An information processing device can determine, as a placement destination of object data, a storage location which is the most suitable for speeding up future processing which uses a plurality of pieces of data including the object data simultaneously, even when the object data is stored newly before use of it.

In recent years, a distributed file system which stores data using a plurality of distributed information processing devices is known well along with increase of a volume of data treated by information processing devices. For example, GFS (Google File System) of Google Inc. (here, Google is a registered trademark) and open source HDFS (Hadoop Distributed File System) realize a storage of more than 1 PB (petabyte) capacity by combining a plurality of information processing devices. Such distributed file system can store data that increases on a daily basis such as a web page and log data. Pieces of data to be stored in such distributed file system are efficiently processed in a distributed manner by a distributed processing framework such as MapReduce and Hadoop, respectively.
Such distributed file system is generally equipped with a function to generate a copy of data to be stored (object data). As purposes for making a copy of object data, there are mainly two of them described below.
That is, the first purpose is to secure the fault tolerance of a file system. Because a distributed file system is configured by a plurality of information processing devices, one of the information processing devices may cause a failure. Therefore, a distributed file system creates a copy of object data and stores the copied object data in a different information processing device. As a result, a distributed file system secures a state that the object data is always being backed up. Even when a certain information processing device has a trouble, the object data is not lost as a whole distributed file system because a copy of the object data is stored in a different information processing device.
The second purpose is to mitigate concentration of access to identical data. That is, a distributed file system makes copies of specific object data which is frequently accessed, and stores the copied pieces of the object data in a plurality of information processing devices included in the distributed file system, separately. As a result, even when read requests occur from many programs simultaneously to specific object data, a load of each information processing device constituting a distributed file system can be dispersed. As a result, such distributed file system can provide data access free from a bottleneck.
Here, an example of related technology about determining a placement destination of object data to be stored in such distributed file system will be described. Hereinafter, it is supposed that information processing devices constituting a distributed file system are stored in racks (server racks) installed in a data center. It is also supposed that a plurality of information processing devices stored in racks are connected so that they can communicate with each other by a communication network (hereinafter, it is abbreviated as "network"). Moreover, it is supposed that, also between a plurality of racks, a plurality of information processing devices which are stored in different racks are connected so that they can communicate with each other by a network. Generally, a band of network communication between a plurality of information processing devices in different racks is narrow compared with that of network communication between respective information processing devices in an identical rack.
For example, such distributed file system reproduces one piece of object data into three pieces of object data (=(one original+(two copies)), first. Then, a distributed file system places first object data in one information processing device stored in a certain rack, places second object data in a different information processing device mounted in the identical rack, and allocates third object data in an information processing device which is mounted in a rack different from the former rack. As a result, the object data is stored using a plurality of racks. Accordingly, even when a failure occurs in one rack, access to the object data is guaranteed. In the example mentioned above, because two racks are used, the cost needed for writing and updating object data is small compared with a case where each of the three pieces of the object data is placed in a different rack separately. Therefore, a distributed file system for determining a placement destination of object data in this way improves performance of writing and updating while maintaining reliability of the object data to be stored.
Also, the technology disclosed in non-patent literature 1 can be applied to such distributed file system as another technology for determining a placement destination of object data. Non-patent literature 1 relates to a technology for reproducing a line of a database. However, when paraphrasing a line into object data in the technology disclosed in non-patent literature 1, the technology is applicable in a distributed file system. A distributed file system to which such technology disclosed in non-patent literature 1 is applied determines placement destinations of a plurality of pieces of copied object data based on relevance between pieces of data. Here, "a plurality of pieces of data having relevance with each other" means pieces of data read by an identical application in identical processing. Henceforth, in the present application, that a plurality of pieces of data are accessed by an identical application in identical processing may be described as "a plurality of pieces of data are used simultaneously." Such distributed file system places a plurality of pieces of data having a high possibility of being used by an identical application simultaneously in an identical rack.
Specifically, a distributed file system to which the technology disclosed in non-patent literature 1 has been applied performs graph partitioning by expressing relevance between pieces of object data which should be stored by a graph. In this graph, data (or a data set which is a set of pieces of data) is represented as a node. In such a graph, relevance between pieces of object data is represented by a side that connects between nodes. Graph partitioning is a known problem of making the number of nodes for each divided graph equal as much as possible, and, at the same time, making the number of sides that cross a divided graph as small as possible. Thus, when the technology disclosed in a non-patent literature 1 is applied, a distributed file system can make determination of a placement destination of object data be boiled down to a graph partitioning problem. Meanwhile, because it is NP-hard (Non-deterministic Polynomial time-Hard) to find the optimal solution of graph partitioning, heuristic or an approximation algorithm is generally applied. As a result, such distributed file system can determine a placement destination of each piece of data so that there may be no partiality in data transmission volumes between racks as much as possible, and relevant data may be placed in an identical node or an identical rack.
In this way, a distributed file system to which the technology disclosed in non-patent literature 1 has been applied can make data transfer associated with processing which uses a plurality of pieces of object data simultaneously be carried out within one rack. As a result, such distributed file system is able to speed up processing which uses a plurality of pieces of object data simultaneously.
In order to express relevance of a plurality of pieces of data that have been copied by a graph, a distributed file system to which the technology disclosed in non-patent literature 1 has been applied needs information representing relevance between each of the copied pieces of data in advance. Such distributed file system acquires information representing relevance between pieces of data based on characteristics of access from outside to the pieces of data having been placed once. Accordingly, a technology which determines a placement destination of object data thus is mainly used in order to change a placement destination appropriately according to access characteristics to data after having placed the data once.
Another technology which acquires such relevance between pieces of data is disclosed in patent literature 1. In the technology disclosed in patent literature 1, a degree of association between documents is acquired based on quotation relation and keyword sharing relation between the documents.

Information processing devices, method, and recording medium with regard to a distributed file system


A heat-dissipating board structure and a circuit board module are provided. The heat-dissipating board structure includes a first board, a second board, a heat-transmitting layer and a buffering liquid. The first board has a first inner surface and the first inner surface has a plurality of first metal protrusions thereon. The second board is correspondingly engaged with the first board to form an accommodating chamber therebetween. The second board has a second inner surface and the second inner surface has a plurality of second metal protrusions thereon. The heat-transmitting layer is disposed in the accommodating chamber and arranged between the first metal protrusions and the second metal protrusions. The buffering liquid is filled in a residual space of the accommodating chamber. Therefore, the heat-dissipating board structure can meet the design requirements of a light-weight and thin electronic product and can effectively remove heat from a heat source.

In response to the advent of the 5G generation, high-frequency high-speed products (e.g., antenna) are constantly required to have better performance. In addition, the signal transmission speed needs to be increased and the decrease in signal integrity due to the signal loss during the transmission process should be avoided. With the constant development of electronic products toward the trend of light weight, thin profile and high performance, how effective heat dissipation can be provided in a limited internal space, i.e., using a heat-dissipating structure to remove heat generated from the electronic component in operation, has become one of the problems to be solved in the related art. For example, the heat dissipation path not only focuses on the XY direction of the Cartesian coordinate system, but the contribution of heat conduction in the Z direction to the overall heat dissipation efficiency should also be considered.
For the heat dissipation process, the heat-dissipating structure can directly contact the electronic component or be spaced apart from the electronic component. For example, a graphite, metal or graphite/metal cooling sheet can be directly adhered to a high-power electronic component (e.g., processor) or to an adjacent part (e.g., back cover), so as to remove heat from the electronic component. In addition, a high-power electronic component such as an LED can be disposed on a heat pipe. Accordingly, the heat generated from the electronic component can be transmitted to a heat-dissipating structure such as a heat sink and then be outwardly dissipated from the heat-dissipating structure.
Although said cooling sheet can cool the operated electronic component in time, its heat-dissipating ability still has some room for improvement and it is unfavorable to light-weight designs. In addition, the heat pipe has a higher cost and, for heat dissipation, needs to work with an additional heat-dissipating structure.

