A circuit tracer for use with circuit breakers equipped with sensors capable of sensing at least a change in the power consumption of the circuit and transmitting, preferably wirelessly, such information. The information is received directly or indirectly by a circuit tracer having a display, the display showing all the circuit breakers equipped with the sensors. Upon changing the load of an electricity outlet, such as a wall outlet, a light source, HVAC, pump, electrical machinery, etc., the sensor equipped circuit breaker provides an indication of such power or current consumption change to the circuit tracer. This allows the user of the circuit tracer to associate on the circuit tracer the circuit breaker with the specific electricity outlet. The association information may be saved on a central server or database for future use.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to the measurement of power consumption, and more specifically to the association of an electricity outlet with a respective circuit breaker or association of a power consuming device with a sensor using non-intrusive and self-powered measurement of electrical current flow through the power line, such as the power line of the circuit breaker or a power consuming device.
2. Prior Art
In a typical electricity distribution system, power is provided through a main circuit breaker and a device for measurement of the power consumption of the entire electrical network connected thereto. However, typically, the main power line is then connected to a plurality of smaller circuit breakers, each feeding a smaller section of the electrical network with its specific power requirements. The smaller circuit breakers (hereafter simply "circuit breaker" or "circuit breakers") are adjusted to the amount of maximum current that may be used by this electrical sub-network. In industrial and commercial applications, hundreds of such circuit breakers may be installed, each controlling a section of the electrical network. Even in smaller locations, such as a house, it is not unusual to find tens of circuit breakers controlling various electrical sub-networks, where each sub-network supplies current to different electrical devices. The current is supplied to one or more devices via an electricity outlet that includes but is not limited to a wall outlet, a device connected through an outlet, a device connected directly to the circuit breaker, a device activated by a switch, a light source, HVAC, pump, electrical machinery, and the like. Devices may be connected to the sub-network through electricity outlets. In some cases, wall outlets may not be connected to a power consuming device at any given time. Other devices may be connected through current switches but with no wall outlets (for example, lighting), or wired directly to the circuit breaker (for example, HVAC, pumps). For the sake of simplicity, all of the above are referred to herein as 'electricity outlets.
It is not unusual as time passes by that the association between the circuit breaker and electricity outlet is lost. This may happen for a variety of reasons including addition or subtraction of electricity outlets and/or circuit breakers. From time to time it is desirable to check the association between a circuit breaker and an electricity outlet. However, such an effort requires at least a two-person team, one person located near the circuit breakers and the other person moving around the facility checking each electricity outlet and communicating back with the other person to ensure coordination as the task progresses. This is both an error prone and costly procedure. Typically, the person near the circuit breakers must switch the circuit breaker between its on and off positions, resulting in a disruption to all the electricity outlets associated with the circuit breaker, regardless of whether such electricity outlet is being checked or not. Alternatively, the second person turns load switches on and off and communicates such activity to the person near the circuit breakers. The first person uses standard current measurement to check the current change on each of the circuit breakers to find the circuit breaker whose current is changed, which is a long and cumbersome process.
Some other prior art solutions are provided for low current implementations in the field of electronics. However, such small signal solutions are not practical for large currents associated with an AC supply. According to one prior art method, a modulated signal is introduced over the actual wires carrying the electrical current. However, because the method is deficient as in the case of the presence of strong interference signals, the operation of such a solution is limited. Moreover, any introduction of, for example, a transformer will result in loss of such modulated signal. This method may result in frequent misdetection due to leakage of the modulated signal to adjacent wires.
In view of the deficiencies of the prior art it would be advantageous to provide a solution for circuit tracing that increases reliability and efficiency of association of a circuit breaker to an electricity outlet. It would be further advantageous if such solution reduces the costs of performing such a task. It would be further advantageous if such task can be achieved without the need to switch the circuit breaker between on and off positions.


Disclosed are polymerization catalyst activator compositions which include a carbonium cation and an aluminum containing anion. These activator compositions are prepared by combining a carbonium or trityl source and with an aluminum containing complex, preferably a perfluorophenylaluminum compound. Also disclosed are polymerization catalyst systems including the activator composition of the invention, and processes for polymerizing olefins utilizing same.

The present invention relates to catalyst activator compositions, to methods of making these activator compositions, to polymerization catalyst systems containing these activator compositions, and to olefin(s) polymerization processes utilizing same. More specifically, the present application relates to the preparation and use of carbonium salt complexes containing at least one anionic aluminum, to catalyst systems containing these complexes, and to polymerization processes utilizing same.
Polymerization catalyst compounds, including bulky ligand metallocene catalyst compounds, are typically combined with an activator (or co-catalyst) to yield compositions having a vacant coordination site that will coordinate, insert, and polymerize olefins. Known activators included alumoxane, modified alumoxanes, aluminum alkyls, and ionizing activators. Examples of neutral ionizing activators include Group 13 based Lewis acids having three fluorinated aryl substituents, and examples of ionic ionizing activators include ammonium cations or trityl cations (triphenylcarbenium) combined with noncoordinating/weakly coordinating borate or aluminate anions.
Alumoxane activators are generally oligomeric compounds containing xe2x80x94Al(R)xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94 subunits, where R is an alkyl group. Examples of alumoxanes include methylalumoxane (MAO), modified methylalumoxane (MMAO), ethylalumoxane and isobutylalumoxane. Alumoxanes may be produced by the hydrolysis of the respective trialkylaluminum compound. MMAO may be produced by the hydrolysis of trimethylaluminum and a higher trialkylaluminum such as triisobutylaluminum. MMAO""s are generally more soluble in aliphatic solvents and more stable during storage. A variety of methods for preparing alumoxanes and modified alumoxanes are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,665,208, 4,952,540, 5,091,352, 5,206,199, 5,204,419, 4,874,734, 4,924,018, 4,908,463, 4,968,827, 5,308,815, 5,329,032, 5,248,801, 5,235,081, 5,157,137, 5,103,031, 5,391,793, 5,391,529, 5,693,838, 5,731,253, 5,731,451, 5,744,656, 5,847,177, 5,854,166, 5,856,256 and 5,939,346 and European publications EP-A-0 561 476, EP-B1-0 279 586, EP-A-0 594-218 and EP-B1-0 586 665, and PCT publication WO 94/10180. Known alumoxane activators are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,584. Another known activator, modified methyl alumoxane in heptane (MMAO3A) is commercially available from Akzo Chemicals, Inc., Houston, Tex. Alumoxanes, however, must generally be present in a large excess over the catalyst compound to be effective activators, which significantly increases the costs of such catalyst systems.
Aluminum alkyl compounds, including trialkylaluminums and alkyl aluminum chlorides, are also known to be useful as activators. Examples of these compounds include trimethylaluminum, triethylaluminum, triisobutylaluminum, tri-n-hexylaluminum, tri-n-octylaluminum and the like.
Neutral ionizing activators include Group 13 based Lewis acids, having three fluorinated aryl substituents, are capable of activating olefin polymerization catalysts. Specific examples of these activators include trisperfluorophenyl boron and trisperfluoronapthyl boron. Trisperfluorophenylborane, is demonstrated in EP-A1-0 425 697 A1 and EP-B1-0 520 732 to be capable of abstracting a ligand for cyclopentadienyl derivatives of transition metals while providing a stabilizing, compatible noncoordinating anion. See also, Marks, et al, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1991, 113, 3623-3625. The noncoordinating anions are described to function as electronic stabilizing cocatalysts, or counterions, for cationic metallocene complexes which are active for olefin polymerization. The term noncoordinating anion as used herein applies to noncoordinating anions and coordinating anions that are at most weakly coordinated to the cationic complex so as to be labile to replacement by olefinically or acetylenically unsaturated monomers at the insertion site. The synthesis of Group 13-based compounds derived from trisperfluorophenylborane are described in EP 0 694 548 A1. These Group 13-based compounds are said to be represented by the formula M(C6F5)3 and are prepared by reacting the trisperfluorophenylborane with dialkyl or trialkyl Group 13-based compounds at a molar ratio of about 1:1 so as to avoid mixed products, those including the type represented by the formula M(C6F5)nR3xe2x88x92n, where n=1 or 2. Utility for the tris-aryl aluminum compounds in Ziegler-Natta olefin polymerization is suggested.
Ionizing ionic activators, for example, include ammonium cations, such as N,N-dimethylanilinium, or trityl cations (triphenylcarbenium or trityl+) combined with noncoordinating/weakly coordinating borate or aluminate anions, such as, for example tetra(perfluorophenyl)borate. Such compounds and the like are described in European publications EP-A-0 570 982, EP-A-0 520 732, EP-A-0 495 375, EP-B1-0 500 944, EP-A-0 277 003 and EP-A-0 277 004, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,153,157, 5,198,401, 5,066,741, 5,206,197, 5,241,025, 5,384,299, 5,447,895 and 5,502,124 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/285,380, filed Aug. 3, 1994, all of which are fully incorporated herein by reference.
Perfluorophenyl-aluminum complexes, however, have been implicated as possible deactivation sources in olefin polymerizations which utilize Trityl+ B(C6F5)4xe2x88x92/alkylaluminum combinations to activate the catalysts. See, Bochmann, M.; Sarsfield, M. J.; Organometallics 1998, 17, 5908. Perfluorophenylaluminum (toluene), for example, has been characterized via X-ray crystallography. See, Hair, G. S., Cowley, A. H., Jones, R. A., McBurnett, B. G.; Voigt, A., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1999, 121, 4922. Arene coordination to the aluminum complex demonstrates the Lewis acidity of the aluminum center. Bochmann and Sarsfield have shown that Cp2ZrMe2 reacts with Al(C6F5)30.5(toluene) with transfer of the C6F5xe2x88x92 moiety forming metallocene pentafluorophenyl complexes. These complexes, however, were reported having very low activity compared to the corresponding metallocene dimethyl complexes when activated with B(C6F5)3 or Trityl+ B(C6F5)4xe2x88x92.
The supporting of ionic activators, however, typically results in a significant loss of activity. Supported non-coordinating anions derived from trisperfluorophenyl boron are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,991. Trisperfluorophenyl boron is shown to be capable of reacting with coupling groups bound to silica through hydroxyl groups to form support bound anionic activators capable of activating transition metal catalyst compounds by protonation. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,643,847 and 5,972,823 discuss the reaction of Group 13 Lewis acid compounds with metal oxides such as silica and illustrate the reaction of trisperfluorophenyl boron with silanol groups (the hydroxyl groups of silicon) resulting in bound anions capable of protonating transition metal organometallic catalyst compounds to form catalytically active cations counter-balanced by the bound anions.
Immobilized Group IIIA Lewis acid catalysts suitable for carbocationic polymerizations are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,677. These Group IIIA Lewis acids are said to have the general formula RnMX3xe2x88x92n where M is a Group IIIA metal, R is a monovalent hydrocarbon radical consisting of C1 to C12 alkyl, aryl, alkylaryl, arylalkyl and cycloalkyl radicals, n=0 to 3, and X is halogen. Listed Lewis acids include aluminum trichloride, trialkyl aluminums, and alkylaluminum halides. Immobilization is accomplished by reacting these Lewis acids with hydroxyl, halide, amine, alkoxy, secondary alkyl amine, and other groups, where the groups are structurally incorporated in a polymeric chain. James C. W. Chien, Jour. Poly. Sci.: Pt A: Poly. Chem, Vol. 29, 1603-1607 (1991), describes the olefin polymerization utility of methylalumoxane (MAO) reacted with SiO2 and zirconocenes and describes a covalent bonding of the aluminum atom to the silica through an oxygen atom in the surface hydroxyl groups of the silica.
Additional compounds useful as activators also include those described in PCT publications WO 98/07515, which discloses tris (2,2xe2x80x2,2xe2x80x3-nonafluorobiphenyl) fluoroaluminate, WO 98/09996, which describes activating bulky ligand metallocene catalyst compounds with perchlorates, periodates and iodates including their hydrates, WO 98/30602 and WO 98/30603, which describe the use of lithium (2,2xe2x80x2-bisphenyl-ditrimethylsilicate).4THF as an activator for a bulky ligand metallocene catalyst compound, WO 99/18135 which describes the use of organo-boron-aluminum activators, and in EP-B1-0 781 299 which describes using a silylium salt in combination with a non-coordinating compatible anion, all of which are herein fully incorporated by reference. Further activators or methods for activating a bulky ligand metallocene catalyst compound are described in for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,849,852, 5,859,653 and 5,869,723 and WO 98/32775, WO 99/42467 (dioctadecylmethylammonium-bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl) borane)benzimidazolide), which are also fully incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,771 discloses a catalyst composition comprising a neutral metallocene and an anionic aluminum containing complex which is a fluorinated alkoxy and/or arylalkoxy aluminate where the fluorinated alkoxy aluminate can be of the formula A+(Al(OR)4)xe2x88x92.
Harney, D. W et al., Aust. J. Chem. (1974) 27, 1639, discuss the reaction of triphenylmethanol and trimethylaluminum. Water is reported to catalyze the formation of 1,1,1-triphenylethane from the reaction of trimethylaluminum and [Me2AlOC(C6H5)3]2.
WO 99/15534 reports the reaction of methylalumoxane and tris-pentafluorophenylaluminum.
WO 99/06414 reports compounds of the formula [R2Bxe2x80x94Xxe2x80x94AlR,R]x.
While these catalyst activator compounds have been described in the art, there is still a need for improved catalyst activators, for activators suitably for anchoring on supports, and for catalyst systems utilizing such activators.
This invention provides new polymerization catalyst activator compositions including a carbonium cation and an aluminum containing anion. These activator compositions are prepared by combining a carbonium or trityl source and with an aluminum containing complex, preferably a perfluorophenylaluminum compound. The invention also provides for methods of making the activator compositions of the invention, a polymerization catalyst system which includes the activator composition of the invention, and a process for polymerizing olefins utilizing same.

