Disclosed is a wireless surround sound speaker system wherein a transmitter broadcasts a variety of FM signals that correspond to the individual speaker channels commonly found in a surround sound system. Receivers, individually equipped with signal receiving, conditioning and amplification components, are configured to receive any one of the broadcast signals in a remote location and are used to drive a conventional loudspeaker in that location. Powered by wall socket or via DC battery packs, the receivers, used in conjunction with the transmitter, provide surround sound capabilities without the need for complex and difficult wiring.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to wireless speaker systems and more specifically to a wireless surround sound speaker system in which a transmitting unit transmits separate and distinct signals for all of the various output channels requisite of surround sound processing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Home theater entertainment systems are becoming increasingly sophisticated and complex. Typical surround sound systems incorporate at least five speakers: front right and left speakers, rear right and left speakers and a front center speaker, requiring that a number of loudspeakers be placed throughout the viewing room, on all sides of the listener/viewer, in order to achieve the desired audio effects. In fact, in some home theater systems, speakers are also placed throughout the entire house in order to broadcast music to every room when the theater effects are not in use. As a result, a multitude of speaker wires must be run throughout the room and the house to each speaker which can be extremely difficult to accomplish. Also, the fact that there is an individual channel associated with each of the surround sound speakers that makes attaching a speaker wire to the correct receiver output channel and speaker equally troublesome. Accordingly, there is a need for a means by which the surround sound speakers can be placed and used throughout a room, or even an entire home, while avoiding the burdens associated with wiring such speakers and adjusting their channel selection and equalization settings. The development of the present invention fulfills this need. To accomplish this, switchable receiving units are tuned to a desired transmitter output channel and include an integrated amplifier, signal biasing capabilities and a graphic equalizer for adjusting the tonal characteristics of the individual speaker to which it is connected, thereby allowing use of the present invention interchangeably with existing loudspeaker arrangements and adjusted at a remote location.
A search of the prior art did not disclose any patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention. However, several references disclose wireless speaker systems in which FM or infrared signals are transmitted to speakers that are equipped with signal receiving and amplification electronics that are used to drive the loudspeakers. While many of these inventions touch upon the principles of surround sound processing and wireless signal transmission, none of these devices include any individualized channel selection or equalization features that allow the speakers to be used interchangeably and therefore neither anticipate nor disclose any embodiment that would preclude its novelty and the utilitarian functionality of the present invention:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,708,718, issued in the name of Ambourn et al.;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,658, issued in the name of Borchardt et al.;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,422, issued in the name of Harrison et al.;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,323, issued in the name of Schotz et al.;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,641, issued in the name of Abe et al.;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,388, issued in the name of Mlodzikowski et al.; and
U.S. Pat. No. 3,590,382, issued in the name of Kenney.
The ""718 patent, issued in the name of Ambourn et al., discloses a surround sound processor system in which an audio signal is decoded into in-phase and out-of-phase components. The in-phase signals are sent via FM transmitter to a receiver component that is connected to an amplifier that boosts the signal, driving the center channel loudspeaker(s). The out-of-phase signals are sent via FM transmitter to a receiver component that is connected to an amplifier that boosts the signal, driving the rear channel loudspeaker(s). This disclosure differs from the present invention in that the receiver/amplifier portions are not integrated into the speaker design which necessitates further wiring in the remote location. Furthermore, the ""718 invention requires the use of external wiring connections between the receiver/amplifier combination, making likely the occurrence of the problems to which the present invention is directed.
The ""658 patent, issued in the name of Borchardt et al., discloses a wireless signal transmission system wherein an audio signal is via FM transmission to a pair of wireless headphones. The disclosure neither discloses nor anticipates any surround sound applications utilizing loudspeakers with integrated signal receiving, amplification channel selection and graphic equalization capabilities.
The ""422 patent, issued in the name of Harrison et al., discloses a remote speaker arrangement for surround sound applications intended to eliminate the need for front channel speakers. The wireless rear speakers are used to create xe2x80x9cphantomxe2x80x9d front speakers by combining a bipolar rear speaker with a mono front speaker. This arrangement, however, requires that the speakers be wired to a combination receiver/amplifier in the remote location and therefore suffers from the drawbacks that the present invention solves. The disclosure neither discloses nor anticipates any surround sound applications utilizing loudspeakers with integrated signal receiving, amplification channel selection and graphic equalization capabilities.
The ""323 patent, issued in the name of Schotz et al., discloses an analog spread spectrum wireless speaker system intended to allow the user to place a pair of speakers at a remote location without the need to run speaker wires. The ""641 patent, issued in the name of Abe et al., discloses a wireless receiver for use with headphones or loudspeakers. The device consists of a transmitter that transmits infrared radiation signals, modulated by an audio signal, to an infrared receiver that translated the signal to an audio signal and amplifies it for use with headphones or loudspeakers at a remote location. These disclosures differ from the present invention in that the receiver/amplifier portions are not integrated into the speaker design which necessitates further wiring in the remote location. Furthermore, the disclosures neither disclose nor anticipate any surround sound applications utilizing loudspeakers with integrated signal receiving, amplification channel selection and graphic equalization capabilities.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,388, issued in the name of Mlodzikowski et al., discloses an infrared speaker system in which a pair of remotely located speakers are fit individually with an infrared receiver and an audio amplifier. An infrared transmitter connected to a stereo or the like converts both left and right channel audio signals to an infrared signal and sends them to the speakers. Each speaker receiver is equipped with a filter that selects the appropriate channel, left or right, converts it to an audio signal and amplifies it, driving the loudspeaker. The ""382 patent, issued in the name of Kenney, discloses a remote speaker system similar in nature to that of the ""388 disclosure, the main difference being that an infrared signal rather than an FM signal is used to transmit the audio signal. While these disclosures do anticipate individual reception and amplification components in each speaker, the speakers are still limited to a single, non-selectable channel. Furthermore, the disclosures neither disclose nor anticipate any surround sound applications utilizing loudspeakers with integrated signal receiving, amplification channel selection and graphic equalization capabilities.
While several features exhibited within these references may be incorporated into this invention, alone and in combination with other elements, the present invention is sufficiently different so as to make it distinguishable over the prior art.
The present invention consists of a system uses a transmitting unit that emits a low level FM signal for each of the surround sound speaker channels. The transmitting unit incorporates surround sound processing circuitry that in which the user can select the desired effect to apply to the signals, from large concert hall to intimate club settings, along with conventional front-rear biasing, right-left biasing and graphic equalization capabilities. Individual receiving units, powered either by DC battery supply or conventional AC wall socket, are used to receive the transmitted signal and drive existing loudspeaker arrangements. The receiving unit includes electronic components that receive the respective speaker channel signal, convert it to an audio signal and amplifies it in order to drive the loudspeaker. Each receiving unit is fit with a channel selection switch that allows it to be configured to receive and amplify any of the surround sound channel signals transmitted by the transmitting unit. Furthermore, each receiving unit includes individual left-right biasing, front-rear biasing and graphic equalization and volume adjustment capabilities that can be enabled and used in the remote location, defeating the settings of the transmitting unit in the scenario where users in different locations or rooms are listening to the same selection.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a wireless speaker system wherein a transmitting unit and a receiving unit allows the user to place speakers about a room or rooms without running speaker wires from stereo components to each individual speaker assembly.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a wireless speaker system in which each receiving unit is fully self sufficient, being powered either a battery powered DC supply or a power cord plugged into a conventional wall socket.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a wireless speaker system in which a transmitter unit transmits individual channel signals, in stereo or surround sound, on an FM frequency.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a wireless speaker system in which a transmitter unit includes the ability to adjust the settings for the left-right biasing, front-rear biasing, graphic equalization and volume of the transmitted signal(s).
It is another object of the present invention to provide a wireless speaker system in which the use of a receiver assembly allows for use of the wireless speaker system with existing loudspeaker arrangements.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a wireless speaker system in which each individual receiver assembly can be configured to receive any of the stereo or surround sound signals transmitted by the transmitter unit.
Finally, It is an object of the present invention to provide a wireless speaker system in which each receiver assembly allows the user to adjust the individual settings for the left-right biasing, front-rear biasing, graphic equalization and volume of the transmitted signal(s), defeating those of the transmitter unit.


A novel reaction product and method for making the reaction product. The reaction product is a copolymer obtained by reacting together i) an acylated alkylacrylate copolymer having a number average molecular weight ranging from about 5,000 to about 500,000; ii) a hydrocarbyl acylating agent having a number average molecular weight ranging from about 500 to about 5000; and iii) a compound selected from the group consisting of (a) a polyamine; (b) a polyol; and (c) an aminoalcohol to provide a functionalized polyalkylacrylate copolymer. According to the reaction, a mole ratio of component (i) to (ii) ranges from about 1:10 to about 5:1.

