Apparatuses and methods for the treatment of glaucoma are provided. The instrument uses either cauterization, a laser to ablate, sonic or ultrasonic energy to emulsify, or mechanical cutting of a portion of the trabecular meshwork. The instrument may also be provided with irrigation, aspiration, and a footplate. The footplate is used to enter Schlemm's canal, serves as a guide, and also protects Schlemm's canal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a new glaucoma surgical instrument and method, and, in particular, removal of the trabecular meshwork by mechanical cautery, vaporization or other tissue destruction means optionally coupled to an instrument with infusion, aspiration, and a footplate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Aqueous is a clear, colorless fluid that fills the anterior and posterior chambers of the eye. The aqueous is formed by the ciliary body in the eye and supplies nutrients to the lens and cornea. In addition, the aqueous provides a continuous stream into which surrounding tissues can discharge the waste products of metabolism.
The aqueous produced in the ciliary process circulates from the posterior chamber to the anterior chamber of the eye through the pupil and is absorbed through the trabecular meshwork, a plurality of crisscrossing collagen cords covered by endothelium. Once through the trabecular meshwork, the aqueous passes through Schlemm's canal into collector channels that pass through the scleral and empty into the episcleral venous circulation. The rate of production in a normal eye is typically 2.1 μL/min. Intraocular pressure in the eye is maintained by the formation and drainage of the aqueous. All the tissues within the corneoscleral coat covering the eyeball are subject to this pressure, which is higher than pressure exerted on tissues at other locations in the body.
Glaucoma is a group of diseases characterized by progressive atrophy of the optic nerve head leading to visual field loss, and ultimately, blindness. Glaucoma is generally associated with elevated intraocular pressure, which is an important risk factor for visual field loss because it causes further damage to optic nerve fibers. Other causes of glaucoma may be that the nerve is particularly vulnerable to the pressure due to poor local circulation, tissue weakness or abnormality of structure. In a "normal" eye, intraocular pressure ranges from 10 to 21 mm mercury. In an eye with glaucoma, this pressure can rise to as much as 75 mm mercury.
There are several types of glaucoma, including open and closed angle glaucoma, which involve the abnormal increase in intraocular pressure, primarily by obstruction of the outflow of aqueous humor from the eye, or, less frequently, by over production of aqueous humor within the eye. The most prevalent type is primary open angle glaucoma in which the aqueous humor has free access to the irridocorneal angle, but aqueous humor drainage is impaired through obstruction of the trabecular meshwork. In contrast, in closed angle glaucoma, the irridocorneal angle is closed by the peripheral iris. The angle block can usually be corrected by surgery. Less prevalent types of glaucoma include secondary glaucomas related to inflammation, trauma, and hemorrhage.
Aqueous humor is similar in electrolyte composition to plasma, but has a lower protein content. The aqueous humor keeps the eyeball inflated, supplies the nutritional needs of the vascular lens and cornea and washes away metabolites and toxic substances within the eye. The bulk of aqueous humor formation is the product of active cellular secretion by nonpigmented epithelial cells of the ciliary process from the active transport of solute, probably sodium, followed by the osmotic flow of water from the plasma. The nonpigmented epithelial cells of the ciliary process are connected at their apical cell membranes by tight junctions. These cells participate in forming the blood/aqueous barrier through which blood-borne large molecules, including proteins, do not pass.
Intraocular pressure (IOP) is a function of the difference between the rate at which aqueous humor enters and leaves the eye. Aqueous humor enters the posterior chamber by three means: 1) active secretion by nonpigmented epithelial cells of the ciliary process; 2) ultrafiltration of blood plasma; and 3) diffusion. Newly formed aqueous humor flows from the posterior chamber around the lens and through the pupil into the anterior chamber; aqueous humor leaves the eye by 1) passive bulk flow at the irridocorneal angle by means of the uveloscleral outflow, or by 2) active transportation through the trabecular meshwork, specifically the juxta canalicar portion. Any change in 1), 2), or 3) will disturb aqueous humor dynamics and likely alter intraocular pressure.
Primary open angle glaucoma is caused by a blockage in the trabecular meshwork. This leads to an increase in intraocular pressure. The major obstruction is at the juxta-canalicular portion which is situated adjacent to Schlemm's canal. In infants a goniotomy or a trabeculotomy can be performed. In goniotomy or trabeculotomy a small needle or probe is introduced into Schlemm's canal and the trabecular meshwork is mechanically disrupted into the anterior chamber. Approximately 90°-120° of trabecular meshwork can be disrupted. The anatomical difference between congenital glaucoma and adult glaucoma is that in congenital glaucoma the ciliary body muscle fibers insert into the trabecular meshwork and once disrupted the trabecular meshwork is pulled posteriorly allowing fluid to enter Schlemm's canal and to be removed through the normal collector channels that are present in the wall of Schlemm's canal. In adults the trabecular meshwork tears but remains intact and reattaches to the posterior scleral wall of Schlemm's canal blocking the collector channels.
Most treatments for glaucoma focus on reducing intraocular pressure. Treatment has involved administration of beta-blockers such as timolol to decrease aqueous humor production, adranergic agonists to lower intraocular pressure or diuretics such as acetazolamide to reduce aqueous production, administration of miotic eyedrops such as pilocarpine to facilitate the outflow of aqueous humor, or prostaglandin analogs to increase uveoscleral outflow. Acute forms of glaucoma may require peripheral iridectomy surgery to relieve pressure where drug therapy is ineffective and the patient's vision is at immediate risk. Other forms of treatment have included physical or thermal destruction ("cyclodestruction") of the ciliary body of the eye, commonly by surgery or application of a laser beam, cryogenic fluid or high frequency ultrasound.
In guarded filtration surgery (trabeculectomy), a fistula created through the limbal sclera is protected by an overlying partial thickness sutured scleral flap. The scleral flap provides additional resistance to excessive loss of aqueous humor from the eyeball, thereby reducing the risk of early postoperative hypotony.
In accordance with one recently introduced procedure, a full thickness filtering fistula may be created by a holmium laser probe, with minimal surgically induced trauma. After retrobulbar anesthesia, a conjunctival incision (approximately 1 mm) is made about 12-15 mm posterior to the intended sclerostomy site, and a laser probe is advanced through the sub-conjunctival space to the limbus. Then, multiple laser pulses are applied until a full thickness fistula is created. This technique has sometimes resulted in early hypotony on account of a difficulty in controlling the sclerostomy size. In addition, early and late iris prolapse into the sclerostomy has resulted in abrupt closure of the fistula and eventual surgical failure. Further, despite its relative simplicity, the disadvantage of this procedure, as well as other types of glaucoma filtration surgery, is the propensity of the fistula to be sealed by scarring.
Various attempts have been made to overcome the problems of filtration surgery, for example, by using ophthalmic implant instruments such as the Baerveldt Glaucoma Implant. Typical ophthalmic implants utilize drainage tubes so as to maintain the integrity of the openings formed in the eyeball for the relief of the IOP.
Typical ophthalmic implants suffer from several disadvantages. For example, the implants may utilize a valve mechanism for regulating the flow of aqueous humor from the eyeball; defects in and/or failure of such valve mechanisms could lead to excessive loss of aqueous humor from the eyeball and possible hypotony. The implants also tend to clog over time, either from the inside by tissue, such as the iris, being sucked into the inlet, or from the outside by the proliferation of cells, for example by scarring. Additionally, the typical implant insertion operation is complicated, costly and takes a long time and is reserved for complicated glaucoma problems.
There are many problems, however, in effectively treating glaucoma with long term medicinal or surgical therapies. One problem is the difficulty in devising means to generate pharmacologically effective intraocular concentrations and to prevent extraocular side effects elicited by a systemic administration. Many drugs are administered topically or locally. The amount of a drug that gets into the eye is, however, only a small percentage of the topically applied dose because the tissues of the eye are protected from such substances by numerous mechanisms, including tear turnover, blinking, conjunctival absorption into systemic circulation, and a highly selective corneal barrier.
Pharmacological treatment is prohibitively expensive to a large majority of glaucoma patients. In addition, many people afflicted with the disease live in remote or undeveloped areas where the drugs are not readily accessible. The drugs used in the treatment often have undesirable side effects and many of the long-term effects resulting from prolonged use are not yet known. Twenty-five percent of patients do not use their medications correctly.
Glaucoma is a progressively worsening disease, so that a filtration operation for control of intraocular pressure may become necessary. Present surgical techniques to lower intraocular pressure, when medication fails to decrease fluid flow into the eye or to increase fluid outflow, include procedures that permit fluid to drain from within the eye to extraocular sites by creating a fluid passageway between the anterior chamber of the eye and the potential supra-scleral/sub-Tenon's space, or, alternatively, into or through the Canal of Schlemm (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,172). The most common operations for glaucoma are glaucoma filtering operations, particularly trabeculectomy. These operations involve creation of a fistula between the subconjunctival space and the anterior chamber. This fistula can be made by creating a hole at the limbus by either cutting out a portion of the limbal tissues with either a scalpel blade or by burning with a cautery through the subconjunctival space into the anterior chamber. Fluid then filters through the fistula and is absorbed by episcleral and conjunctival. In order for the surgery to be effective, the fistula must remain substantially unobstructed. These drainage or filtering procedures, however, often fail by virtue of closure of the passageway resulting from the healing of the very wound created for gaining access to the surgical site. Failures most frequently result from scarring at the site of the incisions in the conjunctiva and the Tenon's capsule. The surgery fails immediately in at least 15% of patients, and long term in a much higher percentage. Presently, this consequence of trabeculectomy, closure of the passageway, is treated with 5-fluorouracil and Mitomycin_C, which apparently prevent closure by inhibiting cellular proliferation. These drugs, however, are highly toxic and have undesirable side effects, including scleral melting, hypotony, leaks, and late infections.
Other surgical procedures have been developed in an effort to treat victims of glaucoma. An iridectomy, removal of a portion of the iris, is often used in angle-closure glaucoma wherein there is an occlusion of the trabecular meshwork by iris contact. Removal of a piece of the iris then gives the aqueous free passage from the posterior to the anterior chambers in the eye. The tissue of the eye can grow back to the pre-operative condition, thereby necessitating the need for further treatment.
In view of the limited effectiveness of treatment options, there is, therefore, a need to develop more effective treatments for glaucoma.

