A computer-implemented method may include: receiving, by a first computer server, content provider data and content item data; identifying a plurality of profile elements by applying machine learning techniques to the received content provider data and content item data; calculating a first plurality of profile element scores for the content provider in each of the plurality of profile elements and a second plurality of profile element scores for the plurality of content items in each of the plurality of profile elements; determining, by utilizing one or more distance algorithms, profile element vector distances between the first plurality of profile element scores for the content provider and the plurality of second profile element scores for the plurality of content items; ranking the plurality of content items based on the determined profile element vector distances; and generating an interactive graphical user interface (GUI) displaying a plurality of radar graphs.

Media providers constantly search for new and better ways to create and deliver content to viewers. Advertising plays an important role in broadcast programming including all forms of television from over the air broadcasts to cable television networks to satellite television to streaming video services. In traditional over the air broadcast television, revenues generated from advertising pay entirely for programming received by viewers, while in subscription-based video distribution frameworks, advertising revenues subsidize programming or contribute to profits of the broadcasters.
Media providers extend traditional print advertisement models and attempt to provide targeted advertising to their audiences and attempt to reach and engage with viewers across platforms. Some advertisements are useful to subscribers and provide relevant information regarding specific products or services. Historically, advertisements have been provided with programmed content based on linked sponsorship. In linked sponsorship models, advertisements are included in the programming content based on the nature of the content. For example, an advertisement for motor oil might be included with car racing programming. Even with linked sponsorship advertising, the conversion of the advertising spend to product sales revenue is largely ineffective. Most advertisements do not have a high probability of affecting a sale. The shortcoming in conversion of advertising to sales is a result of the inability to effectively target the advertisements and products to the viewers' preferences, desires, values, and needs.
Previous attempts to better target advertisements to users have focused on knowing attributes of the target viewer to determine the appropriateness of a particular advertisement for a particular kind of viewer. To make advertising dollars more effective, advertisers target their advertising to individuals who are more likely to have an interest in the advertised product. To accurately target individuals, the advertiser must know something about the individual. Previous advertising models assigned specific areas of interest to identified classes of consumers based on demographic information. One problem with this approach is the lack of accuracy and commercial efficiency in the models. The lack of reliable profiling of demographic data on viewers and subscribers, individualized or personalized advertising targeting is not effective. An overly broad campaign (i.e., not sufficiently focused) is not likely to attract or convert a sufficient number of viewers into consumers. Too narrow a campaign is likely to be lacking appeal and is likely to miss viewers and fail to provide sufficient opportunity to convert viewers to consumers.
Previous attempts to improve targeted advertising have included identifying individual's behaviors by tracking a user's habits by monitoring websites that the user visits, and offering targeted advertising based on the content of the visited websites. However, behavioral profiling has had only limited success in improving advertising effectiveness. Further, while subscriber viewers' preferences can be surveyed or correlated to past purchases and responses, these attributes often provide only marginal improvements in sales conversions as well.
To maximize effectiveness of their ad campaigns, advertisers want to accurately target individual viewers based on accurate and improved understanding of viewers' propensity to purchase specific types of products and services. Viewers prefer to receive advertisements relating only to products of personal interest rather than solicitations that are not relevant.

Systems and methods for providing interactive visualizations of digital content to a user


Disclosed is an interleaved ADC comprising first and second component ADCs that use pipelined ADCs extracts an image component, which is generated by a gain error, with the use of a band pass filter for correcting the gain error so that the power of the image component is minimized.

Recently, there is an increasing need for a high speed, high precision, and low consumption analog-to-digital conversion circuit (hereinafter called an ADC). One of proposed means for implementing a high speed and high precision ADC is an interleaved ADC in which a plurality of high precision ADCs are provided in parallel for time-dividing operation among them. Each of parallel, high precision ADCs is called a "component ADC". As a component ADC, a pipelined ADC is usually used because it has a relatively simple configuration but provides high precision.
When a capacitor of low capacitance value is used in a pipelined ADC to meet the low power dissipation requirement, a non-linear error (INL: integral non-linearity) is caused primarily by a gain error in each pipeline stage. Therefore, to improve the INL, the gain error in each pipeline stage must be corrected. For the correction of pipelined ADC errors, refer to Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2 and Patent Document 1. Non-Patent Document 1 describes the configuration of a pipelined ADC that employs the 1.5-bit/stage algorithm. This document also describes a calibration method for a pipelined ADC offset and a gain error.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a correction circuit which uses a known calibration signal in order to correct a gain error. FIG. 5 shows a two-phase interleaved ADC where two component ADCs are provided in parallel. Referring to FIG. 5, in this AD conversion system includes a first AD converter 10 (also called a first component ADC) which comprises a first pipelined AD converter 11 (also called a first pipelined ADC) and a first gain error correction circuit 12; a second AD converter 20 (also called a second component ADC) which comprises a second pipelined AD converter 21 (also called a second pipelined ADC) and a second gain error correction circuit 22; a correction circuit 30A which comprises a parallel-to-serial (PS) conversion circuit (2:1 multiplexer) 31, a calibration signal replica generation unit 35, a subtracter 36, and a correction circuit control unit 34A; a calibration signal generation unit 40A; and a divide-by-2 multi-phase circuit 50.
A known calibration signal (for example, known linear ramp waveform) generated by the calibration signal generation unit 40A is sampled by the two component ADCs 10 and 20 with respective phases spaced one half period each other.
The divide-by-2 multi-phase circuit 50 divides the reference clock signal by two and generates two divided clock signals that are spaced by one half clock period each other.
The first and second pipelined ADCs 11 and 21 sample received signals with respective phases, based on the divided clock signals which are supplied from the divide-by-2 multi-phase circuit 50 and which are spaced by one half clock period each other.
In response to the output from the first and second pipelined AD converters 11 and 21, the first and second gain error correction circuits 12 and 22 correct a gain error and output the correction result (digital signal).
The parallel-to-serial conversion circuit (multiplexer) 31 receives the digital signals which are output respectively from the two component ADCs 10 and 20 that sample the calibration signal using the divided clock signals spaced by one half clock period each other, multiplexes the digital signals at the ratio of 2:1, and outputs the multiplexed signal.
The subtracter 36 outputs the difference (result of subtraction) between the digital output signal from the parallel-to-serial conversion circuit (multiplexer) 31 and the calibration signal replica (digital signal with the known linear ramp waveform) from the calibration signal replica generation unit 35.
The correction circuit control unit 34A receives the difference output from the subtracter 36, generates correction amount control signals #1 and #2 used to control the gain error correction used in the first and second gain error correction circuits 12 and 22 so that the absolute value of the difference is reduced (minimized), and supplies the generated correction amount control signals #1 and #2 to the first and second gain error correction circuits 12 and 22.
The correction circuit with the configuration described above corrects the gain error in the first and second pipelined ADCs 11 and 21 to improve the characteristics of non-linear errors caused by gain errors.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a correction circuit with the configuration in which a low-speed and high-precision reference ADC is used for a correction method that is different from that shown in FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 6, this conventional AD conversion system comprises a reference ADC 60, which comprises a low-speed/high-precision AD converter 61 (reference ADC), instead of the calibration signal replica generation unit 35 in FIG. 5; and a calibration signal generation unit 40B (which generates any calibration signal) instead of the calibration signal generation unit 40A (which generates a known calibration signal) in FIG. 5. The calibration signal from the calibration signal generation unit 40B is supplied to the first and second pipelined AD converters 11 and 21 and to the low-speed/high-precision reference ADC 61. Divide-by-2 multi-phase clock signals, which are output from a frequency-division multi-phase circuit 50B and are spaced each other, are supplied to the ADCs 10 and 20 respectively, and a low-speed clock signal with a divider ratio higher than that for the ADCs 10 and 20 is supplied from the frequency-division multi-phase circuit 50B to the low-speed/high-precision reference ADC 61.
That is, in the configuration shown in FIG. 6, the subtracter 36 calculates the difference between the received signal (digital signal) sampled by the ADCs 10 and 20 instead of the calibration signal replica signal in FIG. 5 and the received signal (digital signal) sampled by the low-speed/high-precision reference ADC 61. A correction circuit control unit 34B controls the correction of a gain error so that the absolute value of this difference is reduced (minimized).
While a known calibration signal is used in the configuration shown in FIG. 5, any calibration signal from the calibration signal generation unit 40B can be used in the configuration shown in FIG. 6. The calibration signal doesn't have to be a known signal as in FIG. 5. Nor is it required for the subtracter 36 to calculate the difference on every sample. Therefore, the low-speed clock signal, whose frequency is divided by the frequency-division multi-phase circuit 50B, is used for the low-speed/high-precision reference ADC 61. For an example of the configuration shown in FIG. 6, see Patent Publication 1.
[Non-Patent Document 1]
Masanori Furuta, Shoji Kawahito, and Daisuke Miyazaki, "A Digital Calibration Technique for Pipelined Analog-to-Digital Converters," IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference 21–23 May 2002, pp. 713–717
[Non-Patent Document 2]
X. Wang, P. J. Hurst, and S. H. Lewis, "A 12-bit 20-MS/s Pipelined ADC with Nested Digital Background Calibration," IEEE CUSTOM INTEGRATED CIRCUITS CONFERENCE, 2003, pp. 409–412
[Patent Document 1]
U.S. Pat. No. 6,606,042 Specification

Analog-to-digital conversion system, correction circuit, and correction method


Systems and methods for providing a cardiac stimulus device lead with additional sensing capabilities without violating header standards is disclosed. A cardiac stimulus device lead is provided according to one aspect. According to one embodiment, the lead includes a first conductor and a second conductor for transmitting an electrical pulse from a pulse generator. The lead further includes a multiplexer switch, a first electrode, a second electrode, a sensing circuit and a controller. The first conductor is connected to the multiplexer switch. A first terminal of the multiplexer switch is connected to the first electrode and a second terminal of the multiplexer switch is connected to the sensing circuit. The second conductor is connected to the second electrode. The controller is connected to the multiplexer switch, and is adapted to selectively connect the first conductor to one of the first electrode and the sensing circuit.