Dispersant additives are used to suspend oil-insoluble resinous oxidation products and particulate contaminants in the bulk oil. Ideally, this minimizes sludge formation, particulate-related wear, viscosity increase, and oxidation-related deposit formation. Dispersants are primarily used in gasoline engine and heavy-duty diesel engine oils. They are also used in natural gas engine oils, aviation piston engine oils, automatic transmission fluids and some types of gear lubricants. A variety of commercial dispersant additives have been available and used. For instance, N-substituted long-chain alkenyl succinimides have been used as ashless dispersants. An alkenylsuccinic acid intermediate is obtained by condensing an olefin polymer, such as polyisobutylene, with maleic anhydride. A basic part of the dispersant additive has then been obtained, e.g., from reacting the intermediate with amine compounds such as polyamines. Other previously used dispersants include high molecular weight esters, e.g., a reaction product of an alkylene glycol and a substituted succinic anhydride. Other known dispersants include Mannich bases obtained from high molecular weight alkylated phenols, such as, e.g., the reaction product of a polyalkylenephenol, polyalkylenepolyamine, and an aldehyde. Oil chemists are continually searching for dispersants that achieve optimum dispersancy and low-temperature performance at low concentrations. The present disclosure addresses the need for improved dispersants for lubricating oils and fluids.
An exemplary embodiment of the disclosure is directed to a novel reaction product and method for making the reaction product. The reaction product is a copolymer product obtained by reacting together i) an acylated alkylacrylate copolymer having a number average molecular weight ranging from about 5,000 to about 500,000; ii) a hydrocarbyl acylating agent having a number average molecular weight ranging from about 500 to about 5000; and iii) a compound selected from the group consisting of (a) a polyamine; (b) a polyol; and (c) an aminoalcohol to provide a functionalized polyalkylacrylate copolymer. In several embodiments the mole ratio of (i):(ii) ranges from about 1:10 to about 5:1. An example of a suitable range for the mole ratio of (i) to (ii) includes about 1:1 to 1:3.
In another exemplary embodiment, a reaction product is obtained by reacting together i) an acylated alkylacrylate copolymer having a weight average molecular weight ranging from about 5,000 to about 500,000; ii) a polyalkylene succinic acid or anhydride; and iii) a compound selected from (a) a polyamine; (b) a polyol; and (c) an aminoalcohol to provide a functionalized polyalkylacrylate copolymer, wherein a mole ratio of (i) to (ii) ranges from about 1:10 to about 5:1.
Among other advantages, the copolymer reaction products made according to the disclosed embodiments may have good dispersancy, thickening efficiency, low temperature properties, soot handling properties, fuel economy, and/or antioxidancy properties, and are substantially devoid of gels. The reaction products have improved low temperature properties and are useful in crankcase formulation packages, amongst other applications. Some necessary components within traditional lubricating oil, such as friction modifiers and grade of base oil, have generally tended to improve a formulation's low temperature properties. However, other components such as certain polymers, such as polyisobutylene-based dispersants, have been observed to negatively impact an oil formulation's low temperature properties. Although the use of a higher grade of base oil (e.g., Group II+ or Group III) in a formulation can improve an oil's fuel economy, these higher grades of base oil require more complex refinery processing, and thus add more cost to the resulting oil formulation. It has been discovered that the reaction product additives having improved low temperature properties according to disclosed embodiments may reduce or eliminate the need to use expensive base oils in lubricant formulations.
The reaction products described herein may also be used in engine oil applications to improve or boost dispersancy, oxidation, high temperature high shear (HTHS)/fuel economy, and low temperature viscometrics (e.g., cold cranking simulator (CCS) and mini-rotary viscometer (MRV) properties) in conjunction with conventional dispersants and at a lower olefin copolymer (OCP) loading in the finished oil. Particularly, the disclosed reaction products may exhibit outstanding low temperature properties in lubricating oils for applications such as crankcase lubricants and automatic transmission fluids. The reaction products may also exhibit excellent low temperature performance in a wide variety of base oils. Improved fuel economy, such as measured via Sequence VIB engine testing, may also be obtained with oils containing the reaction products embodied herein.
The reaction products may also be precipitation- or sedimentation-resistant, and may not cause or encourage such formations in finished fluids incorporating the reaction products. The reaction products may be further characterized as polymer bound antioxidants having a potential to enhance the oxidative stability and dispersancy of lubricants which may be limited by the thermal and oxidative stability of conventional lower molecular weight antioxidants.

Alkyl acrylate copolymer dispersants and uses thereof


A vehicle seat recliner and folding latch assembly is provided. The assembly generally includes a lower quadrant disk, a slide pin sub-assembly and a recliner disk. The slide pin sub-assembly is supported on the lower quadrant disk for pivotal displacement between a first position and a second position. The recliner disk is supported for pivotal displacement on the slide-pin sub-assembly. The recliner disk includes an engagement edge engaging the slide pin sub-assembly. The engagement edge is adapted to lock the slide pin sub-assembly in the first and second positions.

Vehicle markets are extremely competitive, particularly the minivan and sport utility markets. A growing focus of the competition is the overall utility and comfort of these vehicles. One important utility feature that is gaining much attention includes flexible vehicle interiors, and more particularly, flexible front and second row seating assemblies. Flexibility in this sense refers to the ability to modify the configuration of a particular seating assembly. For example, a passenger might desire to fold down a front or second row seat to provide a work space during travel. As such, a passenger could use the rear of the folded down seat as a desk. Additionally, a passenger might desire to configure the seat in a manner providing for an open area in the cargo compartment of the vehicle. As such, a customer could use the cargo compartment to load large items on top of a load floor.

Round recliner assembly with rear folding latch


Alpha alumina milling media made by a sol-gel process have improved utility in milling alumina materials in a bead mill.

This invention relates to grinding media used in mills for comminuting solid materials, typically ceramics. Such mills include those in which rotating or tumbling cylinders are charged with milling media and the material to be comminuted and the frequent contacts between the media and the material brings about comminution. For simplicity of reference all such mills are hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cbead millsxe2x80x9d.
There are several types of bead mill operating on this general principle available in commerce. Some are oriented vertically and may be equipped with agitators and others are oriented with the cylindrical axis horizontal. All however are designed to create frequent comminuting contacts between the media and the material.
This mode of operation puts great emphasis on the media and typically four different kinds of media are in commercial use today. Each however is conventionally supplied in the form of short cylinders about a centimeter long with a centimeter diameter though larger and smaller media are available for use with larger or smaller mills than the conventional and shapes other than cylindrical such as spheres can be used.
A key element in the selection of the media to be employed is the material from which they are made. As indicated above, four different materials are in common use: steel, pure alpha alumina, 84% alpha alumina, and zirconia which may be stabilized in the tetragonal form using for example yttria or one of the other known stabilizing additives. Each has its special applications in which it is most widely used determined largely by its properties. Each however also has problems that make it unsuitable for some applications. This is usually strongly influenced by the intended use of the comminuted material and its sensitivity to impurities of composition or to departures from the desired particle size distribution of the comminuted product. It is understood of course that comminution using milling media not only leads to fracture of the material being milled but also to some degree, fracture of the media themselves. Thus the final product will contain some fragments derived not from the material being comminuted but also from the media and this can lead to problems. Steel for example can not be used where metal fragments would interfere with a powder property and could not be separated easily. Zirconia is very tough and does not suffer much loss by attrition but is not generally efficient at milling alumina where alumina media are typically used because the attrited material is largely the same as the material being milled. Alumina media are made by sintering fine alumina powder under high pressure and high temperature conditions. Such products have essentially zero porosity and theoretical density and are very effective in the comminution of alumina where they have the advantage of being chemically the same as the material to be comminuted. However with high purity alumina, (93%+), media fracture during use produces fragments that are unacceptably large if the objective is to produce micron-sized, or finer, alumina powders. On the other hand with the lower purity alumina media fracture, if it occurs at all, produces microchips of a size compatible with the desired final product. However such media contain a significant amount of silica and this can be an unacceptable contaminant in some applications.
There is therefore a significant need for media suitable for use in comminuting alumina which fracture if at all in acceptable fragments and which contain essentially no impurities.
The present invention provides milling media consisting essentially of alpha alumina made by a seeded sol-gel process.
Alumina made by the seeded sol-gel process is characterized by a uniform crystalline structure in which the crystals have an average diameter of not more than about 2 microns. The average diameter is that measured using the corrected intercept technique in which diagonal lines are drawn across a polished SEM micrograph cross-section and the total lengths of the lines is divided by the number of crystals intersected by the lines and the result is multiplied by 1.5 to give the true average diameter of the crystals. Preferred media according to the invention have crystals of alpha alumina with average diameters of one micron or less such as from 0.1 micron up to 1 micron.
The sol-gel process typically begins with a boehmite sol which is then seeded with a material that will promote the formation of alpha alumina when heated to a sufficiently elevated temperature. Suitable materials are usually isostructural with alpha alumina with lattice dimensions that are closely similar. The obvious and most frequently used such seed material is of course alpha alumina itself in the form of fine sub-micron-sized particles. The sol with the seed uniformly dispersed therein is then gelled and dried and calcined to remove water and produce an intermediate precursor form of alpha alumina before this is sintered to produce alpha alumina.
The alumina may have incorporated therein minor amounts of modifying ceramic oxides either as addition to the gel or by infiltration of the alpha alumina precursor using a precursor of the ceramic oxide while the intermediate is still in the porous state. The amount of such modifying ceramic oxides in the final alumina can be as much as 5% by weight without detracting from the essentially alpha alumina character of the media.
Sintering such a seeded sol-gel alumina to essentially theoretical density produces an alpha alumina with a Vickers hardness of at least 20 GPa, and preferably 21 Gpa, (as measured under a 500 g load), and occurs at a conversion temperature at least about 100xc2x0 C. or more below the conversion temperature in the absence of seeding. Since higher temperatures encourage crystal growth, it proves possible to achieve such high densities and hardnesses without losing the fine, uniform microcrystalline structure of the alumina.
The traditional shape of the media is, as was indicated above, cylindrical and this can be secured very easily by extruding the seeded sol-gel and cutting the extrudate into appropriately sized particles before drying and firing to produce the alpha alumina form.
Remarkably however it has been found that it is not essential to adopt this form to produce the media. While cylindrical media are effective, this is also true of spherical or random shapes. Indeed particles with random shapes are equally or more effective than cylindrical in producing comminution. Such particles have a plurality of edges and corners and while it is clear these may be more effective at causing comminution, it would also be anticipated that they would in the process become rounded and lead to significant erosion of the media. In fact however, most surprisingly, the random shape of such media particles is essentially unchanged even after prolonged grinding and the weight loss is less than would be experienced by traditional cylindrical shapes in achieving the same level of comminution. Thus it is possible to use as milling media particles made with an entirely different purpose.
Seeded sol-gel alumina is very widely used to produce abrasive grits. In the commercial process for making such grits, the dried fired precursor material is comminuted to produce random shapes which are then sintered to convert to alpha alumina. This produces a wide range of particle sizes which are then sorted using sieves of increasingly finer mesh sizes. Grits falling through a sieve but being retained on the next finer sieve mesh are characterized by the grit size corresponding to the sieve on which they are retained. It is found that abrasive grit particles with sizes of 46 grit or coarser, such as 36, 24, 20, 16 or 14 grit sizes, perform very well as milling media for alumina. However theoretically much finer grit sizes such as grits as small as 50 grit could be used in some applications.

