An antenna assembly is for a fuselage of an aircraft and includes a first satellite antenna operable in a first frequency range, a second satellite antenna operable in a second frequency range, and a radome covering the first and second satellite antennas. The radome includes, in stacked relation, an inner skin having a quartz fabric and epoxy resin, an inner core having epoxy syntactic foam, a center laminate having quartz fabric and epoxy resin, an outer core having epoxy syntactic foam, and an outer skin having quartz fabric and epoxy resin. A fairing mounts the radome to the fuselage of the aircraft.

Commercial aircraft typically include a satellite antenna for establishing a communication link with one or more geosynchronous satellites. The satellites may be a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) for providing television programming or a fixed satellite service (FSS) providing Internet access, for example. A DBS satellite operates within 12.2-12.7 GHz, and a FSS satellite operates within 11.7-12.2 GHz. These frequencies are within the Ku-band.
An antenna assembly carried by the aircraft includes a radome to protect the satellite antenna and associated equipment from environmental exposure. The radome needs to be strong to withstand the aerodynamic loads of the aircraft while meeting desired electrical performance characteristics. A bandwidth of a Ku-band satellite antenna compatible with DBS or FSS satellites is about 0.5 GHz. A radome compatible with the Ku-band typically includes a thin laminate skin, low density core, sandwich design. Since the bandwidth is relatively narrow, this type of radome is relatively straightforward to design to meet desired structural and electrical performance characteristics.
Airborne satellite communication links are currently being developed for K-band frequencies and Ka-band frequencies to achieve broad bandwidths for high data rates. The K-band covers 18-27 GHz and the Ka-band covers 27-40 GHz. A bandwidth of a K-band/Ku-band satellite antenna is about 22 GHz. As a result of such a wide bandwidth, it becomes more difficult to design a K-band/Ku-band radome to meet desired structural and electrical performance characteristics.
One approach for a K-band/Ku-band radome is disclosed in U.S. published patent application no. 2013/0321236. A sandwich radome structure includes a central core layer, a reinforced laminate skin adjacent each side of the central core, and outer matching layers on each of the reinforced laminates. The central core layer may include a syntactic film material with a density of 32 to 42 PCF and a relative dielectric constant range of 1.6 to 2.3. The laminate skins may include a quartz woven fabric reinforcement and a thermo-set resin. The outer matching layers may include thermo-set resin and glass bubbles with a relative dielectric constant in the range of 1.6 to 2.3. A thickness of each layer may be a multiple of a quarter wavelength at approximately the center frequency over the incidence angle range of the radome frequency range. This design is also applicable to Ku-band/K-band/Ka-band radome designs.
Another radome design is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,420,523. The radome structure includes a structural layer including plies of fibers in a resin matrix, an inside matching layer adjacent to one side of the structural layer, and an outside matching layer adjacent to the opposite side of the structural layer. Both matching layers have a dielectric constant lower than a dielectric constant of the structural layer and are made of formable sheet material assembled with the structural layer during shaping of the radome and co-cured with the structural layer resulting in a rigid final form of the radome. The matching sheet layer material during assembly includes an uncured thermoset resin with a plurality of gas-filled microspheres therein to reduce the dielectric constant of the matching layers.
Even in view of the above radomes, there is still a need to provide alternative designs for a multi-band radome that is operable over a wide bandwidth while meeting desired structural and electrical performance characteristics.

Antenna assembly with a multi-band radome and associated methods


A method for headphone reproduction of at least two input channel signals is proposed. Said method comprises for each pair of input channel signals from said at least two input channel signals the following steps. First, a common component, an estimated desired position corresponding to said common component, and two residual components corresponding to two input channel signals in said pair of input channel signals are determined. Said determining is being based on said pair of said input channel signals. Each of said residual components is derived from its corresponding input channel signal by subtracting a contribution of the common component. Said contribution is being related to the estimated desired position of the common component. Second, a main virtual source comprising said common component at the estimated desired position and two further virtual sources each comprising a respective one of said residual components at respective predetermined positions are synthesized.

The most popular loudspeaker reproduction system is based on two-channel stereophony, using two loudspeakers at predetermined positions. If a user is located in a sweet spot, a technique referred to as amplitude panning positions a phantom sound source between the two loudspeakers. The area of feasible phantom source is however quite limited. Basically, phantom source can only be positioned at a line between the two loudspeakers. The angle between the two loudspeakers has an upper limit of about 60 degrees, as indicated in S. P. Lipshitz, "Stereo microphone techniques; are the purists wrong?", J. Audio Eng. Soc., 34:716-744, 1986. Hence the resulting frontal image is limited in terms of width. Furthermore, in order amplitude panning to work correctly, the position of a listener is very restricted. The sweet spot is usually quite small, especially in a left-right direction. As soon as the listener moves outside the sweet spot, panning techniques fail and audio sources are perceived at the position of the closest loudspeaker, see H. A. M. Clark, G. F. Dutton, and P. B. Vanderlyn, "The 'Stereosonic' recording and reproduction system: A two-channel systems for domestic tape records", J. Audio Engineering Society, 6:102-117, 1958. Moreover, the above reproduction systems restrict an orientation of the listener. If due to head or body rotations both speakers are not positioned symmetrically on both sides of a midsaggital plane the perceived position of phantom sources is wrong or becomes ambiguous, see G. Theile and G. Plenge, "Localization of lateral phantom sources", J. Audio Engineering Society, 25:196-200, 1977. Yet another disadvantage of the known loudspeaker reproduction system is that a spectral coloration that is induced by amplitude panning is introduced. Due to different path-length differences to both ears and the resulting comb-filter effects, phantom sources may suffer from pronounced spectral modifications compared to a real sound source at the desired position, as discussed in V. Pulkki and V. Karjalainen, M. and Valimaki, "Coloration, and Enhancement of Amplitude-Panned Virtual Sources", in Proc. 16th AES Conference, 1999. Another disadvantage of amplitude panning is the fact that the sound source localization cues resulting from a phantom sound source are only a crude approximation of the localization cues that would correspond to a sound source at the desired position, especially in the mid and high frequency range.
Compared to loudspeaker playback, stereo audio content reproduced over headphones is perceived inside the head. The absence of an effect of the acoustical path from a certain sound source to the ears causes the spatial image to sound unnatural. The headphone audio reproduction that uses a fixed set of virtual speakers to overcome the absence of the acoustical path suffers from drawbacks that are inherently introduced by a set of fixed loudspeakers as in loudspeaker playback systems discussed above. One of the drawbacks is that localization cues are crude approximation of actual localization cues of a sound source at a desired position, which results in a degraded spatial image. Another drawback is that amplitude panning only works in a left-right direction, and not in any other direction.

Method for headphone reproduction, a headphone reproduction system, a computer program product


A system comprises first and second local memory banks; and a reconfigurable ALU array having multiple configurations including: a first for performing an inverse butterfly operation, a second for performing a multiplication operation, a third for performing parallel subtraction and addition, and a fourth for performing an inverse N-point shuffle. The ALU array may obtain input for the inverse butterfly operation from the first bank and store output in the second bank. The ALU array may obtain input for the multiplication operation from the second bank and store output in the first bank. The ALU array may obtain input for the parallel subtraction and addition operation from the first bank and store output in the second bank. The ALU array may obtain input for the N-point inverse shuffle from the second bank and store output in the first bank. The system may further comprise a bit reversal block.

Fast Fourier Transforms (FFTs) and Inverse Fast Fourier Transforms (IFFTs) are widely used in many signal processing applications. An FFT traditionally operates on data points and obtains Fourier coefficients. An IFFT traditionally operates on Fourier coefficients and recovers the data points. Modern applications, e.g., mobile devices, require an implementation that is efficient, flexible and low cost.
Existing solutions fail to satisfy these needs. While software FFT and IFFT solutions for general-purpose sequential processors and digital signal processors are inexpensive and flexible, they are generally inefficient. When the number of data points to compute an FFT or IFFT is small or fixed, traditional hardware can implement an efficient FFT or IFFT. However, such an implementation is usually expensive and highly inflexible. When the number of data points to compute an FFT or IFFT is large or variable, hardware implementations have been unavailable.
Meanwhile, technology based on reconfigurable pipelined and parallel computing architecture which promises to support high performance computing is emerging. Such architecture typically uses reconfigurable arrays of processing elements. Mapping an FFT or IFFT to this emerging architecture is a nontrivial exercise, especially for implementations that manage a large or variable number of data points.

Efficient mapping of FFT to a reconfigurable parallel and pipeline data flow machine


A chemical vapor deposition process is carried out in a reactor chamber with an ion shower grid that divides the chamber into an upper ion generation region and a lower process region, the ion shower grid having plural orifices oriented in a non-parallel direction relative to a surface plane of the ion shower grid. A workpiece is placed in the process region facing the ion shower grid, the workpiece having a workpiece surface generally facing the surface plane of the ion shower grid. A gas mixture is furnished comprising deposition precursor species into the ion generation region and the process region is evacuated at an evacuation rate sufficient to create a pressure drop across the ion shower grid from the ion generation region to the process region whereby the pressure in the ion generation region is at least several times the pressure in the process region. A layer of material of a desired thickness is deposited on the workpiece by: (a) applying plasma source power to generate a plasma of the deposition precursor species in the ion generation region, and (b) applying a grid potential to the ion shower grid to create a flux of ions from the plasma through the grid and into the process region.

