A baffle for silencers which are adapted to reduce system heating, better protect shooter hearing, and reduce the amount of combustion gas vented in the shooters face and eyes during the use of gas operated, self-loading firearms.

The present invention relates to firearm suppressors and, more particularly, a firearm sound suppressor producing low shooters ear sound signature.
Silencer customers, both military and consumer, have become more aware of shooter hearing loss and exhaust gas exposure in recent years. Preceding this, the atmosphere was a Vietnam war emphasis. Traditional testing methods involving locating a class 1 sound meter with ˜20 us peak rise time, at 1 meter distance at 90 degree angle of incidence to the firearm muzzle, to measure the extent to which the sound of firing can be reduced at the muzzle of the firearm. This original emphasis was on the use of the silencer for concealment of the friendly soldier's firing position from enemy auditory observation. More recently, military solicitations have asked for silencers which emphasize OSHA-style protection of the shooters hearing, or reduction of firearm exhaust gas exposure, which is a respiratory concern. In the consumer market, consumers have become more interested in how a silencer will improve their personal ear comfort during firing or improve their protection from hearing loss. This has helped move the mindset from the post-Vietnam war era emphasis of shooter concealment, toward shooter hearing and health protection. The modern shooter, both military and consumer, desires a sound suppressor which is high performance at both muzzle and breech, when used with auto-loading firearms.
This invention pertains to novel methods of porting silencer baffles, and for that reason, it makes sense to look at ported designs—even those that were not ported specifically for the currently popular respiratory and auditory health reasons stated above. In U.S. Pat. No. 951,770, James Miller teaches a silencer for engines, with a central bore and coaxial (tube with annular chamber between tubes) design. In the U.S. Pat. No. 951,770 design, the baffle spacers have round ports 7, 18, and 19, placed radially in the side wall of the spacer, allowing gas to travel out of the baffle system into an annular chamber 17. This type of coaxial silencer design exposes more surface area to heat, causing poor durability, and also allows gas to exit the baffles, pass through the ports, and travel un-obstructed through the annular chamber 17, diminishing sound reduction. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,488 Oswald Seberger utilized parabolic disc baffles with round holes in a portion of the baffle between the interior wall of the tube and the central aperture, and he believed that sound could be delayed in relation to sound moving through the central bore hole, and caused to collide and cause phase cancellation. His silencer became the basis for the majority influence of similar ported suppressors and can be seen in Surefire LLC's U.S. Pat. No. 7,594,464B2 "Sound Suppressors for Firearms" which mentions Seberger. These circular ports arrayed in circular patterns laid in between the central bore and outside diameter of the frusto-conical baffle are also present in Sig Sauer Inc's current SRD silencer lineup visible in their U.S. Pat. No. 9,464,857B2, and U.S. Pat. No. 10,234,229B2 patents, so obviously Oswald Seberger's mid diameter ring of circular holes has been integrated into many silencers. In US20150338183A1 Joeseph D. Salvador incorporated a stepped frusto-conical baffle, with radial slots machined into the steps of the baffle. The radial slots direct gas from the receiving side, through the baffle side wall, toward the bore-line of the suppressor, which is an undesirable flow pattern for a silencer to have. Pressure concentrates in the center of the suppressor tube without encouragement, allowing excessive sound to leave the muzzle aperture. In U.S. Pat. No. 8,516,941B1 Russell Oliver teaches a very unique suppressor formerly sold by OSS Suppressors LLC. The OSS suppressor modules in the drawings show patterns of prior art porting in the modules, between the periphery and the bore axis of the assembly. These suppressors were very muzzle loud, ˜8-10 DB's louder than competitive designs. The OSS octagonal silencers were also twice as long and heavy as a modern silencer, despite being manufactured from lightweight titanium. The octagonal tubes of these early OSS silencers failed under harsh use as a result of hoop strength not favoring a non-cylindrical tube housing. OSS abandoned the U.S. Pat. No. 8,516,941B1 design for a more conventional round tube profile more recently, and our testing of their current silencers showed them to be substantially above 140 DB at the shooter's ear with standard velocity ammunition, and still ˜7-10 DB louder than competitive designs at the muzzle. In U.S. Pat. No. 10,088,259B2, Surefire teaches a system of laser welded sound suppressor construction. Their rectangular vents 124 are described to direct combustion gasses radially from expansion chamber 122, into the outer annular space (coaxial chamber) 118, surrounding the baffle stack at which point the gasses can move longitudinally in the annular space, which is similar in function to James Miller's U.S. Pat. No. 951,770 in that regard. This coaxial chamber is undesirable as it does not allow the spacer/baffle elements to reinforce the tube housing. Surefire talks about obvious coaxial silencer heat soaking failure issues formerly present in the design, and adds an extraneous element 120 blast deflector to prevent a "blowout" of the wall of a now protected small area of the housing, which of course could be reinforced by the baffle stack itself, but for the existence of the annular space 118.
In light of the above, it is obvious that there is a need for silencers which reduce system heating, and better protect shooter hearing, and reduce the amount of combustion gas vented in the shooters face and eyes during the use of gas operated, self-loading firearms.


A method of preparing a tibia to receive a tibial implant component includes performing a first set of cuts to prepare a floor interface surface on the tibia, wherein the floor interface surface includes a portion on each side of a tibial eminence extending above the floor interface surface on the tibia. The method further includes performing a second set of cuts to prepare a tibial eminence wall interface surface, wherein the wall interface surface extends substantially perpendicular to the floor interface surface between the floor interface surface and a top surface of the tibial eminence. The method further includes performing a third set of cuts to prepare a radiused intersection between the floor interface surface and the wall interface surface. The sets of cuts are performed subject to a cutting restraint guide. At least one set of cuts may be performed using a rotary cutter.

The present disclosure relates generally to systems and methods for performing resection of bone, and more particularly to systems and methods for preparing the proximal tibia to receive a tibial prosthetic implant component.
The knee joint comprises the interface between the distal end of the femur and the proximal end of the tibia. In a properly-functioning knee joint, medial and lateral condyles of the femur pivot smoothly along menisci attached to respective medial and lateral condyles of the tibia. When the knee joint is damaged, the natural bones and cartilage that form the joint may be unable to properly articulate, which can lead to joint pain and, in some cases, interfere with normal use of the joint
In some situations, surgery is required to restore normal use of the joint and reduce pain. Depending upon the severity of the damage, the surgery may involve partially or completely replacing the joint with prosthetic components. During such knee replacement procedures, a surgeon resects damaged portions of the bone and cartilage, while attempting to leave healthy tissue intact. The surgeon then fits the healthy tissue with artificial prosthetic components designed to replicate the resected tissue and restore proper knee joint operation.
One knee replacement procedure—total knee arthroplasty ("TKA")—involves the resection of some or all of each of the medial and lateral condyles of both the femur and tibia and the removal of the fibro-cartilage menisci located at the femorotibial interface. A prosthetic femoral component, typically made of cobalt-chromium alloy or other strong, surgical-grade metal, is fitted and secured to the distal end of the femur to replace the resected portion of the femur. Similarly, a prosthetic tibial component, the base of which is also typically made of cobalt-chromium alloy, titanium, or other suitable metal, is fitted and secured to the proximal end of the tibia to replace the resected portion of the tibia.
In some situations, the patient's bone at the knee joint may have deteriorated to a point which requires TKA surgery, but one or more of the patient's cruciate ligaments (e.g., the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and/or posterior cruciate ligament (PCL)) are in sufficient condition to provide adequate joint stability. Maintaining the native cruciate ligaments is often advantageous, as doing so is generally thought to aid in proprioception (the ability to sense where parts of the body are in relation to each other) and could make activities like climbing stairs feel more stable or natural. Preserving the cruciate ligaments can also promote more normal front to back knee motion, which can enhance the patient's ability to maintain preoperative range of motion, particularly as it relates to deep flexion. The ligaments also aid in joint stability.
Each of the native cruciate ligaments connects to one of the femoral condyles, passes within the intercondylar region of the femur, and connects to the center-top portion of the tibia called the tibial eminence. In order to accommodate the passage of the cruciate ligaments, the femoral and tibial implant components used in cruciate-retaining procedures typically comprise intercondylar cutaways that define a vertical passage between the intercondylar fossa of the femur and the tibial eminence. The medial and lateral components of each of the femoral and tibial prosthetic components are separated by a deep intercondylar passage (or "notch") that allows for passage of cruciate ligaments vertically through the notch.
During normal operation of the knee joint, the cruciate ligaments can exert significant tension at the attachment site of the tibia called the tibial eminence. In a healthy knee joint, there is sufficient tissue surrounding the tibial eminence to aid in the distribution of this force across the surface of the tibia. Installation of a cruciate-retaining tibial prosthetic component, while aimed at preserving an attachment site at the tibial eminence, typically requires significant removal of the surrounding native tissue of the tibia to make way for installation of the tibial implant. This surrounding tissue provides much of the attachment strength that counteracts the tension applied by the cruciate ligaments, and removal of this tissue can weaken the attachment strength of the tibial eminence.
Present methods of tibial preparation (i.e. removal of bone to receive the tibial implant) can result in inadvertent removal of even more tissue than is necessary for installation of the tibial implant, which further weakens the strength of the tibial eminence and can result in implant failure. In particular, present methods employ manual oscillating sagittal saws to make planar cuts. Manual saws making horizontal cuts can overcut into the eminence, and manual saws making vertical cuts can cut too deep into the tibial bone. These overcuts weaken the tibial eminence and the cruciate ligament attachment. Additionally, traditional planar saws can create sharp corners and high stress risers, which puts additional stress at the tibial eminence. Attempts to improve the undercut problem, particularly at the lateral overcuts, and reduce stress risers, have led to adding drilled pins placed at the intersection of the resected portion and the remaining tibial eminence portion to stop overcutting. However, saw blades often skive and can still result in overcutting and stress risers.

