The present disclosure relates to a method for synchronizing a radio device with a network node of a Global System for Mobile Communications, GSM, radio communication system. The method comprises obtaining a reference array based on a known training sequence, TSC, of a synchronization burst, SB, of a synchronization channel, SCH, of the network node. The method also comprises receiving an SB including the TSC from the network node and forming a received array. The method also comprises comparing the reference array to the received array for finding a sequence of the received array which has identity with the reference array, and thereby finding the position of the TSC in the received SB. The method also comprises determining whether the identity of the found sequence with the reference array is above a predefined threshold, in which case the radio device can be time synchronized based on the found TSC.

According to the existing communication standards, when a GSM supported mobile is switched ON, it measures the Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) of different frequencies in the supported frequency bands and create an ordered list of frequencies from highest RSSI to lowest RSSI and pass it on to a higher layer. Next, the higher layer instructs Layer 1 (L1) to program the radio frequency (RF) module to continuously receive the amplitude/phase (I, Q) sample data and search for the Frequency Correction Channel (FCCH) burst data using an FCCH detector algorithm in the base-band. This is shown in FIG. 1 which is a GSM initial cell selection flow diagram; where FB is the frequency burst of the FCCH, SB is the synchronization burst of the Synchronization Channel (SCH), and BCCH is the Broadcast Control Channel.
Since FCCH burst information carries all zero sequences (e.g. a total of 142+3+3=148 number of zeros), after the Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK) modulation at the Base Transceiver Station (BTS), it becomes a pure sine wave tone of frequency Rubidium (Rb)/4=67.77 KHz. The FCCH detector algorithm detects the presence of FCCH information in the received I, Q samples and, if detected, then it provides the frequency error estimated and also the bursts boundaries in time. Knowing these output parameters help to first correct the mobile station (MS) frequency offset. And then, as the burst boundaries are known (burst start position known), so the RF module is programmed for SCH burst reception in the next Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) frame (since the SCH appears one frame after the FCCH frame in the 51 multi-frame structure as shown in FIG. 2; where F indicates an FCCH frame, S indicates an SCH frame, B indicates a BCCH frame, P indicates a Paging Control Channel (PCCH) frame or a Common Control Channel (CCCH), and I indicates an idle frame. The channels shown in FIG. 2 appear in a time-multiplexed manner in the same frequency and time slot (0) one after the other as shown in FIG. 2.
The SCH contains the Synchronization Burst (SB). The content of the SB structure e.g. data content is shown in FIG. 3. The SB contains, in sequence: 3 tail bits, 39 encoded information bits, 64 Training Sequence (TSC) bits, 39 encoded information bits, 3 tail bits, and 8.25 guard bits. The 64 bits TSC is the same for the whole GSM system and is known to the mobile station (MS) (see the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Technical Specification (TS) 45.002, section 5.2.5).
The training sequence used by a BTS for the SB burst transmission is (where b indicates the bit number of the SB): b42,b43,b44, . . . , b105=(1,0,1,1,1,0,0,1,0,1,1,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,0,0,1,0,1,1,0,1,0,1,0,0,0,1,0,1,0,1,1, 1,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,1,1)
The SB burst is always GMSK modulated and sent without any interleaving. That means one burst is enough for decoding. Since the FCCH helps to some extent with obtaining the burst boundary and according to that, the RF window opening time is adjusted to receive the SB burst in the next TDMA frame. Also, coarse frequency error is corrected after the FCCH detection. Once the I,Q samples for the SCH burst are received according to the adjusted RF window, then the I,Q pairs are passed to the base-band for channel estimation, demodulation and decoding of SCH data. The channel estimation process of the SCH is complex since it contains 64 TSC bits. Generally, +−8 bits on both the side of the TSC are allowed to shift and the channel estimation is searched from +−8 bits on both the side of the expected position of the TSC. If the time offset is more than 8 bits, then the channel estimation will fail.
Once the SCH is decoded, it provides 25 information bits. The data includes the Base Station Identity Code (BSIC) and the frame number of the current frame within the hyper frame (19 bit Reduced Frame Number). The BSIC consists of three-bit Network Color Code (NCC) and three bit Base station (BS) color code. This is then used for time synchronization.
The receiver blocks for the FCCH and SCH reception, for FCCH and SCH reception in standard scenarios of MS cell selection, reselection and handover procedures, are shown in the FIG. 4, with FCCH detection block and one SCH detection and decoding block; where RFN indicates Reduced Frame Number.
The above discussed procedure of first receiving FCCH and then SCH in next TDMA frame e.g. after 4.615 ms, is used in many cases, like    (a) During the cell selection and re-selection time: MS detects FCCH and then this is followed by SCH decoding for frequency and time synchronization to the new cell.    (b) During the blind Handover time: MS detects the FCCH and then this is followed by SCH channel decoding for the new handover cell for synchronization.    (c) During neighbor cell monitoring: During the GSM neighbor cell measurement, the MS needs to search the FCCH (which appears in time multiplexed manner in the cell broadcast channel e.g. broadcast frequency and time slot number 0) for all the detected strongest cell frequencies (based on the measured RSSI) in the monitored cell list.    (d) During the periodic cell reconfirmation (BSIC reconfirmation): MS receives and decodes the SCH channel's data for BSIC re-confirmation purpose (see 3GPP TS 45.008).
For the processes of (a) and (b), the MS has to first detect the FCCH and then program the RF module for SCH reception in the next TDMA frame, that means after 8 time slots. This has several potential drawbacks, like:    (1) In I-RAT (Inter Radio Access Technology—when the MS supports many Radio Access Technologies (RATs)) scenario, where the measurement gap time is too short, whereby performing the FCCH and SCH reception in a single time gap (which is provided by the other, active, RAT to the GSM RAT) is difficult, and also aligning the FCCH and SCH frames with the gap is a problem. As shown in the below FIG. 5, FCCH detection is attempted in many gaps and finally succeeded in the Gap#N. SCH decoding is attempted next, but since the SCH slot is not aligned with a gap elsewhere than in Gap#M, the SCH is decoded with a large latency.    (2) In the dedicated mode, the measurement time available is very short and precious. In a Long Term Evolution (LTE) active RAT case, the gaps for measurements on a GSM RAT are not regular since LTE has Discontinuous Reception (DRX) in connected mode. So, also in that situation, making sure that all the neighbor cells' SCH will fall under the time gap period is very difficult and not possible to achieve (as illustrated in FIG. 6, where C indicates the Common Control Channel (CCCH) which e.g. is PCCH or Scheduling Grant Channel (SGCH)). Since we have a two-step based approach as shown in FIG. 5 (FCCH followed by SCH), Cell selection/re-selection takes more time.    (3) In Blind Handover it takes a lot of time to search for FCCH and SCH, as shown in FIG. 1.    (4) In periodic cell reconfirmation it takes a lot of extra processing cycles to reconfirm the cell by searching for FCCH and then SCH.
Regarding cell reconfirmation, after the camp on when MS is in idle mode, the MS shall continue to monitor all BCCH carriers as indicated in the BCCH Allocation (BA) list [3GPP TS 45.008 section 6.6.1]. The MS shall first monitor the RSSI of the non-serving (neighboring) carriers (up to 32 carriers). Then, if a new carrier is found whose signal strength is greater than a defined threshold, the MS will schedule for FCCH detection on that carrier and if FCCH is found, next SCH detection will be scheduled by the MS for that carrier after getting the rough timing information about in which TDMA frame the SCH on that carrier will be appearing. If the SCH is decoded successfully, then the decoded SCH data will convey the RFN (reduced frame number which is 19 bits) and BSIC (base station identity code BCC and network identity code NCC). The MS checks for the validity of the BSIC and if the BSIC is new e.g. the cell is new and allowed then the cell is added in the cell list if it has not been added earlier e.g. if it is newly found cell. Once a new cell is found and added in the cell list, the MS tries to monitor that cell on a regular basis to re-confirm that it is monitoring the same cell. This process is known as BSIC reconfirmation. Also in the dedicated mode, the MS does the BSIC reconfirmation.
According 3GPP TS 45.008, the MS shall attempt to check the BSIC for each of the 6 strongest non serving cell BCCH carriers at least every 30 seconds in idle mode, to confirm that it is monitoring the same cells. According to TS 45.008 section 7.2, it is essential for the MS to identify which surrounding Base Station Subsystem (BSS) is being measured in order to ensure reliable handover. Thus, it is necessary for the MS to synchronize to and demodulate surrounding BCCH carriers and identify their base station identification codes (BSIC). The MS shall attempt to demodulate the SCH on the BCCH carriers of as many surrounding cells as possible, and decode the BSIC as often as possible, and as a minimum at least once every 10 seconds in connected mode.
A multi-RAT MS is allowed to extend this period to 13 seconds in connected multi-RAT scenarios, if the neighbor cell list contains cells or frequencies from other RATs. In a multi-RAT scenario, an MS shall thus, for a period of up to 5 seconds, devote all search frames to attempting to decode these BSICs. If this fails then the MS shall return to confirming existing BSICs. Having re confirmed existing BSICs, if there are still BCCH carriers among the six strongest with unknown BSICs, then the decoding of these shall again be given priority for a further period of up to 5 seconds. In Packet Idle mode or MAC-Idle state (TS 45.008, section 10.1.1.1) the MS shall attempt to check the BSIC for each of the 6 strongest non serving cell BCCH carriers at least every 14 consecutive paging blocks of that MS or 10 seconds, whichever is greater. If a change of BSIC is detected then the carrier shall be treated as a new carrier, else continue with the same carrier.
The same is applicable for Packet Transfer mode or MAC-Shared state (TS 45.008, section 10.1.1.2), where an MS shall continuously monitor all BCCH carriers as indicated by the BA (General Packet Radio Services (GPRS)) list and the BCCH carrier of the serving cell. A list containing BSIC and timing information for these strongest carriers at the accuracy required for accessing a cell (see 3GPP TS 45.010) including the absolute times derived from the parameters T1, T2, T3 shall be kept by the MS. This information may be used to schedule the decoding of BSIC and shall be used when re-selecting a new cell in order to keep the switching time at a minimum. When a BCCH carrier is found to be no longer among the reported, BSIC and timing information shall be retained for 10 seconds.
As mentioned above, the BSIC identification happens very frequently in the MS and happens in idle as well as in dedicated mode or packet transfer mode. For a single RAT GSM/GPRS MS, it is a high burden to demodulate and decode the SCH burst all the time for all the detected cells for reconfirmation purpose. Because it consumes a lot of battery power for SCH burst equalization, demodulation and decoding purposes and at the same time it consumes some time for decoding (though it is a single burst decoding).
In a Multi-RAT MS, where the MS needs to do many things in a small provided time gap (given from other RATs to GSM), the time for decoding SCH data matters a lot for the overall MS performance. The reconfirmation process discussed above is illustrated in FIG. 7; where C1, C2, . . . Cn indicate the strongest GSM cells.


