A folding-type mobile terminal is provided with a camera that is capable of accurately imaging an object. This is accomplished by mounting the camera such that a viewing direction of the display of the terminal is substantially parallel to a camera imaging direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile terminal with a camera and, more particularly, to a mobile terminal with a camera positioned such that an imaging direction substantially corresponds to the direction that a user looks toward to view the display screen.
2. Background of the Related Art
Currently, mobile terminals, such as cellular phones, are being developed with multimedia functionality, in addition to the standard voice transmission and reception functions. Mobile terminals with color liquid crystals for displaying image information with diverse colors, and cameras for inputting the image information are on the increase.
Mobile terminals with cameras are roughly divided into two types. The first type is an internal camera type mobile terminal in which a camera is fixedly inserted in the terminal. The second type is an external camera type mobile terminal in which a camera is detachably mounted on the terminal.
With the internal camera type mobile terminal, the camera can be mounted at a folder, at a main body of a terminal or at a hinge connection part between the folder and the main body.
If the camera is mounted at the folder, interference occurs between the camera and the LCD mounted at the folder. In addition, spatial restriction arises as the thickness of the folder is increased.
If the camera is mounted at the hinge connection part, interference arises between the hinge connection part and the flexible printed circuit (FPC), and since the camera is rotated around the hinge connection part, it can be easily damaged as its rate of use increases. In order to avoid these problems, the camera is typically mounted at the main body.
FIG. 1 is a front view of an internal camera type mobile terminal with an open folder, in accordance with the related art, and FIG. 2 is a side view of the internal camera type mobile terminal with an open folder, in accordance with the related art.
The internal camera type mobile terminal, in accordance with the related art, includes: a main body 102 having various menu buttons 106 formed at a front surface and a printed circuit board (PCB) (not shown); a folder 104 foldably connected to the main body 102 and having a liquid crystal screen 108 formed at the front surface; a hinge connection part 110 foldably connecting the main body 102 and the folder 104; and a camera module 112 mounted at a rear surface of the main body 102 for photographing a subject.
A microphone 114 is mounted at a lower portion of the main body 102 to transfer a voice signal, and a battery 116 is mounted at a rear surface of the main body 102. The camera module 112 is mounted at the rear surface of the main body 102 so that a subject photographing direction makes a 90 degree angle with respect to the rear surface of the main body 102.
That is, when the folder 104 of the terminal is opened, since the angle between the folder 104 and the main body 102 is maintained at about 150°, the direction (A) that a user looks toward to view the LCD screen 108 of the folder 104 and a photographing direction (B) of the camera module 112 are maintained at an angle of about 30° (θ1).
Thus, with the related art internal camera type mobile terminal, when the user opens the folder and photographs while viewing the LCD screen, if the user looks at the LCD screen straight on, the photographing direction of the camera is inclined downwardly by about 30°, which makes it difficult to accurately photograph a subject and is inconvenient to use.
The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background.