Minimally invasive glaucoma surgical instrument and method

The Regents of the University of California


A laminated polyester film provided on at least one side with layer (X) made from acrylic urethane copolymer resin (A), isocyanate compound (B), epoxy compound (C), compound (d-1) having a polythiophene structure and compound (d-2) having an anion structure, wherein the layer (X) has a continuous phase structure.

There are some conventional methods known for decorating a resin product as well as giving it a hard coating property such as abrasion resistance and high surface hardness. One of the methods is such that a decorated sheet for an injection molding, which is laminated with a print layer, decoration layer made of a vapor-deposited layer or the like, and hard coating layer made of UV curable resin in sequence, is attached to a base film at the time of forming shapes of the resin product. Another method is such that a base film, which is provided with a decorated layer on one side and a hard coating layer on the other side and is further provided with an adhesive layer on the decorated layer, is attached to the product at the time of forming shapes of the product. The base film may be a film made of resin. From the viewpoint of characteristics and prices, a biaxially-oriented polyester film is typically employed. To improve the adhesiveness between the base film and the print layer or the hard coating layer, the base film is provided with an adhesive layer generally.
However, conventional laminated polyester films provided with the adhesive layer might exhibit an insufficient adhesiveness between the laminated polyester film and the print layer or hard coating layer. Further, if exposed to a high temperature and high humidity for a long time, the adhesiveness between the adhesive layer and print layer or the adhesiveness between the adhesive layer and hard coating layer might decrease. Because laminated polyester films are used for housings of cell-phones and electric appliances, a hygrothermal adhesiveness, which means an adhesiveness determined after exposed to a high temperature and high humidity, as well as adhesiveness under a normal condition is required to be excellent.
Furthermore, in the case of generating defects with attached dust and deteriorating a handling performance, caused by static electricity generated in the manufacturing process of laminated polyester films, the adhesive layer is required to be given an antistatic property.
Furthermore, even the transparency of the laminated polyester film as well as the base film and adhesive layer constituting the laminated polyester film is important to reflect a color and texture of the decorated layer to the resin product.
To solve such problems, WO 2007/032295 discloses a method where the adhesive layer is constituted by acrylic urethane copolymer resin, polyester resin, and cross-linking agent. JP 2006-206802 A discloses a method where the adhesive layer is constituted by a water-soluble resin containing acrylic urethane copolymer resin, and cross-linking agent. However, the technologies disclosed in WO '295 and JP '802 cannot satisfy both of the antistatic property and adhesiveness sufficiently. JP 2009-083456 A discloses a method where the adhesive layer is constituted by conductive polymer resin, acrylic resin, cross-linking agent and fluorine resin. However, the technology disclosed in JP '456 relates to adhesiveness to adhesive tapes, and the technology might exhibit insufficient adhesiveness with respect to the hard coating layer or print layer made of a print ink.
Accordingly, it could be helpful to provide laminated polyester film, forming member, formed body and manufacturing method thereof wherein the laminated polyester film is excellent in transparency, adhesiveness to a print layer or a hard coating layer and antistatic property, and the excellent adhesiveness and antistatic property can be maintained even after forming shapes.

Laminated polyester film, forming member, formed body and manufacturing method thereof


A semiconductor light-emitting diode exhibiting an oscillation wavelength of 450 nm or less and comprising a substrate, a lower clad layer formed on or above the substrate and mainly composed of a III-V Group compound semiconductor, an active layer formed directly on the lower clad layer and mainly composed of a III-V Group compound semiconductor, and an upper p-type clad layer formed directly on the active layer and mainly composed of a III-V Group compound semiconductor. This semiconductor light-emitting diode is characterized in that the upper p-type clad layer contains Mg, Si and at least one impurities for compensating residual donors.

This invention relates to a semiconductor laser and to a semiconductor light-emitting element. In particular, this invention relates to a semiconductor laser provided with a p-type semiconductor film and a p-type layer and also to a semiconductor light-emitting element provided with a p-type semiconductor film and a p-type layer.
In recent years, a III-V Group compound semiconductor, such as GaAs, InP and GaInAlP, can be grown, by a metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), with better controllability and has been extensively utilized as a constituent component for a semiconductor laser and a light-emitting diode.
In the MOCVD method, Zn is generally used as a p-type dopant for the III-V Group compound semiconductor and, being used as a p-type dopant for the GaAs, exhibits a substantially good doping characteristic. If, however, Zn is used as a dopant for a p-type containing III-V Group compound semiconductor, such as InP and GaInAlP, the quantity of Zn that can be incorporated into the compound semiconductor is limited and it has been difficult to dope Zn in a desired amount. Further, the activation degree of Zn is low and the diffusion of it in a layer is fast, resulting in poor controllability.
The elements Be and Mg for example may be considered as a p-type dopant in place of Zn. The element Be exhibits a good characteristic as a p-type dopant in a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) method.
However, the organic Be compound is strongly toxic and it is very difficult to use it as the dopant in the MOCVD method. On the other hand, a straight chain type organometallic compound of Mg, such as dimethylmagnesium and diethylmagnesium, is not toxic in nature, but very strong in its self-association and never occurs in single form. For this reason, the Mg-containing straight chain type organometallic compound is not suitable as a doping agent.
Recently, biscyclopentadienylmagnesium (Cp.sub.2 Mg) relatively high in vapor pressure has been used as a Mg-doping material. However, the material Cp.sub.2 Mg is deposited as a residual one in a crystal growing apparatus and exhibits a memory effect so that the doping control is very difficult. In spite of the fact that a three-orders-of-magnitude-greater concentration variation is required in a 0.1 .mu.m film thickness for a double heterostructure (DH) laser device, such a sharp concentration variation cannot be ensured at the present time. In order to enhance the vapor pressure, the methyl group-attached cyclopentane ring material "bismethylcyclopentadienyl magnesium" [(CH.sub.3)Cp.sub.2 Mg] is known as one example of a dopant and, even in this case, no sharp Mg-concentration variation is obtained at a doped-to-undoped interface.
In order to reduce a resistivity of a predetermined semiconductor layer, more amount of Mg has to be doped as a p-type dopant. In order to obtain a resistance value of, for example, about 0.5 .OMEGA..cm to 10 .OMEGA..cm, the Mg has to be doped at a concentration amount of about 5.times.10.sup.18 /cm.sup.3 to 5.times.10.sup.19 / cm.sup.3. In the case where more amount of Mg is so doped, the laser performance is lowered and, for the case of a semiconductor laser having an active layer as narrow as below 5 nm in thickness in particular, a greater adverse influence is exerted over an operating current.
In the case where the Mg doping amount is increased so as to lower the resistance of a p-type cladding layer, a semiconductor laser principally composed of a Mg-doped III-V Group semiconductor is lower in the characteristics, such as an efficiency of an emitting layer and, in the worst case, the operation is not possible.
In either case, if the Mg amount is increased in a semiconductor layer, the semiconductor laser becomes poor in its characteristics, thus failing to obtain adequate reliability.
By the way, a nitride compound semiconductor such as GaN has been attracting attention nowadays as a material for a blue light-emitting diode or for a semiconductor laser. For example, a blue light-emitting diode and a semiconductor laser have been realized by making use of the nitride compound semiconductor. This element is featured as being formed of a so-called double hetero-structure wherein a light-emitting layer is sandwiched by a pair of materials, one of which having a p-type conductivity and the other having an n-type conductivity. In this case, the energy band gaps of the p-type and n-type materials are larger than that of the light-emitting layer. It is required however in the formation of a p-type nitride compound semiconductor layer to undergo a step of electron ray irradiation or of thermal annealing after the p-type nitride compound semiconductor layer has been grown by way of an MOCVD as described for instance in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication H/2-257679 or Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication H/5-183189. However, these steps may bring about a cause for generating a crystal defect such as a nitrogen void which is peculiar to a nitride compound semiconductor. Due to these reasons, even though the formation of a p-type nitride compound semiconductor layer has been realized, it is still impossible to increase the concentration of p-type carrier, and hence to lower the resistance of element as well as to lower the contact resistance of electrodes.
As explained above, the conventional process of manufacturing a p-type compound semiconductor layer is involved with a phenomenon which interferes with the aim of the p-type compound semiconductor. Further, it has been difficult according to the conventional method to form a p-type nitride compound semiconductor layer having a high carrier concentration.

