A cooling water conduit extending through a segment of a crucible is curved inward in the portion around a molten metal tapping hole.

The present invention relates to a levitation melting furnace which melts electrically conductive material by inductively heating the conductive material placed in an alternating magnetic field, the distribution thereof is adjusted to generate such electromagnetic force as to float the conductive material.
FIG. 4 is a cross sectional perspective view of a conventional levitation melting furnace. Referring now to FIG. 4, a cylindrical crucible 1 includes an electrically conductive metal segments 11, each having a cooling water conduit 4, and insulation layers 12 which insulate the adjoining segments 11 from each other. The segments and insulation layers are laminated one after the other to form the side and bottom of the cylindrical crucible 1. The molten metal can be tapped from a hole 5 of bottom of a crucible through the conduit 6. The hole diameter of the conduit 6 is larger than the diameter of the hole 5. An upper induction coil 2 is wound around the upper part of the crucible 1 for melting the metal in the crucible and for exerting electromagnetic force horizontally to a molten metal 8 to stabilize the floated molten metal 8. A lower induction coil 3 exerts levitational force strong enough to float the molten metal 8. The levitation melting furnace of FIG. 4, which pinches the diameter of the tapping hole 5 and expands the hole diameter of the tapping conduit 6 to exert the levitational force to the molten metal 8 by the lower induction coil 3, is disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei. 7-249483.
FIG. 5 shows the external appearance of the conventional segment 11. Referring now to FIG. 5, the cooling water conduit 4 is inserted into the segment 11. Both ends of the cooling water conduit 4 are connected to respective cooling water feed pipes 9. The cooling water feed pipe 9 has a spigot joint 10 at an end thereof. As shown in FIG. 5, there remains no choice but to insert the induction coils upward from the bottom of the crucible due to the diameter differences between the crucible and induction coils. And, it is difficult to connect the cooling water feed pipes 9 beneath the segment 11 due to the space limitations. Therefore, the cooling water feed pipes 9 and the spigot joints 10 are aligned at first on the extensions of the segment 11. Then, the cooling water feed pipes 9 are bent outward and connected to the cooling water piping after the upper and lower induction coils 2 and 3 are mounted on the side of the crucible 1.
FIG. 6A is an induced current distribution on the crucible 1, FIG. 6B an induced current distribution on the molten metal 8, and FIG. 6C a distribution of force exerted to the molten metal 8, which are obtained by energizing the lower induction coil 3 of the levitation melting furnace which exerts levitational force to the molten metal by means of the narrowed diameter of the tapping hole 5 and the expanded diameter of the tapping conduit 6. In these figures, the symbols .smallcircle. and .quadrature. represent the induced currents flowing in opposite directions to each other in the crucible 1 and molten metal 8. The magnitudes of the current are indicated in proportion to the size of the symbols. The magnitudes of the force exerted to the molten metal 8 are indicated by the length of the arrows in FIG. 6C.
Since the currents flow in the opposite directions in the molten metal 8 and the crucible 1 surrounding the molten metal 8, repulsive electromagnetic force is exerted between the molten metal 8 and the crucible 1. When the repulsive electromagnetic force exceeds the gravitational force, the molten metal 8 is not tapped through the tapping hole 5. When the electromagnetic force around the tapping hole 5 is not so strong as to sustain the weight of the molten metal 8, the molten metal 8 is tapped through the tapping hole 5.
In the conventional levitation melting furnace which narrows the diameter of the tapping hole 8, the induced current is localized on the surface of the tapping hole, and the current induced in the molten metal 8 becomes larger toward the bottom of the molten metal 8. Therefore, strong force is exerted to the bottom of the molten metal 8. The levitational force exerted to the bottom of the molten metal 8 is 4 to 5 times as large as the levitational force generated by the lower induction coil 3, located around the tapping hole 5 having the diameter same with the hole diameter of the tapping conduit 6 and energized with the same current value. Therefore, sufficient levitational force is exerted to the molten metal 8 in spite of the reduced current feed to the lower induction coil 3.
The crucible 1 generates heat by the current induced therein by the upper and lower induction coils 2 and 3. The heat radiated from the molten metal to the crucible is carried away by the cooling water flowing through the cooling water conduits 4 in the segments 11.
In the above described conventional furnace, when the electric power fed to the upper induction coil and/or the lower induction coil is increased to improve the productivity by enlarging the furnace capacity or by shortening the melting period of time, the adjacent portion of the molten metal tapping hole is overheated, since the currents, induced in the crucible by the upper and lower induction coils and concentrating around the molten metal tapping hole, increase. Therefore, the maximum electric power fed to the upper induction coil and/or the lower induction coil is limited.
If the electric power fed to the lower induction coil is limited to suppress the overheating around the molten metal tapping hole, sufficient levitational force may not be obtained when the furnace capacity is enlarged.
For suppressing the overheating around the molten metal tapping hole by the conventional cooling scheme, it is necessary to expand the diameter of the cooling water conduit. Then, it becomes necessary to elongate the circumferential length of the segment to expand the diameter of the cooling water conduit without changing the relative spacing between the upper induction coil and the molten metal. However, since the elongated circumferential length of the segment reduces the levitational force exerted to the entire molten metal, it becomes difficult to lift the molten metal.
The method for preventing overheat by increasing the flow rate of the cooling water subjects to the other problems, since the pressure loss of the cooling water is proportional to the square of the flow rate of the cooling water and since the flow rate of the cooling water in these kinds of furnaces has been already from 13 to 15 m/sec which brings the pressure loss at the cooling water inlet of the furnace to limit thereof.
It takes time to replace the upper and lower induction coils, since it is necessary to heat and bend back the cooling water feed pipes prior to disengaging the induction coils.


An integrated circuit package system is provided including providing a wafer with bond pads formed on the wafer. A solder bump is deposited on one or more bond pads. The bond pads and the solder bump are embedded within a mold compound formed on the wafer. A groove is formed in the mold compound to expose a portion of the solder bump. The wafer is singulated into individual die structures at the groove.

In the electronics industry, as products such as cell phones and camcorders become smaller and smaller, increased miniaturization of integrated circuit (IC) packages has become more and more critical. At the same time, higher performance and lower cost have become essential for new products.
Usually, many individual integrated circuit devices are constructed on the same wafer and groups of integrated circuit devices are separated into individual integrated circuit die.
One approach to putting more integrated circuit dies in a single package involves stacking the dies with space between the dies for wire bonding. The space is achieved by means of a thick layer of organic adhesive or in combination with inorganic spacers of material such as silicon (Si), ceramic, or metal. Unfortunately, the stacking adversely affects the performance of the package because of decreased thermal performance due to the inability to remove heat through the organic adhesive and/or inorganic spacers. As the number of dies in the stack increases, thermal resistance increases at a faster rate. Further, such stacked dies have a high manufacturing cost.
Generally, semiconductor packages are classified into a variety of types in accordance with their structures. In particular, semiconductor packages are classified into an in-line type and a surface mount type in accordance with their mounting structures. Examples of in-line type semiconductor packages include a dual in-line package (DIP) and a pin grid array (PGA) package. Examples of surface mount type semiconductor packages include quad flat package (QFP) and a ball grid array (BGA) package.
Recently, the use of surface mount type semiconductor packages has increased, as compared to in-line type semiconductor packages, in order to obtain an increased element mounting density of a printed circuit board. A conventional semiconductor package has a size considerably larger than that of the semiconductor chip used. For this reason, this semiconductor package cannot meet the recent demand for a light, thin, simple, miniature structure. As a result, it is hard for the conventional semiconductor package to meet the demand for a highly integrated miniature structure.
Furthermore, the fabrication method used to fabricate the conventional semiconductor package involves a relatively large number of processes. For this reason, a need therefore exists for reducing the costs through use of simplified processes. In view of the ever-increasing need to save costs and improve efficiencies, it is more and more critical that answers be found to these problems.

Integrated circuit package system including stacked die


The present disclosure relates generally to polypeptides having improved alanine 2,3-aminomutase (AAM) activity, the polynucleotides encoding the AAM polypeptides, and expression vectors and host cells for expressing the AAM polypeptides.