Catalyst system and its use in a polymerization process


A method and apparatus for Doppler compensation in a satellite communications system such as Inmarsat's SATCOM network are disclosed. An aircraft terminal provides satellite communications services in one of several user-selectable modes including a circuit-mode services only mode and other modes providing some data packet services. The terminal includes multiple channel units coupled to a processing circuit. The channel units communicate radio signals via data or circuit channels between the aircraft and a satellite. Each channel unit can receive a channel input transmitted at a known frequency, and measure its frequency. Each channel unit can also transmit a channel output at an adjustable frequency. Each channel unit is operated as a circuit channel when circuit-mode services only is selected. Doppler shift is measured using the difference between the measured and known transmitted frequencies of at least one channel input. The measured Doppler shift is used to determine a Doppler correction for each transmission, and the correction is applied to adjust the frequency of each transmitted channel output to maintain the transmissions within an error budget.

Inmarsat is an international organization providing satellite communications services to ships at sea, land-mobile operations, and aircraft. SATCOM communication links generally provide for telephone services (e.g., spoken voice, PC data, and FAX communications) and packet data communications (e.g., computer-to-computer communications via X.25 protocol). The SATCOM concept for Inmarsat is to bring airborne intelligent communications services to aircraft.
Referring to FIG. 1, Inmarsat SATCOM communications network 10 includes an Aircraft Earth Station (AES) 12 and a Ground Earth Station (GES) 14 in communication with a satellite 16 via radio links 18 and 20, respectively. GES 14 communicates with a plurality of user devices 22 via a Packet Switched Data Network (PSDN) 24 and a Packet Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 26. User devices 22 include, for example, a telephone 28, a facsimile (FAX) machine 30, and a modem-equipped personal computer (PC). Telephone 28 can be any type of voice communication system including cellular phones, PHY phones, digital phones, analog phones, as well as other voice communication devices. PSDN 24 and PSTN 26 are telecommunications networks which provide international ground communications services and can include any type of ground communication services.
AES 12 includes a SATCOM communications terminal mounted within an aircraft. The term "Earth Station" in AES 12 is indicative of the aircraft being an earth station with respect to satellite 16 since the aircraft is not high above the earth compared to the altitude of satellite 16 above the earth. AES 12 provides telephone, FAX and PC data communications services for both aircraft crew and passengers. AES 12 also provides in-flight entertainment and special services such as broadcast news briefs, reservations and catalog sales.
For simplicity, FIG. 1 shows only one AES 12, one GES 14 and one satellite 16. Network 10, however, may include more than one AES 12, GES 14 and satellite 16. For example, multiple aircraft may communicate with each satellite 16, multiple satellites 16 provide coverage for multiple regions around the earth, and multiple GES 14's may operate in the region covered by each satellite 16. Similarly, user devices 22 may include more than one telephone 28, FAX machine 30 and/or PC 32.
Referring to FIG. 2, link 18 between AES 12 and satellite 16 may include six radio channels with three data channels 34-38 and three circuit channels 40-44. All six channels communicate digital data. Data channel 34 radiates or communicates from satellite 16 to AES 12 and is referred to as the P Channel, and data channels 36 and 38 radiate from AES 12 to satellite 16 and are referred to as the R and T Channels, respectively. Channels 34-38 communicate packet data traffic between computers. Circuit channels 40-44 radiate in both directions between satellite 16 and AES 12, and are referred to as C Channels. Circuit channels 40-44 communicate regular telephone calls (e.g., generically referred to as "voice channels" herein, even though FAX or PC modem data may also be communicated).
P Channel 34 is radiated continuously, and is used to communicate data needed for call setup. P Channel 34 is known as the "forward link" since it links up to the aircraft. R and T Channels 36 and 38 are the return links for communicating data (e.g., aircraft positioning data, passenger fax data, etc.) back to satellite 16. Each AES 12 which communicates via the same satellite 16 uses the same frequencies for P, R and T Channels 34-38.
In contrast, C Channel frequencies are unique for each particular telephone call. A particular C Channel frequency pair is assigned to each telephone call. When the call terminates, the frequency is returned to a pool so it can later be re-assigned to another telephone call. "Circuit channel" originally referred to the copper link between telephones in old telephone networks, but is used herein to refer to a telephone circuit channel or connection generally.
FIG. 2 shows a four-channel AES 12. The signal in each channel type is processed by a channel unit. Thus for a four-channel AES, there is one channel unit for packet data communications (i.e., P, R/T) and three for circuit mode communications. Each channel unit consists of both transmitter and receiver circuitry. The data and C Channel units are identical in circuitry but differ in software programming. Configuration of the channel units may depend on the aircraft application. If an application does not require the communication of data packets (i.e., "circuit-mode services only"), the P, R and T Channel Unit can be configured as a circuit channel instead. For example, AES 12 would be configured to provide four C Channels for telephone communications if the P, R and T Channels were not needed for communicating data traffic. However, as explained below, conventional AES terminals must continue to reserve a data channel unit 34 as a data channel.
During operation, AES 12 and satellite 16 move with respect to ground (i.e., GES 14) and with respect to each other. Commercial passenger and cargo aircraft typically cruise at ground speeds exceeding several hundred miles per hour. Satellite 16 also moves with respect to ground. The relative movement between AES 12 and satellite 16, and between satellite 16 and GES 14, induces a Doppler shift in the frequency of radio signals being transmitted between these components.
Compensation for Doppler frequency shift is applied to correct the signals to maintain the signals within the system frequency error budget specified by Inmarsat. Exceeding this error budget may cause adjacent signals to interfere with each other. It is relatively easy for AES 12 to compensate for Doppler shift on received signals by listening to incoming signals and adjusting the frequency of the receiver appropriately. However, it is difficult for GES 14 to compensate for Doppler shift in received signals since GES 14 may need to communicate with many aircraft in its region, so that GES 14 would be required to track Doppler shift separately for each aircraft.
To solve this problem, Inmarsat requires that each AES 12 transmit all of its signals to satellite 16 within a defined frequency tolerance (e.g., 100 or 185 Hz). To meet the requirement, AES 12 listens to signals received on P Channel 34, which are continuously available, and measures the frequency error between received P Channel signals and the known P Channel transmission frequency. It is assumed that this error is caused by Doppler shift. AES 12 uses the measured error to determine an expected Doppler shift for each transmission based upon the ratio of the P Channel receive frequency to the R, T and C Channel transmit frequencies, and applies the expected Doppler shift to correct the transmissions on the R, T and C Channels to compensate for the Doppler shifts. Thus, the frequency error budgets will not be exceeded.
No resources are wasted if the aircraft application has a data communications requirement since the P Channel used for monitoring Doppler shift is needed for other purposes. If, however, an application does not require data communications (i.e., circuit-mode services only), AES 12 does not need a channel allocated for receiving P Channel signals for use in communicating data packets. However, in this situation, conventional AES terminals continue to reserve one channel for receiving P Channel signals for the sole purpose of monitoring Doppler shift. P Channel signals are conveniently used for this purpose since these signals are continuously available.
Thus, in a circuit-mode services only application, one channel of the four-channel AES terminal shown in FIG. 2 would continue to be configured as a data channel for the sole purpose of measuring Doppler shift based on the frequency of the P Channel inputs. Only the other three channels could be used as circuit channels. A customer purchasing a SATCOM radio terminal capable of supporting five voice telephone calls must therefore purchase a six-channel terminal since one channel must be reserved for monitoring P Channel traffic. In general, customers who need only circuit-mode services are forced to order an AES terminal equipped with one more channel than the number of telephone calls the system must support. The additional channel needed is a costly, wasted resource.
One method that has been used in an attempt to address this problem is to pre-compensate the transmit frequencies based on a calculated Doppler shift rather than a measured Doppler shift. The method calculates the Doppler shift using the satellite location, the aircraft location, and data which defines flight characteristics (e.g., velocity, ground speed, heading pitch, roll, etc.). Much of the data needed to calculate the Doppler shift comes from the aircraft's Inertial Reference System (IRS). This method has been difficult to implement due to the many different types of IRS systems which are made by many manufacturers and provide inconsistent flight data. Thus, it has been difficult to produce an AES terminal which calculates Doppler shift and is compatible with different aircraft.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide an improved AES terminal or communication system which can be used in circuit-mode services only applications and is not required to reserve a channel unit solely for monitoring P Channel input signals. Customers of this AES terminal would not need to buy a radio terminal equipped with one more channel unit than the number of circuit channels actually needed. It would also be advantageous to provide a multichannel terminal for satellite communications wherein transmissions remain within a specified frequency error budget even with each channel configured as a circuit channel. It would also be advantageous to provide a method for measuring Doppler shift in an AES terminal or communication system independent of P Channel inputs.

Method and apparatus for Doppler compensation in a satellite communications system


An articulated arm for applying a laser beam to a treatment zone has an arm section and a horizontal pivot joint. A spring arrangement acts on the pivot joint and has a cam disk and a pressure member following the cam disk contour as the arm section pivots. The arm section has, relative to a vertical direction, positive and negative pivot angle ranges. In the positive range the spring arrangement relieves the pivot joint from weight forces. When a resting angle in the negative range is reached the articulated arm rests in a support device. A total moment resulting from a weight force moment of the articulated arm and a restoring moment of the spring arrangement acts on the articulated arm about the pivot joint; cam disk contour and spring pretension are matched such that for the resting angle the total moment is oriented toward the support device.

The invention relates to a manually guided articulated arm that comprises a hand piece, in particular an optical hand piece for applying a laser beam to a treatment zone. The articulated arm has at least one arm section that is pivotably supported by means of a pivot joint about a pivot axis, wherein the pivot joint is provided with a spring arrangement acting about the correlated pivot axis.
Such an articulated arm is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,449. The different arm sections of the articulated arm are pivotably connected to one another. The ends of the respective arm sections are angled by 90° and connected to intermediate torsion joints, respectively. An optical hand piece for applying a laser beam to a treatment zone, mounted on the outermost end of the articulated arm, is guided manually to the treatment zone wherein the articulated arm enables with its individual torsion joints a free movability of the hand piece in all six spatial degrees of freedom.
When using the aforementioned arrangement, a series of disadvantages is encountered. For a precise manual guiding action of the hand piece, it is necessary that its movement can be effected as effortless as possible. The weight of the articulated arm however is contrary to such a requirement and, without compensating measures, requires that an appropriate manual force be applied on the hand piece. U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,449 proposes different devices for relieving the weight. In one embodiment, a tension spring acts on a tension cable which is wound about a rotating disk in the first joint that is exposed to the greatest load. A moment resulting from the weight force in the correlated joint is at least partially compensated by the interaction of the tension spring with the disk. However, the tension spring has a linear spring characteristic and thus also a linear restoring characteristic. Moreover, by means of the illustrated tension cable only tension forces and no pressure forces can be transmitted. A weight-relieved pivoting action that goes beyond the vertical direction is therefore impossible.
Alternatively, U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,449 proposes a lever arm with a compensation weight. In order to generate a moment compensation, a correspondingly large lever arm or correspondingly large weight is required that restricts the movability of the articulated arm. Resting the articulated arm in a rest position and moving the articulated arm into a pivot range that is provided for operation are made more difficult.
In its resting position, the largest arm segment of both embodiments is arranged parallel to the axis of rotation of the compensated joint. During operation the aforementioned arm segment may be used within a larger angle range and even at 90° with respect to the axis of rotation of the compensated joint, applying a much larger weight force moment compared to the resting position. The operational weight force moment varies to a large and unpredictable extent. It is therefore hardly possible to generate within the entire pivot angle range a moment compensation for an effortless actuation.
Further disadvantages can be observed in the articulated arm section that immediately adjoins the hand piece. Three angle pieces are provided here that each have two arm segments positioned at a fixed angle of 90° relative to one another. At the ends of the short arm segments, a torsion joint is provided, respectively. Small, precise movements of the hand piece are enabled by the torsion joints of the three right-angle angle pieces without this requiring large spatial movements of the long arm sections that are farther located from the hand piece. For precise small spatial movements, a distinct easy movability of the torsion joints at the angle pieces is desired. However, it was found that when carrying out certain courses of movements, individual torsion joints have the tendency to jam or to make unpredictable flipping movements; this impairs the precision of the guiding action of the hand piece.
The invention has the object to further develop an articulated arm of the aforementioned kind such that a guiding action of the hand piece as effortless and precise as possible is enabled with simple means.


A front wheel drive transmission is adapted for all-wheel drive by the addition of a selectively engageable power take-off shaft. When a disconnect clutch is engaged, power may be transferred to rear wheels via a power take-off unit and a rear drive unit to improve vehicle mobility. When the disconnect clutch is disengaged, various components of the all-wheel drive system do not rotate, reducing parasitic losses and improving fuel economy. To provide packaging space for the disconnect clutch, the differential is moved to the left (driver side) of the driven transfer gear. A planetary differential, such as a double pinion planetary differential, is suitable for this location.