A crossing frog includes: a cradle assembly which includes a movable point fitting component which has two projection elements which are mutually spaced-apart, a movable point which is mounted in the cradle assembly and fitted in the fitting component, spacer components which are interposed between the projection elements and the movable point, and accommodation for removably fixing the movable point in the fitting component. The spacer components are fixed to the projection elements in a removable manner by the accommodation for removable fixing so that it is possible to remove the point in a vertical direction relative to the cradle assembly.

Generally, the design of known crossing frogs does not allow the movable point to be removed and replaced on the track (in situ) when it is worn or damaged.
For example, the crossing frogs described in patent FR 2 788 535 comprise spacers which are formed in one piece with the projection elements. Removing the movable point from the fish-plate chamber can thus be carried out, for crossing frogs of this type, only in the main direction of the track, that is to say, axially. This removal requires the fitting component to be removed beforehand, fixedly joined to the movable point, the removal of the movable point then being carried in the workshop and not in situ, which requires the worn or damaged frog to be removed and replaced with a replacement part of the same type.
A maintenance operation of this type not only involves very high cost, but also the track being closed for a very long period of time.
The object of the invention is to overcome this disadvantage and to make it possible to carry out a maintenance operation of this type in situ in order to very significantly reduce the duration and the cost of the maintenance operation.

Movable point crossing frog for a rail track


A power saving method is disclosed. A halt instruction is issued to enable transition from an operational state to a power saving state. The processor broadcasts a message to a chipset. The chipset receives the sleep message and enters a power saving state, and asserts a hardware pin to disable a data bus connecting the processor and the chipset. It is determined whether a request for data transaction required during the power saving process is issued to the chipset. If the request is issued to the chipset, the chipset deasserts the hardware pin to enable the data bus, transmits the request to the processor; and, when data transaction is complete, asserts the hardware pin by the chipset to disable the data bus.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to power management, and more particularly to a power saving method for a computer system.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a computer system.
The computer system 100 comprises a processor 110 and a chipset 130. Chipset 130 further comprises an interrupt controller 131 and a SMC 133, coupled to processor 110 via a lightning data transport (LDT) bus. When an operating system of computer 100 operates, an LDT_STOP pin is deasserted (connection, LDTSTOP#=HIGH) using SMC 133 to enable the LDT bus, thereby enabling data transmission between processor 110 and chipset 130. When the operating system enters a power saving mode, processor 110 issues a halt instruction to enter the C1 state (a power saving state) from the C0 state (an operational state).
Next, processor 110 broadcasts a sleep message to other components (such as chipset 130, device 150, and others) to reduce system resource consumption, by, for example, lowering operational frequency, voltage, and the like, while the LDT_STOP pin is still deasserted (connection, LDTSTOP#=HIGH) such that the LDT bus is still enabled. If device 150 sends an interrupt request (IRQ) to chipset 130, interrupt controller 131 receives and transmits the IRQ to processor 110. When receiving the IRQ, processor 110 is waked up from the C1 state (a power saving state) to the C0 state (an operational state) while the LDT_STOP pin is still deasserted (connection, LDTSTOP#=HIGH) that the LDT bus is still enabled.
As described, the LDT_STOP pin is always deasserted (connection, LDTSTOP#=HIGH) even if computer system 100 and processor 110 enter a power saving mode (C1 state), wasting system resources or power. Thus, an improved power saving method and apparatus is desirable.

Method and apparatus for asserting a hardware pin to disable a data bus connecting a processor and a chipset during power saving state


The invention concerns an apparatus for inspection of a wafer, encompassing at least one illumination device in order to radiate an illuminating light beam onto a surface of the wafer, and an image capture device in order to capture an image of an illuminated region on the surface of the wafer in a plurality of spectral regions, a color modification device being provided in order to modify the color spectrum of the illuminating light beam or of the reflected light beam. The wafer inspection apparatus is characterized in that the color modification device is designed in such a way that the color spectrum of the illuminating light beam, or that of the image that is acquired of the surface of the wafer, is adaptable to the spectral sensitivity of the image capture device.

Apparatuses for the detection of macrodefects on the surface of wafers are used to improve quality and efficiency in the production of integrated circuits, so that wafers found to be defective can be discarded or can be reprocessed until the quality of a wafer that has just been inspected is satisfactory.
Optical wafer inspection apparatuses are known that encompass an illumination device for radiating an illuminating light beam onto a surface of the wafer, and an image capture device for capturing an image of an illuminated region on the surface of the wafer in a plurality of spectral regions, i.e. in spectrally resolved fashion. Problems can occur in the further processing of the color image signals captured by the image capture device if the color image channels of the image capture device are modulated nonuniformly; this can result in a relatively low signal-to-noise ratio, or saturation, in individual color image channels.
DE 101 32 360 C1 discloses an apparatus for color-neutral brightness adjustment in the illumination beam path of a microscope. The apparatus is based on the recognition that in microscopes operated with an incandescent lamp similar to a black body, upon a reduction in the power level delivered to the lamp, the color temperature of the color spectrum emitted by the incandescent lamp is shifted from the blue spectral region to the red spectral region. To compensate for the red shift, there is provided in the illumination beam path a variable optical filter whose transmittance for red light changes over the filter surface. Displacement of the filter in the illumination beam path brings about a blue shift which compensates for the red shift caused by the diminution in electrical power.
DE 100 31 303 A1 discloses an illumination apparatus having LEDs. Degeneration of the LED material causes a change over time in the intensity and wavelength of the emitted LED light. To achieve consistent illumination properties, a control system is provided so that a predefined color temperature and intensity can be maintained for the LED s.

Apparatus, method, and computer program for wafer inspection


The present invention provides a herpes virus with improved oncolytic properties which comprises a gene encoding an immunomodulatory cytokine and which lacks a functional ICP34.5 gene and a functional ICP47 encoding gene.

Viruses have been shown to have utility in a variety of applications in biotechnology and medicine on many occasions. Each is due to the unique ability of viruses to enter cells at high efficiency. This is followed in such applications by either virus gene expression and replication and/or expression of an inserted heterologous gene. Thus viruses can either deliver and express genes in cells (either viral or other genes) which may be useful in for example gene therapy or the development of vaccines, or they may be useful in selectively killing cells by lytic replication or the action of a delivered gene in for example cancer.
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) has been suggested to be of use for the oncolytic treatment of cancer. Here the virus must however be disabled such that it is no longer pathogenic, i.e. does not replicate in and kill non-tumor cells, but such that it can still enter and kill tumor cells. For the oncolytic treatment of cancer, which may also include the delivery of gene(s) enhancing the therapeutic effect, a number of mutations to HSV have been identified which still allow the virus to replicate in culture or in actively dividing cells in vivo (e.g. in tumors), but which prevent significant replication in normal tissue. Such mutations include disruption of the genes encoding ICP34.5, ICP6, and thymidine kinase. Of these, viruses with mutations to ICP34.5, or ICP34.5 together with mutation of e.g. ICP6 have so far shown the most favourable safety profile. Viruses deleted for only ICP34.5 have been shown to replicate in many tumor cell types in vitro and to selectively replicate in artificially induced brain tumors in mice while sparing surrounding tissue. Early stage clinical trials have also shown their safety in man.
However, while promise has been shown for various viruses including HSV for the oncolytic treatment of cancer, the majority of this work has used virus strains which do not carry a heterologous gene which may enhance the anti-tumor effect. We propose that the combined use of HSV with an inactivating mutation in the gene encoding ICP34.5 together with the delivery of the gene encoding an immunomodulatory protein such as granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) encoded in the disabled virus genome may have optimal immune stimulating properties against the tumor to be treated, particularly if functions in the virus which usually reduce immune responses to HSV infected cells have also been inactivated. For example the HSV ICP47 protein specifically inhibits antigen presentation in HSV infected cells (Hill et al 1995), and the product of the UL43 gene and the vhs protein reduce the immune-stimulating abilities of dendritic cells infected with HSV. ICP47 and/or dendritic cell-inactivating genes might therefore usefully be deleted from an oncolytic HSV mutant virus used for the treatment of cancer, particularly if immune effects are to be enhanced through the use of GM-CSF or other immunostimulatory cytokine or chemokine. GM-CSF has recently been shown to give an enhanced anti-tumor immune effect if expressed from within a tumor cell rather than administered systemically (Shi et al 1999). Thus in such use an oncolytic HSV mutant would be inoculated into a primary or secondary tumor where replication and oncolytic destruction of the tumor would occur. Immune responses would also be stimulated against the HSV infected cells, and also to tumor cells elsewhere which had spread from the primary tumor site.


