Apparatus is disclosed for performing tasks during maintaining filtered swimming pools and spas. The apparatus can perform a number of such maintenance tasks simultaneously, without having to kneel down, and comprises a number of individual tools for performing such tasks. The apparatus includes tools and elements for: (a) extracting skimmer covers, (b) lifting skimmer baskets, (c) grabbing a automatic cleaner hose, (d) snatching a pool thermometer line, (e) obtaining water samples, (f) confirming a depth of 18 inches to take a water sample, (g) securing a water chemical test strip for submersion into the water, (h) brushing the walls and sides of pools, (i) grasping and retaining a vacuum hose, (j) clenching and holding onto solid chemical tablets and sticks, and (k) removing leaves and debris.

Swimming pools, lap pools, therapeutic pools, spas, and other self contained water and fluid reservoirs and holding basins require routine maintenance and cleaning. Routine maintenance consists of cleaning the filtration system skimmer(s), obtaining samples of water, recording the water temperature, brushing the pool walls, vacuuming the pool, and adding chemicals.
The primary swimming pool filtration system uses a pump or mechanical device to circulate the water by drawing the water into one or more in-takes, circulating the water through the filtering system, and then pumping the water back into the pool. To prevent large objects and debris from clogging the intake filter pipes and/or damaging the impeller of the filter pump, one or more water filter skimmer units is affixed to the side of the pool. The skimmer unit is located at or below the waterline and is comprised of a housing unit which collects water, a skimmer basket, and a removable cover to gain access to the skimmer basket. The skimmer cover is located outside the pool at or near ground level. The skimmer cover is designed to fit snuggly into a rabbit or notch on the top of the skimmer assembly to prevent people and animals from accidentally stepping into or falling into the skimmer assembly. Depending on the manufacturer's design, the skimmer cover will have one or two holes or slots which facilitates the cover to be removed. The diameter of the holes or slots varies by manufacturer. The skimmer cover is removed by bending or kneeling and sticking a finger into the hole and pulling the cover off. Once the skimmer cover is removed, the skimmer basket is revealed and accessible.
The skimmer basket is a submerged device used to trap waste and debris, such as leaves, bugs, rodents, paper, and other undesirable objects which may enter the pool. The skimmer basket is constructed in a grid like pattern, which, when not clogged by debris, is designed to allow water and small particles to flow to the pool filtration unit. The skimmer basket and skimmer assembly are designed so the basket will fit tightly into a cavity within the skimmer assembly unit and the basket will sit below the waterline. The clearance between the skimmer assembly cavity and the skimmer basket is tight to prevent debris from flowing between the skimmer assembly and the basket.
A lifting handle is located at the top of the skimmer basket. The handle is made of rigid plastic or metal and is intended to allow the pool owner or maintenance person to remove the basket from the skimmer assembly for cleaning. The standard method for removing the skimmer basket is for a person to bend, crouch or kneel down to lift and remove the skimmer cover, then place their hand into the water and grab the skimmer basket handle. This operation is uncomfortable for a healthy individual and difficult or impossible for anyone who has a disability or is not mobile enough to reach far enough to grasp the submerged skimmer basket handle. An even more objectionable and unhealthy aspect of the process is the fact the skimmer basket will have trapped debris, insects, vermin, and rodents, snakes, squirrels, rabbits, or other critters, which may be alive or dead. To grasp the skimmer handle a person must put their hand into the submerged skimmer basket which puts him in direct contact with the debris, insects, vermin, snakes or rodents trapped in the skimmer assembly. Once the skimmer basket has been removed, the debris is cleared from the basket, and the basket reinstalled into the skimmer assembly by bending over or kneeling and fitting the basket back into the skimmer assembly cavity. Likewise, the skimmer cover is placed back over the skimmer assembly.
The existing art for cleaning a pool skimmer is the manual procedure of bending, crouching or kneeling down, lifting the skimmer cover with a finger, and putting your hand into the skimmer unit and lifting the submerged skimmer basket. Alternative methods include lifting tools having limited functionality. Such lifting tools limited use do not perform maintenance functions, such as taking water, water depth indicator for taking water samples (18 inches), removing the thermometer, brushing the pool walls, vacuuming the pool, adding chemicals.
For sanitary and hygienic purposes, routine water testing is accomplished by taking samples and testing the chemical content, ph, algae and bacteria levels, as well as for other minerals and metals in the water. According to industry standards, water samples should be taken about one and one-half feet below the water surface. The recommended procedure is to fill the water sample container, pour the water out to rinse the container, and then re-fill the container. To obtain a water sample, the options have been limited to kneeling or lying down at the edge of the pool and with bottle in hand reaching one and one half feet down into the water, filling the container, rinsing the container, and re-filling it. An alternative method is to use what can best be described as a cup on a pole. The water can then be tested on-site using a manual water test kit or transported to a commercial facility where the sample can be tested using larger, more expensive and accurate, water testing equipment. The water sample container is typically a cylindrical cup, similar to a household measuring cup, with a large opening and without a cover. A better design is a bottle, attached to the pole by way of a removable clip or retainer, with a narrow or tapered mouth to prevent the water from being displaced before reaching the recommended depth of 18 inches and a leak proof cap to prevent spillage. The removable bottle clip also allows for the bottle to be positioned anywhere along the pole or completely removed from the pole.
Another maintenance problem is the removal of surface debris, particularly during windy days. The wind will often times blow debris such as leaves, grass clippings, flowers, twigs, and other matter into the pool. Until the debris becomes saturated by the water, it will remain floating on the surface. Moreover, if the wind remains relatively constant from the same direction, the debris will accumulate in the leeward end of the pool. If this debris is not removed before it becomes saturated, it will either be drawn into the skimmer or eventually sink to the bottom of the pool.
To solve this common maintenance task, one option is to use the pool pole, which is generally long, 8 to 16 feet and therefore cumbersome, with a screen device attached to the end. Another option is to purchase a leaf and debris screen fitted to a shorter pole. The shorter pole is a single purpose device which does not perform any other pool maintenance task.
Vacuuming debris from the floor and walls of the pool is another routine maintenance requirement. To manually vacuum a pool a long hose is attached to a long pole with a vacuum head attached to the end. The other end of the hose is placed in a skimmer assembly over the skimmer basket. The suction of the pool filtration system will draw the water and debris through the hose and the large waster products will be trapped in the skimmer basket, while smaller particles will be passed through the filtration system. To displace the air in the vacuum hose, the most common method is to kneel or lie down at the edge of the pool and hold the hose against a pool filter water return. The water pressure from the return forces the air to be displaced with water.
An alternative methodology is the use of an automated pool cleaner. These devices are connected to the pool filtration system via a flexible hose or tube. The main component is a device that traverses the floor of the pool vacuuming as it moves along. One of the shortcomings of these devices is that its hose can get snared on other pieces of pool apparatus such as a swim ladder. To reposition the device, the user can manually push the unit with a long pole or kneel or lie down on the pool deck, put their hand in the water, grab the hose, and tug on it, causing the device to be dislodged from its trapped position.
In addition to vacuuming or cleaning the floor of the pool the sides or walls of the pool also require cleaning, in particular, the area of the pool between the waterline and the top of the pool, deck, coping or surface. These sections of the walls are prone to having a ring or line of dirt, pollen, sunscreen oil, and other film, at or just above the waterline. A brush is used to scrub the sides of the pool to remove the film. If the entire pool is shallow, an adult can walk around the pool and clean the area between the waterline and the water surface. This also assumes the water is warm enough for the person to be in the pool while cleaning. If the pool has a deep water end so a person cannot clean the walls and stand, then the person has to hold onto the pool side with one hand and clean with the other or be strong enough to swim and keep their arms above the water while at the same time clean the walls with one hand. Another option is to lie on the pool deck and reach into the pool to clean the area. This method requires the person to crawl around the entire deck on their hands and knees to clean all the walls.
The water temperature also plays a role in pool maintenance. Warmer water is a more conducive environment to the growth of bacteria, fungus, and other unsanitary organisms. A pool thermometer is tethered to a pool ladder or attachment ring located on the coping or deck with a length of string. To check the temperature, the user must kneel or lie down on the pool deck and lift the string and thermometer from the water to view the temperature reading. Existing art offers a hook to catch the thermometer, but does not include friction points along the hook to prevent the thermometer string from sliding off the hook.
To insure the pool water is sanitary and safe for use by humans and animals, a disinfecting agent such as chlorine must be added to the water. Many such chemical agents come in the form of solid tablets, sticks or cartridges. The solid forms have a dusty residue. If the user does not wash their hands immediately after handling these agents, the residual chemical dust will result in discomfort or injury if the contaminated hand comes in contact with eyes, mouth or any open skin sore or wound. The current solution for eliminating such contamination when retrieving these agents from their container is for the user to wear gloves. A better solution is not to physically touch the chemical agents, but rather grasp the solid agent with a device as set forth in the invention.

Apparatus for maintaining filtered swimming pools and spas


A brassiere cup has inner and outer geometrically similar cup parts fitting in each other and having confronting inner faces and outer faces directed away from each other. The inner faces are formed with aligned and confronting grooves holding a pair of hard plastic wires imbedded in a flexible plastic body completely surrounding and bonded to the wires and formed with a flexible lip. The lip extends from the grooves between the inner faces. Bonds between the inner faces and the flexible plastic body unitarily secure the cup parts together and to the flexible plastic body in which the wires are imbedded.

