Systems and methods provide micro-credential accreditation. The systems and methods analyze, using one or more prediction models, received text submissions received from applicants via interaction with an applicant device. The prediction model(s) fit one or more micro-credentials to the received text submission, which may collectively or independently qualify the applicant for one or more accreditation credits. By processing the received text submission, the systems and methods allow for consistent and standard output of micro-credentials by the prediction model(s). Furthermore, the systems and methods provide for monitoring the prediction model output(s) to ensure ethical fairness across varying demographic groups of applicants.

As the result of a long and complex history of racism, classism and oppression, minority individuals lag behind their majority peers in academic achievement, career readiness, and career enhancement. This lag has been influenced by structural inequalities such as those framed by poverty, migration, and/or undocumented status or homelessness. (Massey, D. S., & Denton, N. A. (1993). American apartheid: Segregation and the making of the underclass. Harvard University Press). This lag has also been called an opportunity gap because, in part, minoritized individuals lack access to the majority peers' experiences and discourses upon which educational and professional achievement is defined. (Carter, P. L., & Welner, K. G. (Eds.). (2013). Closing the opportunity gap: What America must do to give every child an even chance. Oxford University Press). As such, the lived experiences of minoritized individuals are often defined in terms of deficits and do not carry the cultural capital found in more privileged students' experiences (AP courses, early college, funded extracurricular experiences, gap year opportunities). Yet, many minoritized individuals bring a unique set of life experiences (e.g., immigrant families, resilience, perseverance, stress management, and conflict resolution) that have provided them with the skills and competencies that are key outcomes that could provide alternative affordances (e.g., bilingualism, problem-solving, critical thinking, collaboration). The embodiments discussed herein turn the unequal backgrounds and social circumstances that are part of many minoritized individuals' lives into assets through a process of drawing upon and documenting their lived experiences within the language of educational, social, and cultural capital. (Darling-Hammond, L. (2015). The flat world and education: How America's commitment to equity will determine our future. Teachers College Press).

Systems and methods for micro-credential accreditation


According to the invention, a compression depth sensor for measuring a compression depth comprises a first pressure transducer (30), attachable to a fixed element, a first liquid filled lumen (20), having a first fixed lumen end (21) attachable to the pressure transducer and a first movable lumen end (22) being movable between a first position and a second position, a distance between the first and second position defining the compression depth, whereby the first pressure transducer is adapted to measure the compression depth by measuring a change in liquid pressure in the lumen during movement of the first movable lumen end between the first position and the second position. A CPR apparatus according to the invention comprises such a compression sensor.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a well-known technique for increasing the chance for survival from cardiac arrest. However, it is very difficult to perform manual cardiopulmonary resuscitation with consistent high quality.
Since CPR quality is key for survival, there is a strong drive to have a mechanical automated device to replace less reliable and long duration manual chest compressions. Automated CPR (A-CPR) apparatuses are adapted to apply standard compressions to the patient.
It is obvious that tailoring the chest compressions to the patient is beneficial. In places where there is no ACPR device available, it is also useful to give rescuers feedback on their manual CPR performance. The CPR performance value is often given by deviation to a target depth and a target frequency of the compressions. Typically, the target depth is around 5.0 cm and the target frequency is around 100 compressions per minute.
The frequency of the compressions is generally measured by measuring the time between compression peaks. Sensors devices have been developed, to give feedback on the achieved compression depth. The known sensor devices are based on either a spring or an accelerometer based measurement, to measure the relative compression depth.
However, the known sensor devices suffer several drawbacks. With standard accelerometer based compression depth measurements, an important error is made when a patient is laying on a compliant surface, such as a standard mattress. Because of the chest compressions, both the patient and the compliant surface are compressed on the same time, effects that are both measured with the accelerometer. The amount the compliant surface is compressed can be up to half the amount the chest is compressed. Therefore an accelerometer based compression depth of 5 cm, can be only +−3 cm when not corrected for the compliant surface. Standard correction is not possible because it is not known beforehand if resuscitation is happening on a hard or compliant surface. Further, the amount of compliant surface compression depends on the surface itself, the absolute weight of the patient, the weight distribution, etc, which makes determining the correction factor impossible
It would be desirable to achieve a compression sensor which is adapted to measure an absolute compression height, in particular chest compression height.
It would be desirable to achieve a compression sensor that is adapted to measure the actual compression depth that is administered to a patient.
It would be desirable to achieve a cardio pulmonary apparatus with a compression sensor that is adapted to measure the actual compression depth that is administered to a patient.


A process for producing a pretreated feedstock is provided. The feedstock is selected from grasses, cereal straws, stover, and combinations thereof, and least about 80% of the feedstock has a particle length of between about 2 cm and about 40 cm. This process comprises wetting the feedstock in liquid, pressing the wet feedstock through one roll press or a series of roll presses to remove at least a portion of water and soluble substances from the wetted feedstock and to shear the feedstock to produce feedstock particles of a size suitable for pumping at a solids concentration of about 8% to about 20% when slurried. At least one roll press, or at least one roll press in the series of roll presses comprises rolls with circumferential v-shaped grooves. The pressed feedstock particles are slurried to produce a slurried feedstock having a consistency of between about 8% and about 20%, and the slurried feedstock pumped into a pretreatment reactor. Dilute acid pretreatment of the slurried feedstock is carried out at a temperature of 160° C. to 280° C.

