A method according to one embodiment may include creating a reserved partition on at least one volume of a RAID system. The method may also include creating a table to map data stored in the reserved partition to at least one intended volume address of at least one volume of the RAID system. The method may also include writing data associated with a RAID data write request into the cache memory, writing the data into the reserved partition, and updating the table to reflect data stored in the reserved partition.

RAID-5 volumes offer data protection at a significant write performance penalty over single disk volumes because of the parity operand reads and parity result writes. The penalty can result in ⅓ to 1/7 the write throughput. There are various strategies for reducing the penalty. One strategy is RAID-1/RAID-5 hybrid which attempts to make the hard working parts of the volume use RAID-1 protection and the rest of the volume use RAID-5. Its drawbacks are the following. RAID-1 is still not as fast as single disk. When data needs to be transferred between the RAID-1 part and RAID-5 part then it incurs even worse performance than just RAID-5. It lessens the capacity of the overall volume.
Another strategy is battery backed up, unpluggable write back cache or write buffer. One drawback to this approach is that few hardware solutions include battery backed up memory and even fewer include unpluggable memory. If the memory is not unpluggable then it lacks the expected RAID-5 protection since a RAID-5 volume's data is expected to survive even if the hardware board itself fails. Unpluggable battery backed cache is short of RAID-5 expectations since the data would be lost if the memory chip itself failed, which is a single point of failure.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended that the claimed subject matter be viewed broadly, and be defined only as set forth in the accompanying claims.


A method for separately registering a user and a mobile device for use of a mobile wallet account includes registering, by a registration terminal of a mobile wallet provider, a user for use of the mobile wallet account, including assigning one or more user-provided settings to the mobile wallet account. The method also includes receiving, by a computing system of the mobile wallet provider, a request from a mobile device to register the mobile device for use as a mobile wallet, identifying, by the computing system, the mobile wallet account of the registered user based on the request, and registering, by the computing system, the mobile device for use of the identified mobile wallet account, including associating the one or more user-provided settings with use of the mobile device.

Users of mobile computing devices are able to complete various financial transactions through their mobile computing devices. The users may set up their mobile computing devices to organize and selectively exchange payment information with transaction terminals, and with each other, in the absence of physical payment cards. Payment information may be managed by various software programs, including using "mobile wallets" offered by mobile wallet providers that include mobile device manufacturers, financial institutions, and other third party software developers. Such mobile wallets are implemented on the users' mobile computing devices by registration with the mobile wallet providers via the mobile computing devices.


A network processor includes an arbitration device, a processing device, and a pipeline. The arbitration device receives a first packet and a second packet. The second packet includes a first control message. The pipeline includes access devices, where the access devices include first and second access devices. The pipeline, based on a clock signal, forwards the first and second packets between successive ones of the access devices. The arbitration device: sets a timer based on at least one of (i) an amount of time for data to travel between the first and second access devices, or (ii) a number of pipeline stages between the first and second access devices; adjusts a variable based on (i) the clock signal, and (ii) transmission of the first packet from the arbitration device to the pipeline; and based on the timer and the variable, schedules transmission of the second packet through the pipeline.

Network processors often include a programmable pipeline to facilitate processing a stream of packets at high data rates, for example up to 100 gigabits per second. A programmable pipeline is often associated with one or more "processing engines" that perform various packet-processing operations, such as accessing a lookup table. Moreover, a programmable pipeline typically interacts with an engine through one or more engine access points (EAPs) located at various stages of the pipeline. For example, an EAP can be used to send a request on behalf of a packet to a packet-processing engine, and to receive a corresponding response which can be integrated into the packet description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
An engine is typically accessed by normal "traffic packets" to perform table lookups. In contrast, the engine is less frequently accessed by control-message (CM) packets to perform more time-consuming table-management operations. In order to maximize pipeline throughput, it is desirable to allow traffic packets to use as much of the engine's capacity as possible. Also, because CM packets are comparatively rare, it is undesirable to reserve engine capacity just to service these packets. In normal situations, traffic packets only achieve a 100% load for short periods of time. In other words, there are commonly gaps (unused capacity) in a stream of traffic packets. Hence, it is desirable for the engine to use these gaps to process requests for CM packets. However, using these gaps for CM packets involves performing queuing operations, and because queues are bounded in size it is important to ensure that no traffic packets or CM packets will be dropped because of queue overflow conditions.
However, it is complicated to ensure against queue overflow conditions because the mix between traffic packets and CM packets is typically controlled by an arbiter at the entrance to the programmable pipeline. Once a packet enters the pipeline, the packet proceeds through all of the pipeline stages without stalling. The engine has no other connection to the arbiter. (Note that because of the high pipeline speeds and the relatively large propagation delay between the engine and the arbiter, it is impractical to send feedback signals from the engine to the arbiter.)
A technique disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/722,470 (entitled "Method for Reducing Buffer Capacity in a Pipeline Processor," by the same inventors as the instant application, filed 28 Nov. 2007) ensures against queue overflow by letting one or more CM packets borrow engine capacity from the traffic packets, where the gaps in the traffic packets are used to regain the borrowed costs. Note that this borrowed engine capacity manifests itself as queue buildup, and this buildup needs to return to a low level, before new CM packets can be sent.
The above-described technique assumes that the location in the pipeline where you regain capacity (from gaps) is also the same location where you use the capacity (to service requests for traffic packets and CM packets). However, in many situations it is desirable for CM packets to use different engine access points (EAPs) from traffic packets. In this case, engine capacity is regained at different pipeline locations than where the capacity is used and the above-described technique may not operate properly.
Hence, what is needed is a method and an apparatus for scheduling packets to enter a programmable pipeline which operates in situations where CM packets and traffic packets access an engine from different pipeline locations.

Method and apparatus for scheduling packets for transmission in a network processor having a programmable pipeline


Reproduction accuracy of a digital signal, representing for example stereo audio signals, is improved by transmitting sample data which have been encoded to form transmission signals. The transmission signals are arranged in consecutive frames, each frame including a plurality of information packets, and each information packet including N bits. The number of information packets in a frame is determined by the ratio of the product of the transmission bit-rate and the number of samples represented in the frame, to the product of the number of bits in a packet and the sampling frequency. The transmission signals are recorded in a record carrier, or are transmitted in real time. In a digital stereo audio signal embodiment, the samples may be sub-band encoded or transform encoded. The transmission signal may include an indicator signal indicating a combination of certain samples, or scale factor signals for specific components of the sampled signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a decoder for use in a digital transmission system for transmitting a wide-band digital audio signal.
The invention further relates to a receiver for use in such transmission system, and to a method for decoding the encoded wideband digital audio signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
A transmission system of the type defined in the opening paragraphs is known from the article "The Critical Band Coder—Digital Encoding of Speech signals based on the Percentual requirements of the Auditory System" by M. E. Krasner, in Proc. IEEE ICASSP 80, Vol. I, pp. 327–331, Apr. 9–11, 1980. This article relates to a transmission system in which the transmitter employs a sub-band coding system and the receiver employs a corresponding sub-band decoding system, but the invention is not limited to such a coding system, as will become apparent hereinafter.
In the system known from this publication, the speech signal band is divided into a plurality of sub-bands having bandwidths approximately corresponding to the bandwidths of the critical bands of the human ear in the respective frequency ranges (cf. FIG. 2 in the article of Krasner). This division has been selected because, on the ground of psycho-acoustic experiments, it is foreseeable that the quantization noise in such a sub-band will 10 be masked to an optimum extent by the signals in this sub-band if, in the quantization, allowance is made for the noise-masking curve of the human ear (this curve giving the threshold value for noise masking in a critical band by a single tone in the center of the critical band, cf. FIG. 3 in the article by Krasner).
It should, however, be noted that the invention is not restricted to an encoding into sub-band signals. It is equally well possible to apply transform coding in the encoder, a transform coding being described in the publication "Low bit-rate coding of high-quality audio signals. An introduction to the MASCAM system" by G. Theile et al., in EBU Technical Review, No. 230 (August 1988).
In the case of a high-quality digital music signal, which, in conformity with the Compact Disc Standard, is represented by 16 bits per signal sample in the case of a sample frequency of 1/T=44.1 kHz, it is found that with a suitably selected bandwidth and a suitably selected quantization for the respective sub-bands, the use of this known sub-band coding system yields quantized output signals of the coder which can be represented by an average number of approximately 2.5 bits per signal sample, the quality of the replica of the music signal not differing perceptibly from that of the original music signal in substantially all passages of substantially all kinds of music signals.
The sub-bands need not necessarily correspond to the bandwidths of the critical bands of the human ear. Alternatively, the sub-bands may have other bandwidths, for example, they may all have the same bandwidth, provided that allowance is made for this in determining the masking threshold.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Decoding of an encoded wideband digital audio signal in a transmission system for transmitting and receiving such signal


A method comprising running an application on user equipment; providing a mobility service; using a packet switched connection when said mobility service is unavailable; and using said mobility service when said mobility service becomes available.