A standard brassiere has a strap assembly that passes over the shoulders and behind the back of the wearer, and a front pair of cups that fit over the wearer's breasts, that are joined together between the wearer's breasts, and that are connected to the strap assembly so as to hold in place. Each cup is traditionally made of fabric with some sort of stiffening, and is provided with an underwire that fit under the breast against the wearer's chest. The obvious purpose is to hold and support the breasts while providing the wearer with an attractive shape.
As a brassiere is typically worn all day, it must be as comfortable as possible. A major source of discomfort is the normally hard underwire that can, with time, shift so as to poke the wearer, ride up, or otherwise move to be quite uncomfortable.
In copending application Ser. No. 11/546,944 filed 12 Oct. 2006 we disclose a brassiere that has a pair of cups each provided with a respective underwire assembly. Each such assembly has inner and outer U-shaped hard underwire portions extending substantially parallel to each other below a respective cup of the brassiere, joined together at ends, and separated by an arcuate slot between the ends. The underwire formed by the two portions has a shaped that, in an unstressed or relaxed condition, is arcuately concave in a first upward direction so as to conform to the contour of a breast in the cup, and is also arcuately concave in a second horizontal direction transverse to the first direction so as to conform to the contour of the chest of a wearer of the brassiere. The underwire is embedded in a soft plastic body having an apron along a concave side of the body lying at an angle to the hard underwire portions so that the body and the underwire form a pocket receiving a breast of the wearer in the cup.
Thus according to this earlier invention the underwire has two separate curvatures, each generally determined by one of the two sizes—back and cup—of the brassiere to which it is applied. Thus the underwire for an A cup will have a much smaller radius of curvature for its upward or first curvature than for a D cup, and similarly an underwire for a size-40 brassiere will have a larger radius of curvature of for its rearward or second curvature than for a size-34 brassiere. The result is an underwire that sits flatly against the user without deformation, unlike the prior-art systems there the underwire is planar and must deform to fit against the wearer's chest so that it bears with greater pressure in the center than at the ends.
Such an assembly is a substantial improvement over the single underwire of the prior art. Nonetheless, it is relatively complex to integrate it into a cup liner.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A chuck assembly for use with a rotary tool includes a chuck mechanism having a plurality of spaced apart jaws. The jaw spacing is adjusted by rotation of an adjustment ring. A sleeve encircles and is affixed to the adjustment ring. A plurality of spaced apart ribs radially extend from the sleeve. An elastomeric grip extends generally circumferentially about the sleeve. The ribs radially protrude from the grip at a plurality of openings defined by the grip. The ribs lie in outboard shielding relationship to the grip to protect the grip from excessive wear and damage due to contact with other objects during operation of the rotary tool.

In conventional hand-powered, electric-powered, and pneumatic-powered tool drivers, adjustable chucks are used for holding a tool such as a drill bit. A conventional chuck has a conical body threaded onto the drive shaft of the rotary tool. Three jaws spaced circumferentially 120.degree. apart from each other are constrained in passageways defined by the chuck body. The spacing between the jaws is adjusted by rotating an adjustment ring which encircles the chuck body. Such a chuck is keyless when the adjustment ring is rotated by hand.
Several attempts have been made to provide grip boots having high coefficients of friction for improving the user's grip on a chuck, especially a keyless chuck. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,452,906 issued to Huff et al. and 5,476,273 issued to Shadeck et al. each discuss the use of grip boots for improving the user's grip on a chuck.
One problem associated with soft grip chucks is the fact that the soft grip material is not very durable. When using a drill having a soft grip chuck to drill in a small constrained location, incidental contact of the rotating chuck with another object, such as an obstructing portion of the workpiece, may damage the soft grip material. This excessive wearing and damaging of the soft grip is very undesirable.


Provided are an organic TFT, a method of manufacturing the same, and a flat panel display having the same. The organic TFT includes source and drain electrodes formed on the surface of a substrate, an organic semiconductor layer that includes source and drain regions and a channel region, located on the source and drain electrodes, a gate electrode located above the organic semiconductor layer, and a first insulating layer located on the surface of the organic semiconductor layer, wherein a through hole is formed in at least a portion of the organic semiconductor layer and the first insulating layer, outside an active region that includes the source and drain regions and the channel region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present embodiments relate to an organic thin film transistor (organic TFT), a method of manufacturing the same, and a flat panel display having the organic TFT, and more particularly, to an organic TFT structure that can prevent malfunction of devices due to cross-talk between adjacent organic TFTs, a method of manufacturing the organic TFT, and a flat panel display having the organic TFT.
2. Description of the Related Art
TFTs are used as switching and driving devices, for controlling and driving the pixels in flat panel displays, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), or an electroluminescent display (ELD).
A TFT has source and drain regions doped with a high concentration of dopant, a semiconductor layer having a channel region formed between the source and drain regions, a gate electrode located on a region corresponding to the channel region and insulated from the semiconductor layer, and source and drain electrodes contacting the source and drain regions.
Current flat panel display devices require flexibility in addition to slimness.
To meet the flexibility requirement, the use of a plastic substrate instead of a glass substrate has been attempted. However, when a plastic substrate is used, low temperature processes must be employed. Therefore, conventional polysilicon TFTs cannot be used.
As a solution to this problem, organic semiconductors have been developed. The organic semiconductor has the advantage of cheap manufacture, since it can be processed at a low temperature.
However, malfunction due to cross-talk between adjacent organic TFTs is a problem causing less use of organic TFTs.

Organic thin film transistor, method of manufacturing the same, and flat panel display having the same


A method and system in a data processing system, having a plurality of users enrolled therein and having a number of electronic mail objects which may be transmitted and received within the distributed data processing system, are provided for ensuring a specific response to a selected electronic mail object by a recipient thereof within the data processing system. The method and system include designating an electronic mail object as requiring a specific response and then transmitting the electronic mail object to a recipient. The recipient of the electronic mail object is prompted for a specific response in response to the recipient opening an electronic mail object and is prohibited from performing a selected action until the specific response has been entered by the recipient.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to an improved electronic mail system and in particular, to a method and system for an improved acknowledgement system for electronic mail objects distributed within an electronic mail system. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for an improved acknowledgment system for electronic mail objects distributed within an electronic mail system through ensuring that an electronic mail object has been carefully examined by a recipient.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic mail or "E-Mail" systems are well known in the prior art. By "electronic mail system", what is meant is a system whereby messages, notes, and documents in the form of electronic mail objects may be sent and/or received between two computers or work stations. Electronic mail objects also include other items that may be transmitted to a user, such as, for example, voice or verbal messages, and non textual items like graphics or drawings that may be electronically transmitted. For example, two computers coupled together by a Local Area Network ("LAN") may be utilized to communicate detailed messages between the operators thereof. Similarly, two intelligent work stations coupled to a central processor may be utilized to transmit or receive electronic mail objects by utilizing well-known communication techniques.
The sending of electronic mail objects has become a common and popular method for distributing messages and information to numerous people within an organization or between organizations utilizing an electronic mail system. Upon the receipt of an electronic mail object, the recipient may choose to read the electronic mail object, file the electronic mail object, forward the electronic mail object to other users on the system, erase the electronic mail object, respond to the electronic mail object, or some combination of the foregoing options.
It is often desirable in an electronic mail system to distribute an electronic mail object to a number of users with the expectation of a reply confirming the reception and reading of the electronic mail object. For example, a company may send a notice to employees in the form of an electronic mail object, which should be read and understood by the employees. For various legal reasons, each employee is to send a note back, which states that it has been read and understood.
Presently available acknowledgement systems may indicate that an electronic mail object has been sent and received by a recipient, but do not provide a mechanism to ensure or compel a reply by the recipient. The various forms of acknowledgement that are presently available do not ensure that the recipient of the electronic mail object has actually read it, let alone read it carefully.
Consequently, there is a need for an electronic mail system having a mechanism for ensuring that a recipient of an electronic mail object will read it carefully.

Method and system for persistant electronic mail reply processing

International Business Machines Corporation


An inkjet printing device including: an ink storage unit configured to store an ink; an ejection head having a nozzle configured to eject the ink to a printing material; a heating unit configured to heat the printing material; and a washing unit configured to wash a nozzle-formed surface of the head with a washing liquid, wherein the ink is a clear ink including a resin, the device has a low gloss printing mode that is a printing mode for applying low gloss and a high gloss printing mode that is a printing mode for applying high gloss, and the inkjet printing device satisfies: Tmatte>Tgloss where Tmatte (degrees Celsius) is a temperature of the heating unit when printing is performed with the low gloss printing mode, and Tgloss (degrees Celsius) is a temperature of the heating unit when printing is performed with the high gloss printing mode.

In order to improve durability (e.g., lightfastness, water resistance, and abrasion resistance) of wrapping materials for industrial use (e.g., advertising and billboard), food, and drinks, for example, non-permeable recording media, such as plastic films, have been used. Various inks used for such non-permeable recording media have been developed.
Inkjet printing devices having a function of controlling gloss have been developed.
For example, proposed is a liquid jetting device including a liquid jet head capable of jetting an ink including thermoplastic resin particles towards a landing target and a heating unit configured to heat the ink droplets landed on the landing target, where the heating unit configured to control a degree of film formation of surfaces of the ink droplets by heating at a film formation controlling temperature corresponding to the minimum film formation temperature at which the surfaces of the ink droplets start to form a film (see, for example, PTL 1).