A cardiac stimulus device is a medical device, such as an implantable cardiac pacemaker or an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), for stimulating a heart with an electric signal. Some cardiac stimulus devices are surgically implanted within a patient. An implantable cardiac stimulus device includes a pulse generator and one or more electrical leads with one or more electrodes that conduct signals to and receive signals from the patient's heart. These lead(s) and their electrode(s) are placed in or proximate to the heart such that an electrical signal between electrodes is capable of stimulating the heart. The electrodes may be configured either to produce or pace an electrical cardiac event, or to detect or sense an intrinsic electrical cardiac event. Some medical devices record or otherwise collect these cardiac events. A programming device or programmer communicates with the medical device through a communication link. One example of a communication link is a telemetry link that provides means for commands and data to be non-invasively transmitted and received between the programmer and the device.
The leads of the cardiac stimulus device are connected to the pulse generator using a connector assembly or header. The connector assembly includes a lead connector and a connector cavity for the electrical and mechanical connection of the lead to the pulse generator. An IS-1 header standard has been developed as a design standard for connector assemblies. If cardiac stimulus devices from different manufacturers are designed according to the header standard, a physician has the flexibility to use one manufacturer's leads with another manufacturer's pulse generator.
The electrodes are capable of electrically sensing cardiovascular parameters. For example, the electrodes are capable of sensing intracardiac electrical activity, i.e. intrinsic electrical cardiac events. However, there are difficulties in sensing non-electrical activity or in otherwise providing additional non-electrical sensing capabilities. One of these difficulties involves encapsulation, which is the process that occurs when a foreign body enters the human body. The encapsulation of a sensor is sometimes referred to as biofouling. The immune system of the human body recognizes the foreign body and tries to reject it by building a layer of tissue around the foreign body to protect the rest of the body. Because steroids slow down the encapsulation process, steroid-eluting pacing leads have been developed.
Another difficulty in providing additional sensing capabilities for the lead involves the addition of sensor(s) on the lead. Conventionally, supporting sensor electronics are located in the pulse generator, and electrical conductors are provided between the supporting sensor electronics and the additional sensor(s). These extra conductors require more connections between the lead and the pulse generator, or can, of the cardiac stimulus device, and thus mandate a special header design that violates the header standard. That is, the cardiac stimulus device with the extra sensing capabilities has a special connector assembly and can only be used with special lead(s) that have been designed for the special connector assembly. However, physicians often desire to use one manufacturer's pulse generator with another manufacturer's lead for a number of reasons. These reasons include familiarity, the capabilities of the pulse generator, the capabilities of the leads, cost, quality, and overall flexibility in treating individual patients. As a result, the cardiac stimulus device with the extra sensing capabilities is less marketable because the special header design prevents a physician from mixing and matching leads and pulse generators.
Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide a system and method for providing additional sensing capabilities on a cardiac stimulus device lead without violating header standards.

Multiplexed medical device lead with standard header


A mobile data communications system includes a cellular wireless data communications network, such as a GPRS or CDPD network, including a plurality of base stations that communicate with terminals according to a first radio interface. The plurality of base stations are coupled to a control node, such as a GPRS Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) or a CDPD Mobile Data Intermediate System (MD-IS), that administers services, such as mobility management and billing, for terminals communicating with the base stations. The system also includes a wireless local area network (LAN), such as a mobile IP network, that is operative to communicate with terminals according to a second radio interface. The system further includes a mobile data internetworking system that is coupled between the control node and the wireless local area network and that provides data communications therebetween. The wireless LAN may have a coverage area that overlaps or adjoins a coverage area of the cellular wireless data communications network, such that, for example, higher user densities and/or data rates may be supported in “hot spots,” such as airports, hotels, convention centers and the like.

The present invention relates to wireless communications, and more particularly, to wireless mobile data communications.
Wireless local area networks (LANs) are commonly used to provide data communications over small areas, such as the interior of a building. These networks typically support a high density of users and/or high-bandwidth users, such that services like networked document management and web browsing can be offered at a high level of service quality. However, these wireless LANs typically use radio interfaces that are limited in range.
Larger areas are commonly served by cellular wireless data communications networks, such as General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) or Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) networks. These systems may be extended indoors using, for example, microcells and/or distributed antenna systems. Such cellular wireless data communications systems may be limited in the user data rate and/or user density they can support, and may not be compatible with many types of wireless terminals.

Mobile data communications apparatus, methods and computer program products implementing cellular wireless data communications via a wireless local area network


A statement evaluation technique is based on bi-evaluation of programming statements. A programming language statement is evaluated that includes a first and a second sub-statement. The first sub-statement is evaluated and an evaluation success result is determined if evaluation succeeds, or a distinguished value if evaluation fails. The distinguished value is a value that is not included in the range of possible evaluation success results of the first sub-statement. Further, it is determined whether the second sub-statement is to be evaluated. If this is the case, an evaluation success result of the second sub-statement is determined if evaluation succeeds, or the distinguished value if evaluation fails. The range of possible evaluation success results of the second sub-statement does not include the distinguished value. The evaluation result of the statement is determined depending on at least whether evaluation of the first sub-statement succeeds or fails.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to the evaluation of programming language statements and in particular to a method and system for evaluating a programming language statement that includes a first and a second sub-statement.
2. Description of the Related Art
Presently, several techniques have been developed for evaluating programming language statements. Discoveries and the progress in the area of programming language theories and methods are fundamental. They have first a long term deep impact on other research areas, in particular computational semantics, type systems and programming models, and they strongly improve software development processes both in time and quality. As an example, the object oriented paradigm and its application is probably the most fertile advance of the last two decades, pervading software production and design.
The separation of declarative languages versus imperative languages is commonly accepted as two different ways of solving computational related problems. With declarative languages, a programmer expresses what the solution is, while the imperative languages require the definition of how the solution is reached by specifying intermediate computation steps.
Declarative languages are preferred when the application field is well defined and restricted, because they are simple and often rely on efficient algorithms, such as Prolog and Herbrand resolution, constraint solving system algorithms and the simplex algorithm. On the other hand, imperative languages are useful for solving general problems, and allow the mastering of execution time. However, imperative languages have a higher cost of providing a much more important amount of specification, and produce a complexity overload.
There are today areas where programmers would need to combine both advantages of these two poles in a flexible and easy way. The operations for transforming structured data, such as XML documents, typically range from simple operations to very complex ones, involving different levels of abstraction. In such cases, programmers would prefer a common framework that enables the use of concise and declarative notations as long as this is possible, while reserving low level, fine grain imperative specifications to difficult cases.
For such a framework, language theorists and designers are still looking for expressive, powerful, simple, clear and precise formalisms in order to capture the most fundamental operations. However, considering both semantics and typing, general solutions at the right abstraction level have not been proposed yet.