Fuel ethanol is currently produced from feedstocks such as cornstarch, sugar cane, and sugar beets. However, the production of ethanol from these sources cannot expand much further due to limited farmland suitable for the production of such crops and competing interests with the human and animal food chain. The use of fossil fuels, with the associated release of carbon dioxide and other products, in the conversion process is a negative environmental impact of the use of these feedstocks
The production of fuel ethanol from cellulose-containing feedstocks, such as agricultural wastes, grasses, forestry wastes, and sugar processing residues has received much attention due to the availability of large amounts of these inexpensive feedstocks and the cleanliness of ethanol as a fuel compared to gasoline. In addition, a byproduct of the cellulose conversion process, lignin, can be used as a fuel to power the cellulose conversion process, thereby avoiding the use of fossil fuels. Studies have shown that, taking the entire cycle into account, the use of ethanol produced from cellulose generates close to nil greenhouse gases.
The cellulosic feedstocks that may be used for ethanol production include agricultural wastes such as corn stover, wheat straw, barley straw, canola straw, and soybean stover. Grasses such as switch grass, miscanthus, cord grass, and reed canary grass may also be used.
Cellulose consists of a crystalline structure that is very resistant to breakdown, as is hemicellulose, the second most prevalent component of these feedstocks. The conversion of cellulosic fibers to ethanol requires liberating cellulose and hemicellulose from lignin or increasing the accessibility of cellulose and hemicellulose within the cellulosic feedstock to cellulase enzymes, depolymerizing hemicellulose and cellulose carbohydrate polymers to free sugars and, fermenting the mixed hexose and pentose sugars to ethanol.
The feedstock is conveyed into the plant and the feedstock particles are typically reduced to a desired size suitable for handling in subsequent processing steps.
Among well-known methods used to convert cellulose to sugars is an acid hydrolysis process involving the use of steam and acid at a temperature, acid concentration and length of time sufficient to hydrolyze the cellulose to glucose (Grethlein, 1978, J. Appl. Chem. Biotechnol. 28:296-308).
An alternative method of cellulose hydrolysis is an acid prehydrolysis (or pre-treatment) followed by enzymatic hydrolysis. In this sequence, the cellulosic material is first pretreated using the acid hydrolysis process described above, but at milder temperatures, acid concentration and treatment time. This pretreatment process is thought to increase the accessibility of cellulose within the cellulosic fibers for subsequent enzymatic conversion steps, but results in little conversion of the cellulose to glucose itself. In the next step, the pretreated feedstock is adjusted to an appropriate temperature and pH and then submitted to enzymatic conversion by cellulase enzymes.
The hydrolysis of the cellulose, whether by acid or by cellulase enzymes, is followed by the fermentation of the sugar to ethanol, which is then recovered by distillation.
The efficient conversion of cellulose from cellulosic material into sugars and the subsequent fermentation of sugars to ethanol are faced with major challenges regarding commercially viability. In particular, the feedstock particles are often too large to be efficiently handled or processed. One desirable type of handling system that requires small particles is pumping. In dry processes, for particle size reduction, water is not added to the feedstock. Dry processes which include grinding, milling or crushing, require large amounts of power that adds to the cost of the overall process. Furthermore, dry processing to a small particle size suitable for pumping is unlikely to be successful for feedstocks having high or variable moisture contents. Some feedstocks containing 20% or higher moisture frequently blind the milling equipment, and it does not provide a sustainable or suitable size reduction. The alternatives are wet grinding processes or apparatus that make use of equipment such as using refiners or hydropulpers; however, wet grinding also requires costly equipment and high power usages. Furthermore, wet grinding produces a material that is very dilute and costly to handle and process.
A second problem with the conversion process is that the acid requirement in the pretreatment process is very high. Many feedstocks, such as straws and corn stover, contain a high native alkalinity that requires the addition of 0.5% to 6% w/w (of the feedstock) of sulfuric acid to achieve an efficient hydrolysis of the hemicellulose and exposure of the cellulose surface area. A significant amount of this acid serves to offset the alkalinity inherent within the feedstock. This high acid usage not only increases the cost of the process, but can also cause degradation of the xylose and other products during the pretreatment process.
WO 02/070753 (Griffin et. al.) describes a leaching process comprising contacting the feedstock with water for at least two minutes to leach out the salts, protein, and other impurities, followed by removal of the water and soluble compounds. The process of Griffin et. al. removes alkali from lignocellulosic feedstocks, thereby decreasing the acid requirement for pretreatment. Griffin requires particle size reduction, but the processes consume a high level of power and, in combination with the equipment required to carry out the leaching process, result in increased overall process costs.
The use of presses for dewatering biomass is known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,436,028 (Wilder) describes the use of a hammermill to greatly reduce particle size followed by a two-roll mill exerting severe pressure to decrease the moisture content of waste material. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,172 (Eriksson) teaches the dewatering of biomass using presses with sieving drums. However, these methods do not result in the grinding, shearing, or particle size reduction of the biomass during pressing or dewatering. This results in high capital and operating costs without achieving the necessary particle size reduction.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,543,881 (Anderson) discloses an apparatus for dewatering peat which includes an outer tubular roll and a smaller inner roll received in the outer roll. The smaller inner roll rotates so that its outer surface moves along the inner surface of the outer tubular roll, thereby compressing peat placed between the rolls to effect dewatering. By operating the rolls at different speeds, shear forces and compression forces act on the peat. However, the purpose of the roll compression apparatus is to dewater the peat and not to reduce particle size.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,828,081 (Collins) describes the use of roll presses to separate cork from phloem tissue on dry bark. A dried cork-rich fraction is passed through a differential speed roller mill that, through shearing action, breaks up the cork aggregates without substantially reducing the cork particle size. This process is not designed for size reduction of the particles of the material. As well, bark is not suitable for ethanol production.
In order to address the need for further particle size reduction of biomass, various approaches have been taken. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,818 (Odmark) describes a pulp dewatering device having two rolls through which the pulp is pressed (a roll press). As the pulp passes through the rolls, a doctor blade disintegrates and guides the pulp out of the press, and the pulp is further disintegrated by a screw disintegrator. U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,296 (Pikulin), teaches the use of a thickening unit (e.g. a twin roll press) to remove excess liquid from low consistency pulp. The resulting high consistency pulp is conveyed to a comminuting unit, such as a fluffer, to generate pulp particles of 10 mm or less. The roll presses used in either U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,818 or U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,296 do not convey grind, shear, or reduce the particle size of the pulp. Rather, additional equipment is required to accomplish particle size reduction, thus increasing both equipment and energy costs for the overall process.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,044 (Duill and Brummer) discloses a system for grinding and drying damp initial material. The starting material is pre-comminuted by a hammer mill while being dried with hot gas. Following further drying in a rising main, the material is further comminuted in the nip between the rollers of a high-pressure roll. The finished material emerges as dried and ground raw material. Although the process is suitable for the grinding and drying of materials such as raw cement meal, cement clinker, ore, coal and the like, the further processing of feedstock to produce ethanol is not addressed. None of the suitable feedstocks for ethanol production are mentioned.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,237,226 (Grethlein) describes milling of dry oak wood chips in a laboratory setting using a Wiley mill to produce a sawdust-like product. The ground chips pass through a screen of 60 mesh, then are slurried in water at a ratio of water to solids of 18.5 to 1 by weight prior to feeding the slurry to a continuous pretreatment reactor. The Wiley mill is not suited for use with fiber with over 20% moisture content, and exhibits high power consumption. Furthermore, there is no disclosure of commercial-scale equipment that may be used to carry out these processing steps.
Millett et al. (Biotechnol. & Bioeng. Symp. No. 6 (1976) 125-153) disclose several physical treatments for the preparation of feedstocks, including dry ball milling, wet ball milling and vibratory ball milling. The production of fine particles by dry ball milling adds substantially to the cost of the process, while wet ball milling for 72 hours increased the digestibility of cellulose by rumen bacteria. However, 72 hours is not a practical treatment time in a production process, and there is no mention of subsequent pretreatment or enzymatic hydrolysis. Vibratory ball milling of dry spruce and aspen chips for 30 minutes at 220° C. was found to increase the rate of enzymatic hydrolysis. However, this treatment adds considerable expense to the process.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,554,453 (Thale et al.) discloses an apparatus for shredding fibrous articles such as groundwood, compressed webs and flat pieces of sulfite and semi-chemical pulp. The apparatus contains a shredding roller and a holding roller, each with interdigitating toothed discs for shredding the fibrous material as it advances between the rollers. The action of the toothed discs on the rollers generates defibered material and does not result in pressing of the material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,814 (Plovanich et al.) discloses an apparatus and a dry process for dewatering cellulosic biomass, which utilizes a pair of smooth opposed rolls operating at different speeds. Due to the differential roller speeds, the compressed biomass is heated, which results in additional moisture removal, and particle size reduction. Furthermore, moisture collects on the roll rotating at the higher rate and compressed material adheres to the roll rotating at the lower rate. This allows moisture to be collected from the roll rotating at the higher speed and compressed material to be collected from the roll rotating at the lower speed. Although the process provides an effective means for the dewatering of biomass, the process of Plovanich et al. only removes a minority of the alkalinity of the feedstock. Moreover, Plovanich et al. do not teach the production of a cellulosic feedstock having a particle size suitable for pumping.
The process for extracting sugar from sugar cane feedstocks is well known. This involves washing the sugar cane surface to remove impurities, coarsely chopping the stalks into smaller pieces, and crushing the sugar cane pieces in a series of roller mills to extract the juice. The juice is collected from the presses and further processed to produce sugar. The residue from the cane stock after juice extraction (bagasse) is usually burned at the mill.
In order for a continuous pretreatment of cellulosic feedstocks to be economically and commercially viable, the pretreatment system must be amenable to the pretreatment of a variety of feedstocks; the alkalinity of the feedstock must be reduced from its native levels, so as to decrease the acid requirements and degradation of sugar products by acid; and the feedstock particle size must be reduced, without requiring excessive power or capital equipment, such that the particles can be pumped in aqueous medium.
The development of such a system remains an important component of the overall process to convert cellulosic feedstocks to glucose and subsequently to ethanol.

Process for producing a pretreated feedstock


Provided is a wire harness which does not increase in size with increase in number of electronic devices controlled by an electronic control unit and can standardize a relay connector, and an electronic device control system including such wire harness. A wire harness structure (2) communicably-connects electronic devices (3) mounted on a vehicle to an electronic control unit (4) controlling the electronic devices, and includes a relay connector (6, 6A, 6B) relaying a control signal from the electronic control unit to the electronic devices, a power wire (81) and a ground wire (82) drawn out from the relay connector, power supply units connected to the power wire and the ground wire, and sets of signal wires (83a, 83b, 83c) transmitting the control signal to each power supply unit arranged to supply power to the electronic device and drive the electronic device according to the control signal from the signal wire.

Vehicles such as a passenger vehicle and a freight vehicle are mounted with various electronic devices constituting an air conditioner, a wiper, a power window and such. These electronic devices are electrically-connected to an electronic control unit (ECU) including a computer and such by a wire harness. Electric power and a control signal and such are transmitted between these electronic devices and the ECU via the wire harness. Such wire harness includes a plurality of electric wires and a connector for receiving a terminal fitting connected to an end of the electric wire.
Conventionally, the ECU includes an input-output portion per electronic device connected to the ECU, and thus it requires a dedicated electric wire per electronic device. Thus, as the number of electronic devices controlled by the ECU increases, the number of electric wires of the wire harness for connecting the ECU with the electronic devices is increased. As a result, there are problems of an increase in the cost of the wire harness, a decrease in wiring property and an increase in weight, to name a few.
The inventors of the present invention had proposed a technology for solving such problem, as disclosed in Patent Literature 1. A wire harness provided to an electronic device control system disclosed in Patent Literature 1 as well as an electronic device control system 101 shown in FIG. 12, for example, are provided with a relay connector 106 having a communication control mechanism, the relay connector 106 being arranged to relay the communication between a plurality of electronic devices 103 and an ECU (not shown).
The relay connector 106 is provided between the plurality of electronic devices 103 and the ECU. The communication between the ECU and the relay connector 106 is multiplexed, and the relay connector 106 transmits a control signal from the electronic control unit to the electronic device 103 corresponding to the identification data contained in said control signal. In this manner, the communication between the ECU and the relay connector 106 is multiplexed. Thus, the electronic control unit and the relay connector 106 can be connected to each other without using a dedicated electric wire per electronic device 103, thereby reducing the number of electric wires connecting the electronic control unit with the relay connector 106.
However, in the electronic device control system 101 shown in FIG. 12, the relay connector 106 is provided with a chip which functions as a power supply unit for supplying electric power to the electronic devices 103 in accordance with the control signal from the electronic control unit transmitted to the electronic device 103 corresponding to the identification data. Thus, it is necessary to provide the dedicated chip per electronic device 103. Consequently, as the number of electronic devices 103 increases, the number of chips mounted to the relay connector 106 is increased. Thus, there is a problem that the size of the relay connector 106 itself is increased, causing a decrease in mountability to the vehicle.
Furthermore, it is necessary to change the kind of the chip or the chip itself mounted on the relay connector 106 when the specification is changed, for example when the number of electronic devices 103 is increased or decreased or the power of the electronic device 103 is changed. Thus, it is necessary to prepare the relay connectors 106 mounted with the chips corresponding to the respective combinations of these electronic devices 103 to be mounted on the vehicle. Thus, it is difficult to standardize the relay connector 106, and thus the kind of the relay connector 106 is increased, thereby increasing the cost.

