The present invention relates to an apparatus capable of flexibly regulating coverage of a repeater in a long term evolution system (hereinafter referred to as an LTE system). The present invention provides an apparatus for regulating transmission power of a repeater in an LTE (LONG TERM EVOLUTION) system, the apparatus including a sink signal detector that detects a sink signal of a reception signal received through an IF/RF receiver of the repeater, a sink signal power measurer that measures a size of power of the sink signal detected through the sink signal detector, and an amplification controller that calculates a gain of an amplifier of the repeater for maintaining coverage of the repeater based on the size of the power of the sink signal measured through the sink signal power measurer, and controls the amplifier of the repeater according to the calculated gain. In the present invention, in a wired or wireless repeater, it is possible to efficiently regulate the coverage of the repeater and to implement the apparatus with low complexity in the LTE system. Further, the present invention is flexibly applicable to an LTE system supporting a scalable bandwidth and it is possible to effectively regulate the coverage of multiple LTE signals using signal amplification for multiple LTE signals.

In a mobile communication system, a wired or wireless repeater is used to extend coverage of a base station. Further, intensity of a signal received from the base station to the repeater may vary over time. In other words, the intensity of the signal received from the base station to the repeater may vary according to the number of serviced communication terminals, an amount of transmitted traffic, or channel fading. Also, in general, the repeater generally transfers constant transmission power regardless of the intensity of the signal received from the base station. FIG. 1 illustrates a general mobile communication system including a base station, a repeater, and a terminal.
The repeater has a constant range in which communication is possible, which is called coverage. From the viewpoint of cell planning, it is a very important matter to maintain constant coverage of the repeater. In other words, there are problems in that communication quality is degraded due to interference between adjacent coverage when the coverage of the repeater becomes wide, and an area in which service is impossible is generated when the coverage becomes narrow. The coverage of the repeater may be changed in a predetermined range (between coverage 1 and coverage 2), as illustrated in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a change in the coverage of the repeater.
Further, the coverage is actually determined based on intensity of a specific signal (e.g., a pilot signal) rather than total signal intensity. Therefore, there is a problem in that the constant coverage of the repeater cannot be maintained even when the repeater maintains constant transmission power.
In other words, a scheme for maintaining the constant coverage of the repeater is required for such a reason.
A conventional technology proposed to solve such a problem (Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 10-2006-0084761) is characterized in that coverage of a repeater is regulated through tracking of a pilot signal. However, there is a problem in that this conventional technology is restrictively applied to only a CDMA signal. In other words, the pilot signal is divided as a code in the CDMA signal, and it is not problematic to detect intensity of the pilot signal in the repeater.
However, in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technology, that is, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing system, pilots are scattered on time/frequency and thus high complexity is required to detect a pilot signal. FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating a pilot structure in an OFDM system. In the graph illustrated in FIG. 3, a horizontal axis indicates time, a vertical axis indicates a frequency, and RO indicates the pilot signal.
In other words, in the case of LTE that is an OFDM-based system, a position in a frequency domain of a reference signal serving as the pilot signal is changed according to a subframe number and a base station ID unlike a conventional technology. Accordingly, an additional apparatus for searching for the position of the pilot (reference) is required.

Apparatus for regulating transmission power of repeater in long term evolution system


A balanced gain control amplifier contains first and second transistors differentially connected to each other and having their emitters connected to a first current source. The balanced gain control amplifier also contains third and fourth transistors differentially connected to each other and having their emitters connected to a second constant current source. The collectors of the first and fourth transistors are connected to a power terminal through a common first load resistor, and the collectors of the second and third transistors are connected to the power terminal through a common second load resistor. A signal may be input between the bases of the first and third transistors and the bases of the second and fourth transistors. The current of the second constant current source is variable in a range no more than the current value of the first constant current source.

FIG. 6 illustrates a conventional gain control amplifier using a Gilbert cell. A differential amplifying circuit 21 includes a first transistor 21a and a second transistor 21b. The emitter of the first transistor 21a and the emitter of the second transistor 21b are connected to each other and a constant current source 22. A first gain control circuit 23 is connected to the collector of the first transistor 21a, and a second gain control circuit 24 is connected to the collector of the second transistor 21b.
The first gain control circuit 23 includes a third transistor 23a and a fourth transistor 23b. The emitters of the third transistor 23a and the fourth transistor 23b are connected to the collector of the first transistor 21a. The collector of one transistor (the third transistor) 23a is connected to a power source through a feeding resistor 23c. The collector of the other transistor (the fourth transistor) 23b is directly connected to the power source.
The second gain control circuit 24 includes a fifth transistor 24a and a sixth transistor 24b. The emitters of the fifth transistor 24a and the sixth transistor 24b are connected to the collector of the second transistor 21b. The collector of one transistor (the fifth transistor) 24a is connected to the power source through a feeding resistor 24c. The collector of the other transistor (the sixth transistor) 24b is directly connected to the power source.
Thus, the differential amplifying circuit 21 and the gain controlling circuits 23 and 24 are connected to the power source in series.
The base of the third transistor 23a of the first gain control circuit 23 and the base of the fifth transistor 24a of the second gain control circuit 24 are connected to each other. Meanwhile, the base of the fourth transistor 23b of the first gain control circuit 23 and the base of the sixth transistor 24b of the second gain control circuit 24 are connected to each other. A gain control voltage (AGC) is applied between a contact point located between the base of the third transistor 23a and the base of the fifth transistor 24a and a contact point between the base of the fourth transistor 23b and the base of the sixth transistor 24b. A signal is balanced-input to a place (IN) between the base of the first transistor 21a and the base of the second transistor 21b. A place (OUT) between the collector of the third transistor 23a and the collector of the fifth transistor 24a is a balanced output terminal (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-7667 (FIGS. 3 and 4)).
In the above structure, when the gain control voltage is changed, the increasing and decreasing direction of the current that flows to each one of transistors (the third transistor 23a and the fifth transistor 24a) of the gain control circuits 23 and 24, is reverse to the increasing and decreasing direction of the current that flows to the other transistors (the fourth transistor 23b and the sixth transistor 24b) of the gain control circuits 23 and 24, such that the level of a signal that is balanced-output to a place between the collector of the third transistor 23a and the collector of the fifth transistor 24a changes.
The above-mentioned gain control amplifier is widely used as a balanced gain control amplifier. However, the differential amplifying circuit and the gain control circuit are connected to the power source in series. Therefore, the voltage supplied to the respective circuits is reduced. Also when the source voltage is low, it is difficult to fully achieve the desired performance of the overall circuit.

Balanced variable gain amplifier capable of achieving performance by low source voltage


Catalyst comprising a perfluorinated ion-exchange microcomposite can be reactivated upon contact with at least one cleaning agent, such as an oxidizing agent, organic solvent, supercritical fluid or detergent. The process may further comprise heating prior to, during or after contact followed by washing with water and/or an organic solvent.

Catalysts comprising perfluorinated microcomposites are useful in a variety of catalytic reactions. As a result of their use in some of these reactions or during storage, contaminants may form upon or within the catalyst causing the catalyst to lose some or all of its activity. In some cases the used catalyst can be recycled by simply treating the used catalyst with an acid, such as nitric acid, followed by washing with water to remove any excess acid. (See WO 95/19222). However, following some catalytic reactions, this method is not sufficient to restore the activity of the catalyst to a useful level. Thus, there is a need to provide a means for reactivating or increasing the activity of a used perfluorinated ion exchange microcomposite catalyst.

Reactivation of perfluorinated ion-exchange microcomposite catalysts


Ink-jet ink sets, pigment-based ink formulations, methods of printing, and methods of enhancing print quality, are disclosed. One exemplary ink-jet ink set, among others, includes a pigment-based ink formulation at a first pH, including: a pigment-based ink, and an amphoteric dispersant having an isoelectric point; and a second ink formulation at a second pH, wherein the first pH and the second pH are each selected from an acidic pH and a basic pH, wherein the first pH and the second pH are not the same, and wherein the amphoteric dispersant has a higher isoelectric point than the first pH when the dispersant is acidic, and a lower isoelectric point than the first pH when the dispersant is basic.