A composite Fresnel lens useful in an infrared passive detection system includes an array of Fresnel lens segments having a given vertical centerline and a curvature of a given radius. The Fresnel lens segments fall in first and second groups. Each Fresnel lens segment in the first group has a long detection range and a width less than one-third of the diameter of an original whole Fresnel lens from which the segment was taken. Also, each lens segment of the first group has a geometrical center located horizontally from the vertical centerline of the array along the curvature of the array through a circumferential distance less than one-fourth of the radius of curvature of the array. Each Fresnel lens segment in the second group has a short detection range less than the long detection range by a predetermined amount and a width less than one-third of the diameter of an original whole Fresnel lens from which the segment was taken. Also, each lens segments in the second group has a geometrical center located horizontally from the vertical centerline of the array along the curvature of the array through a circumferential distance less than one-half of the radius of curvature of the array. The Fresnel lens segments have respective optical centers which are aligned along the vertical centerline of the array.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to passive infrared detection systems and, more particularly, is concerned with a composite Fresnel lens having an array of Fresnel lens segments providing a long narrow detection range that adapts the lens for use in a detection system for covering a long narrow area of a building such as a hallway.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A passive infrared detection system detects heat energy radiated or emitted by an object, such as the body of a person, moving across the field of view of a heat sensor, such as a pyroelectric detector, of the detection system. The detection system must be capable of distinguishing between background temperature and the moving object having a different temperature from the background. Thus, the detection system has an electrical circuit operatively coupled to the heat sensor for producing a detection signal in response to the heat sensor detecting a change of temperature as, for example, caused by the body heat of a person entering the detection pattern. The sensitive area of the heat sensor is too small to detect a significant amount of heat energy radiated from a human body at a distance by using the heat sensor alone. Thus, detection systems typically employ a lens array made up of Fresnel lens segments for collecting and focusing a significantly greater amount of heat energy from specific distant areas on the heat sensor than would be received using the heat sensor alone.
A Fresnel lens segment is most efficient when it is flat, however, typically a lens array of Fresnel lens segments must be provided in a curved configuration in order to collect and focus the desired amount of heat energy on the heat sensor from a wide angle detection pattern. Thus, the lens array of Fresnel lens segments approximates this flatness by being provided as close-to-flat vertical segments arranged in contiguous side-by-side relationship along a curve having a constant radius. As known by those skilled in the art, such flat vertical segments are produced from a complete, whole Fresnel lens having a given diameter and a given focal length, and accordingly, the resultant lens segment will maintain the same characteristics as the whole lens from which it was taken. As used herein, the Fresnel lens from which the segment was taken will be referred to hereinafter as the original whole Fresnel lens.
The configuration of the Fresnel lens segments and their arrangement in a lens array will depend on the shape of the area from which energy is to be collected by the lens array. For example, a lens array to cover the area of a long narrow hallway in a building will need to utilize Fresnel lens segments with configurations and in an arrangement substantially different from those of a lens array to cover a relatively square or rectangular room in the building.
A factor complicating the design of Fresnel lens segment arrays for coverage of different shaped areas is the economic requirement that these arrays must be interchangeable so as to be able to fit and mount within a common housing allowing such interchangeability either at the factory or in the field. This requirement means that the size and the curved configuration of a lens array designed to cover a hallway be of the same size and have the same radius of curvature as a lens array designed to cover a room.
Consequently, a need exists for a design of a hallway lens array that will efficiently and effectively cover the long narrow area of a hallway while still being interchangeable with one covering a room so that the lens arrays can use a common housing.

Composite fresnel lens having array of lens segments providing long narrow detection range


The invention detailed herein comprises a family of radiation-curable coating formulations specifically for metal substrates. These coating formulations are based on multifunctional acrylate resins formed by the reaction of acrylate monomers and oligomers with ÿ-keto esters (e.g., acetoacetates), ÿ-diketones (e.g., 2, 4-pentanedione), ÿ-keto amides (e.g., acetoacetanilide, acetoacetamide), and/or other ÿ-dicarbonyl compounds that can participate in the Michael addition reaction. An essential novelty of these coating resins is that they will cure under standard UV-cure conditions without the addition of traditional photoinitiators. Other materials, both reactive (conventional acrylates) and non-reactive (e.g., solvents) may also be incorporated into the resin oligomers to enhance the coatings properties on metal substrates. These materials include a variety of acrylic monomers and oligomers, primary, secondary and tertiary amines, acid-functional monomers and oligomers, silicones, waxes and elastomers, among others. Coatings based on these novel multifunctional acrylate resins exhibit excellent adhesion and shrinkage control, flexibility, solvent resistance, scratch and mar resistance, impact resistance, color, and durability across a wide range of plastic materials. These coatings may be cured via chemical means, thermally, or by exposure to UV or electron beam radiation.

The information provided below is not admitted to be prior art to the present invention, but is provided solely to assist the understanding of the reader.
Acrylate, methacrylate and other unsaturated monomers are widely used in coatings, adhesives, sealants, and elastomers, and may be crosslinked by ultraviolet light in the presence of photoinitiators or by peroxide-initiated free radical cure. These photoinitiators and/or peroxides are typically low molecular weight multifunctional compounds that may be volatile or readily absorbed through skin and can cause adverse health effects. Functionalized oligomeric photoinitiators may overcome some of these drawbacks; generally, polymeric photoinitiators are nonvolatile compounds, not readily absorbed through skin. However, multistep syntheses may be required, low functionality may be detrimental to reactivity and final properties, and catalyst or initiator may still be required to effect crosslinking.
The Michael addition of acetoacetate donor compounds to multifunctional acrylate receptor compounds to make crosslinked polymers has been described in the literature. For example, Mozner and Rheinberger reported the Michael addition of acetoacetates to triacrylates and tetraacrylates. (16 Macromolecular Rapid Communications 135 (1995)). The products formed were crosslinked gels. In one such reaction, depicted in FIG. 1, Mozner added one mole of trimethylol propane triacrylate (TMPTA) having 3 functional groups to one mole of polyethylene glycol (600 molecular weight) diacetoacetate (PEG600-DAA) having two functional groups. (Each acetoacetate "functional group" reacts twice, thus each mole of diacetoacetate has four reactive equivalents.) The resulting network is considered "gelled", or cured, despite the presence of unreacted acrylic functional groups. While further reaction can be promoted, this network cannot be made liquid either with heat or solvent because it is essentially crosslinked.
The reaction can be characterized by various ratios to describe the reactants: a mole ratio of TMPTA: PEG 600 DAA=1:1, a functional group ratio of the number of acrylate to acetoacetate functional groups=3:2, and a ratio of reactive equivalents=3:4
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,945,489 and 6,025,410, to Moy et al. and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, disclose that certain soluble liquid uncrosslinked oligomers, made by one step Michael addition of β-dicarbonyl donor compounds (e.g., acetoacetates) to multifunctional acrylates, can be further crosslinked using ultraviolet light or electron beam radiation without requiring costly photoinitiators. Moreover, when precise proportions of multifunctional acrylate acceptor compounds to β-dicarbonyl donor compounds are combined in the presence of a basic catalyst, liquid oligomeric compositions result. If proportions below the ranges disclosed in the above-cited patent documents are used, crosslinked gels or solid products result. In addition, the disclosed liquid oligomer compositions can readily be applied to various substrates using conventional coating techniques such as roll or spray prior to radiation cure.
Multifunctional acrylates and methacrylates are commonly utilized in the preparation of crosslinked films, adhesives, foundry sand binders, and other composite materials. The invention disclosed herein demonstrates the advantageous use of these uncrosslinked resins alone or modified by reaction/blending with additional materials in coatings applications on a variety of metal substrates. These additional materials include a variety of acrylic monomers and oligomers, primary, secondary and tertiary amines, acid-functional monomers, silicones, elastomers, waxes, and others to modify and improve coatings performance.
Coatings for metal substrates based on the resins described above can be cured by all methods typically used to crosslink acrylic-functional materials. Cure, or crosslinking, is usually accomplished through a free radical chain mechanism, which may require any of a number of free radical-generating species such as peroxides, hydroperoxides, REDOX combinations, and other materials that decompose to form radicals, either when heated, or at ambient temperature in the presence of an amine and a transition metal promoter. Ultraviolet (UV) light or electron beam (EB) radiation are alternative means of initiating reaction by decomposing an appropriate photoinitiator to form free radicals.
The coatings described in this invention offer significant advantages over coatings based on traditional multifunctional acrylic monomers and oligomers in that they can be cured by exposure to UV radiation without the addition of a photoinitiator. Under typical UV curing conditions (˜500 mJ/cm2), these coatings can be effectively cured on a variety of metal substrates with little or no added photoinitiator. Traditional multifunctional acrylates and/or oligomers will not cure upon exposure to such low doses of UV radiation unless a photoinitiator, often at relatively high levels, is added to coating formulations. Traditional photoinitiators (e.g., benzophenone) can be toxic and expensive. An additional disadvantage is that photoinitiators and/or their decomposition products may contribute to film color, which can limit applicability of the coating over white and light-colored substrates.
The novel coatings disclosed here exhibit performance properties that make them very effective across a range of metal substrates. Traditionally, to modify the properties of photoinitiator-containing coating formulations one must admix additives, including reactive monomers or oligomers. Traditional additives can confer higher cost and may compromise some performance attributes. However, the specific properties of the coatings resulting from the present invention can be extensively modified merely by varying oligomer composition rather than by blending with additives. Coating films can be engineered to exhibit wide ranges of hardness, toughness, flexibility, tensile-strength, stain resistance, scratch resistance, impact resistance, solvent resistance, etc. Almost any desired coating performance parameter can be attained by proper selection of the raw material building blocks used to make the oligomer.
Cure of conventional polyacrylate coating systems may be achieved without a UV photoinitiator. However, such systems typically require the use of an expensive, high-energy source, such as electron beam radiation, and cannot be accomplished with much cheaper UV radiation. Full cure can be realized with little or no traditional photoinitiator when the inventive oligomers are formulated into UV-curable coatings.
A coating must adequately wet out the surface of a substrate for it to adhere well to that surface. There are three principle wetting phenomena that apply to coatings: spreading, adhesional, and penetrational or immersional wetting. Spreading and adhesional wetting directly impact the application of a coating to a particular surface. Penetrational or immersional wetting impacts the application of coatings to porous surface structures and to particulate dispersions. When a coating fluid wets a surface, a second fluid, usually air, is displaced. Surface tension, both of the coating fluid and of the substrate, controls the action of wetting.
The spreading of a liquid over a solid is defined by SL/S=γSA−(γLA+γSL), where, γSA denotes the surface tension of the substrate under air, γLA denotes the surface tension of the liquid coating under air, and γSL denotes the interfacial tension or free energy of the substrate/liquid coating interface. A coating fluid will spread spontaneously when SL/S is either positive or zero. Where SL/S is negative, the coating will not properly wet the substrate. The resultant coating will be characterized by pinholes, fisheyes, or picture framing, and in the worst case scenario, complete de-wetting ('beading') will occur. The substrate-air surface tension cannot be controlled by the resin designer and the substrate-coating interfacial tension is assumed to be a minimum when the surface tensions of the substrate and coating fluid are nearly identical. Therefore, for best wetting, the coating surface tension should be lower than, but approximate equal to the surface energy of the substrate. Preferably, the surface tension of a coating resin should be about 3 to 10 dynes/cm less than the surface energy of the substrate.
The term adhesion refers to the attraction that molecules of one material experience towards molecules of a different material. The attraction of molecules of one material towards other molecules of the same material is cohesion. The surface tension of a liquid is a measure of its cohesion. The analogous term for a solid is surface energy. Surface tension and surface energy have the same units (dynes/cm) and surface tension is often used interchangeably to refer to the liquid or solid state.
The Lewis acid/base theory is the current state of the art in understanding adhesive phenomena. Atoms are held in larger structures called molecules by two types of bonds: ionic and covalent. Similarly molecules are held in larger structures (liquids and solids) by cohesive and adhesive forces termed intermolecular forces. Approximately twenty such forces are known, most are insignificant and may be ignored to a first approximation. The dominant forces are primarily electrostatic. The theory divides intermolecular forces into two principal groups. The various names have fine shades of meaning, but are normally used interchangeably: a) LW=Liftshitz-van der Waals≈London≈non-polar≈dispersive forces; and b) AB=(Lewis) acid/base≈polar forces. Dispersion forces are always present, but acid/base forces, which may or may not be present, contribute most to industrial adhesion.
FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing showing that clean metal surfaces are substantially covered with free OH-groups. These groups confer the potential for adhesion based on Lewis acid-base electrostatic interactions.
A need therefore exists for UV-curable metal coating resins that have surface tensions and electrostatic character appropriately compatible with the surface energy of metals in order to allow effective wetting and adhesion on those metal surfaces.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following disclosure.