A communications system is a facility which enables communication between two or more entities such as user terminal equipment and/or network entities as the nodes associated with a communication system. The communication may comprise, for example, communication of voice, electronic mail (email), text messages, etc.
The communication may be provided by a fixed line and/or wireless communication interface. A feature of wireless communication systems is that they provide mobility for the users thereof. An example of communications systems providing wireless communication are public land mobile networks (PLMN). An example of the fixed line system is a public switched telephone network (PSTN).
A communications system typically operates in accordance with a given standard or specification which sets out what the various elements of the system are permitted to do and how that should be achieved. For example, the standard or specification may define if the user, or more precisely user equipment, is provided with a circuit switched service or a packet switched service or both. Communication protocols and/or parameters which should be used for the connection also are typically defined. For example, the manner in which communication should be implemented between the user and the elements of the communication network is typically based on a predefined communication protocol. In other words, a specific set of "rules" on which the communication can be based need to be defined to enable to communication.
So-called "multi-homed" mobile devices (user equipment) have been proposed where IP (internet protocol) connectivity via access networks may appear and disappear due to mobility of the user equipment. For example, a multi-homed user equipment may be arranged to be capable of accessing a WLAN (wireless local area network) and a GPRS network (general packet radio service). A WLAN network is generally a localised network, for example run in the context of an office environment whereas the GPRS network is a public land mobile network. Typically, when the user equipment is in the office environment it is preferred that the user equipment accesses the WLAN network but when the user equipment leaves the office environment the user equipment accesses the GPRS network.
When the user equipment moves for example from the WLAN network to the GPRS network, or vice versa, the user equipment IP (Internet Protocol) address will change. The applications that are running in the user equipment can use a mobility service (such as mobile IP, if the network infrastructure is supported) or the application can manage connection breaks itself by reconnecting sockets after the moving from one network to another.
If the user equipment application has chosen to use a mobility service, such as Mobile IP, it may occur that a home agent (HA) is not reachable because the HA server is down or for example an internet link between the user equipment and the home agent server is down. This causes a problem that the applications running on the user equipment will not be able to automatically keep their source IP address unchanged and the sockets unbroken, if for example the user equipment moves from one network to another. Applications using mobile IP make the assumption that the mobility service works at all times and do not have the ability to cope with the problem caused by the home agent being unreachable. This results in a bad user experience.
In more detail, the mobility service, such as mobile IP is normally used on top of a packet switched connection, such as IP. When the HA server is not reachable, the mobile IP implementation deactivates itself on the packet processing path of the user equipment TCP/IP (Transport control protocol/Internet Protocol) stack. In this case, the client application was able to continue using an IP connection if it was still working. However, it was not possible for the user equipment to resume the desired mobility service as it brings a seamless service to UE. Furthermore, because the mobile IP connection is broken, the IP address of the application was changed resulting in the existing sockets being broken without prior notice. This results in a breaking or discontinuity in a service being used by the user equipment.
It is therefore an aim of at least some embodiments to address or at least mitigate one or more of the problems described.


A dual-band antenna (1) for communication device includes a first radiating element portion (10) operating at a first frequency band, a second radiating element portion (20) operating at a second frequency band, an L-shaped ground portion (40), a conductive connection (50) interconnecting the first and second radiating element portions (10, 20) with the ground portion (40) and a slot (101) served as an impedance transformer and positioned on the ground portion (40). The slot (101) is implemented as a capacitive load that eliminates the inductive part of the input impedance of the antenna, thereby the slot (101) can match the input impedance of the antenna with a feed line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an antenna, and more particularly to a dual-band antenna for use with a wireless communication device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the development of wireless communication technology, various products such as mobile computers for dual-band communication have high performance to meet the consumers' demands. Accordingly, if a mobile computer with wireless communication function desires to have high performance, it is critical for it to have a well-designed antenna, which having high gain, high directivity when required and characteristics that can be applied in dual frequency bands.
Conventional antennas generally adapted to wireless communication products such as mobile computers are substantially grouped into two types, wherein one is external antenna and the other is internal antenna. The external antenna protrudes a relatively long distance from the body of the mobile computer, which makes the computer aesthetically unpleasing and inconvenient to move. In addition, the antenna is often bent, broken, knocked out of alignment or otherwise damaged because they can easily catch or strike objects such as people, walls, doors, etc. Furthermore, the antenna requires a large support structure to secure the antenna to the housing of the computer and this support structure requires a considerable amount of space inside the body of the computer. This space is valuable, especially in small, portable computer.
Accordingly, in order to clear said problem of the external antenna, various kinds of internal antennas dedicated to mobile computers are extensively used, which include slot antennas, microstrip antennas, planar inverted-F antennas (PIFA), spiral antennas and so on. A typical conventional planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA) is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,600,448 issued to Ikegaya et al on Jul. 29, 2003. The antenna provided in the Ikegaya's patent is a thin flat-plate antenna having a slit, which has a specified width and a specified length and is formed in a conductive flat plate. A radiating element portion shaped like a monopole antenna and a ground portion are formed with the slit between them. Although, the planar inverted-F antennas (PIFA) are structured so compact and lightweight, it can only operate in a single frequency band, which limits the use of this conventional antenna. Therefore, it is expected to develop an antenna adapted for dual frequency bands along with the mainstream trend of related communication device. For example, U.S. application Ser. No. 10/330959 filed by the same applicant discloses a dual-band antenna, which is able to operate in dual frequency bands (such as 2.4 GHz and 5.2 GHz) and has a compact shape particularly adapted to the communication products such as mobile computers. Horizontal portions of this antenna separated from each other serve as radiating element portions and a ground portion, respectively. A connection strip with respect to a feeding point thereof links the radiating element portions and ground portion. A coaxial feed cable is soldered onto the connection strip. The impedance matching between the antenna and the coaxial cable is realized by moving the feed point at the connection strip of the antenna. However, this means is limited by physical dimensions of connection strip and may influence the resonant frequencies of the antenna. Consequently, how to choose the feed point, which makes the antenna attain impedance matching and desired resonant frequencies as well, is relatively concerned.
Hence, it is necessary to provide a build-in antenna, which is capable of operate not in less than dual frequency bands and can easily achieve impedance matching between the antenna and the coaxial cable.

Dual-band antenna with an impedance transformer


A circuit arrangement is provided that includes at least one semiconductor component, at least one filter arrangement, which has at least two discretely made coil elements, which are disposed adjacent to one another with parallel aligned magnetic field axes, and a contacting unit, which has electrical traces for an electrically conductive connection of the semiconductor component to the filter arrangement. A thickness of the semiconductor component is at least 20% of a thickness of the coil elements.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a circuit arrangement comprising at least one semiconductor component and at least one filter arrangement, which has at least two discretely made coil elements, which are disposed adjacent to one another with parallel-aligned magnetic field axes, and a contacting unit, which has electrical traces for an electrically conductive connection of the semiconductor component to the filter arrangement.
2. Description of the Background Art
A circuit arrangement, known from being commercially available, is set up for the receipt and processing of high-frequency electromagnetic signals, which are emitted, for example, by satellites in orbit, and is called a receiver for a global positioning system (global positioning system receiver or GPS receiver). The task of the circuit arrangement is substantially to process the encoded signals from satellites in such a way that position and/or time and/or speed signals can be made available for further processing, for example, by a navigation system. The satellite signals are typically very weak signals, which the GPS receiver must greatly amplify. Because signal processing with the fewest interferences possible is to be the aim for precise position sensing, the received signals are filtered during processing with the use of filter arrangements. Filter arrangements of this type can be designed as bandpass filters and have coil elements, which have different, predefinable attenuations for signals with different frequencies.
In a conventional GPS receiver, the circuit arrangement has a contacting unit, which is provided for an electrical connection of the semiconductor component to the filter arrangement. This type of contacting unit is also called a circuit board or printed circuit and frequently is formed of glass fiber-reinforced epoxy resin. At least one discretely designed, housed semiconductor component and discretely designed components for the filter arrangement are placed on the contacting unit. The components for the filter arrangement are typically made as components that can be mounted on surfaces (surface mount devices/SMD), which are placed on the surface of the contacting unit and are connected to the contacting unit particularly with the use of a conductive adhesive or silk-screenable solder paste. Wound metal wire coils are used as coil elements for the filter arrangement. A magnetic field flows through the coil elements when an electrical voltage is applied. The magnetic field within the coil is aligned in the direction of a magnetic field axis, which is disposed concentrically to a center axis of an outer cylinder around the coil. The adjacently disposed coil elements of the filter arrangement are aligned relative to each other in such a way that the magnetic field axes lie parallel to one another.