Organic chemicals such as organic acids, esters, and polyols can be used to synthesize plastic materials and other products. To meet the increasing demand for organic chemicals, more efficient and cost-effective production methods are being developed which utilize raw materials based on carbohydrates rather than hydrocarbons. For example, certain bacteria have been used to produce large quantities of lactic acid used in the production of polylactic acid. 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP) is an organic acid. Several chemical synthesis routes have been described to produce 3-HP, and biocatalytic routes have also been disclosed (WO 01/116346). 3-HP has utility for specialty synthesis and can be converted to commercially important intermediates by known methods in the chemical industry, e.g., acrylic acid by dehydration, malonic acid by oxidation, esters by esterification reactions with alcohols, and 1,3-propanediol by reduction. The 3-HP compound can be produced biocatalytically from phosphoenolpyruvate or pyruvate through a key beta-alanine (β-alanine) intermediate (FIG. 1). β-alanine can be synthesized in cells from carnosine, β-alanyl arginine, β-alanyl lysine, uracil via 5,6-dihydrouracil and N-carbamoyl-β-alanine, N-acetyl-β-alanine, anserine, or aspartate (FIG. 2). However, these routes may not be cost-effective because they require rare precursors or starting compounds that are more costly than 3-HP. Therefore, production of 3-HP using biocatalytic routes would be more efficient if alpha alanine (α-alanine) could be efficiently converted to β-alanine directly (FIG. 1). A naturally occurring enzyme that inter-converts α-alanine to β-alanine has not yet been identified. It would be advantageous if enzymatic activities that carry out the efficient conversion of α-alanine to β-alanine were identified, such as an alanine 2,3-aminomutase (AAM). Enzymes having very low levels of AAM have been evolved in the laboratory (WO 03/1062173).
There are naturally occurring enzymes known to interconvert lysine to β-lysine. Lysine 2,3-aminomutase (KAM) was first described by Barker in Clostridium SB4 (now C. subterminale) as catalyzing the first step in the fermentation of lysine. KAM has been purified from C. subterminale, the corresponding gene cloned and expressed in E. coli (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,248,874, incorporated herein by reference). The specific activity of purified KAM from C. subterminale SB4 cells has been reported as 30-40 units/mg (Lieder et. al., 1998, Biochemistry 37:2578), where a unit is defined as μmoles lysine/min. The corresponding recombinant KAM had equivalent enzyme activity (34.5±1.6 μmoles lysine/min/mg protein). See U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0113882, the whole of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Based upon the sequence of the KAM from C. subterminale, KAM genes have been annotated in the genomes of other organisms. However, in most cases, the enzymatic activities of the polypeptides encoded by these genes have not been confirmed. Exceptions are the B. subtilis gene (Chen et al., 2000, Biochem. J. 348:539-549), and the Porphyromonas gingivalis and F. nucleatum genes. The B. subtilis KAM, encoded by the yodO gene, is more resistant to O2 than the C. subterminale KAM, but it is markedly less active. As reported in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 200310113882, the B. subtilis KAM has a specific KAM activity of only 0.62 U/mg.
C. subterminale SB4 KAM has been reported to have some cross-reactivity with L -alanine, converting it into β-alanine. See U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0113882 A1. The publications WO 03/062173 and WO 02/42418 disclose the first reports of AAM activity based upon modification of kam genes. In these applications, the synthetic aam genes had AAM activity as detected by the complementation of an E. coli ΔpanD strain. However, because alanine is not the natural substrate for this enzyme, the activity for this conversion is substantially less than the activity for conversion of lysine, its natural substrate. Such low AAM activity would not provide a cost-effective route to converting α-alanine to β-alanine.
The polynucleotide for the wild-type lysine aminomutase (KAM) of Porphyromonas gingivalis, designated as Pgaam, has the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:1 (GenBank Accession No. AE017175) and encodes the 416 amino acid residue polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:2. The polynucleotide (SEQ ID NO: 1) encoding this molecule was modified (SEQ ID NO: 3) as described in WO 03/106217, to produce a polypeptide (SEQ ID NO:4), designated as Pgaam2, having a detectible AAM activity. The polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:4, which exhibits a detectible AAM activity, differs from wild-type P. gingivalis Pgaam by having the following seven (7) amino acid substitutions: N19Y, E30K, L53P, H85Q, I192V, D331G, and M342T.
The percent homology between the amino acid sequences of the various KAMs from B. subtilis, C. stricklandii, F. nucleatum, and P. gingivalis are shown in Table 1 below.
TABLE 1B subtilisC. stricklandiiF. nucleatumP. gingivalisB subtilis100%53%50%52%C. stricklandii53%100%69%72%F. nucleatum50%69%100%70%P. gingivalis52%72%70%100%
The present disclosure is directed to engineered alanine 2,3-aminomutases having improved activity over those AAM enzymes known in the art.

Alanine 2,3-aminomutases and related polynucleotides


A lighting device including a frame, at least one U-shaped fluorescent tube, a diffusing plate, and a prism sheet having a plurality of prisms and being positioned between the fluorescent tube and the diffusing plate with the prism apices aligned in the axial direction of the fluorescent tube. The prism sheet covers the bent portion of the fluorescent tube to eliminate uneven luminance.

a) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a direct type backlight device for use as a backlight source of a liquid crystal display device.
b) Description of Related Art
Liquid crystal display (LCD) devices used as display apparatuses for microcomputers or television receivers do not emit light themselves, and therefore LCD devices must have a light source such as a lighting device.
Such lighting device commonly uses small diameter fluorescent tubes like cold-cathode tubes or hot-cathode tubes, and can be generally categorized into edge light type or direct type. In the edge light type, fluorescent tubes are placed at the side of a light-guide plate such that light emits from the LCD side of the light-guide plate. In the direct type, a reflecting plate and at least one fluorescent tube are housed inside a frame, wherein the direct light from the fluorescent tube and the reflected light that is the light from the fluorescent tube reflected by the reflecting plate are made incident into a diffusing plate placed at an opening of the frame, and then the light is diffused and emitted as an uniform planar light, forming an illuminated area.
Moreover, to evenly distribute the luminance of the illuminated area, the fluorescent tubes in the direct type lighting device are arranged in parallel with almost equal spacing, and so by arranging the increasing number of fluorescent tubes accordingly, the luminance distribution will not be degraded and the required luminance level can be obtained easily.
As display devices such as monitors and television receivers become larger in size and have higher luminance level, the increase in the number of fluorescent tubes used and the cost start to be problematic. To lower the cost, a method that uses one fluorescent tube to achieve the same luminance level and luminance distribution produced by multiple fluorescent tubes was developed by bending a long fluorescent tube and arranging it in parallel.
FIGS. 5A to 5E show, respectively, the front view, cross-sectional view, side views and bottom view of a conventional direct type lighting device, wherein the conventional lighting device includes: a frame 1; at least one fluorescent tube 2; a diffusing plate 3; an illuminated area 4; a frontal frame 5 for securing the diffusing plate 3 and preventing light leakage from surroundings; a reflecting plate 6 for effectively reflecting light from the fluorescent tube 2; a tube-holding frame 7 for holding the fluorescent tube 2; and a separation plate 8 for keeping a constant distance between the diffusing plate 3 and the reflecting plate 6.
The fluorescent tube 2 is bent at its center section to make at least two portions of the fluorescent tube 2 parallel, and the fluorescent tube 2 is arranged such that the width between the parallel parts of the fluorescent tube 2 is about the same as the distance between one parallel part and adjacent fluorescent tube 2.
However, the light-emitting length of a fluorescent tube per unit of illuminated area at the bent portion is longer than the light-emitting length of a fluorescent tube at the non-bent portion in the aforementioned bent fluorescent tube, and thereby the luminance distribution of the illuminated area is poor.
The current improvement method is to place the bent portion of the fluorescent tube outside of the illuminated area.
Problems to be Solved by the Invention
Because the bent portion of the aforementioned bent fluorescent tube in the direct type lighting device is placed outside of the illuminated area, the lighting device cannot extensively utilize the light from the bent portion of the fluorescent tube. Therefore, how to reduce the consumption of electricity or improve the luminance level becomes a major issue.
For the lighting device to use the light from the fluorescent tube extensively, the bent portion must be arranged in display region, but as aforementioned, the luminance distribution in the illuminated area degrades because the light-emitting length of the fluorescent tube per unit of illuminated area at the bent portion is longer than the light-emitting length of the fluorescent tube at non-bent portion.

Lighting device with U-shaped fluorescent tube


An out-of-stock detection system notifies store management that a product is out of stock. The system captures images of a shelf and determines the position product labels thereon. For each product label, a bounding box is generated based on the position of each product label on the shelf. The system then identifies a product for each product label based on information within each product label and, for each product label, stores a product identified for each bounding box. Accordingly, the system performs an out-of-stock detection process that includes capturing additional image data of the shelf periodically that includes each bounding box, providing a portion of the additional image data for each bounding box to a model trained to determine whether the bounding box contains products, sending a notification for a product determined to be out of stock to a store client device based on output from the model.

