A cesium iodide based scintillation material is obtained exhibiting a low afterglow and high radiation hardness; its preparation method is developed, too.. The cesium iodide based scintillation material doped by thallium iodide contains an additional admixture of compound having the general formula EQU Me.sub.x (CO.sub.3).sub.y,. where Me is a cationic admixture, EQU 1.ltoreq.X.ltoreq.2, EQU 1.ltoreq.Y.ltoreq.5,. This material has in its absorption spectrum a stretching vibration band of CO.sub.3.sup.2- -ion about 7 .mu.m and a bending vibration band about 11.4 .mu.m, the absorption coefficient of the latter being from 1.4.multidot.10.sup.-3 to 2.multidot.10.sup.-2 cm.sup.-1.. Preparation method of this scintillation material comprises the raw material cesium iodide melting, adding of the activating thallium iodide dope, introduction of cesium carbonate (3.multidot.10.sup.-4 to 5.multidot.10.sup.-3 % by mass) and a sodium salt (3.multidot.10.sup.-4 to 7.5.multidot.10.sup.-3 % of Na by mass) into said raw material and/or the melt and a subsequent crystallization.

Scintillators use in high-energy fields of ionizing radiation and in time-resolution apparatus imposes increased requirements to a single crystal in respect to radiation hardness and afterglow in millisecond range. This is of particular importance for cesium iodide scintillator doped by thallium (CsI--Tl) that has attract considerable interest in connection to wide use of photodiodes as scintillation light receivers, since CsI--Tl has a long-wave emission range (.lambda.=550 nm) and, therefore, ensures a high spectral correlation coefficient with photodiodes.
Recently, extensive use is made of gamma spectrometers and electromagnetic calorimeters based on large-size assemblies of modular detectors in form of prisms and truncated pyramids from 250 to 500 mm in height (H). One of main requirements to these elements is, together with high scintillation parameters, the homogeneity of characteristics over the detector height. To this end, large-size scintillation crystals are required characterized by homogeneous radial and axial activator distribution having high radiation hardness. Furthermore, large-size scintillation crystals with homogeneous activator distribution and low afterglow are of considerable interest for detection systems including a large number (several thousands) of small-size scintillators having identical parameters. Among other cases, such a requirement is imposed by the computer tomography.
A scintillation material has been disclosed (U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,654) based on an alkali iodide crystal activated by an optimal amount of effective scintillating dope and containing from 5 to 1000 ppm (of the melt mass) of each complex component of the getter consisting of boron oxides as one component and insoluble but active silicon dioxide as another one.
Method for preparation of this material includes melting of cesium iodide containing raw material, introduction of the activating dope thallium or sodium iodide, as well as additional introduction of boron oxide and silicon dioxide, each in amount of 5 to 1000 ppm by weight, into said raw material, superheating of the melt for time period required to oxides interaction with impurities traces in the melt, with subsequent crystallization and cooling to the room temperature. Authors have pointed out that scintillation materials can be obtained both by Stockbarger and Kyropoulos methods.
Using this method, scintillation materials were grown--sodium iodide doped by thallium (NaI--Tl) and cesium iodide doped by sodium (CsI--Na)--which were colourless, insensitive to one-minute irradiation by a light source with .lambda.=360 nm and having no appreciable afterglow. Yet, there is no information in the method description about CsI--Tl crystals preparation.
A disadvantage of the method mentioned is the settling of the flocks-like interaction products of the getter with the melt. It is particularly a problem when large-size crystals are to be grown since, in this case, the getter amount should be significant enough. Authors state that those floks are displaced into peripheral segments of the ingot. However, a certain probability remains always that those will fall in the crystal bulk. In particular, when crystals are grown by pulling-out from the melt on a seed (Kyropoulos method and modifications thereof), the flocks may emerge to the melt surface where they are captured by the crystal in growth.
Thallium-doped scintillation material on the basis of cesium iodide is known (USSR A.C. N 1,362,088) containing additionally a cesium bromide admixture and having a composition corresponding to the formula EQU (CsI).sub.x (CsBr).sub.y (TlI).sub.1-(x+y)!
where EQU 0.947.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.0.948 and EQU 0.049.ltoreq.y.ltoreq.0.050.
Preparation method of this scintillation material includes melting of a blend containing cesium iodide, activating thallium iodide dope, graphite as a deacidifying agent; additional introduction of cesium bromide in the amount of 5% by mass and thallium in the amount of 0.6 to 1.0% by mass; and subsequent directional crystallization at the residual pressure in the ampoule not exceeding 5 Torr.
Crystals obtained by this method have, in fact, a high transparency to the activator emission (0.005 cm.sup.-1 on .lambda.=560 nm), short decay time (.tau.=0.45 .mu.s) and low afterglow; but authors did not specified scintillation parameters and afterglow for crystals prepared using this method. We have reproduced the conditions of material preparation according to USSR A.C. No 1,362,088 (see Example 1 and Table 1). Disadvantages of that method are its technical difficulty and feasibility in Bridgman-Stockbarger methods only, where graphite comes up into the upper part of ampoule while the melt crystallization starts in the lower (conical) one. When a method of crystal pulling on a seed is used, the crystallization occurs in the surface melt layer where the presence of any suspended particles is inadmissible.
As for quality level of crystals produced by leading worldwide known firms, radiation damage studies of CsI--Tl crystals produced by Quartz et Silice (France) and by Horiba (Japan) have shown that the latter have a rather low radiation hardness, their light yield decrease (.DELTA.C/C) at doses about 10.sup.3 rad being 65%. Crystals of Quartz et Silice are more radiation-resistant, for their .DELTA.C/C at 10.sup.3 rad dose in 15 to 18%, but at 10.sup.4 rad doses, the light yield drops by 30% for large-size articles and less than by 10% for small-size detectors (D. G. Hitlin. G. Eigen "Radiation hardness studies of CsI crystals", Proceedings of the "Crystal 2000" International workship,"Heavy scintillators for scientific and industrial applications" edited by F. Dc Notaristefani et al, "Frontieres", France, 1993, C 58, p. 467-478 ).
Afterglow of CsI--Tl crystals produced by world leading firms is from 0.5 to 5.0% after 3 ms (see, for example. Radiation detectors Catalogue by Quartz et Silice, France, 1990).