Wire harness structure and electronic device control system


A variable magnification mirror having a thin diaphragm provided with a reflective front surface includes a mechanism for deforming the diaphragm from a flat shape, yielding unity magnification of images formed by the reflective surface, to adjustably greater curvatures yielding adjustably larger magnification factors. The mechanism includes a screw-driven, flexible circular puller plate fastened to a rear central portion of the rear surface of the reflective diaphragm, the outer peripheral edge of the diaphragm being held axially fixed with respect to the screw. In the preferred embodiment, the puller plate is so constructed as to have greater flexibility at outer radial portions thereof to accommodate larger angular defections of the outer radial portions of the diaphragm, thereby aiding in maintenance of substantially spherical, distortion free contour. The increased flexibility of outer radial portions of the puller plate is preferably effected by a radial taper provided in the puller plate cross section, the outer radial portions of the plate being progressively thinner than the central radial portion of the puller plate. Preferably, the puller plate is fastened to the rear surface of the reflective diaphragm by means of a resilient adhesive member, the elastic deformability of the member further aiding in maintenance of a substantially spherical diaphragm contour.

A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mirrors of the type generally used by people for personal hygiene purposes such as shaving, application of cosmetics and the like. More particularly, the invention relates to a mirror having a magnification that may be readily varied by the user.
B. Description of Background Art
There are a variety of circumstances in which it would be desirable to have available a face mirror that has a variable magnification. For example, when a person who may be somewhat near-sighted wishes to install or remove contact lenses ordinary flat bathroom mirrors or portable mirrors having a one-to-one, or unity, magnification factor, are often inadequate to facilitate this task. In such cases, it would be desirable to have a magnifying mirror available for use in place of or in addition to a flat mirror with unity magnification. However, since the field of view of a magnifying mirror of a given size is inherently smaller than that of a flat, unity magnification mirror the applications for a mirror having a fixed magnification are somewhat limited. Thus, a person installing or removing contact lenses may desire to use a mirror having a reasonably large magnification, but may at other times wish to have a full face view provided by a mirror having a smaller magnification, or a conventional flat mirror having no magnification. Also, applying cosmetics, shaving, and performing other such tasks related to personal hygiene or beauty would oftentimes be facilitated by the availability of a mirror having a selectable or variable magnification.
One approach to satisfying the need for a personal hygiene mirror having different magnifications consists of a two-sided mirror, which has on one side a flat, unity magnification factor mirror, and on the other side a concave mirror having a magnification factor greater than unity, the two mirrors being assembled in a back-to-back configuration. However, the weight increase resulting from double mirrors, and the lack of variability of the magnification factor of the magnifying mirror to a precise desired value, limits the usefulness of dual magnification mirrors. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a variable magnification mirror suitable for personal hygiene and cosmetic applications.
A variety of prior art variable magnification mirrors have been disclosed. Prior art references disclosing such mirrors include the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,514,776, Mulready; 3,610,738, Bochman; 4,298,247, Michelet et al.; 4,420,222, Bret et al.; 4,422,733, Williams, Jr. et al.; 4,875,764. Marino et al.; 5,016,998, Bulley et al.; 5,074,654, Alden et al.; 5,089,915, Gobeli. Foreign references disclosing variable magnification mirrors include: Japanese Patent No. 64-42603; United Kingdom Patent No. 400,445; and Italian Patent No. 0,283,136.
Although the devices disclosed in the aforementioned prior art references may be more or less useful for their intended purposes, the devices disclosed, whether considered either separately or collectively, have characteristics which limit their usefulness for personal hygiene applications. For example, the Mulready mirror device requires the use of a mirror plate having a precisely contoured rear surface, and a vacuum chamber and control system, on the one hand, or a complex arrangement of multiple bosses and screws to bend the mirror and thereby vary its magnification.
The adjustable magnifying mirror disclosed in Bochman also utilizes a vacuum chamber to bend a mirror plate, with the inherent problems of precision adjustability and sealing against vacuum leaks.
The adjustable reflector disclosed in Williams, Jr. et al. Also requires the use of a vacuum system and associated controls.
The adjustable mirror disclosed in Wurzburger requires the use of a pre-curved mirror plate, in conjunction with various pusher plates.
In view of perceived limitations of prior art variable mirrors, the present invention was conceived of.


A telecommunications connector includes a body having a first end to mate with a mating connector and a second end having an aperture. A plurality of connector elements have a connection portion to make electrical contact with individual wires from wire cables. In an exemplary embodiment, the individual wires are in the form of twisted pair cables. The connector elements also include a terminating portion to make electrical contact with the mating connector, and an elongated intermediate portion coupling the corresponding connection and terminating portions. The elongated intermediate portion minimizes the overall surface area of the electrical contacts thereby reducing the capacitance between individual ones of the connector elements. In addition, the connector elements are mounted in a low dielectric constant material to further reduce capacitance between individual ones of the connector elements. The connection portions of the connector elements are arranged in a first sequence to permit the twisted pair cables to remain twisted throughout the body of the connector to an area proximate the connection portion of the connector elements. The terminating portions of the connector elements are in a sequential arrangement different from the sequential arrangement of the connection portions of the connector elements to maintain an industry standard arrangement. The elongated intermediate portions of at least some of the connector elements extend laterally and cross over other connector elements to permit the terminating portions of the connector elements to conform to industry standards while permitting the twisted pair cables to remain in a twisted configuration for the length of the cable.

The widespread use of telecommunications devices has also spurred the development of telecommunications connectors. Initially, telecommunications devices such as telephones, computer terminals, and the like were hardwired. For example, the wire cable for a telephone was coupled directly through a hole in a wall plate to electrical terminals.
Modem telephone connectors use an industry standard receptacle mounted in the wall and a mating industry standard plug at the end of a telephone cord. The use of industry standard connectors permits the convenient installation of telephones. Similarly, industry standard connectors have been developed for other telecommunications devices such as computers. For example, a personal computer may be coupled to a local area network (LAN) via a telecommunications connector similar to those used with telephones.
The use of telecommunications connectors with telephones does not result in the degradation of signal quality because telephones typically have limited bandwidth. However, high-speed telecommunications devices, such as computers, can suffer significant degradation of signal quality as a result of telecommunications connectors. Therefore, it can be appreciated that there is a significant need for a telecommunications connector that minimizes degradation of signal quality. The present invention offers this and other advantages as will be apparent from the following detailed description and accompanying figures.

Telecommunications connector with improved crosstalk reduction


Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to methods for forming a metal structure and passivation layers. In one embodiment, metal columns are formed on a substrate. The metal columns are doped with manganese, aluminum, zirconium, or hafnium. A dielectric material is deposited over and between the metal columns and then cured to form a passivation layer on vertical surfaces of the metal columns.

1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a process of forming an encapsulation layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Integrated circuits have evolved into complex devices that can include millions of components (e.g., transistors, capacitors and resistors) on a single chip. The evolution of chip designs continually requires faster circuitry and greater circuit densities. The demand for greater circuit densities necessitates a reduction in the dimensions of the integrated circuit components.
As the dimensions of the integrated circuit components are reduced (e.g., sub-micron dimensions), the materials used to fabricate such components contribute to the electrical performance of such components. For example, low resistivity metal interconnects provide conductive paths between the components on integrated circuits.
One method for forming vertical and horizontal interconnects is by a damascene or dual damascene method. In the damascene method, one or more dielectric materials, such as the low k dielectric materials, are deposited and pattern etched to form the vertical interconnects, i.e. vias, and horizontal interconnects, i.e., lines. Conductive materials, such as copper containing materials, and other materials, such as barrier layer materials used to prevent diffusion of copper containing materials into the surrounding low k dielectric, are then inlaid into the etched pattern. However, due to the size induced resistivity effects, conventional damascene process flows may soon reach a scaling impasse.
Therefore, an improved method of forming the metal interconnects and passivation layers to prevent metal diffusion is needed.