Provided is a technology for helping safe driving and realizing automatic driving of vehicles, or for counting the number of passing vehicles on the road or monitoring those passing vehicles for their driving. Using a plurality of cameras mounted in a vehicle or provided above a road, even if the relationship between the road plane and the respective cameras constantly changes in relative position or posture due to camera vibration or a change in road tilt, any obstacles located on the road such as other vehicles ahead, parked vehicles, and pedestrians on the road are detected without confusing those with textures including white lines, road signs, paint, road stains, and shadows of roadside objects, all of which do not disturb vehicle driving. An obstacle detection device 10 is structured by an image input section 11 for receiving images from a plurality of image pick-up devices 101, a correspondence detection section 12 for finding a plurality of pairs of corresponding points from the received right and left images, the slope degree calculation section 13 for calculating a slope degree of a plane including the corresponding points, and a result determination section 14 for determining as there being an obstacle when the calculated slope degree is larger than a predetermined value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an obstacle detection device for detecting any obstacles on a road without confusing those with textures using a plurality of cameras mounted in a vehicle or provided above the road, and a method applied to the device. Here, the obstacles are those located on the road such as other vehicles ahead, parked vehicles, and pedestrians. The textures include white lines, road signs, paint, road stains, and shadows of roadside objects, all of which do not disturb vehicle driving. The cameras are provided mainly for helping safe driving and realizing automatic driving of the vehicle, or for counting the number of passing vehicles on the road or monitoring those passing vehicles for their driving. Obstacle detection is possible even if the relationship between the road plane and the respective cameras constantly changes in relative position or posture due to camera vibration or a change in road tilt, for example.
2. Description of the Background Art
A method for detecting any obstacles on roads is classified into two types: one is a type using active sensors typified by sonars, radars, and range finders; and the other is a type using passive sensors typified by visible-light CCD cameras and infrared cameras.
The active sensors are popular for measuring object positions in various applications, and well known for their usability. The active sensors have, however, problems for an application of detecting any obstacles lying in the vehicles' way on the roads such as other vehicles. Specifically, the problems are associated with low detection resolution, not enough measurement range, erroneous detection of non-obstacles on the roads, and erroneous detection of objects lying on non-disturbing road side due to no driving lane detection capability. Thus, there has been a demand for an advanced obstacle detection technology by image analysis using the passive sensors exemplified by CCD cameras.
To detect obstacles lying on road surfaces through analysis of images provided exemplarily by CCD cameras mounted in vehicles, generally utilized is information about image brightness intensity pattern or driving lanes recognized for the purpose. As for detecting the driving lanes, cutting out parts in shades of gray with less texture will do from images picked up by a camera.
The issue here is that, many obstacles are actually similar to roads in brightness intensity or pattern, resulting in difficulty achieving the higher usability with the less erroneous detection.
There is another type of method using a plurality of cameras for detecting obstacles and driving lanes. Such a method is generally called a stereoscopic method.
With stereoscopic views, three-dimensional (3D) information about a target detection region can be derived on the triangulation principle. Thus, stereoscopic views seem to be a solution for obstacle and lane detection with higher accuracy, but still bear problems. For example, a corresponding point search cannot be uniquely solved, and the calculation cost is quite expensive. This corresponding point search is done to find any specific point(s) in real world shared by a plurality of camera images.
In this respect, methods disclosed in Patent Literature 1 (JP-A-2000-293693) and Patent Literature 2 (JP-A-2001-76128) do not require such a corresponding point search, and are considered useful for obstacle detection. These methods are described in the below.
Assuming now that two cameras, right and left, are provided to pick up images of a road. Project points as a result of projecting points on the road plane onto images picked up by the right and left cameras are presumably (u, v) and (u′, v′), and a relational expression 1 is established as follows:
                                          u            ′                    =                                                                      h                  11                                                u                            +                                                h                  12                                                v                            +                              h                13                                                                                h                  31                                                u                            +                                                h                  32                                                v                            +                              h                33                                                    ,                                                                v            ′                    =                                                                      h                  21                                                u                            +                                                h                  22                                                v                            +                              h                23                                                                                h                  31                                                u                            +                                                h                  32                                                v                            +                              h                33                                                                        (        1        )                                h        =                  (                                    h              11                        ,                          h              12                        ,                          h              13                        ,                          h              21                        ,                          h              22                        ,                          h              23                        ,                          h              31                        ,                          h              32                        ,                          h              33                                )                                    (        2        )
The equation 2 shows a parameter dependent on the positions and postures of the right and left cameras with respect to the road plane, lens focal distances of the cameras, points of origin of the images, and the like. The parameter h can be derived in advance only by project points (ui, vi) and (ui′, vi′) (i=1, 2, . . . , N), which are those derived by projecting four or more points on the road plane onto the right and left images. Using such a relational expression, a corresponding point P′(u′, v′) on the left image is derived based on the assumption that an arbitrary point P(u, v) on the right image is located on the road plane. If the point P is truly located on the road plane, the points P and P′ are paired as the correct corresponding points, leading to a good match between two pixels or neighboring regions in terms of brightness intensity or feature. On the other hand, if the points P and P′ differ in brightness intensity, the point P is determined as belonging to an obstacle region. This method allows for determining whether an arbitrary point in the image has a height from the road plane directly only from the relational expression 1. There is thus no need for the corresponding point search between the right and left images.
To apply such a scheme for obstacle detection in front of the vehicle, the parameter h is presumed as roughly constant when the vehicle is driving on rather flat road at low speed. Thus, there is no need to calculate the parameter h twice for correct obstacle detection.
Here, as to correspondence detection, the operation of a section provided therefor is described by referring to FIGS. 3 to 5.
The correspondence detection section operates to convert a first image picked up by a first image pick-up device into an image viewed from a viewpoint of a second image pick-up device. A parameter used for this conversion is so calculated as to keep a typical geometric relationship between a plurality of image pick-up devices and the road plane, with a presumption that the vehicle is standing still on the no-tilting road plane. The parameter is not calculated twice, and not changed during obstacle detection, e.g., when the vehicle is moving.
The parameter is calculated in a manner based on the Patent Literature 1, and described in the below.
Referring to FIG. 3, two cameras a and b are set up. The road surface has two parallel white lines l and l′ extending roughly along the optical axes of the cameras. The obstacle detection device is not notified of the relationship between the two cameras a and b in position and posture, but only of epipolar constraint. During when the obstacle detection device is in operation, no change occurs, presumably, to the relative positions and postures of the cameras a and b, and epipolar constraint. Here, the epipolar constraint means a constraint condition for stereoscopic images of a general type. Under this condition, as shown in FIG. 4, the arbitrary point P on the image (right image) picked up by the camera a is so constrained as to be on a predetermined linear line including the corresponding point P′ on the image (left image) picked up by the camera b. This linear line is referred to as an epipolar line. As an example, when the optical axes of the cameras are so placed as to be parallel to each other, the corresponding point of the arbitrary point P in the right image is found on the same scanning line on the right image. Accordingly, the epipolar line agrees with the scanning line. The epipolar constraint is dependent on the relationship between the stereoscopic cameras in relative position and posture, and internal parameters of the cameras, e.g., lens focal distance, origin point of images. Thus, the epipolar constraint being invariant means the relative positional relationship between the stereoscopic cameras and their internal parameters showing no change (during when the obstacle detection device is in operation or the vehicle having the device mounted therein is moving). This epipolar constraint is formulated as the following equation 3.(u,v,1)F(u′,v′,1)T=0  (3)
Herein, (u, v) is the arbitrary point P on the right image, and (u′, v′) is the corresponding point of the point P on the left image. F denotes a 3×3 matrix, and referred to as Fundamental matrix. Expanding the equation 3 will lead to the following equation 4.(F11u+F12v+F13)u+(F21u+F22v+F23)v′+(F31u+F32v+F33)=0  (4)
Herein, Fji (i, j=1, 2, 3) denotes an element of j row(s) and i column(s) of the matrix F, and can be derived from a plurality of corresponding points. Further, the equation 4 denotes an epipolar line corresponding to the point P(u, v) on the right image. Nine elements of the matrix F are not all independent, and theoretically, are derivable from seven corresponding points. Because 3D position is not required for each pair of the corresponding points, calculating the matrix F, i.e., the epipolar constraint, is rather easy. The lines l and l′ in each image are parallel three-dimensionally but not on the images picked up by the right and left cameras. As shown in FIG. 5, the lines l and l′ in each image cross each other at a point at infinity, which is called a vanishing point. Next, derived is a relationship established between the corresponding points on the road plane. As shown in the right image of FIG. 5, arbitrary points on the linear line l are P1 and P3, and arbitrary points on the linear line l′ are P2 and P4. For these four points, corresponding points P1′, P2′, P3′, and P4′ in the left image can be calculated using the epipolar constraint previously derived. That is, the point P1′ correspond to the point P1 agrees with an intersection point of the linear line l and the epipolar line L1 of the point P1 on the left image. Similarly, the points P2′, P3′, and P4′ can be derived as intersections, respectively, of the epipolar lines L2, L3, and L4 of the points P2, P3, and P4, and the linear line l or l′. Assuming that coordinates of the point Pi (i=1, 2, 3, 4) are (ui, vi), and coordinates of the point Pi′ (i=1, 2, 3, 4) are (ui′, vi′). The relation between the coordinates (ui, vi) and (ui′, vi′) can be expressed by a relational expression 5.
                                                        u              i              ′                        =                                                                                h                    11                                                                          u                    i                                                  +                                                      h                    12                                                                          v                    i                                                  +                                  h                  13                                                                                h                    31                                                                          u                    i                                                  +                                                      h                    32                                                                          v                    i                                                  +                                  h                  33                                                              ,                                                                              v              i              ′                        =                                                                                h                    21                                                                          u                    i                                                  +                                                      h                    22                                                                          v                    i                                                  +                                  h                  23                                                                                h                    31                                                                          u                    i                                                  +                                                      h                    32                                                                          v                    i                                                  +                                  h                  33                                                                                (                                    i              =              1                        ,            2            ,            3            ,            4                    )                                    (        5        )
These eight equations are solved using the following equation 6.h=(h11,h12,h13,h21,h22,h23,h31,h32,h33)  (6)
If an arbitrary solution h satisfies the equation 5, a constant multiple kh of h (k is constant) also satisfies the equation 5. No generality is thus lost with h33=1, and eight equations will lead to h composed of nine elements. By using such derived h, the corresponding point P′(u′, v′) on the right image can be calculated as the following equation 7 with an assumption that the arbitrary point P(u, v) on the left image is located on the road plane.
                                          u            ′                    =                                                                      h                  11                                                u                            +                                                h                  12                                                v                            +                              h                13                                                                                h                  13                                                u                            +                                                h                  32                                                v                            +                              h                33                                                    ,                                                                v            ′                    =                                                                      h                  21                                                u                            +                                                h                  22                                                v                            +                              h                23                                                                                h                  31                                                u                            +                                                h                  32                                                v                            +                              h                33                                                                        (        7        )
With the methods in Patent Literatures 1 and 2, when the vehicle drives on typical outside roads, the relationship between the road plane and the respective cameras continuously changes in relative position and posture due to vibrations occurring to the obstacle detection device, or a change in road tilt. Consequently, these methods bear such problems, due to vehicle vibration, as frequent erroneous detection especially around the texture on the road plane such as white lines, road signs, paint, road stains, shadows of roadside objects and vehicles, and the like.
As described above, with an obstacle detection device using CCD cameras of a conventional type, usage environment is limited, or the relationship between the road plane and the respective cameras continuously changes in relative position and posture due to vibrations during the device operation or driving vehicle. As a result, frequent erroneous detection occurs especially around the texture on the road plane such as white lines, road signs, paint, road stains, shadows, and the like, considerably lowering the true detection accuracy of obstacle detection.
The present invention is proposed in consideration of the above conventional problems, and an object thereof is to provide an obstacle detection device capable of correctly detecting only true obstacles no matter what road the device is set up, or no matter what road a vehicle having the device mounted therein is driving.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Obstacle detection device and method therefor


Elevator swing cars 37 have doors 50 opening into a low rise lobby service corridor 31 and doors 51 opening into a medium rise lobby service corridor 32 with car panels 52 associated with the low rise group of floors (such as floors 1-13) and car panels 53 associated with floors of the medium rise group of floors (such as floors 14-22). Each swing car is assigned (FIG. 12) to either one of the two groups which it can serve at the conclusion of each run, as the car approaches the lobby, thereby operating an enunciator lantern 56 in the low rise corridor 31 or an enunciator lantern 57 in the medium rise corridor 32, depending upon which rise the elevator has been assigned to for service in the next following run. Similar swing cars 39 relate to the medium rise (32) and the high rise (33). A variety of alternatives and features are disclosed.

There is a half century of history of schemes which have been implemented for improving the efficiency of elevators. Among these are ways of determining which car shall answer a hall call, such as the relative system response dispatchers disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,363,381, 4,815,568, to Bittar, and 5,024,295. Others involve peak period dispatching, including zoning and channeling, some of which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,792,019 and 4,838,384. And, to improve further on such systems, various forms of traffic prediction estimates have been used. The systems become more sophisticated with techniques which have been variously referred to as artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic and so forth. All of the foregoing relate to efficient operation of the elevators within a group.
To achieve more efficient operation of tall buildings (in excess of, say, 20 floors) buildings have been provided with groups of elevators, one group operable only to the lowermost 10 or 15 floors, and the other group operable only in the highest floors of the building, in which case the groups are referred to as the "low rise" and the "high rise". The elevators in the low rise are incapable of reaching a floor in excess of the high end of the low rise. The elevators in the high rise have no access to floors in the low rise: there are no gates; there aren't even any elevator lobbies adjacent to the high rise elevators in the low rise floors. In even taller buildings, there may be low rise, medium and high rise, or even more rises. For exemplary purposes herein, a building having a low rise serving floors 1-13, a medium rise serving floors 14-22, and a high rise serving floors 23-30 will be referred to.
One of the tricks in designing a building is to have a fair estimate of floor usage which will permit predicting how many elevators will be required to serve the various floors, and therefore the grouping of elevators into low, medium and high rises. It isn't just the number of elevators in the building, but their accurate allocation to the correct rises which will prove to be successful or not, in handling the tenant and other traffic amongst the floors of the building.
It has been known to provide a "swing car" which may be swung out of a group (whether the group be the only group in the building or not) so as to operate independently of that group, either in simplex mode with its own riser (a riser consisting of hall call buttons and hall enunciator lanterns) or in another group. Such operation may be to accommodate public access to a rooftop restaurant after normal closing hours of an office building, or preferential floors in luxury hotels and apartments, and the like. Such cars can also provide emergency operation when a group controller ceases to function.
A system capable of swinging an elevator between groups, and from operation within the group to simplex operation, is disclosed in a commonly owned, co-pending application entitled "Elevator Car and Riser Transfer", U.S. Ser. No. 07/853,678, filed on Mar. 19, 1992, by Meguerdichian et al. However, the value that a swing car from one group has in handling traffic in another group is severely hampered by the physical location of the swing car and the need to usher passengers specially to it, typically by means of lobby dispatching personnel. Additionally, the swinging typically has to be anticipated for some significant period of time to make it worthwhile to cause the car to be swung from one group to another. Thus, the use of the swing car is not of much value during rapidly changing traffic patterns (such as during the noon rush of a three-rise building), or handling severely bunched up traffic as may result from the conclusion of a banquet on a restaurant floor, or the conclusion of class time on floors having bulk educational classes, and the like.