Circuit board module and heat-dissipating board structure thereof


A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for a computer-implemented apportioning system. Work is distributed to processors in a multi-processor system. Initially, during bind-time, a scaling factor is determined for each processor. The scaling factor represents relative processing power in relation to each other processor. Then, portions of a total amount of work are distributed to each processor based on the determined scaling factor of that processor and a determined amount of work for an average processor.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to computer-implemented processing systems, and, in particular, to a technique for apportioning a work unit to execute in parallel in a heterogeneous environment.
2. Description of Related Art
A relatively recent innovation in computer systems has been to distribute processing of units of work (e.g., a unit of work may be a computer task that selects data from a database) to multiple computer systems connected by a network. Each distributed computer system has one or more processors for executing units of work. A distributed computer system has many advantages over a centralized scheme with regard to flexibility and cost effectiveness.
When a computer system consists of multiple processors (i.e., central processors or xe2x80x9cCPsxe2x80x9d), each processor may have a different processing power. A processor is part of a computer system that executes instructions to complete a unit of work. Processor power indicates how quickly a processor is able to execute a unit of work. Typically, the processing power is represented with reference to how many millions of instructions per second (MIPS) that a processor executes.
A multitude of configurations are possible for a multi-processor computer system. For example, a user might wish to run a query (i.e., which is an example of a unit of work) in a computer system that consists of a 2-way system (i.e., a computer system that includes 2 processors) and an 8-way system (i.e., a computer system that includes 8 processors).
In a distributed environment, work generated at one computer system on the network may be divided and distributed to other computer systems on the network for processing. In many situations, the workload is not distributed efficiently. For example, a slower processor may be given the same amount of work as a faster processor. If this were to happen, the faster processor would complete its processing and wait for the slower processor to complete its processing. It is a waste of resources to let the faster processor wait idly. Thus, to efficiently utilize the processors, it is desirable to make optimal assignments of work to each available processor.
Some conventional computer systems that distribute work across processors require a homogeneous configuration. In a homogeneous configuration, each processor has the same processing power. In a homogeneous configuration, work is simply apportioned evenly across each processor (i.e., each processor is given the same amount of work). However, the homogeneous configuration is not always the way users grow their computer systems.
One implication of the ability of networked computer systems to grow or shrink with time is that processors within each computer system may be entirely different. Some processors may be purchased at later times and have advantages due to improved technology, and some processors may have more processing power than others. Additionally, the networked computer systems may originally contain processors optimized for different purposes, from desktop computers to massively parallel processors (MPP""s).
In a heterogeneous environment, each processor may have a different processing power. Therefore, apportioning work in a heterogeneous environment is challenging. Some conventional computer systems divide a work unit into even portions and distribute the same amount of work to each processor, regardless of the processing power of each processor. In this case, it is likely that slower processors will create a bottleneck that can affect the total elapsed time of processing the work unit. Additionally, dividing a work unit up evenly may prevent the full use of a faster processor""s capabilities since the slowest processor in the configuration will always be the last to finish.
One aspect of the flexibility of networked computer systems is that their configuration can be changed easily. For example, a processor in a computer system assigned to the accounting department might be available to every computer system belonging to the network of computer systems most of the time; but, when the accounting department has a peak load, that processor may be made unavailable to the network of computer systems for a day to dedicate it to the work of the accounting department. Additionally, due to fluctuations in the workload, or due to imperfections in the work allocation technique, some processors may develop a backlog of work that has been assigned to them, while other processors are idle.
There is a need for improved allocation technique to provide efficient allocation of work to processors.
To overcome the limitations in the prior art described above, and to overcome other limitations that will become apparent upon reading and understanding the present specification, the present invention discloses a method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for a computer-implemented apportioning system.
In accordance with the present invention, work is distributed to processors in a multi-processor computer system. Initially, during bind-time, a scaling factor is determined for each processor. The scaling factor represents relative processing power in relation to each other processor. Then, portions of a total amount of work are distributed to each processor based on the determined scaling factor of that processor and a determined amount of work for an average processor.
An object of the invention is to provide an improved technique for distributing work across processors in one computer system. Another object of the invention is to provide a technique for distributing work across computer systems having one or more processors and connected by a network. Yet another object of the invention is to provide a technique for distributing work across processors so that each of the processors completes processing at approximately the same time.

Apportioning a work unit to execute in parallel in a heterogeneous environment

International Business Machines Corporation


A memory (30) includes input buffers (35, 38, 56), decoders (31, 32, 36), and a memory portion (34). The input buffers (35, 38, 56) include a delay circuit (82) which delays at least one transition of an input signal. The delay circuit (82) includes a compensation circuit (250) which compensates the delay circuit (82) for voltage, temperature, and processing variations. In one embodiment, the delay circuit (82) includes a CMOS inverter (102, 103) with an additional transistor (101) coupled between a source of an inverter transistor (102) and a corresponding power supply voltage. The compensation circuit (250) provides a bias voltage to bias a gate of the transistor (101) to determine the delay of the delay circuit (82). The compensation circuit (250) provides the bias voltage as that voltage which biases the transistor (101) to conduct a precision reference current.

A recurring concern for an integrated circuit memory designer is how to design the memory to operate according to timing specifications across wide variations in operating parameters. The designer must make critical tradeoffs of signal timing in order to simultaneously satisfy two specifications. For example, one important specification is address access time, designated "t.sub.AVQV ", defined as the delay from a valid input address to valid output data during a read cycle. In order to begin the access, an address buffer must present a valid internal address to row and column decoders. Eventually the row and column decoders select one or more memory cells. Minimizing the delay through the address buffer improves T.sub.AVQV.
At the same time, it is necessary to avoid an unintended write to an address location by maintaining the valid internal address for a specified length of time in relation to when a write input signal becomes inactive. This specification is known as write recovery time or "t.sub.WHAX ". In order for the memory to easily interface to other integrated circuits, it is desirable for the t.sub.WHAX specification to be as small as possible. Increasing the delay through the address buffer improves t.sub.WHAX. The actual delay through the address input buffer reflects the tradeoff between t.sub.AVQV and t.sub.WHAX ; the delay is designed to meet both specifications with enough margin at nominal design parameters so that when the actual parameters vary, a large fraction of the integrated circuits manufactured can meet the specifications.
Three types of operating parameters are of particular concern: power supply voltage, temperature, and processing parameters. Integrated circuit memories are typically designed for a nominal power supply voltage of 5.0 volts, with a variation of 10% or more. At lower power supply voltages, complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) and bipolar-CMOS (BICMOS) logic circuits, used in most memories, generally operate slower than at higher power supply voltages. Temperature also affects circuit performance. Integrated circuit memories are typically designed to operate from zero to seventy degrees Celsius. A temperature increases, the resistivity of doped silicon increases, leading to a decrease in switching speed of CMOS and BICMOS circuits. Several processing parameters also affect circuit operation by affecting transistor switching speed. In CMOS and BICMOS integrated circuits, one processing parameter of particular importance is the effective CMOS transistor channel length, known as "L.sub.EFF ". As L.sub.EFF increases, CMOS and BICMOS logic circuits generally become slower.
Faster speed is generally, but not universally, desirable. In the case of the t.sub.AVQV /t.sub.WHAX specifications, faster speed improves t.sub.AVQV but worsens t.sub.WHAX. High voltage and low temperature define a "fast corner", in which the address signals reach the decoders the fastest. At the fast corner, t.sub.AVQV improves over nominal conditions (everything else being equal), but t.sub.WHAX worsens and may even be violated. On the other hand, low voltage and high temperature define a "slow corner", in which the address signals reach the decoders the slowest. At the slow corner, t.sub.WHAX improves over nominal conditions (everything else being equal), but t.sub.AVQV may be violated. When processing parameters vary, it becomes even more difficult to meet the timing specifications. Thus, designing for nominal operating conditions such as 5.0 volts and 25 degrees Celsius is often inadequate to ensure high manufacturing yield.
Known memories improve t.sub.WHAX and similar specifications by adding delays in the input signal paths. The delays change the internal signal timings to optimize the tradeoff between two specifications. As memories become faster, known delay circuits are becoming inadequate to meet the specifications. Since the delay of the delay circuit itself varies with changes in voltage, temperature, and processing, the variability with respect to operating conditions remains. As memories become faster, it is increasingly difficult for the circuit designer to meet more and more stringent timing specifications. The circuit designer needs to be able to design memories which operate according to specification over wide variations in voltage, temperature, and processing.

Memory with compensation for voltage, temperature, and processing variations


An implantable infusion device (10) includes a lightweight, inert housing (12) which contains an infusate (18) for administration to a patient, and an enclosed, gas-impermeable variable volume chamber (30) which contains a pressure source, such as propellant, mechanical spring, or the like. The variable volume chamber may be in the form of a rigid-walled expandable bellows structure or a nonstretchable flexible bag and is attached to the housing so as not to obstruct the entry port for introduction of infusate. A recharging fluid flow path (31) is provided adjacent to where the variable volume chamber is attached to the housing. The infusate is delivered from the device via a catheter in response to expansion of the variable volume chamber against the volume of infusate in the housing. A separate bolus injection port (38) is provided which allows infusate to be safely introduced directly into the catheter and overrides the controlled pressure-driven delivery. The lightweight housing may include integrally formed needle stops (32 and 34) and suture fastening loops (36).