A terminal and a data transmission method in an Internet of vehicles are provided. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a terminal determines at least one first carrier carrying first service data, and further sends to a network device a data volume of the first service data carried on the at least one first carrier, so that the network device can allocate a first transmission resource to the at least one first carrier according to the data volume of the first service data carried on the at least one first carrier.

An IoV system uses a direct communication mode between terminals and has a higher spectral efficiency and a lower transmission delay. In the IoV system, two types of terminals are generally involved, one is a Vehicle User Equipment (VUE), and the other is a Pedestrian User Equipment (PUE).
In the IoV system, the communication between terminals may be based on various wireless communication systems, such as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system. In wireless communication systems, a multi-carrier technology has been used as a method of expanding system bandwidth. In a multi-carrier mode, multiple carriers may serve one terminal, and each carrier is also called a component carrier.
However, the related art does not teach how to perform terminal-to-terminal data transmission on multiple carriers in an IoV system.

Terminal and data transmission to perform terminal to terminal data transmission in an internet of vehicles (IoV) system

GUANDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., LTD.


An improved pocket-sized book capable of one-handed manipulation. The book has informational pages among which a user may navigate by using only the hand holding the book. The book has finger slots for receiving the fingers of a user and a thumb restraint for securing the thumb and thumb mass to prevent both from interfering with either the turning of the pages or the user's view of the information printed thereon. By placing his or her finger on one of the tabs and providing an upward rotational force on the book, a user is able to open the book to the desired section and view the information printed on the pages therein. A guard attached to the side of the book blocks the lateral movement of the pages so that the pages do not become askew.

Pocket-sized travel books are well known in the art. A typical pocket-sized book has front and back covers, pages therebetween for the displaying and/or recording of information, and tabs to indicate different sections of the book. One advantage of the small sizes of these books is that they may generally be held in one hand so that a user's other hand is unencumbered to allow the user to obtain information while simultaneously performing some other activity, such as talking on the phone. However, the structure of prior art pocket-sized books does not allow for easy one-handed manipulation. What is needed is a pocket-sized book that allows easy one-handed manipulation and review of the contents therein.


A drainage catheter apparatus for draining fluid from a body cavity of a patient, of the catheter type having an elongated hollow drainage member, a flexible tip, an interfacing hub member, a sealing member, a restraining member, a flexible drawing member and a retention facilitating member. The flexible drawing member capable of altering the flexible tip. This sealing member of elastomeric material seals the draw-string opening to automatically seal the opening from the passage of fluid therethrough, while enabling extension of the flexible drawing member. Similarly, the restraining member facilitates releasable restraint of the draw-string in a desired position. The retention facilitating member facilitates the proper positioning of the flexible drawing member with the restraining member and/or sealing member.

The invention relates, in general, to a drainage catheter, and more particularly, to a drainage catheter apparatus for draining fluid from a body cavity of a patient.
The practice of inserting a drainage catheter into a body cavity of a patient has become a routine medical procedure. Generally, the catheter with the aid of insertion tools is inserted into a patient's cavity. Once in position, the shape of the flexible tip at the end of the catheter is altered to essentially maintain the flexible tip within the cavity and, in turn, to preclude inadvertent removal of the drainage catheter from the body cavity. Commonly, the fluid to be drained begins to flow through the catheter immediately upon insertion of the flexible tip into the cavity. However, many times, the catheter cannot be connected to an outside container until the shape of the flexible tip is fully altered to a coiled configuration that helps maintain it in position. Certain devices, such as Goldenberg, et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,352,198 and Paul, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,165 have a separate opening for facilitating the member, such as a string, for altering the shape of the flexible tip of the catheter. Fluid, however, leaks through this opening. Further, these references require coiling of the flexible tip prior to sealing of this opening. Only once the tip is coiled as desired, can the string opening be fully sealed. Fluid will thus emanate from this opening during the positioning and coiling of the flexible tip.
Likewise, these references require separate members to releasably restrain and/or lock the string in the desired location. As such, until fully positioned, it is possible to inadvertently release the string member such that the flexible tip uncoils. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a drainage catheter apparatus that contains a separate opening for the string member which facilitates shape adjustments to the flexible tip of the apparatus, once the flexible tip is positioned within a cavity, while further providing means to automatically seal the separate opening during the altering/coiling of the shape of the flexible tip.
It is still further an object of the present invention to provide a drainage catheter apparatus wherein such automatic sealing mechanism additionally serves to maintain the string member, and, in turn, the flexible tip, in a desired coiled position. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a drainage catheter apparatus which includes means to facilitate the release of the string member from the apparatus prior to removal of the apparatus from the patient's cavity.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a drainage catheter apparatus which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and assemble.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent in light of the present specification, claims and drawings.


The invention provides a file system which can record and/or record AV signals simply onto and/or from a disc in a home. The file system is incorporated in a recording and/or reproduction apparatus which uses a disc type recording medium, and records management information for management of a file of AV data to at least two locations of a logical volume.

This invention relates to a recording and/or reproduction apparatus, a file management method and a providing medium, and more particularly to a file system to be used for a recording and/or reproduction apparatus (VDR: Video Disc Recorder) in which a disc type recording medium is used.
As a file system for recording data onto a disc type recording medium, the ISO/IEC13346, 1995, "Information technology—Volume and file structure of write-once and rewritable media using non-sequential recording for information interchange" is known. This file system is a general purpose file system for recording various data and is not intended to be used by an individual to record compressed digital AV (audio and vide) signals onto a disc in a home. Therefore, the system is not necessarily satisfactory to record compressed digital AV (audio and video) signals. Accordingly, a file system and a volume optimum to record AV signals are demanded.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Recording and/or reproduction apparatus, file management method and providing medium


A device for reading and recording magnetic data includes an aerodynamically supported slider with an air bearing surface, and a transducer mounted to the slider for movement toward and away from the air bearing surface responsive to changes in the slider operating temperature. In one embodiment, the transducer movement is primarily due to a difference in thermal expansion coefficients between a transducing region of the slider incorporating the transducer, and the remainder of the slider body. In another embodiment, a strip of thermally expansive material is incorporated into the slider near the transducer to contribute to the displacement by its own expansion. A temperature control circuit, coupled to the strip of thermally expansive material or to a resistance heating element on the slider, employs a variable current source to control the slider temperature and transducer displacement. Nominal slider operating temperatures can be set to achieve a predetermined transducer flying height, to compensate for variations in flying heights among batch fabricated sliders. Optionally, a temperature sensor can be employed to measure the slider operating temperatures and provide a temperature sensitive input to the temperature control circuit.