Cyclically varying an elevator car's assigned group in a system where each group has a separate lobby corridor


A coal measures fault formation simulation experimental device and a normal and reverse fault simulation experiment method relate to the field of similar material simulation experiment technology. The device includes a hydraulic lifting apparatus, a lower angle adjusting apparatus, a push rod apparatus, an upper loading apparatus, an upper angle adjusting apparatus, a lateral loading apparatus and a transparent side plate. The hydraulic lifting apparatus and the lower angle adjusting apparatus are below the experimental body, the upper loading apparatus and the upper angle adjusting apparatus are above the experimental body, the transparent side plate is disposed at a rear side surface of the experimental body, and the lateral loading apparatus is disposed at an end face of the experimental body. When the normal fault is simulated with the device, the inclination angle of an inclined plate of the lower angle adjusting apparatus is same as that of an inclined push plate of the upper angle adjusting apparatus, the upper loading apparatus loads downward to form a normal fault.

Tectonophysical simulation experiment is an important and effective method of studying geological structure as well as an important approach for geological workers to study a stratum deformation process and a fault formation mechanism. At present, a tectonic simulation experiment device used in a geological tectonic simulation is a device used to perform deformation experiment by controlling experimental model with motion or force based on similarity principle so as to simulate or retrieve geological origin of fault and so on. The device body mainly adopts experimental containers such as sand box. The tectonic formation process is simulated by paving a plurality of layers of experimental materials with different mesh numbers in the sand box to study origin and evolution mechanisms of the geological structure and perform qualitative and quantitative analysis for geological tectonic origin. The existing fault formation simulation experiment device can only simulate the formation of normal fault or reverse fault and cannot adjust a fault angle and a fracture initiation position. As a result, the geological workers are limited in analyzing the actual geological phenomenon by using indoor experimental approaches. If a different experimental device will be used every time one experiment is conducted, a large quantity of time, human labor and materials will be consumed, resulting in wastes of resources and time. Thus, it is required to perform further improvement for the existing similar material simulation experiment device.

Coal measures fault formation simulation experiment device and normal and reverse fault simulation experiment method

SHANDONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


A managed Wi-Fi service network device can receive, from a cellular network device, an allowable throughput rate at which a user equipment is authorized to communicate via a managed Wi-Fi service network. Based on the allowable throughput rate, the managed Wi-Fi service network device can monitor a communication rate of the user equipment via the managed Wi-Fi service network. In response to the user equipment communicating via the managed Wi-Fi service network at a rate that exceeds the allowable throughput rate, the managed Wi-Fi service network device can facilitate reducing the communication rate of the user equipment. Also, a user equipment can receive from a cellular network device an allowable throughput rate at which the user equipment is authorized to communicate via the managed Wi-Fi service network. The UE can communicate via the managed Wi-Fi service network at a communication rate that does not exceed the allowable throughput rate.

Radio technologies in cellular communications have grown rapidly and evolved since the launch of analog cellular systems in the 1980s, starting from the First Generation (1G) in 1980s, Second Generation (2G) in 1990s, Third Generation (3G) in 2000s, and Fourth Generation (4G) in 2010s (including Long Term Evolution (LTE) and variants of LTE). The amount of traffic in cellular networks has experienced a tremendous amount of growth and expansion, and there are no indications that such growth will decelerate. It is expected that this growth will include use of the network not only by humans, but also by an increasing number of machines that communicate with each other, for example, surveillance cameras, smart electrical grids, sensors, home appliances and other technologies in connected homes, and intelligent transportation systems (e.g., the Internet of Things (IOT)). Additional technological growth includes 4K video, augmented reality, cloud computing, industrial automation, and vehicle to vehicle (V2V).
Consequently, advancement in future networks are driven by the demand to provide and account for massive connectivity and volume, expanded throughput and capacity, and ultra-low latency.
Fifth generation (5G) mobile access networks, which can also be referred to as New Radio (NR) access networks, are currently being developed and expected to handle a very wide range of use cases and requirements, including among others enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and machine type communications (e.g., involving IOT devices). 5G wireless communication networks are expected to fulfill the demand of exponentially increasing data traffic and to allow people and machines to enjoy gigabit data rates with virtually zero latency. Compared to existing fourth generation (4G) technologies, such as long-term evolution (LTE) networks and advanced LTE networks, 5G provides better speeds and coverage, targeting much higher throughput with low latency and utilizing higher carrier frequencies (e.g., higher than 6 gigahertz (GHz)) and wider bandwidths. A 5G network also increases network expandability up to hundreds of thousands of connections.
In cellular networks, radio interference can have a direct impact on coverage, link quality, and data throughput. Within a given bandwidth, capacity can be met by adding network node devices (e.g., network nodes comprising cellular towers), but this can increase radio interference in the same area. Not only can there be a practical limit to the density of base stations due to handoff speeds, but the cost of adding network nodes, along with ongoing operation costs related to those network nodes, can be high.
The increase in the number of devices and the desire to meet capacity, has led to the practice of "offloading" cellular traffic (e.g., often referred to as "cellular data" traffic) onto wireless fidelity (e.g., Wi-Fi) networks, which are typically provided by Wi-Fi routers that are connected via the Internet, for example, through a broadband network (e.g., DSL, ADSL, DOCSIS, etc.) as a way of reducing direct wireless cellular network demand (e.g., enabling mobile devices to switch to a Wi-Fi network for transmissions when a Wi-Fi network is available). For example, a mobile phone might use its cellular data connection, but then when the mobile phone is nearby a Wi-Fi router that offers an "open" Wi-Fi network, the mobile phone can switch to using the Wi-Fi network. Such open networks, which can often be found in airport terminals, coffee shops, fast food restaurants, etc., might not require a password, or in other instances, may require a user identity associated with the mobile phone to agree to certain terms prior to allowing connection to the Wi-Fi network. Today, cellular carriers contract with managed Wi-Fi service network providers such as those provided by, for example, Boingo, HP/Aruba, Global Crossing, and Mobilite, to offload mobile data service through these Wi-Fi service networks. AT&T, for example, is currently partnering with managed Wi-Fi service network providers at over two dozen airports, multiple military bases, major casinos, and on municipal Wi-Fi. A cellular carrier typically pays per gigabyte for the data transmissions by its subscriber mobile devices when the mobile devices use these Wi-Fi networks. AT&T's annual expenses paid to managed Wi-Fi service network providers for allowing its user equipment (UEs) to connect and use these managed Wi-Fi service networks can be in the tens of millions of dollars per year. These expenses are likely to grow dramatically over the next five years.
The above-described background relating to cellular networks and Wi-Fi networks, and is merely intended to provide a contextual overview of some current issues, and is not intended to be exhaustive. Other contextual information may become further apparent upon review of the following detailed description.

Adaptive throughput for user equipment communicating via a managed Wi-Fi service network


Optoelectronic devices such as photodetectors, modulators and lasers with improved optical properties are provided with an atomically smooth transition between the buried conductive layer and quantum-well-diode-containing intrinsic region of a p-i-n structure. The buried conductive layer is grown on an underlying substrate utilizing a surfactant-assisted growth technique. The dopant and dopant concentration are selected, as a function of the thickness of the conductive layer to be formed, so that a surface impurity concentration of from 0.1 to 1 monolayer of dopant atoms is provided. The presence of the impurities promotes atomic ordering at the interface between the conductive layer and the intrinsic region, and subsequently results in sharp barriers between the alternating layers comprising the quantum-well-diodes of the intrinsic layer.

