A system for monitoring reverse paths of a bi-directional cable communication network such as a CATV network, to detect and analyze ingress signals entering a reverse path and ending at a network sub-headend or headend through a corresponding one of communication lines, comprises a plurality of radio frequency signal detectors connected thereto. The radio frequency signal detectors are provided with bandpass filter for receiving a radio frequency signal within the frequency band used, to generate corresponding output signals indicative of the strength of the received radio frequency signal. The output signal generated by the frequency signal detector which is coupled to the communication line corresponding to the ingress signal carrying path is indicative of the strength of the received ingress signal with received reverse signals. The system further comprises a signal processor for analyzing the detector output signals through comparison with one or more predetermined ingress thresholds to generate an alarm signal whenever the ingress signal is detected. The system further comprises a control computer receiving the alarm signal to generate monitoring sequence control data indicative of the communication line corresponding to the ingress signal carrying path to be monitored. The system also comprises a selector switch having a plurality of inputs being connected to the communication lines and being responsive to the monitoring sequence control data to select the input connected to the communication line to be monitored, and signal monitoring instrumentation such as a spectrum analyzer and a broadband analyzer coupled to an output of the switching device and being responsive to the monitoring sequence control data for analyzing the ingress signal and generating alarm message data accordingly. The control computer receives the alarm message data to further generate diagnostic sequence control data for the monitoring instrumentation also used to determine source characteristics of the ingress signal.

Modern cable communication networks such as Community Antenna TeleVision (CATV) communication networks, are increasingly bi-directional, allowing subscribers to receive information in the forward direction (television signals, Internet data, telephony signals, etc.) but also to send information into the network in the reverse direction (Internet data, telephony signals, "Pay-per-view" ordering data, etc.). An almost universal structure of such network is the Hybrid Fiber Coaxial (HFC) where optical fiber links are used between the headend or sub-headends (hubs) and some distribution points or nodes where optical-to-electrical and the electrical-to-optical conversion is performed. Coaxial cables are then used for local distribution and connection to the subscribers.
While almost the same signals are distributed in the forward path across the whole network under the head-end control, the reverse path sees a multiplicity of sources funnelling into the network. It is common to group sources from a neighborhood (from hundreds to thousands of subscribers) into a specific optical fiber link to the head-end (optical node to head-end).
The reverse path data reception can be disturbed by many unwanted ingress sources, that can be either associated with abnormal operation of the network or other sources such as external sources (shortwave transmission, CB transmitter, electrical motors, welding machine, etc.) leaking into the cable or subscriber faulty connection (faulty cable modem, poor grounding, household appliances, etc). The problem is multiplied by the funnelling effect of the HFC structure. There is then a necessity to monitor the reverse path to detect abnormal conditions in order to maintain a quality of service.
Reverse path monitoring systems are fairly recent. The most commonly used technique consists of performing spectral analysis using a scanning spectrum analyzer, either analog or partly digital with band-limited FFT. Due to the high cost of scanning spectrum analyzers, a switch is generally used to select one from a plurality of outputs provided on the node receivers for sequential analysis and detection of abnormal conditions by either a single or a limited number of spectrum analyzers. Switch input size varies from 4 to 16 or even a cascade of 16's. The spectral analysis provides particular measurements of parameters such as varying noise floor and specific band emission. While spectral analysis can be very sensitive and allow the detection of small incremental differences with averaging, detection is limited to long duration disturbances due to the time-sharing monitoring sequence between receiver outputs and to the scanning nature of spectral analysis. This method is widely used by many system available in the marketplace, such as the WinMonitor™ (Avantron Technologies), Pathtrack™ (Wavetek), Phasor™ 565 (Cheetah, formerly Superior Electronics), SIMS I and SIMS II (AM Communications), RDU (Cable Resources Inc.), SST (Trilithic), 3010H Hewlett-Packard-Agilent Calan, SAT 330-CTMS21(SAT Corp.) and CIM (Electroline).
In an attempt to improve ingress detection efficiency for CATV systems, a subscriber terminal using local detection processing was proposed by Reichert in U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,508 issued on May 28, 1985, which terminal comprises a signal level measurement receiver being tuned to monitor a possible ingress signal entering the system at selected frequencies within the frequency band of the return paths, and to generate a detected ingress signal accordingly. The terminal further comprises a control signal receiver which receives forward command signals sequentially transmitted by a controller located at the headend of the cable system, specifying the address of the subscriber terminal, the frequencies at which ingress signals is to be monitored and the return signal transmitting frequency. The terminal further comprises a microprocessor receiving the detected ingress signal and the received control signals for controlling the measurement receiver accordingly, and a frequency transmitter connected to the microprocessor and to the cable system to transmit information concerning the detected ingress to the headend. Although such local detection processing approach may improve detection efficiency over known monitoring systems using a centralized processing approach, actual monitoring cycle for each terminal detector is limited by the rate of forward command signals received from the controller located at the headend which sequentially control all the terminal detectors of the system. Moreover, the cost of such distributed system may be prohibitive since each terminal must be provided with particular electronic hardware.
Another known method uses sampling for signal analysis, which can be performed with a band-limited analyzer such as a 1.5 MHz band as provided by Cheetah's DSP-565, or with may any other spectrum analyzer used in zero scan mode. With the DSP-565, FFT is performed on the samples for finer frequency resolution. A similar spectral window approach is taught by Schmidt et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,939,887 issued on Aug. 17, 1999, in which data representative of a cable spectral energy level is acquired over a selected frequency window and is then compared against a threshold value corresponding to the minimum energy level of a TDMA carrier signal. Whenever the spectral energy level is found to be lower than the threshold, a display is generated characterizing the ingress over the window. Such data pre-processing approach obviates the difficulty of discriminating an ingress signal during periods of active carrier signal transmission, by triggering the measurement only when a carrier signal interruption is detected. However, when the transmitting data flow is approaching the maximum transmission capacity of the reverse path, the probability to detect an ingress during an inactive transmission period decreases, reducing the reliability of monitoring accordingly.
Another approach used by the Hotzman Engineering system consists of sampling over the whole bandwidth of the return path for analysis in time and frequency domains. The use of a sampling oscilloscope with data transfer under IEEE488 to a PC for software analysis slows down the time response of the system.
In all of the foregoing approaches, actual monitoring of the return path is not continuous due to the time sharing between receiver outputs (through switches), between local detectors (distributed system) or between frequency bands (spectrum analyzer scan), or due to data pre-processing, transfer and analysis. High equipment costs preclude providing each receiver output with an analyzer for continuous monitoring.


Self-removal of enterprise application data (e.g., managed application data) is disclosed. It may be determined that a data removal condition has been satisfied. Based at least in part on the determination, data removal information may be generated for a plurality of applications including a managed set of mobile applications. The data removal information may be provided to at least a first application included in the plurality of applications. The first application may provide the data removal information to a data storage location accessible to at least a second application upon a data removal-related event.

Many enterprises allow employees to use their personal mobile devices for enterprise uses. This practice is often referred to as bring your own device (BYOD). A mobile device deployed in a BYOD environment may include enterprise applications, personal applications, and/or other types of applications. The enterprise applications may include and/or provide access to sensitive enterprise data. Typically, sensitive enterprise application data remains accessible on a mobile device after the mobile device and/or user no longer has enterprise access permissions (e.g., upon termination of employment). Enterprise administrators may therefore seek to remove enterprise data from an employee's personal mobile device in certain scenarios. Data removal (e.g., data wipe, erasure, etc.) techniques typically remove all data from a mobile device or only data from a specific application on a mobile device (e.g., upon deletion of the application). For example, a typical data removal operation may remove all enterprise, personal, and/or other types of data from a mobile device.


A frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) LIDAR can be configured to reduce re-reflection and cross-coupling in the FMCW LIDAR. A first laser can be configured to generate a ranging signal, and a second laser can be configured to generate a local oscillator signal. A feedback control can be configured to maintain an offset between the ranging signal and the local oscillator signal. The offset can be a non-zero value. A transmit portion configured to emit a reference laser signal based on the ranging signal into an environment. A receiver portion can be configured to receive a return laser signal from the environment. The return laser signal can be a reflected version of the reference laser signal. A receiver photodetector can be configured to combine the return laser signal and the local oscillator signal.

A frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) LIDAR can use a single optical sensor source that is configured with a continuous wave frequency modulated sweep. The FMCW LIDAR can emit a reference laser beam or signal. This reference laser signal may be reflected off of an object. The reflected laser signal can be received by a receiver of the FMWC LIDAR. The reflected laser signal is a time-delayed version of the emitted reference laser signal. By comparing the outbound laser signal with a reflected laser signal, a distance between the FMCW LIDAR and the object that caused the laser signal to be reflected can be determined.

Frequency modulated continuous wave LIDAR with locked dual lasers

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.


A portion of the concentrates is roasted and a portion of the resulting calcine is subjected to a neutral leaching step. Another portion of the concentrates is directly leached in an acidic medium in the presence of oxygen and under atmospheric conditions together with at least a portion of the neutral leaching residue. The zinc- and iron-rich solution resulting from acid leaching is neutralised with another portion of the calcine, the iron is removed and the solution is reused in the neutral leaching step. The method enables a gradual increase in the capacity of an existing zinc plant in accordance with demand, while capital costs may advantageously be spread out over time.

