A device for generating a spray of mist or fine droplets includes a spinning rotor within a mist chamber. The rotor has inner walls which taper conically outwardly from the open bottom of the rotor to a hole near the top of the rotor. Liquid is pumped by a finger actuated pump from a cartridge module into a bowl surrounding the bottom end of the rotor. A spray is created as the liquid is formed into droplets as it passes through the hole in the rotor under centrifugal force. A directional light source is used for aiming the spray.

The field of the present invention is devices for creating and applying mists, vapors, or sprays from a liquid, in medical, industrial, and household applications.
The eye is perhaps the most sensitive organ of the body. By contrast to other organs, the slightest touch of the cornea may be irritating and painful. Similarly, the membrane which covers the remainder of the eye, the conjunctiva, is so thin and delicate that it is normally invisible unless it becomes irritated. Both the cornea and conjunctiva are normally kept moist by the constant washing action of tears and blinking.
Because of its sensitivity, many common conditions may irritate the eye. Dry or polluted air, wind, bright light, swimming, dust or chemical fumes all produce eye irritation. Similarly, contact lenses are frequently irritating, especially if worn continuously throughout the day.
Surprisingly, few easy to use and effective methods to relax and comfort irritated eyes have been developed. To rid the eye of foreign objects, for example, a saline-filled "eye cup" or eye wash bottle is used. Since both are messy and inconvenient, it is not practical to use either for routine eye comfort. Another method of relieving seriously dry eyes caused by certain eye diseases employs a small specifically formulated prescription rod-shaped solid strip (Lacrisert.TM.) which is inserted under the lower eyelid. Over several hours, the strip dissolves into the tears and produces a soothing liquid film. Since this product is available only by prescription, it is used only in limited and serious eye conditions.
For the vast majority of people, the only method of applying liquid to the eye is perhaps the first method ever invented--the eye drop. Many if not most substances intended for application to the eye, both over the counter (OTC) and prescription, are packaged in a container which has a built in "eye dropper". Unfortunately, dropping drops into the eye is awkward, inconvenient, uncomfortable and potentially dangerous. For any parent who has tried to apply drops of liquid into the eye of a small child, the prospect of repeating this frequently traumatic action is not appealing. Similarly, applying drops into one's own eye, especially if one's manual dexterity is not optimum, can be difficult and unpleasant and potentially dangerous to the eye. For many older people who need to frequently apply eye moistening liquids or eye medications because of chronic eye disease, eye drops can be very difficult to manage because of arthritis, injury or poor hand-eye coordination.
In order to effectively administer a drop to any eye using an eye dropper, the user must position the pointed dropper tip close to the delicate and sensitive cornea. A slightly unsteady hand or sudden movement may cause the tip to hit the eye and cause pain, damage and potentially vision-threatening damage. The awareness of this possibility may be keenly appreciated by observing an average user attempt to self-administer eye drops. For this reason, it is dangerous to use eye drops when the user is in motion or may be bumped in a crowded area. The use of a dropper bottle on an airplane, for example, may subject the user to significant risk given the possibility of an unexpected jolt from air turbulence or a bump from a fellow passenger.
In ocular drug therapy, it is important that the patient deliver the correct amount of drug to the eye. Because of the difficulty of using and properly aiming eye drops, however, some medication usually drips down the face, thus missing its intended therapeutic target. In case of vision-saving anti-glaucoma drugs or antibiotics, under or over-administration of the drug may have serious repercussions.
Due to the potentially vision-threatening nature of many ocular conditions which require prescription medications, strict patient compliance with the physician's recommended dosing schedule is very important. Unfortunately, ocular drugs administered by eye drops are unpleasant and difficult to use for many people which results in relatively poor compliance with the physician's instructions and potentially serious consequences.
For many eye conditions and diseases, incidence increases with advancing age. As age increases, however, the manual dexterity and eye-hand coordination required for self-administration of eye drops may be greatly reduced. It is difficult enough for a young, healthy person to tilt the head back, hold an eye lid open with one hand while trying to aim and drop liquid into the eye with the other hand. For many older people, it is essentially impossible. The fact that many ocular drugs must be administered as often as four times per day further compounds the potential problem. This unfortunate set of common circumstances sets into motion potentially vicious cycle which frequently leads to inadequate use of vision-saving eye medications with potentially catastrophic results. Accordingly, an improved way of delivering eye medication would be of great benefit.
The eye is also very susceptible to accidental injury. The inadvertent introduction of chemicals or foreign bodies into the eye constitutes a potential medical emergency. Rapid intervention by flushing the eye with an inert liquid can potentially prevent irreversible loss of vision. Unfortunately, access to eye wash bottles or fountains in schools, laboratories, industrial settings, at home or during recreational activities is sometimes limited. A portable and easy to use eye wash device would be very useful to help reduce eye injury from foreign chemicals or objects.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a device for safely, accurately and conveniently administering drugs or other substances to the eye.
Consumers are increasingly recognizing that cosmetics and personal skin care products have the ability to provide more than just a superficial change in skin appearance. Cosmetics may also provide protection against the potentially damaging ultraviolet rays of the sun and can protect against the irritating and potentially skin-threatening environmental conditions which lead to irritation and premature signs of aging. For this reason, consumers recognize that to obtain optimum benefit, skin-protective cosmetics must be applied more often then only during the morning and evening rituals common to many customers.
It is, however, awkward and inconvenient for many people to carry multiple jars and bottles during the day and equally troublesome to open containers which may spill and apply cosmetics or fragrances in many social or business environments.
Many women and men would like to use skin care products throughout the day but do not because of the inconvenience of conventional application methods. Most skin care products require the customer to use their fingers or hands to apply and evenly spread the product on the skin. Touching the skin with the fingers, especially for acne-prone people, increases the chances of skin irritation and blemishes. Rubbing products into the skin can also leave greasy or oil residues which may remain on the hands and can be transferred to papers, equipment or other people and forces customers to go to the restroom to wash their hands. This inconvenience results in many people limiting their use of skin care products to the home.
Similarly, the approximately one in ten Americans who wear contact lenses are acutely aware of chemical residues on their hands which may contaminate the lenses when they are removed and cleaned during the day. This concern is especially applicable to skin "treatment" products in general and sun screen products in particular since many adhere to the skin for extended periods of time even after exposure to water. For this reason, many contact lens wearers do not use sun screen or skin care products during the day unless they have ready access to soap and water.
Another group of people may find it cumbersome or unwieldy to apply skin care products due to their particular environment. Skiers, for example, frequently need facial moisturizers and sunscreens due to the dry, windy and ultraviolet-rich environment of the mountains, but find it awkward to carry and use multiple bottles or tubes of products. Airline travelers have a similar need for frequent facial moisturization due to the low ambient humidity of airplane cabins, but many find it inconvenient to carry products which may leak or spill in the crowded, depressurized cabin environment.
Many men and women are exposed to low humidity environments which increase transepidermal water loss and produce dry, chapped and irritated skin. Air conditioning, forced air heating, airplane travel, high altitudes, desert climates and many other factors result in the frequent need for facial moisturizers. In many of these environments, however, it is not convenient to carry or use moisturizing products.
During the last several years, consumers have also become acutely aware of the role of ultraviolet radiation in producing sun burn and long-term skin photoaging. Both men and women gravitate towards sun protection products with "light", non-greasy formulations which are invisible during wear.
A shortcoming of known aerosol and pump sprays for delivering skin care, fragrances and cosmetic products is the inability to accurately control the amount of spray or mist produced. In addition, the pattern and shape of the spray can be unpredictable, irregular, and vary with the pressure of the propellant or pumping action. Spray velocity and droplet size can also be inconsistent and difficult to control.
In a conventional pump, the spray can be difficult to aim and the spray pattern is poorly focused. Furthermore, pump sprays deliver only a fixed amount of liquid which may exceed the amount desired by a consumer. This lack of control of pump sprays frequently results in products staining clothes, getting into the hair or being sprayed in the eyes or in areas of skin not desired.
Many "high-end", expensive cosmetic formulations use ingredients which are believed to provide skin-rejuvenating or protection properties. These ingredients include lipids (eg. ceramide derivatives); glycosaminoglycans (mucopolysaccharides, eg. hyaluronic acid); "exotic proteins" (eg. fibronectin, placental proteins); nucleic acids, vitamins (eg. vitamins C and E), among others.
In many instances, these ingredients are formulated in encapsulated, unit dose vials or capsules to protect the products from exposure to air or the environment which may oxidize or otherwise chemically degrade the ingredients. However, these products can be difficult to apply without waste and are relatively expensive.
Many chemicals used in cosmetics can oxidize due to contact with oxygen in the air. Instability of cosmetic ingredients can limit the circumstances in which desired ingredients can be used or may prevent their use entirely. For example, ascorbic acid which has been reported to have beneficial skin-protective effects in humans is unstable when in solution and exposed to air. Many other ingredients derived from "natural" sources such as peptides, vitamins and skin lipids have similar instability when formulated in conventional products. There is accordingly a need for an improved way of applying cosmetics and other skin care products.
Preservatives in cosmetics and skin care products produce skin irritation in many sensitive skin consumers. Nevertheless, conventional application methods, especially those requiring the user to touch the product with the fingers, require the use of preservatives since microbial contamination is difficult to prevent. Accordingly, there is a need for a device which can hold and dispense preservative-free skin care products while keeping products free of microbial contamination.
Lubricants, paints, solvents, etc. are frequently applied to many products found in the home. Frequent sites of lubricant application include: door hinges, door locks, nuts and bolts and screws, fans, motors, drawers, windows and many mechanical devices. A common feature of all of these uses is the small size of the lubricated area and its frequent location adjacent to rugs, curtains, walls or other objects which would be stained or otherwise harmed by the inadvertent contact with lubricants.
Conventional aerosol sprays used to dispense many lubricants are notorious for their tendency to splash, ricochet and drip during application. Moreover, these aerosol sprays can be difficult to aim and control. Some aerosol sprays also use is propellants which are damaging to the environment. Thus, there remains a need for a device for spraying lubricants, paints and other liquids which avoids these disadvantages of conventional aerosol sprayers.