Implantable infusion devices provide a patient with an vivo source of a drug to be administered, in a device which permits controlled delivery of the drug over a predetermined time period. Certain drugs, such as, for example, chemotherapy drugs and opioids, may be most effective if administered at a constant dose rate, instead of at discrete intervals.
A typical infusion device or pump includes a hermetically sealed outer housing which holds a vapor pressure fluid or other means for exerting a compressive force on a compressible or flexible inner drug reservoir which communicates with a drug delivery port. Alternatively, the drug may be disposed in the outer housing, with a propellant disposed in the inner housing. When the outer housing is filled with the drug, the propellant in the inner housing is compressed and changes state from a vapor to a liquid, thereby recharging the driving mechanism of the device. In still other embodiments, the outer housing may be divided into two chambers separated by a liquid-impermeable diaphragm. One chamber contains the drug and includes a drug delivery port, and the other chamber contains a propellant or spring member for exerting a force against the diaphragm so as to expel the drug through the delivery port.
The infusion device must meet numerous requirements for safety and efficacy. For example, the housing material must not react with body fluids or with the drugs and propellants inside the housing. Further, the membrane or flexible barrier between the chambers must not leak and must be impermeable to gas-phase fluids so as to prevent contamination of the drug with the propellant. Since the device is designed for implantation into a patient, great care must be taken to prevent any leakage of either the drug or the propellant into the patient's body. In addition, the device is desirably as small and lightweight as possible so as to cause minimum invasive trauma, discomfort and disfigurement to the patient, yet sufficiently large to provide a useful therapeutic dosage of the drug being administered and minimize the frequency with which the device must be recharged. It is desirable to make the pump refillable so that it need not be surgically removed and replaced when the drug is depleted. However, refillability of the pump requires a port which is either outside of the skin or transcutaneously accessible without introducing infection or risking the release of an excessive and potentially harmful amount of the drug into the patient. Also, in those devices in which a propellant is contained within a flexible bag which expands and contracts in response to changes in the propellant pressure, it is necessary to ensure that introduction of the drug to the drug reservoir surrounding the propellant bag is not impeded by the presence and location of the bag in the reservoir and/or does not puncture or pinch the bag. Thus, it may be necessary to affix the repellant chamber or bag to the housing so as to avoid such problems. There is the additional problem of ensuring that the drug reservoir can be fully depleted and refilled, for optimum efficiency of the device.
Administration of a desired dosage of a drug over a period of time may require a controllable, constant flow of the drug from the device. However, as the drug is depleted from the reservoir, or if the force exerted on the drug reservoir cannot be controlled, a constant dose rate may be difficult to sustain.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,840,009 to Michaels et al. discloses a vapor pressure drug delivery device which has two chambers separated by a flexible wall or bladder. The outer chamber contains a drug to be administered to a patient, and the inner chamber contains a pressure fluid which expands to conform to the shape of the outer chamber, thereby enabling expulsion of substantially all of the drug within the outer chamber. The pressure fluid is maintained at a positive pressure at the temperature at which the device is used, so that no external power source is required.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,633 to Mann et al. discloses a medication infusion pump in which a constant pressure is exerted on a liquid medication to be administered. The pump includes a pressure reservoir in the form of a hollow enclosure with at least one flexible wall for containing a pressure fluid. The medication to be administered is outside of the pressure reservoir. The pressure fluid undergoes a phase change from a liquid to a vapor so as to expel the drug from the pump. The Mann et al. device is maintained at a negative pressure at the temperature of use to avoid leakage of medication from the pump into the patient.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,103 to Srisathapat et al. discloses a medication infusion pump including a drug reservoir and a pressure fluid reservoir which are separated by a movable wall or flexible bag. The pressure fluid reservoir includes a spacer therein to prevent contraction of the pressure fluid reservoir below a minimum volume which is slightly greater than the liquid phase volume of the pressure fluid, so that a portion of the pressure fluid always remains in a vapor phase. As a result, even when the drug reservoir is completely filled, the pressure fluid is not entirely in the liquid phase. Thus, additional energy to reinstate a vapor phase is not required.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,951,147 to Tucker et al. discloses a refillable implantable infusate pump in which a bellows containing a drag is contained within a housing which is filled with a pressure fluid or propellant. The Tucker et al. pump includes a filtering chamber to ensure removal of debris from the infusate drug prior to its delivery to the patient.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,045,064 to Idriss discloses a constant pressure implantable pump which employs shape-memory metal bands around a reservoir containing a fluid to be infused. The bands compress the reservoir containing the fluid to be infused, thereby eliminating the need for a propellant.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,324 to Hinrichs et al. discloses an infusion pump having a primary entry port leading to a drug reservoir, a separate bolus port leading to a bolus chamber, and means for ensuring that the bolus chamber is not inadvertently filled with the drug intended for the primary drug reservoir.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,823 to Otto discloses implantable infusion pump which comprises a plastic housing, a bellows chamber enclosing a propellant, and two separate resilient plastic bags enclosing an infusate. The bags are surrounded by glycerin or the like which binds with any propellant passing through the bellows wall into the housing, thereby preventing passage of the propellant through the housing into the patient.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,770 to Melsky et al. discloses an implantable infusion pump having 4 valve-actuated bolus delivery chamber. Inadvertent administration of an overdose to the patient through the bolus delivery chamber is prevented by a design which requires the use of a side-access delivery needle, which is inserted through a pair of septa which are spaced apart to define a bolus chamber. The tip of the needle extends beyond the lower septum and depresses a lever to actuate the normally-closed valve. The side opening of the needle is disposed between the septa in lo the bolus chamber for delivery of the bolus dose to the bolus chamber. The design prevents erroneous dose delivery by requiring the simultaneous opening of the valve with delivery of the drug into the bolus using a side-access delivery needle.
It would be advantageous to provide an implantable infusion pump which is of simple construction and operation, made of lightweight materials, inexpensive to manufacture, efficient in the delivery of medicine, and easy to refill.

Implantable, refillable infusion device and septum replacement kit


A disk-storing disk device is disclosed. A disk-storing disk device may include: a plurality of supporting members for supporting a disk and disposed stacked in the axial direction of the disk; a supporting member selecting mechanism for spreading the spacing between selected and adjacent supporting members; and holding members moveably supported by each of the supporting members, the holding members for holding a disk between the holding members and each of the supporting member when the supporting member selecting mechanism moves the plurality of supporting members in the axial direction of the disk.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk-storing disk device wherein multiple disks are stored within a casing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-21627 (hereafter referred to as "known document") discloses a disk player device mounted in a dashboard of an automobile. Multiple information storing disks are stored within the disk player device, and are selected and played.
The disk player device uses rollers to transports disks toward a tray within the device. Multiple arms which are pressed in one direction by springs are provided within the device. When the disk is transported toward the tray, the perimeter of the disk engages the arms, and the arms turn against the pressing force of their springs. When the disk moves to a predetermined position over the tray, the multiple arms are all at positions which are removed from the perimeter of the disk by a gap.
Playing means having a pickup and a turntable are provided within the casing. Motive force of a motor is transmitted to a cam gear via a gear train, and the playing means are moved to a playing position by the rotational force of the cam gear. Synchronously with the movement of the playing means, restriction of a main chassis supporting the playing means is disengaged, and the main chassis and the playing means are supported in a vibration-proof manner within the device by an elastic supporting member such as antivibration rubber.
The disk player device described in the above known document is arranged such that the position of the disk stored on the tray, and the position of the disk played by the playing means, are the same.
Additionally, with the disk player device described in the above known document, the actions for disengaging the arms from the perimeter of the disk, moving the playing means to the playing position, and placing the main chassis in a vibration-proof state within the device by means of the elastic supporting member occur in individual actions. Accordingly, a significant amount of time is required from the time the disk is transported in to the tray to the time the disk is actually played. Further, individual motive forces are required for each action of disengaging the arms from the perimeter of the disk, moving the playing means to the playing position, and placing the main chassis in an vibration-proof state. Therefore, individual motive force generating means are necessary, increasing the difficulty in reducing the size of the disk player device. Accordingly, an improved disk-storing device is desirable.

Disk-storing disk device with vibrational proofing


A method, apparatus, system, and computer program product provide the ability to model a polyline boundary from point cloud data. Point cloud data is obtained and boundary cells are extracted. Potential boundary points are filtered from the boundary cells. Line segments are extracted from the potential boundary points and refined. A regularized polygon is obtained by intersecting the refined line segments.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to point cloud data, and in particular, to a method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for approximating the outline of buildings and structures from a point cloud.
2. Description of the Related Art
(Note: This application references a number of different publications as indicated throughout the specification by references enclosed in brackets e.g., [x]. Such references may indicate the first named authors and year of publication e.g., [Jones 2002]. A list of these different publications ordered according to these references can be found below in the section entitled "References." Each of these publications is incorporated by reference herein.)
Building information models (BIM) are being increasingly used throughout a building's lifecycle in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. BIM models can be used for many purposes, from planning and visualization in the design phase, to inspection during the construction phase, and to energy efficiency analysis and security planning during the facility management phase. However, no design BIM exists for most existing buildings. Further, the BIM created at design time may vary significantly from what is actually built. As a result, there is an increasing interest in creating BIMs of the actual as-built building.
Laser scanners are rapidly gaining acceptance as a tool for 3D modeling and analysis in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) domain. With technological development/evolution, laser scanners are capable of acquiring range measurements at rates of tens to hundreds of thousands of points per second, at distances of up to a few hundred meters, and with measurement error on the scale of millimeters [Huber 2010], which make them well suited to densely capturing the as-built information of building interiors and exteriors. Usually, multiple scans are needed to capture the point cloud of a whole building. Laser scanners are placed in various locations throughout and around a building. The scans from each location are registered and aligned to form a point cloud in a common coordinate system.
Currently, as-built BIMs are mostly created interactively form the point cloud data from laser scanners. This creation process is labor-intensive and error-prone. Software tools for processing point clouds have attempted to improve the ability to handle the enormous point clouds produced by laser scanners and to integrate the use of point cloud data into BIM modeling software. Geometric surface or volumetric primitives can be fitted to the 3D point cloud to model walls, floors, ceilings, columns, beams and other structures of interest.
In view of the above, it may be desirable to model a polyline boundary of points from a building scan. However, a boundary determination based on points obtained via a scan of a building is a crucial and difficult step in the building reconstruction task. One reason for the difficulty is that laser scanners have some difficulty in the as-built environment to capture low-reflectance surfaces (e.g., anything painted black), specular surfaces (e.g., shiny metal and mirrors), and transparent or translucent surfaces (e.g. windows), which results in the presence of concavity in the building boundary [Huber 2010]. Moreover, point clouds are often composed of multiple scans with noise and points of non-uniform point density, which will also cause difficulty in a boundary determination. Such problems may be better understood with an explanation of prior art techniques that have attempted boundary extraction.
One category of boundary extraction is purely based on computational geometry methods. [Jarvis 1977] modifies the convex hull formation algorithm to limit the searching space to a certain neighborhood. However, this approach is not very successful in experiments because the distribution of the used points is far from even. [Edelsbrunner 1994] described a so-called alpha-shape determination algorithm, where the shape of a point set is defined as the intersection of all closed discs with radii. This method is computationally complex, and its performance depends on the parameter alpha. Although methods for line simplification (such as Douglas-Peucker) can be applied during the generalization process, this category of boundary extraction methods doesn't take the regular shape characteristics existing in most common buildings into consideration, and thus cannot generate satisfying outline results that can be used for as-built building modeling.
In the last few decades, considerable research effort has been directed toward mainly building outline generation, but most of the prior art is focused on reconstructing building models using aerial imagery and airborne laser scanning data.
In order to generalize the building outline, [Maas & Vosselman 1999] determined the ridge line as a horizontal intersection between roof faces and then use the direction of the ridge line as an approximation for the main direction of the building. [Dutter 2007] starts with an MBR (Minimum Bounding Rectangle) and determines relevant deviations from the rectangle lines. This is done recursively, thus enabling different shapes of buildings like L, T or U-shaped outlines, which limits the generality of Dutter's method. [Shan & Sampath 2007] use straight lines in the main direction of the buildings to approximate the shape and then use least squares adjustment for the adaptation to the original boundary points. [Sester and Neidhart 2008] employ a RANSAC (RANdom Sample Consensus) method to generate a set of initial line hypotheses firstly, and the hypotheses are refined using a least squares adjustment process in which the segments are shifted to fit the original shape and to enforce relations between segments.
[Jwa et al. 2008] rectified noisy polyline by re-arranging quantized line slopes in a local shape configuration and globally selecting optimal outlines based on the Minimum Description Length principles. [Dorninger and Pfeifer 2008] define a coarse approximation of the outline by the computation of a 2D alpha-shape of all the given points and the post-processing of the alpha-shape polygon by a generalization and regularization process. [Guercke and Sester 2011] sample the outline of the polygon into small line segments in a first step and then transform the line segments into Hough space. The lines corresponding to the peaks in the Hough buffer are used to generate initial hypotheses for the polygon outline which is refined by a least squared adjustment procedure to enforce parallel or perpendicular segments.
In view of the above, it is desirable to extract/determine boundaries from building point cloud data in an easy and efficient manner.