A process similar to that as defined above is described in document EP-A-0451456. In this known process, all of the calcine produced in the operation (a) is leached in the operation (b) and all of the ferrite produced in the operation (b) is leached in the operation (c), while employing a concentrate:ferrite ratio such that approximately 15 to 20% of the trivalent iron, required for the oxidation according to reaction (I) of the reactive sulphur present in the concentrate, originates from the leaching of the ferrite according to the reaction EQU ZnO.Fe.sub.2 O.sub.3 +4H.sub.2 SO.sub.4 =Fe.sub.2 (SO.sub.4).sub.3 +ZnSO.sub.4 +4H.sub.2 O (II)
The remainder of the trivalent iron required for the oxidation of the reactive sulphur is obtained by the reaction EQU 2FeSO.sub.4 +H.sub.2 SO.sub.4 +0.50.sub.2 =Fe.sub.2 (SO.sub.4).sub.3 +H.sub.2 O (III)
It is proposed to work in (c) in such a manner that the leachate which is rich in zinc and in iron has a sulphuric acid content of 10-25 g/l and an Fe.sup.3+ content of less than 10 g/l, which is apparently unobtainable in a single leaching stage. This is why the leaching in (c) is carried out in two stages.
In the first stage, the zinc ferrite and a leaching residue which is rich in zinc, produced in the second stage, are treated with the solution of acid returning from electrolysis so as to produce a primary leachate containing 50-90 g/l of H.sub.2 SO.sub.4 and the leaching residue which is depleted in zinc, which are separated. No oxygen is employed in this first leaching stage, this being to make it possible to use in this stage simpler types of reactors than in the second stage. The involvement of reaction (III) is therefore not brought about in the first stage.
In the second stage, the concentrates are treated with the said primary leachate in the presence of finely dispersed oxygen so as to produce, by reactions (I) and (III), a leachate which is rich in zinc and in iron and a leaching residue which is rich in zinc. At the end of this second stage, the operation (d) is performed by adding a small quantity of fresh concentrate to the leaching pulp so as to convert ferric sulphate into ferrous sulphate by reaction (I); the operation (d) is therefore incorporated into the operation (c) and, as a result of the second leaching stage, there is obtained the leaching residue which is rich in zinc, which is separated and recycled into the first stage, and a leachate which is rich in zinc and in iron, which is already conditioned.
The operation (e) is performed by adding more concentrate to the conditioned solution and by then precipitating the iron in haematite form by oxidation in an autoclave.
This produces, on the one hand, the said solution which is rich in zinc and depleted in iron and, on the other hand, a precipitate of haematite containing a small quantity of elemental sulphur and of sulphides. This sulphur and these sulphides are subsequently separated from the haematite by flotation. The reason why the concentrate is used in the operation (e) is not given. A possible explanation could be that the acidity of the conditioned solution is too high to permit a suitable precipitation of the iron and that, because of this, concentrate is added as neutralizing agent (reactions (I) and (II)).
This known process therefore requires leaching in two stages and, since the work is carried out with a concentrates:ferrite ratio such that approximately 15 to 20% of the trivalent iron, required for the oxidation according to reaction (I) of the reactive sulphur present in the concentrate, originates from the leaching of the ferrite in accordance with reaction (II) and that oxygen is not employed in the first leaching stage, it is necessary to oxidize approximately 80 to 85% of the reactive sulphur in the second leaching stage using trivalent iron obtained by reaction (III), when a zinc leaching yield close on 100% is aimed at.
However, the Applicant has found that in these conditions the second leaching stage takes place very slowly, and this obviously constitutes a serious disadvantage. Another disadvantage of this known process lies in the fact that the operation (c) is not easy to control because the leaching yield is determined solely by the ratio of the reactive sulphur to the zinc ferrite which are introduced into the first leaching stage and because the system reacts very slowly to corrections which are made to this ratio.
Furthermore, the use of this known process in existing hydrometallurgical zinc plants would almost always entail a considerable investment for purchasing the autoclaves required for the operation (e). In fact, to the Applicant's knowledge, there are only two plants in the world which make haematite and which are therefore already equipped with such autoclaves; all the others make jarosite or goethite in atmospheric conditions and are therefore not endowed with such autoclaves.
Moreover, as in this known process all of the ferrite produced in the operation (b) is leached in (c) while employing a concentrate:ferrite ratio such that approximately 15 to 20% of the trivalent iron, required for the oxidation of the reactive sulphur, originates from the leaching of the ferrite, the installation of this process in an existing plant, the roasting capacity of which would quite logically be maintained at the existing level, would have to result at once in approximately doubling the plant capacity. However, an increase in the capacity of an existing plant which is as substantial as this all at once, which will be unavoidably accompanied with substantial investments, will not often be opportune. The process therefore lacks some degree of flexibility.
What is more, this known process produces a haematite which is soiled with sulphur and sulphides.

Process for the extraction of zinc from sulphide concentrates


An information processing device includes a memory and a control unit. The memory is employed as a program work area. The control unit switches between a first mode and a second mode; during the first mode, detects a resident program resident in the memory, and saves information identifying the resident program, as resident program information; and during the second mode, determines whether a requestor program, requesting allocation of the work area, is the resident program or not by comparing requestor-program identifying information with the resident program information, and in succession allocates in the memory respective work areas for one or more requestor programs determined to be resident programs.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the description in this section is not prior art to the claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Conventionally, there has been a need for an efficient memory management method. For example, for minimizing fragmentation of a free memory, a known database processing unit classifies data to be stored in a memory into two types of actual processing data and a parameter required for that process.
Additionally, the database processing unit arranges the one data from a high-level address and the other data from a low-level address so as to prevent these data from being mixed in the memory. Thus, separating a memory area for data, which have different properties (such as a time period for being allocated) in the memory, reduces memory fragmentation.

Information processing device, memory management method, and recording medium that ensure versatile memory management


A cooling system for a turbine exhaust assembly comprises an annular case, a flowpath ring and a splash plate. The flowpath ring is coaxially disposed within the annular case. The splash plate extends axially between the annular case and the flowpath ring. A plurality of cooling fluid apertures is formed in the annular case, in order to provide cooling fluid flow onto the splash plate. A plurality of impingement holes is formed in the splash plate, in order to provide impingement flow onto the flowpath ring.

This invention relates generally to gas turbine engines, and specifically to cooling techniques for a turbine exhaust assembly. In particular, the invention concerns impingement cooling of a low-bypass turbofan exhaust case (TEC) assembly, with applications in military aviation and high-performance aircraft.
Standard gas turbine engines are built around a power core comprising compressor, combustor and turbine sections, which are arranged in flow series with an upstream inlet and a downstream exhaust nozzle. The compressor compresses air from the inlet. The compressed air is used an oxidant in the combustor, and, in some applications, for accessory pneumatic functions and environmental control. Fuel is injected into the combustor, where it combines with the compressed air and ignites to produce hot combustion gases. The hot combustion gases drive the engine by expansion in the turbine section, and are exhausted to the nozzle through a turbine exhaust case (TEC) assembly.
The turbine section drives the compressor via a rotating shaft, or, in most larger-scale applications, via a number of coaxially nested shafts and independently rotating turbine/compressor assemblies or spools. Each spool, in turn, employs a number of stages, in which rotating blades coupled to the shaft are alternated with stationary vanes coupled to a shroud or other fixed component of the engine housing.
Energy that is not used to drive the compressor and accessory functions is available for extraction and use. In ground-based applications, energy is typically delivered in the form of rotational motion, which is used to drive an electrical generator or other mechanical load coupled to the shaft. In aviation applications, the gas turbine engine also provides reactive thrust.
The relative contributions of rotation and thrust depend upon engine design. In turbojet engines, for example, which are an older design, essentially all the net thrust is generated in the exhaust. In modern turbofan engines, on the other hand, the shaft is used to drive a ducted propeller or forward fan, which generates additional thrust by forcing air through a bypass flow duct surrounding the engine core.
Turbofan engines include low-bypass turbofans, in which the bypass flow is relatively small with respect to the core flow, and high-bypass turbofans, in which the bypass flow is greater. High-bypass turbofans tend to be quieter, cooler and more energy efficient, particularly in subsonic flight applications for commercial and other general-purpose aircraft. Low-bypass turbofans can be somewhat louder and less fuel efficient, but provide greater specific thrust. For these and other reasons, low-bypass turbofans are generally utilized in military jet fighters and other high-performance supersonic aircraft.
In supersonic applications, the turbofan engine is typically provided with an afterburner. Afterburning systems provide thrust augmentation by injecting additional fuel into an augmentor assembly, downstream of the TEC, where it mixes with the core flow and ignites to increase the thrust. Afterburning substantially enhances engine performance, but is also associated with additional costs in efficiency, noise output and thermal signature.
The main design goals for aviation-based gas turbine engines are performance, efficiency, reliability and service life. Performance and efficiency both favor higher combustion temperatures, which increase the engine's specific thrust and overall thermodynamic efficiency. Unfortunately, higher combustion temperatures also result in increased thermal and mechanical loads, particularly for engine components along the hot gas flowpath, downstream of the combustor. This can affect service life and reliability, and increase operational costs associated with maintenance and part replacement.
In high-performance (low-bypass) turbofans, gas path temperatures are often a factor at the TEC assembly, where hot combustion gases flow from turbine section (upstream of the TEC) toward the afterburner/augmentor (downstream of the TEC). The issue can be problematic proximate the forward outer diameter ring (FODR), on the upstream end of the TEC assembly. In this region, operational conditions can sometimes establish a negative pressure differential between the FODR plenum, which surrounds the FODR, and the exhaust gas flow, inside the FODR.
Negative FODR plenum overpressure allows hot gas inflow, impairing cooling efficiency. The result is decreased service life and increased risk of mechanical failure. There is thus a need for improved TEC assembly cooling techniques that provide increased service life and reliability without sacrificing performance and efficiency.

