A system for connected vehicle control may include a communicator configured to connect with a user terminal though wireless communication, and generate authentication information by combining user terminal information and vehicle information, a head unit having a password for operation and configured to generate a visible code by converting the authentication information, a body controller configured to control the vehicle according to a remote control signal sent according to a remote control function of a user application installed in the user terminal, and a controller configured to connect the communicator, the head unit, and the user application through the wireless communication, authenticate, and register.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
In the past, most of vehicles were to be opened/closed or started only with inserting a key into the door or key box, but recently, vehicles applying system using smartkey, so that door opening/closing or engine starting is available even without inserting the key or pressing a button but only with having the key are gradually increased.
Meanwhile, as a research for the connected vehicle is recently increased, smartkey-free systems are being developed or launched in which the user opens/closes the door or starts the vehicle using a smartphone possessed by the user without using the smartkey.
Representative methods include technologies using Near Field communication (NFC) and Bluetooth low energy (BLE) communication of smartphones.
Here, since the NFC is a method in which the user is directly in contact with the smartphone, it is excellent in security, but has a disadvantage in that a communication distance is short and has problems that it is inconvenient to use the NFC because the user should be in contact with the smartphone (NFC) every time to open or close the door or starting the vehicle. The cost of related parts for recognition is also increased.
On the other hand, since these problems can be solved by applying BLE communication technology, smartkey-free system using the BLE communication has been recently spotlighted.
FIG. 1 is an illustrative view illustrating a connected vehicle control system using a conventional BLE and a problem thereof.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional connected vehicle control system with conventional smartkey-free system is connected to a smartphone of a user through BLE communication to remotely control the vehicle.
However, since the BLE operates at a communication distance within about 100 m based on BT ver4.2, there are problems that it is vulnerable to security and the doors may be opened or vehicle may be started by others when a signal is hacked within the above-mentioned distance.
Therefore, in developing the smartkey-free system using BLE communication, there is a strong demand for a method for further improving security.
Particularly, to share the remote control authority of one connected vehicle with multiple smartphones, additional technology for security is required.
In the prior art, a system having a separate central server is provided, to register one or a plurality of smartphones to the central server, and to grant the authority for controlling the connected vehicle to the smartphone whose information is registered in the central server.
However, such a system requires server construction and operation, database development and management, and a lot of costs are required for development and maintenance.

System and method for connected vehicle control


A system and method for artifact reduction in thermodilution for cardiac measurement is provided by both respiration artifacts and noise artifacts are reduced. The system and method detects the beginning of a respiration cycle and estimates a respiration artifact which is subtracted from the thermosignal recorded.

Cardiac output, the average blood flow through the heart, is an important diagnostic measurement, especially for patients in coronary care units (CCU). Since the introduction of the Swan-Ganz catheter in the early 1970's, cardiac output has been routinely measured by thermodilution. The Swan-Ganz catheter is inserted into the femoral or subclavian vein and advanced so that a fluid port along the catheter is positioned in the right atrium (RA) and the tip of the catheter is in the pulmonary artery (PA). Generally, a 10 cc bolus of iced saline is injected through the fluid port along the catheter into the right atrium. A thermistor, or other temperature-sensing device, is located along the catheter within the pulmonary artery. The blood temperature is then monitored at the is thermistor as the blood flows through the pulmonary artery. The average cardiac output can be computed from the relative temperature fluctuation within the pulmonary artery. Specifically, the average cardiac output is an inverse function of the cooling as measured in the pulmonary artery.
There are two noted disadvantages to measuring cardiac output by bolus thermodilution. First, to avoid an undue fluid load on the patient, readings can only be taken periodically. Second, these periodic measurements are labor intensive as they require a nurse or other clinician to manually intervene to make each fluid injection.
Various methods proposed for the continuous method of cardiac output have typically involved substituting heat for chilled saline. U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,182, (the "'182 patent") titled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING LIQUID FLOW, issued to Richard A. Normann, describes an electrically resistive heating element wound around the outer surface of a catheter to introduce heat for thermodilution measurements. One advantage of such heating is that it can be electronically controlled, thereby allowing easier implementation of continuous monitoring systems. However, blood does not tolerate heating as well as it tolerates cooling. Consequently, the heating power that can be safely delivered to the blood is much less than the cooling power that is delivered by a 10 cc injection of iced saline. This lower heating power produces a much smaller heat pulse in the pulmonary artery. For example, an iced saline injection can produce a thermal fluctuation as large as 1–2° C., whereas the maximum thermal fluctuation that can be produced by heating, without damage to blood components, is between 10–20 m° C.
With such a small temperature fluctuation resulting from the heat pulses, thermal noise can make accurate thermal measurements of cardiac output difficult. FIG. 1 shows a thermal signal recorded in the pulmonary artery of a pig that was attached to a respirator set at a rate of approximately 12 breaths a minute. The approximate 20 m° C. regular fluctuations in FIG. 1 are the result of this respiration. The thermal noise generated by the respiration can significantly reduce the ability to detect a thermal pulse generated by a heating element on a catheter. Such noise in the thermal pulse recorded in the pulmonary artery can be reduced by averaging consecutive pulses. The accuracy of the thermal measurements increases with the number of pulses that are averaged, but as the number of pulses being averaged increases, the time required to generate an accurate estimate also increases to a length that reduces the usefulness of the procedure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,507,974 (the '974 patent) titled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING FLOW, issued to Mark L. Yelderman, describes the application of a pseudo-random sequence of heat pulses to the measurement of cardiac output. The output of the downstream temperature sensor is cross-correlated with the pseudo-random sequence. The correlation materially reduces the effects of high-frequency thermal noise and a reasonable estimate of the thermal pulse signal can be obtained in five to eight minutes. However, low-frequency noise, primarily resulting from the effects of respiration is not reduced by this method.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,146,414 (the "'414 patent"), for a METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY MEASURING VOLUMETRIC FLOW, issued to Russell McKowan et al., describes a complex system for reducing low-frequency noise in thermal pulse measurements by matching the length of the pseudo-random sequence to a multiple of the respiration period. A reduction of the baseline artifact is obtained by estimating the artifact and subtracting it from the detected signal. This method works well when a patient is on a ventilator that imposes a uniform respiration rate. However, it is not easily applied to the irregular patterns that characterize normal respiration. Moreover, the baseline estimation described in the '414 patent is based on polynomial fitting to discrete points separated by 1–2 minutes, which provides only a rough estimate of very-low-frequency base line fluctuations and it thus introduces a significant delay before the thermal signal can be processed.

System and method for noise reduction in thermodilution for cardiac measurement


A cable television system provides television signals in multiple predefined television signal formats. Each television has a multi-standard receiver for receiving television signals in those predefined television signal formats. Hidden behind each television, or elsewhere out of view of the user, is a converter coupling the respective television to transmission cable. The only connection from the converter to the television is a cable connected to the television's cable or antenna input port. Each television includes a sensor for receiving wireless command signals. The television's control circuitry ingores wireless command signals not in a first defined set. The converter includes a sensor for receiving a second defined set of wireless command signals. The converter's sensor is preferably located near or on the housing of the television. The converter's controller ignores wireless command signals not in the second defined set. The converter's controller responds to wireless channel selection commands by tuning the frequency converter to a respective television channel and/or by transmitting pay-per-view requests to the controller at the head end of the system. A remote controller signal transmitter includes a memory table that stores data representing the commands and signal formats to use when transmitting wireless commands. Some user commands are transmitted as wireless commands to the television, other user commands are transmitted as wireless commands to the converter and at least one user command is transmitted as wireless commands to both the television and the converter.

The present invention is applicable to video systems for hospitals, schools, condominiums as well as hotels and other systems having a large number of independently controlled televisions or video monitors. For the purposes of illustrating and explaining the invention, however, the prior art and the preferred embodiment of the invention will be described in the context of a video system for a hotel.
Hotels often provide video program services beyond those available on publicly available television channels and publicly accessible cable television. The main types of prior art systems are video tape rental systems, fixed schedule movie systems that broadcast pay-per-view programming on predefined channels on a fixed schedule as well as free programming on other channels, and on-demand movie systems that broadcast free programming on one set of channels and use other channels to transmit pay-per-view programming to to users upon request by the users.
The present invention provides a number of improvements on the on-demand type of cable television systems disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,244, issued Aug. 7, 1990, entitled "Video Selection and Distribution System."
In particular, the present invention is designed to work in settings where the cable television system must carry television signals in two or more formats. For instance, in some places such as Singapore, some television channels are broadcast in PAL format while other television channels are broadcast in NTSC format. In other places television signals are broadcast both in SECAM and PAL formats. Furthermore, movies and other programming from various sources are recorded on cassettes in a variety of video signal formats, and each such cassette must be played using a video cassette player that outputs television signals in the corresponding signal format.
Another problem addressed by the present invention is that in some situations it is unacceptable to place a television converter box on top of the user's television set or anywhere else in the user's visual field, and yet the user must still be able to make program or channel selections using a remote control device pointed at the user's television. Furthermore, in these situations it is generally not possible (or not economically feasible) to modify the control circuitry in the television sets due to cost considerations and the age of the television sets. As a result, the cable converter box must be hidden from the user's view and cannot be connected to the television set's internal controller. Thus the only connection between the cable converter box and the television is a cable connected to the antenna or cable input port on the back of the television.
This presents two sets of problems: (A) the controller cannot turn the television on and off and cannot set the television to a particular channel, and (B) the controller cannot obtain signals directly from the television's controller for determining whether the television is on and similarly cannot obtain signals directly from the television's controller for determining the channel to which the television is tuned. Thus, unless some countervailing measures are taken, random use of the remote control wand while the user's television is off might result in the selection and playing of a pay-per-movie and a subsequent charge to the user despite the fact that the user's television is off.