Radiation-curable coatings for metal substrates from multifunctional acrylate oligomers

Ashland Licensing and Intellectual Property LLC


A connector connectable to another connector includes a connector card including a first surface and a second surface, a cable pad provided on the first surface and configured to be connected to a cable core wire, a contact that is provided on the second surface and corresponds to the cable pad, wherein the contact is positioned across the connector card from the corresponding cable pad and is configured to come into contact with the other connector, and an electrically conductive part provided through the connector card, wherein the conductive part electrically connects the cable pad and the corresponding contact.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the speed of transmission paths has increased in order to handle a large volume of communications traffic in video communications and the like. Various connectors that connect a cable, which is adaptive to the increase in the data transfer rate, to a printed circuit board have been proposed.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2001-76804 discloses a cable connector intended for improvement in electromagnetic compatibility.
Furthermore, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2007-157393 discloses a cable connector that is adaptable to an increase in the data transfer rate.


The present invention discloses a system capable of outputting a warning broadcast after picking up warning signals from a non-human-attended transmitter installed in a dangerous area, when an automobile runs such a dangerous area. Conventionally there are only warning signs installed on roads. If a driver enters into a dangerous area for the first time, or at night, the driver can often fail to properly cope with the suddenly appearing danger. The present invention gives a solution to such a problem in such a manner that a non-human-attended transmitter is installed in each of dangerous areas in order to emit relevant warning signals based on the particular feature of the danger lying ahead on the road (such as sharp curve of the road, steep slope of the road and the like), and that each automobile is provided with a receiver for picking up the warning signals emitted by the transmitter in order to output a warning broadcast by drawing the broadcasting data from a data memory of the receiver based on the received warning signals. Thus a driver is warned of the danger lying ahead in the form of a broadcast, so that the driver should be able to be ready for the imminent danger lying ahead.

Conventionally, there has been none of such a transmitting and receiving system installed in a dangerous area or in an automobile, but only warning signs for informing of the road situations are installed on the road. Therefore, when a driver runs a road for the first time or during a night, if he or she is encountered with a sharp curve or a steep slope suddenly, it is difficult for him or her to become ready to the situation, thereby being led to an accident often. Particularly, even if the driver is accustomed to the road, if the situation of the road is changed by road constructions and the like, the driver can fail to adapt to the new situation (that is, the driver can not exert a defensive vigil, but can drive in a careless manner), with the result that a large scale accident can occur sometimes.

Method of transmitting and receiving warning broadcast signals during drive in dangerous area, and system thereof

Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd.


A stack injection molding apparatus includes a melt homogenizing element provided between a first transfer nozzle, which is coupled to a melt source, and a second transfer nozzle, which is coupled to a manifold. The melt homogenizing element is used for redistributing a melt stream in order to provide a homogenized melt stream having a generally uniform temperature and viscosity profile or sectional distribution.

Stack molding provides an advantage over single molding in that it enables the output of an injection molding machine to be at least doubled without significantly increasing its size. Stack mold configurations such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,846,472 to Rozema, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,145 to Brown generally employ a stationary first platen, a movable center platen and a movable second platen. The mold cavities are conventionally located on opposing faces of the movable center platen. The movable center platen and the second movable platen reciprocate to open and close the mold cavities during a production cycle. In a stack molding apparatus, the manifold system extends through the center platen in order to reach the mold cavities located on each side of the center platen via an equal path length.
Typically, multi-cavity stack molds use a valve gated melt transfer nozzle, which is coupled to the movable platen, for delivering melt from the extruder nozzle of the injection molding machine to the manifold. The melt transfer nozzle moves into and out of engagement with a second valve gated melt transfer nozzle that is linked to the extruder. The manifold delivers melt from the melt transfer nozzle into injection nozzles that are associated with each individual mold cavity.
As a result of the reciprocating action of the movable platens, the melt transfer nozzles are continuously coupled to and decoupled from one another. In prior art valve gated melt transfer nozzles, this results in drooling and stringing between the nozzles, which is undesirable.
There are a large number of variables in a multi-cavity injection molding process that affect the quality of the molded parts produced. One such variable is shear induced flow imbalance. As the melt flows through the manifold, the melt near the perimeter of the melt channel experiences high shear conditions due to the relative velocity of the melt flow with respect to the stationary boundary of the melt channel, whereas the melt near the center of the melt channel experiences low shear conditions. As such, the shear rate and temperature, and therefore the viscosity vary both along and across the melt channel. When the melt channel splits into two branches, the center to perimeter variation becomes a side-to-side variation after the split. This side-to-side variation typically results in a variation in melt conditions from one side to the other of the parts molded from each of the runner branches. If the melt channel branches out to deliver melt to four or more mold cavities, the melt in each of the branches will be different, which will result in variations in the product created in each of the mold cavities.
The melt that is delivered from the extruder is often not evenly balanced. Further, when valve gated melt transfer nozzles are used to transfer melt from the extruder to the manifold, the melt flow imbalance is worsened due to the effect of the valve pins partially obstructing the melt flow. Therefore, in order to reduce the magnitude of the melt flow imbalance effect at the mold cavities, it is necessary to ensure that the melt entering the manifold is evenly distributed across the melt channel cross-section.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate at least one of the above disadvantages.