In the fabrication of semiconductor microelectronic circuits, chemical vapor deposition processes are employed to fill deep narrow openings or high aspect ratio (HAR) openings, such as isolation trenches and deep contacts. The aspect ratio (the height to diameter ratio) may range from 5:1 to greater than 10:1. Several processes have been employed for this purpose, including sub-atmospheric chemical vapor deposition (SACAVD), plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and high density plasma chemical vapor deposition (HDPCVD).
The SACVD process, when used to deposit a silicon dioxide film, typically uses a metal-organic silicide gas such as tri-ethyl ortho-silicate (TEOS) gas and ozone in a vacuum chamber containing the silicon wafer. The deposition reaction is a thermal reaction carried out at an elevated wafer temperature (e.g., about 500° C.), in which the heat dissociates free oxygen from the ozone gas and silicon from the TEOS molecules, and promotes surface mobility of deposited atoms on the coating. The deposition reaction is conformal, forming a coating of a nearly uniform thickness on both horizontal and vertical surfaces on the semiconductor wafer. Although the reaction is carried out in a vacuum, the chamber pressure is high (e.g., a few hundred Torr) relative to other CVD processes. This relatively high pressure is required to compensate for the slow deposition rate of the SACVD process. Although the wafer temperature is elevated during the deposition to about 500° C., the deposited coating must be annealed at about 700°-900° C. The SACVD process is unsuitable for use on devices having feature sizes 65 nanometers or smaller, and particularly for filling HAR openings in such small devices. First, the deposition rate is slow and the wafer throughput is low. Secondly, this process requires a wafer anneal step, which adds to the production cost of each wafer. Also, the high process temperature and time, and the high (900° C.) anneal temperature required in the SACVD process causes small features (such as doped sources and drains) to diffuse over a significant distance for some applications. Such thermal induced diffusion may cause the source-to-drain channel length to shrink under a permissible threshold below which device failure can occur. Finally, the SACVD process is so conformal that the deposition rate on vertical side walls of HAR openings is as great as the deposition rate on horizontal surfaces (and perhaps greater than on the horizontal bottom surface of a HAR opening). This makes its impossible to completely fill the bottom of a 65 nanometer HAR opening before the top of the opening is pinched off due to accumulation along the vertical side wall. Such accumulation is favored near the top of the side wall of an HAR opening, and will therefore completely block the opening before the bottom of the opening is completely filled. This leaves a void inside the opening, which is unacceptable. A further disadvantage of the SACVD process is that it is relatively slow, requiring that the semiconductor wafer be maintained at the elevated (500° C.) temperature during deposition for a relatively long time, thereby limiting productivity and increasing the thermal diffusion of 65 nanometer features on the wafer.
The PECVD process is carried out at a lower pressure (e.g., 5-15 Torr) than the SACVD process, but attains a higher deposition rate by utilizing a low density plasma to dissociate TEOS and oxygen. In a parallel plate reactor, the low density plasma is generated by applying an RF potential on the order of about a few hundred volts across the plates. The ion to neutral ratio in the low density plasma is quite low (about 10−8 to 10−4), and therefore the process is dominated by neutrals. The plasma enhancement of the deposition favors deposition on horizontal surfaces more than vertical surfaces, although the step coverage ratio (vertical wall deposition rate to horizontal wall deposition rate) can be as high as 50%. As a result, when the PECVD process is used for 65 nanometer devices, deposition near the top of the side walls of HAR openings pinches off the openings before they can be filled from the bottom, leaving voids in the openings. This problem can be alleviated somewhat by sputtering of the top edges of the HAR openings (to reduce the deposition rate near the tops of the openings). The problem is that the sputtering efficiency of the low density plasma employed in the PECVD process is poor. This is due to the relatively low plasma ion density (obtained at the low voltage of the plasma source) and because the chamber pressure (5-15 Torr) is too high for efficient sputtering. As a result, sputtering of the top edges of the HAR openings does not always prevent the pinch-off problem. Therefore, the PECVD process is not suitable for filling HAR openings in small (e.g., 65 nanometer) devices.
The HDPCVD process employs a high density plasma at low pressure to promote sputtering of the top corners. To achieve a high ion density, the chamber pressure is maintained at a very low level (e.g., 1-18 mT) using about 10 kW of source power (e.g., for a 300 mm diameter wafer) and a very high bias power (about 2 to 10 kW). The resulting ion density is about 1×1017 to 3×1017 m−3 for a molecular process gas (such as silane) and about 5×1017 to 1018 m−3 for an atomic process gas (such as Argon). The ion to neutral ratio in the high density plasma is higher than in PECVD (about 10−3 to 10−2). The high bias power produces higher ion energies but does not increase the sheath voltage (or the peak ion energies) beyond about 1000 volts, due to the higher conductivity of the plasma. Under such conditions, the sputtering efficiency is quite good, and is sufficient to reduce the deposition rate near the top edges of HAR openings to prevent pinch-off, at least for large geometry devices. For this purpose, the process gas may include silane and oxygen (for silicon dioxide deposition) and Argon (for sputtering).
As device features are reduced in size, redeposition of sputtered material from one corner occurs at the opposing corner, eventually pinching off the gap. Helium substituted in place of Argon in the HDPDVD process allows filling gaps of higher aspect ratio. At even higher aspect ratio, Hydrogen is substituted for the Helium, producing better gap fill results. The hydrogen performs some sputtering but also performs some chemical etching at the top edges of HAR openings, and provides the best possible sputtering efficiency. This allows the HDPCVD process to be used to fill HAR openings in very small devices approaching 65 nanometers. However, at 65 nanometers, the sputtered material on one side of each HAR opening top edge tends to land on the opposite side, so that there is very little or no net reduction of the accumulation of deposited species at the HAR opening top edge. As a result, at 65 nanometers, the HDPCVD process fails because of pinch-off of HAR openings before they can be completely filled from the bottom. Even at low pressure and high plasma density (ion to neutral ratio about 10−3 to 10−2) the process is still dominated by neutrals, leading to eventual pinch-off before small high-aspect-ratio gaps can be filled.
In summary, the advance in semiconductor technology toward 65 nanometer feature sizes is frustrated because of a lack of a reliable chemical vapor deposition process capable of completely filling HAR openings. There is therefore a great need for a chemical vapor deposition process capable of doing so.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Chemical vapor deposition plasma process using an ion shower grid


Disclosed is an information recording medium comprising:. a base having a first surface and a second surface; PA0 a light-sensitive layer provided on said first surface of said base; and PA0 a plurality of magnetic layers provided on said second surface of said base, wherein a coercive forces of said magnetic layers are different from each other.. An information recording medium according to this invention is capable of recording a variety of information in plural magnetic layers classifying the information by the degree of significance.

There has been proposed an information recording medium comprised of a photographic film bearing a magnetic layer. For example U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,196 and International Patent Provisional Publication No.90/04254 disclose a roll type photographic film bearing on its backside a magnetic layer containing a magnetic substance for magnetic recording and a photographying camera having a magnetic head. These techniques enable to improve the quality of prints and the efficiency of printing work by inputting to and outputting from the magnetic layer identification information on the light-sensitive material and its manufacturer, information on shooting conditions, information on printing conditions, and information concerning conditions for additional printing.
In these conventional techniques, however, the magnetic layer is made up of a single layer; therefore, every information is recorded in pieces in the longitudinal direction on the same plane, without any means to distinguish significance of information. To users (consumers in general), for example, the dates, places, and purposes (motives) of shooting are constantly important information, while manufacturer information such as that on film identification or printing conditions is no longer necessary once the film is developed to form images.
Accordingly, there are demanded such magnetic layers as are capable of retaining significant information permanently erasing disused information easily.