Remote control system and method for cable television system


A wet paper web transfer belt for transferring a wet paper web includes a wet paper web contacting surface for carrying the wet paper web. The wet paper web contacting surface is constituted by a resin layer. The wet paper web contacting surface includes, in the width direction, sheet edge regions for carrying the edge parts of the wet paper web and a center region for carrying the center vicinity of the wet paper web. The arithmetic average roughness Ra1 (μm) of the wet paper web contacting surface in the sheet edge regions is smaller than the arithmetic average roughness Ra2 (μm) of the wet paper web contacting surface in the center region, and prescribed roughness related equations are fulfilled.

Papermaking machines for removing moisture from the source material of paper are generally equipped with a wire part, a press part and a dryer part. These parts are arranged in the order of wire part, press part and dryer part in the wet paper web transfer direction.
In one type of papermaking machine, the wet paper web is passed from one part to another in an open-draw. In the press part of this open-draw papermaking machine, there are a number of places in which the wet paper web is not supported by any roll or by papermaking equipment such as a felt or a belt; in other words, places in which the wet paper web is traveling on its own. In these places, problems such as "web breaks" tend to occur. The risk of these problems occurring increases as the papermaking machine is operated at higher speeds. Therefore, there are limitations to operating an open-draw papermaking machine at high speeds.
In recent years, most papermaking machines have been of the type in which the wet paper web is passed in a closed-draw. In the press part of this closed-draw papermaking machine, the wet paper web is transferred while being placed on a papermaking felt or wet paper web transfer belt, the wet paper web being passed between the belt and the felt. Therefore, there are no places in which the wet paper web travels on its own as in the open-draw papermaking machine. As a result, it is possible to operate papermaking machines at even higher speeds and to stabilize operations.
Incidentally, in the press part of such a closed-draw papermaking machine, the so-called "paper robbing" phenomenon may occur, in which the wet paper web gets stuck at a belt or a felt when it is passed between the belts or felts and is not passed to the next belt or felt to which it ought to be passed; or the so-called "floating edges" (damp edges) phenomenon may occur, in which the edge parts of the wet paper web are released from the belt or felt and end up floating freely. In conventional machines, when the "paper robbing" phenomenon occurs, it is necessary to temporarily stop the papermaking operation and to change the setting of the device so that the wet paper web is properly passed. When the "floating edges" phenomenon occurs, there is the possibility that quality problems occur such as wrinkles in the wet paper web, that the web breaks (sheet break) problem occurs, or that operational problems occur, such as the need to reduce the operating speed of the papermaking machine so that web breaks (or the floating edges problem) do not occur.
A number of studies have been made for improving the wet paper web transfer properties in the press part.
JP 06-057678 teaches a wet paper web transfer belt, in which a wet paper web contacting surface formed on the upper surface of a base (wet paper web side) is formed by an impermeable polymer coating layer and a lower surface of the base (roll side) is formed by a fibrous web. Particles with a higher hardness than the polymer coating are mixed in the impermeable polymer coating layer and the particles are made to protrude from the surface by such means as polishing the wet paper web contacting surface.
Moreover, the wet paper web contacting surface is a rough surface configured to be in the range of Rz=0 microns to 20 microns inside the press part and to recover to within the range of Rz=2 microns to 80 microns after exiting the press part.
The wet paper web transfer belt according to JP 06-057678 realizes to a high degree the adhesive and release properties of the wet paper web with the wet paper web contacting surface required to wet paper web transfer belts. Nevertheless, the prevention of the "floating edges" phenomenon is not an object of the belt according to JP 06-057678. Moreover, since different types of paper are made in the papermaking step, the basis weight of the paper naturally also differs. Therefore, the amount of moisture removed from the wet paper web during the pressing and the moisture content and amount of moisture of the wet paper web after pressing also differ. The moisture of the wet paper web after pressing has a big influence on the adhesive and release properties of the wet paper web in relation to the wet paper web contacting surface of the wet paper web transfer belt; from this point of view, the wet paper web transfer belt according to JP 06-057678 is not adequate for realizing the adhesive and release properties of the wet paper web for different types of paper (in particular paper of different basis weight).
JP 2012-97365 discloses a papermaking felt comprising a base fabric and a batt fiber layer for forming a papermaking surface. The batt fiber layer is entangled with the base fabric by needling. The papermaking surface comprises a polished surface polished under different conditions in each part in the width direction. The surface roughness of the parts corresponding to both edges of the wet paper web (edge corresponding parts) in the width direction is smaller than the surface roughness of the center part. By using this constitution, the wet paper web adhesiveness of the papermaking felt is greater in the parts corresponding to both edges of the wet paper web than in its center part, and the "floating edges" phenomenon is prevented. Nevertheless, JP 2012-97365 does not disclose a wet paper web transfer belt and the constitution thereof, for carrying a wet paper web on a resin layer in which the surface roughness differs greatly.
Furthermore, US 2007/0074836 discloses a wet paper web transfer belt, characterized in that one of the alternative characteristics of wet paper web transfer belts such as surface roughness, bending strength, compressibility, recovery capacity can be continuously changed in the width direction of the wet paper web transfer belt in order to correspond to the papermaking machine specific profile.

Wet paper web transfer belt, papermaking system and papermaking method


An automotive air conditioner which is capable of suppressing periodic torque variation in an engine-driven refrigerant compressor while ensuring performance of returning oil thereto to circumvent periodic variation in a rotational speed of an engine, thereby preventing degradation in motor power performance and drivability of an automobile. A value of target blowout temperature is calculated using a set temperature, indoor air temperature, outdoor air temperature and intensity of solar radiation. A value of first target post-evaporation temperature (TEO1) is calculated according to a determined value of target blowout temperature. Then, a value of second target post-evaporation temperature (TEO2) corresponding to a limit level for ensuring oil return performance is calculated according to the outdoor or indoor air temperature. Thereafter, using a value of first target post-evaporation temperature (TEO1) or second target post-evaporation temperature (TEO2), whichever is smaller, as a target post-evaporation temperature (TEO), a discharge capacity of the refrigerant compressor is controlled so that an actual post-evaporation temperature (TE) will meet the target post-evaporation temperature (TEO).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automotive air conditioner capable of ensuring oil return performance even at a light load of cooling, and more particularly to an automotive air conditioner comprising an engine-driven refrigerant compressor which carries out capacity-variable control according to various air-conditioning environmental factors.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional automotive air conditioner disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 147260/1989, for example, is provided with a refrigerating cycle system comprising a refrigerant compressor, which performs capacity-variable control in response to a control signal output according to result of comparison between a target post-evaporation temperature and an actual post-evaporation temperature detected by a post-evaporation temperature sensor. In this conventional system, when the actual post-evaporation temperature approaches the target post-evaporation temperature, i.e., when a cooling load is reduced to decrease a discharge capacity of the refrigerant compressor, a periodic switchover operation is performed to increase the discharge capacity of the refrigerant compressor to enhance returning oil to the refrigerant compressor.
In this conventional arrangement, in which the oil return performance under a decreased cooling load condition is ensured by increasing the discharge capacity of the refrigerant compressor periodically, significant periodic variation in torque on the refrigerant compressor occurs when the discharge capacity thereof is periodically changed from a low level to a high level. In an engine that drives the refrigerant compressor by means of a belt, a rotating speed thereof varies significantly in cycles, causing degradation in motor power performance, such as accelerating performance and climbing performance, and automobile drivability.


Systems and methods for generating object segmentations across videos are provided. An example system can enable an annotator to identify objects within a first image frame of a video sequence by clicking anywhere within the object. The system processes the first image frame and a second, subsequent, image frame to assign each pixel of the second image frame to one of the objects identified in the first image frame or the background. The system refines the resulting object masks for the second image frame using a recurrent attention module based on contextual features extracted from the second image frame. The system receives additional user input for the second image frame and uses the input, in combination with the object masks for the second image frame, to determine object masks for a third, subsequent, image frame in the video sequence. The process is repeated for each image in the video sequence.

An autonomous platform can process data to perceive an environment through which the platform can travel. For example, an autonomous vehicle can perceive its environment using a variety of sensors and identify objects around the autonomous vehicle. The autonomous vehicle can identify an appropriate path through the perceived surrounding environment and navigate along the path with minimal or no human input.