Impingement cooling for turbofan exhaust assembly


Portulaca oleracea has been used throughout history for many different medicinal purposes. This invention is directed to the novel use of P. oleracea for the treatment of cancer. More specifically it is disclosed that P. oleracea has a specific and distinct effect on the inhibition and/or suppression of gastric tumor cell growth in vitro and in vivo. An aqueous extract of P. oleracea showed a tumoricidal activity against KATO III (human gastric carcinoma cell line) and COLO 320 HSR cells (human colon adenoma cell line) in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner, but not against the non-tumorous cell lines, L929 (murine lung connective tissue) and W138 (human lung diploid cell) cells. Subcutaneous injection of six week old CD1 nude mice with COLO 320 HSR cells and subsequently Portulaca oleracea extract showed a clear inhibition of tumor growth as compared to the control nude mice which received only COLO 320 HSR cells.

Full citations for references appear at the end of the examples section.
Portulaca oleracea is found ubiquitously in habitats with warm climate (Habtemariam et al., 1993). It has been used as an edible plant by humans since the prehistoric age. In China, the Philippines, Southeast Asia, and Africa, this wild plant is still consumed as food in various ways (Herklots, 1972). P. oleracea is recognized as a quite nutritious vegetable. It includes carbohydrates, amino acids, omega-3 fatty acids (Simopoulos et al., 1992, Mohamed and Hussein, 1994), several vitamins and minerals and many others (Wattenbergs, 1993) (Table 1).
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ Composition of Portulaca oleracea ______________________________________ 1. Noradrenaline 2. Dopa 3. Dopamine 4. Cardiac-glycoside 5. Anthraquinone- glycoside 6. Glucose 7. Sucrose 8. Fructose 9. Coumarin 10. Amino acids 11. Saponins 12. Alkaloids 13. Flavonoids 14. Citric acid 15. Oxalic acid 16. Glutamic acid 17. Asparaginic acid 18. Malic acid 19. Tannic acid 20. Vitamins A, B.sub.1, B.sub.2, C 21. Catechol 22. Urea 23. Wax 24. Batacyanin 25. K-salt (KCI. K.sub.2 SO.sub.4, KNO.sub.3) 26. K.sub.2 O 27. Fe** ______________________________________
In some countries, P. oleracea has been well known for ages as a medicinal herb. It has been used in the treatment of cardiovascular disease in Jamaica and in the topical application for swellings, bruises, abscesses and boils in Nigeria. In addition, it is known to be effective as an expectorant to treat cough (Vemla et al., 1982). It was also used as a "heart-tonic" and a diuretic. There are reports about the analysis of its composition (Tulloch, 1975, Simopoulos et al., 1992, Mohamed and Hussein, 1994), its influence on muscle (Parry et al., 1987, Parry et al., 1993), its effect on antifertility (Verma et al., 1982), and its efficacy in treating blood sugar levels in diabetics (Kin Y, JP 63,208,531, published Aug. 30, 1988).
Several plant products are known for their potential for the prevention and treatment of cancer (Retsas, 1986, Huang et al, 1994, Lau et al 1994). However, the influence of P. oleracea on cancer has not been reported.

Portulaca oleracea and tumor cell growth


Disclosed herein are embodiments of systems, methods, and products comprises a server, which receives a request from a user's electronic client device. The server determines the authentication level of the request. If the authentication level satisfies a threshold, the server may route the request to a call center computing system; otherwise, the server authenticates the user based on the authentication level. Specifically, the server presents one or more security challenges corresponding to the authentication level and authorizes the user if the user correctly answers the security challenges. The server may receive a second request from the same user who has been authorized for the first authentication level. If the authentication level of the second request is higher, the server may present more security challenges on the second level; if the authentication level is lower, the server directly allows the access of the requested services.

Before a user is authorized to access an account server, the user is usually required to input a username and password associated with the account. If the username and password are correct (e.g., consistent with credentials stored in a database), the user is authorized to log into the account. However, if the username or password is not correct, the user may have to go through an authentication process. For example, the user may be required to provide credentials by answering a set of security challenges for the purpose of authentication. Authentication is a process in which the credentials provided are compared to those on file in a database of authorized users' information on a local operating system or within an authentication server. If the credentials match, the process is completed and the user is authorized access. In existing and conventional authentication methods, the user is required to provide all the credentials required for the authentication, or the user is denied to access the account server.
These conventional methods and software solutions have created several shortcomings and a new set of challenges. For example, by disclosing all of the credentials, the user's confidential information (e.g., date of birth, Social Security number, last bill amount) may be subjected to cyber-attacks. In another example, the information may be exploited by social engineering attackers for fraud, which often involve some prior research or setup and the use of this information to establish legitimacy in the mind of a target. In addition, the conventional authentication methods do not consider the differences of the user's requests. Instead, no matter what information the user may request, the conventional authentication methods always require the user to provide all of the credentials. For example, the conventional authentication process may be the same for a user regardless of whether the user is trying to transfer $100 or $100,000 from his or her account.
When dealing with multi-tier authentications, conventional authentication methods do not provide a user-friendly experience. For instance, when using a multi-tier authentication method, some conventional authentication methods require the user to authenticate him/self in accordance with the most restricted authentication tier. This has created a negative user experience because users may have to provide multiple credentials (e.g., passwords, PIN, and the like) for actions that require a low-level authentication. For instance, conventional authentication methods always require the user to authenticate himself/herself as if the user is attempting to transfer $100,000 (e.g., most restricted authentication tier).

Methods and systems for authentication assistant

United Services Automobile Association (USAA)


A process for producing polyols from a low viscosity slurry comprising a thermally treated ligno-cellulosic biomass which has been subjected to a fiber shives reduction step is provided. Specifically, a continuous process for catalyzing the formation of polyol products, such as ethylene glycol and propylene glycol, from the low viscosity slurry is provided.

Polyols are valuable materials with uses such as PTA/PET, cold weather fluid, cosmetics and many others. Generating polyols from cellulose instead of olefins can be a more environmentally friendly and economically attractive process. Catalytic conversion of cellulose into ethylene glycol over supported carbide catalysts was disclosed in Catalysis Today, 147, (2009) 77-85. US 2010/0256424, and US 2010/0255983 teach a method of preparing ethylene glycol from cellulose and a tungsten carbide catalyst to catalyze the reaction. Tungsten carbide catalysts have also been published as successful for batch-mode direct catalytic conversion of cellulose to ethylene glycol in Angew. Chem. Int. Ed 2008, 47, 8510-8513 and supporting information. A small amount of nickel was added to a tungsten carbide catalyst in Chem. Comm. 2010, 46, 862-864. Bimetallic catalysts have been disclosed in ChemSusChem, 2010, 3, 63-66.
US2011/312487, US2011/312488, and US2011/0313212 describes conversion of cellulose to polyol using a process which involves contacting cellulose with a catalyst system in a reaction zone to generate an effluent stream comprising at least one polyol and recovering the polyol from the effluent stream. The effluent stream further comprises unreacted water and hydrogen and reaction intermediates which may be recycled to the reaction zone. The catalyst system comprises both an unsupported catalytic component and a supported catalytic component.
However, the above process does not describe the use of a ligno-cellulosic biomass, which up to know have presented problems as starting materials, primarily related to their highly viscous nature when presented as a slurry comprising solid ligno-cellulosic material and a carrier liquid. It has been documented that a solid presents significant handling problems, as described in PNNL-16079, September 2006, which states:
High-pressure feeding systems for biomass slurries have been recognized as a process development issue at least as long as the modern biomass conversion systems have been under development since the Arab oil embargo of 1973. The authors review the state of the art and various slurry pumping systems, the vast majority of which include ball check valves. Their conclusion is that high-pressure feeding remains a problem for small scale production but believe "the high-pressure feeding of biomass slurries should be more readily achieved at larger flow rates wherein the fibrous nature of the biomass would not be expected to bridge and plug the orifices and valves.
Thus, there exists a need to provide a low viscosity ligno-cellulosic biomass slurry composition which allows processing in a catalytic system for generating polyol. The mechanically thermally treated ligno-cellulosic biomass process described herein to produce a low viscosity ligno-cellulosic biomass slurry, as well as its subsequent conversion to polyol materials, also described herein, address this need.