Semiconductor optical devices such as modulators, lasers, and photodetectors often incorporate a p-i-n structure. As is well known, such structures consist of p and n regions separated by a very lightly doped intrinsic region of one or more semiconductor materials. The intrinsic region may, for example, comprise a single layer of silicon (Si), gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP) or aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs). The intrinsic region of an optical modulator, for example, typically comprises a multiple-quantum-well (MQW) region that includes multiple well and barrier layers.
In devices of the aforementioned type, the lower or buried layer of the p-i-n structure is often epitaxially grown on the uppermost surface of a reflective mirror structure. When a bias voltage is applied to the p-i-n structure, light reflected by the mirror structure is absorbed by the quantum wells in the intrinsic region. As will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art, the capacity of an optoelectronic device to imprint information optically is a function of this ability to alternately absorb and admit light incident thereon with changes in bias voltage.
The focus of conventional MQW device fabrication techniques has, heretofore, been limited to minimizing defects such as deep traps, recombination centers, interstitials and vacancies, and chemical impurities. While these considerations are important, there are other factors which arise during the fabrication process which may affect the optical properties of such devices. The intrinsic regions of MQW devices are engineered with atomic scale layering to optimally exploit their optical properties. It is known that surface roughness of a single monolayer height can substantially degrade the optical properties of structures utilizing atomic layering. In fact, where surface roughness exceeds several atomic layers, an MQW device may be rendered totally inoperative. It is therefore highly desirable to minimize defects and, in particular, roughness which occurs on an atomic scale.
The atomic smoothness/roughness of the buried p-i-n conductive layer will necessarily affect the surface characteristics and atomic ordering of the subsequently grown intrinsic region. Previous investigations, however, have suggested only that the intrinsic layer of the p-i-n structure should be grown on an n-type layer ("n-down") rather than on a p-type layer ("p-down"). In fact, a review of the technical literature in this field reveals few examples of a p-down p-i-n structure and, even where such structures are reported, the p-down region is employed for purposes other than atomic scale roughness (e.g., controlling the band structure of the device). Thus, heretofore, no one has sought to promote smooth atomic ordering of the MQW intrinsic region of a p-i-n structure by controlling the surface characteristics of the buried conductive layer thereof.

Process of making an optoelectronic devices utilizing multiple quantum well pin structures


A new cultivar of Prunus laurocerasus, ‘Antonius’, characterized by its dark green glossy mature leaves and young leaves that are bronze red in color, its upright and narrow plant habit; reaching about 2 m in height and 0.8 m in width, its good disease resistance, and its hardiness at least in U.S.D.A. Zones 6 to 9.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Prunus laurocerasus, and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, 'Antonius'. 'Antonius' is a new cultivar of cherry laurel grown for use as a landscape plant.
The new cultivar of Prunus, 'Antonius', arose from an ongoing breeding program by the Inventor in Szombathely, Hungary. The new cultivar was selected as a naturally occurring whole plant mutation in summer of 2002 that arose from seeds collected, pooled and sown from open pollination of the cultivars 'Mari', 'Piri', and Klàri (all three not patented). The exact parenage is unknown.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished by stem cuttings by the Inventor in Szombathely, Hungary in September of 2007. Asexual propagation by stem cuttings has determined that the characteristics of the new cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


A method of drawing a handwriting track for an electronic apparatus includes: creating a buffer canvas and a display canvas; acquiring parameter information of a plurality of touch track points; and performing drawing processing on each touch track point of the plurality of touch track points. The performing drawing processing on each touch track point includes: determining a position parameter, size and transparency of each of a plurality of track points to be displayed respectively, based on the touch position parameter and sensing parameter of the each touch track point and those of a predetermined number of touch track points of the plurality of touch track points; and drawing a handwriting track on the buffer canvas based on the position parameter, size and transparency of each of the plurality of track points, and drawing on the display canvas the handwriting track drawn on the buffer canvas.

Under normal circumstances, handwriting drawing solutions for an electronic apparatus may show different thicknesses of handwriting according to user's touch operations, but may not efficiently and conveniently show different depths of handwriting. A handwriting track drawn is different from user's actual handwriting, or the operation is not efficient and convenient. In addition, in the handwriting drawing, a system of the electronic apparatus draws a next handwriting track after a previous handwriting track has been drawn, and a drawing speed is relatively slow.

Method and device of drawing handwriting track, electronic apparatus, medium, and program product


A track link assembly consists of two parallel arranged chains of links connected end to end, the links of each chain being connected by a joint including a link pin press fit in the bore of the outboard end collar. In order to limit the movement of the collar on the link pin and prevent excessive end play at the seal, a snap ring is fitted on a portion of each end of the link pin which extends outward from the bore of the outboard end collar. One or more protrusions on the outer surface of the boss protect the snap ring from being knocked off during use.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a track link for a track type vehicle. More generally, it is directed to a one piece track link assembly including parallel chains of track links connected end-to-end by link pins, with positive retention of the pins in the links.
2. Description of the Related Art
Tracks composed of parallel arranged chains of track links, connected end-to-end at overlapping inboard and outboard ends of the respective links, are well known for use with heavy equipment such as earth moving vehicles. Typically the links of each chain, and the parallel arranged chains of links, are connected by pivot joints comprised of link pins which are press fitted in bores at the outboard ends of corresponding links of each chain, and bushings rotatably mounted on the links and press fitted in the bores of the outboard ends of adjacent corresponding links of each chain. The bearing surfaces between the respective link pins and bushings are lubricated by a lubricating oil reservoir in the link pin, which is sealed by seal members having seal lips which bear against the ends of the respective bushings.
The link pins are press fit in their bores with high pressure in an effort to prevent outward movement of the respective links on the pins, which movement may occur as result of the working forces exerted on the track during the operation of the vehicle. Such movement, if present, causes the joints to become loose and develop what is commonly referred to as end play. End play is especially undesirable in chains having sealed link lubrication since it reduces seal pressures at the seal lips, which may permit the lubricant to leak past the seals and the ingress of abrasive materials. The loss of lubricant and the ingress of abrasive materials can lead to excessive wear and premature failure of the track.
Efforts have therefore been made to minimize end play in the track link assemblies. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,616, gussets mounted to the track shoes bear against the ends of the pins and prevent their outward deflection. However, this requires the use of special track shoes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,618,190 uses retainers formed in cavities of the links for preventing end play. However, appropriate grooves must be machined in both the pins and the links.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,171, the outboard end collars of the links have pin bosses with bores through which the link pins extend. Nodules are mechanically formed in the pin bosses and protrude inwardly from the bores into grooves at the ends of the pins to prevent end play. However, such permanent deformation of the bosses makes it difficult to remove the pins from the links for repair and/or replacement. For example, it is common practice to disassemble the chain so that the bushings can be rotated 180.degree. to expose a new wear surface to the drive sprocket. This is very difficult in the case of the deformed link bosses of U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,171.
Snap rings have been used to retain link pins of specialized split link type track links, for example the Berco CR4659 split link used to connect end of a link track. However, they have never been used in regular links to prevent end play.

Track link assembly having positive pin retention


Power takeoff lubrication devices and methods are disclosed. Embodiments include an accumulator connected to a power takeoff fluid supply line and storing fluid (which may be under pressure) for selective use independent of the fluid being supplied by the fluid supply line. In some embodiments, the fluid in the accumulator is supplied to various components within the power takeoff, including the clutch plates (which may have fluid supplied prior to and/or during engagement), which can decrease wear and/or clutch temperature. In some embodiments, the fluid in the accumulator is supplied to the clutch piston to actuate the clutch piston when the pressure in the supply line is less than optimal and/or to stabilize the pressures in the hydraulic lines connected to the clutch piston. In still further embodiments, the fluid in the accumulator is supplied to the clutch when the fluid supply line pressure is less than optimal.

The use of a PTO device in association with truck or other vehicle (or stationary engine) transmissions is generally known. Such PTO devices often include an input gear, an output gear and a mechanism for engaging the input gear with the output gear so as to rotate the output shaft of the PTO device to power an auxiliary device to perform useful work when desired. The mechanism also provides a means for disengaging the input gear and the output gear.
In certain conventional designs, the input gear of the PTO device is constantly engaged with the appropriate gear in the vehicle's transmission when installed on the vehicle and is, thus, continuously turning whenever that corresponding gear in the vehicle's transmission is turning. In order to provide for selective rotation of the output shaft of the PTO device (associated with the output gear), a clutch mechanism is frequently provided between the input gear of the PTO device and that output gear. When this output shaft is rotated, useful auxiliary work can be performed. For example, the output shaft may be connected to a hydraulic pump that may be used to operate auxiliary equipment, such as garbage compacting bodies, dump bed bodies (a/k/a, "dump trucks"), garbage trucks or trailers, buckets for elevating working personnel, winches, post hole diggers, and the like.
In one conventional example the PTO device clutch is operated through an aligned multi-disc stack arrangement located between the shaft of the PTO device, and the gears of the PTO device engage their respective gears of the truck's transmission. When an axial force is applied to the disc stack, frequently by overcoming an oppositely directed biasing force typically provided by a spring, the individual discs in the stack are forced together such that the interfacial friction between the discs cause the shaft to be rotationally joined to the rotating gears.
In a typical arrangement with a PTO device connected to an engine, the circulation of cooling and lubricating fluid through the PTO device is powered by, and therefore typically controlled by, the engine transmission's circulation pump.