Systems and methods for video object segmentation


A method for generating a panoramic image that enables a user to obtain panoramic photographs with a digital camera without the aid of a computer system or specialized lenses. A digital camera according to the present techniques captures a series of image frames as a user pans the digital camera through a panoramic image scene and combines the captured image frames while the image frames are being captured.

A panoramic image may be defined as an image that has a substantially wider view than the photographs captured by conventional cameras. For example, a panoramic image may have a width that encompasses many times the width of a conventional film camera or digital camera.
A panoramic image may be obtained by equipping a conventional film or digital camera with a lens structure that is capable of photographing a wide panoramic view. Unfortunately, the high cost of a panoramic lens structure may be out of reach of large numbers of users that desire to obtain panoramic photographs.
A panoramic image may be obtained using a specialized camera having a mechanism for rotating a camera lens systematically through a wide panoramic view. Unfortunately, such specialized cameras may also be too expensive for large numbers of users that desire panoramic photographs.
A panoramic image may be generated by using a digital camera to obtain multiple photographs of a desired scene and then using a computer to combine the obtained photographs into a panoramic photograph. Unfortunately, this method requires the use of a computer and specialized software.

Digital camera with panoramic image capture

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An axle includes a differential, a cover, and a heat absorber. The differential has a ring gear disposed within a housing. The ring gear is configured to pump a lubricating fluid. The cover is attached to the housing. The heat absorber is attached to the cover within a pump path of the ring gear. The heat absorber has a phase-change material disposed within the heat absorber configured to absorb heat from the lubricating fluid. A method to control fluid temperature in a vehicle axle is also included.

Vehicle driveline components such as gears, bearings, and other components require lubrication. Various characteristics of the lubricating fluid, such as viscosity, temperature, and fluid levels may affect durability, drivability, and fuel economy. Due to parasitic losses, some energy is converted to heat rather than being transmitted to downstream components. In addition to providing lubrication to minimize the parasitic losses, the fluid transfers the resulting heat away from the gears and bearings. The lubricating fluid may overheat during various operations of the vehicle, such as towing a trailer. Overheating the lubricating fluid may cause damage to the gears, bearings, and other components of the driveline.


A redundancy fuse circuit including a function of replacing a defective cell in a memory cell array with a redundancy cell, comprising a fuse circuit in which an address of the defective cell or a block including the defective cell is programmed as a defective address by presence/absence of cut-off of a fuse, a data latch circuit which latches a signal supplied from a tester to program the defective address in a dummy manner, and a comparator which replaces the defective cell with the redundancy cell based on an address signal supplied from the tester and an output signal of the data latch circuit at an operation confirmation time of the redundancy fuse circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a redundancy fuse circuit in which a defective address is programmed, particularly to a semiconductor integrated circuit including memories such as a semiconductor memory and a memory embedded microcomputer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a semiconductor integrated circuit including memories such as a semiconductor memory and a memory embedded microcomputer, a defect is generated in a part of a memory cell at a manufacturing time by miniaturization of the memory cell, and the memory cell sometimes becomes defective. In this case, a method is used in which a redundancy fuse circuit is circuit, the defective cell is replaced with a redundancy cell, and a chip is remedied.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a memory circuit including a conventional redundancy fuse circuit.
A memory cell array 10A comprises a plurality of memory cells arranged in an array. Any type of memory cell may be used. A redundancy cell array 10B is disposed adjacent to the memory cell array 10A. The redundancy cell array 10B comprises a plurality of redundancy cells arranged in the array. The redundancy cells replace the defective cells in a case where the defective cells exist in the memory cell array 10A.
A plurality of, for example, 512 word lines are arranged in the memory cell array 10A. These word lines are blocked, for example, every eight lines, and the defective cells are replaced with the redundancy cells by a block unit.
For example, as a result of a test of the memory cell array 10A, if the defective cells are present in positions (A) and (B) in the memory cell array 10A, the defective cells are replaced with the redundancy cells by a unit of eight rows (eight word lines) in the block including the defective cells.
An address signal is input into an address decoder 12 via an address buffer 11. The address decoder 12 decodes the address signal to output a main row address signal MRA, a sub-row address signal SRA, and a column address signal CA.
The main row address signal MRA is input into a main body cell decoder 16 of a sub-row decoder 14 via a main body cell (M/C) decoder 15 of a main row decoder 13. The sub-row address signal SRA is input into the main body cell decoder 16 and a redundancy (R/D) decoder 19 of the sub-row decoder 14 via a common decoder 17 in the sub-row decoder 14. The column address signal CA is input into a column decoder 20.
For example, read data is output as output data BIT0, BIT1, . . . , BITm-1 to the outside of the chip via a column select switch 21, sense amplifies (S/A) 22, and buffers 23.
Defective addresses are programmed in fuse circuits F0, F1, . . . . Concretely, the address (n bits in the present example) of the block including the defective cells is programmed in the fuse circuits F0, F1, . . . . For example, the number of fuse circuits F0, F1, . . . is equal to that of blocks constituting a redundancy array in a memory cell array 10.
The fuse circuits F0, F1, . . . may be of a type in which the defective address is stored by presence/absence of cut-off of a fuse by laser, or an electric fuse (E-fuse) capable of electrically cutting off the fuse may also be used. The fuse circuits F0, F1, . . . are connected to an OR circuit OR1 via selectors SEL0, SEL1, . . . .
When the defective cells are present in the memory cell array 10A, the selectors SEL0, SEL1, . . . select one fuse circuit Fi based on fuse block select signals BLK0, BLK1, . . . . A selector SELi for the selected fuse circuit Fi outputs the defective address programmed in the fuse circuit Fi. The selectors for all the non-selected remaining fuse circuits set all output data of n bits to "0".
Therefore, the defective address programmed in the selected fuse circuit Fi is input into a comparator 24 via the selector SELi and OR circuit OR1. For example, when the fuse block select signal BLK0 is "H", and the other fuse block select signals BLK1, . . . are "L", the defective address of n bits programmed in a fuse circuit F0 is input into the comparator 24 via the selector SEL0 and OR circuit OR1.
The comparator 24 compares n-bits external address data with defective address data of n bits output from the OR circuit OR1. When both the data disagree, for example, a flag FLAG is set to "L". At this time, the address decoder 12 is activated to execute a usual decode operation. When the data agree with each other, for example, the comparator 24 sets the flag FLAG to "H". At this time, the address decoder 12 is inactivated, and redundancy decoders 18, 19 of the main/sub-row decoders 13, 14 are activated.
The conventional redundancy fuse circuits have the following problems.
{circle around (1)} Even when the defective cells are replaced with the redundancy cells after a test step, the chip cannot be remedied for a reason that the redundancy cells have defects. In this case, a step of cutting off the fuse is useless, and this causes an increase of manufacturing cost.
{circle around (2)} An address different from the address in which the defective cell is present is sometimes programmed by mistake. Even in this case, the chip cannot be remedied, the step of cutting off the fuse is useless, and this causes the increase of manufacturing cost.
{circle around (3)} When the chip cannot be remedied even after the step of cutting off the fuse as described in {circle around (1)} and {circle around (2)}, this cannot be confirmed until the fuse is cut off, and the fuse cut-off step is useless. Once the fuse is cut off, the fuse cannot be returned to an original state.
If these problems can be confirmed before cutting off the fuse, the fuse cut-off step is not performed with respect to the chip whose defect cannot-be remedied, and this is effective for reduction of the manufacturing cost.
Moreover, especially since an environment for the fuse cut-off step is not sufficiently prepared in a trial stage before mass production, there is a large possibility that a cut-off defect of the fuse is caused by the influences by broken pieces, dust and the like at a fuse cut-off time. Therefore, if the operation of the redundancy fuse circuit can be confirmed without cutting off any fuse in the trial stage, this is convenient.