Embodiments of this application disclose a gesture interaction method, applied to a terminal configured with a curved screen, where the curved screen includes a main screen region and a side screen region. The method in the embodiments of this application includes: obtaining, by the terminal, a touch operation input from the side screen region; detecting, by the terminal, a pressing force of the touch operation; and performing, by the terminal, a first function corresponding to the touch operation if the pressing force is greater than a preset threshold.

To help a user quickly start some general or frequently used application functions, a mobile phone is often provided with shortcut operations.
In the prior art, common functions, such as volume up/down and power on/off, or screen capturing, screen recording, and voice assistant awakening can be controlled by pressing a corresponding physical key or a combination of keys.
Physical keys are at fixed locations and there are relatively significant differences between physical key layouts of different mobile phones. Therefore, it takes a long time for a user to learn and adapt. In addition, using physical keys requires the user to press at a specific location with a finger to trigger a corresponding function, and therefore operation difficulty is relatively significant.


An L-C resonant circuit with an adjustable resonance frequency, having a capacitor and a first inductor electrically coupled together and a second inductor magnetically coupled to the first inductor. Additionally, there is a control circuit to sense a signal representing a first current flowing through the first inductor and to force through the second inductor a second current that is a replica of the first current for setting the adjustable resonance frequency of the L-C resonant circuit.

The demand for transmitters and receivers of greater and greater data rates is forcing manufacturers to realize devices capable of working at higher frequencies with a broad range of adjustment of the frequency. Typically, these devices include an L-C resonant circuit, such as that depicted in FIG. 1, that amplifies an input signal at a certain frequency.
In order to fully exploit the advantages of working at a high frequency, it should be possible to tune these devices, i.e. to adjust the resonance frequency of the L-C resonant circuit. This may be done by including in the resonant circuit a plurality of inductors singularly connectable to the capacitor through selection switches, or by varying the capacitance through varactors.
The main limitation of monolithic implemented resonator-based circuits (e.g. L-C oscillators, filters) is a generally limited tuning range.
The resonant frequency variation attainable by integrated variable capacitors (i.e. MOS or PN junction varactors) is usually limited to about 20-30% for applications in the 1-10 GHz range. This restriction results from design trade-offs between tuning range, noise, phase accuracy (if quadrature is required) and power consumption. Process scaling toward the nanometer scale and the low supply voltage sources of portable applications like wireless devices, makes the problems in using integrated L-C circuits tuned in such a way more severe.
A different tuning approach can be followed based on a configuration with switched inductors. However, this approach is rarely followed because of the finite resistance of the selection switch when conducting worsens the quality factor figure of the resonant circuit.

Method of adjusting the resonance frequency of an L-C resonant circuit and resonant circuit


A novel Fabry-Perot resonance cavity has been recognized with ruggedized packaging. This cavity is formed by simple planar and concave (or two concave) mirrors—attached at the fiber ends. The concave mirror is precisely aligned to the core of the fiber. The concave lens is fabricated on the end of the fiber by making an indentation of correct geometry and smoothness. The concave mirror has multiple dielectric layers applied on the concave lens to achieve the final, desired optical characteristics. This structure is packaged using novel techniques from which it derives great utility. The resulting packaged assembly is environmentally robust and capable of operating at very high frequencies with low input voltages.

The main problems with conventional optical resonance cavities are their complexity, reliability, and instability. In addition, they are limited to the frequency they operate at and require high voltage to operate them. These devices are not easily built and much less reliable since they consist of a plethora of devices such as complex manufacturing steps, complex alignment fixtures and multiple parts requiring precision alignment. In addition, properly aligning the parts can be difficult and time-consuming, resulting in a complex, less reliable, and expensive resonance cavity. The assembly of such devices is lengthy and problematic requiring complicated alignment and holding fixtures for the mirrors. FIG. 1 is an example of the construction prevalent to date. FIGS. 1 and 2 show the complex structure, precision alignments and alignment tooling needed to achieve a cavity. In these respects, the simple resonance cavity according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing, provide an apparatus primarily developed for providing a cavity which can be tuned and is packaged in an environmentally rugged way. This simplification of design and packaging benefits results in a novel construction with the attributes herein listed and subsequently described. FIGS. 3 and 4 show an inherently much simpler structure that has multiple benefits including inherent temperature compensation, very high frequency operation (>150 kHz), low voltage operation (˜1.5 volt/FSR) at resonance mode and is environmentally rugged.


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device employs a PEALD method including using an organometallic Ta precursor to form a TaN thin film. As a result, a conformal TaN diffusion barrier may be formed at a temperature of 250° C. or higher, so that impurities are reduced and density is increased in the TaN thin film.

a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device.
b) Description of the Related Art
During a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, a diffusion barrier is frequently formed on an interior wall of a hole such as a contact hole or via hole, in order to prevent a metal such as copper used for a metal line from diffusing into underlying silicon and/or an adjacent oxide. The diffusion barrier must have conductivity, and typical examples thereof are titanium nitride (TiN), tungsten nitride (WN), and tantalum nitride (TaN).
Recently, copper has frequently been used for metal lines in semiconductor devices instead of aluminum, in order to improve device characteristics, such as operating speed or resistance. This copper has merits such as low resistivity and high melting point, but it also has drawbacks as described below.
For example, copper has no fine protective layer such as Al2O3, it shows poor adhesion to silicon dioxide (SiO2), and it is difficult to dry etch. In addition, copper has a diffusion coefficient about 106 times higher than that of aluminum in silicon, and the diffused copper forms a deep energy level between band gaps. In addition, copper also has a high diffusion coefficient in SiO2, and accordingly, an insulating property between the copper lines may deteriorate. As a result, the high diffusion coefficient of Cu in silicon or SiO2 may substantially deteriorate reliability of a semiconductor device.
Therefore, in order to ensure sufficient reliability during a copper line process, there is a need for a diffusion barrier that can prevent copper from rapidly diffusing into silicon or SiO2.
As above-described, the diffusion barrier plays an important role in interconnections. Therefore, it is important to develop a technique that is capable of forming a fine diffusion barrier. TaN, for example, is thermodynamically stable with copper. Accordingly, many methods have been developed to use a TaN thin film as a fine diffusion barrier during the copper line manufacturing process.
TaN thin films generally have high thermal stability, excellent adhesion to the oxide layer, and a desirable diffusion barrier characteristic. Accordingly, TaN thin films are widely used as a diffusion barrier. Generally, the TaN thin film is formed of a TaN/Ta bi-layer with a thickness of 100 nm or more by a physical vapor deposition (PVD) method.
As semiconductor devices have become smaller, Cu lines with a width of 65 nm or less are desired. Accordingly, the TaN thin film must have a thickness of less than 5 nm. However, according to the PVD method, the TaN thin film generally cannot realize sufficiently uniform step coverage at such thicknesses. In order to overcome this non-uniform deposition and to acquire excellent step coverage and a desirable diffusion barrier characteristic, an atomic layer deposition (ALD) method has been developed.
The ALD method employs a precursor (for example, a metal-organic precursor and a halogen compound such as TaCl5) to form or deposit a TaN thin film. However, when the TaN thin film is deposited by the ALD method employing the metal-organic precursor, the TaN thin film may include a substantial amount of carbon. In this case, a low film density and high resistivity result, such that the copper lines may not have desired electric characteristics.
Therefore, research has been undertaken to employ the halogen compound such as TaCl5 as a precursor for the diffusion barrier. However, in this case, impurities such as Cl may cause corrosion to the copper lines such that reliability of the semiconductor device may deteriorate.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention, and therefore, it may contain information that does not form information or prior art that may be known in this or any other country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Manufacturing method of a semiconductor device


A pneumatic tire includes a carcass layer mounted between a pair of bead portions; a belt layer disposed on an outer circumferential side of the carcass layer; and a band-like sound absorbing member extending in a tire circumferential direction adhered to a region of a tire inner surface corresponding to a tread portion, the band-like sound absorbing member being locally disposed at a position distanced from a central region of the region corresponding to the tread portion, and an outer circumferential surface of the band-like sound absorbing member including cuts extending in the tire circumferential direction.