Outline approximation for point cloud of building


This invention relates to a polymerizable composite material and method of making same including at least one multifunctional acid containing monomer having a concentration ranging from about 10% to about 85%, a non-reactive filler having a concentration ranging from about 1% to about 80%, a polymerization system having a concentration ranging from about 1.5% to about 15%, and water having a concentration ranging from about 0.1% to about 25%.

Within the field of dentistry, a variety of materials are used to replace or assist in replacing missing tooth structure, including restorative materials and bonding agents (often referred to as adhesives). A restorative material typically replaces a portion of the tooth structure, whereas a bonding agent acts as a bond between the tooth structure and the restorative material. Due to their different uses, restorative materials and bonding agents may have different properties and qualities. For example, bonding agents need to have sufficient fluidity and often require the presence of a solvent such as water, acetone or alcohol to be effective. Typically, bonding agents lack filler materials or have filler levels less than 5% by weight. As such, bonding agents lack sufficient strength or aesthetics to be used as restorative materials in situations which require larger restorative quantities. Restorative materials need to have physical properties such as high compressive strength and low wear, and preferably have an acceptable aesthetic appearance, e.g., tooth-like appearance.
One type of dental material includes resin-reinforced glass ionomers. Glass ionomers require water for all or part of their curing or setting mechanism and require the mixing of two or more ingredients immediately prior to use. However, their uptake of water during setting, their subsequent expansion or contraction and their generally poor overall performance in terms of esthetic appearance have limited the use of glass ionomers as restorative materials. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,264,513 to Kunio.
Another type of bonding agent or adhesive includes dental materials containing acidic monomers. Acidic monomers are polymerizable compounds that contain acid groups such as phosphoric, phosphonic, phosphinic, sulfuric, sulfonic or sulfinic moieties. Acidic monomers, such as phosphate esters, are known. Buonocore discussed such materials as early as 1956 in J. Dent. Res., 1956, pp. 846-851. In addition, solvent based materials containing phosphate esters were described in Adhesive Restorative Dental Materials, 1961, pp. 195-198. Typically, these materials contain high levels of volatile solvents and contain little or no inorganic filler material. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,051 to Eppinger et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,245,872 to Frey et al. Generally, acidic monomers have not been previously used in combinations greater than 40% by weight due to the difficulty in polymerizing acidic monomers in high concentrations and/or the diminished physical properties obtained. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,733,949 to Imazato et al.
A category of dental restorative materials includes resin-based composite materials. These composite materials typically contain both reactive monomers and non-reactive fillers. They are also typically hydrophobic in nature and do not bond well to tooth structure. A tooth itself may contain between 5-20% water and is present in an aqueous oral environment. Ion releasing resin-based restorative materials, including non-acidic monomers, are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,180,688 to Rheinberger et al.


A PLL apparatus and system for generating distributed clocks are disclosed. A synchronizing-edge detector is provided to the PLL apparatus in the PLL system to detect synchronizing edges of the input and output clock signals having gear relationship for the PLL apparatus. The synchronizing-edge detector detects a sample signal the frequency of which is the common divisor of the frequencies of the input and output signal. The PLL apparatus may be provided with a detection terminal connected with one of the input terminals of a pre-divider and loop divider for outputting the sample signal. Alternatively, the PLL system can comprise at least one additional divider coupled to the input and/or output signals of a PLL apparatus to generate the sample signal.

The invention relates to distributed clock circuits and more particularly to a method and circuit of detecting synchronizing edges in a PLL system.
Demands created by high-speed electronic equipment have generated a number of problems for circuit designers and manufacturers. For example, many applications require that two subsystems running at different frequencies communicate with each other. Generally, logic running at a given clock frequency is said to be operating in a clock domain.
This synchronization problem has been previously addressed either by a single clock system architecture, which eliminates the number of clock domains, or by a multiple clock system architecture, which adds synchronization logic. Although utilizing a single clock system is simple, straightforward and low cost, each subsystem in the single clock system may not be optimized to its fullest potential, downgrading overall system performance. Also, there are practical limitations as to how many components a single clock source may support. Thus, a single clock system is not always feasible in most situations.
Alternatively, in multiple clock system architecture, dual ports or/and two port memories are required to transform blocks of information between different clock domains. This enables each subsystem to be optimized to its fullest potential, providing a robust solution. However, the dual port or/and tow port memories produce additional hardware cost. Additionally, the synchronization logic between different clock domains causes synchronization delay and meta-stability problems, adding latency. The disparity between the clock domains often includes different frequencies and/or phases, complicating the synchronization circuit design and adding significantly to the latency cost.
U.S. application Ser. No. 6,836,521 discloses a distributed clock generator loop based on gear ratio and phase alignment techniques to address the synchronizing problem while minimizing any latency caused by the additional synchronization circuitry. A gear ratio means that the clocks are related by a ratio, such that each clock has a different integer number of clock cycles in a common period. Also, in addition to a gear ratio relationship, the clocks may have a synchronized edge at the end of the common period to be phase aligned. For each clock, the cycles in the common period are "colored", i.e., identified by a number (1st, 2nd, etc.). Using the coloring technique, the appropriate clock edge for a data or control signal transfer can be identified. The edges are preferably chosen to minimize latency of the transfer. The distributed clock generator loop enables each subsystem to be optimized to its fullest potential, providing a robust solution at lower costs than a multiple clock system.
FIG. 1 shows clock waveforms of an exemplary gear ratio wherein three cycles of clock CLK1 10 equal two cycles of clock CLK2 20, or 3* (cycle of CLK1)=2* (cycle of CLK2). As shown, CLK1 and CLK2 are phase aligned at the end of the common period. Since gear ratio is defined as the ratio of the two clock frequencies, in this example the gear ratio of CLK1/CLK2 is 3/2. If clock signals CLK1 10 and CLK2 20 are divided by 6 and 4, respectively, a clock signal 30 results which is equal to CLK1/6 or CLK2/4.
FIG. 2 shows a distributed generator loop 200 applied to a Memory Control Unit 206 with two clock domains operating in gear ratio fashion disclosed in U.S. application. Ser. No. 6,836,521. The architecture contains a clock source 202, a distributed clock generator (DCG) 204, and Memory Control Unit 206 with logic running in two clock domains, PCLK 208 and SCLK 210. The clock source 202 generates PCLK 208 for Memory Control Unit 206 and a reference signal PEFCLK 240 for the distributed loop. DCG 204 receives PEFCLK 240. PEFCLK 240 is multiplied utilizing clock dividers, 212 and 214, and a phase-locked loop (PLL) 216 to generate LOOPCLK 218 of another frequency. The output of PLL 216 is a phase aligner 220. The output frequency of the phase aligner 220 is equal to its input frequency, but the output phase is delayed from the input phase by an error signal Err 238 output from a phase detector 222.
The phase detector compares the relative phases of PCLK_M 224 and SCLK_N 226 from a gear ratio Logic 228 in Memory Control Unit 206 and outputs the error signal Err 238 to drive the phase aligner 220 until the phase of SCLK_N 226 matches the phase of PCLK_M 224. When the output phase of the phase aligner 220 changes, the phase of SCLK 210 will have the same amount of phase change, and phase error between PCLK 208 and SCLK 210 is minimized.
FIG. 2 shows two sub-blocks 230 and 232 in gear ratio Logic 228. The sub-block 230 divides PCLK 208 by M to generate PCLK_M 224 and PCOLOR 234,; and the clock divider 232 divides SCLK 210 by N to generate SCLK_N 226 and SCOLOR 236. The two divided clocks, PCLK_M 224 and SCLK_N 226, as described, are output from Memory Control Unit 206 and passed back to DCG 204 as inputs to the phase detector 222.
FIG. 3 shows a timing diagram of signals associated with gear ratio Logic 228 with a 3/2 gear ratio. The cycle time of SCLK 210 is 3/2 times the cycle time of PCLK 208. PCOLOR 234 is incremented from a value 000 through a value 010 (i.e., 000, 001, 010) on each edge of PCLK 208. When PCOLOR 234 reaches a maximum value 010, PCOLOR 228 clears to 000 and in turn, toggles the value of PCLK/M 224. Thus, PCLK/M 224 alternates from 0 to 1 every three cycles of PCLK 208, or one cycle Tccyc 310.
On the other hand, SCOLOR 236 reaches a maximum value of 001 in this example, at which point the value of SCOLOR 236 clears to 000 and in turn, toggles the value of SCLK/N 226. Thus, SCLK/N 226 alternates from 0 to 1 every two cycles of SCLK 210, or one cycle TCCYC 310.
In a 3/2 configuration, PCOLOR 234 and SCOLOR 236 indicate the value of counts in progress for PCLK 208 and SCLK 210, respectively. PCOLOR 234 is asserted for three cycles of PCLK 208 (as shown by encircled 1, 2, and 3) and SCOLOR 236 is asserted for two cycles of SCLK 210 (as shown by encircled 1 and 2). Thus, PCLK/M 224 and SCLK/N 226 measure the relative phase of PCLK 208 and SCLK 210. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, PCLK/M 224 and SCLK/N 226 are driven to a clock generator 220. Hence, SCLK 210 becomes a phase-aligned clock signal.
The value for PCOLOR 234 indicates when data read and write operations should take place to ensure data transfer at correct edges, referred to as color coding scheme.
However, the complex logics are introduced due to the phase align logics, gear logics and so on. This may make the implementation uneasy and inefficient. Additionally, if M and N are not co-prime numbers, the synchronizing edges of PCLK 208 and SLK 210 within the longer Tccyc 310 are wasted and the performance are thus degraded.
In view of this disadvantage, a new method and apparatus is disclosed to detect the synchronizing edges of the clocks in different domains which can be used to indicate when data read and write operations should take place in a digital system while having higher performance, speed and lower cost and also can be migrated into the new manufacturing process and conventional PLL easily.