Semiconductor light-emitting diode having a p-type semiconductor layer formed on a light-emitting layer


The process for irrigation of a man-made landscaped area, such as a golf course, playing field or agricultural area, involves monitoring a sample of reclaimed water, a sample of soil containing reclaimed water, or both from a supply of reclaimed water, and treating it when necessary to avoid harmful effects to plantlife, and irrigating with the treated water via a subterranean distribution system. The sample is tested with monitors for water quality characteristics, including: total organic carbon compounds; pH; residual chlorine; chlorides; and, sodium. These results are inputted to a computerized data handling system for data collection, storage and analysis for comparison to predetermined acceptable ranges to show deviation from acceptable ranges. Either alarms are set off or treatment occurs or both, when deviations are observed. Treatment may include a dechlorination system, an oxidation system, reverse osmosis system. Other monitors may be for hardness; turbidity; alkalinity; conductivity and nitrates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to irrigation of man-made landscaped and/or agricultural areas, such as parklands, playing fields, farmland for produce or flowers, and especially for golf courses. It is particularly useful for these areas when using reclaimed water in conjunction with underground irrigation and aeration systems. More specifically, the invention is a process for monitoring and treating reclaimed water, to use reclaimed water efficiently and without harmful effects from undesirable constituents for the aforesaid irrigation purposes. It includes monitoring numerous water quality characteristics and when predetermined acceptable parameter ranges see deviations, signaling alarms and/or treating the undesirable condition(s) with oxidation, with or without dechlorination. It includes an oxidation system for continuous or continual operation.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
The following patents are representative of the state of the art with respect to various teachings relating to water treatment:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,421,953 describes a system for modifying the surface temperature and/or relative humidity of golf greens or other grass playing fields by applying temperature controlled air and/or a water mist through pop-up nozzles. The nozzles are controlled by a central control panel which activates the nozzles based on input from temperature sensitive probes in the greens.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,214,607 describes a new method of treating water to remove perchlorate contaminant is disclosed. Water is fed through a filter bed containing perchlorate-reducing microorganisms. The microorganisms reduce the perchlorate, thereby decontaminating the water. An oxidizable substrate serves as an electron donor to the microorganisms. The invention results in safe to undetectable levels of perchlorate in the treated water.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,200,466 describes a reactor system for decontamination of water by photolytic oxidation utilizing near blackbody radiation, the system comprising (1) a reaction chamber defining an internal space with an inlet and an outlet; and (2) a broadband radiator for generating radiant energy with wavelengths between about 150 nm and about 3 um, the broadband radiator disposed within the reaction chamber, such that a sufficient dosage of broadband radiation irradiates the contaminants and/or the oxidant within the internal space of the reaction chamber thereby causing photolytic oxidation of the contaminants by direct action of the radiation on the contaminants to break chemical bonds by sustaining a free radical chain reaction of oxidizing components, thus breaking down the contaminants by way of atomic abstraction of the components of the contaminants. In preferred embodiments, at least a portion of the radiant energy is generated in a pulsed node, such as between about 1 and 500 pulses per second. In preferred embodiments, the broadband radiator generates radiant energy at a rate of between about 1 kW and about 10 MN., and the resultant dosage rate of broadband radiation is between 1 joule/cm2. In preferred embodiments, the radiant energy is produced by at least one gas filled flashlamp having a gas plasma temperature of between about 9,500 K and about 20,000 K.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,136,186 describes a method and apparatus for mineralizing organic contaminants in water or air provides photochemical oxidation in a two-phase boundary system formed in the pores of a TiO2 membrane in a photocatalytic reactor. In the three-phase system, gaseous (liquid) oxidant, liquid (gaseous) contaminant, and solid semiconductor photocatalyst meet and engage in an efficient oxidation reaction, The porous membrane has pores which have a region wherein the meniscus of the liquid varies from the molecular diameter if water to the of a capillary tube resulting in a diffusing layer that is several orders of magnitude smaller than the closest known reactors. The photocatalytic reactor operates effectively at temperature and low pressures. A packed-bed photocatalyst coated particles is also provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,132,138 describes a gray water recycling invention that utilizes filtered gray water for maintaining constant moisture levels in building foundations and for other irrigation uses. It allows for the mixture of pesticides with a gray water stream injected under a building in order to treat for insects. Additionally, pesticides, fungicides or fertilizers can be injected into a gray water stream prior to its application in landscape irrigating. This invention has application in single residence and fill development real estate settings.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,117,335 describes a reactor system for decontamination of water by photolytic oxidation utilizing near blackbody radiation, the system comprising (1) a reaction chamber defining an internal space with an inlet and an outlet; and (2) a broadband radiator for generating radiant energy with wavelengths between 150 nm and about 3 μm, the broadband radiator disposed within the reaction chamber, such that a sufficient dosage of broadband radiation irradiates the contaminants and/or the oxidant within the internal space of the reaction chamber thereby causing photolytic oxidation of the contaminants by way of atomic abstraction of the components of the contaminants. In preferred embodiments, at least a portion of the radiant energy is generated in a pulsed mood, such as between 1 and about 500 pulses per second. In preferred embodiments, the broadband radiator generates radiant energy at a rate of between about 1 kW and about 10 MW., and the resultant dosage rate of broadband radiation is between 1 joule/cm2 and about 5000 joules/cm2. In preferred embodiments, the radiant energy is produced by at least one gas filled flashlamp having a gas plasma temperature of between 9,500° K. and about 20,000° K.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,800 relates to a method for treating groundwater in situ in rock or soil. An elongate permeable upgradient zone and an elongate permeable downgradient zone, each in hydraulic communication with a permeable subsurface treatment zone and having a major axis parallel to a non-zero component of the general flow direction, are provided in the subsurface by any of a number of construction methods. The upgradient zone, downgradient zone, and treatment zone are situated within the subsurface medium and have permeabilities substantially greater than the adjacent subsurface medium's permeability. Groundwater is allowed to move from the subsurface medium adjacent to the upgradient zone into the upgradient zone, where the groundwater refracts and moves to a treatment zone by an in situ treatment process, such as a process employing air sparging, sorption or reaction with zero-valent iron, the groundwater moves into, through and out of the downgradient zone into the subsurface medium adjacent to the downgradient zone. The method does not require pumping. A method for directing groundwater around a particular location to prevent contamination of the groundwater by a contaminant located at the particular location, to prevent migration of a contaminant located at a particular location, to reduce the flow velocity of groundwater in the particular location, or to increase the residence time in an in situ treatment center located downgradient from the particular location is also disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,958,241 describes a method and a system for the treatment of organic hazardous wastes from plant waste and associated wastewater treatment processes, whereby the waste is either introduced directly, or continuously separated from wastewater, and routed to a bioreactor, and whereby no organic solids are generated for further offsite disposal. The system disclosed includes a bioreactor, containing selected bacteria, untreated sludges, and recirculated biomass, and a liquid/solid separator allowing water to be utilized elsewhere in the system and returning solids to the bioreactor. The biodegradation process, initiated continuously, converts hazardous organic constituents in waste stream and wastewater sludges from plant operations to inert materials, for extensive periods of operation, without the need for solids removal, external solids treatment or disposal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,444 describes a control system for an athletic field that coordinates drainage by gravity or vacuum-enhanced and irrigation by monitoring water level with respect to a subsurface membrane, wherein a flow network resides on the membrane and is covered by a fill layer, which in turn supports the field surface thereabove. The flow network includes couplings located at the intersections of some of the pipe rows and conduit rows. The water permeability of the conduit rows allows the flow network to be used for draining, irrigating or heating the field. The heating of the fill layer and the surface thereabove minimizes energy costs and eliminates installation and maintenance costs that would otherwise be necessitated by separate heating and draining systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,975 treats a variety of flowing wastewater effluents, provides pre-treatment clog-reducing wastewater sludge disintegration, and adds pretreatment nutrients to wastewater so as to enhance microbial growth therein for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of wastewater treatment. The constructed wetland includes a wastewater treatment system having a flow intake, a pre-treatment nutrient addition chamber, and a wastewater flow divider. The flow divider further has a compressed air aerator in the bottom thereof. The constructed wetland includes one or more treatment cells having a soil, fine stone, organic and/or synthetic material substrate cap covering a further substrate media accommodating the wastewater to be treated. The substrate cap is populated by natural plants having root systems extend from the substrate downward into the wastewater being treated, and the roots serve to physically and/or biologically mediate the removal of undesirable components from the wastewater. The constructed wetland includes a treated water discharge conduit for discharging the flowing water into a desired after treatment water utilization modality, such as to discharge to the ground or to a body of water.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,863,433 relates to the design and operation of paired subsurface flow constructed wetlands in which significant improvements in wastewater treatment are possible. These improvements are brought about by coupling paired subsurface flow wetlands and using reciprocation, whereby adjacent cells are sequentially and recurrently drained and filled using either gravity, mechanical pumps, U-tube air-lifts and/or a combination thereof. This fill and drain technique turns the entire wetland area into a biological reactor, complete with anoxic, anaerobic environments. The frequency, depth and duration of the fill and drain cycle can be adjusted to control redox conditions for specific biologically mediated reactions including, but not limited to, nitrification, denitrification, sulfate reduction, and methanogenesis. Emissions of noxious gases such as hydrogen sulfide and methane can be minimized. Furthermore, by allowing cells to fill to above the level of the substrate by approximately 2 to 4 inches on the fill cycle, it is possible to enhance algae photosynthesis, increase pH, and facilitate photo-oxidative reactions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,792,336 describes a two stages electrocatalytic method for oxidative-purification of wastewater from soluble substances, such as toxic chemical admixtures difficult of oxidation, including dye-stuffs, detergents, phenols, cyanides and the like, which stages inactivate the soluble substances present in the wastewater in a synergistic fashion and, therefore, are highly efficient, the method comprising the steps of (a) in a first stage, electrochemically treating the wastewater in the presence of chlorine ions, such that chlorine-containing oxidizing agents are formed and at least partially oxidize the soluble substances in the wastewater; and (b) in a second stage, catalytically treating the first stage treated wastewater in presence of a non-chlorine oxidizing agent and an added catalyst, such that remains of the soluble substances are further oxidized, and such that the chlorine-containing oxidizing agents formed during the first stage are catalytically reduced; wherein, the first stage and the second stage act synergistically to purify the wastewater from the soluble substances.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,980 describes a system for controlling the moisture content of a planted surface. The system includes a plurality of drain conduits located beneath the planted surface for collecting liquid from the planted surface. The system also includes a sealed collection tank coupled to the plurality of drain conduits. The collection tank is located beneath the planted surface to collect liquid passing through the plurality of drain conduits. The system also includes a vacuum pump coupled to the collection tank for removing air from the collection tank to provide a suction force in the collection tank and in the plurality of drain conduits to draw liquid from the planted surface through the plurality of drain conduits and into the collection bank. An elevated air tank is coupled between the vacuum pump and the collection tank. The elevated air tank is located at a remote location spaced apart from the collection tank. The vacuum pumps remove air from the air tank which causes the suction force on the air tank, in the collecting tank, and in the plurality of drain conduits. Soil moisture sensors automatically operate programs for favorable turf growth and playing conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,158 describes a pipe arrangement for a playfield which includes a surface layer and a filter layer beneath the surface layer. In the filter layer, there is situated an arrangement of pipes, divided into several sections. In each section, there are numerous perforated multi-purpose pipes to dry the field and to circulate warm air into it. These multi-purpose pipes are connected at intervals by their ends to a distribution pipe and these in their turn at intervals by their ends to a main pipe, which is finally connected to blowing machinery by means of a feed pipe. The invention is primarily intended to be used in connection with grassy playfields, but it can also be applied to the construction of other types of fields.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,192 describes an automatically controlled irrigation water pH amendment system and apparatus associated with golf courses utilizing automatic irrigation system to irrigate the various species of turf grasses used on fairways, tees, greens and other areas; being adapted to receive an operator pre-selected program of desired irrigation water pH value; to monitor the delivered pH value of the irrigation water and automatically blend into the irrigation water in the flow circuit between the discharge of the irrigation pump station pumps and the pH monitoring point the proper amount of chemical additive to amend-raise or lower-the pH of the delivered irrigation water. The desideratum is a uniformly blended mixture of liquid acid or base chemical with irrigation water to maintain a solution of the water pH value desired by the operator to promote proper agronomic practice in the maintenance of the turf grasses. This objective has been found to be obtainable by causing the two liquids to be blended in the proper ratios through the use of an acid tank, pH sensing probe, sulfuric acid injector pumps, acid manifold, booster pump, flow velocity measuring device, and a solid-state electrical programmable controller; connected to the upstream and downstream ports of an ordinary pressure sustaining valve or differential pressure orifice device as used in the discharge line of a golf course pumping station.
Notwithstanding the prior art, the present invention is neither taught nor rendered obvious thereby.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A seal contact surface of a seal lip member and a protruding lip member of an end face seal are separated from each other and frictional heat generated at the seal lip member due to sliding motion is prevented from being transferred to the end face seal for softening the material, thus the seal capability is improved. A protruding lip member (3) provides a seal by making an angle to a seal surface (11B) of a seal ring (11) in radially outward a direction and a lip portion (15A) of a seal lip member (15) is disposed inside an inner diameter surface (11A) of the seal ring (11) for effecting a seal against a sealing object fluid.