Saint-Gobain Ceramics and Plastics, Inc.


An interworking proxy is coupled to first and second mobile switching systems and translates between first and second management protocols used by the first and second systems, respectively. The first system requests service for a mobile user using the first management protocol. The proxy receives the service request and translates it from the first management protocol to the second management protocol, and then transmits the translated service request to the second system. The second system provides a response to the service request using the second management protocol. The interworking proxy receives the response and translates it from the second management protocol to the first management protocol, and then transmits the translated response to the first system.

The present invention is directed to an inter-technology roaming proxy that translates and routes requests and responses between two networks having different protocols.
Conventional wireless telecommunications networks include Base Stations, Mobile Switching Centers (MSCs) equipped with Visitor Location Registers (VLRs), and Home Location Registers (HLRs) having Authentication Centers (ACs or AuCs). Each base station provides radio communications to mobile terminals located in a respective cell or zone of the wireless network. The base stations are interconnected by the MSCs which provide telecommunications switching functions. The HLR stores information related to the current location of each mobile terminal and subscriber data which define the authorized services for each mobile terminal. The VLR temporarily stores subscriber data for those mobile terminals currently located in the service area of the corresponding MSC.
When a mobile terminal is activated in a zone of the wireless network, it sends a registration request to the base station serving the zone in which it is located. The registration request includes a Mobile Identification Number (MIN), which uniquely identifies the mobile terminal. The serving base station forwards the registration request to the serving MSC, which then forwards the registration request to the HLR. The HLR searches for subscriber data corresponding to the MIN in the registration request. If the subscriber data is located, the HLR downloads that data to the VLR of the serving MSC. The serving MSC then uses the subscriber data to perform any required authentication tests and, upon finding such tests satisfied, provides the services defined by the subscriber data to the mobile terminal.
Wireless networks are connected to other wireless networks, and support mobile terminals that roam into their service areas from the service areas of other wireless networks. Subscriber data for the roaming mobile terminals is downloaded from the HLRs of their home networks to the VLR in the serving network. In North American cellular telephone systems, roaming mobile terminals send enough information to the serving MSC in the registration request to enable the serving MSC to locate and establish communications with the HLR of the mobile terminal's home network. This allows the required subscriber data to be downloaded to the VLR in the serving network.
The IS-41 standard defines the protocol North American cellular telephone systems use to locate the home HLR of a registering mobile terminal to download subscriber data for the registering terminal from the home HLR to the VLR of the serving MSC, and to authenticate the registering terminal. North American cellular, up-banded cellular, and CDMA wireless telephone systems use this protocol.
The Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) series of standards defines a different protocol used for the same operations in most European cellular telephone systems. The PCS-1900 standard for personal communications services (PCS) in North America is based on the GSM standard.
In North America, some PCS service providers (PSPs) use the IS-41 mobility management protocol and other PSPs use the GSM mobility management protocol. To earn revenue from those subscribers who roam over large geographic regions, PSPs need to support GSM-based PCS subscribers on IS-41-based networks and IS-41-based subscribers on GSM-based networks in order to provide those subscribers with unbroken service.
To support such roaming of mobile terminals between cellular telephone systems using different mobility management protocols, conventional systems include an interworking function. The interworking function receives registration requests formatted according to the mobility management protocol used by the serving system and provides corresponding subscriber data in a format used by the VLRs and MSCs of the serving system.
One prior art technique for supporting mobile terminal roaming is discussed in an article by Jorgen Lantto, "Roaming Between Cellular Standards," ISS'95, Vol. 1, April 1995. This technique, referred to as the Ericsson technique, is demonstrated in FIGS. 1-3 for the case where a GSM terminal roams into an IS-41 service area.
As FIG. 1 shows, the Ericsson technique uses an Interworking Location Register (ILR) and an Interworking MSC (IMSC) or Gateway MSC (GMSC) to perform the required interworking functions. The ILR is a normal HLR and acts as an IS-41 HLR towards the serving IS-41 network and as a GSM MSC/VLR towards the home GSM network. The ILR contains the normal functions of an IS-41 HLR, but includes only subscriber data for roaming terminals.
FIG. 2 demonstrates the registration procedure, and FIG. 3 demonstrates the call termination procedure of the Ericsson technique. When the roaming mobile terminal realizes that it is no longer located within its home GSM network, the registration procedure of FIG. 2 occurs. The roaming terminal requests registration from the serving network via a registration request (RegReq) message (210). The serving MSC/VLR sends the registration request (RegReq) message to the ILR (220).
Upon receiving the RegReq message, the ILR authenticates the roaming terminal and stores the identification of the serving MSC/VLR (230). The ILR sends subscriber data identifying the roaming terminal to the serving MSC/VLR in the form of a registration request response (regreq) message (240). Finally, the ILR updates the home HLR to identify the IMSC as the serving MSC for the roaming terminal (250).
When an incoming call arrives at the network for the roaming terminal, it first arrives at the roaming terminal's home MSC/VLR (310). In response to the received call for the roaming terminal, the home MSC/VLR determines whether the terminal is located within its serving area. Since the terminal is roaming, the home MSC/VLR determines that the terminal is not located within its serving area.
The home MSC/VLR then requests a routing number from the home HLR by sending a routing number request (ReqRouteNo) message. The home MSC/VLR uses the routing number to route the call to the appropriate serving MSC.
The home HLR forwards the routing number request to the ILR (330), which forwards the request to the IMSC (340). The IMSC provides a routing number (RouteNo) to the ILR identifying itself as the serving MSC (350). The ILR forwards the routing number to the home MSC/VLR via the home HLR (360-370). Using this routing number, the home MSC/VLR forwards the call to the IMSC via a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) (380).
Upon receiving the forwarded call, the IMSC requests a routing number from the ILR for forwarding the call to the serving system (390). The ILR transmits the request to the serving MSC/VLR (3100). The serving MSC/VLR provides a routing number in a routing number response (routeno) message to the ILR, identifying itself as the serving MSC (3110). The ILR forwards the routing number to the IMSC (3120).
Using this routing number, the IMSC forwards the call to the serving MSC/VLR via the PSTN (3130). Upon receiving the call, the serving MSC/VLR routes the call to the roaming terminal via its base station (3140).
The Ericsson technique has several disadvantages. First, certain subscriber data must be duplicated at the ILR. This not only consumes storage space, but also complicates data integrity requirements and increases messaging requirements because all copies of the subscriber data are updated simultaneously. Second, the ILR and the IMSC must be shared and operated in cooperation by the two PSPs of the interworking systems. This causes problems when the PSPs have conflicting interests. Third, the cost of providing an extra MSC dedicated to interworking, namely the IMSC, is high. Finally, routing calls through the IMSC consumes more PSTN resources and is relatively slow.


