Some examples of the present disclosure relate to container-image replication. One example includes a computing device that can generate a container image. The container image can include metadata that is consumable by a container engine for deploying a container with settings specified in the metadata. The computing device can also generate provenance data indicating at least one aspect related to the generation of the container image. The computing device can modify the metadata in the container image to include an indicator of the provenance data. The computing device can then store the container image and the provenance data in one or more repositories accessible to a client device. This may enable the client device to reproduce the container image at a future point in time.

Computers use operating systems to manage system processes and resources. Some operating systems, such as the Linux operating system, include a low-level software component for managing system processes and resources. The low-level software component is called a "kernel." The kernel can provide features, such as namespaces and cgroups, for isolating processes and resources from one another. These features can be used to segregate processes and resources (e.g., memory, CPU processing power, and network resources) into relatively isolated virtual-environments called "containers."
Containers can be deployed from image files, which can be referred to as container images. A container image can be a static binary file that includes all of the requirements for running a container. For example, a container image can include the system libraries, tools, and settings required to deploy a container. The container image also includes metadata describing the container's needs and capabilities. This metadata is typically stored in a manifest file or image-index within the container image. Container images are generally compiled from layers (e.g., filesystem layers) built onto a parent or base image.
Containers are intended to be as lightweight as possible to enable fast deployment times. As a result, container images generally only have the minimal amount of content required for container deployment. Extraneous content is often removed from container images to improve download and deployment speeds.

Container-image reproduction and debugging


The present invention includes an error correction circuit with a data memory, a control circuit, a parity memory, and a recorder. The data memory is configured to receive and store a set of data. The control circuit is configured to receive the set of data and to generate parity bits in response thereto. A parity memory is coupled to the control circuit and configured to receive and hold parity bits. The control circuit is further configured to combine the parity bits from the parity memory with the set of data from the data memory to determine whether an error occurred in the set of data. The recorder is coupled to the control circuit and configured to record an indication of whether an error occurred in the set of data.

The present invention relates to an error correction circuit and method. In particular, a system and method are provided for an error correction circuit used in association with a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) system.
Memory systems, such as DRAM systems, have large memory arrays with large numbers of individual memory cells. During fabrication of the memory arrays, or in subsequent packaging of the memory, it is possible for single cell failures to be introduced in the memory. In some cases, introduction of such failures can result in the need to scrap the entire package afterwards.
Consequently, many memory systems utilize error correction circuits (ETC.) to compensate for single cell failures in memory arrays. ECC generate parity codes and utilize a parity memory to detect, and in some cases correct, errors or failures in memory cells. In some cases, such ECC are built directly onto a memory chip in order to achieve superior quality for a customer.
Typically, memory chips are tested after fabrication and assembly to determine whether they are operating properly. In cases where ECC are integrated into the memory chip, testing of these memory systems can become cumbersome. If the testing must also test whether the ECC has corrected errors or failures in memory cells, extra testing time and processing resources are sometimes needed.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for the present invention.

ECC flag for testing on-chip error correction circuit

Infineon Technologies North America Corp.


There is disclosed a method for manufacturing an Fe-based sintered alloy which is superb in machinability. This process comprises the steps of coating a paste-like coating agent including a compound of boron to a surface of a compact of Fe-based or Fe, Cu-based sintered alloy powder including carbon or a pre-sintered compact obtained by heating the compact at a diffusion temperature or less of carbon, and sintering a resultant compact or a pre-sintered compact at a diffusion temperature or more of carbon. An Fe-based sintered alloy manufactured through this process and a bearing cap made of such an Fe-based sintered alloy are also disclosed. In the invention, a film including a compound of boron and pyrolytic resin can be used instead of the paste-like coating agent.

This invention relates to a process for manufacturing an Fe-based sintered alloy which is superb in machinability, and more particularly to a process for manufacturing an Fe-based sintered alloy which can be smoothly integrally machined together with such soft material as aluminum. Also, the present invention relates to an Fe-based sintered alloy manufactured through such a manufacturing process, and a bearing cap to be made using such an Fe-based sintered alloy.
An Fe-based sintered alloy is low in manufacturing cost and superb in properties such as strength, wear resistance, etc. For this reason, the Fe-based sintered alloy is used in a wide variety of technical fields. For example, mechanical parts made of an Fe-based sintered alloy, such as a valve driving system, a bearing, and the like, of automobiles, motorcycles, and the like are widely employed because a machining operation can be omitted considerably even for the parts having complicated configurations. However, since many of the mechanical parts made of an Fe-based sintered alloy are nevertheless required to be machined, poor machinability can still become a shortcoming involved in the conventional Fe-based sintered alloy.
In order to improve machinability of the Fe-based sintered alloy, many attempts have heretofore been made. In one attempt, iron powder containing sulfur is used as starting material powder. In another attempt, a sulfide is added to and mixed with starting material powder. In still another attempt, a compact is subjected to sulfidizing treatment in the atmosphere of hydrogen sulfide gas. In an attempt where sulfur as a free-cutting component is dispersed in a matrix of a sintered alloy, improvement of machinability is limited. Further, since sulfur is an element for decreasing strength, particularly toughness, of a sintered alloy and also for promoting corrosion of a sintered alloy, use of the sintered alloy is limited.
Another technique is also provided in which pores in a sintered alloy are filled with resin, or the like. In such a sintered alloy, since resin in the pores serves as an initiating point for chip breaking, chip breaking property is good. However, in such a technique, the kind of resin to be used can shorten the service life of a cutting tool such as a cutter. Moreover, the use of a sintered alloy sometimes requires a process for removing resin from the pores after the cutting operation.
In view of the above, in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (KOKAI) No. 79701/95, there is disclosed a technique in which boron nitride is used as a free-cutting component, instead of sulfur. According to this Publication, by adding boron nitride to a starting material power and mixing them together, frictional resistance between a sintered alloy and a cutting tool can be reduced and machinability can be enhanced. In Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (KOKAI) No. 305147/95, there is disclosed a technique in which cubic boron nitride is added to and mixed with a starting material powder of an Fe-based sintered alloy. According to this Publication, boron nitride prevents diffusion of graphite, which is added as a starting material in a sintered alloy, and forming of pearlite, and promotes graphite to remain as free graphite, which is a cutting-free component.
Recently, aluminum alloy was widely used in parts of automobiles. For this reason, there are many occasions where Fe-based sintered alloy and aluminum alloy parts are integrally machined. Therefore, Fe-based sintered alloy is demanded to have the same degree of machinability as aluminum alloy. However, it is impossible to manufacture an Fe-based sintered alloy having such machinability even in accordance with the above proposed techniques. According to the teaching of the above proposed techniques, since powder for enhancing machinability is added to a starting material powder, the demand for enhancing the machinability of only the part of the sintered alloy which part is to be machined, cannot be satisfied.
With respect to this point, International Publication WO90/12124 and Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 342783/92 disclose a technique in which the alloy surface is subjected to masking treatment when the alloy is subjected to carburizing treatment, so that carburizing is partly prohibited. However, the technique proposed in those Publications is directed to prevention of deterioration of toughness due to carburizing and therefore, such machinability as mentioned above is unobtainable.

Fe-based sintered alloy manufacturing process, Fe-based sintered alloy manufactured through thereof and bearing cap


A friction clutch with a mechanism to automatically adjust for the wear of the friction linings by an adjustable-width device. The adjustable-width device includes at least one adjustment element. The adjustment element is centered with respect to the axis of rotation opposite the pressure plate by several guide pins distributed about the circumference of the pressure plate. The guide pins extend axially and support the width of the adjustable element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a friction clutch, especially for motor vehicles. The friction clutch can include a counter pressure plate, for example in the form of a flywheel, that can define an axis of rotation. The friction clutch can also include a clutch housing that is mounted to the counter pressure plate, and the friction clutch can include a pressure plate. The pressure plate can be arranged non-rotationally in the clutch housing, but the pressure plate can be axially displaced. The friction clutch can further include means of operation and an energy reservoir. The means of operation and the energy reservoir can be arranged between the clutch housing and the pressure plate, and can tense a clutch plate between the pressure plate and the counter pressure plate. The clutch can also include a mechanism to adjust for the wear of the friction linings. The mechanism can be arranged between the clutch housing, means of operation or energy reservoir, and pressure plate and can include at least one adjustment element. The at least one adjustment element can be arranged substantially concentrically to the axis of rotation and can be designed with circumferential slant surfaces.
2. Background Information
A friction clutch of the above-mentioned construction is known, for example, from published German patent specification 44 12 107. In this known construction, two adjustment elements are guided concentrically to the axis of rotation on the pressure plate on an interior diameter which is formed by a protruding or projecting lug.

Friction clutch for a motor vehicle with wear adjustment


A hydraulic barrier composition can include granules of a water-swellable clay and a water-soluble polymer. Upon contact with a leachate at least portion of the polymer is solvated by the leachate and becomes entrapped in at least one of clay pores, at clay platelet edges, and between adjacent platelets.

Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure is directed to a hydraulic barrier and method of making the same. More particularly, the disclosure is directed to a hydraulic barrier containing polymer-clay granules and method of making the same, the hydraulic barrier being particularly suited for use in aggressive environments.
Brief Description of Related Technology
Hydraulic barriers are used in a number of industries for water absorption, containment, and/or retention. In a variety of industries, for example, the mining industry, the water source to be absorbed, contained, or retained is present in conditions that are incompatible with use of conventional clay-based barriers or even conventional clay and polymer dry mixtures containing barriers. Conventional barriers include, for example, geosynthetic clay liners, which have a layer of clay, such as bentonite clay, supported by a geotextile or a geomembrane material, mechanically held together by needling, stitching, or chemical adhesives.
Conventional barriers have shown to be ineffective or inefficient if the source has a high or low pH or contains a high concentration of soluble salts, and in particular divalent ions. It is commonly known that bentonite clay swells well in fresh water, but poorly in water having drastic pH conditions (pH<3 or pH>10) and/or containing salts and/or metals, such as saltwater, seawater, acid mining drainage, and the like. In such environments, it may be necessary to sufficiently prehydrate a conventional bentonite clay-based hydraulic barrier with fresh water prior to use, which can be burdensome and cost prohibitive in a variety of applications.
The hydraulic conductivity response of a granular bentonite-based GCL when exposed to a high pH leachate (pH>10) obtained from an aluminum leaching process has been investigated. The bauxite leachate had an ionic strength of 774 millimolar and a ratio of monovalent to multivalent cations (RMD)=1.15 M1/2, with Al and Na the predominant metals in solution. The hydraulic conductivity (K) of the GCLs was approximately 10−9 cm/s when permeated with tap water. When permeated with the highly caustic bauxite leachate, the granular bentonite based GCL became much more permeable, with a final hydraulic conductivity ranging between 4.2×10−7 cm/s and 1.8×10−6 cm/s.
Clay-polymer based hydraulic barriers such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,737,472 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,783,802 have been primarily developed with use of a water-absorbent polymer to facilitate and improve the retention of the clay within the hydraulic barrier mat material. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,783,802 describes a porous substrate, such as a geotextile liner having a polymerization initiator or polymerization catalyst embedded therein. The hydraulic barrier is formed by contacting this substrate with a monomer, cross-linking agent, and any other desired additives and subjecting it to conditions sufficient to polymerize the monomer within the substrate. The process results in improved retention of and embedding of the clay and polymer within the substrate material. In such a hydraulic barrier it can be preferable to have highly cross-linked polymers to ensure that the polymer remains retained and interlocked with the substrate during use. It was also believed that having such highly cross-linked polymers was necessary to ensure that the polymers were water insoluble and, therefore, would remain within the substrate during use.

Hydraulic barrier composition and method of making the same


A current control semiconductor device that can detect a current with high precision within an IC of one chip by dynamically correcting a variation in a gain a and an offset b, and a control device using the semiconductor device are provided. A transistor 4, a current-voltage converter circuit 22, and an AD converter 23 are disposed on an identical semiconductor chip. Reference current generator circuits 6 and 6′ superimpose a current pulse Ic on a current of a load 2, and vary a voltage digital value output by the AD converter. A gain/offset correction unit 8 subjects a variation in a voltage digital value caused by the reference current generator circuits 6, 6′ to signal processing, and dynamically acquires gains a, a′ and offsets b, b′ in a linear relational expression of the voltage digital value output by the AD converter 23 and a current digital value of the load. A current digital value calculation unit 12 corrects a voltage value output by the AD converter with the use of the gain and the offset acquired by the gain/offset correction unit 8.

Electric actuators such as motors or solenoids have been extensively used for converting an electric signal into a mechanical motion or a hydraulic pressure as various objects to be controlled are electronically controlled. In order to upgrade those electric actuators, a high-precision current control is essential. In recent years, for the purpose of conducting a high-precision current control, it is general to use a digital feedback control.
For the purpose of conducting a current digital feedback control, there is a need to acquire a digital value Ioutd of a load current value Iout to be controlled. To achieve this, an output Vout of a current-voltage converter circuit is subjected to digital conversion by an AD converter to obtain a relative digital value Voutd (=Vout/Vref) to a reference voltage Vref of the AD converter. Then, the output Voutd of the AD converter is subjected to a correction corresponding to an input/output characteristic of a current detector circuit including the current-voltage converter circuit and the AD converter to obtain the digital value Ioutd of the current.
Various configurations of the current detector circuit have been proposed. From the viewpoint of simplifying a control algorithm, it is desirable to make the input/output characteristic of the current detector circuit linear, and in this case, the current digital value Ioutd is obtained by Expression (1) with the use of a gain a and an offset b.Ioutd=a·Voutd+b  (1)
When the current value is measured according to Expression (1), it is important how the gain a and the offset b match the characteristic of a real current detector circuit with high precision, for the purpose of improving a current measurement precision.
Also, needs of the downsized control device and the lower prices are high in addition to the high-precision current control, and the current detector circuit is incorporated into an IC chip to respond to those needs. A current detection resistor incorporated into the IC chip to incorporate the current detector circuit into the IC chip has been known (for example, refer to PTL 1 and PTL 2).

Current control semiconductor device and control device using the same


The present invention relates to a system and method for providing a real time answering service by using communication media capable of transmitting and receiving data and voice. In accordance with the invention, there is provided a real time answering service system using communication media capable of transmitting and receiving data and voice, the system including: a questioner terminal for making out question information in real time and connecting to a real time answering service server; an answerer terminal for connecting to the real time answering service server in order to make out answer information about the question information inputted from the questioner terminal in real time; an evaluator terminal for making out evaluation information about the answer information inputted from the answerer terminal; and a real time answering service server for storing the question information inputted from the questioner terminal in a question information database; receiving from the answerer terminal the answer information about the question information inputted from the questioner terminal and storing the answer information in an answer information database; and evaluating the answer information through the evaluator terminal and providing the evaluated answer information to the questioner terminal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for providing a real time answering service by using communication media capable of transmitting and receiving data and voice; and, more particularly, to a system and method for providing a real time answering service by using communication media capable of transmitting and receiving data and voice, in which, if a user asks a question through the communication media, other users connected to a specific server provide answers about the question in real time.
2. Related Art
Generally, as the internet service becomes more and more popular, the internet service becomes a main means for obtaining information.
The information retrieval through the internet has a merit that users can easily obtaining information. However, since too much information are provided without a verification process, the reliability of the information cannot be assured, and it takes long time for users poor in dealing with the internet service to obtain reliable information.
Further, a conventional method for obtaining information through the internet service includes a method for obtaining information through search engines or websites for providing information; and a method for obtaining information by using a question and answer bulletin board of the internet websites.
Among the conventional method, a "NAVER knowledge IN" website service is a representative service. Through the "NAVER knowledge IN" service, users can ask questions about all subject matters and other users answer the questions.
The "NAVER knowledge IN" service has been provided as follows: a user connects to a specific website and uploads a question and then other users connects to the specific website and answer the question. Moreover, in mobile communication terminals, the "NAVER knowledge IN" service has been provided by using a WAP (Wireless Application Protocol).
However, the "NAVER knowledge IN" service has many problems in that it takes long time for users to surf many web sites in order to search information and, further, desired information can not be easily obtained in spite of undergoing the above described processes.
Furthermore, the above described service is very inconvenient because a user has to input a variety of key words but cannot receive the answers about their questions in real time.
That is, since the above described service is the service in which users find answers most similar to the answers about the their own questions among the questions and the answers, which have been stored previously, it has a demerit in which users can not receive the answers about their own questions in real time.

System and method for providing real time answering service by using communication media capable of transmitting and receiving data and voice


An image forming apparatus having a USB communication function includes a control interface unit to perform USB control communication, a data interface unit to perform USB data communication, and a control unit to perform an event in a low power mode according to a signal input through the control interface unit, and to perform an event in a normal mode according to a signal input through the control interface unit and the data interface unit. Therefore, the low power mode may be effectively implemented.

