One or more MSRP data packets are received from a first MSRP session and creates a first log entry. One or more MSRP data packets are also received from a second MSRP session and create a second log entry. A correlation between the first and second MSRP sessions based on MDNs can be detected, and mapped correlating information to malicious activity. The mapping includes reconstructing MSRP messages sent from a source and encapsulated in a data field of the packets, including MDNs, and matching to at least one threat from a malicious activity database. In response to the threat matching, to conduct a security action on the first and second MSRP sessions.

Text to 911 and Next-Generation 911 systems are available on large cellular providers (e.g., AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon) and are being rolled out by many Emergency Services/First Responder providers around the globe in conjunction with a SIP (session initiation protocol) architecture. These Emergency Services/First Responder systems provide a life-critical service to local communities around the world, including police, fire, and ambulance dispatch, as well to report terrorist attacks and mass casualty events. They enable PSAPs to perform call transfer and data sharing and allow them to accept calls from mobile, text and voice applications. Text to 911 is critical in situations when a voice call would be dangerous, for young people that prefer text communication, and when anonymity of text makes a caller choose it over voice. A failure of these systems could be catastrophic to the local community it serves.
For example, NextGen 911 are vulnerable to code snippets, such as SQL injection, malicious URL or file attachments, man-in-the-middle attacks, DoS attacks, and unauthorized network access to name a few. The systems that process the MSRP traffic are proprietary and self-contained, and it is therefore not possible to perform security inspection after this traffic has been decoded by TCCs (text control centers). As a result, it is possible for MSRP to tunnel malware to the end station and potentially infect or otherwise compromise its integrity. MSRP is defined by RFC 4975 as an instant message protocol for sharing messages as well as other data within attachments. It is used to facilitate large-scale instant messaging. MSRP can act as stand-alone protocol but is also often negotiated via SIP/SDP (message type) similar to the way RTP is negotiated.
Additionally, these Emergency Services/First Responder systems have limited processing power, and they are vulnerable to Denial of Service (DoS)/Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. Often these DoS/DDoS attacks take the form of repeated text messages that are being transmitted far faster than a human sending text messages can produce.
Therefore, what is needed is a robust technique for scrutinizing across a plurality MSRP text message sessions to identify malicious activity.

NGFW (next generation firewall) security inspection over multiple sessions of message session relay protocol (MSRP) on a data communication network


Systems and methods for providing an insurance premium in association with an insurance strike price for a commodity are disclosed. By paying the insurance premium a consumer may obtain price protection for a commodity purchase. In particular, in one embodiment a consumer may obtain the right to be reimbursed for any amount paid over the insurance strike price for the commodity.

Almost all commodities that consumers purchase fluctuate in price on a regular basis. The periodicity of these fluctuations depends heavily on a variety of factors, including supply and demand, or variables associated with the supply and demand. Certain commodities are more volatile than others, however. These commodities are usually in relatively heavy demand or are widely consumed such that any disruption in the supply of the commodity may cause a commensurate market spike in the prices of these goods. Products of this type include fuel products such as gasoline or diesel, heating oil, natural fuel, crude oil, etc. Disruptions in the supply of these products (or commodities from which these products are produced) such as those caused by worlds events, natural disasters, etc. may cause the price of these commodities to jump markedly in a relatively short amount of time. These price spikes are quite noticeable, as these types of products are extensively consumed and fluctuations in the price of these products may occur relatively rapidly.
The severity of the effects of these price spikes on a given individual or entity is usually tied directly to the amount of the product consumed. Thus, while individual consumers are certainly affected by spikes in the price of a commodity such as gasoline or diesel, these effects may be even more pronounced with regards to large consumers of the commodity. For example, with respect to gasoline or diesel, businesses which rely on a fleet of vehicles to conduct their day to day operations may be severely financially strained by an increase in the price of the commodity. Furthermore, these constant fluctuations in price make anticipating future expenses for the commodity difficult, creating budgeting and accounting issues for these businesses.
Consequently, many individual consumers and businesses desire to financially protect themselves from potential increases in the price of a commodity to not only lower costs for themselves but, additionally, to create greater predictability in future costs for that commodity. There are currently a variety of schemes that allow consumers to purchase commodities, one example of these types of schemes is a fuel card, which is similar to the concept of a gift card. Consumers may purchase a fuel card such that the fuel card has an associated value. Whenever the fuel card is used to purchase fuel at a retail point of sale location, however, the retail price at the time of purchase may be used to subtract value from the fuel card. Thus, the consumer is not protected from adverse fluctuations in the market price of fuel.
Suppose, for example, that a consumer purchases a fuel card with a value of $100 dollars. The consumer may then make a first purchase of 4 gallons of fuel at a time when the retail price of fuel is $2.50, thus for this purchase a value of $10.00 (4 gallons times the $2.50 cost per gallon) is deducted from the value of the fuel card such that amount remaining on the fuel card which may be used to purchase fuel is $90.00. The consumer then makes a second purchase of 4 gallons of fuel at a different time where the retail price of fuel is $3.00. In this case, $12.00 (4 gallons times the $3.00 cost per gallon) is subtracted from the value of the fuel card such that the fuel card may still be used to purchase $78.00 (the $12.00 of the current purchase subtracted from the $90.00 of value remaining on the fuel card) of fuel. As can be seen then, when consumers utilize these schemes they are not protected from fluctuations in the retail price of a commodity as the purchase of the commodities at a particular time occurs at the retail price in effect at that time.
Some purchasing systems have been introduced in certain industry segments in an effort to address this issue. For example, there are certain schemes which allow a consumer to purchase a good or service and take later delivery, in whole or in part, such as purchasing a quantity of fuel which is physically deposited in a storage tank for future at will consumption. In other words the physical product itself has to be ordered and deposited into a storage facility, which has a limited capacity.
These types of systems are cumbersome for a variety of reasons: not only do they require dedicated storage, but additionally, delivery must be taken at the storage location itself. Moreover, the quantity of the commodity purchased has been pre-purchased, thus to utilize this method beneficially may require a preternatural ability to forecast where the market price for the product is going (e.g. will it become more or less expensive), estimate a consumption pattern for the commodity and, based upon these forecasts, estimates, current retail price, and myriad other factors, determine how much of the commodity is desired. As may be imagined these types of schemes are a rather impractical way for businesses to protect themselves against price fluctuations in a commodity and may be almost impossible for a consumer to utilize.
To remedy defects of the purchase and delivery systems discussed above, other schemes have been introduced whereby an individual consumer or a business consumer (for example a fleet manager) may purchase a quantity of a commodity (such as fuel) at the then prevailing retail price such that an account associated with the consumer is credited with the amount purchased. At this point, the physical commodity (e.g. fuel) has not actually been delivered but a quantity is held on reserve that can be redeemed in part or in whole at a variety of locations. While this type of system allows consumers or business to take delivery of the commodity in smaller quantities at a variety of locations it manifests many of the same problems as the purchase and delivery systems discussed above.
More specifically, while the delivery options have changed (e.g. it is now possible to take delivery at many locations in many installments instead of storing the purchase commodity) the purchasing of the commodity remains the same. In other words, in both cases the transaction for the commodity has been consummated; the consumer has made a purchase of a specified quantity of the commodity at a specified retail price.
Consequently, the drawbacks of the purchase and delivery systems discussed above apply equally well here. These systems require the ability to forecast the market for the commodity, estimate a consumption pattern for the good, and based upon these forecasts, estimates, the current retail price, and myriad other factors, determine how much of the commodity is desired.
From a financial perspective these types of systems have an even greater drawback: they only protect a consumer from potential up ticks in the retail price of the commodity. To elucidate, if a consumer purchases a certain quantity of a commodity at a certain retail price and the retail price for that commodity does indeed go up the consumer has saved himself the difference between the retail price at which he purchased and the increased retail price.
Suppose, however, that the consumer is incorrect in predicting that retail prices for the commodity will increase. In this case, the consumer is forced to choose between buying the commodity at the prevailing (lower) retail price and using the pre-purchased commodity (paid for at the previous higher retail price). This places the consumer in an undesirable situation. If the consumer's forecast for a needed quantity of a commodity is correct, the desired amount of the commodity has been pre-purchased and thus, buying the commodity at the prevailing retail price may lead to unused capacity vis-à-vis the commodity. The consumer must choose between saving the margin between the lower prevailing retail price and the pre-purchased price and having unused capacity.
Complicating the issue further, the more volatile the price of the commodity and the larger the volume of the commodity consumed the more complicated these types of calculations become. For example, suppose a fleet manager pre-purchases a quantity of fuel that he anticipates his fleet will utilize for a certain time period at a pre-purchase retail price. Everyday that the prevailing retail price for fuel is below the pre-purchase retail price the fleet manager must determine if it is financially beneficial to purchase fuel at the then prevailing retail price given the amount of fuel the fleet has consumed, the amount of fuel the fleet manager anticipates the fleet will consume, the pre-purchase retail price, the prevailing market price and a whole host of other variables. Many of these variables, however, remain in a constant state of flux. As may be imagined then, the calculations that the fleet manger must make to determine an optimum fuel purchasing strategy grow increasingly more complicated.
Thus, there is a need for systems and methods for commodity purchasing which allow consumers to protect against variability in the price for a commodity by allowing a consumer to protect against adverse fluctuations in the price of a commodity.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for providing an insurance premium for price protection


A bicycle rear wheel dropout assembly comprising a wheel dropout body member having a wheel axle receiving slot, a surface for securement of the rear end of a bicycle chainstay, and a seatstay projection a pivot pin projecting laterally from the wheel side of said seatstay projection, the seatstay tube having a lower edge, and means permanently securing said seatstay tube on the projection with said lower edge in engagement with said pivot pin in a predetermined angular orientation for a given bicycle size. In a second embodiment the seatstay projection is spherically shaped and the lower edge of the seat tube has a pivot pin notch with the pivot pin seated in the notch.