The use of inkjet printing systems in offices and homes has grown dramatically in recent years. The growth can be attributed to drastic reductions in cost of inkjet printers and substantial improvements in print resolution and overall print quality. While the print quality has drastically improved, research and development efforts continue toward improving the permanence of inkjet images because this property still falls short of the permanence produced by other printing and photographic techniques. A continued demand in inkjet printing has resulted in the need to produce images of high quality, high permanence, and high durability, while maintaining a reasonable cost.
In inkjet printing, the inkjet image is formed on a print medium when a precise pattern of dots is ejected from a drop-generating device known as the printhead. The typical inkjet printhead has an array of precisely formed nozzles located on a nozzle plate and attached to an inkjet printhead array. The nozzles are typically 30 to 40 micrometers in diameter. The inkjet printhead array incorporates an array of firing chambers that receive liquid ink, which includes pigment-based inks and/or dye-based inks dissolved and/or dispersed in a liquid vehicle, through fluid communication with one or more ink reservoirs. Each chamber has a thin-film resistor, known as a firing resistor, located opposite the nozzle so that the ink can collect between the firing resistor and the nozzle. Upon energizing of a particular firing resistor, a droplet of ink is expelled through the nozzle toward the print medium to produce the image. The printhead is held and protected by an outer packaging referred to as a print cartridge or an inkjet pen.
When inks of different colors are printed next to each other on bond paper, copier paper, and other media, bleeding could result. Bleeding occurs as colors mix both on the surface of the paper being printed on and in the paper. The term "bleed" is defined as follows. When inks of two different colors are printed next to each other, it is desired that the border between the two colors be clean and free from the invasion of one color into the other. When one color does invade into the other, the border between the two colors becomes ragged, and this is called bleed. This is in contradistinction to uses of the term "bleed" in other situations, which often defines "bleed" in the context of ink of a single color following the fibers of the paper. In addition, when dye-based inks are printed adjacent to pigment-based inks, the dye-based ink may invade the pigmented ink causing a whitish edge to form in the pigmented ink. This is known as halo, and is most often observed when dye-based color inks are printed adjacent to pigment-based black inks.
Prior solutions to control bleed have largely involved the use of heated platens or other heat sources and/or special paper. Heated platens add cost to the printer. Special paper limits the user to a single paper, which is of a higher cost than a plain paper. Another way to reduce bleed involves increasing the penetration rate of the ink into the paper. However, increasing the penetration rate reduces the edge acuity (lowers the print quality of the print). Therefore, alternate bleed control mechanisms are needed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Amphoteric pigment dispersion containing ink formulations, methods of using ink formulations, and systems using ink formulations

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A seat cover for use with a chair is disclosed herein. The seat cover comprises a fabric cover, which has a back pocket, a seat form and a skirt portion. The seat cover also comprises a back form which has a front pad, a top pad, a first side pad, a second side pad and a first space defined by the front pad, the top pad, the first side pad and the second side pad. The seat cover further comprises a seat pad and a slip barrier.

While the present invention is often described herein with reference to a slip cover for use with a standard chair, an application to which the present invention is advantageously suited, it will be readily apparent that the present invention is not limited to that application and can be employed with chairs with a wide variety of dimensions and styles.
With respect to chairs for use with large banquet halls or large parties, a fundamental problem is present throughout the industry. Due to the large number of chairs associated with these venues or events, owners typically desire chairs that are uniform in design and can be quickly and easily stacked for storage, set-up or take-down, and transportation between the storage location and the venue. However, because of these requirements, the resulting chairs are typically barely, if at all, padded, and are rarely aesthetically pleasing.
One way to make the chairs more pleasing is to use a slip cover for each chair. There are a variety of slip covers for covering chairs that are commercially available in the marketplace. However, few, if any, of these slip covers include a padded section. Instead, these covers are used solely for aesthetics and rely on any padding that is integral with the existing chair to provide comfort for any potential user.
Moreover, these slip covers typically involve complicated, time-consuming arrangements to connect them to the chairs, such as tying strings around each leg and the back of the chair. This is not desirable because, as stated above, the ability to rapidly set-up and remove these chairs is important to the owners and/or service providers.
The foregoing indicates that there is a significant market potential for the use of slip covers with chairs that are able to be easily and rapidly set-up, taken down and/or stored, but also results in a padded chair that is aesthetically pleasing.


An electronic communication method and system are disclosed. Exemplary methods include using the second communication device, determining a presence of a first communication device, based on the step of determining the presence of the first communication device, using a cloud service, connecting the first communication device to the electronic communication, and using the cloud service, connecting the second communication device to the electronic communication. Exemplary methods and systems can provide a way to automatically extract meeting access information and seamlessly launch and/or log a user/participant into an electronic communication.

Traditionally, network-based conference services rely on a user or participant to provide credentials to initiate or join an electronic communication, such as a conference call. The user may have a communiqué, such as a calendar invitation or an email, with a meeting identification (or hyperlink), a meeting passcode, and sometimes even an additional personal passcode, to further identify the participant as a trusted user who is pre-verified to initiate or participate in, for example, a secure meeting. Initiating or joining such electronic communications is often a labor-intensive process, often requiring a user to locate instructions for joining the electronic communication and the credentials to register with a meeting service or a conference call as a trusted user, and then entering such information using a device.
Cell phones are becoming more and more sophisticated and are used to do more than just make phone calls, take pictures, and run apps. A portable device (such as the common mobile phone) can be used as a security implement in situations where a separate user-verification process can be implemented, for example, by entering a passcode, scanning a barcode within an application to identify the user or leveraging thumbprint, voiceprint, or facial recognition technology to supplement the traditional identification methods, such as showing or scanning physical cards, badges, or the like.
Generally, users prefer the path of least resistance when it comes to interacting with electronic devices. A good example is a touch screen device, which doesn't emphasize the use of a computer mouse or keyboard to scroll, and which can be used to select and/or type actions when navigating an application thereon. An ability of a user to just touch the commands or icons they desire is an example of aiming for sound interface design, like good writing, which requires rhetorical awareness. However, such interactions are generally lacking for initiating and/or participating in electronic communications.
Accordingly, improved methods and systems that allow a user to initiate and/or join electronic communications, such as network-based conference services, are desired.
It will be appreciated that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of illustrated embodiments of the present invention.

Electronic collaboration and communication method and system


Prodrugs of Formula I, their uses, their intermediates, and their method of manufacture are described:

The following description of the background of the invention is provided to aid in understanding the invention, but is not admitted to be, or to describe, prior art to the invention. All publications are incorporated by reference in their entirety.
9-(2-phosphonylmethoxyethyl)adenine (PMEA) and related analogues (U.S. Pat. No. 4,808,716; U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,051; De Clercq, et al., Antiviral Res. 8(5–6):261–72 (1987)) are phosphonic ac exhibit antiviral activity, including activity against hepatitis B and HIV. The dipivaloyloxy methylene ester of PMEA ("Bis POM PMEA") is in clinical trials for the treatment of hepatitis B. (Benhamou, et al., Lancet 358(9283):718–23 (2001)) PMEA is thought to act by blocking DNA polymerase of HBV. In addition, some studies have shown that these compounds also show anticancer activity. (Murono, et al., Cancer Res., 61(21):7875–7 (2001)) The biologically active compound is thought to be the diphosphate, such as PMEApp, which is produced from the phosphonic acid most likely as result of specific mammalian intracellular kinases.
Compounds containing phosphonic acids and their salts are highly charged at physiological pH and therefore frequently exhibit poor oral bioavailability, poor cell penetration and limited tissue distribution (e.g., CNS). In addition, these acids are also commonly associated with several other properties that hinder their use as drugs, including short plasma half-life due to rapid renal clearance, as well as toxicities (e.g., renal, gastrointestinal, etc.) (e.g., Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 42(5): 1146–50 (1998)).
For example, PMEA exhibits a very low volume of distribution, presumably due to its high negative charge. In humans, 98% of the dose is excreted renally as a result of the presence of organic anion transporters on the basolateral surface of the kidney tubule cells which help facilitate the renal clearance of PMEA. PMEA therapy is associated with severe renal toxicity possibly due to the exposure and accumulation of PMEA and related phosphorylated species in the kidney. Thus, there is a need for means to reduce the toxicity of PMEA and related analogues.
Cyclic phosphonate esters have also been described for PMEA and related analogues. The numbering for these cyclic esters is shown below:
Unsubstituted cyclic 1′,3′-propanyl esters of PMEA were prepared but showed no in vivo activity. EP 0 481 214 B1 discloses examples of cyclic prodrugs of PMEA wherein the 1′ and 3′ positions are unsubstituted. The application and a subsequent publication by the inventors (Starrett et al., J. Med. Chem. 37:1857–1864 (1994)) further disclose their findings with the compounds, namely that these compounds showed no oral bioavailability and no biological activity. The compounds were shown to be unstable at low pH, e.g., the cyclic 2′,2′-difluoro-1′,3′-propane ester is reported to be hydrolytically unstable with rapid generation of the ring-opened monoester.
Cyclic prodrugs with aryl groups at 1′ are described for phosphonates that are known to be particularly useful in glucose lowering activity and therefore are useful in treating diabetes. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,658,889, WO 98/39344, WO 98/39343, and WO 98/39342) In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 6,312,662 discloses the use of this strategy for the liver-specific delivery of various drugs and compound classes to the liver for the treatment of patients with liver diseases such as hepatitis B and hepatocellular carcinoma.
Furthermore, diseases of the liver, such as hepatitis and liver cancer, remain poorly treated with current therapies due to dose-limiting extrahepatic side effects or inadequate delivery of chemotherapeutic agents to the target tissue.

Phosphonic acid based prodrugs of PMEA and its analogues

Abstract: wherein:        M and V are cis to one another and MPO3H2 is a phosphonic acid selected from the group consisting of 9-(2-phosphonylmethoxyethyl)adenine, (R)-9-(2-phosphonylmethoxy propyl)adenine, 9-(2-phosphonylmethoxyethyl)guanine, 9-(2-phosphonylmethoxy ethyloxy)adenine, 9-(2-phosphonylmethoxyethyl)-2,6-diaminopurine, (S)-1-(3-hydroxy-2-phosphonylmethoxypropyl)cytosine, (S)-9-(3-hydroxy-2-phosphonylmethoxypropyl)adenine, 9-(3-hydroxy-2-phosphonylmethoxypropyl)guanine, and (S)-9-(3-fluoro-2-phosphonyl methoxypropyl)adenine;        V is selected from a group consisting of phenyl, 2-pyridyl, 3-pyridyl, 4-pyridyl, 2-furanyl, 3-furanyl, 2-thienyl, and 3-thienyl, all optionally substituted with 1-3 substituents selected from a group consisting of F, Cl, Br, C1-C3 alkyl, CF3 and OR6;        R6 is selected from the group consisting of C1-C3 alkyl, and CF3;        and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.