In an improved computed tomography scanner drive system and bearing configuration, a gantry disk is sheaved about its perimeter such that the gantry is operable as a driven pulley rotatable about an object to be scanned. A motor assembly mounted to a stationary frame includes a similar sheaved drive pulley. A belt tensioned between the drive pulley of the motor assembly and the driven pulley of the gantry disk transfers rotational motion of the motor to drive the gantry rotationally about the object. In a preferred embodiment, the belt comprises a V-belt or poly-V-belt, and the bearing comprises a wire bearing located proximal to the gantry center of mass. In this manner, the present invention provides a simple and effective technique for driving the gantry about the object, providing sufficiently accurate angular positioning in a reliable and cost effective drive system.

In modern third generation computed tomography (CT) scanners, an X-ray source and detector array rotate about a subject or object to be scanned. During a scan, the source and detectors image the object at incremental scan angles. A process referred to as reconstruction generates a series of two-dimensional images or slices of the object from the captured data.
The source, detectors, and related components are mounted to a rotatable gantry supported by a rigid stationary frame. As the gantry rotates, a conveyor passing through a central aperture in the gantry translates the object relative to the sensors. In a fixed system, the object remains fixed during each scan; in a translational or "helical" system, the object continuously translates during the scan. In both fixed and translational systems, precision in the angular velocity, or rotation rate, of the gantry is essential for minimization of reconstruction errors.
Timing belts, or cog belts, have been employed in the past to effect a high degree of precision in rotation rate. A standard timing belt is driven by a motor mounted to the stationary frame. Periodic lateral grooves transverse to the major axis of the belt mesh with teeth on a drive sprocket at the motor and a large driven sprocket mounted to the gantry disk. The driven sprocket must be large enough to avoid interference with the central aperture of the gantry and thus allow room for a object to pass therethrough. For this reason, extraordinarily-large timing belts are required in these systems.
A typical prior art scanner requires at least a six meter timing belt. Timing belts of such a large magnitude are very expensive, as they are difficult to manufacture and often must be custom built, and/or purchased in large quantities. Furthermore, the large driven sprockets are specialized and are therefore expensive, available at a cost of $4,000 to $6,000, depending on the diameter. Alignment between the drive sprocket and driven sprocket must be accurate to a high degree of precision, to avoid lateral walking of the belt relative to the sprockets. Timing belts tend to wear rapidly, and therefore must be replaced frequently, for example once per year for a medical scanner. Replacement is an involved procedure, requiring removal of the scanner system from operation for an extended period of time; perhaps a couple of days. This is due to the fact that in prior art configurations, the driven sprocket is positioned between the annular gantry and the fixed frame. Access to the timing belt for its removal and replacement therefore requires complete removal of the gantry from the frame. Positioning of the sprocket on the component side of the gantry is impractical, since the timing belt would interfere with the rotating gantry components.
A further disadvantage of timing belts in CT systems is their tendency to modulate the rotational speed of the gantry at the frequency of their teeth or cogs. The modulation causes artifacts in the resulting images which must be resolved or otherwise corrected by the image processing system.

Computed tomography scanner drive system and bearing


Embodiments of the present invention provide an SDN, a method for forwarding a packet by an SDN, and an apparatus. The SDN includes an SDN controller and an SDN switch, the SDN switch includes a processor and a data path, and the SDN switch further includes: a first transceiver, configured to: receive a first packet, determine that the first packet is to be sent to the SDN controller, and forward the first packet to a channel agent module; and the channel agent module, configured to: add address information of the SDN controller to the first packet, encapsulate the first packet into a second packet, and send the second packet to the controller. The first transceiver is further configured to receive a third packet sent by the SDN controller, and forward the third packet to the channel agent module.

As shown in FIG. 1, a software defined network (SDN) is an innovative network architecture. Compared with a conventional network architecture, an SDN network architecture has the following core: An SDN controller (where both a controller and a network controller hereinafter refer to as SDN controllers) is introduced into the network, to implement separation of forwarding from control and implement centralized control. Like the brain of the network, the SDN controller can control all forwarding devices. An SDN switch takes orders from the controller like hands and feet, and all data for forwarding by the SDN switch comes from the SDN controller. A current SDN core technology is implemented based on an OpenFlow protocol. An SDN network based on the OpenFlow protocol is an OpenFlow network, and the OpenFlow network includes an OpenFlow controller (OFC) and an OpenFlow switch (OFS). The OFS includes a processor (for example CPU) and a data path. The processor has a function of an OpenFlow agent. The data path includes several flow tables and one group table. These tables are used to search for and forward a packet. An OpenFlow channel is an interface for communication between the OpenFlow switch and the OpenFlow controller, and the switch communicates with the controller through the interface based on the OpenFlow protocol. The flow table includes a plurality of flow entries. If a to-be-forwarded packet has a corresponding flow entry in the flow table, the packet is forwarded based on the flow table. If a to-be-forwarded packet has no corresponding flow entry in the flow table, the OFS requests an instruction from the OFC; the OFC delivers a flow entry to the OFS after receiving a request from the OFS; and the OFS adds the delivered flow entry to the flow table after obtaining the flow entry, and then forwards the packet based on a new flow table.
As shown in FIG. 2, an OFS and an OFC communicate with each other through an OpenFlow channel of an OFA (OpenFlow Agent). The OFA is deployed on software of a CPU to meet a requirement of establishing an OpenFlow channel with an SDN controller and communicating with the SDN controller. A protocol packet sent by an SDN switch to the SDN controller is referred to as a packet in packet, and a protocol packet sent by the SDN controller to the SDN switch is referred to as a packet out packet. In an architecture in which control and forwarding of an SDN are separated, a protocol packet needs to be sent to the SDN controller, so that the SDN controller processes a protocol packet; and forwarding is performed by a CPU of the SDN switch, causing an extra latency that is usually at a level of 10 ms, and resulting in undesirable latency performance for a performance-sensitive protocol (such as IGMP and ERPS).

SDN, method for forwarding packet by SDN, and apparatus


An endoscope system is provided with a normal light image capturing system, a fluorescent light image capturing system, and an OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) image capturing system. The normal light image, the fluorescent light image and the OCT image are displayed on a screen of a display device simultaneously. Optionally, one of the normal light image or the fluorescent light image is displayed as an animated image, and the OCT image is also displayed as an animated image. A cursor indicating a scanning position corresponding to the OCT image is indicated on one of the normal light image and the fluorescent light image displayed as the animated image.