The disclosure relates to fluorinated chiral liquid crystals that incorporate a cyclohexyl grouping in their structure. They can be used as dopants and lead to mixtures of ferroelectric liquid crystals that have an application in display systems. They meet the following chemical formula. ##STR1## with 1.ltoreq.n.ltoreq.14 if X=CH.sub.2 Y=--CH.sub.2 -- with R=CmH.sub.2m+1 and 5.ltoreq.m.ltoreq.16 ##STR2##

1. Field of the Invention
An object of the present invention is fluorinated chiral liquid crystals that incorporate a cyclohexyl grouping in their structure, can be used as dopants and lead to mixtures of ferroelectric liquid crystals that have an application in display systems.
At present, only nematic liquid crystals have found application in the field of display systems. This has led chiefly to display units using the nematic helix mode and, more recently, to super-twisted nematic (STN) display units.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The drawback of display units of this type is their poor angle of view and their high response time which is of the order of about ten milliseconds. This limits their scope for development.
The invention of a display system based on the use of ferroelectric liquid crystals by N. A. Clark and S. Lagerwall (Applied Physics Letter, Vol. 36, No. 89, 1980) in 1980 has led to a new electrooptical effect induced by linear coupling between the permanent electrical polarization of the molecules and the electrical addressing field having switching times that are smaller than those of standard nematic helix displays by three orders of magnitude.
For reasons of symmetry, the ferroelectricity of the S*.sub.C phase can be observed only if the helical structure is uncoiled. This condition is achieved in the display system proposed by Clark and Lagerwell when the S*.sub.C phase is introduced into a cell with a thickness of less than 2 .mu.m.
The electrooptical performance characteristics of display units such as these depend greatly on the mesomorphic material used.
In an initial approximation, the response time .tau. of a mixture S*.sub.C is given by the following relationship: ##EQU1## where .eta. represents the rotational viscosity of the liquid crystal, P.sub.S its spontaneous polarization and E the applied electrical field.
The mixtures S*.sub.C should have a certain number of properties such as:
being thermally and photochemically stable; PA1 getting aligned easily; PA1 displaying the following phase succession: EQU S*.sub.C, S.sub.A, N*, L PA1 possessing a wide range of mesomorphic temperature PA1 having an angle of tilt close to 22.5.degree.. PA1 the succession of the phases PA1 the domain of existence in temperature of these phases, PA1 low viscosity, PA1 dielectric anisotropy and birefringence. PA1 the presence of three cycles in the chemical structure of the molecules of the formula leads to the existence of mesomorphs on a wide range of temperature; PA1 the C--F bond which provides the greatest contribution to the polarization of the mixture leads to derivatives that are more stable than similar chlorinated derivatives; PA1 finally, the use of a trans ethyl cyclohexane or cyclohexylethoxy radical plays a part in the obtaining of mixtures with low viscosity as compared with the corresponding benzoic derivatives.
To obtain an S*.sub.C mixture that fulfils all these conditions, it is preferred at present to dope an S.sub.C mixture with one or more dopants.
The S.sub.C mixture contributes:
The chiral dopants contribute the chirality and the polarization. The dopant should furthermore not modify the transition temperatures of the S.sub.C matrix and should not increase the viscosity of the final mixture.
Finally, in order to meet these conditions, the present invention proposes a new formula of fluorinated liquid crystals incorporating a cyclohexyl grouping in their structure, usable as a dopant of an S.sub.C matrix.


A speech coding apparatus which allows a speech decoding apparatus to output a more familiar background noise. The speech coding apparatus includes a voice presence/absence discrimination section, a coding section, a unique word production section, and a data switching section which selectively outputs one of outputs of the coding section and the unique word production section as an output of the speech coding apparatus in response to a result of discrimination of the voice presence/absence discrimination section. The speech coding apparatus further includes an amplitude level discrimination section, a clip processing section and an input switching section. The input switching section selects, when the input speech signal includes voice, the input speech signal, but when the input speech signal includes no voice and a code for updating background noise is to be produced, the input switching section selects the input speech signal after clip processing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a speech coding apparatus, and more particularly to a speech coding apparatus having a VOX (Voice Operated Transmitter) function.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a speech coding apparatus of the type which has a VOX function is used to stop, when input voice is silent, transmission on the coding side and produce a certain kind of background noise on the decoding side as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. Heisei 5-122165 which is directed to a speech signal transmission method.
FIG. 7 shows in block diagram a general construction of a conventional speech coding apparatus. Referring to FIG. 7, the speech coding apparatus shown includes an input terminal 1 for a speech signal, a voice presence/absence discrimination section 2, a high efficiency coding section 3, a unique word production section 4, a data switching section 5 and an output terminal 6.
In a digital radio transmission system, a speech signal inputted from the input terminal 1 is cut out and processed for each frame. The length of the frame is, for example, 40 ms.
The voice presence/absence discrimination section 2 receives a speech signal for one frame from the input terminal 1 as an input thereto and discriminates whether or not the current frame is a voice present period in which voice is present or a voice absent period in which voice is absent. The high efficiency coding section 3 receives a speech signal for one frame from the input terminal 1 as an input thereto and converts the speech signal into high efficiency codes. The unique word production section 4 produces a preamble signal and a postamble signal. The preamble signal is used to indicate, upon transition from a voice absent period to a voice present period, the transition to a speech decoding apparatus (not shown). The postamble signal is used to indicate transition from a voice present period to a voice absent period and indicate that background noise updating codes are to be transmitted in a next frame. Further, the postamble signal is transmitted after every (T+2) frames while a voice absent period continues. It is to be noted that both of the preamble signal and the postamble signal have signal patterns which are not present in a high efficiency code system in an ordinary case. The data switching section 5 selects one of a high efficiency signal outputted from the high efficiency coding section 3 and a preamble signal or a postamble signal outputted from the unique word production section 4 in accordance with a result of discrimination of the voice presence/absence discrimination section 2 and outputs a selected one of the signals through the output terminal 6. The output terminal 6 transmits data selected by the data switching section 5 to the speech decoding apparatus.
If it is discriminated by the voice presence/absence discrimination section 2 that a current frame is a voice present period, then the data switching section 5 selects a high efficiency code produced by the high efficiency coding section 3 and outputs it through the output terminal 6. On the other hand, if it is discriminated that the current frame is a voice absent period, then the coding apparatus performs a VOX process which have such steps as described below:
(1) The data switching section 5 is switched so that a postamble signal produced by the unique word production section 4 is outputted through the output terminal 6. PA0 (2) The, the data switching section 5 is switched so that a high efficiency code produced by the high efficiency coding section 3 is outputted through the output terminal 6. It is to be noted that a high efficiency code transmitted next to a postamble signal is hereinafter referred to as background noise updating code. PA0 (3) Thereafter, the output through the output terminal 6 is stopped for a fixed time. It is assumed that, in the following expression, the fixed time is T frames (T is a constant). PA0 (4) After the fixed time (T frames), the processes beginning with (1) above are repeated.
However, also during a voice absent period, the voice presence/absence discrimination section 2 performs voice presence/absence discrimination for each frame. If presence of voice is detected during a speech absent period, then in the frame, a preamble signal is produced by the unique word production section 4 irrespective of the VOX process. The data switching section 5 selects the preamble signal produced by the unique word production section 4 and outputs it through the output terminal 6. Then, ordinary processing in a speech present period is performed beginning with the following frame. In particular, the data switching section 5 selects a high efficiency code produced by the high efficiency coding section 3 and outputs it through the output terminal 6.
The speech decoding apparatus receives a coded signal transmitted from the output terminal 6 of the speech coding apparatus. When a postamble signal is received, the speech decoding apparatus recognizes that the current frame is a speech absent period, and produces, for a period of T frames, background noise using a background noise updating code received in a frame next to the postamble signal. It is to be noted that background noise is updated each time a new background noise updating code is received. If a preamble signal is received during a speech absent period, then the speech decoding apparatus recognizes that a speech present period begins with the next frame, and produces decoded voice from received high frequency codes.
In the following description, a frame with which a postamble signal is transmitted is referred to as postamble signal transmission frame; a frame with which a background noise updating signal is transmitted is referred to as background noise updating frame; a frame with which transmission is stopped is referred to as transmission stop frame; a frame with which a preamble signal is transmitted is referred to as preamble signal transmission frame; and any other frame than the frames mentioned is referred to as ordinary transmission frame.
The prior art described above has a problem in that background noise produced by the speech decoding apparatus in a voice absent period is an unnatural sound.
The first reason is that, since the background noise updating code outputted from the speech coding apparatus is transmitted after every (T+2) frames ((postamble signal transmission frame)+(background noise updating frame)+T frames), background noise produced from a same background noise updating code continues for (T+2) frames.
The second reason is that, since background noise is updated immediately after a background noise updating code is received, if the variation of the power value of background noise across the updating is large, then the background noise gives, at a break of the background noise (at the time of updating), an unfamiliar feeling to a listener decoded speech of the speech decoding apparatus.


Systems and methods are provided for recognizing speech in a spoken dialogue system. The method includes receiving input speech having a pre-vocalic consonant or a post-vocalic consonant, generating at least one output lattice that calculates a first score by comparing the input speech to a training model to provide a result and distinguishing between the pre-vocalic consonant and the post-vocalic consonant in the input speech. A second score is calculated by measuring a similarity between the pre-vocalic consonant or the post vocalic consonant in the input speech and the first score. At least one category is determined for the pre-vocalic match or mismatch or the post-vocalic match or mismatch by using the second score and the results of the an automated speech recognition (ASR) system are refined by using the at least one category for the pre-vocalic match or mismatch or the post-vocalic match or mismatch.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to speech recognition systems in general and, more particularly, to a method and a system for exploiting the differences between pre-vocalic and post-vocalic consonants.
2. Introduction
Spoken dialog systems include several different modules that are used for speech processing. For example, FIG. 1 shows a basic dialog system including an automatic speech recognition (ASR) module 102, a spoken language understanding (SLU) module 104, a dialog management module (DM) 106, a spoken language generation (SLG) module 108 and a speech generation module or text-to-speech (TTS) module 110. These modules will process an input utterance from a user, seek to understand it meaning, and generate a response which is then audibly heard by the user. These systems seek to utilize much information within the audible signal generated by the user, but may not take advantage of every possible piece of information that may be glean from such input utterance.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art to utilize further information that may be gleaned both from an user input utterance as well as an understanding of differences in particular pieces of language that may be utilized when generating a synthetic response.