A computer-implemented method for learning a policy for selection of an associative topic, which can be used in a dialog system, is described. The method includes obtaining a policy base that indicates a topic transition from a source topic to a destination topic and a short-term reward for the topic transition, by analyzing data from a corpus. The short-term reward may be defined as probability of associating a positive response. The method also includes calculating an expected long-term reward for the topic transition using the short-term reward for the topic transition with taking into account a discounted reward for a subsequent topic transition. The method further includes generating a policy using the policy base and the expected long-term reward for the topic transition. The policy indicates selection of the destination topic for the source topic as an associative topic for a current topic.

Technical Field
The present invention, generally, relates to associative topic selection technique, more particularly, to techniques for learning a policy used for selecting an associative topic in a dialog system.
Related Art
Recently, a dialog system capable of performing a conversation with a user has been developed for a variety of applications, including communication robots, answering systems for customer services, etc.

Learning of policy for selection of associative topic in dialog system

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


The present disclosure discloses a method, an apparatus and a system of processing related keywords. The method includes: receive a primary keyword inputted by a user; form a spliced URL for requesting related keywords based on the primary keyword; establish a link between an embedded window object in a current web page and a server using the URL to obtain the related keywords from the server; the embedded window object creates a keyword list and presents the related keywords in the current web page; and obtain a related keyword selected by the user and instantaneously add the related keyword into an input box.

Along with the rapid increase of the use of texts and multimedia contents on the Internet and other data networks and systems, an end user has become increasingly reliant on keyword-based search tools to find required information. In order to obtain a better and more accurate search result, one existing method provides related keywords to to be selected to conduct further searches.
In existing technologies, a process of selecting related keywords includes: click a selection button of related keywords to open a selection window of the related keywords; select related keywords in the window; close the window; and present all selected related keywords in an input box. For example, one display interface of related keywords according to existing technologies is shown in FIG. 1. Based on this interface, a selection process by a user is as follows. Open a search window of job categories upon clicking a selection button besides "job categories". The user checks relevant categories after selecting "computer network technology generally", and clicks a "confirm" button upon selection to obtain a presentation of the corresponding "job categories" as shown in FIG. 2.
As the demands for information rapidly increase, searching has become one of the most frequently used applications in information technology. However, the users experience some deficiencies of the above method of selecting related keywords in these frequently used information search applications. A selection window usually blocks out the related content of a current page, leading to a poor user experience. When multiple related keywords are selected, the user cannot see the result corresponding to multiple selections before completing the selections in a selection window, making the operations non-intuitive.
Therefore, a current technical problem that requires a solution is how to process related keywords in order to satisfy the ever-increasing operating and browsing requirements of users.

Method, apparatus and system of processing correlated keywords


A method is disclosed for obtaining a spreading code set for a code division multiple access (CDMA) communications system. The method includes (a) generating a P′×P′ spreading code set where P′=P/N, where P is the spreading gain in chips/symbol and where N is an integer multiple of 2; and (b) replicating chips in each spreading code by N to produce a P′×P spreading code set. The step of generating may include randomizing the spreading code set by performing at least one or row or column permutation. The P′×P spreading code set is subsequently loaded into system hardware for operating the system hardware with a bandwidth that is less than the bandwidth that would be required to operate with the P′×P′ Hadamard spreading code set. The CDMA system may be a synchronous, direct sequence code division multiple access communications system.

In a DS-CDMA system the users communicate simultaneously using the same frequency band via orthogonal modulation or spread spectrum. The bandwidth of conventional S-CDMA systems is determined by the chip rate and the pulse shape filtering that is used. Many of these systems also use a look-up table to store the pseudo-noise (PN) spreading codes in the transmitter and receiver. This is particularly true for those types of system using PN codes that are a power of two in length.
Conventional DS-CDMA system employ a single fixed chip rate, and thus exhibit a fixed bandwidth. This can create a problem when it is desired to produce a waveform that is required to have more than one bandwidth, and/or when it is desired to implement the CDMA system in different regions and markets having differing spectrum use and allocation regulations. For example, if in a particular region an operator is allocated a bandwidth of X, where the CDMA system requires a bandwidth of Y and where X<Y, then it may be impossible to operate the system.

Use of chip repetition to produce a flexible bandwidth DS-CDMA system


The invention of this application provides root nodule bacteria transformed with the DNA fragment of SEQ ID No. 1 consisting a catalase gene and whose nitrogen-fixation ability is enhanced with a catalase produced from the catalase gene, a preparation for leguminous crops containing the root nodule bacteria as an active ingredient, and a method of cultivating leguminous crops which comprises contacting seeds of leguminous crops with these. These inventions enable the acceleration of growth of leguminous crops and multiplication of crop yield of beans. Further, the reduction of agricultural cost and the alleviation of environmental pollution are realized by the reduction of nitrogen fertilizers.

Leguminous crops such as soybeans, adzuki beans and kidney beans can be grown well even in soil with low nitrogen content by atmospheric nitrogen-fixation resulting from bacteroid formed in the root nodules that are symbiotically formed therein according to infection with root nodule bacteria.
Thus, in addition to utilization of ordinary fertilizers, leguminous crops are generally grown from seeds previously coated with root nodule bacteria.
In order to further accelerate growth of various leguminous crops and multiply crop yield thereof, a screening of root nodule bacteria strains appropriate for various leguminous crops has been strenuously conducted so far. Meanwhile, the development of root nodule bacteria transformed by gene introduction has been attempted. For example, JP-T-2000-514663 disclosed the root nodule bacteria that were modified with incorporation of the trifolitoxin gene and efficient in suppression of growth of other competent root nodule bacteria.
Because of their nitrogen-fixation ability, root nodule bacteria play key role in growth and yield of leguminous crops. In leguminous crops, for example, degree of dependence on root nodule bacteria in nitrogen absorption ranges from 30% to 65%, and is extremely high. Accordingly, root nodule bacteria having enhanced nitrogen-fixation ability are expected to greatly enlarge a possibility of cultivating leguminous crops in various soils or increasing yields thereof. In addition, such efficient nitrogen absorption of leguminous crops with root nodule bacteria necessarily decreases dependence on inorganic nitrogen fertilizers such as ammonium sulfate, and therefore contributes greatly toward reduction of agricultural cost and alleviation of environmental pollution.
However, root nodule bacteria whose nitrogen-fixation ability is enhanced to a practical extent have been provided neither by a screening of novel root nodule bacteria from the natural world nor by a production of modified root nodule bacteria through gene manipulation.
In the meantime, a catalase has an activity to catalyze decomposition of hydrogen peroxide acting harmfully on animal and plant individuals into water and oxygen. The inventors of this application previously isolated new Vibrio rumoiensis strain S-1 having quite a strong catalase activity (J. Ferment. Bioeng. 85:113–116, 1998), and further specified the catalase gene of this strain (JP-A-2000-316584; Appll. Environ. Microbiol. 65:67–72, 1999; J. Biosci. Bioeng. 90:530–534, 2000). However, it has been so far unknown that a nitrogen-fixation ability of root nodule bacteria is enhanced by a catalase activity. Besides, root nodule bacteria whose nitrogen-fixation ability is enhanced by introduction of a catalase gene have been absolutely unknown.
The invention of this application has been proposed by concerning above-mentioned circumstances, and aims to provide novel root nodule bacteria whose nitrogen-fixation ability is enhanced by gene introduction.

Leguminous bacterium having potentiated nitrogen fixation ability


A method for plug and play routing is described. The method includes maintaining, at a central routing server(CRS) coupled to one or more network devices through an out-of-band (OOB) network, routing tables for the one or more network devices; receiving, at the CRS, a message pertaining to a network change event from at least one of the one or more network devices; updating, at the CRS, routing tables of all network devices that would be affected by the network change event; and transmitting, using the CRS, said updated routing tables to the respective affected network devices. The one or more network devices can form an autonomous system (AS). The central routing server is elaborated upon.