Systems and methods for preparing a proximal tibia


In an optical disk of a single-spiral configuration, and including a first sequence of address pits and a second sequence of address pits, wherein headers include first and second sequences of address pits provided in different positions along the track. The first sequence of address pits are shifted by half a track pitch in a first radial direction so that its center line is aligned with a first boundary between a land track and a groove track following the header. The second sequence of address pits are shifted in a second radial direction opposite to the first radial direction by half a track pitch so that its center line is aligned with a second boundary (next to the first boundary) between a land track and a groove track following the header. The first sequence of address pits indicate an address of a sector in a first one of a land track and a groove track following the header. The second sequence of address pits indicate an address of a sector in a second one of a land track and a groove track following the header. The disk may further comprises mirror surface parts provided following the first and second sequences of address pits in a header at the connecting point. The offset in the tracking error signal is detected when the light spot is scanning the sequences of address pits and/or the mirror surface parts.

The present invention relates to an optical disk of a single-spiral land/groove configuration, wherein information is recorded on lands and grooves, land tracks and groove tracks alternate to form a single spiral.
The invention also relates to an optical disk drive device using such an optical disk.
In conventional phase-change type optical disks, data is recorded only on grooves, and lands serve to guide the light spot for tracking, and to reduce crosstalks from adjacent groove tracks. If data is recorded on lands as well, the track density can be doubled on condition that the width of the grooves and the width of the lands are both unchanged. It has has been discovered that the crosstalk between adjacent land track and groove track is reduced if the difference in height between the lands and grooves is .lambda./6 (A being the wavelength of the light source). Because of this discovery, the use of both of the land and groove tracks has become feasible. The use of both land and groove tracks is also advantageous with regard to the ease of mastering of the disk: it is easier to attain a certain recording density by the use of both land and groove tracks than by reducing the track pitch using only the groove tracks.
For instance, in the case of optical disks for use as computer data files, optical disks in which data is recorded both on land and groove tracks, and the tracks are concentric, so that after recording of one revolution (on a groove track, for example), a track jump is effected to start writing on the adjacent track (a land track). Sectors are managed in accordance with the sector addresses. Accordingly, the operation for recording and reproducing data, such as computer data, which need not be continuous, can be carried out without difficulty.
Rewritable optical disks are however also used for recording continuous data such as motion picture, or music. In multimedia applications (where computer data and video and audio data are mixed), spiral tracks, as in compact disks, may be preferred because of the continuity of the tracks. For instance, FIG. 21 shows a track pattern of a disk for recording on land tracks and groove tracks in the prior art. Groove tracks 1 and land tracks 2 between adjacent groove tracks 1 are divided into information recording sectors by header parts 5b, each sector forming a unit for recording data.
With the configuration shown in FIG. 21, all the groove tracks 1 form a single spiral, and all the land tracks 2 form another spiral. For recording or reproduction, the light beam traces from the beginning (inner end) of the spiral formed of the groove tracks, for example, and upon arrival at the end (outer end) of the spiral, the light beam jumps to the beginning of the other spiral formed of the land tracks. Switching between the groove track spiral and the land track spiral requires access between the inner and outer peripheries of the information recording region of the disk, and therefore a certain time delay is inevitable.
The information recording region of the disk may be divided into annular zones, so that the length over which the light spot must jump for switching between the groove track spiral and the land track spiral is shortened to the distance between the outer and inner peripheries of the annular zone. However, there is still a considerable time delay for the jump.
FIG. 22A and FIG. 22B show details of the header portion in a conventional optical disk wherein data is recorded on both groove and land tracks. FIG. 22A shows the case where headers 5b are provided separately for the land and groove tracks, and addresses dedicated to the sectors in the respective tracks are formed. FIG. 22B shows the case where headers 5b are provided on an extension of a boundary between land and groove tracks, and each address is shared by the sectors in the land and groove tracks separated by the boundary. In either case, the headers include address pits 4.
The header portion 5b is formed of embossments (dents or projections) physically formed for representing the address information and the like of the sector preceded by the header. Specifically, pits having the same height as the lands, or pits having the same depth as the grooves are formed in the header portion where no tracks are formed.
There are several methods for forming prepits suitable for the land/groove recording configuration. Two principal ones are those shown in FIG. 22A and FIG. 22B. In the configuration shown in FIG. 22A, dedicated prepits are provided for each sector of the land or groove track. Because the dedicated prepits can record various items of information, such as the one indicating whether the sector following the dedicated prepits is a land track sector or a groove track sector, control in the optical disk drive device is facilitated. However, the width of the prepits must be sufficiently narrower than the track width. This means that the laser beam used for forming the tracks cannot be used for forming the prepits, but a less powerful laser beam must be used for the formation of the prepits, and the fabrication of the medium is difficult.
In the configuration shown in FIG. 22B, the prepits are shared by the land and groove tracks adjacent to each other. The prepits can be formed by the using the same laser beam used for forming the tracks, and by shifting the laser beam by 1/2 of the track pitch laterally of the track, i.e., in the radial direction of the disk. However, during writing or reading of the disk, the shared prepits cannot indicate whether the sector following the prepits is in a land track or in a groove track, so that the optical disk drive device must have a means to find whether a land track or groove track is being traced by the light spot, and the control in the optical disk drive device is difficult.
In the above-described optical disk allowing recording and reproduction, it is also necessary to solve the problem of the track offset. This relates to the fact that the one beam-and-push-pull method is used for the tracking, rather than a three-beam method. This is because the recording requires a greater laser power. Also, in pit-forming recording on a write-once disk or the like, the side spots (used in a three-beam method) causes a disturbance to the tracking operation.
In a push-pull tracking, the tracking error is detected using the diffraction distribution of the light spot illuminating the pregrooves as shown in FIG. 23, and fed to the servo system. More particularly, an optical head 8 has a laser diode 60 emitting a laser beam, which is passed through a half-mirror 61 and an objective lens 62 to illuminate an optical disk 7 rotated by a disk motor 64. The reflected light beam from the light spot on the disk 7 is guided by the objective lens 62 and the half-mirror 61 and is received by a photodetector 16, and the tracking error is detected using the diffraction distribution of the light spot on the optical disk 7. The detected tracking error is used to control an actuator coil 63 for driving the objective lens 62.
For instance, a tilting of 0.7 degrees or an eccentricity of a 100 .mu.m (equivalent to lateral movement of the objective lens 62 of 100 .mu.m as indicated by broken lines in FIG. 23) causes shifting of a light distribution 17 on the photodetector 16, and an offset of 0.1.mu.. To prevent such a phenomenon, a drive device having higher mechanical and optical accuracy is used, and various other contrivances are adopted.
FIG. 24A shows a mirror surface part 6 provided in a header region 5b, and used in a mirror surface correction method. FIG. 24B shows wobble pits 58 and 59 provided in a header region 5b, and used in a wobble pit correction method. The wobble pit pits 58 and 59 are shifted in the radial direction by 1/2 of the track pitch are used. These methods are described in the following publications:
(1) Ohtake, et al. "Composite Wobbled Tracking in the Optical Disk System," on pp. 181-188 in Optical Memory Symposium '85, held on Dec. 12-13 in 1985, published by Optical Industry Technology Promotion Association, PA1 (2) Kaku, et al. on "Investigation of compensation method for track offset," pp. 209-214 in Optical Memory Symposium '85, held on Dec. 12-13 in 1985, published by Optical Industry Technology Promotion Association. PA1 each sector in a land or groove track has one or more sequences of address pits in the header region preceding said each sector, said sequences of address pits indicating the address of said each sector, PA1 said address pits are shifted in a first direction lateral of the land track by half a track pitch (a full track pitch being the distance between the land and groove tracks adjacent to each other) with respect to the track having the sector whose address is indicated by the address pits, so that the center line of the sequences of the address pits is aligned with a boundary between a land track and a groove track following the header, PA1 the address pits for a sector in a land track are shifted with respect to the address pits for a sector in a groove track in the direction of the track, so that the they do not overlap in the radial direction, PA1 the address pits for sectors in land and groove tracks adjacent to each other are so arranged in the direction of the track that they are scanned by a light spot in the order of a first sequence of address pits for the sector in one of the land track and the groove track, and then a second sequence of address pits for the sector in the other of the land track and the groove track. PA1 each sector in a land or groove track has one or more sequences of address pits in the header region preceding said each sector, said sequences of address pits indicating the address of said each sector, PA1 said address pits are shifted in a first direction lateral of the land track by half a track pitch (a full track pitch being the distance between the land and groove tracks adjacent to each other) with respect to the track having the sector whose address is indicated by the address pits, so that the center line of the sequences of the address pits is aligned with a boundary between a land track and a groove track following the header, PA1 the address pits for a sector in a land track are shifted with respect to the address pits for a sector in a groove track in the direction of the track, so that the they do not overlap in the radial