An apparatus caused at least to acquire information indicating first indoor magnetic field vectors measured by a first portable device inside a building; generate a first indoor magnetic field sequence, IMFS, on the basis of the first indoor magnetic field vectors; acquire information indicating second indoor magnetic field vectors measured by a second portable device inside the building; generate a second IMFS on the basis of the second indoor magnetic field vectors, wherein the first and the second IMFSs represent at least one of the magnitude and the direction of the Earth's magnetic field; perform a comparison between at least part of the first IMFS and at least part of the second IMFS; and acquire information on the relative movement of the first portable device with respect to the second portable device inside the building on the basis of the comparison result.

It may be possible to locate or track a person associated with a specific device indoors via a radio frequency (RF)-based tracking. Tracking people indoors on the basis of variations in the Earth's indoor magnetic field has also been proposed. This type of location discovery typically applies magnetic field strengths measured by a magnetometer carried by the person. The measured strength is compared to an existing indoor magnetic field map to derive the location of the magnetometer, and thus, the person.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Applying indoor magnetic fields for acquiring movement information


This level measuring instrument which operates with microwaves, has a radiation characteristic with a pronounced forward lobe and can be used to transmit and/or receive microwaves with a large frequency bandwidth. A housing section is designed as a waveguide short-circuited at one side and one end by a rear wall, and is virtually completely filled with an insert made of a dielectric. An exciter element, projects into the housing section and is connected to a microwave source. An antenna adjoins the housing section, for transmitting and/or receiving microwaves. A gap is arranged in the insert between the exciter element and the antenna. The gap forms a filter which is essentially non-transparent to higher modes of the waveguide.

The invention relates to a level measuring instrument which operates with microwaves, having a housing section which is designed as a waveguide short-circuited at one side and one end by a rear wall and which is virtually completely filled with an insert made of a dielectric, having an exciter element which projects into the housing section and which is connected to a microwave source, and having an antenna, adjoining the housing section, for transmitting and/or receiving microwaves.
In level measurement, microwaves are transmitted by means of the antenna toward a surface of a filling material, and the echo waves reflected at the surface are received. An echo function which represents the echo amplitudes as a function of the distance is formed, and from this the probable useful echo and its transit time are determined. The distance between the filling material surface and the antenna is determined from the transit time.
It is possible to use all the known methods which permit relatively short distances to be measured by means of reflected microwaves. The best known examples are pulsed radar and frequency modulated continuous wave radar (FMCW radar).
In the case of pulsed radar, short microwave transmitted pulses, referred to below as wave packets, are transmitted periodically, are reflected from the filling material surface and, after a transit time which depends on distance, are received again. The received signal amplitude as a function of time constitutes the echo function. Each value in this echo function corresponds to the amplitude of an echo reflected at a specific distance from the antenna.
In the FMCW method, a continuous microwave is transmitted and is periodically linearly frequency modulated, for example in accordance with a sawtooth function. The frequency of the received echo signal therefore has a frequency difference with respect to the instantaneous frequency of the transmitted signal at the instant of reception, and this frequency difference depends on the transit time of the echo signal. The frequency difference between the transmitted signal and received signal, which can be obtained by mixing the two signals and evaluating the Fourier spectrum of the mixed signal, thus corresponds to the distance of the reflecting surface from the antenna. In addition, the amplitudes of the spectral lines of the frequency spectrum which is obtained by Fourier transformation correspond to the echo amplitudes. This Fourier spectrum therefore constitutes the echo function in this case.
Level measuring instruments which operate with microwaves are used in very many branches of industry, for example in the chemical industry or in the foodstuffs industry. Typically, the level in a container is to be measured. These containers usually have an opening on which a connecting piece or a flange is provided for fastening measuring instruments.
In industrial measurement, dielectric rod antennas and horn antennas are regularly used for transmitting and/or receiving. Typically, use is made of a housing having a housing section which has the geometry of a short-circuited waveguide. Inserted into this housing is an exciter element, via which microwaves can be transmitted and/or received through the housing section. In the case of a horn antenna, a funnel-like section which broadens in the direction of the container and forms the horn adjoins the housing. In the case of the rod antenna, a rod made of a dielectric and pointing into the container is provided.
The interior of the housing is usually virtually completely filled by an insert made of a dielectric. In the case of the horn antenna, the insert has a conical end pointing into the container. In the case of rod antennas, the rod-like antenna adjoins the insert.
In coaxial lines, electromagnetic waves are propagated without dispersion in the transverse electromagnetic mode (TEM mode). This field mode is therefore particularly well suited to transporting wave packets or electromagnetic waves which have a frequency spectrum with a finite but often very great bandwidth. The advantage of dispersion-free propagation is particularly important when the waves or wave packets to be transmitted have the above mentioned frequency bandwidth. Wave packets which are fed in then experience virtually no spreading and, in the case of linearly frequency modulated microwaves, any deviation from linearity is largely avoided.
However, those modes which exhibit a radiation characteristic with a pronounced forward lobe are better suited to the directed transmission of electromagnetic waves by means of an antenna. This property is exhibited, for example, by the fundamental mode, the transverse electric 11 mode (TE-11), which is capable of propagation in circular waveguides. The required mode conversion, for example from the TEM mode into the TE-11 mode, takes place as a result of the injection into the short-circuited waveguide by means of the exciter element.
DE-U 94 12 243 describes a level measuring instrument which operates with microwaves, having
a housing section,
which is designed as a waveguide short-circuited at one side and one end by a rear wall,
which is virtually completely filled with an insert made of a dielectric,
an exciter element,
which projects into the housing section and
which is connected to a microwave source, and
an antenna, adjoining the housing section, for transmitting and/or receiving microwaves.
Here, the exciter element is a transmitting pin which is inserted laterally into the waveguide. In such an asymmetric arrangement, higher modes are excited in a circular waveguide in addition to the desired fundamental TE-11 mode.
EP-A 821 431 likewise describes a level measuring instrument which operates with microwaves, having
a housing section,
which is designed as a waveguide short-circuited at one side and one end by a rear wall,
which is virtually completely filled with an insert made of a dielectric,
an exciter element,
which projects into the housing section and
which is connected to a microwave source, and
an antenna, adjoining the housing section, for transmitting and/or receiving microwaves.
The exciter element described is a transmitter wire whose two ends are arranged on the rear wall of the section of the housing and which has three straight segments, one of which runs essentially parallel to the rear wall.
With regard to the desired modes, this form of injection represents a considerable improvement by comparison with the above described lateral injection, but here, too, a proportion, albeit a very small proportion, of higher modes is still generated. This becomes noticeable in the case of pulsed radar, in particular, if very short pulses are generated in that case. The shorter a pulse, the greater the bandwidth of the frequencies contained in it.
The formation of higher modes inevitably leads to the increased occurrence of dispersion effects in the waveguide. At a given frequency, dispersion is very much more pronounced in higher modes than in the fundamental mode.
Higher modes regularly have an unsuitable radiation characteristic and interfere with the directional characteristic of the antenna.
A further disadvantage is that the higher TM-01 mode, by comparison with the fundamental mode, exhibits a long ringing period or decay period. This leads, for example in the case of pulsed radar, to a transmitted pulse not having decayed until after a relatively long period. An echo which occurs in this period can then be detected only when its amplitude considerably exceeds the amplitude of the decaying transmitted pulse. This period predefines a minimum physical distance which must exist between the measuring instrument and the level to be measured. If the distance falls below this physical minimum, reliable measurement is no longer ensured. The minimum distance corresponds to half the path traced by electromagnetic waves during said period, and is usually referred to as the blocking distance.
It is therefore an object of the invention to specify a level measuring instrument which operates with microwaves, can be used in industrial measurement, has a radiation characteristic with a pronounced forward lobe and can be used to transmit and/or receive microwaves with a large frequency bandwidth.
To this end, the invention comprises a level measuring instrument which operates with microwaves, having
a housing section,
which is designed as a waveguide short-circuited at one side and one end by a rear wall,
which is virtually completely filled with an insert made of a dielectric,
an exciter element,
which projects into the housing section and
which is connected to a microwave source,
an antenna, adjoining the housing section, for transmitting and/or receiving microwaves, and
a gap arranged in the insert between the exciter element and the antenna,
which gap forms a filter which is essentially non-transparent to higher modes of the waveguide.
According to a first preferred embodiment of the invention, the gap runs parallel to a longitudinal axis of the housing section and has a length equal to an odd multiple of a quarter wavelength of a fundamental mode of the waveguide having the gap and the dielectric.
According to a second preferred embodiment, the gap runs perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the housing section and has a width b such that a higher mode experiences virtually complete attenuation as it passes through the gap.
According to a third preferred embodiment, two gaps arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction are provided in the insert, between the exciter element and the antenna, one of these gaps running parallel to the longitudinal axis of the housing section, and one running perpendicular thereto.
According to a further preferred embodiment, the exciter element is a transmitter wire fastened to the rear wall.
According to a further preferred embodiment, the exciter element is arranged in a region of the gap which adjoins the rear wall.
One advantage of the invention is that no additional components are necessary. Level measuring instruments which are suitable for industrial applications regularly have an insert made of a dielectric which virtually completely fills the waveguide. This dielectric serves to protect the exciter element mechanically and prevents any penetration of dirt or any formation of condensation in the housing section.
Examples of suitable dielectrics are fluoropolymers, especially polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or polyphenylene sulfide (PPS). These materials are very well suited to mechanical machining, so that a gap can be produced without great effort. If the gap is used at the same time to accommodate the exciter element, no additional operation is required. All that need be done is to lengthen or enlarge a recess provided to accommodate the exciter element.