The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
Various networking techniques and protocol for telecommunication, including those used for the Internet are well known. While the need for networking and associated aspects such as bandwidth, speed etc. continues to grow exponentially, the routing protocols and the routing mechanisms used to manage flow of network traffic have been relying on the same technology which existed several years ago. As the size of the networks grow, routing protocols may not be able to scale equally.
In telecommunications networks, a node (interchangeably termed as a network device herein) is either a redistribution point or a communication endpoint. Physically, a node is an active electronic device that is attached to a network, and is capable of creating, receiving, or transmitting information over a communications channel. It could be a data communication equipment (DCE) such as a modem, hub, router, bridge or switch; or data terminal equipment (DTE) such as a digital telephone handset, a printer or a host computer.
Currently, there are two primary types of routing protocols that are used in IP networks. They are the Link State Routing Protocols and the Distance-Vector Routing Protocols. Usually routers used in such protocols split the tables into two: routing tables and forwarding tables. Routing tables usually contain all possible routes, and forwarding tables contain only the best route entries. Since the packet forwarding decisions are made on forwarding tables, they are placed in Dataplane of the router. A routing protocol daemon which manages both the routing and forwarding tables runs in the user space (Control plane) and, based on the routing information it receives, updates the routing tables and calculates the best forwarding table. If there is a change in the forwarding table, it is pushed by the daemon process to the Dataplane.
In case of Distance-Vector based routing protocols, a router maintains a routing table such that the next hop for the reachable network is minimum. It sends a request or a probe (interchangeably termed as health checks) at frequent intervals, to which the neighboring routers respond, by sending their routing table. If the router finds a new network in the list, or a different path for an existing network but with a smaller hop count, it updates its routing table to use the new information, and then generates a new forwarding table and pushes it to the Dataplane.
In case of Link State based routing protocols, each router maintains a complete view of the network as a graph and runs (most commonly) the Dijkstra's algorithm to find the shortest path to every possible destination on the network, and uses this information to generate its routing tables and forwarding tables. The weights on the graph are defined as link costs which are computed based on different factors like bit rate of the link, available bandwidth on that link or configured manually. The weights are a configurable value and the computation method could be defined by the administrator. However, Link State based routing protocols require large amount of memory which is based on the size of the network, heavy computation to generate the routing tables at every node and keeping track of network changes based on regular exchange of messages with neighboring routers.
Today's networks are much more reliable than the networks that existed when the routing protocols were developed. A typical router on a network may run for several months without rebooting/crashing or experiencing other forms of outage. Also, networks don't expand as frequently as the routing protocol traffic is pumped. Usually, network expansion or device replacement would be a planned activity and the frequency of it would not be in seconds but in days or even months/years depending on the requirement of the organization. Whenever devices are added to the network, they are over-provisioned to take into account the expected growth/requirements of the network over a substantial period of time.
In order to maintain routing tables and forwarding tables, routing protocols generate a lot of traffic amongst the routers to keep in sync with the latest state of the network. This traffic (mainly probe messages and responses, collectively also termed as health checks) is generated at regular intervals. Besides the resolution of identifying a network change depends on the time interval between two health checks/probes. For example, in case of OSPF a hello message is sent every 10 seconds (default), and it is only after 40 seconds (default) timeout, that a neighbor router is declared as dead. Hence the routing protocol traffic generated to manage network changes has become inefficient while network devices have advanced.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,856,627B2 (Method for routing information over a network) describes a method to identify a routing path from Node A to Node B by exchanging information between the two nodes over the network. The method uses the actual network or the in-band network to identify the routing path.
However, the method depends upon nodes to exchange information. This leads to a lot of traffic amongst nodes just to keep them in sync with any changes in state of the network. Hence the method is not very efficient,
U.S. Pat. No. 7,286,490B2 (Method for routing information over a network employing centralized control) describes a method wherein communication related to routing takes place in-band networks and traditional routing methods are used but with a master node. The master node is used to maintain a topology database. However, network nodes maintain information about neighboring nodes and exchange data to update their information. Protocols related to routing are run on the network nodes, and an in-band routing protocol is described.
Since the method depends on nodes to exchange data to update their information, as already elaborated the method is not very efficient.
US patent application US20140362737A1 (State information and routing table updates in large scale data networks) elaborates upon using a network controller to generate routing tables for network nodes. However, there is no network separation (out-of-band vs in-band) and at least one of the node itself functions as one of the network controllers. There being no separation, nodes serving as network controllers will experience heavy traffic leading to an overall inefficient network.
Hence there is a need in the art for a novel method of routing that reduces the amount of networking traffic amongst various network devices of a network. The method should be scalable as required. Further, reducing resolution (time taken) of identifying a network change can lead to the whole network becoming more responsive by, for example, responding in lesser time to a network device failure. As can be appreciated, such a novel method can lead to more efficient network devices resulting in better network resilience.
All publications herein are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
In some embodiments, the numbers expressing quantities or dimensions of items, and so forth, used to describe and claim certain embodiments of the invention are to be understood as being modified in some instances by the term "about." Accordingly, in some embodiments, the numerical parameters set forth in the written description and attached claims are approximations that can vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by a particular embodiment. In some embodiments, the numerical parameters should be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of some embodiments of the invention are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as practicable. The numerical values presented in some embodiments of the invention may contain certain errors necessarily resulting from the standard deviation found in their respective testing measurements.
As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of "a," "an," and "the" includes plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used in the description herein, the meaning of "in" includes "in" and "on" unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
The recitation of ranges of values herein is merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range. Unless otherwise indicated herein, each individual value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g. "such as") provided with respect to certain embodiments herein is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element essential to the practice of the invention.
Groupings of alternative elements or embodiments of the invention disclosed herein are not to be construed as limitations. Each group member can be referred to and claimed individually or in any combination with other members of the group or other elements found herein. One or more members of a group can be included in, or deleted from, a group for reasons of convenience and/or patentability. When any such inclusion or deletion occurs, the specification is herein deemed to contain the group as modified thus fulfilling the written description of all groups used in the appended claims.
Objects of the Invention
Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment herein satisfies are as listed herein below.
It is an object of the present disclosure to provide for a system that reduces the amount of networking traffic that is exchanged among various networking devices of a network with consequent advantages.
It is an object of the present disclosure to provide for a system that reduces resolution (time taken) of identifying a network change, thus resulting in better network resilience.
It is an object of the present disclosure to provide for more efficient network devices by reducing the amount of processing and memory requirements required on network devices.

Method and system for plug and play routing


An Escherichia bacterium having dihydrodipicolinate synthase and aspartokinase, both of which are desensitized to feedback inhibition by L-lysine. The intracellular activity of dihydrodipicolinate reductase in this bacterium can also be enhanced. Furthermore, a diaminopimelate dehydrogenase gene can be introduced into this bacterium, or intracellular activities of tetrahydrodipicolinate succinylase and succinyl diaminopimelate deacylase can be enhanced. Finally, the intracellular activities of aspartate-semialdehyde dehydrogenase or phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase can be enhanced in this bacterium. The bacterium can be cultured in a suitable medium to produce and accumulate L-lysine in culture, and the L-lysine is collected from the culture.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the microbial industry. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for producing L-lysine by fermentation, and a microorganism used in the production method.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
In the production of L-lysine by fermentation, strains isolated from nature or artificial mutants thereof have conventionally been used to improve the productivity. Many artificial mutant strains that produce L-lysine are known, and include S-2-aminoethylcysteine (AEC) resistant strains and those that belong to the genus Brevibacterium, Corynebacterium, Bacillus or Escherichia. Furthermore, various techniques have been disclosed for increasing the amino acid production, for example, the use of a transformant obtained by using recombinant DNA.
As for Escherichia bacteria, for example, methods for producing L-lysine by using a strain in which dihydrodipicolinate synthase (DDPS) activity is enhanced have been disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (Kokai) No. 56-18596, U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,170 and Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 15, pp. 227-331 (1982). Furthermore, a method for producing L-lysine by using an Escherichia bacterium into which DDPS derived from, and native to, a Corynebacterium bacterium has been introduced is disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 92-8382. Furthermore, a method for producing L-lysine using a strain which has been transformed with a plasmid containing DNA that codes for dihydrodipicolinate synthase derived from, and native to, an Escherichia bacterium which has a mutation to desensitize feedback inhibition by L-lysine, DNA that codes for aspartokinase which is desensitized to feedback inhibition by L-lysine, DNA that codes for dihydrodipicolinate reductase, and DNA that codes for diaminopimelate dehydrogenase derived from, and native to, a coryneform bacterium is disclosed in International Publication No. WO95/16042.
As for Brevibacterium bacteria, International Publication No. WO95/11985 discloses that L-lysine productivity can be improved by enhancing the activity of intracellular nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide transhydrogenase. Furthermore, a method for producing L-lysine using a strain in which phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activity is solely enhanced and a method for producing L-lysine using a strain in which aspartate-semialdehyde dehydrogenase activity is solely enhanced are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 60-87788 and Japanese Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. 6-102028, respectively.
The industrial production of amino acids by fermentation is performed on a large scale. Therefore, even improving the yield by several percent may provide significant industrial value, and thus improving the yield, even if only a small amount, is desirable.