Two vehicle powertrain configurations predominate the modern passenger vehicle market, rear wheel drive (RWD) and front wheel drive (FWD). With additional hardware, both of these configurations can be configured to direct power to all four wheels. Because traction at any particular wheel may be limited at certain times, the ability to direct power to all four vehicle improves mobility. However, the additional hardware introduces additional parasitic losses which increase fuel consumption even in conditions that do not require the additional capability.
In a typical RWD configuration, the engine is oriented longitudinally in the vehicle such that the crankshaft axis is aligned with the direction of vehicle movement. A transmission mounted to the engine drives a rear driveshaft at a speed which may be less than or greater than the speed of the engine crankshaft according to current vehicle requirements. The rear driveshaft is connected to a rear axle that changes the axis of rotation, reduces the rotational speed, and drives left and right rear axles while permitting slight speed differences between the axles as the vehicle turns a corner. A RWD configuration is adapted to also drive the front wheels by adding a transfer case between the transmission and the rear driveshaft. In addition to driving the rear driveshaft, the transfer case drives a front driveshaft that, in turn, drives a front axle. Some transfer cases include a planetary gear set that divides the torque between front and rear driveshafts while allowing slight speed differences. Other transfer cases have an actively controlled torque on demand (TOD) clutch that only drives the front driveshaft in certain conditions, such as when a controller senses loss of traction of the rear wheels.
In a typical FWD configuration, the engine is oriented transversely in the vehicle such that the crankshaft axis is aligned with the axis of wheel rotation. A transmission mounted to the engine drives a front differential at a speed suitable for current vehicle requirements. The front differential is typically integrated into a common housing with the transmission gearbox. The front differential drives left and right front axles while permitting slight speed differences between the axles as the vehicle turns a corner. A FWD configuration is adapted to also drive the rear wheels by adding a power take off unit (PTU) that drives a rear driveshaft at a speed proportional to the speed of the front differential. A rear drive unit (RDU) typically includes a TOD clutch that, when engaged drives a rear differential that, in turn, drives left and right rear axles.

Transmission having selectable power transfer shaft


The present invention provides a medical image processing method and a computer-readable storage medium. The method includes: reconstructing a two-dimensional cross-sectional image of an imaged tissue based on a volumetric image of the imaged tissue; projecting a CT value of the imaged tissue along a normal direction of the centerline of the imaged tissue in the two-dimensional cross-sectional image; and, positioning the imaged tissue based on the projection result of the CT value of the imaged tissue.

During medical image processing, it is often necessary to detect certain features of a target object (or an imaged tissue) in a medical image obtained from an imaging device such as a computed tomography (CT) device or a magnetic resonance (MR) device. For example, when a doctor diagnoses cervical lesions, it is necessary to determine the position information such as the center position, the inclination angle, and the thickness of the intervertebral disc based on the obtained medical images of the human cervical spine. In the prior art, sometimes one needs to manually operate on the image on an operation interface to obtain the position information described above. As shown in FIG. 11, after completion of the scout (positioning) image scanning, the doctor manually calibrates the position and inclination angle of each intervertebral disc on the scout image of the cervical spine, and then performs an axial scan or helical scan to extract slice images near each intervertebral disc to conduct an analysis for lesions. Examinations performed in this way may lead to different errors in manual calibration of the intervertebral disc parameters due to different experience and habits of the physicians. Meanwhile, the manual calibration method also causes a large number of repeated operations of the physician, which takes time and labor. Although some automatic detection technologies for imaged tissues have been developed in the prior art, the accuracy of the recognition and positioning needs to be further improved.

Medical image processing method, and computer readable storage medium


Embodiment of the invention provides a receiving device having an intermediate frequency section to produce first and second intermediate frequency signals based on first and second received radio frequency signals, such that said intermediate frequency signals are combinable to be jointly processed. The first intermediate frequency signal is antipodal to the second intermediate frequency signal. Embodiment of the invention further provides at least one common sub-circuit to process at least one combined intermediate frequency signal which is based on components of first and second intermediate frequency signals.

In a wireless communication system, multiple antennas may be used to receive multiple incoming signals that may originate from the same communication site and may carry the same source information. The signals, which may be transmitted at substantially the same radio frequencies (RF), may travel through diverse physical wireless media, for example, different geometric paths, and may experience different degradation in signal quality. The degradation may be attributed to noise introduced to the signals, e.g., from the wireless media en route to the respective destinations, for example, respective receiving antennas. Using multiple communication channels, e.g., using separate receiving antennas and signal processing circuitries, may improve the quality of communication between two communicating sites. The receiving site may select a signal based on desired criteria, e.g., using known methods for antenna diversity, for example, based on the highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) among the multiple received signals.
A communication device, which is capable of communicating over multiple communication channels, known as path diversification, may include multiple signal processing circuits to process multiple received signals, respectively.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity.

Multiple intermediate frequencies receiver and a method thereof


Log data for a packet that is exchanged across a network are recorded in a log box. At this time, the data size of the packet and the detection time are recorded. When an illegal access has occurred at a target computer, the tracing of an access chain is performed on the log information. The tracing of the access chain is performed as follows. A change in the size of the data in a packet in accordance with the time of the first connection, and a change in the size of the data in a packet in accordance with the time of the second connection are calculated using the log data, and then the shapes of the graphs formed by these packet series are compared. When the shapes of the graphs are similar, it is ascertained that the pertinent connections are included in the same chain.