Information recording medium comprising a silver nalide light sensitive layer, and two superposed magnetic layers which differ in coercivity


A circuit and a method for aligning transmitted data by adjusting transmission timing for a plurality of lanes. The method includes utilizing different initial values to reset a count value corresponding to a lane when a plurality of COM symbols are detected on the lane, utilizing an increment value to increase the count value corresponding to the lane when a COM symbol is not detected on the lane, and utilizing a plurality of count values corresponding to the lanes to align transmitted data of the lanes when a COM symbol is not detected on the lanes within a predetermined period of time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a circuit and a method for controlling data transmission. More specifically, the present invention discloses a circuit and a method for aligning transmitted data by adjusting transmission timing for a plurality of lanes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally speaking, data transmission in a computer system requires a data bus used for transferring predetermined data from a source device to a target device. For instance, a widely used PCI bus is capable of providing a bandwidth of 133 MB/s. However, with the development of disk array and gigabit Ethernet, the PCI bus is unable to meet requirements requested by the users. Because the manufactures of chips have anticipated the above situation, new bus architectures are developed to alleviate loading of the PCI bus. For example, with the development of 3D graphics processing, the PCI bus in charge of transmitting image data between a graphics card and a system memory has its limited bandwidth almost occupied by the image data. Therefore, other peripheral devices, which are connected to the same PCI bus, are greatly affected owing to the image data occupying most of the limited bandwidth. Then, an accelerated graphics port (AGP) architecture is adopted to take the place of the PCI bus for delivering image data. Not only is the loading of the PCI bus reduced, but also the performance of 3D graphics processing is further improved.
As mentioned above, the loading of the PCI bus is increased because of the improvement of the data processing capability of components within the computer system. Therefore, a 3rd generation I/O (3GIO), that is, the PCI Express bus is continuously developing to substitute for the prior art PCI bus so as to provide a required large bandwidth. It is well-known that the PCI Express bus makes use of a higher operating clock and more lanes to boost the bus performance. Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a diagram of a prior art PCI Express bus 11 utilizing a plurality of lanes to transmit data. Suppose that a transmitting device 10 wants to transfer a data stream 14a to a receiving device 12. Because the PCI Express bus 11 provides 4 lanes Lane0, Lane1, Lane2, Lane3, these bytes B0–B7 included in the data stream 14a are respectively transmitted via Lanes Lane0, Lane1, Lane2, and Lane3 when the transmitting device 10 outputs the data stream 14a. In other words, two bytes B0 and B4 are passed to the receiving device 14 through the lane Lane0, two bytes B1 and B5 are passed to the receiving device 14 through the lane Lane1, two bytes B2 and B6 are passed to the receiving device 14 through the lane Lane2, and two bytes B3 and B7 are passed to the receiving device 14 through the lane Lane3. In the end, the receiving device 12 is capable of acquiring the wanted data stream 14a.
The operating clock applied to the transmitting device 10 is different from the operating clock of the receiving device 12. If the operating clock of the transmitting device 10 has frequency greater than frequency of the operating clock applied to the receiving device 12, the data transfer rate for the data stream 14a outputted from the transmitting device 10 is sure to be greater than the data receiving rate for the data stream 14a received by the receiving device 12. Therefore, a well-known overflow occurs. On the contrary, if the operating clock of the transmitting device 10 has frequency less than frequency of the operating clock applied to the receiving device 12, the data transfer rate for the data stream 14a outputted from the transmitting device 10 is sure to be less than the data receiving rate for the data stream 14a received by the receiving device 12. Therefore, a well-known underflow occurs.
In order to solve the problems generated from a mismatch of the operating clocks on the transmitting device 10 and the receiving device 12, the receiving device 12 has a plurality of elastic buffers to regulate data outputted from the transmitting device 10 and transferred through lanes Lane0, Lane1, Lane2, and Lane3. Based on the specification of the PCI Express bus, the transmitting device 10 outputs ordered sets to make the elastic buffers capable of balancing different operating clocks adopted by the transmitting device 10 and the receiving device 12. For example, each ordered set outputted from the transmitting device 10 includes a COM symbol and three SKP symbols. When an elastic buffer positioned on the receiving device 12 receives a plurality of ordered sets, the elastic buffer reduces the number of SKP symbols in these ordered sets if the operating clock of the transmitting device 10 has frequency greater than that of the operating clock applied to the receiving device 12. Therefore, the data transfer rate of the transmitting device 10 is accordingly reduced, and the above overflow problem is resolved. However, the elastic buffer increases the number of SKP symbols in these ordered sets if the operating clock of the transmitting device 10 has frequency less than that of the operating clock applied to the receiving device 12. Therefore, the data transfer rate of the transmitting device 10 is accordingly boosted, and the above underflow problem is resolved.
Generally, the transmitting device 10 respectively outputs ordered sets to lanes Lane0, Lane1, Lane2, and Lane3 at the same time. However, the lanes Lane0, Lane1, Lane2, and Lane3 might have different lengths and impedance owing to different circuit layouts. That is, during the data transmission, the lanes Lane0, Lane1, Lane2, and Lane3 might introduce different delays. Therefore, the transmitting timing of the lanes Lane0, Lane1, Lane2, and Lane3 has skews. In other words, the receiving device 12 is unable to process bytes B0, B1, B2, and B3 transmitted via lanes Lane0, Lane1, Lane2, and Lane3 at the same time. With regard to making the receiving device 12 capable of acquiring the wanted data stream 14a, how to align the transmitted data of the lanes Lane0, Lane1, Lane2, and Lane3 becomes an important issue when implementing the PCI Express bus.

Circuit and method for aligning transmitted data by adjusting transmission timing for a plurality of lanes


The invention provides a polyamide resin having a structure represented by the formula (1), wherein about 0.1 mol % to about 30 mol % of the total amount of Y in the formula (1) has a structure represented by the formula (2), further a positive-working photosensitive resin composition comprising a diazoquinone compound, a method for producing a pattern-formed resin film using the composition, a semiconductor device and a display device using the composition, and a method for producing the semiconductor device and the display device:

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a polyamide resin, a positive-working photosensitive resin composition, a method for producing a pattern-formed resin film using the composition, a semiconductor device and a display device using the composition, and a method for producing the semiconductor device and the display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A polybenzoxazole resin and a polyimide resin having high heat resistance, excellent electrical and mechanical properties or the like was conventionally used for a surface protective film or an interlayer insulation film of a semiconductor element. On the other hand, in order to simplify processes, a positive-working photosensitive resin composition comprising a combination of the polybenzoxazole resin or the polyimide resin and a photosensitive diazoquinone compound was used (for instance, Examined Japanese Patent Publication (JP-B) No. 1(1989)-46862).
In recent years, various liquid chemicals became to be used for treatment in wafer process because of shift to multi-layer wiring, chip size package (CSP), wafer level package (WLP) or the like due to down-sizing and higher integration of a semiconductor element. Particularly, Ti is used for barrier metal or the like in the WLP. Upon using Ti, hydrofluoric acid is often used for an etchant of Ti, and there is a problem that the positive-working photosensitive resins often peel off from a substrate during etching.

Polyamide resin, positive-working photosensitive resin composition, method for producing pattern-formed resin film, semiconductor device, display device, and method for producing the semiconductor device and the display device

Abstract: wherein, X is an organic group of 2 to 4 valences; Y is an organic group of 2 to 6 valences; R1 is a hydroxyl group or —O—R3 wherein m is an integer of 0 to 2; R2 is a hydroxyl group, a carboxyl group, —O—R3 or —COO—R3 wherein n is an integer of 0 to 4; R3 is an organic group having 1 to 15 carbon atoms;

Abstract: wherein, each of R4 and R5 is a divalent organic group; each of R6 and R7 is a monovalent organic group; n is an integer of 0 to 20.


In an internal combustion engine with spark ignition and one or more reciprocating pistons, with an ignition device and at least one fuel delivery device for each cylinder, and with a combustion chamber bounded by a roof-shaped top face, the surface of the piston top is provided with an unsymmetrical, arched flow guiding rib assisting the swirl movement of the cylinder charge. The flow guiding rib is configured as an integral part of the piston top surface, which largely conforms to the roof-shaped top of the combustion chamber, and includes an essentially centrically positioned combustion chamber recess with an entrance area in close proximity of the fuel delivery device.

This invention relates to an internal combustion engine with spark ignition and at least one reciprocating piston, with an ignition device and at least one fuel delivery device per cylinder for direct fuel delivery essentially in the direction of the ignition device, and with at least one intake port generating a swirl movement in the combustion chamber bounded by a roof-shaped top face, the top surface of the piston being provided with an unsymmetrical, arched flow guiding rib assisting the swirl movement of the cylinder charge.

Internal combustion engine with spark ignition


A device (20) for distribution of solid particles (22) for loading a vessel with solid particles, comprising a solid particles feed hopper (21), a rotating member and a drive member for driving in rotation said rotating member about a rotation axis, and a set of at least one deflector element (25, 25′, 25″) carried by said rotating member and erected, or adapted to be erected, on rotation of the shaft, relative to the rotation axis, in which device the feed hopper defines a set of at least one opening (29) conformed in an asymmetric manner relative to the rotation axis, defining at most one plane of symmetry passing through the rotation axis.

The invention concerns the distribution of solid particles into a vessel, and in particular into a reactor.
It is known to load reactors, in particular of chemical, electrochemical, petroleum or petrochemical type, with solid particles in the divided state. These particles may for example take the form of balls, grains, cylinders, pastilles, batons or any other shape and generally have relatively small dimensions.
The particles may in particular be grains of solid catalysts, generally extruded and produced either with a regular shape or in the shape of single-lobe or multilobe batons, the dimensions of which may vary with circumstances from a few tenths of a millimeter to a few centimeters.
The aim is to load a large number of solid particles homogeneously and as uniformly as possible into a restricted space in a short time period.
It is this application, termed "dense loading", of grains of catalysts into a chemical reactor that will be more particularly referred to in the remainder of the present description. By "dense loading" is meant here loading by a rainfall effect effected so as to reconcile restricted space, short loading time, high density, homogeneity and uniformity.
However, the device described may more generally find applications in the context of loading solid particles into a reactor or other vessel.
Several methods and devices enabling the density of a fixed bed of particles of catalyst in a chemical reactor to be increased are already known.
Document WO 2010/076522 (Cottard et al.) may for example be cited. The device described, comprising a rotating shaft and deflector elements, is advantageous in the sense that it can be introduced into the reactor via an orifice of relatively small section, the semi-rigid deflector elements then being erected upon rotation of the rotating member.
Devices of the type described in the document WO 2010/076522 have in common the introduction of particles to be loaded via the top of the reactor and collision of the individual particles, as they fall, with mechanical deflectors, causing a random deviation of said particles. The particles deviated in this way from falling vertically then ideally fall individually and freely with a rainfall effect onto the whole of the surface of the filling front, where they form a dense and homogeneous deposit.
The distribution device is conventionally installed in a filling opening of the reactor situated at the top of the reactor and at the center of the reactor, which can prove problematic for other operations.
For example, one or more measuring probes (or sensors) may be disposed inside the reactor in order to measure the level of the solid particles already fallen into the reactor, in particular during filling. More generally, probes are installed inside the reactor in order to measure parameters relating to monitoring the loading of the solid particles into the vessel.
The installation in the reactor of this kind of distribution system, including in particular the distribution device and the probe supports, can nevertheless prove relatively difficult to carry out. One of the main constraints with which operators of this type of equipment may be confronted is linked to the sometimes extreme internal overall size of a reactor that may contain plates, thermocouples and supports for those elements. This constraint is therefore linked to the small space available to operators for maneuvering the distribution device in order to install and adjust it.
There therefore exists a need for a system for loading solid particles that has less severe constraints in terms of overall size.