1. Field
Aspects relate to an image forming apparatus and a low power driving method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
A low power mode is a mode in which the power supply to most of the modules is shut down or minimized so as to minimize power consumption when a system is inactive. In order to implement lower standby power, the power supply may be shut down to main memory (in general, external dynamic random access memory (DRAM)), or the main memory may enter self refresh state and internal memory (in general, internal static random access memory (SRAM)) which is not in use in system on chip (SOC) drives a program. SRAM usually uses small quantity of memory of approximately 128 kilobytes.
However, as in a Universal Serial Bus (USB) driver for printers or large-capacity storage devices, if bulk data transmission is required or the number of supportable interfaces is increased, space taken up by a stack is increased, so it is difficult to implement all functions of the USB driver in a small-capacity SRAM.
In addition, it is inefficient to apply large-capacity SRAM of a high cost.
If a device which is used as a USB device cuts off the power supply to the external DRAM so as to enter the low power mode, a USB driver in the external DRAM also stops its operation, so the device cannot communicate with a USB and a host device. In particular, if the host device, for example, a personal computer (PC) sends a specific operation command, for example, a printing command to the device through the USB, the host device cannot perform the command (that is, the PC recognizes that connection with the device is cut.). Accordingly, in a related art, the external DRAM should operate normally in the low power mode.
If power is continuously supplied to the external DRAM, standby power is consumed. To consume lower power, if the power supply is cut off to the external DRAM, the USB driver does not operate, so communication through the USB may be impossible. In this case, if a program which monitors the state of the device using the USB approaches, it is determined that the device is turned off, thereby causing inconvenience. For example, if the PC is connected to the printer through the USB and has a printer monitoring program, when the DRAM of the printer is turned off and the USB driver does not operate, the PC may recognize that the printer is in an abnormal state or connection with the printer is cut off.
Therefore, there is a need for a low power driving method of an image forming apparatus.

Image forming apparatus and low power driving method thereof


In an image forming device adapted to acquire image data and distribute the image data, a storage unit stores respective plug-in modules of an input process, an image transforming process, and an output process with respect to the image data. A combining information acquisition unit acquires combining information including plug-in identifiers which respectively indicate the plug-in modules. A combining unit combines two or more of the plug-in modules to generate a virtual plug-in based on the combining information. A flow setting unit sets up a workflow in which the plug-in modules including the virtual plug-in are combined arbitrarily. A workflow control unit controls processes included in the workflow when a message distribution process based on the workflow is requested.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image forming device, an image processing device, an image processing system, an image processing method, and a recording medium which are adapted to distribute image data.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, many companies have made progress in the arrangement and connection of image input/output devices, such as multifunctional peripherals (MFPs), to networks. The image input/output devices play a key role as means for increasing the efficiency of business. Especially, the roles of a distribution management system in generating electronic data of paper documents and distributing the electronic data of paper documents efficiently are becoming important. The major elements which constitute the distribution management system are an image input device (for example, a scanner, etc.) and a distribution managing server. In the distribution managing server, a plurality of message distribution process menus which are adapted for various business tasks and uses are registered beforehand. A user selects a process menu suitable for a particular business task from an operation panel (operation unit) of a scanner and starts scanning of a document by the scanner.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-018640 discloses an information input device which enables the user or an administrator to input an arbitrary combination of message distribution process plug-in modules and image transforming process plug-in modules, create a workflow of image inputting, image transforming and image outputting processes, and perform a message distribution process of image data by using the created workflow.
It is common that plug-in modules supplied by vendors are to specify a small-size process by taking various users into consideration. Although the user who wishes to set up a workflow can set up various combinations of the workflow, the size of the plug-in modules is small, and the user has to combine the same plug-in module repeatedly.
Moreover, when it is specified for a certain company or a certain department that a plug-in module 2 is to be executed after an end of execution of a plug-in module 1, the plug-in modules 1 and 2 cannot be simultaneously used to set up the workflow. It is necessary to set up the workflow by using the plug-in module 1 and the plug-in module 2 sequentially in this order.

Image processing workflow with combined processes virtual plug-in


A memory controller includes scrub circuitry that performs scrub cycles in a way that does not delay processor reads to memory during the scrub cycle. Atomicity of the scrub operation is assured by protocols set up in the memory controller, not by using an explicit atomic read-correct-write operation. The result is a memory controller that efficiently scrubs memory while minimizing the impact of scrub cycles on system performance.

1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to computer system memory, and more specifically relates to ways of scrubbing computer system memory to correct errors.
2. Background Art
Since the dawn of the computer age, computer systems have evolved into extremely sophisticated devices that may be found in many different settings. Computer systems typically include a combination of hardware (e.g., semiconductors, circuit boards, etc.) and software (e.g., computer programs). One key component in any computer system is memory.
Modern computer systems typically include dynamic random-access memory (DRAM). DRAM is different than static RAM in that its contents must be continually refreshed to avoid losing data. A static RAM, in contrast, maintains its contents as long as power is present without the need to refresh the memory. This maintenance of memory in a static RAM comes at the expense of additional transistors for each memory cell that are not required in a DRAM cell. For this reason, DRAMs typically have densities significantly greater than static RAMs, thereby providing a much greater amount of memory at a lower cost than is possible using static RAM.
Modern DRAM memory controllers use a technique known as "scrubbing" to automatically detect and correct soft errors that may arise in memory that are typically caused by alpha particles. Sophisticated error correction circuitry has been developed that allow detecting any single-bit error, or any single-symbol error in a DRAM. A single-bit error occurs when one bit at a specified address changes state unexpectedly. A single-symbol error occurs when multiple bits within a packet (or symbol) at a specified address in a single DRAM chip change state unexpectedly. During a typical scrub cycle, a cache line is read, causing a corresponding read of the data from memory. The error correction circuitry detects if there are any single-bit or single-symbol errors, and if so, generates the correct data, which is then written to the cacheline, and in turn, back to the memory. In this manner, the scrub circuitry may successfully recover from any single-bit or single-symbol errors in memory. In many computer systems, the scrub circuitry tries to scrub all of system memory at least one each day. A brief description of memory scrubbing is found in IBM Enterprise X-Architecture Technology, First Edition 2002, pp. 19-21, which is incorporated herein by reference.
A scrub cycle typically occurs when there are no pending processor reads or writes to memory. Once the scrub cycle starts, the entire read-correct-write sequence is performed as an atomic operation to assure data integrity. If processor reads occur just after the read operation in the scrub cycle, the processor reads have to wait until the atomic read-correct-write scrub operation is performed. As a result, prior art memory controllers negatively affect system performance when performing scrub cycles. Without a way for performing scrub cycles in a way that does not make processor read cycles wait, the computer industry will continue to be plagued with decreased performance during scrub cycles.

Memory controller and method for scrubbing memory without using explicit atomic operations

International Business Machines Corporation


A read circuit reads data stored in a memory cell that is coupled to a bit line. The read circuit includes a comparison circuit, such as a sense amplifier, having a first input terminal coupled to the bit line and having a second input terminal and a data output terminal. A switch is coupled between the bit line and the second input terminal of the comparison circuit and includes a control terminal that is coupled to receive a control signal.

Many memory manufacturers are trying to develop nonvolatile memory circuits that are both small enough and fast enough to replace traditional nonvolatile storage media such as magnetic hard drives. Such nonvolatile memory circuits include flash erasable and programmable read-only memory (flash-EPROM) and flash electrically erasable and programmable read-only memory (flash-EEPROM).
Unfortunately, many flash memories have relatively slow write speeds and relatively small storage capacities because they must precisely erase their memory cells to avoid offset currents, which, if high enough, can corrupt data during a read cycle. Because the erase routine is relatively long and must be done before each program cycle, it increases the write time, and thus reduces the write speed, of a flash memory.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a read circuit that increases the write speed of a flash memory by eliminating the need for the lengthy erase procedure. Specifically, a read circuit 10 compensates for offset currents generated in a bit line 12 by memory cells 14, only one of which is shown in FIG. 1 for clarity. If an offset current is flowing in the bit line 12, it will cause an offset-voltage drop across a load transistor 16. Therefore, before a memory cell 14 is activated for reading, i.e., before a word line WL coupled to the cell 14 is driven active high, a control signal activates a transistor 18 so that an offset current flowing in the bit line 12 will cause a current to flow through the transistor 18 and charge a capacitor 20 to the offset voltage generated across the load 16. After the capacitor 20 charges to the offset voltage, the transistor 18 is deactivated. Because the input terminals of a comparator 22 are high impedance, the capacitor 20 holds its charge. Next, WL is driven high to activate both the memory cell 14, which generates a read current through the load 16, and a reference cell 24, which generates a reference current through a load 26. Thus, the read current generates a read voltage at a node 27, and the reference current generates a reference voltage at a node 28. The voltage drop at the node 27 caused by the offset current through the load 16, however, is canceled by the offset voltage stored on the capacitor 20. Therefore, the comparator 22 compares the true read voltage (the read voltage without any offset component) with the reference voltage to generate a data signal. Thus, by compensating for offset currents generated by the memory cells 14, the circuit 10 prevents read errors without requiring that all of the cells 14 be precisely erased to eliminate such offset currents.
Still referring to FIG. 1, a transistor 29 and capacitor 30 can compensate for an offset current drawn by the reference cell 24. But even if the cell 24 does not draw an offset current, the transistor 28 and capacitor 30 can be included to balance the impedances at the input terminals of the comparator 22. A circuit similar to the read circuit 10 is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,492 to Campardo, which is incorporated by reference.
A problem with the circuit 10, however, is that the capacitors 20 and 30 may be relatively bulky and thus occupy a relatively large die area, or may increase the complexity of the manufacturing process. Furthermore, the reference cell or cells 24 also occupy a significant die area and often must be calibrated by performing a lengthy and complex procedure during testing of the circuit 10.