The Internet has become extremely popular because of the availability of data access means that can remove limits imposed by time and space, and because of the anonymity it bestows. But since the Internet is accessible to all, it is peculiarly susceptible to misuse by those wishing to commit network crimes; the benefits it confers are available to intruders and to ordinary users alike. Therefore, the number of unauthorized access attacks has increased and the range of the targets that are attacked has expanded, to the extent that it is difficult to identify an intruder and to fully apprehend why an attack was mounted. Furthermore, since at certain home pages on the Internet instructions and guidance for effecting unauthorized entries are readily available, for sale or for free, knowledge of how to mount intrusive attacks is widely disseminated and since it is apparent that the effectiveness of the procedures employed is constantly being improved, it is anticipated that illegal access attacks will occur ever more frequently in the future.
A problem encountered in providing adequate protection for systems, so as to prevent the occurrence of illegal accesses, is that the configurations of systems deserving protection tend to vary daily. For example, update packages are frequently released for the Linux operating system; each month, one or more modules are published to correct system defects or errors or to provide improved functions. Furthermore, the problem of providing adequate protection is further compounded since, as is mentioned above, the methods available for effecting illegal accesses are constantly being improved, as are the means for concealing the identities of intruders, which complicates the task of identifying them. Under the prevailing conditions, therefore, it is difficult to devise a specific protection system that can absolutely prevent all illegal accesses. For the above described reasons, a system that can prevent the occurrence of large numbers of illegal accesses is urgently needed.
Crimes committed using the Internet include mail bombings, denial-of-service attacks, unauthorized intrusions, and the transmission of slanderous, malicious gossip. In many cases, in the commission of these crimes, to hide their identities attackers employ systems whereby their transmissions are routed via third parties. Such a system, whereby a third party is involuntarily involved, is called a stepping-stone computer system.
A method used for an illegal intrusion will now be described while referring to FIG. 1. In the schematic diagram in FIG. 1, an attacker's computer 11 is used to effect an illegal intrusion of a targeted host 16 via a plurality of host computers 12 to 15, and a network 17 to which these computers are connected. In this setup, the routing of packets on the network 7 is controlled by a router 18. So in order to hide his or her identity, the attacker, hereinafter referred to as the attacker 11, attacks the target host 16 via one or more of the steppingstone computers 12 to 15.
In order to assume control of the stepping-stone computers that are to be employed, the attacker 11 exploits perceived system setup inadequacies or OS bugs to access them. Thereafter, to attack the target computer 16, the attacker 11 transmits data packets via the several stepping-stone computers 12 to 15 to the target computer 16. To assault the target computer 16, the attacker 11 employs what is called an illegal access chain, for which telnet or rlogin is employed or a changed port number.
Given the current Internet environment, it is not easy to trace backward along an illegal access chain. Only the IP address of the stepping-stone host immediately before a targeted computer can be extracted from a packet header. Therefore, generally, when an attempt is made to obtain the address of the host that precedes the last stepping-stone host, permission to do so is denied and further analyzation and tracing of the access chain continued because management of the stepping-stone hosts is being exercised by the third party. Therefore, it is difficult for the sources of packet used to effect an illegal access to be obtained and for transmission source addresses to be traced back in order.
Therefore, a system has been studied that would provide for the automatic tracing of an illegal access chain. Depending on the location of tracing components, the illegal access tracing method can be roughly classified as having two subdivisions: a "host base" process and a "network base" process. According to the host base process, a tracing component is located at each host, while according to the network base process, a tracing component is located at the infra (e.g., a router or a switch) of a network. The following host base tracing methods are also used.
DIDS (Distributed Intrusion Detection System)
This system, which originated at University of California at Davis but which is presently being developed by Trident Data Systems Corp., monitors all TCP connections and logins occurring on a network over which it exercises control. Thus, the system constantly collects information concerning all activities within the area of its responsibility and monitors changes in the state of the network that occur as a result of user logins. Monitors, one of which is located at each host, collect information relative to network accesses by the local hosts, and transmit the information to a central DIDS director. The central DIDS director is thus able to collectively manage the state of the network state. The procedures and methods employed for this technique are explained in detail in "DIDS (Distributed Intrusion Detection System)—Motivation, Architecture, And An Early Prototype," S. Snapp et al., Proceedings of the 14th National Computer Security Conference, 1991.
CIS (Caller Identification System)
This system confirms a transmission source at the time of a login. When a user seeks to log in to an N-th host, via N-1 hosts, to obtain a list of preceding hosts, the CIS system queries in turn the (N-1)th host and the first to (N-2)th hosts. When the CIS system confirms that the results of the inquiries indicate that no illegal activities have occurred, it permits the login. This system is used to control accesses between the hosts that are managed, and it is a premise that the CIS is introduced into the host that is managed. The procedures and methods employed for this technique are explained in detail in "Caller Identification System in the Internet Environment, H. T. Jung et al., Proceedings of the 4th Usenix Security Symposium, 1993.
Tsutsui's system
In this system, which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,655, data concerning users who have accessed hosts and data concerning the processes are stored in the file system at each host, and when a trace request is received, the data are read and the tracing is performed in order to establish the access chain. If the tracing request is submitted to a different management domain, the management host for the pertinent domain collects the required information and returns it to the requesting source. A tracking service process must be operational at each host.
System provided by Hirata, et al.
According to this system, which is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 10-164064, at each host a process and a port number for a connection associated with the local host are stored in an access log recording unit, and a basic control program exchanges access information with other hosts and traces access chains. Since all the processing required to trace a communication route is performed by the basic control program, application processes running on the host need not be aware of any of the procedures that are being performed.
The problem with the above host base methods is that when an access chain is being traced and a host is reached that is not running one of these systems, the tracing process is halted at that point, continuing no further. This can occur with regularity, since on the Internet it is rare indeed for a specific home base system to be adopted by all hosts in all management domains. Further, even if a host is one that is being managed by a host base system, an intrusion may have occurred at that host and the program associated with the tracing process may have been rewritten. It is not realistic, therefore, to expect a host base system to be reliably executed in the Internet environment.
Another system that may be considered is a Caller ID system that has been reported by the U.S. Navy. To find an illegal user, this system performs a backward trace of the hosts that were illegally accessed and used as stepping-stone computers. This tracing system performs a backward search by employing the same method as that used by an intruder to illegally gain access to the stepping-stone computers. While the side conducting the search maintains that they must access the stepping-stone computers, they insist that their access is permissible because an intrusion had already occurred at the host computers. But during an actual tracing exercise, gaining access to a computer is difficult or impossible because the intruder who accessed it illegally may have corrected the hole in the security. Also, under the circumstances gaining access to the computer of a third party could be considered to be a new crime.
A network base method will now be described.
According to a study by Staniford-Chen, only the contents of communication data are focused on, and an illegal access chain is traced with the assumption that the character value of the data (distribution of the communication character types) is unique for each session (each intrusion), and is substantially the same for each connection in an access chain. At as many locations (the router, etc.) as possible on a network, character values are calculated and stored at specific time intervals each session. If an intrusion is found, multiple points on the network are examined to find a point having a character value that is similar to that recorded during the session. As a result, the hosts on the access chain can be identified. The procedures and methods employed for this technique are described in "Holding Intruders Accountable on the Internet," Stuart Staniford-Chen and L. Todd Heberlein, Proceedings of the 1995 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, Oakland, Calif., 1995.
The merits of this system are that a storage log can be maintained that requires only a small memory capacity, and that the processing is easy because only the log for calculating the character value of communication data need be stored. However, since this system depends on the contents of communication data, it can not cope at all with content data that have been changed by encrypting or by language code replacement.
