A request accepting server accepts a processing request of data of a predetermined type, analyzes the request, and allocates a process corresponding to the request to either one of the request accepting server and at least one database processing server. A handle is a control block to manage a storage area of data as a processing target and has a server in which the processing target data has been stored and information regarding its storing position. When the processing target data corresponding to the processing request is processed in accordance with the processing request, the request accepting server executes a process according to the processing request by using a handle regarding the processing target data. When an entity of the processing target data is necessary, the entity of the processing target data is obtained on the basis of the handle and is processed.

The invention relates to database processing method and apparatus and, more particularly, to database processing method and apparatus which can define a Large Object data type (LOB type) and an Abstract Data Type (ADT type).
A database management system (hereinbelow, abbreviated to DBMS), particularly, a relational DBMS processes an inquiry expressed by a non-procedure like language. SQL is used as a database language. With respect to the database language SQL, studies regarding the standard of the next SQL (ISO, ANSI) are being progressed at present.
The LOB type is one of main functions of the next SQL. The LOB type is a type which enables the DBMS to handle data such as document, moving picture, audio data, or the like of an amount that is extremely larger than that of data which has hitherto been handled by a conventional database. In accordance with a type of data to be stored, a CLOB type for storing character data such as characters or the like and a BLOB type for storing binary data such as image, audio, or the like are prepared.
As for data such as moving picture, audio, or the like, since a size of each data is large, data of a few megabytes or gigabytes is also considered. It is difficult for the user to store or read out data of the LOB type to/from the DBMS in a lump. Therefore, an interface to divisionally write or read out data by a plurality of operations is generally used.
An example of the operation for such LOB data is shown below. An LOB locator is used in order to hold the LOB data as variables in the DBMS and to operate the LOB data by an UAP (user application). Operation examples are shown by a description by a C language. A sentence structure which begins with "EXEC SQL" buried in the C language program is a description of the DBMS operation.
______________________________________ EXEC SQL BEGIN DECLARE SECTION; SQL TYPE IS BLOB.sub.-- LOCATOR resume; char buffer[1000]=" "; int number; int start; int end; EXEC SQL END DECLARE SECTION; ______________________________________
In the above description, variables defined within a range from "SQL BEGIN DECLARE SECTION" to "END DECLARE SECTION" denote a definition of the variables which are used for the DB operation. "resume" denotes the LOB locator.
______________________________________ EXEC SQL DECLARE c1 CURSOR FOR SELECT no , resume FROM emp.sub.-- resume WHERE format=`ascii`; EXEC SQL OPEN cl; EXEC SQL FETCH c1 INTO :number , :resume; ______________________________________
It denotes a description indicating that a retrieval for obtaining values of "no" and "resume" in the line of "format=`ascii`" in an "emp.sub.-- resume" table is executed. It is assumed that the "emp.sub.-- resume" table has previously been defined. First, a cursor "c1" is defined by "DECLARE CURSOR" and the retrieving condition is designated by "SELECT". The cursor "c1" is opened by next "OPEN" and one line adapted to the above condition is extracted by next "FETCH". Now assuming that the "resume" column is of the LOB type, a locator value indicative of the LOB data is set to ":resume".
EXEC SQL SET :buffer=SUBSTR(:resume , :start , :size); PA0 EXEC SQL SET :resume="Hello !!"; PA0 EXEC SQL INSERT into emp.sub.-- resume values(:number, :resume);
It is a description indicating that a SUBSTR function is executed to the LOB data indicated by the ":resume" locator and the result is stored into a "buffer". The SUBSTR function is a process for extracting data within a range from a ":start" position to a ":size" size of the LOB data shown by the ":resume" locator.
It is a description indicating that "Hello!!" is set to the LOB data shown by the ":resume" locator (namely, data is substituted into variables).
It is a description indicating that an integer value of ":number" and the LOB data shown by the ":resume" locator are stored into the "emp.sub.-- resume" table (namely, an insertion of data into an actual database).
As for the LOB data, the operation as mentioned above can be performed.
ADT (Abstract Data Type) is also one of the main functions of the next SQL. ADT is a data type of a user definition in which a type defined by the user can be designated when a table is defined in a manner similar to a type of a system definition. Since the ADT type is a data type formed by the user and is a data type which is not known by the DB, it is difficult to extract the ADT type data by the UAP such as a C language. For this purpose, an operating method using an ADT locator is provided. In a manner similar to the case of the LOB type, an example of the operation for the ADT type data is shown below.
______________________________________ EXEC SQL CREATE VALUE TYPE real.sub.-- estate (rooms INTEGER, size DECIMAL(8,2), text.sub.-- description VARCHAR(1024), location address, document doc); ______________________________________
It is a description indicating that a "real.sub.-- estate" type of the user definition is defined.
______________________________________ EXEC SQL CREATE VALUE TYPE address (street CHAR(30), city CHAR(20), state CHAR(2), zip INTEGER); EXEC SQL CREATE VALUE TYPE doc (format CHAR(20), data BLOB(10M)); ______________________________________
It is a description indicating that an "address" type and a "doc" type are defined in a manner similar to the definition of the "real.sub.-- estate" type.
______________________________________ EXEC SQL CREATE TABLE real.sub.-- estate.sub.-- info (price INTEGER, owner CHAR(40), property real.sub.-- estate); ______________________________________
It is a description indicating that a "real-estate info" table is defined. Particularly, a column of "proper" in the table is set to the "real.sub.-- estate" type of the user definition.
______________________________________ EXEC SQL BEGIN DECLARE SECTION SQL TYPE IS ADT.sub.-- LOCATOR FOR real.sub.-- estate re.sub.-- locator; SQL TYPE IS BLOB(2G) doc.sub.-- file; struct{ short len; char data[1024]; }text.sub.-- descr; EXEC SQL END DECLARE SECTION; ______________________________________
Variables defined within a range from "SQL BEGIN DECLARE SECTION" to "END DECLARE SECTION" in the above description denote a definition of the variables which is used for the DB operation. "re.sub.-- locator" indicates the ADT locator.
______________________________________ EXEC SQL DECLARE rel CURSOR FOR SELECT property FROM real.sub.-- estate.sub.-- info WHERE price<400000 FOR UPDATE OF property; EXEC SQL OPEN rel; ______________________________________
In the above description, a cursor "re1" is defined by "DECLARE CURSOR" and a retrieving condition is designated by "SELECT". A retrieving condition is a retrieval for obtaining "property" in the line of "price<400000" of the "real.sub.-- estate.sub.-- info" table in order to update "property". After that, the cursor "re1" is opened by "OPEN".
______________________________________ while( SQLCODE==0){ EXEC SQL FETCH rel INTQ :re.sub.-- locator; EXEC SQL SET :text.sub.-- descr = text.sub.-- description(:re.sub.-- locator); EXEC SQL SET :doc.sub.-- file = data(document(:re.sub.-- locator)); EXEC SQL UPDATE real.sub.-- estate.sub.-- info SET property = :re.sub.-- locator WHERE CURRENT OF rel; } EXEC SQL CLOSE rel; ______________________________________
The operation which is executed in the above "while" sentence will now be sequentially explained. First, one line is extracted by the cursor "re1" by "FETCH". It denotes that the setting of the current position and the positioning of the ADT locator (a locator value indicative of the ADT data is set to ":re.sub.-- locator") are performed. The next "SET" sentence indicates that the operation to designate ":re-locator" as an ADT locator and to extract "text.sub.-- description" of a variable length character train from "property" as a "real.sub.-- estate" type of the user definition is performed. The next "SET" sentence denotes that the operation to designate ":re.sub.-- locator" as an ADT locator, to extract "document" as a "doc" type from "property" as a "real.sub.-- estate" type of the user definition, to extract BLOB data "data" in the "doc" type data, and to transfer it to a client is executed. The next "UPDATE" indicates the execution of the operation to reflect the value of the ADT data designated by the ADT locator "re.sub.-- locator" to the DB ("real.sub.-- estate.sub.-- info" table). After the "while" sentence, the cursor "re1" is closed by "CLOSE".
The following operation can be executed with respect to the ADT data.
The locator has been disclosed in Don Chamberlin, "Using The New DB2", pp. 236-241, 1996.
On the other hand, in recent years, the application of the relational DBMS has been being progressed mainly with respect to a data process of business affairs, so that a database system which can scalably cope with increases in transaction amount and database amount exceeding a progress of a performance of a CPU or a disk capacity has been strongly required. In response to the request, a parallel DBMS has been proposed by various companies. With respect to a parallel DBMS architecture, for example, there have been proposed three systems as described in FIG. 1 of the article disclosed in "Nikkei Electronics", pages 101 to 114, Feb. 27, 1995. The three systems are a Shared-Everything system in which a main storage and a hard disk drive (HDD) are shared by all processors, a Shared-Disk system in which only the HDD is shared among the processors and the main storage is provided for every processor, and a Shared-Nothing system in which none of the main storage and the HDD is not shared among the processors.
In the parallel DBMS, servers are connected by a network and all of a notification of a control, a movement of data, and the like are performed by communication. Therefore, the movement of data of a large size such as LOB data causes an increase in communication load, so that a load of the whole system is raised.

Database processing method and apparatus using handle


A system and method are provided for remotely monitoring images from an image capturing device. Image data from an image capturing component is received where image data represents images of a scene in a field of view of the image capturing component. The image data may be analyzed to determine that the scene has changed. A determination may be made that the scene has changed. In response to this determination being made, a communication may be transmitted to a designated device, recipient or network location. The communication may be informative that a scene change or event occurred. The communication may be in the form of a notification or an actual image or series of images of the scene after the change or event.