When attaching (welding, brazing, gluing, etc.) a seatstay and/or chainstay to a bicycle dropout, it is common to make one dropout for every frame size (seven average frame sizes and there can be special frame sizes). This is done to optimize weight, aesthetic appearance between seatstay and chainstay and dropout and manufacturability of each frame. Having many different dropouts is very costly since each dropout requires starting forms, forging dies and trim dies, as well as smaller production runs and more parts to inventory. A typical fixed design is shown in FIG. 3: the lower ends of the seatstay tube ST is snugly telescoped over annular stud projections P. The concept of adjustable dropouts has been around for many years. One such design is shown in Muller et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,591 from which FIGS. 1 and 2 hereof are taken. In this design, a ball element BE is formed on the dropout DO and a socket portion is shaped on the lower butt end L of the seize ST so that in effect a ball and socket universally adjustable joint is formed which can be welded in place at the desired angle for a given frame size. A similar arrangement is provided for the connecting the chainstay tube to the dropout.
This design reduces the contact area between tube end and dropout resulting in approximately 80 degree of entrapment, limiting the manufacturer to using the outside surface of the domed ends of the tube or the ends of the tube. This makes the fit-up for the assembler difficult to maintain accurate placement for fast high volume and high accuracy placement. Under normal doming operations the end surface is rough due to the swaging or pointing operation because the metal is being gathered and work hardened with some grain structure gathering more rapidly than others. When locating off of the end of the domed tube end, additional machining or forming operations may be required for truly accurate locating. In FIG. 15 of Mueller et al, it is clear that the side rotation of the tube drastically reduces the entrapment region and provides little side-to-side stability. On FIG. 10, there is approximately 80.degree. of entrapment, again using only the end of the seatstay for location.
The object of the present invention is to provide an improved bicycle dropout system and, more particularly, an improved adjustable dropout which can accurately accommodate a wide variety bicycle frame sizes.
According to the present invention, a locating edge is formed in the lower end of the seatstay tube and a mating locating pin on a seatstay projection on the dropout. This will allow the seatstay tube to rotate fore and aft freely on the outside of the locating pin. The pin should be placed at a perpendicular angle to the centerline of the tube. The pin could be attached to the welding fixture rather than the dropout, providing essentially the same function while eliminating the pin on the dropout. This will assure accurate locating or positioning of the parts relative to each other thereby allowing for accurate and rapid positioning of the parts.
The locator pin does not necessarily need to be round. Since its purpose is to help locate the centerline of the part, the locator could actually be a triangular protrusion having one of the corners acting as the contact point. The purpose of this pin is to serve as a stop to keep the tube from slipping over center of the radius profile of the dropout, and thus does not need to be precisely in the center. If the locator pin is within proximity of the center, it will suffice due to the tolerances required and the ability of the assembler to maneuver the part into place. When using a formed tube, such as a rectangular tube, the pin serves as a stop as opposed to a locator. The actual location of the tube is carried out by the internal rectangular mating surfaces which will dictate the orientation of the tube. The pin will allow the tube to rotate only about the axis centered on the pin. On spherical ball style dropouts, there is no formed shape to control the tube placement, therefore a notch can be utilized to help speed up the assembler and accurately control for any unwanted rotation.
In a preferred embodiment, the dropout member has an integral rectangularly formed stay tube projection which provides approximately 170.degree. of engagement on straight ID walls providing a positive fit on all sides. In a further embodiment the seat tube projection is generally spherically shaped and a pivot pin notch is formed in the lower edge of the seatstay tube, the entrapment of seatstay ID is approximately 170.degree.. Moreover the present invention restricts unwanted rotation by allowing only fore an aft rotation about a centerline defined by the pin on the outside profile of a spherically shaped portion. When using pre-mitered, or pre-formed seatstays, locating of the part is critical to fit-up. (In this context the prior art discussed above require further fixturing in order to ensure a proper fit between the seatstays and the seat tube; and some seatstays require additional bending for tire clearance along with the pre-metered seize for fit-up between seize and seat tube thereby adding to the location problem.)
The present invention will locate the end of the seatstay tube using the internal diameter (ID) of the tube (straight or formed) to the dropout's outer surface or ball using a pin to prevent the seat stay from slipping over center. By notching the end of a straight (not formed) seatstay, the pin will act as a positive locator for the tube ensuring an accurate fit-up with the seat tube. This is not accomplished by the prior art. The dropout of the present invention can have approximately 170.degree. of engagement which inherently provides a much more stable interface. The invention can accommodate brazing, welding or gluing.


A transfer system for moving work pieces held in workpiece grippers along a first, horizontal axis between a plurality of spaced apart workstations, the transfer system including a press having a ram moveable along a second, vertical axis and a bolster aligned with and positioned below the ram. The workpiece grippers are mechanically connected to a transfer rail which extends along the first, longitudinal axis, the transfer rail being supported for movement along the second, vertical axis between a raised and lowered position and along a third, horizontal axis, normal to the first, longitudinal axis, between a forward position and a retracted position. The improvement of the present invention comprises biasing means for urging the transfer rail toward its raised and forward position and movement means connected to the ram for exerting a force on the transfer rail to overcome the biasing means and urge the transfer rail toward its lowered and retracted position.

Complex transfer systems are frequently utilized in industries such as the metalworking industry to transfer work pieces through a series of linearly aligned, spaced apart workstations such as are present in a transfer press. At each workstation, an operation such as stamping is performed on the work piece. As the transfer system moves the work piece through the workstations of the press, a sequence of operations is performed upon the work pieces.
Each press includes a ram positioned above a bolster. At each workstation in the press, an upper die half is affixed to the ram and a lower die half is affixed to the bolster. The die halves are aligned so that, as the ram moves downward, the die halves perform a stamping or other operation on the work piece positioned between the die halves.
To move work pieces successively through the workstations, the work pieces must be moved along a first longitudinal axis, a second, vertical axis and a third, horizontal axis, extending laterally to the longitudinal axis. My U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,647 discloses a transfer system in which a transfer rail extending along the first, longitudinal axis and spaced apart from the press, is supported for movement along the second, vertical axis between a raised and lowered position. The transfer rail is also supported for movement along the third, horizontal axis between a forward position proximate to the press and a retracted position. A finger rail is slidably mounted to the transfer rail so that the finger rail is moveable along the first, longitudinal axis. The work pieces are gripped by work piece grippers which are mounted to the finger rail. As the finger rail moves longitudinally with respect to the transfer rail, the work pieces held by the grippers may be positioned at various points along the first, longitudinal axis. As the transfer rail moves along the second, vertical axis and along the third, horizontal axis, the work pieces may be raised or lowered and placed proximate to or retracted from the press.
My patent further discloses a system for transferring work pieces through a series of workstations wherein independently supported actuator units such as a dual axis hydraulic actuator are provided which have a lateral arm to support the transfer rail and to impart up and down and back and forth movement to it. Individually controllable means are provided for imparting reciprocal linear motion to the finger rail along the direction of travel of the work pieces as they pass through the workstations. Means are provided for centrally controlling the movement of the transfer rail and finger operator rail to synchronize travel of the work pieces through the successive workstations in timed relation with performance of the sequence of operations. The central control system coordinates the large number of complicated transfers and multiple realignments.