Circuit and method for reading a memory cell


Providing a fluid dynamic bearing device, wherein the outer member comprises a member formed by a pressing process on a plate member, the radial bearing surface and at least the one of the thrust bearing surfaces of the outer member being formed by the pressing process, and wherein at least a part of the inner member, which forms the radial bearing surface and the thrust bearing surfaces of the inner member, is made of a sintered metal.

A bearing is incorporated in motors to be mounted to electric devices such as an exhaust fan, and the bearing supports a rotary shaft in a freely rotatable manner. For use of this type, there has been generally used what is called a rolling bearing including: an outer race; an inner race; a plurality of rolling elements arranged between the inner and outer races; and a retainer for retaining the rolling elements (for example, Patent Literature 1).
Meanwhile, as a fluid dynamic bearing device, there has been provided a fluid dynamic bearing device including: an outer member formed of a cylindrical bearing ring and bearing plates fitted to both ends of the bearing ring; and an inner bearing plate member arranged on an inside of the outer member (Patent Literature 2).

Fluid dynamic bearing device and assembly method for same


A method and a device for trimming printed products on the front edges and/or on the lateral edges. The products are inserted into moved receiving compartments along a closed circuit, the compartments being open on at least one side, and include blades moved along in this region, which act together with stationary counter blades. The depth of insertion of the products is restricted by a support such that the front edges of the products are in the direct vicinity of the open side of the compartments, advantageously protruding with their front edges over the moved along blades for the frontal trimming. The edges of the products extending perpendicular to the folded edge are fixed prior to carrying out a trimming by way of a clamping and moving arrangement and only released for the passing on of the printed product.

Field of the Invention
The invention is in the field of processing of printed products and pertains to a device and a method for trimming of particularly multi-sheet folded printed products, such as newspapers, magazines and brochures.
Description of Related Art
Folded printed products are usually trimmed on the edge opposite the folded edge, as well as on both edges perpendicular to the aforementioned edges. This is termed front trimming or head-foot-trimming respectively.
The device described in EP-A 0753 386 has a plurality of pocket-shaped receiving compartments, which rotate around a common rotation axis and thereby are conveyed along a circular circuit. The receiving compartments are formed by two respective radially orientated supporting surfaces. The products are inserted into the receiving compartments with their folded edges ahead and come to rest against a support, which is in the region of the base of the compartment. The support is shaped and arranged such that the products are completely and deeply positioned in the compartment, i.e. the edge opposite the folded edge is completely within the compartment and clearly distanced from the radially outer, open side of the compartment. In this position, the products are orientated laterally, i.e. in the direction of the rotation axis or in parallel to the compartment base respectively and subsequently clamped with a clamping arrangement directly or indirectly against the supporting surface.
Subsequently, the head-foot-trimming is carried out first, and then the front trimming. For the corresponding trimmings, a respective trimming arrangement is provided, which at least comprises a stationary counter blade as well as blades, which are arranged in the compartments and are moved along with these. The counter blade for the head-foot-trimming is arranged in the movement direction of the compartments prior to the counter blade for the front trimming.
The blades, moved together with the compartments for the head-foot-trimming, are arranged on axially open sides of the receiving compartments, the moved blade for the front trimming is arranged on the open side of the compartments parallel to the compartment base. The stationary counter blades are in suitable positions, in which they may interact with the moved blade in the manner of scissors. As the supporting component or components trimming the front edges need to be led past the counter blade for the head-foot-trimming, the product must be located at different depths in the compartment for the front trimming and the head-foot-trimming. In the known device the product must, thus, already be inserted deeply into the pocket during the reception, in order to be able to carry out the head-foot-trimming.
Prior to the head-foot-trimming the products are fixed in the compartment by the clamping arrangement. After the head-foot-trimming the clamping arrangement is released and the product is laterally gripped by a dislocating arrangement. The dislocating arrangement moves the product along a supporting surface out of the compartment into the position for the front trimming. The clamping arrangement is then activated again and the product is again clamped in the shifted position. After the front trimming, the clamping arrangement is again released and the product is moved through the dislocating arrangement as far out of the compartment as necessary so that it can be taken over by an onward conveyor.
In the known device the products are fed by a gripper conveyor and dropped into the compartments or inserted into them deeply, respectively. Hereby they glide along a supporting surface freely, until their folded edge is stopped at the support. During this process it may occur that the products and/or product parts are dislocated in relation to one another. For the lateral (axial) orientation of the products, before their being clamped, a relatively large distance or period respectively is provided, which corresponds to a movement of the compartments along a circular course over an angle region of e.g. 60°. All the same, it may occur that during the subsequent clamping by the clamping installation the products are not completely orientated, which may lead to impure trimmed edges.
Moreover, the product is only brought into position for the front trimming after the head-foot-trimming and in this position clamped on its front edge by the clamping arrangement. Particularly due to the change between the clamping by the clamping arrangement and by the dislocation installation an arching upwards of the intermediate product region not held by the dislocation installation may have occurred, such that the front edge is not fixed evenly but with folds or dislocations. This may also lead to trimmed edges with reduced edge quality.
An object of the invention is to prevent the disadvantages of the state of the art and to provide a device for trimming of folded printed products as well as a corresponding method, in which the position of the products for achieving an optimum quality trimming is easily controllable.

Device and method for trimming folded printed products


An attitude angle control apparatus, an attitude angle control method, and an attitude angle control apparatus control program select an optimum attitude angle in a short period of time without being affected by disturbances at sea by measuring attitude angles and specific fuel consumption during navigation for any combination of a hull and propeller, create a statistical model based on the measured data, and select an optimum attitude angle on the statistical model. A marine vessel navigation control apparatus includes a constant-speed navigation controller and a trim angle controller. The trim angle controller includes an evaluated-value calculation module which calculates evaluated values of the trim angle, a storage medium, a statistical model creation module which creates statistical models using the evaluated values stored in the storage medium as an explained variable, and predetermined information including the trim angle as an explanatory variable, and a target trim angle calculation module which calculates a target trim angle based on the statistical model.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an attitude angle control apparatus which controls an attitude angle of a predetermined part of a marine vessel, such as the attitude angle of the hull, the attitude angle of a propeller, or the attitude angle of the propeller relative to the hull. More particularly, the present invention relates to an attitude angle control apparatus that improves the specific fuel consumption of the marine vessel.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has been known that, for example, by properly adjusting the attitude angle of a propeller (outboard, inboard/outboard, inboard, or waterjet) attached to a small craft, it is possible to reduce hull resistance, and consequently improve the specific fuel consumption of the small craft.
However, to improve the specific fuel consumption, it is necessary to adjust the attitude angle on a continuous basis by detecting subtle changes in engine speed and attitudes caused by ever-changing weather and hydrographic conditions. This places a heavy burden on the navigator. Thus, in many cases, even a skilled navigator makes only a few adjustments during a voyage. As for novice navigators, they mostly navigate with resistance set to the highest level, i.e., with the propeller placed closest to the marine vessel's transom (full trim-in).
In view of the above-described problems, various methods have been proposed to improve the specific fuel consumption by reducing hull resistance.
For example, an invention disclosed in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-76992) proposes a method in which the manufacturer determines a relationship between the attitude angle of a propeller and the specific fuel consumption experimentally in the development phase before shipment and retains the relationship data in the form of a map in an electronic control unit (ECU), allowing an appropriate attitude angle to be selected according to navigational conditions.
An invention disclosed in Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-12498) proposes a method which involves fine adjustment of the attitude angle of an outboard device when the marine vessel is traveling at a fixed throttle setting and selecting the attitude angle which maximizes marine vessel speed as an optimum attitude angle. The maximum marine vessel speed means the minimum hull resistance, and thus means that the attitude angle which maximizes specific fuel consumption can be selected. Since this method determines the optimum attitude angle by measuring the relationship between attitude angle and marine vessel speed during navigation, it can be applied to any combination of a hull and outboard device.
An invention disclosed in Patent Document 3 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,562) proposes a method which involves fine adjustment of the attitude angle of a propeller equipped with a device which allows the marine vessel to travel at a fixed engine speed and selecting the attitude angle which minimizes the fuel consumption as an optimum attitude angle. This method can be applied to any combination of a hull and propeller as is the case with the invention disclosed in Patent Document 2.
However, according to the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1, a hull and propeller need to be selected together when conducting experiments in the development phase. Consequently, the hull and propeller are selected and provided as a pair, which limits the types of equipment that can be mounted in the marine vessel.
Also, the inventions disclosed in Patent Documents 2 and 3 involve measuring marine vessel speed and fuel consumption at each attitude angle during navigation and selecting the attitude angle which provides the best marine vessel speed and fuel consumption, but measurement on the water is prone to great error due to disturbances such as winds and waves, unlike measurement on land. Thus, long hours of measurement are required to check the effects of attitude angles accurately.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Attitude angle control apparatus, attitude angle control method, attitude angle control apparatus control program, and marine vessel navigation control apparatus