Stores offer items for sale to shoppers who visit the stores. As shoppers purchase the items that are available for sale, store management must continually restock items as shoppers purchase them. However, different items may need to be restocked at different rates and the rates at which items need to be restocked may change over time, and thus it is advantageous for store management to have up-to-date information on what items need to be restocked. Typically, in order to receive the up-to-date information, an employee of the store regularly traverses the store to identify which items need to be restocked. This requires a significant amount of employee-hours during the operation of the store. While store management can reduce the regularity with which an employee traverses the store, this comes at the cost of items remaining out of stock for greater periods of time during which shoppers cannot purchase them. Store management must balance employee time with restocking items, which itself requires resources from store management. As such, conventional methods for identifying out of stock items require significant resources from stores, thus increasing the stores' expenses.

On-shelf image based out-of-stock detection


A base lock includes pivotal first and second legs that respectively are mounted to first and second pivot blocks. The first and second pivot blocks include respective third and fourth legs that are arranged for engagement between one another, with the first and second pivot blocks mounted between a sliding door frame and a sliding door.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to sliding door lock apparatus, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved sliding door lock apparatus arranged for positioning within a sliding door framework between the framework and an associated sliding door.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Sliding door locks of various types have been utilized throughout the prior art and exemplified by the U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,499,675; 5,018,373; 4,563,885; 3,698,754; and 4,993,761.
The instant invention attempts to overcome deficiencies of the prior art by providing for a sliding door structure arranged for ease of mounting and positioning within a sliding door framework and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


A diluent passage 12 to introduce special liquid and a rinse liquid supply passage 13 which is separate from the diluent passage 12 are formed in the main body 10, and a plurality of jets are disposed at a cylindrical dial 18. A water convey passage is formed to connect two positions at the rinse liquid supply passage 13 where pressure difference occurs therebetween to the other jets 19b, 19c except the jet 19a through which the special liquid is introduced. When water flows in the rinse liquid supply passage 13, the water is introduced to the water convey passage due to the pressure difference of the rinse liquid supply passage 13. The water rinses the other jets 19b, 19c except for the jet 19a through which the special liquid is introduced. Therefore, adjusting changes or choking of the jets 19b, 19c which have not been used for a considerable time can be prevented.

Conventionally, liquid dilution devices are widely used to mix a special liquid such as a chemical liquid or detergent with tap water, for sterilization or disinfection when rinsing tableware or fresh vegetables. As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3149166 and so on, for example, the conventional liquid dilution device includes inside a body, a diluent passage for allowing passage of water (tap water), a negative pressure generate section formed in order to generate negative pressure somewhere along the diluent passage, and a liquid introduce passage connected at one end to the negative generate section and connected at the other end to a special liquid tank. By allowing a liquid, such as water or the like, into the diluent passage, negative pressure is generated at the negative pressure generate section. By this negative pressure, the special liquid is introduced from a special liquid tank into the diluent passage, and the special liquid is mixed with the water flowing in the diluent passage and thus is diluted.
Since it is desired for such a liquid dilution device to change the dilution factor depending on the special liquid, various methods for changing the dilution factor have been devised. For example, one design that was devised was to fix a jet in a hose connecting the special liquid tank to the liquid dilution device, and interchange the jets depending on the special liquid. However there is a problem that the interchanging of the jets by a user is inferior in efficiency and interchangeability.
Therefore, another design was devised to provide a dilution factor switching means in the liquid dilution device itself. A liquid dilution device of the related art provided with a dilution factor switching means is shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, and the dilution factor switching means is shown in FIG. 10. One diluent passage 61 is formed inside the body 60, for introducing a diluent such as water. The diluent passage 61 includes a venturi section 62 formed at some midstream as a negative pressure generate section, and a diffusion section 63 formed at a downstream side of this venturi section 62 as a negative pressure generate section having a diameter larger than that of the venturi section 62. In the body 60, a connect passage 64 which connects the diffusion section 63 to the outer side of the body 60 is formed.
A disk 66, as the dilution factor switching means, which is sandwiched by the body 60 and a holding member 65, is provided on the outer side of the body 60 at the side of an opening section of the connect passage 64. The disk 66 is rotatably attached to the body 60 and the holding member 65 through a bearing 68, centering around a shaft (bolt) 67 which is a fixing means for fixing the holding member 65 to the body 60. As shown in FIG. 10, a plurality of jets 69, respectively varying in diameter, are formed at the disk 66 on the same radius from a rotation center position.
In addition to the holding member 65, a liquid introduce device 70 is provided on the opposite side of the body 60 to sandwich the disk 66. Then, the liquid introduce device 70 is fixed to the body 60. The liquid introduce device 70 includes a first body 71 and a second body 72. A liquid supply passage 73 connecting to a special liquid tank, not shown in the figure, is formed inside the first body 71 and the second body 72. The liquid supply passage 73 is connected to the diluent passage 61 through the jet 69 formed in the disk 66 and the connect passage 64 of the body 60.
A ring-shaped seal member 74 is attached at a position of the body 60 facing the disk 66 and surrounding the connect passage 64. The ring-shaped seal member 74 is for preventing leakage of water from a joint surface of the body 60 and disk 66 passing through the diluent passage 61 and the connect passage 64. A ring-shaped seal member 75 is attached at a position of the first body 71 of the liquid introduce device 70 facing the disk 66 and surrounding the liquid supply passage 73. The ring-shaped seal member 75 is for preventing leakage of a special liquid from a joint surface of the first body 71 of the liquid introduce device 70 and the disk 66 passing through the liquid supply passage 73. An elastic member 76 is provided at a position of the body 60 facing the disk 66 and being far from the seal member 74. An elastic member 77 is provided at a position of the holding member 65 facing the disk 66 and with some distance from the seal member 75. These elastic members 76 and 77 prevent the disk 66 from leaning towards either the body 60 or the holding member 65.
By lining up one of the plurality of jets 69 formed in the disk 66 to the connect passage 64 of the body 60, the connect passage 64 of the body 60 and the liquid supply passage 73 of the liquid introduce device 70 are connected through the jet 69. In this manner, when the connect passage 64 and the liquid supply passage 73 are connected through the jet 69, the special liquid is introduced from the liquid supply passage 73 into the diluent passage 61 by negative pressure generated in a diffusion section 63 of the diluent passage 61. Here, it is possible to vary the flow amount of the special liquid introduced into the diluent passage 61 so as to change the dilution factor, by rotating the disk 66 to line up one of the plurality of jets 69 with the connect passage 64 and the liquid supply passage 73.
With the dilution factor switching means 66 having the plurality of jets 69 for adjusting flow amount, when a certain time passes after the jet 69 is once used, there arises a problem that the desired dilution factor cannot be obtained because the special liquid may dry out and stick to the jet 69, or the jet 69 may be choked.
The present invention was devised in the light of the abovementioned problem. The object of the present invention is to provide a liquid dilution device which can prevent a jet for adjusting flow amount of the special liquid from adjusting changes or choking.


A system and method of data management with modular erase in a data storage system with a memory array having an erase block and a target block with the target block in a logical unit separate from the erase block including: performing an erase operation on the erase block, the erase operation having an operation matrix configured for partial erasing of the erase block; updating a command status for the erase block; enabling an intervening command on the target block based on the command status indicating an incomplete erase status with the intervening command updating the command status; performing an erase optimization based on the command status; performing an additional erase operation based on the erase optimization; and updating the command status to an erase complete status based on the additional erase operation.

Various forms of long-term storage in computer systems include, other than electromechanical hard disks, non-volatile storage rooted in semiconductor or other memory technology. NOT-AND (NAND) flash memory is one form of non-volatile memory used in solid-state storage devices. In a common configuration of flash memory, the memory cells are arranged in typical row and column fashion with circuitry for accessing individual cells. The data store elements (e.g. transistors) of those cells are configured to hold two logical states in the case of Single Level Cell (SLC) or more than two logical states in the case of Multi Level Cell (MLC).
The flash memory is block-based storage and can require a block to be erased before being rewritten. Other commands cannot be performed while the erase operation is being performed. This can lead to longer command latency for the other commands while they wait for the erase operation to complete. In addition, because the duration of the erase operations can increase as the flash memory ages, the command latency can increase over time.
Thus, a need still remains for better data storage devices that can optimize command latency. In view of the ever-increasing commercial competitive pressures, along with growing consumer expectations and the diminishing opportunities for meaningful product differentiation in the marketplace, it is important to find answers for these problems. Additionally, the need to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and performance, and meet competitive pressures adds an even greater urgency to the critical necessity for finding answers to these problems.
Prior developments have long sought but not found optimal solutions to these problems. Hence, there remains a need that has long eluded those skilled in the art.