Phase locked system for generating distributed clocks


Described is a process and a plant for destroying rocket motors, including in particular the following steps and stations: cutting of the motor into sections; cooling of the sections containing propellant by immersion in a cryogenic liquid; and fragmenting and extraction of the cooled propellant by elastic deformation of the casing of the section. The propellant fragments are recovered for subsequent treatment and the casings are deactivated before being scrapped.

The present invention relates to the field of solid-propellant rocket motors. It relates more particularly to the destruction of reformed rocket motors, especially those that have reached the limit of their operational use and have been removed from service.
A solid-propellant rocket motor essentially comprises a hollow cylindrical casing inside which is placed at least one block of solid propellant—to simplify matters we will refer hereafter to one block of propellant. One end of the casing is closed off by a dome and the opposite end by a nozzle; the dome and the nozzle will be regarded as forming part of the casing.
The rocket motors considered here are those for which the block of solid propellant has been fastened to the casing and cannot be removed simply from the casing. These are essentially what are called "cast-bonded" motors for which the block of propellant, during manufacture of the motor, is cast in and bonded to the casing suitably prepared for this purpose. We shall liken to this type of motor those for which the block of propellant, prepared elsewhere, is introduced and fitted irreversibly into the casing, this fitting operation being intentional or accidental. We shall retain the expression "cast-bonded" rocket motors to denote the motors treated in this invention.
The destruction of a rocket motor consists firstly in placing it in a state such that it cannot fulfil its propulsion function and then secondly in separating the casing from the propellant in order to treat them separately, taking into account the fact that only the propellant involves a pyrotechnic risk, which requires special precautions and conditions in its treatment for the purpose of scrapping or recycling certain components.
The problem more particularly tackled here is that of how to destroy a very large number, typically several thousand, of rocket motors; it is necessary to be able to treat several tens of motors per day.
Both the destruction process and the destruction plant must be capable of operating at a very high rate. What is therefore required is a process with simple and rapid steps and an unsophisticated plant.
In addition, the process and the plant must be reliable. An incident occurring on a motor or part of a motor during one step of the process must remain limited, or be able to be limited, to this part of the motor, and to the location in the plant where the said incident occurs. The incident must not propagate throughout the plant and become catastrophic, owing to the large number of motors necessarily present on the destruction site.
The prior art discloses several processes for destroying rocket motors, but under conditions which do not correspond to the problem posed, as we will see during the course of analysing these processes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,107 discloses the fragmentation of a block of bare propellant, that is to say one not bonded to the inside of the casing of a rocket motor, by cooling the block of propellant down to a very low temperature and by using a crusher or a press to fragment it.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,632 discloses the extraction of the propellant from a cast-bonded rocket motor with a central channel using at least one jet of cryogenic liquid. This destruction process, derived from a "water knife", is very lengthy and does not meet the requirement for a high work rate. In addition, it is potentially hazardous as the work is carried out on an entire rocket engine.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,552,093 discloses the extraction of the propellant from a cast-bonded rocket motor that has been cooled by immersion in liquid nitrogen. The block of propellant is fragmented, especially by applying mechanical shocks to it. The application of shocks to the propellant, even when cooled, is still potentially hazardous, and this hazard is greater owing to the fact that, here again, the work is carried out on an entire motor. In addition, for relatively long motors, the possibility of fragments becoming jammed in the casing, and requiring further handling operations to extract them from the casing, cannot be ruled out.

Process and plant for destroying solid-propellant rocket motors


The method comprises a first stage of transforming carbon precursor material into carbon by heating, with the resulting gaseous effluent being extracted continuously, and a second stage of high temperature heat treatment under low pressure with the resulting gaseous effluent being extracted continuously. The first and second stages are performed one after the other in the same oven by proceeding, after the end of the first stage, with the steps of switching the gaseous effluent outlet from the oven to interrupt a connection with a first extractor device and to establish a connection with a second extractor device, of adjusting the pressure inside the oven to the value required for the second stage, and of adjusting the heating temperature of the oven starting from the temperature reached at the end of the first stage. It is also possible to switch temperature measurement from at least one first sensor to at least one second sensor different from the first. During the second stage, any alkali metal such as sodium contained in sublimed form in the gaseous effluent coming from the oven can be neutralized, e.g. by injecting CO2 into an effluent exhaust pipe.

The invention relates to making carbon bodies from bodies made of carbon-precursor material.
A particular field of application of the invention lies in making carbon fiber fabrics or preforms for use in constituting fiber reinforcement for parts made of thermostructural composite material such as carbon/carbon (C/C) composite and carbon-reinforced ceramic matrix composite. Such carbon fiber preforms are conventionally obtained from carbon-precursor fiber fabrics which are better at withstanding the textile operations required for shaping said fabrics than are carbon fibers.
Amongst carbon precursors, in particular precursors in the form of fibers, preoxidized polyacrylonitrile (PAN) is commonly used. At least for certain uses, it is necessary not only to transform preoxidized PAN fiber fabric into carbon, but also to eliminate any metals or metallic impurities that come from the precursor, i.e. mainly sodium. That is why carbon bodies are usually made from preoxidized PAN carbon-precursor bodies in two successive stages:                a first stage of carbonization proper in which the carbon precursor is transformed chemically into carbon, with this being performed on an industrial scale in an oven by progressively raising the temperature to which the oven is heated to about 900° C.; and        a second stage of heat treatment at high temperature, this treatment likewise being performed in an oven, with the temperature being raised progressively to above 1000° C., generally to a temperature in the range 1400° C. to 1650° C., so as to eliminate sodium by sublimation, or indeed to very high temperature, up to 2000° C. or 2200° C., or even 2500° C. so as to confer particular properties on the carbon fibers and so as to eliminate any other metallic impurities.
During the first stage, generally performed substantially at atmospheric pressure while sweeping with an inert gas such as nitrogen, transformation of the precursor is completed so as to achieve a carbon content greater than 95% and possibly as much as 99% or more. The loss of mass is large, being about 50%, and it is accompanied by the production of a large volume of gaseous effluent, which effluent contains in particular nitrites, specifically cyanides, which must be treated.
The second stage is performed under low pressure, likewise while being swept with an inert gas such as nitrogen or argon. The flow rates of the sweeping gas and of the gaseous effluent are much lower than during the first stage.
The two stages are implemented in appropriate different installations. On an industrial scale, each of these stages lasts for several days. The process of obtaining carbon bodies without sodium starting from preoxidized PAN carbon precursor is therefore lengthy and expensive.
The same problems are encountered with carbon-precursor fibers other than preoxidized PAN and likewise containing sodium or other metals such as magnesium or calcium that need to be eliminated, and also when it is necessary to eliminate metals or metallic impurities such as iron, nickel, or chromium, for example, which require heat treatment at high temperature, typically up to 2000° C. and more in order to enable them to be eliminated by evaporation.