A method includes a computer device receiving a set of images for at least one user; the computer device receiving unique visual clue inputs from the at least one user for each image of the set of images; the computer device receiving drawing gesture inputs from the at least one user for each image of the set of images; and the computer device using the visual clue and drawing gesture inputs to create passwords to provide a locked access point for at least one device.

The present invention relates to graphical user passwords for user devices, and more specifically, to graphical user passwords using an ordered sequence to provide a locked access point to prevent unauthorized personnel from using certain user devices or gaining access to secured areas.
Starting around 1999, a great many graphical password schemes have been proposed as alternatives to text-based password authentication. These have become commercially available and widespread initially on smartphones and tablets, and later on in general purpose computers.
These existing graphical password systems employed on smartphones and touchscreen work by presenting the user with a previously selected image and asking him to draw a previously recorded gesture over it, using the image as a reference point. For example, android based phones uses a 3×3 dot array image and the user traces a path as set by a predetermined password to unlock the phone. Windows based phones uses drawn gestures on an image to unlock the phone.
While existing graphical password systems, such as described above, provide security to the phones they are prone to smudge attacks. The constant reuse of the same password by a user will leave a trace of the password on the screen. This trace could be used by anyone to unlock the phone.

International Business Machines Corporation


Provided is a security system for managing which CD-ROM is used for a game device not having identifying information in advance. When a game device accesses a server via a communication network, a device ID, which is issued from the server, is stored in a nonvolatile memory This device ID is generated based on the time and date when the game device accesses the server via a communication network (e.g. Dec. 10, 2000 at 21:05:37). The server associates a serial number (SN) of a CD-ROM used in the game device and a device ID of the game device with each other and registers them on a database. This makes it possible to manage which CD-ROM is used in each game device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to technology for security system, more particularly to a communication game system by connecting a plurality of game devices through a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has been suggested that a communication game system is realized by connecting a plurality of game devices to a communication network such as a telephone line, an ISDN network, etc. In such communication game system, the applicant suggested a security technology of a recording medium in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-35885 in order to prevent a third party from misusing a recording medium with game software stored therein.
The Publication describes the technology in which a server manages identifying information inherent in a recording medium with game software stored therein and identifying information inherent in a game device to understand which recording medium is used in each game device, whereby, when such game device is connected to a communication network, a limitation is imposed on game processing if such server judges that the recording medium attached to the game device was previously used in another game device, and ordinary game processing is performed if the server judges that such recording medium is being used only for the pertinent game device.
However, as identifying information inherent in a game device is not always pre-recorded in the phase of developing such game device, there is also a game device not having such identifying information.
Further, in communication games, a game play could be resumed from the status immediately before stopping play of the game last time by backing up data, such as the progression status of the game or various items which a player obtained, in a backup memory which is detachable from a game device body or an operation controller. However, as one's own data (e.g. items, etc.) could be provided to a third party by copying the contents of the backup memory, such third party could enjoy playing the game using another person's saved data. Thus, when the contents of a backup memory can easily be copied, the problem will arise that a player can not fully enjoy the game.
Such problem will also arise when a backup memory detachable from a game device body or an operation controller is attached to another person's game device or operation controller to play a game.
Furthermore, saved data which is backed up in a backup memory can be transferred from a game device to another game device through a communication network; however, if the saved data, upon transferring the saved data from the backup memory to the game device, remained in the backup memory, there is the possibility of misuse by providing saved data to another person while retaining the saved data in one's own backup memory by forcibly taking the backup memory from the game device.
Also, in conventional communication games, there was no limitation of the levels required to participate in a game. Accordingly, for example, when a beginner and a skilled player participate in a communication game, the beginner will reach the ending of the game by doing nothing but following the skilled player, which reduces the amusing aspect of the game.
Similarly, when, in a communication game in which a plurality of players participates, saved data concerning progression status of the game is backed up, a beginner will start the game in the middle of a skilled player's game by participating in the game with the skilled player. If the saved data concerning the progression status of the game is backed up in a beginner's backup memory, the next game will start in the middle of such game and a part of the game will become unable to be played, it, therefore, is not desirable.
Further, as long as a communication game is connected to a telephone line, the telephone bill is charged as a connection fee, and in addition, a fee for an Internet connection to the provider is also charged. Therefore, when it unnecessarily takes a long time at the ending part of the game, which does not require the operation by a player, the player is forced to be responsible for costly charges.
Here, an object of the present invention is to provide a computer readable recording medium in which a security system for preventing misuse by a third party of a recording medium, a data processing device, a recording medium management method and a program for performing such method are recorded. Another object of the present invention is to provide a computer readable recording medium in which a data processing device for preventing misuse of a backup memory, a data processing method, a security system, a method for managing saved data and a program for performing such method are recorded. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a computer readable recording medium in which a game server for enhancing an amusing aspect of a communication game, a game processing method and a program for performing such method are recorded.


A method and system for controlling data in a computer system when the computer system loses power is disclosed. The method and system comprises activating a plurality of super capacitors to supply power to the computing engine based upon power being removed from the computer system and reconfiguring the data in the computing engine. Through the use of a system and method, large amounts of newly written and modified data can be stored from the volatile memory to the non-volatile memory in the event of a sudden external system power loss. The system and method allows data to be rapidly and irretrievably erased from the non-volatile memory automatically, in the event of a sudden loss of external power, or manually. This capability consumes minimal space and weight and is implemented in an affordable manner.

The present invention relates generally to computer systems and more particularly to a system and method for controlling data in such a system when the system loses external power.
Most modern computer systems utilize various types of memory for handling data. A typical computer system consists of a central processing unit (CPU), cache memory, main memory, and long-term data storage such as a hard disk drive (HDD). Cache memory is significantly faster than main memory but has much less data capacity and more costly. Similarly main memory is significantly faster than a HDD, but also stores significantly less data and is more costly. Cache memory is very high speed memory designed to hold upcoming to-be-accessed and/or recently-accessed data. Data retrieved from the relatively slow HDD may be still be resident in the cache or in the main memory, thus the CPU can re-access that data from the cache many times faster than from main memory and hundreds of times faster than from the HDD. However, cache memory and main memory are characterized as volatile memory. Volatile memory (VM) is memory that contains data that is subject to erasure when the external power supply is shut down. A HDD is characterized as a non-volatile storage.
Consequently, the first problem that is encountered in this environment is that when there is an sudden loss of external power there is insufficient time to safely write all the newly written and modified data from the VM to the HDD before the computer system shuts down. This poses a significant risk on the customer""s data contained in the VM. Perhaps a very small amount of data could be safely saved to the HDD during the limited time available from detection to shutdown. However this would place a severe restriction on the amount of newly written and modified data that could be held in the VM which would basically eliminate the performance gains achieved by using the VM.
A battery could be coupled to the internal power system, however the use of batteries pose significant problems. Batteries have a limited number of charge-drain cycles, have a large internal resistance, and are physically very large and heavy. Additionally a HDD consumes significant amounts of power. The size and capacity of the batteries needed to supply power to the CPU, VM and HDD make them impractical. Alternatively a battery-backed uninterruptible power supply (UPS) could be connected in series with the external power source to provide power to the entire computer system in the event of a loss of external power. However, an UPS is physically large, heavy and relatively expensive.
Another significant problem associated with conventional computer technology is the ability to erase data from a HDD. Erasing all data from a disk, rapidly, and without the possibility of retrieval, is a mandatory requirement as an action of last resort for many applications. For example, if the data being stored is particularly valuable or otherwise sensitive and imminent access by hostile parties cannot be avoided, then the data must be destroyed instantaneously and irretrievably.
Normally when data is erased from a HDD, only the information to track the location of the files on the physical disk media is removed. This means that it is possible to retrieve the data by reconstructing the File Allocation Table (FAT). Some HDD erase utilities overwrite the actual data so that it cannot be easily recovered. However, due to the remnants of magnetic particle polarization, it is possible to recover data from a HDD even though the data has been deliberately overwritten. In order to prevent such data recovery, each storage element needs to be overwritten with specific data patterns repeatedly five or six times. To do this for every bit on a high capacity HDD take a very long time.
Accordingly, what is needed is a method for providing power to the computer system in the event of a sudden loss of power such that all newly written and modified data in the VM will be correctly stored in the non-volatile storage. What is further needed is method for rapidly erasing all data from a large non-volatile storage without the possibility of Do retrieval even in the event of a sudden loss of power. The method should be affordable and consume minimal space and weight. The present invention addresses such a need.
The present invention discloses a method and system for controlling data in a computer system when the computer system loses power, the computer system comprising a computing engine. The method and system comprises activating a plurality of super capacitors to supply power to the computing engine based upon power being removed from the computer system and reconfiguring the data in the computing engine.
Through the use of a system and method in accordance with the present invention, a user is able to correctly store large amounts of newly written and modified data from the volatile memory to the non-volatile memory in the event of a sudden external system power loss. Furthermore, the user of a system and method in accordance with the present invention will be able to rapidly and irretrievably erase data from the non-volatile memory automatically, in the event of a sudden loss of external power or manually. This capability consumes minimal space and weight and is implemented in an affordable manner.