Integrated cluster to enable next generation interconnect


A computer-implemented process for replacing old files having old names on a permanent storage medium with new files in volatile memory. Some of these files may be opaque files, which are old files that have become new files without undergoing any changes, other than possibly name changes. The primary steps of this replacement can comprise first saving the non-opaque new files onto the permanent storage medium and assigning them temporary filenames. An opaque recovery file listing the old name and a temporary name for each opaque file is created. A primary recovery file listing the temporary name and a final name for each new file is created. After the names of the opaque files are changed to their temporary names, the names of the non-opaque old files are changed from their old names to backup names. Then, the names of the new files are changed from their temporary names to their final names. The recovery files and the old files can be deleted. If an event leaves the program performing the primary steps in control but unable to complete the replacement, then the old files can be restored to the permanent storage medium. If an event prevents completion of either a replacement attempt or a restoration of the old files, completion of the replacement can again be attempted at a later time using the recovery files. The described processes can be applied to saving HTML documents, each of which typically comprises multiple files.

When a user modifies a document in a computer application, he or she usually wants to preserve those changes by replacing the old version of the document on a permanent storage medium, such as a hard drive or magnetic disk drive, with the new version of the document. Unfortunately, there exist many threats to the successful completion of this replacement. For example, the storage medium may run out of space, there could be a permission error, the computer might lose power, a network could go down, or the saving application could crash.
One way an application can save a document consisting of only one file is to save the file directly over the old document's file. If there is a failure at any point while the application is attempting to do this, however, the user ends up with a corrupted file that is a mix of bytes from the old file and bytes from the new file he or she was trying to save. If this happens, the user effectively loses both the old and the new versions of the document.
A way to reduce the possibility of this result is with a method, known as a "safe save", for saving a document consisting of only one file. This "safe save" method can be used when a user has an old version of a document on a permanent storage medium that he wishes to replace with a new version of the document located in volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM). The method is triggered by the user informing the application that the user wishes to save the document. In the "safe save" method, the application first saves the new version of the document under a temporary name on the permanent storage medium. If the application fails at any point during this step, the user still has the old version of the document. If the application completes this step, then both the old version and the new version of the file are on the permanent storage medium. The final step is to change the name of the file saved on the permanent storage medium under a temporary name to the original name of the file. This step is relatively fast, so the chance of corruption during this step is small. When this step is complete, the permanent storage medium contains the new version of the document.
Sometimes, a computer application modifies several related files at once. For example, the user may employ a word processing application to modify an HTML document. An HTML document typically has one main file in which other files are embedded. Thus, an HTML document may comprise many related files.
Suppose a user of a computer application wishes to replace old files on a permanent storage medium with new files in volatile memory that represent a newer version of the old files. This situation can arise when saving an HTML document having many related files. The application could attempt a variation on the "safe save" method wherein the application first saves the new files to the permanent storage medium under temporary names. The application could then change the name of each new file saved on the permanent storage medium under a temporary name to the final name for that file. As already explained, however, there could be many new files. The more there are, the longer this step will take and the greater is the possibility that something will interrupt this step. If a problem does interrupt this step, then the storage medium will likely contain a mixture of old and new files, and there is no way to tell which is which.
Clearly, the traditional "safe save" method does not scale to the problem of replacing one set of files on a permanent storage medium with another set of files in volatile memory. Thus, there is a need in the art for a mechanism for determining if a save attempt has been successful. There is also a need in the art for attempting to complete an interrupted save attempt of multiple files, and, if unable to do so, restoring the original set of files the application intended to replace.
As already explained, an HTML document typically comprises many related files because an HTML document usually has one main file in which other files are embedded. Due to the prevalence of HTML documents, there is a need in the art for a "safe save" method that can be used for saving an HTML document. In other words, there is a need in the art for attempting to complete an interrupted attempt to replace an old HTML document with a new HTML document, and, if unable to do so, restoring the old HTML document for which the replacement was attempted.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

File save method for HTML files using recovery files including a list with temporary and final names for replacement files


The present invention provides a spreading code generation circuit and demodulation circuit capable of maintaining reception characteristic of a receiver in a preferable condition, and a grand phase control in a short time, and eliminating necessity of monitoring the phase control amount.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spreading code generation circuit used in a receiver of a spectrum spreading communication and in particular, to a spreading code generation circuit performing phase control by detecting a spreading code generation timing from a received signal which has been subjected to spreading modulation by the direct spreading method upon transmission.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the spectrum spreading communication method used in the mobile body communication or LAN (local area network), when transmitting data, a transmitter performs two-stage modulation to the data: narrow band modulation (primary modulation) and spreading modulation (secondary modulation).
For this, upon reception of data transmitted by radio waves, a receiver firstly performs despreading to the data so as to be returned to the primary modulation state and then a detector circuit reproduces a base band signal. That is, in the receiver, the received data is demodulated in two stages corresponding to the two-stage modulation in the transmitter.
In the aforementioned spectrum spreading communication method, the transmitter performs spreading modulation using a spreading code and the receiver performs despreading using the same spreading code as is used in the spreading modulation.
Special attention is paid on the W-CDMA (wideband code division multiple access) communication method by the spectrum spreading as the mobile body communication method of the next generation. A mobile stations communicating by the W-CDMA communication method starts communication with a base station by performing correlation processing a plurality of types of communication signals transmitted from the base stations, thereby detecting a spreading code to be used in demodulation of the data received from the base station.
Hereinafter, explanation will be given on the spreading code detection method in the spectrum spreading communication method through an example of the W-CDMA communication method.
In the W-CDMA communication method, the spreading code is detected in three stages. When a power is turned on in a mobile station, in order to identify a base station to be communicated, firstly, P-SCH (primary synchronization channel) is caught. The mobile station receives an analog radio signal by an antenna and converts it into a digital signal. By using a spreading code stored in advance, the digital signal is subjected to a despreading processing, so as to detect P-SCH correlation.
The P-SCH is transmitted by one symbol per one slot. The mobile stations detects the analog radio signal synchronization symbol timing by detecting the P-SCH.
Next, as the second stage, the mobile station catches the S-SCH (secondary synchronization channel). When the mobile station receives an analog radio signal by an antenna, the mobile station converts the signal into a digital signal and performs despreading processing to the signal by using a spreading code stored in advance, thereby detecting S-SCH correlation.
The S-SCH is transmitted in parallel to the P-SCH and the mobile station catches the S-SCH at the timing of the synchronization symbol detected at the first stage. Moreover, the S-SCH represents a group of spreading codes used for modulation in the base station and in the second stage, the mobile station can detect the spreading code group.
After the S-SCH is detected at the second stage, the mobile station receives a CPICH (common pilot channel) signal as the third stage and performs despreading of the CPICH signal by using a spreading code belonging to a spreading code group represented by the S-SCH detected.
The CPICH signal has been modulated by using a particular spreading code before transmitted and the mobile station performs despreading of the CPICH signal by a spreading code belonging to the spreading code group. From the correlation result, it is possible to detect the spreading code. The mobile station uses the detected spreading code for demodulation of the data transmitted from the base station to be communicated with.
After completion of detection of the spreading codes, the mobile station generates a spreading code according to the synchronization symbol timing detected and performs despreading at the state synchronized with the received signal, thereby enabling demodulation of a high quality reception data. The receiver used in the mobile station conventionally demodulates received data by using a matched filter as means for detecting synchronization symbol timing and a spreading code generation circuit for generating a spreading code.
Moreover, in the W-CDMA communication method, adjacent base stations can use the same frequency and accordingly, a technique called soft hand over is used. That is, once the adjacent base stations are connected and after complete passing, the original line is cut off. When performing the soft hand over, the mobile station selects and receives a transmission signal from a base station having an intense electric field and frequently switching from one base station to another. For this, the mobile station performs the aforementioned spreading code detection each time the base station is switched.
However, the aforementioned conventional spreading code generation circuit has various problems.
In the receiver of the spectrum spreading communication method, the reception signal should be synchronized with the spreading code in the detection of the spreading code and in demodulation of the reception data. In the conventional spreading code generation circuit, the circuit generating a spreading code (hereinafter, referred to as a spreading code generator) is operated at a high speed so as to advance the spreading code generation timing or operated at low speed or stopped so as to delay the timing, thereby performing phase control so as to obtain synchronization timing of a received signal detected.
The conventional spreading code generation circuit is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication 7-107006 "Spreading code generation method and apparatus" (Applicant: Sony Co., Ltd.; and inventor: Takehiro Sugita) laid open Apr. 21, 1995. According to this invention, in a receiver of the CDMA communication method, a spreading code generated from the M-series generator is multiplied by a shift vector so as to be shifted by an arbitrary time, which is output to a selector, where a spreading code output with a 1-chip delay is also present. One of them is selectively output from the spreading code generation circuit. In this invention, in order to correspond to the data structure of the spreading code of the CDMA communication method, the operation clock of the M-series generator is operated temporarily at a higher speed than usual or stopped.
Moreover, Japanese Patent Publication 10-173485 discloses "Digital matched filter" (applicant: Mitsubishi Electric Co., Ltd.; Inventor: Kuniyuki Suzuki) laid open on Jun. 26, 1998. According to this invention, a spreading code generated by a spreading code generator circuit is latched in a latch circuit for a predetermined time so as to be delayed and the latch circuit content is updated according to the correlation calculation between the reception data and the spreading code.
However, the conventional spreading code generator circuit has three problems.
The first problem is deterioration of the signal reception characteristic by the phase control on the chip basis. Since the W-CDMA communication is asynchronous communication, synchronization timing of the transmitter and the receiver is shifted due to change of a transmission path environment.
For this, the receiver performs phase control to follow the timing of the transmitter. Conventionally, control has been performed on the chip basis. However, the chip-basis phase control cannot adjust a small timing shift smaller than the chip time, deteriorating the signal reception characteristic.
The second problem is the speed adjustment of the spreading code generation. In the conventional phase control, the spreading code generation circuit has advanced the spreading code generation timing by increasing the frequency of the operation clock of the spreading code generator.
For example, for advancing the generation timing by one frame, i.e., 10 ms, by increasing the clock frequency of the spreading code generator by 4 times, the necessary time is only 2.5 ms. By further increasing the clock frequency, it is possible to advance the phase in a shorter time but the clock frequency that can be set has an upper limit. Moreover, when the clock frequency is increased, power consumption is also increased. Accordingly, for performing a grand phase control, there is a problem that the clock frequency adjustment method is insufficient.
In the spreading code detection processing in the aforementioned W-CDMA communication, a mobile station should detect one spreading code among 512 types. Moreover, the time elapse until detection of the spreading code affects the base station switching time in the soft hand over. Accordingly, reduction of time elapse until synchronization with the reception signal is very important because in the soft hand over an intense signal can be rapidly received, thereby improving the communication quality.
The third problem is a phase control monitoring in multi path. Paths of a transmission signal from the same base station generated in the multi path may increase or decrease in number due to transmission path environment change and the position, i.e., timing may be changed. Moreover, there is a phenomenon that the path position is viewed at a moved position because of the asynchronous communication of the W-CDMA communication method and due to the accuracy of the basic clock of the receiver.
Accordingly, in the receiver, an identified synchronization timing should be slightly shifted for each of the paths to follow it. As a specific method, in the spreading code generation circuit, a phase control amount is monitored for each path so as to perform phase control. Furthermore, in the receiver, a correlation output is performed for each path and RAKE composition is performed as the correlation output result, thereby outputting demodulation result.
Here, the phase control amount is the number of times the phase control (advance/delay) is performed. By monitoring this, it is possible to easily return even when having lost the view of the synchronization timing.
However, conventionally, the phase control amount is performed for each path in the spreading code generation circuit. When the number of paths increases, the entire load on the spreading code generation circuit also increases, affecting the other operation such as spreading code generation and deteriorating demodulation of the reception data.