Loading of solid particles into a vessel


A computer system includes a display and software that enables the system to create, change and delete, title-containing blocks and their interrelations, as shown on the display. The system employs keyed inputs to implement its commands and has a data structure that includes a world plane, segmented into rows and columns containing title fields. The data structure is used in a method which creates from a list of titles, a display of title blocks and graphical interconnections. The method comprises: positioning and displaying a list of titles and associated commands in the world plane; displaying a keyboard input of a command in the command field of at least a title to which the command applies; positionally adjusting the title in the display with respect to other titles, in accordance with the command; and graphically interconnecting the adjusted title with at least another title in the list of titles, the graphical interconnection being produced automatically in response to the command.

The prior art is replete with computer application programs for generating and editing networks. A network, in this regard, may refer to a manufacturing routing flow diagram, an organization chart, a logic-flow diagram, hierarchical bills of materials, and other similar graphical displays. Such programs generally require the user to input locations of boxes or other nodes that comprise the network and the end points of connecting lines mostly through the use of a graphical pointing device, e.g., a mouse, joystick light pen etc. For instance, in Love et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,561, a mouse is employed to edit a user interface as it is shown on a display. In Barker et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,321 an operator selects one of several editing modes and causes a graphic object (i.e., box, node) to be either redefined in whole or in part. A mouse input is employed by Barker et al. to control the edit action.
Other, more sophisticated network screen editors can be found described in the following articles "On the Design of the Graphical Transition Network Editor" McDaid et al., Lecture Notes In Computer Science, 282 Visualization In Programming, 5th Interdisciplinary Workshop In Informatics and Psychology, May 20-23, 1986, pages 142-150; "Task Master: An Interactive Graphical Environment for Task Specification, Execution and Monitoring" Arthur et al., Behavior and Information Technology, 1989, Vol. 8, No. 3, pages 219-233; "Intelligent Filing System With Knowledge Base" Fujisawa et al., Hitachi Review Vol. 37, 1988, No. 5 pages 323-328 and; "A Network Screen Editor Implementation", Hunter et al., Software-Practice and Experience, Vol. 12, 1982, pages 843-856 (Wiley and Sons). Each of the aforementioned articles describes a sophisticated network editor wherein edit functions are invoked by and through the use of a non-keyboard implement. Furthermore, to the extent that keyboard inputs are employed, editing is accomplished on a keystroke by keystroke basis. For instance, in the Hunter et al. system, a line may be added to the display by pressing a return or tab key, or causing a typing action past a right hand screen margin.
Such inputs are only one aspect of a screen edit function that must be implemented to construct a desired graphical display. In Smith U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,187, a Vector system is used to determine a "pleasing" interconnection matrix for the boxes of a network. However, there is no teaching of how such a matrix can be quickly and easily edited by using simple keyboard inputs.
There is a demand for graphical display functions on relatively unsophisticated personal computers and terminal displays. In providing a network editor for such computers, simplicity of input and commands is desirable. Furthermore, the edit function should provide flexible editing of the display. Moreover, the edit functions should be clearly displayed and understandable so that the user is not intimidated.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a network editing system which is operable through a computer keyboard.
It is another object of this invention to provide a user-friendly network editing system, particularly adapted to the generation of hierarchical diagrams.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a network editing system which employs few commands in its edit structure and is easily accommodated by the unsophisticated user.

International Business Machines Corporation


Disclosed is an actinic ray curable ink-jet ink comprising a an epoxy compound having at least two oxirane rings and a linkage chain linking the two oxirane rings, wherein the linkage chain has a branched structure.

Up to now, as an ink-jet ink exhibiting good water resistance, there has been an ink which contains a water soluble dye dispersed or dissolved in a high boiling point solvent, and which contains a water soluble dye dissolved in a volatile solvent. However, a dye is inferior to a pigment in resistance characteristics such as light stability, and therefore ink using a pigment as a coloring agent has been required. But, it is difficult to disperse a pigment stably in an organic solvent, and it is also difficult to ensure stable dispersibility and ejection. On the other hand, in cases when ink using a high boiling solvent is applied onto a non-absorptive recording medium, a solvent in the ink is not volatized, results in difficulty of drying via evaporation of the solvent. Accordingly, ink using high boiling solvent cannot be printed on a non-absorptive recording medium.
Generally, ink using a volatile organic solvent can be properly printed onto a non-absorptive recording medium, due to adhesiveness of resin used and volatilization of the solvent. However, such ink, in which the volatile solvent is a major component, is easily dried at the nozzles of a recording head due to volatilization of the solvent, requiring frequent maintenance. Resistance of ink to some solvents may not be sufficient because the ink essentially requires good solubility in a solvent used.
Further, in an on-demand printer using a piezo element, usage of a large amount of a volatile solvent in ink increases frequency of maintenance, and also tends to cause problems of dissolution and swelling of members contacting the ink in the printer. In addition, a volatile solvent has numerous restrictions as a dangerous material under the Fire Defense Law. Consequently, in an on-demand printer using a piezo element, it is necessary to employ ink containing a volatile solvent in a small amount. However, components used in an actinic ray curable ink usually are ones having a relatively high viscosity. Therefore, it has been difficult to design ink having a viscosity capable of being ejected in conventional printers and further having good curability and high stability.
In order to overcome the problems described above, an actinic ray curable composition is disclosed in Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 2001-220526) which contains an epoxy compound, and a compound having an oxetane ring or a vinyl ether. Extensive study of the above actinic ray curable composition has been made, and, as a result, it has been proven that ink of this composition has problems in strength of a cured layer therefrom, ejection stability from nozzles, its adhesion to a recording medium, solvent resistance, and water resistance as well as in safety, stability, and curability under high humidity. Solution of the above problems has been desired.

Actinic ray curable ink-jet ink and printed matter


A memory circuit that includes a memory bitcell. The memory bitcell includes a six-transistor circuit configuration, a first transistor coupled to the six-transistor circuit configuration, a second transistor coupled to the first transistor, a third transistor coupled to the second transistor, and a capacitor coupled to the second transistor and the third transistor. The memory circuit includes a read word line coupled to the third transistor, a read bit line coupled to the third transistor, and an activation line coupled to the second transistor. The memory bitcell may be configured to operate as a NAND memory bitcell. The memory bitcell may be configured to operate as a NOR memory bitcell.

Integrated devices include logic circuits that are configured to perform logic functions. An integrated device may include thousands or millions of logic circuits that are organized in a certain layout or configuration. The layout of these logic circuits in an integrated device are very complicated and may not be ideal nor optimal for fabrication processes that are used to fabricate the integrated devices. The is an ongoing need to provide logic circuits with improved layouts, which can result in better performing integrated devices and a layout that is optimized for integrated device fabrication processes.

Integrated device comprising memory bitcells comprising shared preload line and shared activation line


An apparatus for transporting containers includes transport elements for transporting the containers in a transport direction, each of the transport elements including a clamping element, which is either a centering or holding element, for clamping a particular container, and an inspection device to inspect a container-to-be-inspected for unwanted foreign matter. The inspection device has a piezo sensor and is integral to the transport, centering, or holding element. The apparatus also includes an analysis unit connected to the inspection device, and an excitation element for controlling movement of a container. The inspection device is connectable to the container such that the container can be moved in an appropriate direction of movement and in the transport direction using the inspection device.