as Trustee Under a Trust Agreement of John Maher dated Feb. 6, 1998


A first light ray with a wavelength λ1 emanating from the first emission light source passes through the transparent substrate and is condensed by the objective lens on a signal surface of a first optical disk with a substrate thickness t1,                a second light ray with a wavelength λ2 (≠λ1) emanating from the second emission light source passes through the transparent substrate and is condensed by the objective lens on a signal surface of a second optical disk with a substrate thickness t2,        a step structure of at least one step is formed along a circle or an ellipse on a surface of the transparent substrate, and        and by the step of the step structure, a phase of the first light ray is shifted by 2πn1+Δ1 and a phase of the second light ray is shifted by 2πn2+Δ2.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disk device used for recording signals onto optical disks or reproducing signals recorded on optical disks.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art will be described with Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. H10-334504 as an example. FIG. 12 shows the cross-sectional structure of an optical disk device according to the conventional example. In FIG. 12, a light ray from an optical system 8 with red laser light (wavelength λ′=approximately 660 nm) as the light source passes through a beam splitter 2, is reflected at a reflecting mirror 3, passes through a transparent substrate 21 and an objective lens 23 fixed to a lens holder 22, is condensed by the objective lens 23, and converges on a signal surface 7a of an optical disk substrate 7 with a thickness of approximately 0.6 mm. The objective lens 23 is optimized for the optical disk substrate 7 with a thickness of 0.6 mm, and substantially no aberration is caused in the condensation onto the signal surface 7a.
On the other hand, a light ray from an optical system 1 with infrared laser light (wavelength λ=approximately 790 nm) as the light source is reflected at the beam splitter 2, is reflected at the reflecting mirror 3, passes through the transparent substrate 21 and the objective lens 23 fixed to the lens holder 22, is condensed by the objective lens 23, and converges on a signal surface 9a of an optical disk substrate 9 with a thickness of approximately 1.2 mm. Since the objective lens 23 is optimized for the optical disk substrate 7 with a thickness of 0.6 mm, aberration is caused in the converged light in the case of the optical disk substrate 9 with a thickness of 1.2 mm. However, this aberration is corrected by the transparent substrate 21.
FIG. 10 shows the cross-sectional structure of the transparent substrate 21. On the transparent substrate 21, phase difference films 21a and 21b are formed in an area inside a radius r6, and by these films, a step with a depth d is formed in each of the positions of radii r1, r2, r3, r4 and r5. In the zonal area outside the radius r6, an interference filter film 21c is formed. The interference filter film 21c is designed so as to allow red laser light to pass therethrough but not to allow infrared laser light to pass therethrough. Therefore, for infrared laser light, the aperture can be limited to the inside of the radius r6. For example, when the NA of the objective lens is 0.60 and the radius r6 is 0.5×f (f is the focal length of the objective lens), because of the presence of the interference filter film 21c, red laser light and infrared laser light can be condensed on the signal surface of the optical disk under conditions where NA=0.60 and NA=0.50, respectively.
FIGS. 11(a) and 11(b) show the wavefront aberration characteristics of the infrared laser light when it passes through the optical disk substrate 9 with a thickness of 1.2 mm. The curve 10a of FIG. 11(a) and the curve 10b of FIG. 11(b) plot the wavefront aberrations in the radius positions when the transparent substrate 21 is absent and when the transparent substrate 21 is present, respectively. As shown by the curve 10a of FIG. 11(a), since the objective lens 23 is optimized for the optical disk substrate 7 with a thickness of 0.6 mm, large spherical aberration is caused in the case of the optical disk substrate 9 with a thickness of 1.2 mm. When the wavelength of the red laser light is λ′ and the refractive index of the phase difference films 21a and 21b to the red light source is n, the depth d is given by the following expression:d=λ′/(n−1)  (Expression 1)
Therefore, the phase difference caused by the red laser light passing through the step with the depth d corresponds to λ′ (2π when expressed as an angle), which means that substantially no phase difference is present. Therefore, the red laser light passes through the phase difference films 21a and 21b as it is with substantially no phase change.
On the other hand, since the refractive index to the infrared light approximates n, the phase difference caused by the infrared laser light passing through the step with the depth d is also substantially λ′. However, since λ′ is, approximately, λ−λ/6 when λ′ is 660 nm and λ is 790 nm, a phase difference δ of −λ/6 (−π/3 when expressed as an angle) is caused. Therefore, as shown by the curve 10b, from the phase in the area between the radii 0 and r1, the phase is advanced relatively by λ/6 (π/3 when expressed as an angle) in the zonal areas between the radii r1 and r2 and between the radii r5 and r6, the phase is advanced relatively by 2λ/6 (2π/3 when expressed as an angle) in the zonal areas between the radii r2 and r3 and between the radii r4 and r5, and the phase is advanced relatively by 3λ/6 (3π/3 when expressed as an angle) in the zonal area between the radii r3 and r4. The curve 10b is lower in the RMS value of the wavefront aberration in the area between the radii 0 and r6 than the curve 10a, and the wavefront aberration is small because of the presence of the phase difference films 21a and 21b.
For example, under a condition where r1/f=0.09, r2/f=0.17, r3/f=0.25, r4/f=0.40, r5/f=0.43 and r6/f=0.45, aberration of 188 mλ (mostly third-order spherical aberration) can be reduced to 42 mλ. The remaining aberration is mostly higher-order aberration, and third- and lower-order aberration is substantially zero. Since higher-order aberration does not affect the spot size although decreasing the light quantity of the main spot at the light condensation point, the recording and reproduction performance of the optical disk device is hardly affected. Therefore, by the presence of the phase difference films 21a and 21b, excellent signal recording and reproduction are realized for optical disks with different substrate thicknesses.
This conventional optical disk device has the following problems: In the conventional example, since aberration concentrates only on the side of the infrared laser light, the aberration amount increases, and the number of phase steps of the transparent substrate 21 for correcting the increase in aberration increases. Generally, the number of phase steps and the step amount per step are proportional to the generated higher-order aberration. The higher-order aberration, although not affecting the recording and reproduction performance, equivalently means reduction in light use efficiency, and higher-order aberration of 42 mλ corresponds to a loss of approximately 7%. Moreover, the transparent substrate 21 and the objective lens 23 are aligned by being fitted in the lens holder 5, and accumulation of the cutting precision error of the perimeter with respect to the center of the phase difference films 21a and 21b of the transparent substrate 21, the decentering error of the central axis with respect to the rim of the objective lens 23 and the clearance errors of the transparent substrate 21 and the objective lens 23 with respect to the lens holder 22 generally causes a decentering of approximately 50 μm at the center of the phase difference films 21a and 21b and the center of the objective lens 23.
In the case of the red laser light involving no phase change, the decentering of the phase difference films 21a and 21g causes no problem. However, in the case of the infrared laser light, the decentering of the phase difference films 21a and 21b causes aberrations. As an example, under the above-mentioned condition (r1/f=0.09, r2/f=0.17, r3/f=0.25, r4/f=0.40, r5/f=0.43 and r6/f=0.45), the decentering of 50 μm causes third-order coma aberration of approximately 50 mλ. Third-order coma aberration largely affects the shape of the main spot at the light condensation point and the side lobe, and causes problems such as deterioration in reproduction performance (e.g. deterioration in jitter and C/N), deterioration in recording performance (e.g. recording cannot be performed at a predetermined power and some of the signals on adjoining tracks are overwritten) and deterioration in erasure performance (e.g. some of the signals on adjoining tracks are erased).

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A method for creating a workflow including at least one structured process with interdependent tasks, and a composite object involved in the process is provided. The method includes defining a model of the object, describing the composite object as an aggregate of constituent elements, wherein each element is an instance of an element type; creating a general workflow by modelling the process as a structured graph comprising tasks with an associated element type, connected according to their dependencies; and associating tasks with elements according to their type to create a specific workflow. The method comprises rearranging the tasks on the basis of the associated element type to increase the number of parallel task-element combinations in the specific workflow. A programmable processing device comprises a mechanism for automatically generating a workflow and a mechanism for operation by one or more users. The device uses the above-described method. A computer program product can be run on a computer to execute the method and automatically create a workflow.

The present application claims, under 35 USC §119, the foreign priority benefit based on European Patent Application No. 01202762.9 filed Jul. 19, 2001, the entire contents of which are herein fully incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for creating a workflow comprising at least one structured process with interdependent tasks, and a composite object, e.g., a report or manual, involved in the process. The invention also relates to a programmable processing device comprising means for automatically generating a workflow and means for operation by one or more users and to a computer program product.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A conventional method of creating a workflow is described in "A Process Model and System for Supporting Collaborative Work", by Sarin et al., SIGOIS Bulletin, 12 (2/3), 1991, p. 213–224. This method disclosed therein comprises decomposing a collaborative process into units of work, or tasks. Tasks have objects as input and output. The result is what is generally known as a workflow. The units of work can be assigned to people who will perform the work, when the workflow is executed.
The conventional method above can be an effective way of creating a workflow. The automatic association of tasks with objects saves time and money during the scheduling process. However, the conventional method for creating a workflow takes insufficient account of the resources available for accomplishing various tasks. This can lead to a workflow in which people or machines wait idly for another task. Such a workflow results from a lack of insight into the way in which objects are mutually dependent. For example, a product manual does not have to be printed and bound before translation can be started. It is sufficient that a finished text or part of the text has been agreed upon. The two tasks are, to a large extent, independent of one another. They can be executed concurrently. Known methods for creating a workflow do not take account of the relation between constituent parts of a composite object.