Data management with modular erase in a data storage system


A distributed database system includes a plurality of nodes connected via a network medium. Each node runs at least one application and stores a database. Each database at least partially overlaps at least one other database. Each database includes a plurality of tables, and each table includes at least one record. Ownership of each table in the database is assigned to only one application, and only an owning application can modify a table owned by the owning application. Each node also schedules running of the applications on the node such that only one application reads from and writes to the database at a time, distributes updates made to the database to every other database, and updates the database in accordance with received distributed updates.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a real-time distributed database system and method.
2. Description of Related Art
Distributing computer applications across multiple processors (nodes) has been an important requirement in systems development for some time. Each of the distributed applications have a need to share data in order to perform their allocated functions. For small systems this has been accomplished by sending all data in discrete application messages, but when a large amount of data is required, a database solution is necessary. The typical solution is to maintain a single database on one node, and have all other remote applications query that node when they need data from the database. While one node is accessing the data, the other nodes are locked out to maintain data integrity.
This "client-server" paradigm works well for non-real-time applications where the volume of data accessed is low and the frequency of those accesses is also low. The client-server paradigm, however, cannot support the high speed access and high data rates generally required by real-time applications. This is caused by the delays associated with the network access and the "wait" time associated with locking mechanisms to prevent more than one access at a time. In addition, as the number of client nodes grows large, the bandwidth of the network becomes a limiting factor due to the large number of duplicated data requests and the associated data transfers as each client requests and receives data.
Some commercial database vendors have developed a replication feature that allows a database to be mirrored on another node for fail safe purposes. This "copy" is for backup purposes only, and the copies associated with the mirroring function further degrade effective network bandwidth. In addition, this backup scheme requires a dedicated backup node strictly for the database.
Other conventional solutions provide for local copies of the data to improve access times, but these schemes require a master database and a backup database and periodically check consistency of the remote copies against the master. This consistency checking can steal a significant amount of time for checking and repair. These solutions also fail to ensure that the database updates are received by the remote nodes in the correct sequence.
Conventional systems that use a master database have a data maintenance problem. When one processor updates a portion of the common data, all other nodes are prevented from accessing that data until the update is complete. This is usually implemented using a series of locks. When an application needs to update a portion of common data, it first performs a series of network transactions to acquire a lock on the data to be updated. Locked data cannot be updated by other applications and in some systems can not be read by other applications until the locks are removed. When an application successfully acquires a lock, it updates the information in the database (first in a local copy if a local copy of the database is maintained, and then in the master database). Network operations are performed that update the data in all other copies of the database. When all updates are complete the holder of the lock releases the lock and other applications may again access the modified data.
There are several serious problems associated with the conventional solutions to this problem. First the update process is extremely slow and is therefore not applicable for real-time and near-real-time systems. In addition, duplication of data significantly cuts into available network bandwidth. Another problem associated with the locking mechanisms is that when processors fail they run the risk of leaving data inaccessible by not releasing the locks. Conventional systems correct this problem by implementing complicated, time-consuming, cleanup processing to make the database usable to the remaining processors after a processor failure. Once again this is not an acceptable situation for real-time and near-real-time systems. Finally, the maintenance of a master copy of the data reduces overall system reliability since the system is dependent on the two machines maintaining the master and backup databases.

Real-time distributed database system and method


A tufting machine for selectively forming tufts of yarns, including different color or type yarns, for forming patterned tufted articles such as carpets. A series of needles are reciprocated into and out of a backing material being fed through the tufting machine and are engaged by a series of gauge parts so as to pick-up loops of yarns from the needles. The gauge parts will be selectively controlled by activators to extend or retract the gauge parts to positions or elevations sufficient to pick-up or not pick-up loops of yarns from the needles. The feeding of the yarns to the needles further will be controlled to back-rob yarns not picked-up by the gauge parts, while the backing feed will be controlled to enable formation of tufts at an increased rate over the pattern stitch rate for the pattern of the tufted article being formed.

In the tufting field, particularly with regard to commercial and hospitality carpets, there has been increased demand for the production of carpets and rugs with new visual patterns, including the use of multiple different colors, in an effort to keep up with changing consumer tastes and increased competition in the marketplace. Carpet designers and manufacturers thus have placed increased emphasis on the creation of newer, different and more eye-catching patterns for carpets, rugs and other tufted fabrics, including patterns having the selective placement and display of yarns of particular colors or types within pattern fields thereof, and with the resultant tufted fabrics being formed with a substantially true pattern density of the visible tufts of the pattern. In particular, it has been desirable to try to replicate as closely as possible the look and feel of patterned carpets, rugs or other fabrics formed on a loom, but which can be created and formed therein on broadloom tufting machines so as to enable increased efficiencies in production of such patterned tufted carpets, rugs and/or other fabrics.
Accordingly, it can be seen that a need exists for a system and method of forming tufted fabrics such as carpets and rugs that addresses these and other related and unrelated problems in the art.


The invention is a routing algorithm characteristic that minimizes the weight, meaning that the probability that a node is disconnected from the controller in case of a failure in the network is minimized. The first algorithm used in the invention is an approximation algorithm for finding the controller routing tree that provides maximum resilience in the network. The algorithm is referred to herein as the Maximum Resilience (MR) algorithm. The heuristic MR algorithm selects a shortest-path tree as a starting point and modifies the tree in order to improve resilience. The output of the MR algorithm is not necessarily a shortest-path tree, but provides more resilience compared to the initial tree. The RASP algorithm provides a shortest-path tree with improved network resilience compared to other possible shortest-path trees.