Scintillation material on the base of cesium iodide and method for its preparation


A method, apparatus and program storage device for providing control to a networked storage architecture is disclosed. A networked storage device is provided. Controllers are coupled to the at least one networked storage device for controlling input/output operations of the networked storage device. The networked storage device includes a file system for storing data provided by a first of the controllers for retrieval by the other controllers.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to computer storage systems, and more particularly to a method, apparatus and program storage device for providing control to a networked storage architecture.
2. Description of Related Art
Distributed computing systems, such as clusters, may include two or more nodes, which may be employed to perform a computing task. Generally speaking, a node is a group of circuitry designed to perform one or more computing tasks. A node may include one or more processors, a memory and interface circuitry. Generally speaking, a cluster is a group of two or more nodes that have the capability of exchanging data between nodes. A particular computing task may be performed upon one node while other nodes perform unrelated computing tasks. Alternatively, components of a particular computing task may be distributed among the nodes to decrease the time required to perform the computing task as a whole. Generally speaking, a processor is a device configured to perform an operation upon one more operands to produce a result. The operations may be performed in response to instructions executed by the processor.
Clustering is a popular strategy for implementing parallel processing applications because it allows system administrators to leverage already existing servers, computers and workstations. Clustering is also useful for load balancing to distribute processing and communications activity evenly across a network system so that no single server is overwhelmed. For example, if one server is running the risk of being swamped, requests may be forwarded to another clustered server with greater capacity. Clustering also provides for increased scalability by allowing new components to be added as the system load increases. In addition, clustering simplifies the management of groups of systems and their applications by allowing the system administrator to manage an entire group as a single system. Clustering may also be used to increase the fault tolerance of a network system. For example, if one server suffers an unexpected software or hardware failure, another clustered server may assume the operations of the failed server.
Clustering may be implemented in computer networks utilizing storage area networks (SAN) and similar networking environments. SAN networks allow storage systems to be shared among multiple clusters and/or servers. Nodes within a cluster may have one or more storage devices coupled to the nodes. Generally speaking, a storage device is a persistent device capable of storing large amounts of data. For example, a storage device may be a magnetic storage device such as a disk device or optical storage device such as a compact disc device. Although a disk device is only one example of a storage device, the term "disk" may be used interchangeably with "storage device" throughout this specification. Nodes physically connected to a storage device may access the storage device directly. A storage device may be physically connected to one or more nodes of a cluster, but the storage device may not be physically connected to all the nodes of a cluster. The nodes that are not physically connected to a storage device may not access that storage device directly. In some clusters, a node not physically connected to a storage device may indirectly access the storage device via a data communication link connecting the nodes.
It may be advantageous to allow a node to access any storage device within a cluster as if the storage device is physically connected to the node. For example, some applications, such as the Oracle Parallel Server, may require all storage devices in a cluster to be accessed via normal storage device semantics, e.g., Unix device semantics. The storage devices that are not physically connected to a node but which appear to be physically connected to a node are called virtual devices or virtual disks. Generally speaking, a distributed virtual disk system is a software program operating on two or more nodes which provides an interface between a client and one or more storage devices and presents the appearance that the one or more storage devices are directly connected to the nodes. Generally speaking, a client is a program or subroutine that accesses a program to initiate an action. A client may be an application program or an operating system subroutine.
Unfortunately, conventional virtual disk systems do not guarantee a consistent virtual disk mapping. Generally speaking, a storage device mapping identifies to which nodes a storage device is physically connected and which disk device on those nodes corresponds to the storage device. The node and disk device that map a virtual device to a storage device may be referred to as a node/disk pair. The virtual device mapping may also contain permissions and other information. It is desirable that the mapping is persistent in the event of failures, such as a node failure. A node is physically connected to a device if it can communicate with the device without the assistance of other nodes.
A cluster may implement a volume manager. A volume manager is a tool for managing the storage resources of the cluster. For example, a volume manager may mirror two storage devices to create one highly available volume. In another embodiment, a volume manager may implement striping, which is storing portions of files across multiple storage devices. Conventional virtual disk systems cannot support a volume manager layered either above or below the storage devices.
Other desirable features include high availability of data access requests such that data access requests are reliably performed in the presence of failures, such as a node failure or a storage device path failure. Generally speaking, a storage device path is a direct connection from a node to a storage device. Generally speaking, a data access request is a request to a storage device to read or write data.
In a virtual disk system, multiple nodes may have representations of a storage device. Unfortunately, conventional systems do not provide a reliable means of ensuring that the representations on each node have consistent permission data. Generally speaking, permission data identify which users have permission to access devices, directories or files. Permissions may include read permission, write permission or execute permission.
Still further, it is desirable to have the capability of adding or removing nodes from a cluster or to change the connection of existing nodes to storage devices while the cluster is operating. This capability is particularly important in clusters used in critical applications in which the cluster cannot be brought down. This capability allows physical resources (such as nodes and storage devices) to be added to the system, or repair and replacement to be accomplished without compromising data access requests within the cluster.
It is also desirable to provide the ability for rapid recovery of user data from a disaster or significant error event at a data processing facility. This type of capability is often termed "disaster tolerance." In a data storage environment, disaster tolerance requirements include providing for replicated data and redundant storage to support recovery after the event. In order to provide a safe physical distance between the original data and the data to back up, the data must be migrated from one storage subsystem or physical site to another subsystem or site. It is also desirable for user applications to continue to run while data replication continues in the background. Data warehousing, continuous computing, and Enterprise Applications all require remote copy capabilities.
Storage controllers are commonly utilized in computer systems to off-load from the host computer certain lower level processing functions relating to I/O operations, and to serve as interface between the host computer and the physical storage media. Given the critical role played by the storage controller with respect to computer system I/O performance, it is desirable to minimize the potential for interrupted I/O service due to storage controller malfunction. Thus, prior workers in the art have developed various system design approaches in an attempt to achieve some degree of fault tolerance in the storage control function.
One prior method of providing storage system fault tolerance accomplishes failover through the use of two controllers coupled in an active/passive configuration. During failover, the passive controller takes over for the active (failing) controller. A drawback to this type of dual configuration is that it cannot support load balancing, as only one controller is active and thus utilized at any given time, to increase overall system performance. Furthermore, the passive controller presents an inefficient use of system resources.
Another approach to storage controller fault tolerance is based on a process called "failover." Failover is known in the art as a process by which a first storage controller coupled to a second controller assumes the responsibilities of the second controller when the second controller fails. "Failback" is the reverse operation, wherein the second controller, having been either repaired or replaced, recovers control over its originally attached storage devices. Since each controller is capable of accessing the storage devices attached to the other controller as a result of the failover, there is no need to store and maintain a duplicate copy of the data, i.e., one set stored on the first controller's attached devices and a second (redundant) copy on the second controller's devices.
However, in a multi-controller system with a shared configuration, a method to track configurations is required. The need to provide a consistent configuration and control mechanism across all controllers in the storage system is paramount in order to present a unified, functional storage system. In addition, a way to transfer these configurations between controllers is needed to maintain this consistency. In addition, one controller may be designated as a master to simplify control over the storage system. In such an arrangement, a way to provide remote control of multiple controllers from one controller is needed.
It can be seen then that there is a need for a method, apparatus and program storage device for providing control to a networked storage architecture.