Method and system for controlling data in a computer system in the event of a power failure


An exemplary system includes a media content processing subsystem configured to provide a program guide including a matrix of cells associated with a plurality of media content instances, and a selector object within the program guide. The selector object is configured to select one of the cells such that the cells in the matrix include a selected cell and at least one unselected cell. The subsystem is further configured to provide at least one image object within the at least one unselected cell. The image object represents the media content instance associated with the unselected cell. In certain embodiments, the image object includes a video content stream. The subsystem is further configured to provide a graphical user interface to a display for presentation to a user, the graphical user interface including at least a portion of the program guide and the image object.

The set-top box ("STB") has become an important computing device for accessing media content services and the media content within those services. An STB is usually configured to provide users with access to a large number and variety of media content choices offered by a provider. For example, a user may choose to experience a variety of broadcast television programs, pay-per-view services, video-on-demand programming, Internet services, and audio programming via an STB.
The large number of media content choices offered by providers can make it difficult for a user of an STB to find and select desired media content. On-screen program guides have alleviated this problem to some degree. As the services and media content choices provided to users (e.g., more media channels) have expanded, developers of program guides have attempted to keep pace by expanding the features and capabilities of the program guides.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Program guide image objects for media content access systems and methods


Mixing ratio and flow rate of a first gaseous mixture supplied to a central portion of the substrate are set. Subsequently, etching is performed by changing a mixing ratio of a second gaseous mixture supplied to an outer peripheral portion of the substrate while a setting of the first gaseous mixture is fixed, thereby, setting the mixing ratio of the second gaseous mixture based on an etching result to make etching selectivities and shapes at the central portion and the outer peripheral portion of the substrate uniform. Then, etching is performed by changing a flow rate of the second gaseous mixture while settings of the first gaseous mixture and the mixing ratio of the second gaseous mixture are fixed, thereby, setting the flow rate of the second gaseous mixture based on etching results to make etching rates at the central portion and the outer peripheral portion of the substrate uniform.

In a manufacturing process of an electronic device such as a semiconductor device, a liquid crystal display device or the like, an etching process for etching a film on a substrate in a predetermined shape is carried out to form a predetermined circuit pattern on the substrate.
In the aforementioned etching process, a plasma etching process is widely used. A plasma etching apparatus has, e.g., in a processing chamber thereof, a lower electrode for mounting a substrate thereon, and a shower head, also serving as an upper electrode, for injecting a predetermined gas toward the substrate on the lower electrode. The etching process is performed to etch a film on the substrate in such a manner that a high frequency power is applied between the upper and the lower electrode to produce a plasma in the processing chamber, e.g., while a predetermined gaseous mixture is being injected into the processing chamber through the shower head.
However, in case where the gaseous mixture is supplied into the processing chamber through the shower head to perform the etching process on the substrate, as mentioned above, there was a problem that etching characteristics such as etching rate, etching selectivity, etching shape and the like at the central portion of the substrate are different from those at the outer peripheral portion of the substrate, respectively. This has been attributed to the fact that, in the processing chamber, a concentration and a component of the gaseous mixture at the central portion of the substrate are different from those at the outer peripheral portion of the substrate, respectively. Therefore, e.g., in Japanese Patent Laid-open Application No. H08-158072, there has been proposed that an inside of an upper electrode as a shower head is divided into a plurality of gas chambers; gas introducing lines are independently connected to the respective gas chambers; and the gaseous mixtures of specified mixing ratios and flow rates are supplied to the central portion and the outer peripheral portion of the substrate, respectively. In this way, it is possible to improve an in-substrate uniformity, e.g., in the etching rate, by respectively adjusting mixing ratios and flow rates of the gaseous mixtures supplied to the central portion and the outer peripheral portion of the substrate in the processing chamber.
Meanwhile, in the case mentioned above, to set the respective mixing ratios and flow rates of the gaseous mixtures supplied to the central portion and the outer peripheral portion of the substrate, all etching characteristics such as etching rate, etching selectivity and etching shape need to be considered, and then, setting of each gaseous mixture is carried out such that each etching characteristic of in-substrate becomes uniform. Since, however, a relationship between each etching characteristic and the mixing ratio or the flow rate of each gaseous mixture supplied to the central portion or the outer peripheral portion of the substrate was not clearly defined, it was difficult to properly perform the setting of each gaseous mixture. Further, it takes much time to find the proper setting of each gaseous mixture and fix it.

Gas setting method, gas setting apparatus, etching apparatus and substrate processing system


A common-mode voltage controller for adjusting common-mode voltages between a first buffer and a second buffer at a subsequent stage or a preceding stage of the first buffer in a signal transmission circuit, comprising: a first reference voltage generation unit for generating a common-mode voltage corresponding to the first buffer; a second reference voltage generation unit for generating a common-mode voltage corresponding to the second buffer at the subsequent stage or the preceding stage; and a control signal generation unit for generating a control signal for controlling a common-mode voltage of the first buffer according to a difference voltage between an output of the first reference voltage generation unit and an output of the second reference voltage generation unit, and giving the control signal to the first buffer and first reference voltage generation unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for adjusting a common-mode voltage in a signal transmission system.
2. Description of the Related Art
The performance of components constituting information processing apparatuses that include a computer has been greatly improved. Along with performance improvements in static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), processors, switch-use large scale integration (LSI) and such, improvements in the signal transmission speed between these components, and between elements, have become vital for improving the performance of the entirety of a system. For instance, the speed gap between a processor and memory, such as SRAM and DRAM, is becoming larger, so that the speed gap has become an obstacle to the improvement in performance of computers in recent years. Also associated with the enlargement of a chip, not only the aforementioned signal transmission but also the signal transmission speed between elements and between circuit blocks within the chip has become a large factor limiting the performance of the chip.
In the transmission of a signal of high-frequency data, an important cause of degradation of a signal waveform is fluctuations in a common-mode voltage. The common-mode voltage is generally caused by a line voltage being separated into a common-mode component and a differential mode component when a parallel transmission line is placed in parallel with a ground surface close thereto and excited. When, for example, transmitting a signal between circuits with different common-mode voltages, an output common-mode voltage of an output buffer at a circuit of a preceding stage is preferably close to a common-mode voltage of an input buffer at a circuit of a subsequent stage; otherwise, if those common voltages are significantly different from each other, the timing accuracy of a signal, expressed by skew and jitter, is degraded, making it difficult to maintain the quality of a propagation signal.
The conventional example of a method for adjusting the common-mode voltage in such a signal transmission circuit is described as follows by referring to FIGS. 14 through 17. FIG. 14 is a diagram describing a conventional example. Referring to FIG. 14, the assumption here is that a common-mode voltage is adjusted between a buffer 101a and a buffer 101b at a subsequent stage among a plurality of buffers 101 included in a signal transmission circuit 100.
In the first conventional example shown in FIG. 14, an output common-mode voltage of buffer 101a is detected, by a common-mode voltage detection circuit 102, from a transmission path within the signal transmission circuit 100, in which, for example, a differential signal is transmitted. If a semiconductor element constituting the signal transmission circuit 100 is, for example, a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) element, an approximately intermediate value between the "H" and "L" of a voltage level is detected as a common-mode voltage. The detected voltage is input into an error amplifier 104 and compared with a reference voltage generated by a reference voltage generation circuit 103. The reference voltage is a voltage deemed to be preferable to buffer 101b at the subsequent stage; a control signal corresponding to a difference between the two voltages is fed back to buffer 101a by the error amplifier 104; and a feedback operation is performed so that the voltage detected by the common-mode voltage detection circuit 102 matches the voltage generated by the reference voltage generation circuit 103.
The first conventional example, however, is faced with the problem of being incapable of adjusting the common-mode voltage adequately because, firstly, only the output common-mode voltage of buffer 101a is monitored. Secondly, it is faced with the problem of bringing about the degradation of a signal transmission band resulting from the existence of the common-mode voltage detection circuit 102 affecting the signal transmission in the signal transmission circuit. Thirdly, the common-mode voltage detection circuit 102 often employs an RC filter constituted by, for example, a resistor and a capacitance, thus making it difficult to secure stability in a third-order system feedback loop constituted by three circuits, i.e., the aforementioned RC filter, error amplifier 104 and buffer 101a.
FIG. 15 is a diagram describing a second conventional example. The second conventional example is configured to connect an input and output of a buffer 101b of a transmission path of a differential signal by a low-impedance element 105 such as a resistor, thereby forcibly setting the operation point of buffer 101b at a voltage deemed to be most preferable to buffer 101b, that is, the operation point producing the largest gain. The second conventional example, however, is faced with the problem of an input impedance of buffer 101b decreasing, resulting in deforming an output waveform of buffer 101a.
FIGS. 16 and 17 are diagrams describing the third and fourth conventional examples of common-mode voltage adjustment methods. These conventional examples are configured to cut a direct current (DC) component by inserting capacitances 106 in transmission paths of a differential signal between buffer 101a and buffer 101b, thereby setting a common-mode voltage on buffer 101b side.
In the third conventional example shown in FIG. 16, the reference voltage generation circuit 103 gives a reference voltage so as to forcibly set the operation point of buffer 101b to the operation point producing the highest gain. Impedances 107 are inserted to prevent influence on the transmission path.
The fourth conventional example shown in FIG. 17 is configured to connect impedances 105 between the input and output of buffer 101b as in the second conventional example of FIG. 15, thereby forcibly setting the output common-mode voltage of buffer 101b at an operation point producing the highest gain. The third and fourth conventional examples are configured to insert capacitances 106 in the transmission path, causing a low-frequency component of the signal to be unable to pass through if the frequency range of the input signal is wide, which sometimes generates a problem.