Web cameras and network enabled image/video capturing devices have numerous applications, many of which relate to security and safety. With the growth of data networks, cameras are increasingly uses in connected environments.
In many applications and settings, cameras are connected to servers and their images are made available over data networks such as the Internet. One field of use for cameras and video technology include security and safety. Users can employ connected cameras to monitor secure locations or desired activities, such as in the case of "nanny cams." Even in such cases, a person normally needs to be manually view the images to see what occurred in the monitored scene. Under these past approaches, even though images from such cameras can be viewed remotely, the actual footage does need to be viewed in order for a viewer to see events and changes in the scene being viewed.

System and method for remotely monitoring and/or viewing images from a camera or video device


Methods and apparatus for creating an improved VLSI design. In-context timing analysis of a nominal VLSI design is performed and at least one assigned apportionment adjustment is determined for a sub-block of the nominal VLSI design. One or more slack adjustments are derived for at least one port of the sub-block based on the at least one apportionment adjustment and the one or more slack adjustments are applied to the in-context timing analysis to simulate a post optimization version of the sub-block. The in-context timing analysis is repeated using the one or more applied slack adjustments to generate the improved VLSI design.

The present invention relates to the design of integrated circuits (ICs), and more specifically, to the timing analysis and optimization of such circuits.
In VLSI (very large scale integration) digital design, fabricated devices conventionally include millions of transistors implementing hundreds of storage devices, functional logic circuits, and the like. The designs are often segmented or partitioned into sub-blocks (such as cores, units, macros, sub-hierarchies, and the like) to make the design process more manageable. For example, the design, placement, and routing of the circuits may be conducted at both a high-level and sub-block level, where the high-level considers the complete device including all sub-blocks (known as in-context design) and the sub-block level considers the design of a single sub-block (known as out-of-context design). While a sub-block level design may be used in multiple instances within the device, conventionally, only a single version of the design of the sub-block is produced. Timing considerations for a sub-block conventionally include constraints, such as the specification of the arrival time (AT) for each input signal at the entry of the sub-block and the speciation of a required arrival time (RAT) for generating each output signal of the sub-block. Note that the arrival time may vary between different input signals and the required arrival time may vary between different output signals. In addition, if a sub-block design is used multiple times within a high-level design, the arrival time constraint provided for the sub-block design is, for example, the worst case (latest) arrival time of the corresponding input port over all instances of the sub-block. Similarly, the required arrival time constraint provided for the sub-block design is the worst case (earliest) arrival time of the corresponding output port over all instances of the sub-block. A similar set of constraints may be provided for fastest or shortest path analysis where the earliest arrival time is considered. Conventionally, the high-level (in-context) design is completed after the sub-blocks are designed. There are different paradigms used in industry—in-context design completed after sub-blocks is one such paradigm. This is "sequential" design flow. Another technique involves iteratively performing in-context timing regularly with delivered, partially complete sub-blocks; providing feedback to sub-block designers and enabling more concurrent design environment. The latter is preferred for faster chip time-to-market requirements.

Apportionment aware hierarchical timing optimization

International Business Machines Corporation


A tongue scraper having a convex-shaped edge and a linear edge. The convex-shaped edge conforms to the lateral concavity of the tongue. The linear edge conforms to planar areas of the tongue. Tight gripping of the scraper is facilitated by a hole at each end intended to be pinched between the thumb and finger. In a first embodiment the scraper includes serrations on the convex and linear edges. In a second embodiment the convex and linear edges are smooth.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for promoting dental hygiene, and more particularly to a tongue scraper for cleansing food debris, volatile sulfur compounds, dead cells, microflora and other microorganisms from the tongue.
2. Description of the Related Art
The human tongue is slightly furry in texture and has numerous protuberances (viz., papillae) which convey to the brain the senses of taste and touch. Consequently, the tongue easily can become a breeding ground for microflora such as bacteria, as well as a repository for food debris, volatile sulfur compounds which are a major cause of halitosis, and dead cells. Over time, some of the collected material becomes a soft plaque which is another cause of bad breath, and also attacks the teeth and gums. Tests have shown that daily scraping to reduce the amount of coating on the tongue eliminates much of the bacteria and sulfur compounds, significantly inhibiting plaque formation on the teeth in the long term, and substantially reducing halitosis in the short term.
A wide variety of tongue scrapers are known in the dental hygiene arts. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,477,435 to Artelli discloses a tongue scraper with a metal blade-like member having one end portion formed to fit between wooden handle parts. A rigid blade-like portion extends forwardly of the handle at the other end in a curve for a right-handed or left-handed person. U.S. Pat. No. 3,890,964 to Castanedo discloses a one-piece tongue scraper which includes an elongated handle at one end with longitudinally diverging arms at the other end. The ends of the arms are connected by a longitudinally bowed cross bar having a laterally centered arched portion and beveled edge faces. U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,704 to Williams discloses a tongue cleaner in combination with a toothbrush. The tongue cleaner is an arcuate scraper member which is centrally secured to the tooth brush handle at the end opposite the brush.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,475 ("'475") to Kuber discloses a tongue scraper intended to be disposable after being used only once. The normally planar scraper is formed of a flexible, resilient material and includes opposed outer portions having smooth generally parallel edges. Each outer portion terminates in a rounded free end portion. An elongated central portion having a concave serrated edge is disposed between the two outer portions. Holding one end portion firmly in each hand and bending the scraper into a U-shape, the user contacts the extended tongue with the serrated edge and then scrapes gently from back to front to remove accumulated coating material.
The concave edge of the '475 scraper cannot optimally engage the tongue's lateral concavity. The mismatch between the two concavely arcuate conformations creates coverage gaps resulting in inefficient cleansing. What is needed is a scraper which includes an edge having a convexly shaped contour which conforms to the tongue's concave contour, and a linear edge to efficiently scrape the tongue's planar surface portions.


In a dual cavity toroidal type continuously variable transmission comprises, inward projections integral with a transmission case are positioned between two output discs and formed with threaded bolt holes directed toward an open end of the transmission case. An output gear housing is coaxially installed in the transmission case and secured to the inward projections by means of bolts which are screwed into the threaded bolt holes. The threaded bolt holes are arranged on a first imaginary circle which is coaxial with a second imaginary circle described by an outer periphery of the output discs. The first imaginary circle is greater than the second imaginary circle in diameter. Splines formed on an inner wall of the transmission case for carrying driven plates of a backward brake of a forward/backward switching mechanism are so arranged and constructed that tops of ridges of the splilnes are arranged on a third imaginary circle which is coaxial with the first imaginary circle and smaller than the same in diameter. Any splines which would overlap with the threaded bolt holes when viewed from the open end of the transmission case are not provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a toroidal type continuously variable transmission, and more particularly to a dual cavity toroidal type continuously variable transmission which includes a couple of toroidal type speed change units.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A toroidal type continuously variable transmission is a transmission using a toroidal type speed change unit as an essential element. The rotoidal type speed change unit comprises aligned input and output cone discs and power (or friction) rollers each being put between the input and output discs establishing a frictional engagement therewith. When a larger torque transmission is needed, a dual type unit including two toroidal type speed change units is commonly used such as one disclosed in Japanese Patent First Provisional Publication 4-69439. Usually, the transmission having such dual type unit is called a dual cavity toroidal type continuously variable transmission.
That is, in the dual type unit of the publication, two, that is, front and rear, toroidal type speed change units are coaxially arranged in a transmission case along a main shaft with their respective output discs arranged back-to-back with each other. The output discs are connected to rotate together about the main shaft. Respective input discs of the units are connected to the main shaft to rotate therewith. With a torque applied to the input disc of the front speed change unit, two input discs of the two speed change units are rotated together. A loading cam device is arranged about the main shaft in front of the front toroidal type speed change unit. With a thrust applied by the loading cam device to the input disc of the front speed change unit in accordance with a transmitted torque, the input discs of the two speed change units are biased toward the corresponding output discs. With this biasing force, power rollers of each speed change unit is compressed between the input and output discs with a force corresponding to the biasing force to assure power transmission from the input disc to the output disc. That is, power applied to each input disc is transmitted to the corresponding power rollers and then to the corresponding output disc. When, during this power transmission, the inclination angle of each power roller of each speed change unit is continuously changed relative to a rotation axis of the corresponding input and output discs, speed change is continuously carried out between the input and output discs. During this, the thrust applied to the respective input discs by the loading cam device biases the power rollers against the output discs.
In a dual cavity toroidal type continuously variable transmission including the two toroidal type speed change units, it is common to rotatably support the main shaft at the position between the respective output discs of the speed change units. For this supporting, there is provided in the transmission case a gear housing (or intermediate wall member) through which the main shaft passes in a manner to be rotatably supported thereby. To install the gear housing in the transmission case, the same is led into the case from a front open end of the transmission case and secured to a given portion of the case by bolts.
One arrangement for the gear housing in a transmission case is shown in Japanese Patent First Provisional Publication 5-39834. In this arrangement, an imaginary circle on which bolt holes for the bolts are arranged is positioned radially inside of an outer periphery of each output disc with respect to the main shaft. For this arrangement, it is inevitably necessary to take such assembling steps that at first, the gear housing is led into the transmission case and bolted to the given portion of the case and then the two output discs and associated parts are assembled to the gear housing. However, these assembling steps are troublesome and thus result in a greater assembly time. Furthermore, in the arrangement of the publication, it is somewhat difficult to obtain a precisely synchronized operation of the power rollers between the front and rear toroidal type speed change units. In fact, in such arrangement, it is difficult to provide around the gear housing with a suitable space through which an upper link bridging member needed for the synchronized operation passes.
In view of the above, the applicant has proposed a measure which is disclosed in Japanese Patent First Provisional Publication 7-158712 in which an imaginary circle on which the bolt holes are arranged is positioned radially outside of the outer periphery of each output disc. In this transmission, before inserting a gear housing into the transmission case, almost all parts to be mounted to the gear housing are preassembled to the gear housing and then the impregnated gear housing is bolted to the given portion of the transmission case. These assembling steps are simple. Furthermore, the arrangement of this publication can easily provide around the gear housing a certain space through which the upper link bridging member can pass.
As is known, the dual cavity toroidal type continuously variable transmission has, in addition to the above-mentioned two speed change units, a so-called forward/backward switching mechanism which is arranged at a front of the speed change units to transmit the rotation of an input shaft to the input discs while keeping or changing the direction of rotation.
The forward/backward switching mechanism comprises a planetary gear unit. Under power transmission in a normal direction, two rotatable members of the planetary gear unit are coupled by a forward clutch to permit the unit to assume a normally-coupled state. While, under power transmission in a reversed direction, one of the rotatable members is fixed to the transmission case by a backward brake to permit the unit to assume a reversely-coupled state.
In the forward/backward switching mechanism having the above-mentioned arrangement, driven plates of the backward brake are axially movably held by splines formed on an inner wall of the front open end of the transmission case. However, in order to permit insertion of the preassembled gear housing into the transmission case from the front open end, the splined portion of the inner wall has such a construction and size that tops of ridges of the splines are positioned radially outside of the above-mentioned imaginary circle. However, as is easily known, this arrangement tends to induce a bulky construction of the front open end of the transmission case, and thus, that of the transmission case.