Method, apparatus and program storage device for providing control to a networked storage architecture


The disclosed embodiments include a method to determine formation properties of a downhole formation and a downhole logging system. In one embodiment, the method includes obtaining a first set of measurements of a formation from a multi-component induction logging tool and performing an inversion process of the first set of measurements to determine a first set of values for one or more formation properties of the formation. The method also includes determining a second set of values for the model parameters based on the measurements of a second logging tool. The method further includes comparing values of the first set of values with corresponding values of the second set of values to determine a data quality of the values of the first set of values and accepting the values of the first set of values if the data quality of the values is above a first threshold.

The present disclosure relates generally to downhole logging systems, and methods to determine downhole properties of a subsurface formation.
Oil and gas companies often utilize different logging techniques to determine a resistivity of a formation ("formation resistivity") which may be interpreted to estimate an abundance of hydrocarbon resources in the formation, abundance of other types of fluids in the formation, the material properties and composition of one or more layers of the formation, volume of the formation, as well as other properties of the formation ("formation properties"). Multi-component induction (MCI) logging tools are often utilized to evaluate the formation resistivity of various types of anisotropic formations, which have directionally dependent resistivity properties. More particularly, MCI logging tools may be utilized to obtain measurements indicative of formation resistivity of anisotropic formations both vertically and horizontally, where horizontal resistivity refers to resistivity along a direction parallel to a plane of the formation, and where vertical resistivity refers to resistivity along a direction perpendicular to the plane of the formation. An inversion process is performed on the measurements to obtain the horizontal resistivity and vertical resistivity. The horizontal and vertical resistivities of the formation are utilized as input model parameters of one or more geologic modellings of the formation that are indicative of the formation properties of the formation.
Currently available MCI logging tools sometimes overestimate a vertical resistivity of a formation in high resistivity formation. These errors propagate and result in inaccurate geologic modellings of the formation, which in turn provide inaccurate indications of formation properties of the formation.
The illustrated figures are only exemplary and are not intended to assert or imply any limitation with regard to the environment, architecture, design, or process in which different embodiments may be implemented.

Systems and methods to determine formation properties of high-resistivity formations


Device for combining a scene image, produced by an imaging system, with an induced image, the imaging system including an eyepiece optics and at least a display screen producing the scene image, the eyepiece optics being located between the display screen and the eye of the observer, the device including an optical director projecting the induced image toward a diffusive surface, the diffusive surface being located between the display screen and the eyepiece optics, wherein the diffusive surface reflects the induced image back, toward the observer, through the eyepiece optics, and wherein the diffusive surface transmits the scene image from the display screen toward the observer, through the eyepiece optics.