Another technique that may be used involves the employment in a network of a calculator monitoring system, as is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 9-2114493. When an abnormality is found in the calculator monitoring results, a log collection unit collects the traffic logs maintained by the calculator.
The tracing systems of the host base type are not appropriate for a network, such as the Internet, on which various management rights are exercised. The network base Thumbprinting that employs the data contents as reference material is a quite effective system, however, at the present time, now that encrypted communication has been become so popular, regardless of how the network base Thumbprinting system is developed, such an access chain tracing system does not hold out great promise of developing into a viable system.
It is, therefore, one object of the present invention to provide an access chain tracing method whereby, even if this method is introduced only in part of a network, a host on an access chain can be identified within the range covered by this method, and to provide an access chain tracing system therefor.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an access chain tracing method and an access chain tracing system that can cope with a case wherein data contained in a packet are encrypted en route, or language code is transformed.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide an access chain tracing method whereby, from among a plurality of hosts on an obtained access chain, the nearest host to an attacker can be easily identified, and an access chain tracing system therefor.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an access chain tracing method and an access chain tracing system for which only a small memory capacity is required to store data in a packet that is needed when an access chain is being traced.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an access chain tracing method whereby the contents of the data in a packet are not stored and communication privacy can be protected, and an access chain tracing system therefor.

Access chain tracing system, network system, and storage medium

International Business Machines Corporation


Given a language with all words in a fixed length, and a set of regular expressions composed only from characters in the alphabet of the language or the “?” sign (any single character), the method of the invention defines a data structure that is used to efficiently find the set of matching regular expressions for a given query word. The method may be adjusted by appropriate selection of a control variable to vary the storage space required and the search time necessary to complete the query. Specifically, the method of the present invention provides a space versus time trade-off between the storage space required for the data structures of the present invention and the amount of time to search those data structures to determine the matching set of regular expressions.

In computerized systems and networks the control of data and packet flow between users in the network and the outside world often provides a first line of defense against malicious nodes, and provides a measure of administrative control. Gateways, firewalls, proxies, and network address translators (NAT) etc. are all devices which allow a network administrator to institute various policies and rules that, at least to some extent, provide the control of data and packet flow therethrough. The rules that reflect the administrative policy are typically associated with a packet's source address, destination address, port information, etc., and can designate applicability to groups of addresses to allow communication policy to be applied to nodes within a subnet.
Once the administrator of the policy builds the set of rules or regular expressions to be applied to the packet flow through the network device, these rules are typically placed in a database for retrieval and use by the device. As each packet is processed through the gateway, firewall, etc., the device must check the database to find any and all applicable rules that apply to that packet. Such rules may simply relate to the proper routing of that packet, or may be restrictive in nature, disallowing packet flow between certain addresses or from certain nodes. Once the device has found the applicable rules, these rules are then applied to decide what to do with the packet.
As the size of the network grows and the throughput of information increases, the processing time required to locate and apply these rules may result in information flow delay caused by the gateway device. This lag in processing time may become unacceptably long, especially as the number of rules and the volume of communication traffic increases. In the firewall example, a major component of this processing lag is the search time associated with finding which rules apply to particular IP addresses. While the current IP address system (the dotted quad) provides for 232 unique IP addresses, the search delay component associated with IP addresses will only increase as the IPv6 standard substantially increases this number. If the rule is to take both the source address and the destination address into account, then the number of possible combinations rises to 264.
Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a method for efficiently searching a data set of fixed length words to find a set of matching regular expressions.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and data structure for performing regular expression searches in a fixed length word language


A needle module for a drive-controlled handheld unit for repeatedly piercing human or animal skin, comprising a housing; a needle holder, which can be moved back and forth in the housing in a longitudinal direction of the housing; a piercing device on the needle holder, which can be moved, on account of the movement of the needle holder, between a proximal and a distal position, in which a piercing tip of the piercing device is arranged outside the housing; a coupling component, which is coupled to the needle holder in such a way that a driving movement provided with a repetition frequency by a drive device that can be coupled to the coupling component can be introduced onto the needle holder; and a damping component, which is arranged between the needle holder and the coupling component and is configured to damp a transfer of force therebetween.

Apparatuses of this kind are used to locally pierce the skin, whereby a substance can then be introduced into the skin. For example, this substance can be a dye for producing a tattoo or can be permanent make-up. However, the introduction of a medical or a cosmetic substance via the skin can also be enabled in this way.
Handheld units that have a modular structure are known. Known handheld units have a drive module and a needle module coupled thereto, wherein the modules can be releasably connected. A drive device, for example a drive motor, is provided in a housing of the drive module. A driving force with a repetition frequency is thus provided by means of the drive device. The needle module coupled to the drive module has a piercing device, which can comprise a single needle or a group of needles. The piercing device is arranged on a needle holder, which can be moved back and forth in the housing of the needle module in the longitudinal direction. With the aid of a coupling mechanism, the driving force provided by the drive device is transferred from the drive device to the needle holder, so that the needle holder is moved back and forth with the piercing device during operation, whereby a piercing tip of the piercing device is arranged outside the housing of the needle module, at least in a distal position, and therefore the skin can be locally pierced.
Document DE 10 2014 012 896 A1 discloses an adapter with amplitude reduction for repeatedly piercing organic skin in order to introduce substances. The adapter has a first mass-spring system, consisting of an exchangeable drive-side coupling mechanism with a drive rod, which is guided slidingly in the axial bearings of the housing, and a spring element. The adapter also has a second mass-spring system, consisting of the spring elements, the spring block, the output rod, which is guided slidingly in the output-side axial bearings of the housing, and an exchangeable output-side coupling mechanism. The two spring systems are configured in such a way that a repetitive movement introduced into the drive side with a stroke X is converted with little loss into a smaller stroke Y on the output side.
In document DE 20 2010 013 095 U1, an apparatus for repeatedly piercing skin is described. The apparatus comprises a housing, a drive device, which is received in the housing and is configured to provide a driving force, a coupling mechanism, which is received in the housing, and a piercing device, which is coupled to the drive device by means of the coupling mechanism in such a way that the driving force is coupled by means of the coupling mechanism to the piercing device for a repeating piercing movement. Here, the piercing device comprises a base with a distal active surface formed thereon, with a plurality of spaced-apart piercing elements distributed over the active surface, wherein the base with the distal active surface formed thereon is mounted such that it can be tilted relative to the housing.
Document EP 2 796 164 A1 discloses a tattooing machine for introducing tattooing ink into human skin with the aid of a tattooing needle, which comprises a drive motor for driving the tattooing needle, a transmission unit, and a needle holder for accommodating the tattooing needle. The transmission unit converts a driving movement of the drive motor into a puncturing movement of the tattooing needle, causing said needle to penetrate the human skin. The transmission unit has a tilting lever, which in response to the driving movement of the drive motor performs a tilting movement. The tilting movement of the tilting lever actuates the tattooing needle into the puncturing movement. The tilting lever is connected via a bending spring to the needle holder. The stiffness of the bending spring is adjustable, and so the hardness of the puncturing movement can be varied.
Document TW 2014 06322 describes a machine for permanent eyebrow make-up. This machine comprises at least one machine body, a needle holder assembly, and a tattooing needle, and can also comprise a holding protection tube, a needle cover, and a needle cover protector for application.