The present invention relates to an endoscope system that is capable of capturing OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) images of an object such as biotissues as well as normal light and/or fluorescent light images of a surface of the object.
Conventionally, endoscope systems for observing objects inside a human cavity have been known. An endoscope system is generally provided with an endoscope, which is to be inserted inside the human cavity, and an illuminative external device, which is to be connected to the endoscope. The external device includes a light source unit for illuminating the object, and a processor for processing image signals.
The endoscope includes:
an illuminating optical system, which is connected to the light source unit of the illuminative external device and used for illuminating an object (e.g., the paries of a body cavity);
an objective optical system for receiving light from the object and forming an optical image of the object; and
a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) provided substantially at a focal plane of the objective optical system for capturing the object image, the CCD being electrically connected to the processor of the external device.
At a tip end of the endoscope, an instrument opening is formed. Forceps or various kinds of treatment instruments can be inserted through the endoscope, and the tip portion of the inserted instrument is protruded from the instrument opening, inside the human cavity.
With the endoscope system described above, an operator is capable of observing inside the human cavity as described below.
The operator firstly inserts the endoscope inside the human cavity. Light emitted by the light source unit of the external device is projected to an object to be observed through the illuminating optical system. An optical image of the illuminated object is formed, through the objective optical system, on the light receiving surface of the CCD. The CCD converts the received optical image into an electronic image (i.e., image signal), which is transmitted to the processor of the external device. The processor processes the received image signal, and displays the image of the object on a displaying device. Thus, the operator is capable of observing, for example, the paries of the human cavity of a patient by viewing the images displayed on the displaying device.
If the operator judges that there is a possibility of a cancer or a tumor within the observing portion of the human cavity, a forceps or biopsy instrument is inserted in an instrument channel inside the endoscope. The tip portion of the instrument is protruded from the instrument opening, and the tissues of the portion in question can be collected. The tissues thus obtained is subjected to a pathological inspection, and based on the results of the inspection, diagnosis is made.
According to the conventional endoscope system as described above, only the surface (i.e., paries) of the human cavity is observable. In order to know the condition of tissues beneath the paries of the human cavity, biopsy operation is required. In particular, in order to find an early cancer or a small tumor, the biopsy operation is indispensable. However, the pathological inspection requires time, and therefore, the diagnosis requires time.
Further, in view of a burden to the patient, the biopsy can be done only in a limited area and by a limited number of times. Diseased portion may be present at a portion other than the portion identified by the operator. However, such a portion might be overlooked, and as a result, an accurate diagnosis may not be done even if the pathological inspection is performed.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved endoscope system which enables an accurate diagnosis within a relatively short period of time.
For the object, according to the present invention, there is provided an endoscope system provided with a normal light image capturing system, a fluorescent image capturing system and an OCT image capturing system. The normal light image capturing system that captures an image of an object inside a human cavity by illuminating the object with white light. The fluorescent light image capturing system captures an image of the object by illuminating the object with excitation light. The object (i.e., human tissues) emits fluorescent light upon incidence of the excitation light. The OCT image capturing system captures an OCT image of a desired portion of the object. The endoscope system is further provided with a display controlling system that controls a displaying device to display the normal light image, the fluorescent light image and the OCT image simultaneously.
Since the operator can view the three different images simultaneously, an accurate diagnosis can be made within a relatively short period of time.
Optionally, at least one of the normal light image and the fluorescent light image is displayed on the displaying device as an animated image.
Further optionally, an OCT scanning line indicating system may be provided to indicate a line representative of a scanning line corresponding to the OCT image on one of the normal light image and the fluorescent light image, which is displayed as the animated image.
With this configuration, the operator can recognize the positional relationship between the normal or fluorescent image of the object and the tomogram thereof. Thus, accurate observation can be expected.
Optionally, the OCT image may also be displayed as an animated image.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an endoscope system, which is provided with an illuminating optical system that selectively emits, toward an object, visible light and excitation light for exciting the object to fluoresce, an objective optical system that converges light from the surface of the object to form an optical image of the surface of the object, an image capturing system that captures an optical image of a surface of the object and generates an image signal corresponding to the optical image. Further, the endoscope system is provided with a first light guide, a second light guide, an optical coupler for optically coupling the first and second light guides. Furthermore, the endoscope system is provided with a low-coherent light source that emits a low-coherent light beam, the low-coherent light source being provided at a proximal end side of one of the first and second light guides, the light emitted by the low-coherent light source being incident on the one of the first and second light guides, a scanning unit that causes the light beam emerged from the first light guide to scan on a predetermined surface of the object, the scanning unit directing the light beam reflected by the object to the first light guide as a detection light beam, a reflector that reflects a light beam emerged from the second light guide to the second light guide as a reference beam, an optical path length adjusting system that relatively changes a length of an optical path length from the optical coupler to the object via the first light guide and an optical path length from the optical coupler to the reflector via the second light guide, a light detecting device provided at a proximal end side of the other of the first and second light guides, the light detecting device detecting an interfered beam generated due to interference between the reference beam and the detection beam, an OCT image forming system that generates a tomogram based on the signal detected by the light detecting device when the optical path length adjusting system and the scanning unit operate, and a video signal generating system that generates video signals of the optical image of the object and the OCT image based on the image signal output by the image capturing system and the OCT image forming system.
With this configuration, since the video signals corresponding to the image of the surface of the object and the tomogram thereof are output, the image of the surface of the object and the OCT image can be viewed with monitoring the positional relationship therebetween.
Optionally, the endoscope system is provided with a display device that displays the optical image of the surface of the object and the OCT image in accordance with the video signals output by the video signal generating system.
In particular, the image capturing system generates a normal light image signal representing the surface of the object when the illuminating optical system emits the visible light toward the object, the image capturing system generates a fluorescent light image signal representing the surface of the object when the illuminating optical system emits the excitation light toward the object, the OCT image forming system outputs an OCT image signal representing the OCT image of the object, and the video signal generating system generates video signals based on the normal image signals, fluorescent image signals and the OCT image signals, and causes the display device to display the normal light image, the fluorescent light image and the OCT image arranged in a predetermined manner.
Preferably, the video signal generating system includes a memory corresponding to a screen of the display device, the memory storing the normal light image signal, the fluorescent light image signal and the OCT image signal.
In particular, the video signal generating system makes the display device display one of the normal light image and the fluorescent light image as an animated image, and wherein the video signal generating system makes the display device display the OCT image as an animated image.
Optionally, the video signal generating system makes the display device display the other one of the normal light image and the fluorescent light image as a still image.
Preferably, the video signal generating system makes the display device display the normal light image as a color image.
Optionally, the video signal generating system includes a cursor generating system that inserts a cursor indicating a scanning position of the scanning unit in the normal light image or the fluorescent light image.
Further optionally, the endoscope system may be provided with a visible light source that emits the visible light, an excitation light source that emits the excitation light, and a light source switching system that selectively causes the visible light and the excitation light to impinge on the illuminating optical system.
Optionally, the optical path length adjusting system moves the reflector toward/away from a tip of the second light guide to vary the optical path length from the optical coupler to the reflector via the second light guide relative to the optical path length from the optical coupler to the object via the first light guide.
In a particular case, the low-coherent light source may include a super-luminous diode.


The compounds of the formula: ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are, independently, hydrogen, straight chain alkyl, branched chain alkyl, cycloalkyl, bicycloalkyl or aralkyl, wherein the aromatic moiety of the aralkyl group may be optionally substituted with one to three straight chain alkyl, halogen, nitro, cyano, alkoxy, alkoxycarbonyl, trifluoromethyl or trifluoromethoxy groups; R.sub.3 is hydrogen, formyl, alkanoyl, alkenoyl, alkylsulfonyl, aroyl, arylalkenoyl, arylsulfonyl, arylalkanoyl or arylalkylsulfonyl; A is selected from the group consisting of: ##STR2## wherein n is 0 or 1; R.sub.4, R.sub.5 and R.sub.6 are, independently, cyano, nitro, amino, alkyl, perfluoroalkyl, alkoxy, perfluoroalkoxy, alkylamino, dialkylamino, sulfamyl, alkylsulfonamido, arylsulfonamido, alkylcarboxamido, arylcarboxamido, alkanoyl, alkylsulfonyl, perfluoroalkylsulfonyl, arylsulfonyl, chloro, bromo, fluoro, iodo, 1-imidazolyl, carboxyl or hydrogen; or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, relax smooth muscles.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/019,977 filed Jun. 17, 1996.
The present invention relates to novel heterocyclylmethyl amino derivatives of cyclobutene 3-4-diones having pharmacological activity, to a process for their preparation, to pharmaceutical compositions containing them and to their use in the treatment of disorders associated with smooth muscle contraction via potassium channel modulation. Such disorders include, but are not limited to: urinary incontinence, asthma, premature labor, irritable bowel syndrome, congestive heart failure, angina, cerebral vascular disease and hypertension.
Stemp et al. (EP-426379) disclose a class of amino substituted cyclobutenedione derivatives of chromans described as having blood pressure lowering activity and bronchodilatory activity. Takeno et al. report a series of diaminocyclobuten-3,4-diones in Public Patent Disclosure Bulletin No. 6-92915. Our own efforts in this area have been disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,464,867; 5,466,712; 5,403,853; 5,403,854; 5,397,790 and 5,401,753. Several series of 1-amino-2-phenylalkylamino-cyclobutene-3,4-diones are reported as H-2 receptor antagonists by Algieri et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,390,701. Several related 1-amino-2-phenoxyalkylamino derivatives are disclosed by Nohara et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,747. Additionally, several related 1-amino-2-pyridyloxyalkylamino derivatives are disclosed by Nohara et al. in EP-177016. The compounds of Nohara et al. are reported as H-2 receptor antagonists.
A 4-pyridinylmethylamino derivative of cyclobutendione was disclosed by Chandrakumar et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,746 to possess analgesic activity. The compounds of the Chandrakumar series require the presence of a tricyclic dibenzoxazepine moiety. A 3-pyridinylmethylamino derivative of cyclobutendione was disclosed by Ife in EP-112704 and was reported to be an H-2 antagonist. The compounds of the Ife series require the presence of an N'-pyridyl-diamino moiety.
The syntheses of variously substituted 1,2-diamino-cyclobutene-3,4-diones are described in the following publications: Tietze et al., Chem Ber. 1991, 124, 1215; Tietze et al., Bioconjugate Chem. 1991, 2, 148; Ehrhardt et al., Chem. Ber. 1977, 110, 2506, and Neuse et al., Liebigs Ann. Chem. 1973, 619.