One of the factors that generate tire noise is cavernous resonance caused by the vibration of the air in a tire cavity portion. This cavernous resonance occurs when a tread portion of a tire that contacts a road surface vibrates due to unevenness or the like of the road surface when a vehicle is driven, and this vibration vibrates the air in the tire cavity portion. A frequency range within the cavernous resonance corresponds to noise. Thus, reducing the noise level in this frequency range is vital to reducing tire noise.
An example of a known method for reducing noise due to this cavernous resonance phenomenon includes a method of directly adhering and fixing a band-like sound absorbing member to a tire inner surface (see, for example, Japan Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 2002-67608 and 2005-138760). However, in this case, because the band-like sound absorbing member is directly adhered on the tire inner surface, heat accumulates in the tread portion. This accumulation of heat degrades high-speed durability. In particular, because the band-like sound absorbing member described above is disposed in a central region of the region of the tire inner surface that corresponds to the tread portion, the amount of heat accumulated in the central region when traveling is relatively large, making this accumulation of heat likely to reduce high-speed durability.
Additionally, in a configuration in which the band-like sound absorbing member is directly adhered to the tire inner surface, deformation of the tire strains the band-like sound absorbing member. This strain makes the band-like sound absorbing member likely to peel off.


The present invention provides a lid unit for closing the container body 2 that is transported with thin-plates such as semiconductor wafers or the like accommodated therein. Simplified attaching/detaching mechanisms 32 for the production line are provided at the centers of the respective sides opposing with respect to each other. The simplified attaching/detaching mechanism 32 for the production line includes a locking plate 34 for locking the second fitted portion 21 and a drive-out member 35 for allowing the drive-out member 35 to rise and set by being engaged with the locking plate 34. A locking arm 57 for fixing the drive-out member 35 is provided on the drive-out member 35 at the end in the direction of rotation. A supporting rail 56 for controlling the rising and setting movement of the locking plate 34 is provided on the drive-out member 35. The locking plate 34 is supported pivotally and slidably, and is provided with a holding claw 51 for engaging the second fitted portion 21 at the distal end thereof. The thin-plate holding container 1 is used for transportation when the lid unit 4 for transportation is attached on the container body 2, and is used for the production line when the lid body 5 for the production line is attached thereon.

In general, a thin-plate holding container for accommodating thin-plates such as semiconductor wafers or the like for storage or transportation is publicly known.
Such thin-plate holding container mainly includes a container body, and a lid unit for covering the upper opening of the container body. The container body is provided with members for supporting the thin-plates such as semiconductor wafers or the like therein. Such thin-plate holding container requires to be kept clean inside thereof during transportation in order to prevent contamination or the like on the surface of the thin-plates such as semiconductor wafers or the like accommodated therein. Therefore, the container is sealed off. In other words, the lid unit is fixed to the container body for sealing the interior of the container off. There are various structures for fixing the lid unit to the container body.
The plates are stored in the container body and the lid unit is fixed to the container body for sealing the interior thereof off in a plant for manufacturing plates such as semiconductor-wafers. In this state, the containers are transported to a semiconductor manufacturing plant or the like. Generally, in the semiconductor manufacturing plant, the semiconductor wafers or the like are transferred to a specific container for production line, and placed on a production line.
When transferring the semiconductor wafers or the like into the line-specific container as described above, the above-described thin-plate holding container is used only for transportation, and thus is not necessary after transportation. Therefore, such thin-plate holding containers, after having been emptied, are returned to the originated plant or discarded. However, it is inefficient in terms of usage, and may result in waste of resources and increase of waste products.
Therefore, the present inventor has proposed an invention in which a lid unit receiving portion of the container body is improved so as to be capable of being fitted to various types of lid unit, whereby the container body can also be used in the production line before (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-289795). However, there remains a problem in that container bodies having structures different from such container body cannot be used in the production line.
In view of such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a lid unit for a thin-plate holding container body which allows the container body to also be used, as is, in the production line after transportation and the like.

Lid unit for thin-plate holding container, thin-plate holding container, and simplified attaching/detaching mechanism


The present invention is for a guide wire comprising a core wire with a first diameter and the distal end having at least one section having a second, lesser diameter and a radiolucent coil surrounding the distal end at the second core wire diameter with a radiopaque wire located at the distal end within the radiolucent coil and a means for securing the radiopaque wire to the core wire.. Another embodiment of the present invention is a guide wire comprising a core wire having a radiolucent portion and a radiopaque portion, the radiopaque portion being distal of the radiolucent portion and contiguous with the radiolucent portion, the proximal end of the core wire having a first diameter and the distal end having at least one step down diameter section, a radiolucent coil surrounding the step down diameter section of the core wire, the proximal end of the radiolucent coil being fixedly mounted to the proximal end of the step down diameter section of the core wire, and a tip ball fixedly attached to the distal end of the core wire and to the distal end of the radiolucent coil.

Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) is used to reduce arterial build-up of cholesterol fats or atherosclerotic plaque. According to this procedure, a blockage in a coronary artery can be reduced by positioning a balloon dilatation catheter across the blockage and inflating the balloon, which causes stretching of the artery and pressing of the lesion into the artery wall to re-establish acceptable blood flow through the artery. A guide wire is first inserted into the body and advanced through the desired coronary artery to reach a stenosis. Once the guide wire is positioned beyond the stenosis, the catheter is then slid over the guide wire so that placement of the balloon spans the stenosis and the balloon is then inflated.
Generally, guide wires have a solid core wire surrounded by one or more coil springs. The tip of the guide wire is usually shapable to allow the physician to bend the guide wire tip before insertion into the artery. The ease or difficulty of using the guide wire through the artery depends on several characteristics, such as steerability and tracking. A guide wire with superior steerability and tracking is easier to direct through a tortuous path to the stenosis. During the procedure, the guide wire is tracked by using an x-ray machine. To view the guide wire using the x-ray machine, a portion of the guide wire must be formed from a radiopaque material.
There are various ways to construct a guide wire for radiopacity. The most common way is to use spring coils mounted on the distal end of the guide wire that are radiopaque. There have been a number of patents directed to different constructions of guide wires including U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,827 to Buchbinder et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,945 to Hodgson et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,622 to Samson et al, U.S. Pat. No. Re. 34,695 to Mar et al and U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,808 to Viera.
One of the problems often encountered is that the guide wire has too long of a radiopaque section, making it very bright and blood flow difficult to see under x-ray. Some guide wires use multiple spring coils of different radiopacity. The problem with current multiple spring coil designs is at the joint between the coils. This same joint between the coils is also where the coils are joined to the core wire. This creates a non-flexible section on the wire in an area where the wire should have a smooth transition (See U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,945 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,808). What is needed is a guide wire that provides improved flexibility and a desirable amount of radiopaqueness.


A method and apparatus for aiding pilots in aerial refueling comprises a primary auto-throttling system (ATS) disposed in a primary aircraft and a secondary ATS disposed in a secondary aircraft. The primary ATS includes logic which generates and transmits an anticipatory signal to the secondary ATS. Based upon the received anticipatory signal, the secondary ATS automatically controls a throttle of the secondary aircraft so as to maintain an airspeed of the primary aircraft. The anticipatory signals include rate of change information including at least one of rate of change of airspeed of the primary aircraft, rate of change of pitch of the primary aircraft, and rate of change of weight of the primary aircraft.

The disclosed embodiments relate to aircraft refueling systems. More particularly, the embodiments relate to apparatus for and methods of aiding a pilot in controlling the airspeed of a tanker aircraft and a receiving aircraft.
Aerial refueling poses a unique flight control challenge. For example, a fighter aircraft must contend with a wake turbulence generated by a much larger tanker aircraft. Furthermore, an aerial refueling operation not only requires skill in approaching and attaching the refueling line, but once attached, staying attached to the tanker requires constant attention to synchronize the airspeed of the receiving aircraft with the airspeed of the tanker during constantly changing and, oftentimes hazardous conditions.
For example, as fuel is offloaded from the tanker aircraft, the pilot of the receiving aircraft must advance a throttle control to maintain constant airspeed as the gross weight of the aircraft increases. Conversely, as fuel is offloaded from the tanker, the pilot of the tanker must retard a throttle control to maintain a constant airspeed as the weight decreases. In most circumstances, radio communication between the pilots of the tanker and the receiving aircraft is the only tool supporting aerial refueling.
Accordingly, apparatus and methods for automatically controlling the airspeed of a primary and secondary aircraft are desirable.