Multiple resets in a system-on-chip (SOC) during boot where on-board regulators and low voltage detector circuits have different trimmed and untrimmed values may be avoided by the inclusion of a series of latches that latch the trimmed values during boot and retain the trim values even during a SOC reset event. The SOC is prevented from entering into a reset loop during boot or when exiting reset for any reason other than boot. A power-on-reset comparator circuit that does not depend on any trim values enables the latches and only clears the latched trim values if its own supply voltage falls below a preset level.

The present invention relates generally to integrated circuits such as system-on-chip (SOC) devices, and, more particularly, to a circuit and method for preventing multiple resets from occurring in such devices.
Power management units in a "System on Chip" (SOC) use Power-on Reset (POR) and Low Voltage Detector (LVD) techniques to initialize the SOC to a known state. When an SOC boots, many of its constituent parts, and particularly those comprising the power management circuits, work with default threshold values for LVD, POR and on-chip voltage regulator output voltages. During the boot procedure, trim values are loaded and default values of LVD POR, band gap reference (BGR) circuits and voltage regulators are changed. If the trimmed and untrimmed values of a given circuit are different, there is a possibility that the SOC will enter a loop of multiple resets for a short duration or even indefinitely. This behavior is undesirable, particularly if the SOC is used in safety-critical systems such as medical or automotive systems.
For example if an LVD has an untrimmed threshold of 1.15 v and a trimmed threshold of 1.18 v, then during boot, when the core voltage reaches 1.15 v, a LVD 'OK' is released and the trim values are loaded. However, as soon as the trim values are loaded, the LVD thresholds will change to 1.18 v, which will cause a reset of the SOC if the core voltage, which is still rising, has not yet reached 1.18 v. Once a reset is generated, the trim values will be deleted and the LVD will revert to the 1.15 v threshold value and assert an 'OK' status. Consequently, the SOC will again start loading trim values, leading again to a change of the LVD threshold from 1.15 v to 1.18 v and another reset cycle may follow. Depending on SOC implementation, this cyclical resetting behaviour can cause the on-chip voltage regulators also to be reset and hence an infinite cycle of reset can follow. Multiple resets increase boot time and may even cause hardware deadlock from which the system may not recover. For battery operated systems, if the SOC does not exit this loop, it will lead to the battery being drained.
Another problem can arise during booting owing to large variation of IR drop on bond wires and die power grid resistance, for example, which can result in a sudden dip in voltage, which is seen by the various on-board voltage monitoring circuits. This sudden dip can trigger one or more low voltage detectors resulting in the SOC being put into reset. Once in reset, the current suddenly drops, supply voltage is restored to a higher value and consequently the SOC exits reset and then goes back into reset again.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to prevent multiple reset events in integrated circuits.

Apparatus and method for preventing multiple resets


Disclosed are an articulated hydraulic machine supporting, control system and control method for same. The articulated hydraulic machine has an end effector for performing useful work. The control system is capable of controlling the end effector for automated movement along a preselected trajectory. The control system has a position error correction system to correct discrepancies between an actual end effector trajectory and a desired end effector trajectory. The correction system can employ one or more absolute position signals provided by one or more acceleration sensors supported by one or more movable machine elements. Good trajectory positioning and repeatability can be obtained. A two-joystick controller system is enabled, which can in some cases facilitate the operator's task and enhance their work quality and productivity.

Computer-assisted operator control of hydraulic machinery requires stable, smooth machine response. Danko U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/488,011, Publication No. 20040267404, "referenced Danko '404" hereinafter, entitled "Coordinated joint motion control system", the entire disclosure of which application is hereby incorporated herein by reference thereto, discloses a coordinated joint motion control system for hydraulic machinery and the like. The disclosed control system employs a software-based kinematics reconfiguration system to assist the operator with various tasks. Danko '404's disclosure includes a differential, forward-prediction kinematics solution for adjusting the as-built machine hardware kinematics to an as-desired kinematics which provides desirable, reference actuator velocities and can yield a resultant motion trajectory that is well suited for the task specified. The systems and methods disclosed in Danko '404 are believed useful for their intended purposes, but, as is understood by the present invention they may not address the question of how to compensate for imperfect control system components.
Implementation of kinematics transformation from a virtual model in the digital domain to a real world tool trajectory is a difficult task because of the reliance on imperfect mechanical sensors and actuators. Energy loss reduction is a significant consideration for heavy equipment, mobile hydraulics control systems for excavators and the like may need to employ simplified control loops having higher energy efficiencies than do other control systems, for example hydraulic robot control systems. However, response time and precision may be compromised in such simplified hydraulic control loops. Generally, it is to be expected that the load-dependent valve and hydraulics control response characteristics will be non-linear. What are known as "measured valves" have been proposed to linearize the control valves and eliminate load-dependency by applying closed control loops around the valves. In Danko '404 a drawback of this approach, is that the hydraulic circuit may not effectively and timely apply the desired control velocity to the machine elements or links, owing to hydraulic flow inertia or pressure deficiencies that may arise.
Pursuant to the present invention it can be understood that it would be desirable to have accurate position information regarding the moving machine elements and especially regarding the end effector or tool. Further, it is an understanding of the invention that such position information for a given point in time and provided continuously throughout machine operation could be useful in enhancing control system performance.
A number of solutions have been proposed to the general problem of system identification i.e. determination of a system space-state at a given point in time from a noisy observation signal. For example Kalman, R. E., in "A New Approach to Linear Filtering and Prediction Problems," Journal of Basic Engineering, 82 (Series D), 1960, pp. 35-45, describes an iterative method for developing a state-space system model during the solution. Various methods for identifying a causal linear or non-linear system are given by Schetzen, M., The Volterra and Wiener Theories of Nonlinear Systems, John Wiley and Sons, 1980, including convolution and Volterra series-based solutions.
Hypothetically, it might be possible to construct a priori a multi-variable, nonlinear machine model, at least for an unloaded machine, that could predict the motion of the machine under arbitrary control of all actuators. A non-iterative, Volterra-series, linear or non-linear, multi-variate system identification method could be applied. A drawback of such methods is that they may be computationally too extensive to be effectively used in embedded real-time control applications, where model computation time is significantly limited. A priori system model developments are described by Juang, J. -N. and Phan, M. in "Identification of System, Observer, and Controller from Closed-loop Experimental Data," Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol. 17, No. 2, January-February 1994, pp. 91-96. and by Phan et al. in "Improvement of Observer/Kalman Filter Identification (OKID) by Residual Whitening," Journal of Vibrations and Acoustics, Vol. 117, April 1995, pp. 223-238. An observer-controller identification method from measurements under closed-loop control is given by Juang and Phan [1994]. A state-space dynamic system model identification from measured input-output data processed first as observer Markov parameters is described by Phan et al., "Markov Parameters in System Identification: Old and New Concepts," Structronic Systems: Smart Structures, Devices, and Systems, Vol. 2, Tzou, H. S. and Guran A. (eds.), World Scientific, Singapore, 1997, pp. 263-293.
A direct, adaptive system identification approach is described by Phan et al. in "Unifying Input-Output and State-Space Perspectives of Predictive Control," Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Technical Report No. 3044, Princeton University, September, 1998 for predictive control of a flexible and lightly damped system with complex dynamics. Such an adaptive/predictive state-space control system component may be identified in the presence of unknown disturbances from measurements, as demonstrated by Goodzeit, N. E. and Phan, M. Q. in "System and Periodic Disturbance Identification for Feedforward-Feedback Control of Flexible Spacecraft," Proceedings of the 35th AIAA Aerospace Science Meeting and Exhibit, Reno, Nev., January 1997. Goodzeit N. E. and Phan point to advantages that may be obtained by simplifying a control compensation task by excluding responses to selected disturbances. Such methods can avoid the saturation of the adaptive control system with too many disturbance-corrupted signals and can be described as "clear-box" adaptive control methods. However, none of these proposals is entirely adequate to compensate for the mechanical inefficiencies that may arise in articulated hydraulic machinery under time- and task-variable, external loads.
The foregoing description of background art may include insights, discoveries, understandings or disclosures, or associations together of disclosures, that were not known to the relevant art prior to the present invention but which were provided by the invention. Some such contributions of the invention may have been specifically pointed out herein, whereas other such contributions of the invention will be apparent from their context. Merely because a document may have been cited here, no admission is made that the field of the document, which may be quite different from that of the invention, is analogous to the field or fields of the present invention.