Filling level measuring device operating with microwaves


A microarray package device and a method of manufacturing the same. An effective microarray analyzing reaction is performed by using the microarray package device that provides structural stability and reliable experimental results.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to microarray package devices and methods of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A method of analyzing a target biomaterial using a microarray has been used in various fields, for example, in studying functions of human genes, genetic analysis for diagnosing various diseases including cancer, and pharmacogenomics. A microarray is a device which includes biomaterial probes that are capable of being complementarily coupled, e.g., hybridized, to a target biomaterial, and plays a significant role in detecting and analyzing the target biomaterials. A microarray package device has been suggested for effectively analyzing a reaction of a microarray. In order to effectively perform an analysis process on a microarray, it is beneficial to ensure the structural stability of the microarray and the reliability of results obtained therefrom. Generally, a microarray is fixed in a microarray package, and a microarray analysis process is performed using an analyzing device such as an optical scanner. Thus, research has been conducted into use of a microarray package that provides structural stability for the microarray and increases a reliability of results obtained therefrom.

Microarray package device and method of manufacturing the same


The invention relates to aqueous preparations of polymer-modified setting accelerators, said preparations being characterized in that at least one setting accelerator and at least one cationically stabilized polymer are contained therein.

A customary process for producing and processing aqueous concrete compositions is the dry spray concrete process, in which dry concrete mixes are made up with water directly on the construction site. In the dry spray concrete process, the dry concrete mix is conveyed, for example pneumatically, through a transport line to a spray nozzle and made up with water and, if appropriate, mixed with further additives in the spray nozzle. The concrete compositions are thus sprayed onto a substrate by means of the spray nozzle immediately after making up with water. Dry concrete mixes comprise cement, fillers such as sand or gravel and, if appropriate, setting accelerators and polymers and also further additives. The addition of polymers enables the processability of concrete compositions or the property profile of concrete to be improved, for example its adhesion to various substrates, gas permeability, E modulus, or hydrophobicization of the concrete can be achieved. Setting accelerators such as aluminum sulfate considerably accelerate the curing of aqueous concrete compositions and thereby produce better resistance to sagging of the aqueous concrete compositions on their substrate. This simplifies the processing of aqueous concrete compositions and makes vertical or overhead processing possible. Depending on requirements, stiffening times of from a number of minutes to a few seconds can be set by appropriate use of setting accelerators.
The dry spray concrete process is particularly useful when using relatively small amounts of concrete compositions, as is frequently the case, for example, in the renovation of building works.
However, a fundamental problem is that aqueous concrete compositions having different contents of setting accelerators and polymers are frequently required in different construction sections of the same construction site. The required adaptation of the composition of the aqueous concrete compositions has, however, hitherto not been possible in a practicable and economical way. Previously known compositions containing setting accelerators and polymers are storage-stable only in dry form. However, the entire dry concrete mix would have to be mixed on addition of polymers or setting accelerators, which would be associated with a large outlay in terms of time, apparatus and logistics. It would be more efficient to mix setting accelerators and polymers into the water with which the dry concrete mixes are made up in the spray nozzle. However, this is not possible since previously known setting accelerators and polymers immediately coagulate and flocculate in aqueous form and therefore have to be applied immediately after mixing without a further intermediate step; i.e. mixing of setting accelerators and polymers could hitherto only be carried out in aqueous concrete compositions and this in turn only immediately before application to a substrate.
Overall, the dry spray concrete process is thus not very flexible in respect of the production of aqueous concrete compositions containing variable amounts of setting accelerators and polymers. Furthermore, a large amount of dust is produced in the handling of dry concrete mixes, and this has an adverse effect on the health of the workers on the construction site and makes complicated safety precautions necessary.
The use of wet concrete mixes, in particular using the wet spray concrete process, is also widespread. Wet concrete mixes comprise cement, fillers such as sand or gravel and, if appropriate, polymers and further additives and have already been made up with water. In the wet spray concrete process, setting accelerators are added to the wet concrete mixes in the spray nozzle, i.e. immediately before application to the respective substrate. It is advantageous that the water content, the consistency and thus the quality of the wet spray concrete can be set precisely when using the wet spray concrete process. The wet spray concrete process is particularly suitable when relatively large amounts of concrete compositions are employed, as is the case, for example, in tunnel construction.
However, the wet spray concrete process also has the disadvantage that the amount of polymers in the wet concrete mixes cannot be varied on the construction site without a further, complicated mixing step. This is because on addition of polymers to a wet concrete mix, the entire wet concrete mix would have to be mixed, which in view of the large quantities of aqueous concrete compositions to be processed would be associated with a considerable outlay in terms of time and apparatus and additionally represent a considerable change to the established logistics on a construction site.

Aqueous preparations of polymer-modified setting accelerators, and use thereof in the construction industry


A fiber optic splice closure includes at least one first splice organizer tray having one end pivotally connected to a base and extending in a medial portion of a housing; a mounting member pivotally connected to the base adjacent the at least one first splice organizer tray; and at least one second splice organizer tray pivotally connected to the mounting member on a side thereof opposite the at least one first splice organizer tray. The splice closure also preferably includes a slack storage tray connected to the base and positioned in the housing adjacent a side of the at least one first splice tray that is opposite the mounting member. The splice closure thus provides a compact, yet flexible, closure facilitating drops to a fiber optic ring network. The at least one first splice organizer tray is preferably pivotal about a first axis, and the at least one second splice organizer tray is also preferably pivotal about a second axis generally parallel to the first axis. In addition, the housing may have a generally cylindrical shape defining a longitudinal axis generally transverse to the first and second axes. The mounting member is preferably pivotal about a third axis parallel to the first and second axes. At least one optical fiber may be preinstalled between first and second splice trays.

Fiber optic cables and their associated electronics are widely used for providing telephony, data and other related communications services. A fiber optic communication system typically offers immunity to electrical noise, a relatively large information carrying bandwidth, and low signal losses. The fiber optic cables are readily installed in existing city duct lines, on overhead pole lines, or direct buried in the earth to thereby form cable networks including a plurality of users.
One particularly advantageous use of fiber optic technology is for a ring or loop in a metropolitan or city setting. Unfortunately, one potential disadvantage of an optical fiber cable, as compared to radio, for example, is that an inadvertent cable cut will disrupt communication over the cut cable. Accordingly, it is common to provide a cable network for a metropolitan area, for example, in the form of a ring, and to provide redundant electronics coupled to the cable ring.
The cable ring and electronics provide two possible paths of communication. If the cable is cut in the first path, then communications is directed in the opposite direction over the second path of the cable ring. The cut fiber cable may then be repaired and full service restored.
Such a fiber optic network or system is commonly used in a downtown or metropolitan environment where individual fibers originate at a telephone company or service provider central office and are dropped at various office buildings or other large communications users along the ring. Typically the cable of the ring has a relatively large fiber count, such as, for example, from 96 to 144 fibers. A typical user may only use two fibers from the ring--one for transmit and one for receive. In addition, the electronics can typically switch directions, such as in the event of a cable cut.
A user is typically connected to the ring at a drop point using two separate splice closures. The main closure is connected to adjacent legs of the main or ring cable. A majority of the individual optical fibers may be spliced directly between the two adjacent legs. Alternately, a majority of the non-dropped fibers may be directly passed through without splicing.
In addition, a pair of relatively low count fiber optic drop cables are spliced at their first ends to predetermined ones of the fibers from the ring cable in the main closure. The low fiber count drop cables may be about 60 feet in length and connect to a drop closure. Drop fibers are connected to the ends of the two drop cables, and fibers which are not dropped are spliced together in the drop closure. The dropped fibers are connected to electronic equipment, and some fibers may be set aside as spares for future use. The main splice closure, the drop cables, and the drop splice closure are typically grouped together in a manhole or vault and consume a relatively large amount of space. In addition to the cost and space required, the large number of splices and the lack of flexibility to add additional drops are significant disadvantages of this conventional approach.
Of course the prior art discloses many different versions of splice closures. One typical configuration includes pivoting generally elongate and rectangular splice organizer trays positioned to extend longitudinally within a splice enclosure. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,472 to Mullaney et al., and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, discloses such a splice closure. The closure also includes a bottom slack storage tray portion for storing buffer tubes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,794 to Nolf et al., and also assigned to the assignee of the present invention; U.S. Pat. No. 5,185,845 to Jones; U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,227 to Bensel, III et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,186 to Allen; U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,234 to Pulido; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,617,501 to Miller et al. also each disclose generally rectangular, pivotally connected splice trays within an overall housing. U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,608 to Foss et al. discloses a plurality of elliptical trays arranged in a stack at a common angle to an axis of the stack. U.S. Pat. No. 5,717,811 to Macken, also assigned to the present assignee, discloses a series of splice organizer trays having rounded outer ends and which are arranged in a stack at an inclined angle. This patent is directed to an organizer that is able to handle both live fiber, and dark fiber--a dark fiber end being a free end of the fiber that is being stored for possible future use. The patent further discloses that a module of trays may be preinstalled with fibers.
Unfortunately, despite the continued improvements and developments in the area of splice closures, at present the multiple closure and drop cable configuration is most commonly used for the drop locations along a ring network. As already mentioned above, the use of main and drop splices consumes considerable space, is labor intensive, and may not be sufficiently flexible for the subscriber or end user should additions or changes be needed.