Bottles and similar containers are often used to hold liquids, such as drinks. The containers can be made of a transparent or translucent material, for example glass or a translucent plastic, e.g. PET.
It is known to use an inspection device to examine containers for unwanted foreign matter. This is done both to protect a consumer's health and a manufacturer's reputation.
Known methods and systems for foreign-matter inspection rely on optical inspection. However, optical methods do not work well in certain cases. For example, the containers to be inspected may be made of a dark glass or plastic. Or they may be opaque. Examples of opaque containers are metal cans. Optical systems also have difficulty when the product is very cloudy, or if it contains solids or fibers.
Also known is an inspection method in which, under laboratory conditions, a piezo sensor is used, such as the AiF short report on the 264 ZBG (new kind of multi-contact detection as the basis of an innovative hybrid system for the automatic detection of particulate solid foreign bodies in filled, flowable, non-lumpy food taking the example of products with a selected rheological constitution; Delgado, Antonio; Benning, Rainer; Forstner, Judith; Erlangen; FAU Erlangen-Nurnberg. 2009 (AIF264ZBG)).
The procedure disclosed in AIF264ZBG is reportedly suitable for recognizing foreign bodies in liquids by means of a signal detection by the piezo sensor and vibration analysis following excitation of the liquid. As containers, 0.5-liter bottles were used for the investigations conducted, as used for beer or alcohol-free drinks. For the numerical simulations by means of the finite elements method (ANSYS CFX simulation software), a bottle filled with water was selected by way of example, to investigate whether a translational or a rotational acceleration should prove to be more suitable. As foreign bodies, largely spherical glass particles measuring 0.5 mm, 1.0 mm and 1.5 mm in diameter were observed. In addition, initial theoretical investigations with PET particles but also with olive oil were carried out. Due to the adjustability of the top bottle centering and the flexible bearing of the base part, the clamping force can be set at a defined level. The latter also effects a comparatively simple implementation of the necessary uncoupling from vibrations acting from the outside. The signal pick-up or detection by the piezo sensor occurs here exclusively via the base of the bottle wherein the piezo sensor is in fact stuck directly onto the base of the bottle.
Fundamentally, thus, foreign matter could also be detected in containers and/or products that are optically difficult to inspect. However, the information in the short report is based solely on laboratory measurements.

Inspection device for inspecting foreign matter


The invention relates to vehicle engines, in particular to improvements to the thermodynamic cycle that forms the operating method for an internal combustion engine. An aggregate-phase thermodynamic cycle consists in sequential and interrelated changes in the thermodynamic parameters of an exhaust gas as a working medium of an internal combustion engine, resulting from the energetic separation of the exhaust gases in a swirl chamber that is incorporated with the engine into a single thermodynamic system to form a single closed volume. The sequential creation of considerable high and low temperatures brings about aggregate-phase changes in the working medium. At the high temperature limit some or all of the exhaust gases are ionized. At the low temperature some or all of the exhaust gases are condensed in a closed volume. This in turn leads to the creation of a stable and considerable vacuum in this closed volume. This vacuum causes a positive working stroke in the operating cycle of the internal combustion engine.

A. Adelshin's internal combustion engine thermodynamic cycle without forced induction and an internal combustion engine operating on that cycle are well known and described in RU N 94037895 06 A1. It represents an extension of the thermodynamic cycle of S.Carnot. It is based on the fact that a vacuum is created in a collector behind the exhaust valve. The vacuum causes the accelerated discharge of the exhaust gases from the combustion chamber with creation of deep vacuum. The discharge results in the compulsory rise of the piston from position BDC to TDC, i.e. an additional useful operation for the rotation of crankshaft is produced. The cooling of cylinder walls and the intake of unheated and fresh charge is rapidly produced. The absence of exhaust residual gases in the combustion chamber raises the delivery ratio. The vacuum is created at the expense of the discharge of the exhaust gases with supersonic speeds determined by passing them through a supersonic nozzle.
To the lacks of the given operating method, it is possible to attribute an imperfection concerning an aggregative state of a working medium depending on modes of operation and appropriate basic thermodynamic parameters, and complexity of creation of a steady state of vacuum with the help of the engine specified in the given application.
Another internal combustion engine is described in RU N 2055224 C1. The engine contains a case with a cylinder-piston group, devices to exchange gases, and an exhaust manifold supplied by a swirl ejector and additional gas exchange devices such as exhaust valves connected by a pipeline with a passive nozzle of a swirl ejector, an active nozzle of which is connected to the exhaust manifold. As a result, the cylinders of the engine are connected through the exhaust values to a source of discharge such as a swirl ejector. In addition, the exhaust valves are connected by a pipeline with the paraxial mixing zone of a swirl ejector chamber. In addition, the installation of the swirl ejector between the engine radiative cooler and the engine provides the intake of environment by the ejector through the cooler and cools the heat-carrier in this system.
The offered engineering solution has new properties—the ability to remove the exhaust gases from the cylinder before fresh combustion gases are introduced preventing the induction and exhaust valves from overlapping, elimination of cylinder air purge, faster removal of exhaust gases from and faster introduction of gases to the cylinder, reduced work needed for the removal of exhaust gases from the cylinder, greater work output during the expansion step, more complete removal of exhaust gases from the cylinder volume, improvement in the engine's ecological characteristics, noise reduction and use of the swirl ejector for engine cooling, increased engine capacity, performance and efficiency and also a reduction in toxic substances that are emitted into environment.
To the lacks of the given engine, it is necessary to attribute the complexity of the swirl ejector transition, as a basic operational medium of the system, to the constant auto modeling mode at ICE cyclic exhaust. In addition, the aggregative state of working medium and its basic thermodynamic characteristics are not determined. Because, of this at operation of a real ICE, a number of distinctive positive results, probably, are difficult to achieve.

Method and apparatus for operating an internal combustion engine with an adelshin aggregate phase thermodynamic cycle


Techniques are described for expanding and/or improving the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) 3.0 television protocol in robustly delivering the next generation broadcast television services. In a boundary region between first and second broadcast stations in which a receiver can pick up signals from both stations, a primary tuner presents a demanded service while a secondary tuner scans for duplicate transmissions of the service, and if one is found, the version with the better quality metrics may be presented.

The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) 3.0 suite of standards is a set of over a dozen industry technical standards as indicated in A/300 for delivering the next generation of broadcast television. ATSC 3.0 supports delivery of a wide range of television services including televised video, interactive services, non-real time delivery of data, and tailored advertising to a large number of receiving devices, from ultra-high definition televisions to wireless telephones. ATSC 3.0 also orchestrates coordination between broadcast content (referred to as "over the air") and related broadband delivered content and services (referred to as "over the top"). ATSC 3.0 is designed to be flexible so that as technology evolves, advances can be readily incorporated without requiring a complete overhaul of any related technical standard.
As understood herein, an ATSC 3.0 receiver scans for services including in reception areas that contain two or more frequencies carrying the same service, as may occur in a boundary region in which broadcast signals from two regional ATSC 3.0 broadcaster stations overlap. These boundary regions exist in a multifrequency network (MFN). Present principles are directed to managing receiver operation in such regions as divulged below.

Techniques for ATSC 3.0 broadcast boundary area management using plural tuners


A semiconductor device comprises a semiconductor substrate, a first insulation film formed on the semiconductor substrate, a metal film for forming a bonding pad on the first insulation film, and a second insulation film which is formed between the first insulation film and the bonding pad and which is stiffer than the first insulation film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement in electrodes of a semiconductor device in which a copper type wire is used as a bonding wire.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, in a high-frequency semiconductor device, an integrated circuit and the like, an electrode is formed of aluminum. The aluminum allows a bonding pad to be formed on an oxide film on a silicon substrate.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional semiconductor device.
In FIG. 1, element 13 having a PN junction, such as a transistor, is formed in the surface region of silicon substrate 11. Oxide film 12 is formed on silicon substrate 11 and has contact hole 14 for extracting an electrode. Aluminum electrode 15 is thus extracted through contact hole 14 and allows a bonding pad to be formed on oxide film 12.
The above-described configuration of the conventional semiconductor device has a drawback wherein a stress locally concentrates directly under the bonding pad.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, semiconductor chip 16 including the above-described configuration of the conventional semiconductor device is mounted on lead frame 17. Aluminum electrode 15 is thus connected to an external lead by copper type wire 18 made of copper, copper alloy or the like. Since the wire is stiff enough to be used as a bonding wire, aluminum electrode 15 is bent to be connected to the external lead. In the conventional semiconductor device, semiconductor chip 16 is greatly damaged and crack 19 is easy to occur in oxide film 12 directly under the bonding pad or even in silicon substrate 11 under oxide film 12.
If crack 19 occurs in oxide film 12, an insulation state cannot be maintained, and a leak or a short circuit is caused between electrodes.