Dual cavity toroidal type continuously variable transmission


An inverse channel estimation method includes receiving a modulated signal with a pilot. A local reference pilot, matching the received pilot as it was prior to transmission, is divided by a scaled version of the received pilot's power. The division result is scaled again and multiplied with a conjugate value of the received pilot signal, to obtain the inverse channel estimate. Scaling may be performed using bit shifting. The division is performed using a CORDIC algorithm. If multiple pilots are received, interpolation can be performed to provide channel estimates for time and/or frequencies in between. Interpolation can be based on the Farrow method. The received signal may be equalized by multiplying it with the inverse channel estimate.

The present invention relates to OFDM-based digital receivers and single-carrier digital receivers. This includes digital television and radio receivers, digital modems, wireless networks, powerline networks and other wideband digital communication systems.
Digital data transmission systems transfer blocks of digital data via wireless, wired (electrical), and optical media. A transmitter modulates signals with data from the digital data blocks and transfers the signals through the media. A receiver receives the modulated signals from the media and demodulates them to reconstruct the digital data blocks.
Modern modulation systems, such as orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), offer a high spectral efficiency, i.e. a highly efficient use of bandwidth that is available in the medium. However, to achieve this efficiency the medium must meet tight requirements.
In practice, the media may introduce changes to the modulated signals, such as dispersion, echos, frequency-dependent attenuation and delay, distortion, and the addition of noise and interference from various sources. Some or all of these changes may be time-dependent. As a result, demodulation may be compromised, resulting in bit errors or the inability to reconstruct the original bitstream. To combat these problems, digital receivers often include an equalizer function, which compensates the received modulated signals for estimated imperfections of the channel transfer characteristics, usually called the "channel transfer function". Channel estimates may include time and frequency-dependent changes in amplitude and phase.
In a single-carrier digital data transmission system, a sinusoid wave signal called the "carrier" is modulated with the digital data. To support estimating the channel transfer function, some of the time a reference signal called a "pilot" may be transmitted. In a stationary channel it would be sufficient to transmit a pilot only once, for instance prior to transmitting the data. In a quasi-stationary channel, pilots need to be transmitted regularly, possibly interrupting the data. Non-stationary channels, such as in mobile wireless applications, require pilots to be transmitted often. If data is packaged into "symbols", each symbol may contain both data and one or more pilots.
OFDM may utilize a large number of very closely orthogonally spaced carriers (called "subcarriers") that each are modulated with a part of the digital data to be transferred between the transmitter and receiver. For orthogonality, typically the subcarriers are equidistant and carry equal amounts of information, resulting in a very rectangular frequency spectrum. The use of many subcarriers means that each subcarrier need only carry a small fraction of the digital data and as a result, each subcarrier is modulated with low-bandwidth data. The resulting long transmission time protects the signal against short-duration interferences, such as noise spikes caused by lightning. However, the close subcarrier spacing makes the system very sensitive to frequency errors, such as offsets, frequency-dependent delays (phase errors) and attenuation, and fixed-frequency interference.
OFDM distributes blocks of digital data over the subcarriers and transmits those as OFDM symbols. For the duration of a first symbol, each subcarrier transmits its low-bandwidth part of a first data block, and for the duration of the next symbol each subcarrier transmits its low-bandwidth part of the next data block. To protect against interference from echos of prior symbols (e.g. due to multipath reception), each symbol is preceded by a guard interval containing a cyclical extension of the symbol itself. Typically, the guard interval is short compared to the symbol, but long enough to cover the worst expected echos. When operating optimally, the receiver does not demodulate data received during the guard interval.
However, the guard interval does not solve all problems caused by multipath reception. One effect of receiving a signal with one or more echos is that the echos will boost the signals for some frequencies and attenuate them for other frequencies. As a result, some subcarriers may be received stronger than other subcarriers, and also with different phase. Like other receivers, OFDM receivers compensate for this by constantly estimating the channel transfer function and equalizing the received signal based on the estimated channel transfer function.
The OFDM system facilitates channel estimation by including pilot carriers with known coding in each symbol. Pilots may have a fixed location, or their location may vary, in which case they are called "scattered pilots". For instance, the Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting Terrestrial (ISDB-T) system has scattered pilots every thirteenth carrier. In a first symbol the scattered pilots begin on the first carrier; in a second symbol the scattered pilots begin on the fourth carrier; in a third symbol the scattered pilots begin on the seventh carrier; in a fourth symbol the scattered pilots begin on the tenth carrier; in a fifth symbol the scattered pilots again begin on the first carrier, and so on. Pilots may be boosted versus the data carriers to increase the accuracy of channel estimators, which will be less sensitive to noise. Some OFDM systems, including ISDB-T, pseudo-randomly switch the phase of pilot carriers between zero and 180 degrees to help increase the channel estimators' phase accuracy.
FIG. 1 illustrates channel estimation in an OFDM system. The figure shows an amplitude-versus-frequency plot 100 of pilot subcarriers (drawn with solid vertical lines) received over the course of four symbols. Some of the pilots are received during reception of a first symbol. Others are received in the second, third, and fourth symbols, respectively. If the channel transfer function can be assumed quasi-stationary during the time of transmission of the four respective symbols, the channel transfer function for the data carriers can be estimated by a relatively straightforward interpolation. For reception in fast-moving mobile systems the quasi-stationary assumption may not hold, and more sophisticated 3D interpolation may be required. FIG. 1 shows the channel transfer function estimates for data carriers drawn with dotted lines.
Many interpolation systems are used in the art. Conventionally, solutions often use Lagrange interpolation or low-pass filtering. Lagrange interpolation requires continuous recalculation of many coefficients, which is a high computational burden. Low-pass filtering has the advantage of fixed coefficients, but there are very many—still giving a high computational burden.
Two methods are often used for channel estimation: "minimum mean-square error" (MMSE) and "least-squares" (LS), see for instance Jan-Jaap van de Beek et al., "On Channel Estimation in OFDM Systems", IEEE Proceedings of Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC '95), vol. 2, pp. 815-819 (September 1995). The MMSE method is very accurate, but complex. The LS method, sometimes referred to as Zero-Forcing Estimation, has lower complexity and is somewhat less accurate.
Even the LS channel estimation method traditionally includes a complex division, which is usually implemented in hardware. Standard division blocks are fast, but expensive, resulting in high receiver cost.
FIG. 2 illustrates a conventional channel equalizer 200, operating in the frequency domain. Input 290 of symbol buffer 210 receives one or more symbols, the symbols typically including both pilots and data. Based on the pilots, or whatever other information can be learned from the buffered symbols, channel estimator 220 provides a channel estimation. The channel estimation is typically one complex number per carrier, i.e. for a single-carrier system it would be a single real and imaginary number pair, and for an OFDM system with, say, 8,192 carriers it would be 8,192 such pairs. Block 230 converts the complex numbers to polar coordinates in a rectangular-to-polar conversion, yielding amplitude-phase pairs. Phase adjust block 240 adjusts data carriers from the symbol buffer for their phase, and amplitude adjust block 250 adjusts the phase-adjusted carriers for their amplitude. Hence, the equalizer output signal 295 has been frequency-adjusted for both its phase and amplitude, or in other words, has been equalized. In a mathematically linear system, the order of phase adjustment 240 and amplitude adjustment 250 is irrelevant; the blocks may be swapped, and an equalizer may adjust the amplitude first and the phase last.
A few prior solutions have realized that channel equalization may benefit from the use of the Coordinate Rotation Digital Computer (CORDIC) algorithm, first proposed by Jack E. Volder, "The CORDIC Trigonometric Computing Technique", IRE Transactions on Electronic Computing, pp. 330-334, IRE/IEEE (1959). CORDIC is an algorithm especially suitable for implementation in or execution on digital hardware, using successive cycles to compute a result with increasing accuracy, based on the digitally inexpensive operations of adding, subtracting, and multiplying by factors of two (i.e., bit-shifting). A CORDIC block can operate in two different modes to compute various types of result. One mode is called vectoring mode, often used for rectangular-to-polar conversion. The other mode is called rotation mode, often used for calculating the sine and cosine of an angle, and for polar-to-rectangular conversion.
One such prior solution is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,423,960, "Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) Equalizer", by Kuei-Ann Wen (2008). In accordance with the architecture illustrated in FIG. 2, Wen uses CORDICs (after having performed channel estimation) for rectangular-to-polar conversion as well as for phase rotation. Her approach yields considerable cost savings, but a simpler approach could save even more.
Moisès Serra et al. similarly describe in "Implementation of a Channel Equalizer for OFDM Wireless LANs" (Proceedings of the 15th IEEE International Workshop on Rapid System Prototyping, 2004) using a CORDIC for the rectangular-to-polar conversion. They then obtain inverse coefficients with an inverter using the "Hung" algorithm. They use a second CORDIC for phase tracking, and a third one for equalization. Although their design is less complex than some conventional designs, it is still relatively complex. Their architecture limits use to the frame structure typical for HIPERLAN symbols. The Hung algorithm needed for inversion is a Taylor series approximation, resulting in a large 16% relative error even with 10-bit data precision.