Cold pressurized pure inert gas (i.e., argon, nitrogen) is delivered to an air bag with the addition of mechanical energy to aid in filling the bag by an inflator comprising a high strength container or bottle having a cylindrical section that is filled with inert gas. A piston is located at one end of the cylindrical section with a high energy pyrotechnic behind it. Both sides of the piston are at the same pressure during storage. An initiator is located in the high energy pyrotechnic. A burst disk is located at the opposite end of the cylindrical section. When the initiator is fired, the piston is driven down the length of the cylindrical section. When the pressure in the container exceeds the burst disk strength, the inert gas expands into the air bag or apparatus needing to be filled.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inflator for an inflatable air bag, and more particularly, to an inflator that is operative to fill such an air bag with a pure inert cold gas.
2. Description of the Related Art
An inflatable air bag is a safety device for protecting automotive vehicle occupants in a collision. When the vehicle strikes or is struck by a harm producing object, a sensor detects the change in motion and fires a detonator. This releases gas under high pressure from an inflator into a folded inflatable air bag. The air bag expands and provides a protective cushion that restrains the driver or passenger against various impact conditions.
Many types of inflators have been disclosed in the art for inflating an air bag for use in an inflatable restraint system. One involves the utilization of a quantity of stored compressed inert gas which is selectively released at the stored temperature to inflate the air bag. Another derives a gas source from a combustible gas generating material which, upon ignition, generates a quantity of hot gas sufficient to inflate the air bag. In a third type, the air bag inflating gas results from a combination of stored compressed inert gas and a gas generating material. The last mentioned type, commonly referred to as an augmented gas or hybrid inflator, delivers hot gas to the air bag.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,756,621 granted to Donald J. Lewis, et al. on Sep. 4, 1973, the use of a stored quantity of compressed argon, an inert gas, is advantageous. Compressed air and compressed nitrogen have specific problems related to their use. Air is not inert and when compressed to relatively high pressure becomes a source of significant hazard. Nitrogen is relatively inert when compressed but contributes to the production of nitrogen oxide especially when intermixed with hot gases generated from combustion.
The inflator may comprise a quantity of high pressure inert gas in a storage cylinder or bottle. An advantage accrues, however, where a stored compressed gas augmented by a generated gas is utilized. This advantage involves the addition of energy to the stored compressed gas to aid in filling of the air bag. Current technology with hybrid inflators to obtain this advantage is to heat the stored high pressure gas with some type of pyrotechnic. Such hybrid inflators, however, are subject to a disadvantage, even when argon is used as the stored compressed gas, because the gas delivered to inflate the air bag is hot and is intermixed with a gas produced by combustion of the pyrotechnic. All systems to date fill air bags with some type of gases, particulates or smoke that can be irritating or noxious.
Thus, there is a need and a demand for improvement in inflators to the end of overcoming the foregoing disadvantages. The present invention was devised to fill the gap that has existed in the art in these respects.


A protocol and apparatus for crossbar switches where the cycle time is too short to allow the updating of the input/output buffer controls by the arbitration logic in one cycle. The crossbar switch has separate data paths and commands paths. Two types of commands are sent over the crossbar switches. The first type is an address (A) only command which consist of a single packet needing one clock cycle. The second type of command is an Address with Data command (AD), consisting of two through nine packets, and requiring a maximum of nine clock cycles. A command becomes a request through two different paths through the crossbar switch. The first path is via an input bypass path which allows an input command buffer to be bypassed and a request written directly to a multiplexer. The second path is through the input command buffer which is written but not selected until processing is completed for the previous command. The crossbar protocol allows a request to be accepted by writing information into the output buffers before the accept is available.

Bus arbitration protocols and methods for arbitrating bus access are well known in the art. Typically, the arbitration or protocol is designed to reduce the arbitration overhead when one of two subsystems continuously use a system bus. The arbitration protocol is also used to guarantee fairness thus insuring equal access to the system bus.
One example of an arbitration system decides who is sending and who is listening by way of a symmetrical protocol. Typically, three clock cycles are required in the symmetrical protocol where one cycle is used for sending a request, a second cycle is used for the arbitration, and a third cycle is used for the response with the proper selection.
Another example of an arbitration protocol uses a master-slave relationship where one system is the master and the other is the slave, such that the slave always makes requests for the bus while the master arbitrates whether to grant bus access to the slave. Like the symmetrical protocol, the master slave system requires at least three cycles to perform arbitration and grant bus access to any subsystem.
Multi-processor systems have shown that high bandwidth can be achieved using a cross-bar switch. Very large scale integration (VLSI) in semiconductor devices has led to the increased use of the cross-bar switch in semiconductor devices with requirements of low latency and high speed. One technique used multiple stages requiring several switches be set between input and output. Multiple stages increase latency and control complexity. Moreover, a particular problem with semiconductor devices communications, is the worst case delay resulting from two ports on a crossbar switch that are physically separated. In such an instance, communications must be carried out over long wire lengths on the semiconductor device in the range, of 2 to 10 millimeters. The communications frequently consist of an input buffer generating a request, and an output buffer generating an accept with the request and the accept traversing the long wire lengths.
It is desirable to have a crossbar switch protocol for reducing the number of cycles required for updating input/output data buffers by arbitration logic in a crossbar switch to one cycle.

Method and apparatus for reducing propagation latency in a high speed crossbar switch

International Business Machines Corporation


A time limited signal conduction switch 13 powered by an internal energy source 16 with a given life span. A lithium inorganic cell 16 is used as the internal energy source and is coupled to a specially designed switch 13 which allows signal conduction for a predetermined period of time. The life span of the switch 13 will be limited by the current drain on the battery 16.