Method and an installation for obtaining carbon bodies from carbon-precursor bodies


Apparatus and methods according to various aspects of the present invention may operate in conjunction with composite matrix material and reinforcement material, such as nanostructures. The nanostructures may be evenly dispersed and/or aligned in the matrix material through application of an electromagnetic field, resulting in a nanocomposite material. In one embodiment, the nanocomposite material is suitable for large scale processing.

Composite materials are used in various applications that require integrity of mechanical properties, including radomes, aircrafts, high speed airframe components and missiles. Conventional composite materials, however, are limited in their impact resistant properties.
Prior attempts to increase mechanical properties such as tensile strength have included implementation of nanoparticles as reinforcement materials into composite materials. In order to benefit from the mechanical properties of the reinforcement materials, however, substantially even dispersion of the reinforcement materials in the composite material, as well as integrity of the mechanical properties of the reinforcement materials are required.
Current methods of incorporating nanoparticles in matrix material fail to meet these requirements. For example, extrusion, a method involving mixing of nanoparticles with composite material, causes nanoparticles, especially nanotubes, to break. Another example is the method of functionalization, where additional structures, such as fluoride atoms, are attached to the nanoparticles prior to mixing. The additional structures, however, have demonstrated inferior mechanical properties as compared to nanoparticles without such structures. Additionally, these methods fail to prevent nanoparticles from clumping and/or clustering rather than evenly dispersing in resulting composite materials.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and methods of dispersion of nanostructures in composite materials


A device for use with a gyroscopic stabilizer for use in an assembly that is moveably connected to a vehicle. The gyroscopic stabilizer has a gyroscope, a skew motor, and a skew motor velocity servo-control system. The gyroscopic stabilizer can control a skew of the assembly based on a torque signal to maintain the assembly in an intended position. The skew motor velocity servo-control system can control the skew motor. The skew motor can move the gyroscope. The gyroscope can provide the torque signal. The device comprises an assembly position determining system, a detector, a state estimator and an output portion. The assembly position determining system can generate an assembly position signal based on one of a position of the assembly, a position of the gyroscopic stabilizer, a position of the gyroscope, a position of the skew motor and a position of the skew motor velocity servo-control system. The detector can detect a skew of one of the assembly, the gyroscopic stabilizer, the gyroscope, the skew motor and the skew motor velocity servo-control system and to generate a skew signal. The state estimator can provide an error signal based on the skew signal. The output portion can provide an output signal to the gyroscopic stabilizer. The output signal is based on the assembly position signal and the error signal.

Vehicle mounted directional antenna systems, especially for satellite applications, must maintain a stable heading while accounting for perturbations caused by unsteady vehicle motion, changes in the bearing of the target of the directional antenna system as caused by movement of the vehicle or the target and a motion caused by a bias in the operation of the gyroscopic stabilizer.
Current antenna systems stabilize an antenna based on directly detecting the motion of the vehicle and then using this information as it relates to the antenna system mounted to the vehicle. These antennas must be carefully aligned with the vehicle so that the detected vehicle motion can be accurately passed to the antenna.
Another alternative to the previously mentioned antenna setup involves an external heading and attitude reference system for the antenna. This method also requires careful alignment of the antenna in addition to significant cost and slow operation.
What is needed is a low-cost, fast, accurate stabilization system that can compensate for unsteady vehicle motion, changes in the bearing of the target of the directional antenna system as caused by movement of the vehicle or the target and a motion caused by a bias in the operation of the gyroscopic stabilizer and that can be used independent of the vehicle to which the antenna is mounted.

System and method for closed loop gyroscope stabilization


A two-axis tiltable linear array of MEMS micromirrors is described. The individual micromirrors of the array are flexibly suspended over a common substrate by using two pairs of serpentine hinges coupled by a gimbal ring and are actuated by using tilt and roll electrodes. The tilt actuator regions of the micromirrors are disposed within the gimbal rings, the roll hinges connecting the tilt actuator regions to the micromirrors, which provides for decoupling of the tilt and the roll of the micromirror. The structure allows for considerable decoupling of the tilt and the roll and, or the pistoning effects observed upon micromirror actuation. The structure is suitable for application in a wavelength selective optical switch.

A micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) is a micro-sized mechanical structure having electrical circuitry fabricated together with the device by using microfabrication processes mostly derived from integrated circuit fabrication processes. The developments in the field of MEMS process engineering enabled batch production of electrostatically tiltable MEMS micromirrors and micromirror arrays that can be used in visual displays, optical attenuators and switches, and other devices. There are at least three general micromachining techniques used to manufacture MEMS micromirror devices.
One such technique is based on so called bulk micromachining, in which the whole thickness of a silicon wafer is used for building micro-mechanical structures. Silicon is machined using various etching processes. Anodic bonding of glass plates or additional silicon wafers is used for adding features in the third dimension and for hermetic encapsulation. Three-dimensional mechanical micro-structures can be created using bulk micromachining. Detrimentally, the bulk micromachining technique is very complex and requires many process steps.
Another technique is based on so called surface micromachining, in which layers are deposited on the surface of a substrate as the structural materials to be patterned, instead of a three-dimensional processing of the substrate itself, which significantly simplifies the manufacturing processes involved. The original surface micromachining concept was based on thin polycrystalline silicon layers patterned as movable mechanical structures and released by sacrificial etching of an underlying oxide layer. This MEMS paradigm has enabled the manufacturing of low cost MEMS devices.
New etching technology of deep reactive ion etching (RIE) has made it possible to combine performance and versatility of bulk micromachining with in-plane operation of surface micromachining. This combination formed a basis of a third micromachining technique called high aspect ratio (HAR) micromachining. While it is common in surface micromachining to have structural layer thickness in the range of 2 microns, in HAR micromachining, the achievable thickness of MEMS devices is from 10 to 100 microns. The materials commonly used in HAR micromachining are thick polycrystalline silicon, known as epi-poly, and bonded silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers. Due to its versatility and efficiency, this combined technology is quickly becoming the technology of choice for manufacturing MEMS tiltable micromirror devices.
MEMS tiltable micromirror devices are often used in optical switch applications. When a MEMS device is actuated, a micromirror supported by the device is tilted about a working axis, which makes an optical beam falling thereupon to steer from one output optical port to another, thereby realizing the switching function. By having a plurality of output ports disposed along a single line, a multiport optical switch can be constructed. In a multiport optical switch, however, it is advantageous to have the micromirror also tiltable about a secondary axis perpendicular to the working axis, so that the micromirror can be tilted about the secondary axis during the switching process, to deflect the optical beam laterally and avoid transient optical signals from briefly appearing in output ports that are on the way of the optical beam being steered towards a desired optical port. Therefore, having a MEMS micromirror device tiltable about a pair of mutually orthogonal axes is highly desirable and advantageous from the standpoint of an optical switch application.
MEMS devices can be actuated using a variety of actuators. One frequently used actuator for a MEMS device is an electrostatic actuator having a static electrode called a "stator", and a movable, for example rotatable or tiltable, electrode called a "rotor". An electrostatic attraction force between the stator and the rotor, applied against a returning force of a spring and, or a hinge element on which the rotor is suspended, tilts or rotates the rotor supporting a micromirror, whereby the micromirror is tilted in a controllable, predictable way. A special care is taken not to exceed the elastic limit of the spring and, or the hinge element. When the elastic limit is not exceeded, millions or even billions of tilting cycles are achievable over a lifetime of a single MEMS device.
Perhaps the simplest electrostatic actuator is a pair of planar plates, one being the stator and the other being the rotor. As the plates attract, the rotor plate tilts and is brought closer to the stator. By making the rotor plate tiltable about two orthogonal axes, e.g. X and Y axes, and by providing two stator plates, one for each axis of rotation, a micromirror attached to the rotor plate can be made electrostatically tiltable in two orthogonal axes of rotation. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,934,439 in the name of Mala et al., assigned to JDS Uniphase Corporation and incorporated herein by reference, teaches a linear array of tightly-spaced "piano" MEMS micromirror devices for use in a wavelength-selective optical switch application. Each micromirror of the MEMS micromirror array of Mala et al. is tiltable about two perpendicular axes X and Y, by the use of two stator plates, one for each axis of tilt, and by the use of two pairs of torsional hinges connected to an "internal" gimbal ring structure at the center of the micromirror. The flexible torsional hinges of Mala et al. provide for a pivotal mounting of the micromirrors, wherein each micromirror is independently tiltable.
Referring to FIG. 1, a top view of a prior-art tiltable MEMS device 100 of Mala et al. is shown having a platform 102 for supporting a micromirror, not shown, an anchor post 104 for supporting the platform 102, a Y-hinge 106 rotatable about a Y axis, a gimbal ring 108, an X-hinge 110 rotatable about an X axis, two Y-electrodes 112 for tilting the platform 102 about the Y-axis, and an X-electrode 114 for tilting the platform 102 about the X-axis. The electrodes 112 and 114, as well as the anchor post 104, are disposed on a substrate 116. The hinges 106 and 110, although shown by straight lines for simplicity, are serpentine spring hinges the platform 102 is suspended upon. The platform 102 is suspended over the substrate 116. In operation, a voltage is applied between the platform 102 and one of the electrodes 112 to tilt the platform 102 about the Y axis, and a voltage is applied between the platform 102 and the electrode 114 to tilt the platform 102 about the X axis. Tilting the platform 102 about the two orthogonal axes X and Y allows for a two-dimensional steering of an optical beam reflected from a mirror coating, not shown, of the platform 102.
Limitations of the MEMS device 100 of the prior art and, correspondingly, many advantages offered by a MEMS device of the present invention, are better understood upon considering a typical task of steering of an optical beam by a MEMS micromirror for a wavelength selective optical switch application. Turning now to FIG. 2, an orthographic projection view of a MEMS micromirror 200 is presented, consisting of a plan View A and orthogonal side Views B and C. The micromirror 200 is tiltable about a Y axis and an X axis. An incoming optical beam 202 has an elliptical cross-section 204 seen in View A. The elliptical cross-section 204 of the beam 202 is preferable over a circular cross-section because, for a typical application of a tiltable MEMS micromirror device in a wavelength selective optical switch, many optical beams at different wavelength are positioned so as to have their cross-sections disposed along a common axis, in this case, the Y axis. Correspondingly, decreasing the cross-section of the optical beam 200 in a Y-direction is advantageous, since it allows one to accommodate more individual beams 200 and more mirrors 200 along the Y axis, thereby increasing the wavelength resolution of the wavelength selective switch device. However, decreasing the beam size in Y-direction increases the beam divergence in that direction. For example, by comparing projections of a reflected beam 206 in the Views B and C of FIG. 2, one can see that the beam 206 diverges more in the projection of View C than it does in the projection of View B. Increased divergence requires one to increase the tilt angle for a switching application since the beam must be steered by an angle exceeding the beam divergence angle. Thus, a minimum tilt angle θx for switching the optical beam by tilting about the X axis is larger than a minimum tilt angle θy for switching the optical beam by tilting about the Y axis.
A requirement for a comparatively large tilt angle about the X axis has important implications for a tiltable MEMS micromirror device. Referring back to FIG. 1, an ellipse 101 denotes the elliptical cross-section of an impinging optical beam. To steer said optical beam about the X axis, a voltage is applied to the electrode 114. Due to the electrode 114 being located closer to the X axis than the electrode 112 is to the Y axis, the created X-torque is smaller than the Y-torque created by applying a voltage to any one of the electrodes 112. To ensure a larger tilt angle as has been explained above, at a smaller torque, the X-hinges 110 are typically made much more "weak", or flexible, than the Y-hinges 106.
The flexible X-hinges 110 of the MEMS device 100 of the prior art are the weakest structures of the entire MEMS structure shown in FIG. 1. The flexibility of the X-hinges 110, although required for proper functioning of the device 100, leads to serious drawbacks inherent to the device 100. First, pistoning effects are significant due to the weaker X-hinges 110. When a voltage is applied between the platform 102 and one of the electrodes 112, and, or between the platform 102 and the electrode 114, the platform 102 shifts towards the electrodes 112 and 114, which changes the gap between the platform 102 and the electrodes 112 and 114, resulting in a change of sensitivity of the angle of tilt about the X and the Y axis to the voltage applied. This change of sensitivity leads to cross-coupling between the X and the Y tilts. Herein, the term "cross-coupling" is understood as mutual influence of X and Y actuation, that is, the actuation of tilt of the platform 102 about the X and the Y axes. Second, the X-hinges, being the weakest mechanical link in the entire MEMS device 100, lower the overall device reliability by making the device 100 more susceptible to shock and vibration. Third, manufacturing process related misalignments between the electrodes 112 and the X axis defined by the X-hinges 110 cause tilting the platform 102 about the X axis, or so called "roll", upon application of a voltage to one of the electrodes 112 to tilt the platform 102 about the Y axis. The weaker hinges 110 make this "rolling" effect more pronounced.
Yet another drawback of the MEMS device 100 of FIG. 1 is that, upon tilting the platform 102 about the X axis, the gap between the electrodes 112 and the platform 102 changes, not only due to pistoning, but also due to tilting of the platform 102 itself about the X axis. This results in a further increase of cross-coupling of the X and Y tilts of the platform 102 and changing of the actuator sensitivities upon applying a voltage to the electrode 114.
In addition to complicating calibration and control, the pistoning effect lowers reliability of optical switch devices based on MEMS micromirror devices, since micromirror perturbations caused by vibration and shock can impact the transfer characteristic of the MEMS devices, leading to degradation of optical characteristics of the optical switch devices, such as insertion loss and isolation.
It is therefore a goal of the present invention to provide a tiltable MEMS micromirror device, in which the cross-coupling and pistoning effects are reduced by an order of magnitude, as compared to prior-art devices.
The tiltable MEMS micromirror device of the present invention meets this goal. Advantageously, the area of the rotor and the stator electrodes of the MEMS device of the present invention may be further increased by at least 50%, without increasing micromirror size or spacing in a micromirror array. This results in a further improvement of reliability, since the increased actuator area results in an increase of the electrostatic force; therefore, stronger hinges may be used to support the micromirror, and stronger micromirror hinges enhance the overall reliability of the tiltable MEMS micromirror device.


Methods and means are provided to modify in a targeted manner the plant genome of transgenic plants comprising chimeric genes wherein the chimeric genes have a DNA element commonly used in plant molecular biology. Re-designed meganucleases to cleave such an element commonly used in plant molecular biology are provided.

The need to introduce targeted modifications in plant genomes, including the control over the location of integration of foreign DNA in plants has become increasingly important, and several methods have been developed in an effort to meet this need (for a review see Kumar and Fladung, 2001, Trends in Plant Science, 6, pp 155-159). These methods mostly rely on the initial introduction of a double stranded DNA break at the targeted location.
Activation of the target locus and/or repair or donor DNA through the induction of double stranded DNA breaks via rare-cutting endonucleases, such as I-SceI. has been shown to increase the frequency of homologous recombination by several orders of magnitude. (Puchta et al., 1996, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 93, pp 5055-5060; Chilton and Que, Plant Physiol., 2003; D'Halluin et al. 2008 Plant Biotechnol. J. 6, 93-102).
WO96/14408 describes an isolated DNA encoding the enzyme I-SceI. This DNA sequence can be incorporated in cloning and expression vectors, transformed cell lines and transgenic animals. The vectors are useful in gene mapping and site-directed insertion of genes.
WO00/46386 describes methods of modifying, repairing, attenuating and inactivating a gene or other chromosomal DNA in a cell through an I-SceI induced double strand break. Also disclosed are methods of treating or prophylaxis of a genetic disease in an individual in need thereof. Further disclosed are chimeric restriction endonucleases.
In addition, methods have been described which allow the design of rare cleaving endonucleases to alter substrate or sequence-specificity of the enzymes, thus allowing to induce a double stranded break at a locus of interest without being dependent on the presence of a recognition site for any of the natural rare-cleaving endonucleases. Briefly, chimeric restriction enzymes can be prepared using hybrids between a zinc-finger domain designed to recognize a specific nucleotide sequence and the non-specific DNA-cleavage domain from a natural restriction enzyme, such as FokI. Such methods have been described e.g. in WO 03/080809, WO94/18313 or WO95/09233 and in Isalan et al., 2001, Nature Biotechnology 19, 656-660; Liu et al. 1997, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94, 5525-5530). Another way of producing custom-made meganucleases, by selection from a library of variants, is described in WO2004/067736. Custom made meganucleases or redesigned meganucleases with altered sequence specificity and DNA-binding affinity may also be obtained through rational design as described in WO2007/047859.
WO2007/049095 describes "LADGLIDADG" homing endonuclease variants having mutations in two separate subdomains, each binding a distinct part of a modified DNA target half site, such that the endonuclease variant is able to cleave a chimeric DNA target sequence comprising the nucleotides bound by each subdomain.
WO2007/049156 and WO2007/093836 describe I-CreI homing endonuclease variants having novel cleavage specificity and uses thereof.
WO2007/047859 describes rationally designed meganucleases with altered sequence specificity and DNA binding affinity.
WO2006/105946 described a method for the exact exchange in plant cells and plants of a target DNA sequence for a DNA sequence of interest through homologous recombination, whereby the selectable or screenable marker used during the homologous recombination phase for temporal selection of the gene replacement events can subsequently be removed without leaving a foot-print and without resorting to in vitro culture during the removal step, employing the therein described method for the removal of a selected DNA by microspore specific expression of a double stranded break inducing rare cleaving endonuclease.
U.S. provisional patent application 60/828,042 and European patent application 06020370.0, and WO2008/037436 describe variants of the methods and means of WO2006/105946 wherein the removal step of a selected DNA fragment induced by a double stranded break inducing rare cleaving endonuclease is under control of a germline-specific promoter. Other embodiments of the method relied on non-homologous endjoining at one end of the repair DNA and homologous recombination at the other end.
Gao et al. 2009, The Plant Journal, pp 1-11 describe heritable targeted mutagenesis in maize using a re-designed endonuclease.
Since the re-designed meganucleases are derived from naturally occurring endonucleases, the available potential recognition sites are not entirely random but appear to have some degree of resemblance to the nucleotide sequence originally recognized by the naturally occurring endonuclease upon which the re-designed meganuclease is based. As stated by Gao et al, 2009 (supra) the structure-based protein design method to modify the DNA-binding characteristics of I-CreI are based on visual inspection of the I-CreI-DNA co-crystal structure leading to a prediction of a large number of amino acid substitutions that change I-CreI base preference at particular positions in its recognition site. Individual amino acid substitutions were evaluated experimentally, and those that conferred the desired change in base preference were added to a database of mutations that can be "mixed and matched" to generate derivatives of I-CreI that recognize highly divergent DNA sites. In theory, the combinatorial diversity available using the current mutation database is sufficient to target an engineered endonuclease approximately every 1000 bp in a random DNA sequence.
Accordingly, there still remains a need for functional re-designed meganucleases which can recognize a recognition site in an DNA element or region previously introduced into a transgenic plant as a commonly used part of a transgene, and induce a double branded DNA break in that region with sufficient efficiency, thereby triggering the events required for e.g. insertion of foreign DNA, deletion or substitution by homologous recombination or non-homologous endjoining at the double stranded break site. Identification of such a pair of recognition site and re-designed meganuclease, enhances the available tools to modify a plant genome in a targeted manner, by allowing insertion, deletion or substitution of the DNA in the vicinity of the induced double stranded DNA break at the location of a previously introduced transgene, without having to resort to presence of historically introduced recognition sites for rare-cleaving endonucleases such as e.g. I-SceI (which does not occur naturally in plant cells).
These and other problems are solved as described hereinafter in the different detailed embodiments of the invention, as well as in the claims.