Needle module for a drive-controlled apparatus for repeatedly piercing human or animal skin, and handheld unit


A linker is described and the method of forming an executable program from object code modules using the linker. The linker uses a linker control language in the form of an ordered sequence of relaxation instructions. The relaxation instructions include a jump relaxation instruction which specifies the instruction count of the relaxation instruction which is subsequently read. In this way, more flexibility can be provided for linkers.

Linkers for producing executable programs are known. Generally speaking, a linker acts to link a number of object code modules to form a single executable program. Object code modules are usually generated from program source code modules, these modules being written in a high level language. An assembler/compiler reads each source code module and assembles and/or compiles the high level language of the source code module to produce an object code module. The assembler also generates a number of relocations which are used to combine the object code modules at link time in a linker.
The ELF (executable linking format) standard defines a convention for naming relocation sections belonging to a given section, e.g., rela.abc is relocation section of section .abc. Standard relocations under the ELF format allow an offset in section data to be defined where patching is to occur and a symbol whose value is to be patched. A type field also exists which is used to describe the appropriate method of encoding the value of the symbol into the instruction or data of the section data being patched. According to the existing arrangements, the relocation type definitions are usually created on an ad hoc basis for each instruction set targeted. The 32-bit ELF standard allows only 256 distinct relocation types, so the same types are reascribed to different semantics for each instruction set.
The existing linkers each have to be set up to understand the particular semantics used for the type definitions in the relocations for each instruction set. Moreover, the relocation operations which can be defined by the relocations are limited in the existing ELF standard.


One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates delegating operations involved in providing digital signatures to a signature server. The system operates by receiving a request for a digital signature from a user at the signature server, wherein the request includes an item to be signed on behalf of the user by the signature server. In response to the request, the system looks up a private key for the user at the signature server, and signs the item with the private key. Next, the system returns the signed item to the user, so that the user can send the signed item to the recipient. In one embodiment of the present invention, the system authenticates the user prior to signing the item. In one embodiment of the present invention, the system determines whether the user is authorized to sign the item prior to signing the item.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to providing security in distributed computer systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for delegating operations involved in providing digital signatures to a digital signature server.
2. Related Art
Digital signatures have the potential to revolutionize electronic commerce. By using digital signatures it is possible to provide support for non-repudiation of transactions that take place across a network. It is also possible to facilitate strong authentication between unknown parties in a transaction.
In spite of all of the strong assurances digital signatures provide through complex mathematical operations, practical deployment of digital signatures is not able to provide the same functionality as notarized paper and pen based signatures. Digital certificates are not easy to create, not easy to understand, and not easy to use for most people. Consequently, people do not understand how to protect their keys, how to facilitate revocation, or how to carry digital certificates with them when they travel.
Besides getting the initial certificate, the user also has to worry about certificate expiry, certificate removal, self-identification, time of certificate issuance, the appropriate key size for the given application, and selecting between the different certificates that the user may acquire from different places. In this case, the problem becomes very similar to the problem of remembering and selecting the appropriate password for different applications.
Furthermore, if people change their roles within a company, the current model requires the existing certificate to be revoked because the existing certificate was attached to a certain authorization level. Because people frequently change their roles, this can increase the overhead of the public key infrastructure (PKI) management system.
It is also desirable to associate some type authorization with digital certificates. For example, just because an employee is in possession of a certificate does not mean the employee should be able to order $100,000 worth of goods.
It is additionally desirable to be able to use certificates to delegate powers at appropriate times. For example, if the CEO of a company is traveling, the CEO may want to delegate some of his powers to his secretary or to a Vice President, but only for a limited time and only for limited capabilities. Note that it is impractical to push decision-making processes and enforcement of business rules to an application server because the application server may reside outside of the company.
Today, authorization is controlled by the application server, which means that the authorization database at the remote server has to be kept up to date with changes within the enterprise. Controlling authorization at the application server is error-prone, and the application server is difficult to keep in sync all the time. Furthermore, a person's authorization changes not only when the person leaves the company, but also when the person's role changes within the company. Even, when the person's role does not change within the company, some of the person's authorization levels may change.
Furthermore, if an employee is fired, a company would ideally like to revoke any certificates held by the employee immediately. This revocation is presently accomplished by pushing the problem back to the application. Because of the complex revocation process, very few applications implement certificate revocation, and thus transactions remain exposed to certificate misuse.
There is also the problem of supporting multiple people with the same role. For example, a company may have a number of purchasing officers. In this case, application services are not so much interested in which specific purchasing officer bought their improvement, but whether the request was made by a purchasing officer of the company. Also, as multiple people come and leave this specific job, the certificate has to be kept valid.
Companies are additionally concerned that a certificate and corresponding private key may be stolen from a user's desktop.
What is needed is a method and an apparatus for facilitating the use of digital signatures that is relatively free of the above-described difficulties.

Method and apparatus for delegating digital signatures to a signature server


This projection microscope (10) includes an elongate support member (12) carrying a stage assembly (22) between its ends, the stage assembly (22) having opposed sides and an associated specimen holder (28). A light emitting source (24) and a light receiving point (26) are spaced from the stage assembly (22), the linear distance between them defining an optical path (100). An adjustable mirror assembly (18, 19) is carried at one end of the support member (12) including laterally spaced first and second mirrors (18, 19), the first mirror (18) receiving light from the light emitting source (24) and the second mirror (19) directing light to the light receiving point (26). An objective lens assembly (30) is disposed between the stage assembly (22) and the first mirror (18), and a secondary lens (40) is disposed between the second mirror (19) and the light receiving point (26).

This invention relates generally to microscopes and particularly to a projection microscope having high magnification and resolution.
The device known as a microscope has been available since about 1650. Essentially, such devices provide a means of making objects appear much larger than they are and are particularly useful for the study of biological specimens. They consist of an illumination source that lights the specimen, a stage that holds the specimen in place and, above all an optical system that provides the requisite degree of magnification, that is, the size of the image of the specimen compared with the actual size of the specimen. The image is viewed by the human eye or a technological substitute for the eye, such as a video camera.
Conventional compound microscopes comprise essentially of two optical elements, namely, an objective lens and an ocular lens. The objective lens forms a real, aerial inverted image at some point along the optical axis of the system. Conventionally, this inverted image is located at a point inside the front focal length of the ocular lens. The ocular lens on the other hand, accepts ray bundles from the aerial image and forms a magnified virtual image located at, or close to, infinity. Accordingly, the eye receives collimated light which is necessary for ease of observation. Usually, the aerial image distance and the focal length of the ocular lens are accommodated within the length of the microscope barrel, usually about 6 ins.–8 ins. long.
There have been many attempts to improve on the basic microscope discussed above but most improvements, particularly to the optical system tend to be very expensive, with little gained for the high cost. Accordingly, individual microscopes with high quality magnification and resolution are out of the economic reach of schools, and similar teaching establishments which prefer to have one microscope for each student.
Several prior art references disclose the use of a folded light path, which increases the length of the light path. References of particular interest are U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,084 (Wentz III); U.S. Pat. No. 5,969,852 (Kung), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,537,483 (Turner). All three references employ the same principle wherein the ocular lens of a conventional microscope is replaced by an optical system which projects a real image onto a rear projection screen. In the case of Turner and Wentz III the projection screen is viewed using a large diameter low power lens which provides additional image magnification. Neither one, however, provides the high magnification at low cost. Also U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,085 (Gustafsson, et al.) discloses the use of opposing objective lens but in a specific arrangement directed to stereoscopic imagery. These four patents are incorporated herein by reference.
It is the aim of this invention to provide a projection microscope that overcomes these problems in a manner which results in an efficient yet cost effective instrument.