Method and apparatus for channel estimation and equalization


An EFM/EFM+ encoder and a method thereof, performing digital sum value (DSV) protection in an Eight-to-Fourteen/Eight-to-Fourteen Plus (EFM/EFM+) encoding system to generate a data frame to be recorded on a recording medium. The method comprises modulating source data to the data frame having a predetermined number of channel bits, determining merging bits and DSV based on the channel bits, and changing the predetermined number of the channel bits in the data frame based on the DSV and the merging bits. The changing the predetermined number of the channel bits comprises inserting or removing a channel bit at the end of the data frame.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to EFM/EFM+ encoding, and in particular to a EFM/EFM+ encoder and a method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In optical disc recording, data is transferred thereto in 8-bit form, known as a data symbol. The disc system then generates header and synchronization information, control bytes, identification data, and copyright management information, processes data including data scrambling and error correction code generation on the data symbols, and modulates the data symbols using EFM (Eight-to-Fourteen Modulation) for CD and EFM+ (Eight-to-Fourteen Modulation Plus) for DVD to produce modulated bits and channel bits for recoding.
Channel bits are typically transmitted in a Non Return to Zero Inverted (NRZI) format, comprising two possible states at one of which the channel bit remains until a binary one occurs in the modulated bits, i.e., each channel bit may either at +1 or −1 state. A channel bit is the minimum recording unit T on CDs and DVDs, referred to as Run-length Limited (RLL) code, meaning the number of consecutive binary zeros in the encoded bit pattern must be at least as large as a specified non-zero minimum and not exceeding a specified maximum. For example, CDs typically employ a code specified as 3-11T RLL, meaning the number of consecutive zeros in the encoded bit pattern must be at least 2 and not exceeding 10.
In a multimedia playback system, a data slicer typically deploys the DC value of the channel bits as the reference to determine the states of NRZI format channel bits. Since each channel bit is either in +1 or −1 state, it is crucial to ensure the DC value of the channel bits is close to 0, or a DC-free value, to determine each channel bit accurately. A sum of the state of consecutive channel bits is referred to as A Digital Sum Value (DSV), indicating the DC value of the channel bit. Any DSV exceeding the specified maximum is likely to cause data read errors or problems in reading data on CDs and DVDs.
In EFM encoding for CDs, an EFM encoder takes each 8-bit data symbol as an index into a conversion table of channel bit patterns to converts to 14-bit channel bit sequence. The modulated 14-bit channel bits are referred to as a codeword. Each codeword satisfies the 3-11T RLL constraint. A 3-bit merging bit is determined to join two consecutive codewords so that the concatenated channel bits sequence may not violate the 3-11T RLL constraint. With appropriate merging bits the resulting channel bit sequence can meet both 3-11T RLL and DSV requirements. However, inappropriate choice of merging bits results in large DSV, leading to inaccurate data reading.
FIGS. 1a and b show an example of a conventional channel bit sequence that produces divergent DSV. When EFM is used to modulate a special data pattern of {0x9a, 0xb9, 0x9a, 0xb9, 0x9a, 0xb9 . . . } (hexadecimal form), it is noted that the absolute value of DSV generated from the channel bits after modulation will cumulatively increase and cannot be controlled via the standard EFM modulation. If the value of DSV cannot be kept small, the excessively large DSV of the recorded data results in the data slicer, conventionally used to retrieve the binary signal from the analog signal detected on optical discs, being unable to function correctly, and the data readout from the disc is erroneous. Moreover, the large DSV variance implies that the EFM signal is no longer DC-free, and the low-frequency components of the EFM signal interfere with the related servo control signal of the optical disc system.
Thus a need exists for an EFM/EFM+ encoder and method of inhibiting copying unauthorized data on an optical recording medium.


A process of producing a relief image printing plate, the process comprising the steps of providing a photosensitive printing element, quenching dissolved oxygen in the photosensitive resin layer by pre-exposing the photosensitive layer to one or more sources of actinic radiation, wherein the range of wavelengths spanned by the one or more sources of actinic radiation differs by no more than about 20 nm, and imagewise exposing the photosensitive resin layer to actinic radiation to crosslink and cure the photosensitive resin layer. The photosensitive composition typically comprises at least one photoinitiator that is present in the photosensitive composition in an amount sufficient to provide an optical density in the photosensitive composition of between about 0.05 and 0.43 at a wavelength used to pre-expose the photosensitive composition.