direction, PA1 the address pits for sectors in land and groove tracks adjacent to each other are so arranged in the direction of the track that they are scanned by a light spot in the order of a first sequence of address pits for the sector in one of the land track and the groove track, and then a second sequence of address pits for the sector in the other of the land track and the groove track, PA1 said device updating the offset at each connecting point, and comprising: PA1 means for generating a light spot and causing the light spot to scan along the track; PA1 means for generating a tracking error signal on the basis of a light reflected from the light spot on the disk; PA1 means for reversing the polarity of the tracking error signal when the light spot passes a connecting point; PA1 means for removing an offset contained in the tracking error signal, generated when said light spot is passing said first and second sequences of address pits in a header at the connecting point, on the basis of the amount of light reflected from said first and second sequences of address pits; and PA1 means for controlling the scanning position of the light spot, responsive to the tracking error signal having the offset removed. PA1 said device performs offset correction using the tracking error signal from the mirror surface part. PA1 a polarity reversing circuit for reversing the polarity of the tracking error signal; PA1 a first offset correction means for correcting offset in the tracking error signal based on the tracking error signal just after the polarity reversal at each connecting point; and PA1 a second offset correcting means for correcting offset in the tracking error signal based on the tracking error signal at each header. PA1 said first offset correction means corrects the offset based on the tracking error signal at the output of the polarity reversing circuit; and PA1 said second offset correcting means corrects the offset based on the tracking error signal at the output of said polarity reversing circuit. PA1 said first offset correction means corrects the offset based on the tracking error signal obtained when the light spot is scanning a mirror surface part in a header at a connecting point; PA1 said second offset correction means corrects the offset based on the tracking error signal obtained when the light spot is scanning said first and second sequences of address pits in a header at every sector. PA1 said first offset correction means corrects the offset based on the tracking error signal obtained when the light spot is scanning said first and second sequences of address pits in a header at a connecting point; and PA1 said second offset correction means correct the offset based on the tracking error signal obtained when the light spot is scanning said first and second sequences of address pits in a header at every sector. PA1 a first offset correction means for correcting offset due to reversal of the polarity of the tracking error signal; PA1 a second offset correction means for correcting offset introduced at the tracking error detecting means; PA1 a third offset correcting means for correcting offset introduced in said tracking control circuit; PA1 said first and second offset correction means performing the offset correction during tracking operation, and said third offset correcting means performing the offset correction before the tracking control operation is started.
FIG. 25 shows a track offset correction circuit used in combination with a disk having the mirror surface portion 6 shown in FIG. 24A. A split photodetector 16 detects the tracking error by a push-pull method. An adder 11 adds the outputs of the two half-portions of the split photodetector 16 to produce a signal indicative of the total amount of light received, which corresponds to the total amount of light reflected from the disk. A differential amplifier 12 determines the difference between the outputs of the two half-portions of the split photodetector 16, to produce a signal indicative of the tracking error. A mirror surface detector 13 detects the mirror surface portion 6. A sample-hold circuit 14 samples and holds the tracking error signal when the light spot passes the mirror surface portion 6, and holds the sampled value as an offset information. A differential amplifier 15 determines the difference between the tracking error signal and the offset information. The output of the differential amplifier 15 indicates the tracking error having the offset removed.
FIG. 26 shows an offset correction circuit used in combination with a disk having wobble pits shown in FIG. 24B. A wobble pit detector 18 receives the output of the adder 11, and detects the wobble pits, i.e., produces a signal to a sample-hold circuit 19 when the light spot passes the wobble pit laterally shifted toward one side of the track, and produces another signal to a sample-hold circuit 20 when the light spot passes the wobble pit laterally shifted toward the other side of the track. Responsive to these signals (i.e., when the light spot passes the wobble pits 58 and 59), the sample-hold circuits 19 and 20 sample the output of the differential amplifier 12, and holds the sampled values. A differential amplifier 21 determines the difference of the outputs of the sample hold circuits 19 and 20, as an offset. An adder 50 adds the tracking error signal obtained at the differential amplifier 21 to the tracking error signal obtained by means of the ordinary push-pull method, to produce the tracking error signal from which the offset has been removed.
FIG. 27 illustrates the control characteristics for the case where a tracking error signal obtained by wobble pits and the tracking error signal by means of the conventional push-pull method are both used. G1 represents a tracking open loop characteristic by means of the conventional push-pull method, and G2 denotes a tracking open loop characteristic by means of the wobble pits.
In the configuration shown in FIG. 24A, at the mirror surface portion 6, the guide grooves are discontinuous or interrupted. With this configuration, a correction circuit for correcting the mirror surface offset, shown in FIG. 25, is used. The signals output from the two half-portions of the split photodetector 16 are input to the differential amplifier 12, which thereby produces a tracking error signal. On the basis of the sum signal produced by the adder 11, the mirror surface detector 13 generates a timing signal indicating the timing at which the light beam is passing the mirror surface portion 6. The tracking error signal .DELTA. T produced by the differential amplifier 12 includes an error component .DELTA. Tg due to the shift of the objective lens, a true tracking error .DELTA. Ts, and an offset component .delta. due to various causes including the tilting of the disk, so that it is given by: EQU .DELTA. T=.DELTA. Ts+.DELTA. Tg+.delta. (1)
The sample-hold circuit 14 samples the tracking signal at the mirror surface portion 6, and holds the sampled value. The output of the sample-hold circuit 14 represents .DELTA. Tg+.delta.. Accordingly, in view of the equation (1), subtracting the output of the sample-hold circuit 14 from the output of the differential amplifier 12 at the differential amplifier 15 during the scanning of the data sectors results in the true tracking signal .DELTA. Ts. In this way, a closed-loop servo system for achieving an accurate track following can be formed.
Another method of correction is a method using wobble pits. According to this method, wobble pits shifted in opposite directions as shown in FIG. 24B are formed by alternately deflecting the light beam, using ultrasonic deflector, during fabrication of the original disk for mastering. During recording and reproduction, the outputs of the differential amplifier 12 when the light spot is passing the wobble pits on the respective sides are compared, to detect the tracking error. Specifically, a differential amplifier 21 shown in FIG. 26 determines the difference between the outputs of the sample-hold circuits 19 and 20 to obtain the tracking error. As shown in FIG. 28, when the light spot passes along a line closer to the center of the pit 58 on one side (upper side in FIG. 24B) than to the center of the pit 59 on the other side (lower side in FIG. 24B), an output signal illustrated by the dotted line is obtained. When the light spot passes along a line closer to the center of the pit 59 on the lower side than to the center of the pit 58 on the upper side, an output signal illustrated by the solid line is obtained. The difference obtained by subtracting the output of the differential amplifier 12 obtained when the light spot is passing the wobble pit 59 at the back, from the output of the differential amplifier 12 obtained when the light spot is passing the wobble pit 58 at the front, represents the magnitude of the tracking error and the direction of the tracking error. This means that the position at which the true light spot passes is detected. Compared with the method relying on the diffraction distribution due to pre-grooves, the above-described method realizes a better servo system.
Another tracking method has been proposed, in which the feature of the above-described wobble pit method is maintained, and which is compatible with systems using conventional push-pull tracking method. The sector configuration in this system is composed of an index field with pre-pits shown in FIG. 24B, and user data field. The index field is provided with address information, as well as wobble pits which may or may not serve also as a sector detection mark, and pre-grooves for tracking. With such a configuration, the true tracking error is detected from the wobble pits, and the offset used in push-pull tracking can be corrected. In this case, the open-loop characteristic of the tracking servo is such that the gain for tracking on the basis of the wobble pits is relatively large in the low-frequency region, and the gain for the tracking on the basis of the push-pull method is relatively large in the high-frequency region, as shown in FIG. 27. As a result, data can be recorded and reproduced, while the light spot is maintained on the center of the track, regardless of the drive device used, and compatibility between the recorded disk and the drive device can be preserved.
With the above-described optical disk device, information is recorded on lands and grooves to increase the recording density. One way of recording continuous information, such as video and audio information, on lands and grooves in an optical disk, is to connect each revolution of land with each revolution of adjacent land, so that recording track alternate between land and groove every revolution. In such a configuration, the polarity of tracking error signal has to be reversed every revolution. At the time of the tracking error signal polarity reversal, offset is reversed, and the servo operation may be disturbed, or servo error may occur.
In particular, such an offset is due to the error in the mounting of the tracking sensor in the optical head, and a tracking offset due to stray light, and the offset due to these factors are reversed when the polarity of the tracking error signal is reversed.
A method has been proposed in which a mirror portion interrupting the track guide grooves, or pits offset by half a pitch in the lateral direction of the tracks are provided to eliminate the sensor offset due to shift of the objective lens or tilting of the disk. But this method does not prevent reversal of the offset due to the reversal of the tracking error signal polarity. If the polarity of the tracking error signal is reversed, the servo operation is disturbed due to the above-described reversal of the offset.