The present invention relates to data storage devices that employ aerodynamically supported transducing sliders for reading and recording magnetic data, and more particularly to structure and circuitry for controlling the flying heights of magnetic data transducers carried by such sliders.
In typical magnetic data storage devices, magnetic disks with flat recording surfaces are mounted rotatably and magnetic data transducing heads are positioned in close proximity to the recording surfaces, each head movable generally radially with respect to its associated disk. In higher capacity devices, the disks are rotated at high speeds to create an air cushion or bearing that supports each transducing head at a controlled distance from its associated recording surface. The transducing heads contact their associated disks only when the disks are either stationery, accelerating from a stop, or decelerating to a complete stop.
Designers of magnetic disks continually strive to increase the density at which the magnetic data can be stored. One factor that limits storage densities is the transducing head flying height. As discrete data storage areas are placed more closely to one another, the transducer must be positioned more closely to the recording surface to distinguish between adjacent storage areas. In recent year, transducing head flying heights have been decreased from levels greater than about 10 microinches, to levels of less than about 4 microinches, largely due to improved techniques for reducing media surface roughness. Further reductions in flying height are enabled by a super smooth polishing of media surfaces in data recording areas while also providing an adjacent head contact zone, textured to avoid stiction problems. An example of this approach is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,021, (Ranjan et al) assigned to the assignee of this application.
There are several factors that limit the reduction in slider flying height. These fcctors might reasonably be ignored at flying heights of about 10 microinches, but would become major concerns at flying heights on the order of 1-2 microinches. These include variations in the sliders themselves, variations in the structure that supports the sliders, and media surface roughness.
More particularly, normal tolerances in slider fabrication lead to structural variations among the sliders in any given batch. Consequently, thie flying heights of sliders in the batch are distributed over a range, although the flying height of each slider individually is substantially constant.
Variations in supporting structure occur primarily in the transducer support arm, the suspension or gimballing structure, slider geometry and load arm. These variations influence the flying height, and the nature of a given slider's reaction to any disturbances, e.g. due to shock or vibration.
Disk roughness also becomes more of a problem at lower slider flying heights. With maximum peaks more likely to protrude into a normal range of slider operation, the probability of unintended and damaging slider/disk contact increases. The risk of damage from these discontinuities is greater at lower slider flying heights.
Thermal effects also are exaggerated by minute slider flying heights. Thermal effects include the natural tendency of materials to expand when heated, quantified by a temperature coefficient of thermal expansion more conveniently called a thermal expansion coefficient. Materials with higher coefficients expand more in response to a given temperature increase. When materials having different thermal expansion coefficients are contiguous and integral, their differing expansion when heated leads to elastic deformations and elastic restoring forces in both of the materials. Reduced flying heights increase the need to take thermal expansion and thermally induced elastic deformation into account.
One proposed design of a slider would drag on the disk surface, thereby more precisely fixing a head/disk spacing based on a peak roughness of the disk surface. Any improvement in setting the transducer/recording surface gap, however, would be at the cost of excessive wear to the slider, media recording surface, or both.
Several patents discuss the use of piezoelectric material in a slider, to adjust the position of a transducer mounted to the slider. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,906 (Chang et al) discloses a programmable air bearing slider with a deformable piezoelectric region between leading edge and trailing edge regions. The deformable region is controlled electrically to change the angle between the leading and trailing regions, thus to change the position of a transducer mounted to the trailing region.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,810 (Pohl et al) concerns a magnetic transducing head including a body and a piezoelectric layer adjacent the body. The piezoelectric layer is operable to control the head/disk gap, based on sensing a tunnel current across the gap between the recording surface and a tunnel electrode on the slider.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,977 (Matthews), a cantilevered beam mounted to a slider supports a magnetic transducer at its free end. The beam includes a flexible vein and piezoelectric transducers on opposite sides of the vein, used in combination with a piezoelectric driver to adjust the position of the magnetic transducer.
The piezoelectric sliders are difficult to fabricate. Large activation voltages are required for piezoelectrically deforming materials a sufficient aLmount to control the transducer position. Piezoelectric deformation schemes can take thermal expansions and elastic deformations into account indirectly, but cannot be employed to limit or otherwise influence these phenomena.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a magnetic transducing slider incorporating non-piezoelectric means to control the flying height of a magnetic transducer carried by the slider, independently of the flying height of the slider.
Another object of the invention is to mount a magnetic transducer to an air bearing slider body in a manner that enables controllably adjusting the transducer position relative to the slider body by controlling an operating temperature of the slider.
A further object is to provide a magnetic data transducing apparatus in which positionable adjustments of a magnetic transducer, relative to a slider body carrying the transducer, are controlled at least in part responsive to sensing slider temperature.
Yet another object is to provide a process for selecting a spacing between a magnetic transducer and an air bearing surface of the slider carrying the transducer, to achieve substantial uniformity in transducer flying heights among multiple sliders, despite a variance in the corresponding slider flying heights.

Slider with temperature responsive transducer positioning


Complex filters may be used to achieve compensation of a plant, corresponding for example to a power regulator or point-of-load (POL) regulator. Digital filter coefficients may be mapped to analogous poles and zeros, or they may be mapped to values of the quality factor (Q) of the output, frequency, and gain. The plant may be observed and characterized using a network analyzer to generate the Bode plot (or Nyquist plot) for the plant. The digital filter coefficients may be mapped to features that may be identified on the Bode plot (or Nyquist plot) to easily correlate characteristics of the digital filter or digital compensator to the plant characteristics. The mapped features may be adjusted, for example by a user, either manually or by executing one or more optimization algorithms, to achieve the desired results relative to the Bode plot (or Nyquist plot). The mapped features may then be reverse mapped to the digital filter or digital compensator coefficients to fine tune and implement the digital filter or digital compensator.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to compensation of feedback systems and, more particularly, to adaptive compensation in digital power controllers.
2. Description of the Related Art
The rapid evolution and increased power consumption of commercial integrated circuits, such as microprocessors and graphics processors, has created new and significant problems in delivery of the power to and removal of waste heat from these ICs. Power supply design is now a much more critical and difficult task than it was a few years ago. High-current/low-voltage ICs require a very clean and stable source of DC power. The power source must be capable of delivering very fast current transients. The electronic path to these loads must also have low resistance and inductance (a 1.5V supply would be completely dropped across a 25 mΩ resistance at 60 Amps).
Traditionally, DC power supplies were designed to convert AC line voltage to one or more DC outputs that would be routed throughout a system to the points of load (POL). However, it may not be practical to route high-current signals throughout a system. To overcome this difficulty, and to reduce the ill effects of distributing high current signals around a system, an alternative method of distributing power at modest voltage and current levels has been adopted. Rather than converting an AC supply voltage level to the DC voltage level required by various loads at a central location, the AC supply voltage is typically converted to a "reasonable" DC voltage and routed to the "point of load" (POL), where it is converted locally to the required low voltage. This technique is referred to as "Distributed Power Architecture", or DPA.
In many power distribution systems it is typically not enough to just distribute power around a system to the various POLs. Complex electronic systems are generally monitored and controlled to ensure maximum reliability and performance. Functions (power supply features) typically implemented in DPA systems include supply sequencing, hot swap ability, ramp control, voltage programming, load monitoring, tracking, temperature monitoring, fan speed control, phase control, current sharing, switching frequency programmability, and switching clock synchronization, to name a few. There are other functions that may be required for power systems. For example, single points of temperature measurement, open/closed status of doors and vibration may be of interest.
In order to accommodate a demand for more power and denser systems and the resulting new distribution problems, many present power distribution schemes began offering multiples of each solution, or functions, in a single package. Typically each of these functions requires a separate configuration within the system. That is, each function may require its own interconnection network tying the POL converters together. The interconnection network may implement glue-logic that may be required for control of the POL converters in order for the particular function to be successfully executed during system operation. Many of these functions comprise analog signal control requiring corresponding analog signal lines, with POL converters interconnected in point-to-point configurations. Routing of such signals is often difficult, while no true communication is established between various POL converters and/or between the POL converters and any other elements of the system. In an effort to tie all or most of these functions together at the system level, one approach has been to implement the functions in control ICs responsible for controlling respective POL converters. Some of the functionality may also be programmed into a microcontroller that may communicate with attached POL converters over an I2C (inter-IC communication) bus to coordinate control of all POL converters in the system.
DC-to-DC conversion is often performed by switching power regulators, or step-down regulators, converting a higher voltage (e.g. 12V) to a lower value as required by one or more load devices. A common architecture features distribution of the higher voltage to multiple power regulators, each producing a different (or possibly the same) voltage to one or more loads. Switching power regulators often use two or more power transistors to convert energy at one voltage to another voltage. One common example of such a power regulator 100, commonly called a "Buck Regulator" is shown in FIG. 1a. Buck Regulator 100 typically switches a pair of power transistors (108 and 110) in order to produce a square-wave at their common node SW. The produced square-wave can be smoothed out using an LC circuit comprising inductor 112 and capacitor 114 to produce the desired voltage, Vout. A control loop, comprised of an Error Amplifier 116, a Proportional-Integral-Differential (PID) Filter 102, a Pulse-Width-Modulator (PWM) 104, and an Output Control circuit 106, can be configured to control the duty-cycle of the output square-wave, and hence the resulting value of Vout.
For analog control, Type III compensation has typically been a popular choice for compensation of voltage mode switching power supplies. Many types and variations of compensation are available for digital control, but one of the most popular has been digital PID compensation, indicated in FIG. 1a by PID Filter 102, which may be configured to perform digital compensation and/or filtering in Regulator 100. In general, digital power control has been used in various instances in the power industry for some time. As the cost of digital controllers decreases, their increased use becomes more apparent, yet their relative value and advantage over more conventional analog controllers has been a matter of debate. The main question at the center of the debate is whether digital control can truly provide any substantive advantage over analog control.
Semiconductor process technology has developed to the point that digital circuitry definitely has a size advantage over analog circuitry. For example, an entire digital microcontroller may be built to the approximate size of a single (small) analog component: a capacitor. In addition, digital technology offers the potential to integrate and incorporate sophisticated control algorithms, which may simply be too complex, too large, or too expensive to implement as analog designs. An example of this problem is illustrated in "optimized dead time control" or ODTC. ODTC is an innovative search algorithm which adjusts the switching dead times to optimize the efficiency of the power converter. Although analog implementations of "adaptive dead time" have been around for some time, they did not include efficiency optimization but merely the prevention of cross conduction.
Another essential element of power supply operation is stability. Because of the complexity of the system stability under poorly defined (or even poorly understood) load and environmental conditions, compensation for stability may well be one of the areas where digital implementation may provide a decided advantage over analog solutions. Because of the computational efficiency and power of digital control, compensation is an area where digital solutions have a distinct performance advantage over analog implementations.
Many other problems and disadvantages of the prior art will become apparent to one skilled in the art after comparing such prior art with the present invention as described herein.

Adaptive compensation in digital power controllers


Magnesium oxysulfate cement compositions and methods for controlling and preventing fluid and gas flow through a wellbore are described. The compositions and methods may be implemented to provide a barrier to fluid and gas flow between casings or in other operations such as squeeze operations. Magnesium oxysulfate cement compositions may include an admixture of magnesium oxide, magnesium sulfate trihydrate and water. When admixed with water, the compositions rapidly transition from a flowable state to a solid state with formation of little or no gel strength before the transition and further have a near-linear relationship between the time required for the transition to occur and the composition temperature at which the transition occurs enabling the user to determine the time within which the transition will occur. Additives, such as accelerators and inhibitors can be added to modify the time in which the compositions make the transition from flowable state to solid state. Other agents can be added to modify the specific gravity and viscosity of the compositions.