Flexography is a method of printing that is commonly used for high-volume runs. Flexography is employed for printing on a variety of substrates such as paper, paperboard stock, corrugated board, films, foils and laminates. Newspapers and grocery bags are prominent examples. Coarse surfaces and stretch films can be economically printed only by means of flexography. Flexographic printing plates are relief plates with image elements raised above open areas. Generally, the plate is somewhat soft, and flexible enough to wrap around a printing cylinder, and durable enough to print over a million copies. Such plates offer a number of advantages to the printer, based chiefly on their durability and the ease with which they can be made.
A typical flexographic printing plate as delivered by its manufacturer is a multilayered article made of, in order, a backing, or support layer; one or more unexposed photocurable layers; a protective layer or slip film; and often a protective cover sheet.
The support sheet or backing layer lends support to the plate. The support sheet, or backing layer, can be formed from a transparent or opaque material such as paper, cellulose film, plastic, or metal. Preferred materials include steel, copper, or aluminum sheets, plates, or foils; paper; or films or sheets made from synthetic polymeric materials such as polyesters, polystyrene, polyolefins, polyamides, and the like. The support sheet can optionally comprise an adhesive layer for more secure attachment to the photocurable layer(s). Optionally, an adhesion layer or an antihalation layer may also be provided between the support layer and the one or more photocurable layers. An antihalation layer is used to minimize halation caused by the scattering of UV light within the non-image areas of the photocurable resin layer.
The photocurable layer(s) can include any of the known photopolymers, monomers, initiators, reactive or non-reactive diluents, fillers, and dyes. The term "photocurable" refers to a composition which undergoes polymerization, cross-linking, or any other curing or hardening reaction in response to actinic radiation with the result that the unexposed portions of the material can be selectively separated and removed from the exposed (cured) portions to form a three-dimensional or relief pattern of cured material. Preferred photocurable materials include an elastomeric compound, an ethylenically unsaturated compound having at least one terminal ethylene group, and a photoinitiator. Exemplary photocurable materials are disclosed in European Patent Application Nos. 0 456 336 A2 and 0 640 878 A1 to Goss, et al., British Patent No. 1,366,769, U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,375 to Berrier, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,867,153 to MacLahan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,264,705 to Allen, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,323,636, 4,323,637, 4,369,246, and 4,423,135 all to Chen, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,265,765 to Holden, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,320,188 to Heinz, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,427,759 to Gruetzrnacher, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,088 to Min, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,827 to Bohm, et al., the subject matter of each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. If a second photocurable layer is used, i.e., an overcoat layer, it typically is disposed upon the first layer and is similar in composition.
The photocurable materials generally cross-link (cure) and harden through radical polymerization in at least some actinic wavelength region. As used herein, actinic radiation is radiation capable of effecting a chemical change in an exposed moiety. Actinic radiation includes, for example, amplified (e.g., laser) and non-amplified light, particularly in the UV and violet wavelength regions. One suitable source of actinic radiation is a mercury arc lamp, although other sources are generally known to those skilled in the art.
The slip film is a thin layer, which protects the photopolymer from dust and increases its ease of handling. In a conventional plate making process, the slip film is transparent to UV light. In this process, the printer peels the cover sheet off the printing plate blank, and places a negative on top of the slip film layer. The plate and negative are then subjected to flood-exposure by UV light through the negative. The areas exposed to the light cure, or harden, and the unexposed areas are removed (developed) to create the relief image on the printing plate. Instead of a slip film, a matte layer may also be used to improve the ease of plate handling. The matte layer typically comprises fine particles (silica or similar) suspended in an aqueous binder solution. The matte layer is coated onto the photopolymer layer and then allowed to air dry. A negative is then placed on the matte layer for subsequent UV-flood exposure of the photocurable layer.
In a "digital" or "direct to plate" plate making process, a laser is guided by an image stored in an electronic data file, and is used to create an in situ negative on a digital (i.e., laser ablatable) masking layer, which is generally a slip film which has been modified to include a radiation opaque material. Portions of the laser ablatable layer are ablated by exposing the masking layer to laser radiation at a selected wavelength and power of the laser. Examples of laser ablatable layers are disclosed for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,925,500 to Yang, et al., and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,262,275 and 6,238,837 to Fan, the subject matter of each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
After imaging, the photosensitive printing element is developed to remove the unpolymerized portions of the layer of photocurable material to create a relief image on the surface of the photosensitive printing element. Typical methods of development include washing with various solvents or water, often with a brush. Other possibilities for development include the use of an air knife or heat plus a blotter. The resulting surface has a relief pattern that reproduces the image to be printed. The printing element may then be mounted on a press and printing commenced.
Photocurable resin compositions typically cure through radical polymerization, upon exposure to actinic radiation. However, the curing reaction can be inhibited by molecular oxygen, which is typically dissolved in the resin compositions, because the oxygen functions as a radical scavenger. It is therefore preferable that the dissolved oxygen be removed from the resin composition before image-wise exposure so that the photocurable resin composition can be more rapidly and uniformly cured.
The removal of the dissolved oxygen may be accomplished by placing the photosensitive resin plate in an atmosphere of inert gas, such as carbon dioxide gas or nitrogen gas, overnight before exposure in order to displace the dissolved oxygen. The drawback to this method is that it is inconvenient and cumbersome and requires a large space for the apparatus. This approach has generally been replaced by subjecting the plates to a preliminary exposure (i.e., "bump exposure").
During bump exposure, a low intensity "pre-exposure" dose of actinic radiation is used to sensitize the resin before the plate is subjected to the higher intensity main exposure dose of actinic radiation. The bump exposure is applied to the entire plate area and is a short, low dose exposure of the plate that ostensibly reduces the concentration of oxygen, which inhibits photopolymerization of the plate (or other printing element). Without this pre-sensitization step, fine features (i.e., highlight dots, fine lines, isolated dots, etc.) are not preserved on the finished plate. However, the pre-sensitization step often tends to cause shadow tones to fill in, thereby reducing the tonal range of the halftones in the image. This is exacerbated in plate formulations that have very high sensitivity and small exposure latitude.
The bump exposure also requires specific conditions that are limited to only quench the dissolved oxygen, such as exposing time, irradiated light density and the like. In addition, if the photosensitive resin layer has a thickness of more than 0.1 mm, the weak light of the low intensity bump exposure dose does not sufficiently reach certain portions of the photosensitive resin layer (i.e., the side of the photosensitive layer that is closest to the substrate layer and furthest from the source of actinic radiation), at which the removal of the dissolved oxygen is insufficient. In the subsequent main exposure, these portions will not cure sufficiently due to the remaining oxygen. Accordingly, after developing, the photosensitive layer may contain isolated dots having barrel-like shapes and thinning toward the substrate layer, thus resulting in the decline of durability.
If an attempt is made to quench the dissolved oxygen sufficiently in the side of the photosensitive layer that is closest to the support layer during the preliminary exposing step, the surface of the resin layer which is closest to the actinic radiation source receives too much radiation and undergoes unwanted cure. Also, if the main exposure is conducted for a longer period of time in order to sufficiently cure the side of the of the resin layer which is closest to the support layer, the etching depth of reverse portions may be shallow and positive features may end up rendered bolder than the original film negative. Thus, there remains a need in the art for improved methods of bump exposing relief image printing plates to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.
Bump exposures are generally carried out with fluorescent UV tubes or medium pressure mercury arc lamps. However, the spectral output of these lamps is extremely wide, and their output spans wavelengths from below 320 nm in the UV region to over 800 nm in the infrared region, a span of more than 480 nm.
With such a broadband source, it is not possible to maximize the depth of penetration of the bump exposure radiation while maintaining good exposure speed. Some wavelengths may penetrate well, while other wavelengths may be absorbed strongly at the surface. The net result is that the maximum bump dose the plate can withstand and still process leaves the resin at the bottom of the photosensitive layer (i.e., the surface of the resin layer closest to the support sheet) significantly under-bumped and still rich with inhibiting oxygen.
Bump exposure dosages are normally determined empirically, by first increasing the exposure time until evidence of polymerization is seen, and then backing off by 5–10 percent. Because the photopolymer layers near the surface receive the highest dose of actinic radiation, what happens chemically in these layers dictates when the photopolymer as a whole has received its maximum bump exposure. Thus, it can be seen that the top layers of resin are essentially depleted of oxygen while the lower layers may still contain significant amounts of oxygen. This gradient of oxygen content throughout the resin thickness can lead to undercutting of some image features and reduced overall exposure sensitivity.
Other efforts to improve the removal of dissolved oxygen from relief image printing plates have involved special plate formulations alone or in combination with the bump exposure.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,882 to Kawaguchi, the subject matter of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, suggests the use of a separate dye that is added to the resin to absorb actinic radiation at wavelengths at least 100 nm removed from the wavelengths absorbed by the main photoinitiator. This allows separate optimization of the initiator amounts for the bump and main initiators. Unfortunately, these dyes are weak initiators and require protracted bump exposure times. In addition, these dyes sensitize the resin to regular room light, so inconvenient yellow safety light is required in the work environment. Lastly, the approach described by Kawaguchi employs conventional broadband-type sources of actinic radiation light for bump exposure, and thereby also tends to leave significant amounts of oxygen in the lower layers of the resin.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,540,649 to Sakurai, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, describes a photopolymerizable composition that contains at least one water soluble polymer, a photopolymerization initiator and a condensation reaction product of N-methylol acrylamide, N-methylol methacrylamide, N-alkyloxymethyl acrylamide or N-alkyloxymethyl methacrylamide and a melamine derivative. According to the inventors, the composition eliminates the need for pre-exposure conditioning and produces a chemically and thermally stable plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,974 to Ohta et al., incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses a photocurable mixture that includes paraffin or a similar waxy substance to inhibit effect of atmospheric oxygen. Due to its low solubility in the polymer, the paraffin floats at the beginning of the polymerization and forms a transparent surface layer that prevents the ingress of air. This approach does nothing to eliminate molecular oxygen already dissolved in the resin composition.
Other efforts have focused on adding an oxygen scavenger to the resin composition to suppress the action of the oxygen. The use of oxygen scavengers in resin systems is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,479,185 to Chambers, Jr. and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,312 to Goff et al., the subject matter of each or which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Although various methods of inhibiting and/or removing dissolved oxygen in the photosensitive resin composition have previously been suggested, there remains a need in the art for an improved method of removing dissolved oxygen from the entirety of the photosensitive resin layer.
The inventors have surprisingly discovered that if the bump exposure is carried out by using substantially monochromatic actinic radiation (i.e., the range of wavelengths of the source of the radiation differ by no more than about 20 nm) and matching its wavelength with a photoinitiator of the correct type and concentration such that the optical density of that photoinitiator in the resin at the emitted wavelength is less than about 0.43, the bump exposure more effectively and uniformly removes the molecular dissolved oxygen throughout the entire resin thickness.

Method for bump exposing relief image printing plates


A data input device including an optically generated image of a data input device, the image including at least one input zone actuable by an action performed thereon by a user, a sensor operative to sense the action performed on the at least one input zone, and to generate signals in response to the action, and a processor in communication with the sensor operative to process the signals for performing an operation associated with the at least one input zone.

Data input devices, such as keyboards, touch pads, calculator pads, telephone keypads, and the like, are well known devices with alphanumeric keys. Other data input devices, such as joysticks, mouses, trackballs and the like, generally do not have keys. Whatever the kind of input device, a user must generally press one or more keys or buttons in order to input data
Data input devices are generally in wired communication with a computer terminal and the like, for controlling cursor movement, displaying commands, etc. Wireless cursor control systems have also been proposed, such as the system described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,181, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. This system includes a three-dimensional computer apparatus input device that uses three sets of accelerometers and angular rate sensors to determine acceleration, velocity, relative position and attitude of the device.
However, all of the known input devices have several drawbacks. Although tremendous technological advances have been made in computer and telecommunication hardware, nevertheless the data input device still remains a device with a relatively large amount of moving parts and electronics. In addition, mobile communication devices that use input devices such as keyboards, have a particular problem of balancing logistics and space. If a small keyboard is used, then the keys sometimes must be pressed several times just to indicate one character, making the device cumbersome to use. If a larger keyboard is used, then the device becomes too large to carry conveniently.