Fiber optic drop splice closure and related methods


An access assembly is provided. The access assembly includes an access member defining a central longitudinal axis and having a longitudinal opening therethrough for reception and passage of surgical instrument, the access member dimensioned for positioning within tissue to provide access to underlying tissue, and first and second seal members mounted to the access member in juxtaposed relation, the first seal member defining an opening therethrough, the second seal member defining an elongated arcuate passage, wherein the first and second seal members are adapted for rotational movement about the central longitudinal axis whereby the opening of the first seal member is axially alignable with the elongated arcuate passage of the second seal member to permit reception and passage of the surgical instrument in substantial sealed relation therewith, the first and second seal members further adapted for relative rotational movement whereby the first seal member is capable of rotating relative to the second seal member during manipulation and traversal of the surgical instrument through the elongated arcuate passage of the second seal member to maintain the substantial sealed relation about the instrument.

Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to assemblies for accessing a body cavity, and more particularly, the disclosure relates to an access assembly for receiving more than one instrument therethrough, and for manipulating the instruments relative to each other.
Background of Related Art
Trocars and other access assemblies are used by surgeons to operate on a patient without having to create large incisions that may become infected and may cause major scaring. Access assemblies are known in the art, as are the instruments inserted therethrough for operating within the body cavity. Typically, an access assembly includes a housing configured receiving an instrument, and a tubular member or cannula affixed to the housing and configured for insertion into a body cavity. These assemblies generally include at least one seal mounted within the housing and/or cannula to prevent the escape of insufflation gas.
Tradition access assemblies are configured to receive a single instrument. Therefore, a surgeon must use multiple access assemblies to complete an operation requiring the simultaneous use of more than one instrument. Inserting multiple access assemblies into a patient increases the length of the procedure, as well as increases the potential sites for infection and/or complications.
Therefore, it would be beneficial to have an access assembly capable of receiving more than one instrument. It would further be beneficial if, once received, the instruments could be manipulated relative to one another.


A physically unclonable function (PUF) device includes a memory cell array including a plurality of memory cells, a selecting circuit configured to select one or more memory cells among the plurality of memory cells in response to a challenge, and a sense amplifier and quantizer configured to generate a quantize signal from the selected memory cell. The number of quantization sections for generating the quantize signal may be different from the number of resistance state distributions generated from the selected memory cell. One or more quantization sections may exist in one resistance state distribution section.

Inventive concepts relates to user authentication systems and, more particularly, to a physically unclonable function (PUF) device for use in a user authentication system and an operation method thereof.
A PUF device is a device having a physically unclonable function and may be used in a user authentication system. The user authentication system requires a detection device for detecting an external attack to protect data or key from the external attack. When an external attack is detected, the user authentication system responds to the external attack in a manner of blocking a power or stopping the operation of a circuit. However, additional cost is incurred to use the detection device and a side-channel attack may be encountered. Thus, a key is not separately stored and a circuit or a logic playing a role such as fingerprint authentication is implemented to be used as a key. A PUF device is representatively used in this technology.
Even though internal circuits have the same internal configuration, wire delay or gate delay occurs according to a process of implementing the internal circuits, causing a minute difference in their characteristics. A PUF device uses a difference in operation characteristics. Since the PUF device uses a delay difference according to a process, physically clonable circuits having the same output cannot be implemented even if the PUF device is opened. A PUF device circuit may be classified as a ring oscillator type using a delay loop and an arbiter type using a switching circuit. A PUF device may be implemented using these two types together.
A conventional PUF device generates a single response for a single challenge. Since the conventional PUF device has a one-to-one challenge-response pair (CRP), it may be vulnerable to an external attack. That is, less randomness for a single challenge causes the conventional PUF device to encounter many problems to solve for use in a user authentication system.

Physically unclonable function device for use in user authentication system and operation method thereof

KOREA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


A semiconductor device includes a metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET), in which parasitic silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) equivalent circuits are formed in the MOSFET, and the MOSFET further includes a drain region. The drain region includes P-type heavily doped regions which are different from each other, in which the P-type heavily doped regions are respectively operated as anodes of the SCR equivalent circuits.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor device. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a semiconductor device having silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) equivalent circuits.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, there is an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection mechanism set in various electronic devices, so as to prevent the electronic device from being damaged due to a momentary large current generated when a human body carrying too many electrostatic charges touches the electronic device, or to prevent the electronic device from being affected by electrostatic charges existing in the environment or carried by transportation and from being abnormally operated.
However, the ESD protection mechanism in the conventional electronic device usually needs a larger layout area to be able to conduct a larger ESD current. In other words, in a condition of a constant layout area, the conducted ESD current is not sufficiently large, and the conducted ESD current cannot be uniformly distributed, such that the ESD protection mechanism cannot effectively perform protection to the electronic device.

Semiconductor device with embedded silicon-controlled rectifier


An application on a computing device to write data to a storage medium associated therewith. The data is to be written to a secure storage area associated with an object on the storage medium, and the secure storage area has a value storage area associated therewith. The application generates a nonce and employs a shared session key (KS) to encrypt the nonce to result in (KS(nonce)). The storage medium receives same and decrypts with (KS) to result in the nonce, locates the value storage area associated with the secure storage area, and stores such nonce in the located value storage area. The application employs the nonce to generate a key (KH), encrypts the data with (KH) to result in (KH(data)), and sends same to the storage medium for storage in the secure storage area. Thus, (KH(data)) is associated with the nonce in the value storage area.