Apparatus and method for refueling aircraft


Techniques for employing QCL (Quasi Co-Location) signaling for beamforming management are discussed. One example embodiment can comprise a baseband processor of a User Equipment (UE). The baseband processor comprises one or more processors to make a determination whether a first set of RS (Reference Signal) APs (Antenna Ports) are QCL-ed (Quasi Co-Located) with a second set of RS APs with respect to one or more large-scale channel properties and to select a set of receiving parameters for the second set of RS APs based on the one or more spatial receiver parameters. The one or more large-scale channel properties comprise one or more spatial receiver parameters. The first set of RS APs are distinct from the second set of RS APs.

As defined in LTE (Long Term Evolution), the antenna port is used for transmission of a physical channel or signal, where an antenna port is defined such that the channel over which a symbol on the antenna port is conveyed can be inferred from the channel over which another symbol on the same antenna port is conveyed. Different antenna ports can correspond to different reference signals, which can be used for channel estimation and processing of the physical channel transmitted on the same antenna ports.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

QCL (quasi co-location) indication for beamforming management


In an image processing apparatus which can always provide an excellent processed image, an analysis unit analyzes condition information representing a condition at a time when an image is obtained and being included in image information, and determines an algorithm of an image correction process for the image based on the analyzed result.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing system and an image processing method which are all used in an apparatus or a system which performs an image correction process to print and output by a printer digital image data shot and obtained by, e.g., a digital still camera or the like, to a computer-readable storage medium which stores a program for executing the image processing method, and to the program itself.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, for example, a digital still camera is popularized, whereby an image shot by the digital still camera can be easily digitized. In particular, a chance of handling and treating a photographic image (i.e., an image seen like a photograph) as digital image data increases on a personal computer. Moreover, by using various application programs (software) on the personal computer, the digital image data representing the photographic image can be easily processed and edited.
On one hand, a full-color hard copy technique rapidly develops. Particularly, in a print technique based on an ink-jet print system, a technique to reduce graininess of ink dots improves, whereby an image quality of the print output in this print technique becomes equivalent to an image quality of a silver-salt photograph. Furthermore, this print technique is widely used because it is relatively simple.
According to such a technical background as described above, it is required enabling to easily print the digital image data shot and obtained by the digital still camera. Furthermore, in regard to an image correction process to be performed in case of printing and outputting the image data, the need for an automatic image correction process in which an excellent image-corrected image can be obtained by using the application programs on the personal computer increases instead of a manual image correction process in which complicated functions are used.
Consequently, as a method of performing image processes such as the image correction process and the like in case of printing and outputting the image data so as to obtain an excellent output result, for example, a method of analyzing a scene of the shot image and then automatically performing the image correction based on the analyzed result, and other various methods are proposed.
Furthermore, for example, a method of performing so-called "density correction" which is the correction to prevent that the shot image is too bright (too thin) or too dark (too thick) when this image is printed and output is proposed. Moreover, a method of performing so-called "image correction" which is the correction to correct an inappropriate shot image including color fog, underexposure (defective lightness and/or contrast), defective saturation or the like and an image with the color balance being defective due to color fog or the like is proposed.
As a structure to perform the automatic image correction in both the method of performing "density correction" and the method of performing "image correction", a structure which analyzes the image to be processed (also called an original image or a process-target image hereinafter) by using a histogram on which the numbers of pixels of each brightness value of a brightness signal in the original image have been accumulated and then corrects the original image on the basis of the analyzed result is applied.
Furthermore, the digital still camera side has a function to be able not only to record the shot and obtained image as the digital image data in a storage medium such as a memory card or the like but also to record additional information representing a shooting condition at a time of image shooting together with the digital image data in the storage medium.
Here, it is assumed that the process-target image is shot by the digital still camera, the shot and thus obtained process-target image is analyzed, the scene of the analyzed process-target image is further analyzed, and the automatic image correction of the process-target image is performed on the basis of the analyzed result. In this case, basically, the automatic image correction is performed so that the images which are thought to be logically optimum (i.e., standard images) are printed and output respectively for all of the process-target images.
Incidentally, in such a color correction and a lightness correction, it is often the case that the image process is statistically performed by using the histogram of the image, that is, the optimum correction in all the images cannot necessarily be performed on the basis of the analysis of only the image data. In other words, more precise and strict judgment can be performed if white balance information and exposure information are used respectively for the color correction and the lightness correction.
Furthermore, unlike the manual image correction that a user manually corrects the process-target image by using the application program on the personal computer while confirming it displayed on the monitor of this computer, there is the fear in the automatic image correction that the correction to obtain a standard image is performed against user's intention at the time when obtaining the process-target image (i.e., at the time of shooting the process-target image).
For example, even if the user intentionally sets a manual mode and then shoots an image under an exposure condition to lighten or darken the image, the obtained light image is corrected to make it rather darker and the obtained dark image is corrected to make it rather lighter. That is, in this case, the image obtained in the manual mode is output as an image having appropriate lightness against user's intention. In other words, any process-target image is corrected and output as the image having the same lightness.
Furthermore, even if the user intentionally changes a white balance of the digital still camera to aim at a specific effect and then shoots an image based on the changed white balance, the shot image obtained is corrected to have an optimum color balance (i.e., not the changed white balance).
On one hand, it is assumed that plural image processes such as an exposure correction process, a color balance correction process, an image optimizing process based on the shot scene information, and the like are performed. In such a case, if each process is independently performed, there is a possibility that similar processes are performed redundantly, and there is a possibility that the point which should be emphasized becomes weak through the succedent processes. That is, when the plural processes are performed, it is necessary to eliminate that the similar processes are performed redundantly, and it is also necessary to take account which process should be emphasized and which process should be de-emphasized.
Similarly, as the function of the digital still camera improves in recent years, for example, there is a camera which has a special effect function to increase the saturation of the shot (obtained) image, make the contrast or lightness of the shot (obtained) image variable, or the like. In the camera of such a type, if the special effect function is used as well as the image correction process, the double correction is resultingly performed, whereby the obtained special effect is diminished or emphasized too much. Thus, in this case, there is the fear that the image which has been subjected to the image correction process deteriorates.

Image processing apparatus, image processing system, image processing method, storage medium, and program


A gripper system for a machine that processes printing material sheets has a gripper with a first clamping surface and a gripper pad, for cooperating with the gripper, with a second clamping surface. One of the two clamping surfaces is formed with a surface relief. The clamping surface which has the surface relief is placed in such a way that, when a narrow printing material sheet is gripped, the clamping surface is covered by the sheet only within a subregion of the clamping surface and, when it grips a broad printing material sheet, it is covered by the latter beyond the subregion. The surface relief is structured differently within the subregion than outside the subregion, in that it is provided within the subregion with an antideformation structure which protects the narrow printing material sheet from excessive clamping deformation.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gripper system for a machine that processes printing material sheets. The gripper system includes a gripper having a first clamping surface and a gripper pad which cooperates with the gripper and has a second clamping surface. One of the two clamping surfaces has a surface relief.
German published patent application DE 31 46 836 A1 describes a gripper system, the clamping surface of which has a surface relief formed from prismatic profile elements. Two situations can be assumed with regard to that clamping surface.
There is no problem in one situation in which the clamped printing material sheet completely covers the clamping surface. In this situation, the clamping force acts over the entire clamping surface as intended and, as a result, the surface pressure exerted by the clamping surface on the printing material sheet is not excessive. The surface relief or its prismatic profile elements only dig into the printing material sheet as deeply as is necessary in order to hold the printing material sheet securely in the gripper system.
In the other situation, which is indeed problematic, the clamping surface is only half covered by the sheet corner of the clamped printing material sheet in the direction of its sheet width. As a result, the clamping force, whose magnitude is unchanged with respect to the first situation, is now distributed exclusively in the partial region of the clamping surface that is covered by the printing material sheet and no longer over the entire clamping surface. This concentration of the clamping force in turn has the consequence that the surface pressure acting on the clamped printing material sheet is increased with regard to the first situation and, for example, is approximately doubled, and that the prismatic profile elements dig into the printing material sheet to an excessive depth. The increase in the surface pressure and the excessive digging in of the profile elements can lead to excessively pronounced irreversible sheet deformations, so-called clamping marks, in the region of the affected sheet corner of the printing material sheet.
As every one of the printing material sheets gripped one after another by the gripper system would have such clamping marks, problems would be expected as a consequence when stacking the printing material sheets on top of one another subsequently.
If there is provision for the printing material sheets to be stacked on top of one another so as to form a sheet stack by means of a sheet delivery of the machine comprising the gripper system, there would be an accumulation of the clamping marks. This is because the clamping mark of every printing material sheet would come to rest within the sheet stack exactly over the clamping mark of the printing material sheet lying underneath. A serious deviation of the sheet stack geometry from the required parallelepiped sheet stack geometry is to be expected in the region of the deformed (warped, rippled, etc.) sheet corners. This distortion of the sheet stack edges at least considerably impedes the further processing of the printing material sheets of the sheet stack or perhaps even makes the further processing completely impossible. This is because an exact sheet stack geometry is a precondition for the unproblematic further processing of the stack.