Conversion of a low viscosity ligno-cellulosic biomass slurry into polyols


A turbine blade having a three pass forward flowing serpentine flow cooling circuit with a first leg connected to exit cooling holes along the trailing edge of the blade, a third and last leg discharging cooling air from the serpentine flow circuit through pressure and suction side film cooling holes, and two blade tip peripheral cooling channels extending along the pressure side and the suction side of the blade tip to provide cooling. Each peripheral channel includes film cooling holes on the blade tip side walls and exit cooling holes on the tip cap. All of the cooling air from the first leg channel that does exit out the trailing edge holes flows into the last leg without discharging through holes in the blade tip. All of the cooling air flowing out the peripheral channel cooling holes flows out from the last leg of the serpentine flow circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to fluid reaction surfaces and more specifically to a turbine blade with blade tip cooling.
2. Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Rotor blades used in a gas turbine engine generally include internal cooling air passages to provide required cooling of the blade, especially in the first and second stages. The rotor blades also include seals between the blade tip and an outer shroud of the casing in order to limit the hot gas flow leakage across the resulting gap. A squealer tip is one typical seal in which the blade tip includes a squealer tip rail extending around the blade walls and forming a squealer pocket. Hot gas flow into the pocket and across the gap can also produce damage or reduce the life of a blade. Thus, the blade tip and squealer pockets also require cooling air flow.
One prior art design for cooling the blade tip is shown in FIG. 1. The blade includes a mid-chord serpentine flow cooling circuit which is known as a 1+3 serpentine flow cooling circuit to provide internal cooling for the blade and the leading edge region. The airfoil leading edge is cooled with a backside impingement cooling along with leading edge showerhead film cooling holes and pressure side and suction side gill holes. The cooling air for the leading edge cooling is supplied through a separate radial supply channel. The airfoil main body is cooled with the triple pass forward flowing serpentine cooling circuit that also includes pressure side and suction side film cooling holes and trailing edge discharge cooling holes.
In the cited prior art references, blade tip cooling is accomplished by drilling holes into the upper extremes of the serpentine flow cooling circuit passages from both the pressure and suction surfaces near the blade tip edge and the top surface of the squealer cavity or pocket. Film cooling holes are built-in along the airfoil pressure side and suction side tip sections from leading edge to trailing edge to provide edge cooling for the blade squealer tip. Also, convective cooling holes also built-in along the tip rail at the inner portion of the squealer pocket provide additional cooling for the squealer tip rail. Since the blade tip region is subject to severe secondary flow field, this results in a large quantity of film cooling holes and cooling flow required for cooling the blade tip periphery. FIGS. 2 and 3 show a profile view of the pressure side and the suction side tip peripheral cooling holes for this prior art blade tip cooling design.
For the prior art cooling circuit of FIG. 1, the last leg of the serpentine flow cooling circuit geometry is predetermined by the manufacturing requirement. As a result of the cooling design requirement when the cooling air is bled off from the cavity for the cooling of both pressure and suction side walls as well as the blade tip section, the spanwise internal Mach number for the cooling air flow through the last leg becomes lower. This translates to a lower through-flow velocity and cooling side internal heat transfer coefficient. In other words, the pressurized cooling air delivered into the first leg of the serpentine flow circuit discharges a portion of the cooling through a plurality of trailing edge exit holes, with the remaining cooling air flowing through the blade tip channel where more cooling air is diverted through the blade tip exit holes. Even less cooling air remains to flow down the second leg of the serpentine flow circuit before flowing up the last leg, where more cooling air is diverted out through the film cooling holes on both the pressure side and suction side. After all this cooling air is diverted from the main serpentine circuit, not enough cooling air is left to maintain the high flow rate (Mach number) to provide the necessary cooling to the blade and tip. This lower internal Mach number and low cooling side internal heat transfer coefficient can be eliminated by the use of the serpentine flow and blade tip cooling circuit of the present invention.
The Prior Art reference U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,575 issued to Levengood et al on Jun. 28, 1988 and entitled AIRFOILS WITH NESTED COOLING CHANNELS shows a turbine blade with an internal cooling circuit having a forward flowing serpentine cooling circuit and a leading edge cooling channel that turns at the blade tip and flows into a chordwise extending channel portion (#54 in this patent), the tip channel discharging cooling air through tip holes 59. In the Levengood patent, the serpentine flow circuit does not discharge cooling air to the blade tip as does the circuit of the present invention.
Another Prior Art reference, U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,159 issued to Green et al on Apr. 4, 1995 and entitled COOLABLE AIRFOIL STRUCTURE, shows a turbine blade with an internal cooling circuit having a forward flowing serpentine cooling circuit in which the third and last leg (#92 in this patent) discharges into a blade tip passage (#74 in this patent) with cooling air holes discharging cooling air from the tip passage to the sides and top of the blade tip section. In the Green patent, the cooling air in the serpentine circuit is not discharged onto the tip before flowing through the last leg as in the present invention. However, the first or second legs of the serpentine circuit do not run along the blade tip cap such that the serpentine flow cooling air in the serpentine circuit can be used to cool the blade tip cap as in the present invention.
It is an object of the present invention to provide cooling for a blade tip of a turbine blade without diverting too much cooling air from the internal cooling passages so that proper internal cooling of the blade is still accomplished.
Another object of the present invention is to reduce the cooling air flow requirement while providing adequate blade cooling for a turbine blade.
Still, another object of the present invention is to allow for the first or second legs of the serpentine flow cooling circuit to provide cooling to the blade tip cap without discharging cooling air from the serpentine circuit through the tip cap.
Another object of the present invention is to provide for individual blade tip cooling flow circuit on the pressure side and on the suction side that can be selectively sized for cooling flow.

Serpentine flow circuit with tip section cooling channels


The present invention provides refrigerant blends which are replacements for chlorodifluoromethane(HCFC-22). The present blends have refrigeration characteristics which are similar to HCFC-22. The blends comprise from about 10 to about 90 weight percent of a first component selected from the group consisting of 1,1,1-trifluoroethane, difluoromethane, propane, and mixtures thereof; from about 1 to about 50 weight percent of a second component selected from the group consisting of hydrofluorocarbon having 1 to 3 carbon atoms, fluorocarbon having 1 to 3 carbon atoms, inorganic compound, and mixtures thereof having a boiling point at atmospheric pressure in the range from about xe2x88x9290 degrees C to less than xe2x88x9250 degrees C; and from about 1 to about 50 weight percent of a third component which is hydrofluorocarbon having 1 to 3 carbon atoms, other than 1,1,1-trifluoroethane, having a boiling point at atmospheric pressure in the range from about xe2x88x9250 degrees C to about 31 10 degrees C. The refrigerant compositions have a vapor pressure substantially equal to the vapor pressure of HCFC-22.