In a conventional network architecture, there is a coupling of the forwarding and control planes in that both control and data packets are transmitted on the same link, hence the control traffic and data traffic is equally affected when a failure occurs. To simplify, control traffic is the traffic between a network element, referred to herein as a controller, that controls how flows of data are to be processed and forwarded and a forwarding element, referred to herein as a switch. Data traffic is the data payload that is sought to be transferred from one node to another node in a network. Throughout this application, forwarding element(s) are referred to as switch(es). However, the use of the term switch shall not be construed to limit such forwarding elements to Ethernet or layer 2 switches.
This coupling of the forwarding and control planes in a conventional network architecture usually results in an overly complicated control plane and complex network management. Disadvantageously, this is known to create a large burden and high barrier to new protocols and technology developments. Despite the rapid improvement in line speeds, port densities, and performance, the network control plane mechanisms have advanced at a much slower pace than the forwarding plane mechanisms. To overcome the cited disadvantages, the OpenFlow split architecture protocol has been developed.
A split-architecture network design introduces a separation between the control and forwarding components of a network. Among the use cases of such architecture are the access/aggregation domain of carrier-grade networks, enterprise networks, Internet service provider (ISP) networks, mobile backhaul networks, cloud computing, multilayer (L3 & L2 & L1, OTN, WDM) support networks and data centers, all of which are among the main building blocks of a network architecture. Therefore, proper design, management and performance optimization of these networks are of great importance.
Unlike the conventional network architecture which integrates both the forwarding and the control planes in the same network element, a split architecture network decouples these two planes and executes the control plane on servers that might be in different physical locations from the forwarding elements. The use of a split architecture in a network enables the simplification of the switches implementing the forwarding plane and shifts the intelligence of the network into a number of controllers that oversee the switches. The control traffic (sent as, e.g., flow entries, packets, frames, segments, protocol data units) in split-architecture networks can be transmitted on different paths from the data traffic (sent as, e.g., packets, frames, segments, protocol data units) or even on a separate network. Therefore, the reliability of the control plane in these networks is no longer directly linked with that of the forwarding plane. However, disconnection between the control plane and the forwarding plane in the split architecture could disable the forwarding plane; when a switch is disconnected from its controller, it cannot receive any instructions on how to forward new flows, and becomes practically offline.
In a split architecture network, the controller collects information from switches, and computes and distributes the appropriate forwarding decisions to the switches. Controllers and switches use a protocol to communicate and exchange information. An example of such protocol is OpenFlow (see www.openflow.org), which provides an open and standard method for communication between a switch and a controller, and it has drawn significant interest from both academics and industry.
FIG. 1 is a diagram 100 showing an overview of the OpenFlow interface between a switch 109 and a controller 101. Switch 109 is a component of network elements 105. Controller 101 communicates with switch 109 over secure channel 103 using the OpenFlow protocol. The flow or forwarding table 107 in an OpenFlow switch is populated with entries from controller 101, as seen in FIG. 2 consisting of: a rule 201 defining matches for fields in packet headers; an action 203 associated to the flow match 204; and a collection of statistics 205 on the flow 206.
When an incoming packet matches a particular rule, the associated actions are performed on the packet. As seen in FIG. 2, a rule 201 contains key fields 202 from several headers in the protocol stack, for example Ethernet MAC addresses, IP address, IP protocol, TCP/UDP port numbers as well as the incoming port number. To define a flow, all the available matching fields may be used. But it is also possible to restrict the matching rule to a subset of the available fields by using wildcards for the unwanted fields.
The de-coupled control platform of the split architecture eases the task of modifying the network control logic and provides a programmatic interface upon which developers can build a wide variety of new protocols and management applications. In this model, the data and control planes can evolve and scale independently, while the cost of the data plane elements is reduced.
It is well known that link and switch failures can adversely affect network performance. For example, a failure of a few milliseconds may easily result in terabyte data losses on high-speed edges. Studies of the resilience of networks have historically assumed an in-band control model, meaning that the control plane and data plane have the same resilience properties. Although split-architecture networks use an out-of-band model, link and switch failures are still a concern as a single controller is directly coupled by a link to each network element acting as a switch. In such a network, if the link between the controller and switch fails, the switch is unable to update its forwarding table and eventually fails.
In conventional networks, where both control and data packets are transmitted on the same link, the control and data information are equally affected when a failure happens. When used in a split architecture, disconnection between the controller and the forwarding plane could disable the forwarding plane as when a switch is disconnected from its controller, it cannot receive any instructions on how to forward new flows, and becomes practically offline.
In the existing split-architecture network design proposals and preliminary implementations, each switch is pre-programmed with a path to reach the controller. Upon a link or node failure, the switch relies on the controller to detect such failure and re-compute the new path for the switch. Detection of any failures in switches or links by the controller must be based on some implicit mechanisms, such as when Hello messages are not received by the controller from a switch. This introduces large delays in the network for detecting the exact location of the failure and re-establishing the controller-switch connections. If no backup path can be configured for a switch, then the connection of the switch to the controller will be interrupted in case of a failure in the primary path to the controller.
A link failure can occur over a link transporting control traffic, data traffic or both and it indicates that traffic traversing a link can no longer be transferred over the link. The failure can be either of a link between two switches or of a link between one controller and the switch to which it connects. In most cases, these links fail independently.
A switch failure indicates that a network element or forwarding element is unable to originate, respond, or forward any packet or other protocol data unit. Switch failures can be caused by software bugs, hardware failures, misconfigurations, and similar issues. In most cases, these switches fail independently.
Special failure cases include connectivity loss between a switch and a controller: A switch can lose connectivity to its controller due to failures on the intermediate links or nodes along the path between the switch and the controller. Whenever a switch cannot communicate with its assigned controller, the switch will discard all the packets on the forwarding plane managed by the controller, even though the path on the forwarding plane is still valid. In other embodiments, a subset of the traffic can be forwarded on forwarding plane or similar limited functionality can continue for a limited amount of time until a connection with an assigned controller or another controller is re-established. Therefore, this can be considered as a special case of switch failure.
For the most part, controllers and switches are tasked with minimizing the distance between nodes using a routing protocol such as Open Shortest Path First (OSPF). OSPF is currently the most popular interior gateway routing protocol. OSPF (see IETF RFC 2328) is a link-state protocol in which a router broadcasts its neighbors' link-state information to all the nodes in the routing domain. Using this information every router constructs the topology map of the entire network in the domain. Each router maintains a link-state database which reflects the entire network topology. Based on this topology map and the link cost metrics, the routers determine the shortest paths to all other routers using Dijkstra's algorithm. This information is in turn used to create routing tables that are used for forwarding of IP packets.
The primary disadvantage of using a shortest-path routing protocol is that it does not consider network resilience or protection. In evaluating a network design, network resilience is an important factor, as a failure of a few milliseconds may easily result in terabyte data losses on high-speed links. As used herein resilience is the ability to provide and maintain an acceptable level of service in the face of faults and challenges to normal operation. A network element or forwarding element that has greater resilience is better protected from faults and challenges to normal operation than a network element of forwarding element that has lesser resilience. As used herein failure probability is the frequency with which an engineered system or component fails, expressed as the number of failures per hour, or the probability of each node fails in the long time.
What is desired is a method and apparatus that that generates a controller routing tree based on resilience or protection factors and provides back-up links between a switch and a controller. Such desired controller routing tree would be generated in a controller based on information communicated between the switch and controller, used to configure secondary outgoing links in a switch to serve as backup paths between the switch and controller, the switch operable to detect a link or node failure and cause a back-up path from the switch to the controller to be selected.

Method and apparatus for resilient routing of control traffic in a split-architecture system


An engine testing system comprises a rotary absorber that provides a variable resistance to an engine under test and heats coolant from a cold reservoir. A hot reservoir coupled to rotary absorber stores the heated coolant for later (or concurrent) use. Moreover, an organic Rankine cycle turbine-generator device is coupled to the hot reservoir, which converts heat from heated coolant into electrical power. A conditioning system is coupled to the organic Rankine cycle turbine-generator device that cools the coolant for storage in the cold reservoir. The available captured waste energy may be augmented with waste energy that is also available during engine testing. The additional waste energy may be in the form of exhaust gases, thrust, heat from engine coolant systems, residual engine heat, radiant or convective waste heat, friction etc. Variations of the above system may replace the primary energy re-capture from other than a rotary absorber.

Various aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to engine testing and more particularly to test facilities for testing engines, which capture waste energy from engine testing operations and transform the captured waste energy into usable energy.
When testing an engine, a load on a shaft of the engine may be simulated through the use of a loading device such as a rotary absorber, electrical generator, pump, or dynamometer. As an illustrative example, a rotary absorber is coupled to the shaft of the engine to supply a variable resistance (i.e., reactionary torque) to the shaft as the engine is operated. The amount of resistance supplied by the rotary absorber is controlled as part of the test operation to simulate the load. As the shaft of the engine turns, power transmitted through the shaft is (ultimately) converted to heat through the application of this resistance.
The manner in which the generated heat is removed from the testing system depends largely on the type of loading device. For instance, in many forms of mechanical rotary absorbers, a coolant carries heat energy away from the rotary absorber. The heated coolant is pumped to an evaporative cooler or some other heat exchanger device, where it is cooled. On the other hand, an electrical rotary absorber, such as an eddy current brake typically requires cooling for the generator windings, which is usually accomplished by liquid heat exchange. As another example, an air dynamometer dissipates heat directly to the atmosphere. As yet another example, an electrical generator or dynamometer produces electricity from shaft rotational energy that is routed to resistor banks.

Engine test cell for intermittent engine testing


A scanning optical system is provided with a light source configured to emit a plurality of beams, a deflecting device configured to deflect the plurality of beams simultaneously to scan in a main scanning direction, and an imaging optical system configured to converge the plurality of beams on a plurality of target surfaces to form a plurality of beam spots scanning on the plurality of target surfaces, respectively.