As is known, and referring now to FIG. 1, a content protection and rights management (CPM) and enforcement system is highly desirable in connection with digital content 12 such as digital audio, digital video, digital text, digital data, digital multimedia, etc., where such digital content 12 is to be distributed to users. Upon being received by the user, such user renders or 'plays' the digital content with the aid of an appropriate rendering device such as a media player on a personal computer 14, a portable playback device or the like.
Typically, a content owner distributing such digital content 12 wishes to restrict what the user can do with such distributed digital content 12. For example, the content owner may wish to restrict the user from copying and re-distributing such content 12 to a second user, or may wish to allow distributed digital content 12 to be played only a limited number of times, only for a certain total time, only on a certain type of machine, only on a certain type of media player, only by a certain type of user, etc.
However, after distribution has occurred, such content owner has very little if any control over the digital content 12. A CPM system 10, then, allows the controlled rendering or playing of arbitrary forms of digital content 12, where such control is flexible and definable by the content owner of such digital content. Typically, content 12 is distributed to the user in the form of a package 13 by way of any appropriate distribution channel. The digital content package 13 as distributed may include the digital content 12 encrypted with a symmetric encryption/decryption key (KD), (i.e., (KD(CONTENT))), as well as other information identifying the content, how to acquire a license for such content, etc.
The trust-based CPM system 10 allows an owner of digital content 12 to specify rules that must be satisfied before such digital content 12 is allowed to be rendered. Such rules can include the aforementioned requirements and/or others, and may be embodied within a digital license 16 that the user/user's computing device 14 (hereinafter, such terms are interchangeable unless circumstances require otherwise) must obtain from the content owner or an agent thereof, or such rules may already be attached to the content 12. Such license 16 may for example include the decryption key (KD) for decrypting the digital content 12, perhaps encrypted according to another key decryptable by the user's computing device or other playback device.
The content owner for a piece of digital content 12 would prefer not to distribute the content 12 to the user unless such owner can trust that the user will abide by the rules specified by such content owner in the license 16 or elsewhere. Preferably, then, the user's computing device 14 or other playback device is provided with a trusted component or mechanism 18 that will not render the digital content 12 except according to such rules.
The trusted component 18 typically has an evaluator 20 that reviews the rules, and determines based on the reviewed rules whether the requesting user has the right to render the requested digital content 12 in the manner sought, among other things. As should be understood, the evaluator 20 is trusted in the CPM system 10 to carry out the wishes of the owner of the digital content 12 according to the rules, and the user should not be able to easily alter such trusted component 18 and/or the evaluator 20 for any purpose, nefarious or otherwise.
As should be understood, the rules for rendering the content 12 can specify whether the user has rights to so render based on any of several factors, including who the user is, where the user is located, what type of computing device 14 or other playback device the user is using, what rendering application is calling the CPM system 10, the date, the time, etc. In addition, the rules may limit rendering to a pre-determined number of plays, or pre-determined play time, for example.
The rules may be specified according to any appropriate language and syntax. For example, the language may simply specify attributes and values that must be satisfied (DATE must be later than X, e.g.), or may require the performance of functions according to a specified script (IF DATE greater than X, THEN DO . . . , e.g.).
Upon the evaluator 20 determining that the user satisfies the rules, the digital content 12 can then be rendered. In particular, to render the content 12, the decryption key (KD) is obtained from a pre-defined source and is applied to (KD(CONTENT)) from the content package 13 to result in the actual content 12, and the actual content 12 is then in fact rendered.
Note that the trusted component 18 may at times be required to maintain state information relevant to the rendering of a particular piece of content 12 and/or the use of a particular license 16. For example, it may be the case that a particular license 16 has a play count requirement, and accordingly the trusted component 18 must remember how many times the license 16 has been employed to render corresponding content 12 or how many more times the license 16 may be employed to render the corresponding content 12. Accordingly, the trusted component 18 may also include at least one persistent secure store 22 within which such state information is persistently maintained in a secure manner. Thus, the trusted component 18 stores such state information in such secure store 22 in a persistent manner so that such state information is maintained even across sessions of use on the computing device 14. Such secure store 22 may be likely located on the computing device 14 of the trusted component 18, although as will be seen it may also be useful or even necessary to locate such secure store 22 elsewhere.
In a CPM system 10, content 12 is packaged for use by a user by encrypting such content 12 and associating a set of rules with the content 12, whereby the content 12 can be rendered only in accordance with the rules. Because the content 12 can only be rendered in accordance with the rules, then, the content 12 may be freely distributed. Typically, the content 12 is encrypted according to a symmetric key such as the aforementioned key (KD) to result in (KD(content)), and (KD(content)) therefore is also decrypted according to (KD) to result in the content 12. Such (KD) may in turn be included within the license 16 corresponding to the content 12.
Oftentimes, such (KD) is encrypted according to a public key such as the public key of the computing device 14 (PU-C) upon which the content 12 is to be rendered, resulting in (PU-C(KD)). Note, though, that other public keys may be employed, such as for example a public key of a user, a public key of a group of which the user is a member, etc., and that other schemes such as broadcast encryption may be employed to hide (KD). Thus, and presuming the public key is (PU-C), the license 16 with (PU-C(KD)) is tied to and may only be used in connection with such computing device 14 inasmuch as only such computing device 14 should have access to the private key (PR-C) corresponding to (PU-C). As should be appreciated, such (PR-C) is necessary to decrypt (PU-C(KD)) to obtain (KD), and should be closely held by such computing device 14.
As was alluded to above, it may be the case that state information for all content 12 and/or licenses 16 associated with a computing device 14 are stored in a centrally located secure store 22 associated with the trusted component 18 of the computing device. However, it is also to be appreciated that, rather then centrally storing such state information, it may be useful and/or necessary to store such state information with the content 12, the license 14, and/or some other object on a storage medium 24 associated with the computing device 14. As may be appreciated, such storage medium 24 may be any medium, including an optical or magnetic medium, a fixed or portable medium, etc.
In particular, in at least some situations, content owners may wish to have state information associated with a piece of content 12, a license 16, or some other similar object stored securely on the storage medium 24 with such object. Accordingly, a need exists for a system and method that enable establishing a secure storage area on a storage medium 24 associated with a computing device 14, where the secure storage area is associated with an object stored on the medium 24, and where the secure storage area can only be written to or read from by a trusted application on the computing device 14. Moreover, a need exists for such a system and method where the computing device 14 organizes and stores files on the storage medium 24 by way of an existing file system, and where the system and method utilize the existing file system on the computing device 14 to write data to and read data from the secure storage area.

Secure storage on recordable medium in a content protection system


An electrical test fixture used to connect the probes of an electronic test instrument to the pins of any integrated circuit. Made from flexible material, the fixture folds above the integrated circuit under test bringing test point pins to useable position. The integrated circuit ususally is soldered to the test fixture and the test fixture soldered into the target circuit. Provides for noninvasive pickoff of integrated circuit signals. Allows production versions of a design to be identical to the prototype version.

Recent advances in the state-of-the-art in microcircuits involve two interrelated parameters germane to the Flexible Electrical Test Fixture (FETF) for integrated circuits on prototype and production printed circuit boards. These advances consist of increases in microcircuit density, and increases in microcircuit switching speed.
Increasing the microcircuit density in the mechanical implementation of a design involves the placement of more functionality into a single integrated circuit, and bringing the integrated circuit packages on-board closer together. The Surface Mount Device (SMD), allowing high pin counts with close proximity mounting, was created for this purpose. Increased switching speed increases transmission line effects in the circuit. Switching speed increases are gained by reducing inductance and capacitance in the transmission lines which is primarily accomplished through the use of the higher density packaging described above.
The process of developing an electronic design from concept through finished product usually requires a prototyping stage. This prototyping stage can involve a physical implementation of all or part of the electronic design on a printed circuit board. This stage of development is used to demonstrate the validity of the design and also exposes design flaws (bugs) that need to be addressed prior to the manufacture of production quantities of the printed circuit board.
Ideally, the prototype printed circuit board is made as similar as possible to the anticipated production version in an attempt to preclude new "bugs" from appearing in the production board which were not present in the prototype printed circuit board. However, because of the testability requirements of these boards, the prototype printed circuit board requires allowances for the circuit designer to gain access to pins on the integrated circuits used in the design. Usually, the designer will connect either logic analyzer or oscilloscope probes to the pins of his circuit during the testing process. This connection between integrated circuit pins and logic analyzer or oscilloscope probes can be accomplished in a number of ways currently existing in the art:
1) test points associated with each integrated circuit pin to be monitored are designed onto the printed circuit board, PA1 2) connection is made via a single tip probe adapter, PA1 3) connection is made via a clip-on probe adapter, PA1 4) connection is made via a socketable probe adapter. PA1 1) a flexible printed circuit board, PA1 2) a first attachment mechanism having attachment points, generally, but not necessarily having the same number of attachment points arranged in the same pin pattern of the integrated circuit, for attaching the pins of an integrated to the flexible printed circuit board, and PA1 3) one or more test point mechanisms mounted on the flexible printed circuit board in one or more areas adjoining the first attachment mechanism, each test point mechanism having a number of test points. The total number of test points is, generally, but not necessarily, equal to the number of pins of the integrated circuit. Each test point is electrically connected to one or more of the attachment points.
The first method can provide access to as many or all of the pins of the integrated circuits of a design at the discretion of the designer. Any integrated circuit pin which is not included as a test point may be difficult to test during the prototyping phase. Further, the inclusion of test points, especially a large number of test points, creates an assembly which is usually different from the production version in that the number of test points required for the prototype is much larger than the limited requirement on a production board. Further, inclusion of these test points can add substantial capacitance and inductance to the transmission structure between integrated circuits, and can cause an otherwise competent design to malfunction. Assemblies with a large number of test points are physically larger than a counterpart with no or a limited number of test points.
The second method requires a fine tip or small clip-on adapter suitable for individual pins. The method is restrictive and cumbersome in that it allows test of only a limited number of pins at the same time. Some integrated circuits are not testable in this way due to the pitch of the pins, or the placement of pins under the body of the integrated circuit.
The third method clips an adapter onto the pins of the integrated circuit. As in method two, some integrated circuits are not testable in this way due to the pitch of the pins or the placement of pins under the body of the integrated circuit. For high pitch pins, this method is characteristically susceptible to shorting pins together, and is therefore unreliable. Further, substantial side clearance is required in the board layout.
In the fourth method, one or more of the printed circuit board's integrated circuits are plugged into a socket for normal operation. For test, the integrated circuit is removed from its socket and plugged into a socketable probe adapter. The socketable probe adapter is then plugged into the original integrated circuit's socket. Sockets are classically unreliable in the long term, and add extra lead length, capacitance and inductance to the circuit. Some integrated circuits cannot be socketted. The sockets also require substantial side clearance in the board layout. When under test, the integrated circuit is socketted into the adapter which is in turn socketted into the board's socket. Two sockets are involved in connecting the integrated circuit to the printed circuit board. Inductance and capacitance are further increased. Some high speed designs which would otherwise be competent will fail to perform or show bugs which would not exist in a layout without sockets.
The third and fourth method are currently widely used for testing integrated circuits. Because there are many integrated circuit foot-prints, many different adapters are needed for test. They are individually expensive, but are reusable from design to design. However, because of repetitive mechanical insertion and extraction, these "reusable" adapters become unreliable with age.