Methods and means to modify a plant genome at a nucleotide sequence commonly used in plant genome engineering


A substantially temperature-independent LC-based oscillator is achieved using an LC tank that generates a tank oscillation at a phase substantially equal to a temperature null phase. The temperature null phase is a phase of the LC tank at which variations in frequency of an output oscillation of the LC-based oscillator with temperature changes are minimized. The LC-based oscillator further includes frequency stabilizer circuitry coupled to the LC tank to cause the LC tank to oscillate at the phase substantially equal to the temperature null phase.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to oscillators, and in particular, to inductor-capacitor (LC) tank based oscillators.
2. Description of Related Art
Electronic clock generation classically relies on a reference oscillator based on an external crystal that is optionally multiplied and/or divided to generate the required clock. The key specifications of a clock, other than its target frequency, are frequency accuracy and stability. Frequency accuracy is the ability to maintain the target frequency across supply and temperature and is usually represented as drift from the target frequency in percent or ppm. Short term frequency stability is measured using period jitter which is dependent on the phase noise of the oscillator at large frequency offsets. Long term stability, on the other hand, is impacted by the close-in phase noise of the oscillator. An oscillator using a high-Q element typically has a low phase noise profile, and thus good frequency stability, and is less sensitive to variations in oscillator amplifier gain that is dependent on supply and temperature.
For example, crystal oscillators (XO) are high-Q oscillators that provide excellent frequency stability and frequency accuracy across supply and temperature stemming from the very high quality factor (Q) of the crystal. However, not all resonators, including crystals, have satisfactory performance across temperature, thus the need for extra circuitry and techniques to decrease and/or compensate for this shift in frequency due to temperature. A temperature compensated crystal oscillator (TCXO) typically incorporates extra devices that have temperature dependence to negate the temperature dependence of the crystal. The overall outcome is an oscillation frequency with low temperature dependence.
However, the ever increasing complexity of electronic systems due to requirements of supporting multiple standards, increased functionality, higher data rates and memory in a smaller size and at a lower cost is pushing designers to increase the integration level through the development of Systems on Chip (SoC) in deep submicron Complimentary MOS (CMOS) technologies to benefit from the increased gate density. Reference clocks incorporating crystal oscillators have not managed to scale or integrate due to the bulky nature of crystals, thus limiting the size and cost reduction possible for electronic systems.
Recent efforts in using high-Q MEMS resonators and Film Bulk Acoustic Resonators (FBARs) have illustrated possibilities of integrating a high-Q element and Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC) in the same package. However, packaging induced stress impacting performance still remains as a challenging obstacle, since the high-Q element may require special packages and/or calibration that are not practical for SoC's. The stress may change the temperature behavior of the resonator, possibly resulting in large frequency shifts and accelerated aging. Therefore, special assembly and packaging techniques are typically required to mitigate such effects, which increase the cost of producing such clocks. Similar problems may be encountered by any resonator that is dependent on the mechanical properties of the resonator material, which require careful design and manufacturing procedures and processes.
Design requirements for applications such as USB and SATA, which do not require superior frequency accuracy and stability can be satisfied using oscillators with relatively low-Q elements available in a CMOS process which can have adequate phase noise profiles generating good jitter performance. Current trials include the use of ring oscillators, relaxation oscillators and LC oscillators. However, the reported frequency accuracy of these implementations suffers from large drift across supply and temperature, making them ineffective for applications requiring precise accuracy and stability. A mitigation to reduce the drift across temperature requires trimming across temperature which is neither cost effective nor practical for SoC's.
Therefore, the availability of an integrated solution relying on existing optimized process steps in a CMOS technology satisfying frequency stability and jitter requirements is of great value.

Method, system and apparatus for accurate and stable LC-based reference oscillators


A clip separating system (1) is for separating a clip (3) from an accumulation of clips (3) contained within a feeding assembly (5). The clip separating system (1) includes a separating assembly (7) having an inlet (9) and an outlet (11), the inlet (9) of the separating assembly (7) being operatively connected to an outlet (15) of the feeding assembly (5) for receiving the clip (3) to be separated therefrom. A path (10) is defined between the inlet (9) and the outlet (11) of the separating assembly (7). The clip (3) to be separated is positively driven along the path (10) via a corresponding driving component (19) of the clip separating system (1). The outlet (11) of the separating assembly (7) is vertically offset (21) with respect to the outlet (15) of the feeding assembly.

Known in the art are clip separating systems which are typically used in the car industry for individually separating clips from a bulk of accumulated clips so that each clip may be individually picked up by a complementary picking mechanism, and subsequently inserted into a corresponding aperture of a product band, said product band being generally used as a sealing joint in various car portions and the like.
Also known in the art are the various drawbacks and inconveniences associated with such aforementioned conventional systems, namely, but not limited to the following: a) transfer of the clips to be separated is done via a fixed and rigid curved machined component which due to friction and other considerations tends to lead to a jamming of clips and poor feed into the inlet of the separating assembly; b) configuration of a spring-loaded outer moveable component onto an inner fixed component provides for an uneven spring-loaded force throughout the driving path with a greater force felt by the clip at the inlet of the separator which tends to lead to potential obstruction of the clip at the entry point, and weakest force felt by the clip at the outlet of the separator which tends to lead to potential poor positioning and/or securement of the clip prior to being picked up, in addition to requiring an increased driving force necessary to drive the clip from entry to exit of the separator; c) orientation of clips by means of a fixed and rigid curved machined component or rail is not optimal in that a minimal of clips is required in the rail to ensure a proper feed and/or operating of the system to compensate for friction inside the fixed and curved feeding rail; d) a shifting kit is required when a same separator is to be used with two different sources of clips and the shifting action of the shifting kit between the separation action of two different types of clips results in a substantial time delay (i.e. loss of time) that in turn results in a considerable loss of productivity; f) etc.
Hence, in light of the aforementioned, there is a need for an improved system which, by virtue of its design and components, would be able to overcome or at least minimize some of the aforementioned prior art problems.

Clip separating system, kit for assembling the same, and corresponding methods of operating and assembling associated thereof


Base for an internal combustion engine filter cartridge, intended to receive s a filter cartridge (3) provided with apertures for the entry of the oil to be filtered and for the exit of the filtered oil, in a respective upwardly facing matching engagement seat (2) provided with oil feed and discharge. channels to be connected to the matching channels of said cartridge, with said seat—there being peripherally associated a salient enveloping element (33) with which it forms an oil spill protection compartment, from the bottom of which there extends a recovery conduit (6) connected to a collection site and intercepted by a check valve (66), the closed or open state of which depends on whether the cartridge and seat are mutually engaged or disengaged respectively.

Internal combustion engines are known to generally comprise a lubrication system with which a disposable filter cartridge is associated contained in a cup, which it is not necessary to describe in detail.
Said cartridge is intended to be removably coupled, generally by a threaded system and by way of suitable interposed seal means, to a base provided on the engine structure and comprising a suitable seat.
The base of said cartridge is provided with apertures for the entry of the oil to be filtered and for the exit of the filtered oil, said seat presenting corresponding arrival and departure channels for the oil to be filtered and for the filtered oil respectively.
Engines exist in which the cartridge carrying seat generally faces downwards, and others in which it generally faces upwards.
Sunken regions which fill with oil during engine operation are generally present at the mutually facing surfaces of said seat and said cartridge.
When the cartridge is to be removed, for example for its replacement, at least a part of the oil present in said regions is no longer retained, hence is free to pour out of the base.
If the cartridge carrying seat generally faces downwards, the loss of said oil fraction is generally not a problem because the oil is retained by the cup of the cartridge.
However if the cartridge carrying seat faces generally upwards, the loss of said oil fraction can be a problem for at least one of the following reasons: soiling of engine parts and accessories reaching high temperature, oil seepage into electrical and/or electronic equipment, dirtying of the engine compartment and panels, and contamination of the workplace floor.

Base for internal combustion engine filter cartridge