Inkjet printing device and inkjet printing method


The methods, systems, and devices of the present disclosure are directed to a capacitively coupled label antenna as a component in an antenna system comprising the label antenna, a feed block, an antenna coupler, and a gap between the antenna coupler and the feed block. The label antenna is electrically connected to the antenna coupler, and the antenna coupler is capacitively coupled to the feed block through the gap. By the addition of the gap between the feed block and antenna coupler, the label antenna may be placed on the surface of a container without requiring a wired connection to pass through the container. The feed block may be a small electronic component on a circuit board while the label antenna may be significantly larger thereby providing increased frequency bandwidth and an improved antenna radiation pattern.

Small portable electronic devices commonly need to communicate with other devices and networks, such as a device that is part of a system of interrelated devices embodied by the Internet of Things (IoT) or the Internet of Medical Things. Small devices may have limited area for an antenna, and other devices may have a conductive case that limit antenna performance. By using a label antenna on the exterior of an electronic device or container and coupling the label antenna to a feed block within the device or container, a wired connection through the exterior of the device or container is not required. The feed block may be designed to have a smaller volume, and components and traces may be located beneath the feed block. A label antenna may be significantly larger than the feed block and may be adjusted to a desired center frequency and bandwidth by varying the size, volume, and shape of the label antenna. A label antenna has improved radio frequency (RF) radiation performance when compared to conventional ceramic chip antennas, etched monopole antennas, or laser directed structuring (LDS) plated antennas of similar volumes. A label antenna also has the advantage of using an existing label for a secondary purpose. Example applications include attaching or wrapping the label antenna to the outer surface of a container (e.g., medicine bottle, shipping container/box, and/or other container), or the outer surface of a home appliance (e.g., microwave oven, refrigerator, washing machine, clothes dryer, and/or the like).


Compounds which inhibit the insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1 R) and methods for using them for treating IGF-1 R dependent diseases, such as cancer.

The insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) plays an important role in proliferation, protection against apoptosis and transformation of malignant cells. The IGF-1R is also important for maintaining the malignant phenotype of tumour cells, and is involved in tumour cells developing resistance to the action of anti-cancer drugs. In contrast, the IGF-1R seems not to be an absolute requirement for normal cell growth.
The IGF-1R consists of two identical extracellular alpha-subunits that are responsible for ligand binding, and two identical beta-subunits with a transmembrane domain and an intracellular tyrosine kinase domain. The ligand-receptor interaction results in phosphorylation of tyrosine residues in the tyrosine kinase domain, which spans from amino acid 973 to 1229 of the β-subunit. The major sites for phosphorylation are the clustered tyrosines at position 1131, 1135 and 1136 (LeRoith, D., et al., Endocr Rev 1995 April; 16(2), 143-63). After autophosphorylation, the receptor kinase phosphorylates intracellular proteins, like insulin receptor substrate-1 and Shc, which activate the phosphatidyl inositol-3 kinase and the mitogen-activated protein kinase signalling pathways, respectively.
Based on the pivotal role of IGF-1R in malignant cells, it becomes more and more evident that IGF-1R is a target for cancer therapy (Baserga, R., et al., Endocrine vol. 7, no. 1, 99-102, August 1997). One strategy to block IGF-1R activity is to induce selective inhibition of the IGF-1R tyrosine kinase. However, today there are no selective inhibitors of IGF-1R available.
Drugs containing the cyclolignan podophyllotoxin has been used since centuries, and its anti-cancer properties have attracted particular interest. Undesired side effects of podophyllotoxin have, however, prevented its use as an anti-cancer drug. The mechanism for the cytotoxicity of podophyllotoxin has been attributed to its binding to beta-tubulin, leading to inhibition of microtubule assembly and mitotic arrest. The effect of podophyllotoxin on microtubules required μM concentrations in cell free systems. The trans configuration in the lactone ring of podophyllotoxin has been shown to be required for binding to beta-tubulin. In agreement with this, its stereoisomer picropodophyllin, which has a cis configuration in the lactone ring, has a 50-fold lower affinity for microtubuli and a more than 35-fold higher LD50 in rats. Because of the low affinity for microtubuli of picropodophyllotoxin this compound has attracted little interest. During the last decades the major interest on podophyllotoxin derivatives has concerned etoposide, which is a ethylidene glucoside derivative of 4′-demethyl-epipodophyllotoxin. Etoposide, which has no effect on microtubules, is a DNA topoisomerase II inhibitor, and is currently being used as such in cancer therapy. A 4′-hydroxy instead of a 4′-methoxy group of such cyclolignans is an absolute requirement for them to inhibit topoisomerase II.

Use of cyclolignans and new cyclolignans


A method, framework, and system for providing formalized Information Technology (IT) business decision making, which includes determining a relationship between at least one Information Technology (IT) environmental element and at least one Information Technology (IT) performance metric, and determining a business value based on the at least one Information Technology (IT) environmental element and the at least one Information Technology (IT) performance metric to optimize an Information Technology (IT) business decision based on at least one predetermined business objective. The at least one predetermined business objective is based on a set of system constraints.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method, framework, and system for determining a significant relationship between at least one Information Technology (IT) environmental element and at least one Information Technology (IT) performance metric (e.g., efficiency, productivity), and determining a business value based on the at least one IT environmental element and the at least one IT performance metric to optimize a formalized IT business decision based on a set of business objectives, subject to a set of system constraints.
2. Description of the Conventional Art
The conventional methods and systems for IT business decision making do not provide a formal and repeatable process for 1) characterizing relationships between IT environmental elements and IT performance metrics and 2) determining values of IT environmental elements to optimize IT performance metrics and IT business decision-making in light of business objectives subject to business and system constraints. Instead, the conventional methods generally rely on subjective judgments and expert opinions. The conventional methods and systems do not address or recognize the problems associated with Information Technology (IT) business decision making, or for that matter, any relationships between IT environmental elements and IT performance metrics.

Method and apparatus for formalizing information technology (IT) business decision making

International Business Machines Corporation


According to one embodiment, a camera module has a first image sensor, a second image sensor and an image processing apparatus. The image processing apparatus outputs an image signal for a stereoscopic display. A second sub-camera module including the second image sensor has a signal processing unit. The second image is acquired by the second sub-camera module. The signal processing unit executes signal processing for adjusting a second image corresponding to a difference between the numbers of pixels of the first image sensor and the second image sensor.

Conventionally, a camera module including a plurality of sub-camera modules for capturing a subject image is used for photographing a stereoscopic image (3D), for example. The camera module uses one of the sub-camera modules in an operation for normally photographing a planar view image. Consequently, it is possible to switch an operation for photographing a stereoscopic image and an operation for photographing a planar view image. The sub-camera modules having almost equal performances to each other are conventionally used for photographing the stereoscopic image. In this case, if a main sub-camera module to be used for photographing a planar view image has a high performance, the high performance is demanded for the other sub-camera modules. For this reason, there is a problem in that a manufacturing cost of the camera module is considerably increased.

Camera module, photographing method, and electronic apparatus


Disclosed are a method and an apparatus for transmitting and receiving coherent optical OFDM. The apparatus includes: a transmitted OFDM digital signal processing unit outputting an in-phase (I) component digital signal and a quadrature phase (Q) component digital signal; a digital-analog converter converting the in-phase (I)-component digital signal and the quadrature-phase (Q)-component digital signal into an in-phase (I)-component analog signal and a quadrature-phase (Q)-component analog signal, respectively; an adder adding an additional pilot tone signal to each of the in-phase (I)-component analog signal and the quadrature-phase (Q)-component analog signal outputted from the digital-analog converter; and an optical I/Q modulator up-converting the in-phase (I)-component analog signal added with the additional pilot tone signal and the quadrature-phase (Q)-component analog signal added with the additional pilot tone signal to an optical domain to output a coherent optical OFDM signal including the additional pilot tone signal.