Techniques for forming a document model for constructing a semantically and syntactically valid document are provided. In one embodiment, a method for forming a document model for constructing a semantically and syntactically valid document includes the steps of: creating a root tag element corresponding to a root of the document to be constructed, the root tag element including information relating to a corresponding tag; associating one or more model elements with the root tag element, each model element representing an alternative to the information relating to the corresponding tag; and for each of the model elements, creating a syntactically and semantically valid sub-tree of elements based at least in part upon a structure of the document to be constructed under one or more predetermined conditions.

In general, electronic documents, such as, for example, Extensible Markup Language (XML)-based documents, often have an associated set of rules or grammar that describes the allowable syntactic constraint or structure. In the case of XML-based documents, this grammar is expressed in one of at least two possible formats: a Document Type Definition (DTD) or an XML-Schema. Each format essentially describes XML tags (e.g., sub-tags) that are allowed under a given XML tag. A document that conforms to the syntax rules found in the associated grammar is considered to be a valid document.
Often, syntax rules define additional constraints, referred to herein as semantic constraints, that are not considered to be part of the grammar and thus are not uniformly applied. For instance, certain syntax rules may declare that a sub-tag is optional, or the syntax rules may define a minimum and/or maximum number of times a sub-tag can be allowed under a given XML tag. However, the actual number of times a sub-tag is used will vary depending upon the particular application employing the document.
The following are some common examples of semantic constraints that are not presently captured in a conventional grammar model:                1. There are semantically and syntactically valid choices for sub-trees for any tag in the XML-based document;        2. Each choice of a sub-tree of a tag can imply the automatic selection and/or exclusion of a sub-tree of another tag (not related to the first tag by ancestry). These are called selection constraints. By way of example, FIG. 1 illustrates selection constraints in a Trading Partner Agreement (TPA) application. In this application, the TPA 100 has a section defining participants 102 and a section defining communications 104. The Participants section 102 may have two alternatives: "Alternative 1" 106, where both parties are arbitrary and all information must be entered at the time of authoring; and "Alternative 2" 108, where one of the participants is known, and information pertaining to the known participant is supplied in the model. In the Communications section 104, there may be two alternatives: "Alternative A" 110, where the communications protocol is unknown and must be selected; and "Alternative B" 112, where the protocol is known, as it is the only protocol supported by the known service provider. If the first alternative 106 in the participants section 102 is chosen (i.e., where both parties are arbitrary), then the first alternative 110 in the communications section 104 is required. Similarly, if the second alternative 106 in the participants section 102 is chosen (i.e., where the service provider is known), then the second alternative 112 in the communications section 104 should be required;        3. While a grammar may describe a tag as optional, the semantics may specify that the tag is required, prohibited, or truly optional (and left to the author for possible inclusion during the authoring of the document);        4. While a grammar may describe the minimum and/or maximum number of times a sub-tag may be included as a child of a given (parent) tag, the semantics may further require a particular number of inclusions, or it may leave the actual number to the author during the authoring of the document;        5. While a grammar may describe the data type (specifically, the XML Schema can do this), the form of the data (e.g., date format) can vary depending upon the semantics of the document (e.g., UK time vs. U.S. time vs. military time, etc.);        6. Data fields and attributes may have default values;        7. Orderable data fields can have minimum and/or maximum values;        8. Several fields (e.g., data and attribute) must have the same value, such that when one is changed, the other fields must reflect the change.
Conventionally, there are primarily two ways an XML-based document can be constructed so that it is both syntactically and semantically valid. The first approach involves the use of an XML editor that utilizes the grammar to force conformance to the syntax rules described in the grammar. Since the editor has no knowledge of the application being addressed, however, the semantic constraints are left to the person (or author) constructing the document. Often, a manual or guide prepared by an expert can be used to assist the author. There is, nevertheless, no assurance that the resulting XML-based document is semantically valid, since the author's subjective interpretation of the guide might have been incorrect.
A second conventionally used approach for constructing an XML-based document that is both syntactically and semantically valid is to use an XML editor that is specifically written for the particular application being addressed. The semantic rules would be captured in the logic of the XML editor. As such, however, the rules cannot be easily modified, and each application requiring different semantics would require a different XML editor.
Recent trends in business-to-business operations involve the description of services performed by one business partner on behalf of another. This description has been written as an XML-based document. Considering the Trading Partner Agreement (TPA) example described above, such a document not only describes the various services performed, but the format of messages between partners, the protocol used to transmit the messages, and actions taken when one of the partners is unable to operate normally. There are semantic relationships between many sections of the TPA, so that, for example, the structure or content of one section is dependent upon the structure or content of another. Ordinarily, the semantic validity of a TPA cannot be easily verified without attempting to build the business-to-business framework described by the TPA. It is too expensive to verify the validity of a document in this manner. Rather, it would be advantageous to be able to force the validity of the document during the authoring of the TPA.
As businesses and other suitable applications begin to focus, for example, on XML as a useful description language for documents, such as contracts and processes, the need to verify the semantic validity of these documents becomes imperative. Presently, there is no means to adequately specify semantic constraints similar to the manner in which syntactic constraints are described in a grammar. There is a need, therefore, in the field of document authoring (e.g., XML documents), for a semantic model, and an implementation thereof, in which semantic constraints can be easily and efficiently described and verified.

Methods and apparatus for constructing semantic models for document authoring

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention relates to an electrical contact element (1), that has a plurality of contact areas (21, 22), with a base body (6) made from a first material and a coating (7) applied to the base body (6) made from a coating material. In at least one area of the base body (6) within at least one contact area (21, 22) in each case the first material is removed and is at least partially replaced by a second material. The second material and the coating material each have a higher electrical conductivity than the first material.

Electrical contact elements are used for the electrical connection of in each case two contact surfaces, which are applied to two different electrical or electronic components, for example, to a printed circuit board, an integrated circuit or a plug.
An electrical contact element is usually composed of a base body made from a comparatively hard base material, for example, from metal or ceramic, and a coating applied to the base body made from a coating material deviating from the base material. The base material has a certain hardness with regard to the mechanical stability of the contact element. Since the coating of the electrical contact element assumes the function of the electrical contacting, a comparatively soft material can be used as the coating material. The coating material should have a good electrical conductivity and in addition a high corrosion resistance. Gold is typically used as a coating material. In addition, however, for example, silver, ruthenium and rhodium are also used as coating material.
A contact element with a gold coating is known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 3,525,066 A.
If electrical contact elements are used, for example, in test sockets, in which integrated circuits to be tested are used, then a slight plane-parallel movement of the contact area of the electrical contact element occurs on the contact surface of the integrated circuit to be contacted each time an integrated circuit to be tested is inserted into the socket. This plane-parallel movement of the contact area of the contact element at the associated contact surface of the integrated circuit leads in the course of time to an undesired removal of the coating material in the contact area of the contact element. This removal of the coating material in the contact area of the contact element disadvantageously increases the electrical contact resistance of the electrical contact element in the contact area and thus the electrical contacting between the electrical contact element and the associated contact surface of the integrated circuit to be tested.
In the case of an electrical contact element according to the prior art the coating material is reduced after the removal process on the created contact surface only on the thin edge surface areas, which belong to the coatings of the contact element lateral to the contact surface. Since said edge surface areas with coating material are comparatively very small, the electrical contact resistance of the electrical contact element deteriorates significantly in the scraped-off contact area.
This is a state, which must be improved.


A reader with a radio frequency identification function for reading a signal of an electronic tag includes a casing, a first circuit board, a second circuit board and a transmission interface. The casing in a racket shape is composed of an upper casing and a lower casing. Each of the upper and lower casings has a large-area receiving portion with a surface in a racket shape. The first circuit board is installed in the large-area receiving portion and can be designed with a large area of RFID antenna pattern. The second circuit board can be installed on the radio frequency identification (RFID) circuit. After the antenna of the first circuit board receives a signal from the electronic tag, the signal is processed and stored by the second circuit board or transmitted to an external computer through a transmission interface installed on the casing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a reader, and more particularly to a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader.
2. Description of Prior Art
In recent years, electronic tag becomes a mainstream development of automatic identification technology to overcome the drawbacks of bar codes. Manufacturers spare no effort to find a better solution, and thus the radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and "electronic tag" are introduced.
RFID is a non-contact automatic identification technology for identifying a target object and obtaining related data through a radio frequency signal. The identification work requires no manual operation, and thus RFID is considered as a version of wireless bar code. In addition, the RFID technology has more advantages including water resistance, magnetism resistance, high temperature resistance, long life, large reading distance, encrypted data in the tag, large data storage capacity, and flexible information update than traditional bar codes, and the applications of RFID will bring a revolutionary change to the business model of stores and the purchasing behavior of consumers.
Since electronic tags are used extensively in the area of managing books, products or tools, users simply hold a reader to read a signal transmitted from the electronic tag attached on the book, product or tool to find out the location of the book, product or tool. The transmission power of the electronic tag is small, and thus the reader cannot read the signal from the electronic tag if the electronic tag is attached to a different position of the book, product or tool, or the electronic tag is situated at a high position. As a result, users may not be able to find the required book, product or tool easily, and it thus causes tremendous inconvenience to users.