This invention relates to novel nonazeotropic compositions containing difluoromethane; 1,1,1-trifluoroethane; or propane. These mixtures have improved efficiency and capacity as refrigerants for heating and cooling.
Fluorocarbon based fluids have found widespread use in industry for refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump applications. Vapor compressions cycles are one form of refrigeration. In its simplest form, the vapor compression cycle involves changing the refrigerant from the liquid to the vapor phase through heat absorption at a low pressure, and then from the vapor to the liquid phase through heat removal at an elevated pressure. First, the refrigerant is vaporized in the evaporator which is in contact with the body to be cooled. The pressure in the evaporator is such that the boiling point of the refrigerant is below the temperature of the body to be cooled. Thus, heat flows from the body to the refrigerant and causes the refrigerant to vaporize. The formed vapor is then removed by means of a compressor in order to maintain the low pressure in the evaporator. The temperature and pressure of the vapor are then raised through the addition of mechanical energy by the compressor. The high pressure vapor then passes to the condenser whereupon heat exchange with a cooler medium, the sensible and latent heats are removed with subsequent condensation. The hot liquid refrigerant then passes to the expansive valve and is ready to cycle again.
While the primary purpose of refrigeration is to remove energy at low temperature, the primary purpose of a heat pump is to add energy at higher temperature. Heat pumps are considered reverse cycle systems because for heating, the operation of the condenser is interchanged with that of the refrigeration evaporator.
Certain chlorofluorocarbons have gained widespread use in refrigeration applications including air conditioning and heat pump applications owing to their unique combination of chemical and physical properties. The majority of refrigerants utilized in vapor compression systems are either single component fluids or azeotropic mixtures.
The majority of refrigerants utilized in vapor compression systems are either single component fluids or azeotropic mixtures. The latter are binary mixtures, but for all refrigerant purposes behave as single component fluids. Nonazeotropic mixtures have been disclosed as refrigerants for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,303,536 and 4,810,403 but have not yet found widespread use in commercial applications.
The condensation and evaporation temperatures of single component fluids are defined clearly. If we ignore the small pressure drops in the refrigerant lines, the condensation or evaporation occurs at a single temperature corresponding to the condenser or evaporation pressure. For mixtures being employed as refrigerants, there is no single phase change temperature but a range of temperatures. This range is governed by the vapor-liquid equilibrium behavior of the mixture. This property of mixtures is responsible for the fact that when nonazeotropic mixtures are used in the refrigeration cycle, the temperature in the condenser or the evaporator has no longer a single uniform value, even if the pressure drop effect is ignored. Instead, the temperature varies across the equipment, regardless of the pressure drop. In the art, this variation in the temperature across an equipment is known as temperature glide.
It has been pointed out in the past that for non-isothermal heat sources and heat sinks, this temperature glide in mixtures can be utilized to provide better efficiencies. However in order to benefit from this effect, the conventional refrigeration cycle has to be redesigned, see for example T. Atwood, xe2x80x9cNARBs-The Promise and the Problemxe2x80x9d, paper 86-WA/HT-61 American Society of Mechanical Engineers. In most existing designs of refrigeration equipment, a temperature glide is a cause of concern. Therefore, nonazeotropic refrigerant mixtures have not found wide use. An environmentally acceptable nonazeotropic mixture with a small temperature glide and with an advantage in refrigeration capacity over other known pure fluids will have a general commercial interest.
Chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22) is a currently used refrigerant. Although HCFC-22 is only partially halogenated, it still contains chloride and hence has a propensity for ozone depletion. What is needed in the refrigerant art is a replacement for HCFC-22 which has similar refrigeration characteristics, is nonflammable, has low temperature guides, and contains no ozone-depleting chlorine atoms.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,403 teaches ternary or higher blends of halocarbon refrigerants which are substitutes for dichlorodifluoromethane (CFC-12). The blends have a first component which has a boiling point at atmospheric pressure in the range of xe2x88x9250 degrees C to xe2x88x9230 degrees C, a second component which has a boiling point at atmospheric pressure in the range of xe2x88x9230 degrees C to xe2x88x925 degrees C, and a third component which has boiling point at atmospheric pressure in the range of xe2x88x9215 degrees C to 30 degrees C. The preferred blend contains chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22), 1,1-difluoroethane (HCF-152a), and 1,2-dichloro-1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethane (CFC-114). As the reference lists HCFC-22 as a possible refrigerant component, the reference is not teaching refrigerant substitutes for HCFC-22.
As such, the art is seeking new fluorocarbon based mixtures which offer alternatives of HCFC-22 in refrigeration and heat pump applications. Currently, of particular interest, are fluorocarbon based mixtures which are considered to be environmentally acceptable substitutes for the presently used hydrochlorofluorocarbons which are suspected of causing environmental problems in connection with the earth""s protective ozone layer. Mathematical models have substantiated that hydrofluorocarbons, such as 1,1,1-trifluoroethane (HCF-143a) or difluoromethane (HFC-32) will not adversely affect atmospheric chemistry, being negligible contributors to stratospheric ozone depletion and global warming.
The substitute materials must also possess those properties unique to the CFC""s including chemical stability, low toxicity, non-flammability, and efficiency in-use. The latter characteristic is important, for example, in air conditioning and refrigeration where a loss in refrigerant thermodynamic performance or energy efficiency may have secondary environmental impacts through increased fossil fuel usage arising from an increased demand for electrical energy.
The aforementioned environmentally acceptable refrigerants HFC-32 and HFC-143a are flammable which may limit their general use. These refrigerants are generally regarded as too low boiling fluids to directly replace chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22).
In order to overcome the flammability of HFC-32, we blended HFC-32 with 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (HFC-134a) and the result was zero ozone depletion potential compositions which are useful substitutes for HCFC-22. At high amounts of HFC-32 though, compositions of HFC-32 and HFC-134a are flammable. In order to completely eliminate the flammability of such compositions, we decided to add a third nonflammable component. In adding a third component, we wanted the resulting ternary composition to have a zero ozone depletion potential and have a boiling point comparable to that of HCFC-22. One member from the list of compounds having zero ozone depletion potential and boiling points at atmospheric pressure in the range of xe2x88x9290 degrees C to xe2x88x9260 degrees C is trifluoromethane (HFC-23) which has a low critical temperature; as those skilled in the art know, compounds having low critical temperatures are not used as refrigerants because they do not condense at room temperature and in a refrigerant blend, would be expected to substantially reduce the refrigeration efficiency and capacity of the blend. We were pleasantly surprised to find that in addition to being inflammable, a blend of HFC-32, HFC-134a, and HFC-23 has refrigeration efficiency and capacity substantially the same as a blend of HFC-32 and HFC-134a.
Thus, we have discovered refrigerant blends which are substitutes for HCFC-22. These nonazeotropic refrigerant compositions comprise from about 10 to about 90 weight percent of a first component selected from the group consisting of 1,1,1-trifluoroethane (HFC-143a), difluoromethane (HFC-32), propane, and mixtures thereof; from about 1 to about 50 weight percent of a second component selected from the group consisting of hydrofluorocarbon having 1 to 3 carbon atoms, fluorocarbon having 1 to 3 carbon atoms, inorganic compound, and mixtures thereof having a boiling point at atmospheric pressure in the range from about 31 90 degrees C to less than xe2x88x9250 degrees C; and from about 1 to about 50 weight percent of a third component which is hydrofluorocarbon having 1 to 3 carbon atoms, other than 1,1,1-trifluoroethane, having a boiling point at atmospheric pressure in the range from about xe2x88x9250 degrees C to about xe2x88x9210 degrees C. The refrigerant compositions have a vapor pressure substantially equal to the vapor pressure of HCFC-22.
The term xe2x80x9chydrofluorocarbonxe2x80x9d as used herein means a compound having carbon, hydrogen, and fluorine atoms. The term xe2x80x9cfluorocarbonxe2x80x9d as used herein means a compound having carbon and fluorine atoms. For the second component, any hydrofluorocarbon having 1 to 3 carbon atoms, fluorocarbon having 1 to 3 carbon atoms, or inorganic compound having a boiling point at atmospheric pressure in the range from about xe2x88x9290 degrees C to less than xe2x88x9250 degrees C may be used in the present invention. For the third component, any hydrofluorocarbon having 1 to 3 carbon atoms, other than 1,1,1-trifluoroethane, having a boiling point at atmospheric pressure in the range from about xe2x88x9250 degrees C to about xe2x88x9210 degrees C may be used in the present invention.
The preferred first component is difluoromethane.
Preferably, the second component is selected from the group consisting of: trifluoromethane (HFC-23), hexafluoroethane (FC-116), carbon dioxide or sulphur hexafluoride. The preferred second component is trifluoromethane. All members listed for the second component are nonflammable and generally boil at a temperature below that of HFC-32 or HFC-143a.
Preferably, the third component is selected from the group consisting of: pentafluoroethane (HFC-125), 1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethane (HFC-134), 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (HFC-134a), 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-heptafluoropropane (HFC-227ea), 1,1,1,2,2,3,3-heptafluoropropane (HFC-227ca), or 1,1,1,2,2-pentafluoropropane (HFC-245cb). The preferred third component is 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane. All members listed for the third component are nonflammable and generally boil at a temperature above that of HFC-32 or HFC-143a.
Small quantities of HFC-227ea, HFC-227ca, and HFC-245cb are available from PCR and Halocarbon Products. All other components of the present invention are available in commercial quantities. Also, HFC-227ea, HFC-227ca, and HFC-245cb may be prepared according to known methods such as those disclosed in International Publication Number WO 90/08754. For example, HFC-227ca may be prepared by reacting. 1,1,1,3,3-pentachloro-2,2-difluoropropane with niobium pentachloride at 120 degrees C. HFC-245cb may be prepared by reacting 1,1,1,2,2-pentachloropropane with tantalum pentafluoride at 120 degrees C.
By xe2x80x9cvapor pressure substantially equal to the vapor pressure of chlorodifluoromethanexe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9csimilar refrigeration characteristicsxe2x80x9d is meant a vapor pressure which is plus or minus 30 percent of the vapor pressure of HCFC-22 at the same temperature over the temperature range of about 0 degrees C to about 100 degrees C.
Additional components may be added to the mixture to tailor the properties of the mixture according to the need.
Other advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description.

Non-azeotropic refrigerant compositions comprising difluoromethane; 1,1,1-trifluoroethane; or propane


A digital communication system (20) in which a signal constellation (30) of a dimensionality of at least four is used, with distance properties chosen to reduce the bit error rate compared to that of digital communication systems using signal constellations of half the dimensionality. A symbol generator (21) uses the higher dimensional signal constellation (30), or any orthogonal transformation of the higher dimensional signal constellation (30), to translate a bit stream into a stream of higher dimensional symbols, which it then provides to a modulator (22). The modulator (22) transmits each higher dimensional symbol in at least two parts, using a modulation scheme according to the prior art, such as QAM or QPSK.

According to the prior art, in a digital communication system, sets of consecutive bits in a bit stream are mapped to symbols, sometimes considered to be complex symbols having a real part and an imaginary part, with the real part used to modulate an in-phase carrier signal and the imaginary part used to modulate a quadrature-phase carrier signal. The data rate of such a digital communication system depends on, among other factors, the number of bits represented by each symbol. The bit error rate, depends on, among other factors, the distance, in an abstract mathematical sense, between any two points in the set of symbols used to represent/encode the bit stream. The set of symbols can be indicated as a so-called signal constellation (or symbol constellation), which is a representation showing how the correspondence between each symbol and a respective sequence of bits, the representation sometimes being provided as a plot of the symbols as points in a usually two-dimensional space. An example of a signal constellation is shown in FIG. 1A for quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) modulation, the signal constellation there showing that the bit sequence 00 is mapped to the symbol √{square root over (P+0j)}, the bit sequence 01 is mapped to the symbol 0+j√{square root over (P)}, and so on, where P is the power used by the digital communication system in transmitting one symbol.
As mentioned above, the bit error rate of a digital communication system depends on the distance properties of the signal constellation being used. In the case of QPSK, using as a measure of distance the Euclidean between points in the abstract signal constellation space, the minimum distance between any two points in the signal constellation is, as can be seen from FIG. 1A,D=√{square root over (2P)},where, as mentioned above, P is the signal power used to transmit one symbol, i.e. the power used during one symbol period.
Another representation of the QPSK signal constellation for QPSK modulation, a representation equivalent to the representation shown in FIG. 1A, is shown in FIG. 1B. The FIG. 1B representation indicates that for the bit string corresponding to k=3 (i.e. for the bit sequence 11), the QPSK symbol is −R+0j (where R=P, as indicated in FIG. 1A).
To increase the bit rate it is possible to use so-called MSK modulation with M>4. For example, 8PSK modulation transmits 3 bits per symbol. Such approaches to improving system performance by improving the bit rate also use two-dimensional signal constellations, like QPSK modulation, but because the signal constellation space is more densely packed than for systems encoding fewer bits per symbol, the smallest distance between any two points for MSK signal constellations (with M>4) is smaller, and so the bit error rate worsens.
Another approach has been to use higher-dimensional signal constellations. The prior art teaches using signal points carved from a higher dimensional lattice/trellis code. However, the distance properties for such constellations are not optimal, and an implementation of systems using such signal constellations can be complicated.
What is needed is a higher-dimensional signal constellation not based on lattice/trellis codes, and ideally one with distance properties that are superior to those of signal constellations carved from such codes.