Coordinated joint motion control system with position error correction

The Board of Regents of the University and Community College System on Behalf of the University of Nevada


An energy conversion device has a self-oscillating transistorized L-C series-resonant half-bridge inverter circuit having alternating resonant inductor current and adapted to deliver a high frequency signal to an effective load coupled effectively in parallel with the capacitor. The device includes a DC voltage supply able to provide DC voltage between the DC terminals; an artificial load arrangement connected to the DC terminals and operable to effectively couple itself in parallel with the capacitor; a load-coupling transformer; and a saturable feedback transformer operable to sense the alternating resonant inductor current and to control and adjust the frequency of the oscillation in proportion to the effective load applied effectively in parallel with the capacitor.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electronic ballasts for gas discharge lamps, particularly to ballasts wherein the load is powered by way of a series-resonant parallel loaded L-C circuit.
2. Description of Prior Art
Every high frequency electronic ballast for gas discharge lamps has a fundamental part in its structure adapted to convert the low frequency AC power line voltage to a high frequency source which starts and operates the lamps. That part is the L-C resonant inverter/converter circuit.
The electronic energy converters are known in many forms (configurations) dependent on specific applications. Each specific application of the electronic energy converter in electronic ballasts designs is associated with a specific set of requirements of the marketplace to be accepted commercially. In general, to meet industry requirements, the electronic ballast for a gas discharge lamp has to meet the following fundamental requirements: (i) draw power from a power line at a power factor of at least 90%, (ii) draw current from the power line with total harmonic distortion of less than 20%.
The electronic ballast is used in large quantities in lighting luminaries worldwide. The lighting industry in each country or continent has developed over some time a set of specific requirements recommended by the International Electrical Commission (IEC) or as required by safety standards of recognized safety organizations like UL in USA or CSA in Canada. In the US market, the electronic ballast technical specifications and requirements are outlined by the American National Standard Institute (ANSI). The most significant of the requirements are: a) lamp current crest factor should be less than 1.7, as specified by the lamps manufacturers to ensure long service life; b) lamp glow current before ignition should be lower than 25 mARMS, to make sure the filaments are not subjected to any other emission than thermionic; c) glow-to-arc transition time should be lower than 100 ms; d) positive ignition should occur within +/-20% of power line voltage; e) ballast should have standard wiring configurations for 1, 2, 3, or 4 lamps; f) ballast should pass high frequency shock hazard tests of safety standard (UL935); g) positive lamp ignition should occur at very low ambient temperatures, typically 0.degree. C.; h) ballast EMI/RFI noise emissions shall be low--as per FCC, CFR Title 47, Part 18, Class A or B; i) ballast should be immune to power line transients; and j) lamp's filaments should be preheated up to the temperature of at least 700.degree. C. before ignition.
Furthermore, there are market requirements related to the ballast features as follows:
A) protection ballast from self-destruction in the event of a lamps failure or removal and providing automatic restart after relamping; PA1 B) circulating resonant current should be as low as possible to ensure miniaturization of the components and lowering the cost of the ballast; PA1 C) circulating resonant current should be as low as possible to ensure highest electrical efficiency, lowest internal temperature rise, and longest ballast's service life possible; PA1 D) protection from partial or total short circuit at the output terminals; PA1 E) protection from commonly known cross-conduction of the switching transistors configured in a half-bridge by positive implementation of, so called, dead time and a zero-voltage switching method; PA1 F) switching transistors' feedback loop signals quality should be completely independent of lamp-load current changes and disturbances; PA1 G) switching transient voltage should not be present across the power switching junctions of the switching transistors; PA1 H) all inverters, current waveforms should be as close as possible to harmonic (sinusoidal) in waveshapes to assure low radiated emissions; PA1 I) circuitry should have low component count and be inexpensive and simple to manufacture; PA1 J) the inverter design shall be very adaptable to all power line voltages and lamps kinds, as well as a number of lamps to be powered; PA1 K) the design shall be easily manufacturable in large quantities with great repeatability as required by industry quality standards; PA1 L) the design shall be insensitive to high and low ambient temperatures; PA1 M) the design shall operate within specifications when smaller power rated lamps of the same group are connected as the load; PA1 N) the design shall provide a very long service life--up 5 to 20 years. PA1 a DC voltage supply means having first and second DC terminals; PA1 a capacitor means connected in series across the DC terminals, and having a first inverter terminal; PA1 an inverter means having a second inverter terminal and having a first and a second transistor means connected in series across the DC terminals, and said transistor means being equipped with control terminals and being operative to periodically and alternately render in an ON-state and in an OFF-state, said ON-state being characterized by an ON-time during which the transistor means exhibit a relatively low resistance to the flow of electric current, and said OFF-state being characterized by an OFF-time during which said switching means exhibit a relatively high resistance to the flow of electric current, the inverter means being operative to convert said DC voltage into a substantially squarewave voltage, said squarewave voltage having a frequency and being provided between the first and the second inverter terminals; PA1 series-resonant circuit means having an instantaneous frequency dependent impedance and comprising a resonant capacitor and a resonant inductor, connected in series circuit across the first and the second inverter terminals and operative to draw an alternating resonant current from said inverter terminals; PA1 load-coupling means operative to permit connection of said lamp in parallel circuit with the resonant capacitor, and to provide a predetermined magnitude of power to properly preheat and operate said lamp; PA1 an artificial load means having an instantaneous effective value and operative, whenever said lamp is not effectively connected in parallel with said resonant capacitor, to effectively connect itself in parallel circuit with the resonant capacitor; and PA1 a saturable feedback transformer means having a sensing winding and a pair of control windings, and operable to sense an instantaneous amplitude of the alternating resonant current of the resonant circuit means, and to provide a control signal at the control terminals to determine and control said ON-time and frequency in proportion to an instantaneous resonant impedance developed in natural and resonant interaction between: (i) a load impedance of the lamp, and (ii) the instantaneous effective value of the artificial load means, and (iii) the frequency dependent impedance of the series-resonant circuit means; PA1 wherein the saturable feedback transformer means being operable, at the time whenever said lamp is being effectively disconnected from the parallel connection with the resonant capacitor, to increase the frequency up to a predetermined and adjustable magnitude, and that increase is proportional to an increase of an effective value of a load applied in parallel with the resonant capacitor.
There are two major directions (configurations) the electronic ballasts technologies have progressed over time. One of the configurations is L-C parallel-resonant "push-pull" type, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 104,277,726 issued to Burke. The other configuration is L-C series-resonant "half-bridge" type, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,084,283 issued to Grunwaldt. There are numerous deficiencies associated with any one of the configurations, as presented in respective patents.
The push-pull type having transistors connected in the parallel and across a DC voltage, exhibiting high transient voltage spikes across power switching junctions of the transistors--requiring the transistors in certain applications (like 347 VAC line in Canada), to have a very high voltage rating which is impossible to manufacture economically. Additionally, the switching transistors are switched periodically and alternately ON and OFF, in this push-pull configuration, according to a switching signal supplied to base-emiter junctions. That signal is proportional in its amplitude and phase to the resonant voltage developed at the resonant inductor L. That voltage is also applied to the lamp-load. Any undesired changes or distortions to that voltage created by the load are provided to the base-emiter junctions of the transistors. Thereby, the switching signal delivered to the base-emiter junctions in this push-pull inverter, does not always guarantee naturally good quality and reliable switching of the transistors.
The L-C series-resonant half-bridge type, having a load connected in parallel with the capacitor C, is self-destructive whenever the load is removed or inoperative. It is, however, a very robust circuit configuration in which no transient voltage spikes ever exist across power switching junctions of the transistors. Furthermore, it is common knowledge that application of the L-C series-resonant inverter to power a gas discharge load is particularly ideal in regards to the inverter's matching properties with those of the gas discharge load. Especially in regards to starting requirements and the waveform of the current supplied is particularly favorable in respect to life duration of the lamp (as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,084,283 to Grunwaldt). In this inverter, where the lamp is connected across a resonant capacitor C, it is necessary to provide some means to protect the inverter from self-destruction when the lamp fails to ignite or is removed.
Unlike in the parallel-resonant inverter, all currents which flow within the L-C series-resonant inverter are near sinusoidal in waveshape, thus producing very low EMI/RFI noise emissions. The best switching reliability results are achieved whenever the transistors' switching signals (base currents) are proportional in their amplitudes and phases to the switched current (collector current). The switching loop of the L-C series-resonant inverter presented in U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,087, issued to Moisin et al., does not meet that fundamental requirement. The switching transistors, there, are switched with the use of a linear base drive transformer and the transistors' base currents are proportional in their amplitudes and in phases to the resonant capacitor current and are not proportional in their amplitudes and in phases to the switched current (the resonant inductor current). In result, such approach produced very unstable oscillations of the half-bridge inverter due to a mismatch of amplitude and phase of the switching signal in regards to switched current. Many failures of the ballasts made with such an invention are a result of a commonly known cross-conduction wherein both transistors are ON at the same time and get destroyed instantly.