Reader with radio frequency identification function


An electric furnace includes a heating element which is a hollow element made of a lanthanum chromite ceramic having an interior with two open ends in an longitudinal direction, terminal portions at the two ends, and a heat-generating portion between the terminal portions. The terminal portion has a cross-sectional area larger than that of the heat-generating portion on a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. The heating element is provided with high-temperature electrodes and metallic lead wires attached to the terminal portions to generate heat in the heat-generating portion. The electric furnace further includes a heat-insulating material surrounding the heating element, and a hollow ceramic member placed in the interior of the heating element.

Electric furnaces are required to have various performance characteristics such as an ability to rapidly elevate the temperature, superior stability in a high-temperature oxidizing atmosphere, good durability against continuous use at high temperatures and against repeated increase and decrease of temperatures, a long length of soaking zone in a heating chamber, high handleability and the like.
Conventional electric furnaces equipped with resistance heating elements have the structure shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B wherein a plurality of cylindrical heating elements 12 are arranged around a furnace tube 13 used as a heating chamber, and wherein said heating elements are surrounded with a heat-resistant tube 14, heat-insulating layers 15 and 16 and an external casing 17 in this order.
However, the electric furnaces of this structure are adapted to indirectly heat the heating chamber by radiation of Joule heat from the cylindrical heating elements 12, and thus require a number of heating elements 12, involving a drawback of having a complicated structure and a great size as compared with the effective volume of the heating chamber. Such electric furnaces have posed problems such as poor durability due to low heating efficiency. Further, other problems exist in terms of the service life of heating elements and economy, because the constituent materials for electric furnaces have a large heat capacity and great electric power is required for heating to a predetermined temperature and in maintaining the temperature.


A processor and method for out-of-order execution of instructions are disclosed which fetch a first and a second instruction, wherein the first instruction precedes the second instruction in a program order. A determination is made whether execution of the second instruction is subject to execution of the first instruction. In response to a determination that execution of the second instruction is subject to execution of the first instruction, the second instruction is selectively executed prior to the first instruction in response to a parameter of at least one of the first and second instructions. In one embodiment, the parameter is an execution latency parameter of the first and second instructions.

1. Technical Field
The technical field of the present specification relates in general to a method and system for data processing and in particular to a processor and method for executing instructions. Still more particularly, the technical field relates to a processor and method for selective out-of-order execution of instructions based upon an instruction parameter.
2. Description of the Related Art
Within state-of-the-art processors, out-of-order execution of instructions is often employed to maximize the utilization of execution unit resources within the processor, thereby enhancing overall processor efficiency. Several factors influence the execution of instructions out of linear program order, including the availability of execution unit resources, data dependencies between instructions, and the availability of rename and completion buffers. The performance enhancement resulting from out-of-order execution is maximized when implemented within a superscalar processor having multiple execution units capable of executing multiple instructions concurrently and independently. In state-of-the-art processors that support out-of-order execution of instructions, instructions are typically dispatched according to program order, executed opportunistically within the execution units of the processor, and completed in program order.
Although, in general, this practice leads to efficient processor performance, in some processors that support out-of-order execution, in-order dispatch of particular sequences of instructions results in inefficiency when such adherence to program order causes a dispatch stall for subsequent instructions. For example, referring now to FIG. 4A, there is depicted an instruction execution timing diagram for an exemplary instruction sequence in which the in-order dispatch of instructions results in a dispatch stall within a superscalar processor having one floating-point, one fixed-point, and one load/store execution unit. For the purpose of this discussion, assume that the floating-point execution unit of the processor is a pipelined execution unit having 3 stages: multiply, add, and normalize/round. In addition, assume that the processor can dispatch up to 2 instructions per cycle in program order, but that only one instruction can be dispatched to each execution unit during a single cycle. Finally, assume that some floating-point instructions, for example, double-precision floating-point multiplication instructions, have a longer execution latency than other floating-point instructions, such as floating-point addition and subtraction instructions.
As illustrated in FIG. 4A, instructions 1 and 2, a double-precision floating-point multiply and a single-precision floating-point subtraction, respectively, are fetched from memory during cycle 1. Next, during cycle 2, instructions 3 and 4, two fixed-point instructions, are fetched while instruction 1 is dispatched. Only instruction 1 is dispatched during cycle 2 because instructions 1 and 2 are both floating-point instructions, which require execution by the floating-point execution unit. During cycle 3, the dispatch of instructions 2-4 is inhibited since the execution within the described processor of double-precision floating-point multiply instructions (e.g., instruction 1) requires 2 cycles at the multiply and add stages, resulting in a total execution latency of 4 cycles for instruction 1. Thereafter, instruction 2-4 are dispatched during cycles 4-6, respectively. The execution of instructions 1 and 2 continues until cycles 6 and 7, when instructions 1 and 2 finish execution and the results of instructions 1 and 2 are stored within floating-point registers.
As should thus be apparent from the exemplary instruction execution timing diagram pictured in FIG. 4A, dispatching and executing instructions in program order that are directed to the same execution unit and have differing execution latencies can cause a stall of the dispatcher and consequently diminishes overall processor performance. Accordingly, there is a need for a processor which supports the selective out-of-order execution of instructions based upon a parameter of one or more instructions.
It should also be noted that it is well-known in the art to utilize various compiler optimizations to take advantage of particular architectural efficiencies by compiling a sequence of instructions in alternative program orders. However, such compilers are distinguishable from the present disclosure in that the present disclosure concerns the real-time intelligent ordering of the execution of instructions to maximize processor efficiency rather than the manipulation of the sequence of instructions within the program order.

Processor and method for out-of-order execution of instructions based upon an instruction parameter

International Business Machines Corporation


A homogeneous method for detecting amplified RNA or DNA target sequences utilizes signal-labelled DNA or RNA probes which show detectably increased fluorescence polarization when hybridized to target sequences. A convenient one-step analytical procedure requiring no nucleic acid extraction or signal separation step is thereby provided.