Method and apparatus for modulation using an at least four-dimensional signal constellation


A device for insertion into a spinal (intervertebral or intravertebral) space is expandable from a first circumference to a second circumference through axial compression of segments of the device, particularly once the device has been properly situated within a vertebral space. The interbody/intravertebral body device is characterized by a plurality of axially stacked, individual segments that are provided on a central insertion and deployment rod. Each segment includes a central plate or body to which are pivotally attached plate or leaf structures. Pivoting of the structures provides a collapsed or unexpanded position of the first circumference and an open or expanded position of the second circumference.

Fusion cages, as well as other types of bodies and/or devices, are frequently utilized in spinal surgery inside a vertebra (intravertebral) and/or between vertebrae of a patient (interbody). With interbody devices, one or more such spinal bodies are placed between vertebrae to provide support and promote fusion between adjacent vertebrae where such is necessary due to disease, injury, general deterioration or congenital problem. With intravertebral devices, one or more spinal bodies are placed within a vertebra. Spinal devices, such as fusion cages and/or the like, are inserted into a spinal space either anteriorly, posteriorly, laterally or posteriolaterally.
A problem with most spinal interbody and intravertebral devices is that they are static in size. This poses various problems with their use and/or implantation. Particularly, static sized spinal devices are fairly large in order to properly bridge the gap between adjacent vertebrae. This large size does not lend itself to microsurgery, arthroscopic surgery or the like.
A few interbody devices, however, are now being made that are expandable. Expandable interbody devices allow the interbody device to be initially smaller than traditional non-expandable (static) interbody devices such that expandable interbody devices may be more easily inserted or implanted into the vertebral space. Moreover, expandable interbody devices allow the surgeon to set the amount of expansion necessary for the particular patient rather than the static interbody device dictating the spacing.
However, current expandable spinal devices lack strength, reliability and/or simplicity of design.
In view of the above, it is desirable to provide expandable spinal devices that address prior art concerns.
In view of the above, it is desirable to provide expandable spinal interbody devices that address prior art concerns.
In view of the above, it is desirable to provide expandable spinal intravertebral body devices that address prior art concerns.

Expandable spinal devices and method of insertion


A system includes a pull-up circuit to program a memory cell. The pull-up circuit may include a level shifter to receive a control signal, a supply voltage, and one or more of a plurality of rail voltages, each of the plurality of rail voltages substantially equal to a respective integer multiple of the supply voltage, and to generate a second control signal, and a cascode stage. The cascode stage may include a plurality of transistors, a gate voltage of each of the plurality of transistors to be controlled at least in part by a respective one of the second control signal, the supply voltage, and at least one of the plurality of rail voltages, and an output node to provide a cell programming signal.

A memory cell driver circuit may be used to write a value to and/or read a value from a memory cell. In the case of a One-Time Programmable (OTP) memory cell, which is a type of Programmable Read Only Memory, a value is written to the memory cell once and cannot be overwritten during conventional operation. Writing values to (i.e., programming) arrays of conventional OTP memory cells requires high voltages and currents. Driver circuits for these arrays may use thick-oxide transistors to supply the currents and to withstand the voltages. Some OTP memory cells, such as poly-Si-fuse memory cells, are programmed using a dedicated driver circuit for each cell. Each dedicated driver circuit typically includes a large VDNMOS device. Such implementations may be inefficient in terms of one or more of fabrication cost, die footprint, power consumption and other factors.


This invention relates to hair spray formulations which eliminate flaking. The hair spray formulations are based on (1) a sulfonate-containing, water-dispersible or water-dissipatible, linear polyester having a glass transition temperature of 33.degree. C. to 60.degree. C., (2) a polyethylene glycol ester of a mixture of caprylic and capric acids, (3) an alpha-hydroxy carboxylic acid having 2 to 6 carbon atoms, and (4) water or a water/alcohol mixture.

Hair spray formulations typically comprise a solution of a polymer, the fixative, in water/alcohol mixtures. The polymeric materials which are typically used in hair spray formulations are soluble in water or water/alcohol mixtures and are derived from N-vinylpyrrolidinone or N-vinylpyrrolidinone and one or more other vinyl monomers such as vinyl acetate, acrylate and methacrylate esters and/or styrene compounds. When applied to hair and allowed to dry, the polymeric material provides human hair body, consistency, and firm texture, however, such materials have the disadvantage of flaking.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,580 describes hair spray formulations containing a water-dispersible or water-dissipatible linear sulfo-polyester fixative in a water/alcohol mixture. Such formulations are fast drying and have good hair holding properties but possess the disadvantage of being very difficult to remove from the hair. For example, prolonged washing is required to completely remove the water dispersible, linear polyester fixative to obtain hair with no tacky or sticky feel. In an effort to overcome the fixative removal problem, U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,580 teaches the addition of certain water soluble polymers to formulations containing the water-dispersible, linear polyester. The use of poly(alkylene glycols) such as poly(ethylene glycol) is disclosed. However, when such formulations containing a combination of the poly(alkylene glycol) and water-dispersible, linear polyester are applied to hair and allowed to dry, the fixative causes a matting of the hair. Such matting hinders combing, brushing and styling of hair.
U.S. Pat. No 5,030,443 discloses alginate hair setting compositions which contain an antiflaking polymer agent having one or more carboxylic acid groups. The carboxylated polymers are polyacrylic and polymethacrylic acids which are used in their acid form to facilitate crosslinking.
In contrast, the present inventor has unexpectedly discovered hair spray formulations that provide human hair with body, consistency, and firm texture, without the disadvantages described hereinabove, such as flaking, tackiness, matting and difficulty in removal. The formulations of this invention may be sprayed on dry or damp hair by means of an aerosol or pump to provide a thin transparent film enhancing the natural luster of the hair without imparting a lacquered appearance thereto. The deposited film has sufficient strength to keep the hair in place, even under conditions of high humidity, but without stiffening the hair. The hair spray dries quickly to a non tacky state which does not flake on combing but is easily removed by washing with water and mild soap or commercial shampoo preparations.

Hair spray formulations containing a polyethylene glycol ester of caprylic and capric acids


A food processing apparatus useful as an attachment of meat grinders to provide an extension of the pressure barrel thereof. Within the extension, there is provided a feed screw the flutes of which have openings of predetermined sizes, preferably disposed in peripheral sections of the flutes, for imposing multiple sequential divisions and reverse flow on at least part of the main material flow, thereby uniformly to emulsify the material before a final chopping action by an additional rotary cutter assembly disposed near the output end of the attachment.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to food processing apparatus and, more particularly, to food processing apparatus operating in the manner of a meat grinder for cutting, mixing and emulsifying comestibles.
Such apparatus are primarily utilized for the diminution of organic substances. They may be used, for instance, to cut or chop meats, as well as fruits, vegetables and cheeses. In particular, such apparatus are widely used by butchers and sausage factories for cutting up or finely chopping raw and boiled meats as well as fats and rinds to produce therefrom, in a single operation, varieties of sausages and meat products, or, by a double chopping process, ground meat (hamburger) of uniform grain distribution.
2. The State of the Art
Machines and apparatus of this kind are generally structured as meat grinders in which the material to be chopped is transported by a feed screw or auger in a meat grinder housing toward a rotary knife arrangement. While the meat to be chopped is subjected simultaneously to uniform feed pressure, pressing through a perforated disk and cutting, very little, if any, mixing or distributive action is taking place.
Meat grinders equipped with two consecutively arranged feed screws providing a double chopping action, are well known. It has, however, been found that these machines cannot provide qualitatively acceptable chopping, mixing and emulsification of the ground material.


A vernier time shifting circuit is used for fine-tuning capture of a clock signal and/or a data signal to compensate for fluctuations produced by the system or other variations within non-time invariant parts of the chip. Other variations can include process, temperature, or voltage differences. The vernier sample time shifting circuit allows shifting the signal in small steps to allow for optimal sampling.