In the paper presented by McMurray, Shattuck: "Silicon-Controlled Inverter with Improved Commutation" at the AIEE Summer General Meeting, Ithaca, N.Y., Jun. 18-23, 1961, the authors described a protection circuit for a series resonant inverter with use of so called "feedback rectifiers" to return energy to a DC source. (See FIG. 7, page 533). It was a great invention at the time, but it has several drawbacks when directly applied without further improvements. The most important drawback was that the inverter had a large magnitude of current circulated within itself whenever the load was removed or was inoperative, thereby causing high power dissipation, short service life, and low reliability. This mode of operation is very common in lighting installations, when a building contractor installs all ballasts before he installs the lamps into the lighting fixtures. It is mandatory that ballasts operate continuously without lamps or with defective/inoperative lamps and have a voltage present at its output terminals to re-strike and operate new or replaced lamps at all times. This operation must take place without performing additional tasks like power cycling OFF and ON, and the like. Also, lamps naturally fail at the end of their service life, and a ballast operates in the unloaded mode until the new lamps are installed, sometimes for a very long time. In order to provide a very long service life of the ballast (near 20 years), the ballast power dissipation or circulating resonant current of the inverter had to be minimized, especially in worst case fault modes. The minimized circulating resonant current allows miniaturization and reduction in manufacturing cost of the ballast.
Furthermore, gas discharge lamps behave like "uncharged capacitors" filled with gas before ignition. Their negative resistance characteristics, along with their ability to store energy, create a very unusual and difficult load to operate by the ballast. Also, due to various reasons, such lamps behave as rectifiers when they conduct current only in one polarity direction, and store energy in another polarity direction of the supplied voltage. Therefore, for many of the brief periods, such lamps create a short circuit across ballast output terminals, and for other brief periods, such lamps create no load conditions for the ballast. With such a violent and unpredictable load being operated, the ballast must withstand all its changes and behaviors: full load, partial load, short output, open output, partial load in diode mode, and all possible combinations of the latter. All electronic ballasts should respond to all of these faults naturally, dynamically, automatically, and instantly in order to achieve proper quality and reliability levels and to be accepted by the marketplace. In other words, all electronic ballasts must naturally be self-protective and self-adjusting in response to all lamp-load behaviors and all lamp-load conditions.
To mitigate the above described deficiencies of L-C series-resonant electronic ballasts, various protection circuits have been developed and described in a number of U.S. Patents.
In the U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,372 Zuchtriegel teaches an L-C series-resonant transistorized oscillator circuit operating multiple lamps. The transistors (T1, T2) are deenergized in case of malfunction by a monitoring circuit (11, L4, L4', L4") which includes a thyristor (21) which fires to disable oscillatory operation of the oscillator circuit and thereby prevents over voltage conditions upon electrical removal of a lamp. The transistors' switching signals are provided by windings L2, L2', and L3, L3' which are magnetically coupled to the resonant inductors L1, L1', respectively. Such switching signals are not in phase with the switched current, therefore complex phase shifting circuits must be implemented to improve the switching quality. This inverter has no protection for a partially or totally shorted output which is naturally associated with gas discharge lamps.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,706, Krummel describes an L-C series oscillating inverter circuit equipped with a voltage dependent resistor to sense an overvoltage condition. Such a resistor functions in the current-conducting range, i.e. lamp ignition mode, when the oscillating frequency is altered to increase output voltage to a predetermined limit. Whenever the circuit output voltage is excessively high for a prolonged time, the voltage dependent resistor activates an inverter shutdown circuit to stop oscillations and remove the overvoltage condition. The shutdown stage is maintained until the interruption of the holding current of the thyristor. The inverter switching transistors are driven by signals provided by a saturable current transformer which responds to the current of the resonant inductor L. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,616,158, Krummel teaches again the shutdown circuit applied in an L-C series-resonant inverter in case of overvoltage or overcurrent.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,049,790, Herfurth et al. describes a method of externally driving an L-C series-resonant inverter wherein predetermined adjustments of the oscillation frequency are provided for all operation conditions, i.e. normal operation, strike mode, and lamp removed mode. The external driver (integrated circuit) is supplied with the inverter output voltage signal and lamp current signal to effectively perform the transistors' driving and frequency controlling functions.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,407, Thorne describes a complex runaway protection circuit which is activated upon sensing of a no load condition to place the L-C series-resonant inverter circuitry in a standby mode of operation and further controls the output power (voltage and current) with use of circuitry to increase the frequency of the inverter oscillation. To assure that over-voltage or over-current in the circuit will not take place, the protection circuit 24 is provided to effectively change the oscillating frequency and the transistors' duty cycles. The switching transistors are driven with use of a linear base drive transformer which is sensing the resonant inductor current and is additionally coupled to the protection circuit 24 whenever an increase of the oscillation frequency is performed. This approach provides effective dimming of the lamps, but fails to effectively protect the inverter in the case of a lamp diode mode of operation (asymmetrical lamp current) and partially or totally shorted output conditions.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,130,610, Kakitani describes a L-C series resonant inverter having a load connected in parallel with the resonant capacitor 60 with use of an isolation transformer 66 to effectively minimize the circulating current during normal load conditions. Kakitani states that, with the decrease of the value of the circulating resonant current the miniaturization and reduction in manufacturing cost of an apparatus can be realized. The transformer 84 (FIG. 7) is equipped with a winding 90 for output voltage detection and supplying a proportional signal to control a switching transistor's frequency via the control circuit 94 and safety circuit 96. In another U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,474, Kakitani teaches sensing output voltage of the inverter with a winding 11c and a resonant inductor voltage with winding 7b. Both sensed voltages are provided to the control circuit 8 which accordingly gate the transistors 5 and 6 to eliminate over-voltage condition whenever lamps are removed or are inoperative. Such a control method and circuitry is costly and very complicated to be effective in all conditions including a partially or totally shorted output.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,392,087, which issued to Zansky, describes a single magnetic structure which includes an input winding (primary) 127, an output winding (secondary) 132, a clamping winding 145, and transistors' base drive windings 122 and 128. All windings have their associated primary inductances. The mutual inductances are naturally present between each possible pair of windings of that structure. The mutual magnetic coupling is not ideal; therefore, leakage inductances associated with each winding are also naturally present. The leakage inductance of the output winding 132 is intentionally made to be as the resonant inductance of this complex resonant circuit. In this structure, the resonant capacitor 136 is in series-resonanse with the leakage inductance and in parallel-resonanse with the primary inductance of the winding 132. The clamping winding 145 is proposed to protect the output of the inverter (across the capacitor 136) from over-voltage and over-current conditions. Due to a fact that the clamping winding is placed on the same structure as all other windings of the inverter, its clamping effect is distributed on all windings according to a coupling factor (0<k<1) which exists between this clamping winding and any other winding of this single magnetic structure. The transistors' base drive signals are greatly effected by the current flowing in the clamping winding during clamping time, and the switching quality is not acceptable at that time. If fact, this applicant has built the inverter according to teachings of Zansky with intentions to operate two lamps FO32T8 type. During the critical test, when the load was removed, the transistors failed within one second. After redesigning the circuit to create more effect of clamping during load removed mode, the ballast failed to provide adequate voltage to strike the lamps in the first place. This applicant concluded that, such application of a clamping winding as proposed by Zansky, is absolutely impractical in its purpose. Perhaps, it is the reason why this type of inverter never has been manufactured as an an electronic ballast.
Another approach is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,855,860 which issued to Nilssen wherein a temporary clamp circuit made with diodes Rx, Ry and capacitors Cx, Cy and have voltage across the resonant inductor L limited in regards to the voltage across the capacitors Cx, Cy with use of a tap TP in the inductor winding. The inductor, therefore, has two sections. Whenever voltage across the section with terminals Z and TP is at a level higher than a voltage across the capacitor Cx, Cy, then high peak current will circulate in that section of the inductor winding. Due to magnetic coupling (0<k<1) between both sections of the inductor (it is made on the same magnetic structure), a proportionally high peak current will be inducted in the second section of the inductor, resulting in high peak current flow in addition to normal resonant circulating current. Such high peaks fare developed at the time when the resonant circulating current is normally crossing zero. This develops high peak transistors' base drive currents at the time when such transistors are to be turned OFF. In result, the dead time between conduction of both transistors is eliminated which leads the transistors closer to cross-conduction and closer to system crush. This type of clamping method of the series-resonant inductor L, having a lamp-load applied across the resonant capacitor C, does not protect the inverter for longer than a brief period. Perhaps it was the only reason why Nilssen proposed an additional protection means in the form of an inverter total shutdown circuit. In fact, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,980, Nilssen teaches the same combination of clamped inductor with a total shutdown circuit in case of an unload condition. Furthermore, Nilssen teaches the total inverter shutdown circuits in many of his other U.S. Pat. Nos. as follows: 4,503,363, Re32,901, Re32,953, 4,581,562, 4,638,395, and 4,667,131. In contrast, Nilssen does not suggest any clamping circuit without combining it with a total shutdown circuit for all L-C series resonant inverters.
Additionally, Nilssen teaches other methods of controlling an L-C series-resonant inverter having a lamp-load connected in parallel with the resonant capacitor C. Such teachings can be found in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,700,287, 4,819,146, 4,851,739, 4,983,887, 5,039,919, 5,111,380, 5,164,637, 5,177,409, and 5,179,326.
Therefore, it is very desirable to have an electronic ballast having a L-C series-resonant inverter, and having a gas discharge load connected in parallel with a capacitor C, and the inverter shall be protected from over-voltage and over-current, and further the inverter shall be equipped with means to minimize the magnitude of the circulating current, when the gas discharge load is removed or is inoperative, to effectively miniaturize the components' sizes and lower the device costs. Further, the minimum of the circulating current lowers internal power dissipation within the inverter and increases the service life and the reliability of the ballast. It is very desirable to have an improved L-C series-resonant inverter/converter implemented into a design of the electronic ballast for gas discharge lamps which will be greatly improved and novel to satisfy a series of fundamental requirements described herein.
Also, it is extremely important to have an electronic ballast which will safely withstand all unpredictable and predictable behaviors of the operated gas discharge load.