An optical OFDM technique which applies an OFDM technique to optical communication is evaluated as a technique that has large tolerance in elements deteriorating an optical signal quality, such as chromatic dispersion and polarization mode dispersion of an optical fiber and can easily compensate for the chromatic dispersion and polarization mode dispersion in a receiver. Therefore, various researches into the optical OFDM technique have been performed.
An orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technique is a communication technique that allocates a plurality of subcarriers perpendicular to each other and transmits data through each of the subcarriers at a relatively low symbol rate in order to transmit a signal at a high transmission speed. The OFDM communication technique as a technique that can cope with multiple fading effects with high spectrum efficiency has been generally used in WiMAX, Wireless LAN, ADSL, a digital radio and video broadcasting system.
Meanwhile, in a coherent optical OFDM, a laser beam of a local oscillator having relatively large power and a received signal interfere with each other to be down-converted and are converted into an electrical signal by an optical detector. Phase noise of the laser used during the above process may have a large influence on system performance. Since the symbol rate in the OFDM system is much lower than that of a single carrier system, the OFDM signal may be influenced much more by the phase noise and phase noise compensation requirements may also be more strict. In order to compensate for the influence by the phase noise of the laser, several methods including a method of using OFDM pilot subcarriers and a method using an RF pilot tone are presented.
One method adopts a method of using pilot subcarriers in an OFDM symbol in order to compensate for phase noise of a transmitter and a receiver in the coherent optical OFDM ("Phase Estimation for Coherent Optical OFDM", IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 19, No. 12, pp. 919-921, 2007). In this method, several pilot subcarriers are allocated in addition to the OFDM data subcarriers in an OFDM symbol spectrum and phases of the pilot subcarriers are estimated in the receiver. A phase estimating method using the pilot subcarrier uses a plurality of parallel subcarriers in the OFDM system and is difficult to be implemented in the general single carrier system. Phase variation estimated in one OFDM symbol represents an average value of differences in the received phase and the transmitted phase in the pilot subcarriers. Therefore, by multiplying received OFDM data by a complex conjugate of an estimated phase variation, phase noise of the received OFDM data is compensated. In this method, since it is assumed that the phase variation is uniform in one OFDM symbol, performance deteriorates when noise is generated by rapid phase variation.
Another method adopts a method of compensating phase noise by adding an RF-pilot tone to a middle part (DC) of the OFDM band in the transmitter ("Coherent Optical 25.8-Gb/s OFDM Transmission Over 4160-km SSMF," IEEE Journal of Lightwave Technology Letter, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 6-15, 2008). Since the RF-pilot tone is distorted in the completely same manner as an OFDM signal by the phase noise, distortion of the OFDM signal can be compensated. In the method of compensating the phase noise by adding the RF pilot tone, since the RF pilot tone is positioned at the center (DC) of the OFDM signal, additional bandwidth or hardware is not required. Further, since phase noise is compensated in each received sample, the non-uniform phase variation during one OFDM symbol can be compensated.
The present disclosure provides a method of adding the additional pilot tone to not the DC but a frequency range without the OFDM data subcarriers in the OFDM band and compensating for the phase noise per sample unlike the method using the pilot subcarrier among the OFDM data subcarriers.

Method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving coherent optical OFDM

ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH INSTITUTE


A method and a circuit for controlling a switching frequency signal used in a direct current to direct current (DC to DC) converter are proposed. The DC to DC converter generates an output voltage to drive a system. The switching frequency signal is generated by inputting a modulation frequency to a pulse width modulation (PWM) circuit. The method includes steps of: 1. generating a control signal from the system to stop the pulse width modulation (PWM) circuit to generate the switching frequency signal when a signal is received by the system; and 2. restarting the pulse width modulation (PWM) circuit to generate the switching frequency signal in order to increase the output voltage to drive the system when the output voltage from the DC to DC converter is under a predetermined voltage.

The traditional DC to DC Converter is applied to adjust the voltage level of the DC input voltage to stabilize the output voltage at a pre-determined value.
Please refer to FIG. 1, it is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the prior art of the present invention. Mainly, this circuit configuration is used to offer a constant frequency from a resistance-capacitance oscillator (RCO) 10 to a pulse width modulation (PWM) circuit 11 to engage in the modulation. Thus, a switching frequency signal Fp is generated to control a controllable switch 12 which is made of an n-type metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor (NMOS) to maintain the output voltage at a certain value.
The method to control the switch frequency signal Fp is as follows:
1. When the Fp is at the high level, the switch 12 is conducted. Through the inductor L, the input current IL flows through NMOS, then IL is grounded. Thus, the diode D is reverse-biased, and an output current is offered by the capacitor C onto the load RL.
2. When Fp is at the low level, the controllable switch 12 is closed. The inductor L will change the direction of the magnetic field thus making the positive pole and negative pole of the inductor to switch. This will cause the diode D to be forward-biased, and make the energy store in the inductor to produce an output current. Through the diode D, the output current is offered onto the load RL.
Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a plot showing that through the switching frequency signal Fp to control the controllable switch 12 will cause the variance of the current flowing through the inductor. It can be seen from the plot, when Fp is at the high level, the inductor L is in the charging status thus the current IL will keep on increasing. When Fp is at the low level, the energy stored in the inductor L will produce an output current onto the load RL thus the current IL will keep on decreasing.
Since the current flowing through the inductor is changing, this will make the inductor to produce a magnetic field. In the application of the wireless communication system, this magnetic field will interfere with the reception of the Radio Frequency (RF), and cause the deteriorating of the sensitivity of the receiving signals or the receiving information.
Keep the drawbacks of the prior art in mind, and employ experiments and research full-heartily and persistently, the method and the circuit for controlling switching signals are finally conceived by the applicants.

Method and circuit for controlling switching frequency signal


An improved method of producing a diamond tube by chemical vapor deposition and a hollow support mandrel used therein. The method comprises depositing a diamond film on an outer side of the hollow mandrel by the CVD process. The mandrel is then etched away by subjecting an inner side of the mandrel to the etching action. It was unexpectedly discovered that the etch time is drastically reduced by using the hollow mandrels.

Diamond is an allotrope of carbon exhibiting a crystallographic network comprising exclusively of covalently bonded, aliphatic sp.sup.3 hybridized carbon atoms arranged tetrahedrally with a uniform distance of 1.545 .ANG. between atoms. Diamond is extremely hard having a Mohs hardness of 10. It exhibits four times the thermal conductivity of copper and it is electrically insulating. Its hardness and thermal properties are but two of the characteristics that make diamond useful in a variety of industrial components. Initially non-gem quality natural diamonds were used in a variety of abrasive applications but with the invention of synthetic diamonds by high pressure/high temperature techniques, a spectrum of additional products have found favor in the marketplace. However, the requirement of high pressure and high temperature has been a limitation in preventing extensive usage of synthetic diamonds.
Recent industrial efforts directed toward the growth of diamonds at low pressures has dramatically increased the feasibility of using diamonds in various industrial applications. Low pressure growth of diamond has been dubbed "chemical vapor deposition" or "CVD" in the field. In the CVD process diamonds are grown at low pressures from hydrocarbon gases in the presence of atomic hydrogen. Many methods have been disclosed for growing diamonds metastably and generally these methods differ from each other by the way in which atomic hydrogen, a key reactant, is generated and transported within the system. One of such methods called a "filament method" involves the use of a mixture of a gaseous carbon compound such as methane and hydrogen. The gas mixture is introduced into a substantially evacuated reaction chamber via a quartz tube located just above a hot filament. The hydrogen from the gas mixture dissociates at the filament surface into atomic hydrogen which then reacts with the carbon compound to form condensable carbon radicals including elemental carbon onto a heated substrate.
Another method involves a plasma discharge in addition to the filament. The plasma discharge serves to increase the nucleation density and growth rate and, it is believed, to enhance formation of diamond films as opposed to discrete diamond particles. Of the plasma systems that have been utilized in this area, there are three basic systems. One is microwave plasma system, the second is an RF (inductively or capacitively coupled) plasma system and the third is a d.c. arc plasma system.
When a free standing diamond film is required, the underlying substrate may be etched out by conventional etching techniques, such as exposing the substrate to the etching acids. For a general summary of various diamond deposition methods including CVD methods, reference is made to Bachmann, et al., Diamond Thin Films, Chemical & Engineering News, 67(20), 24-39 (May 15, 1989), incorporated herein by reference.
Various problems have been encountered in producing free standing CVD diamond deposition films. For example, a long etch time, up to ten days, is required to etch away the underlying substrate, such as a solid molybdenum mandrel of about 0.102 centimeters in diameter and about 15.24 centimeters in length, upon which a diamond tube is formed. In addition to the long etch times, it is also found that the reaction products formed at the interface between the mandrel being etched and the deposited diamond cause swelling and cracking of the diamond tube.

Method of producing articles by chemical vapor deposition and the support mandrels used therein


An apparatus for releasably retaining electrical components has been invented. The apparatus has a support for assisting in bearing a cantilevered electrical component from a mounting plate of the electrical component. The support has a flange for receiving a load caused by the electrical component. The flange has an inner side, an outer side, at least one slot that communicates from the inner side of the flange to the outer side of the flange, and a plurality of nubs protruding from the inner side of the flange in proximity to each slot for retaining a key in an interference-fashion. The support can also have a leg attached to the flange for receiving the load from the flange and transferring the load to a case or some other ground. The leg can have a plurality of holes for receiving a screw for attaching the support to a case. The apparatus can include a key for passing through a mounting plate of an electrical component, past the outer side of the flange, and through the slot of the flange. The key can be for releasably engaging the nubs of the flange in an interference-fashion. The apparatus can also include a plurality of marks disposed on the leg for indicating regular intervals along the support, and a spacer with thickness for accommodating keys that are otherwise too long to cause an interference fit between: a key, the mounting plate of an electrical component, and the flange.