Gripper system for a machine which processes printing material sheets


In a fuse-based programmable circuit block, the poly-fuse is burned out by making use of a snapback device connected in series with the poly-fuse.

For a number of analog applications a programmable block is required, e.g., in the case of a programmable I/O.
One approach that has been adopted in the past is the use of EEPROM cells. The disadvantage of EEPROMs, however, is that they require additional complex programming circuitry and also consume a substantial amount of space.
An alternative that has been used in the past in cases where the block needs to be programmed only once, is to make use of fuses. These fuse cells, in contrast to EEPROM cells provide a close to minimum dimension poly resistor. However, they are programmed by burning the fuse cell out using a CMOS switch circuit. In the case of on-chip programming, this requires a rather complex pulsed switch circuit and a sophisticated process to ensure reliable burn out of the fuse cell.
The present application provides a new solution to programming the fuse cells.

Programming of fuse-based memories using snapback devices


An optical head with excellent optical characteristics even when using a light source that substantially has a wavelength broadening is provided. The optical head includes a light source, an objective lens for focusing a light beam emitted from the light source on an information recording medium and a photodetector for detecting the light beam reflected from the information recording medium, wherein defocusing correction means and spherical aberration correction means are provided in an optical path between the light source and the information recording medium. Since both the defocusing correction means and the spherical aberration correction means are provided, while defocusing of a focused spot on the information recording medium caused by a wavelength broadening of the light source and chromatic aberration of the optical system can be corrected, the spherical aberration of the optical system caused by wavelength difference between a design wavelength and an incident wavelength also can be corrected. As a result, excellent optical characteristics can be obtained.

As an important component part for reading out signals from optical recording media such as optical discs, e.g. compact discs (CD), DVD etc., optical card memories or the like, an optical head is available. In order to take out signals from the optical recording media, the optical head needs to be equipped not only with a signal detection function but also with a control mechanism such as a focusing servo, a tracking servo and the like.
The optical head usually includes various optical components such as a light source, a photodetector, an objective lens, a focus/tracking error signal detecting element, a mirror, a collimator lens etc. A laser beam emitted from a light source is focused on an optical disc by an objective lens (collective lens). The laser beam focused on the optical disc is reflected and detected by a photodetector. In this way, a reproduction signal is read out. Moreover, focusing and tracking are controlled by a focus/tracking error signal detecting element, so that signals can be read out stably.
However, in the case of a light source that has a wavelength broadening such as a semiconductor laser source to which high frequency current superposition is applied, due to chromatic aberration (in particular, mainly due to color dispersion of a glass material) of the optical system including the objective lens, defocusing of a focused spot on the information recording medium was likely to occur according to the degree of wavelength broadening.

Optical head with spherical aberration correction and method of using same

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Assigning a serving-call session control function (serving-CSCF) to an access terminal includes receiving an access authorization request corresponding to the access terminal. The access terminal is authorized, and a serving-CSCF is assigned to the access terminal. An access authorization response comprising the serving-CSCF address is sent.

The Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) delivers IP multimedia services to access terminals. IMS utilizes call session control functions (CSCFs) to provide the services. CSCFs are Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) servers and proxies that process SIP signaling packets. A proxy-CSCF (P-CSCF) is a SIP proxy that is typically the first point of contact for an access terminal. A serving-CSCF (S-CSCF) is a SIP server that performs session control. The serving-CSCF operates as a home proxy for an access terminal and manages the features and communication sessions for the terminal. An interrogating-CSCF (I-CSCF) is a SIP proxy that may be used as a forwarding point for SIP packets.
A serving-CSCF is assigned to an access terminal. The incoming and outgoing sessions for the access terminal pass through the assigned serving-CSCF. Known techniques for assigning the serving-CSCF, however, may not be efficient in certain situations.

Assigning a serving-CSCF during access authentication


The invention relates to a seal (1) for a joint comprising a cylindrical inner core layer (2) made of a water-unexpansible flexible material and having an internal opening (2a), and an outer coating layer (3) which is made of a water-expansible rubber. The outer coating layer (3) coats the inner core layer (2) and has penetrating openings (4) in the form of slits, pinholes or the like. The penetrating openings (4) extend to penetrating openings in the inner core layer (2) and communicate with the internal opening (2a) through the penetrating openings of the inner core layer (2).

In joints of a concrete structure, the problem arises that a water passage is formed due to the secondary fluctuation of the joint or the coarseness or porosity of the placed concrete, which allows water to leak through the passage. To prevent the water leak, a rubber seal is conventionally provided at the joint. It has also been proposed to install a water-expansible seal in the joint to prevent the water leak.
However, in the conventional seals mentioned above, the problem arises that it is difficult to safely cope with internal cavities in the concrete structure at and near the joint so as to surely prevent the water leak.
The present invention was made in consideration of the problems mentioned above. Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a seal for a joint which is composed of inexpensive structural materials in a simple manner so as to cope well with internal cavities at and near the joint and which performs a secondary sealing function as well as a primary sealing function.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of installing such a seal for a joint so as to completely produce not only a boundary sealing effect but also an additional capability to stop water.

Seal for joint, and method of installing same seal


A water controlling valve includes an outer sheet, an end cap and a control valve group. The control valve group is disposed between a flowing bore in the outer sheet and a water bore in the end cap. The water controlling valve is connected with the outlet of a water tube. When the control valve group is pushed upwards, the water bore in the end cap and the flowing bore in the outer sheet are closed in a predetermined sequence, then the water in the tube will not flow out. When the control valve group is pushed downwards, the flowing bore in the outer sheet and the water bore in the end cap are opened, then the water will flow out. When the water is stopped, the occurring positive or negative pressure wave is lowered, and then the vibration and the raspy noise will be avoided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water controlling valve, especially to a structure that is pushed to close the valve.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
Infrared-ray controlling switches are representative of the water switches currently available on market. When washing, the user needs to put the hands at a certain position to switch on the infrared-ray controlling switch. Then the faucet starts to supply water. However, the infrared-ray controlling switch has disadvantages. Because the time for the infrared-ray controlling switch to supply water is limited, the user is unable to finish washing within the duration of one switching-on. The user needs to switch on the infrared-ray controlling switch once again to finish washing. Further, the reaction of the infrared-ray controlling switch is not sensitive enough so the infrared-ray controlling switch is only switched on when the user puts the hands at the certain position. To solve the aforementioned problem, the conventional water controlling valves are developed.
With reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, the conventional water controlling valve comprises a barrel (50), a control valve group (60) and a bottom cap (70).
The barrel (50) has a stepped top recess (51) being formed in a top end. A through hole (52) is formed in the bottom of the top recess (51). A stepped bottom recess (53) is formed in a bottom end of the barrel (50). The top recess (51) communicates with the bottom recess (53) through the through hole (52).
The control valve group (60) comprises a spindle (61), a valve seat (62), a pushing rod (63) and an abutting rod (64).
The spindle (61) has a conical closed head (611). The closed head (611) is mounted in the top recess (51). A protruding rod (612) is connected to a bottom of the closed head (611). The protruding rod (612) is mounted into the bottom recess (53) through the through hole (52). A sidewall of the protruding rod (612) has multiple side wings (613) being separately protruding out from the sidewall.
The valve seat (62) is mounted in the bottom recess (53). An edge of the valve seat (62) abuts an inner edge of the bottom recess (53). The valve seat (62) has a through hole (621) being mounted through by the protruding rod (612). Multiple inclined edges (622) are saw-toothed and are formed on an inside wall of the through hole (621). Multiple guiding channels (623) are formed respectively between adjacent inclined edges (622). Multiple flowing bores (624) are formed separately through the valve seat (62) around the through hole (621).
The pushing rod (63) has a mounting cavity (631) being mounted through by the protruding rod (612). Multiple pushing sheets (632) are formed separately on and protrude from a sidewall of a top end of the pushing rod (63).
The abutting rod (64) has a receiving hole (641) being formed in a top end to be mounted by the pushing rod (63). Multiple inclined edges (642) are saw-toothed and are formed on the top end of the abutting rod (64). Multiple guiding protrusions (643) are formed on and protrude from a sidewall of the top end and are mounted slidably in the guiding channels (623). A bottom end of the abutting rod (64) protrudes out of the through hole (621) of the valve seat (62).
The bottom cap (70) is mounted securely in the bottom recess (53). The bottom cap (70) has an opening (71) abutting a bottom end of the valve seat (62) to mount the control valve group (60) in the barrel (50). Multiple water bores (72) are formed separately through the bottom cap (70) around the opening (71).
When in use, the conventional water controlling valve is connected to a faucet. The bottom end of the abutting rod (64) is pushed to allow water to flow out from the faucet. When the bottom end of the abutting rod (64) is pushed, the inclined edges (642) on the top end of the abutting rod (64) abut the pushing sheets (632) of the pushing rod (63) to push the pushing rod (63). When the top ends of the pushing sheets (632) abut the bottom ends of the side wings (613) of the protruding rod (612), the closed head (611) leaves the through hole (52) to open the trough hole (52). Therefore, water flows into the bottom recess (53) through the through hole (52), and then water flows out of the barrel (50) through the flowing bores (624) and the water bores (72) in sequence. Thus, the user may proceed with washing.
When washing procedure is finished, the abutting rod (64) is pushed again to allow the guiding protrusions (643) to enter the guiding channels (623) and to abut the bottom ends of the guiding channels (623). Then the abutment aforementioned no more exists. Therefore, the top end of the closed head (611) is shut down by the pushing of the water to seal the through hole (52). Thus, water does not flow out.
As described, the water supplying time is easily controlled by the simple mechanical movements. When the conventional water controlling valve is closed, the water in the water tube still pushes toward. Therefore, at the transient time when the conventional water controlling valve is closing, the kinetic energy of the pushing water becomes elasticity energy to generate a series of positive and negative pressure waves that vibrate in the water tube back and forth. The pressure waves do not stop until resisted by the abrasion. Thus, the vibration of the water tube results in raspy noises.