Spreading code generation circuit and demodulation circuit

Abstract: According to a plurality of types of control signals output according to change of synchronization timing of the reception base band signal, a spreading code generation circuit performs phase control on sample time or symbol time or slot time basis for generating a spreading code.


Some embodiments include methods of forming interconnects through semiconductor substrates. An opening may be formed to extend partway through a semiconductor substrate, and part of an interconnect may be formed within the opening. Another opening may be formed to extend from a second side of the substrate to the first part of the interconnect, and another part of the interconnect may be formed within such opening. Some embodiments include semiconductor constructions having a first part of a through-substrate interconnect extending partially through a semiconductor substrate from a first side of the substrate; and having a second part of the through-substrate interconnect extending from a second side of the substrate and having multiple separate electrically conductive fingers that all extend to the first part of the interconnect.

Commercial production of integrated circuit devices, such as memory dice, may involve fabrication of a large number of identical circuit patterns on a single semiconductor wafer or other bulk semiconductor substrate. It is a continuing goal of semiconductor manufacturers to increase the density of semiconductor devices fabricated on a given size of semiconductor substrate to achieve increased yield of semiconductor devices and enhanced performance thereof.
One method for increasing the density of semiconductor devices in a semiconductor assembly is to create vias (i.e., through-holes) that extend entirely through a semiconductor die; and specifically that extend from an active surface of the die to the opposing backside surface of the die. The vias are filled with an electrically conductive material to form through-substrate interconnects that provide electrical pathways from the active surface of the die to the backside surface of the die. The through-substrate interconnects may be electrically coupled to electrical contacts that are along the backside of the die, and that extend to circuit components external of the die. In some applications, the die may be incorporated into a three-dimensional multichip module (3-D MCM), and the circuit components external of the die may be comprised by another semiconductor die and/or by a carrier substrate.
Various methods for forming vias in semiconductor substrates have been disclosed. For instance, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,855,140, 7,626,269 and 6,943,106 describe example methods that may be utilized to form through-substrate interconnects.
Thermally-induced problems may occur with conventionally-formed through-substrate interconnects. Such problems may result from stresses occurring as a result of the different rates of thermal expansion of the conductive materials within the interconnects (for instance, copper) relative to other materials of a semiconductor die. It would be desirable to develop new through-substrate interconnect architectures which alleviate or prevent such thermally-induced problems, and to develop methods for fabricating such architectures.

Semiconductor constructions having through-substrate interconnects


An electric power supply apparatus, which enables a driving frequency of a switching circuit connected to a primary side of a transformer constant and output of a secondary side variable, comprises a transformer (5), a series circuit of two first switching elements (Q1, Q2) connected between terminals of a direct current power supply (2), an LC resonant circuit connected between both ends of one of the first switch element (Q2) and a primary winding (Np) of the transformer (5), bidirectional switch elements (Q3, Q4) connected to secondary windings (Ns1, Ns2) of the transformer (5) and having a rectification function and a phase control function, and a control circuit for inputting gate driving signals having a phase difference into the first switch elements (Q1, Q2) and the second switch elements (Q3, Q4).

FIG. 14 shows basic constitution of a variable output type electric power supply apparatus 50 comprising a multi-resonant type half bridge converter (an LLC converter). In addition, FIG. 15 shows waveforms such as signals in each part of the electric power supply apparatus 50. As shown in FIG. 14, in the electric power-supply apparatus 50, a multi-resonant type half bridge converter (a switching circuit), which is constituted by two switch elements Q51 and Q52 and so on, is connected to a primary winding Np50 side of a transformer 51. In addition, diodes D53 and D54 for rectification are respectively connected to secondary windings Ns51, Ns52 sides of the transformer 51.
As shown in FIG. 15, driving signals Vg51 and Vg52 are alternately inputted to gates of the switch elements Q51 and Q52 with intervening a dead-off time (a time period during which both of the switch elements Q51 and Q52 are turned off), so that an alternating current flows in the primary winding Np50. Hereupon, a voltage across a condenser Ci is assumed as VCi. Since a resonant circuit, which is constituted by an inductor Lr and capacitors Cv and Ci, is connected to the primary winding Np50 of the transformer 51, an electric current which flows to the primary winding Np50 through the switch elements Q51 and Q52 has a waveform similar to those of IQ51 and IQ52. Attending to the waveforms of such electric currents IQ51 and IQ52, values of the electric currents are rarely varied during the time period ΔT, so that it can be regarded as a direct electric current. Therefore, electric currents rarely flow to the secondary windings Ns51 and Ns52 of the transformer 51 during the time period ΔT, so that electric currents flowing to diodes D53 and D54 have intermittent waveforms like ID 53 and ID 54. The time period ΔT is called "electric power non-transmission time period".
Hereupon, a voltage of a direct current electric power supply 52, that is, an input voltage VIN and a voltage applied to a load 53 from the secondary windings Ns1 and Ns2 of the transformer 51 through the diodes D53 and D54, that is, an output voltage \Tout are expressed as follows. Besides, "n" designates a turn ratio (step down) of the transformer 51, "Lp" designates an excitation inductance of the transformer 51, "Lr" designates a leakage inductance of the transformer 51, "C" designates a capacity of a capacitor for resonance which is connected in a series connection, and "ΔT" designates the electric power non-transmission time period.
                              V          OUT                =                                            V              IN                        n                    ·                      1                          2              -                                                                    Δ                    ·                    π                                                        2                    ·                    Lp                                                                                C                    Lr                                                                                [                  FORMULA                                                              1                ]
Hereupon, when the electric power non-transmission time period ΔT is lengthened, the output voltage VOUT rises, and when the electric power non-transmission time period ΔT is shortened, the output voltage VOUT lowers. Therefore, it is possible to vary the output voltage from this electric power supply apparatus 50 by controlling the electric power non-transmission time period ΔT. In order to control the electric power non-transmission time period ΔT, timings for switching on/off of the driving signals Vg51 and Vg52 applied to the gates of the switch elements Q51 and Q52, that is, a frequency (or cycle) of pulse signals should be varied.
This electric power supply apparatus 50 is used as a switching electric power supply of various electric apparatuses because it can control the output voltage in high efficiency while being a relatively simple circuitry. However, in order to control the output voltage extensively, it is necessary to vary the frequency of the above pulse signals largely, but there is a controllable limit ΔT=0 for the electric power non-transmission time period. In addition, when the dead-off time is shortened, the switch elements Q51 and Q52 become very likely to be switched on simultaneously. Consequently, the electric current flowing to the load 53 does not become zero, and thus, a condition of zero-voltage switch collapses and soft-switching may not be realized.
FIG. 16 a constitution of an electric power supply apparatus 50′ comprising a multi-resonant type half bridge converter to control the output voltage in a wider range, which is suggested in a prior art document 1, for example. FIG. 17 shows waveforms such as signals in each part of the electric power supply apparatus 50′. As shown in FIG. 16, switch elements Q53 and Q54 are connected in series with diodes D53 and D54 in a secondary side of a transformer 51. This electric power supply apparatus 50′ performs phase control by the switch elements Q53 and Q54 connected to the secondary side of the transformer 51. In FIG. 17, Vg51-Vg54 respectively show waveforms and timings of driving signals inputted into gates of the switch elements Q51-Q54. In addition, VQ51-VQ54 respectively show voltages of the switch elements Q51-Q54. As for the switch elements Q51-Q54, switch elements such as MOSFETs are assumed, for example, and the MOSFET has a parasitism diode and a parasitism capacity. Besides, the driving signals Vg51-Vg54 respectively correspond to driving signals Vg1, Vg2, Vg3a and Vg4a which will be mentioned later.
In this electric power supply apparatus 50′, it is assumed that a driving frequency of a switching circuit in a primary side of the transformer 51 is constant, and timings for on/off of the switch elements Q53 and Q54 are delayed to timings for on/off of the switch elements Q51 and Q52 in the primary side. Since a duty ratio of voltage waveforms generated in the secondary side of the transformer varies responding to a quantity of the delay of the timings, output control can be performed extensively.
In addition, since the driving frequency of the switching circuit in the primary side of the transformer 51 of the electric power supply apparatus 50′ shown in FIG. 16 is constant, electric power loss due to the switching circuit rarely increases in comparison with the electric power supply apparatus 50 shown in FIG. 14. However, in the electric power supply apparatus 50′, electric power losses due to the switch elements Q53 and Q54 connected to the diodes D53 and D54 for rectification in the secondary side of the transformer 51 increase. In particular, the electric power losses due to the switch elements Q53 and Q54 are the same level as the electric power losses due to the diodes D53 and D54 for rectification, so that the electric power losses in the secondary side become double, simply.