Flexible electrical test fixture for integrated circuits on prototype and production printed circuit boards


A driver alert and de-rate control system for a vehicle includes a sensor configured to monitor an engine operating condition, and a control unit in communication with the sensor. The control unit is configured to estimate a time until automatic de-rate of the engine based on the engine operating condition and to modify a performance parameter of the vehicle in dependence upon the estimated time until automatic de-rate.

Emissions standards are requirements that set specific limits on the amount of pollutants that can be released into the environment. The first U.S. federal standards for new non-road diesel engines were adopted in 1994, and the most recent "Tier 4" standards, to be phased in by 2015, are even more stringent. In particular, Tier 4 standards for non-road diesel engines, such as those used on mine haul trucks and other equipment often used in the mining industry, require that emissions of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) be further reduced by 90% from current allowable levels.
In order to comply with these standards, new non-road diesel engines often include an exhaust gas aftertreatment system, e.g., selective catalytic reduction, to reduce NOx emissions. This particular type of exhaust gas aftertreatment involves the injection of diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) into the exhaust as it moves though the engine, where it vaporizes and decomposes to form ammonia and carbon dioxide. The NOx are catalytically reduced by the ammonia into water and nitrogen, which are both harmless, and are released through the exhaust. In conjunction with the exhaust gas aftertreatment system, new non-road diesel engines typically include control technologies that limit the power output of the engine if emissions exceed set guidelines. In particular, the engines may include a controller having a built in warning and override system that is configured to automatically de-rate the engine (performance de-rates) to prevent operation without proper emission control. For example, the controller may be configured to automatically de-rate the engine when sensed emission levels exceed allowable limits, such as when a supply of DEF is exhausted, leading to a spike in NOx emission.
Existing emission control systems for non-road diesel engines, however, have the potential to create significant vehicle deration at undesirable times, such as when a loaded haul truck is operating on grade in a surface mine. As will be readily appreciated, automatically de-rating on grade, especially without adequate warning to a driver of the haul vehicle, may compromise safety and may also slow mine production. As such, it is desirable to provide a driver alert/warning and de-rate control system that improves operational safety and limits production impact.

Driver alert and de-rate control system and method


A thermoelectric material has a Heusler alloy type crystal structure and is based on an Fe2VAl basic structure having a total number of valence electrons of 24 per chemical formula. The thermoelectric material has a structure expressed by General Formula Fe2V1−ZAl1+Z, where 0.03≦z≦0.12, or General Formula Fe2V1−ZAl1+Z, where −0.12≦z≦−0.03, by controlling its chemical compositional ratio. The former acts as a p-type material and has a Seebeck coefficient whose absolute value reaches a peak at a temperature of 400 K or higher; and the latter acts as an n-type material and has a Seebeck coefficient whose absolute value reaches a peak at a temperature of 310 K or higher.

Thermoelectric materials (thermoelectric conversion material) belong to materials that convert thermal energy to electrical energy. The thermoelectric materials are roughly categorized as two types, i.e., n-type and p-type materials. Such n-type and p-type thermoelectric materials, when alternately connected in series electrically and arranged in parallel thermally, give a thermoelectric conversion element. The thermoelectric conversion element, when receiving a temperature difference between both sides thereof, can generate electricity. The thermoelectric conversion element, when receiving a voltage between both terminals thereof, generates a temperature difference.
Exemplary common thermoelectric materials include Bi—Te intermetallic compounds. The compounds are widely used because of having a high Seebeck coefficient, namely, having relatively good electric generation efficiency (Non Patent Literature (NPL) 1). Exemplary general thermoelectric materials further include Pb—Te intermetallic compounds and Zn—Sb intermetallic compounds; and thermoelectric materials other than intermetallic compounds, such as oxide thermoelectric materials (NPL 1).
The present inventors have proposed a thermoelectric material in Patent Literature (PTL) 1. This thermoelectric material has a Heusler alloy type crystal structure and has a structure corresponding to a basic structure having a total number of valence electrons of 24 per chemical formula. The thermoelectric material has a total number of valence electrons per chemical formula controlled by controlling its chemical compositional ratio without substituting another element for part of a constitutional element, or by substituting another element for part of a constitutional element. An exemplary basic structure listed in the literature is Fe2VAl. An exemplary thermoelectric material whose compositional ratio is controlled without substituting for part of a constitutional element is one expressed by (Fe2/3V1/3)3−nAl1+n, where n is −0.048 to 0.052. This compound has a total number of valence electrons of 23.79 to 24.19 (Experimental Example 1 in PTL 1).
In addition, the present inventors have proposed another thermoelectric material in PTL 2. This thermoelectric material has a structure based on an Fe2VAl basic structure, except for substituting another element for part of a constitutional element and adjusting, for example, an atomic weight of the other element to substitute.
The Fe2VAl-based thermoelectric materials according to these proposals act as n-type materials when having a total number of valence electrons of 24 or more; and act as p-type materials when having a total number of valence electrons of 24 or less. Typically, an n-type Fe2V(Al1−αMα), where M is Si, Ge, or Sn, and 0<α<1, having a total number of valence electrons of 24 or more has a large Seebeck coefficient of about −120 μV/K (PTL 1, PTL 2, and NPL 2). In contrast, a p-type Fe2(V1−αMα)Al, where M is Ti and 0<α<1, having a total number of valence electrons of 24 or less has a Seebeck coefficient of about +80 μV/K (PTL 1 and NPL 3).
Of thermoelectric materials, those having better electric generation efficiency have been demanded. To meet this demand, the present inventors have proposed a thermoelectric material having a structure based on an Fe2VAl basic structure, except for substituting other elements for at least part of Fe and V in PTL 3.
In the thermoelectric material just mentioned above, an element M1, when defined as another element substituting for Fe, is selected from the group consisting of elements of Groups 7 to 10 in Periods 4 to 6 in the Periodic Table; and an element M2, when defined as another element substituting for V, is selected from the group consisting of elements of Groups 4 to 6 in Periods 4 to 6 in the Periodic Table. The thermoelectric material has amounts α and β of substituting elements M1 and M2, which amounts satisfy General Formula (Fe1−αM1α)2(V1−βM2β)Al and are controlled within ranges of 0<α<1 and 0<β<1. The thermoelectric material is controlled to act as a p-type material by having a total number of valence electrons of less than 24 per chemical formula; or is controlled to act as an n-type material by having a total number of valence electrons of more than 24 per chemical formula. Typically, a thermoelectric material including Ir as element M1 and Ti as element M2 has a Seebeck coefficient of about +90 μV/K and has a higher power factor and a higher figure of merit than those of a thermoelectric material substituting only Ti as M2.

Thermoelectric material and method for generating electricity

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY CORPORATION NAGOYA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY


A birefringent spectral filter comprises a first birefringent stage and a polarizing beam splitter optically coupled to the first birefringent stage. The first birefringent stage is adapted to generate an optical path difference between light propagating along each of two orthogonal axes. This configuration is most advantageous when light incident on the first birefringent stage is polarized at 45° relative to the extraordinary axis of the birefringent material. The first birefringent stage may advantageously include a first and second layers of birefringent material and a half-wave plate disposed therebetween. Preferably, the first and second layers of birefringent material have orthogonally aligned extraordinary axes.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the present invention is spectral filters, and particularly to those spectral filters that employ birefringence to generate an optical path difference in incident light.
2. Background
A hyper-spectral sensor is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,580,509 to Hutchin, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. This hyper-spectral filter, while effective in separating bands of light, can be too bulky and heavy for certain applications. Other hyper-spectral sensors generally suffer from the same shortcoming.


Disclosed is a device for blocking a vehicle, a method making use of such a device and a loading-unloading station provided therewith. The device includes a guide track disposed along a driveway, a blocking component for blocking a wheel of the vehicle, and height-adjusting component for height adjustment of the guide track and/or the blocking component during use. The device preferably includes an anti-roll mode, wherein the blocking component engages at a first height, and a locking mode, wherein the blocking component engages at a second, greater height.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for blocking a vehicle such as a truck. Such devices are generally used in practice to block a truck during loading and unloading thereof, for instance at a loading-unloading station of a distribution centre.
2. Description of Related Art
Devices for blocking trucks are per se known and are for instance described in EP 1 120 371 and EP 0 684 915. The blocking device known herefrom makes use of a drive to displace a carriage over a guide track. As soon as the truck is positioned correctly relative to the loading-unloading station a blocking means is extended and/or displaced in order to hold the rear wheel of the truck therewith and make driving or rolling away impossible. Such blocking devices are relatively complex due to the number of parts required, and particularly the drives required.
A blocking device is also known from NL 2004466. The blocking device known herefrom makes use of displacing means to displace a carriage from a first rest position to a second blocking position, wherein use is made of an energy storage system such that energy produced by the first vehicle as it drives away can be used to displace the carriage for a second vehicle.
A problem occurring in practice with blocking devices is the great variation in vehicles which can occur. Different vehicles have different wheel diameters. The blocking device does not therefore operate optimally for all vehicles, whereby locations provided with a blocking device, such as at a distribution centre, cannot be employed with full flexibility for all types of vehicle.