The present invention is a system for releasably retaining electrical components, such as those used by musicians for conditioning and amplifying sound generated in musical performances. The invention is an apparatus that utilizes a set of supports that cooperates with a number of keys to retain electrical components securely, while allowing the components to be readily removed from the supports. The invention allows the retention and removal of the electrical components from the supports without the use of tools.
Historically, rack rail has been relegated to an important but mundane role in the music industry. Typically, electrical components, such as those used in the music industry for conditioning and amplifying sound, are stored, and even transported, in hard-sided cases. These components often have standard widths, but vary in height to allow the components to be stacked in the aforementioned cases. In order to prevent the electrical components from moving during use and/or transportation, the devices are retained within the cases by use of rack rail.
Rack rails are lengths of "L"-shaped steel members which are attached to interior vertical sides of electrical component transportation cases, near the openings of said cases. One leg of the "L"-shape of the rack rail is typically placed parallel with, and is attached to, the interior wall of the case. The other leg of the rack rail protrudes perpendicularly from the wall of the case and has a series of vertically oriented, regularly-spaced, tapped holes.
In use, an electrical component is held in the case with its faceplate (ie., mounting plate) touching the rack rail. A screw is then placed through the faceplate of the electrical component and threaded into the rack rail. In this manner, the tightened screw secures the electrical component to the rack rail. This is typically repeated so that at least two screws on each side of the component engage the rack rail. The electrical components are, thereby, cantilevered within the interior of the case.
Several limitations are inherent in traditionally-styled rack rail. Screws are almost universally used to attach electrical components to rack rail. Consequently, the insertion, adjusting and removal of electrical equipment can be accomplished only by use of a tool. Also, rack rail and its attendant screws are made of metal, such as steel, which can easily scratch the surface finish of electrical equipment. Furthermore, the metal used in rack rail, as well as the metallic fasteners used in conjunction with rack rail, can cause unwanted electrical signal transmission or conduction from component-to-component or from component-to-ground, thereby hampering signal integrity within the electrical components. In addition, the tapped hole-and-screw fastening combination commonly employed with rack rail can be easily stripped. Once the tapped holes in a piece of rack rail are stripped, they are very difficult to repair. Also, the tapped holes in rack rail are inherently round. This limits the horizontal orientation or "play" that is sometimes necessary in fitting electrical components of slightly diverse widths within cases.
Consequently, a need exists for new apparatus that allows electrical components to be readily inserted, retained and removed from travel cases. There is a need for this insertion, retention and removal to occur without the use of tools. Furthermore, there is a need for such a device to be an insulator and not conduct electricity. Also, there is need for such a device that is not prone to scratching the surface finish of electrical components. Furthermore, there is a need for such a device that is resilient and that cannot readily be rendered inoperable, as screws are susceptible to stripping. Also, there is a need that the foregoing be accomplished in a manner that allows some margin of play in order to accommodate electrical components of slightly varying widths.

Assembly for retaining electrical components


A clutch for effectively prevents a clutch outer from tilting at the time when torque is varied. The clutch includes damper springs for transmitting, to a clutch outer, torque inputted to a driven gear, and a thrust washer for regulating positional change of a position of the clutch outer with respect to the driven gear in a direction of the shaft axis. The thrust washer is disposed between the driven gear and the clutch outer in an axial direction. The thrust washer is disposed only outward of the damper springs in a radial direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clutch including damper springs which transmit, to a clutch outer, torque inputted to an input rotator. The clutch is provided in a power transmission device to which power of an internal combustion engine is transmitted, the power transmission device, for example, being mounted on a vehicle.
2. Description of Background Art
As a clutch including damper springs, for example, there is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 5 (1993)-248512. In this clutch, a thrust washer is interposed between a clutch outer and a primary driven gear meshing with a primary drive gear fixedly mounted on a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine. Moreover, the thrust washer is disposed inward of a damper formed of a coil spring in a radial direction.
In the above-described conventional technology, a point of application of torque applied from the primary driven gear to damper springs (dampers) and a point of application of torque applied from the primary driven gear through the damper springs to the clutch outer are offset to each other in the direction of the shaft axis. Accordingly, when the torques are radically varied, a phenomenon (hereinafter, referred to as "tilting of clutch outer") occurs that a rotation centerline of the clutch outer is deflected with respect to a rotation centerline of the primary driven gear. Then, a degree of the tilting of the clutch outer becomes larger as an amount of the above-described offset becomes larger.
The tilting of the clutch outer, which is as described above, is suppressed to some extent by the thrust washer of the above-described conventional technology. However, in order to further suppress the tilting of the clutch outer, it is necessary to increase the rigidity of a supported portion (for example, a boss portion engaged with the primary driven gear) in the clutch outer. In this case, a weight increase of the clutch is brought about.


A music reproduction apparatus comprises an audio player and a headphone. The audio player comprises a circular main body, a display panel provided at a front face of the main body, an operating switch rotatably provided at a periphery of the display panel, and a wireless communication antenna provided at a rear face of the main body. The headphone comprises a circular main body, a speaker provided at one face of the main body, a wireless communication antenna provided at the other face of the main body, and an ear hook provided at the outside of the main body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a music reproduction apparatus that wirelessly connects a portable audio player and a headphone, and the audio player and headphone.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in the portable audio player, the audio player and the headphone are connected to each other via a connection cord. This cord gets in the way of a user, and makes it difficult to use the audio player while enjoying sport such as when one goes jogging while listening to music, for example. A connection cord is required to connect such an audio player to another device, and degradation of sound quality occurs. If it is aimed to use the headphone for another purpose, the audio player cannot be used unless the cord has been connected again. Further, it is difficult to listen to the same music by a plurality of people while connecting a plurality of headphones to one audio player. It is necessary to provide a plurality of jacks at the audio player, and a structural restriction occurs.
Because of this, in recent portable audio players, a wireless type audio player is employed such that voice information is frequency-modulated in an analog manner, and the modulated information is delivered to the headphone wirelessly by using radio or infrared rays.
However, a conventional wireless portable audio player transmits voice information in an analog manner, and has a problem that sound quality is degraded. A conventional wireless portable audio player using infrared rays cannot connect a plurality of headphones because of its strong directivity. In addition, a conventional wireless portable audio player using frequency-modulation is not configured to connect a plurality of headphones yet. Further, in the conventional wireless type audio player, a combination of the audio player and headphone capable of making wireless communication is predetermined. It is not possible to freely connect the headphone to the audio player.

Music reproduction apparatus, audio player, and headphone


A recording and reproducing apparatus according to the invention has: at least a pair of rotary heads having different azimuth angles; a run controller for controlling the run of the magnetic tape; and a recording timing controller for controlling so that the recording by the rotary heads is performed at the first period when digital data having a first data rate is inputted, wherein the digital data is recorded on the magnetic tape at a recording timing. The recording and reproducing apparatus also has a memory for storing the digital data which is supplied from the outside, a reader for reading the digital data stored in the memory, and a signal processor for executing a predetermined process to the digital data read from the memory. When digital data having a second data rate which is different from the first data rate is inputted, the recording timing controller and the reader execute respective processes at an operating speed based on the ratio of those rates and the run controller controls the speed of the magnetic tape based on the data rate ratio.