Optical disk drive and optical disk having address pits for sectors in land and groove tracks


An apparatus and method for reducing false triggering of a signal due to an electrostatic discharge event are disclosed. The method includes detecting a high voltage on a signal received at an input of a delay circuit and delaying the signal between the input of the delay circuit and an output of the delay circuit for a predetermined amount of time. If a low voltage is detected on the signal after the predetermined amount of time, the high voltage is prevented from propagating to the output of the delay circuit.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
An information handling system may include various signals that control specific functions in the system. Some of these signals may be edge triggered signals that, once activated, remain activated until the information handling system is reset. One example of an edge triggered signal is a control signal that causes the information handling system to power off when an error in the system is detected. If the control signal is triggered, the information handling system is powered off so that the cause of the problem may be diagnosed. The control signal is then reset when the information system is powered on.
During operation of the information handling system, electrostatic discharge (ESD) events (e.g., a user walks across a carpet, generates a static charge and then touches the system) may cause false errors to occur. The ESD events may cause a voltage spike on one or more of the signals in the information handling system. If the affected signal is an edge triggered signal, the ESD event may falsely activate the signal, and in some cases, may cause the system to power down even though there is no actual error in the system.
Previous solutions for preventing ESD events from falsely activating signals in an information handling system have included adding a shunt from the signal to ground or adding an RC circuit to the signal. These solutions were effective for information handling systems having a higher core voltage (e.g., approximately 5 volts). Core voltages in current systems, however, are being reduced (e.g., to approximately 3.3 volts, 1.8 volts and below) and the previous solutions are becoming less effective for preventing a voltage spike from falsely triggering a signal.

Apparatus and method for reducing false triggering of a signal due to an electrostatic discharge event


Digital television broadcast signals are received and AV signals are reproduced in a common apparatus. A digital television signal is received and is separated into a compressed first video signal, a compressed first audio signal, and first copyright protection information. An AV signal is reproduced from a recording medium and is separated into a second compressed video signal, a second compressed audio signal, and second copyright protection information. The first signals and information are selected when a received operation command is a command to select the digital television broadcast channel, and the second signals and information are selected when the received operation command is a command to reproduce data. The selected signals and information are decoded to generate a decoded video signal, a decoded audio signal, and a copyright protection signal, and the copyright protection signal is added to the decoded signals to limit copying.

The present invention relates to a receiving apparatus, a receiving method, and a supplying medium, and more particularly to a receiving apparatus, a receiving medium, and a supplying medium having the capability of reproducing DVD (digital versatile disc) video data.
In recent years, DVD players for reproducing DVD videos have become commercially available. Audio Visual (AV) data recorded on DVD video discs is coded in a compressed form according to the MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group)-2 standard. Therefore, DVD players have the capability of decoding the AV data into a decompressed form.
Receiving apparatus for receiving satellite digital broadcasts (such as Sky Perfect TV (trademark)) are now becoming popular. AV data of satellite digital broadcasts is supplied also in the compressed form according to the MPEG-2 standard. Therefore, receiving apparatus for receiving broadcast programs have the capability of decompressing compressed AV data.
The MPEG-2 standard will be adopted in terrestrial digital broadcasting which will begin in the near future, and receiving apparatus therefor will also have the capability of decoding AV data into a decompressed form.
However, if a certain user wants to enjoy both AV data recorded on DVD video discs and digital broadcast programs (satellite or terrestrial digital broadcasts), the user has to have both a DVD player and a set top box (apparatus for receiving digital broadcasts). Thus, the cost and the installation space become large because two devices are required.
Furthermore, to display the outputs of both the DVD player and the set top box on the same television receiver, complicated connections and operations are required.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Receiving apparatus, receiving method, and supplying medium


In a sound signal processing apparatus, a frame information generation section generates frame information of each frame of a sound signal. A storage stores the frame information generated by the frame information generation section. A first interval determination section determines a first utterance interval in the sound signal. A second interval determination section determines a second utterance interval based on the frame information of the first utterance interval stored in the storage such that the second utterance interval is made shorter than the first utterance interval and confined within the first utterance interval by trimming frames from either of a start point or an end point of the first utterance interval.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a technology for processing a sound signal indicative of various types of audio, such as voice and musical sound, and particularly to a technology for identifying an interval in which a predetermined voice in a sound signal is actually pronounced (hereinafter referred to as "utterance interval").
2. Background Art
Voice analysis, such as voice recognition and voice authentication (speaker authentication), uses a technology for segmenting a sound signal into an utterance interval and a non-utterance interval (period containing only noise related to the surroundings). For example, a period in which the S/N ratio of the sound signal is greater than a predetermined threshold value is identified as the utterance interval. Patent Document JP-A-2001-265367 discloses a technology for comparing the S/N ratio in each period obtained by segmenting a sound signal with the S/N ratio in a period that has been judged to be a non-utterance interval in the past so as to determine whether the period is an utterance interval or a non-utterance interval.
However, since the technology disclosed in Patent Document JP-A-2001-265367 only compares the S/N ratio in each period of the sound signal with the S/N ratio in a past non-utterance interval to determine whether the period is an utterance interval or a non-utterance interval, a period containing instantaneous noise, such as cough sound, lip noise, and sound produced in the mouth, made by the speaker (a period that should be normally judged as a non-utterance interval) is likely misidentified as an utterance interval.