Stack mold having a melt homogenizing element


A spring biased clip comprising a pair of clamping elements hingedly connected together in combination with a spring. In a preferred embodiment, the clamping elements have hinge and spring components and are integral male and female snap connection elements which are extruded to form stock materials, which can then be out to length and assembled by a snap connection.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a spring biased clip. More specifically, the clip according to the present invention comprises a pair of clamping elements having interfitting components defining a hinge in combination with a spring, preferably a cantilever spring. The clip according to the present invention can take the form of a bag clip or paper clip.
2. Background of the Invention
There presently exists many varieties of bag and paper clips commercially available and in use today. However, these clips can be expensive and complex to manufacture. Specifically, there exists a need for an improved bag clip.
With respect to paper clips, by far the most highly successful clip has been the conventional bent wire paper clip. This clip has dominated the field for many years. However, this clip is not very useful for securing thick documents nor would serve as an effective bag clip. Specifically, this clip can only accommodate documents having up to approximately twenty (20) sheets due to the limitation on the amount of bending the inner wire loop can sustain at its base prior to permanent plastic deformation of the wire section located at the base.
In order to accommodate thicker documents, the conventional wire paper clip must be somewhat reformed by the fingers of the user, resulting in a clip with inadequate biasing force. The deficiency of the use of the modified conventional paper clip is further exasperated, since thicker documents require a clip with greater biasing force due to the tendency of inner sheets to slip due to an insufficient average biasing force between sheets.
Variations of the wire paper clip have from time to time been introduced, however, never gaining wide acceptance in the marketplace. Recently, a new paper clip has been introduced that is essentially a thin plate of spring steel bent into a U-shaped cross section that has gained some market share in Japan and is now on sale in the United States. In operation, the plate portions of this clip are separated apart and then the clip is slid over the document to be secured.
Another conventional clip available is designed for handling thick documents. This clip is similar to the above-described clip except edge portions of the plates forming the clip are provided with bent wire actuators. The bent wire actuators can be pivoted from one position, during use of the clip, to a clip removal position where the bent wire portions use the body of the clip itself as fulcrums for separating the plate edges by pressing the free ends of the bent wire actuators together for removing the clip. This clip is constructed of all metal, and requires a number of separate components and bending manufacturing steps of the spring steel plate and the bent wire actuators increasing the costs of manufacturing.
However, this clip is not very useful with relatively thin documents. For example, the all metal construction of this clip results in a heavy clip, which tends to bend the edge downwardly at the portion of the document to which it is applied making handling of the document during reading sometimes difficult. Further, the bulky construction of this clip tends to interfere with the fingers of the user reading the document and creates a problem when stacking or shipping a document. More specifically, this type of clip has a greater dimensional thickness than the document due to its design preventing plural documents to be stacked flatly one on top of each other, or protrudes through the side of an envelope in which it is being shipped.


The timing of the reaction of moisture-sensitive reagents for detecting the presence of analytes, e.g. leukocytes in urine samples, is used to detect when the reagents have been compromised by excess humidity. The ratio of light reflectance at wavelengths characteristic of the products of reaction between the reagents and the analyte and an infra-red reference dye is measured at two preset times after a urine sample has been applied to a test strip and used to determine whether the reagents have been compromised by excessive humidity. The presence of unusually dark samples is determined from the reflected light at 470 and 625 nm in order to confirm that the test strips are humidity-compromised.

This invention relates generally to improving the performance and reliability of test strips employing moisture-sensitive reagents, particularly those used to determine the presence of analytes in urine samples, such as albumin, protein, creatinine, nitrate, uristatin, leukocyte esterase (white blood cells), occult blood (red blood cells), ketones, glucose, bilirubin, urobilogen and others familiar to those skilled in the art. Measurement of proteases and protease inhibitors such as leukocyte esterase (human elastase) or urinary trypsin inhibitor (Bikunin, Uristatin) are especially important in that they may indicate infections of the kidney or urogenital tract. These proteases and protease inhibitor strips rely on hydrolysis of proteolytic substrates by proteases to generate detectable signals. Since the biochemical reactions require water for enzymatic hydrolysis to occur, they tend to be sensitive to moisture and may interfere with the detectable signals through background reactions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,663,044 is incorporated herein by reference. This patent describes the background art in the field of detecting leukocyte, esterase or protease and for teaching generally the use of a composition including a diazonium salt, one of a group of esters subject to hydrolysis in the presence of leukocyte, esterase or protease and an alkaline earth metal. The '044 patent teaches the measuring of reflectance of light at about 570 nm to determine the amount of leukocytes in the urine sample. The reflectance at 570 nm is compared with a standard measurement of reflectance at 690 nm. The patent indicates that the presence of alkaline earth metal promotes stability of the diazonium salt. It also suggests that the alkaline earth metal absorbs moisture which can cause background color change. Experience has shown that this reagent system is sensitive to moisture and that the test strips must be kept in a dry environment before use. The moisture content of test strips should be kept below 2 wt % to avoid degrading performance. However, measuring moisture in test strips is not very accurate. There is a particular need to measure moisture content very accurately to assure that test strips are stable in a closed dry container over several years.
Another example of the use of moisture-sensitive reagents is discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,770,764; 6,955,921; and 7,001,737 incorporated herein by reference. In the reactions described, the presence of urinary trypsin inhibitors in a urine sample is detected by adding a sample to test strips containing a known amount of trypsin, a trypsin substrate, i.e. arginine esters hydrolyzed by trypsin to produce an alcohol, and a diazonium salt. When trypsin inhibitors are present they inhibit the reaction between trypsin and the substrate. This reduces the color produced by diazonium salt from its reaction with the phenol produced when the trypsin substrate reacts with the known amount of trypsin. By measuring the color produced, the presence of trypsin inhibitors can be determined.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,316,264 an infra-red (IR) dye is added to a predetermined location on reagent strips in order to assure that the strips are properly aligned in the instrument used to detect and/or measure the presence of analytes in a sample applied to the strip. The IR range for the dyes was broadly between 700 and 2500 nm, but dyes having strong absorbance in the range of 825-855 nm were said to be preferred, with absorbance in the visible range (400-700 nm) less than 20%.
As suggested above, it would be advantageous if urine test strips that are moisture-compromised could be identified with improved accuracy to prevent unsafe use and to correct for moisture-affected results. Since reagents which involve hydrolysis of proteolytic substrates are especially sensitive to moisture, if the reagents themselves could be used to indicate the presence of undesirable moisture, significant improvement would have been obtained. The present invention provides such a method, which will be described in detail below.

Device and method for detection of humidity-compromised urine test strips


The present invention provides a complex modular afocal variator in which a modular afocal variator is supplemented with additional optics to form a more complex, but still modular afocal variator system, that can impart internal focusing as well as active spherical and chromatic aberration corrective improvement.

The present invention relates to an optical system in which a non-formula-specific modular afocal variator in combination with a supplemental lens system provides the optical system with both focusing means and active spherical and chromatic aberration corrective improvement for distant and near-focus. The combination of the modular afocal variator with the supplemental lens system produces a new type of integrated focusing device for optical systems that is itself a modular system.
Optical variators are typically used in optical systems to change the magnification of an image. For example, afocal variators have been used in projector lenses to alter the size of a projected image on a screen. In many instances, optical variator devices are used in combination with a front optical system or a rear optical system. In some instances they have even been used in combination with both a front objective system and a rear optical system. However, traditional optical systems which incorporate variator optical systems to alter the size of an image are not able to focus the image, and are usually only functional at relatively short back focal distances.
While the use of variators, either alone or in combination with either a front optical system or a rear optical system, are known, they largely are not known to have been used to alter active focal length so as to act as a focusing system as opposed to a system for altering image size at a fixed focal plane, such as a zoom lens. In the past where it has been desired to alter focal length, this has usually been accomplished by continuously or discretely changing the length of the optical system, or by changing the location or type of imaging lenses in the front, rear, or both front and rear optical systems. Generally the prior art has altered focal length by manipulating the imaging lens system, changing the length of the optical system, or changing the location or type of lenses in either the front or rear optical systems.
For example, Hillman (U.S. Pat. No. 2,937,570) discloses a telescope system in which the image forming lenses are moved in order to focus the system. Focusing is accomplished by moving the objective lens relative to the focusing lens, both of which are part of the telescope's "formula-specific" objective imaging system. Focusing is not accomplished or taught to be feasible by moving a central, modular position of an afocal variator, nor by determining the optical effect of an afocal variator and incorporating its front and rear elements into the image-forming optics, but still retaining a central modular element which is non-image-forming and essentially non-formula specific.
Matsumura (U.S. Pat. No. 4,318,585) discloses an optical system with an afocal focusing group, but in which the afocal focusing group is a Galilean telescope rather than an afocal variator. Furthermore, the system as taught by Matsumura does not incorporate the front, rear or front and rear elements of an afocal variator into the calculation and formulation of the image forming optics.
Quenderff (French Patent No. 2,572,545) teaches the use of a zoom lens to make enlarged pictures, and also teaches the use of various known mechanical devices for connecting together optical modules. However, it does not disclose the use of a central afocal variator module as a focusing element.
Margolis (U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,173), in contrast, teaches the use of a modular afocal variator optical system which can be used in optical instruments, such as long-distance microscopes, as the mechanism for providing focus. However, in this reference the modular afocal variator does not impart active spherical or chromatic aberration corrective improvement within the characteristics of the modular afocal variator itself. This modular afocal variator may in fact cause additional spherical and chromatic aberration.
While U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,173 teaches the use of a modular afocal variator as the focusing means of optical devices, it does not teach that under specific conditions the modular afocal variator can be supplemented with a lens system which can be positioned to impart active transitional spherical and chromatic aberration corrective improvement when incorporated in optical devices so as to provide focus and improved image quality over a range of far and near focal points. Additionally, the modular afocal variator of U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,173 has additional limitations, such as the functional size of the aperture of the optical system. What is needed is an improved modular afocal variator system that provides active correction of spherical and chromatic aberration and greater operational parameters.