Device for blocking a vehicle, method therefor and loading-unloading station provided therewith


A new and distinct Calibrachoa plant named ‘INCALDRSIM’, characterized by its uniformly low mounding to outwardly spreading to eventually trailing plant habit; vigorous growth habit; freely branching habit; dense and bushy appearance; early and freely flowering habit; large orange-colored flowers with red-colored venation and centers; and good garden performance.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Calibrachoa plant, botanically known as Calibrachoa sp. and hereinafter referred to by the name 'INCALDRSIM'.
The new Calibrachoa plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Johannesburg, South Africa. The objective of the breeding program is to create new mounding and early-flowering Calibrachoa plants with large attractive flowers and good garden performance.
The new Calibrachoa plant originated from a cross-pollination conducted by the Inventor in Johannesburg, South Africa in November, 2015 of a proprietary selection of Calibrachoa sp. Llave & Lex. identified as code number Ca14-5076-1, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Calibrachoa sp. identified as code number Ca14-5087-10, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Calibrachoa plant was discovered and first selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled greenhouse environment in Johannesburg, South Africa in April, 2017.
Asexual reproduction of the new Calibrachoa plant by vegetative terminal cuttings in a controlled greenhouse environment in Gensingen, Germany since April, 2017 has shown that the unique features of this new Calibrachoa plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


Methods, circuits, systems, and networks for detecting an amplitude drop in an incoming signal. The methods generally comprise sampling the incoming signal at regular intervals to produce a plurality of sample values, producing a plurality of drop flags in response to the plurality of sample values, and detecting the amplitude drop in response to at least two of the drop flags. The circuits generally comprise a sampling circuit configured to produce a sample signal in response to the incoming signal, a threshold circuit configured to receive the sample signal and to produce a drop flag signal in response to the sample signal, and a drop detection circuit configured to produce an amplitude drop signal in response to at least two values of the drop flag signal. The systems and networks generally comprise the present circuits and/or any circuit embodying the inventive concepts described herein. The present invention advantageously provides for detection of amplitude drops in an incoming signal, operating in the digital (rather than analog) domain. Embodiments of the present invention also reduce the incidence of “false positives” due to transient low amplitudes. Correct detection of amplitude drops can improve the accuracy of signal decoders.

In modern signal processing (used, for example, in wireless data transmissions as well as magnetic and optical data storage, among many other applications) digital information is often encoded using an error correction code in order to facilitate the detection and correction of errors in noisy channels. Signal decoders are often implemented as finite state machines. When the signal is lost (e.g., the channel contains only noise, or the signal amplitude unexpectedly drops) the state of the decoder can be corrupted such that it will not be able to recover the transmitted data. An entire sector or block of data after the dropped signal may be lost due to this corrupted state, even if only a relatively small portion of the signal is lost.
Referring now to FIG. 1, model 100 of a typical channel detecting and decoding is shown. The waveform generator 101 mathematically models the received signal and signal amplitude defect. The received signal could be corrupted by media noise 102 and electric additive Gaussian noise 104. Scalar 103 represents an amplitude drop in the data signal (e.g., a reduction in the amplitude of the signal according to a ratio a). Noise generator 104 represents the addition of random noise nk to the channel. Loops block 105 represents filters to extract the signal from the channel before the signal is decoded, such as band-pass filters, analog-to-digital conversion (ADC), timing recovery, and finite impulse response (FIR) filters. Detector 110 and decoder 111 generally do not know the length and magnitude of the amplitude drop defect a, and attempt to recover the data from the received signal.
For channels with inter-symbol interference or data encoded by a convolutional code, a trellis based detector is conventionally used to detect data that is "hidden" in the received signal. For example, Viterbi detector 110 generally detects at least one most likely data sequence based on the received signal. In some implementations, the data is encoded with an outer code before transmission. The receiver may include an outer decoder 111 to correct errors that the Viterbi detector cannot recover. In some further implementations, the outer decoder 111 may be an iterative decoder which receives detection reliability values (e.g., values representing the statistical probability that a decoded sequence is correct) as input. Detection reliability values may be conventionally generated by a Viterbi detector using a soft output Viterbi algorithm (SOVA).
Referring now to FIG. 2A, graph 200 shows signal samples of an incoming signal (e.g., the output of waveform generator 101). In region 201, the data is erased from the channel. Thus, from approximately bit index 3300 to 3400, the incoming waveform is primarily made up of noise signal nk. Referring now to FIG. 2B, graph 200′ shows an expanded view of the incoming signal from bit index 3260 to bit index 3460. When the data signal is dropped from the channel, detector 110 cannot produce correct output. Thus, graph 210 in FIG. 2C shows locations in the bit stream where convolutional decoder 110 produces an erroneous output. FIG. 2C demonstrates that when the data signal is lost (e.g., from about bit index 3300 to about bit index 3400), detector 110 produces essentially random output, wherein about half of the output bits are in error. When the detector produces errors, the decoder 111 can be disrupted, which may corrupt an entire segment or sector of the decoded data.
Therefore, it is desirable to detect when the data signal has been lost from a channel, and to signal the decoder(s) to stop decoding or otherwise perform special processing on that segment of the signal so that further decoding (which may depend on the correctness of prior decoding) is not corrupted. One conventional solution to the problem is to detect when the amplitude of the incoming signal from the channel suddenly drops.
As shown in graphs 200 and 200′, the value of the sampled signal is constantly switching from a high level to a low level. Therefore, an analog envelope detector is often used to detect a drop in the amplitude of the signal. The output of the analog envelope detector may be modeled or otherwise implemented with a digital envelope detector according to the following equation:
                              V          t                =                  {                                                                                V                                              t                        -                        1                                                              -                                          α                                                                                                                                                  s                            t                                                    -                                                      V                                                          t                              -                              1                                                                                                                                                              ,                                                                                if                                                                                s                      t                                                        ≤                                      V                                          t                      -                      1                                                                                V                                              t                        -                        1                                                              +                                          β                                                                                                                                                  s                            t                                                    -                                                      V                                                          t                              -                              1                                                                                                                                                              ,                                                            otherwise                                                                        (                  EQ          .                                                    1                )            where Vt is an envelope value at time t, St is the sample value of the input signal (e.g., from an FIR filter) at time t, α is a small value (e.g., 1/60) representing a low pass filter when the magnitude of St is less than or equal to the previous envelope value (e.g., Vt-1) and β is approximately 1, representing an all pass filter when the magnitude of St is greater than the previous envelope value.
According to this equation, as the sampled value of the signal decreases, the envelope value will decrease slowly. When the sampled value increases, the envelope value will immediately rise. Therefore, the fluctuations of the data signal generally will not significantly reduce the envelope value over time, while a true amplitude drop (e.g., an amplitude drop of sufficient duration) will decrease the envelope over time. Referring now to FIG. 2D, graph 240 shows an envelope value 241 over time. When the amplitude drops at approximately bit index 3300, envelope 241 slowly declines. When the signal is restored to the channel at approximately bit index 3420, the envelope is immediately restored to a high value. When the envelope falls below threshold 242, a drop flag may be triggered. In a conventional amplitude drop detector, an amplitude drop is detected when the envelope drops below a threshold, (e.g., threshold line 242 in FIG. 2D).
Such detectors are susceptible to the "low pass effect," wherein the envelope value is above the threshold value for some significant portion of the amplitude drop event (e.g., low pass slope 243 of graph 240). Referring now to FIG. 2E, graph 250 maps drop flags produced when the envelope falls below the threshold. Region 251 of graph 250 shows negative drop flags in the "low pass slope" region where an amplitude drop has occurred, but the envelope value has not yet fallen below the threshold. Region 252 of graph 250 shows the positive drop flags where the amplitude drop has occurred. Thus, the amplitude drop is not noted until some time after the amplitude drop occurs. Therefore, the detector and decoder may still receive invalid data for a significant period of time (e.g., the period of time represented by regions 251 in graph 250).
One solution to the "low pass effect" is to increase the threshold. FIG. 2F shows graph 260 of an envelope 261 and threshold 263. As shown in graph 260, increasing the threshold increases the risk that transitory decreases in the envelope that do not represent an amplitude drop may trigger an amplitude drop flag. For example, in region 262 of graph 260, envelope 261 falls beneath threshold 263 for a short period. Referring now to FIG. 2G, graph 270 is a time-magnified view of graph 260. As shown in graph 270, increasing the threshold 273 value decreases the duration of the low pass slope 272, but in region 262 of graph 260, envelope 261 also falls below threshold 263, even though it does not represent an amplitude drop.
Therefore, it is desirable to detect amplitude drops in the incoming signal on a channel as soon as possible, while minimizing the risk of introducing false alarms (e.g., false indications that an amplitude drop has occurred).