A low fuel notification system for use in association with a vehicular navigation system is operable to generate and provide notifications to the vehicle operator of low fuel conditions and provide information regarding available refueling stations based on the station's location and the vehicle's estimated driving range.

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Navigation systems are becoming increasingly popular as a convenience accessory in many motor vehicles. As is well known, navigation systems typically assist the vehicle operator by locating destinations, providing primary and alternative routes and advising of local traffic and construction areas, as well as other useful information. As vehicular navigation systems continue to advance and provide additional useful information, it would be desirable to provide features capable of notifying the vehicle operator regarding low fuel level conditions and available refueling locations to avoid unintended low fuel or non-fuel situations.


A sheet conveyed into a sheet discharge processing device is conveyed through a straight convey path by first convey rollers and then is discharged onto a first discharge tray by second convey rollers and first discharge rollers. Second discharge rollers are arranged on a reverse convey path. A second discharge tray and a fan for applying an external force to the rear surface of a sheet are placed below the reverse convey path. When the trailing end of a sheet is detected by a second detection sensor, the fan is driven for a predetermined period of time to blow air against the rear surface of the discharged sheet. When sheets conveyed into the sheet discharge processing device are guided to a post-processing convey path by the first convey rollers so as to be subjected to post-processing, and are sequentially conveyed to a sheet storing section by convey rollers from the last or start page, the sheets are guided along one of guide plates constituting the sheet storing section to be aligned. A stapler for stapling a bundle of sheets aligned in the sheet storing section is placed below the sheet storing section.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet discharge processing device which can discharge sheets on which images are formed by an image forming apparatus, with the discharged pages being sorted in order.
The present invention also relates to a sheet discharge processing device which aligns discharged sheets in a state sorted in order of page while discharging the sheets on which images are formed by an image forming apparatus, and which performs post-processing for a bundle of the aligned sheets, e.g., stapling, punching, or pasting.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Recently, a digital copying machine as an image forming apparatus has been commercialized as a multi-function machine which operates in the printer mode, the facsimile mode, and the like as well as in the copy mode. In the general copy mode, sheets of paper are sequentially discharged facing up, i.e., with the image-bearing surfaces facing up. In the printer or facsimile mode, face-down paper discharge, i.e., paper discharge with each image-bearing surface facing down, is generally performed. More specifically, in the general copy mode, in consideration of the collation of image-bearing sheets to be discharged, an automatic document feeder or the like is used to feed originals so as to cause the machine to sequentially form images on sheets from the last page, thereby discharging image-bearing sheets in the collated or sorted state.
In contrast to this, when the machine operates as a printer or facsimile apparatus, since image data are sequentially transferred from an external device such as a wordprocessor and personal computer from the first page, image formation is performed from the first page. For this reason, in the copy mode, sheets must be discharged without changing their states. In the printer mode, sheets must be discharged onto a discharge tray after they are reversed, with the image-bearing surfaces facing down.
In order to realize this sheet discharge processing function, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Hei 5 No. 310357 discloses a device. The arrangement of this device will be briefly described below. As shown in FIG. 27, when a toner image on a photoreceptor 101 is transferred onto a sheet fed from a paper feed tray 100, the sheet passes through a fixing device 102 and is discharged out of the device. A paper discharge processing unit 103 switches the sheet discharge modes in accordance with the copy mode or the printer mode.
When the image forming apparatus is in the copy mode, the sheet is discharged, with the recording surface facing up, onto a first discharge tray 105 through a paper outlet 104 via various convey rollers of a paper discharge processing unit 103. In the printer mode, the convey path is switched to temporarily guide the sheet to a switchback convey path 106 via various convey rollers, and the convey direction is switched by a switching means 107. Thereafter, the sheet is discharged, with the image-bearing surface facing down, onto a second discharge tray 109 through a paper outlet 108.
Referring to FIG. 27, reference numeral 110 denotes an intermediate unit for double-sided image formation which is detachably or integrally mounted on a digital image forming apparatus body 111. When the intermediate unit 110 is mounted on the image forming apparatus body 111, in forming images on the upper and lower surfaces of a sheet, the sheet is conveyed into an intermediate tray 112 via the paper discharge processing unit 103 and the switchback convey path 106, and is conveyed again from the intermediate tray 112 to the transfer position on the photoreceptor 101 on which a toner image is formed.
In order to form images, a laser beam irradiation unit 113 is placed above the photoreceptor 101, and a read unit (scanner) 114 for optically reading an image on an original is placed in the uppermost portion of the apparatus. An image on an original placed on a transparent original table 115 is formed on a CCD 117 as a read element by the scanner 114 through an optical system 116. The image is photoelectrically converted and read by the CCD 117. The semiconductor laser of the laser beam irradiation unit 113 is driven on the basis of the read image data to form an image on the photoreceptor 101.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Hei 4 No. 247993 discloses a digital copying machine equipped with a sheet discharge processing device having a post-processing mechanism for stapling sheets on which images on originals are formed or sheets on which images received in the facsimile mode are formed. FIG. 28 shows the detailed structure of this copying machine. A toner image formed on a photoreceptor 121 is transferred onto a sheet fed from a paper feed cassette 120 by a transfer section 122. In the general copy mode, the sheet passes through a fixing device 123 and is conveyed onto a predetermined tray 125 in a sheet discharge processing device 124.
In the facsimile mode, it is checked whether a set of received images corresponds to a plurality of pages. If it corresponds to one page, the single-sided copy mode is set. If it corresponds to a plurality of pages, the double-sided copy mode is set. When the double-sided copy mode is selected, each of even-page images of the received images is formed on one surface of a sheet, the image-bearing sheet passes through the fixing device 123 and is caused to branch off by a switching pawl 126. The sheet is then guided to a reverse convey path 127. As a result, the feed direction of the sheet is reversed, and the sheet is guided onto a re-feed tray 128 with the image-bearing surface facing up. The second page, the fourth page, the sixth page, . . . are sequentially stacked on the re-feed tray 128 from the lowest portion. The sheets are sequentially fed from the re-feed tray 128 to the transfer section 122 again from the sheet of the last page (the uppermost sheet). As a result, each of odd-page images is sequentially formed on the other surface of a corresponding sheet. In this case, an (n-1)th-page image is formed on the surface opposite to the image-bearing surface of a last page n, and an (n-3)th-page image is formed on the surface opposite to the image-bearing surface of an (n-2)th page. These sheets, each having images formed on both sides, pass through the fixing device 123 and are conveyed onto a predetermined tray 125 with the odd-page surfaces facing up.
Assume that the above sheets are sequentially stacked on the tray 125 from the last page, and formation of one set of images is completed. In this case, when a staple switch 129 is operated, the sheets are stapled upon operation of a solenoid 130. A motor 131 serves to move the stapling mechanism. A bundle of sheets is stapled on the tray 125 upon operation of the solenoid 130.
In order to feed a sheet on which an image is formed in the above arrangement to the sheet discharge processing device, a switchback convey means is required to reverse the feed direction of the sheet through a switchback convey path. In order to prevent the leading and trailing ends of sheets from overlapping, the sheet convey cycle must be set on the basis of a value equal to or larger than the length of a sheet in the convey direction. As the speed of image formation on the image forming apparatus side increases, the convey speed of the switchback convey means must be set to be higher than the convey speed in the process of performing image formation. If, however, a switchback convey operation is performed at a high speed, a jam or the like may occur.
In addition, since the conventional sheet discharge processing device has paths and convey means for the above switchback convey operation, the overall size of the device increases, resulting in a disadvantage in terms of cost.
In the device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Hei 5 No. 310357, when sheets are to be discharged with the image-bearing surfaces facing up or down to perform post-processing such as stapling, stapling mechanisms must be mounted to be movable on the upper and lower discharge trays 105 and 109. Moving mechanisms are therefore required, and the arrangement of the device is complicated.
Furthermore, in stapling sheets, since the image-bearing surfaces are reversed, the stapling position becomes opposite, and the position of a staple is reversed. In order to make these positions uniform with respect to the image-bearing surfaces of sheets, the stapling mechanism portion becomes very complicated, resulting in a trouble or the like in a stapling operation.
In the copying machine disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Hei 4 No. 247993, when image data received in the facsimile mode are to be read out from the memory, conveyance of sheets and image formation must be performed in consideration of the read order such that sheets are sequentially stacked on the tray 125 of the sheet discharge processing device 124 from the last page. For this reason, when a sheet convey abnormality, especially a jam, occurs in the sheet convey path, jam recovery processing becomes very complicated. Furthermore, since all facsimile image data must be temporarily stored, a large-capacity storage medium is required, and a complicated address means and the like are required to hold the stored state, resulting in an increase in cost.