Complex modular afocal variator with spherical and chromatic aberration correction


An article of manufacture is provided both for coordinating multiple fields of view of a plurality of cameras so as to facilitate determining the distance between features on a semiconductor wafer, each feature being disposed within a different field of view, and for correcting image distortion within each field of view. The article of the invention includes a substantially rigid dimensionally-stable substrate, such as a plate, having a plurality of image distortion calibration targets, that are each located at a known relative position. In semiconductor wafer applications, each calibration target is disposed on the substrate so the target is in the field of view of a camera positioned to include a portion of the edge of the semiconductor wafer at run-time. In a preferred embodiment, each calibration target is disposed at an orientation angle such that a first principle axis of the calibration target is perpendicular to a tangent to the perimeter of the semiconductor wafer. In semiconductor wafer applications, it is preferred that a surface of the substrate be of a size and shape such that each calibration target disposed on the substrate can be in the field of view of a camera positioned to include a portion of the edge of the semiconductor wafer at run-time. In a preferred embodiment, the substrate includes physical alignment features that facilitate coordination of the multi-camera coordinate system of the article of the invention with the coordinate system of a semiconductor manufacturing machine.

Machine vision systems having multiple cameras are known. It is also known to simultaneously acquire images from each of a plurality of cameras in a machine vision system. Machine vision systems having a single camera for semiconductor wafer inspection, guidance, gauging, and location are also known. However, presently, it is not possible to precisely coordinate the fields of view of the plurality of cameras so that measurements can be performed across multiple fields of view to a precision of fractions of a millimeter, especially when there is significant image distortion in each field of view.
In most machine vision applications where the object of interest is a semiconductor wafer, or portion thereof, a single standard-resolution camera provides adequate resolution and scene area coverage. In such applications where higher resolution is needed, magnifying optics can be used, but scene area coverage is reduced. Alternatively, a higher-resolution camera can be used, thereby preserving scene area coverage, but such cameras can be prohibitively expensive, or unavailable at the resolution required by the application.
Resolution is defined as the number of pixels that correspond to each unit area in a physical scene. Thus, resolution determines how much scene area can be represented by each pixel of an image provided by a vision camera. A high resolution camera allocates a large number pixels to each unit area. Thus, each pixel of an image provided by a high-resolution camera represents a smaller portion of the physical scene than each pixel of an image provided by a low-resolution camera, assuming that both cameras are equipped with the same optics and are located at the same position.
In some machine vision applications, both high resolution and coverage of widely separated portions of a large scene are simultaneously required. It is clear that one solution to the problem of achieving high resolution images of a scene area greater than can be covered by a single camera is to use more than one camera, each camera having a field-of-view that covers only a portion of the scene area.
However, when there is more than one field of view, the relative physical positions of the respective reference origins of the fields of view are inherently indeterminate without reference to a common coordinate system. Consequently, position information in the image from each field of view cannot be related to position information from the other fields of view. Therefore, information interrelating the coordinate systems of multiple fields of view must somehow be provided.
Although such information can be obtained visually, by capturing in each field of view an image of a landmark disposed at a known position in relation to a common coordinate system, position information so-obtained in a machine vision system may not be sufficiently precise for many applications. This is due to lens-related and camera-related distortion effects. Unfortunately, attempting to correct these distortion effects may degrade the final accuracy of the visually acquired landmark position information relative to the common coordinate system.

Multiple field of view calibration plate for use in semiconductor manufacturing


Embodiments of this application provide a downlink data transmission method and apparatus. The method includes: receiving, by a user plane device, downlink data of a terminal, sending, by the user plane device, the downlink data by using a shared bearer to an access network device that is in a tracking area of the terminal, receiving, by the access network device, a context setup request message sent by a control plane device, setting up, by the access network device, a radio bearer between the access network device and the terminal based on the context setup request message, and sending, by the access network device, the downlink data to the terminal by using the radio bearer. In this way, a downlink data transmission delay is reduced and downlink data transmission efficiency is improved.

Generally, when a terminal in an idle mode needs to transmit data to a network side device, a service request procedure triggered by the terminal needs to be performed. Correspondingly, when a network side device needs to transmit data to a terminal in an idle mode, a service request procedure triggered by the network side needs to be performed.
A fourth generation (4G) network is used as an example. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a service request procedure triggered by a network side device in the prior art. As shown in FIG. 1, the service request procedure includes the following operations: Operation S101: A packet data network gateway (PGW) sends downlink data to a serving gateway (SGW). Operation S102: The SGW sends a downlink data notification message to a mobility management entity (MME). Operation S103: The MME sends a downlink data notification response message to the SGW. Operation S104: The MME sends a paging message to an evolved NodeB (eNodeB). Operation S105: The eNodeB sends the paging message to a terminal. Operation S106: The terminal sends non-access stratum (NAS) signaling, that is, service request signaling to the eNodeB. Operation S107: The eNodeB sends the service request signaling to the MME. Operation S108: Perform a security authentication process (optional). Operation S109: The MME sends S1-AP signaling to the eNodeB, that is, a context setup request message, to request the eNodeB to prepare context for the terminal. Operation S110: Set up a radio bearer between the terminal and the eNodeB, to transmit downlink data. Operation S111: The eNodeB sends a context setup response message to the MME. Operation S112: The MME sends a bearer modify request to the SGW. Operation S113: The SGW sends a bearer modify response to the MME. Operation S112 and operation S113 are to set up a non-shared bearer for the downlink data. If a radio access technology (RAT) of the terminal changes, operation S114 to operation S117 further need to be performed. Operation S114: The SGW sends a bearer modify request to a PGW. Operation S115: The PGW requests a PCRF to modify a quality of service (QoS) rule. Operation S116: The PGW sends a bearer modify response to the SGW. Operation S117: The SGW sends the bearer modify response to the MME. Operation S118: The SGW sends a paging stop message to the MME. Operation S119: The SGW sends the downlink data to the terminal.
In the prior art, a downlink data sending delay is high, and downlink data transmission efficiency is low.

Downlink data transmission method and apparatus


A method and apparatus are provided for forwarding messages among peripherals of an automatic call distributor. The method includes the steps of forming a message table in a first peripheral of the automatic call distributor and forwarding a message from the first peripheral to a second peripheral of the automatic call distributor based upon a content of the message table.

Automatic call distributors (ACDs) are known. Such devices are typically used by service organizations where ever a large number of calls must be matched with a limited number of agents. The calls handled by ACDs may be either incoming or outgoing.
Sales organizations may use automatic call distributors (ACDs) to receive and distribute incoming calls to customer service agents. Often the sales organization will disseminate a single telephone number to its customers. As customers call the telephone number, the calls must be distributed to the organization's agents. In order to distribute incoming calls, the ACD must first be able to detect an incoming call, then select an available agent and, finally to route the call to the selected agent.
In order to select an agent and equalize a workload among a group of agents, the ACD must be able to detect when an agent is idle (i.e., not occupied with a prior call). When ever an agent is idle, the switch may assign a call to that agent. Idle time, in fact, is often used as a equitable means of determining which agent will receive the next incoming call.
In the case of either incoming or outgoing calls, it is important for an agent working at an agent station to have ready access to customer records. In addition to a telephone, an agent station also typically includes a computer terminal coupled to a system database (host) for purposes of providing and maintaining customer records. While an agent could individually identify customers to the host by the manual entry of a customer identifier, it is generally more efficient that the ACD identify a customer to the host.
Typically, the ACD identifies the customer to the host by use of the customer telephone number. On either incoming or outgoing calls, the ACD transfers the telephone number to the host along with an identifier of a selected agent when the call is assigned to the agent. In the case of incoming calls, the ACD may identify a caller's telephone number through PSTN features such as automatic number identification (ANI).
In large service organizations, many ACDs and agent groups may exist over wide geographic areas, often in different time zones. ACDs may be interconnected to share call processing. ACDs which become overloaded may transfer (overflow) some calls to other ACDs.
Where a call is transferred from a first ACD to a second ACD, it is important to transfer whatever information exists about the call to a destination ACD. However, a transferring ACD may not know which ACD will ultimately accept the call. Often, the receiving ACD is served by a different host than the transferring ACD. As a consequence, a message transmitted from one ACD or host is typically transmitted (broadcast) to all connected ACDs and hosts. Further, any message received by a first ACD or host is automatically re-broadcast to any other ACD or host connected to the first ACD or host. As ACD systems have increased in size, the number of messages transmitted has also increased. In some cases unnecessary messages degrade system operation. Accordingly, a need exists for a means of reducing message traffic within an ACD system.

Selective messaging in a multiple messaging link environment

Rockwell Electronic Commerce Technologies, LLC


A method and apparatus for film cooling of an aerodynamically shaped airfoil uses a plurality of curved slots extending through the airfoil in an area upstream of the high curvature region of the airfoil, i.e., in an area of low Mach number of the gas stream passing over the airfoil surface. The curved slots are configured to inject cooling air at an angle of about 16.5 degrees. The cooling air is injected at a blowing ratio in excess of 1.0 and yet is effective to form a film on the vane surface.