To address a need for faster circuits, a group of integrated circuits can be combined on a common bus and be controlled by a common controller. In such a configuration, each integrated circuit operates in a coordinated manner with other integrated circuits to share data which is transmitted at a high speed. For example, a group of memory devices, such as DRAMs, EEPROMs, or read only memories (ROM), can be connected to a common data bus and be controlled by a memory controller to form a memory system. However, a data rate of the bus may be substantially faster than the maximum operating speed of the individual memories thereby requiring that the data be delayed. Each memory device, therefore, is operated so that while one memory is processing received data, another memory is receiving new data. Such a memory system, with an appropriate number of memory devices and an efficient memory controller, can achieve extremely high speed data transmissions, but an optimal speed can be achieved only if each integrated circuit on the bus can be delayed, as needed, to account for variances within each integrated circuit.
As a transmission rate of the data communication signals in such memory systems continues to increase, new circuitry and methods are needed to accurately clock command data, write data, and read data transmitted between the memory controller and the memory devices. A portion of a clock cycle which can be devoted to clocking valid data becomes quite small, and errors in clocking data can occur at increased transmission speeds because of known effects such as duty cycle variation, bus position of a given memory device, timing drift, loading variations, etc. Therefore, it is desirable to provide small data and/or clock delays to reduce or eliminate deleterious effects of the variations of duty cycle, bus position and so on as stated above.
Further, internal circuit paths are greatly affected by integrated circuit processing parameters, circuit operating temperature, and an operating supply voltage of the circuit. For example, an integrated circuit executes more slowly as operating temperature increases. Integrated circuits also operate more slowly as the operating supply voltage decreases. In either or both of these cases, the duration of the first and second clock signal phases must be extended to provide first and second execution times which are sufficient to accommodate increased first and second minimum execution time periods.
In all of the aforementioned cases, a fine-resolution time delay could alleviate or minimize the problems described. A proper time delay can eliminate or minimize bottle-necks and choke-points in a circuit and can thereby improve an overall circuit throughput when each part of a circuit is operating at its optimum speed. Prior art attempts to provide extremely fine-resolution time delays have been unsuccessful. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,115,318 and 6,016,282 to Keeth, U.S. Pat. No. 5,812,832 to Horne et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,261 to Frisch et al., and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2001/0017558 to Hanzawa et al. each teach a vernier circuit that allows a signal to be shifted in small steps and incorporate a second vernier branch circuit in parallel with a first vernier circuit. These circuits depend on a propagation delay through a time delay element, such as a buffer, to provide for time delays. However, none of these referenced circuits describe or suggest a way to provide for a time shift that is less than a propagation delay of any of the time delay elements. Prior art sampling systems are unable to compensate for fine-resolution variations in sample timing or to select an optimal delay time. Nor do any of the prior art systems provide a method for integrated circuits to compensate for throughput due to variations such as reduced supply voltage or increased operating temperatures.
Therefore, what is needed is an electronic circuit to provide fine-resolution time delays in incremental steps and a method to determine which of those incremental steps is optimal for a given circuit.

Vernier circuit for fine control of sample time


A method for enabling traditional SCSI peripheral equipment to be compatible with a PLUG-AND-PLAY protocol comprising steps of: selecting an SCSI peripheral device as an object and assigning a predetermined identification number to the selected SCSI peripheral device; periodically detecting the signal status on an SCSI bus so as to change a specific signal level to thus communicate with a host computer which determines whether the assigned identification number is permitted; and delaying a time period during the detection of the signal status on the SCSI bus when the permission to assign an identification number has not been determined, and abandoning the assigned identification number when the same identification number has been found to be used by another SCSI peripheral device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for enabling traditional SCSI peripheral equipment to be compatible with a PLUG-AND-PLAY protocol.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The currently small computer standard interface (SCSI) used is provided as a high speed data transmission interface between a computer and its peripheral equipment such as hard disk drives, printers, and so on. The SCSI is characterized in that up to seven peripheral devices are allowed to be connected to a same SCSI bus, i.e., it provides a suitable expansion capability for a computer system, therefore the SCSI is very popular in this field. Normally, a corresponding identification number is manually assigned to each of the peripheral devices. However, the process of assignment can be cumbersome and may even cause errors if two of the peripheral devices are assigned with the same identification number.
For alleviating the above inconvenience and error, the plug-and-play concept is introduced and performed by providing a plug-and-play SCSI protocol by which a specific identification number (ID number) is assigned to a corresponding one of a plurality of plug-and-play type peripheral devices. This will alleviate the inconvenience of manual assignment to the peripheral devices. However, for conventional peripheral devices, the benefit cannot be applied because they are not plug-and-play type peripheral devices. The difference between the conventional peripheral device and the plug-and-play type peripheral device is that the SCSI controller (chip) of the plug-and-play type peripheral device includes an extra built-in structure which can detect an initial plug-and-play signal and transmit this situation to an SCSI controller of a host computer, which in turn executes an SCSI configured automatic operation (SCAM) so as to assign a specific ID number to each plug-and-play type peripheral device. Since conventional peripheral devices are not installed with the specific structure to detect the initial plug-and-play signal, they cannot inform the SCSI controller when they are initially connected to an SCSI bus. It is requisite to provide a new method by which conventional peripheral devices can be enabled to be compatible with the plug-and-play protocol.

Method for enabling traditional SCSI peripheral equipments to be compatible with plug-and-play protocol


Building a semantics graph for an enterprise communication network can include extracting a first signifier and a second signifier from the enterprise communication network, determining a semantic proximity of the first signifier and the second signifier using an engine executing computer readable instructions, and building the semantics graph, wherein the first signifier and the second signifier are represented as nodes connected by an edge representing the semantic proximity of the first signifier and the second signifier.

Users, such as employees of an enterprise, can share information within the enterprise (e.g., a company and/or organization) using a network connecting the users. Users can share information within the enterprise using knowledge management tools. A knowledge management tool can include an internal enterprise domain, an internal enterprise file share system, and/or an internal enterprise communication system.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP


In a brushless motor for an electric power steering device having a configuration of 2 poles and 3 slots, or of an integral multiple thereof, a stator coil is supplied with current containing a higher harmonic component. A difference of 0.5% to 1.5% is provided between the higher harmonic component content rate of the stator coil current and the higher harmonic component content rate of the induced electromotive force generated in the stator coil with rotation of a permanent magnet, thereby mitigating the influence by an armature reaction generated in the induced electromotive force to reduce torque ripples. The difference between the higher harmonic component content rates is set on the basis of a change that occurs in the induced electromotive force due to the armature reaction at a time of supplying electricity to the armature coil.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a brushless motor and a method of controlling a brushless motor, and more particularly to a technique that may be effectively applied to a brushless motor for an electric power steering device.
(2) Description of Related Art
In order to assist a steering force of an automobile, in recent years, a large number of vehicles are provided with so-called power steering devices. As the power steering devices of this type, in recent years, the number of vehicles to which electric type power steering devices (so-called electric power steering device, hereinafter appropriately abbreviated as "EPS") are mounted is increasing from the viewpoints of a reduction in engine load or a reduction in weight. As a power source of the EPS, motors with brushes have been used much hitherto. In recent years, however, the brushless motors have been increasingly used because of excellent maintenance property of the brushless motors and high torque generation with small size.
In such ESP motor described above, attention is focused on an operation noise reduction for improvement of the driver's operation feeling. In general, the torque variation (torque ripple) and the operation noise are closely related with each other, and torque ripple reductions involving designing an energizing method have been variously studied for the EPS motor, particularly, the brushless motor. For example, it is well known that a sine wave drive that enables smooth energization is conducted instead of a square wave drive as the measures against the operation noises. However, in the case of the sine wave drive, an induced voltage waveform at the motor side must be converted into a sine wave configuration in order to reduce the torque ripple. For that reason, in the sine wave drive motor, the induced voltage waveform is converted into the sine wave waveform by skew or an eccentricity of a magnet. In this case, it is a reality that an output of the motor must be sacrificed to some extent.
Under the above circumstances, there is also developed a method of driving a motor by an aid of a trapezoidal wave current containing higher harmonic waves instead of the sine wave drive in order to improve the reduction in motor output as described above. In the brushless motor having six poles and nine slots, for example, when about 5% of fifth-order higher harmonic components are included in the induced voltage waveform, a current waveform corresponding to that waveform is determined to be energized, and hence the torque ripple may be reduced to 0 in theory. FIG. 5(a) is an explanatory diagram showing an induced voltage waveform, and FIG. 5(b) is an explanatory diagram showing a phase current waveform. The induced voltage waveform of FIG. 5(a) mainly contains 5% of the fifth-order higher harmonic components. Also, the phase current of FIG. 5(b) contains 5% of the higher harmonic components (fifth-order components: 2.5%, seventh-order components: 2.5%) in correspondence with the induced voltage waveform.
In this example, a torque T, an angular velocity ω, an induced voltage E, and the phase current I satisfy the following relationship (θ is an electrical angle, u, v, and w are current phases, d is a component in the direction of a magnetic flux, and q is a component orthogonal to the magnetic flux).
                                                                                T                                                        (                    θ                    )                                                  ·                                  ω                                                        (                    θ                    )                                                              =                                                                                Eu                                                              (                      θ                      )                                                        ·                                      Iu                                                              (                      θ                      )                                                                      +                                                      Ev                                                              (                      θ                      )                                                        ·                                      Iv                                                              (                      θ                      )                                                                      +                                                      Ew                                                              (                      θ                      )                                                        ·                                      Iw                                                              (                      θ                      )                                                                                =                                                                                Ed                                                              (                      θ                      )                                                        ·                                      Id                                                              (                      θ                      )                                                                      +                                                      Eq                                                              (                      θ                      )                                                        ·                                      Iq                                                              (                      θ                      )                                                                                (                  Ex          .                                                    1                )
In the above expression, a component involved in the torque of the motor is a q-axis component, and a d-axis component may be ignored in considering the torque variation. Therefore, when ω(θ) is held constant, T(θ) should be held constant, that is, E·I should be held constant in order to eliminate the torque variation. When the phase current waveform shown in FIG. 5(b) is determined from the above relationship to be supplied, E·I=T is held constant with respect to the induced voltage of FIG. 5(a), thereby suppressing the torque variation.
As a result, when the phase current shown in FIG. 5(b) is supplied, the torque variation that is not different from that of the sine wave drive may be realized. Also, when the trapezoidal wave and the sine wave are compared with each other at the same peak current, the trapezoidal wave may increase the peak value of the first-order component that contributes to the torque. For that reason, the supply of a current shown in FIG. 5(b) makes it possible to obtain higher torque than that in the motor of the sine wave drive. Also, because the higher harmonic waves are contained in the supplied current, the skew angle may be set to a small value, and a leakage flux is reduced accordingly, to thereby improve the output.    Patent Document 1: Jpn. Pat. Appln. Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-274963