There is an ongoing need in the oil and gas exploration industry, and other industries, to control fluid (e.g., oil and water) and gas flow from within wells or other earthen formations at a wellsite. A "well" means or refers to a hole that is drilled to access producing formations to allow the exploration and recovery of natural resources such as oil, gas or water. A "wellbore" means or refers to the actual hole that forms the well. The wall or walls of the well define the wellbore "face." The wellbore and wellbore face can be encased by materials such as steel and/or cement, or the well walls may be uncased. By way of example, a wellbore may be drilled in any suitable orientation including vertical, horizontal and/or angled and can include a combination of vertical, horizontal and angled portions.
Settings in which containment of fluid and gas flow is required include, for example, drilling of new wells, re-drilling of existing wells and workover operations.
When a new well is drilled, a drilling fluid is used to control subsurface pressures. In unusual circumstances, such as total loss of the drilling fluid, attempts may be made to use cement. In certain applications, the cement can be used to provide a type of covering or "sheath" encasing the wellbore face. The cement covering is intended to seal the wellbore face and prevent fluid and gas flow therethrough. In other applications, cement can be used to secure casings within the wellbore and to provide a fluid-and-gas tight barrier between the casings and the surrounding formation.
Care must be taken not to damage the earthen formation, particularly when drilling a well in the "production zone" of the formation. The production zone refers to the portion of the formation from which fluids and/or gas are to be extracted.
Conventional Portland-type cements are frequently used to cover the wellbore face or to secure a production liner within the production zone. Such Portland-type cements are pumped into the wellbore as flowable slurry and displaced into the external annulus of the casing liner to cement the production liner into the formation. In upper casing sections above the production liner, the cement, particularly at the cement "shoe," can be drilled out to allow further drilling as the well progresses. The production liner and cement can subsequently be perforated to allow fluid and gas to flow into the production liner.
A problem with the use of Portland-type cements for these and other types of wellbore applications is that such cements tend to have a relatively slow and unpredictable transition from a flowable slurry to a solid state. While in the flowable slurry state, the Portland-type cement can migrate back into the earthen formation around the wellbore. Such migration can be a particular problem in the production zone because the cement can fill cavities deep within the formation blocking flow of fluid and gas to the production liner and potentially requiring costly remedial operations to restore oil and gas flow from the formation.
A further problem with Portland-type cements is that the relatively slow transition of the cement from flowable slurry to solid state can cause such cements to form an incomplete barrier to fluid and gas flow into the wellbore, thereby permitting fluids and gas to pass through the cement in an uncontrolled manner. This problem is referred to as "channeling."
By way of example, Portland-type cement is frequently used to secure a surface casing within the well at what is known as the casing shoe. At the casing shoe, a surface casing end distal to the surface of the wellsite is encased in cement. This volume of cement is displaced out of the casing by "dropping a ball", which is drillable, on top of the cement. The ball is then pumped down to the casing shoe with drilling fluid. Once hardened, the ball, shoe and cement is drilled out. An inner casing can then be extended through the outer casing and past the casing shoe deeper into the well.
While the cement around the casing shoe is in the flowable slurry state, hydrostatic pressure exerted by the drilling fluid prevents fluid and gas flow through the cement. However, when the cement transitions from flowable slurry to the solid state, it forms a "gel" which provides the cement with a slight strength. The slight strength of the cement reduces the hydrostatic pressure on the formation thereby allowing fluids and gas to pass through, or channel through, the cement resulting in the channeling problem. The channeling creates small holes and voids through which fluid and gas can pass through the cement. The channels formed in the cement persist after the cement hardens to the solid state. The channels cause the cement to provide an incomplete barrier between the formation and the wellbore so that fluid and gas can pass vertically or horizontally through the cement, exterior to the casing and migrate through the formation exterior to the casing in an uncontrolled manner. This uncontrolled flow of fluid and gas into the well represents a problem for the well operator.
Existing wells are frequently re-drilled to extract additional oil and gas from the earthen formation around the wellbore. "Tight oil" is a term used to describe re-drilling of existing vertical wells in a horizontal direction, especially under conditions of low reservoir porosity and permeability. In underbalanced or unpressurized wells in which oil will not flow because of the lack of formation pressure the wells must be pumped by mechanical means to lift the oil to the surface. Horizontal drilling of old wells can advantageously open the reservoir to further exploitation by greatly increasing the productive area of the formation which is exposed to the wellbore. Many of these re-drilled wells are hydraulically fractured to open the formation even further so as to better access the oil and gas in the formation.
As described previously, it is of particular importance that the cement used to secure casings and the production liner within the production zone does not flow into and damage the production zone. Unwanted migration of cement into the formation can be a particular problem in tight oil applications in which the underbalanced or unpressurized formation does not provide a force resisting cement migration into the formation.
In workover operations, such as replacing corroded or damaged production tubing, the well operator is required to completely seal the wellbore to contain all oil and gas in the well. This containment must be completed before the wellhead or blow out preventer (BOP) can be removed to perform the workover repairs. Complete containment of oil and gas in the well is referred to as "killing" the well because oil and gas cannot flow through the wellbore to the earth surface at the well site.
The complete sealing of the wellbore to contain the oil and gas in the well is frequently accomplished by use of a polymerized brine which hydrostatically overbalances any formation pressure in the reservoir. This fluid is typically a polymerized calcium carbonate brine. The column of brine in the wellbore provides the hydrostatic force.
A disadvantage of the fluids used for this purpose is that the hydrostatic pressure can force the fluid back into the earthen formation around the wellbore. This hydrostatic pressure must be greater than the formation pressures it is designed to contain. This is termed "overbalance." Workover fluids are intended to prevent this fluid invasion into the earthen formation by including a particulate constituent, usually calcium carbonate, into the fluid. As the polymerized fluid is forced back into the formation by hydrostatic pressure the calcium carbonate particulates "screen-out" at the wellbore face. The calcium carbonate forms a "cake" along the wellbore face which is intended to block fluid invasion into the earthen formation.
In actual practice, the calcium carbonate cake is continuously eroded by the dynamics of circulating the drilling fluid within the well to remove unwanted debris and particulates and to keep the calcium carbonate brine clean. And, the running in and out of the wellbore of various tools and new production tubing, etc. contributes to the erosion. This continuous erosion and deposition cycle means that polymerized brine is forced outwardly from the wellbore into the earthen formation as the calcium carbonate cake is eroded and redeposited. The potential for damage to the production formation under these circumstances is high. Once the workover is completed and the well is brought back into production, wells with positive formation pressure will attempt to "flow back" this polymerized filtrate into the well. In reservoirs with high porosity/permeability characteristics the operator of the well may be able to clear the formation of the invasive fluid minimizing any residual damage. However, in underbalanced wells, positive formation pressure is lacking and this lack of pressure permits polymerized brine drilling fluid to flow away from the wellbore and into the reservoir. The greater the porosity or permeability of the reservoir, the further back into the earthen formation the polymerized brine drilling fluid may flow. If the polymerized brine drilling fluid flows into the earthen formation to a significant extent, then oil and gas flow from the formation may be blocked by the polymerized brine drilling fluid which in an oil well can form an emulsion within the formation potentially requiring costly remedial operations to restore oil and gas flow from the formation.
Cost is another potential disadvantage of drilling fluids. As an example, calcium bromide brine is particularly expensive and potentially hazardous to the environment.
In other workover settings, it may be necessary to repair damage to casings and other structure used to line the well walls. Any damage to the casings can permit unwanted oil and gas to flow through the casings to the surface around the well site. As previously described, casings are frequently set in place within the wellbore by means of cement. Also as mentioned previously, an endemic problem with Portland-type cements is the formation of gels between the fluid and the set state which can result in the formation of channels in the set cement. Oil and gas from the formation can be forced through any such cracks, into the casings and out of the well either through the casings, or, external to the casing through the formation. This can cause pressure to build up between casings as the oil or gas can be trapped above the problem point. Casings can also corrode over time allowing fluids and gas to enter, or exit the corroded casings in an uncontrolled manner. It can also allow influx of the external formation. This can be particularly troublesome where corroded casing allows the influx of sand into the wellbore. Sand can block the wellbore.
Portland cements and magnesium oxysulfate cements have been utilized in workover operations and drilling operations in an effort to remediate these problems. Magnesium oxysulfate cement is limited to one product formerly known as Magnaplus™ which is sold by the Baker Hughes Company. Magnaplus was originally designed to "convert" in-situ drilling fluid into placement through addition of magnesium sulfate into a magnesium-based drilling fluid. However, these materials have proven to be less than satisfactory because both Portland cement and magnesium oxysulfate cement formed in this way, have an extended gel state before hardening which permits oil and gas to form channels and passages in the hardened cement as previously described. Gel strength generation and the resultant channel formation is an important disadvantage which affects the use of Portland cements and magnesium oxysulfate cements for use in drilling new wells, re-drilling existing wells and workover and remedial operations. Furthermore, allowing the influx of high gel oxysulfates into the production zone where they set and generate compressive strengths, is potentially disastrous as the oxysulfates cannot be removed from the production zone. Although oxysulfates are acid soluble, they must be able to be contacted by the acid to be removed. If the oxysulfate material is too far back in the formation, it cannot be contacted by the acid. A further disadvantage of converting an in situ fluid to a cement is that the wellbore operator would incorporate all the particulate and drilling debris into the cement providing the potential for even greater damage.
Magnesium oxychloride cements have been proposed for use in wellbore operations. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,664,215 (Tomlinson). While excellent for the intended purpose, magnesium oxychloride cements have certain limitations. Magnesium oxychloride chemistry requires preparation of the cement with a concentrated brine. And, the magnesium oxide and chloride ion ratios are only variable within a very narrow range. Magnesium oxychloride cements have utilized relatively low reactivity magnesium oxides because of the lack of controllability of the set point with higher reactivity oxides. This leads to a slower set and the potential for formation of gels. It would be desirable to permit the use of high reactivity magnesium oxides which have better performance.
It would be an improvement in the art to provide an improved composition and methods for limiting, or preventing, the influx of fluids and/or gas into the wellbore from the surrounding formations, which would be noninvasive, which would have predictable and controllable physical properties capable of permitting engineered application of the composition in a variety of environments and conditions and which would avoid the generation of gels and channeling between the flowable and solid states of the composition.