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.


A system and method allow an authorized Service Application or an authorized network entity to retrieve a geographic position of a mobile station. A home Positioning Node for receiving a mobile station's geoposition request from the Service Application and for generating a Positioning Request message including a home Positioning Node identification parameter to a serving Positioning Node. The serving Positioning Node validates the home Positioning Node identification parameter prior to sending the geographic position of the mobile station to the Service Application. The home Positioning Node further accesses and stores data in an internal database. An anchor Switching Node for receiving, forwarding, processing, generating and sending Positioning Requests. The Anchor Switching Node further supports a mobile station's hand/off, retrieves the geographic position of the mobile station, and sends it to the authorized network entity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for retrieving the geographic position of a mobile station in a radio telecommunication network.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Nowadays, the mobility of a mobile subscriber is an important issue in a radio telecommunication network. It is essential that services for which a mobile station (MS) user has subscribed in his home network follow him whenever he roams in a network or hands off to another network. The mobility issue is well known in the art and described in a plurality of standards such as in the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The ANSI-41 protocol defines the MS geographic position retrieval for a roaming subscriber. This allows providing a MS geographic position to service applications (SA) such as law enforcement, emergency services (e.g. 9-1-1 calls) and location-based services.
However, before providing the MS geographic position to service applications, an implementation of a MS location functionality has to be done in the radio telecommunication network. In a radio telecommunication network that follows the ANSI-41 protocol, a mobile switching center (MSC) provides and sends geographic location data of the MS to a mobile positioning center (MPC). A position determining entity (PDE) then calculates the geographic position of the MS by using geographic location data sent by the MSC. The MPC stores that geographic position and renders it available to authorized network entities.
Today, with the introduction of several service applications and various systems, it can be difficult for network operators to provide a high level of security. Consequently a mobile subscriber's privacy is questionable. It is described in a plurality of standards that a mobile subscriber is allowed to restrict the access to his geographic position. More particularly, in the ANSI-41 protocol a subscriber can activate/deactivate the presentation of his position. As an example, Location Information Restriction (LIR) restricts presentation of a MS position information in a radio telecommunication network.
There are two different aspects regarding the control of a mobile subscriber on his location information privacy. In a first aspect, the MS geographic position can be retrieved with the approbation of the MS user. A MS user can authorize a network operator or a service provider for retrieving his geographic position upon subscribing to available and offered services (e.g. location-based services) in his home network. In a secondary aspect, the MS geographic position can be retrieved without the approbation of the MS user (law enforcement or emergency services (e.g. 9-1-1 calls)). As known today, a plurality of governments from different countries have adopted laws regarding the implementation of these service applications in radio telecommunication networks.
Then, in a way to restrict the access to a mobile subscriber's location, it is necessary to make sure that the MS geographic position is requested by an approved network entity. It is essential for a network operator to certify that the network entity is therefore one that is authorized to ask for the MS geographic position. Consequently, there is a need to improve the security aspect related to geographic positioning of mobile stations and the providing of such information to service applications. The present invention provides a solution to this effect.

Enhancements to location-based services functionality in a radio telecommunication network


A method of predicting hydrocarbon production from one or more artificial lift wells is disclosed. Test data is obtained from the artificial lift well. A decline curve model, representing well performance, is generated for one or more fluids in the artificial lift well. Measurement values are obtained from an artificial lift operation. For each of the obtained measurement values, a measurement model is generated that correlates the measurement values to the decline curve. A Kalman filter is used to predict production outputs of at least one of oil, gas, and water for the well, and to generate an uncertainty range for the predicted production outputs. The Kalman filter uses the decline curves to predict the production outputs, and uses the measurement models to correct and/or update the predicted production outputs. Hydrocarbon production activities are modified using the corrected and/or updated predicted production outputs.

This section is intended to introduce various aspects of the art, which may be associated with the present disclosure. This discussion is intended to provide a framework to facilitate a better understanding of particular aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that this section should be read in this light, and not necessarily as admissions of prior art.
Artificial lift technology is being increasing applied to provide uplift in production wells in both conventional and unconventional assets. To measure production/uplift from a well (using artificial lift technology), well tests are periodically performed. These well tests, which are expensive to perform, provide production information only during the duration of the well test. The duration of a typical well test is a few hours, and for a given well, well tests are performed a few times per year. As a result, between two successive well tests (which may be separated by days or weeks or months), there is no information about the production. Knowing current production rates can be useful in planning for hydrocarbon production activities, but constantly performing well tests can be burdensome even in production fields with just a few producing/injecting wells. What is needed is an economical method of determining or inferring production rates of hydrocarbon wells.

Method and system of producing hydrocarbons using data-driven inferred production


A foam in bag cushion precursor is disclosed that is particularly useful for manual operation. The cushion precursor comprises a bag formed of two sheets of flexible plastic film material closed on all four side edges; a frangible seal that defines separate interior cells in a portion of the bag; a first foam precursor composition in one of the interior cells; and a second foam precursor composition in another of the interior cells. One of the cells has a nonfrangible seal wall other than one of the side edges for directing the contents of the cell to mix with the contents of the other cell before the mixed contents enter the remaining portion of said bag.

