimation is performed for the DM-RS to obtain a channel estimation value required for data demodulation, and corresponding data demodulation is performed according to the channel estimation value to obtain the service data.
In the prior art, a user must obtain channel estimation of the equivalent channel by estimating the DM-RS, which requires that the DM-RS s of different layers/users must be orthogonal. In the CoMP system, an existing DM-RS does not support orthogonality between cells. Therefore, the existing DM-RS fails to support the MU-MIMO mode of the CoMP system well. When the existing DM-RS is adopted under the MU-MIMO mode of the CoMP system, channel estimation accuracy of the receiver is relatively poor and interference between multiple users can hardly be eliminated, which results in a low signal to interference plus noise ratio of the received signals.

Method, terminal and base station for multi-user interference suppression


A composition for preventing or treating dry eye syndrome includes nanocomposite of a polyethylene glycol and a flavonoid as an active ingredient, and in the present invention, a catechin/PEG nanocomposite having increased catechin bioavailability is prepared by using catechins which are an antioxidant and polyethylene glycol which is a hydrophilic polymer used in a drug delivery system, and an increase in tear generation, stabilization of corneal epithelial cells, an increase in conjunctival goblet cells and enhanced anti-inflammatory effects accordance to a PEG dosage by the catechin/PEG nanocomposite are confirmed in a mouse model with dry eye syndrome.

Dry eye syndrome is a disease of the tear and ocular surface, including imbalance, hyperosmotic pressure and inflammatory damage of the tear film. Inflammation is a major factor in ocular dryness, leading to a vicious cycle of eye surface damage including progressive dysfunction of the lacrimal glands and conjunctival epithelial damage. Accordingly, the use of anti-inflammatory agents is most commonly used among the various treatment options for treating ocular dryness.
Catechin (flavan-3-ol) belongs to flavonoids and is a natural antioxidant found in various fruits, beverages and tea. Recent reports of beneficial effects including antibacterial, anticarcinogenic, and anti-inflammatory properties of catechins have received attention. Previous studies have shown that epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a catechin derivative, is effective in the treatment of ocular diseases including dry eye, glaucoma and various retinal dysfunctions through anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects. In addition, it has been reported that EGCG inhibits pro-inflammatory mediators in a mouse model of dry eye. However, only clinical findings using fluorescein staining were confirmed, and pathogenicity such as inflammation, lymphangiogenesis and apoptosis was evaluated in corneal epithelial cells in vitro. Catechins are powerful antioxidants, but catechins are limited in their use because of their low solubility in water, low bioavailability and their tendency to act as oxidation promoters depending on the dosage. Currently, research has been reported that increasing the molecular weight of catechins improves biological properties by increasing circulation time in the body.
Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) is a non-ionic and hydrophilic polymer widely used in various therapeutic biological drugs as a drug delivery system. PEG-based copolymers have biocompatibility, biodegradability and thermosensitivity and play a potential role as biomedical materials for biomedical applications because these properties can be easily controlled. According to a study published in 2008, possibility of nanocomplex of PEG and biopolymers (proteins, DNA, carbohydrates, etc.) has been reported as biological, long-acting and sustained-release formulations for therapeutic biological drug. In addition, PEG-based bipolar nanoparticles have been reported to be used so as to overcome multidrug resistance in cancer cells through the development of new drug delivery systems. However, most studies of PEG are limited to material engineering approaches, and the research on the efficacy of PEG is still unsatisfactory. A study published in 2014 reported the use of lipid nanoparticles as drug delivery vehicles. This study reported that EGCG encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles inhibits the oxidation and epimerization of drugs.
Nevertheless, studies on catechin and catechin/PEG nanocomposites in mouse model of dry eye have not been reported to date. In the present invention, PEG increases bioavailability of catechin, and catechin/PEG nanocomposite is expected to have synergistic effect and therapeutic effect in treating dry eye syndrome by improving anti-inflammatory effect of catechin.

Composition, for preventing or treating dry eye syndrome, containing polyethylene glycol and flavonoid nanocomposite as active ingredient

INJE UNIVERSITY INDUSTRY-ACADEMIC COOPERATION FOUNDATION


Hip joint prostheses are disclosed for permanent anchoring in the human hip joint of a ball unit in the neck of a human femur. The prosthesis include a first cylindrical fixture portion for extending from the collum femoris toward the outer side of the femur and a second cylindrical fixture portion for placement in the cancellus bone of the collum femoris, both of these portions including outer cylindrical surfaces with external self-tapping threads, and in which the first and second cylindrical fixture portions are joined into a single portion for insertion into a bore hole provided in the femur in a single operation.

The present invention relates to the development of a hip joint prosthesis of the kind disclosed in WO 89/11837. This document inter alia discloses a hip joint prosthesis comprising a primary fixture in the shape of a sleeve which is intended to be inserted into a central hole bored longitudinally through the collum femoris from the outer side of the femur and a secondary fixture in the shape of a cap having a spherical shape intended to be attached to and cover the end of the collum femoris when the head of the collum has been partially or entirely removed and the outside of the remaining end has been cut to a cylindrical shape. The primary and secondary fixtures are interconnected by means of a bolt which at one end has an internal thread. The bolt is to be inserted into the sleeve and its internal thread is to be made to engage a central, threaded stud projecting from the spherical cap. When the bolt is tightened, the cap is pressed over the cylindrically cut caput or end of the collum.
The prior art device thus is relatively complicated, both in terms of its construction and use.
In some applications, however, it may not be suitable to use this type of prior art device. One reason for this is that the shape of the collum may make it difficult to retain enough cortical bone to give the secondary fixture of cap a firm support, since the shape of the collum may vary to a great extent.
This prior device is also designed to be inserted in a two-step procedure; i.e., some parts of the prosthesis are to be inserted in a first operation, and the remaining parts are subsequently in a second operation after a healing period of a few months.
Other similar prior art is disclosed for instance in DE-A1-28 45 231, DE-A1-27 24 040, United U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,473 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,495.
The object of the present invention is to provide a hip joint prosthesis which is simple in construction and use and which is particularly suited for insertion in a one-step operation, and which can also be adapted to fit different conditions.