A method and apparatus for automatically measuring the acidity of overhead water in an oil refinery, and dispensing a neutralizing agent into the refinery system at a rate responsive to that measurement. A sample of overhead water is collected and passed through a filter and cation exchange resin. The acid concentration of the sample is then automatically measured and a signal generated based on the concentration. The signal goes to a controller which controls the dispensation rate of neutralizing agent into the refinery system, thus reducing the acidity of the overhead water and limiting the corrosive effects of such acidity.

This invention relates to the monitoring and control of acid in the overhead water of oil refineries. Specifically, this invention constitutes an improved method for controlling these acids, by continually monitoring their concentration and by controlling the rate of introduction of neutralizing agent in response to this continually monitored concentration.
Corrosive aqueous acids are present in distillation towers used in petroleum refining. Water condenses at the "dew point" near the top of these distillation towers. Dissolved in this water are hydrochloric acid, organic acids, and various other acidic species, which rapidly corrode exposed areas in the vicinity of the dew point and points downstream.
Various methods have been suggested to remedy this corrosion. Generally, a neutralizing agent is introduced, either directly to the crude charge or injected at the top of the distillation tower. The quantity of neutralizing agent to be added is usually determined following some manual sampling and acid analysis of the tower condensate or of some other species. Because the time elapse between these manual analyses may span one or more days, excursions in the acid concentrations of the overhead water may occur. Because of the rapidity of acid corrosion, even a one day's unmonitored and uncontrolled excursion can have serious consequences.
Thus there is a need for a method of continually monitoring the acid concentration of overhead water, and of controlling the rate of introduction of neutralizing agent in a continuous manner, to avoid acid corrosion. One such system is described by Richmond and Browne in "Automatic pH Control of Crude Column Overhead Streams", presented at the International Corrosion Forum of March 1982. This system consists broadly of a sampling system, a pH cell, a neutralizer system, and a control system responsive to the measured pH. However, this system is vulnerable to cell fouling by hydrocarbon contamination during plant upsets, necessitating manual control during such upset, pending cleaning of the electrodes. Furthermore, a measurement of pH may underestimate the quantity of neutralizer required, due to the buffering effect of weak acids in the system. These and other problems are addressed in the present invention.

On-line acid monitor and neutralizer feed control of the overhead water in oil refineries


A method for production of a pressure sensor including a flat flexible membrane made of a ceramic material and a flat rigid support thereof made of a ceramic material is provided. Steps include: —establishing an electric circuit on the membrane; —establishing an electric contact with the outside on the support; —depositing an electrically conductive material on the support; —establishing an electrical and mechanical coupling between the membrane and the support. The electrical coupling between the membrane and the support are performed by deposition and sintering of at least one layer of an electrically conductive sinterable electrical connection material. The mechanical coupling between the membrane and the support are performed by deposition and sintering of at least one layer of sinterable mechanical connection material that is electrically insulating and/or isolated from the layer of sinterable electrical connection material. The layer of sinterable electrical connection material and the layer of sinterable mechanical connection material undergo re flow together in a single step in a sintering furnace.

(1) Field of the Disclosure
The present invention relates to a ceramic pressure sensor, a method for production thereof, and a transducer which incorporates a ceramic pressure sensor.
(2) Description of Related Art
The use of ceramic pressure sensors integrated in a transducer for measuring the pressure of a fluid is known in various fields of application, such as in the industrial, medical and automotive sectors.
Ceramic sensors combine mechanical robustness and an ability to work in aggressive environments with reliability and stability in terms of performance.
A ceramic membrane, chemically inert, does not require any type of separator and can be in direct contact with many fluids, also with some of the most aggressive ones. Long-term stability and a wide operating range in terms of both pressure and temperature are other important factors which favour the versatility and reliability of ceramic pressure sensors.
These aspects, combined with the simplicity of integration into industrial machinery and process control devices, make both piezoresistive and capacitive ceramic sensors appealing and advantageous compared to other technological solutions, because of both an excellent cost to performance ratio and a wide range of applications.
The transducer is typically provided with a circular conduit suitable for carrying the fluid to be measured inside it and a chamber where the sensor membrane enters into contact with the fluid.
Piezoresistive sensors with a membrane of ceramic material are generally made of alumina, and can be of two types: flat sensors, in which the membrane is fixed on a mechanical support, likewise ceramic, or else dome-shaped sensors, composed of a single ceramic element, in which the thinner central part acts as a membrane and the thicker lateral part act as a mechanical support.
The membrane flexes under the effect of pressure and this flexion can be measured by means of a resistive bridge. The resistors, made of piezoresistive material, are positioned in such a way that, while the membrane flexes, two resistors (belonging to opposite sides of the bridge) lengthen, determining an increase in resistance, and simultaneously the other two are compressed, determining a decrease in resistance. The bridge is unbalanced and the output voltage is proportional to the pressure difference which caused the deformation.
Flat piezoresistive sensors are typically produced by screen printing this resistive bridge onto the membrane, on the side opposite the one in contact with the fluid, and connecting this membrane with a mechanical support, typically obtained by stamping. To ensure sufficient space for deformation of the membrane and define the mobile space of the same, the support is provided with a central recess, typically circular, located in the deformable area of the membrane, where the piezoresistive elements are located, and perforations located outside said recess, on whose walls a conductive material is deposited, and which are electrically connected to the tracks on the membrane after the mechanical connection, achieved for example by soldering or gluing with conductive resins.
In sensors of a capacitive rather than piezoresistive type, the pressure signal is measured by the change in capacitance of a capacitor, one of whose armatures is printed on the membrane and the other on the mechanical support. In some cases a perforation is present on the support, in the recess: if this perforation is open the system will function as a relative or differential sensor (only if the recess is sealed); if it is closed and the recess is sealed it will function as an absolute sensor.
Dome-shaped sensors are easier to produce than flat sensors, since they do not require an electrical connection between the membrane and support.
In particular, dome-shaped piezoresistive sensors, in which the electrical connection is made on the same side as the piezoresistive bridge for measuring pressure, require a manufacturing process with fewer steps than flat ones, and are thus more economical; they represent the solution normally used above all when large quantities are involved.
However, dome-shaped piezoresistive sensors are not suitable for realising either absolute sensors or differential sensors.
Moreover, given their construction, dome-shaped sensors further require that the fluid to be measured enters into the recess. In some applications the presence of a recess can generate problems in their use.
Furthermore, given their construction, dome-shaped sensors can withstand limited values of overpressures, because the membrane under deformation is not opposed or contained and thus ends up breaking if subjected to an excessive deformation; this is also true for flat sensors. Normally, the withstandable overpressure and the breaking stress are very important parameters in the metrological characterization of a sensor. One particular case, of great importance in recent applications, is where the fluid to be measured is a liquid which can break the membrane if it freezes (for example AdBlue, an additive used to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions in diesel engines).
At present, the solution adopted in the automotive sector for this problem uses a dome-shaped sensor, and solutions to the problem of freezing have been patented which are optimized for that type of sensor; they use a disc spring (EP 1252492), a compressible element placed near the sensor (W09831997) or a compressible element placed around a nozzle which conveys the fluid into the recess (WO208078184).

Ceramic pressure sensor and method for production thereof


Electromagnetic fluid valve regulating the throughflow of a pressure medium which flows through a housing part having at least two inlet openings which lie opposite one another and at least one outlet opening for the pressure medium. It being possible for a channel which is situated between the inlet openings and the outlet opening to be closed to a greater or lesser extent by an axially movable slide for regulating the throughflow of the pressure medium, a pin protruding into the channel centrically with respect to the center axis of the fluid valve, the pin being provided, for flow guidance, with an outer contour which is of at least approximately conical, pyramidal or hyperbolic design, with the result that the pressure medium which is to flow from the inlet openings strikes the outer contour of the pin and diverted in the direction of the at least one outlet opening.

Damper systems which can be adjusted actively for vehicles are known, which damper systems as a rule operate according to the principle of a variable opening cross section. Dampers of this type set the corresponding shock absorber characteristic values via hydraulic proportional valves and can be adapted to different driving situations, for example with regard to the roadway surface or to different client requests. With the aid of a movable slide which is moved by a magnet coil, the proportional valves continuously control the throughflow of fluid in the damper. Depending on the application of current to the electromagnetic proportional valve, the cross section thereof through which oil flows is changed. This brings about a change in the pressure loss which should have a declining profile as the throughflow increases. For this purpose, the resulting flow forces on the valve slide which changes the cross section have to be kept as small as possible in the opening direction, since otherwise the valve slide does not open sufficient cross section and, as a result, the pressure loss has an increasing profile as the volumetric flow rises.
A proportional valve which forms the generic type is known, for example, from DE 10 2007 005 466 A1, the valve slide of which proportional valve is connected directly to a magnet armature for the electromagnetic actuation of the valve. The cross section of a passage in the housing, which passage connects the valve inlet to a valve outlet, is changed continuously by way of a control edge which is provided on the valve slide. In this proportional valve, the valve slide is configured as an outer slide and is mounted and guided on a tubular slide guide which is fastened in the valve housing on the inlet side. Said valve slide is therefore mounted firstly via the magnet armature and secondly via said tubular slide guide. As a result of this double mounting of the valve slide, the involved components have to meet high manufacturing accuracies which likewise lead to high manufacturing costs.
In the known electromagnetic fluid valves, a multiplicity of radial inlet openings are frequently provided in the housing. The pressure medium is guided through said radial inlet openings into the interior of the housing of the electromagnetic fluid valve and is guided there via a channel to at least one outlet opening. Regulation of the throughflow of the pressure medium takes place via a suitable movable slide, by the movable slide closing the inlet openings to a greater or lesser extent and thus throttling the pressure medium in the channel.
It is problematical in the use of a multiplicity of radial inlet openings that the pressure medium in the interior of the housing of the electromagnetic fluid valve flows toward itself and this leads to eddying there. An unstable flow state of this type, that is to say a change from turbulent to laminar flow in valves, through which fluid flows, is problematical because fluctuating flow forces are produced as a result.
The invention has the aim of avoiding or at least reducing fluctuating flow forces of this type and of ensuring from the start that only a laminar flow of the pressure medium takes place into the housing of the electromagnetic fluid valve.