A digital recording and reproducing apparatus for recording transmitted digital image data and digital audio data onto a recording medium such as a magnetic tape or the like and for reproducing the digital data recorded on the recording medium has been known.
An example of a block diagram of such a digital recording and reproducing apparatus is shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, in a recording system of digital data, digital data transmitted via an input terminal 101 is subjected to a predetermined process in a recording processing circuit 102. A parity having a product code construction generated by a parity generating circuit 103 is added to output data of the recording processing circuit 102. In a sync and ID generating circuit 104, a sync code and an ID are added to the data to which the parity was added. Output data of the sync and ID generating circuit 104 is subjected to a parallel/serial conversion and a conversion to a recording code in a channel encoder 105. After the data is amplified by an amplifier 106, the data is recorded on a magnetic tape 109 through a recording side terminal R of a switch 107 and a magnetic head 108.
In a reproduction system of image data and audio data in a digital recording and reproducing apparatus, the recording data recorded on the magnetic tape 109 is supplied to an amplifier and equalizer 110 through the magnetic head 108 and a reproducing side terminal (P) of the switch 107 and is subjected to an amplification and a correction of frequency characteristics. Output data of the amplifier and equalizer 110 is subjected to a decoding of a recording code and a serial/parallel conversion in a channel decoder 111 and is supplied to a sync and ID detecting circuit 112. In the sync and ID detecting circuit 112, a sync code and the ID in the data are detected and supplied to a TBC (Time Base Corrector) circuit 113 together with the reproduction data. In the TBC circuit 113, a time base fluctuation for the data is eliminated. Output data of the TBC circuit 113 is subjected to an error correcting process using a product code in an ECC circuit 114 and, after that, the data is supplied to an output terminal 116 through a reproduction processing circuit 115.
A tape format of the digital recording and reproducing apparatus has, for example, a construction as shown in FIG. 2. That is, from the scanning direction (left edge) of a head (not shown) of the digital recording and reproducing apparatus, the tape format is constructed in accordance with the order of a margin area 1, an ATF and timing sync area, an IBG (inter block gap) area 1, an audio data area, an IBG area 2, a video data area, an IBG area 3, a subcode area, and a margin area 2. The ATF and timing sync area is an area in which data for tracking and data to obtain a synchronization when after-recording are recorded. Between the above-mentioned areas, an amble area is inserted.
IBG is provided as an area to assure a margin for after-recording. Data is not recorded in the IBG. For example, a pulse signal of a frequency which is equal to a bit frequency of the recording data is recorded in each amble area. The pulse signal is used to lock a PLL circuit for a bit clock extraction provided on the reproduction side. Margin 1 and margin 2 are areas to cope with a case where a forming position of the track changes by a jitter.
The magnetic tape for the digital recording and reproducing apparatus is scanned by heads shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C. According to the heads shown in FIG. 3A, four heads in which a head A1 and a head B0 face each other and a head B1 and a head A0 correspond to each other are attached to a drum (D). According to the head shown in FIG. 3B, magnetic heads A0 and B0 are attached to a rotary drum (D) in a manner such that the magnetic head A0 faces the magnetic head B0 by 180.degree.. The head shown in FIG. 3C relates to an example in which the magnetic heads A0 and B0 are attached to the rotary drum (D) so as to be arranged at extremely near positions. Such a magnetic head is integratedly constructed and is called a double azimuth head.
Although not shown, the magnetic tape is wound around the peripheral surface of the drum (D) with a wrap angle which is slightly larger than 180.degree. and is fed at a constant speed. A digital video signal is sequentially recorded as an oblique track on the magnetic tape by the magnetic heads A0 and B0. In order to suppress the crosstalk between the neighboring tracks, an extending direction of the gap between the magnetic heads A0 and A1 and an extending direction of the gap between the heads B0 and B1 are made different by a predetermined angle. Thus, the crosstalk between the neighboring tracks can be reduced by the azimuth loss which occurs when reproducing.
When the drum (D) is rotated 9000 times per one minute and the magnetic tape is run at a standard speed (for example, 18.8 mm/sec), the data is recorded at a predetermined position on the tape by the heads. For the recording of the video data of one frame, for instance, 10 tracks are allocated.
For a video data area on the magnetic tape, the video data is recorded at a recording rate of 24.948 Mbps in the normal recording mode (hereinafter, referred to as an SD mode). When the recording is performed in a variable speed recording mode, for example, at a speed which is two times as high as that of the normal recording mode (hereinafter, referred to as an HD mode), data is recorded at a recording rate of 49.896 Mbps. The recording (long-time mode) at a recording data rate (12.474 Mbps) which is 1/2 of the data rate of the recording used in the SD mode is also considered. Further, a digital recording and reproducing apparatus for recording data compressed to various data rates in a range from about 1 Mbps to 10 Mbps is also considered.
When the video data which is supplied at a different data rate, for example, the video data of 5 Mbps is recorded at a recording rate of the above-mentioned long-time mode, superfluous data is recorded in the video data area of about 7.5 Mbps (12.474 Mbps-5 Mbps). That is, although the video data of 12.474 Mbps can be inherently recorded in the video data area, only the data area that is equal to or less than the half of the video data area is actually used. By recording superfluous data, the recordable time of the magnetic tape is reduced.
In case of recording general data (discontinuous data such as a computer program or the like) in which errors cannot be corrected with respect to the space or time, it is necessary to verify whether the correct recording has been performed or not. An exclusive-use head other than the recording head is needed for the above verification, so that problems of a complication of a head construction and an increase in costs occur.
The invention is made in consideration of the problems as mentioned above and an object of the invention is, therefore, to provide a recording and reproducing apparatus in which digital video data, computer data, and general data (shopping data, newspaper data, or the like) which is digitally transmitted can be recorded at an optimum data rate, so that the recordable time can be increased.
Another object of the invention is to provide a recording and reproducing apparatus in which when data at a low rate is intermittently recorded, whether the immediately preceding recording has correctly been performed or not can be verified without requiring a special head.

Recording and reproducing apparatus in which digital data having various transmission rates are processed at their optimum data rates


A computer network includes servers, controllers, and a plurality of workstations. The servers and controllers are coupled by Ethernet and secondary communication links. The workstations are serially coupled with the controllers. In this network, each server and controller acts as a failsafe and is adapted to assume the functionality of another server or controller in response to failure in that server or controller. In this manner, the secondary communication link assumes functionality of the Ethernet link in response to failure in the Ethernet link. A method of eliminating interruptions in a computer network due to a single point-of-failure includes assuming functionality of a server or controller by another server or controller in response to failure in the server or controller, and assuming functionality of an Ethernet link by a secondary communication link in response to failure in the Ethernet link.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer networks and more specifically relates to a method and apparatus for continuous operation of a point-of-sale system during the occurrence of a single point-of-failure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Reliability is paramount in computer network systems, such as point-of-sale systems, which are commonly used in retail sale operations. A primary source of network failure is cable breakage or faulty contacts associated with connectors. FIG. 1 shows a conventional computer network system, in which a server 10 preferably communicates through an Ethernet hub 12 and a control unit or controller 14 to each of a plurality of workstations 16A-16C. The control unit 14 preferably communicates with the workstations through a transmit path 22 and a receive path 24. In a point-of-sale system, the workstations 16A-16C are coupled to a monitor 18 and a keyboard or bump bar 20.
Data is transmitted from the server 10 to the Ethernet hub 12 and then to the control unit 14, which outputs the data on the transmit path 22. The transmit path 22 serially connects each of the plurality of workstations 16A-16C in a daisy-chain configuration. Likewise, data is transmitted from one or more of the plurality of workstations 16A-16C on the receive path 24, which connects the plurality of workstations 16A-16C to the control unit 14. The control unit 14 outputs data received from the workstations 16A-16C to the server 10 through the Ethernet hub 12.
If there is a break in the transmit path 22, at for instance point A, workstation 16C, which is located beyond the break, will not receive information from the control unit 14. Likewise, if there is a break in the receive path 24, at for instance point B, neither the control unit 14 nor the server 10 will receive information from workstations 16A-16C. Malfunctions in the server 10, control unit 14, and Ethernet link would likely result in even more catastrophic communication failures.
Accordingly, it is a goal of the method and system in accordance with the present invention to provide uninterrupted access to all workstations in a point-of-sale system despite the occurrence of a single point-of-failure in the network or malfunctions in the server, control unit, and Ethernet link.

Method and apparatus for continuous operation of a point-of-sale system during a single point-of-failure


A releasable encapsulation composition is described. The composition comprises a plurality of capsules, each capsule comprising an amphiphilic material encapsulating a substance, such as an active ingredient. The substance is releasable from encapsulation by a change in the amphiphilic material triggered by a change in the environment around the capsule.

This invention relates in general to encapsulation materials and methods, and in particular to active ingredients releasably encapsulated by amphiphilic materials.
The practice of protecting active ingredients from an incompatible environment by encapsulation is well known. Encapsulation may be employed for a variety of reasons, including protecting active ingredients from oxidation, preventing volatile losses, preventing chemical reaction or improving the handling characteristics of active ingredients. The protective coating or shell is ruptured at the time of desired action of the ingredient. The rupturing of the protective shell is typically brought about through the application of chemical or physical stimuli such as pressure, shear, melting, response solvent action, enzyme attack, chemical reaction or physical disintegration.
A number of companies have worked on improvements in encapsulation materials, including Revolymer Limited (U.K.) as disclosed in their published international patent applications WO 2009/050203, WO 2011/064555, WO 2012/140442 and WO 2014/140550A1; and Novozymes A/S (Denmark) as disclosed in WO 2016/023685.
There is still a need for further improvements in encapsulation materials, particularly in regards to the releasable encapsulation of active ingredients.


A thermal sensor includes a die having a surface formed to accept the outer surface of tubing; a molded plastic part located on the die surface, said molded plastic part including flexible portions having a surface adapted to engage the bottom half of the circumference of standard tubing when the tubing is fully placed in the molded plastic part; conductive material selectively patterned on the surface of the flexible portions that engages the die surface; and retaining hardware adapted to secure the tubing against the molded plastic part and flexible portions when the retaining hardware is secured to the molded plastic part.

Thermal sensing of liquid through the wall of standard tubing is generally impeded by the amount of surface contact between the tube and the sensing die. If thermal properties of liquid could be accurately sensed through the tubing, then the flow of liquid as it is passing through standard tubing could also be sensed. Physical contact between tubes and sensors is not typically much more than the point or line of contact where the outer radius of the tubing diameter contacts the flat surface of a die adapted with thermal a sensor.
Thermal flow sensors rely on the change in tubing wall temperature to sense the amount of flow through the tubing. To enhance sensitivity of a thermal flow sensor, it would be beneficial if more area of the standard tubing were in thermal contact with the sensing die.

Tube and die interface for liquid flow sensing through the tube


A system for controlling an object such as a vehicle safety device, comprises an EEPROM. A microcomputer is operated to multiply a sensing data such as acceleration by a gain in order to correct it, and control the object based on the corrected sensing data. The EEPROM has three or more memory areas of a first group, and the same number of memory areas of a second group. Numerical values equal to each other are written respectively into the first group memory areas as the gain, and complementary numerical values of the numerical values representing the gain are written respectively into the second group memory areas. The microcomputer is operated to check the data in the EEPROM. An alarm device is actuated when the microcomputer detects that the data is abnormal. A numerical value which belongs to majority in the first group memory areas in the EEPROM, and which is also in complementary relation with a complementary numerical value belonging to majority in the second group memory areas, is selected so as to be used as a proper gain.