Compositions and methods for controlling wellsite fluid and gas flow


A method of making an impeller having inner and outer portions of polyurethane resin having different flexibilities with the outer portion bonded to the inner portion and having greater flexibility than the inner portion, includes rotating a centrifugal casting mold containing a polyurethane resin forming material of predetermined composition, introducing into the inner portion of the mold another polyurethane resin forming composition of different composition than the first material, centrifugal casting the inner and outer portions together, and curing the resulting shape to form a disk having bonded inner and outer portions of polyurethane resin having different flexibilities.

There are a number of situations where two or more liquids or particles and liquids must be mixed to a high degree of homogeneity, such as mixing of pigments in paint. There are also situations in which a suspended solid must be mixed to a high degree of homogeneity within a liquid, such as a mixture of sand slurry within paint for use on cinder blocks. A common operation to effect this homogeneity is to immerse into the liquid an impeller fixed to a rotatable shaft, as disclosed in Trowbridge et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,166, granted Oct. 16, 1979. The impeller should be of such a shape as to create turbulent flow of the liquid when the impeller is rotated by the shaft. Turbulent flow of a liquid within a container includes two types of fluid motion: large-scale (bulk circulation) and small-scale (turbulent eddies). Bulk circulation results when the fluid stream is discharged by the impeller. Turbulent eddies are generated mostly by the velocity discontinuities adjacent to the stream of fluid flowing from the impeller, and are carried to all parts of the container. This turbulent flow effects mixing of the liquids, or of the solid with the liquid.
A typical prior art impeller is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. The impeller 80 generally comprises a flat metal disk 82 having a plurality of vanes or blades 84 extending from their edges. Often, these vanes are bent slightly upward or downward relative to the plane of the disk, so that fluid flowing along the surface of the disk will be guided below or above the disk, causing a vertical flow within the container.
A common disadvantage of this type of impeller is severe abrasion. The speed with which the impeller wears down, especially if used to mix liquids having abrasive suspended solids therein, is excessive. Over a short time, the impeller will erode and lose its original shape to the extent that it will cease to create the desired currents in the liquid. An expense is incurred every time the impeller needs to be replaced. Replacement of each impeller causes a certain amount of down-time for the task at hand. Further, particles of metal may be broken off the impeller and become suspended within the liquid that is being mixed, contaminating the mixture.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved impeller for mixing liquids, which lasts considerably longer than impellers of the prior art.

Method for manufacturing mixing impeller


A method of manufacturing a blade of an ice skate includes the steps of providing a T-shaped stock piece of material having a plate and a leg extending from a center of the plate; machining the plate to form at least one mounting platform for connecting the blade to a skate shoe; machining the leg to form a skate body section that extends from the platform and includes a blade runner holder portion having a diamond cross-sectional shape with a downwardly directed slot. A separate blade runner is fixed to the blade runner holder portion within the slot and positioned for contacting the ice when in use. The blade runner is formed by providing a blade runner-shaped workpiece having a substantially constant thickness; using a vein cutting tool, and machining both lateral sides of an upper edge region of the blade runner-shaped workpiece simultaneously to form a thinner base region. The base region is sized to fit and be secured within the slot.

The figure skate blade has had no major changes in over 80 years.
The current blades are made from thin plates or sheets which are 2 dimensional. The thin flat plate causes the blade to flex and bend across the entire length of the blade. The blades flex so easily they can be flexed ½ an inch or more in your hands. This flexing reduces performance.
To cover the potential market, figure skates must be in all the various sizes and types. Figure skates are conventionally provided in ¼ size increments instead of ½ size increments provided for shoes. Producing skate blades from size 7 to 12 will require the production of 20 different sizes of blades. Providing blades for a left and right skate adds up to 40 different blades that have to be produced in order to cover the market.
There are also dance blades which are made much shorter and with different teeth and as many as 70 different blades. For manufacturing standpoint this is very difficult and not cost efficient.
The lowest cost production methods for skate blades are stamping, forging, or casting. All of these procedures require expensive dies, costing as much as $200,000 each. Multiply this by the 70 different blades and this is a large investment.
Some ice skates incorporate a blade runner holder fastened to the shoe portion of the ice skate, and a blade runner mounted to the blade holder, and intended to be in contact with the ice. For some ice skates blade runners, the runner includes a thickened blade portion that is formed with a thinner base portion. The thinner base portion is typically cut from a piece of stock that forms the thickened blade portion. Once cut, the base portion is adhesively secured into a groove of the blade runner holder.
The base portion can be cut with one tool but it is very time consuming and difficult to align one side exactly with the other. The skate blade runner is typically made from stainless steel which is a very difficult metal to machine. A great amount of pressure has to be applied to cut and remove material while the piece of stock is held in a fixture. When cutting with a regular tool, such as a milling bit, machining is done on one side at a time. Problems are presented, associated with such a small thin part as the base portion. The thin base portion can bend and can break under excess pressure. Many passes with the tool are needed, back and forth, to remove the desired amount of material from the piece of stock. The piece of stock also has to be taken out of the fixture and reinstalled to machine on the opposite side. This is a costly procedure.

Ice skate blade runner holder and blade runner and method of manufacture


A parser is deployed early in a machine learning pipeline to read raw data and collect useful statistics about the raw data's content to determine which items of raw data exhibit a proxy for feature importance for the machine learning model. The parser operates at high speeds that approach the disk's absolute throughput while utilizing a small memory footprint. Utilization of the parser enables the machine learning pipeline to receive a fraction of the total raw data that would otherwise be available. Several scans through the data are performed, by which proxies for feature importance are indicated and irrelevant features may be discarded and thereby not forwarded to the machine learning pipeline. This reduces the amount of memory and other hardware resources used at the server and also expedites the machine learning process.

Machine learning approaches developed across industries (e.g., in commercial and academic organizations) typically utilize an entire dataset loaded in memory to train the machine learning model. Companies with large datasets quickly hit the limits of the amount of memory that a single server can be equipped with when developing large-scale machine learning operations. Even with continuous investments in hardware, the problem remains that volume of data scales disproportionally to the investments.
Some solutions utilize distributed computing technologies (e.g., Apache Spark™) which can be a costly endeavor due to the increased complexity associated with using multiple machines, including the networking and the overhead associated with constant monitoring and maintenance. Other solutions include manually removing parts of data so that the entire dataset can fit in memory on a single server, but this approach can be time-consuming and can lead to a less performant predictive model.

High-speed scanning parser for scalable collection of statistics and use in preparing data for machine learning