In the study of cell populations associated with disease states it is frequently found that only a subpopulation of available susceptible cells actually exhibit the morbid phenotype. In infectious diseases, the proportions of cells which are passively or actively infected may be very low, and the disease caused by the infectious agent may go unnoticed clinically even though an infected individual can transmit the agent to others. Examples of such infectious agents are clammy, protozoans, certain bacteria, and many viruses.
Amongst viruses, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is known to have an extremely long latent period before the onset of the clinical symptoms known as AIDS. Latency may extend to several years during which the infected individual is capable of transmitting the virus to others through intimate contact, sharing of intravenous injection apparatus, or through donation of blood products.
HIV infection is specific for thymus-derived lymphocytes (T cells), and in particular the subset T cells having immune helper function. These T cells possess highly specific HIV receptors on their surfaces to which the virus attaches to gain entry to the cell. Monoclonal antibodies, grouped generally in the CD4 cluster, see Leukocyte Typing III, Ed. A. J. McMichael, Oxford University Press, 1987, and specific for the HIV receptor, have been isolated heretofore (see Kung et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,295). A signal molecule can be attached to such antibodies which binds selectively to those cells expressing the receptor antigen thereby identifying the helper T cell subpopulation. Quantitation of cell numbers of such lymphocyte subpopulations may conveniently be carried out in a flow cytometer.
In normal individuals approximately 50 percent of peripheral T cells are helper cells. In HIV infected patients, this proportion declines sharply because the virus is cytotoxic to helper T cells. In latent infections or early in the course of clinical disease, the proportion of the helper T cell population actually containing virus, in either lytic or latent phase, may be very low, even to the order of 1 to 1000. This means that in such patients, a 2 ml sample of blood may contain only one or a few copies of the virus or its genome. At his stage of infection, no antibodies to viral proteins can be detected, even with the most sensitive immunological techniques available. There is a great danger that individuals at such early stages of infection may transmit the virus in donated blood without the virus being detected by conventional screening methods.
The most sensitive immunological techniques are capable of detecting antibody by HIV at minimally 21 days post-infection. A variety of immunoassays for detection of HIV have been described including enzyme-linked immunoassays (ELISA), immunodiffusion assays, radioimmunoassays (RIA), and the classical Western blot. Also a number of distinct assay strategies have been developed. One group of assays utilizes HIV viral antigens, particularly viral protein containing epitopes in conserved domains, bound covalently to a solid matrix. The matrix-bound enzyme is contacted with a serum sample, and any anti-antigen antibodies contained therein bind to antigen. In the typical sandwich assay, antiserum raised in a heterologous species against human antibody antigens conjugated to an enzyme (ELISA), fluorescent molecule, or other signal generating substance, is then reacted with the washed matrix-bound antigen-anti-antigen complex. The signal emitted by the signal generating substance is typically a chromophor, fluorescent signal, beta or gamma radiation, or other such measurable emission.
Alternatively, analysis of serum antibodies may be obtained by Western blot consisting of gel electrophoresis of viral proteins, electrotransfer of the proteins to blotting paper, followed by reaction with antisera, and color development of the individual protein bands. The Western blot analysis is employed on a confirming test by blood banks in blood screening procedures. For a general review of the various immunological methods available, see Stites et al., Basic & Clinical Immunology, Appleton & Lange, 1987.
There have been many attempts in the prior art to make detection of serum antibodies to HIV or other low concentration targets more sensitive and selective. The two major approaches have been target amplification and signal amplification. In signal amplification, the object is to couple a very low level signal event to a large number of subsequent secondary signals which can be detected and quantified. It is apparent that this coupling must be highly specific so that background secondary signals do not proportionally increase. One such signal amplification system takes advantage of the extremely high affinity of avidin for biotin. A large number of biotin molecules can be covalently coupled to an antibody specific for viral antigens. When reacted with fluorochome-coupled avidin a large complex is formed having unusually brilliant fluorescence. Another system utilizes a mixture of monoclonal antibodies conjugated to a signal generating substance, each individual antibody type being specific for a different structurally distinct epitope. The theory is that a greater number of signal generating antibody molecules will bind to antigen if there are no overlapping specificities.
Another approach is to target nucleic acid sequences of the virus with a homologous nucleic acid probe coupled to a signal amplification system. Under renaturing conditions the viral RNA (or denatured DNA) anneals to the complementary sequence of an oligonucleotide probe. Detection of the hybrid is afforded by signal generating substances covalently conjugated to the probe. Applicable to his approach are the enzyme proteolyzes a zymogen which then acts upon a substrate to generate a measurable signal. Many of the variations in such techniques are described in Lelie et al., Detection of HIV Infection Using Second-Generation HIV Assay, IV International AIDS Symposium, Stockholm, 1988.
The second major approach involves target amplification in which the target interacting with the signal-generating entity is itself multiplied in number. Since proteins cannot replicate, target amplification inherently requires a nucleic acid sequence, and an enzymatic system which can replicate the target sequence in vitro. One such target amplification technique is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,195 (Mullis et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,202 (Mullis), and is called polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification.
In PCR, a mixture of nucleic acids containing a DNA sequence in a small quantity is heated to denature double stranded DNA. Primers consisting of a oligonucleotide capable of mediating DNA synthesis from a single stranded template is added under conditions which favor annealing of the primers to their specific complementary sequences. A thermostable DNA polymerase is added, and an extension reaction proceeds at 72.degree. C. in the presence of deoxynucleotide triphosphates, adenosine triphosphate and cofactors. The reaction is run at high temperatures to avoid non-specific binding of primer to non-homologous sequences. Under these stringent conditions fidelity of polymerization to the desired sequences is very high.
After polymerization is complete, the mixture is again heated to denature the double stranded DNAs, and the extension reaction is repeated. Such repetition of extension polymerization may occur several times until the target sequence is amplified in numbers sufficient to detect by any of the signal-conjugated probe assays described hereinabove.
In a second target amplification scheme called TAS, a first primer oligonucleotide or oligonucleotide containing an RNA transcriptase promoter-binding sequence is annealed to the target sequence and extended by DNA polymerase or reverse transcriptase. Following melting, a second primer complementary to the newly formed oligomer in a region distal to the first primer binding sequence is added, annealed, and extended. The resultant duplex DNA oligomer thus has a sequence flanking the target region and containing a transcriptional promoter. Addition of RNA transcriptase, in the presence of oligonucleotide triphosphates, adenosine triphosphate, and cofactors institutes transcription in vitro yielding up to 1000 copies of the target sequence. The TAS methods have been disclosed in WO 88/01050 (Berg et al.).
In a variation of TAS, RNAse H is added to the reaction mix. RNAse H specifically catalyzes the step-wise hydrolysis of RNA bases in an RNA-DNA duplex, so that after a cDNA strand has been synthesized with reverse transcriptase the RNAse digests the RNA strand of the duplex to permit synthesis of the second complementary DNA strand by DNA polymerase. It will be apparent that since a heating step to melt the DNA-RNA duplex is unnecessary for cyclization of the reaction, the entire amplification can be performed in a single incubation. The disadvantages of the TAS and 3SR methods, compared to PCR is the lesser degree of stringency because of non-specific primer bonding at the lower temperature.
Finally, target amplification can be carried out in a ligase-mediated procedure. In this procedure, complementary primer sets form adjacent hybrids on both complementary strands of the target. Ligase then joins the primers together at the nick separation, after hybridization. The ligated double primer can then act as a template for further ligation of primers in a subsequent melting and rehybridization step.
After the target amplification, the nucleic acids are ordinarily extracted and the amplified sequences are detected by the procedures set forth hereinabove. It should be emphasized that the known procedures of the prior art are heterogeneous, that is, they require multiple steps in which the DNA is first hybridized to a signal generating probe, followed by a step in which the unhybridized probe is separated from hybridized probe. ordinarily different sets of reagents are required for signal generation than for probe hybridization and separation. A completely homogeneous method for detection of amplified nucleic acids without a separation step is unknown in the prior art.

Detection of DNA/RNA by fluorescence polarization


A method includes generating a layer three trap packet that includes an indicator that indicates an audit request of a resident configuration file, transmitting the layer three trap packet to another device, receiving a reference configuration file in response to transmitting the layer three trap packet, comparing the resident configuration file with the reference configuration file, and replacing the resident configuration with the reference configuration file when a difference between the reference configuration file and the resident configuration file exists.

There are various occurrences that necessitate the audit or verification of a configuration associated with a network device. For example, when the network device needs to be reset, when the network device goes through a power cycle, when a new network device is installed, or when the integrity of the configuration associated with the network device is uncertain, an administrator may initiate an audit process to verify the configuration of the network device. Typically, the administrator may manually download a reference configuration file to the network device. Unfortunately, the audit process may be time consuming, utilize human resources, and/or may cause interruption of services to customers.


An example control method is a method for controlling an air conditioner to turn a state in closed space to a predetermined target state. The control method includes: setting a target value for controlling a physical quantity; measuring the physical quantity at different positions in the closed space, and calculating a moving average of measurements of the physical quantity measured at each of the different positions; and controlling the air conditioner in such a manner that a median between the maximum value and the minimum value of the plurality of calculated moving averages is the target value.

Environmental testers, such as thermostat chambers and thermostat-humidistat chambers used for material tests, which can stably keep physical quantities, such as temperature, humidity, etc., in a test chamber as closed space to predetermined target values have been known (see, e.g., Patent Document 1). In such an environmental tester, a temperature sensor and a humidity sensor are provided in the test chamber surrounded by adiabatic walls, and an air conditioner including a refrigerator, a humidifier, and a heater is controlled based on the values measured by the sensors. Thus, air is circulated between the test chamber and the air conditioner, and the temperature and the humidity in the test chamber are kept to target temperature and target humidity, respectively.

Method for controlling air conditioner and environmental tester


Systems and methods are provided for prioritizing the processing of standardized tests. One aspect of the present subject matter relates to a method for processing completed standardized tests. In one embodiment, test-processing priority information is received, and is associated with machine-readable identifiers for standardized tests. Completed standardized tests are received, and are identified by reading machine-readable identifiers. The identified standardized tests are processed according to the associated test-processing priority information such that higher priority tests are automatically processed before lower priority tests. Other aspects are provided herein.

One method for evaluating the knowledge or skill of a person includes the use of standardized tests. For example, standardized tests are used to monitor the academic progress of students. Some standardized tests incorporate objective test questions that are answered by filling in an appropriate oval in an associated bubble-type answer sheet using a pencil. Some standardized tests include open-ended questions. Examples of open-ended questions in these tests include essay questions, fill-in-the-blank questions, fill-in-the-map questions, math questions, and motor skill questions in which a test taker draws geometric shapes. Open-ended questions, also referred to herein as scoring tasks or test items, are evaluated and scored by a human reviewer, also referred to herein as a reader.
A large number of completed standardized tests are received at a test-processing center from a number of test-taking centers. Many testing projects have various time constraints. These time constraints provide a complicating factor in processing the large number of tests.
There is a need in the art to provide improved systems and methods for processing completed standardized tests.