A system to determine fluid level in a tank using several tubes extending to different levels in the tank. Gas pressure in the tubes needed to release bubbles from the exit ends of the tubes indicates the hydrostatic head at the exit ends. A control unit compares the pressures in the tubes to find the highest fluid immersed bubbler tube. The proportion of fluid above the immersed tube is calculated from the pressure and added to the height of the immersed tube to get the total fluid depth. A spring loaded fixed length member, magnetically attached to the bottom of the tank, reliably secures the exit ends of the tubes at known fixed vertical locations.

Bubbler tubes comprise a superior way to measure the level of liquids because no mechanical apparatus needs to be immersed in the fluid. Reliability is enhanced and maintenance reduced, especially with corrosive, sticky, viscous, or otherwise difficult fluids. However, accuracy may suffer if the pressure is not correctly determined. A number of factors can generate errors in the pressure measurement and the prior art includes a number of proposed designs to insure better determination of the fluid pressure.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,115,679, to Uhlarik, teaches making the bubbler tube horizontal at its outlet tip so that the gas/liquid interface remains at the same vertical height when it moves somewhat within the bubbler tube as the pressure stabilizes. This insures that one is measuring the pressure at a known height location rather than the pressure at a somewhat higher location where the gas/liquid interface has been pushed by the fluid pressure. But even if one has an accurate pressure reading at a known location in the tank, the height of the liquid above that location cannot be calculated unless the weight of the liquid per unit volume, compared to water, that is, the specific gravity, is also exactly known. This is not always the case. Even common fluids like water vary in specific gravity depending on mineral content and temperature. Fluid mixtures vary their specific gravity over time as more volatile constituents evaporate off.
To solve this problem, U.S. Pat. No. 2,613,535, to Born, teaches the use of two bubbler tubes, vertically separated by a fixed distance, to establish the pressure differential over this fixed distance and calculate therefrom the actual specific gravity or the fluid. Thereafter, the level of the fluid can be calculated from the pressure sensed by the lower of the two bubbler tubes. Similar solutions are proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,309, to Cornelius, U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,635, to Khoi, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,630,478, to Johnson. All of these prior art approaches fail to overcome certain inherent problems with fluids, however.
No measurement of the density (specific gravity) of a fluid, no matter where taken, or how taken, can be extrapolated to accurately characterize all of the fluid in the tank due to the problem of stratification. Heavier components tend to sink toward the bottom making the liquid denser at lower heights. Temperature variations induce density variations. For example, during the course of the day, or as clouds pass by, the sun may warm one part of the tank and the fluid proximate thereto. The warmed fluid expands and becomes less dense. Convection currents may then begin with lighter fluid rising and heavier fluid sinking. The currents may interact with the component induced stratification in unpredictable ways. The end result is a continuously changing dynamic, non-linear, mathematically chaotic specific gravity distribution. Thus, accuracy is inherently limited. An average approximation of the specific gravity can be measured and used to calculate an approximation of the level and volume of the fluid, but high accuracy is unobtainable using these prior art methods. This problem grows progressively worse as tanks become taller. However, the present invention overcomes the problem.


A first component of a computing environment receives, from a physical network adapter of the computing environment, a request that the first component take over processing of network frames directed to network frame address(es) associated with a second component of the computing environment. The first component register the network frame address(es) for processing of network frames directed to the network frame address(es). Based on the first component receiving from the physical network adapter a network frame directed to a network frame address of the network frame address(es) associated with the second component, the first component processes the received network frame, in which the network frame is provided to the second component via an inter-component link between the first component and the second component.

Link aggregation provides an industry standard means of aggregating multiple switch ports along with their directly connected network interface cards (NICs) to form a Link Aggregation Group (LAG), such that networking interfaces connected through these NICs can treat the LAG as if it were a single port. This configuration provides a High Available network connection with increased bandwidth. Example Link Aggregation Control Protocols (LACPs) for Ethernet are defined in the 802.3ad and 802.1ax standards promulgated by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Current IEEE LAG architecture does not permit a NIC port to be configured in multiple LAGs or shared outside of a LAG at the same time. This is due to the direct peer-to-peer control interlock requirement of LACP to maintain a port within a LAG. The requirement dictates that all NICs within a LAG be configured to a single switch (virtual switch or physical switch). In other words, there is no sharing of a NIC configured in a LAG with multiple switches.

Take-over of network frame handling in a computing environment

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A method for controlling production of one or more refined resources by an energy provider includes predicting a demand for the refined resources by one or more consumers of the refined resources as a function of an incentive offered by the energy provider. The method further includes performing an optimization of an objective function subject to a constraint based on the predicted demand for the refined resources to determine an amount of the refined resources for the energy provider to produce and a value of the incentive at multiple times within a time period. The method also includes providing setpoints for equipment of the energy provider that cause the equipment to produce the amount of the refined resources determined by performing the optimization.

The present disclosure relates to energy and temperature control for a building. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to energy and temperature control for a building from an energy provider perspective. Customers frequently use excessive amounts of energy which causes power plants to operate to meet the energy consumption of the customers. At demand times of day, the power plants operate at high loads to meet the energy consumption of the customers. It would be advantageous for an energy provider to have a system which can determine optimal energy distribution and setpoint control of the customers to minimize cost incurred by the energy provider and improve customer efficiency, and can adjust customer setpoints to cause the customer subplants to operate such that the cost incurred by the energy provider is minimized.

Energy control system with energy provider level demand optimization


A semiconductor light emitting device package includes: a light emitting device; a wavelength conversion unit formed in a path of light emitted from the light emitting device and including a mixture of a wavelength conversion material and a glass material; and a reflective film disposed on an upper surface of the wavelength conversion unit and reflecting a partial amount of light emitted from the light emitting device and allowing a partial amount of light emitted from the light emitting device to be transmitted therethrough.

Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor light emitting device package.
Description of the Related Art
A light emitting diode (LED), a device that converts electricity into light through using the properties of a compound semiconductor thereof, has been variously developed and utilized as a next-generation light source. LEDs are very advantageous in terms of color representation and power consumption, and thus, they have come to prominence as viable light sources for replacing conventional cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) used in backlight units (BLUs) of notebook computers, TVs, and the like.
As for methods for implementing desired colors by using light emitting devices, a desired color of light may be implemented by changing types of semiconductor materials used to form a light emitting device or by inducing phosphors to emit light by using a light emitting device.
However, in the case of manufacturing a light emitting device emitting a desired color of light by using these methods, color purity may be degraded in the process of implementing color when a wavelength of light generated by a light emitting device and a wavelength of light converted in phosphors are mixed, or light loss occurs when light is scattered or reflected in phosphors to degrade luminance.