The present invention relates to a tandem type scanning optical system for an image formation device such as a color laser printer.
Tandem type scanning optical systems are typically employed in color image formation devices employing an electrophotographic imaging method. The tandem type scanning optical system is generally configured such that a plurality of beams emitted from a plurality of laser diodes are deflected by a single polygonal mirror to dynamically scan in a predetermined direction (which will be referred to as a main scanning direction), and the deflected beams are incident on a plurality of photoconductive drums for forming images of primary color components or complementary color components, respectively, via imaging optical systems (i.e., fθ lens). As exposed to scanning beams, latent images for the primary or complementary color components are formed on the photoconductive drums, respectively.
Examples of such a scanning optical system are disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publications P2003-075751A (hereinafter, referred to as '751 publication) and P2003-149573A (hereinafter, referred to as '573 publication). According to these publications, the imaging optical system includes a first lens group arranged to receive all of the plurality of deflected beams, and a plurality of second lens groups that respectively receive the plurality of deflected beams. According to '751 publication and '573 publication, chromatic aberration of the second lens is not compensated for. Therefore, if the wavelengths of the plurality of laser beams emitted by the plurality of laser diodes are different, the chromatic aberration occurs. In such a case, due to the chromatic aberration, the length of the scanned lines (i.e., magnifications) of respective color components formed on the photoconductive drums may be different from each other.
Incidentally, a diffractive lens structure has been known as measures to compensate for the chromatic aberration due to the difference among wavelengths of the plurality of beams. Examples of such an application of the diffractive lens are disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publications No. HEI 10-197820A (hereinafter, referred to as '820 publication) and P2001-142020A (hereinafter, referred to as '020 publication).
It should be noted, however, it is relatively difficult to form the diffractive lens structure in the scanning optical system disclosed in '751 publication and '573 publication.
When the imaging optical system consists of only the first and second optical systems, it is preferable to employ the diffractive lens structure on a surface of the first lens group since the first group of optical system is relatively small in size along the main scanning direction. On the other hand, since the diffractive lens structure, or the lens having the diffractive lens structure on a surface thereof is typically made of resin material and formed by injection molding, and it is necessary to form a molding die, it is preferable that the diffractive lens structure can be formed on a master block using a lathe. The diffractive lens structure for compensating for the lateral chromatic aberration has a pattern of steps repeated along the main scanning direction. That is, a boundary of adjoining diffraction areas extends in an auxiliary scanning direction (which is perpendicular to the main scanning direction). Therefore, a base curve on which the diffractive lens structure is formed is typically rotationally symmetrical about the optical axis or rotationally symmetrical about an axis extending in the main scanning direction (i.e., the base curve is arc-shaped cross section when cut along the auxiliary scanning direction).
If the rotationally symmetrical surface about the optical axis is formed in the first lens group, part of the beams incident on the first lens group after reflected by the polygonal mirror may be reflected by the surface rotationally symmetrical about the optical axis, reflected by an adjoining reflection surface of the polygonal mirror, incident on surfaces to be scanned via the imaging optical system as ghost light, and cause uneven density thickness.
Further, if the diffractive lens structure is formed on a lens surface, it is necessary to avoid deterioration of the diffractive lens structure due to contraction after molding. The diffractive lens structure for compensating for the longitudinal chromatic aberration has steps, whose side surfaces are parallel with the optical axis of the lens as well as the auxiliary scanning direction.
According to the optical system disclosed in '751 publication, the following problem arises. Only the surface of the lens whose shape in the auxiliary scanning direction is arc-shaped and thus, the mother die for which can be formed with the lathe is the target surface side surface of the elongated lens of the second lens group. However, it will take a relatively long period of time to form the mother die of the diffractive lens structure to be formed on this lens, which is elongated in the main scanning direction. Therefore, this elongated lens is not appropriate for such a purpose. It should be noted that, according to the '751 publication, the second lens of the first group is a glass lens, therefore, it is not appropriate for the lens on which the diffractive lens structure is formed.
According to the third embodiment of '573 publication, a polygonal mirror side surface of the scanning lens is a spherical surface, which is advantageous in forming the mother die thereof. However, since this surface is a concave surface, the shape of the diffractive lens may be broken due to contraction after molding. Therefore, this surface is inappropriate for the diffractive lens structure. The other embodiments of the '573 publication each consists of three groups of lenses, which may increase the manufacturing cost.


A device for verifying wiring connections during the assembly of a wire harness. The wire harness comprises a connector having an array of terminals and a plurality wires connected to individual ones of the terminals. The device comprises a transmitter for applying different signals to different terminals for emitting a corresponding electromagnetic signal from a wire connected to that terminal. Each electromagnetic signal has an associated identifying characteristic. A detector is used to receive the electromagnetic signals emitted from the wires connected to terminals, and a processor generates an output which is used to identify the received electromagnetic signals based on their detected identifying characteristics. A method of assembling a wire harness using the device is also disclosed.

Wire harnesses (also known as cable harnesses, and wiring assemblies or looms) are used to connect electrical components within automobiles and aeroplanes, as well as other vehicles, and construction machinery. By binding a large number of wires together in a bundle, wiring can thereby be installed into a vehicle more quickly and reliably. However, in spite of increasing automation, wire harnesses are still generally assembled by hand. As such, wire harnesses are often one of the most expensive parts of a vehicle.
Wire harnesses are typically assembled on an assembly board, which comprises a circuit diagram specific to the particular wire harness design. A technician will then match up wires and mini-bundles of wires to the circuit diagram on the assembly board surface. Once all the wires have been assembled on the board, the main bundle of wires will then be secured together using cable ties or tape, and will then be removed for testing. However, because of this, faulty electrical connections will often only be detected once the wire harness has been fully assembled, taped together, and removed from the assembly board.
A particular problem occurs when a larger wire harness includes one or more sub-components of smaller wire harnesses. That is, each sub-component may comprise a small wire harness having a bundle of wires connected to one or more dedicated connectors, with each sub-component being preassembled before it is connected to the main assembly board to become part of the main wire-harness. In some instances, these sub-components are assembled as so-called "kits" in which the associated wire-harness is terminated with a connector only at one end. Consequently, the distal ends of the wires are unterminated and left floating, with these unterminated ends remaining unconnected until much later in the assembly processes when the sub-component is wired into the main wire harness. In such a scenario, conventionally, it is not possible to perform early stage testing to verify that the correct wires have been connected to the correct terminals of the connector. This is because it would be economically unviable to manually connect each unterminated wire to a test rig for testing. As such, current assessment of the correctness of the wiring within a sub-component or kit is based solely on visual inspection. Faults are therefore often not identified until the main wire harness has been fully assembled. At this late stage, correcting the fault would require considerable manual labour to unbind the cable bundle, and then locate and repair the wiring.
The present disclosure seeks to address the above issues.

Wire harness test device and method for verifying connections when assembling a wire harness


Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are disclosed for voice-based content searching. The systems, methods, and computer-readable media described herein may improve user experiences by providing voice-based content searching using mobile devices. In an example method described herein, a computer system may receive a voice search initiation signal from a mobile device over a WiFi protocol connection or a Bluetooth protocol connection. The computer system may monitor a WiFi receiver and a Bluetooth receiver of the computer system for first voice data. The computer system may determine that the first voice data is being received at the WiFi receiver. The computer system may determine that second voice data is received at the Bluetooth receiver while the first voice data is being received at the WiFi receiver, and discard the second voice data.

Users may view or otherwise consume content on televisions or other content consumption devices. In order to identify and select content, the user may desire to be presented with content selection options that meet one or more specified search criteria. The user may provide the search criteria using devices capable of communicating with other devices in accordance with different communication protocols.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Voice-based content searching on a television based on receiving candidate search strings from a remote server


A method and a system for applying a seal to the closure of an opening, in particular to a door of a motor vehicle, is provided. The application takes place in two stages. In a first stage, a seal, which is cut off from a continuous seal strip is placed with a stationary roll-on head on placing and pressing elements of a tensioning plate, which are moved past the roll-on head. In a second stage, the tensioning plate with the seal placed on the placing and pressing elements is guided to the closure of the opening and pressed here by means of the pressing elements on the bonding face of the closure of the opening. In general, this type of application takes place exclusively by mechanical means.

A known method of this type (EP 0 849 106 B1) takes as its starting point an annular seal, which is placed on the placing and pressing elements of a tensioning plate. This tensioning plate is used to guide the seal onto the closure of the opening, for example a motor vehicle door, which seal is supported by a mount. Between the mount and the tensioning plate there are reference points, which ensure that the seal is guided and applied in a precisely fitting manner. This type of applying a seal to a motor vehicle door has been used in practice for a long time. The complex placing of the annular seal on the placing and pressing elements, which is done by hand, is however considered disadvantageous. This also leads to increased production costs such as the manufacture of a completely closed sealing ring in a separate operation before placing on the tensioning plate.
In addition, there are purely mechanical methods, in which the seal is cut to length from a seal strip by means of a roll-on head and applied to the closure of the opening in one operation. However, problems with regard to process reliability can occur with this method.
In a known method and a known device (DE 101 38 781 A1), one or a plurality of guiding means can be provided for the seal profile, which guiding means are provided between the point at which it is pulled off from a supply roll and the point at which it is brought into contact with the application location on the component. The guiding means are preferably configured as driven guide rollers. In this method and this device, the seal profile can therefore move more or less freely between the guiding means and the pressing roller, and therefore also the application location, but experience shows that exact positioning of the seal profile at the application location is not guaranteed in this manner.
In another known method and another known device (WO 03/091055 A1), guiding means in the form of driven rollers are also arranged upstream of the pressing roller at the application location. In addition, the pressing face of the pressing roller is profiled, in particular grooved, in order to receive a web, which is arranged on the back of the seal profile. Although there is an additional guide at the application location, the use of such a device is limited to seal profiles with a corresponding profile geometry, in particular with webs arranged on the back.
Finally, a method for applying a circumferential seal to the closure of an opening, in particular to a sun roof of a motor vehicle, is known (DE 197 04 327 C1), in which a self-adhesive continuous seal strip is cut to length from a supply roll by means of an application device and adhesively bonded directly to the closure of the opening by means of a roll-on roller of the application device. The application device is arranged such that it can be displaced along the closure of the opening on a frame, which corresponds to the profile of the closure of the opening, with it being possible to control the height and direction of the roll-on roller. The constructive effort of the application device to be expended for this is great.