A rotary polishing disc for dental grinding and polishing includes a disc-shaped piece of sheet of abrasive material fixed to a hub. In one embodiment, the hub is a hollow cylinder which is received onto a rotatable arbor. In another embodiment, the hub has a first end fixed to the sheet material, and has a second end that is received by a socketed end of the arbor. To fix the disc-shaped piece of sheet material more securely to the hub, a retainer plug may pass through a central aperture in the sheet material and enter into the hub. The retainer plug has a flat cap which becomes juxtaposed with the sheet material furthest from the hub. In another aspect, an improved arbor for the first type of hub includes protruding barbs which spear the hub when its hollow interior is disposed on the arbor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in polishing discs and the method of making them, and in particular to a polishing disc cut from sheet abrasive material and adhered to an inexpensively produced plastic hub that locks onto a rotatable arbor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the field of dentistry it is necessary to contour, finish and polish restorative dental materials once they have been placed into or onto a tooth so that the restorative materials blend to the contour of the tooth with a smooth transition between the material and tooth structure. It is imperative that the restorative materials be highly polished to prevent plaque build up which leads to other complications.
The most common dental restorative materials currently used are composite, amalgam, gold, ceramics, acrylic, and glassionomers. These as well as other polishable materials usually require polishing with a minimum of at least two steps of sequential grits, with most materials requiring three to six steps before achieving satisfactory results. This series of polishings usually requires single-use, disposable discs having a sequence of grit sizes. For this reason, not only must dental polishing discs be inexpensive in terms of material and manufacturability, but to save dentists"" time they must also be capable of being very quickly secured to and removed from a driving arbor. Because the dental polishing discs is used inside a patient""s mouth, it must be relatively small, and be rigidly secured to the arbor so it won""t wobble or fly off.
Several prior art devices are available for this purpose. Generally they are comprised of grit coated thin discs of paper or plastic or thin rigid discs of abrasive, having a central aperture to receive a screw, pin, shaft or the like, by means of which the disc can be secured to a rotary drive shaft or arbor. With most prior art, the head of the shaft or arbor protrudes from the forward face of the dental polishing disc and clamps to the inner area of the disc by means of a metal or plastic eyelet that may be swaged through the disc. The protrusion of the shaft or arbor beyond the dental polishing disc limits the working area of the disc, and during polishing can inadvertently cause damage to the restorative material, tooth structure, or tissue.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,858,368 and 4,447,208 disclose a dental polishing disc in which the central hub or the entire polishing head is made of soft rubber. The central hub of such dental polishing discs are formed with a blind, hollow, cylindrically-shaped interior cavity having at least one flattened surface so a head portion of the arbor may be inserted into the cavity thus securing the disc to the arbor. The central hubs of these molded dental polishing discs can either be molded integrally with the polishing disc or molded separately and attached to the disc by means of an adhesive material. Because these dental polishing discs have a blind interior cavity the arbor cannot protrude beyond the dental polishing disc. Thus, dental polishing discs having molded rubber hubs prevent inadvertently damaging restorative material, tooth structure, or tissue. However, the molded central hub or entire polishing head is comparatively expensive, bulky, and can be manufactured only in a limited range of shapes and sizes. Using a blind hole configuration as in these devices, there always exists a rubber filled space between the disc and the arbor which remains flexible thus permitting the dental polishing disc to wobble on the arbor. Furthermore, due to poor engagement between the molded rubber hub and the arbor such dental polishing discs tend to fly off the arbor when polishing with the surface of the disc adjacent to the arbor.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a rotary polishing disc and hub which is inexpensive and easy to manufacture.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a polishing disc and hub which attach quickly, easily, and removably to the arbor with a rigid secure fit without wobble and without the danger of falling off.
A related object of the present invention is to form the hub using an inexpensive plastic extrusion.
Another object of the preferred embodiment of the present invention is provide a hub having an interior surface along the entire length of which matches the cross-sectional shape of the arbor insertable thereinto thus providing a tight friction fit to retain the polishing head securely on the arbor free from wobbling.
Another corollary object of the preferred embodiment of the present invention is to prevent the polishing head from flying off of the arbor.
A related object of an alternate embodiment of the present invention is to provide a hub having several flexible arms which engage an interior surface of a mating, hollow arbor.
Another object of the present invention is to adhere the hub to the back face of the abrasive polishing disc so the entire front abrasive surface of the polishing disc is usable for polishing.
One more object of the present invention is to improve engagement between the hub and larger diameter or high-friction dental polishing discs cut from sheet abrasive material.
Briefly, in one aspect the present invention is a rotary polishing disc adapted for attachment to an end of a rotatable arbor. The rotary polishing disc includes a disc-shaped piece of sheet material having an abrasive material on at least one surface thereof. The rotary polishing disc also includes a hub that is juxtaposed with and fixed to the disc-shaped piece of sheet material. The hub has a longitudinal axis that is oriented substantially perpendicular to a surface of the disc-shaped piece of sheet material with which the hub is juxtaposed.
In one embodiment of this aspect of the present invention the hub is cylindrically-shaped with the longitudinal axis extending through a hollow interior of the hub. The hollow interior of this hub is formed with a cross-sectional shape that is adapted to mate with and to receive a projecting end of the rotatable arbor completely thereinto so the projecting end becomes juxtaposed with the disc-shaped piece of sheet material.
In another embodiment of this aspect of the present invention, the hub is elongated with a first end that is juxtaposed with and fixed to the surface of the disc-shaped piece of sheet material. This second embodiment of the hub also has a second end that projects away from the disc-shaped piece of sheet material. The second end of this hub is pierced by a slot to establish at least one flexible arm that has an outwardly projecting tip at the end thereof furthest from the disc-shaped piece of sheet material. For this second embodiment of the hub, the flexible arm and tip are shaped to enter into, mate with and engage an interior surface of a socketed end of the rotatable arbor.
To fix the disc-shaped piece of sheet material more securely to the hub, the disc-shaped piece of sheet material of either of the preceding embodiments may be pierced by a central aperture through which passes a retainer plug. The retainer plug has a flat cap formed at an end thereof which is juxtaposed with a surface of the disc-shaped piece of sheet material furthest from the hub. For the first embodiment of the hub described above, a second end of the retainer plug, furthest from the flat cap, enters into and becomes frictionally engaged with the hollow interior of the hub. For the second embodiment of the hub described above, the second end of the retainer plug enters into and becomes frictionally engaged with a cavity formed into the first end of the hub adjacent to the central aperture.
In another aspect, the present invention includes a improved arbor which, in a first configuration, has a projecting end that is adapted to receive and mate with a hollow interior surface of a hub of a rotary polishing disc. This first improved arbor configuration includes a barb protruding from an exterior surface of the arbor that is adapted to spear the hub when the hollow interior of the hub is disposed on the arbor. A second improved arbor configuration includes a hollow socket formed at one end of the arbor. The hollow socket has an interior surface which is shaped to receive and to mate with the flexible arm and tip at one end of an elongated hub.
An advantage of the present invention is simpler manufacturing and lower manufacturing cost for enhanced performance dental polishing discs.
The intended use for the present invention is dental grinding and polishing discs. Accordingly, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to that field by way of illustration. However, the present invention is not limited to use in that field, and appears useful in other applications that require a small rotary polishing disc. These and other features, objects and advantages will be understood or apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment as illustrated in the various drawing figures.

Rotary polishing discs and arbors therefor


System includes an article supply location that includes a plurality of articles to be sorted, first and second transport vehicles, each having a first position in which an article is stowed about the vehicle and a second position in which the article is deposited into a proximal container, and one or more removal devices that transport the container to a location of further processing. System further includes a control system configured to receive an order for a plurality of disparate articles, determine one destination container of a plurality of destination containers to direct the transport vehicle to deposit a selected article, direct the first transport vehicle to transport a selected article to the destination container, deposit the article in the destination container, and transport the destination container to a location for further processing by manipulation of the removal device.

Parcel sorting includes dispensing packages going to different destinations through a delivery management system to realize unified transport of packages. This is especially advantageous in an order fulfillment center or shipping facility. Generally, a parcel or article for shipment will have a UPC, barcode, SKU, or similar identifier that allows for identification of the parcel and destination. Similarly, article sorting includes dispensing articles that come from a plurality of warehouse locations to different exits through a delivery management system. Unified consolidation at a single exit or destination point of all articles in a single order in a single article, package or parcel can thus be realized, such as in a parcel fulfilment center. The sorting process is labor intensive and often involves processing errors and erroneous package arrival times. Additionally, packages may be damaged or packaged incorrectly, which reduces efficiency for all involved parties. Automated sorting equipment can be used to address some of these issues. However, sorting equipment is costly, takes up large portions of warehouse space, is limited in the volume of packages that can be sorted, is significantly underutilized at less than peak periods, and can have a long payback time frame.
Accordingly, opportunities exist for provision of an improved sorting system for parcels and articles.