A light intensifying apparatus, is an apparatus, which enables an observer, to observer hers or his surroundings at very poor light conditions, which is know in the art. A light intensifying apparatus intensify the existing reflected light beams of the surroundings on any specular reflective surface. The reflected light beams of the surroundings may be visible, infrared or any other desired form of electromagnetic energy radiation.
Reference is now made to FIG. 1A, which is a schematic illustration of a light intensifying apparatus, generally referenced 10, which is known in the art. Apparatus 10 is operative to receive light beams from its surroundings, intensify the received light beams and display the intensified light beams to an observer, as an image. The image may cover the entire Field Of View (FOV) of the observer. Apparatus 10 includes an objective optics 14, eyepiece optics 20 and a light intensifier 16. Light intensifier 16 includes a fluorescent screen 18. Light intensifying tube 16 is located between objective optics 14 and eyepiece optics 20 with fluorescent screen 18 facing eyepiece optics 20.
Light beams 12 pass through the objective optics 14 into light intesifier 16. Light intensifier 16 converts light beams 12 to electrons (not shown). Light intensifier 16 projects the electrons onto the back of fluorescent screen 18. The electrons excite the fluorescent substance forming an image (not shown), representing the scene (not shown), on fluorescent screen 18. Light beams 24, representing the intensified image, are projected from fluorescent screen 18 to eyepiece optics 20. Light beams 24 pass through eyepiece optics 20 to observer 22. The image represented by light beams 24 may be magnified. Observer 22 directs objective optics 14 in the direction of the observed scene (not shown). Observer 22 observes an intensified image (not shown) of the observed scene through eyepiece optics 20.
It is often advantageous to combine two different images, a scene image and an induced image and display the combined image in a light intensifying apparatus. For example, in an aircraft's cockpit environment, an image of some data about some mission is generated externally to the light intensifying apparatus. The data image is induced upon the image of the surroundings. A combined image is displayed to the pilot through an eyepiece. The apparatus, which combines and displays the images, is known in the art as an Eyepiece Heads Up Display (E-HUD). U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,065 issued to Ziph et al entitled "Optical Device Particularly Useful As Night Vision Goggles" is directed to an apparatus that combines two images by placing a beam combiner between an observed scene and the objective optics. A beam combiner is a device, known in the art, that is transparent to light beams incident from one direction and is reflects light beams incident from a different direction. Consequently, the observer observes the representation of a combination of two images.
Reference is now made to FIG. 1B, which is a schematic illustration of an image combining apparatus, generally referenced 30, which is know in the art. Apparatus 30 is operative to combine two distinct images by placing a beam combiner between the observed scene and the objective optics. The beam combiner projects the light beams of the combined image towards the objective optics. Apparatus 30 includes a beam combiner 36, an objective optics 38, eyepiece optics 44 and a light intensifier 40 similar to the one in FIG. 1A. Light intensifier 40 includes a fluorescent screen 42. In apparatus 30, beam combiner 36 is located between the observed scene (not shown) and the objective optics 38. Light intensifier 40 is located between eyepiece optics 44 and objective optics 38 with fluorescent screen 42 facing eyepiece optics 44.
Light beams 32 of the scene image (not shown) and light beams 34 of the induced image (not shown) enter beam combiner 36 from non-collimated directions. Beam combiner 36 combines light beams 32 and Light beams 34. Beam combiner 36 reflects light beams 48 of the combined image in the direction of objective optics 38. Light beams 48 pass through objective optics 38 into light intensifier 40. An intensified image (not shown), representing the combined image (not shown) is formed on fluorescent screen 42. Light beams 50, of the image formed on fluorescent screen 48, are projected through eyepiece optics 44 towards observer 46.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,295 issued to Vogl and entitled "Night Vision Instrument With Electronic Image Converter", is directed to a device that combines two images by placing a beam combiner between light intensifier and the eyepiece optics. Light beams projected from a fluorescent display enter the beam combiner from one direction. Light beams of a second image enter the beam combiner from another direction. The combined beams are projected towards the eyepiece optics. Thus, the observer observes the representation of a combination of two images.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,182 issued to Carmeli et al. entitled "Combiner For Superimposing a Display Image On To An Image Of An External Scene" is directed to a device that combines two images by placing a beam combiner within the eyepiece optics. Light beams of an image enter the eyepiece optics from one direction. Light beams of another image enter eyepiece optics from another direction. An image combiner placed within eyepiece optics combines the light beams. The beams of the combined image are projected towards an observer. Thus, the observer observes the representation of a combination of two images.
Reference is now made to FIG. 1C, which is a schematic illustration of an image combining apparatus, generally referenced 60, which is know in the art. Apparatus 60 is operative to combine two distinct images by placing a beam combiner within the eyepiece optics. Apparatus 60 includes an objective optics 64, a beam combiner 74, eyepiece optics 70 and, a light intensifier 66 similar to the one in FIG. 1A. Light intensifier 66 includes a fluorescent screen 68. Beam combiner 74 is located within eyepiece optics 70. Light intensifier 66 is located between objective optics 64 and eyepiece optics 70 with fluorescent screen 68 facing the eyepiece optics 70.
Light beams 62 of the scene image (not shown) pass through the objective optics 64 into light intensifier 66. An intensified image (not shown) representing the scene (not shown) is formed on fluorescent screen 68. Light beams 80, of the image formed on fluorescent screen 68, are projected from fluorescent screen 68 into eyepiece optics 70. Light beams 72 of the induced image (not shown) enter eyepiece optics 70 from a non-collimated direction to that of light beams 80. Beam combiner 74 within eyepiece optics 70, combines light beams 80 and light beams 72 to form light beams 78 of the combined image. Light beams 78 are projected from eyepiece optics 70 towards observer 76.

Method and apparatus for combining an induced image with a scene image


According to one embodiment, a switch includes a first element with a first withstand voltage, a second element whose withstand voltage is lower than the first withstand voltage, a diode which is connected between a positive electrode of the first element and a positive electrode of the second element in such a manner that a direction from the positive electrode of the second element toward the positive electrode of the first element is a forward direction and whose withstand voltage is equal to the first withstand voltage, a negative electrode of the first element and a negative electrode of the second element being connected, and a circuit configured to apply a positive voltage to the positive terminal output a pulse lower than the first withstand voltage when the first element goes off.

In a conventional power conversion circuit where a free-wheeling diode is connected in inverse parallel to a switching element in a main circuit, what have been desired are a semiconductor switch that decreases a loss caused by the flow of a reverse recovery current in the free-wheeling diode and a power conversion apparatus that includes the semiconductor switch.
In a semiconductor switch where a high-speed free-wheeling diode is connected in inverse-parallel to a switching element, when a main current is flowing in the reverse direction, if the semiconductor switch is turned off (or when a main element and an auxiliary element are turned off), the voltage remaining between both ends of the main element is determined by the product of the inductance value of a circuit loop that connects the main element, auxiliary element, and high-speed free-wheeling diode and the magnitude of the main current. To make faster the switching speed of the semiconductor switch, it is necessary to make the inductance of the circuit loop as low as possible. Therefore, the voltage remaining in the main element sometimes dropped as low as below several voltages.
Here, it is necessary to consider the output capacitance of the main element when the element is off. For instance, such a semiconductor switching element has the property of including a very large capacitance if the residual voltage applied to the element in the off state is low. The reason is that the depletion layer at the junction part is thin when the output terminal voltage is low and therefore the element has a very large capacitance.
When the capacitance is very large, if one semiconductor switch that operates complementarily is turned on in a bridge circuit composed of two semiconductor switches connected in series in a direct-current main circuit, a charging current will flow toward the large capacitance. Since the circuit impedance is very low, the charging current might become a large current as in a short circuit, causing a large loss.