It is well known that the pay-per-view market in the cable television industry is limited to cable systems with highly advanced technology (addressable circuitry). Pay-per-view service occurs when a particular event is presented by a cable system and the customers of the system pay a premium to view the event. Currently, this requires the cable systems to have computerized decoders in place at each customer's home. These decoders are extremely expensive. Moreover, various hardware and software must be located at the cable system head end in order to operate the decoders.
It would be advantageous to have an inexpensive device to offer customers to enable them to receive a temporary service such as a special movie, boxing match and the like for which the customer could pay for the one presentation.
The present invention overcomes the need for computerized decoders in place at each customer's home and the various hardware and software that must be at the cable system's head end to run the decoders. In addition, it provides an inexpensive device which can be coupled between the cable service and the TV monitor in the customer's home that will allow the cable output to be coupled to the TV monitor for a predetermined period of time and then the circuit opened.
In one embodiment of the invention, a switch selectively couples an input signal to a load only for a predetermined period of time established solely by the switch. This is accomplished with a time limited signal conduction circuit for selectively providing a signal path from an input to a load. The conduction circuit includes an electronically operated switch inserted between the input and the load for opening the signal path to prevent the signal from being transmitted to the load. The novel switch is DC operated from a self-contained power supply that has a predetermined power rating such that the time period of the preselected current drain from the battery can be predetermined. The battery is electrically isolated from the external inputs and outputs to the switch but it provides a bias to RF current controlled resistors, when the switch is activated, to allow an input signal to pass to the output of the switch during the time the battery maintains its charge.
In another embodiment of the invention, the device can be purchased by a user as a ticket to enable a TV monitor to receive and view a CATV program transmitted as a scrambled RFTV signal. The ticket has a housing having an input terminal for removable coupling to the RFTV cable and an output terminal for removable coupling to the TV monitor. A time limited switch and a descrambler unit are contained in the housing and are coupled between the input and the output terminals for enabling a scrambled CATV signal to be unscrambled and coupled to the TV monitor only for a time period predetermined by the time limited switch. An insulator or nonelectric conducting slab of any well-known type is inserted in the battery circuit and operable by the user to unalterably activate the time limited switch such that the scrambled RFTV signal is passed by the switch to the descrambler only for the predetermined period of time of the life of the battery, thus enabling a viewer to view a selected program that lasts for any known predetermined period of time such as a movie which may last for 2 or 21/2 hours.
Thus it is an object of the present invention to provide a time limited signal conduction circuit including an electronically operated switch inserted between a signal input and a load for opening the signal path to prevent the signal from being transmitted to the load and also having means coupled to the switch for selectively causing the switch to close the signal path only for a predetermined period of time, thereby allowing the signal to be transmitted to the load only during the predetermined time period.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a time limited signal conduction circuit in which current controlled devices such as diodes or RF current controlled resistors are selectively biased by a self-contained power source at the option of the user to cause the diodes or RF current controlled resistors to conduct only during the time the battery has power.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a disposable, self-contained electronic switch and descrambler system for use in a CATV system which will selectively provide a signal path that enables a purchaser of the switch to view only a selected scrambled video program.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a ticket for purchase by a user to enable a TV monitor to receive and view a CATV program transmitted as a scrambled RFTV signal and wherein the ticket is discarded after the program being viewed is completed.


The present invention provides for a robust one-piece hinge body which is suitable to withstand strain of rough handling. The novel one-piece hinge body includes a first profile portion which is configured to at least partially enclose a first profile. The hinge body also includes a second profile portion which is configured to at least partially enclose a second profile which is parallel to the first profile. The hinge body further has an outer portion which connects the first and second profile portions and which is located on the outside of the hinge joint of the pivoted profiles. The body also includes an inner portion which opposes the outer portion and connects the first and second profile portions while being located on the inside of the hinge joint of the pivoted profiles. According to the invention the inner portion consists of joinable terminal ends of the first and second profile portions, wherein a mating surface is formed between said joined terminal ends. Accordingly, the outer portion is solid for withstanding retraction upon closing movement of the hinge.

The present disclosure relates to hinges. It is common to use a roll container having two fixed side wall sections in collecting items in a warehouse, whereas a four-sided roll container with doors is used to transport items from the ware house onwards. Most four-sided roll containers are assembled by adding two doors to a two-sided container. Sometimes, however, there is a need to be able to transform a two-sided roll container to a four-sided roll container by adding retro-fit doors to it. In either case, the add-on doors are typically pivoted to the upright profile of the side wall section of the roll container by means of a hinge which is arranged around and between adjacent profiles.
FIG. 7 illustrates a known one piece hinge body which a portion for enclosing a first profile and a second profile portion for enclosing a second profile parallel to the first profile. The portions for enclosing the profiles are connected by an outer portion on the outside and an inner portion on the inside of the hinge to be formed. The hinge body further comprises an extension with a hole from which the body is closed by a screw or similar joining means. However, said closing extension of the hinge body increases the outer dimensions of the hinge and therefore of the roll container. This problem could be solved with a multi-piece hinge body, as disclosed in EP 1353030 A2, but such hinge bodies are known to be prone to fail in everyday use when attempting to close the door of a roll container which has been loaded to the brimful. Most common failures are due to damages caused by closing the door of a full roll container, whereby outwardly protruding content of the container induces strain to the hinge during closing movement of the door.
It is therefore beneficial to provide a robust one-piece hinge body which does not increase the outer dimensions of hinge body.

One-piece hinge body and hinge assembly for pivoting elements


A method is set forth for playing a game wherein an initial holding of five playing cards is provided for the player, the player assembling the initial holding into one or more sub-hands of one card each. Play is completed by completing each sub-hand to final hands of five cards each. For each completed sub-hand which corresponds to a winning combination, payoffs are provided according to a pay table. For losing sub-hand combinations, the wager is lost. Wagers are allocated on a pro-rata basis to each sub-hand based upon the number of cards in the arranged sub-hands. Payoffs are based upon the allocated amounts of the wager for each sub-hand.

Table and video poker games are well known. With reference to the electronic video poker games, in a typical game a player makes a selected wager and initiates the play of the game. The processor of the video poker game is programmed to select from a suitable memory structure containing data representing 52 cards of a deck, data representative of a 5 card opening holding. These 5 cards are displayed face up for the player to see. The player can discard some or all of t he cards whereupon the processor from the data structure replaces the discarded cards to define a final holding or hand. If the hand corresponds to a pre-determined schedule or table of poker holdings, e.g. a pair of Jacks or better, four-of-a-kind, flush, the player is awarded a payoff.
There are video poker variations such as deuces wild, where the deuces of the deck of cards are wild, Joker's wild where an additional Joker is included in the deck and which is wild as well as Joker/deuces wild games.
A drawback of these type of games is that large jackpots cannot be offered. Usually the highest jackpot is paid for a royal flush which is, for a machine which accepts 5 coins or tokens as a maximum wager, 4000 tokens or coins based upon the maximum play. The use of progressive machines linked together which assemble a progressive jackpot until a royal flush is obtained, can provide higher payoffs. However, because of the probabilities for obtaining an outcome such as a royal flush, jackpots cannot be offered of tens of thousands or millions times the amounts of the wager. It is well known that offering large jackpots entices players to play the game.
To overcome the inability to offer large prizes in video poker it is known to vary the play thereof for example as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,441 issued Jul. 2, 1996 to Dabrowski. According to this patent, two distinct opening holdings or hands are selected from data representing different decks. The opening holdings are displayed. If one or more of the cards of the opening holdings match each other in suit and/or position an award is provided. Thereafter the player selects which of the opening holdings to play and plays the selected hand according to the technique described above. Because the odds of cards dealt from two distinct decks will be of the same suit and occupy the same position in separate hands are quite low, significant jackpots can be offered for matching hands.
In the aforementioned games, the player's success with the hand is often based upon the opening holding and the player's luck in obtaining suitable replacement cards. Since they can only play one hand at a time, a poor initial holding usually means that the player will lose all of their wager. This can be frustrating to a player who perceives that he/she is continually receiving poor initial holdings and, as a result, losing their wagers. There is therefore a need for a game which offers a player greater opportunities to win at least a portion of their initial wager back and which can offer significant jackpots.


A bearing includes two hollow cylindrical prop rings coaxially surrounding a central axis. A bellows element formed from a thermoplastic elastomer material elastically couples the prop rings in the radial direction. The bellows element has a radially extending profile that includes at least one fold protruding in the axial direction. The bellows element also has an axial length that does not overlap the axial length of said prop rings. At least one bumper is provided axially outside the axial length of the fold. The bumper has a profile that radially extends, during normal operational use, from at least one of the prop rings in the direction of the other prop ring. The bumper and the fold partially overlap.

The invention relates to a bearing that includes two hollow cylindrical prop rings that coaxially surround an imaginary axis and which are elastically coupled in the radial direction by a bellows element formed from an elastomer material. The bellows element has a profile that includes at least one fold that protrudes in the axial direction with an axial length that does not overlap the axial length of any of the prop rings. At least one bumper is provided axially beyond the axial length of the fold.
A bearing such as that described above is disclosed in the German Utility Model Patent 81 00 855. In this patent, an annular element of flexibly compliant material is permanently arranged directly between the surface area of an inner ring and the inner surface of an outer ring.
It should be noted that in this known bearing the ring-shaped element of flexible material is unevenly stressed, particularly when it is subjected to large loads, by compressive and shearing strains in the radial direction in the area of its folds that protrude in the axial direction. Moveover, the buffering effect of the bumper, which is shaped like a wedge and which is arranged in the flexibly compliant material of the ring-shaped element, is not very satisfactory. The wedge-shaped formation of the bumper causes the material to be stressed unevenly. Also, considerable deflecting movements in the radial direction cause the surfaces defining the recess to lie against one another. This considerably restricts the service lift, because cracks form in the circumferential direction due to shearing strains.
The present invention is directed to providing a bearing that has an increased service life while at the same time having an improved performance.

Bearing having resilient bellows and bumpers


A transmission method of a base station is provided. The base station generates a first discovery signal block including a first PSS (primary synchronization signal) and a first SSS (secondary synchronization signal). The base station generates a second discovery signal block including a second PSS and a second SSS. Also, the base station transmits the first discovery signal block and the second discovery signal block.