Circuits, architectures, apparatuses, systems, algorithms and methods and software for amplitude drop detection


A method is provided for decoding and/or detecting data containing user information which is received by a communication network in order to provide a way to suppress error concealment and to provide improved error correction. The present invention is characterized in that a receiver of a communication terminal and a CTM-receiver exchange at least additional information relating to the reliability of the correct reception of the data thus received and that error processing of the data thus received is adjusted in a receiver.

The present invention relates to a method and a system for error correction of user information received via a communication network.
Document D1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,405 describes how data and voice signals of a communications information signal of a cellular radio telephone are decoded simultaneously by two decoders. A data signal of the information signal is decoded by a data decoder, and then a data signal sensor decides whether the decoded signal is a normal data signal. Only a normal signal is forwarded to a signal converter for executing a code conversion. The resultant signal is output by a transmitter circuit. A voice signal of the information signal is decoded by a voice decoder, and then a voice signal sensor decides whether the decoded signal is a normal voice signal. Only a normal signal is sent to a digital/analog converter for transforming into an analog voice signal. The validity of the decoded signals is verified, for example, by varying the frequency band and/or the amplitude of the decoded signals. Due to the simultaneous decoder operations, the data and the voice signals are decoded efficiently at high speed by one modem card. As such, there is one modem card for a cellular radio telephone for simultaneous transmission of data signals and voice signals to an information terminal, where an information terminal may be a computer.
In cellular text telephony, a cascade of a cellular radio receiver (e.g., GSM modem) and a CTM receiver (Cellular Text telephone Modem) is provided for received texts. An example of this is the U.S. American text telephony standard (see 3GPP TS 26.226) wherein text is first converted into audio signals by digital coding of an alphabet, channel coding and frequency modulation, and then the audio signals are processed further in the same way as normal speech by cellular radio terminals (cellular radio modems) and transmitted via a cellular radio channel. In order to guarantee the reliable transmission of emergency calls, maximum error rates are specified for the transmission of the individual letters (see 3GPP TS 26.231). A CTM receiver and a cellular radio receiver are not highly compatible, however, and the complete system (cellular radio+CTM) cannot achieve sufficiently good performance, particularly in the sense of transmission efficiency, for the following reasons:                A cellular radio voice coder/decoder (such as the AMR) in cellular radio is optimized for coding/decoding of human speech. For the artificially generated (CTM) audio signals, the voice coder/decoder is not efficient.
Under poor channel conditions, the error concealment, which is optimized for the human ear, is no longer satisfactory for the transmission of text information.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed toward a method and a device in a communication network that will better satisfy requirements in the transmission of data containing user information.

Error processing of user information received by a communication network

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A musical device that includes a housing with a flat top over which a band slides, in both directions, and co-acts with a sensor assembly to detect perforations on the band having predetermined lengths. An electronic simulated musical instrument assembly with inputs adapted to detect each of the sensed coded elements outputs to generate a note or sound for one or more electronically simulated instruments that in turn are amplified and connected to speaker output assemblies. Two or more instruments can play simultaneously and the melody accompaniment, base and percussion performed by the instruments can be changed at any time. A method for playing notes backward without distortion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a musical instrument and, more particularly, to an electronic organ with a manually driven band.
2. Description of the Related Art
Several designs for musical instruments have been designed in the past. None of them, however, include a manually driven band with perforations for selectively actuating note sensors that permit the band to move forward as well as backwards to play the notes in both directions.
It is a known practice for disk jockies (DJs) to "scratch" the vinyl sound recording to mix sounds with the music being played. See generally en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scratching (last visited on Oct. 11, 2013). With the original vinyl records a DJ would cause the record to play backwards (temporarily) purportedly enhancing the beat of the music. Independently from the timing of the resulting sound, the notes are not played backwards but rather awkward sounds are generated. This practice is more difficult to implement with compact discs (CDs) and impossible with other digital music formats (MP3s, etc.) thus requiring elaborate "scratching" software to be developed. The present invention provides a novel feature for scratching with true selective playback capabilities of the notes and sounds preprogrammed on a driving band.
Applicant believes that the closest reference corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 1,600,160 issued to Bartholome for a pneumatic playing device for musical instruments. Bartholome's device includes a band that is used to actuate the note sensors. However, it differs from the present invention because it cannot play the sequence of songs backwards and is not capable of playing several instruments simultaneously. As it will be shown below, the present invention also permits a user to play different instruments simultaneously, change instruments at any time or selectively silence one or more of these instruments.
Other documents describing the closest subject matter provide for a number of more or less complicated features that fail to solve the problem in an efficient and economical way. None of these patents suggest the novel features of the present invention.


A circuit of an adaptive slope compensator prevents instability in the current mode converter operating under a continuous mode. A timing capacitor, charged by a programmable current source, is used to generate a slope signal. The timing capacitor is discharged by a switching signal via a switching diode connection. The programmable current source is implemented by a transistor and three bias resistors. A voltage feedback signal of the converter is taken as an input to the programmable current source to control the slew rate and magnitude of the slope signal in response to the variations of the input voltage and the output power of the converter. The slope signal is added to a sensed current loop of the converter through an output diode and a resistor in series for providing necessary slope compensation.