Image forming device with sheet discharge apparatus


An x-ray diagnostic apparatus allows computed tomography exposures to be prepared in a first operating mode, and radioscopic exposures in a second operating mode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an x-ray diagnostic device of the type having a radiation emitter with a beam gating arrangement allocated thereto, a multi-line radiation detector for the production of electrical signals dependent upon the intensity of incident radiation, wherein the radiation emitter and the multi-line radiation detector are arranged opposite one another and can be rotated around a common center in a first operating mode and are stationary in a second operating mode.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An x-ray diagnostic device of the above type, implemented as a computed tomography apparatus, is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,783.
Radiation examinations can be performed on an examination subject with such an x-ray diagnostic device and cross-sectional or overview exposures of the examined region of the examination subject can be shown on a display device from the signals of the radiation detector after processing with a signal processing chain.
A dynamic representation of anatomical subjects in the full field and in real time is not possible due to the relatively narrowly gated useful x-ray beam. A dynamic representation in the full field can only ensue off-line after a successful reconstruction of the signals (acquired in the computed tomography scanning) by an image computer in the signal processing chain. It is, however, desirable to make a combination of the dynamic realtime-imaging (radioscopy) with the advantages of the computed tomography (high contrast resolution by means of narrow gating of the useful x-ray beam) available to radiologists and physicians, particularly for interventional procedures in the human body using catheters and surgical instruments.
A dynamic representation of anatomical subjects in the full field and in real time is not attainable even with an x-ray examination apparatus as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,562 which, besides an operating mode corresponding to that described in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,783, also has a second operating mode, wherein the x-ray examination apparatus operates as a slotted imaging device. Even so, only a narrow slot is gated, corresponding to the slot width employed in computed tomography, but with the exception that the imaging devices do not rotate around the patient. Radioscopic exposures for overview images of the complete subject cannot be attained with the slotted imaging device.
An object of the present invention is to provide an x-ray diagnostic device of the type initially described, but which allows both dynamic real time imaging (radioscopy) and computed tomography exposures having a high contrast resolution to be made available to the user, with these functions being united in a single x-ray diagnostic device.
The above object is achieved in accordance with the principles of the present invention in an x-ray diagnostic device having a radiation emitter with a controllable gating arrangement allocated thereto, which gates an x-ray beam emitted by the radiation emitter, a multi-line radiation detector for producing electrical signals dependent on the intensity of radiation incident thereon, the radiation emitter and the detector being disposed opposite each other and being rotatable together around a common center in a first operating mode, the gating arrangement in the first operating mode being operated to produce a narrow fan beam and, in a second operating mode of the diagnostic device, the controllable gating arrangement being operated to produce an x-ray beam which substantially completely irradiates the multi-line radiation receiver.
By being able to produce both computed tomography exposures and real time radiographic images with the same device, space savings are achieved, as well as cost savings.

X-ray diagnostic device for producing computed tomography and radioscopic exposures


A paper cutter for cutting a pile of paper on a bed with a cutting blade carried on a slider while holding the paper pile with a paper holding plate and moving the slider along a rail supported in parallel with the bed. The paper holding plate is made to move separately from the rail and is moved vertically with respect to the bed. Thus, the paper pile placed on the bed is held vertically in relation to the bed by the paper holding plate so that it is cut without any slippage. This slippage is also prevented even after the cutting operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper cutter for accurately cutting a pile of paper on a bed by holding it without any slippage.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a paper cutter of the prior art, as shown in FIG. 10, a rail 3 is supported at its one end on a bed 1 by a support 2, and a paper holding plate 4 is integrally mounted to move toward and away from the rail 3. For cutting the paper using this cutter, the rail 3 is raised at its free end on its base, and sheets of paper are placed on the bed. Then, the rail 3 is depressed on its base to hold the paper on the bed 1 by means of the paper holding plate 4. A lock mechanism 6 mounted on the end portion of the rail 3 is then retained by a retaining member 7 which is fixed on the bed 1, so that the holding of the paper by the paper holding plate 4 may be maintained. Next, a slider 5 (as shown in Japanese Utility Model Application No. 26776/1988) carried on the rail 3 is slid to cut the paper by action of a rotary blade mounted in the slider 5. Moreover, the paper cutting position is determined with reference to the edge of the paper holding plate 4, and the rotary blade cuts the paper while rotating with its side contacting the edge of the paper holding plate 4.
The paper cutter of the prior art described above has its rail and paper holding plate integrated and has the following problems. These problems are not serious in a case where the number of sheets of paper piled on the bed is small. In the case where this number is large, however, the large pile of paper is held by the paper holding plate at first from its side at the base end of the rail, because the paper holding plate is turned along an arcuate line together with the rail when the rail is depressed on its one end. As a result, the paper pile will slip due to the arcuate motion thereby leaving the end fulcrum of the rail consecutively apart from the upper sheets.
If the pile of paper is cut with a slippage, the cut sheets of paper will become uneven and thus, they cannot be cut to an accurate size. If the sheets of paper are merely piled on the bed when their cutting position is to be determined, the paper holding plate has its leading (or free) end raised together with the rail on the base end of the rail, which makes it difficult to determine the cutting position with respect to the edge of the paper holding plate. For this positioning, moreover, the cutting position has to be once confirmed before the cutting operation by depressing the rail. This cutting position will allow the piled sheets of paper to slip. Thus, there arises another problem that the cut sheets of paper will become uneven and will fail to have an accurate size.