Self-protected series resonant electronic energy converter


A single leg caster assembly is disclosed. The assembly includes a wheel retaining hub and axle which support a bearing and wheel. A portion of the axle and a portion of the wheel retaining hub act as thread guards to inhibit thread from becoming tangled on the axle and in the bearing.

Carts and dollies are often used in textile factories and textile mills to transport textile and other objects from one work or storage station to another. Those carts are often provided with casters, which enable the cart to roll. Textile mills may have loose threads and fibers on the floor of the work or storage areas. Many conventional casters permit the loose thread to become tangled on the axle and in the bearings and thereby inhibit the rolling of the caster.
Some caster designs have attempted to inhibit thread from entering the axle area and tangling on the axle. An example of such a design is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,742,663. Although that design does, to some extent, inhibit thread from tangling around the axle, the design does not entirely prevent thread wrap. Allowing some threads into the caster assembly was not often a severe problem when cotton and other natural fibers were used. These natural fibers pose little risk of jamming or damaging the caster because they tend to break down and decay from the friction and other forces present in the axle area. In contrast, modern, synthetic fibers do not tend to break down and decay. Instead, these much tougher fibers will clog the caster and may even cut through the plastic wheel, mar the metal axle, or damage a wheel bearing Thus, keeping these fibers out of the caster assembly is of even greater importance.
Moreover, previous caster designs were difficult to disassemble and clean when thread did become tangled around the axle. Those casters are not comprised of individual replacement parts such that each component part could be taken out, cleaned and replaced individually if it was worn or otherwise had failed to operate. Instead, entire portions of the assembly must be replaced.
In addition, those designs do not provide inner and outer support for the bearings. The bearings are therefore susceptible to damage caused by lateral forces exerted in directions other than in the plane in which the bearing is intended to turn. These forces may cause the bearing to shift its position along the axle and can cause excessive bearing wear.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a caster assembly including a wheel retaining hub and axle portions that inhibit thread and lint from becoming wound around the axle and bearing.
Another object of this invention is to provide a thread inhibiting caster assembly that contains a small number of parts, so that the caster can be easily assembled and disassembled.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a thread inhibiting caster assembly in which each component part can be individually and easily replaced should it become worn.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a thread inhibiting caster assembly including a bearing support to prevent the bearing inner race from shifting locations on the axle, and to reduce bearing wear resulting from lateral forces on the caster assembly.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a thread inhibiting caster assembly including a bearing stop associated with the wheel that centers the bearing within the wheel, and provides support for the outer race against lateral forces.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings. Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like parts.


A shower head having dual turbines. The shower head includes a body having an inlet for connection to a water conduit, a first outlet nozzle formed on the body, a second outlet nozzle formed on the body, a first turbine operably connected to the first outlet nozzle, and a second turbine operably connected to the second outlet nozzle. The shower head may include a flow actuation system taking the form of an actuator ring, a valve connected to the actuator ring and forming a flow channel, a first actuation point defined on the actuator ring, a second actuation point defined on the actuator ring, and a plunger situated within the flow channel. The plunger extends radially outwardly from a center of the valve when aligned with one of the first and second actuation points.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of shower heads, and more specifically to a shower head having two or more massage orifices capable of simultaneous operation.
2. Background Art
Generally, shower heads are used to direct water from the home water supply onto a user for personal hygiene purposes. Showers are an alternative to bathing in a bath tub.
In the past, bathing was the overwhelmingly popular choice for personal cleansing. However, in recent years showers have become increasingly popular for several reasons. First, showers generally take less time than baths. Second, showers generally use significantly less water than baths. Third, shower stalls and bath tubs with shower heads are typically easier to maintain. Over time, showers tend to cause less soap scum build-up.
With the increase in popularity of showers has come an increase in shower head designs and shower head manufacturers. Many shower heads, for example, may emit pulsating streams of water in a so-called "massage" mode.
However, over time, several shortcomings with existing shower head designs have been identified. For example, many shower heads fail to provide a sufficiently powerful, directed, or pleasing massage. Yet other shower heads have a relatively small number of shower spray patterns.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved shower head design.


To provide a new framework that can flexibly take images of a moving target in remote monitoring without the need to arrange a plurality of network cameras, an autonomously movable moving body is used to take an image of a photographic target in accordance with a request from a user terminal, and the photographic image is provided to the user terminal. The moving body includes: a position estimating unit that acquires, from a wireless tag reader, a radio field intensity of wireless communication with a wireless tag held by the photographic target to estimate a position of the photographic target based on the acquired radio field intensity; a movement control unit that controls the movement of the moving body so that the moving body moves to the estimated position as a destination; and an imaging unit that takes an image of the photographic target when the moving body is located near the destination, associates the photographic image with a wireless tag ID designated by the request, and transmits the photographic image to an apparatus outside the moving body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to an imaging system, a moving body, and an imaging control method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, network cameras that can be controlled from remote places through a communication network, such as the Internet, are in practical use and becoming widely used. For example, an application that uses a Web camera accessible from a WWW client to enable a user to communicate with other user visually or to monitor homes, offices, traffic conditions, etc., is in practical use.

Imaging systems, moving bodies, and imaging control methods for remote monitoring of a moving target