Semiconductor switch and power conversion apparatus


Systems and methods for retaining a card in an information handling system are disclosed. A retainer for use in an information handling system may include a body, at least one mounting feature coupled to the body, and a retention flange coupled to and protruding from the body. The at least one mounting feature may be configured to couple the retainer to a card. The retention flange may have a top edge configured to engage with a bottom edge of a retention ledge associated with a connector to secure the card to the connector. At a least a portion of the top edge of the retention flange of the retainer may be situated in a substantially non-parallel manner relative to the bottom edge of the retention ledge associated with the connector when the retention flange is engaged with the retention ledge.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems often include printed circuit boards and/or electronic cards which may expand and/or enhance the capabilities of the information handling system. Printed circuit boards and/or electronic cards included in an information handling system typically include an edge connector placed along a side of the card for insertion into a corresponding mating connector slot to establish electrical coupling. The card may include a plurality of electronic components including integrated circuit chips operable to perform at least one predefined function. When the card is properly inserted in the slot-type connector, electrical pads mounted on the edge connector of the card may establish an electrical contact with receiving elements mounted within the connector slot. The frictional engagement between the edge connector and the receiving elements in the connector slot may also hold the card in place. Maintaining a proper connection between the card and the slot connector is desirable for a proper operation of the information handling system. In some cases, for added safety, the card and/or the connector may also include an additional mechanical arm or extension for card retention. In some cases, a separate card retention device may be provided to secure the card to the connector. The additional mechanical connection may be made with a screw or other fastening device, and is intended to assist in holding the card in a properly connected position in the respective connector slot.
Cards have traditionally been secured to the connectors by using screws, latches and/or clips. However, the use of fasteners such as screws for card retention generally creates additional component costs and also adds to the overall cost of manufacture and assembly of the information handling system. Some clips used for card retention may require access to an underside surface of the connector for proper mounting. Other approaches include a retention device to engage a feature of the slot connector, but such approaches often require some sort of actuator or lever to disengage the retention device from the slot connector feature.
Recently, some cards such as graphics/video card have an increased component count for performing advanced graphics, thereby becoming heavier and larger. The graphics cards may be available in multiple form factors and often occupy two connector slots instead of one. Thus, traditional card retention techniques may be inadequate and/or may become costly to maintain security of the electrical coupling between the card and the connector included in an information handling system, especially while the information handling system is being physically moved.


A flux based on alkali fluoroaluminate is described which is highly suitable for dry application (“dry fluxing”). This is a flux which is free of fine-grained fraction, which is defined by a range of grain-size distribution.

The invention relates to a flux which can be used for dry application, and to the use thereof as a brazing flux.
For many years, it has been known to braze together components of aluminium or aluminium alloys, in particular heat exchangers for the automobile industry, using fluxes based on alkali fluoroaluminate. In such a case, the flux is usually sprayed on to the heat exchangers as an aqueous suspension. In the presence of a brazing composition or of a braze-forming precursor such as silicon powder or potassium fluorosilicate, a stable, non-corrosive compound is formed upon heating the components to a temperature above the melting point of the flux. A process has indeed already been disclosed by published German patent application no. DE-OS 197 49 042 with which the waste water produced in this procedure can be recirculated. However, other process parameters are critical: the concentration of the flux slurry must be monitored, the heat exchangers must be dried before heating, the flux slurries, which are likewise recirculated, may pick up impurities. These disadvantages can be avoided if the flux is applied dry to the components to be joined. This is the case in the dry-flux process. Therein, the dry flux powder is applied to the components electrostatically. The advantage is that no slurries need to be produced, that the concentration of the slurry does not need to be monitored, that it is not necessary to provide a separate drying stage for the components, and that no waste water is produced.


According to one embodiment, a waveguide includes: a substrate and a member. The member covers at least a part of the substrate and has a difference in the refractive index from the substrate not less than 2. A plurality of concave parts are provided on the substrate. The concave parts are arrayed on an upper face of the substrate. At least a part of a side face of each of the concave parts includes an arc. An inner diameter of each of the concave parts is not more than 50 nm. Intervals of the neighboring concave parts are not more than the inner diameter. The member fills the concave part.

In order to further increase the integration of an LSI (large scale integrated circuit), it is necessary to make finer elements and metal wiring connecting elements. However, if the metal wiring is thinned down to not more than 10 nm, the specific resistance increases. An increase in specific resistance causes voltage drop of an element connected to the metal wiring. For example, voltage drop causes the voltage value applied to a gate electrode to vary. Consequently, in the generation of a pitch not more than 5 nm, new wiring is necessary in place of the metal wiring such as copper and aluminum.


A latch control circuit for overcoming phase uncertainty between crossing clock domains, which includes an interface and control circuit for controlling and communicating data between the clock domains and, which also includes either static or dynamic initialization circuitry.