Method and system for applying an encircling seal to a closure of an opening, in particular of a door, of a motor vehicle


The invention relates to equipment for the correction of presbyopia by means of corneal surface modelling by photo-ablation, of the type which uses a laser beam (16) (excimer laser) which is masked with a special mask (5) in such a way as to strike surfaces (19) of the cornea (3) in a sickle-shape configuration and located in proximity to the lower area of the pupil rim (20), on which surfaces (19) a removal action of very small-thickness uniform tissue layers is effected.

The invention relates to equipment for the correction of presbyopia by remodelling the corneal surface by means of photo-ablation. The prior art embraces the use of special laser equipment, that is, excimer lasers, able to generate a radiation beam capable of vaporising in an extremely regular and precise way very thin layers, of microscopic thickness (measured in um) of the eye cornea tissue. Such equipment is currently used for the remodelling of the corneal curvature to eliminate various refraction defects. To this end the prior art teaches the use of diaphragms and masks which have the task of permitting the laser beam to reach and ablate the corneal surface in pre-established areas. By the use of masks and diaphragms, whose apertures can be controlled and co-ordinated with programmed laser beam application times, it is possible to realise a kind of step-shaped "sculpting" of the cornea through a succession of photo-ablated excisions of uniform single-layers, of differing lengths, from the cornea itself.

Equipment for the correction of presbyopia by remodelling the corneal surface by means of photo-ablation


A vibration damping liner adapted to pass through a relatively small diameter end of a tubular shaft for accommodation in a relatively large diameter section of such shaft, the liner being formed of a plurality of coaxial, helically wound paperboard strips forming inner and outer layers. The confronting edges of adjacent convolutions of each layer are coplanar and unjoined, and the confronting edges of the convolutions of all but one of such layers register with one another. The paperboard strip forming the one layer bridges the confronting edges of the adjacent convolutions of the other layers and is adhesively secured to that layer adjacent such one layer. Such one layer has less resistance to rupture than any of the other layers.

An automotive vehicle conventionally utilizes a hollow, tubular drive or propeller shaft for transmitting driving torque from the engine to the driving wheels. It is not uncommon for such shaft to be subjected to vibrations from one or more sources. It is desirable to damp such vibrations so as to provide for a quieter and smoother ride.
Most of the propeller shafts in use heretofore have been of uniform diameter from one end to the other. Recently, however, some drive shafts have one or both ends which are of smaller diameter than the remainder of the shaft. A smaller diameter end for a drive shaft has certain advantages, such as enabling the use of smaller universal joints than otherwise would be possible, as well as minimizing the space and weight of the parts required to couple the shaft to the universal joints.
It has been common heretofore simply to slide a substantially cylindrical liner into a hollow drive shaft from one end thereof, the liner being made of materials which damp vibrations and attenuate noise. Typical examples of such liners are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,751,765; 3,075,406; 4,014,184; and 4,909,361.
Liners of the kind in use heretofore cannot be used with propeller shafts that have a larger diameter between its ends than at the ends for the reason that the liner must be pushed into the shaft through the smaller diameter end and, consequently, must be of smaller diameter than that of the shaft between its ends. A liner having a diameter less than that of the shaft in which it is accommodated cannot damp vibrations, but instead will contribute to vibrations because the liner inevitably will be relatively movable within the larger diameter portion of the shaft.
Ideally, once a vibration damping liner is accommodated in a shaft the liner will be immovable relative to the shaft. Such an arrangement makes it possible to balance the shaft with the liner in place, and the balance of the shaft will not be adversely affected as the result of subsequent shifting of the liner within the shaft.
The ability of a liner to remain fixed in place within a shaft depends on a number of factors. For example, the liner should be formed of material which is sufficiently springy to enable the liner to bear forcibly against the surface of the bore of the shaft and thereby minimize the possibility of slippage occurring between the liner and the shaft. However, the inside and outside diameters of shafts and liners, respectively, are formed to dimensions having some tolerances, as a consequence of which not all of the shafts and liners have uniform diameter dimensions. It is necessary, therefore, to ensure that the outer diameter of the liner is sufficiently greater than that of the inner diameter of the shaft so that a radially expansive force constantly is exerted by the liner on the shaft. However, liners may be manufactured and stored for a considerable period of time prior to their assembly with shafts. If the material from which the liners are made is hygroscopic, ambient humidity will have an effect on the springiness of such material, thereby affecting the ability of the liner to exert a binding force on the shaft.
All of the foregoing problems exist in those instances in which a liner must be pushed through a relatively small diameter end of a shaft for accommodation in a larger diameter portion of such shaft. The necessity of the liner's having to pass through a relatively small diameter simply adds to the complexity of the liner's ability to damp vibrations.
An object of the invention is to provide a liner for accommodation in a cylindrical shaft and which not only has superior vibration damping characteristics so as to be usable in shafts of uniform diameter, but which also is adapted to be used with a cylindrical shaft whose diameter is not uniform.

Expandable drive shaft damper and method of forming


A record mark is formed on a master disc DS. The record mark is formed substantially along a spiral standard locus, but a record mark position is displaced in a direction crossing the spiral standard locus according to record data. A wobble is formed such that the average value of the displacement of the record mark position is zero for each predetermined data unit with the standard locus as a reference.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information recording medium on which information is recorded by using a wobble, and an apparatus for and a method of reproducing information.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an optical disc represented by a Compact Disc (CD) and a DVD, the long or short length of a pit is used to record information. However, in order to record information for copy control for the prevention of illegal copying or the like, there is a request for reserving another recording area without decreasing a recording capacity by the pit.
As a method of increasing the recording capacity by other means except the method using the long or short length of the pit, there is known a technique of displacing or shifting the position of the pit in the radial direction of the optical disc. This technique is that information is recorded by wobbling the position of the pit in the radial direction of the optical disc and by performing spread spectrum with respect to the wobble (e.g. Japanese Patent Application Laying Open NO. 2003-85896).
This technique is such that a wobble signal is generated by performing spread spectrum with respect to predetermined data with random data and that the position of a record mark is wobbled according to the wobble signal. Since the frequency component of the wobble is expanded by spread spectrum, it is possible to decrease crosstalk from an adjacent track to some extent.
However, if spread spectrum is performed by using the random data, "0" or "1" long continues or appears disproportionately with some probability. In this case, the record mark is formed at a position out of the center of the track. If such a record mark that is out of the center of the track is read, an optical pickup moves to follow the deviation of the record mark, thereby to generate a tracking offset. As a result, problems occur, such as tracking error by jumping to the adjacent track and the decrease of data reliability by crosstalk from the adjacent track. These are big problems, particularly in an optical disc with a high recording density and a narrow track pitch.

Information recording medium, and information reproducing apparatus and method


A communication system that efficiently and accurately manages various devices on a network includes a local device, which performs a user authentication process by using user information (a user ID and a password) that is inputted by a user at an operation unit and information that was registered in advance. The local device transmits, to a remote device, the inputted user information together with an operating request that is issued to the remote device by the user. The remote device performs the user authentication process by using the user information received from the local device and the information that was registered in advance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication apparatus, an information processing apparatus, a communication system and a communication method, all of which are applied to a system wherein a plurality of users share various apparatuses connected to a network, and a storage medium on which are stored computer-readable processing steps for implementing the communication method.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, apparatuses such as copiers, printers, scanners and facsimile machines, which read and form images, are most often employed independently.
However, as one consequence of the continued development of computers and networks, the use has increased the number of arrangements, such as the one described above, wherein various types of apparatuses are connected together in a network.
As one example of such formations, a system has become popular with which, by combining a function provided by an apparatus readily available to a user (hereinafter referred to as a logical apparatus) and a function provided by an apparatus connected to a network (hereinafter referred to as a printer), a series of meaningful processes can be performed.
With this system, the performance of the following example operations is possible. Such as when to copy a document a user employs a local apparatus (a scanner) to scan the document, and to print the document the user transmits the obtained image data across a network to a remote apparatus (a printer). Or when a user employs a local apparatus (a terminal, such as a personal computer) to extract image data from a computer or a database at a distant location on a network, and uses another local apparatus (a printer) to print the thus obtained image data.
When in the above described system a remote apparatus (e.g., a copier) on the network is shared by a plurality of designated users, the unlimited use of the copier by a user other than the designated users must be prevented, and the status of the employment of the copier by each authorized user must be recorded.
Therefore, a user who desires to use the copier must first enter a password using the operating section of a terminal (a local apparatus), or must enter his or her user information by employing a management card on which the user information is magnetically recorded. Then, the terminal performs a verification process to authenticate the user. When the user has been authenticated the terminal accepts an entry from the operating section, requests that the copier (a remote apparatus) on the network perform an operation desired by the user, and at the same time, updates the user's operating record information (information concerning the employment status of the copier, etc.). Therefore, the copier (the remote apparatus) performs an operation in accordance with the request transmitted by the user's terminal (the local apparatus).
However, as is described above, while a local apparatus may perform a verification process to authenticate a user, in response to an operation request received across a network, a remote apparatus does not perform a verification process. Instead, it simply accepts the operation request.
Therefore, once the authentication of a user has been performed by a specific local apparatus, the user is permitted to use all the remote apparatuses on the network, i.e., the user may use a remote apparatus the use of which is prohibited. Thus, a problem exists relative to the management and the security of apparatuses.