Semiconductor light emitting device package


As an example of the present invention, for example, there is disclosed an information processing apparatus which communicates with a client device to which a peripheral device is connected including: a management program for managing installation configuration information generated when driver information for control of the peripheral device is installed in a system; and a transmission control program for controlling a process of transmitting information about storage space of installation configuration information managed by the above described management unit, and information about storage space of a driver information setting module for installation of driver information in response to a request of the client device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus for setting a driver and a network system.
2. Related Background Art
When an installer for setting a printer which is a preferable example of a peripheral device available by a client device is activated, it has been necessary to input various parameters such as a printer name, the location of a printer driver, an output port, etc.
Additionally, when a printing process is performed by using a print server device, a user activates a driver installer arranged in the server device, and a parameter which enables a printer to interactively operate is input according to a program. However, it is necessary for a user to be informed of various printer parameters such as a print server device, a printer name, the location of a driver, an IP address, an output port name, etc.
Furthermore, in a print system in which a client device is connected to a network, there is a technology of outputting the information input into a driver installer as a file to the client device when a printer is set by the above mentioned driver installer. When the same type of printer driver is installed again, there is a technology of setting a driver by a client device according to the installation information without inputting again the installation information.
When a driver is installed, inputting complicated information has been required, and common users have difficulty in the installing process. For example, in setting a printer driver which is a preferable example of a driver of a peripheral device, it is necessary to input into a driver installer various complicated information such as port information, an IP address, the storage space of a driver, etc. In addition, an increasing number of peripheral devices have been connected to server devices through a network. Therefore, a number of users of a client device have earnestly requested to use the installation configuration information about the driver containing the information input in a specific server device when the driver is installed. However, in the client device, there is no method of using the installation information on the server device, and the users have the problem that they have to input the complicated information when a driver is installed.
Furthermore, it is also possible to store a once input parameter as installation configuration information, and to publish it in a predetermined shared directory of the server device. However, in this method, it is necessary for a user who sets up a driver to always know the location of the installation configuration information in the network. Additionally, when the configuration and the contents of a shared directory of the server device are changed, it is necessary to notify all client devices of the change. In this case, there can be the problem that, for example, no notification of a change in installation configuration information is mistakenly provided for a user who uses the changed printer.

Network system, information processing apparatus, information processing method, and control program


A monitoring interface, includes logic responsive to a pre-fork event, the pre-fork event responsive to a vfork system call. The pre-fork event includes indicia that identifies a child process to be created in accordance with the vfork system call. A method for controlling the execution of a child process created from a parent process, where the parent process is monitored by a software tool includes, receiving indicia that a vfork system call will be executed by the parent process, suspending execution of the parent process, extracting a process identifier from the indicia of the vfork system call, the process identifier corresponding to a child process to be generated by the parent process when the parent process executes the vfork system call, setting a process monitor thread to observe the child process, and resuming execution of the parent process to enable the parent process to execute past the vfork system call.

The computing community has developed tools and methods to analyze the run-time behavior of a computer program. Many of the tools and methods use statistical sampling and binary instrumentation techniques. Statistical sampling is performed by recording periodic snapshots of the program's state, e.g., the program's instruction pointer. Sampling imposes a low overhead on a program's run time performance, is relatively non-intrusive, and imprecise. For example, it may be difficult to associate a sampled instruction pointer with the particular instruction that caused the latest sampling event.
While binary instrumentation leads to more precise results, the accuracy comes at some cost to the run-time performance of the instrumented program. Traditional binary instrumentation is static. It involves rewriting the whole program before any run to insert data-gathering code. Because the binary code of a program is modified, all interactions with the processor and the operating system can change significantly. Consequently, binary instrumentation is considered intrusive.
Dynamic binary instrumentation allows program instructions to be changed on-the-fly and leads to a whole class of more precise run-time monitoring results. Unlike static binary instrumentation techniques that are applied over an entire program prior to execution of the program, dynamic binary instrumentation is performed at run-time of a program and only instruments those portions of an executable that are executed. Consequently, dynamic binary instrumentation techniques can significantly reduce the overhead imposed by the instrumentation process.
Software development tools can combine statistical sampling and dynamic binary instrumentation methods into a framework that enables performance analysis, profiling, coverage analysis, correctness checking, and testing of a program.
A basic reason for the difficulty in testing the correctness and performance of a program is that program behavior largely depends on the data on which the program operates and, in the case of interactive programs, on the information (data and commands) received from a user. Therefore, even if exhaustive testing is impossible, as is often the case, program testing and performance analysis is preferably conducted by causing the program to operate with some data. The act of executing a program entails the creation of one or multiple "processes."
A "process" is commonly defined as an address space, one or multiple control threads operating within the address space, and the set of system resources needed for operating with the threads. Therefore, a "process" is a logic entity consisting of the program itself, the data on which it must operate, the memory resources, and input/output resources. Executing a given program may lead to multiple processes being created. Program verification and performance testing encompasses execution of the program to test if the process or processes develop in the correct way or if undesired or unexpected events occur.
Generally, software development tools use two basic techniques to monitor the execution of a given process, in-process monitoring and out-of-process monitoring. In-process monitoring involves modifying a program to be tested so that select program instructions are preceded and followed by overhead instructions that extract variable information, control execution of the instruction, and monitor program execution. With out-of-process monitoring, a monitoring program executes in a different process and interacts with the monitored processes.
Symbolic debuggers constitute an example of out-of-process monitoring. Symbolic debuggers are interactive programs which allow a software engineer to monitor the execution of a compiled program. The user can follow the execution of a compiled program in a familiar high-level programming language while the program to be tested executes. Symbolic debuggers modify an executable copy of the source by selectively inserting conditional branches to other routines, instruction sequences, and break points. The compiled and instrumented program can then be run under the control of a managing program or a software engineer via a human-machine interface.
Symbolic debuggers also enable the insertion of instruction sequences for recording variables used in execution of the instruction and, on user request, can add and remove break points, modify variables, and permit modification of the hardware environment. These techniques are particularly effective in that they permit step-by-step control of the execution of a program, that is, they allow the evolution of the related process to be controlled by halting and restarting the process at will and by changing parameters during the course of execution of the process. The tools also can display the execution status of the process to the software engineer in detail by means of display windows or other output devices that enable the user to continuously monitor the program. Some tools automate the process of setting break points in the executable version of the source code.
Symbolic debuggers have several limitations. First, they operate on only a single process at a time. Second, the process to be tested must be activated by the parent process (the symbolic analysis process) and cannot be activated earlier. Consequently, the debugging of programs, which are activated at system start up, such as monitors, daemons, etc., is problematic.
Furthermore, because the process to be tested is generated as a child of the symbolic analysis parent, and in a certain sense is the result of a combination of the symbolic analysis function/program with the program to be tested, the two processes must share or utilize the same resources. As a consequence, interactive programs that use masks and windows on a display device cannot be tested because they compete or interfere with the symbolic debugger in requiring access to the display device.
Moreover, software development tools that use symbolic debuggers can encounter deadlock conditions that result from the standard execution of operating system level instructions.
One operating system that has gained widespread acceptance is the UNIX® operating system. UNIX® is a trademark of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company of New York, N.Y., U.S.A. The UNIX® operating system is a multi-user, time-sharing operating system with a tree-structured file system. Other noteworthy functional features are its logical I/O capabilities, pipes, and forks. The logical I/O capabilities allow a user to specify the input and output files of a program at runtime rather than at compile time, thus providing greater flexibility. Piping is a feature that enables buffering of input and output data to and from other processes. Forking is a feature that enables the creation of a new process.
By themselves, these features offer no inherent benefits. However, the UNIX® operating system command environment (called the SHELL) provides easy access to these operating system capabilities and also allows them to be used in different combinations. With the proper selection and ordering of system commands, logical I/O, pipes, and forks, a user at the command level can accomplish tasks that on other operating systems would require writing and generating an entirely new program. This ability to easily create application program equivalents from command level is one of the unique and primary benefits of the UNIX® operating system.
The popularity of the UNIX® operating system has led to the creation of numerous open source and proprietary variations such as LINUX®, HP-UX®, etc. LINUX® is a trademark of William R. Della-Croce, Jr. (individual) of Boston, Mass., U.S.A. HP-UX®, is a trademark of the Hewlett-Packard Company, of Palo Alto, Calif., U.S.A. Variants of the UNIX® operating system inherently use the UNIX® operating system's logical I/O capabilities, pipes, and forks.
Software development tools can encounter a deadlock condition when a process under test includes a "vfork" system call. The operation of a "vfork" system call in the UNIX® operating system involves spawning a new process and copying the process image of the parent (the process making the vfork call) to the child process (the newly spawned process).
Monitoring facilities enable a process or thread to control the execution of threads running in another process. Generally, monitoring facilities control other threads by reading and modifying the state of the process. "Thread trace," also known as "ttrace" is a tracing facility for single and multithreaded processes. Ttrace is an evolution of "process trace," also known as "ptrace." A monitoring facility typically allows the monitoring program to declare an interest in the occurrence of particular events associated with any thread or for a specific subset of threads. For example, the monitoring process may want to be informed when a thread receives a signal, invokes a system call, or executes a breakpoint. While under the control of a monitoring facility, the monitored code behaves normally until one of those events occur. At this point, the thread or process enters a stopped or suspended state and the tracing process is notified of the event. In the ttrace facility, the monitoring process receives such notifications by invoking the system call ttrace_wait.
Ttrace_wait can be called in blocking or non-blocking modes. When called in blocking mode, the system call will not return until an event is available. In non-blocking mode the system call will return promptly but may indicate that no event notification is available. When event notification is available, ttrace_wait will provide an indication of the event type encountered.
At a given point in time, a monitoring program may monitor multiple processes, each process including one or multiple threads. Monitoring facilities such as ttrace typically provide a way to separate event notifications from the various processes, or even from the various threads in a given process. In the case of ttrace_wait, the monitoring process will either return events from any process monitored, from any thread in a specified process, or from a specified thread in a specified process. Using the mode where a single ttrace_wait call will provide information about any process monitored can introduce a bottleneck or make run-time analysis too complex.
A vfork system call differs from a fork system call in that the child process created via the vfork system call shares the same address space as the parent until exec or _exit is called, while a child process created via the fork system call gets a copy of the parent address space. In some operating systems, the vfork system call is implemented by having the parent process blocked until the child process calls exec or _exit. This allows for a simple implementation of vfork, as the child process can be created cheaply as it directly uses most of the structures associated with the parent process.
As mentioned above, such an implementation of the vfork system call can present a deadlock condition for debuggers that use known tracing facilities. If the monitoring process is using monitoring facilities that in turn are using per-process notifications, the monitoring process will not be aware of the newly created child process, until the monitoring process is notified that the child process exists. In some existing designs, however, notification is not delivered until the parent process is unblocked. That is, when the child process calls exec or _exit. Furthermore, the child process itself can be blocked as it generates monitoring events. This results in a deadlock, as both the traced parent and child process are blocked while the tracing process waits for an indication of an event that cannot be delivered until the child process is unblocked.
FIG. 1 illustrates the deadlock condition. The process descriptions or blocks in the flow chart presented in FIG. 1 should be understood to represent a somewhat inaccurate overview of an instrumentation process. Those reasonably skilled in the art will understand that an accurate depiction of instrumenting a parent process that executes a vfork to spawn a child process would require a detailed unified modeling language (UML) sequence diagram to reflect the actual interactions in the process.
Deadlock condition 10 occurs between development tool 20, parent process 30, and child process 40 as described below. Development tool 20 identifies a process (e.g., parent process 30) that the development tool 20 would like to monitor as indicated in block 22. Next, development tool 20 spawns parent process 30 under trace control as shown in block 24. A process identifier (PID) is assigned to the parent process 30 by the operating system when the parent process is created.
Thereafter, in block 26, development tool 20 monitors execution of the parent process by monitoring trace events from parent process 30. Under the UNIX® operating system and its open source and proprietary variants, development tool 20 waits for trace events that include the PID of the parent process. Development tool 20 cannot monitor child process 40, since child process 40 has not been created.
Once parent process 30 is created and started, parent process 30 is instrumented and runs nominally in accordance with its instructions as shown in block 32. The parent process 30 runs until it encounters a vfork system call as shown in block 34. Next, parent process 30 spawns child "A" under trace control as shown in block 36. In accordance with the vfork system call, the operating system copies the current state of the parent process 30 to spawn child process 40 and generates a trace event which is received by development tool 20. Thereafter, as shown in block 38, parent process 30 is essentially suspended waiting for an indication that child process 40 has completed (e.g., indicia of an exec or exit).
Once child process 40 is created by the vfork system call in parent process 30, and started, child process 40 is instrumented and runs nominally in accordance with its instructions as shown in block 42. The child process 40 runs nominally in accordance with its instructions until it encounters the vfork system call shown in block 44. Thereafter, as shown in block 46, child process 40 spawns a child "B" process. At this time, the operating system assigns a PID, different from the parent PID and child "A" PID, to identify the subsequent child process. In accordance with the vfork system call, child process 40 copies itself in its instrumented state to spawn the subsequent child process (not shown) and generates a trace event which is ignored by development tool 20 because development tool 20 is only looking for trace events from parent process 30.
Once the vfork system call is encountered and processed in child process 40, the deadlock condition has occurred. Parent process 30 is suspended waiting for an indication that child process 40 has completed. Child process 40, which inherited trace control from parent process 30, waits for a process to handle the trace event generated at the time it executed the vfork system call. Concurrently, development tool 20 waits for a trace event from parent process 30.
Consequently, it is desirable to have an improved apparatus, program, and method to avoid deadlock induced by a vfork system call when monitoring application programming interfaces (APIs) to track the execution of computer programs.