Electrode structure of a semiconductor device which uses a copper wire as a bonding wire


A GUI enabling instant access to a sequence of previously executed assistance programming GUIs. The assistance programming GUIs lead the user through a specific sequence of templates until an object is created. Within each template, various prompts will solicit information variables to complete the template. The assistance program will analyze the returned variables and determine a related next step template to complete the object according to a required finished product. As each step may diverge into branches based on user input, the final result becomes an interrelated sequence of steps specific to the session history of the object creation. The sequence of assistance templates are grouped into a tabular notebook. The notebook is arranged according to the original historical relationships created during the creation of the subject. Each tab is labeled to equate to the various title bars found within each individual template. To edit an information variable, the user would select a particular tab, i.e., one or more clicks from a mouse or similar known cursor pointing device. Upon editing one or more information variables, the overall result may be changed, but the original interrelationships and dependencies defined by the sequence created during the object creation is preserved.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of user assistance programs. More specifically, the present invention relates to a visually seamless method of creating and editing an object using assistance programs.
2. Related Materials and Definitions
This application is related to the following co-pending application which is hereby incorporated by reference:
GUI GUIDE FOR DATA MINING Ser. No. 08/955,402, filed Oct. 21, 1997.
The following definitions may be useful to the understanding of the terminology as cited throughout the following specification. Terms not specifically addresses may be located within available technical dictionaries such as the IBM Dictionary of Computing, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994. This terminology may be used throughout the background, specification and claims of the present invention:
Application Program Interface (API): A functional interface supplied by the operating system or a separately licensed program that allows an application program written in a high-level language to use specific data or functions of the operating system or the licensed program.
Cluster: A group of records that have similar characteristics.
Cluster Prototype: The attribute values that are typical of all records in a given cluster. Used to compare the input records to determine if a record should be assigned to the cluster represented by these values.
Clustering: To partition a database into groups of records that have similar characteristics. A cluster profile represents the typical values of the fields for records in their assigned cluster.
Control: In SAA Advanced Common User Access architecture, a component of the user interface that allows a user to select choices or type information; for example, a check box, an entry field, a radio button.
Data Field: In a data table, the intersection from table row and table column where the corresponding data is entered.
Data Format: There are different kinds of data formats, for example, database tables, database views or flat-file tables.
Data Type: There are different kinds of data types, for example, categorical, integer or discrete.
Field: A set of one or more related data items grouped for processing. In this document, with regard to database tables and views, field is synonymous to column.
File: A collection of related data that is stored and retrieved by an assigned name. File Name: (1) A name assigned or declared for a file. (2) The name used by a program to identify a file.
File-selection Box: A box that enables the user to choose a file to work with by selecting a file name from the ones listed or by typing a file name into the space provided.
File Specification (filespec): In the AIX operating system, the name and location of a file. A file specification consists of a drive specifier, path name and file name.
File System: In the AIX operating system, the collection of files and file management structures on a physical or logical mass storage device, such as a diskette or minidisk. See also Distributed File System, Virtual File System.
Input Data: Data that is entered into a data processing system or any of its parts for storage or processing. Data received or to be received by a functional unit or by any part of a functional unit. Data to be processed. Pertaining to Intelligent Miner, the meta-data of the database table, database view or flat-file table containing the data you specified to be mined.
Instance: In object-oriented programming, a single, actual occurrence of a particular object. Any level of the object class hierarchy can have instances. An instance can be considered in terms of a copy of the object type frame that is filled with particular information.
Item Category: A categorization of an item. For example, a room in a hotel can have the following categories: Standard, Comfort, Superior, Luxury. The lowest category is called child item category. Each child item category can have several parent item categories. Each parent item category can have several grandparent item categories.
Item Description: The descriptive name of a character string in a data table.
Item Set: A collection of items. For example, all items bought by one customer during one visit to a department store.
Mining: Synonym for analyzing, searching.
Mining Base: A repository where all the information about the input data, the mining run settings, and the corresponding results is stored.
Mining Run Setting: Contains the different parameters defined for a mining run
Name Mapping: A table containing descriptive names or translations of other languages mapped to the numerals or the character strings of a data table.
Neural Network: A plurality of connections between computer processing elements, wherein the organization and weights of the connections determine the output
Output Data: Data that a data processing system or any of its parts transfers outside of that system or part. Data being produced or to be produced by a device or a computer program. Data delivered or to be delivered from a functional unit or from any part of a functional unit. Pertaining to the Intelligent Miner, the meta data of the database table, database view, or flat-file table containing the data being produced or to be produced by a function.
Path: The route used to locate files; the storage location of a file. A fully qualified path lists the drive identifier, directory name, subdirectory name (if any) and file name with the associated extension.
Predicting Values: The dependency and the variation of one field's value within a record on the other fields within the same record. A profile is then generated that can predict a value for the particular field in a new record of the same form, based on its other field values.
Rule Body: Represents the premise, the specified input data for a mining function.
SAA: The Common User Access architecture, the Common Programming Interface, and the Common Communications Support.
Schema: A logical grouping for database objects. When a database object is created, it is assigned to one schema, which is determined by the name of the object For example, the following command creates table X in schema C: CREATE TABLE C.X
Sequential Patterns: Intertransaction patterns such as the presence of one set of items is followed by another set of items in a database of transactions over a period of time.
Similar Time Sequences: Occurrences of similar sequences in a database of time sequences.
Structured Query Language (SQL): An established set of statements used to manage information stored in a database. By using these statements, users can add, delete or update information in a table, request information through a query, and display the results in a report.
Taxonomy: Represents a hierarchy or a lattice of associations between the item categories of an item. These associations are called taxonomy relations.
Translation Process: Converting the data provided in the database to scaled numeric values in the appropriate range for a mining kernel using neural networks. Different techniques are used depending on whether the data is numeric or symbolic. Also, converting neural network output back to the units used in the database.
Transaction: A set of items or events that are linked by a common key value, for example, the articles (items) bought by a customer (customer number) on a particular day (transaction identifier). In this example, the customer number represents the key value.
Discussion of Prior Art
Many prior art applications have small, user assistance programs, e.g. wizards, coaches, guides, which walk the user through the creation of objects in the application. Typical objects are documents, databases, spreadsheets, html pages, etc. A drawback of the prior art lies in the limited continuity between the GUI used during creation of objects and the GUI used to edit created objects. Typically, separate dissimilar GUIs are used requiring additional knowledge and therefore failing to provide an easy link between the two processes. What is needed is a GUI format that is uniformly recognizable during both the creation and development of object process steps.
Prior art wizards, coaches and guides can be found in many Microsoft.RTM. and Lotus.RTM. applications. Examples are, but not limited to, Microsoft Front Page.RTM. and Lotus Access.RTM. 97.
Whatever the precise merits, features and advantages of the above cited references, none of them achieves or fulfills the purposes of the present invention. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide for a visually seamless method of editing created objects, while preserving the steps performed during creation of the object.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an interface to the user which enables quick selection of any of a sequence of discrete object creation steps for editing thereof.
These and other objects are achieved by the detailed description that follows.

Method for editing an object wherein steps for creating the object are preserved


A parallel-to-serial conversion method for IBMA in a Reed Solomon decoder is used for obtaining discrepancies in IBMA iterations, thereby acquiring an error location polynomial and an error value polynomial. Syndrome sequences for the calculation of discrepancies in IBMA iterations have a fixed length. The number of syndromes is t+1, where t is the largest number of symbols that can be corrected of the error location polynomial. The feature that syndrome sequences have the same length is based on the fact that the discrepancies are not affected if the coefficients of polynomial orders of the error location polynomial are zero.