The high temperature of inlet gas stream air entering high pressure turbine nozzles and flowing over outer surfaces of individual vanes of the nozzles in a gas turbine engine has required cooling of the vane airfoil sections in order to maintain vane temperatures within the present material capability. Cooling is commonly provided by forming the vanes as hollow airfoils and providing vent holes from the hollow interior through which a cooling gas, typically air, is forced. The gas desirably forms a film over at least a portion of the airfoil surface and thereby cools or at least insulates such surface. The film cooling injection location is extremely important on the suction side (convex surface) of the airfoil where the hot gas stream can become supersonic. Performance considerations have driven film cooling to be introduced on the airfoil surface at locations where the hot gas stream has a low velocity and near the leading edge of the airfoil section. The selection of cooling film injection locations is a trade-off between performance and cooling of the airfoil. Performance losses are directly proportional to the square of the main stream Mach number at the injection locations. Therefore, the impact on engine performance is significantly different when comparing performance when coolant is injected in a region where the Mach number is about 0.3 as opposed to injection in a region where the Mach number is about 1.0. However, when injection occurs in a low Mach number region, the cooling film may degrade to a point of being ineffective prior to reaching the vane trailing edge. In order to compensate for such degradation, it is necessary to increase the flow of coolant, but such increased flow adversely affects the temperature profile out of the combustor and adversely affects engine performance. Accordingly, coolant injection is often a trade-off of performance against cooling and component life.
With some high curvature airfoil sections, the gas film or vent holes are oriented angularly so as to reduce the gas film injection angle. The reduced angle improves the ability of the film to flow along the airfoil surface. If the film does not flow along the surface, i.e., if it is dissipated in the gas stream, then cooling is ineffective. Film blow-off occurs if the strength of the injected coolant relative to the strength of the gas stream, i.e., the blowing rate, is incorrect for the coolant injection angle. It has also been proposed to turn the cooling gas through a large angle, e.g., between 135 and 165 degrees, using a curved admission tube before injecting the cooling gas at an angle of between about 15 and 45 degrees with respect to the airfoil surface, to try to force the film to remain on the vane surface over greater distances. However, this arrangement has been applied to airfoils having relatively continuously curved suction sides which do not introduce rapid velocity changes. More particularly, this proposed arrangement has been demonstrated to be effective only for blowing rates of between about 0.37 and 0.70. For blowing rates above 0.70, the curved tube was found to be less effective in film cooling than straight tube injection. This above approach is discussed in detail in NASA Technical Paper 1546 published in 1979 and entitled "Influence of Coolant Tube Curvature in Film Cooling Effectiveness as Detected by Infrared Imagery", by Papell, Graham, and Cageao. In general, it is believed that blowing ratios greater than 1.1 are less effective in film cooling.
The development of blunt leading edge airfoils creates more severe film cooling requirements. With such airfoils, a high curvature section exists immediately downstream of the normal film injection point. Conventional injection processes are ineffective to maintain the cooling film on the airfoil surface over such high curvature regions. Furthermore, the velocity of the high temperature gases over high curvature regions approaches supersonic velocities and contributes to the degradation of the cooling film due to large free stream turbulence.

Curved film cooling holes for gas turbine engine vanes


A local system issues an ICMP echo request packet with a size based on an initial PMTU value corresponding to that of the local system's interface MTU. When an ICMP needfrag error packet is received by the local system, this signifies that the initial PMTU value was too large for packets of corresponding size to be transmitted through the Internet without fragmentation. The value is accordingly decreased by the local system and a next ICMP echo request packet transmitted through the Internet. The process iterates until an ICMP echo request packet is successfully transmitted through the Internet to a target system. In response thereto, the target system transmits an ICMP echo response packet back through the Internet to the local system, thereby indicating that the last-sent ICMP echo request packet from the local system had the correct PMTU value which is thereafter assumed to be the correct PMTU. An MTU application, MTU table, and corresponding application program interfaces and controls are provided in the system for dynamically maintaining PMTU value estimates and for providing next estimates of PMTU. These next estimates are accessed from the table in next ICMP echo request packet transmissions when an ICMP needfrag error packet does not contain an MTU value returned from a router in the Internet.

Referring first to FIG. 1, depicted therein is a network-wide view of a typical system for communicating across the Internet 12 between a local system 10 and a target system 14. In such a system, information is transmitted between systems 10 and 14 in the form of data packets sent over the Internet. It has long been known that fragmentation of such data packets by routers 1-N, 24, 26, 30, is generally undesirable. The reason is that such fragmentation and reassembly is an expensive and time consuming process which causes applications to wait until all fragments are received and reassembled. Thus, it is desirable to determine the largest size packet which may be transmitted without being fragmented.
Maximum transfer unit (MTU) of a network interface is defined as the maximum size of the data packet that can be sent out over the network interfaces 16 and 20. Internet 12 is comprised of many networks with different MTUs. Internet traffic usually undergoes fragmentation at the source node and reassembly at the receiving node if the size of the data packet is larger than the MTU of the outgoing interface or the interface of an intermediate router 24-30. However, as already noted, such fragmentation and reassembly is a time consuming and expensive process and causes applications to wait until all fragments are received and reassembled. It is possible to specify that Internet Protocol (IP) data not be fragmented, however this causes IP packets which are larger than the MTUs to be dropped.
Path MTU (PMTU) of an Internet path is defined as the minimum of the MTUs of all of the segments that the path is comprised of. Data fragmentation and reassembly can be avoided if the path MTU of the Internet path between the source and the destination was known. The IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force), which has assumed responsibility for the continued development of the Internet, has published a "Request for Comment" or RFC 1191 which describes a technique for discovering PMTUs of Internet paths by utilizing the "Don't Fragment" (DF) bit in the IP header to discover the PMTU. Setting this DF option in the outgoing data (payload) IP packets enables the sending node to receive an error when the IP packet cannot be sent out because it is larger than the MTU of the outgoing interface and, as a result, the data packet is dropped. The source host 10 initially assumes the PMTU of the path is the known MTU of the first hop, and sends all packets with the DF bit set. If any of the routers 24-30 cannot forward the datagrams without fragmentation, the particular router will discard them and return a "Destination Unreachable, DF set and Fragmentation Required" (Needfrag Error) ICMP message and the source host reduces its assumed PMTU. The PMTU discovery process ends when datagrams are delivered without error or the host may elect to end the discovery process by ceasing to set the DF bit.
While packet drops and data loss were not major issues for classical Internet applications such as mail, FTP, Telnet, etc., they can cause serious quality-of-service (QOS) problems for applications involving multimedia data, such as audio and video teleconferencing, video serving, etc. Data packet drop must be kept to a minimum for such applications, as they may involve real-time data encoding and hence retransmission of a lost or dropped packet may simply not be an option. Therefore, specifying not to fragment IP data may not be useful for multimedia data if there is a need to avoid fragmentation and reassembly for performance reasons.
Previous systems have employed the DF mechanism described in RFC 1191. However, a major flaw in such systems is that the DF bit is sent in actual data. For example, a video server might set the DF bit in accordance with RFC 1191 but only in actual video packets. At least two serious problems arise in so doing. First, in discovering a PMTU, because the DF bit is sent in actual data, failure points in the path may cause actual data packets to be dropped, resulting in lost data. Secondly, again because the DF bit is sent in actual data, it was heretofore impossible to discover the PMTU until the system began transmitting actual data. Yet a further problem of known systems relates to the fact that PMTUs of a path may change over time due to changes in routing topology. Existing PMTU discovery process was ill suited to dynamically detecting changes in PMTU due to the aforementioned route changes.

System and method for dynamically refining PMTU estimates in a multimedia datastream internet system

International Business Machines Corporation


An elongated tape guide for magnetic tape transported in a data cartridge provides an elongated support wall to guide the tape. The elongated tape guide has a tape guide wall and at least one flange for supporting an edge of the tape as it moves across a transducer. The tape guide can be formed to a desired cross section and then bent to provide the desired path. Suitable hard surface materials and dry lubricants can be used on the surface and impregnated with a dry lubricant. The guide wall is provided with a light transmitting aperture for transmitting light when apertures in the tape indicating a tape end align with the aperture in the guide wall.