Proposed is a floating platform structure for use on the surface of the ocean in equatorial regions where a strong eastward Cromwell current exists below the westward surface current. In the present invention, the forces developed by these two opposite currents are used for maintaining the floating structure in a stable geographical position that may be important, e.g., for launching a satellite-carrying rocket. The structure contains a rigid three-dimensional frame, which is immersed to the depth of the Cromwell current and carries floating bodies that experience the effect of the Cromwell current for counterbalancing the dragging force applied to the structure in the opposite direction from the surface current. Vertical positions of the floating bodies are adjustable by a mechanism, the operation of which is controlled on the basis of signals obtained from GPS, which locates the geographical position of the floating structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to floating objects, more specifically to a floating platform that floats on the surface of the ocean, in particular, in the area of the equator, and, specifically, in the area of the Cromwell equatorial current, which was discovered in the Pacific Ocean.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known that unique weather conditions characterize the equatorial section of the Pacific Ocean: the absence of storms, a significant prevalence of sunny days throughout the year, a constant wind direction, and a high background temperature. All of these factors are favorable to the construction of floating islands, on which people can work or take vacations.
In 1951, the Cromwell equatorial current was discovered in the Pacific Ocean. It measures up to 250 m in depth and stretches over more than 300 km across and about 800 km in length. Later, such equatorial currents with similar characteristics were discovered in the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean, i.e., the Lomonosov current in the Atlantic and the Tareev current in the Indian Ocean, respectively. These currents with similar characteristics have speeds up to 150 cm/s and are aligned along the equator but at an angle of 180° to the equatorial surface current (see N. K. Haichenko, Sistema Ekvatorialnikh Protivotechenii v Okeane [The Oceanic System of Equatorial Countercurrents], pub. Gidrometeoizdat, Leningrad, 1974, 158 p.; V. A. Burkov, Obshchaya Tsirkulyatsiya Mirovogo Okeana [General Circulation in the World Ocean], pub. Gidrometeoizdat, Leningrad, 1980, 156 p.). All of these currents are part of the world oceanic current system and have similar hydrodynamic characteristics.
A floating island is known to have been built in the form of a flower and to contain an independent power source to maintain life on the island (see British Patent GB, A, 2097340). However, this floating island is intended only for coastal use, to be deployed in calm, enclosed bays; it cannot be used in the open sea.
Another floating island is intended for seaside resorts and consists of foam plastic sheets linked together (see German Patent DE, A, 3336352). However, this island is difficult to control and can only drift along the surface current or be tugged by another vessel.
In addition, neither of the two above islands uses the energy of underwater currents for the purpose of movement. The most similar proposal to this idea is a drifting station for oceanographic research that consists of a buoy and a large container, as well as an underwater sail, which is connected to the buoy with a wire cable. A load is attached to the underwater sail, which has a fastening junction (See Russian Patent Publication SU, A, 1113303). The structure of the station described here ensures that it drifts with a velocity equal to that of the surface current, and does not allow for alteration of the direction of travel, for any movement against the current, or for maintaining a position at any given coordinate. The sail of this apparatus is intended to guarantee that the buoy drifts with a speed equal to that of the surrounding water, therefore reducing the magnitude of drift due to wind.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,694,910 issued on Feb. 24, 2004 to Sergey Sharapov discloses a floating island for enabling control of its movement or stability on the surface of the water, which flows in a given direction and in which the surface overlies an underwater current flow in another direction at an angle with respect to the given direction. The floating island comprises a main body having underwater and surface sections of positive buoyancy, an underwater sail having at least one side with a frontal area, and a system of cables that connect the sail with the underwater section. The cables position the sail so that the frontal area of its one side is at a lateral angle with respect to the given direction of the underwater current. The lateral angle is sufficient to cause the underwater current flow to impact against the frontal area with a force having a magnitude F that is transmitted from the sail through the system of cables to the floating island. The structure also has a mechanism for varying the lateral angle of the one side with respect to the given direction sufficient to vary the magnitude F of force to cause either movement of the floating island in a desired direction on the surface or maintenance of its stability with respect to the water.
Also known is U.S. Pat. No. 7,575,397 issued on Aug. 18, 2009 to Sergey Sharapov. This patent discloses a floating platform with a nonuniformly distributed load that is intended for supporting industrial, commercial, cultural, and dwelling structures and is suitable for deployment in shallow as well as in deep waters. The platform is assembled from prefabricated hollow structural elements in such a way that the unified center of load mass, which consists of a plurality of arbitrarily distributed loads of different masses supported by the platform, is always maintained in the same position, and the platform is always maintained in a horizontally counterbalanced position. This is achieved by locally adjusting the buoyancy of the structural elements. Furthermore, the loads are positioned on the platform so that movements created by these loads relative to the aforementioned unified center of masses are equal. This allows maintaining the loads on the platform in equilibrium.
An article published by Mostafa Shahrabi and Khosrow Bargi in Frontiers of Structural and Civil Engineering, September 2013, Volume 7, Issue 3, pp. 325-331 under the title "Numerical simulation of multibody floating piers to investigate pontoon stability" discloses a study aimed at developing a procedure to analyze the motion of a floating pier comprised of several pontoons that are modeled as rigid bodies and are connected by flexible and rigid connectors. Recently, the use of floating piers has increased because of their advantages, such as faster and higher-quality construction, seismic force isolation for a full-scale mooring system, low dependence on local soil conditions and tides, ability to relocate or reconfigure the pier modules during the operational period, and 75 to 100 years of repair-free service. A floating pier consists of a pier, access bridge, mooring system, and fender system, each of which comes in many variations to suit different uses and construction considerations. The typical loads used in the design of these piers are dead loads, live loads, mooring loads, fender loads, and environmental loads induced by wind, currents, and waves. For numerical simulation, three types of piers are used: passenger piers, light-cargo piers, and semiheavy-cargo piers. The selected piers consist of several large pontoons that are joined by pivots and that have a pile-based mooring system. These piers are modeled by SAP2000 software (Computers and Structures, Inc. (CSI), Walnut Creek, Calif.) as two-dimensional frames that are linked together. As the first step, each type of pier is subjected to loading, and its general behavior is assessed. According to this behavior, major load combinations are described for the design of the piers and are analyzed to determine behavior of the modules. Lastly, according to analysis results and safe use and stability considerations, such as maximum draft and longitudinal gradient, the dimensions of each module in each pier type are presented.
Also known in the art are various projects for living on water. One such project is described in detail in the publication by Wayne Gramlich in 1999 on Seasteading—Homesteading the High Seas (http://gramlich.net/projects/oceania/seastead2/#Gramlich1999 and the SeaSteading Institute Book of 2010 (http://www.seasteading.org/book/seasteading-book-beta/). These publications disclose various inhabited structures on water that rest on the bottom of the sea, ocean, or other water basins.
Furthermore, due to relative shortness of its flight provided by the Earth's rotation, a satellite launched from the equator will consume less fuel and thus will provide proportional cost savings. On the other hand, as compared with a launch, e.g., from Cape Canaveral, USA, a rocket fully loaded with fuel and launched from the equator can lift a load of approximately 30%.
In view of the above, it would be advantageous to provide a rocket-launching site on the equator. Such attempts have been made. For example, a project named "Sea Launch" was established in 1995 as a consortium of four companies from Norway, Russia, Ukraine and the United States, which was managed by Boeing with participation from other shareholders. The first rocket was launched in March 1999. All commercial payloads have been communications satellites intended for geostationary transfer orbit with customers such as EchoStar and DirecTV.
All factors listed above maintain a growing interest in various projects aimed at more effective use of vast areas occupied by the world's oceans.

Geographically stable floating platform structure


A paging receiver (15) for receiving secure radio frequency (RF) communications comprises a receiver circuit (102) for receiving and demodulating a signal to obtain information. A memory device (108) is coupled to the receiver circuit (102) for storing the information. A de-encrypter (110) is coupled to the memory device (108) for de-encrypting the information and a decoder (112) is coupled to the de-encrypter (110) for decoding the de-encrypted information to derive a message. User input controls (120) selectably generate a user input signal. A controller (114) is coupled to the memory device (108) and the user input controls (120) for causing the memory device (108) to provide the information stored therein to the de-encrypter (110) in response to the user input signal being equivalent to a predetermined de-encryption signal.

With the increase in the use of selective call systems, such as paging systems, for transferring information, the need for maintaining security while transferring information has developed. If a competitor were to find out the address of a selective call receiver, the communications could be received by the competitor at another selective call receiver. The increase in group calling whereby a message for all of the salesmen of a company comprising confidential information could be sent to a single address which multiple selective call receivers contain accentuates the need for secure communications. The message could be intercepted by a competitor utilizing the group address.
The military and some governmental authorities use encryption techniques for scrambling communications, but these techniques are typically costly and require additional components. The decrease in the size of selective call receivers and the decrease in the cost thereof has opened new markets for selective call communications, many of which are unwilling to carry bulky receivers or pay high costs but nevertheless would prefer the security of encrypted communications.
Thus, what is needed is a method and apparatus for encrypting and de-encrypting a selective call signal to prevent unauthorized perusal of the information encoded thereon.


A micro-wave mixing circuit produces producing a stable frequency conversion characteristic against a dispersion of output voltage of a local oscillation signal tapped off from a local oscillator. A micro-wave signal fed into a micro-wave signal input can be converted into an intermediate frequency signal of 1 GHz bandwidth where a stable frequency conversion characteristic is maintained against a dispersion of an output voltage of a local oscillation signal, by supplying bias current from a bias supply circuit to an anode of a Schotkky barrier diode responsive to a local oscillation output which is supplied from a local oscillator.

As the satellite broadcasting becomes popular, (CS) communication satellite broadcasting which uses a communication satellite is now commercially available. Thus, an ordinary house has more opportunities to receive broadcasting from plural satellites. A receiving antenna which is smaller in size and lower at cost is therefore desirable.
FIG. 3 depicts a conventional micro-wave mixing circuit and an intermediate frequency amplifier. A micro-wave signal having a 12 GHz bandwidth fed into a micro-wave signal input part 1 and a local oscillation signal (e.g. 10.678 GHz), supplied from a local oscillator 2 via a band pass filter 3 (BPF), are mixed by a frequency converting diode, such as Schottky barrier diode 5 (SBD). SBD 5 is coupled to a micro strip line 4 (MSL), and then the mixed signal is converted into an intermediate frequency signal having a 1 GHz bandwidth.
When a local oscillation signal voltage at SBD 5 is less than an expected value, loss due to frequency conversion is increased. In order to prevent the frequency conversion loss from being increased, a bias voltage is applied to the frequency converting diode. In order to produce this bias voltage, a specified bias control voltage is applied to a bias current supply terminal 6.
The intermediate frequency signal passed through a low pass filter 7 (LPF) is amplified by intermediate frequency amplifiers 8 and 9, and then tapped off from an intermediate frequency signal output part 10.
However, according to the above structure, the local oscillation signal voltage is not constant but varies widely due to individual frequency characteristics of each device (e.g. metal semiconductor MESEFT!) used in the local oscillator 2 and also dispersion caused by mounting those devices.
Thus, a rectifying voltage of the local oscillation signal voltage of SBD 5 has a dispersion responsive to the dispersion of the local oscillation signal voltage applied to SBD 5. As a result, even if a constant bias control voltage is applied to the bias supply terminal 6, the bias current traveling through SBD 5 does not become an expected value, but generates a wider dispersion. Accordingly, it is very difficult to obtain a certain level of performance from the conventional micro-wave mixing circuit when volume production thereof has been started.