A fuel control system is provided in a single compact modular unit. The unit includes a motor driving a highly accurate cam-operated double-acting piston metering pump, both of which are contained in a liquid fuel environment. As the liquid fuel is pumped it works to cool internal components including the motor. An electronic motor drive is contained in a dry chamber of the unit for controlling operation of the motor and pump and is cooled indirectly by the fuel as well. A pressure sensitive flow divider is also included for selectively providing one or multiple output fuel flow paths depending upon whether a pressure threshold is reached, for example to send fuel to primary and secondary burner nozzles. Filter, filter bypass, pressure relief, and fuel shut-off components are also integrated into the single modular unit.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to fuel control systems for stationary and propulsion gas turbine engines.
2. Description of the Related Art
The high burn rates of gas turbine engines require the fuel delivery systems to be capable of rapidly and precisely metering fuel. Traditionally, fuel delivery systems for turbine engines, particularly those used for jet propulsion, have included a fuel pump, a pressure accumulator and a fuel metering device, all of which are separate components mounted on or near the engine and coupled to the engine and fuel source by suitable fuel lines. The accumulator operates to dampen pulsation or ripple in the fuel caused by the pump so that the metering device can accurately dispense the appropriate amount of fuel to the engine fuel atomizer. The use of multiple components is expensive and occupies space, which is especially limited for propulsion systems.
It is desirable to reduce the number of components in the fuel delivery system by combining the fuel pump and metering device into one unit. However, such combined devices must meet both the extreme pump and the metering requirements for turbine engines. Specifically, it must be able to pump particle contaminated fuel for an extended time period. It must have good dry lift capability and be able to operate with high vapor-to-liquid ratios at the pump inlet. Moreover, if no accumulator or fluid muffler is to be used, the pump must also be able to provide generally non-pulsating fuel flow. It should be exhibit low power consumption and hysteresis and operate with high efficiency and low friction. The device must also have a high turn-down ratio to accurately meter a wide range of flow rates. Additionally, the device must be compact and have minimal internal leakage.
In the turbine industry, the fuel delivery systems typically employ gear pumps which create a pressure differential by moving the fuel through a series of intermeshing teeth running at a high frequency. Gear pumps consume a lot of power and leak internally and are therefore less than ideal for jet engine use. Moreover, due to reliability concerns, gear pumps used for propulsion applications typically are powered by an engine driven gear box (rather than an electric motor) and therefore must be coupled to a separate metering valve via suitable fuel lines, which increases expense and occupies additional space.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,371,740, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and hereby incorporated as though fully set forth herein, discloses a fuel metering pump for turbine engines. The metering pump employs a rotating face cam to alternately reciprocate a pair of actuators that in turn drive a pair of rolling diaphragms to pump and meter the fuel. The metering pump is specially designed to drive the pumping members at a constant velocity to minimize pressure ripple and thus provide essentially non-pulsed metering of the fuel. The rolling diaphragm design assists in keeping contaminants commonly found in jet fuel from degrading the working components of the metering pump.
While the aforesaid metering pump provides a marked improvement in accurate fuel metering at high flow rates, the diaphragms have pressure limitations that can make it less suitable for certain sustained high pressure applications. In particular, it can be necessary in some jet engine applications to achieve a sustained pressure rise of over 500 psi. This pressure must be generated and maintained while metering the high flow rates required for sustained combustion, which can be 700 pph or more.
U.S. application Ser. No. 10/891,269, filed Jul. 14, 2004, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and hereby incorporated as though fully set forth herein, discloses a precision fuel metering pump suited for the aggravated temperature and pressure conditions of turbine engines applications having a unique cam-driven double-ended spool piston arrangement that is very efficient and accurate with little leakage and wide operational parameters. The pump is contained in a compact package, however, a separate DC motor is mounted to the pump housing to drive the piston cam and piston arrangement. Moreover, other components used to control fuel flow must be coupled to this device to achieve proper fuel control, for example, the motor drive control, a fuel shut off valve and a flow divider, which divides flow between the primary outlet port and a secondary outlet port to send fuel to the secondary burner nozzle(s) of the engine after engine light off. These additional components may require their own housings as well as conduit and other fluid and electrical line connections, thus increasing the space and weight requirements of the system. Further, the use of several separate components makes installation and replacement of the control system more time consuming and costly.
Moreover, this pump relies on small, open weave inlet filters to filter debris and contaminants from the fuel prior to entering the pump. Open weave type filters are used to minimize the pressure drop across the inlet, while still providing some filtering, so that the pump will operate at low inlet pressure, near true vapor pressure, without cavitation. However, this comes with somewhat reduced filtering capacity. Excessive debris in the pump can cause binding of the operating member, and reduce its efficiency or lead to pump failure. Thus, filtering of the fuel can be critical to proper performance of the pump and the fuel control system generally.

Jansen's Aircraft Systems Controls, Inc.


A fan head-swinging device includes a speed reducer and a DC motor. The speed reducer consists of plural gears engaging with each other. The DC motor is fixed behind a housing of a fan, having a spindle fixed on with a small gear engaging with one of the plural gears of the speed reducer. So the shaft of that gear may rotate with a very slow speed suitable to the fan head to swing right and left for a proper angle by controlling the DC motor.

This invention relates to a fan head swinging device, particularly to one capable to swing right and left for any angle.
A conventional fan head swinging device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, includes a speed reducer A consisting of plural gears A0 rotated by a synchronous motor B, the motor B has no carbon brushes, and a coil B3 powered to excite magnetism to produce a magnetic field to let the rotor B0 of the motor B to rotate. Then a spindle B1 is connected to the rotor B0, and a gear B2 is fixed on the spindle B1 and engages one of the plural gears A0 of the speed reducer A, causing the head to swing right and left. As the synchronous motor used in the conventional fan has no carbon brushes, which means the excited magnetic field produced between the rotating direction of the rotor B0 and the coil B3 has no constant direction. Therefore, the swinging direction of the fan head cannot be controlled as it should be, and the fan head may be liable to swing reverse if it might receive an exterior force. So an outer wind guider C provided in a cool fan shown in FIG. 3 may change its rotating direction if it is touched. Some traditional fan are provided with a control rod D as shown in FIG. 4 for controlling the fan head in changing its swinging direction, owing to the disadvantage of the synchronous motor in impossibility to control a fan head in swinging correctly.
The objective of the invention is to offer a fan head swinging device to swing right and left for any angle correctly.
The feature of the invention is a speed reducer connected to a DC motor capable to control in changing the rotating direction of the motor, and subsequently possible to control accurately the swinging angle of a fan head.


An apparatus for tensioning and threading an optical fiber includes a first roller, a second roller, a belt that wraps around the first and second rollers, and a third roller. The belt may be in direct physical contact with the first and second rollers. The third roller may be movable between an engaged and a disengaged configuration relative to the belt. Alternatively, the first roller, second roller, and belt may be movable between the engaged and the disengaged configuration relative to the third roller. Actuation from the disengaged to the engaged configuration captures an optical fiber between the third roller and the belt.

In the optical fiber manufacturing industries, long lengths of fiber are wound at high speeds upon machine-rotated, take-up spools for shipping and handling. As the fiber is wound on the spool, the fiber is laid down onto the spool in successive layers. In optical fiber manufacturing facilities, fiber winding typically occurs at the draw tower where the fiber is originally drawn.
Some fiber tensioning and threading systems use an aspirator to thread and rethread an optical fiber. The aspirator uses vacuum to acquire optical fiber that is travelling at some velocity from the draw tower (not shown). The aspirator tensions the fiber by applying high-pressure air to the fiber. The pattern of the high-pressure air causes the fiber to swirl, which presents a larger surface area for the high-pressure air to apply a force on the optical fiber and thereby generate tension. The high-velocity airstream, which may be provided by a hose connected to the aspirator, transports the fiber to a fiber collection can for disposal.
The aspirator is capable of acquiring and accumulating fiber at commonly used draw speeds. However, the aspirator may be unable to generate and maintain a constant tension on the fiber. The pattern of swirling that is induced in the fiber by the high-pressure air may cause the fiber to contact equipment in the path of the fiber during threading. Equipment that may be in the path of the fiber and subject to unintentional contact with the fiber as it swirls includes process pulleys on the winder and an inlet nozzle on the aspirator. Contact between the fiber and various pieces of equipment can cause the fiber to lose tension and break. Accordingly, the aspirator system has reached its maximum capacity at current draw speeds. Additionally, the high-pressure air required to tension the fiber is expensive and noisy.

Apparatus and method for tensioning and threading optical fiber


A filter device used to remove organic and inorganic debris from a liquid stream, such as irrigation water. The device comprises a diverter tube having a plurality of apertures therein to divert a significant portion of the liquids entering the device onto a filter screen, thereby filtering out the lighter debris on the screen. A portion of the liquid flows through the diverter tube with the heavier debris entrained therein, which settles out by gravity in a dead water zone at the lowermost end of the device. A flush valve can be opened, permitting the heavier debris to be swept out, and back-flushing the lighter debris off of the filter screen.

The production of a major portion of agricultural crops in the Western United States depends upon irrigation, since natural precipitation is insufficient to support anything other than, for example, natural grassland grazing or winter wheat. Water for irrigation may come from a number of sources, including surface impoundments (such as lakes and reservoirs), canals, deep wells, and the like. In many of these applications, especially in the use of surface water, the water stream naturally entrains a significant quantity of solid debris
Irrigation water from wells may contain substantially less organic contaminants (such as vegetable matter--weeds, grass, etc.) than does surface water, while both sources of water may contain significant quantities of inorganic contaminants, such as sand. In almost all cases, the irrigation water must be pumped, and it is then often applied to the crop land through sprinklers. When such water is directed through pumps, both the organic and inorganic contaminants may clog up the pump mechanism. Whether or not pumps are or may be clogged by such contaminants, virtually all sprinkler systems are susceptible to clogging with either the heavier inorganic or the lighter inorganic materials.
For years the only method of filtering such materials from irrigation water comprised a simple screen against which the water stream was directed. While such screens work on a gross level, constant supervision is necessary to assure cleaning when/if they became plugged. Later, technology was developed to make essentially automatic operation of such filters possible.
A number of United States patents illustrate representative attempts to solve the problem of removing debris from irrigation water. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,132,013, a perforated frusto-conical filter apparatus is positioned within a housing such that unfiltered irrigation water is directed into the filter. Filtered water is discharged through the filter and out an exit. The bottom of the filter is open so that heavier materials will settle out by gravity, and a drain plug is provided to clean the filter. For cleaning the filter, the device is isolated and the filter media is removed therefrom to remove debris from the perforated filter. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,959,140, a filter device is disclosed that comprises an outer housing with a cylindrical perforated filter therein. Irrigation water is directed into the filter, which then passes through the filter and is discharged. A brush device is provided inside the filter which permits the inner surface of the filter to be cleansed, either manually or automatically. A drain is located at the lowermost end of the housing. Pressure sensing devices are provided so that when a sufficient pressure differential between the outside and inside of the filter within the housing is sensed (an indication of a plugged filter), the water outlet is closed and the drain is opened. The brush is then activated and matter adhered to the inside of the screen is flushed away.
Finally, a conical filter member (small end down) within a housing is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,915. Water is directed into the larger upper end and as it is passed through the filter media, solids entrained in the water are concentrated in the lower, smaller end thereof. A drain flushes away these solids, which are carried to a settling container, where the solids are further concentrated and removed.
While the above-noted devices perform their intended function to some degree, it is clear to those skilled in this art that an improved filter device is needed which can filter large quantities of water having relatively large concentrations of solid debris therein, all the while having the capability to automatically or easily be cleaned without disassembling the device.