Sound signal processing apparatus and program


An aspect of the subject disclosure may include, for example, receiving a request from a communication device to initiate a communication session in a packet-switched network, obtaining a first name authority pointer record responsive to determining that there is an undesirable operational state in the packet-switched network, wherein the first name authority pointer record comprises a commented out record, obtaining a second name authority pointer record responsive to determining that there is a desirable operation state in the packet-switched network, wherein the second name authority pointer record comprises a record, and initiating the communication session according to one of the first name authority pointer record or the second name authority pointer record. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Services provider continue to upgrade their networks from providing circuit-switched voice communications to packet-switched voice communications. Many service providers have upgraded landline networks to support voice over Internet protocol (VoIP). Similarly, it is expected service providers of wireless communication systems will upgrade their networks to support voice over long term evolution (VoLTE) communications from current second generation (2G) and third generation (3G) wireless voice communications.

Method and apparatus for initiating communication sessions


A string bender apparatus includes a mounting plate with an anchor for anchoring guitar strings to a guitar body, a first section with fastener-receiving holes arranged to receive fasteners extended into pre-existing mounting holes in the body, and an extension that extends from the first section. A lever is pivoted to the extension for movement in a plane that extends generally parallel the front surface of the guitar body. The lever includes a first end defining a handle that is positioned generally adjacent one side of the strings and includes an opposite end attached to one of the strings for temporarily changing a tension of the one string and thus changing a pitch of the one string when the handle is moved in the plane. The string bender can be retrofit onto existing guitars. The string bender can be made removable and replaced with, or combined with a vibrato.

The present invention relates to a string bender for electric guitars that requires little or no modification to existing brands of electric guitars, and further which provides easy installation with optional retrofitability, removability, transferability/interchangeability from guitar to guitar, and simplicity of construction leading to durability/robustness of construction. Further, the present invention positions and pivotally supports its handle component for efficient/easy use while picking and playing the guitar, and for combining with other functional structures such as a vibrato.
String benders permit raising the pitch of a string on a guitar to mimic pedal steel guitar effects. To date, manufactured string benders are relatively crude in the operation of string bending. The Parsons string bender (U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,954) requires major defacement of the guitar by routing a channel in the back of the instrument and drilling a hole through guitar body. Activation of the bender is obtained by pulling the guitar downward, while wearing the guitar with a strap. These requirements make the Parsons string bender a permanent fixture on the guitar, and halts any potential for future price increases in reselling the instrument. Also, this bender can be accidentally activated and/or its return spring can fatigue over time, such that it can adversely affect pitch during "normal" playing of the guitar.
The Hip-Shot string bender device (U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,670) bolts to the end of the guitar and a metal rod is inserted that protrudes from the back of the guitar. Activation is achieved by pushing the guitar to the left, using the player's body and protruding rod to pull the string. Again, this method and device have limitations to operation. Also, disassembly of the rod is required since it hinders placement of the instrument in its protective case.
The Gibson/Bowden bender (U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,884) is a string bender that can only be used on guitars that use the Gibson style stop tailpiece. With this device mounted, the string bender handle is located in a difficult position to operate and hinders the player's right hand and playing technique. Also, the guitar cannot be placed in its case without removing string tension and turning the device 90 degrees. Again, this configuration has very limited appeal for the guitar player.
The Bigsby Palm Pedal (U.S. Pat. No. 3,479,917) is another string bender device that requires drilling apertures or holes in the top of the instrument for attachment, making it a permanent fixture on the guitar. The Bigsby palm pedal string bender can bend both the G and the B string. However, once mounted, the activation handles are suspended over the guitar bridge and again hinders the player's right hand and playing technique. Also, its location inhibits placement in its protective case.
A Timara string bender is a device that requires the activating arms to be bolted in place for operation and requires moving the right arm to activate. The arms rise above the strings, interfere with "normal" guitar playing, and must be unbolted for placement in case.
A Shelton string bender is very much the same as the Parsons string bender. It requires major routing and activates the string bender by means of the guitar strap pulling down on the guitar body and neck. This results in limitations as noted in regard to the Parsons string bender discussed above.
It is important that the activity of picking/playing/strumming guitar strings, which occurs primarily over the body of the guitar near the sound pickups, not be interfered with. Further, it is desirable that use of a string bender be easily accomplished and that it be able to be integrated into the act of picking/playing/strumming. In other words, it is important to provide easy and efficient access to the lever for operating a string bender, while not interfering with normal picking/playing/strumming of the guitar. It is also desirable to provide a string bender apparatus that does not interfere with storage of the guitar in most cases.
Furthermore, it would be desirable to provide guitar players who would like to have a guitar with a vibrato tailpiece or a string bender tailpiece the option of installing the vibrato or bender tailpiece without routing or drilling the existing instrument. Most guitar players have declined to add a Bigsby tailpiece, because it requires drilling four mounting apertures or holes into the guitar, which can reduce the resale value of the instrument by 60% to 80%. It would be desirable to provide a mounting plate capable of supporting the Bigsby tailpiece, while eliminating the need to deface or puncture the original instrument by drilling or routing.
In addition, the above discussed mechanisms often include many components and are more complex than desired, each of which increase manufacturing expense (due to part costs and also assembly costs), increase warranty due to wear and poor durability, and increase installation costs.


The present invention relates to a door-lock device (100) for locking and unlocking a door of a household appliance, such as a washing machine, a dishwasher and the like, comprising a first (110) and a second (120) electrical connecting terminal, a closing switch (130) series connected to said first connecting terminal (110) or to said second connection terminal (120), and arranged to close when the door of said household appliance is closed, an actuator (140), connected to said first (110) and second (120) connecting terminals, comprising at least one coil (141, 142), suitable to generate a magnetic field capable of causing the locking and unlocking of said door, and a Hall sensor (151) connected between said first (110) and said second (120) terminal, arranged in parallel with said actuator (140), said Hall sensor (151) being arranged so as to detect said magnetic field of said actuator (140).

This invention concerns a door-lock device.
More specifically, the invention concerns a door-lock device, in particular for household appliances, designed and manufactured mainly to allow a circuit simplification and a high operating stability, such as to allow an easy adaptability of the same to the control logic of the household appliance on which it is installed. The circuit simplification also allows to have a lower number of door-block components.
In the following the description will be directed to a washing machine or a household appliance in general, but it is clear that the same should not be considered limited to this specific use.
As is well known today, door-lock devices allow to detect when a door of a household appliance is closed and eventually lock it before starting, by a control logic unit, the operating program of the household appliance, after having issued a signal on the locking status of the door itself.
In general, a door-lock device must be capable of providing the central control unit of the household appliance with certain signals on the status of the door, so that the latter can eventually start the above mentioned operating program.
In order for this to take place, it is necessary that there is both a mechanical as well as an electrical interaction, so as to allow the generation of signals that can be interpreted by the logic control unit, so that the latter can determine with certainty the state of the door and in any working condition.
The door-lock devices currently available on the market have several control terminals (generally more than or equal to three). This implies a remarkable circuit complexity. In addition, this often results in a low compatibility of said door-lock devices with different types of household appliances, on which they can be installed.
It is clear that this procedure is expensive in terms of cost and production process.


The disclosure relates to machine-learning behavioral analysis to detect device theft and unauthorized device usage. In particular, during a training phase, an electronic device may generate a local user profile that represents observed user-specific behaviors according to a centroid sequence, wherein the local user profile may be classified into a baseline profile model that represents aggregate behaviors associated with various users over time. Accordingly, during an authentication phase, the electronic device may generate a current user profile model comprising a centroid sequence re-expressing user-specific behaviors observed over an authentication interval, wherein the current user profile model may be compared to plural baseline profile models to identify the baseline profile model closest to the current user profile model. As such, an operator change may be detected where the baseline profile model closest to the current user profile model differs from the baseline profile model in which the electronic device has membership.