Micro-wave mixing circuit and down-flow converter using the same

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The invention relates to a box that has a front wall, a right wall, a left wall, a rear wall, and a bottom in contact with the front, right, left, and rear walls for defining an open-top container. A corresponding lid is also included and where the lid extends from the right wall to the left wall and from the front wall to the rear wall for covering the opening top container. The lid is hingedly attached to the rear wall for opening and closing the box and a detaching mechanism is placed between the lid and rear wall for detaching the lid from the rear wall.

Traditionally, packaging for an article, such as a pair of shoes, may have included a box for shipping, storing, and displaying the article. The box often consisted of a four sided cardboard structure with a bottom that connected the four sided structure and a cover that enclosed an article placed within the four sided structure. However, often times when the traditional box is used for shipping from the factory to a warehouse and ultimately to a retail store, the box may become damaged at some point along the way. Additionally, when the box is stored at a point during the transfer from factory to display at the retail store, or at the retail store prior to being displayed or sold, the box may be subjected to compressive forces. This usually occurs when a vertical column of many boxes are placed on top of one another and the bottom box normally bears the brunt of the total weight of the column of boxes. Such vertical column stacking is a frequently adopted manner for storing boxes among many retailers and perhaps warehouses as well.
As a possible result, some boxes may become damaged to the point they are no longer suitable for display at the retail store. In certain cases, the articles within the boxes may also become damaged. Damage to boxes may be exacerbated by the constant handling of the boxes due to purchasers' requirements to try on a selection of sizes and styles before buying, which often causes a worker to retrieve and restack numerous boxes of shoes. In the event a box in a lower portion of the vertical stack is desired, the worker may pull upon the box's cover to extract the box from the stack, which can result in the cover becoming torn.
Another disadvantage of traditionally provided boxes is that, during the transfer between factory and retail store or during the constant handling of the boxes, the cover may become separated from the bottom of the box and lost.
In addition to the possibility of the boxes being damaged or the covers being lost, a further disadvantage is that the articles within the damaged boxes, even if the articles are not damaged themselves, may not be salable because stores often require purchasers who return shoes to return the box in a resale condition.
What is desired, therefore, is a box that is resistant to damage due to constant handling. Another desire is a box that inhibits separation of the cover from the bottom of the box. A further desire is a box that is stronger than conventionally provided boxes for withstanding compressive forces.


A method of scanning an optical disk having a land area and a groove area arranged in a double spiral configuration is disclosed. Either the land area or the groove area is continuously scanned radially inward or radially outward. The groove area, if the land area is so scanned first, or the land area, if the groove area is so scanned first, is scanned with a track jump repeated outward or inward from the end of the previous scanning. In this manner, one of the land area and groove area is subjected to continuous scanning without any track jump while the other area is subjected to scanning causing a track jump to occur within the same area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of scanning an optical disk, and an apparatus therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Disk apparatuses known in the art include one capable of recording digital data or digital images, speeches, systems or similar data in magnet-optical disks or optical disks including phase change disks. For this type of disk apparatus, a recording system implementing both high density recording and high speed search at the same time with a single head is desirable. Today, a CAV recording system, a CLV recording system and an MCAV recording system are available with an optical disk type disk drive which records digital data or video and audio data in optical disks.
The CAV system records data in an optical disk while causing it to spin at a constant speed. This system realizes high speed search without regard to a head device because the rotation speed is constant. In addition, the system implements the simultaneous reproduction of different positions at the time of recording and simplifies a spindle servo. However, this system is not feasible for high density recording because the shortest record wavelength is determined by the innermost circumference.
The CLV featuring a constant linear velocity maintains the relative velocity constant over the entire area of a disk and therefore maintains the record wavelength constant. This kind of system is feasible for high density recording. However, because the rotation speed of the disk varies in accordance with the position of a head, the system is not feasible for high speed search. Further, the system cannot implement the simultaneous reproduction of different positions and needs a sophisticated spindle servo.
The MCAV system, integrating the merits of the CAV and CLV systems, maintains the rotation speed of a disk constant and increases the amount of data for a track in proportion to the radius of the disk. Because the rotation speed is constant, the record bit rate is increased in proportion to the radius of a disk (variable clock recording and variable clock reproduction). This kind of system is capable of effecting high speed search because the record wavelength is constant over the entire area of a disk and because the number of disk rotation data is constant. Further, the system is capable of reproducing different positions at the same time during recording and simplifying a spindle servo.
A system of the type recording data by using both the land portions and groove portions of disk tracks, i.e., a so-called land/groove recording system is also available although it is different from a recording system. The land/groove recording system doubles the recording density particular to conventional land recording or groove recording and thereby increases the recording time. Thereby, by combining the MCAV system and land/groove recording system, it is possible to realize high density and advanced function at the same time.
FIG. 12 shows how a head scans a disk in the combined MCAV and land/groove recording system. FIG. 13 shows the order of data (corresponding to frames which will be described) actually scanned. As shown in FIG. 12, a head repeatedly jumps one track backward from a land track portion to a groove portion, or vice versa. As a result, the data shown in FIG. 13 are sequentially recorded in a disk. In FIG. 13, the numerals indicate, e.g., the frame numbers of a moving picture. This allows, e.g., a moving picture to be continuously recorded in both the land portion and groove portion of a disk.
However, the above conventional recording system has a problem that the jump from a land portion to a groove portion and the jump from a groove portion to a land portion are not practicable without resorting to complicated adjustment. Another problem is that because the two different kinds of track jumps are replaced every track, an amplifier gain, among others, must be switched at a high speed. It is therefore extremely difficult to realize stable track jumps.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 7-282855 proposes an arrangement for implementing a rapid jump from a land track to a groove track. However, the arrangement taught in this document is too sophisticated in configuration to be practiced.

Method and apparatus for scanning an optical disk using track jumping


An improved lamp assembly for a motor vehicle and a method for molding same is provided in which a one-piece lamp having one or more colors or reflective means integrated in a single lens panel and frame is molded in a single plastic injection process. In the process, one or more colored or reflective elements are placed between two mold segments, the mold segments are closed, and a plastic is injected into the mold cavity in bonding securement of the colored or reflective elements.

The present invention relates generally to the manufacture of a plastic article and, more particularly, to a lamp assembly and a method for molding same in which one or more colored or reflective elements are integrated in a total bonded relationship with a unitary transparent plastic lens panel and frame.
In the past, in the manufacture of lamp assemblies for motor vehicles, multiple colors and reflective areas in a lamp assembly were achieved by separately molded lens panels of one color or reflective material which were then combined with one another in a separate frame and secured to the motor vehicle. In the case of tail lamp assemblies, the lens panels most often had corrugated rear faces and flat front faces. The corrugated rear face distributes the light across the panel. However, in a colored lens panel, light is transmitted through a corrugated layer of color which has a non-uniform thickness and optical density. Accordingly, when viewed from the rear of the vehicle, the lens panel has a plurality of low intensity and high intensity color bands. Furthermore, the numerous colored lens panels and frame in a single tail lamp assembly, as well as the lamp assemblies on a vehicle dash board, interior side of a vehicle door, or other similar applications such as the warning lights on an industrial machine are more costly to produce and take more time to assemble than a lamp assembly manufactured in a single mold.
These difficulties in prior art lamp assemblies are substantially eliminated by the present invention.

Method of molding a vehicle lamp assembly


Disclosed herein is a blade transport vehicle which includes a base, a blade fixing frame disposed on the base, a first moving device disposed at an upper end of the base to move the blade fixing frame in a longitudinal direction of the base, and a second moving device disposed at an upper end of the first moving device to move the blade fixing frame in a width direction of the base.