This invention relates to a control system for a vehicle safety device or the like.
As disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open (Kokai) Patent Application No. 193743/1990, a control system for an air bag (vehicle safety device) comprises an acceleration sensor, an amplifier for amplifying an output of the acceleration sensor, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for converting the amplified acceleration signal to a digital signal, and a microcomputer for receiving the acceleration signal from the ADC and effecting an acceleration evaluation. The microcomputer receives the acceleration signal at a predetermined cycle, and integrates it, and compares this integral value with a threshold value. This integral value represents a change in vehicle speed, and increases in the decelerating direction when a collision has occurred. When the integral value increases in the decelerating direction and exceeds the threshold value, the microcomputer judges that a collision has occurred, and outputs a trigger signal, thereby expanding the air bag.
In general, an output of each acceleration sensor of the type used in the above control system was irregular, and was required to be corrected individually. Although not disclosed in the above Patent application, heretofore, the output of the acceleration sensor was compared with that of a reference sensor, and a gain of the amplifier was adjusted based on a result of the comparison, so that the acceleration signal of the former inputted into the microcomputer would be identical with that of the latter, so that the acceleration evaluation can be effected with high accuracy.
Recently, a system using an EEPROM has been developed in order to effect the gain adjustment comparatively simply and accurately. Specifically, in this system, a gain corresponding to an output characteristic of the acceleration sensor is written into a predetermined memory area of the EEPROM. The acceleration from the acceleration sensor is multiplied by the gain so as to be corrected, and the acceleration evaluation is effected based on this corrected acceleration. Although the above EEPROM is capable of storing data stably, the data stored in the EEPROM are threatened with a possible breakage after the passage of a long period of time, and therefore a counter-measure for the possible breakage is demanded.
As the prior art relating to the present invention, Japanese Laid-Open (Kokai) Patent Application No. 259902/1990 discloses a data storing device for a vehicle control system, and it also discloses, as one specific example, a device for storing a gain of vehicle speed in a constant-run control system. In this storing device, the gain of the vehicle speed can be rewritten while the vehicle is in a running condition. This storing device includes first to fourth memories, each of 8 bits. Identical data, as the gain, are stored in the first and third memories, and their complementary numerical values (inverse numerical values) are stored in the second and fourth memories. The microcomputer receives the vehicle speed and multiplies the vehicle speed by this gain to obtain a corrected vehicle speed. The gain is determined as follows. First, the data in the first memory and the data in the second memory are read, and then it is judged whether or not these data are in complementary relation. If the judgment result is "YES", the data in the first memory is used as the gain. In contrast, if the judgment result is "NO", it is then judged whether or not the data in the third and fourth memories are in complementary relation. If the judgment result is "YES", the data in the third memory is used as the gain. In contrast, if the judgment result is "NO", the data in all memories are initialized.
In the system of the above Laid-Open Patent Application No. 259902/1990, the gain is adjusted in accordance with a running condition of the vehicle (vehicle speed), and therefore the system is different in a premised technique from the present invention which relates to the storage of the gain for acceleration. In the present invention, the identical data are stored in the EEPROM for a long period of time as a premised technique. In the above Laid-Open Patent Application No. 259902/1990, only when at least one pair of data are in complementary relation, one of the pair of data is used as the gain and therefore reliability is low.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 269641/1989 discloses, as another related prior art to the present invention, a device for storing a failure judgment data of an air bag controlling system. This storing device comprises a non-volatile memory (NVRAM), into which the failure judgment data of the air bag device is written. This storing device has three or more of memory areas A, B, and C. Each of the memory areas A, B, and C is of 8 bits. The failure judgment data is written into the memory area A, and an identical failure judgment data (but shifted or rotated by one bit with respect to the data in the memory area A) is written into the memory area B. Another identical failure judgment data (but further shifted or rotated by another one bit with respect to the data in the memory area B) is written into the memory area C. Then, the failure judgment data in all these memory areas are read, and then it is judged whether or not all of these data are identical with each other. If the judgment result is "NO", an alarm device is actuated in order to indicate that the storing device is subjected to a failure. At the same time, failure data are determined by the rule of majority.
The above Laid-Open Patent Application No. 269641/1989 relates to the device for storing a failure judgment data of an air bag controlling system, and therefore is different in a premised technique from the present invention. According to the present invention, it is a premised technique which relates to the storage of gain for acceleration from the sensor and this gain is stored in the EEPROM. In the Laid-Open Patent Application No. 269641/1989, data is determined merely by a majority, and therefore reliability of the data is low.

Control system for a vehicle safety device with EEPROM memory for storing gain


Embodiments provide an apparatus, method and software configured to modify a transmission control protocol packet so as to become a user datagram protocol datagram, or to modify a user datagram protocol datagram so as to become a transmission control protocol packet. An embodiment uses a mapping between TCP packet format, such as TCP wire packet format, and an UDP-encapsulated TCP packet format, such as UDP-encapsulated TCP wire packet format, allowing direct re-use of any TCP protocol implementation. TCP frames can be modified into valid UDP datagrams before being transmitted, and inverse modifications can be done when receiving datagrams from the network.

Due to security concerns and/or scarcity of Internet protocol version 4, IPv4, addresses, network address port translation, NAPT and stateful firewalls are frequently deployed on IP networks, limiting peer-to-peer connectivity. Still, in many cases UDP packets (UDP, user datagram protocol as described in RFC768) can be exchanged between NATed/firewalled nodes, using an out-of-band signaling mechanism (e.g. session initiation protocol, SIP) and e.g. a "hole punching" mechanism such as ICE, interactive connection establishment as described in IETF draft-ietf-mmusic-ice. IETF stands for Internet Engineering Task Force, address http://www.ietforg. ICE makes use of the session traversal utilities for network address translation, STUN, protocol and its extension, and traversal using relay network address translation, TURN. ICE can be used by any protocol utilizing the offer/answer model, such as the session initiation protocol, SIP.
UDP does not provide any kind of reliability or congestion control, making it only suitable e.g. for loss-tolerant real-time data (e.g. voice).
For reliable and fast transfers, the transport control protocol, TCP as described in IETF RFC793, may be used. A stream control transmission protocol, SCTP, of RFC2960 or other protocols may also be used.
Peer-to-peer TCP (using TCP Simultaneous Open) as specified in ICE-TCP does not work through as many network address translations, NATs/firewalls as peer-to-peer UDP.
ICE-TCP (IETF draft-ietf-mmusic-ice-tcp) proposes the use of TCP Simultaneous Open, whereby the two ends send normal TCP connection requests to each other at the same time. However, different NATs models e.g. from different vendors do not allow TCP Simultaneous Open.

Method, apparatus and software for packet modification


Provided in the present disclosure are a voice processing method, an apparatus, an electronic device, and a storage medium, the method comprising: detecting the working state of a current call system, and when the working state is a two-end speaking state or a remote-end speaking state, performing compression processing on a subsequent remote-end voice signal, acquiring a near-end voice signal by means of a microphone, performing echo processing on the basis of the near-end voice signal and the compression-processed remote-end voice signal to obtain an echo-processed near-end voice signal and a remaining echo signal, performing non-linear suppression processing on the near-end voice signal and the remaining echo signal, and performing gain control on the suppression-processed near-end voice signal.

The echo is generated by the acoustics loop between a loudspeaker and a microphone. That is to say, sound signals coming from the remote-end are sent out through the near-end loudspeaker, collected by the microphone and then transmitted back to the remote-end, at this time, a talker at the remote-end can hear his/her own echo, which severely affects the communication quality.
In order to improve the communication quality, in the related art, a self-adapting filter in an echo cancelation system can be used for simulating the feedback loop formed by echoes to cancel partial echo signals collected by the microphone. The self-adapting filter cannot completely cancel the echoes, especially echo signals after non-linear distortion, so a non-linear processor (NLP) module is further adopted to cancel residual echoes after the echo signals are processed by the self-adapting filter.
Although the NLP can play the role in suppressing the residual echoes, the inventor finds that in the actual application, there also exist the following problems: first, in a double-talk state, the NLP will also obviously weaken a near-end voice signal while suppressing the echoes and second, in a communication system, generally, after acoustic echo cancelation (AEC), automatic gain control (AGC) will also be added to adaptively amplify the near-end voice signal, especially, when the NLP cannot completely suppress the residual echoes, the residual echoes will also be amplified by the AGC, so that the communication quality is affected.
Thus, how to effectively suppress the residual echoes in a double-talk state based on the existing echo cancelation system is a technical problem yet to be solved currently.

Voice processing method, apparatus, electronic device, and storage medium

Beijing Dajia Internet Information Technology Co., Ltd.


A system including a serializer/deserializer (SERDES) block including a first SERDES lane, a second SERDES lane, a third SERDES lane, and a fourth SERDES lane; a physical coding sublayer (PCS) block including a layout select tag, a first PCS lane connected to the fourth SERDES lane, a second PCS lane connected to the third SERDES lane, a third PCS lane connected to the second SERDES lane, and a fourth PCS lane connected to the first SERDES lane; and a media access control (MAC) layer block including a first plurality of pins connected to the first PCS lane, a second plurality of pins connected to the second PCS lane, a third plurality of pins connected to the third PCS lane, and a fourth plurality of pins connected to the fourth PCS lane, wherein the PCS block is configured to map the first SERDES lane to the first plurality of pins, the second SERDES lane to the second plurality of pins, the third SERDES lane to the third plurality of pins, and the fourth SERDES lane to the fourth plurality of pins based on a value of the layout select tag.