The present invention relates generally to foam-in-place packaging. Foam-in-place packaging has been well known and widely used as a protective packaging method for a number of years. The underlying technology is based upon the reaction between two (usually liquid) chemicals that form a solid polymer while at the same time generating a gaseous by-product. In particular, when isocyanate compounds react with polyols and water, the reaction produces both a urethane polymer ("polyurethane") and carbon dioxide. Under proper conditions, the carbon dioxide generated by the reaction will bubble and disperse through the polymer as it hardens to thus form an expanded polymer foam that can be used as a protective material for packaging fragile objects. The process by which the liquid precursors mix as liquids and then expand as not-yet-hardened foam typically takes about 20-30 seconds, thus making feasible its manipulation and use for packaging purposes.
In a first generation of foam-in-place packaging, objects to be protected were placed into containers (e.g. corrugated boxes), and wrapped or draped with a protective material such as a plastic sheet. Thereafter, the polyol and isocyanate were pumped from separate supplies, mixed, and then injected from a gun-like dispenser into the container. If the amount of injected mixture was appropriate, the resulting foam would essentially fill the interior of the container while surrounding the object to provide a custom package. Such relatively straightforward injection practices are still useful in many applications, and an updated injection device is disclosed, for example, in copending and commonly assigned application Ser. No. 08/361,322 filed Dec. 21, 1994 for "Hand Held Dispenser for Foamable Compositions and Dispensing System."
In a next generation of foam-in-place packaging, devices have been developed which concurrently produce plastic bags and fill them with the foamable mixture of polymer precursors. The bag has a vent to permit the carbon dioxide to escape. A packaging operator can simply drop one or more newly made bags into a container carrying an object to be packaged, and then close the container. The foam in the bag continues to generate and expand until it likewise fills the interior of the container while forming a custom-shaped cushion around the object packaged therein. Such bag making systems provide the advantage of injecting the foam into a bag that is immediately closed, rather than requiring the operator to manually dispense the foam. As is known to those familiar with such foamable chemicals, they tend to be extremely messy and, if not controlled properly, can cause problems which slow or stop the entire packaging process until the unwanted foam residue can be cleaned up. In more serious circumstances, the foam can even cause its handling machinery to break down leading to further additional delays.
Examples of foam-in-place devices are described in a number of patents and copending applications that are commonly assigned with the present invention. These include inter alia, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,800,708; 4,854,109, 4,938,007; 5,027,583; 5,139,151 and 5,376,219 and pending applications Ser. Nos. 08/121,751, filed Sep. 15, 1993 and 08/514,010 filed Aug. 11, 1995.
The packaging requirements of various users can, however, differ widely. Thus, any particular given foam-in-place system may not be appropriate or economically viable for every potential user. For example, users who repetitively use foam cushions on a large volume basis are probably most appropriately served by one of the more sophisticated devices such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,376,219 or 4,800,708. For less frequent users, the smaller and more compact devices such as that illustrated in pending applications Ser. Nos. 08/121,751 and 08/514,010 may be appropriate, and as mentioned above, some users still prefer the simplest technique of using an injection system with a gun type device that dispenses the foam.
Nevertheless, the market has lacked any foam-in-place packaging system for the user who would otherwise like to take advantage of foam-in-place packaging, but has neither the desire nor the facilities to incorporate any one of the previous mentioned foam-in-bag systems. Accordingly, it has been considered desirable to manufacture a bag in which the foam precursors are separately maintained during storage so that in use, the packaging operator can simply take one of the bags, mix the ingredients by hand (i.e. handle the bag's exterior while mixing the precursors inside), and then place the expanding bag of foam into a package for purposes identical to those just described.
Attempts at making such bags have, however, been generally unsuccessful for reasons that are best illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 3,419,134 to Fitts, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,788 to Roth.
Fitts '134 discloses several variations of a foamable package and a method for forming cellular foam in which the foam precursors are always placed in two separate smaller bags, and in one version of which are placed inside a larger bag. According to Fitts, there are rupturable "partitions" or "walls" between the bags, so that when the operator physically breaks the partitions, the chemicals will mix and form foam. The Roth '788 disclosure is essentially the same from a conceptual standpoint. Each of these suffer from some significant disadvantages, however, and essentially neither has appeared on the marketplace in any significant presence.
More recently, however, a more acceptable foam-in-bag cushion precursor has been developed, and the same is described in copending application Ser. No. 08/626,981 filed Apr. 3, 1996 for "Foam-in-Bag Packaging System," which is commonly assigned with the present invention and which is incorporated entirely herein by reference. As set forth therein, an appropriate combination of materials can provide a useful cushion precursor that carries the foamable compositions in separate portions until intentionally mixed by the end user.
The nature of the cushion precursors described in the '981 application are such that they encourage--and favorably so--the end user to manipulate a cushion precursor to thereby break the intended interior seals and thus initiate the foamforming process. This convenience, however, raises additional considerations. One such consideration is the heat generated by the foam-forming reaction, and copending application Ser. No. 08/834,636, filed concurrently herewith for "Thermally Insulated Foam In Bag Cushions," addresses this point, and this application is incorporated entirely herein by reference.
More specifically, the '981 application describes such bags whose interior seals (dividing foam precursors from each other and from the remainder of the bag) are entirely frangible for use in conjunction with mechanical mixing devices. These devices, even though mechanically simple and inexpensive, nevertheless insure that the separate foam-forming components (usually isocyanates and polyols as noted above) are quickly and thoroughly mixed, thus leading to a complete chemical reaction, elimination of undesired unused starting materials, and a high quality foam.
If the '981 cushion precursors are mixed by hand rather than machine, however, the possibility exists that the user will fail to mix the components as thoroughly as would the machine. Ideally, when using the '981-type cushion precursors, the separate foam precursors (often referred to as the "A" and "B" components) are mixed before they have the opportunity to expand into the empty remainder of the bag. When a '981-type bag is hand-mixed, however, the user may break the frangible seals--which offer significant advantages in many circumstances--in an undesired sequence. As a result, separate and unmixed portions of the A and B components can escape into the remainder of the bag, thus raising the possibility that an incomplete reaction will result, with its related disadvantages.
Therefore, there exists the need for a foam-in-place bag system which the end user can keep in shelf storage for an appropriate period of time and which, when it is to be used, can be manually internally ruptured to give a complete mixing of the foam precursors--even in the absence of machine mixing--that eliminates precursor residue and allows proper expansion of the foam in order to form a structurally appropriate packaging cushion.

Foam in bag packaging system for manual use


A television apparatus equipped with speech recognition function which allows the television apparatus to operate in accordance with a unit of language having an operable superordinate concept or makes the television apparatus operate after changing the operation mode, when a unit of language uttered by a user is unacceptable, is provided. The television apparatus according to the present invention judges whether it is possible for said television apparatus to operate in accordance with a speech code which is accepted under the current operation mode, and operates under this operation mode when it is possible to operate. When it is not possible to operate, if there is a speech code having an operable superordinate concept, the television apparatus operates in accordance with the speech code having the operable superordinate concept. If there is not a speech code having an operable superordinate concept, the television apparatus further judges whether it is possible to operate when it changes the operation mode. When it is possible to operate after the operation mode is changed, the television apparatus operates under the post-change operation mode.