Priority system and method for processing standardized tests


Described are methods for reducing the formation of amphetamine carbamate and amphetacarbamate in transdermal amphetamine compositions, compositions with low levels of amphetacarbamate, and methods using such compositions for transdermal delivery of amphetamine.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurobehavioral disorder that typically begins in childhood and often persists into adulthood. ADHD is characterized by developmentally inappropriate levels of inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. Although individuals with this disorder can be very successful in life, without identification and proper treatment, ADHD may have serious consequences, including school failure, family stress and disruption, depression, problems with relationships, substance abuse, delinquency, risk for accidental injuries and job failure. Thus, early identification and treatment can be extremely important to a subject's quality of life.
ADHD is the most common developmental disorder of childhood, affecting about 3 to 5% of children globally and diagnosed in about 2 to 16% of school aged children. In addition, it is estimated that 4.7% of American adults live with ADHD. Amphetamine products currently approved for use in the U.S. for the treatment of ADHD are oral dosage forms, including ADDERALL XR® (amphetamine, d-amphetamine mixed salts) and VYVANSE® (lisdexamfetamine) (a prodrug of amphetamine).
Transdermal amphetamine compositions and amphetamine transdermal delivery systems have been described in previous patents and patent applications, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,993,671; 8,632,802; 8,216,606; 9,034,370; 8,337,884; 8,187,628; 8,916,191; 8,591,941; 8,815,281; 9,155,712; 10,231,938; 9,333,263; 9,456,993; 9,474,722; 9,901,552; 10,004,696, U.S. Patent Application Publication 2015/0104495; U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,703,175; 9,295,726; U.S. Patent Application Publication 2015/0342899. However, there is no approved transdermal amphetamine product. Thus, there remains a need for transdermal amphetamine compositions and amphetamine transdermal delivery systems. For potency and safety reasons, there is a particular need for transdermal amphetamine compositions and amphetamine transdermal delivery systems that have at most low levels of amphetamine related compounds, including the newly discovered amphetamine-related compounds, amphetamine carbamate and amphetacarbamate.

Transdermal amphetamine compositions with low levels of carbamate


A magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus is provided which prevents the deterioration of the signal quality when a portion of a signal recorded on successive tracks on the magnetic tape is dubbed (postrecorded).

The present invention relates to an apparatus for recording/reproducing a digital video signal or a digital audio signal on/from a magnetic tape, and more particularly, to an apparatus for controlling the relative position between a magnetic tape and a magnetic head during postrecording or dubbing operation.
FIG. 8 is an example of a schematic representation of a recording pattern produced by a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus having a plurality of rotary magnetic heads. In this example, one frame of a television signal is divided across ten tracks. The digital video signal and the digital audio signal are recorded on the respective tracks in a time divisional manner (the structure of each track will be described in greater detail with reference to FIG. 9). Four channels of the digital audio signal can be recorded in a frame of a television signal. Two channels are recorded on the first five tracks of the frame, and the remaining two channels are recorded on the last five tracks of the frame.
Normally, this recording pattern is formed by one pair of magnetic heads whose azimuth angles are different from each other, and which are positioned at the opposite ends of a diameter of a circle (i.e., 180.degree. apart) formed by the outer periphery of a rotary drum. However, when digital signals are sequentially postrecorded or dubbed onto a track, a portion of a preceding track is overwritten in such a manner that its track pitch becomes smaller than the width of the magnetic head.
FIG. 9 is a schematic representation of a track in FIG. 8. The left end of the track lies at the head inlet (rush in) side, and the right side of the track lies at the head exit (separating) side. Each track is composed of an ITI (insert and track information) area, an audio data recording area, a video data recording area and a sub-code data recording area. The contents of these data recording areas are rewritable by way of dubbing.
No data is recorded on an overwrite margin area provided at the right end of the track, and on an IBG (interblock gap) area provided between the respective data recording areas. A pulse signal having the same frequency as the bit frequency of the data is recorded in the amble area, i.e., run up and guard areas, and the amble area is utilized as a PLL lock for extracting a bit clock during the reproducing operation. It should be noted that the overwrite margin provided at the right end portion of the track corresponds to a jitter margin.
FIG. 10 is an example of a schematic representation of the recording pattern corresponding to a two-channel digital audio signal. The digital audio signals in the first five tracks of a frame are assumed to be overwritten by the dubbing process. As illustrated in FIG. 10, the audio undercoat of track 9 (i.e., the previously recorded audio data which is being overwritten by dubbing) is magnetically reduced by the overwrite recording of track 0 and the audio undercoat of track 5 is magnetically reduced by the overwrite recording of track 4. Consequently, during the reproduction of tracks 5 and 9, the C/N (carrier to noise) ratio deteriorates and lowers the reproduction quality of the digital audio signals.

Magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus and method for controlling the magnetic head during postrecording or dubbing operation


A cylinder which can precisely feed a piston rod 3 into three different positions. The cylinder includes a spring receiving member 14 which is placed coaxially with the piston rod in a piston room. Movement of the piston 4 is limited by one end of the piston room and a stopper 8 formed on the piston rod which prevents the piston from moving in the opposite direction. A first spring member 15 is disposed in the cylinder tube 2 to separate the spring receiving member from the piston. A hollow 9 is formed on the periphery of the piston rod at a further position from the piston than the stopper and a stop pin 11 in the cylinder tube 2 which is biased in the direction of the hollow by a second spring member 12 engages with the hollow. A load port utilizes the cylinder for a production system.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a cylinder, a load port using it and a production system using the load port, and in particular, to a load port which complies with the SEMI standard and copes with FOUPs (Front Opening Unified Pods) having a variety of latchkey receptacle shapes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Until now, open cassettes have been mainly used as a container which stores a plurality of semiconductor wafers. However, in order to reduce the production cost of high-characteristic semiconductor devices, the mini-environment systems have been advocated, which reduce the cost related to a clean room. In the mini-environment systems, the SMIF (Standard Mechanical Interface) system is widely used for 200 mm-wafers, and the FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) system is being examined to be used for 300 mm-wafers.
The FOUP system was advocated and provisionally standardized at SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International) composed of semiconductor manufacturing equipment manufacturers and material manufacturers all over the world. Semiconductor device manufacturers are also preparing to construct the mass-production line with this system. The FOUP system was technically examined at the standard committee of SEMI and was provisionally standardized. Here, the SEMI standard E57-0299 strictly defines the accuracy of the load port mechanical interface method to open and close an FOUP door; on the other hand, it allows FOUP manufacturers more latitude in adopting mechanical interface of FOUP.
The FOUP system, for example, is described in detail in JP8-279546A. The structure and the opening and closing mechanism of FOUP are explained by referring to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a load port carrying out the opening and closing of FOUP door. Here, load port 30 is composed of frame 31 having a opening, stage 32 which is enable to move in the frame direction and has three kinematic pins 34 on the surface, and port door 33 which is inserted into the opening from opposite direction to stage 32 and retreated from the opening. In port door 33, two registration pins 36 are mounted diagonally, and two latchkeys 35 that rotate between the vertical position (90-degree position) and the horizontal position (0-degree position) are installed. Additionally, holding pads 37 are installed surrounding respective registration pins 36 to fix FOUP door 52 to port door 33.
FOUP 50 is composed of FOUP box 51 and FOUP door 52, as is shown in FIG. 6. FOUP box 51 has a plurality of shelves to hold wafers 53 and handles 56 for carrying by hand. In FOUP door 52, latch holes 55 and registration holes 54 are formed at corresponding positions to latchkeys 35 and registration pins 36 of port door 33. Inside latch holes 55, a latchkey receptacle is installed to engage with latchkey 35. The locking and unlocking operation of latches 56 is carried out by turning the latchkey receptacles using the latchkeys.
It is stipulated in the SEMI standard that fixing and unfixing of FOUP door 52 to and from FOUP box 51 is made by turning the latchkey receptacles to the positions of the 90-degree and the 0-degree, respectively. However, there is no concrete stipulation on the fixing method of FOUP door, and therefore, FOUP manufacturers are allowed to adopt their own method. The opening and closing mechanism of Foup door is described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,562.
The opening and closing operation of FOUP will be explained below. An FOUP is placed on stage 32 having three kinematic pins 34 mounted thereon and is aligned with the aid of the kinematic pins. Then, stage 32 is moved forwards to insert registration pins 36 of the port door into registration holes 55 of FOUP 50, whereby the FOUP door is positioned against the port door. Further advance of the stage makes latchkeys 35 of the port door engage with latchkey receptacles through latch holes 55 of FOUP, and the FOUP door finally contacts with the port door. At this stage, the inside of holding pads 37 installed around the root of registration pins 36 are evacuated to fix the FOUP door to the port door.
Then, the FOUP door is detached from the FOUP box by turning latchkeys 90 degrees to the 0-degree position. The port door, holding the FOUP door, is moved backwards and then downwards. Thus, wafers can be taken out through the opening. Each wafer stored in the FOUP box is transferred by e.g. a scalar type robot disclosed in JP No. 2749314 to a wafer processing tool.
When the FOUP door is closed, the same operation is made in reverse order.
This FOUP system was established as a provisional specification of SEMI in 1996, and each company has developed and manufactured FOUPs and load ports on the basis of this standard. Various disadvantages about the FOUP system have been clarified with advancing the verification of operation.
As mentioned above, there is few stipulation on FOUP, in spite of strict stipulation on the load port: for example, the shape and size of latchkey are defined including their tolerance, but those of latchkey receptacle are not. Therefore, the following problems have arisen. According to the SEMI standard E62-0999, the tolerance on the rotation angle of latchkey is defined as ±1 degree at the 0-degree position and 90-degree position. However, since there is no stipulation on the size of the latchkey receptacle, latchkey receptacles may not rotate 90 degrees even if latchkeys rotate by 90 degrees, as shown in FIG. 13, in the case where the width W1 of latchkey receptacles 57 is to some extent larger than the width W2 of latchkey 35. That is, latchkey receptacles may not rotate to the 90-degree position, but to the (90-θ) degree position depending on the difference of (W1-W2), which results in failing to lock the latches. Even when the latches are locked, if the FOUP of which latch receptacles do not stay at the 90-degree position is transported to the load port of next process tool and the stage thereof is moved forwards to open the FOUP, latchkeys may contact or collide with latchkey receptacles of the FOUP. The contact or collision makes dust, and contaminates the wafer transferring space. Furthermore, the repetition of the contact and collision may deform the latchkey receptacles, resulting in that latchkey receptacles cannot rotate to the 0-degree position, even when latchkeys rotate to the 0-degree position. Thus, latchkeys will stop at e.g. 5 degrees that is out of tolerance range of ±1 degree, which means that the FOUP door can not be detached from FOUP box. This becomes severe disadvantage in the manufacturing process.
Although each FOUP manufacturer has carried out various examinations in order to solve the above problems, the appropriate solution has not been obtained from the viewpoint of cost and reliability.