Today, electronic devices are widespread. Such electronic devices can provide a user with wireless phone access, Internet access, the ability to perform online transactions (e.g., on-line shopping, on-line banking, etc.) as well as other applications such as finding maps to particular locations, among many other things. As such, many modern electronic devices allow for wireless communication as well as almost all of the Internet features associated with non-mobile computer systems. Examples of such electronic devices include, without limitation, mobile phones, cellular phones, portable computers, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), monitors, computer monitors, televisions, tuners, radios, satellite radios, digital music players, portable music players, digital video players, digital video disc (DVD) players, portable digital video players, and so on.
Accordingly, the widespread electronic devices that are available today can increase user productivity and quality of life. Unfortunately, electronic devices (and especially mobile devices) are susceptible to loss, theft, or unauthorized use. Electronic devices often carry private, confidential, and/or difficult-to-replace data, and the loss of such data further compounds the loss of the electronic device. Although an electronic device that has been lost or stolen can be physically replaced, oftentimes the data stored on such an electronic device is confidential and/or irreplaceable. Additionally, the authorized user of a lost or stolen electronic device may have to deal with ramifications such as the misuse of information or someone else gaining access to information stored on the mobile device. Further, in many cases, hours or even days may lapse before the authorized user of the electronic device even discovers the loss, during which time an unauthorized user may be accessing sensitive data, misappropriating information, making national and international phone calls, or riding up charges for goods or service on the authorized use's accounts through on-line purchases and transactions. Furthermore, electronic devices are often used to run diverse applications that originate from many sources, which can sometimes leads to users installing applications with malicious intent (e.g., malware) onto electronic devices without their awareness. For example, unwanted malware may impersonate the authorized user, send unauthorized short message service (SMS) messages (e.g., to conduct transmissions that debit the telecommunication account associated with the electronic device, usually in an attempt to generate revenue for the attacker), steal personal data, or engage in other malicious and/or unauthorized activity.
Previous attempts have been made to prevent unauthorized use or otherwise stop attacks against electronic devices. For example, some electronic devices are equipped with locking features that require a code or personal identification number (PIN) to unlock the electronic device. Unfortunately, many users do not utilize such authorization schemes such that locking features tend to be ineffective, and moreover, thieves can easily overcome such authorization schemes because unlock codes tend to be short and predictable so as to be memorable to users. Furthermore, other previous attempts to stop attacks against electronic devices involve configuring an operating system (OS) to run applications in a "sandbox" intended to prevent unauthorized or undesirable behavior. However, many legitimate applications are used to send SMS messages, place calls, or engage in other behavior that may be restricted in a sandbox, whereby many operating systems allow approved applications to bypass the sandbox restrictions such that attackers can simply encourage or mislead the user to supply such approval, authorization, or agreement in a permission request. Further still, current attempts to detect theft or other unauthorized usage based on behavioral attributes tend to take a naïve approach in measuring an attribute, such as the time from device pick-up (e.g., as sensed with an accelerometer) to the time that the user first interacts with the device and then setting a threshold with respect to the measured attribute to characterize the user. However, defining an accurate threshold tends to be difficult, especially when using an individual feature attribute, whereby the thresholds typically wind up being excessively sensitive (e.g., leading to false positives) or excessively lax (e.g., leading to false negatives).
Accordingly, with the ubiquity of electronic devices and the ever-present threat that electronic devices may potentially be stolen or subject to unauthorized use, improved techniques to detect electronic device theft and unauthorized usage are desired.

Machine-learning behavioral analysis to detect device theft and unauthorized device usage


Disclosed herein are a means to prevent and/or ameliorate age, disease and obesity associated metabolic diseases, such as diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance. Also disclosed are compositions and methods that relate to the findings that GDF11 prevents weight gain, improves glucose tolerance and reduces hepatosteatosis in aged mice administered a high fat diet. In particular, the methods and compositions described herein relate to increasing the level of GDF11 in a subject, thereby treating or preventing the development of obesity in the subject, reducing the metabolic consequences of obesity and improving the subject's metabolic health.

Impaired glucose tolerance and increased hepatosteatosis are associated with obesity and increasing age in both mice and humans. These defects are attributed to increasing adiposity and insulin resistance. Age-associated decline in beta cell function also plays an important role by contributing to relative insulin insufficiency. Impaired glucose tolerance and impaired fasting glucose form an intermediate stage in the progression of diabetes mellitus (e.g., Type 1, Type 2 and gestational diabetes) and contribute to declines in metabolic health.
Needed are compositions and methods to reduce the risk of developing one or more metabolic diseases, such as diabetes. Also needed are compositions and methods of preventing or treating obesity and the associated impairments in metabolic health relating to obesity. Also needed are compositions and methods for preventing or treating hepatosteatosis in a subject.

Treatment with GDF11 prevents weight gain, improves glucose tolerance and reduces hepatosteatosis

President and Fellows of Harvard College


An image forming apparatus control system including at least one copier or similar image forming apparatus and a central control unit connected by a data communication unit and a communication line is disclosed. The image forming apparatus selectively inhibits or permits its image forming operation on receiving image formation control data representative of inhibition or permission, respectively, from the central control unit. An inhibiting device is included in the apparatus for inhibiting, if the apparatus is performing a current image forming operation at the time of receipt of the image formation control data representative of inhibition, the next image forming operation after the current operation has completed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus supervising system in which at least one copier or similar image forming apparatus and a central control system are interconnected by a data communication unit and a communication line.
2. Discussion of the Background
Typically, in an image forming apparatus supervising system, image forming apparatuses located at many and unspecified users' stations are connectable to a central control unit or host situated at a sales station or a service station by a data communication unit and a public network or similar communication network. The image forming apparatuses may be copiers subjected to remote diagnosis. The system implements efficient and immediate services by executing the following three kinds of controls (1)-(3):
(1) communication control from the central control unit to the image forming apparatuses;
(2) communication control from the image forming apparatuses to the central control unit or to the data communication unit; and
(3) individual control of the data control unit.
As for the term of use of the image forming apparatus, a distributor or a service company in charge of the apparatus often makes a contract with the user of the apparatus in terms of the number of sheets used to form images (block billing). In such a case, when the cumulative number of sheets used by the user reaches a billing number agreed upon at the time of contract, the central control unit situated at the distributor or the service company inhibits the apparatus from being operated any further, as needed, and urges the user to renew the contract. To inhibit or permit the further operation of the apparatus, the central control unit sends image formation control data representative of inhibition or permission to the apparatus. In response, the apparatus inhibits or allows the user to operate it.
However, the conventional system has the following problem left unsolved. Assume that the cumulative number of sheets used with the image forming apparatus reaches the billing number, and that the apparatus receives the control data representative of inhibition from the central control unit. Then, even when the apparatus is performing an image forming operation, it is forced to stop it and prevented from outputting a desired number of images.

Image forming apparatus supervising system


An adjustable animal vest and methods of using same, the vest including an attachment panel for placement between a neck and a waist of an underside of an animal, a first fastening panel for placement on a first lateral side of the animal, a second fastening panel for placement on a second lateral side of the animal, a first cover panel for placement over the first fastening panel on the first lateral side of the animal, and a second cover panel for placement over the second fastening panel on the second lateral side of the animal. Upon proper panel placement on the animal, complementary attachment features located on inner and outer surfaces of the panels are fastened to each other to form the adjustable animal vest assembly.

Animals often undertake roles, activities, or have conditions that can be aided or improved by wearing an exterior garment or structure. For instance, service animals utilize garments that signify their role as a support animal and military support animals typically wear protective garments that have an athletic fit to ensure animal agility and safety during tasks. In other cases, animals are fitted with sporting garments that allow for running, swimming and other sport-related physical activities in outdoor terrain and weather conditions. In all cases, an animal benefits from a versatile garment configuration so that the garment fits and covers the desired areas of the animal, offering identification, protection and other desired features while allowing unimpeded movement and comfort.
Garments for quadrupeds, such as dogs and horses, are often vests that cover portions of the animal's torso and extend from a neck region to a waist region. Current vests are typically available in limited sizes and have few, if any, points of adjustment. In these cases, the vest often does not closely fit the animal and diminishes the animal's ability to undertake desired tasks, activities, and roles. Thus, what is needed is an adjustable animal vest that includes multiple points of adjustment and panel components, assuring a close fit to the torso of the animal and allowing the animal to wear the vest in comfort while undertaking activities. Once adjusted for the animal, the vest should be easily assembled and disassembled on the animal, minimizing time spent donning and removing the vest with each use.