An initiating subsystem transfers a data set either in or out in subsets such as packets. Packet transfer is sequential, and transfer of a packet is contingent upon successful transfer of a previous packet. Actual data transfer to or from a destination, over a channel, is handled by a host interface. When an intermediate subsystem, included as an interface between the initiating subsystem and host interface, senses that the initiating subsystem wants to transfer data, it receives a first packet from the initiating system. While continuing to indicate to the initiating system that transfer of the first packet is still pending, thereby causing the initiating system to suspend further packet submission, the intermediate subsystem sends to the host interface information concerning the entire data set to be transferred. When the entire data set is transferred, the intermediate subsystem emulates successful packet-wise transfer to the initiating subsystem. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the initiating subsystem is a virtual machine, the intermediate subsystem is a virtual machine monitor, and the packets are created according to the USB protocol. Mechanisms are included to detect and correct potential data incoherency that might arise while packet transfer from the initiating subsystem is suspended.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to data transfer within a computer system, in particular where data is transferred in units such as packets, and especially where the computer includes at least one software-implemented computer such as a virtual machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Increasing the speed and efficiency of input/output (I/O) operations in computers is a constant goal of developers of both hardware and software. Working against this goal is the tendency of computer systems to increase in complexity, which in turn increases the burden on system software, such as the operating system, that must try to meet the increased demand on I/O subsystems and bandwidth.
One way to maximize the speed of an I/O transfer would of course be for the operating system to devote itself entirely to a current I/O operation, putting all other processes on hold until the transfer is completed. Similarly, an I/O channel, such as a data bus or network, could be devoted entirely to one transfer at a time. Such a dedicated arrangement is impractical, inflexible, and unworkable in modern multi-tasked computer systems. Depending on the type of I/O device involved, such an arrangement might also waste available I/O bandwidth.
In order to increase the flexibility not only of scheduling but also of routing, especially between systems, many I/O operations now operate with basic I/O units that are often referred to as "packets." In this widespread scheme, blocks of data to be transmitted are first converted into a sequence of smaller packets according to a predefined protocol. Each packet may then be transmitted individually. As part of the protocol, additional information (a "header") is therefore typically added to each packet in order to describe characteristics of the data it contains, such as the destination, as well as information to aid in error detection, reassembly of the original data block, etc. The header information, assuming it's included at all, will be determined by the given transfer protocol. Examples of systems that transfer data using packets include the Internet, digital packet-switched telephone networks, and the large variety of Universal Serial Bus (USB) devices.
FIG. 1 illustrates the main components of a conventional computer system. System hardware 100 includes one or more central processors CPU(s) 110, which may be a single processor, or two or more cooperating processors in a known multiprocessor arrangement. As in most computers, two different types of data storage are commonly provided: system memory 112, typically implemented using any of the various RAM technologies, and a usually higher-capacity storage device 114 such as one or more disks. The hardware usually also includes, or is connected to, conventional registers, interrupt-handling circuitry, etc., as well as a memory management unit MMU 116, which provides support for such operations as memory tracing. System software 200 either is or at least includes an operating system OS 220, which will include drivers 222 as needed for controlling and communicating with various devices, including the disk 114. Applications 300 are installed to run on the hardware 100 via the system software 200.
FIG. 1 also illustrates various devices 400-1, 400-2, . . . , 400-m, which may share and be connected to the rest of the system by a communication channel 450 such as a bus or network. In other cases, individual devices may have dedicated connections to the system hardware 100. It is assumed here that data transfer between the system hardware 100 and each device 400-1, 400-2, . . . , 400-m takes place in units such as packets; other types devices may of course also be connected to the hardware 100, both directly and via the network.
For the purpose of data transfer, each device 400-1, 400-2, 400-m will have associated with it at least one communication channel, whether shared or dedicated. Each device may be considered to be a separate "target" or "destination" when it comes to data transfer. A hardware device controller 140 is also typically included for each device, or for each group of devices that share a common channel 450. In FIG. 1, only one such device controller 140 is shown, merely for the sake of simplicity. A driver 224 is also loaded in the operating system in order to support the hardware controller 140.
Assume by way of a very common example that the devices 400-1, 400-2, 400-m are USB devices, so that data transfer over the channel (in USB contexts, a bus) 450 is to take place according to the well known USB protocol. Whenever some "source" sub-system or process, such as an application, initiates a request for transfer of a block of data D to a USB device, that is, an OUT operation, it establishes a memory buffer 130 in which it stores the data D. The source subsystem then generates a corresponding transfer request to indicate to the controller driver 224 that it should begin the procedure (described below) for transferring the data set D. The buffer is also established for data that is to be input from the USB device that is, for an IN operation. Note that, in other systems, according to other protocols, the controller driver 224 may be responsible for establishing the buffer 130.
See also FIG. 2. The controller driver 224 then splits the source's data request into sub-blocks whose size is chosen to be consistent with bus bandwidth requirements and bus (for example, USB) protocol mechanisms. For the sake of illustration, in FIG. 2, the source data set, that is, the data block D, is shown as being subdivided into three sub-sets or "sub-blocks" D1, D2, and D3. In most practical cases, the number of sub-blocks will be much greater, depending on the size of the original data set D. Each sub-block D1, D2, and D3 of the source data block D is used as the basis for a single "transaction," which results in the data sub-block being transferred from the source's buffer 130 to the USB device, or vice versa. The transfer procedure is typically the same regardless of the number of transactions. For the most common case of bulk transfers, each data sub-block D1, D2, D3, etc., is typically limited to either 32 or 64 bytes.
The "raw" data sub-sets D1, D2, D3, etc., alone are generally not enough to adequately define the parameters of a desired transfer. Rather, each sub-set is usually included in or referenced by another data structure that also specifies such information as the destination, the direction of transfer (IN or OUT), the size of the data sub-set to be transferred, etc. In the USB context, the data structures used for this purpose are known as "transfer descriptors" (TDs). TDs are arranged usually as a linked list, and each TD also includes a pointer to the memory location of the respective actual data sub-set to be transferred, as well as a pointer to the next TD. Similar descriptors are usually also created for data transfer using other protocols. Continuing with the example of transfer according to the USB protocol, the driver 224 then builds a list of pending transactions that are targeted for one or more USB devices attached to the bus 450. Each TD defines one transaction. In FIG. 2, transfer descriptors TD1, TD2, and TD3 are shown as having been created for the respective data sub-blocks D1, D2, and D3. The TDs are also stored in memory, for example, in a memory space, that is, a TD buffer 131, established for the purpose.
In USB-based systems, at a predefined interval, the controller 140 begins to take TDs as inputs, usually (but not necessarily) one at a time, and from each TD and its respective data sub-block creates a data structure known as a "packet." The controller 140 then transfers the packets sequentially to the bus 450 via a hub 141. The concept of a "packet" has somewhat varying definitions in the literature, but is used here to refer to the data structure(s) used to transfer a single data sub-block D1, D2, and D3 to or from at least one destination via the bus 450. According to some other non-USB protocols, the controller begins the process of TD-to-packet conversion only after receiving a specific instruction to do so from the driver 224.
Each USB transfer typically consists of at least three phases, namely, a "token packet" phase," a "data packet" phase and a "handshake packet" phase. The token packet phase begins each transaction. It defines the type of transaction (IN or OUT), and, where the transaction targets a specific device, it normally includes the device address. Following the token packet comes the data packet, which is the data sub-block (D1, D2, D3, etc.) that currently is to be sent.
In order to guarantee data delivery, during the handshake packet phase, the target device returns to the sender (here: controller 140) information indicating whether the transaction was successful, whether it failed, or whether the intended target device was busy. If no signal is transmitted back to the controller within a predetermined time, then the controller 140 assumes that the packet transfer failed. In the case of a failed packet transfer, assuming any information is returned at all, the returned information normally includes at least the number of bytes that transferred successfully before the failure, and also usually a flag indicating what the error was. In the case of a busy device, the controller 140 typically attempts to resubmit the packet, and may continue to do so until the transfer is success or fails.
In the following discussion, the term "packet" is used to refer to the entire multi-phase transfer procedure described above for each data sub-block to be sent. In other words, as used here, a "packet" is all the information that passes on the bus 450 between the controller 140 and a target device in order to transfer a data sub-block, as defined by one transfer descriptor (if TDs are used at all), either to or from the device. Moreover, even though it may comprise several phases, a packet may be considered a unit, since all of its parts are required for a transfer to succeed. In the figures, packets are illustrated as small rounded boxes labeled with a "p." In FIG. 2, a packet pi is shown as having been created based on transfer descriptor TDi, which in turn was generated for the data sub-block Di.
As is mentioned above, at least in USB contexts, the controller 140 retrieves TDs and creates corresponding packets for transfer at specified intervals. In USB-based systems, each such interval is commonly referred to as a "frame." All the TDs (or all that can be handled in the frame) available at the beginning of each frame are used to create the packets that the controller tries to transfer during that frame. In USB systems, TDs are fetched and converted into packets at 1 ms intervals. Note that the bus 450 is typically shared, so that it cannot simultaneously carry more than one set of data at a time.
The controller 140 (usually via the driver 224) typically also indicates to the sub-system (such as one of the applications 300) that originally requested the transfer of data set D whether the requested transfer succeeded or failed. Such acknowledgement usually also takes place at 1 ms intervals. Using the USB protocol, the time it takes from when the transfer-requesting sub-system first submits the data D for transfer until it gets notification of the success or failure of the transfer is therefore roughly 2 ms. In short, each transmit/receive frame takes about 2 ms to complete, at which time the controller 140 can process the next frame of transactions (TDs). Communications procedures and mechanisms similar to those just described in the USB context are found in systems that operate according to other protocols.
Input of data from a device, that is, an IN operation, is also carried out in the form of packets, with the same protocol. As with OUT operations, TDs are generated that define the destination, buffer address, etc. of a data sub-set, but the result of transmission of a packet derived from such a TD is that the data sub-set is input from the destination and placed in the buffer 130. In short, input of a packet of data is handled in essentially the same manner as packet output, at least with respect to the data phase of the packet (the token and handshake phases need not be reversed), but the direction in which the corresponding data sub-set is transferred is the opposite.