System and method of word lattice augmentation using a pre/post vocalic consonant distinction


A capacitor module having a solid dielectric is cleared in a gaseous environment having an electric strength greater than that of air at a pressure of one atmosphere. A plurality of such cleared capacitor modules is formed into a stack which itself is then cleared by the same clearing process. During intended operation in an electric circuit, the capacitor arrangement would be maintained in such gaseous environment having an electric strength greater than that of air at a pressure of one atmosphere.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention in general relates to capacitors, and more particularly to a solid dielectric capacitor and method of stabilizing it prior to its use in an electric circuit.
2. Description of Related Art
A capacitor is an electrical element which includes two electrodes separated by a dielectric which may be a gas, a liquid or a solid material. Many advanced electrical and electronic systems require low loss capacitors with higher performance in terms of capacitance, energy and power densities and operating temperature. One class of capacitors in use in such systems utilizes a solid dielectric in the form of a polymer.
Improved polymer dielectrics result in a capacitor which can operate at a temperature of less than 300.degree. C. For example, a mica-silicone capacitor is commercially available with a maximum operating temperature of around 260.degree. C., an operating voltage stress value of approximately 25 volts per micron thickness of dielectric material (V/.mu.m), and having an energy density of 0.014 J/cm.sup.3. Most polymer film capacitors, however, generally operate below 100.degree. C. at 100V/.mu.m, with an energy density of approximately 0.15 J/cm.sup.3. Energy discharge polymer film capacitors can operate with short lives at 400 V/.mu.m with an energy density of around 2 J/cm.sup.3.
Ceramics can also be used as high temperature capacitor dielectrics in view of their thermal capability of remaining stable at temperatures greater than 400.degree. C. In addition, the dielectric constant of various ceramics can extend into the thousands, affording them high energy density, whereas that of polymers do not exceed about 20.
Present ceramic capacitor dielectrics however exhibit relatively low voltage stress capability compared to polymer dielectrics, for example, 10 V/.mu.m for ceramic vs. 100 V/.mu.m (and as high as 400 V/.mu.m) for polymers. In addition, the energy density of a typical ceramic does not exceed about 0.1 J/cm.sup.3 (at 2 V/.mu.m), and is usually much lower, whereas polymer dielectrics can be operated as high as 2 J/cm.sup.3 (at 400 V/.mu.m).
The present invention gives ceramics the capability of operating at high temperatures with high voltage stress capability and high energy density, and gives polymers the capability of operating at higher temperatures than the present limit due to the presence of a liquid impregnant which must be used.

Capacitor arrangement and method of stabilizing same


A differential mechanism includes a casing having two opposite ends each having a cover longitudinally mounted thereon. A rotator assembly is mounted in the casing and has a seat received in the casing. A shaft is diametrically mounted in the seat. Two differential gears are respectively rotatably mounted to two opposite ends of the shaft and are respectively engaged to a corresponding one of two drive gears that are respectively securely sleeved on a first drive axle and a second drive axle. An input coupling and an output coupling are respectively longitudinally mounted to the two opposite ends of the seat for centrally mounting the first drive axle and the second drive axle to two opposite ends of the seat. The input coupling is engaged to a transfer element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to differential mechanism and, more particularly, to a differential mechanism that has a variable deceleration ratio.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional differential mechanism in accordance with the prior art shown in FIG. 9 comprises two differential gears (9, 9′) each having an axle (92, 92′) centrally extending therefrom and slidably entering a groove (81) that is defined in an inner periphery of a drive gear (8), as shown by the arrow B. However, the above design will badly influence the stability of the transmission of the differential mechanism. The conventional differential mechanism may be idle when the axles (20, 20′) do not linearly correspond to each other or the gap between the differential gears (9, 9′) and the drive gears (10, 10′) becomes great. A sliding effect occurs between the differential gears (9, 9′) and the drive gears (10, 10′) when a gap is formed therebetween. As a result, the differential gears (9, 9′) and the drive gears (10, 10′) crash against each other forming noise.
Furthermore, the drive gear (8) and the input gear (19) of the conventional differential mechanism are contained in a casing such that a speed ratio between the drive gear (8) and the input gear (19) can not be adjusted to suit various necessities.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the disadvantages of the conventional differential mechanism.


A structure and associated method of transfer data on a semiconductor device, comprising: a plurality of systems within the semiconductor device. Each system comprises at least one processing device and a local memory structure. Each processing device is electrically coupled to each local memory structure within each system. Each local memory structure is electrically coupled to each of the other said local memory structures. Each local memory structure is adapted to share address space with each of the processing devices. Each processing device is adapted to transmit data and instructions to each local memory structure.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a structure and associated method to increase a processor to a memory speed in a semiconductor.
2. Related Art
An electronic structure typically comprises a slow access time for signals to travel within the electronic structure. Slow access times decrease overall electronic structure performance thereby making the electronic structure inefficient. Therefore there exists a need to increase access time for signals within an electronic structure to create a more efficient electronic structure.

Semiconductor device comprising a plurality of memory structures

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention is directed to devices formed from three dimensional (3D) structures composed of wires, yarns of wires, or 3D printed structures. The devices of the present invention offer the potential for 3D structures with multiple properties optimized concurrently, using optimization within the 3D manufacturing constraints. The 3D structures of the present invention include multiple properties that are optimized for heat transfer applications. The present invention also includes the methods for optimization of the 3D woven lattices as well as methods of use of the 3D woven lattices in heat transfer applications.

'Cellular metal' has been used as a general term used to describe metallic bodies within which liquid filled or gaseous voids are dispersed. Depending on the configuration of the pore structure, cellular metals are classified as either stochastic structures such as metal foams or periodic structures such as prismatic topologies, truss architectures or screen textiles. Each possesses unique combinations of fluidic, mechanical or thermal properties.
One of the most important and beneficial applications of cellular metals is as heat exchangers due to their excellent thermal conductivity, high specific surface area and effective fluid mixing. Heat exchangers are commonly found in thermal power plants, transportation vehicles, air conditioning and heating systems, chemical processing, electronic equipment and space vehicles. Compact heat exchangers using cellular materials are valuable for the enhancement of heat transfer at small length scales, as well as for reducing mass and volume of the device. For instance, in applications such as cooling laser diodes, large amounts of heat need to be dissipated from a small area while temperature uniformity across that area is required as well.
In addition to conducting heat, cellular metals offer multi-functionality. For instance, a heat exchanger capable of providing structural support could reduce system-level parasitic weight, which is especially useful in transportation. Other examples include multifunctional heat sinks, heat pipes, and heat transfer devices that have been developed using a variety of stochastic, and periodic cellular materials.
Metal foams are the most common stochastic heat exchangers. Having low densities, low cost and novel thermal, mechanical, electrical and acoustic properties, they have been used for applications such as air-cooled condenser towers, high power batteries, and heat pipes. The open-cell foams possess desirable qualities for heat exchangers, i.e. a high specific solid-fluid interface surface area, a thermally conductive solid phase, and a tortuous coolant flow path to promote fluid mixing.
However, metal foams do have limitations as well. First, their stochastic nature leads to high impedance and large pressure losses. Second, their deformation under mechanical loading is bending-dominated rather than stretching-dominated as is typical of periodic structures. Combining with their typical low densities, this preferred deformation mode results in low stiffness and strength for metal foams, which limits their use in load-bearing applications. Third, due to the irregular cell geometries, predicting cell behavior can be challenging. For instance, prior research in this area proposed different simplified cell geometries to simulate real metallic foams structures, but all have discrepancies when trying to predict the foams' behavior. Fourth, manufacturing methods such as injecting gas into molten metal or mixing foaming agent into molten metal induce morphological imperfections and wide dispersion in cell size and cell shape, both of which degrade stiffness and strength. For these reasons, foams are less than ideally suited for structural applications and various periodic structures have since been explored.
Periodic cellular structures have also been developed recently for heat exchange applications. Different topologies have been proposed, from relatively simple structures such as louvered fins, shell and tubes, and prismatic lattices, to more complicated structures such as hollow micro lattices, woven meshes, and Kagome trusses. Due to their periodicity, many of these structures have proven quite successful, especially because of their ability to bear load and actively cool. Theoretical and numerical solutions can also be explored using their unit cell structures, and the design space for such structures is very large, enabling applications with a range of requirements.
Although there have been many successes with these periodic structures, further improvement is still possible. None of the existing materials have been designed using topology optimization, which could lead to even more functionality and superior properties.
Stochastic porous heat exchangers such as metallic foams normally have very low mechanical stiffness (shear modulus less than 0.5 GPa), limited volume density (typically less than 15%), non-regular pore sizes and require high pumping power. As a result, they usually fail to satisfy structural load or pumping power requirements when pursuing heat transfer.
Regular porous heat exchangers such as fins and trusses are typically designed so as to optimize only one property and often in only in one direction. They tend to underperform in applications that require multiple properties to be optimized simultaneously, particularly in multiple directions.
Some thermal management applications require multiple properties, such as heat transfer, fluidic permeability, pumping power, temperature uniformity or mechanical stiffness to be optimized. In some cases two or more properties must be optimized in different directions.
The design of existing porous heat exchangers is typically iterative in nature, through a series of experiments—fabricate, characterize and repeat—which can be time consuming and expensive. To overcome this, finite element modeling (FEM) is extensively used to simulate a material's property, yet most efforts typically focus on one property. Recently, topology optimization was developed to design architectural material with multiple properties optimized simultaneously. However, the suggested topologies are completely ideal for the targeted properties and do not consider manufacturing constraints, which makes some of the proposed structures impossible to manufacture. Besides, optimizing multiple properties simultaneously is challenging if different properties need to be optimized in different directions.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide a custom designed cellular structure that satisfied multiple property requirements. For example, it would be advantageous to provide a custom designed cellular structure for use as a multi-functional heat exchanger in which multiple properties of the mesh are optimized simultaneously in different directions.