Brushless motor control method and brushless motor


A method for the preparation of a dispersion of fine particles characterized in that the micelles are ones which have been formed in a aqueous medium with an amphiphilic block copolymer represented by the general formula PB and in which the shell of each micelle has been cross-linked with hydrophilic groups of the hydrophilic side chains wherein the particles formed are metallic particles having a reducing characteristic of metal ions. The general formula PB is:

The fine particles of a metal, in particular, fine particles of gold, platinum, palladium, rhodium or silver have a possibility to be used as a medicine utilizing penetrating ability of an ultra fine particles into reticuloendothelial system, an inspection agent with function, material for Drug Delivery System (DDS), an improving material for detection sensitivity at the analysis utilizing the surface sensitization effect by resonance Raman scattering, and methods for preparation of dispersion of said metals which does not coagulate and is stable are presently being investigated.
In the above mentioned circumstance, as the substantial methods for the preparation of nano size particles e.g. gold up to the present time, following 1-4 methods are proposed.
1. The method to reduce metallic ion by coexisting surfactant or polymer.
This method is characterized by coexisting surfactant or polymer in the reducing reaction medium aiming to prevent the flocculation of metal generated by the reduction of the metallic ions and to stabilize the fine particles of metal generated by the reduction of metallic ions. This method is characterized by coexisting surfactant or polymer with metallic ions and using reducing agent such as sodium borohydride (NaBH4) separately from the reduction by light irradiation from the outside. According to this method, although the reduction of various metals can be possible, the problem that it is necessary to add a reducing agent for each metal ions separately is pointed out. [Document 1; Schmid, Chem. Rev., 92, 1709 (1992)].
2. Method for stabilizing using gold/sulfur reciprocal action This method is the method for stabilizing of fine particles of gold generated by reduction utilizing strong affinity between sulfur and gold, by bonding fine particles of gold electrostatically with sulfur atom. In this case, the sulfur atom which displays above mentioned function can be provided by introducing a group having said molecule at the end or side chain of a unit of arbor shape molecule (dendron) or polymer. It is known that a DNA molecule is also effective for the stabilization of fine particles of gold instead of above stabilizing substance. The merit of this method is that the surface of metal particle can be modified by various organic compound, especially by a compound having desired functional group, however, it is not effective to the metals except gold. [Document 2; M. Brust, M. Walker, D. Betheli, D. J. Schiffrin, and R. Whyman, Chem. Commum, 1994, 801. Document 3; V. Chechik and R. M. Crooks, Langmuir 15, 6364 (1994). Document 4; M.-K.
Kim, Y.-M. Joen, H.-J. Kim, S. G. Hong, C. G. Park, and K. Kim, Chem.
Commum, 2001, 667.)].
3. Method for preparation of fine particles of metal using dendrimer as a template
This method is the method for preparation of fine particles of metal of several ten nm size using water soluble poly(amide amine) dendrimer, characterized by using a reducing agent such as sodium borohydride (NaBH4) after metal ions are introduced into the dendrimer. [Document 5; M. Zhao, L. Sun and R. M. Crooks, J. Am. Chem. Soc, 120, 4877 (1998). Document 6; L. Balogand D. A. Tomalia, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 120, 7355 (1998). Document 7; Y. Nie, L. K. Yeung and M. Crooks. J. Chem. Soc., 123, 6840-6846. Document 8; L. K. Yeung and M. Crooks. Nano Lwtt., 1, 14-17 (2001.)].
The merit of this method is that the fine particles of metal obtained by reduction of metallic ions can be of monodispersed particles with narrow distribution based on the function of the template, however, it is necessary to add a reducing agent.
On the contrary,
4. The method to obtain the stabilized dispersion of fine particles of metal by reducing metallic ions utilizing the reducing ability of poly(dithiafulvene) and dispersion stabilizing ability of fine particles of metal is known. This method is to reduce metallic (golden) ions to fine particles of metal by stirring effectively polythiafulvene and metallic (golden) ions in dimethylsulfoxide. By this method it is not necessary to add reducing agent of metal from the outside, and utilizing the reducing ability which the polymer originally has, and this is the characteristic of this method (Document 9; Y Zhou, H. Itoh, T. Uemura, K. Naka and Y. Chujo, Chem. Commum., 2001, 613-614.). However, this method is necessary to carry out the reaction in dimethylsulfoxide, and since the generated fine particles of metal are stabilized by poly(dithiafulvene), the generated fine particles of metal are soluble in dimethylsulfoxide. And, the necessary use of dimethylsulfoxide as the medium, causes the problem to the environment.
The subject of the present invention is to provide a method for preparation of metallic nano particles which dissolve the problems which above mentioned prior arts have. Said problems can be illustrated as follows. Namely, the problem that the reducing agent for metal must be added beside the component which stabilize the metallic nano particles, and the problem that, when an inorganic reducing agent is not added separately, since it is necessary to use organic medium to obtain stabilized metallic nano particles, the obtained metallic nano particles can not be used for the reaction in water. In other words, the subject of the present invention is to provide a method for preparation of the metallic nano particles having the characteristic of monodispersion, which is possible to reduce metallic ions without using an inorganic reducing agent and using water as the medium, by generating metallic nano particles, which are stable in water, under coexisting of the material which has a characteristic of template.
The inventors of the present invention already proposed that the shell cross-linked micelle (SCM) can be synthesized by following process, that is, synthesizing block copolymer of polysilane, which is hydrophobic polymer, and polymethacrylic acid, which is hydrophilic polymer containing carbon, forming micelles in water based on the amphipathicity, then by cross-linking a carboxylic group of shell part of the polymer micelle by diamine compound. [Document 10; T. Sanji, Y Nakatsuka, F. Kitayama and H. Sukurai, Chem. Comun., 1999, 2201-2202. Document 11; T. Sanji, Y. Nakatsuka, S. Ohnishi and H. Sakurai. Macromolecules, 33. 8524-8526 (2000 Further, it is also well known that the shell cross-linked micelle is completely water soluble.
In the meanwhile, it is publicly known that polysilane has a reducing ability for metallic ions [Document 12; A. F. Diaz, M. Baier, G. M. Wallraff, R. D. Miller, J. Nelson, W. Piero, J. Electrochem. Soc. 138,742 (1991)], further, it is also publicly known that the metallic layer can be formed by utilizing said polysilane layer as a reducing ability of metallic ions such as Au, Ag, Pt or Pd for forming metallic layer [Document 13; M. Fukushima, N. Noguchi, M. Aramata, Y Hamada, E. Tabei, S. Mori and Y. Yamamoto. Syth. Met., 273-280 (1998)].
However, there is no technical paper reporting the method to obtain the dispersion of fine particles of metal by utilizing above mentioned reducing characteristic.
The inventors of the present invention have took notice of the reducing ability of the silane to the metallic ions which polysilane has, and the stabilizing ability and water solubility caused by the amphipathic polymer reported by the inventors of the present invention, tried to reduce the metallic ions such as gold, palladium or others in water using shell cross-linked micelle having constitutive unit of polysilane in inside as a template, and found that the dispersion of fine particles of metal having controlled particle size (monodispersion) of ten several to several ten nano meter size which are stable in aqueous medium can be obtained. And, the subject of the present invention can be dissolved.

Preparation of metallic nanoparticles with shell-crosslinked micelle as mold


A method for enlarging or shrinking stored digital video images is described herein. A user supplied resizing factor which is not arbitrarily limited is used to calculate a scaling factor, which is used repetitively to indicate which of the original pixels is retained in the final image and when new pixels of video information must be generated. This same scaling factor indicates the effective color distance between the retained pixels' color information and the color information which must be generated for the new pixel. The systems uses only unsigned additions and divisions by two, which greatly increase its speed over known scaling methods.

This invention is in the field of digital image storage and display. In particular it relates to methods for resizing digital images.
Digital images, whether generated by computer or captured from a video camera or other video source, often need to be scaled in size before being displayed on a CRT or printed by an output device such as a laser printer. The images may need to be either enlarged or shrunk.
Known methods for resizing digital images usually involve the calculation of a special table for each different image size. The table contains the scaling factors which will be applied to the digital data to resize the image. Calculating each table is time consuming, requiring from 1 to 8 seconds and many complex calculations. Resizing the digital image using the tables is even more time consuming. As each color in the digital image requires a separate table and separate processing, the resizing of a single digital color image is generally a very time consuming and processor intensive task.
Certain systems use specialized hardware to speed up the resizing process. Unfortunately, this solution is extremely expensive and limited in the available scaling options.
No known method for resizing digital images is both fast and inexpensive.

Method and apparatus for rapid digital image resizing