Adjustable animal vest and methods of using same


User experience enhancements for conducting group communication sessions may include displaying visual feedback on a display to indicate a state of a group communication session. Embodiments may include establishing a group communication channel with devices in a first operating mode in response to inputs on a user interface, detecting actuation of a lock mechanism, such as a target-based sliding lock mechanism on a touchscreen user interface display, and while the lock mechanism is actuated, maintaining the group communication channel in a second operating mode. The second operating mode may be a lockout mode and/or a blocking mode with respect to at least one other device in the group communication.

The present invention generally relates to wireless telecommunication systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and devices which enable group communication, such as "Push-To-Talk" (PTT) communication, without requiring dedicated PTT hardware.
In wireless telecommunication devices, such as cellular phones, PDAs, mini-laptops, and advanced pagers, the devices typically communicate over long distances by bridging telephone calls through existing cellular telephone networks and passing data packets across the network. These wireless communication devices often have data processing and computing capabilities, and can accordingly send and receive voice and other types of data across the telephone network.
There exists a wireless telecommunication service that provides a quick one-to-one or one-to-many communication that is generically referred to as "Push-To-Talk" (PTT) capability. The specific PTT group of recipient devices for the communicating wireless communication device is commonly set up by the carrier. A PTT communication connection is typically initiated by a single hardware button-push on the wireless communication device that activates a half-duplex link between the speaker and each member device of the group and once the button is released, the device can receive incoming PTT transmissions. Existing PTT systems have advantages over traditional cellular systems because they have faster call setup times, e.g., setup times ideally in the range of 1 second as opposed to cellular voice channels that can take more than 5 seconds to establish. In some arrangements, the PTT speaker will have the "floor" where no other group member can speak while the speaker is speaking. Once the speaker releases the PTT button, any other individual member of the group can engage his or her PTT button and he or she will have the floor. Generally speaking, the PTT system uses standard voice-over Internet protocol (VoIP) technologies. Voice information is sent in digital form over IP-based data networks. In PTT scenarios, instead of using the standard cellular infrastructure a call is formed by combining separate point-to-point connections between each IP endpoint in the network. Initiating the PTT system generates a call to the target device. The call originator's voice can be sent through the carrier's network to the target handset.
A drawback to existing PTT services is that they typically require devices with dedicated PTT hardware components, such as a hardware PTT button, meaning that these services are generally not available for the majority of mobile devices in use today.

User experience enhancements for limiting calls in a group communication


A powertrain includes a combustion chamber, an intake assembly, an exhaust manifold, and a pump. The combustion chamber is configured for combusting an air and fuel mixture. The intake assembly is configured to supply air to the combustion chamber. The exhaust manifold is configured to draw exhaust gas from the combustion chamber. The pump is operatively disposed between the intake assembly and the exhaust manifold such that the pump is in fluid communication with each of intake assembly and the exhaust manifold. The pump is configured to operate in a first mode to draw exhaust gas from the exhaust manifold and supply the exhaust gas to the intake manifold at a positive EGR flow rate such that exhaust gas is supplied to the combustion chamber.

Internal combustion engines may re-circulate exhaust gas from the exhaust system to an intake manifold, typically referred to as Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR), to improve fuel efficiency of the vehicle and/or reduce engine emissions. Because the exhaust gas from the EGR system is directed to the intake manifold, the necessary operation of the EGR system, e.g., the fuel/air mixture ratio, may need to vary from the various operating conditions, and the amount of exhaust gas delivered by the dedicated EGR cylinders may need to be regulated.

Emission system and method of selectively directing exhaust gas and air within an internal combustion engine


A method of automatically applying optical proximity correction techniques to a reticle design containing a plurality of features. The method comprises the steps of: (1) generating a first set of rules for applying scatter bar assist features to the plurality of features for a given illumination setting; (2) generating a second set of rules for applying biasing to the plurality of features for said given illumination setting; (3) forming a look-up table containing the first set of rules and the second set of rules; and (4) analyzing each of the plurality of features with the first set of rules and the second set of rules contained in the look-up table to determine if either the first set of rules or the second set of rules is applicable to a given feature. If either the first set of rules or the second set of rules is applicable to the given feature, the given feature is modified in accordance with the applicable rule.

Lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In such a case, the mask may contain a circuit pattern corresponding to an individual layer of the IC, and this pattern can be imaged onto a target portion (e.g. comprising one or more dies) on a substrate (silicon wafer) that has been coated with a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist). In general, a single wafer will contain a whole network of adjacent target portions that are successively irradiated via the projection system, one at a time. In one type of lithographic projection apparatus, each target portion is irradiated by exposing the entire mask pattern onto the target portion in one go; such an apparatus is commonly referred to as a wafer stepper. In an alternative apparatus—commonly referred to as a step-and-scan apparatus—each target portion is irradiated by progressively scanning the mask pattern under the projection beam in a given reference direction (the "scanning" direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate table parallel or anti-parallel to this direction; since, in general, the projection system will have a magnification factor M (generally <1), the speed V at which the substrate table is scanned will be a factor M times that at which the mask table is scanned. More information with regard to lithographic devices as described herein can be gleaned, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 6,046,792, incorporated herein by reference.
In a manufacturing process using a lithographic projection apparatus, a mask pattern is imaged onto a substrate that is at least partially covered by a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist). Prior to this imaging step, the substrate may undergo various procedures, such as priming, resist coating and a soft bake. After exposure, the substrate may be subjected to other procedures, such as a post-exposure bake (PEB), development, a hard bake and measurement/inspection of the imaged features. This array of procedures is used as a basis to pattern an individual layer of a device, e.g. an IC. Such a patterned layer may then undergo various processes such as etching, ion-implantation (doping), metallization, oxidation, chemo-mechanical polishing, etc., all intended to finish off an individual layer. If several layers are required, then the whole procedure, or a variant thereof, will have to be repeated for each new layer. Eventually, an array of devices will be present on the substrate (wafer). These devices are then separated from one another by a technique such as dicing or sawing, whence the individual devices can be mounted on a carrier, connected to pins, etc. Further information regarding such processes can be obtained, for example, from the book "Microchip Fabrication: A Practical Guide to Semiconductor Processing", Third Edition, by Peter van Zant, McGraw Hill Publishing Co., 1997, ISBN 0-07-067250-4, incorporated herein by reference.
For the sake of simplicity, the projection system may hereinafter be referred to as the "lens"; however, this term should be broadly interpreted as encompassing various types of projection systems, including refractive optics, reflective optics, and catadioptric systems, for example. The radiation system may also include components operating according to any of these design types for directing, shaping or controlling the projection beam of radiation, and such components may also be referred to below, collectively or singularly, as a "lens". Further, the lithographic apparatus may be of a type having two or more substrate tables (and/or two or more mask tables). In such "multiple stage" devices the additional tables may be used in parallel, or preparatory steps may be carried out on one or more tables while one or more other tables are being used for exposures. Twin stage lithographic apparatus are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,969,441 and WO 98/40791, incorporated herein by reference.
The photolithographic masks referred to above comprise geometric patterns corresponding to the circuit components to be integrated onto a silicon wafer. The patterns used to create such masks are generated utilizing CAD (computer-aided design) programs, this process often being referred to as EDA (electronic design automation). Most CAD programs follow a set of predetermined design rules in order to create functional masks. These rules are set by processing and design limitations. For example, design rules define the space tolerance between circuit devices (such as gates, capacitors, etc.) or interconnect lines, so as to ensure that the circuit devices or lines do not interact with one another in an undesirable way. The design rule limitations are typically referred to as "critical dimensions" (CD). A critical dimension of a circuit can be defined as the smallest width of a line or the smallest space between two lines. Thus, the CD determines the overall size and density of the designed circuit.
Of course, one of the goals in integrated circuit fabrication is to faithfully reproduce the original circuit design on the wafer (via the mask). Another goal is to use as much of the semiconductor wafer real estate as possible. As the size of an integrated circuit is reduced and its density increases, however, the CD of its corresponding mask pattern approaches the resolution limit of the optical exposure tool. The resolution for an exposure tool is defined as the minimum feature that the exposure tool can repeatedly expose oh the wafer. The resolution value of present exposure equipment often constrains the CD for many advanced IC circuit designs.
As the critical dimensions of the circuit layout become smaller and approach the resolution value of the exposure tool, the correspondence between the mask pattern and the actual circuit pattern developed on the photoresist layer can be significantly reduced. The degree and amount of differences in the mask and actual circuit patterns depends on the proximity of the circuit features to one another. Accordingly, pattern transference problems are referred to as "proximity effects."
To help overcome the significant problem of proximity effects, a number of techniques are used to add sub-lithographic features to mask patterns. Sub-lithographic features have dimensions less than the resolution of the exposure tool, and therefore do not transfer to the photoresist layer. Instead, sub-lithographic features interact with the original mask pattern and compensate for proximity effects, thereby improving the final transferred circuit pattern.
Examples of such sub-lithographic features are scattering bars and anti-scattering bars, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,821,014 (incorporated herein by reference), which are added to mask patterns to reduce differences between features within a mask pattern caused by proximity effects. More specifically, sub-resolution assist features, or scattering bars, have been used as a means to correct for optical proximity effects and have been shown to be effective for increasing the overall process window (i.e., the ability to consistently print features having a specified CD regardless of whether or not the features are isolated or densely packed relative to adjacent features). As set forth in the '014 patent, generally speaking, the optical proximity correction occurs by improving the depth of focus for the less dense to isolated features by placing scattering bars near these features. The scattering bars function to change the effective pattern density (of the isolated or less dense features) to be more dense, thereby negating the undesirable proximity effects associated with printing of isolated or less dense features. It is important, however, that the scattering bars themselves do not print on the wafer.
For the intermediate pitch features pitches, where there is no room to insert SB, a typical method of optical proximity correction (OPC) is to adjust the feature edges (or apply bias) so that the printed feature width is closer to the intended width. In order for the use of the sub-resolution features and/or feature biasing to be effective for minimizing optical proximity effects, an operator having a substantial amount of knowledge regarding mask design and the printing process, as well as a substantial amount of experience, is required to modify the mask design to include the subresolution features and/or the adjustment of feature edges (biasing) if the desired goal is to be obtained. Indeed, even when an experienced operator performs this task, it is often necessary to conduct a "trial and error" process in order to properly position the subresolution features to obtain the desired corrections. This is in part due to the fact that OPC rules are not universal in that the optimal solutions vary with the illumination settings of the imaging system, the type of resist, as well as other process factors. As such, the trial and error process, which can entail repeated mask revisions followed by repeated simulations, can become both a time consuming and costly process.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a method of automatically generating a set of rules for applying OPC techniques to a given mask design that eliminates the need for the time consuming and costly trial and error process that is typically performed when modifying a mask design to include OPC techniques, and that eliminates the need for an experienced mask designer to be involved in the process in order to obtain effective results.