Digital systems can be implemented using off-the-shelf integrated circuits. However, system designers can often reduce cost, increase performance, and/or add capabilities by employing in the system some integrated circuits whose logic functions can be customized. Two common kinds of customizable integrated circuits in digital systems are application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).
ASICs are designed and manufactured for a particular application. An ASIC includes circuits selected from a library of small logic cells. A typical ASIC also includes large special-purpose blocks that implement widely-used functions, such as a multi-kilobit random-access memory (RAM) or a microprocessor. The logic cells and special-function blocks must be placed at suitable locations on the ASIC and connected by means of wiring.
Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are another kind of customizable integrated circuit that is common in digital systems. An FPGA is a general-purpose device. It is meant to be configured for a particular application by the system designer.
The design of an integrated circuit (i.e., FPGA and/or ASIC) may require multiple instances of the same functional block. Further, the design may include different physical layouts for each instance of the functional block. The existence of a single version of said functional block that could be used for any of said physical layouts is desirable and would increase design flexibility.

System and method for flexible physical layout in a heterogeneous configurable integrated circuit


A method of and system for regulating mixed air in an air-conditioning system of a motor vehicle provides for feeding fresh air and/or recirculated air to the air conditioning system. For optimizing the energy consumption for automobile air-conditioning systems, the specific enthalpy of the fresh air and the specific enthalpy of the recirculated air and/or of a mixed air are determined and, after a comparison of the specific enthalpies, a feed of fresh air and recirculated air is so adjusted that the mixed air has the specific enthalpy which is in each case most favorable from an energy standpoint.

The present invention relates to a method of regulating mixed air in an air conditioning system of a motor vehicle in which fresh air and/or recirculated air is fed to the air-conditioning system, and to a system for the carrying out of the method.
In the automobile air-conditioning systems which are customary today, either fresh air or recirculated air is conducted by a fan through the air-conditioning system for the treatment of the air.
With increasing demands for comfort, the desire arose in connection with car air-conditioning systems to control of the temperature within the car automatically in such a manner that the passengers feel as comfortable as possible in the car. Ordinarily, the temperature within the car is measured by a temperature sensor and the temperature desired is set by a control device. Energy-rich fresh air is generally conveyed in continuous operation through the heat exchanger of the air-conditioning system. The selecting of fresh air or of recirculated air for the purpose of the continuous optimizing of energy is not effected here.

Method and system for regulating mixed air in an air conditioning system of a motor vehicle


A TDMA basestation transmitter has a monolithic concentric arrangement of two monitor photodiodes (14a, 14b) for use in power output regulation both in marshalling procedure and in normal data traffic situations where there are two distinct speed and sensitivity requirements to be satisfied at different times.

This invention relates to marshalling procedures in optical TDMA (time division multiple access) systems. In such a system a plurality of outstations communicate with a basestation on a TDMA basis while the basestation may communicate with its outstations on a broadcast basis. In such a system there is a fundamental requirement that the system should be able to measure, and then equalise, the propagation delays on each spur linking an outstation with the basestation. This measurement can be made by transmitting signals at normal power from each of the outstations to the basestation, and noting the time of receipt of those signals. However, in a practical system the uncertainty in this time occasioned by the different propagation delays means that a substantial period of potential transmission time in the upstream (outstation to basestation) direction needs to be reserved for the receipt of these signals. This method is referred to as "serial marshalling" since it can not be carried out simultaneously with the upstream transmission of data traffic.
An alternative marshalling method, the method with which the present invention is particularly concerned, involves an initial marshalling procedure which involves the use of transmissions at power levels too low to have significant affect upon normal data traffic, so that these initial marshalling transmissions can therefore be transmitted in parallel with that data traffic. This involves the outstation transmitting a pseudo-random bit sequence which is detected at the basestation by cross-correlation. Such an initial marshalling method is for instance described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,596.
The optical source of an outstation is provided by a directly modulated semiconductor laser chip and, because the electro-optic conversion efficiency of such a device varies with temperature and with the effects of ageing, it is conventional practice to regulate its optical power output with the aid of a feedback control loop, deriving a feedback control signal from the photocurrent produced by a monitor photodetector positioned to intercept a part of the laser's emission. Typically this photodetector is positioned to intercept light emitted from the back facet of the laser.
For some general applications of digitally data modulated semiconductor laser sources it is sufficient for its feedback loop to respond to the mean level of optical power output of the laser, and for there to be, in consequence, no need for the photodetector's response to be fast enough to resolve individual data bits. On the other hand, in TDMA applications a response fast enough to resolve these bits is typically a desideratum, the meeting of which places an upper limit upon the size of the photosensitive area of the photodetector due to capacitance effects.
When initial marshalling commences, the output power of the outstation's laser chip must, under the least favourable conditions, be low enough to avoid producing unacceptably high corruption of data being simultaneously transmitted to the basestation from any other outstation. Typically this transmission will be at a power level too low for the cross-correlation performed at the basestation to detect it. The power level of the transmission must then be incremented in steps until it is large enough to be detected. The size of those steps is regulated on the one hand by the need to make them small enough for a single increment not to raise the power level from undetectable to data-corrupting, and on the other hand to make them large enough to ensure that detection will occur within a reasonably short time interval from the commencement of the initial marshalling.
Implicit in the foregoing is the fact that regulation of the optical power output of the outstation's laser chip is required, not only during data transmission, but also during the initial marshalling process, and that at least in the initial stages of the initial marshalling process, the optical output power of the laser chip needs to be regulated to a power level very much lower than that employed during data transmission, typically commencing at a power level in the region of 40 dB below that of the data bits. This commencement power level is liable to be so low as to provide an inadequate photocurrent from a back-facet monitor diode that is small enough to have a response fast enough to resolve individual data bits during data traffic transmission.
One way of circumventing the problem of having too low a light level, during at least the initial stages of initial marshalling for detection by a monitor photodiode fast enough to resolve individual data bits, is to create a look-up table that relates power output to drive current from calibration measurements made on a test jig before the laser is ever brought into service. (Such a test jig would derive its calibration from measurements made with its own photodetector rather than the monitor photodiode of the laser itself). Under these circumstances, due allowance can be made for the effects of temperature, but importantly not for those of ageing.
The absence of a means for making allowance for the effects of ageing gives rise to a magnitude of uncertainty in optical power level output for which due allowance must be made in the devising of the incremental power steps in a manner that avoids the risk of data corruption, and this in turn has the effect of lengthening the time taken to complete initial marshalling.


Improvement of data throughput via backhaul sharing is accomplished by accessing a cell site servicing data transmission at a first data rate and a connected backhaul network having a backhaul data rate. A determination of whether the first data rate exceeds the backhaul data rate is made and an excess data rate is determined. When the first data rate exceeds the backhaul data rate a neighboring cell site having a second backhaul networks is accessed. A determination is made of how much additional capacity the second backhaul network can handle. When the neighboring cell site can handle the excess data rate backhaul sharing using beamforming is initiated.

Telecommunication networks may conceptually be divided into three parts, the Radio Access Network (RAN), the core network, and the backhaul network. The RAN provides services to User Equipment (UEs). The core network is a central part of the telecommunication network and provides telephony and data communication services (among other) to the users who are connected by the RAN. The backhaul network connects the RAN air interfaces at small and macro cell sites to core networks that are connected to remote data centers serving up content and applications. A backhaul may include wired, fiber optic and wireless components. The backhaul network is an expensive part of wireless cells and has to be affordable to provide competitive data plans.
Historically the limiting factor on speed and reliability of a cell site has been the air interface. In recent years, mobility cell site air interface performance has been improved significantly via new technology. Presently the limiting factor on a cell site's performance and reliability is often the backhaul transport. Mobility network peak speed and reliability is imperative in today's competitive landscape. Most of the time, to achieve higher speeds and reliability a significant amount of time and capital must be invested to match the capabilities of the air interface and customer demands, especially in rural areas.
Today many mobility cell sites are over capacity and require time and capital-intensive projects to upgrade the backhaul to achieve greater speeds. At the same time many sites are only connected via one type of backhaul limiting redundancy and making each site vulnerable to backhaul disruptions such as wildfires, storms, or other accidents.
There is a need to address the problem of expensive and time-consuming backhaul upgrades on each cell site. Additionally, there is a need to address the lack of backhaul redundancy, presenting vulnerability of each site to lose connection if the only backhaul connection is lost.

Methods, systems and computer programs for improving data throughput via backhaul sharing


To provide a technology for, if a first distribution destination printing device cannot continue printing according to a print job, causing a second distribution destination printing device to execute an unexecuted print job without using a server. The first distribution destination printing device, used for a printing system, includes a print job processing module that acquires a distributed print job supplied from a distribution source device and gives the distributed print job to a printing execution module. The print job processing module acquires, from the distribution source device, device identification information for identifying the second distribution destination printing device among a plurality of distribution destination printing devices, the second distribution destination printing device belonging to the same group as the first distribution destination printing device. The print job processing module, if the first distribution printing device cannot continue printing according to the distributed print job, generates the unexecuted print job, and supplies the unexecuted print job to the second distribution destination printing device.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to distribution printing technology for distributing a print job to a plurality of printers.
2. Related Art
In a distribution printing system, normally, a server and a plurality of printers are connected via a network, and the server distributes a print job received from a computer to a plurality of distribution destination printers.
Note that, JP2002-268850A discloses that if execution of the job is stopped at one of a pair of printers due to a paper jam, the server recreates and sends the part of the job not yet output to the other of the printer pair.
However, the part of the job not yet output is recreated by the server, so there is a problem that a server is required.