Various power converters are presently available for transforming an unregulated input voltage to a regulated output voltage with a specific magnitude. Various power conversion techniques such as forward and flyback are well described as the prior art. Although the advantages of current mode control over voltage mode control has been amply demonstrated, slope compensation must generally be added in the current loop to solve instability problems. Many texts explain the operation of current mode and the required slope compensation, such as (a) Keith H. Billings "Switchmode Power Supply Handbook" McGraw-Hill Book Co., p3.148-p3.150 (b) Abraham I. Pressman "Switching Power Supply Design" McGraw-Hill Book Co., p105-p136; p143-p165. (c) "Modelling, Analysis and Compensation of the Current-Mode Converter" Unitrode Corp. Application Note U-97 (d) "Practical Considerations in Current Mode Power Supplies" Unitrode Corp. Application Note U-111. However, there still exist several drawbacks in conventional slope compensation techniques. Thus, in order to remedy these drawbacks and improve performance, mathematical analysis and practical circuit tests have been performed to establish the fundamentals of this invention. The characteristic analysis of conventional slope compensation are listed as follows,
(A) Advantage I: Slope compensation stabilizes the current loop
A general circuit of a conventional current mode power converter is shown in FIG. 1, and its symbols defined are:
Pwr: power converter T.sub.M : power transformer
N.sub.P : primary turn ratio of T.sub.M N.sub.S : secondary turn ratio of T.sub.M
L.sub.P : primary inductance of T.sub.M L.sub.S : secondary inductance of T.sub.M
I.sub.P : primary current of T.sub.M I.sub.PP : primary peak current of T.sub.M
I.sub.PA : primary average current of T.sub.M I.sub.S : secondary current of T.sub.M
I.sub.SP : secondary peak current of T.sub.M I.sub.SA : secondary average current of T.sub.M
T: switching period of Pwr T.sub.ON : turn-on time of T
T.sub.OFF : turn-off time of T V.sub.O : output voltage of Pwr
V.sub.IN : input voltage of Pwr V.sub.SL : voltage of slope compensation signal
Verr: output voltage of the error amplifier
V.sub.RP : sensed voltage of resistor R.sub.P
There are two distinctly different operating modes of power converters, discontinuous and continuous. When higher power conversion efficiency is concerned, the continuous mode is much more widely used than the discontinuous mode. However, the power converter exhibits instability in continuous mode generally. The purpose of the following analysis is to determine the criterion for stabilizing the current loop in which a minimum magnitude of the slope compensation has to be added, if the power converter is operating in continuous current mode or if the duty cycle of the power converter is greater than 50 percent. Slope m is the down slope; m=dIs/dt=Vo/Ls . FIG. 2 shows the continuous mode current waveform, Ip and Is. I.sub.SA =I.sub.SP -(dIs/2)=I.sub.SP -(m/2).multidot.dt; I.sub.SA =I.sub.SP -(m/2).multidot.T.sub.OFF ; I.sub.SP =I.sub.SA +(m/2).multidot.(T-T.sub.ON). The peak voltage V.sub.RP across the primary current-sensing resistor R.sub.P is V.sub.RP =I.sub.PP .multidot.R.sub.P =I.sub.SP .multidot.(Ns/Np).multidot.R.sub.P = I.sub.SA +(m/2).multidot.(T-T.sub.ON) !.multidot.Ns/Np).multidot.R.sub.P. Adding the slope compensation to V.sub.RP, this feedback signal is stated as V.sub.C =V.sub.RP +(V.sub.SL /T).multidot..DELTA. T=V.sub.RP +(V.sub.SL /T).multidot.(.DELTA. T.sub.ON +.DELTA. T.sub.OFF); ##EQU1##
Since an amount of energy delivered in a time period T represents power, at the end of one period, power drawn from V.sub.IN is P=L.sub.P I.sub.P.spsb.2 /(2T)=L.sub.P .multidot.(I.sub.PP.spsb.2 -I.sub.PA.spsb.2)!/(2T). But I.sub.PP =I.sub.PA +.DELTA. I.sub.P =I.sub.PA +(V.sub.IN /L.sub.P).multidot..DELTA. T, and thus ##EQU2##
The current I.sub.PA is an energy which cannot completely deliver to the load during the off time (T.sub.OFF) and still remain in the transformer. Thus the magnitude of the current I.sub.PA is related to the T.sub.OFF and T.sub.ON. It is easily verified from equation (2), that the feedback loop regulates the output of power converter by controlling T.sub.ON. The output voltage Vo is sensed and compared to a reference voltage in the error amplifier (EA). The amplified error voltage Verr (voltage loop signal) is fed to a voltage comparator and compared with the Vc (current loop signal). As shown in FIG. 1, the on time starts at the clock pulse of oscillator (osc) and ends when the Vc ramp equals the level of Verr, thereby the adjustment of T.sub.ON is proportional to the magnitude of voltage Vc and Verr. Mathematically the relationship between Vc and T.sub.ON is .differential.V.sub.C /.differential.T.sub.ON .gtoreq.0. The deviation from equation (1) can be stated as ##EQU3##
This can be seen quantitatively as ##EQU4##
If the change of T.sub.ON is not proportional to the Vc, .differential.V.sub.C /.differential.T.sub.ON <0, then the feedback loop will oscillate non-linearly. Thus the criterion of equation (3) must be satisfied to insure loop stability.
(B) Advantage II: Slope compensation improves the linearity of the current loop
Before adding the slope compensation, the signal Vc is equal to V.sub.RP : ##EQU5##
Equations (2), (4), and (5), demonstrate that when the output power remains constant, the T.sub.ON increases and .DELTA. I.sub.P decreases as V.sub.IN goes down. The current waveform corresponding to the V.sub.IN and T.sub.ON is shown in FIG. 3. The current feedback loop signal compared with the voltage feedback loop signal will control the output power and regulate the output voltage. It is obvious the control loop will lose linearity and immunity to noise as V.sub.IN goes down. This disadvantage can be improved by adding the slope compensation. ##EQU6##
The slope compensation element remains a minimum linearity of the control loop.
(C) Disadvantage I: A dummy load or the minimum load is required to avoid the unstable oscillation during no load or light load conditions.
The conventional mode power converter will operate in discontinuous mode while the output is in no load or light load conditions and may operate in continuous mode while the output power is high or the input voltage is low. A minimum magnitude of slope compensation must be added as equation (3), as long as the power converter operates in the continuous mode. While the power converter is operating in discontinuous mode, its slope compensation included current feedback loop signal Vc is ##EQU7##
This signal waveform is shown in FIG. 4: illustrating a nonlinear deviation in the power control. If the signal Verr goes down due to the regulation, its voltage move from point C to point A or point B will cause a nonlinear deviation. Since the voltage level of point A is equal to point B, but the on time (T.sub.ON) of point A and point B is different, difference is (T.sub.ONB -T.sub.ONA) causes a deviation P.sub.d in the power control. ##EQU8##
Because of this, an oscillation commences at every change in signal Verr which may continue for some time. Two conventional approaches for solving this problem are (a) To equip with a dummy load in the output. This yield I.sub.P .multidot.R.sub.P >(V.sub.SL /T)! during the no load or light conditions. However this will consume the power of the dummy load. (b) To require consuming a minimum power in the load. However this cannot meet the requirements of power management. The goal of power management is to manage the system to only consume power during the operation such that no power, or little power is consumed during the non-operation (sleep mode). With respect to the power converter in a power management application, conserving power in the no load or light load conditions is a major requirement.
(D) Disadvantage II: Less than ideal line voltage regulation
Consider how the power converter regulates against line voltage changes. As V.sub.IN goes up, the Vo will eventually go up. Then after a delay in getting through the voltage feed-back loop, Verr will go down and the output voltage will be brought back down. Besides the mechanics of this, there is a shortcut correction in the current mode operation. As V.sub.IN goes up, the slope of current Ip increases and hence the slope of the ramp of V.sub.RP increases. Now the steeper ramp equals Verr and the on time (T.sub.ON) is shortened. Output voltage changes resulting from input voltage changes will be smaller in amplitude and shorter in duration because of this feedforward characteristic. The output voltage Vo is ##EQU9##
By using equation (7), if Vc=Verr, then ##EQU10##
It can be seen that the loop gain of this feedforward characteristic will be reduced by increasing the magnitude of slope compensation V.sub.SL /T. Thus, increasing the magnitude of slope compensation will decrease the loop gain of the current feedback loop and then reduce the capability of line voltage regulation.
FIGS. (5) and (6) show two conventional methods of implementing slope compensation. These methods, however, are unable to solve the problems in the previous description and are unable to operate under wide input ranges (V.sub.IN).

Adaptive slope compensator for current mode power converters


A microscope system includes: a wavefront modulator that modulates a wavefront of light from a light source; an objective that irradiates a sample with light whose wavefront has been modulated by the wavefront modulator; a spherical aberration corrector that corrects spherical aberration caused by a difference between a refractive index of a medium between the objective and the sample and a refractive index of the sample; a refractive index calculator that calculates, for each wavelength of the light from the light source, an average refractive index of a medium between the objective and a condensing position of light emitted from the objective on the basis of an amount of the corrected spherical aberration; and a controller that controls the wavefront modulator to correct chromatic aberration calculated on the basis of the calculated average refractive index for each wavelength.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microscope system and a method for measuring a refractive index of a sample.
2. Description of the Related Art
A fluorescence observation method using a multi-photon excitation microscope is attracting attention as a method for observing a biological sample. The multi-photon excitation microscope excites a sample with excitation light having a wavelength longer than that of excitation light of a single-photon excitation microscope. As light having a long wavelength is hardly scattered, the multi-photon excitation microscope enables making excitation light reach a deep portion of a sample that easily scatters light, such as a biological sample, and as a result, the multi-photon excitation microscope enables observing a deeper portion of a sample than the single-photon excitation microscope.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-101942 discloses a microscope including a wavefront modulator on an optical path. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-224841 discloses a laser beam machining device, and describes that chromatic aberration is generated by the dispersion of a material.

Microscope system and method for measuring refractive index of sample


Circuitry for controlling a display matrix formed of light-emitting diodes arranged in rows and columns, diodes in each row being connected to common row lines, and diodes in each column being connected to common column lines, each of the column lines being selectively connected to a current source for providing a current to each of the column lines when the column line is selected, a column voltage being present at a column node of each column line while the column line is selected, each of the row lines being selectively connected to a rowoff voltage for turning off the diodes in that row, the circuitry including circuitry for generating the rowoff voltage including: capture circuitry arranged to capture a maximum value of the column voltages present at the column nodes of a plurality of selected column lines; storage circuitry arranged to store the maximum column voltage; and output circuitry arranged to provide the rowoff voltage based on the maximum column voltage.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a matrix display 100 comprising a number of light-emitting diodes 102. The diodes 102 are arranged in a number of columns and rows and each diode is connected between a column line 104 and a row line 106 associated with each column and row respectively. In particular, the cathodes of diodes 102 in a same row are connected to one of the row lines 106, and the anodes of diodes 102 in a same column are connected to one of the column lines 104.
Each column line 104 is connected to a respective current source 108, providing a determined current to the column line via a respective column switch 110. Column switches 110 selectively connect each column line to either the current source 108, or to a ground node, labelled GND in FIG. 1.
Each row line 106 is selectively connected to a rowoff voltage 112 via a respective row switch 114. Row switches 114 allow each row line 106 to be connected to one of the rowoff voltage or a ground node GND.
In operation, columns will be activated by switching column switches 110 such that selected current sources 108 are connected to respective column lines 104. Rows are successively selected by selectively connecting row lines 106 to the ground nodes using row switches 114. It is ensured that the diodes of unselected row lines remain switched off by connecting the cathodes of these diodes to the rowoff voltage 112 via their respective row line.
In the circuit of FIG. 1, the rowoff voltage is a fixed voltage, which is sufficiently high to ensure that the diodes of the row connected to this voltage are always off. A disadvantage of the circuit of FIG. 1 is that due to the necessarily high voltages applied to the cathodes of each of the diodes, the lifetime of these diodes is significantly reduced by high reverse biasing.