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a blade transport vehicle.
Wind power equipment such as a wind turbine is an eco-friendly power generation facility which converts rotational energy by wind into electric energy, and is provided as a part of renewable energy projects that have been in the spotlight in these days in which the need for global environmental protection is magnified.
The wind power equipment may be largely classified into a nacelle and a tower. Among them, the nacelle is configured such that a plurality of blades rotated by wind is mounted circumferentially at predetermined intervals to a hub and a drive shaft of a rotor is connected to the center of the hub. When the blades are rotated by wind, rotational energy is transferred to the rotor. In this case, a generator connected to the rotor is built in the nacelle. The generator converts rotational energy into electric energy according to the rotation of the rotor.
The blades play a large role in the wind power generation. In order to transport the blades to the installation region of the wind turbine, a blade transport vehicle is used as illustrated in FIG. 1.
The blade transport vehicle mainly includes a lower trailer 8, a hydraulic cylinder 3, a fixed frame 4, a slewing bearing unit 5, and a blade adapter 6.
First, the lower trailer 8 is configured such that a plurality of wheels is arranged in multiple rows in a main body. The lower trailer 8 serves to distribute the load of each blade 7 and stably transport the blade 7. Support beams 2 are disposed at both sides of the lower trailer 8. The support beams 2 are extended to both sides of the lower trailer 8 in the width direction thereof by a hydraulic device and come into contact with the ground in order to move the blade 7 after the transport vehicle is stopped, thereby serving to support the load applied to the transport vehicle due to the load of the blade 7. Of course, the support beams 2 are separated from the ground by the hydraulic device while the transport vehicle is traveling.
The fixed frame 4 is disposed at the upper end of the lower trailer 8. The fixed frame 4 has a pair of columns disposed at the upper end of the lower trailer 8, and the hydraulic cylinder 3 is connected by a hinge between the columns. The end of the rod of the hydraulic cylinder 3 is connected by a hinge to the lower end of a bearing block 5b of the slewing bearing unit 5.
When the rod of the hydraulic cylinder 3 is extended by the operation of the hydraulic cylinder 3, the angle of the bearing block 5b is changed. Thus, the angle of the blade 7 is adjusted by a slewing bearing 5a mounted to the bearing block 5b and the blade adapter 6 which is integrally and rotatably coupled to the slewing bearing 5a. FIG. 1 illustrates the state in which the angle of the blade 7 is adjusted by the operation of the hydraulic cylinder 3 when compared to FIG. 2.
Here, the slewing bearing 5a is rotatably mounted to the bearing block 5b by a turning drive 5c disposed on the bearing block 5b. When a user operates the turning drive 5c to rotate the blade 7, the blade adapter 6 bolted to the slewing bearing 5a rotates along with the rotation of the slewing bearing 5a engaged with the turning drive 5c, thereby adjusting the angle of rotation of the blade 7.
However, when the ground on which the blade transport vehicle is stopped is inclined or the blade transport vehicle goes around a curve or ascends or descends a slope, there is always a risk that the vehicle overturns due to the blade 7 having a weight of several tens of tons.
The blade transport vehicle may not respond properly to such a situation since the user merely adjusts the vertical angle of the blade 7 using the hydraulic cylinder 3.
In addition, unexpected incidents may occur when the blade transport vehicle 1 travels. When the vehicle transports the large blade 7 having a weight of several tens of tons, the vehicle may not smoothly travel or overturn in special cases due to the motion and load of the blade 7 by the state of the ground or the effect of wind.
The blade 7 used for wind power generation has a curved cross section. Accordingly, it is possible to obtain power by rotating the rotor while the blade rotates in one direction by wind. However, due to the shape of the blade, when wind is blown to the blade 7 while the vehicle travels on the road, the blade 7 is greatly affected by the direction of wind depending on the arrangement of the blade 7 toward the wind, and thus the vehicle shakes. Hence, the vehicle may lean in the direction opposite to the wind. Of course, the rolling of the blade 7 may be caused by wind having strong velocity, which may lead to deterioration of coupling force with the blade adapter 6 or the abrasion and damage of the blade adapter 6.
In addition, the center of gravity of the vehicle may be unbalanced depending on the arrangement of the blade 7 even when the vehicle travels on the slope. For this reason, since a large load is applied to the specific wheel of the lower trailer 8 by the excessive weight of the blade while the vehicle is traveling, the vehicle may also overturn.
In addition, when the blade transport vehicle 1 travels in a sharp curve section or on a slope or passes through a tunnel or a pedestrian overpass, the blade transport vehicle may restrictively turn due to the length of the blade 7. The large blade 7 has a length of several tens of meters. If the curve section is very sharp, there is a risk that the large blade 7 collides with terrain features such as trees and street lights around the road since the large blade 7 is too long. Moreover, when the vehicle moves in the curve section in the tunnel, the vehicle may be damaged due to a collision between the end of the blade and the wall of the tunnel.
In addition, a base 9 for supporting the fixed frame 4 must be stably fixed to the lower trailer 8 in order to stably perform the transportation and attachment/detachment of the blade. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the fixing method is performed by fastening a plurality of upper brackets 13 arranged along the side of the upper base 9 in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and a plurality of lower brackets 14 arranged along the side of the lower trailer 8 in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle to a connection plate 15 through thread holes 13a and 14a using bolts 16a and 16b.
However, in the connection structure for the blade transport vehicle, the upper and lower brackets 13 and 14 each have a simple plate shape and are simply bolted to the connection plate 15 having a rectangular shape. Hence, due to the weak coupling force when the vehicle travels, the risk of fatigue failure may be increased due to the exposure of the bolts to vibration and shocks for a long time and the base 9 may not be securely fixed. In this case, when the vehicle travels, the blade may be decoupled from the vehicle.

Doosan Heavy Industries Construction Co., Ltd


A laser diode assembly includes a mode-locked laser diode device, where a light output spectrum shows long-wavelength shift by self-phase modulation, an external resonator, and a wavelength selective element. A long wavelength component of a pulsed laser beam emitted through the external resonator from the mode-locked laser diode device is extracted by the wavelength selective element, and output to the outside.

The present disclosure relates to a laser diode assembly and a semiconductor optical amplifier assembly.
Today, ultrashort-pulse ultrahigh-power laser is actively used for study of advanced scientific areas using a laser beam with a pulse time in attoseconds or femtoseconds. The ultrashort pulse laser is actively studied from scientific interest of elucidation of ultrafast phenomenon in picoseconds or femtoseconds, and besides, actively studied for practical use such as microfabrication or two-photon imaging using high peak power. A high-power ultrashort-pulse laser diode device including a GaN-based compound semiconductor with an emission wavelength band of a 405 nm is expected as a light source of a volumetric optical disk system expected as a next-generation optical disk system following the Blu-ray optical disk system, as a light source demanded in a medical or bioimaging field, or as a coherent light source covering the entire visible light range.
For example, titanium/sapphire laser is known as the ultrashort-pulse ultrahigh-power laser. However, the titanium/sapphire laser is an expensive, large solid-state laser light source, which is a main factor of disturbing spread of the laser technology. If the ultrashort-pulse ultrahigh-power laser may be achieved by laser diode or a laser diode device, size reduction, price reduction, low power consumption, and high stability are achieved, which is conceivably breakthrough in promoting spread of the laser technology in the above fields.
A laser diode assembly having an overall semiconductor configuration as such a high-peak-power picosecond-pulse light source in the 405 nm band typically has an MOPA (Master Oscillator and Power Amplifier) configuration. Specifically, the assembly is configured of laser diode generating a picosecond pulse, and a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) amplifying the generated picosecond pulse. Here, the optical amplifier directly amplifies a light signal without converting the light signal into an electrical signal, and has a laser structure without a resonator, and thus amplifies incident light with optical gain of the amplifier. A pulse light source generating a picosecond pulse with the MOPA configuration specifically includes a mode-locked laser diode assembly having an external resonator.
The mode-locked laser diode assembly is achieved by, for example, a multi-electrode mode-locked laser diode device and an external resonator disposed on an optical axis of the laser diode device. One end face of the multi-electrode mode-locked laser diode device often has a high-reflective coating layer thereon, and thus also serves as a mirror opposed to the external resonator. In addition, a wavelength selective element such as a diffraction grating or a bandpass filter including a dielectric multilayer film is disposed, making it possible to select an oscillation wavelength.
When the diffraction grating is used as the wavelength selective element, the external resonator is configured of the diffraction grating, and primary diffracted-light is returned to the laser diode device, thereby an oscillation wavelength may be selected. Such an arrangement is known as Littrow arrangement or Littman arrangement, and used for a continuous-oscillation tunable laser (for, example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-284716, Heim et al, Electronics Letters, vol. 33, 16, p 1387 (1997), and Struckmeier et al, Optics Letters, vol. 24, 22, p 1573 (1999)). When a bandpass filter is used as the wavelength selective element, the bandpass filter is disposed between a laser diode device and an external resonator to provide wavelength selectivity (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-164614).

Laser diode assembly and semiconductor optical amplifier assembly


There is provided a container for display and storage comprising a body rectangular base sheet and a lid rectangular base sheet connected in a double spread sheet (or folded) condition by a folding line along the longitudinal direction. The rectangular base sheet on the body side is provided with a transparent cover in which an article can be contained and an opening is provided in the reverse face through which the article can be freely taken out and put in.

In marketing the chemical products such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, especially instantaneous adhesives, the articles are contained in the transparent resin cover on a base sheet of cardboard, aluminum container, or laminate film, etc. and displayed, exhibited, etc. as a so-called blister pack for sale. The base sheets are provided with instructions on use of the product (hereinafter to be referred to as an article) and special remarks, etc.
To remove the article from the blister pack, the blister pack is broken, and it is usual to throw the used pack into the trash. As a result, there arises an article with no instructions on hand when using the article at a later time, etc.
As a method for solving the above problem, there is disclosed in FIG. 13, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H1-179871, a display container which is a slide pack comprising a transparent resin cover 101 having grooves 103 so as to accommodate both sides of a base sheet 104 therein. Such a container may again contain the article after use, and the problem as described above is dissolved.
According to the recent system of selling at a counter, due to the necessity to make display, exhibition, etc. of many articles in a predetermined space, the size of the base sheet is limited. Consequently, the space for listing the instructions and special remarks is also a problem. Such a problem cannot be solved by the prior art as described above.
The present invention is designed to provide a slim container for display and storage in which the prior art problems have been resolved by an extremely simple and rational method, that is industrially advantageous.