Cylinder, load port using it, and production system


In order to provide a gun in which the recoil force attendant with actuation is reduced, a prototype model of a telescoping barrel gun has been designed. In this design, an inner barrel, which contains and directs the projectile, is made to slide forward within an outer barrel when the gun is actuated. The motion of the inner barrel is then stopped while the projectile moves unimpeded. The telescoping barrel design functions together with a design which requires a portion of the cartridge""s propellant energy be used to produce a reduction in the force of the gun""s recoil when fired. Upon firing, some of the propellant gases are channeled forward in the gun to an air space, which lies between the two concentric barrels. The forward motion of the inner barrel forces the gases in this air space from the gun through small holes located in the distal area of the outer barrel. The discharge of these gases is rearwardly directed in order to counteract the gun""s recoil. After firing, the gun must be manually reloaded and the member""s reassembled to their pre-actuation positions before firing again.

This invention relates, in general, to a gun and in particular to a gun with two barrels, one of which moves forward upon actuation.
Examination of U.S. Patent Literature reveals an absence of interest in guns with a delivery system containing two barrels, one of which, upon firing, is made to slide within an outer structure, like the sections of a small telescope. But a gun that is designed to produce, upon firing, the acceleration of both a projectile and also the immediate container of the projectile in the same direction and in such a manner that after moving a distance together, the immediate container of the projectile is mechanically stopped before exiting the gun, and remains a useable part of the gun while the projectile is driven forward, may have utility. This telescoping design differs from conventional guns by requiring both the bullet and an inner barrel, containing the bullet, be driven forward by the explosion of propellant. By design, an outer structure contains and directs the force of the propellant, and moves in a direction opposite that of the bullet and inner barrel (recoil).
In ballistic technology, several mechanisms exist for rearward movement of parts within a gun, as an action, which is governed by the force of recoil or the propellant gases generated by firing, however, a barrel which moves forward has elicited little interest. Though a gun with a telescoping barrel has an obvious advantage over conventional guns, in that higher projectile velocities might result from its use than is apparent judging from the outer structure barrel length; a gun with a barrel that moves with the projectile for an appreciable distance within the gun has not been pursued as a viable firearm concept, most likely because stopping a barrel that has been accelerated to a velocity which is a significant fraction of the bullet""s speed is hard to accomplish. If the barrel moves too fast, it will exit the gun; too slow and the benefits of the concept are minimal. Additionally, abrupt starting and stopping of the moveable barrel results in a stretching of the barrel""s metal, as defined by Young""s modulus, rendering the gun incapable of repeated use. These additional variables involved in perfecting a gun with a telescoping barrel seem to indicate that a weapon of such design is impractical. However, a gun that is designed to produce, upon firing, the acceleration of the projectile and also the immediate container of the projectile can be used to transfer some of the kinetic energy of the moving container of the projectile into energy that counteracts the force of the gun""s recoil, while the projectile is driven forward in the usual way. This invention is thought to be novel and different from other gun designs which utilize some of the energy of the propellant gases to counteract the force of the gun""s recoil, notably the designs of Sir Dennis Burney and subsequent battalion anti-tank guns developed in Britain in the late 1940""s, by requiring that some of the burning propellant energy be converted into kinetic energy of a moving structure within the gun, i.e. a telescoping barrel, and this energy be then used to counteract the gun""s recoil.
Adrianson, U.S. Pat. No. 855,439 simply shows a telescoping barrel for a gun, and the barrel does not telescope as the bullet is fired.
Kaufman, U.S. Pat. No. 2,852,880 simply shows a gun having a second barrel that screws into internal threads in a rear barrel portion. Again, the barrel does not telescope as the bullet is fired, and the threaded barrel is just provided for disassembly into a smaller length.
Von Frantzius, U.S. Pat. No. 2,880,543, shows a tear gas pistol, and FIGS. 6-7, with accompanying text in column 3, describes a bullet being fired from the tear gas pistol. Although the device does have a barrel that threadingly screws into the body of the pen, there is no barrel that telescopes as a bullet is fired.
Pittavino, U.S. Pat. No. 570,145 simply shows a barrel extension for a gun. The barrel does not telescope as a bullet is fired.
Hudson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,824,727 shows a small pen that fires miniature caliber projectiles. The barrel does not telescope as a projectile is fired.
Whatever the precise merits, features, and advantages of the above cited references, none of them achieves or fulfills the purposes of the telescoping barrel gun of the present invention. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a novel gun consisting of, among other things, a design including two barrels, one barrel of which moves forward within the other barrel upon actuation.
It is another object of this invention to provide a gun capable of producing projectile velocities higher than conventional guns of the same apparent barrel length, since the apparent barrel length of a telescoping barrel gun is the length of the external barrel, while the real barrel length, the distance the projectile travels while enclosed in a telescoping barrel gun is greater than the external barrel length.
A further object of this invention lies in the provision of a gun wherein the movement of the telescoping barrel is used in such a way as to counteract the recoil movement thereof responsive to the actuation of the gun.
The invention relates to a gun in which the inner barrel, which contains and directs the projectile, is made to slide forward within an outer structure or barrel when the gun is actuated. It differs from conventional gun designs by requiring both the projectile and an internal barrel to be driven forward by the explosion of propellant. When the gun is fired, the force of the detonation is contained by the breech area of an external structure and directed against the moveable parts contained within the breech area of the external structure. These parts include both the projectile and an internal barrel. The projectile resides within the internal barrel and, upon firing, is not constrained within the bore of this barrel and is driven forward, while the inner barrel also moves forward within the external structure. The motion of the inner barrel is then stopped while the projectile moves unimpeded. After the gun is fired, it must be manually reassembled to it""s pre-actuation position for continued use.
If the burning characteristics of the propellant are required to produce a high breech pressure throughout the projectile""s path in the gun, this telescoping design may be used to produce a projectile velocity which is higher than conventional guns of the same apparent barrel length since the projectile travels under the force of the propellant energy for a greater distance than the length of the outer barrel structure or the gun""s apparent length.
The gun also uses the telescoping design to allow a portion of the cartridge""s propellant energy be used to produce a significant reduction in the force of the gun""s recoil when fired. The cartridge canister and firing chamber of the gun are designed to allow some of the burning propellant gases to be channeled forward in the gun to an air space which lies between the two concentric barrels of the gun, in the early moments of cartridge detonation before the projectile and internal barrel attain an appreciable velocity. As the propellant burns and the pressure rises in the breech, a series of grooves in the firing chamber of the external barrel act as a conduit in transferring some gas from the firing chamber to this air space or forward chamber in the gun. When the pressure in the firing chamber becomes sufficient to overcome the inertia of the projectile and the internal barrel, both parts move forward. The forward motion of the internal barrel further compresses the already high-pressure gasses trapped within the forward chamber, lying between the two barrels.
This motion and also the high internal pressure of the enclosed gases, forces the gases from the gun through small voids or holes located in the distal body of the external barrel. The gases escape in a rearward direction in order to counteract the gun""s recoil. The work accomplished by the internal barrel in the forced expulsion of the gases from the external barrel appreciably reduces the velocity of the internal barrel and this slowing, together with a pressure activated ablation of the surface of the internal barrel as it moves through the external barrel, stops the internal barrel before it contacts the forward end of the external barrel. The greater part of the kinetic energy of the moving internal barrel is thought to be utilized in raising the pressure or potential energy of the gases confined in the forward chamber as the internal barrel slows and stops within the external barrel. This increase in potential energy of the confined gases significantly increases the exit velocity of the rearward directed jet streams leaving the forward chamber from the voids in the internal barrel. The compression of the gases by the moving telescoping barrel significantly helps to counter the rearward momentum of the gun produced by the exiting projectile and results in requiring less propellant gases be diverted and ejected in overcoming the gun""s recoil.
In order to accomplish the foregoing objects of this invention, the gun described consists of four main members:
A firing mechanism.
An external barrel, which contains a firing chamber, an internal barrel, and also an ablative mechanism.
An internal barrel which moves forward while containing the projectile as the gun is actuated.
An ablative mechanism that aids in slowing the internal barrel and preventing its exiting the gun.
The firing mechanism of the present invention comprises a forwardly biased longitudinal firing member or striker slidably mounted on a tubular housing which includes a removable forwardly extending external barrel portion. A transverse rod is fixedly secured to the rear end of the striker. In order to fire a cartridge chambered in the external barrel portion of the gun, the rod is manually retracted against the action of a spring and subsequent release of the rod causes this firing pin to be snapped forward, firing the cartridge.
The external barrel is an elongated metal tube closed on the proximal end by a threadably secured breech cap, which houses a breechblock that surrounds a centrally located aperture for accommodating a firing pin. The external barrel is partially closed on the distal end by reducing the bore diameter, which is preferably constant throughout the external barrel, by the inclusion of an internal metal flange.
Lying within the bore of the external barrel, forward the firing chamber, another tubular member, the internal barrel is disposed. The internal barrel is a metal cylinder open on both ends, with two annuluses fixedly secured to the outer surface of the proximal end of the barrel. The annuluses house a common rubber o-ring between them. The internal barrel is disposed within the external barrel and houses the projectile within its bore. The internal barrel abuts, with its base breech face, the cartridge canister, which is positioned within the firing chamber of the external barrel. The internal barrel is held in place within the external barrel by the frictional forces of the annuluses and o-ring, which communicate and bear against the internal surface of the external barrel. As the gun is fired, the internal barrel is free to forwardly slide within the bore of the external barrel.
The actual body or metal surface of the external barrel is altered by a design that aids in counteracting the force of the gun""s recoil. A series of grooves in the internal metal surface of the external barrel extend from the firing chamber longitudinally forward to a position adjacently forward the annuluses on the internal barrel. These grooves divert some of the burning propellant gases generated upon firing to a forward chamber within the gun. The forward chamber is an air space existing between the concentric surfaces of the two barrels, forward the annuluses of the internal barrel and rearward the flange of the external barrel. The propellant gases are pushed to the forward chamber, upon cartridge detonation, before the projectile and internal barrel move an appreciable distance within the gun. As the remaining propellant in the firing chamber burns, the pressure in the breech area of the gun increases to a point where the projectile and the internal barrel are appreciably accelerated by the impact of a semi-rigid piston, which prior to firing is positioned within the top rim of the cartridge. The semi-rigid piston is designed to prevent the propellant gases from influencing the projectile until a predetermined firing chamber pressure is established which causes the piston to rupture. When the semi-rigid piston ruptures, the propellant gases force both the piston and the projectile through the internal barrel. The forward movement of the internal barrel forces the gases, which have accumulated in the forward chamber, through voids located in the distal end of the external barrel. These voids conduct gases in the forward chamber through the metal body of the external barrel to the environment. The expelled gases are directed onto the exterior surface of the telescoping barrel as it moves forward, upon firing, by a series of metal structures or protrusions, which contain and direct the individual voids. The protrusions are positioned along the circumference of the external barrel, on the far distal area of the barrel, forward the internal flange of the external barrel. The protrusions direct the voids inward and rearward so the expelled gases push the gun in a forward direction.
A pressure sensitive ablative mechanism is also disposed in the distal portion of the forward chamber and comprises an ablative material securely affixed to an elastomer backing which functions to further slow and stop the forward motion of the internal barrel. The mechanism ablates the outer surface of the internal barrel, as it moves forward, upon firing, and the frictional forces of the ablation de-accelerate the barrel. This member is included in the gun as a means to control the speed of the internal barrel so that, after firing, the internal barrel and also the gun and its other members are relatively undamaged and capable of repeated use.
The gun is re-fired by unscrewing the breech cap from the external barrel, removing the fired case, replacing a live cartridge projectile, and repositioning the internal barrel so that its base breech face abuts the cartridge case with the projectile enclosed within the bore.
The gun described is a prototype model and used to illustrate the essential design of the invention. Since the invention relates to the initiation and projectile propagation systems of a gun, only the firing mechanism, cartridge, breech and barrel mechanisms are described. Most state of the art mechanisms involving other systems that are necessary or facilitate gun use are thought to be compatible and integratable with the mechanisms that are discussed.