(A) Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a Reed Solomon decoder and Inversionless Berlekamp-Massey Algorithm (IBMA) and parallel-to-serial conversion method thereof.
(B) Description of the Related Art
Error correction codes (ECC) are in wide use, with respect to current general applications. For example, consumer electronics using high speed digital communications, optic disc storage and high resolution television all use Reed Solomon decoders.
Nowadays, there are many transmission technologies and equipment that are widely used, and transmission rates have increased from 56 Kbps to several gigabytes per second. However, noise interference may occur during signal transmission, resulting in data receiving errors. Therefore, receiving equipment should be simple, popular and have high efficiency error correction capability to correct transmission errors due to channel noises.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,286,123 B1 disclosed a Berlekamp-Massey Algorithm (BMA) in which a parallel-to-serial interface directly uses multiplexers as interfaces. However, control signals are more complicated and divisional operation devices are needed in BMA architecture.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,317,858 B1 and 6,539,516 B2, although the parallel-to-serial interface of IBMA architecture is changed to be of serial entering, it has less regularity and the error value polynomial is calculated after the error location polynomial is obtained.
A parallel-to-serial interface and an IBMA architecture are compared as follows. FIG. 1 illustrates a traditional Reed Solomon decoder 10 including a syndrome calculator 11, a parallel-to-serial (PS) interface 12, an IBMA apparatus 13, a key equation solver 14, a serial-to-parallel (SP) interface 15, a Chien search device 16 (error location) and a Chien search device 17 (error value), a first-in-first-out (FIFO) circuit 18 and a Forney algorithm device 19. The syndrome calculator 11 receives messages r(x) from a receiving end and calculates syndromes. The syndromes are transmitted to the IBMA apparatus 13 through the parallel-to-serial interface 12. The IBMA apparatus 13 generates an error location polynomial Λ(x) based on the syndromes. The key equation solver 14 generates an error value polynomial Ω(x) based on the syndromes and Λ(x). Λ(x) and Ω(x) are transmitted to the Chien search devices 16 and 17 through the serial-to-parallel interface 15 to solve error locations and the Forney algorithm device 19 calculates error values. r(x) is registered in the FIFO circuit 18 and corrected by the error values obtained by the Forney algorithm device 19, so as to obtain messages c(x) at the end of the transmission.
Accordingly, there are problems with the error value polynomial Ω(x) being obtained after the error location polynomial Λ(x) is obtained, and the parallel-to-serial interface has less regularity.
FIG. 2 illustrates a traditional parallel-to-serial interface using multiplexers. The parallel-to-serial interface includes 16 syndrome cells 22 and a multiplexer 21. The corresponding syndrome sequences are shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1Δ(i)Syndrome sequencesi = 0S1i = 1S2, S1i = 2S3, S2, S1i = 3S4, S3, S2, S1i = 4S5, S4, S3, S2, S1i = 5S6, S5, S4, S3, S2, S1i = 6S7, S6, S5, S4, S3, S2, S1i = 7S8, S7, S6, S5, S4, S3, S2, S1i = 8S9, S8, S7, S6, S5, S4, S3, S2, S1i = 9S10, S9, S8, S7, S6, S5, S4, S3, S2i = 10S11, S10, S9, S8, S7, S6, S5, S4, S3i = 11S12, S11, S10, S9, S8, S7, S6, S5, S4i = 12S13, S12, S11, S10, S9, S8, S7, S6, S5i = 13S14, S13, S12, S11, S10, S9, S8, S7, S6i = 14S15, S14, S13, S12, S11, S10, S9, S8, S7i = 15S16, S15, S14, S13, S12, S11, S10, S9, S8
The IBMA algorithm is a modification from BMA algorithm, with a view to decreasing hardware complexity, in which divisional operation in BMA is replaced with a non-divisional operation and a multiple of the original polynomial is obtained. According to features of Galois Field, the same root can be solved. This algorithm is used for obtaining the error location polynomial Λ(x). The IBMA architecture and calculation are exemplified as follows.
Initial conditions:
D(−1) = 0δ= 1Λ(−1)(x) = 1T(−1)(x) = 1Δ(0) = S1For i=0 to 2t−1{Δ(i+1) = Si+2 * Λ0(i) + Si+1 *Λ1(i) +...+Si−vi+2 *Λvi(i)If Δ(i) =0 or 2D(i−1) ≧ i+1  D(i) = D(i+1)  T(i)(x) = x * T(i−1)(x)  δ = δ  Λ(i)(x) = Λ(i−1)(x)Else  D(i) = i+1−D(i−1)  T(i)(x) = Λ(i−1)(x)  δ = Δ(i)  Λ(i)(x) =δ * Λ(i−1)(x) +δ(i) * x * T(i−1)(x)}Ω(x)mod x2t=S(x)*Λ(2t)(x)                where Λ(i)(x) is the error location polynomial at ith iteration                    Λj(i)(x) is coefficients of orders of Λ(i)(x)                            j is x order                Δ(i) is discrepancy of ith iteration                δ is discrepancy of T(i)(x) with corrected iteration                T(i)(x) is an auxiliary polynomial                D(i) is the highest order of the auxiliary polynomial                S(x) is syndrome array S1˜S2t                 Ω(x) is a key equation
FIG. 3 illustrates a traditional IBMA apparatus 30, and FIG. 4 illustrates the architecture for calculation of a key equation based on the architecture shown in FIG. 3. The IBMA apparatus 30 comprises multipliers 31, 40 and 41, buffers 32 and 37, adders 33 and 39, multiplexers 35 and 43 and registers 34, 36, 38, 42 and 44.
In order to obtain higher regularity and lower hardware complexity, the separated IBMA algorithm can implement serial input data sequences as shown in Table 1. The error location polynomial and the key equation (error value polynomial) after separation are listed in Table 2.
TABLE 2Error location polynomialKey equationΛ(i)(x) = Λ0(i) + Λ1(i)x + . . . + Λvi(i)xvi                              Ω                                (            x            )                          =                                              S                                      (              x              )                                                      Λ                                      (              x              )                                                                                mod                                                                          x                          2                            t                                                              ≅                                              Ω                          (              0              )                                +                                    Ω                              (                1                )                                                  x                    +                      …                                                                                Ω                              (                                  v                  -                  1                                )                                                                x                              v                -                1                                                               Λ    j          (      i      )        =      {                                                      δ              *                              Λ                0                                  (                                      i                    -                    1                                    )                                                      ,                                                j            =            0                                                                                δ                *                                  Λ                  j                                      (                                          i                      -                      1                                        )                                                              +                                                Δ                                      (                    i                    )                                                                                T                                      j                    -                    1                                                        (                                          i                      -                      1                                        )                                                                        ,                                                1            ≤            j            ≤            vi                              Ω(i) = Si+1Λ0 + SiΛ1 + . . . + S1Λi       Δ          (              i        +        1            )        =            ∑              j        =        0            vi                                    Δ      j              (                  i          +          1                )                  Ω    j          (      i      )        =      {                                                      S                              i                +                1                                                                Λ              0                                                                          for                                                                                i                        =            0                                                                          Ω                              j                -                1                                            (                i                )                                      +                                          S                                  i                  -                  j                  +                  1                                                                          Λ                j                                                                                for                                                                                1                        ≤            j            ≤            i                                     Δ    j          (              i        +        1            )        =      {                                        0            ,                                                j            =            0                                                                                Δ                                  j                  -                  1                                                  (                                      i                    +                    1                                    )                                            +                                                S                                      i                    -                    j                    +                    3                                                  *                                  Λ                                      j                    -                    1                                                        (                    i                    )                                                                        ,                                                1            ≤            j            ≤            vi
As shown in Table 2, the error value polynomial Ω(x) is derived based on the error location polynomial Λ(x). In other words, Λ(x) is obtained first so as to obtain Ω(x). Moreover, as mentioned above, the parallel-to-serial interface has less regularity, so there still remains room for improvement.

Reed solomon decoder and IBMA method and parallel-to-serial conversion method thereof

Industrial Technology Research Institute


Techniques described herein use signal analysis to detect and analyze repetitive user motion that is captured in a 3D image. The repetitive motion could be the user exercising. One embodiment includes analyzing image data that tracks a user performing a repetitive motion to determine data points for a parameter that is associated with the repetitive motion. The different data points are for different points in time. A parameter signal of the parameter versus time that tracks the repetitive motion is formed. The parameter signal is divided into brackets that delineate one repetition of the repetitive motion from other repetitions of the repetitive motion. A repetition in the parameter signal is analyzed using a signal processing technique. Curve fitting and/or autocorrelation may be used to analyze the repetition.

Computer vision has been used to analyze images from the real world for a variety of purposes. One example is to provide a natural user interface ("NUI") for electronic devices. In one NUI technique 3D images of a user are captured and analyzed to recognize certain poses or gestures. Therefore, the user may make a gesture to provide input to control an application such as a computer game or multimedia applications.
Some applications require more precise understanding and analysis of the user's motion. For some applications it may be desirable to analyze and evaluate the user's motion. Conventional techniques to recognize gestures and poses are not adequate for such applications.

Signal analysis for repetition detection and analysis


A holding apparatus incorporated in the housing of a game machine holds a slip verification unit which includes a slip checkup device and a stacker disposed under the slip checkup device and combined therewith through a pair of mating connectors. The holding apparatus includes a stacker-receiving unit capable of receiving the stacker therein and having a front side closed by a door which when opened permits access to the interior of the stacker-receiving unit, a checkup-device carrier unit capable of carrying the checkup device and movable relative to the stacker-receiving unit so as to being the connectors into and out of engagement with each other, and an interconnecting mechanism which operatively interconnects the door of the stacker-receiving unit and the checkup-device carrier unit such that the connectors are disengaged from each other when the door of the stacker-receiving unit is opened.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for holding a slip verification unit at a predetermined position in a game machine such as a slot machine. The present invention is also concerned with a game machine incorporating such a holding apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a game machine such as a slot game machine has a slip verification unit having a slip checkup device and a slip stacker disposed under the checkup device. The checkup device checks a slip put by a game player into the game machine to judge whether the slip is appropriate acceptable or to be rejected as being, for example, a fake. Only the slips judged as being appropriate are stacked in the stacker under the checkup device. Such a slip verification unit is required to simultaneously satisfy two requirements: namely, highly strict restriction to removal of the stacker which stored the slips which are often cash bills, and ease of removal of the checkup device for inspection and maintenance. In order to meet these requirements, a typical conventional game machine of the kind described has a holding apparatus provided in the machine housing for holding the slip verification unit. The holding apparatus has a vessel-like stacker-receiving unit having a front lockable access door, and a checkup device holding unit disposed above the stacker-receiving unit and capable of detachably holding the checkup device. Removal of the stacker from the holding apparatus requires pulling the stacker after the front door of the stacker-receiving unit is unlocked and opened. The upper surface of the stacker and the lower surface of the checkup device are connected through a pair of mating connectors that are used for the purpose signal transmission and so forth between the stacker and the checkup device. These connectors when mating each other prevent the stack from being pulled out of the stacker-receiving unit. Therefore, a typical conventional apparatus has a mechanism operatively associated with the front door such that it moves the stacker-receiving unit downward in response to opening of the front door, so as to disengage the connectors, thereby enabling the stacker to be pulled out of the stacker-receiving unit.
The stacker is large and, hence, heavy as compared with the checkup device, in order that it accommodates a good deal of slips. Large actuating power and a rigid linking mechanism are required to move such a heavy stacker up and down in response to the action of the door. Consequently, the holding apparatus is rendered large and heavy, resulting in a raise of the costs of production and other deficiencies. For instance, if the holding apparatus and the associated linking mechanism are formed by metal sheet work, much labor and costs are required due to increase in the sheet thickness and necessity of reinforcement members.