Automatic optical proximity correction (OPC) rule generation


A device and method generate a sound masker to mask sound of the ambient environment. More specifically, spectral characteristics of sound in the ambient environment are determined, where the spectral characteristics are determined in terms of auditory excitation patterns. A database of pre-recorded sounds is searched to identify at least one pre-recorded sound that has spectral characteristics corresponding to the spectral characteristics of the sound in the ambient environment. At least a portion of the identified at least one pre-recorded sound is reproduced to mask the sound in the ambient environment.

In open areas, such as office environments, lobbies, etc., people may be disturbed by ambient noise (e.g., other people speaking). One way in which this problem is addressed is to use noise cancelling headphones. A problem with such noise canceling headphones is that for long use sessions they are not the most comfortable devices to wear. This is due in part to their closed (and often circum-aural or supra-aural) design, which can interfere with eye glasses and tend to retain heat.
Another way in which ambient noise may be addressed is to use masking-noise loudspeakers. These speakers are typically configured to play fixed noise having a speech-like spectrum. With such systems, however, it can be difficult to precisely tailor the masking noise to that of the ambient environment. Further, high levels of masking noise may be just as annoying as the ambient noise itself and thus the appropriate amount noise must be carefully used at a given time, but not more.

Spectrum matching in noise masking systems


A battery charging system suitable for charging mobile devices is presented. The system includes a plurality of charging stations. The system also includes a charging station location identification system coupled with the plurality of charging stations. Further, the system includes a communications platform configured to provide a communication means for the plurality of charging stations. Additionally, the system includes a wayfinding system configured to provide prioritization information for potential users of the battery charging system and arranged to couple with the charging station location identification system and the plurality of charging stations. The system includes an alerting system configured to provide system status of a mobile device and arranged to interact with the wayfinding system. The system also includes a merchandising module configured to provide economic data and purchasing functions for the potential users of the battery charging system.

Portable wireless devices, such as a cellular phone, a portable MP3 player, cassette tape players, a notebook computer, pagers, and PDAs are often battery operated and require chargers to recharge the batteries. In most cases the power chargers supply direct current (DC) to the device battery charging system, but the chargers themselves are powered from alternating currents (AC). The portable devices typically have a variety of DC charging voltages, where the chargers are often designed for a particular product, having their own physical and electrical interfaces and connectors. When a portable device, such as a phone, runs out of power, the user must have a charger available. The problem of compatibility between the chargers usually prevents a user to readily find someone with a charger that can be used to recharge.
Most charging is achieved using a cable wired between a charger and a device. There is the further inconvenience resulting from the different configurations, pin assignments and physical shapes of charging terminals requiring users to have to repeatedly purchase a new charging device. Previous unsuccessful attempts to address these problems were costly and logistically cumbersome. What is needed is a charger that can be used on any phone equipped with a universal way of effectuating the recharge. Typically, a non-contact type magnetic induction method, i.e., a non-wireless charger, which works by transferring energy from a charger to a portable device, such as a phone via electromagnetic induction is the solution.
The non-contact type charging method of providing current of a charging parent, i.e., energy, to the battery of a portable electronic device through inductive coupling can be achieved via different methods. One technique configures a primary circuit operating at a high frequency, in the charging station and configuring a secondary circuit at the device's battery side, i.e., in a portable electronic device or the battery. The non-contact type charging method using the inductive coupling is already used in some application fields (e.g., an electric toothbrush, an electric shaver.
However, when the non-contact type charging method is desired to be applied to a portable electronic device, such as a cellular phone, a portable MP3 player, cassette tape player, a notebook computer, a PDA or the like, the user generally purchases, the charger system. These systems themselves are not conveniently made portable. Not having the charger system when a battery runs down prevents the user from operating the device. If a user requires this type on non-contact system to charge their device, an alternative location of such devices must be ascertainable. No product now exists that allows a user, who desires to utilize a non-contact type charger, to easily locate such charger. What is needed is a means to locate charging stations, where a user can charge a portable device. Once the charging station is located the user can choose to charge the device using a non-contact inductive charging method or the more conventional method of attaching a wire between the charging station and the portable device.
Accordingly, there is an established need for wireless device charging platforms which solve at least one of the aforementioned problems. Further, there is an established need for a wireless device location finder and charging system, having various forms, that can provide location information of charging stations and allow charging of mobile devices.

Wireless device battery charging station location finder and charging systems


Provided are a network system and a method of controlling the same. The network system includes an energy supply part including a plurality of power supply sources, an energy metering part communicating with the plurality of power supply sources, the energy metering measuring energy supplied from the plurality of power supply sources, an energy management part receiving energy-related information supplied from the energy supply part, and an energy consumption part consuming power supplied from the energy supply part, the energy consumption part being operable and controllable by the energy management part. At least one power supply source of the plurality of power supply sources is selected according to an order of priority of a power supply, based on energy information related to the plurality of power supply sources. Thus, the power supply source having minimum costs is selected to efficiently manage energy within an intellectual power supply network.

A power system (power network) for supplying power into a home or office has a vertical and centralized network system that is concentrated into a center and controlled by a supplier. Also, in an electricity charge system, a charge system for use is a basic charge system, and charge systems for voltage and time are added to basic charge system. In addition, a progressive tax is applied to a house. Also, to disperse power consumption concentrated at a specific time, night-time electricity is now running. However, under the power system, it is difficult to realize a global target that is "Stop Global Warming" and solve limitations such as an absence of a plan for dealing with an increase of an energy raw material price, energy excessive consumption, and unstable supply of electricity.
Thus, it is needed to develop an intellectual power system in which two-way communication between a consumer and a supplier is established to improve efficiency of a power industry by doing away with the current power system. Furthermore, it is required to construct the intellectual power system so that consumers adjust their power consumption. Also, the development of intellectual devices mutually communicating with the intellectual power system is needed.

Network system and method of controlling network system