Method and apparatus for controlling execution of a child process generated by a modified parent process

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A cooling system and method of cooling an engine are disclosed. The cooling system includes a first closed loop that circulates coolant at a first temperature and a second closed loop that circulates coolant at a second temperature that is different than the first temperature. Such a construction provides two separate cooling temperature circuits for cooling equipment at different cooling temperatures.

The present invention relates generally to engine cooling systems and, more particularly, to a closed loop cooling system having multiple cooling loops, each having a different operating temperature.
In general, during fuel combustion in an internal combustion engine, a considerable amount of heat is generated. While the engine is designed to operate at relatively high temperatures, operating at excessive temperatures for extended periods of time is detrimental to engine efficiency and, if unaddressed, can shorten the operating life of an engine. Additionally, operating at temperatures below a desired operating temperature can have just as adverse consequences. For example, operating at too low a temperature can increase soot and condensation buildup in the engine, increase emissions, and reduce fuel efficiency. Therefore, a cooling system is provided to circulate coolant around the cylinders of the engine to provide cooling and maintain a desired operating temperature.
In outboard motors, the engine cooling fluid is often drawn from the body of water the watercraft is operated in. These types of cooling systems, that use the body of water as a reservoir, are often referred to as open loop cooling systems. That is, the coolant flow is not recirculated through the cooling system but continually draws in fresh water and discharges heated water. While this construction serves many needs satisfactorily and allows for a relatively simple construction of the cooling system, such cooling systems do have drawbacks.
One drawback to the open loop cooling system is that the quality of the coolant circulated through the internal passageways of the engine is variable. While a screen can be placed over the inlet to such a system, water born particulates can still be carried to the internal passages of the engine where the particulates can become lodged and obstruct coolant flow therethrough. Such obstruction hinders cooling of the engine in the vicinity of the blockage and can result in localized "hot-spots" during engine operation. These hot-spots are detrimental to engine performance and can result in premature engine failure if left unaddressed. Decreasing the screen openings to further limit the ingress of contaminates only promotes screen blockage and hinders adequate coolant passage.
Additionally, in watercraft operated in saltwater environments, circulating saltwater in the internal passages of the engine has its own drawbacks. Over time, salt can accumulate within the engine passages and insulate the coolant from the engine thereby hindering effective heat transfer.
Engines operated in saltwater environments with open loop cooling systems experience another adverse effect associated with the saltwater cooling flow therethrough. The flow of saltwater through the internal passages of the engine can also lead to galvanic corrosion in interior cooling passages of the engine as the saltwater flows across components manufactured from unlike materials. During galvanic corrosion, an electrolytic reaction occurs between two components manufactured from unlike materials. The saltwater acts as an electrolyte in the galvanic reaction and facilitates the corrosion of an otherwise stable component. To prevent this, manufacturers typically must include a sacrificial anode or implement other expensive manufacturing techniques.
Another drawback to open loop cooling systems in outboard motors is that the engine cannot be operated outside of a body of water. As such, servicing an engine constructed to be cooled with an open loop cooling system requires a water reservoir during operation of the engine in order to provide adequate cooling thereto. As such, having the lower portion of the outboard motor disposed in a tank of water restricts access to those systems of the motor disposed below a waterline, restricts serviceability to specific locations, and increases service time.
Furthermore, the internal combustion engine is not the only component that requires cooling during operation. Auxiliary components such as an electronic control unit (ECU), a fuel vapor separator, and an electronic regulator/rectifier also benefit from being cooled. The cooling paths to these components are even more susceptible to the detriments of open loop cooling discussed above because of smaller diameter of the coolant loop passages. While these components generate enough heat to require some cooling, they generally operate at temperatures that are lower than the preferred operating temperature of the internal combustion engine. In other words, because the internal combustion engine operates at a temperature that is higher than the operating temperature of the auxiliary components, it would be preferable to cool the auxiliary components by a system that operates at a temperature that is lower than the temperature of the system that cools the internal combustion engine.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a closed loop cooling system operable at different temperatures for different components.

Dual temperature closed loop cooling system