The description above relates to conventional computer systems, but applies also, with some extensions, to virtualized computer systems. As in conventional non-virtualized systems, computers with virtualization build upon hardware and system software layers. FIG. 1 also shows the main components of a typical virtualized computer system, which includes the underlying system hardware platform 100, the system software 200, and at least one software construct known as a "virtual computer" or "virtual machine" (VM) 500.
As is well known in the art, a virtual machine (VM) is a software abstraction—a "virtualization"—of an actual physical computer system. As such, each VM will typically include virtualized ("guest") system hardware 501 and guest system software 502, which are software analogs of the physical hardware and software layers 100, 200. Note that although the hardware "layer" 501 will be a software abstraction of physical components, the VM's system software 502 may be the same as would be loaded into a "real" computer. The modifier "guest" is used here to indicate that the various VM software components, from the perspective of a user, are independent, but that actual execution is carried out on the underlying "host" hardware and software platform. The virtual system hardware 501 includes one or more virtual CPUs 510 (VCPU), virtual system memory 512 (VMEM), a virtual disk 514 (VDISK), and virtual devices 539 (VDEV), all of which are implemented in software to emulate the corresponding components of an actual computer. Of particular relevance here is that the VM will include a virtualized controller 540 (VCTRL) having the same functions as the hardware controller 140, that is, the generation and handling of packets (or analogous transfer units) and coordination of packet transfer with the communication channel.
The guest system software 502 includes a virtual or "guest" operating system 520 (guest OS, which may, but need not, simply be a copy of a conventional, commodity OS), as well as drivers 522 (DRVS) as needed, for example, to control the virtual devices 539. Of particular relevance here is that a driver 524 is included for the virtual controller 540 (itself a virtual device); the driver 524 operates in the same manner as the driver 224.
Of course, most computers are intended to run various applications, and a VM is usually no exception. Consequently, by way of example, FIG. 1 illustrates one or more applications 503 installed to run on the guest OS 520; any number of applications, including none at all, may be loaded for running on the guest OS, limited only by the requirements of the VM. If the VM is properly designed, then the applications (or the user of the applications) will not "know" that they are not running directly on "real" hardware. Of course, all of the applications and the components of the VM are instructions and data stored in memory, just as any other software. The concept, design and operation of virtual machines are well known in the field of computer science. FIG. 1 illustrates a single VM 500 merely for the sake of simplicity; in many installations, there will be more than one VM installed to run on a common hardware platform; all will have essentially the same general structure, although the individual components need not be identical.
Some interface is usually required between the VM 500 and the underlying "real" or "host" OS 220 and hardware 100, which are responsible for actually executing VM-issued instructions and transferring data to and from the actual, physical memory and disk 112, 114. In this context, the "host" OS means either the native OS 220 of the underlying physical computer, or whatever system-level software handles actual I/O operations, takes faults and interrupts, etc.
One advantageous interface between the VM and the underlying system software layer and/or hardware is often referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). Virtual machine monitors have a long history, dating back to mainframe computer systems in the 1960s. See, for example, Robert P. Goldberg, "Survey of Virtual Machine Research," IEEE Computer, June 1974, p. 54–45. A VMM is usually a thin piece of software that runs directly on top of a host, such as the system software 200, or directly on the hardware, and virtualizes all the resources of the (or some) hardware platform. The VMM will typically include a software module 640 for emulating devices, as well as modules for such functions as memory management 616, etc. The interface exported to the respective VM is usually such that the virtual OS 520 cannot determine the presence of the VMM. The VMM also usually tracks and either forwards (to the host OS 220) or itself schedules and handles all requests by its VM for machine resources as well as various faults and interrupts. The general features of VMMs are known in the art and are therefore not discussed in detail here.
In the figures, a VMM 600 is shown acting as the interface for the single VM 500. It would also be possible to include each VMM as part of its respective VM, that is, in each virtual system. Although the VMM is usually completely transparent to the VM, the VM and VMM may be viewed as a single module that virtualizes a computer system. The VM and VMM are shown as separate software entities in the figures for the sake of clarity. Moreover, it would also be possible to use a single VMM to act as the interface for more than one VM, although it will in many cases be more difficult to switch between the different contexts of the various VMs (for example, if different VMs use different virtual operating systems) than it is simply to include a separate VMM for each VM. This invention described below works with all such VM/VMM configurations.
The important point is simply that some well-defined, known interface should be provided between each installed VM 500 and the underlying system hardware 100 and software 200, and that this interface should contain the components of the invention described below. Consequently, instead of a VMM, with respect to the data transfer procedures described below, the interface between the VM (or other software-implemented computer) and the host software and hardware could be one or a group of device emulation sub-systems.
In some configurations, such as the one illustrated in FIG. 1, the VMM 600 runs as a software layer between the native system software 200 and the VM 500. In other configurations, the VMM runs directly on the hardware platform 100 at the same system level as the host operating system (host OS). In such case, the VMM typically uses the host OS to perform certain functions, often I/O, by calling (usually through a host API—application program interface) the host drivers 222. In this situation, it is still possible to view the VMM as an additional software layer inserted between the hardware 100 and the guest OS 520. Furthermore, it may in some cases be beneficial to deploy VMMs on top of a thin software layer, a "kernel," constructed specifically for this purpose. Compared with a system in which VMMs run directly on the hardware platform, use of a kernel offers greater modularity and facilitates provision of services that extend across multiple virtual machines (for example, resource management). Compared with the hosted deployment, a kernel may offer greater performance to because it can be co-developed with the VMM and be optimized for the characteristics of a workload consisting of VMMs. The invention described below may be used in all these different configurations.
In addition to controlling the instruction stream executed by software in virtual machines, the VMM also controls other resources in order to ensure that the virtual machines remain encapsulated and do not interfere with other software on the system. First and foremost, this applies to I/O devices, but also to interrupt vectors, which generally must be directed into the VMM (the VMM will conditionally forward interrupts to the VM). Furthermore, the memory management (MMU) functionality normally remains under control of the VMM in order to prevent the VM from accessing memory allocated to other software on the computer, including other VMs. In short, the entire state of the VM is not only observable by the VMM, but the entire operation of the VM is under the control of the VMM.
According to the prior art, packet-based data transfer between a source (such as one of the applications 503) within the VM and a physical device (destination) is essentially the same as described above in the non-virtualized context, with the exception that the transfer is "duplicated": The source data block D is first transferred (usually, copied) from the transfer-requesting source process into a buffer 530, which is normally established by the source process itself (the normal case) but could alternatively be established by the driver 524. The driver 524, which is analogous to (and in many cases an identical copy of) the driver 224, then builds a list of TDs from the buffered data and stores the TDs in, for example, a memory space 531.
The virtual device controller 540 (a software analog of the controller 140) then constructs packets from the TDs and corresponding data sub-blocks, and passes them sequentially to what it "believes" is a channel (such as 450). In fact, however, the VM-issued packets are received (in particular, intercepted) by an emulated bus 650 (see FIG. 3) within the VMM. The VMM in turn passes each VM-issued packet to the system software and hardware, which places the (or a corresponding) packet on the "real" bus 450. Note that the device to which (or from which) the packets are to be sent (or received) is typically one of the physical devices 400-1, 400-2, . . . , 400-m, although these may also be emulations.
As can be understood from the discussion above, with respect to packet-based transfer, the VM is designed and intended to act just like a conventional non-virtualized system, the major structural difference being that the various hardware components involved, including the controller 540 and the channel, are implemented in software. Again, with respect to packet transfer, the VM/VMM interface is essentially a software "copy" of a hardware 100/channel 450 interface.
In many cases, virtualization increases the ability of the system as a whole to adapt to new devices. For example, a given host OS 220 may not be able to communicate with the latest digital camera, either because the proper driver has not been installed, or because no driver is even available for the host OS 220: The host OS might be a version of Linux, for example, whereas the camera manufacturer might supply drivers only for Microsoft Windows operating systems. In this case, one could install the Windows OS in the VM as the guest OS 520 and run the VM on the Linux-based host OS 220. The camera driver can then be installed as one of the drivers 522 in the VM. Regardless of the guest OS/host OS relationship, what is then needed is some way for the camera driver to communicate with the actual device (the physical camera) without having to rely on any camera driver in the host OS 220. Techniques to accomplish such "packet pass-through" are known.
Whether in a "real" or virtualized system, and especially where packet pass-through is implemented, packet transfer in the prior art suffers from a similar problem, namely, delay. A major factor that contributes to delay, however, is the 2 ms (in USB contexts) interval at which new TDs are fully processed by the controller 140 (including reporting the results of the attempted transfers). This delay is especially problematic in virtualized (or other software-implemented) computer systems: In order to correctly emulate the actions of a bus, the VMM must return information to the virtual controller indicating the success or failure (or destination busy state) of each packet that the virtual controller sends. The VMM cannot indicate a transfer result for a packet, however, until it in turn receives indication of success or failure of the transfer of the packet by the hardware controller via the "real" bus 450. The VMM must therefore wait for the results of the "real" transfer before it can pass the results on to the virtual controller. Because the current VM-generated packet will be the only one the VMM presents for further processing and actual transfer by the hardware controller, only that one packet will be processed during the 2 ms two-way transfer period. The most common case is therefore also the worst case: It may take around 2 ms to completely transfer each single packet from the VM. In many cases, especially where many packets must be transferred, the resultant delay will be unacceptable; indeed, the accumulated delay may render some time-critical transfers altogether impossible.
What is needed is a mechanism that increases the speed with which packet-based I/O operations can be carried out, without violating the requirements of the given I/O protocol, especially where the request to transfer data must cross more than one transfer interface, in particular, where the source of the transfer request is in a software-implemented computer such as a virtual machine. This invention provides such a mechanism.