This invention relates to latch control circuitry. More specifically, this invention relates to a particular latch control circuit for communicating between clock domains that have clocks of the same frequency, but which may be out of phase.
Advances in integrated circuit fabrication technology continue to lead to systems with higher clock speeds and larger gate counts. As a consequence, wiring delays can be comparable to or greater than the clock period and the difference in delays of the clock signal to different points in the system, commonly referred to as xe2x80x9cclock skew,xe2x80x9d limits the speed at which large synchronous circuits can operate. To simplify the design process, circuit designers typically partition large circuits into several smaller circuits having their own xe2x80x9cclock domainxe2x80x9d. Often all of these clock domains receive their clock from a common clock generator so that the clock frequency is the same for all domains. However, because distribution delays of the clock vary from one domain to the next, the phase difference between different clock domains can be significant and difficult to determine.
One method of overcoming phase uncertainty between different clock domains is to use a source synchronous design, which utilizes a first-in-first-out (FIFO) buffer for communication between clock domains. Two common types of FIFOs used in such a design are the pointer FIFO and the ripple FIFO. The pointer FIFO typically comprises two counters and a dual-port register file that is read from and written to according to read and write pointers derived from the counters. While these are commonly used, they require a substantial amount of support and control circuitry, including address decoder circuitry and circuitry to implement the read and write pointer functions. The ripple FIFO comprises a latch to hold data and control circuitry to regulate the transfer of data between stages. A state bit in the control circuitry marks a stage as either xe2x80x9cemptyxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cfall.xe2x80x9d When stage i is full and stage i+1 is empty, the control circuitry of stages i and i+1 enable latch i+1 to acquire a data item from stage i. Along with this data transfer, the state bit of stage i moves to an empty state, and the state bit of stage i+1 moves to a full state.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a latch control circuit for overcoming phase uncertainty between crossing clock domains is provided. The latch control circuit includes an interface and control circuit for controlling the communication of data between the two domains.
In a first aspect of the invention, a latch control circuit for conveying data from a clock domain of a transmitter to a clock domain of a receiver is disclosed. The latch control circuit comprises: a data path having a transmitter latch controlled by a transmitter clock in a first clock domain, a receiver latch controlled by a receiver clock in a second clock domain, and an intermediate latch coupled between the transmitter and receiver latches; an interface and control circuit coupled between the transmitter clock and the receiver clock, the interface and control circuit including a clock generator having inputs controlled by delayed versions of the transmitter and receiver clocks and an output coupled to the intermediate latch for controlling the conveyance of a data item from the transmitter latch to the receiver latch.
In a second aspect of the invention, clock edge-to-level converters are included within the latch control circuit described in reference to the first aspect of the invention. A transmitter clock edge-to-level converter includes an input coupled to the transmitter clock, via a first delay that is greater than or equal to zero, and an output coupled to a first end of a first keeper circuit. The transmitter clock edge-to-level converter is operable to convert an edge of the transmitter clock to a logic level. A receiver clock edge-to-level converter is also included and has an input coupled to the receiver clock, via a second delay that is greater than or equal to zero, and an output coupled to a first end of a second keeper circuit. The receiver clock edge-to-level converter is operable to convert an edge of the receiver clock to a logic level. Further, the clock generator is configured to send a clock signal to the intermediate latch when the inverse of the logic level is asserted at first and second inputs of the clock generator.
In a third aspect of the invention, the clock generator described in reference to the second aspect of the invention, comprises a NAND logic gate having a first input coupled to the second end of the first keeper circuit, a second input coupled to the second end of the second keeper circuit and an output; and an inverter having an input coupled to the output of the NAND gate and an output that provides the clock signal to the intermediate latch.
In a fourth aspect of the invention, the latch control circuit, described in reference to the first aspect of the invention, includes static initialization circuitry comprising a first latch having a clock input coupled to the inverse of the transmitter clock, via a first delay that is greater than or equal to zero, an input selectively coupled to a transmitter reset signal and an output coupled to the input of the transmitter clock edge-to-level converter; a second latch having a clock input coupled to the inverse of the receiver clock, an input, and an output coupled to the input of the receiver clock edge-to-level converter; and a third latch having a clock input coupled to the receiver clock, an input selectively coupled to a receiver reset signal and an output coupled to the input of the second latch.
In a fifth aspect of the invention, a latch control circuit including dynamic initialization circuitry is disclosed.
A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the inventions herein may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the attached drawings.

Latch control circuit for crossing clock domains


A technique for controlling the flow of packets in a multi-port bridge according to availability of resources within the bridge. The bridge includes a memory for storing packets and a plurality of ports. Each port includes a receive buffer, a transmit buffer and a memory pointer buffer. A data packet is received by the receive buffer of a port. As the packet is still being received, a look-up table is utilized to determine which is the appropriate destination port for the packet. If the memory pointer buffer in the destination port is nearly full, the destination port generates a jam request. The source port receives the jam request and, in response, discards the incoming packet and sends a jam signal. Otherwise, the memory pointer is stored in the destination port until the packet can be retrieved from the memory for transmission by the destination port. Because packets are not stored in the ports, the receive buffer and the transmit buffer will not become full and, thus, need not be checked to determine whether to transmit a jam signal. Instead, only the memory pointer buffer in the destination port for a packet need to checked to determine whether to transmit a jam signal.

Nodes of a local area network (LAN) are typically interconnected by a shared transmission medium. The amount of data traffic that the shared transmission medium can accommodate, however, is limited. For example, only one node at a time can successfully transmit data to another node over the shared transmission medium. If two or more nodes simultaneously attempt to transmit data, a data collision occurs, which tends to corrupt the data being transmitted. Thus, nodes that share a transmission medium are considered to be in a same collision domain.
A multi-port bridge allows simultaneous communication between nodes of the LAN by segmenting the LAN into multiple collision domains (also referred to as network segments), each segment having a corresponding transmission medium. FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional local area network (LAN) including a multi-port bridge 20. The multi-port bridge 20 in this example has eight ports A-H, though the number of ports can vary. Each port A-H is connected to a segment 21-28 of the LAN. Each segment 21-28 typically includes one or more nodes 29-44, such as a workstation, a personal computer, a data terminal, a file server, a printer, a facsimile, a scanner or other conventional digital device. Each of the nodes 29-44 has an associated node address which uniquely identifies the node. The nodes 29-44 are configured to send data, one to another.
When the LAN operates according to Ethernet standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.3 standard, data is communicated in the form of discrete packets. FIG. 2 illustrates a conventional IEEE 802.3 data packet 50. The data packet 50 includes an eight byte long pre-amble 51 which is generally utilized for synchronizing a receiver to the data packet 50. The preamble includes seven bytes of preamble and one byte of start-of-frame. Following the pre-amble 51, the data packet 50 includes a six byte long destination address 52, which is the node address of a node which is an intended recipient for the data packet 50. Next, the data packet 50 includes a six byte long source address 53, which is the node address of a node which originated the data packet 50. Following the source address 53 is a two-byte length field 54. Following the length field 54 is a data field 55. The data field 55 can be up to 1500 bytes long. Finally, the data packet 50 includes a four-byte frame check field 56 which allows a recipient of the data packet 50 to determine whether an error has occurred during transmission of the data packet 50.
When a node (source node) sends data to another node (destination node) located on the same segment of the LAN (intra-segment communication), the data is communicated directly between the nodes without intervention by the multi-port bridge 20. Therefore, when the multi-port bridge 20 receives an intra-segment packet, the multi-port bridge 20 does not bridge the packet (the packet is filtered). When a node (source node) sends a data packet to another node (destination node) located on a different segment (inter-segment communication), however, the multi-port bridge 20 appropriately forwards the data packet to the destination node.
Data packets received by the multi-port bridge 20 are generally stored temporarily within the ports of the multi-port bridge 20 before being forwarded to the appropriate destination node by the multi-port bridge 20. A typical multi-port bridge utilizes a microprocessor for controlling flow of data packets through the bridge. Problems arise, however, when network demand exceeds the capabilities of the micro-processor or the capacities of the memories in the ports. When data packets are received by the multi-port bridge 20 at a rate that is higher than the rate at which the multi-port bridge 20 can appropriately forward the packets, the packets back up in the ports and are often lost, and the network becomes congested. This problem is exacerbated as network users place increasing demands on the network.
Therefore, what is needed is improved technique for controlling the flow of data in a multi-port bridge for a local area network.