This invention relates to improved tape guidance in a magnetic tape data cartridge.
Magnetic tape cartridges for magnetic tape carrying digital data on a number of tracks across the tape are well known. Tape cartridges include a cartridge shell that defines an enclosure, and a pair of tape reels supported within the enclosure. A length of magnetic tape extends along a tape path within the enclosure. Each end of the tape is wound onto one of the reels. The tape moves past suitable guides and across an opening in an edge of the cartridge into which a read/write head or transducer protrudes to tension the tape and write or read data when the cartridge is inserted into a recording/reproducing machine. The tape is driven by a belt so that the lineal tape speed is controlled precisely. Tape speeds are now in the range of 20 inches per second to 120 inches per second.
In order to maintain the tape properly positioned so that each of the very narrow individual tracks of data is appropriately positioned as it crosses the read/write head, it is important that the tape be guided precisely along its path of travel.
It is desirable to increase the density of the data tracks on a one-quarter inch tape, utilizing a standard belt driven cartridge. The present invention aids in achieving increased density.
Servo-drives are also used for positioning a tape under positive control, but such drives are expensive. The present invention aids in reducing the band width of tape control in servo-drives as well as reducing the complexity, and thus cost, of such drives.
Magnetic tape cartridges of the type disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,058, provide precisely located reference surfaces in the form of flanged guide pins for positioning an edge of the tape relative to the head, at selected points along its path, and means for urging the tape into engagement with the flanges so as to position the tape, and hence the tracks of recorded data relative to the head. The function of urging the tape into engagement with the guide pin flanges results from the angle at which the flanged guide pins are inserted into the baseplate. By inserting at least one of the guide pins into the baseplate with a slight deviation from perpendicularity with the baseplate, a steering effect which urges the tape into engagement with particular flanges of the guide pins is provided to guide the data tracks relative to the head.
Flanged cylindrical tape guides have the additional advantage being able to be manufactured to a high degree of precision, since they can be produced on an automatic lathe, or screw machine.
A multiple roller tape guidance system which provides an arcuate path further is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,173,828. Three rollers on each side of the transducer are provided to guide the tape in its path.
A tape guide which engages the edges of the tape over a longer distance, thereby enabling a lubricating air film to form, so as to reduce frictional drag on the tape, is disclosed in EP 536 912, assigned to Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. In addition, the longer engagement length serves to damp out vibrations and other transport deviations which might otherwise result from conditions upstream from the guide, such as tape reel and other transport rollers eccentricities.
The tape guide also must be highly abrasion resistant, since magnetic recording tape is inherently abrasive. In IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin Vol. 29, No. 5, October, 1986, wear resistant pads are used to contact the edge of the tape in a compliant guide system, thereby enabling the material for the spring portion of the compliant guide to be chosen without trading off spring properties for wear properties.
Surface coatings for imparting wear resistance to surfaces which might not otherwise resist wear are known. U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,772, for example, discloses a hard anodize coating which is resistant to wear caused by transport of magnetic tape.
In addition, dry lubricants can be incorporated into wear resistant anodized coatings for the purpose of reducing friction. Such coatings are used in the present invention and are described in the following references:
Seitzinger, R. C., "Coatings that Cut Friction," MACHINE DESIGN, Oct. 21, 1976, pp. 114-119. PA1 Covino, C. P., "Hard Coat Plus Solid Lube Fights Wear Problems, " METAL PROGRESS, June, 1975, pp. 69-70.
The present invention provides an elongated guide that stabilized a magnetic tape as it is moved in a path in a belt driven tape cartridge. The elongated support aids in maintaining the data tracks on the tape properly aligned.


A magnetic recording medium which comprises a magnetic layer is prepared by a dispersion of a powder of a ferromagnetic material in a binding material which is a macromolecular compound comprising an epoxy group, followed by addition to the dispersion of a silane compound comprising an amino group or a thiol group. A low viscosity magnetic coating material in which a fine powder of magnetic material is dispersed with excellent stability can thus be prepared. The recording medium prepared by using the coating material exhibits excellent magnetic characteristics, excellent durability and excellent running properties under variety of environmental conditions with desirable stability.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel magnetic coating material which is prepared by dispersing a fine powder of a ferromagnetic material in a binding material of a macromolecular compound comprising an epoxy group in it, followed by adding a silane compound comprising an amino group or a thiol group in it to the dispersion and to a novel magnetic recording medium which comprises a magnetic layer prepared from the magnetic coating material.
2. Prior Art
Higher recording density is an increasingly intensive requirement for magnetic recording media. In the case of recording tapes, for example, it is required that higher saturated magnetic flux density, higher rectangular ratio Rs which is obtained by dividing residual magnetic flux density Br by saturated magnetic flux density Bm, lower roughness of surface, excellent flexibility and excellent wear resistance are achieved simultaneously. When very fine powder of ferromagnetic materials having a specific surface area in the range from 30 m.sup.2 /g to 70 m.sup.2 /g is utilized because of the requirement for a higher S/N ratio and other properties as mentioned, binding materials utilized in the recording media are required to have both an excellent dispersing ability and a strong binding force simultaneously to disperse the very fine powder homogeneously and bind it tightly in the media.
Binding materials which are generally utilized for recording media are polyester resins; cellulosic resins; polyurethane resins; phenolic resins; epoxy resins; polyamide resins; polymers and copolymers of vinyl chloride, vinylidene chloride, vinyl acetate, (meth)acrylic esters, (meth)acrylamide, acrylonitrile, butadiene, styrene, vinyl esters and the like monomers; and the like materials used in combination with so called dispersing agents, such as low molecular weight surface active agents and fatty acids. However, among these generally utilized binding materials, no material satisfies the requirement that fine powder of magnetic materials must be dispersed homogeneously and, at the same time, the magnetic layer prepared must have excellent wear resistance.
Improvement of dispersion of powder of magnetic materials in binding materials has been a subject of study. It was reported that, when powder of a magnetic material is treated with aminosilane compounds, the dispersion is improved (Laid Open Japanese Patent Publication Showa 58-205929). It was also reported that, when a ternary copolymer of vinyl chloride, vinyl alcohol and vinyl acetate which is generally utilized as the binding material is modified with aminosilane compounds and used as the binding material, the dispersion is improved (Japanese Patent Publication Heisei 1-49426). However, the magnetic coating materials prepared according to these reports do not have good enough processability which is required for application of the coating material to the surface of base materials.
It is expected that an increase of the strength of the magnetic layer of a recording medium will enhance the durability of the recording medium. A binding material with increased strength is necessary for preparing the magnetic layer of increased strength. The binding material must be, at the same time, capable of forming a highly filled magnetic layer by homogeneously dispersing fine powder of magnetic materials. Increase of molecular weight of the binding material is effective for the increase of the strength of the binding material. However, the increase of molecular weight of the binding material causes an increase of viscosity of the coating material in which the powder of magnetic material is dispersed and the dispersing ability tends to become poorer. Furthermore, the finer the powder of the magnetic material, the more the viscosity of the coating material is increased. Because of the reason described here, methods to increase strength of binding material without increasing the molecular weight of the material are required. Crosslinking of the binding material by using polyisocyanate compounds is generally used as one of the methods. To crosslink the binding material by using polyisocyanate compounds, the binding material must comprise a structure which can react with the polyisocyanate compounds. It is generally practiced that groups having active hydrogen which can react with polyisocyanate compounds, such as the hydroxy group, are introduced into the binding material.
However, when a large amount of the hydroxy group is introduced into the binding material and the coating material contains lubricants and other like ingredients, such as fatty acids and fatty acid esters, stability of the dispersion of the powder of magnetic material is decreased and stable and reliable preparation becomes difficult. On the other hand, when the amount of the hydroxy group present in the binding material is less than the necessary amount, the degree of crosslinking is insufficient and the improvement of the strength can not be attained. Furthermore, the excess amount of isocyanate group of the polyisocyanate compound which exists more than adequate for the reaction with the hydroxy group reacts with moisture in the air and the magnetic layer formed becomes fragile. The method of crosslinking by using polyisocyanate compounds is not suitable for preparing reliable recording media with enough stability.

Magnetic recording medium comprising ferromagnetic powder, a silane compound, and a binder comprising an epoxy group and specified functional group


User interface virtualization describes a technique for providing a user with access to one computing device from another computing device, while translating the ergonomics of one computer's user interface style into the ergonomics of the other's. An agent running on the remote desktop may use an interface interaction API or software framework to programmatically manipulate the user interface of the remote desktop and act as a proxy for a corresponding client running on a client device that accepts a “touch and swipe” style input. A user interface virtualization profile is used to specify application-specific augmentations and application-specific support for the interface interaction API.

Server-based computing allows a networked client device, remotely situated with respect to a server computing system, to access computing resources on the server. For example, the client device may run desktop remoting client software and hardware that uses a remote desktop protocol, such as Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), Virtual Network Computing (VNC), or Personal Computer over Internet Protocol (PCoIP), to access a desktop remotely. The desktop remoting client software displays an image of a graphical user interface generated by the operating system and applications running at the server computing system, e.g., in a virtual machine. The term "desktop" can refer to a virtual machine or physical system accessed by an end user as a local (to the user) desktop or workstation computer. The term "desktop" may also refer to the human interface environment through which users can launch, interact with, and manage applications, settings, and data. The remote desktop is accessible by the user using the remote desktop protocol and a desktop remoting client. The client device typically has a local set of input and output devices (e.g., display, keyboard, mouse) and transmits user input such as keyboard or mouse input to the remote system to be processed there and receives display and other data (e.g., sound) for presentation to the user using the local set of I/O devices.
However, users of client devices with touch-screens face several challenges when interfacing with traditional desktop-based applications (e.g., Microsoft Windows® applications) and desktops through a remote display protocol. One challenge relates to latency of the network connection between the touch-screen device and the remote desktop, which often creates a halting or jittery user experience. Another challenge relates to attempts to remotely control a conventional "point-and-click" driven interface (e.g., Windows® interface) from a touch-screen device which is designed not for traditional "point-and-click" interactions, but rather, for touch-screen gestures and "finger swipe" style of interactions.
Consequently, there is a need for improved systems and methods for providing access to a remote desktop having one style of user interface to a client device having a different style of user interface.

User interface virtualization profiles for accessing applications on remote devices