Parcel and article sorting system and method with destination container removal


Digital image dynamic shadow generation is described as implemented by a dynamic shadow system using one or more computing devices. The dynamic shadow system is configured to generate shadow objects based on one or more source objects included in a digital image (e.g., a two-dimensional digital image), automatically and without user intervention. The shadow object is based on a shape of the source object that is to “cast” the shadow and thus promotes realism. The shadow object is also generated by the dynamic shadow system to address an environment, in which, the shadow object is disposed within the digital image.

Content creators, through interaction with a computing device, are provided with a variety of techniques that are usable to increase realism within two-dimensional digital images. An example of this involves shadow creation in which an object included in the digital image is provided with a shadow to invoke a feeling that the object is disposed on a ground plane (e.g., a floor, surface, and so on) within the digital image. Although conventional techniques increase the realism over that of depicting the object alone in the digital image, these conventional techniques are inflexible and fail to mimic real-world scenarios and thus differ from visual expectations of users that view these digital images.
In one such conventional example, a drop-shadow effect is supported that is used to provide a feeling of "ground" as perceived from a top view in relation to the object that "casts the shadow." However, this conventional technique fails because appearance of the shadow is predefined and independent of the object and its surrounding within the digital image, i.e., other objects. Thus, these shadows lack realism for known and relatable objects because shadows defined in this example have shapes, locations, and appearances that are divorced from an appearance of the objects that are to appear as casting the shadows. Accordingly, conventional techniques fail in such instances in promoting realism of the digital image and hinder operation of a computing device that implements these techniques resulting from additional operations and user interaction involved in correcting this failure or forgoing the feature altogether.


A bulb planter includes a pair of blade halves cooperating to form a tubular tool head and a molded plastic handle body forming a pair of handles. The blade halves are preferably metal and riveted to the handle body. The handle body forms a living hinge for selectively pivoting the blade halves upon movement of the handles. The blade halves pivot toward and away from each other between a soil plug cutting position and a soil plug releasing position upon movement of the handles. A resilient member biases the blade halves toward the soil plug cutting position. The resilient member is preferably an elastomer ring encircling the blade halves. The handles extend in opposed directions substantially perpendicular to a central longitudinal axis and are manually movable against the bias of the resilient member to move the blade halves to the soil plug release position.

A variety of different hand-operated tools are commonly used for lawn and gardening tasks. Such as, for example, bulb planters are commonly used for planting flower bulbs. These bulb planters typically have a tool head, in the form cylindrical or frusto-conical shaped tube, with a handle rigidly attached to one end of the tube. The tool head is typically metal while the handle is typically wood but is sometimes metal. The tube is pushed into the ground, rotated and or twisted about a central vertical axis and then pulled out to remove a soil plug from the ground so that a plant or flower bulb can be placed in the hole created by removing the soil plug and then covered with the soil plug.
While these prior bulb planters may be adequate to perform their intended planting tasks under some conditions, they can be difficult and uncomfortable to grasp and hold, particularly with two hands, and can require the operator to have a relatively large amount of hand strength. Additionally, it can be difficult to remove the soil plug from the cylinder once the tool head has been removed from the ground. This can particularly be a concern when the hand tools are used by women, elderly, or handicapped users. Additionally, there is a never ending desire to improve certain characteristics of such bulb planters such as, for example, quality, reliability, versatility, weather-resistance, high strength, low weight, and low manufacturing costs. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for improved bulb planters.


A plasma display apparatus and a method of driving the plasma display apparatus are disclosed. The plasma display apparatus includes a plasma display panel including a plurality of electrodes, a driving pulse controller for outputting a timing control signal and a driver. The driver supplies a set-down pulse to at least one electrode of the plurality of electrodes depending on the timing control signal. The first set-down pulse gradually falls from a first voltage to a second voltage during a first period, is maintained at the second voltage during a second period, and gradually falls from the second voltage to a third voltage during a third period.

1. Field
This document relates to a plasma display apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A plasma display apparatus comprises a plasma display panel and a driver for driving the plasma display panel. A plasma display panel comprises a front panel a rear panel and discharge cells partitioned by barrier ribs formed between the front panel and the rear panel. Each of the discharge cells is filled with an inert gas containing a main discharge gas such as neon (Ne), helium (He) and a mixture of Ne and He, and a small amount of xenon (Xe). When a discharge occurs inside the discharge cell by a high frequency voltage supplied to an electrode of the plasma display apparatus, the inert gas generates vacuum ultra-violet rays, which thereby cause phosphors formed between the barrier ribs to emit light, thus displaying an image.
The plasma display apparatus represents gray scale of the image by mapping an image signal for at least one of a plurality of subfields constituting a frame. Each of the subfields is divided into a reset period for initializing all the discharge cells, an address period for selecting cells to be discharged and a sustain period for representing gray scale.

Plasma display apparatus and driving method thereof to yield a stable address discharge


A base station may define power saving profiles, and may define, for the power saving profiles, sets of features and parameter settings for each feature of the sets of features. The base station may store the power saving profiles, the sets of features, and the parameter settings in a data structure, and may receive, from a user equipment, data identifying a service utilized by the user equipment or an operation mode of the user equipment. The base station may retrieve, from the data structure, a single power saving profile based on the data identifying the service utilized by the user equipment or the operation mode of the user equipment, and may enable, for the user equipment, a corresponding set of features and corresponding parameter settings of the single power saving profile based on the single power saving profile being retrieved from the data structure.

A power save mode (PSM) is a feature of a user equipment (UE) that may turn off a transceiver of the UE and puts the UE to "sleep" without the UE having to re-attach to a network when the UE next wakes up. Similarly, extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) is a power saving feature that can be used by a UE to also reduce power consumption. eDRX can be used without PSM or in conjunction with PSM to obtain additional power savings.

Systems and methods for providing power saving profiles for user equipment


A method and apparatus for optimizing picture quality of a video signal. The method includes displaying a user menu having a plurality of choices of video labels; receiving a choice of video label from the plurality via an input from a user; translating the video label into a label code; receiving at least a first video processing parameter from a look-up table corresponding to the label code; and configuring a video processor according to the first video processing parameter. The apparatus includes a microprocessor; a memory associated with the microprocessor, the memory for storing video parameters associated with video processing; a video input selector coupled to a plurality of video inputs, the video input selector also coupled to the microprocessor to receive a choice of video inputs therefrom; and a video processor connected to the microprocessor for receiving video parameters therefrom, the video processor also coupled to the video input selector to receive a video signal therefrom and to condition the video signal using the video parameters. The invention may be implemented in software, hardware, firmware, microcode, and other such media.

Current TVs can receive signals from a variety of input types, such as DVD, cable, MPEG, RF, VCD, etc. The signal from each input type has generally different signal characteristics. The TV picture quality of each input type is generally optimized with a different TV input setting, this TV input setting determining how the TV tuner treats the signal.
When a user switches from an input type with an optimized picture quality to a different input type, the picture quality diminishes unless the TV input setting is also changed.
For example, if the input type is a DVD, the TV input setting should be set to a high frequency response. If the input type is switched to cable, the high frequency response TV input setting causes the noise level to be heightened, resulting in a noisy picture quality.
Alternatively, if the input type is cable, the TV input setting should be set to a lower frequency response, or should employ noise reduction techniques. If the input type is then switched to DVD, the lower frequency response TV input setting causes the DVD picture quality to lose detail and become "soft".
The following table summarizes certain of the preferred settings for various signal sources:
NoiseFrequency responseVCRHighLowDVDLowMidHDLowHigh
Current systems employ TV input settings that can be manually changed by the user.
Many users have difficulty operating these systems. In addition, they primarily serve to merely identify which of several physical TV input connectors should be used as a signal source. As such, no special signal conditioning is employed.
Various methods have been developed that enable the system to change the input setting based on certain detected signal characteristics, such as signal strength. These methods are generally cumbersome and fail to work well for all systems, in part because different types of signal overlap in various characteristics, creating ambiguous signal conditioning situations.

Automatic picture conditioning based upon user input choosing a video label


A system for and methods of semiconductor testing and characterization are disclosed. The system includes a parallel dipole line (PDL) system for applying a magnetic field to a sample in a measurement chamber and electrical equipment for testing the sample. The testing includes applying a first light exposure to the sample with the PDL system set to zero magnetic field and monitoring longitudinal resistance (Rxx) of the sample as intensity of the first light exposure varies. A second light exposure is applied with the PDL system set to maximum magnetic field, and transverse magnetoresistance (RB+) is monitored as light intensity varies. A third light exposure is applied with the PDL system set to minimum magnetic field, and transverse magnetoresistance (RB−) is monitored as light intensity varies. The characterization includes carrying out a photo-Hall analysis based on data from the testing.