Per-packet jamming in a multi-port bridge for a local area network


There is provided mechanisms for estimating angle of arrival of a radio signal in a radio communications network. A method is performed by a receiving radio transceiver device. The method comprises obtaining measurements of the radio signal as received in two receive beams covering a given angular sector. The two receive beams are created by analog beamforming in an antenna array. The receive beams have different complex beam patterns and at any angle within the given angular sector at most one of the complex beam patterns has gain below a threshold. The method comprises estimating the angle of arrival of the radio signal by comparing a complex amplitude of the measurements in the two receive beams to a discriminator function.

In communications networks, there may be a challenge to obtain good performance and capacity for a given communications protocol, its parameters and the physical environment in which the communications network is deployed.
For example, for future generations of mobile communications systems frequency bands at many different carrier frequencies could be needed. For example, low such frequency bands could be needed to achieve sufficient network coverage for wireless devices and higher frequency bands (e.g. at millimeter wavelengths (mmW), i.e. near and above 30 GHz) could be needed to reach required network capacity. In general terms, at high frequencies the propagation properties of the radio channel are more challenging and beamforming both at the network node of the network and at the wireless devices might be required to reach a sufficient link budget.
The wireless devices and/or the transmission and reception point (TRP) of the network node could implement beamforming by means of analog beamforming, digital beamforming, or hybrid beamforming. Each implementation has its advantages and disadvantages. A digital beamforming implementation is the most flexible implementation of the three but also the costliest due to the large number of required radio chains and baseband chains. An analog beamforming implementation is the least flexible but cheaper to manufacture due to a reduced number of radio chains and baseband chains compared to the digital beamforming implementation. A hybrid beamforming implementation is a compromise between the analog and the digital beamforming implementations. As the skilled person understands, depending on cost and performance requirements of different wireless devices, different implementations will be needed.
In a communications network where the TRP at the network side uses narrow beams for transmission, at least one of the narrow transmission beams is assumed to be discovered and monitored for each served wireless device at the user side. This process of discovering and monitoring is referred to as beam management. In order to perform beam management the network node uses measurements (such as received reference signal power), as obtained and reported by the served wireless devices, on downlink reference signals such as channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS). The beam pair for which the highest received reference signal power was obtained is then used as the active beam pair link. In general terms, a beam pair is defined by a transmission beam at the transmitting end (such as at the TRP) and a corresponding reception beam at the receiving end (such as at the wireless device), where the transmission beam and the reception beam are selected from sets of available candidate beams so as to maximize a quality criterion (such as highest received reference signal power) for transmission from the transmitting end to the receiving end.
In case a served wireless device loses beam connection with the TRP, for example due to blockage, a beam recovery procedure can be initiated to re-establish the beam connection. Such beam recovery procedure could, for example, comprise sweeping through all different combinations of TRP beams and wireless device beams. When there are many candidate beams at both the TRP and the wireless device, such beam sweeping procedure could be costly in terms of time consumption and overhead signaling. Further, in some scenarios, a wireless device could be operatively connected to different TRPs in downlink and uplink, which thus might require separate beam management procedures for downlink and uplink.
Hence, there is still a need for an improved beam management.