Three dimensional woven lattices as multi-functional heat exchanger


The invention provides an electrochemical cell which includes a first electrode and a second electrode which is a counter electrode to said first electrode, and an electrolyte material interposed there between. The first electrode includes an alkali metal phosphorous compound doped with an element having a valence state greater than that of the alkali metal.

A battery consists of one or more electrochemical cells, wherein each cell typically includes a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and an electrolyte or other material for facilitating movement of ionic charge carriers between the negative electrode and positive electrode. As the cell is charged, cations migrate from the positive electrode to the electrolyte and, concurrently, from the electrolyte to the negative electrode. During discharge, cations migrate from the negative electrode to the electrolyte and, concurrently, from the electrolyte to the positive electrode.
Such batteries generally include an electrochemically active material having a crystal lattice structure or framework from which ions can be extracted and subsequently reinserted, and/or permit ions to be inserted or intercalated and subsequently extracted.
Recently, three-dimensionally structured compounds comprising polyanions (e.g., (SO4)n−, (PO4)n−, (AsO4)n−, and the like), have been devised as viable alternatives to oxide-based electrode materials such as LiMxOy. Examples of such polyanion-based materials include the ordered olivine LiMPO4 compounds, wherein M=Mn, Fe, Co or the like. Other examples of such polyanion-based materials include the NASICON Li3M2(PO4)3 compounds, wherein M=Mn, Fe, Co or the like. Although these classes of lithiated polyanion-based compounds have exhibited some promise as electrode components, many such polyanion-based materials are not economical to produce, afford insufficient voltage, have insufficient charge capacity, exhibit low ionic and/or electrical conductivity, or lose their ability to be recharged over multiple cycles. Therefore, there is a current need for an electrode active material that exhibits greater charge capacity, is economical to produce, affords sufficient voltage, exhibits greater ionic and electrical conductivity, and retains capacity over multiple cycles.

Electrode active material and method of making the same


Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for affinity based ranking and display of digital photographs. In one aspect, a method includes receiving an identifier that identifies a first user; accessing data defining relationships of the first user to second users; accessing digital photographs; determining digital photographs that are each associated with one or more of the first user and the second users; for each digital photograph, generating a photograph score based on the association with one or more of the first user and the second users and corresponding affinity scores representing the relationships of the first user to the second users; ordering the digital photographs according photograph scores; and providing one or more of the digital photographs to a user device of the first user according to the order.

This specification relates to processes for digital information retrieval.
Existing electronic social networks provide users with tools for identifying other users with whom they have an interpersonal relationship (e.g., a "friend"). Two users generally declare their interpersonal relationship explicitly; an initiating user requests another to become a "friend", and the other user accepts or rejects the request. By accepting the request, the second user allows the software of the social network to establish an association between the initiating user's account and that of the other user. Once such an association is established, the two "friends" can see each other's status updates (e.g., typed notes, shared links to web pages, photo uploads). Social networking users commonly have dozens, hundreds, even thousands of such "friends".
Many social networks provide services for uploading, storing, and displaying digital photographs. However, as there are many users of social networks, there are many digital photographs related to those users. When any particular user wants to view photographs of other users, the user may have to conduct many searches to find photographs of interest, and after each search, the user may be presented with photographs that are of little interest to the user.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Affinity based ranked for search and display


A non-contact optical probe for inspecting an inside surface of a cylindrical workpiece includes a laser source that emits an incident light beam, a polarizing beam splitter that transmits one polarization of the incident beam and reflects the opposite polarization, and a quarter wave plate that together with the polarizing beam splitter separates back reflected return light from the incident laser beam. The non-contact optical probe further includes an optical system that directs the incident laser beam onto the cylinder surface and directs reflected light from the surface back to the beam splitter, and at least one detector that receives a portion of the reflected light and generates data about the cylinder surface.

High volume automated manufacturing systems are very good at producing large numbers of identical interchangeable parts. However, unless there is adequate inspection of the output of these systems, if they drift out of compliance and start producing parts that are out of tolerance or start producing defective components due to chipped tools or other causes, they can produce very large quantities of identical defective parts before the problem is detected. The material from which a part is produced can also contain defects, such as pores or scratches that would cause a finished part to be rejected as defective.
If defective components enter the assembly stream for a manufactured product, such as a vehicle or appliance, the cost of detecting and correcting a defect can increase exponentially. This cost includes the cost of detecting the problem, disassembling the product to identify the component causing the problem, and identifying and correcting the source of the component defect. It may involve shutting down a production line until the source of the problem is identified and corrected. If finished products are shipped with defective components, the cost of fixing the problem could also involve product returns and warranty repairs.
There is, therefore, a high priority placed on identifying defective components at the earliest possible stage of production to minimize scrap and prevent defective components from entering the assembly stream. In a high volume automated production system inspection of parts by human inspectors is subjective and inadequate. It is preferable to have inspection techniques that can be automated to detect defects at the rate of production according to objective criteria. Non-contact inspection methods are preferred because they do not involve the use of mechanical gauges that can wear and need to be periodically replaced. Optical inspection of components is one of these non-contact inspection techniques. It is often preferred for detecting surface defects in manufactured components because it can rapidly collect and analyze high resolution data.
A number of non-contact optical devices have been developed over the past several years for the inspection of manufactured surfaces in a production environment. These can be divided into two broad categories according to the light source that is used—laser scanning devices and machine vision systems employing broadband unpolarized or white light sources. Each of these two approaches to optical inspection can be divided into two main classes of devices—those that inspect the exterior surfaces of components and those that inspect the interior surfaces. Devices that inspect exterior surfaces that are flat or have a curved profile may not be capable of inspecting the interior surfaces of cylindrical objects. Some vision systems developed for external inspection can see inside containers, but their inspection capabilities are limited, especially if a container is long and narrow, such as the case of some cylinders. However, inspection systems that can inspect the inside of cylinders may be adapted to measure the outside of cylindrical or cylindrically symmetric objects, disks or spheres.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved non-contact laser inspection system capable of rapidly detecting surface defects and surface profile variations using laser light to inspect cylinder bores.

Laser probe for use in an inspection system

Industrial Optical Measurement Systems, LLC


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor package includes attaching semiconductor dies to an array of leadframes and positioning a clip array in alignment with the array of leadframes within a mold cavity, the clip array including clips that electrically connect to at least some of the semiconductor dies and a siderail along a perimeter of the clip array. The siderail forms a set of reliefs extending from an outer edge of the siderail to an inner edge of the siderail, the inner edge being adjacent to the array of leadframes. The method also includes injecting a mold compound into the mold cavity through a flow path including the set of reliefs of the siderail to form a mold block at least partially covering the semiconductor dies.

Packaged electronic assemblies, such as packaged integrated circuits, generally include a leadframe including leads and pads for one or more dies, a plastic or resin package that protects the dies, and electrical connections between the dies and leads.
In a transfer molding process to form a package, mold compound (plastic or resin) is injected to fill cavity molds containing die and leadframe assemblies. The mold compound cures around the die and leadframe assemblies to form protective packages for the electronic assemblies.
For package molding applications, mold compounds may be thermoset compounds that include an epoxy novolac resin or similar material combined with a filler, such as alumina, and other materials to make the compound suitable for molding, such as accelerators, curing agents, filters, and mold release agents.