The present disclosure relates to semiconductor characterization and, more specifically, to carrier resolved photo-Hall measurements.
Hall effect measurements are semiconductor characterization techniques used to find properties of charge carriers in a material. A Hall effect measurement can involve passing electric current through the sample and subjecting the sample to a perpendicular magnetic field. The longitudinal resistance of the sample can be measured under zero magnetic field, and the transverse resistance of the sample can be measured under an applied magnetic field. This can be used to find carrier type, charge density, and mobility for a majority carrier. Carrier-resolved photo-Hall (CRPH) measurements utilize an alternating current (AC) field Hall measurement system using a rotating parallel dipole line (PDL) magnet system and a formula for determining the difference between hole mobility and electron mobility based on Hall effect measurements in the presence of light. Based on the mobility difference, parameters such as mobility, carrier density, and diffusion lengths for both electrons and holes can be found.

Rapid carrier-resolved photo-hall analysis


An arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) device prevents malfunction of an electric circuit and checks the state of the circuit and connection state of lines. One of a phase conductor line and a neutral conductor line is wound around a transformer which converts a current difference flowing in the AC line into voltage to detect whether an arc fault occurs, and a voltage induced by the wound line is rectified into direct-current and is converted into constant voltage to obtain power for the AFCI. An arc wave generator includes a rectifier to generate a rectified signal; a drop resistor which drops the voltage of the rectified signal to generate a voltage-dropped signal; and a mono-stable multivibrator which adjusts a voltage level and a pulse width of the voltage-dropped signal and generates a pulse signal that is used to generate a false arc for testing the AFCI.

Usually, a molded-case circuit breaker (MCCB) and an earth leakage circuit breaker are used in homes for prevention of fire or electric shock accidents. The molded-case circuit breaker (MCCB) is used for the purpose of protecting electric wires, and the earth leakage circuit breaker is used for the purpose of protecting a user by sensing an electric leakage on an electric circuit and shutting off electric power when the user gets shocked in the midst of using electric appliances.
Although molded-case circuit breaker (MCCB) and earth leakage circuit breakers have been widely installed in the world, a lot of fires break out every year worldwide. This is because arcing type fault occurs. Fox example, arcing type fault may occur due to aging of electric systems, insulation breakdown and wiring destruction, mechanical and electrical stress due to overuse or over-current, connection defect, or excessive mechanical damage to insulation and wiring in very various forms. This arcing type fault is low-current and high-impedance, and generates electric current that has an average RMS (Root Mean Square) value fewer than a thermal threshold of a circuit-breaker. Accordingly, the circuit breaker which is used as a cable cutting or interruption device does not react with a defective situation, and accordingly, fire may break out frequently.
Thus, an arc fault circuit interrupt (AFCI) device that can intercept electric arc fault is required compulsorily. Since 2002 in the U.S.A., an arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) has been required under many building codes.
As stated above, the conventional AFCI device has detected an amount of variation of the current that flows on a phase conductor line and a neutral conductor line to which alternating-current (AC) power source is supplied by a current transformer (CT), and judged whether the arc fault of an electric circuit occurs. When the arc fault of the electric circuit is generated, the electric power of the electric circuit is shut off.
However, since the conventional AFCI device is supplied with a direct power source from an AC line, there frequently occurs malfunction due to up-stream according to the input of an electric arc signal generated around the AC line. Also, an abnormal trip by lightening surges that flow in the AC line is generated to thereby cause the malfunction of the electric circuit.


A system is described for managing interaction between an untimed HAL portion and a timed HDL portion of the testbench, wherein the timed portion is embodied on an emulator and the un-timed portion executes on a workstation. Repeatability of verification results may be achieved even though the HAL portion and the HDL portion run in parallel with each other. A communication interface is also described for synchronizing and passing data between multiple HDL threads on the emulator domain and simultaneously-running multiple HAL threads on the workstation domain. In addition, a remote procedural-call-based communication link, transparent to the user, is generated between the workstation and the emulator. A technique provides for repeatability for blocking and non-blocking procedure calls. FSMs and synchronization logic are automatically inferred to implement remote procedural calls. A subset of behavioral language is identified that combines the power of conventional modeling paradigms with RTL performance.