Related art of the present invention is found as a shaft seal device 100 as shown in FIG. 5.
A case 101 of the shaft seal device 100 shown in FIG. 5 is closely inserted and fixed in an inner circumference of a housing 110 through an O-ring 106. On an inner circumference of the casing 101 there are arranged an elastomer lip member 102 and a reinforcement ring 103 which supports the elastomer lip member 102 from its rear side.
In addition, on a rear side of the reinforcement ring 103 which is a side opposite to a sealing object fluid, a resin lip member 104 and a back-up ring 105 which is additionally provided on the rear of the resin lip member 104 and supports the rear are disposed. Each outer diameter portion of the elastomer lip member 102, the reinforcement ring 103, the resin lip member 104 and the back-up ring 105 are securely held onto an inner circumference of the casing 101.
In the shaft seal device 100 of this kind, the elastomer lip member 102 has pumping threads 102b which cause a pumping action in a direction which pushes back the sealing object fluid according to the rotation of a rotary shaft 120 and are formed on an inner circumferential surface of a seal lip portion 102a of an inner diameter side extending to the inner space of machine S1 side. On the other hand, the resin lip member 104 has pumping threads 104b which pushes back the fluid toward the elastomer lip member 102 side when the shaft 120 rotates and are formed on an inner circumferential surface of its seal lip portion 104a.
The pumping threads 104b in the seal lip portion 104a of the resin lip member 104 are formed at only around a front end of a sliding surface with the rotary shaft 120. This is because there is a need for preventing the fluid from leaking toward an atmosphere S2 side after passing the pumping threads 104b when the rotary shaft 120 stops.
In the shaft seal device 100 of this kind, under a high pressure condition in which the fluid pressure of the inner space of machine S1 is at least 1 MPa, the resin lip member 104 receives an influence of the pressure, thus its section is deformed into an L-shape.
A stress of the front end portion of the seal lip portion 104a in the deformation process is relatively small by the presence of the pumping threads 104b, and a stress generated in the vicinity of a bent portion 104c in which the pumping threads 104b are not formed is relatively large.
Therefore a maximum portion of a surface pressure acted on the outer circumferential surface of the rotary shaft 120 is locally distributed toward the bent portion 104c side. Accordingly, the inner circumferential surface in the vicinity of the bent portion 104c is easily worn.
And the front end portion in which the pumping threads 104b are formed causes a floating deformation on the outer circumferential surface of the rotary shaft 120. As a result, the pumping action of the pumping threads 104b for blocking a fluid leakage is damaged and a sealing capability during the rotary operation is lowered.
Further, the elastomer lip member 102 and the resin lip member 104 are arranged in close proximity of each other. If a sliding surface of the resin lip member 104 is pressed against the rotary shaft 120 and a sliding friction causes a generation of substantial heat, the heat generated is transferred to the elastomer lip member 102.
A similar heat generation is resulted if a high pressure due to the sealing fluid presses the elastomer lip member 102 against the rotary shaft 120. This heat then causes softening of the seal lip portion 102a of the elastomer lip member 102 and the seal lip portion 104a of the resin lip member 104. In particular, a progress of wear in the seal lip portion 102a causes a decrease in the seal capability.
Wear of the seal lip portion 102a of the elastomer lip member 102 and the seal lip portion 104a of the resin lip member 104 also causes wear particles to stick onto the sliding surfaces of the individual seal lip portions 102a, 104a, thus the seal capability is damaged.
In case of a conventional rotary shaft 120, the seal lip portion 102a of the elastomer lip member 102 and the seal lip portion 104a of the resin lip member 104 tend to be quickly worn during the rotation of the rotary shaft 120 wherein the seal lip portions 102a, 104a are firmly pressed against the rotary shaft 120. On the other hand, the rotary shaft 120 which is a kind of machine component embedded inside a machine assembly unit is not only expensive but also hard to be replaced. That is, when the seal surfaces of the seal lip portion 102a of the elastomer lip member 102 and the seal lip portion 104a of the resin lip member 104 are subjected to a sliding movement relative to the worn rotary shaft 120, wear of the both seal surfaces is further accelerated and, as a result, the seal capability of the shaft seal device is decreased.
The present invention is introduced to alleviate the above mentioned problems. A primary technical goal which this invention tries to achieve is to improve a seal capability of various rotary machines even under a circumstance wherein a rotary shaft repeats stop and go motions or a fluid pressure randomly changes between high pressure and low pressure.
Another technical goal is to prevent the seal capability from being damaged as the result of softening of an end face portion of a rubber-made lip member which is caused by a transfer of a frictional heat from a resin-made seal lip member in operation.
Yet another goal is to achieve low energy consumption by means of reducing sliding resistance of the seal lip member and the end face lip member and to simplify the assembly and maintenance process of the seal device.


This invention discloses a novel method for the conversion of carboxylic acids to carbothioic acids and application of the method to the preparation of androstane carbothiolates, such as fluticasone propionate, which avoids column chromatography.