High-speed packet transfer in computer systems with multiple interfaces


A magnetic resonance system includes a magnet device, which is arranged in an outer housing and an inner housing located therein. A monitoring method includes determining a value of a vibration amplitude of the outer housing or an intermediate housing located between the inner housing and the outer housing at a vibration frequency; providing a transmission ratio between the vibration amplitude and the operating parameter at the vibration frequency; and determining a value of the operating parameter as a function of the determined value of the vibration amplitude by means of the transmission ratio.

The present disclosure relates to a method for monitoring an operating parameter for a magnet device of a magnetic resonance system, wherein the magnet device is located in an outer housing and an inner housing located therein. In addition, the present disclosure relates to a magnetic resonance system having an outer housing, an inner housing inside the outer housing, a magnet device inside the inner housing and a gradient coil outside of the outer housing.
In magnetic resonance systems, a measuring object is exposed to a strong, constant magnetic field (basic magnetic field) in order to orient the nuclear spins of the atoms in the measuring object. With the aid of irradiated radio frequency waves, "ordered" or oriented nuclear spins can be excited to vibrate (resonance frequency). The vibration excites a radio frequency response signal, which is received with the aid of a receiving coil for subsequent analysis.
For the image reconstruction, exact information about the respective point of origin (location information) of the RF response signal is a mandatory prerequisite. This location information is obtained by additional magnetic fields (magnetic gradient fields) to the static magnetic field along the three spatial directions. The gradient fields are small compared to the main field and are formed by gradient coils.
FIG. 1 shows a front view of an MR system in a schematic representation. The main components are an annular basic field magnet 1 and a likewise annular gradient coil 2, which is located within the inner circumference of the basic field magnet 1. In this front view, besides the gradient coil 2, only an outer housing 3 of the basic field magnet 1 can be seen.
FIG. 2 shows an upper half of the cross-section through the magnetic resonance system indicated in FIG. 1. The basic field magnet of the magnetic resonance system has superconducting coils 4, which are arranged for cooling in a closed container, which is also referred to in the present document as a helium vessel or inner housing 5, with, for example, liquid helium.
The helium vessel or the inner housing 5 is surrounded by a further container, which is also referred to as an outer housing 3 here. This outer housing can be, for example, designed to be kettle-shaped and made of stainless steel. It is often also referred to as the "outer vacuum chamber" (OVC).
A vacuum usually prevails between the outer housing 3 and the inner housing 5, usually filled with liquid helium, which is typically at a temperature of 4K. In addition, arranged in many cases between the outer housing 3 and the inner housing 5 filled with liquid helium is (at least) one so-called cryoshield or cold shield, which is also referred to as an intermediate housing 6 here. It is used to reduce heat radiation between outer housing 3 and inner housing 5. On the other hand, in the case of an outer housing 3 made of electrically conductive material the effects of gradient coils stray fields on the "cryoshield" or intermediate housing 6 are reduced due to the conductivity.
By means of supporting elements, which are not shown in FIG. 2, the annular or cylindrical gradient coil 2 is concentrically inserted in the interior of the basic field magnet 1. Here, the gradient coil 2 is for example fixed on a support tube, which for the sake of an overview is also not shown in FIG. 2. A central axis 7 of the system constitutes its axis of rotational symmetry. A patient to be examined is placed, for example, on this central axis 7.
During operation of the gradient coil 2, the housing 3, 5, 6 of the magnet device, in other words the basic field magnet 1, is exposed to a stray field that changes over time. As a result, eddy currents are induced in the conductive layers of the housing 3, 5, 6, which in turn cause the stray field to be transported in the direction of the helium vessel or inner housing 5, in other words in the direction of the superconducting coils 4. The eddy current induced in this helium vessel or in the conductive structures such as superconducting coils 4 is converted on the one hand into ohmic heat, which in turn can lead to heating and evaporation of the liquid helium. On the other hand, a correspondingly strong stray field can also be transported in the direction of the superconducting magnet coils and lead to the quench of the magnet (transition from the superconductive to the normal conductive state). These illustrated transport processes of the stray field of the gradient coil in the direction of helium vessel 5 or magnet coils 4 is inflated if the stray field meets mechanical resonances of the shields or individual housing 3, 5, 6 of the magnet device 1 (basic field magnet). In principle, the problem is exacerbated with higher basic field strengths. Since ohmic heat is an energy value, it is proportional to the square of the corresponding field size. The connection between the vortex field at the location of the magnet coils and the movement of the outer housing 3 is in turn linear.
Until now, high helium consumption has been partly accepted as a necessary evil. As far as the problem was known, targeted modification of the MR measurement sequences was used to try and minimize the evaporation. The problem of field input into magnet coils and a quench induced thereby is still unresolved. In particular, up to now, no sensor system has been known whose measured values could safely protect a magnet from excessive energy input. Temperature sensors (as a function of placement) and special pressure sensors have relatively long time constants, whereas a quench can be triggered very quickly, for example, by local overheating.

Monitoring an MR magnet using vibrations


An apparatus in one example comprises one or more control components that regulate one or more thermal test components to adjust one or more emulated operational characteristics for one or more electronic devices. The thermal test components are coupled with one or more rack-mount frames. The thermal test components create the emulated operational characteristics for the one or more electronic devices to generate one or more emulated environmental effects. The one or more control components obtain one or more measurements of one or more of the one or more emulated operational characteristics and the one or more emulated environmental effects. The one or more control components make a prediction of one or more of one or more actual operational characteristics and one or more actual environmental effects of the one or more electronic devices through employment of one or more of the one or more measurements.

Electronic device power levels have increased dramatically in recent years. Also, enclosures that contain the electronic components, for example, computer cases and rack-mount frames, have been reduced in size to allow for a smaller footprint of the device. As more electronic devices are placed in a rack-mount frame, close proximity among the electronic devices undesirably reduces effectiveness of cooling for thermal energy generated by the electronic devices.
In particular, the close proximity among the electronic devices increases concentration of the thermal energy into a small area. Furthermore, multiple rack-mount frames are often placed in a computer closet or data center with a specialized cooling system. This trend has created significant thermal issues for individual rack-mount frames as well as the computer closet. As more electronic devices are added to a computer closet, the thermal energy generated by the electronic devices may be too much for the cooling system to effectively dissipate.

Electronic device environmental effect prediction

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


In some embodiments, techniques for rationalizing a recommendation include determining a recommended item for a user using a first recommendation engine, wherein the first recommendation engine receives as an input first behavioral data associated with a user, and generates an identifier corresponding to a recommended item; creating a rationalization for the recommended item using a first rationalization engine, separate from the recommendation engine, wherein the first rationalization engine receives as inputs the recommended item and second behavioral data associated with the user, and generates a rationalization, wherein the rationalization includes a constructed rationalization of why the recommended item is recommended for the user, and wherein the creation of the rationalization is not based on an actual reason the first recommendation engine determined the recommended item; associating the rationalization for the recommended item with the recommended item; and providing the recommended item and associated rationalization.

Recommendation systems are widely deployed, and are a critical component of the success of such established technology companies as Amazon and Netflix, as well as newcomers such as Pandora. It is highly desirable to tell users why a recommendation is being made. Such an explanation increases users' assessment of the quality of the recommendations, and incurs forgiveness when a bad recommendation is being made. However, the best recommendations are often made by complex machine learning systems, which can employ algorithms that do not lend themselves to human-interpretable explanations. Therefore, there is an impasse in which companies often elect not to use the best recommendation algorithms, or suffer the consequences of not explaining recommendations to users.
Accordingly, it would be useful to have a way to use the best recommendation engines available, while offering users a plausible explanation for the recommendations being made.


A gas turbine engine includes alternating rows of rotary airfoils or blades and static airfoils or vanes. The vanes are made of a base metal, such as cobalt or nickel superalloy. If a crack forms in one of the vanes, a braze alloy is applied to the crack. The braze alloy is a powdered slurry. The braze alloy includes approximately 50 to 100% of a base material and approximately 0 to 50% of a braze material. The base material of the braze alloy has the same composition as the composition of the base metal of the vane. The airfoil is then exposed to microwaves which melt the braze alloy in preference to the base metal to repair the crack in the vane.

The present invention relates generally to a method of repairing cracks in a stationary airfoil or vane of a gas turbine engine by microwave brazing.
A gas turbine engine includes stationary airfoils or vanes made of a base metal of either cobalt or nickel superalloy. The vanes may crack due to high temperature thermal mechanical fatigue and hot corrosion that occurs during engine operation. The crack is usually repaired by brazing. A braze alloy including approximately 50% of a base material and approximately 50% of a braze material is applied to the crack. The melting temperature of the braze material is lower than the melting temperature of the base material.
After the braze alloy is applied to the crack, the vane is heated in a heating furnace. The braze alloy melts and fills the crack. Typically, the vane is heated for approximately 6 to 8 hours to melt the braze alloy and repair the crack.
The percentage of the base material should be relatively high and the percentage of the braze material should be relatively low to prevent the braze material from saturating the braze alloy and to ensure that the composition of the braze alloy is as similar as possible to the composition of the base metal. However, as the percentage of the base material increases, the melting temperature of the braze alloy also increases. If the vane is exposed to higher temperatures, the vane can possibly distort and lose its properties. Therefore, the braze alloy generally includes a high percentage of the braze material to keep the melting temperature low.
Hence, there is a need in the art for a method of repairing a crack in a vane of a gas turbine engine that is fast and that overcomes the shortcomings and drawbacks of the prior art.