The present invention relates to a television apparatus having a speech recognition function, and a method of controlling the same.
In the case of a prior art television apparatus, frequently used operations, such as selection of a channel, are assigned to buttons of a remote controller for instance. Further, as a user presses particular buttons on the remote controller, a menu having a hierarchical structure for each category is displayed on the screen and the user goes through the hierarchical structure, whereby a desired operation is performed.
With reference to FIG. 22, a description will now be given on the sequence of procedures for by-category program search using a menu having a by-category hierarchical structure which is provided in a prior art television apparatus. FIG. 22 is a screen transition diagram regarding by-category program search in accordance with operations made to a push-button type remote controller of the prior art television apparatus.
First, a display apparatus displays upper level categories (Screen 2201). As "SPORTS" is selected within the screen 2201, the display apparatus displays lower level categories for SPORTS (Screen 2202). As "BASEBALL" is selected in the screen 2202, the television apparatus executes by-category program search processing for "BASEBALL" and the display apparatus displays a search result list (Screen 2203).
As for parameters such as an off-timer time (predetermined time (30 minutes for example) of an off-timer mode wherein the television apparatus turns off after the predetermined time) and the aspect ratio of the screen (16:9 or 4:3 for instance), using a on-screen display for setting, a user can set one value which is selected from among a plurality of values.
When these set values are to be changed, the television apparatus makes a current set value displayed on the screen as a result of the first operation-inducing event (inputting of a set value changing instruction). While the on-screen display is provided, the setting is toggled every time the same operation-inducing event occurs.
For instance, every time a set value changing instruction is inputted, the off-timer time displayed on the screen changes through predetermined steps (For instance, the off-timer time becomes longer every time the set value changing instruction is inputted, and after the off-timer time reaches a maximum value, the off-timer time returns to a minimum value.). If the state without inputting of the same operation-inducing event continues for three seconds for examples, the on-screen display disappears.
In the event that the prior art television apparatus described above is equipped with a speech recognition function, a speech recognition unit is capable of recognizing all units of language which are included in a dictionary (which contains all units of language). However, if the television apparatus is capable of operating always in accordance with an inputted instruction (including a unit of language), as a user wrongly inputs an inappropriate instruction (including a unit of language) under the current mode, the television apparatus executes undesired operations. For example, while a terrestrial television program is being shown (terrestrial broadcast receiving mode), if the displayed picture switches to a BS broadcast television program (BS (Broadcasting Satellite) broadcast receiving mode) after a user merely inputs the program name of the BS broadcast television program as speech without inputting a particular instruction (including a unit of language) which demands switching from the terrestrial television program to the BS broadcast television program, the user may get confused as to which broadcast the user is watching now.
The present invention therefore aims at providing a television apparatus equipped with speech recognition function which appropriately responds or does not respond to a unit of language which is inputted as a speech input under the current operation mode.
The present invention has been made in light of the problems described above, and accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a television apparatus comprising a speech recognition function which makes the television apparatus actually operates based on a result of a judgment on the current operation mode and which notifies a user of an operation status.
The present invention also aims at providing a television apparatus equipped with speech recognition function which appropriately responds or does not respond to a unit of language which is inputted as a speech input in accordance with a user's selection.
The remote controller of the prior art television apparatus comprises a limited number of buttons (switches). These buttons (buttons which are expressed as numerical values such as 1, 2 and 3) are correlated with different options in accordance with the content of an on-screen display of the television apparatus. For example, the numerical values representing the respective buttons denote broadcasting channel numbers or option numbers assigned to options in a menu which is displayed on the screen. When a user desires to select a program for instance from within a rich variety of menus which have hierarchical structures for the respective categories, the user is required to search for and identify the desired program while changing the content of the on-screen display through various layers in the hierarchical structures or through various categories. This presents a problem that the richer the menus are, the more complex operations the remote controller requires and hence the longer the operations become.
In the case of the prior art television apparatus, there is a limitation on the number of switches which can be disposed on an operation panel of the remote controller which has a certain surface area. There is also another problem that it takes long for a user to find a necessary switch from among many switches if there are too many switches. It is extremely complicated and therefore impractical to input an instruction to the television apparatus through a key board which is used for a personal computer.
A television apparatus according to the present invention which comprises a speech recognition unit and accordingly accepts an input of a unit of language by speech can accept many types of units of language without limited by the restrictions described above.
The present invention allows to make an efficient use of such a speech recognition function. The present invention aims at providing a television apparatus equipped with speech recognition function which automatically detects and displays a desired program or a program close to what is desired in a prompt manner without switching among complex menus.
Many television apparatuses show a picture demanding or allowing a user to input an instruction (including a unit of language) or guiding a user regarding an inputting method on the screen for a predetermined period of time (which is an on-screen display).
As a user presses an up button or a down button for the speech output level, the speech output level of the television apparatus is displayed on the screen. While the speech level is displayed on the screen, pressing the up button or the down button, the user can set up or change the speech output level.
Assume that the off-timer time is changed as the user pronounces "Off-timer" for instance. Assume further that the off-timer time is currently set to thirty minutes for example. The user pronounces "Off-timer," and the current set value (30 min) of off-timer is then displayed on the screen. Unless a next unit of language for changing the setting is inputted within a predetermined period of time (three seconds for example), this display screen will disappear. The user is allowed to input a unit of language for changing the setting only while this screen remains displayed. However, in general, the duration of utterance of the speech and a period of time since utterance of the speech until utterance of next speech are much longer than the duration of pressing of a button on the remote controller and a period of time since pressing of the button until pressing of a next button. If the user pronounces "Off-timer" the next time in a slight delay, three seconds (display time) will soon elapse and the on-screen display will disappear. When the user pronounces "Off-timer" after the on-screen display disappears, the off-timer time does not change. In the event that setting is changed using a speech recognition function in this manner, the change of the setting takes longer than where the setting is changed by pressing switches. The display time for a prior art on-screen display is too short to change the setting using a speech recognition function.
However, if the display time of an on-screen display is uniformly extended so that setting can be changed comfortably using a speech recognition function, another problem will arise that when a user presses a switch to change the setting, the on-screen display remains for a while even after completion of change in setting and the user accordingly gets irritated.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a television apparatus equipped with speech recognition function which permits a user to comfortably change settings both by means of the speech recognition function and pressing of a switch.

Television apparatus having speech recognition function, and method of controlling the same


A transmission apparatus includes: a plurality of logical lanes; a receiver configured to receive a signal including synchronization information of a frame; a distributor configured to divide data included in the received signal into frame elements and cause the plurality of logical lanes to store the data; and a transmitter configured to transmit the data stored in the logical lanes to lines corresponding to the logical lanes. When the data is stored in the plurality of logical lanes, the distributor groups the logical lanes into a plurality of groups and associates the frame elements with the synchronization information.

OTN (Optical Transport Network), which are recommended by the ITU (International Telecommunication Union), have been known as one of the standards for transmitting signals in an optical network (e.g., core network). In OTN, client data is stored in OTU (Optical channel Transport Unit) frames and is transmitted.
As a related art, there is a transmission apparatus that transmits an Ethernet (Registered Trademark) signal by using plural OTU2 signals. Note that Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2010-148104 is known as related art.
In recent years, further increases in speed and capacity have been needed in optical networks. For that reason, in OTU, a configuration that parallelizes signals before processing and transmitting the signals has been put into practical use.
However, in a transmission system that parallelizes signals before processing and transmitting them, the time to process frames may become longer when an attempt is made to increase the transmission rate. For example, a time needed to establish synchronization may become longer in the transmission apparatus at the receiver end.


A lamp assembly includes an elongate source of radiation formed with end pieces and a mount connected to the end pieces for securing the radiation source in an irradiator. The mount is shaped for directing air drawn towards the mount to cause the air to flow around at least part of the radiation source and between the radiation source and the mount.

It is well known to cure inks on a substrate by application of ultra-violet radiation from one or more medium-pressure mercury vapor ultra-violet lamps. It is also well known to provide each lamp in an assembly with a reflector which includes a reflective surface partly surrounding the lamp for reflecting radiation therefrom onto the substrate. The reflective surface has a concave profile which is commonly elliptical or parabolic, the lamp being mounted on the symmetrical center line of the profile and adjacent the apex.
The reflector increases the intensity of the radiation received by the curable material. The penetration of the radiation into the material is an important factor in curing and, while penetration varies with different colors and materials, the higher the intensity the better the penetration.
A problem which arises with known arrangements is that part of the radiation is reflected back onto the lamp itself, which reduces the amount of radiation energy available for curing and leads to heating of the lamp which can adversely affect lamp operation and increase the already large amount of heat given off by the assembly, and which may cause warping and distortion of the coating and/or the substrate.
This problem has been recognized in French Patent 2334966 which describes a reflector in the form of two half-shells, each of which is pivotal about a longitudinal axis within the cavity to the sides of the symmetrical center line thereof. The French Patent proposes deforming the top region of the reflector to give it, externally, a generally concave shape across the width of the lamp by bending the top edge of each half-shell down towards the lamp.
The apparatus disclosed in French Patent 2334966 has disadvantages as a result of its basic form in that a complicated system will be necessary to achieve the desired pivoting action and space has to be provided to accommodate the half-shell pivoting which is inconsistent with the current industry desire for smaller curing assemblies. Cooling of the half-shells will be difficult, again because of the need to accommodate the pivoting action. Problems will also arise as a result of the solution proposed in the French patent to the problem of lamp self-heating. The distortion of the reflector towards the lamp will lead to excessive heating of the distorted portion and will make cooling of the adjacent region of the lamp much more difficult.
The efficient and effective cooling of lamp assemblies has been a constant problem which has become even more important as ever increasing lamp powers have been employed to give faster curing such that substrate speeds can be increased. For example, at the date of the French patent, 1975, maximum lamp powers were only in the region of 250 Watts per inch (100 Watts per cm). Lamp powers of 200-400 Watts per inch (80-160 Watts per cm) are now common and lamps of even higher powers, 500-600 Watts per inch (200-240 Watts per cm) are increasingly being used. Furthermore, the advantages of UV curing, including cleanness and quality, have led to a demand for curing systems capable of operating with a wide variety of substrates, including substrates which are very vulnerable to heat damage.
Earlier assemblies were generally cooled by air alone. In the first air-cooled systems, air was extracted from within the reflector through one or more openings provided above the lamp to draw out the heat. In later systems, cooling air was blown into the assembly and onto the lamp, again through openings located adjacent the lamp.
Increasing cooling requirements due to higher lamp powers led to the use of water cooling alone or in conjunction with air cooling. The cooling water is fed through tubes attached to or integrally formed in the reflector.
GB Patent Application 2336895 discloses a UV dryer for drying printing inks and the like provided with a pair of plates between the reflector and the substrate that are cooled with air or water. A heat sink cooled by water is positioned below the substrate. The dryer itself is cooled by air which is guided to flow over the inner and outer surfaces of the reflector into the upper part of the housing in which the reflector is contained. Air which flows over the inner surfaces of the reflector passes through a gap provided at the apex of the reflector and joins air which has passed over the outer surfaces of the reflector.
The UV lamp is mounted on a carriage which is slidable longitudinally off the housing into and out of the housing for lamp replacement purposes. The carriage includes electrical connector components which mate with corresponding connecting components located within the housing when the carriage is slid fully into the housing.
A significant drawback of water cooled systems is the cost of the water cooling equipment. A further drawback is the need to provide a closed water circuit while still allowing access to the lamp assembly to allow replacement of the lamp.
As a result, 80% of commercially available systems are air cooled. As lamp powers increase, ever more efficient and effective air cooling systems are required to keep temperatures within acceptable limits, not only to prevent damage to the substrate, but also to prevent harm to adjacent equipment and to operators.
As discussed above, there is a current industry desire for smaller curing assemblies. In addition there is a desire for curing assemblies which allow easy lamp replacement without the need to remove the lamp assembly from the curing assembly.