Fluticasone propionate belongs to a class of androstane 17β-carbothioic esters which are well-known in the art as antiinflammatories. Because of the therapeutic usefulness of these compounds, there is sustained interest in improving the synthesis of androstane 17β-carbothioic esters in general, and fluticasone propionate in particular.
Prior art such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,188,385, 4,198,403, 4,335,121, and 4,578,221; British patents 2,088,877 and 2,137,206; and published Israeli patent application IL 109,656-A1 teach the synthesis of fluticasone propionate from commercial grade flumethasone. These syntheses involve complicating factors such as chromatography of intermediates, low-yielding steps, and high pressure addition of chlorofluoromethane.
Commercial grade flumethasone ((6α, 11β, 16α)-6,9-difluoro-11,17,21-trihydroxy-16-methylpregna-1,4-diene-3,20-dione) typically contains from about 0.5% to 2% of (6α,11β,16α)-6-chloro-9-fluoro-11,17,21-trihydroxy-16-methylpregna-1,4-diene-3,20-dione as an impurity (hereinafter referred to as the Cl impurity), the removal of which is achieved by column chromatography, a method not amenable to large scale manufacture.
Conversion of the 17β-carboxylic acid of 6α,9α-difluoro-11 β-hydroxy-16α-methyl-3-oxo-17α-(propionyloxy)androsta-1,4-diene-17β-carboxylic acid to a carbothioic acid is also problematic. General methods for the conversion of carboxylic acids to carbothioic acids include reaction of activated carboxylic acids and a sulfide source (Advanced Organic Chemistry. Reactions, Mechanisms, and Structure, 4th ed., John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1992; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,578,221) and application of thiocarbamate hydrolysis chemistry to thiocarbamylanhydrides (Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn., 1977, 50(11), 3071; J. Ind. Chem. Soc., 1977, 52, 150; J. Org. Chem., 1966, 31, 3980; Org. Syn., 1988, Collective Volume VI, 824; J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1947, 69, 2682; and Synlett., 1996, 11, 1054). Use of these methods in the synthesis of fluticasone propionate, however, provide only modest yields due to incompatibility of the reaction conditions with other groups on the molecule (J. Med. Chem., 1984, 37(22) 3171 and J. Org. Chem. 1986, 51(12) 2315).
Direct conversion of the carbothioic acid group of androstane 17β-carbothioic acids to a carbothiolate esters is achieved by reaction of the carbothioic acids, chlorofluoromethane, and base at high pressures, another method which is not amenable to large scale manufacture.
Thus, there is a continuing need in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry for an efficient method for the conversion of carboxylic acids to carbothioic acid esters which is applicable to the large scale conversion of androstane 17β-carboxylic acids to androstane 17β-carbothioic esters in general and fluticasone propionate, in particular.

Method for the preparation of fluticasone and related 17β-carbothioic esters using a novel carbothioic acid synthesis and novel purification methods


Different formulations of copolymers can be used to adjust or “tune” the energy levels (HOMO and LUMO) and the color of light emitted by an organic electronic device. The copolymer may principally include of electron-rich and electron-deficient monomeric units whose composition and number are chose to optimize the efficiency of the device. A relatively smaller amount of fluorophore monomeric units may also be used to adjust the emission wavelength. The copolymer can be used in displays and potentially other electronic devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to copolymers for which the energy levels (HOMO and LUMO) and color of emission can be adjusted or tuned by choosing a proper composition, and electronic devices in which the active layer includes such polymeric materials.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of organic light-emitting displays is increasing as a replacement to liquid crystal displays (LCD) and thin-film transistor (TFT) displays in many applications. Patents and articles address ways to maximize the quantum efficiency of the OLED as well as to change the color of the light emitted from organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs).
Balanced carrier injection from both the cathode and anode can increase the quantum efficiency of the LED device. Carrier injection can be sensitive to the height of the barriers in the interface between an electrode and the polymer in an organic LED. The energy levels of a conjugated polymer, which are the highest occupied molecular orbital ("HOMO") and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital ("LUMO"), may be tuned so that a substantially balanced and nearly maximum amount of the carriers can be injected from the electrodes.
In some references, the color emitted by the display can be tuned by changing the band gap (energy difference between HOMO and LUMO of the light emitting polymer). The change can be accomplished by using different side chains (e.g., change from alkyl to alkoxy) or by using a different monomeric unit. An example of the latter may include a polymer with a single repeating structure represented by (A-B)n, where "A" and "B" are monomeric units of the polymer, and n is the number of repeating units. As one example, the "A" unit may include one, two, or three thiophene rings in different polymer compositions. When "A" has one thiophene ring, the polymer may emit blue light. When "A" has two and three thiophene rings, the polymer may emit green light and yellow light, respectively. Unfortunately, thiophene tends to emit light at a lower intensity compared to other light-emitting polymers. Therefore, even if it gives the desired color, the intensity of light at that particular range of wavelengths may be too low for use in an OLED.
In still other attempts to affect the light emitted from an organic LED, a low molecular weight dye may be doped into a polymer host. From a practical standpoint, however, low molecular weight dyes tend to crystallize, causing phase separation which results in poor electronic devices.

Copolymers having tunable energy levels and color of emission


A core network node supporting Control Plane CIoT (Celluar Internet of Things) EPS (Evolved Packet System) Optimization includes a transmitter configured to transmit to a radio access network node an information indicating overload from data transfer via the Control Plane CIoT EPS Optimization. A radio access network node includes a receiver configured to receive, from a core network node, an information indicating overload from data transfer via Control Plane CIoT (Celluar Internet of Things) EPS (Evolved Packet System) Optimization.

<Abbreviations and Terminology>
The following abbreviations and terminology (whenever differently stated) are used in the current specification:
TABLE 13GPP3rd Generation Partnership ProjectAPNAccess Point NameASAccess StratumCIoTCellular Internet of ThingsEPSEvolved Packet SystemESMEPS Session managementE-UTRANEvolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network(also used as EUTRAN)GPRSGeneral Packet Radio ServiceGTPGPRS Tunneling ProtocolGUTIGlobally Unique Temporary IDHPLMNHome Public Land Mobile NetworkHSSHome Subscriber ServerMMEMobility Management EntityMNOMobile Network OperatorNASNon Access StratumNB, eNBNode B, evolved Node B (but can also be any 'RANnode' implementing 2G, 3G, 4G or future 5G technology)NIDDNon-IP Data DeliveryPGWPacket Data Network GatewayPDNPacket Data NetworksPDUProtocol Data UnitRAURouting Area UpdateRNCRadio Network ControllerRRCRadio Resource ControlPLMNPublic Land Mobile NetworkS1-UReference point between E-UTRAN and Serving GW.S1APS1 Application ProtocolSCEFService Capability Exposure FunctionSGSNServing GPRS Support NodeS-GWServing GatewaySMSShort Message ServiceTAUTracking Area UpdateUEUser EquipmentUTRANUMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network
The following terminologies are used within this specification:
Cellular IoT: Cellular network supporting low complexity and low throughput devices for a network of Things. Cellular IoT supports both IP and Non-IP traffic.
Narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT): a 3GPP Radio Access Technology that forms part of Cellular IoT. It allows access to network services via E-UTRA with a channel bandwidth limited to 180 kHz (corresponding to one Physical Resource Block (PRB)). Unless otherwise indicated in a clause or sub-clause, Narrowband-IoT is a subset of E-UTRAN.
WB-E-UTRAN: Wide Band (WB)-E-UTRAN is the part of E-UTRAN that excludes NB-IoT.
Control Plane CIoT EPS Optimisation: support of infrequent small data transmission (for IP data, non-IP data and SMS) via optimised Control Plane signalling. Mandatory for UE and the network.
User Plane CIoT EPS Optimisation: support of infrequent small data transmission (for IP data and SMS) via optimised User Plane. Optional for both the UE and the network.
Under the 3GPP standards, a 'NodeB' (or an 'eNB' in LTE) is the base station via which mobile devices connect to a core network and communicate to other mobile devices or remote servers. In order to be able to do so, the mobile devices establish a so called radio resource control (RRC) connection with a serving base station. For simplicity, the present application will use the term base station to refer to any such base stations. Communication devices might be, for example, mobile communication devices such as mobile telephones, smartphones, user equipment, personal digital assistants, machine type communication (MTC) devices, laptop computers, web browsers, and the like. 3GPP standards also make it possible to connect non-mobile user equipment to the network, such as Wi-Fi routers, modems, which can be implemented as a part of a (generally) stationary apparatus.
Under the 3GPP standards, base stations are coupled to a core network (referred to as an enhanced packet core (EPC) network in LTE). In order to keep track of the mobile devices and to facilitate movement between the different base stations, the core network comprises a number of mobility management entities (MMEs) which are in communication with the base stations coupled to the core network. Communication between the mobile devices and their associated MME is carried out using non-access stratum (NAS) signalling (via the serving base station).
3GPP has been studying the architecture enhancements to support ultra-low complexity, power constrained, and low data-rate MTC devices referred to as 'Cellular Internet of Things' (CIoT) devices. The main focus of the work in 3GPP is to support highly efficient handling of infrequent small data transmissions (e.g. based on the traffic model in TR 45.820 Ver.13.1.0) with minimised overhead for system signalling without compromising e.g. security.
Effectively, the Internet of Things is a network of devices (or "things") equipped with appropriate electronics, software, sensors, network connectivity, and/or the like, which enables these devices to collect and exchange data with each other and with other communication devices. For simplicity, the present application refers to user equipment (UE) or mobile devices in the description and the figures (in the context of CIoT devices) but it will be appreciated that the technology described can be implemented on any mobile and "non-mobile" equipment that can connect to such a core network.
The following architectural enhancements for improved support for small data transfer have already been achieved within 3GPP Rel-13 NB-IoT work:                User Plane CIoT EPS Optimisation—based on optimised User Plane transport of data;        Control Plane CIoT EPS Optimisation—transports user data via MME by encapsulating user data in NAS PDUs, reducing the total number of control plane messages when handling a short data transaction.
When attaching or re-attaching (Attach, RAU/TAU) to a network, a NB-CIoT UE or a WB-CIoT UE includes in a Preferred Network Behaviour indication the Network Behaviour the UE can support and what it would prefer to use. The Preferred Network Behaviour includes this information:                whether Control Plane CIoT EPS Optimisation is supported;        whether User Plane CIoT EPS Optimisation is supported;        whether Control Plane or User Plane CIoT EPS Optimisation is preferred;        whether S1-U data transfer is supported;        whether SMS transfer without Combined Attach is requested;        whether Attach without PDN Connectivity is supported;        whether header compression for Control Plane CIoT EPS Optimisation is supported.
The MME indicates the network behaviour it accepts in the Supported Network Behaviour information. The MME may indicate one or more of the following:                whether Control Plane CIoT EPS Optimisation is supported;        whether User Plane CIoT EPS Optimisation is supported;        whether S1-U data transfer is supported;        whether SMS transfer without Combined Attach is accepted;        whether Attach without PDN Connectivity is supported;        whether header compression for Control Plane CIoT EPS Optimisation is supported.
A UE that supports NB-IoT shall always indicate support for Control Plane CIoT EPS Optimisation (i.e Control Plane CIoT EPS Optimisation support is mandatory).
If a UE includes a Preferred Network Behaviour, this defines the Network Behaviour the UE is expecting to be available in the network.
When selecting an MME for a UE that is using the NB-IoT RAT, and/or for a UE that signals support for CIoT EPS Optimisations in RRC signalling, the eNodeB's MME selection algorithm shall select an MME taking into account the MME's support (or non-support) for the Release 13 NAS signalling protocol.
<Data Transfer in Control Plane CIoT EPS Optimization>
If the UE 3 and the MME 9 use the Control Plane CIoT EPS Optimisation, they can transfer data in NAS PDUs including the EPS Bearer Identity of the PDN connection they relate to (see, FIGS. 1 and 2). Both the IP and Non IP data types are supported. This is accomplished by using the NAS transport capabilities of RRC and S1-AP protocols and the data transport of GTP-u tunnels between MME 9 and S-GW 18S and between S-GW 18S and P-GW 18P, or if a Non-IP connection is provided by via the MME 9 with the SCEF, then data transfer occurs as indicated in TS23.682 Ver.13.5.0. To minimize potential conflicts between NAS signaling PDUs and NAS Data PDUs, the MME 9 should complete any security related procedures (e.g. Authentication, Security Mode Command, GUTI reallocation) before alerting the HSS, MSC or SGW of the UE's entry into ECM-CONNECTED state, and before commencing downlink transfer of NAS Data PDUs.
<Data Transfer in User Plane CIoT EPS Optimization>
The User Plane CIoT EPS Optimization functionality enables support for transfer of user plane data without the need for using the Service Request procedure to establish Access Stratum (AS) context in the serving eNodeB and UE. As a precondition the UE needs to perform an initial connection establishment that establishes the AS bearers and the AS security context in the network and UE and the RRC connection is suspended by means of a Connection Suspend Procedure, see FIG. 3 (TS23.401 Ver.13.6.1 subclause 5.3.4A).
By using the Connection Suspend procedure:                the UE 3 at transition into ECM-IDLE stores the AS information;        the eNodeB 5 stores the AS information, the S1AP association and the bearer context for that UE 3;        MME 9 stores the S1AP association and the bearer context for that UE 3 and enters ECM-IDLE;
In the context of this functionality, the UE 3 and the eNodeB 5 store the relevant AS information at transition into ECM-IDLE.
At any subsequent transaction trigger from the NAS layer when UE is in ECM-IDLE, the UE shall attempt the Connection Resume procedure, see FIG. 4 (TS 24.301 Ver.13.5.0 sub-clause 5.3.5A).
If the Connection Resume procedure fails, the UE 3 initiates the pending NAS procedure. To maintain support for User Plane EPS Optimization at UE mobility between cells configured on different eNodeBs, the AS Context should be transferred between the eNodeBs.
By using the Connection Resume procedure:                the UE 3 resumes the connection with the network using the AS information stored during the Connection Suspend procedure;        the, potentially new, eNodeB 5 notifies the MME 9 that the connection with the UE 3 has been securely resumed and the MME 9 enters ECM-CONNECTED.