Heterocyclymethylamino derivatives of cyclobutene-3,4-diones


Methods for fabricating integrated circuits are provided. In an embodiment, a method for fabricating an integrated circuit includes forming a mask overlying a material to be etched by forming first hard mask segments overlying the material to be etched, forming sacrificial mandrels overlying the material to be etched and around each hard mask segment, forming second hard mask segments overlying the semiconductor substrate and adjacent each sacrificial mandrel, and removing the sacrificial mandrels to form first gaps surrounding each first hard mask segment, wherein each first gap is bounded by a respective first hard mask segment and an adjacent second hard mask segment. The method includes etching the material to be etched through the mask.

The scaling of integrated circuits has generated a demand for methods for forming nanometer-sized features that are separated by nanometer-sized distances. As the limits of optical resolution are approached in current lithography processes, double patterning processes have been used to provide for sub-lithographic feature size. Specifically, while a conventional lithographic process can be used to form a line-width equal to a minimum critical dimension (CD) associated with the lithographic process, a double patterning process can be used to form a line-width smaller than the CD. Double patterning techniques include "pitch split" (also called litho-etch litho-etch, or LELE) and "sidewall image transfer" (also called self-aligned double patterning or SADP). In each double patterning technique, a pattern that could not otherwise be printed is split into two separate masks.
To obtain even smaller feature sizes, litho-etch litho-etch litho-etch (LELELE) and Double SIT (or self-aligned quadruple patterning or SAQP) techniques have been proposed. These processes present overlay and cost issues. Further, while the Double SIT technique may shrink pitch to about 20 nanometers (nm), it requires two mandrel pulls that frequently result in residual materials within semiconductor structures. Such residual materials are challenging to remove with etching processes at reduced scaling. Further, the Double SIT technique is limited to ¼ and ⅛ scaling and has no flexibility for use with ⅓, ⅙ or 1/9 scaling.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide methods for fabricating integrated circuits that provide for features having sub-lithographic dimensions. In addition, it is desirable to provide methods for fabricating integrated circuits that provide for a selected scaling, including ⅓, ⅙ or 1/9 scaling. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

Methods for fabricating integrated circuits using improved masks


Edge Enhanced Noise Reduction (EENR) is a frequency dependent instantaneous compander system. It is applied only in the encoder both to Chrominance and luminance, and is best placed after the horizontal and vertical down sampling filters in the pre-processing stages of an encoder (not shown per se). High frequency, low level information (mainly noise) are reduced significantly in amplitude. In particular, EENR is designed to preserve edge details. In addition, a vertical recursive filter can be used to prevent low level vertical information from being removed by the system. This is partially useful in the luminance path. High level, high frequency components remain virtually unaffected. The system is `transparent` to low frequency information. EENR has been designed to work in conjunction with MPEG encoding presented with source material which is slightly noisy and where the transmission bit rate is being constrained. It has been designed to provide minimal loss in picture quality due to the noise reduction process itself. It is not necessary to provide a complementary process in the receiver.

MPEG stands for Moving Picture Experts Group and it represents an ISO/IEC standards group developing standards for the compression of moving pictures and associated information. MPEG I and MPEG II are two such standards.
An MPEG transmission system allows several video, audio and associated services to be multiplexed and sent over a single digital transmission channel. The number of services and hence the cost of transmission bandwidth per service is determined by the bit rate. Any improvement in picture quality or reduction in bit rate is thus very important to a service provider.
Most sources of video produce random noise: camera noise, tape noise and the digital re-transmission of existing analogue services are typical examples of systems introducing noise. Although much of this noise is often biased towards the high frequency parts of the spectrum and are not particularly visible in an analogue system, MPEG encoding of such material often introduces Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) effects or artefacts that `crawl` around the picture.
There are two main reasons for these effects being produced. Firstly, the presence of noise causes many small amplitude high frequency DCT coefficients to be generated and sent in the bit stream. These coefficients tend to be more inaccurately quantised than the low frequency coefficients and are generally due to the noise only. The increase in the number of bits transmitted causes the Quantisation Parameters factor (QP) to become higher in order to maintain the same bit rate. The net result is that the whole picture is reduced in quality. The Forward Prediction (P) and Bi-directional prediction (B) frames that follow the Intra (I) frame try to constantly correct for the noise in the prediction path and so this results in the DCT artefacts changing from frame to frame. The second reason for the loss in picture quality is that the accuracy of the motion estimation is reduced with the presence of noise in the encoder itself. This produces even worse predictions in the `B`, and `P` frames which inevitably increases the QP and reduces picture quality.
One object of the present invention is to provide a system which overcomes at least some of the limitations of the prior art and provides an improvement in performance over known systems.


A fluorescent work light having a cover with restraining elements for restricting the movement of the fluorescent lamp. The restraining elements are inwardly projecting integral portions of the cover and restrict the lateral, rotational and axial movement of the fluorescent lamp. The work light also includes a rotatable socket with permits the cover to be threadingly engaged to the handle while rotationally engaging the fluorescent lamp. The distal end of the cover may consist entirely of transparent material to thereby permit light to be emitted from the distal end of the cover in all outward directions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fluorescent work lights.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fluorescent work lights which are relatively compact and portable and may thus be used to light a task or inspection area are well known. Conventional fluorescent work lights often include a handle component for gripping the light, a compact fluorescent lamp for providing illumination and a cover surrounding the lamp which is at least partially transparent. A conventional electrical cord having a plug for connection to an electrical outlet is used to connect the work light to a source of electrical current. A ballast, or "choke", is typically utilized to provide the proper voltage and current for the fluorescent lamp and may be placed in the handle or in a separate unit disposed along the cord at or near the plug.
The covers typically take the form of a generally tubular body having one open end attachable to the handle and an open distal end ("distal" being used to refer to the end opposite the handle) which is closed by an end piece. The end piece can be secured to the tubular body by adhesives, welding, threading, a spindle with screw and nut, and other means. A significant portion of the tubular body is usually transparent to thereby permit the light generated by the fluorescent lamp to be transmitted through the cover. Although the end pieces, or end caps, are most often opaque, it is also known to utilize covers having end pieces which permit at least some light to be transmitted through the end piece. The end pieces may also be formed as a lens to focus the light.
The fluorescent lamp disposed within the cover, although relatively compact, has a generally elongate shape. The projecting end of the lamp is often restrained within the cover by an insert, such as an O-ring or cushion, to prevent the lamp from being subjected to excessive inadvertent movement within the cover and the damage which can result therefrom.

Fluorescent work light cover and rotatable socket


Data base admin uses Explorer-style interface with topic tree configurable though Meta Model Editor (GUI) with immediate effect on actual program rather than requiring software code changes. All changes are saved as "data". All data is displayed as "Grid" or as "Property Sheet", with GUI to:. a. change display capabilities, PA1 b. change validation, and PA1 c. change defaults.

Enhanced services telephone systems such as prepaid calling systems are well known. Subscribers in such systems are provided with a calling card containing a personal identification number ("PIN") by which the amount of telephone usage remaining on the card can be determined by the subscriber at the time the call is placed.
In known prepaid telephone systems, there are a number of work stations to assist the service provider in performing the various functions needed for the operation of the system. These functions include (a) the administration of the subscriber database which controls call utilization, (b) the interface with the customer regarding the balance in the subscriber's account, the status of the account and recharging of prepaid cards by a subscriber, (c) the live operators who assist in the placing of the calls, and (d) system administration which often spans multiple servers and even multiple locations.
Heretofore, to modify these functions or to add new functions to the prepaid system required the loading of new software or the rewriting of the existing code. Clearly the time and expense of implementing the change impacted the ability of such systems to respond to growth in the system, the changing needs of subscribers, etc.
The present invention addresses these problems by providing a method of altering the functionality within a system by modifying the data instead of code.
Additionally, the configuration of each of the high level functions may be selectively customized by means of a user configurable table, in which the settings used to reconfigure the software are recorded as data thus obviating the necessity to load an additional program and/or rewriting code.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel method and system which obviates many of the problems of known telephone systems with great financial and temporal savings.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel method and system which permits a single computer software program to be used for all workstations in the system.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a novel method and system which permits the computer software program to be modified by business analysts rather than engineers or other technicians, all without the necessity to modify the software program.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel software program that reduces retraining requirements by using a single program having a basically consistent user interface to implement database changes for all functions.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a novel method and system which reduces system ownership costs due to the multiple functions which can be performed on a single workstation.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a novel system and method to allow the customer to add functions to the system in such a way that these functions appear well integrated in the user interface.
These and many other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains from a perusal of the claims, the appended drawings, and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

Meta model editor controlling topic display application


The invention comprises a system and method for maintaining the integrity of a plurality of objects each comprising methods and instance variables. The method is used to maintain the integrity of a plurality of objects wherein each of the plurality of objects will experience a change in at least one of its instance variables in response to a transaction if the transaction is allowed to commit. The method comprises sending a validate message to ones of the plurality of objects using a transaction service running on a computer. A prepare message is sent to each of the plurality of objects if a valid indicator was received in response to each validate message. A commit message is sent to each of the plurality of objects if a valid indicator was received in response to each of the validate messages and a prepared indicator was received in response to each of the prepare messages.