The system contains the active inceptor having mobility in a first direction. A feedback mechanism is in communication with the active inceptor. The mechanism provides a variable level of force to the active inceptor in the first direction. A programmable device communicates with the feedback mechanism. The programmable device controls the level of force provided to the active inceptor from the feedback mechanism. The programmable device is capable of recognizing and distinguishing between regimes wherein the operator is physically engaging the inceptor (“hands-on” state) and when the operator is “hands-off” the inceptor. The programmable device limits the maximum rate of displacement of an active inceptor to a specified safe and effective value regardless of changes in forces applied by the variable force feel feedback mechanism. The limit on rate of change of active inceptor position is varied based on the recognized “hands-on” or “hands-off” state and the type of tactile cue to satisfy otherwise conflicting requirements for failure robustness and effective tactile cueing during highly dynamic operations.

An "inceptor" is a device that allows a human operator to control a machine. Examples of inceptors include the stick in an aircraft, a steering wheel in a car, the gloves sometimes used for robotic arms, or a joystick in a crane or other piece of construction equipment. An "active inceptor" means that a motor can move the stick/wheel/glove/joystick to provide feedback to the human operator.
The inceptor works by sensing or receiving the force applied by the human operator, then manipulating the machine accordingly. The displacement on the inceptor controls the machine. Whereas a mechanical system's force-versus-displacement and force-versus-velocity characteristics (i.e., passive inceptors) cannot be varied easily, using an active inceptor allows essentially instant reconfiguration of these characteristics. This allows the computer to add tactile cueing features like "soft stops" that indicate precisely and intuitively the position beyond which the inceptor should not be moved. A soft-stop introduces a relatively large incremental change in inceptor force beyond a specific inceptor position that a human operator perceives as a solid feeling stop. Although the incremental force change with position is relatively high at the soft stop, perhaps 5 pounds or so of incremental force change over a fraction of an inch of inceptor motion, the absolute value of inceptor force required to overcome the soft stop is still relatively low, perhaps 5 pounds or so of absolute force. Although a human operator can easily push past a soft stop when necessary, a properly designed soft stop eliminates the possibility of inadvertent movement of the inceptor beyond an operational limit. When a human operator intentionally pushes the inceptor through a soft stop, the relatively low level of soft stop force continues to cue the operator that a limit is being exceeded, but the level of soft stop force is low enough that the human operator can position the inceptor precisely with relatively low levels of muscular fatigue. Hard stops use the full force-generating capability of the motor, perhaps as much as 50 to 200 pounds of force, in an attempt to stop the operator from moving the inceptor any further when the computer identifies that a catastrophic failure may result.
As an example, motor vehicle steering wheels have traditionally been passive inceptors. The steering wheel may be turned until the mechanical limit for turning the wheels has been reached. The steering wheel may also kick when a vehicle drives over a pothole. The feedback is limited to the activity of the mechanical system. If the steering wheel is an active inceptor, it could be programmed to further limit turning of the steering wheel dependent upon the velocity of the motor vehicle to prevent rollovers. When the human-operator is not applying any force, the computer-calculated forces may provide feedback to the inceptor and cause the inceptor to move. Allowing the computer the ability to move the inceptor introduces a safety risk.
Active inceptors for aircraft including helicopters have been in development for years, but are just beginning to be introduced. For example, as applied to helicopters, active inceptors (or "active sticks") replace the helicopter's cockpit control springs and dampers, which otherwise provide "force-feel" on the collective and cyclic sticks, with electric motors and a computer to allow varying force on the stick. The active inceptor system allows the computers to communicate with the pilot through "tactile cues" in addition to the existing methods of cockpit displays and aural warnings. By moving communications from the cockpit displays to the pilot's hands, the pilot may be able to keep focus on activity outside the cockpit for safety and mission effectiveness.
However, these active inceptors must be able to move very fast and through the full range of travel. When the operator has his hands firmly on the controls, failure modes of active inceptors are fairly benign because the operator instantly senses the change in inceptor force caused by the failure and acts instinctively and biomechanically to inhibit undesirable movement of the inceptor. For typical aircraft applications, computer-controlled fast-moving actuators act in series with pilot inputs and have a limited range of travel to ensure failure robustness. Series actuators add or subtract control surface actuator motion "in series" with the control surface motion commanded by cockpit control inceptor inputs. Thus series actuator inputs do not result in motion of or forces exerted on the cockpit control inceptors. Series actuators behave conceptually like an "extensible link" in the path from cockpit controls to control surfaces. The series actuator or "extensible link" can extend or retract independently to move the control surfaces while the cockpit controls remain stationary. In contrast, parallel actuators exert force on the cockpit control inceptors manipulated by the pilot; hence they are referred to as "parallel" actuators because they exert forces on the control inceptors in parallel to the forces exerted by the pilot. Actuators with large travel typically act in parallel with pilot inputs and have limited rate capability to ensure failure robustness. This relationship between actuator speed and travel is a safety feature intentionally designed into aircraft such that no single computer-controlled actuator can cause excessive and unrecoverable vehicle motion before a human operator intervenes. In the case of Fly-By-Wire systems, high-bandwidth and full-authority swashplate actuators are limited in the control software to reproduce the limited-travel plus limited-speed safety feature. No such limiting has been applied to active-inceptor technology to address sensitivity to failures in hands-off operating conditions. Current active-stick technology development focuses on the advantages of the technology, not the safety features necessary for a production system.

Active-inceptor tactile-cueing hands-off rate-limit