Load control from control plane CIoT EPS optimization


An encoder includes an outer repetition encoder, an interleaver for permuting encoding from said outer repetition encoder; and an inner encoder for encoding information from the interleaver to provide a repeat zigzag-Hadamard code. In an exemplary embodiment, a common bit of a zigzag-Hadamard segment of encoding from said inner encoder is a repetition of a last parity bit of a previous zigzag-Hadamard segment of encoding from said inner encoder and said common bit is punctured.

The present invention relates generally to coding techniques for communications and, more particularly, to a low-complexity high-performance low-rate communications code.
Low-rate codes play a critical role for communication systems operating in the low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime (e.g., code-spread communication systems and power-limited sensor networks). The ultimate Shannon capacity of an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel in terms of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) per information bit is about −1.6 dB for codes with rates approaching zero. Hadamard codes and super-orthogonal convolutional codes are traditional low-rate channel coding schemes which offer low coding gain and hence their performance is far away from the Shannon limit. As shown by the block diagram 10B of FIG. 1B, Turbo Hadamard codes are parallel concatenated codes and the component codes are convolutional-Hadamard codes 11B1, 11B2 and 11BM. Normally, the number of the states of the convolutional-Hadamard codes is larger than 2
The repeat-accumulate (RA) codes have proved to achieve the Shannon limit in AWGN channels when the coding rate approaches zero. As shown by the block diagram 10A in FIG. 1A of an RA code encoder with two channel outputs 13A, 14A, the outer code is a repetition code 11A interconnected by an interleaver 15A to the inner code 12A which is a rate-one accumulator. For a low density parity check (LDPC) code, the inner code is a single parity-check code. Note that in the low-rate regime, they will suffer large performance loss from the simulation, although they can approach capacity from the DE analysis and optimization. For instance, for LDPC code of rate 0.05, the simulated SNR threshold is larger than 0 dB which is far away from the capacity and much worse than RZH code with the same rate.
The repeat-accumulate (RA) codes and low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes have capacity-approaching capability for various code rates. However, in the low-rate region, both codes suffer from performance loss and extremely slow convergence speed with iterative decoding. Low-rate turbo-Hadamard codes offer good performance with faster convergence speed than RA codes and LDPC codes with the help of Hadamard code words. However, for turbo-Hadamard codes to perform well a relatively large Hadamard order is normally required which increases the complexity of the decoder. Accordingly, there is a need for low-rate code with a similar performance as a turbo-Hadamard code and with lower complexity.

Low-complexity high-performance low-rate communications codes


Concentrated hard surface cleaning compositions containing pine oil and/or terpenes and nonionic and a anionic surfactants can be obtained as clear liquids which remain clear when diluted with water.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to hard surface cleaning compositions which contain pine oil.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hard surface cleaning compositions are a relatively specialized category of cleaning compositions. A hard surface cleaning composition is specifically designed or formulated such that it can be applied to a soiled hard surface of interest (e.g., glass, painted walls, woodwork, etc.) and removed therefrom (for example as by wiping with a dry or damp cloth) without a subsequent rinsing operation and without leaving a significant or unsightly residual film upon the surface after cleaning. In many instances, hard surface cleaners contain substances which will aid in cutting grease such as pine oil or terpenes. One of the problems associated with formulating hard surface cleaning compositions which contain pine oils and/or terpenes is the difficulty in solubilizing the pine oils and/or terpenes. It has been found that hard surface cleaners which contain terpenes such as d-limonene or pine oil must incorporate such substances as isopropyl alcohol or glycol ethers. However, these types of compounds also impart high VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) values to the compositions. Commercial products which exhibit high VOC values are coming under increasing scrutiny and restriction by federal and state regulatory statutes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,069 teaches a low irritant, mild detergent composition which comprises, as essential components: (a) an alkyl glycoside; (b) a surface active agent containing sulfate and/or sulfonate group; (c) an amine oxide; (d) an ethoxylated surface active agent at a specific ratio; (e) a terpene type hydrocarbon; and, (f) 3-isothiazolone or its derivative. A technical information bulletin published by Stepan Company, Northfield, Ill. teaches the use of d-limonene in concentrated, all purpose cleaning formulations. The formulations contain d-limonene and nonionic and/or anionic surfactants. There is no teaching of compositions containing alkyl polyglycosides as the nonionic surfactant. There is also no teaching of compositions which contain a combination of a terpene such as d-limonene and pine oil. Prior to the present invention, it had been observed that hard surface cleaners comprised only of pine oil and a nonionic and/or an anionic surfactant, without other components such as those found in the prior art, did not give clear, single phase product whether concentrated, or diluted with water. Prior to the present invention it was necessary to formulate hard surface cleaning compositions which contain pine oil and only nonionic and/or anionic surfactants by incorporating compounds which impart high VOC values to the compositions such as isopropyl alcohol and glycol ethers in order to solubilize the pine oil. Thus, a need exists for a hard surface cleaning composition containing pine oil or pine oil in combination with one or more terpenes which does not contain materials which are volatile organic compounds such as isopropyl alcohol and glycol ethers which impart high VOC values to the cleaning compositions.

Pine-oil containing hard surface cleaning composition


An infrastructure component includes a sensor, a transmitter, and a computer communicatively coupled to the sensor and to the transmitter. The computer is programmed to, in response to receiving data from the sensor indicating an object approaching a predesignated zone, determine an estimated time until the object reaches the predesignated zone; and then instruct the transmitter to broadcast a message to nearby vehicles, the message including an identifier of the predesignated zone and the estimated time.