A wireless communication system supports a frame structure according to the technical specification. For example, a 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) LTE (Long Term Evolution) system supports frame structures of three types. The frame structures of three types include a type 1 frame structure applicable to FDD (frequency division duplex), a type 2 frame structure applicable to TDD (time division duplex), and a type 3 frame structure for a transmission of a unlicensed frequency band.
In a wireless communication system such as the LTE system, a TTI (transmission time interval) means a basic time unit with which an encoded data packet is transmitted through a physical layer signal.
A TTI of the LTE system is composed of one subframe. That is, a time domain length of a PRB (physical RB (resource block)) pair as a minimum unit of a resource allocation is 1 ms. To support the transmission of the 1 ms TTI unit, a physical signal and a channel are mainly defined by a subframe unit. For example, a CRS (cell-specific reference signal) may be permanently transmitted to every subframe, and a PDCCH (physical downlink control channel), a PDSCH (physical downlink shared channel), a PUCCH (physical uplink control channel), and a PUSCH (physical uplink shared channel) may be transmitted for each subframe. In contrast, a PSS (primary synchronization signal) and an SSS (secondary synchronization signal) exist for every fifth subframe, and a PBCH (physical broadcast channel) exists for every tenth subframe.
Meanwhile, in the wireless communication system, a technique for transmitting/receiving the signal for a heterogeneous frame structure based on a plurality of numerologies is required.

Method and apparatus for transmitting a discovery signal, and method and apparatus for receiving a discovery signal

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


In an apparatus in which a vacuum-arc discharge is generated between a metal cathode and anode plate and an evaporated substance from the cathode is supplied through openings on the anode plate, conventionally, a cleaning work to remove metal films deposited on the edges of the openings has to be done periodically, which limits continuous operation. The apparatus relating to the invention is provided with a rotary anode plate 14 on which a plurality of openings 17 are formed on a circumference concentric with the rotary axis of the anode plate. As the anode plate 14 rotates, the openings 17 are designed to come into a position to face the cathode. This construction can continue a longer operation with an extremely low deterioration of the performance without a maintenance work requiring a relief of the vacuum.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a metal ion plasma generator that produces a metal ion plasma by vaporizing a metal cathode by means of a vacuum-arc discharge.
2. Description of the Background Art
An apparatus shown in FIG. 8 is known which produces the metal ion plasma by the vacuum-arc discharge, in which the apparatus is composed of a metal cathode 52 of a bar-form and an anode plate 53 of a plate-form in a vacuum chamber 51 (refer to a disclosure in JP-A-63-276858). The cathode 52 has an axis perpendicular to the anode plate 53 and is supported by a cathode holder 54, The anode plate 53 has an opening 55 which is coaxial with and faces with a space to the cathode 52.
The front end part projected from the cathode holder 54 is sheathed by an insulator ring 56 made of an insulating material. And, the insulating ring 56 is further sheathed by a trigger ring 57 made of a conductive material, and a trigger electrode 58 is guided inside the vacuum chamber 51 so as to touch the outer surface of the trigger ring 57.
In the foregoing construction, applying a high pulse voltage between the trigger ring 57 and the cathode 52 through the trigger electrode 58 will generate a trigger discharge. And then, applying a specific voltage between the anode plate 53 and the cathode 52 will generate a vacuum-arc discharge between the anode plate 53 and the cathode 52, whereby the foregoing trigger discharge is served as a starter. A point called arc spot where energy is locally concentrated emerges at the front end part of the cathode 52 through this vacuum-arc discharge. This part vaporizes and ionizes to produce a metal ion plasma. This metal ion plasma is guided through the opening 55 of the anode 53 to a processing room (not illustrated) connecting with the foregoing vacuum chamber 51.
When the foregoing apparatus is used for forming a thin film, the foregoing metal ion plasma is supplied on a substrate disposed in the processing room. And, when the foregoing apparatus is used for a metal ion source, the foregoing metal ion plasma is supplied to an ion pullout electrode provided inside the processing room.
As shown in FIG. 9(a), a part of the metal ion plasma Mv flowing through the opening 55 of the anode plate 53 deposits at the edge of the opening 55, growing a metal film Mf, presenting the so-called "built-up" phenomenon as shown in FIG. 9(b). This deposition reduces the diameter of the opening 55 and the passage ratio of the metal ion, and consequently it deteriorates the characteristics of the arc source.
Further as shown in FIG. 9(c), when the forgoing metal film Mf grows thick enough to electrically short the anode plate 53 and the cathode 52, the vacuum-arc discharge stops and the operation cannot be continued. And, the short-circuit between the anode plate 53 and the cathode 52 will give a latent damage to electric components on the power supply line. Therefore conventionally, after a certain hour of continuous operation, before the short-circuit between the anode plate 53 and the cathode 52 is produced, the whole apparatus is periodically shut down to restore air pressure in the vacuum chamber 51. And, a cleaning work is done to mechanically remove a film deposited on the anode plate 53. The continuous operation hour is generally set on the basis of experiment results. The reason is that the deposition rate of the metal film Mf is different depending on the material of the metal cathode.
However, the foregoing conventional apparatus needs a frequent cleaning work to remove deposited films after restoring air pressure in the vacuum chamber 51, which reduces a continuous operation time; consequently, a sufficient productivity cannot be achieved when, for example, a thick film coating or an ion-implantation requiring a high implantation density is done. And, a maintenance work becomes complicated which takes out the anode plate 53 from the vacuum chamber 51 and removes a metal film on the periphery of the opening 55 using, for example, a grinder.

Metal ion plasma generator having rotatable anode plate


A system generates and verifies signatures on hardcopy documents. A signor key is associated with a signor of a hardcopy document. A document signature is generated using the signor key to encode data selected from document data required to be on the hardcopy document. The document signature is then associated with the hardcopy document. A data indicator is also associated with the hardcopy document and indicates which of the document data is used to generate the document signature. A verification section receives the hardcopy document having the document data thereon, and also receives the document signature and the associated data indicator. The verification section performs a comparison to determine whether the document signature was generated using the signor key and the document data indicated by the data indicator. An output section outputs an indication, based on the results of the comparison, of whether the document signature was generated using the signor key and the document data indicated by the data indicator.

The invention relates to the field of signature verification on documents, and more specifically to the creation and use of digital signatures on hardcopy documents.
The processing of hardcopy documents, such as paper checks (cheques), having human handwritten signatures is a time-consuming and labor-intensive task. The accurate processing of large numbers of documents for signature verification is often required but difficult to achieve. Banks are under severe time pressure to process a massive volume of checks everyday. Moreover, the variations of a person's signature, the changes of the signature of a person due to aging and the differences of styles of signatures among people from different cultures and different parts of the world such as Chinese style, English style, etc., add complexity to the task.
Even the modern-day computerized systems with artificial intelligence/pattern recognition capabilities encounter major challenges in making a decision when verifying a human signature since many different parameters and factors are used.
A number of proposals have been set forth to substitute electronic checks for paper checks in order to escape from the time consuming and costly processing of paper checks. However, paper checks have been used for a long time, and will likely remain a preferred payment instrument for many years to come.
The inadequacy of prior-art methods and systems for handling paper checks also results in a large number of fraudulent checks being honored, causing a huge financial loss everyday.
In order to solve the problem of fraudulent checks and other documents, it is not enough to verify that a signature on a particular document is authentic. Using modern technology is becoming easier and easier to exactly copy a signature from one document to another. It is therefore helpful to produce a signature that is unique to the signor as well as to document upon which it is written. In this way, it can easily be determined when a signature that has been written for one document has been forged onto another document, even if the signature appears exactly the same as on the original document.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,081,610 to Dwork et al. (Dwork) teaches a system and method for verifying signatures on documents. Dwork generates a digital signature on a hardcopy document using a private key along with data pertaining to the document itself consisting of a scanned bitmap of the document. However, Dwork is inefficient because the signature contains an entire bitmap of the hardcopy document and thus requires a large amount of data. Moreover, Dwork is limited since all data required to be written on the check must be written before generating the digital signature. There is no provision for allowing some extra information to be added to the check between generating the digital signature and verifying the document.
Also, Dwork's signature device includes or must be attached to a bulky scanner, reducing the device's portability. The large amount of data contained in the signature requires a great deal of processing and storage within the signature device. The large amount of data contained in the signature additionally wastes bandwidth when the signature is transmitted for verification.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for the generation and verification of signatures which identify the signor as well as the document with which they are associated. It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a system and method for quickly and accurately generating and verifying signatures associated with hardcopy documents using data selected from data required to be on the document. A further object of the present invention is to allow the addition of data on the document between the steps for generating the signature and the steps for verifying the signature associated with the document.

System and method for the generation and verification of signatures associated with hardcopy documents