Apparatus for holding slip verification unit in a game machine and game machine incorporating the same


The invention relates to bar compositions comprising an alkali metal salt of hydrophobically modified ethylenediaminetriacetic acid.

Hydrophobically modified ethylenediaminetriacetic acid (EDTA) chelating surfactants, salts thereof, and methods for making these compounds are taught, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,177,243, 5,191,081 and 5,191,106 (all assigned to Hampshire Chemical Corp.)
U.S. Pat. No. 5,250,728 to B. A. Parker et al., (assigned to Hampshire Chemical Corp.), teaches a novel route of synthesizing the hydrophobically modified ethylenediaminetriacetic acid.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,972 to B. A. Parker et al. (assigned to Hampshire Chemical Corp.) teaches a synthetic route leading to the salts of the hydrophobically modified ethylenediaminetriacetic acid which are the novel chelating surfactants applied by the subject invention.
Inform, Vol. 6, No. 10 (October, 1995, J. Crudden and B. Parker) teaches the physical and physiological properties of the novel chelating surfactants. Mild skin cleansers and mild shampoos are among the potential applications, as discussed in the articles.
Although these novel EDTA-derived surfactants are ultra-mild to skin, inclusion of the surfactants into a personal washing bar is fraught with difficulties. For example, the lather produced by the chelating surfactant alone is not as satisfactory as that of a conventional anionic detergent (e.g., sodium lauryl ether sulfate). Further, aqueous solutions of the EDTA surfactants at the concentrations relevant to the personal washing have a viscosity which is too low to deliver the desired sensory cues.
By this invention, applicants have formulated these chelating surfactants into specific skin cleansing formulations using specific routes of processing such that lather performance and other desired user properties are not sacrificed.

Bar compositions comprising novel chelating surfactants

Lever Brothers Company, Division of Conopco, Inc.


An elastically retractable towing strap used for towing one vehicle with another vehicle is disclosed. A first strap of elastic material, encased in a sleeve of woven fabric material, is connected to a second strap of a woven fabric towing line. The ends of the elastics strap are connected to the ends of the fabric towing line by weaving the elastic strap through a double loop connector, and riveting the connector to the fabric towing line. Further, the sleeve, which encases the elastic strap, is connected to the fabric towing line at a number of points along the length thereof. The sleeve may also serve the dual purpose of both encassing the elastic strap and functioning as the towing strap.

This invention relates to a towing strap including an elastic material for retracting the strap to prevent damage to vehicles being towed or doing the towing.
A disabled automobile, vehicle or cycle can often be towed to another location by a second automobile for repairs or disposal, etc. This is accomplished by connecting a towing line or towing strap from the rear bumper or frame of the non-disabled vehicle to the front bumper or frame of the disabled vehicle. The non-disabled vehicle is thus able to pull the disabled vehicle to a service station or other location to repair or disposal of the disabled vehicle. This towing operation requires two drivers--one for the non-disabled vehicle and one for the disabled vehicle--who must closely coordinate their driving of the vehicles.
While the first vehicle is actually pulling the second, the towing line or strap is stretched tight between the two vehicles. However, when the first vehicle comes to a stop, or when it slows down to turn a corner, the second vehicle has a tendency to move closer to the first thereby causing the towing line to slacken. If the towing line slackens enough, it may drag on the roadway, catch against potholes or other sharp ridges in the road, become entangled underneath one of the vehicles, or when the vehicles are turning become caught under one of the tires. Such events may cause further damage to one or both of the vehicles. It is therefore desirable to provide a retractable towing line to prevent the possibility of such damage.
Previous efforts to provide a retractable towing line have typically been in the form of a retractable reel. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 1,574,552 to Chapman shows a towing line mounted in a revolvable drum having a rewinding spring. U.S. Pat. No. 1,473,211 to Cowles shows a towing device comprising a spool upon which is coiled a flexible elastic band or metal strip. U.S. Pat. No. 1,695,096 to Hanses shows a vehicle towing device including a flat steel strap of some resiliency wound on a spool. U.S. Pat. No. 2,714,019 to Williams et al. discloses towing cables on a winding drum.
Other examples of towing lines include U.S. Pat. No. 1,599,353 to Albin which shows a vehicle tow chain combined with a heavy rubber fabric in the middle section to absorb sudden strains on the chain. U.S. Pat. No. 2,878,013 to Piodi shows a jerk absorber for tow ropes to absorb sudden strains on the rope. U.S. Pat. No. 3,869,114 to Schneider also shows a towing rope having a tension-cushioning shock absorber. U.S. Pat. No. 2,670,951 shows a towing gear with a heavy-duty spring. These devices, however, have a relatively low amount of elasticity, and are intended merely as shock absorbers to cushion the strain on the line. The devices do not prevent a slackened line from becoming entangled beneath the vehicles or other hazards.

Elastically retractable automobile towing strap


Methods, apparatuses, and systems for advertising on a first-down measurement device in an American-style football game are disclosed. An apparatus may include an information display and a sleeve for engaging the information display with a portion of the first-down measurement device. A method may include fixing an advertisement to a material and engaging the material with a portion of a first-down measuring device. A system may include a sideline marker for marking a position of a playing field, a measuring device connected to the sideline marker, an information display, and a sleeve for engaging the information display with the sideline marker or the measuring device. First-down measurement devices containing the information display of the present invention may also be used in simulated American-style football games in which first-down measurements are displayed, such as video game(s).

It is well known that in order to achieve a first-down during an American-style football game, it is necessary to advance the football ten yards from the position of the previous first-down. In order to identify the location of the previous first-down, and to identify a target location ten yards away that must be reached for another first-down, a first-down measurement device including a pair of sideline markers connected by a ground level chain ten yards in length is used. When a team receives possession of the football, or a first-down is achieved, one of the sideline markers is placed on the sideline parallel to the location of the football. The chain is then stretched to its 10-yard length such that the second sideline marker denotes the sideline location where the football must be advanced for the team in possession of the ball to achieve another first-down. The sideline markers are usually in the form of posts or poles, connected by the ten yard chain, which may be inserted into the grassy or artificial sideline turf, each post usually having a brightly colored target at the top that can be seen by players and fans. During the course of a football game, each time a team takes possession of the ball, and each time a first-down is achieved, the sideline markers are moved to show the current location of the ball and to show the 10-yard distance that must be achieved for a first-down.
Often, the football is advanced very close to ten yards, but since the sideline markers are on the sidelines of the playing field and usually a significant distance from the football, it may be difficult to determine whether the 10-yard distance has actually been reached. There is typically a tag provided on the chain that may be slid along the chain to the closest 5-yard line nearest to the first-down sideline marker. In these situations, the tag is moved down the chain so that it is at the closest 5-yard line nearest to the first-down sideline marker (or an official may grasp the chain at the nearest 5-yard line), and then the sideline markers and chain are taken from the sidelines onto the playing field to where the football is located for a measurement. The tag (or location where the official grasped the chain) is placed on the closest 5-yard line on the playing field to assure proper placement of the chain, and the chain stretched to where the football rests. At a climactic moment, the sideline marker at the end of the chain is brought next to the football to see if it has been advanced the necessary ten yards. During these situations, which may occur frequently during a football game, all eyes are on the sideline marker and the football (or on an in-house football stadium scoreboard) to see whether a first-down has been achieved. During televised football games, cameras are zoomed in on the football and the bottom of the sideline marker attached to the chain to see if the first-down has been achieved, and if not, to see what distance is needed to achieve it.
It is well known that advertising indicia are placed on football helmets, jerseys and other equipment so that viewers of the game are exposed to these indicia during the course of the game. The frequent focus on the bottom of a sideline marker provides an excellent opportunity for similar advertising and marketing or for providing any appropriate message.
It is therefore desirable to provide methods, apparatuses, and systems for displaying advertising indicia on first-down measurement devices including chains and/or sideline markers during American-style football games.


A pressure-controlling appliance for an inflatable product has a inflatable body, a pump mounted in the inflatable body, a pump switch and an inflation-deflation valve. The pump inflates or deflates the inflatable bodythrough the inflation-deflation valve. The pressure-controlling appliance also comprises an inflation-deflation controlling mechanism and a pressure-controlling mechanism. The inflation-deflation controlling mechanism is applied to open and close the inflation-deflation valve and to turn the pump switch on or off. The pressure-controlling mechanism operates the inflation-deflation controlling mechanism according to the pressure in the inflatable body that compared with the high or low reference pressure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pressure-controlling appliance for an inflatable product.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
Inflatable beds are significantly lighter than traditional beds and may be used indoors or outdoors. When deflated, inflatable beds have a smaller volume, and thus are stowed and carried easily. Inflatable beds may used in the house for guests, in the office for taking a nap, outdoors for camping and the like.
Inflating and deflating appliances have been developed for inflatable beds and similar inflatable objects. The conventional inflating appliance comprises a pump, a pump switch and an inflating valve. When inflating, the pump switch is connected and the pump is operated to inflate the inflatable object. When the inflatable object is filled up with air, the pump switch is disconnected to shut down the pump. Then the inflating valve is closed. When deflating, the inflating valve is opened to allow the air to exhaust.
However, the conventional inflating appliance cannot determine the air pressure in the inflatable body. This may negatively impact safety.

Pressure-controlling appliance for an inflatable product