Apparatus for performing a service in cooperation with another apparatus on a network


An improved method for extrapolating worst-case Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis (SPICE) model parameters for an integrated circuit including manufacturing semiconductor devices, measuring typical data and worst-case data with respect to various electrical characteristics of the manufactured devices, determining a set of typical SPICE model parameters using the typical data, and determining a set of worst-case SPICE model parameters using the typical data and the worst-case data. Determining the set of worst-case SPICE model parameters preferably includes extrapolating statistical model parameters using the typical data and the worst-case data and determining the set of worst-case SPICE model parameters using the statistical model parameters.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a simulator for an integrated circuit. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for extrapolating worst-case Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis (SPICE) model parameters for an integrated circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
When designing integrated circuits, most designers easily verify whether a designed circuit is capable of operating and meeting desired specifications through simulations using a representative circuit simulator such as SPICE. Moreover, as SPICE becomes more readily applied to devices having high speed and large scale, simulation of complete systems, including all designed circuits becomes simplified. Therefore, in addition to the electrical specifications of a designed circuit, recently, dispersion characteristics, which may appear in a manufactured integrated circuit, have been estimated and controlled as well.
SPICE is a program that solves equivalent equations representing the electrical characteristics of a unit device taking into consideration the number of devices used and the electrical connections among the devices. The reliability of SPICE simulation results depends on the accuracy of values of model parameters (or process parameters) included in the equivalent equations and the values of various coefficients. Accordingly, to perform a precise and estimable simulation, accurate model parameters of unit devices to be integrated on a semiconductor wafer should be provided in advance.
In extrapolating SPICE model parameters, initially, a plurality of devices are manufactured using appropriate processes. Many devices are selected from among the manufactured devices and their electrical characteristics are measured. Statistical data reflecting the electrical characteristics is prepared. Then, model parameters and coefficients of a SPICE simulator are set such that simulation results are the same as the previously prepared statistical data when devices having the same conditions (dose of a donor or acceptor, size of a transistor, thickness of silicon dioxide, resistance per one square unit, dielectric constant, and the like) as those of the manufactured devices are modeled. For example, SPICE model coefficients are set by fitting to a voltage-current characteristic curve according to a ratio of gate width to gate length of devices used during relevant processes.
Usually, as described above, model parameters may be obtained using the voltage-current characteristic curve of a device, and the reliability of a simulator is satisfactory. However, when simulating a complete system including all designed circuits as well as individual unit devices, dispersion characteristics and relationships between the individual devices and the complete system must be taken into account. In order to perform such a statistical simulation, it is necessary to provide a set of worst-case SPICE model parameters such as the threshold voltage Vth and saturation current Idsat of a device.
FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a conventional method for extrapolating SPICE model parameters. Referring to FIG. 1, the method includes manufacturing semiconductor devices in step 100; measuring typical data, worst-case data, and best-case electrical characteristic data of the manufactured devices in step 101; extrapolating model parameters using the typical data measured in step 101 in step 102; determining whether the model parameters extrapolated in step 102 satisfy predetermined specifications in step 103 and executing step 102 if it is determined that the model parameters do not satisfy the specifications; determining a set of typical SPICE model parameters in step 104 if it is determined that the extrapolated model parameters satisfy the specifications in step 103; selecting key parameters using the worst-case data and typical data measured in step 101 in step 105; calculating initial values and input variables in step 106; calculating an objective function using the key parameters, initial values, and input variables in step 107; calculating input variables that change according to the results of the calculation performed in step 107 in step 108; determining whether the input variables obtained as the result of the calculation performed in step 108 meet the specifications in step 109 and executing step 105 or 106 after optimizing the key parameters in step 110, if it is determined that the input variables do not meet the specifications; and determining a set of worst-case SPICE model parameters in step 111 if it is determined that the input variables meet the specifications in step 109.
The conventional method described above requires step 105 of selecting key parameters and step 110 of optimizing the key parameters in order to determine a set of worst-case SPICE model parameters. These two steps 105 and 110 require significant processing time. Moreover, the conventional method has a limit to fitting worst-case model parameters to the worst-case electrical characteristics of a key device.

Method for extrapolating model parameters of spice


A nail print apparatus, including: a nail placement unit on which a central area in a protruding portion of a nail of a finger or a nail of a toe is placed, the protruding portion of the nail is an area that protrudes from a distal portion of the finger or the toe and the central area includes a center of the protruding portion in a width direction of the nail; and a print head which performs printing on the nail that the central area is placed on the nail placement unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nail print apparatus and a printing method thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, there have been known nail print apparatuses which print desired nail designs on fingernails of people.
By using such apparatus, nail print can be enjoyed easily without visiting nail salons and such like.
As such nail print apparatus, a print apparatus which fixes a finger of a nail to be printed and performs printing by using a pad for transferring ink is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Publication No. 2004-216872, for example.
However, when nail printing is performed on the nail, fine printing cannot be performed unless the height of the nail and the height of a print head have a predetermined positional relationship therebetween and the distance between the nail and the print head is a value suitable for the printing. However, the thickness of a finger, the width of a nail and the degree of curvature of a nail vary according to individual and the type of finger.
Thus, in order to perform fine printing, the finger conventionally needs to be adjusted to the height suitable for printing and fixed by using a jig or such like. This is a troublesome work.
Furthermore, when recognizing the position and shape of a nail to be printed for confirming a print range, the nail is photographed with a camera from above to obtain a nail image. However, in such method, an error occurs in the form recognition when the distance between the camera and the nail varies.
That is, when the camera is relatively close to the nail, the nail is recognized as larger than its actual size and the print range may be out of the nail.
On the other hand, when the camera is relatively away from the nail, the nail is recognized as smaller than its actual size and there may be uncoated area.
Thus, there is considered a method such as sensing of information in the height direction and feeding back the information to a mechanism which recognizes the nail shape and such like.
However, such method needs a sensing mechanism which senses information in the height direction. Thus, the apparatus becomes larger, leading to the rise of apparatus cost.

Nail print apparatus and printing method thereof


In some embodiments, an apparatus includes a switch module configured to receive an order identifier of a first data packet from a first stage of a multi-stage switch. The switch module is configured to receive an indicator of an available capacity of the first module of a second stage of the multi-stage switch fabric, and an indicator of an available capacity of a second module of the second stage of the multi-stage switch fabric. The switch module is configured, when the order identifier is assigned, to direct the first data packet to the first module of a second stage of the multi-stage switch fabric when the available capacity of the second module is lower than the available capacity of the first module. The switch module configured, when the order identifier is unassigned, to direct the first data packet to the second module when the available capacity of the second module is higher than the available capacity of the first module.

Embodiments described herein relate generally to load balancing within a switch fabric including, for example, destination-based hybrid load balancing within multi-staged switch fabrics.
Transmission of data from a source device to a destination device via a physical link (e.g., an Ethernet link) can be, for example, disrupted because of congestion at a queue configured to receive the data. In some instances, the disruption can cause head-of-line (HOL) blocking and/or result in the loss of at least portions of the data due to buffer overflow. Some queues within the physical link can be congested, while other queues within the physical link are under utilized. Congestion can be caused by limitations in the destination device, such as, being configured to receive data in the order it is sent.
Thus, a need exists for methods and apparatus for directing data between a source and a destination to minimize congestion based on destination limitations.

Methods and apparatus for destination based hybrid load balancing within a switch fabric