A mechanism is disclosed for managing delivery of digital image files to image processing labs for printing. The mechanism involves marking a digital image file with metadata that indicates a processing lab at which an image in the file should be printed. In turn, the mechanism involves reading the metadata indication from the file to identify the processing lab where the image should be printed and responsively sending the image file to that designated processing lab. Such digital image files could be sent to an image hub, which could then read the metadata indications from the files and responsively route the files to designated processing labs for printing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to digital photography and, more particularly, to delivery of digital image files to image processing labs.
2. Description of Related Art
The art and popularity of digital photography has grown significantly over recent years. As a general matter, digital photography is very similar to conventional film-based photography, except that photographs taken with a digital camera are stored as digital files rather than being recorded on film. Digital photography thereby provides users with immediate access to photographs without the need for film developing.
Typically, a digital camera will receive and resolve light into an array of pixels that cooperatively represent an image, and the camera will produce digital representations of each pixel, reflecting image characteristics such as color and intensity. The camera will then store the digital pixel representations together in a digital image file, usually on a removable storage medium such as a Flash memory card for instance. Most digital cameras further include an LCD display screen that a user can employ as a viewfinder and to selectively view stored images. Further, a user can typically transfer images from a digital camera onto a personal computer, for viewing, e-mailing, storing and editing, through a cable connection between the camera and computer, or by removing a memory card from the camera and coupling the card to the computer.
Provided with the ability to capture and instantly view and manipulate digital images, users of digital cameras tend to build large collections of digital image files, which users can view electronically. Ultimately, however, users often want to print some or all of their digital images, in order to share hard copies of the images with friends and family, to store the hard copies in photo albums and scrapbooks, or for other reasons.
Recent advances in ink jet printers have enabled users to print photos at home. However, many users do not own a suitable photo printer. And users who do own a home printer may encounter difficulty or otherwise be dissatisfied with the home printing process. For instance, users who print photos at home often have to cut the photos to size after printing, which is burdensome. Further, ink jet printed photos might not be as colorfast as photos printed by exposing light on photo paper, so users may prefer the traditional photo printing process.
Responding to this need, many companies have begun to offer online photo printing services or online "processing labs." Typically, these services are accessible over the Internet or over some other data network. In operation, a user can send digital image files to a desired online processing lab, through e-mail or web posting (e.g., file-transfer-protocol). The processing lab then receives the files, prints the underlying images (preferably on high quality photo paper, and preferably with traditional light exposure mechanisms, rather than ink-jet printing), and then ships the printed images to the user.

Method and system for managing delivery of digital image files to image processing labs


A portable lighting device including a shell, at least one luminous element, a lens component, a battery compartment, positive and negative terminals, at least one indicator mark disposed on the battery compartment, and light-transmitting channels is provided. The battery compartment is made of transparent and fluorescent materials. The indicator mark is used for indicating the positive or negative terminals. The light-transmitting channels allow the light emitted by the luminous element to irradiate and stimulate the battery compartment to emit light and exhibit an afterglow. Thus, by using the light from the battery compartment to illuminate the indication mark, the user can accurately determine the positive and negative terminals in the battery compartment in a dark environment, which is convenient to replace batteries or battery pack.

Portable lighting devices include hand-held flashlights, headlamps worn on the head with headbands and so on, which can be carried about by individuals, and are widely used for outdoor activities, field explorations, underground operations and other scenes.
Conventional portable lighting devices generally use replaceable batteries as power sources to facilitate replacement when the battery is depleted. The commonly used batteries include alkaline batteries, cadmium nickel batteries and lithium batteries. However, no matter what kind of battery is used, the positive and negative electrodes of the battery should be placed corresponding to the positive and negative contact terminals of the battery compartment during installation. Considering that lighting devices are often used in a dim or even no light environment, and for some headlamps or large flashlights, the positive and negative terminals inside the battery compartment are difficult to distinguish in the dark environment, therefore when changing batteries, it is hard to accurately find the positive and negative terminals inside the battery compartment, which makes it difficult to install batteries.


A network includes a plurality of wall plates, each of the wall plates couples a network resource such as a computer or a network attached device to the network and includes an RFID circuit to detect proximate devices having an RFID tag. The proximate devices can be network attached devices or non network attached devices such as desks, phones, and artwork. Logic is included within each wall plate which includes wall plate physical location information. The logic is designed to respond to a broadcast signal. In so doing, the physical location of any resource can be determined. The physical location of all known resources are provided to an inventory application in the network, thereby allowing network administrators and users to remotely determine the physical location (room, floor, building, etc.) of any and all known resources attached to the network. Likewise, local computer users are able to identify the network resources located in their vicinity.

The present invention relates in general to processing systems and, in particular, to a method and system for physically locating devices for use with computers in such a network.
Personal computer systems are well known in the art. They have attained widespread use for providing computer power to many segments of today's modern society. Personal computers (PCs) may be defined as a desktop, floor standing, or portable microcomputer that includes a system unit having a central processing unit (CPU) and associated volatile and non-volatile memory, including random access memory (RAM) and basic input/output system read only memory (BIOS ROM), a system monitor, a keyboard, one or more flexible diskette drives, a CD-ROM drive, a fixed disk storage drive (also known as a "hard drive"), a pointing device such as a mouse and an optional network interface adapter. One of the distinguishing characteristics of these systems is the use of a motherboard or system planar to electrically connect these components together.
A business may establish a network of such personal computers and network attached devices. The network provides for transmission of data. Manageability on large networks allows network administrators to update code (BIOS, OS, drivers, applications) or to inventory assets (memory, HDD, processors). However, it is impossible to determine where the computers and devices are physically located. Since Ethernet is a broadcast medium, there is no mechanism to determine physical location.
This is a large problem for corporations who have thousands of computers and devices on their network. It is important to determine physical location for repair actions, returning computers when leases expire, etc. Conventional solutions allow for the determination of whether if a computer is on the network, not physically where it is located.

Determining the physical location of resources on and proximate to a network


A connector structure includes: a housing having a substantially U-shaped cross section; a flexible flat cable inserted through an opening of the housing; and a junction terminal which has a substantially tuning-fork-shaped cross section and is formed integrally with the housing. The junction terminal has a contacting inward projection at its opening side upper and lower position. The projection electrically contacts with a conductive section of the flexible flat cable. A terminal extending from an inner part of the housing to be connected with a board. A vertical holding member into which an end of the flexible flat cable is inserted is provided at an innermost part of the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector structure of an optical pickup unit and a connector structure. This connector structure includes a junction terminal inside its housing. Contacting inward projections are formed at the upper and the lower positions of the distal ends of the junction terminal, and the rear end of the junction terminal is connected with a board through a terminal. A flexible flat cable is inserted into the housing. A conductive section of the flexible flat cable contacts the contacting inward projections of the junction terminal so that continuity between the conductive section and the contacting inward projections can be provided.
2. Description of the Related Art
According to a typical connector structure of this type included in an optical pickup unit, a connector C is attached to an optical pickup unit 101 via a board 102 as illustrated in FIG. 7. In a conventional structure, contacting inward projections 105 are provided at the upper and lower positions of the distal ends of a junction terminal 104 which is equipped inside a housing 103 of the connector C. A terminal 106 of the junction terminal 104 is attached to the board 102. A flexible flat cable 107 is inserted into the housing 103, and a conductive section 108 of the flexible flat cable 107 contacts the contacting inward projections 105 of the junction terminal 104 so that continuity between the conductive section 108 and the contacting inward projections 105 can be provided.
However, since an end of the flexible flat cable 107 inserted into the housing 103 is not fixed but freely movable as illustrated in FIG. 7, the flexible flat cable 107 moves upward and downward when the optical pickup unit 101 is shifted toward the inner periphery and the outer periphery of a disk and the flexible flat cable 107 is thus tensioned. This causes insufficient contact between the flexible flat cable 107 and the contacting inward projections 105 of the junction terminal 104 in some cases.
FIG. 8 illustrates a connector as a first related art. According to this connector, a terminal 204 is supported by a housing 201 having an insertion concave 202 as illustrated in FIG. 8. Contacts 206a and 207a are provided on first and second control pieces 206 and 207, respectively, which are formed on a terminal 204. A control piece 209 extends from the distal end of the second control piece 207. An inclined surface 217 for elastically deforming the control piece 209 is formed on a slider 211 which is inserted into and removed from the insertion concave 202 of the housing 201. When the slider 211 is pulled out, the inclined surface 217 presses the control piece 209 to open the clearance between the pair of the contacts 206a and 207a larger than the thickness of a conductive member A by the elastic deformation of the control piece 209. A terminal section of the conductive member A is inserted into the clearance between the contacts 206a and 207a. Then, the pressing force applied on the control piece 209 is released by pushing the slider 211 into the insertion concave 202 so that the terminal section of the conductive member A can be elastically supported between the pair of the contacts 206a and 207a (see JP-A-7-192822, for example).
In this structure, however, the conductive member A is difficult to be inserted since the space between a guide surface 210 and an introduction surface 213 is narrow and curved.
FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate a terminal connecting section of a flat cable as a second related art. According to this terminal connecting section, a conductive section 303a of a flat cable 303 and a pressure-contact section 304a of a tab terminal 304 are inserted between contacts 301c and 301c of a junction terminal 301 as illustrated in FIG. 9A. Then, as illustrated in FIG. 9B, the tab terminal 304 is rotated until it is disposed in a vertically extending position so that the junction terminal 301 can be supported by the elastic force of elastic arms 301b and 301b (see JP-A-7-296911, for example).
In this structure, however, the structure is complicated using a large number of components since the tab terminal 304 is required.
FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate a connecting device for a flexible printed board as a third related art. This connecting device for a flexible printed board includes a block 411 having a contact 414 and a concave 416 and a block 421 having a contact 422 and a projection 423 as illustrated in FIGS. 10A and 10B. The contact 414 is disposed in such a position as to be located between the contact 422 and the projection 423 when the blocks 411 and 421 come into contact with each other. A flexible printed board 405 is inserted into the concave 416, and the flexible printed board 405 is bended by the blocks 411 and 421 to be fixed thereto (see JP-UM-59-134387, for example).
In this structure, however, time and labor are required for assembling the blocks 411 and 421.
FIGS. 11A through 11D illustrate a flat cable connector as a fourth related art. According to this flat cable connector, an end of an inserted flat cable 550 and a tongue-shaped piece 542 of a slider 540 are pushed into a space between a thirteenth arm 533 and a twenty-third arm 534 so as to apply contact pressure to a region between a contact 535 and a conductive section of the flat cable 550 and to fix the slider 540 to an insulating housing 520 via a contact 530 through latch engagement of an engaging projection 536 as illustrated in FIGS. 11A through 11D (see JP-A-10-22009, for example).
In this structure, however, the flat cable 550 is difficult to be inserted, and the structure is complicated.