Vehicles can be autonomous or semi-autonomous. In an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle, a vehicle computer is typically programmed to operate the vehicle independently of the intervention of a human driver, completely or to a lesser degree. The vehicle computer may be programmed to operate the propulsion, brake system, steering, and/or other vehicle systems based on data received from sensors mounted to the vehicle. In some environments, obstacles can obstruct the fields of view of one or more of the sensors, depriving the vehicle of information about objects possibly behind the obstacles.

Infrastructure component broadcast to vehicles


A storage system stores golden image of a server or any physical/virtual machine execution environment and associate the golden image and the storage port. The storage system also creates the copy of the golden image to the logical volume, and allocates the internal path between the storage port and the logical volume. Upon receiving an access request from the host computer via the storage port, the storage system transfers the access request between the storage port and the logical volume which stores the copy of golden image associated with the host computer.

The present invention relates generally to constructing, provisioning and managing server and storage in SAN environment.
Recently, complexity of constructing, provisioning and managing server and storage system is the primary concerns in business enterprises. For example, administrator has to install a server operating system to each server, set up network options, install and set up necessary applications, configure storage area network (SAN), and set up a storage system. Furthermore, the step of storage system set up requires at least configuring logical storage volumes, allocating an internal path to each volumes, setting up security options such as LUN masking, and formatting the volume with appropriate format type.
Server virtualization is increasingly applied in business enterprises due to its ability to consolidate physical servers and improve manageability and utilization ratio of server and storage resources. Server virtualization is a technology that is able to run multiple computing machines virtually on a single physical server. Each virtual machine is stored as a file that is a virtual disk image for each virtual machine. With the server virtualization technology, virtual machines (VMs) can be easily provisioned by distributing copies of master disk image data called "golden image" in which necessary programs or applications are already installed and set up.
However, this VM provisioning method is only concerned with VM image distribution, and cannot be applied for physical server and storage provisioning. Therefore, even with the server virtualization, administrators need to configure and provision physical server and storage system independently.
US2008/0114955 shows a computer system and a method for constructing an access environment to enable access by a host to a logical volume in a storage system, where the user only need to input a designation of logical volume-related condition and the logical volume is allocated to the communication port.
US2008/0082749 show a storage apparatus which uses iSCSI protocol, which makes it possible for each user to configure the necessary setting within the scope of their right without installing software particular to the storage apparatus in each computer, and, in this setting, allocatable capacity of LUs are calculated so that the identified LUs are allocated to the relevant host computers.
Although these technologies provide the solution for the problems of administrating server and storage system in SAN environment, administrators still face a complexity when they configure and manage both server and storage system in the way that they need to install each server and application, and configure storage system every time they introduce or reconfigure a server or application.

Storage system storing golden image of a server or a physical/virtual machine execution environment


A substantially automatic, robotic-like system to aid in preventing crime in high trafficked buildings and other public sites, using only low voltage power, is described. In various modes it can protect public buildings such as schools, stadiums, open air markets, banks, office buildings from entrance of persons carrying weapons or separately trying to pass weapons into a protected area, even in the event of general power loss. Here a well designed, compact solution is provided for weapons detection and the detainment of persons attempting to disrupt, destroy or harm citizens in public buildings such as schools, banks, etc. with a minimum of restriction of access by persons regularly using the facilities. In other variations, it can be used to prevent unauthorized removal of costly or dangerous items from protected buildings or areas. Here a substantially automatic method is similarly provided for detection and detention of persons attempting to illegally remove items either without paying or that are not for sale in a store setting.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to providing automatic protection for highly trafficked buildings such as schools, stores, banks, warehouses, storage areas or other buildings from entry of weapons or of persons possessing weapons, or from illegal removal of merchandise. In particular, it deals with a low voltage system of electronic and mechanical equipment to robotically stop entry/exit and detain persons attempting to commit a crime in a protected area/building.
2. Prior Art Statement
There are many security systems to protect persons and buildings from criminals in the art. Many are called anti-crime or anti-robbery security systems. Generally they detect weapons on potential terrorists or criminals and alert some security force as to the entry of such person or persons. Often alarms are set off to deter action, but these give the perpetrator an opportunity to escape or capture hostages to trade for safe passage out.
Newer designs, like the silent alarms in banks, attempt to detect and alert personnel away from the entry/detection site without alerting the perpetrator. In many cases to detain a perpetrator, guards or other personnel have to activate precautionary measures to stop the criminal from departing but often at their own or bystanders' risk. Such systems are especially not optimal nor desirable for protecting school buildings or other public buildings where a general unsophisticated public may gather.
An alternative approach using a computer controlled double door enclosure and metal detecting sensors is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,552,766 by Lee and Lee. Their anti-crime security system involves having the two doors enclose the area between the two doors. If the passageway and doors are small enough to restrict ingress and egress to one person at a time then problems with passing high traffic through the entry will be inherent to the system. Also the doors will both have to open out from the enclosure in order to permit the capture of a potential criminal within the enclosure. The latter also serves to restrict flow through the entry/exit. In a convenience store with its rather limited customer access, these problems can be tolerated. In a clothing store or a school or bank where often large numbers of people must pass through an entry or exit, these restrictions are not acceptable. If the restrictions are ameliorated than the security would be more easily compromised.
In another scheme when the area to be protected/secured is a known secure area, as in a military building, a nuclear power plant, a prison, or a weapon research center, there are systems which provide for selective access to secure regions from non-secure regions as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,441. Persons attempting to enter the secure area expect delay and some restriction on direct entry. For schools, banks and the like, i.e. places where it is not desirable nor completely feasible to stop and check every entrant all the time, even semi-automatic systems as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,441 are not a solution. They would create almost a many problems as they would solve. For example, no one wants schools and banks and the like to feel like prisons. And yet in these often tumultuous times, it would be good to have ways to restrict the ingress and egress of persons trying to disrupt or threaten public places such as schools, etc.
An anti-robbery an anti-hostage equipment provided with a one-way rotating door for banks and the like was described by Pretini is U.S. Pat. No. 4,063,519. This particular systems of this patent involve multiple rotating doors and isolation passageways between them wherein detectors can probe persons attempting to enter the final protected area. The system is elaborate and its practicality even for banks is questioned since this patent is over 23 years old and, even though it no longer restrains use of its teachings, there is little or no evidence that such systems have ever been in use commercially.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,165 (Calandritti et al.), it does teach of using a revolving door as a security system, with four zones and the ability to capture/detain a person who has tripped the weapon detectors. It also, however, teaches use of multiple electric motors to activate the doors, critically to close the sliding panel into the exit region when a weapon carrying intruder is detected, and to operate the detection system as well. This limits the operation and placement of the security system. It also contributes making the system costly initially and also in operation and use. In '165, the underlying structure is powered by multiple motors to which are used in conjunction with the detector in an elaborate system powered by a power grid as used in commercial electrical systems. It is the stopping of the motors driving the door panels which is crucial to detaining an intruder.
The present invention provides a low voltage powered, substantially automatic, detection and detention system to prevent crime in highly trafficked buildings or other sites, including where or when normal power is not readily or conveniently available.

System for preventing crime in high traffic areas and sites using low voltage power


A process for fabricating a multilayer printed circuit board, in which interlayer adhesion of the layers is greatly enhanced by curing under superatmospheric pressure. The method generally includes depositing a first resin layer (12) onto a substrate (10), which is then patterned so as to cross-link a preselected portion of the resin layer (12). A second resin layer (18) is then deposited over the first resin layer (12), and then patterned to cross-link a portion thereof. Openings in the first and second resins are developed by removing those portions of the resins that were not cross-linked during patterning. Openings (26) in the second resin layer (18) provide access to the first resin layer (12) by subsequent chemical processes. The portions of the first (12) and second (18) resin layers cross-linked during patterning remain on the substrate (10) to form permanent dielectric layers. The first resin layer (12) preferably includes a filler catalytic to plating, thereby enabling direct plating of the first resin layer (12) to form metal features within the multilayer structure. The process yields a multilayer printed circuit board that exhibits increased interlayer adhesion subsequent to plating caused by curing the first and second resin under superatmospheric pressure.

The fabrication of multilayered circuit boards is generally accomplished by depositing a sequence of dielectric and conductor layers. Metallized openings in the dielectric layers, commonly referred to as vias, extend through the dielectric layers in order to electrically interconnect the conductor layers as required. One method that has been suggested to facilitate the fabrication of multilayer circuit boards employs a radiation-sensitive dielectric coating material that is sequentially deposited to form permanent dielectric layers of a multilayer circuit, with vias that are photochemically patterned in the dielectric layers. These vias facilitate electrical connections between two or more conductor layers. A conductor pattern is then formed on the outer dielectric layer using conventional circuit board processes. As permanent dielectric layers of the circuit board, the coating material remains within the multilayer structure to electrically insulate adjacent conductor layers in all areas other than the via sites.
Another process for the manufacture of multilayered circuits entails sequential deposition of a plateable resin layer followed by a non-plateable resin layer. The two resins are preferably photo-definable, and the photo-definition of the two resin layers produces openings through which metal features of a circuit layer are formed. The first resin may include a catalytic filler that can be activated to enable electroless-plating of the resin with a metal, or may be surface catalyzed. The second resin does not contain a catalytic filler. The first and second resins are sequentially deposited and photochemically patterned, with the second resin overlying the first resin such that openings in the second resin expose regions of the first resin. These exposed areas of the first resin are then electrolessly plated to form metallic features such as pads, vias and conductors. In this manner, multiple circuit layers can be sequentially formed to produce a desired multilayer printed circuit board.
It has been suggested to fabricate a multilayer printed circuit board by depositing a first resin onto a metallically-patterned substrate. The first resin layer is then photodefined and a second resin layer is deposited on the first resin layer. The second resin layer is then photodefined. Openings in the first and second resin layers are developed by dissolving those portions of the resins that were not cross-linked during a patterning step. These exposed areas of the first resin are then electrolessly plated to form metallic features such as pads, vias and conductors. Alternatively, a laser can be used to drill the via openings through the deposited dielectric layers.
However, with any of the prior art methods, it is desired to increase the adhesion of the conductor and the resin layers to strengthen the multilayer circuit board. Therefore, a need exists for a method for forming a multilayer printed circuit board that provides enhanced interlayer adhesion strength.