Hardware Description Languages (HDLs) are predominantly used to describe integrated circuit designs. Various HDLs exist in the market today such as Very High Speed Integrated Circuit HDL (VHDL), Verilog, and System Verilog. HDL may be used to describe a design at various levels of abstraction. For instance, VHDL supports many possible levels/styles of design description. These styles differ primarily in how closely they relate to the underlying hardware. Some levels focus more on the behavior and dataflow of a design, while other levels focus more on the structural and timing aspects of the design.
For example, integrated circuit designs may be described at the dataflow level of abstraction, often called the register transfer level (RTL). In this intermediate level of abstraction, a design is described in terms of how data moves through the design. At the heart of most digital systems today are registers, and an RTL model describes how information is passed between registers in the design. This movement is synchronized at specific points of time which are indicated by the changes of values of a special design signal commonly known as a clock. Typically, while an RTL model of the combinational logic portions of the design is described at a relatively high level, the timing and operation of registers in the design are described more specifically. RTL is therefore an intermediate level that allows the drudgery of combinational logic to be simplified (and automatically generated by logic synthesis tools) while the more important parts of the circuit, the registers, are more completely specified. Once the design is specified in an RTL model, RTL synthesis tools translate, or synthesize, this model into a still lower level model of abstraction, i.e., into a gate-level structural model. Synthesis refers to the process of transformation of a design model from a higher level of abstraction to a lower level. These transformations typically try to improve upon a set of objective metrics (e.g., area, speed, power dissipation) of a design.
Once a design has been described, to increase likelihood of first pass success, the design is typically verified for proper functionality prior to physical fabrication as an integrated circuit chip. While being tested, an HDL model of a design is called a Design Under Test (DUT). This DUT (which is an RTL design model) is simulated using a testbench. The testbench generates a set of input test vectors, or stimuli, and applies the stimuli to the DUT. The testbench also reads a set of output test vectors from the DUT in response to the stimuli. The testbench collects the responses made by the DUT against a specification of correct results.
A testbench in its traditional form is described at a behavioral level and defines the environment for the DUT in its target system. Behavioral HDL, which is the currently highest level of abstraction supported in HDL, describes a design in terms of what it does (or how it behaves) rather than in terms of its structural components and interconnection between them. A behavioral model specifies a relationship between signals within the design as well as inputs to and outputs from the design. When creating a behavioral model of a design, one describes the operation of the design over time. The usage of time is a critical distinction between behavioral descriptions of circuits and lower-level descriptions such as a dataflow level of abstraction.
In a behavioral description, time may be expressed precisely as absolute delays between related events (such as the propagation delays within gates and on wires), or time may be a factor by defining the sequential ordering of events. Synthesis tools currently attempt to transform behavioral HDL models into lower-level HDL models. However, synthesis tools presently do not attempt to maintain the identical behavior in actual circuitry as defined in the behavioral model. In other words, exact time sequencing of the design elements are not preserved in synthesis. Therefore, such synthesis tools can not be used for synthesizing behavioral testbenches.
Design verification may be performed using a variety of methods. For example, software based simulators are the most commonly used verification tools. Software simulators have an advantage in that they can accept HDL at any level of abstraction, such as a behavioral level of abstraction, thus providing a way to simulate both a DUT (in RTL) and its testbench (in behavioral description). However, simulators have a disadvantage in that, for large designs, simulators typically can achieve a speed of not more than a few tens to hundreds of clock cycles per second (cps).
To increase the overall simulation speed, co-simulation approaches have been used, in which the behavioral testbench runs on a software simulator and the RTL DUT is mapped and executed onto a reconfigurable hardware platform. The reconfigurable hardware platform may be implemented as, e.g., a plurality of reconfigurable hardware elements, such as a set of general-purpose processors and/or Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs).
To execute the DUT on the reconfigurable hardware platform (also referred to herein as an emulator), the RTL model of the DUT is first translated into a structural model using an RTL synthesis tool. This structural model, known as a netlist, describes a circuit in terms of interconnection of gate level components. The emulator may implement the RTL model of the DUT on, for example, a collection of reconfigurable hardware elements such as an array of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or the like.
The structural level models a system as a collection of logic gates and their interconnection to perform a desired function. The structural level is a representation that is closer to the physical realization of a system. Thereafter, the emulator runs the structural level description of the DUT at the actual binary gate levels and is therefore, considerably faster than a simulator being used for the same purpose. However, the testbenches in a co-simulation approach are still written in behavioral HDL and are run on a software platform, also known as a simulator. The emulator and the simulator must frequently communicate with each other in order to maintain synchronization with each other. Such frequent communication taxes the resources of the emulator and simulator, thus reducing the potential speed at which the system may operate. Because of this limitation, co-simulation speeds are typically only three to ten times pure software simulation speeds. Co-simulation has other disadvantages, such as that they require memories to be re-modeled in terms of the memories available in the emulator.
Newer techniques have been developed that allow a testbench to be described using a high-level algorithmic language (HAL) such as C, C++, and SystemC. The industry as a whole is beginning to adopt the usage of such HALs to describe the Testbench at higher level of abstraction and take advantage of algorithmic property of HALs. Using HALs, a relatively new transaction-based verification methodology has also been adopted to improve the performance and verification coverage. In this recently-developed methodology, a testbench is re-structured into a timed portion (also known as a transactor) and an un-timed portion.
The timed portion, or transactor, of the testbench is responsible for direct signal level interaction with the DUT. A transactor either decomposes an untimed transaction into a set of clocked events or composes a set of clocked events into a message. When receiving messages, transactors freeze DUT clocks for a sufficient time to allow messages to be fully decomposed before providing clocked data to a DUT. Transactors also freeze DUT clocks when sending a message, and they allow message composition operations to complete before new clocked data is received from the DUT. The un-timed portion, on the other hand, is purely algorithmic, and interacts with the timed portion using abstract transactions. The un-timed portion does not utilize the concept of a clock.
By dividing the testbench into timed and un-timed portions, improvements may be realized in the overall functional coverage of the design verification process. Moreover, using the above methodology, it is easier to write a testbench and achieve better functional verification coverage. However, the entire testbench, i.e., both the timed and un-timed portions, remains as software to be executed on the work-station. Accordingly, what performance improvements are realized by using this methodology are still somewhat limited.
Several approaches have been taken to improve the interaction between the timed and un-timed portions of a testbench. These approaches are: signal-level connections, high-level abstract message passing, and function-call-based interaction. Using signal-level connections, interactions with the untimed HAL domain are triggered based on events on the signals on the boundary of the timed and untimed portions of the testbench. This approach is the most commonly used approach and is implemented using a programming language interface (PLI), typically provided by conventional simulators. High-level abstract message passing is based on a communication protocol defined by the well-known Standard Co-Emulation Modeling Interface (SCE-MI) standard. The use of this approach is described in more detail below. Function-call-based interaction is a relatively new approach, wherein data transfers are performed using function call arguments. System Verilog has adopted this approach, which is known as Direct Programming Interface (DPI).
Other attempts have been made to improve the performance of this new timed/un-timed methodology through co-simulation by using a hardware accelerator or emulator to run the DUT model while a HAL simulator runs the testbench on a workstation. However, this approach requires substantial communication overhead. In co-simulation, communication between the hardware-implemented DUT and the software-implemented testbench is event-based and at the signal level, and therefore occurs frequently. Unfortunately, due to this high communication overhead between the DUT and the testbench, co-simulation improves verification speed for most designs by, at most, a factor of three to ten.
Still other attempts have been made to improve verification performance. The use of SCE-MI has provided more than an order of magnitude improvement in performance by modeling transactors at the RTL level and synthesizing them to execute, not as software, but as hardware on an emulator. SCE-MI is, in a nutshell, an interface that bridges two different modeling environments, each of which supports a different level of modeling abstraction. More particularly, SCE-MI is a transaction-based methodology that can be used for both Verilog and VHDL designs, and that provides a low-level interface and mechanism for passing messages between the HDL domain (which is on a reconfigurable hardware platform, such as an accelerator or an emulator) and the HAL domain (which is on a sequential computation platform, such as a software-executing workstation). On the HAL domain, SCE-MI provides a set of functions that are callable to send or receive messages to or from the HDL domain. The HAL domain may create multi-cycle transaction packets and send the packets to the HDL domain as a single message, or receive multi-cycle output as a single message from the HDL domain, which is then decomposed on the HAL domain into multiple packets so that they may be processed. Likewise, the HDL domain may receive these transactions (For example multi-cycle stimulus packets), and will decompose them into multiple cycle level signals that are then applied to the DUT. On the HDL domain, there is a pre-defined set of input and output hardware macros that the designer may use to send or receive any messages to or from the corresponding HAL domain.
Using SCE-MI, the testbench, including algorithms for stimulus generation and DUT output processing, may be written in the HAL domain. The stimuli generated by the testbench may be communicated to the HDL domain at the transaction level, whereby the HDL side receives these transactions at a high level, decomposes them into cycle level signals, and applies the cycle level signals to the DUT. Similarly, the HDL domain collects the DUT outputs, creates transaction packets containing the outputs, and sends the transaction packets to the HAL domain, which then decomposes the transaction packets into output data. Due to the packetizing and decomposition that must occur, communication between the HDL domain and the HAL domain uses a much faster clock than the design clock used by the DUT. The transactor runs on this faster clock and can control the design clock during message decomposition and packetizing. The user/designer instantiates a clock macro in the transactor through which the design clock of the DUT is generated and controlled. By using the transactor to control the design clock, the transactor is able to determine and control when the DUT clock should be stopped and when it should be allowed to run. In this methodology, the faster clock is not controllable and is commonly known as Un-Controlled clock (uclock).
However, SCE-MI as described above has some problems. First, SCE-MI is difficult to use and design with. SCE-MI is a very complex modeling paradigm with complicated communication protocols, placing significant burdens on the designer. The APIs and structural macros of SCE-MI are very low level and therefore difficult to use. Also, to use SCE-MI properly, the designer must understand the concept and appropriate usage of uncontrolled-clocks. This places yet another burden on the designer. Additionally, SCE-MI is inherently non-deterministic, and so verification results may be non-repeatable in certain situations. This is a major limitation since verification and debugging issues can be very difficult if verification runs are not repeatable. Finally, SCE-MI requires that the testbench transactors be written only at the RTL level to be synthesizable to run on the reconfigurable hardware platform. Thus, with SCE-MI, the complete HDL side must be written at the RTL level.
System Verilog provides yet another modeling interface for communication between the HDL and HAL models, called the Direct Programming Interface (DPI). DPI allows imported and exported tasks or functions to be called on both the HDL domain as well as the HAL domain. Thus, functions or tasks can be written in HDL yet called from the HAL domain (e.g., using the C language). Such functions and tasks are known as exported functions and tasks. Likewise, functions can be written on the HAL domain and called from the HDL domain as tasks or functions. Such functions and tasks are known as imported functions and tasks. In general, DPI works well, is easy to use, and does not require that the designer learn any new language or methodology. Still, DPI is extension of System Verilog, and hence the entire system (both the DUT and the testbench) is limited to running on a System Verilog software simulator. Accordingly, little if any performance improvement is realized by using DPI.

Compilation of remote procedure calls between a timed HDL model on a reconfigurable hardware platform and an untimed model on a sequential computing platform


The invention proposes a changer device for optical elements (2a–2e) in stereomicroscopes with which a pair of optical elements (2) can be inserted in the two stereo channels (3) of a stereomicroscope. A particularly compact construction can be achieved by arranging the optical elements (2) side by side in an arc, more particularly in a circle, while between the elements of a pair of elements (2a, 2d) associated with the two stereo channels (3), at least one other optical element (2e; 2b, 2c) is provided, and in that the center (4) of the arcuate or circular arrangement (1) is shifted laterally away from the middle (5) of the stereobase of the stereo channels (3).

Changer devices of this kind are frequently used to achieve different operating positions in a stereomicroscope, for example to connect, couple, and/or decouple, or deflect partially or wholly one of the two optical paths for documentation, for superimposing or for measurement, regulation or monitoring purposes. In addition, suitable shutters and/or filters can be placed in one or both optical paths.
DE 196 22 357 A1 discloses a changer device of this kind for switching the operating modes of a microscope tube between the positions for viewing, recording and simultaneous viewing and recording. For this, three optical elements are provided, namely a completely reflective first element, a partly transparent second element and a compensating element for compensation of the optical distance as the third optical element. The first and second elements are fixed on separate guide carriages which are arranged to be movable relative to one another. Depending on the desired operating position the optical elements are moved into or out of the optical path by pushing them in a straight line along guide rods.
Sliding constructions of this kind are mechanically complex in design, even for a single-channel microscope tube as described in DE 196 22 357 A1 and take up considerable room in stereomicroscopy as each operating position requires two optical elements arranged in pairs, which has an unfavourable effect on the shape and handling of the tube.
WO 99/13370 A1 describes a filter changing wheel for stereo-fluorescence microscopy in which a circular disc is divided into four segments, each segment carrying a number of filters arranged side by side which can be placed in the beam path of the stereomicroscope. For example, one segment might contain three filters, two of which may be placed in the viewing path while one can be placed in the illumination path. The filter carriers which carry the filters form a segment of a circle and are interchangeable. The center point of the changing wheel in this design is located far outside the center of the stereo channels, which means that the device takes up considerable space.
Other known changer devices in stereomicroscopy are currently based on sliding mechanisms. These devices are very limited in the number of operating positions (generally two positions) and also take up considerable space.
Changer devices are also known in which four or eight elements are arranged side by side in a circle, the center of rotation of the arrangement being located in the middle between the two stereo channels, i.e. in the center of the stereobase. This does indeed achieve a more compact construction than with the linear changer devices but the number of original operating positions is restricted by the fact that for each operating position two elements have to be arranged in a circle the diameter of which corresponds to the spacing of the stereo channels.
The growing need for digital documentation, for example, by means of beam decoupling and after decoupling of the beam from the microscope for add-on modules makes it necessary to have more flexible changer devices in stereomicroscopes. A large number of different operating positions should be possible while achieving a compact structure for the changer device.