Some computer applications are so large and the number of users of the applications so large that it makes sense to divide up the work of the application among multiple computers and, potentially, to store the information used by the application in many different places. Such applications are commonly referred to as distributed applications. Conventional distributed applications store shared information in multiple databases that may reside on many different computers.
Recently, however, software developers have begun to create distributed object systems. Distributed object systems comprise objects shared in computer memory and one or more processes running on one or more computers. In distributed object systems, then, an additional shared resource, the distributed object, needs to be accounted for.
Persistence of data is an important attribute in a distributed system. Data is preferably stored in a nonvolatile storage medium so that the system may be both recovered in the event of a failure and restarted in the state in which the system was shut down. A single transaction in a distributed system may update a number of items of data. If only some of the data items are persistently stored while others are not, then the state of the system may not be recoverable.
To maintain persistence in conventional distributed systems, a two phase commit protocol is generally used to synchronize the update of multiple databases. The two phase commit protocol assumes that the database management systems will perform necessary data integrity checks. This is reasonable when databases are the focus of control between multiple applications. However, in a shared, distributed object system, the shared objects become the focus of control and more sophisticated integrity checks may be desirable.

Method and system for maintaining the integrity of objects


A distance measuring device based on laser interference reduces measurement errors caused by irregular air currents and the like on the measurement optical path, and realizes a high throughput and a high integration degree. The distance measuring device based on laser interference according to this invention includes a baffle structure member for causing a gas on the measurement optical path to flow as a laminar flow in a predetermined direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a distance measuring device based on laser interference, which is used to perform distance measurement with high precision.
2. Related Background Art
A distance measuring device based on laser interference uses a laser source (coherent light beam) having a long coherence length and measures a distance by using interference of light. In general, this device has high measurement precision and hence has been used for high-precision distance measurement in various cases.
In an exposure apparatus (so-called stepper or the like) used for the manufacture of semiconductor elements, before exposure is performed, a circuit pattern (its projection image) on a mask and a circuit pattern on a semiconductor wafer must be superimposed on each other with high precision. This superimposition is generally performed by moving a moving stage holding the semiconductor wafer with respect to the mask. In order to increase the superimposition precision, therefore, it is important to position the moving stage with high precision.
Such high-precision positioning (or position measurement) of the moving stage is performed by using a distance measuring device based on laser interference. In general, an object such as a reflecting mirror is fixed on one end of the moving stage, and a laser beam from the light source is irradiated on the object to measure its position.
When a device based on double-beam interference is to be used, a light beam from a light source is split into a reference beam and a measurement beam by a beam splitter (half mirror). The measurement beam is irradiated on the object on the moving stage, and is returned to the beam splitter. The measurement beam is then caused to interfere with the reference beam having propagated through another optical path. The resultant pattern of interference fringes corresponds to the optical path length difference (phase difference) between the two light beams.
When, therefore, the position of the moving stage, i.e., the position of the object, changes, the optical path length difference between the two light beams fluctuates. The pattern of interference fringes therefore changes. According to the principle of interference, every time the position of the moving state moves by a distance corresponding to 1/2 the wavelength of a light beam, the dark and light portions of the interference fringes change to light and dark portions, respectively. Position measurement can be performed by obtaining the number of changes in the light and dark portions of the interference fringes.
The positioning precisions of currently available distance measuring devices based on laser interference are about 10 nm. However, with demands for higher LSI integration degrees, a further increase in precision is required.

Distance measuring device based on laser interference with a baffle structure member


In a process for producing a polymer blend, at least one first monomer is polymerized in a first slurry phase reaction zone in the presence of a supported first catalyst comprising a Ziegler-Natta component to produce a thermoplastic first polymer having a crystallinity of at least 30%. At least part of said first polymer is then contacted with at least one second monomer different from said first monomer and at least one polyene in a second solution phase reaction zone in the presence of a second catalyst under conditions to produce and at least partially cross-link said second polymer such that said second polymer comprises at least a fraction which is insoluble in xylene and has a crystallinity of less than 20%.

Polymer blends comprising a second polymer dispersed in a matrix of a first polymer are very useful and, depending on the properties and the relative amounts of the first and second polymers, a wide variety of such polymer blends can be produced. Of particular interest are polymer blends, also referred to as thermoplastic elastomers (TPE).
One method of making the aforementioned polymer blends is by melt mixing the two different polymers after they have been polymerized to achieve a target set of properties. Examples of such processes employing vanadium catalysts in series reactor operation to produce different types of EPDM compositions are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,629,212; 4,016,342; and 4,306,041.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,245,856 discloses a thermoplastic olefin composition comprising polypropylene, an ethylene-alpha olefin elastomer and a compatabilizer comprising an ethylene-propylene copolymer having a propylene content of greater than 80 weight percent. In the absence of the compatabilizer, the elastomer phase is said to be uneven with particles greater than 5 microns in size, whereas the addition of the compatabilizer is said to improve dispersion such that the elastomer phase has a particle size of about 1 micron. The elastomer phase of this polymer blend is not cross-linked.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,207,756 describes a process for producing a blend of a continuous phase of a semi-crystalline plastic, such as polypropylene, and a discontinuous phase of an amorphous elastomer, such as a terpolymer of ethylene, a C3-C20 alpha olefin and a non-conjugated diene. U.S. Pat. No. 6,319,998 also discloses using series solution polymerizations to produce blends of ethylene copolymers. U.S. Pat. No. 6,770,714 discloses the use of parallel polymerizations to produce different polymeric components that are then blended through extrusion or using other conventional mixing equipment.
One problem involved in producing thermoplastic elastomeric blends by direct polymerization, particularly blends having a high molecular weight and high melting temperature crystalline phase and a high molecular weight elastomeric phase, is the disparate conditions favoring the production of the individual blend components. Thus, for example, isotactic polypropylene is widely produced commercially by a slurry polymerization process, whereas ethylene propylene copolymer with desired properties for TPE applications is commercially produced in a solution process. However, the solution process is not currently capable of producing polypropylene with high molecular weight and high melting point. Ethylene propylene copolymer elastomers have been difficult to produce using slurry-based polymerization systems since, even at low reactor temperatures, these tend to result in reactor fouling and the formation of rubbery clumps that attach themselves to the reactor agitator, thereby necessitating reactor shut-down. It is therefore difficult, if not impossible, to produce TPE material in reactor using either a slurry process (good for polypropylene) or a solution process (good for rubber).
In addition to the issue of reaction conditions, choice of polymerization catalyst is another factor that currently limits in-reactor blending of TPE materials. There is a general perception in the industry that Ziegler-Natta catalysts and metallocene catalysts are incompatible and hence there is currently no in-reactor process for producing blends of Ziegler-Natta-produced polypropylene with metallocene-produced elastomer.
One particularly useful form of thermoplastic elastomer is a thermoplastic vulcanizate ("TPV"). TPVs are normally produced by a process of "dynamic vulcanization". Examples of dynamic vulcanization are described in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,130,535 and 4,311,628.
An improved process for producing TPVs is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,388,016, incorporated herein in its entirety, in which a polymer blend is produced by solution polymerization in series reactors employing metallocene catalysts and the resultant blend is subjected to dynamic vulcanization. It will, however, be seen that this improved process still relies on dynamic vulcanization to cure the elastomeric component. Moreover, there is a limit to the molecular weight of the polymers that can be produced, due to the resulting increase in solution viscosity, phase-separation of produced polymer and reactor fouling at low reaction temperature inherent in the use of solution polymerization to produce the elastomeric second polymer.
There is therefore a need for an improved, in-reactor process for producing polymer blends and, in particular, polymer blends comprising a thermoplastic continuous phase and a cross-linked elastomeric phase dispersed in the continuous phase.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,492,473 describes a mixed transition metal olefin polymerization catalyst system suitable for the polymerization of olefin monomers comprising at least one late transition metal catalyst system and at least one different catalyst system selected from the group consisting of late transition metal catalyst systems, transition metal metallocene catalyst systems or Ziegler-Natta catalyst systems. Preferred embodiments include at least one late transition metal catalyst system comprising a Group 9, 10, or 11 metal complex stabilized by a bidentate ligand structure and at least one transition metal metallocene catalyst system comprising a Group 4 metal complex stabilized by at least one ancillary cyclopentadienyl ligand. The polymerization process for olefin monomers comprises contacting one or more olefins with these catalyst systems under polymerization conditions.