Method for fabricating a printed circuit board by curing under superatmospheric pressure


A system and method is disclosed which integrates a machine learning solution into a large scale, distributed transaction processing system using a supporting architecture comprising a combination of computer hardware and software. Methods of using a system comprising such supporting architecture provide application designers access to the functionality included in a machine learning solution, but might also provide additional functionality not supported by the machine learning solution itself.

Automating customer care through self-service solutions (e.g., Interactive Voice Response (IVR), web-based self-care, etc. . . . ) results in substantial cost savings and operational efficiencies. However, due to several factors, such automated systems are unable to provide customers with a quality experience. The present invention addresses some of the deficiencies experienced with presently existing automated care systems.
Machine learning is a field where various algorithms have been developed that can automatically learn from experience. The foundation of these algorithms is built on mathematics and statistics which can be employed to predict events, classify entities, diagnose problems and model function approximations, just to name a few examples. While there are various products available for incorporating machine learning into computerized systems, those products currently suffer from a variety of limitations. For example, they generally lack distributed processing capabilities, and rely heavily on batch and non-transactional data processing. The teachings and techniques of this application can be used to address one or more of the limitations of the prior art to improve the scalability of machine learning solutions.

System and method for supporting the utilization of machine learning


A unified system for the structured collection, management, translation, and publication of multi-lingual information that is based on industry standards for information structures. Self-contained information units are stored in a single source and mapped onto a multiple dimensional data matrix in which the axes represent information types, objects, variants, and language. Linking through the matrix to a unique storage location for information facilities data entry, editing, access control, quality control, and automated publication of stored information.

Globalization of the world economy has brought about a strong demand for automated information management that includes multilingual documentation. Throughout the world, business and industry encounters an ever-increasing need to provide consistent documentation for products and processes that are rapidly evolving and to do so in multiple languages. Traditionally, some computer-assisted document management and translation tools have been used to facilitate these processes. However, there has been little integration of comprehensive end-to-end documentation management to provide a uniform process for information management from the creation of data to its publication in myriad formats and various languages.
The constantly-increasing flood of information must be organized with an intelligent, effective information management system so that users of data can distinguish important from unimportant information specific to their needs and ensure the reliability of the information. It is significant that in the industrial world, information is the only production factor that can be duplicated easily, that can be used simultaneously in several locations, and that is not consumed with use. These positive attributes stand in contrast to the fact that information can easily be changed along the way from the creator of data to its ultimate consumer, which calls its reliability into question.
Traditional approaches to information management have attempted to address this problem by version controlled consumer-oriented documents. However, attempts to manage multiple versions ensures a proliferation of inconsistent versions and multiplies the complexity of managing what is essentially a multi-dimensional information matrix of uses, components, languages, and other factors. Control of document versions also allows subsequent users of data to inappropriately change content and relationships mandated by the creator of the information. It also multiplies the time required to deliver information to users in an accurate and useful format.
In order to ensure the timeliness, reliability, and consistency of information in a multi-lingual production or marketing environment, a system is required that supports management of the information from its generation by authors during the collection or creation of their information through updating, editing, translation and final publication and distribution of properly formatted information in the appropriate format for the targeted end-user. Only a unified system that enforces quality and uniformity—and that preserves the accuracy and proper context of information during the entire process—is capable of addressing these real-world information management dilemmas. Traditional systems, including those based on document version control, often provided for multiple instances of the same data to be stored and independently changed. Moreover, in traditional approaches the context and usage details of data are not stored with the data itself giving rise to ambiguity with regard to the purpose and use of data, and further giving rise to inconsistency in usage, terminology, and translation paradigms.
The present invention overcomes these limitations by managing the creation of highly granular units of qualified information that is stored in a common repository and is separated from any specific document format or structure, enabling the publication of information in any format or structure. The invention also facilitates the use of industry-specific templates that ensure appropriate and consistent use of information. This system enables the comprehensive use of synergies in the collection of information and guarantees the accuracy and timeliness of information, including multiple translations, without continual editing and re-editing of the same information.

Semantic architecture for managing information through structured storage and retrieval


A system and method for processing multiple arbitrary sized data elements in a register. A method of the invention comprises the steps of: creating a mask register that defines a set of arbitrary sized segments for a register; storing a plurality of arbitrary sized data elements in a segmented data register arranged in accordance with the mask register, wherein the arbitrary sized data elements are sign extended; simultaneously operating on each of the of the data elements in the segmented data register to generate a set of resulting data elements in response to a machine instruction, wherein the resulting data elements depend on each other; and unpacking the resulting data elements to provide a plurality of arbitrary sized results that are independent of each other.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to processing multiple data elements in a computer register, and more specifically relates to a system and method for utilizing a mask register and hardware assist instructions to simultaneously process multiple data elements of arbitrary size.
2. Related Art
Computer processors function by processing data elements through various registers in accordance with instructions provided by a computer program. The registers generally have a capacity that is a power of two. For instance, a register might have a capacity of 8 bits, and it would be able to process, in a single processing cycle, a data element having up to eight bits in the element. As an example, an 8-bit register can process a 4-bit data element in a single cycle. Of course, registers typically have sizes larger than 8 bits, i.e., registers can have 16 bit capacities, or 32 bits, or 64 bits, and so on. Non-limiting illustrative examples of the types of operations undertaken by registers include multiplication by a constant, addition, subtraction, shift left-logical, shift right-logical, AND, and OR operations.
After the data elements have been processed, they can be sent to another register for further processing, or they can be stored or output. To illustrate, in the printer field, a server microprocessor processes an input data stream through its various registers in accordance with a computer program, and it might output a data stream of compressed image data in so-called JPEG format to a printer processor, which then operates on the data as appropriate to instruct a printer apparatus how to print the image.
The processor itself executes instructions in the form of machine language, which are the low level instructions relating to what data elements are processed through which registers. Most software however is written in higher-level programming code such as C, which has the advantages of being human readable and of embodying relatively complex processing operations using comparatively short, quickly-written commands. A compiler receives the high-level programming code, decides the best way among many choices to map it into assembly language, passes the mapping to an assembler, and the assembler then maps the assembly language into so-called machine language that is readable by a processor. From time to time, a programmer may elect to write parts of the program that are executed more frequently than other parts directly in a lower-level language. While more cumbersome to write, these so-called "hand-crafted" portions of code do not have to be translated by a high level language compiler and, thus can be written in a more optimized fashion to facilitate faster processing at run time.
Regardless of whether the processor receives the machine code from a compiler or directly from a handcrafted program, the present invention makes the critical observation that it is often the case that register space is wasted. More particularly, as intimated above a register might not be used to its full capacity in every processing cycle. For instance, when a 16-bit capacity register is used to process 4-bit data elements. 12 bits of the register per cycle are wasted. This slows processing time, creates additional data caching requirements (and attendant cache miss problems), and in general fails to fully exploit processor capacity. Accordingly, the present invention recognizes the potential improvement in processor performance that would inure were multiple data elements to be processed in a register in a single cycle.
The present invention further understands that implementing a solution for the above is not trivial, particularly if both positive and negative (that is, "signed") values, and not just positive values, are to be processed, owing to the possibility of exceeding register capacity and/or corrupting data during processing. Stated differently, as used by the present invention, a "signed" data element is one that is not constrained to be non-negative, and it is desirable that multiple signed data elements be processed through a single register in a single processing cycle. Furthermore, the present invention understands that for robustness, it is desirable that a processor not be constrained by the manufacturer to accept multiple data elements per register of only predetermined bit sizes, but rather that a programmer have the flexibility to define arbitrary data element bit sizes that can be accepted by a register as the particular application might happen to dictate.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/675779, filed on Sep. 29, 2000, entitled, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENABLING MULTIPLE SIGNED INDEPENDENT DATA ELEMENTS PER REGISTER, which is hereby incorporated by reference, describes a software solution to address the above problems. This solution allows multiple signed independent data elements to be packed in a register. The register is operated on by standard operations with some additional operations in certain cases. The data is then "unpacked" and returned to its 2's complement form. The term "pack" means that the data is possibly dependent on element(s) to the right of it. The described method has however, various opportunities for enhancement.
First, the pack and unpack processes constitute overhead which, for smaller loop sizes, is in some cases unacceptable. Second, some instructions need additional operations to ensure that the data is not modified. Third, the processor has no mechanism by which multiple error flags or condition codes can be set. For instance, if elements "packed" in a register exceed the precision of the space that they have been allocated, there is no error flag or condition code set. The programmer is responsible for ensuring that the data will not overflow its precision by design.
Accordingly, a need exists for a more robust solution to the problems mentioned above.

System and method for using hardware assist functions to process multiple arbitrary sized data elements in a register

International Business Machines Corporation