Connector structure with a flexible flat cable holding member


A method for filtering incoming data from an external computer network is provided. This method includes scanning the contents of incoming data for pre-selected keyword(s) and allowing it to pass per standard service rules if its content does not contain the pre-selected keyword(s). If the incoming data does contain pre-selected keywords, it is blocked and added to a “known-block” filtering table. Once added to the filtering table, the site will automatically be blocked in the future without having its contents scanned again for pre-selected keywords.

1. Technical Field
The present invention is related to construction of firewalls to screen internal computer networks from the Internet. More specifically, the invention screens incoming data based on content.
2. Description of Related Art
Increased reliance on the Internet in recent years has created a new host of security problems for organizations wishing to exploit this resource. Examples of these problems include the infiltration of computer viruses into internal computer networks, and the downloading of indecent material onto individual workstations. To cope with these problems, organizations have developed several methods for monitoring and controlling the influx of data from the Internet into their internal networks. Each of these approaches has its strengths and weaknesses.
One popular method of filtering incoming Internet data is the use of a firewall, a selective gateway standing between the Internet and an internal computer network. Firewalls can be designed to prevent specific types of data from entering the internal network and have the advantage of providing a centralized point from which administrators can control the influx of data.
A common way of setting up a firewall is to manually insert the address of a particular Internet site into the filtering rules of the firewall. Once a site is listed in the filtering rules, the firewall will automatically prevent electronic documents from that site from entering the internal network. A primary advantage of this method is that specific, objectionable sites can be blocked with certainty. Unfortunately, this approach is also very labor intensive, as it requires administrators to first evaluate the content of an Internet site and then manually add it to the filtering rules. This process diverts administrators from the important job of managing an organization to the mundane job of monitoring Internet access by employees, students, or staff. In addition, the administrator cannot add a site to the filtering list unless he or she knows about it. Considering the size and dynamic nature of the Internet, the administrator is certain to remain several steps behind changes in Internet content.
Another approach is to have the firewall scan the content description language coming in from the Internet and check the tag information within the content description. The tags describe the elements of an electronic document and are used by browser programs to display data properly. If the firewall detects content descriptions that have been added to the filtering rules, the Internet document will automatically be blocked from entering the internal network. Such content filtering reduces the burden on administrators by allowing them to set more general filtering guidelines rather than manually adding individual sites to the filtering rules. A disadvantage of this type of content filtering is the processing burden created by scanning all incoming Internet traffic. Having to scan the content description of all incoming traffic and compare that content to the filtering rules requires considerable processing resources, which must be diverted from other uses.
In addition to firewalls, Internet content may be filtered by using a distributed network, in which Internet content is filtered at the workstation just before it is rendered by the browser. This approach essentially offloads processing tasks from the server onto the client computers, which can substantially degrade performance, especially if the clients are "thin," having little processing capability themselves. This type of setup generally does not work well in a corporate environment because of the performance degradation and logistical problems of having filtering code distributed among several client machines.
Therefore, an Internet filtering method that allows content to be screened at a central firewall, but does not require heavy processing loads or constant monitoring and input from an administrator, is desirable.

Method and system for building dynamic firewall rules, based on content of downloaded documents


A method and apparatus for dynamic host operating system firewall configuration provides plural monitoring processes to monitor the firewall configuration of a host operating system and guest operating systems. When any firewall configuration change is detected by a monitor in a monitored guest operating system, an appropriate corresponding firewall change is made by the monitor to the host operating system.

This invention relates to networking, and more particularly to monitoring of guest operating systems in a virtualized system.
In a computer virtualization framework where there is a host operating system that contains one or more guest operating systems running, a hypervisor provides a virtual operating platform for the guest operating systems, managing their execution. In such an environment, changes to firewall settings in a guest operating system require reconfiguration of firewall and network address translation (NAT) settings in the host operating system firewall. Heretofore, these reconfigurations must be done manually, which is undesirable for many reasons, including time required, possibility of human errors in making the changes, and the like.

Method and apparatus for dynamic host operating system firewall configuration


A magnetic head according to the present invention includes a write magnetic pole on which a magnetic film has been formed, and is characterized by the magnetic film being formed by alternately laminating magnetic layers, which have iron (Fe) and cobalt (Co) as main components, and insulating layers, the insulating layers being formed as discontinuous films. With this construction, it is possible to form a write magnetic pole that has a high Bs value and high permeability, so that it is possible to provide a magnetic head that can record onto a high-density medium with a high coercive force.

As the areal density of media used in magnetic disk devices has increased, the size of the recording bits has fallen to several hundred nm or below, with recording bits being expected to become even smaller in the future. The problem of the thermal agitation of magnetic particles becomes significant in this size range, but it is thought that the problem can be solved by increasing the coercive force (Hc) of the medium. On the other hand, if the coercive force of the medium is increased, the write magnetic pole needs to be a narrow magnetic pole that can create a write magnetic field that is at least as strong as the coercive force of the medium. The magnetic material at the tip of the write magnetic pole therefore needs to have a higher Bs value (saturation magnetic flux density).
FeCo alloy is known as having a high Bs value of 2.45 T, but the magnetostrictive constant is high at λ=30 to 70×10−6 and it is difficult to realize soft magnetism with only a single layer of FeCo alloy. Therefore FeCo alloy cannot be used in this state as the magnetic material of the write magnetic pole. Permeability can be given as an index of soft magnetism, and when the permeability of a magnetic pole of a write head is low, the magnetism of the magnetic pole becomes unresponsive in an induction field of a coil corresponding to the waveform of the recording bits, so that there is deterioration in the resolution of recording bits and the desired write characteristics cannot be obtained.
As methods of solving this problem, there is a method that provides an underlayer as a buffer directly below a FeCo alloy film and new materials have been developed, such as by mixing in a small amount of additional elements into the alloy. As one example, a soft magnetic layer with a high Bs value of around 2.4 T using an FeCoN composition was reported in IEEE. Trans. Magn., Vol. 36, pp. 2506-2508, (2000). However, since it is difficult to control magnetic anisotropy with a single film of FeCoN, soft magnetism has been improved by forming the FeCoN layer on a permaloy (Ni80F20) underlayer or by a construction where the FeCoN layer is sandwiched between permaloy layers. It should be noted that the above report describes an embodiment where the thickness of the FeCoN layer is 0.1 μm, and it is unclear whether soft magnetism is achieved with a thickness of 0.1 μm or above. In addition, to increase the write magnetic field, it is necessary to form the high Bs film used at the tip of the magnetic pole at least 0.1 μm thick.
Also, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H10-270246, a material with soft magnetism such that an anisotropic magnetic field Hk>20 (Oe), resistivity ρ>50(μΩcm), and a Bs value>1.6T is disclosed as a granular alloy film where additional elements have been added to FeCo. However, to raise the resistivity to 50(μΩcm) or above, it is necessary to increase the included amount of non-magnetic elements added to the magnetic elements, so that the saturation magnetic flux density falls and it is difficult to achieve a high Bs value of 2.1 T or above.
In this way, the reality is that a soft magnetic material that has a sufficiently high Bs value for actual use as the magnetic material of a write magnetic pole of a magnetic head is yet to be provided. This invention was conceived in view of these problems and provides a magnetic material that exhibits soft magnetism with a Bs value of 2.2T or above at a thickness of 0.1 μm or above. It is an object of this invention to provide, by using this magnetic material as the magnetic material of a write magnetic pole, a magnetic head that can be favorably used to write data onto a high-density medium with a high coercive force.

Magnetic head with alternately laminated (110)-orientation-inducing non-magnetic underlayers, magnetic layers, and discontinuous insulating layers