In-line agricultural water filter with diverter tube and flush valve


A mammalian homology of Drosophila Disabled protein has been identified and cloned. In particular, the murine homolog designated mDab1 has been cloned and expressed. mDab1, when tyrosine phosphorylated, binds to the SH2 domain of Src, Abl and Fyn. Antibodies specific for mDab1 are provided as are methods for the screening of agents for their ability to modulate mDab1 activity. Methods for diagnosing Disabled protein associated disease are also provided.

Numerous developmental processes are regulated by signaling cascades that alter protein phosphotyrosine levels. Many extracellular cues are linked to cellular responses via transmembrane receptor protein-tyrosine kinases (PTKs) and phosphatases (PTPs). In the nervous system, transmembrane kinases and phosphatases are required for neuronal differentiation and survival, neurite extension, the directed growth of the neuronal growth cone, and the fasciculation of nerve bundles (Snider, Cell 77:627-638 (1994); Callahan et al., Nature 376;171-174 (1995); Tessier-Lavigne, Cell 82:345-348 (1995); Desai et al., Cell 84:599-609 (1996); Krueger et al., Cell 84:611-622 (1996)). These transmembrane receptors are directly regulated by specific ligands. Cytoplasmic PTKs are also involved in the development of the nervous system, although the ligands which induce their activation are less well understood (Gertler et al., Cell 58:103-113 (1989); Grant et al., Science 258:1903-1910 (1992); Umemori et al., Nature 367:572-576 (1994)). There is growing evidence that these kinases are regulated in pathways responding to components of the extracellular milieu and may function to regulate axonal growth downstream of receptors that lack intrinsic kinase activity (Bixby & Harris, Ann. Rev. Cell. Biol. 7:117-159 (1991)).
The non-receptor PTK Src is highly expressed in the developing mammalian nervous system (Maness et al., Adv. Exp. Med. & Biol. 265:117-125, (1990); Maness, Dev. Neurosci. 14:257-270 (1992)). During neurogenesis Src kinase activity increases and Src becomes concentrated in growth cones of neurons. Growth cones migrate by extending actin-rich filopodia and lamellipodia, and tyrosine phosphorylation is important for the formation of these actin structures (Wu & Goldberg, J. Cell Biol. 123:653-664 1993; Goldberg & Wu, J. Neurobiol. 27:553-560 (1995)). Neurons cultured from mice that lack Src extend neurites less well than wild-type neurons when plated on surfaces coated with the neural cell adhesion molecule L1 (Ignelzi et al., Neuron 12:873-884 (1994)). This defect is specific, since neurons lacking the Src relatives Fyn or Yes extend neurites normally (Beggs et al., J. Cell Biol. 127:825-833 (1994)). Moreover, neurons from mice lacking Fyn extend only short neurites on NCAM-140 but extend long neurites on L1 (Beggs et al., ibid.). Src and Yes are not needed for neurite extension on NCAM-140. These specific defects point to the existence of adhesion-stimulated, Src- and Fyn-dependent, regulatory processes required for neurite extension. Signals from neurotrophin receptor PTKs, such as TrkA, may also be relayed through Src. Nerve growth factor-(NGF) induced neurite extension is Src dependent in PC12 pheochromocytoma cells (Kremer et al., J. Cell Biol. 115:809-819 (1991); Vaillancourt et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 15:3644-3653 (1995)).
The non-receptor tyrosine kinase, Abl, participates in nervous system development in Drosophila. The Drosophila Abl (dAbl) protein is found in many cell types in the developing embryo, but expression is highest in the cell bodies and axons of neurons in the developing central nervous system (CNS) (Gertler et al., ibid. (1989); Bennett & Hoffmann, Devel. 116:953-966 (1992)). Flies lacking the dAbl gene develop past metamorphosis but die as adults before or soon after eclosion (Henkemeyer et al., Cell 51:821-828 (1987)). Five genes were identified in screens for dominant second site mutations that exacerbate the dabl− phenotype and have been dubbed HDA (haploinsufficient, dependent upon dAbl) genes (Gertler et al., ibid., (1989); Hill et al., Genetics 141:595-606 (1995)). When heterozygous for a mutation in a HDA gene, dAbl− but not dAbl+ embryos die as embryos, with a characteristic terminal phenotype. The neurons of the CNS are present in normal number and extend axons, but gaps are apparent in the commissural and longitudinal axon bundles (Gertler et al., ibid. (1989), Gertler et al., Genes Dev. 7:441-453 (1993); Hill et al., ibid. (1995)). Three of the HDA genes, disabled (dab), prospero, and fax have been cloned and have distinct properties (Vaessin et al., Cell 67:941-953 (1991); Gertler et al., ibid. (1993); Hill et al., ibid. (1995)). Homozygous mutations in the HDA genes dab and fax in a dAbl mutant background results in almost complete loss of CNS axonal tracts. The dab and fax genes also show dosage sensitive interactions with each other (Gertler, "Genetic Modifiers of the Drosophila abl mutant phenotype," Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madison (1992); Hill et al., ibid. (1995)) as well as with dAbl and therefore may have related functions.
The Drosophila dab gene encodes a 2412 residue protein (Dab) that co-localizes with dAbl to the cell bodies and axons of embryonic CNS neurons (Gertler et al., ibid. (1993)). In Drosophila Dab is essential for normal CNS development, even in the presence of dAbl. Dab is tyrosine phosphorylated in insect cells and, given the co-localization with dAbl in the CNS, it has been suggested that Dab may be a physiological substrate of dAbl (Gertler et al., ibid. (1993)). However, the role of tyrosine phosphorylation in regulating Dab function, and the identities of the PTKs that phosphorylate Dab, remain unclear. The kinase activity of dAbl is dispensable for normal embryonic development, unless the levels of Dab or other HDA gene products are reduced by heterozygous mutations (Henkemeyer et al., Cell 63:949-960 (1990)). Using a temperature-sensitive mutant, dAbl kinase activity was shown to be required in dab heterozygotes after the time of cell fate specification and during the time of axonogenesis in the embryonic CNS (Henkemeyer et al., ibid. (1990)). Despite the loss of nerve bundles in the CNS, the total number of neurons is unaffected (Gertler et al., Science 248:857-860 (1990)). These results suggest that dAbl has kinase dependent and independent roles in development. Other PTKs that are expressed in the fly CNS, such as Drosophila Src(dSrc) (Simon et al., Cell 42:831-840 (1985)), may substitute for the dAbl kinase requirement in CNS development, provided the levels of Dab are normal.

Isolation and expression of a disabled protein gene mDab1 and methods


A fuel injection control device is disclosed that includes a fuel injection valve for performing a fuel injection event at an assumed fuel quantity. The device also includes a rotation detecting device for detecting a change in rotation amount of the output shaft. The device further includes a slip rate detection device for detecting a slip rate between the output shaft and the driven shaft. Also included is an actual fuel injection amount estimating device for estimating an actual fuel injection quantity during the fuel injection event based on the detected change in rotation and the detected slip rate. The device also includes a learning device for learning a deviation based on the difference between the estimated actual fuel injection quantity and the assumed fuel injection quantity. A related method is also disclosed.

Various fuel injection control devices have been proposed for learning a deviation amount in a vehicle fuel injection characteristic. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,907,861 (i.e., Japanese Patent Publication No. 2005-036788) proposes a fuel injection control device for a vehicle with a diesel engine. When the clutch is disengaged, a deviation amount of a fuel injection characteristic is learned. More specially, when the learning condition is met, a single fuel injection is performed and an increase amount of rotation of the output shaft of the engine is detected. Since the clutch is disengaged and the output shaft is disconnected from the driven shaft, the increase amount of the rotation has a strong correlation with a fuel quantity actually injected. Thus, this procedure provides an accurate measurement (learning) of any deviation in fuel injection characteristic.
The above control device, however, has certain disadvantages. Specifically, there are relatively few opportunities for learning since learning is performed only when the output shaft for the diesel engine is disconnected from the drive wheels. For instance, if this system is incorporated in a vehicle with an automatic transmission, learning occurs when the shift lever is in a neutral position. Thus, there are relatively few opportunities for learning. (It is understood that if this learning processes occur in a state other than when the shift lever is in the neutral position, the learning accuracy can be degraded. This is because if the same quantity of fuel is injected, the output shaft rotation caused by the fuel injection varies depending on the connection state between the engine output shaft and the driven shaft through a torque converter.)
Thus, there exists a need for a fuel injection control device that overcomes the above-mentioned problems in the conventional art. As will be explained, the following disclosure addresses this need as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art.