A method for use of a double-structured tissue implant or a secondary scaffold stand alone implant for treatment of tissue defects. The double-structured tissue implant comprising a primary scaffold and a secondary scaffold consisting of a soluble collagen solution in combination with a non-ionic surfactant generated and positioned within the primary scaffold. A stand alone secondary scaffold implant or unit.

1. Field of Invention
The current invention concerns a method for use of a double-structured tissue implant for implantation into tissue defects. In particular, the invention concerns use of a double-structured tissue implant comprising a primary scaffold and a secondary scaffold generated and positioned within the primary scaffold. The primary scaffold is a porous collagen-comprising material having randomly or non-randomly oriented pores of substantially homogeneous defined diameter. Under the most favorable conditions, the pores are through oriented, mostly vertically, and represent a high percentage of the total volume of the scaffold. The secondary scaffold is generated within the primary scaffold by introducing a composition comprising a soluble collagen solution in combination with a non-ionic surfactant into the pores of the primary scaffold and solidifying said composition within said pores using a novel process of the invention.
The method for use of the double-structured tissue implant comprises implantation of the DSTI into the tissue defect either in a rehydrated or dry form and sealing the implant within the defect with biodegradable tissue sealant.
The DSTI may be rehydrated and/or preloaded with cells, drugs or growth modulators before or after implantation.
When formed, the double-structured tissue implant has improved properties, such as stability, resistance to shrinkage, swelling or dissolution, improved wetting, storageability and longer shelf-life as compared to the properties of each scaffold or the composite separately.
Furthermore, the double-structured tissue implant provides an increased surface area for cell adhesion, growth and differentiation without compromising the porosity of the implant.
2. Background and Related Disclosures
Collagen matrices for use as an implant for repair of cartilage defects and injuries are known in the art. Of a particular interest is a honeycomb structure developed by Koken Company, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, under the trade name Honeycomb Sponge, described in the Japanese patent JP3170693, hereby incorporated by reference. Other patents related to the current subject disclose collagen-based substrates for tissue engineering (U.S. Pat. No. 6,790,454) collagen/polysaccharide bi-layer matrix (U.S. Pat. No. 6,773,723), collagen/polysaccharide bi-layer matrix (U.S. Pat. No. 6,896,904), matrix for tissue engineering formed of hyaluronic acid and hydrolyzed collagen (U.S. Pat. No. 6,737,072), method for making a porous matrix particle (U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,191) method for making porous biodegradable polymers (U.S. Pat. No. 6,673,286), process for growing tissue in a macroporous polymer scaffold (U.S. Pat. No. 6,875,442), method for preserving porosity in porous materials (U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,753), method for preparation of collagen-glycosaminoglycan composite materials (U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,718), procedures for preparing composite materials from collagen and glycosaminoglycan (U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,629) and a crosslinked collagen-mucopolysaccharide composite materials (U.S. Pat. No. 4,280,954).
However, many of the above disclosed structures have uncontrolled parameters such as uneven and uncontrolled porosity, uneven density of pores, uneven sizes of the pores and random distribution of pores within the support matrix. Such uncontrolled parameters lead to usable pore structures that represent only a small percentage of the total implant. Additionally, when introduced into tissue defects or cartilage lesions during the surgery, these structures are difficult to handle as they are unstable and do not have appropriate wetting properties in that they can shrink or swell and are not easily manipulated by the surgeon.
For a tissue implant to be suitable for implantation, particularly for implantation into the cartilage lesion, the implant needs to be stable, easily manipulated, easily stored in sterile form and have a long shelf-life.
In order to provide a more uniform and sterically stable support structure for implantation into a tissue defect or cartilage lesion, inventors previously developed a collagen matrix having narrowly defined size and density of pores wherein the pores are uniformly distributed, vertically oriented and non-randomly organized. This matrix is disclosed in the co-pending patent application Ser. No. 11/523,833, filed on Sep. 19, 2006, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Additionally, the acellular matrix suitable to be used as the primary scaffold is described in the priority application Ser. No. 10/882,581, filed on Jun. 30, 2004, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,217,294, on May 15, 2007, hereby incorporated in its entirety.
However, even with the above-described improvements, a solution to problems faced by the surgeon during surgery is still lacking. A practicality needed for routine use of the tissue implants, such as, for example, the articular cartilage implants by the orthopedic surgeons, where the implant needs to be readily available, manipulatable, wettable, stable, sterile and able to be rapidly prepared and used for implantation, is still not achieved. All the previously described and prepared matrices or scaffolds require multiple steps before they are fully implantable.
Thus, it would be advantageous to have available an implant that would be easily manufactured and packaged, would be stable for extended shelf-life, would be easily manipulatable and rapidly wettable upon introduction into the lesion, could provide a support for cell migration or seeding and that could have, additionally, pre-incorporated drug or modulator in at least one portion of the implant. The implant should also allow the surgeon to introduce a drug or modulator during the surgical procedure.
It would also be an advantage to provide a secondary scaffold with an increased area of internal membranes which while not interfering with cell migration and nutrient exchange, nevertheless, would provide a substrate favorable to cell adhesion, growth and migration.
It is, therefore, a primary object of this invention to provide a method for treatment of tissue defects using double-structured tissue implant comprising of a primary scaffold and a secondary scaffold where each scaffold of the implant can assume different function, be incorporated with cells, different drugs or modulators and/or be selectively chosen for performing different function following the implantation.
The current invention provides such double-structured scaffold and a method for use for treatment of tissue defects by providing a first scaffold comprising a sterically stable and biocompatible support structure, preferably made of Type I collagen, having defined pore sizes and density with said pores organized vertically and a second scaffold wherein said second scaffold is formed within said pores of said first scaffold. The double-structured scaffold of the invention is stable, resistant to shrinkage, swelling and dissolution, rapidly wettable, prepared in the sterile storageable form having a long-shelf life that can be easily surgically delivered and easily manipulated.
All patents, patent applications and publications cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference.

Method for use of a double-structured tissue implant for treatment of tissue defects


A vehicle equipped with a passive key entry system may employ a method of controlling a vehicle power sliding door(s) or other door(s), to accomplish locking, unlocking, opening and closing of such doors. A switch on a door handle may be activated by a physical touch or touches of a user, after which, the method may proceed with inquiring and confirming if all vehicle doors are closed; inquiring and confirming if all vehicle doors are locked; inquiring and confirming if a valid passive entry key is exterior to and within range of the vehicle; unlocking a power sliding door with a lock motor; and opening the power sliding door with a door motor. Before actually performing a door opening, closing or locking, a passive entry key system on the vehicle may verify the presence of a passive entry key fob.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art. Modern vehicles may employ a passive entry system to unlock a vehicle door, such as a driver door. However, current passive entry systems still require the use of a remote key fob, such as pressing a button on the fob, or interior vehicle switches to activate the power doors. Therefore, if a passenger desires to enter a vehicle, or accidentally leaves a power door open when exiting a vehicle, the driver must presently use a key fob button or an interior vehicle switch to close the power door.
What is needed then is a device and a method that does not suffer from the above limitations. This will provide a device and a method that, in part, permits a driver the option of activating a power sliding door from a front door handle in conjunction with selective verification of a passive key fob. Additionally, an existing exterior lock switch, or an additional exterior lock switch, may be used to activate any power doors in conjunction with selective verification of a passive key fob.

Vehicle power door control with passive entry


A FEOL/MEOL metal resistor that has tight sheet resistance tolerance (on the order of about 5% or less), high current density (on the order of about 0.5 mA/micron or greater), lower parasitics than diffused resistors and lower TCR than standard BEOL metal resistors as well as various methods of integrating such a metal resistor structure into a CMOS technology are provided.

The present invention relates to a metal resistor for use in semiconductor integrated circuits, and more particularly to methods of integrating a metal resistor such as, for example, a refractory metal nitride, into a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology. The present invention also relates to a semiconductor structure that is formed utilizing the methods of the present invention.

FEOL/MEOL metal resistor for high end CMOS