Angle of arrival estimation in a radio communications network


The deck side trim includes accommodating recesses in which left and right ends of a cover accommodating body are accommodated and disposed. A clamp portion provided at its side with an engaging pawl is provided in the accommodating recess. The clamp portion is provided with an inner hole having an opening at least on the accommodating recess side. A cap body for closing the opening is disposed in the inner hole. The cap body includes a cap leg and a cap head. When the cap leg of the cap body is fitted into the inner hole, the engaging pawl in the clamp portion is pushed outward, and the engaging pawl is engaged with the body engaging portion provided on the vehicle body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mounting structure of a deck side trim for mounting on a vehicle body, the deck side trim is disposed on a side surface of a luggage space in a rear portion of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to enhance design performance in a vehicle, deck side trims are mounted on left and right side surfaces of a luggage space provided in a rear portion of a vehicle such as a passenger vehicle (see JP 1988-16943 Unexamined Utility Model Application (Kokai) and JP 1997-39679 Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai), for example).
When mounting such a deck side trim on the vehicle body, as shown in FIG. 18, the deck side trim 9 is fixed to the vehicle body using a bolt 92 at a predetermined location of the deck side trim 9. That is, the deck side trim 9 is provided with a fastening portion 91, a bolt insertion hole 911 is formed in the fastening portion 91, and a boss member 912 projects from the bolt insertion hole 911 toward the vehicle body 2. The boss member 912 is brought into abutment against the vehicle body 2, the bolt 92 is inserted through the bolt insertion hole 911, an inner side of the boss member 912 and a through hole 29 formed in the vehicle body 2, the bolt 92 is threadedly engaged with a nut 93, thereby the deck side trim 9 is mounted on the vehicle body 2.
Depending upon a vehicle type, a tonneau cover covering the luggage space from above is disposed such that the tonneau cover is suspended from the left and right deck side trims (see FIGS. 15 to 17) in some cases. The tonneau cover can be wound and accommodated in a cover accommodating body, and the tonneau cover is pulled out from the cover accommodating body to cover the luggage space as needed. Accommodating recesses in which left and right ends of the cover accommodating body are accommodated are formed on the left and right deck side trims, respectively.
A load caused by the cover accommodating body is applied to the accommodating recess. Therefore, the fastening portion 91 is disposed on this portion and it is fastened to and fixed to the vehicle body 2 in some cases.
However, if the deck side trim is fixed to the vehicle body by means of a bolt, the following problems come up.
That is, since the deck side trim is mounted in a vehicle interior, an assembling operator leans out the upper half of his body into the vehicle interior and fastens the bolt using an impact wrench or the like. At that time, the operating posture of the operator is tight, and there is a problem that the operating efficiency is lowered.
Especially when there is a fastening portion in the accommodating recess of the cover accommodating body of the tonneau cover, the operating efficiency might be further lowered. That is, the position of the accommodating recess is immediately next to a rear sheet in many cases due to the function of the tonneau cover, and at this position, a pillar of the vehicle body hinders the operation in many cases.
Further, if the accommodating recess has the fastening portion, it is difficult to visually confirm the situation, and the operability might be further deteriorated.
If the fastening operation is carried out in the state where the operability is poor as described above, the deck side trim might be damaged by, for example, a bolt or an impact wrench.
If the bolt is fastened in such a manner as described above, the bolt is exposed from the design surface of the deck side trim, and the outward appearance design in the vehicle interior might be deteriorated. A cap covering the bolt can be mounted on the deck side trim, but in this case, the number of parts used is increased, and the production efficiency is deteriorated.


The invention relates to a slaved supply for slave element tied by a serial link to a master element.

The present invention relates to slaved supply for serial link, of master/slave type.
Information technologies are currently exhibiting a burgeoning mode of communication between users.
Although present-day telecommunication networks allow the transmission of digital data under continually improved conditions, both as regards the bit rate and the security of transmission, the communication interfaces between the user and the machine, communication terminal, are still subject to hardware contingencies with regard to reliability, to security and the integrity of the digital data transmitted.
Such is the case in particular as regards the serial type links with which terminals playing the role of master element are equipped as are the electronic circuits of so-called peripheral elements, such as microprocessor cards, playing the role of slave element, and inserted by users into a card reader driven by the master element.
In particular, in this type of situation, the transferring of digital data from the master element to the slave element or vice-versa remains subservient, in particular, to the plurality of ohmic contacts between pins of the microprocessor card, and furthermore to the supply voltage levels applied to the master, respectively slave element.
By way of non-limiting example, the electrical diagram of the input/output buffer circuit of a mobile or non-mobile telephone supplied by a master supply circuit and the electrical diagram of a slave input/output buffer circuit, consisting of a microprocessor subscriber card for example, are supplied from a master supply voltage Vdcm, respectively from a slave supply voltage Vdce and are connected by a serial link SL.
The electrical supply to the aforesaid master and slave buffer circuits is achieved from a reference voltage Vref, delivered by a xe2x80x9cbandgapxe2x80x9d type circuit, which delivers a fixed voltage. This type of circuit is represented in FIG. 1a.
When the slave buffer circuit, the card, has to talk to the telephone, by way of the serial link SL, the telephone, playing the role of the master element, wakes up the slave buffer circuit by sending wake-up pulses. The amplitude level of these pulses is 1.8 volts, for example.
The master input/output buffer circuit is supplied from the master supply voltage Vdcm, by way of an active multiplier circuit, receiving the reference voltage Vref, a differential amplifier OPA whose positive input terminal is linked to this reference voltage forming a set-point value, a regulating transistor, playing the role of variable resistor voltage-controlled by the output of the differential amplifier OPA. This regulating transistor is connected between the master supply voltage Vdcm and a master regulated supply voltage output point, a smoothing capacitor connected between the output point of the master regulated supply voltage and the earth voltage of the device of the master element and a divider point R1, R2 linking the output point of the master regulated supply voltage to the negative input of the differential amplifier. For a given ratio of resistances R1, R2, an output value of master regulated supply voltage which is lower than the value of the master supply voltage Vdcm but greater than the value of the reference voltage Vref is obtained at equilibrium.
Typically, for a reference voltage Vref=1.25 volts, an output value of regulated supply voltage of 1.8 volts supplying the master input/output buffer circuit is obtained.
Under the normal operating conditions, in the presence of good ohmic contacts, provided however that the master reference voltage VREF and the slave reference voltage Vref, the master and slave resistances R1 respectively R2 are equal and hence that the peak value of the master digital output signals is identical to the slave regulated supply voltage, such a mode of operation guarantees master respectively slave digital input/output signals of substantially the same peak value and the same amplitude.
However, by reason of an inbalance in the equilibrium of the voltage ratios VREF/Vref and of the master and slave resistances R1 or R2, the aforesaid normal conditions are not always obtained, thereby giving rise to a degradation of the peak value and of the amplitude of the digital input/output signals of the master, respectively slave buffer circuits. Furthermore, when the master respectively slave supply voltage values are distinct and different, the risk of mismatch of the amplitude of the digital input/output signals of the aforesaid buffer circuits is increased, a risk of increased consumption and of destruction of the slave supply circuits through the so-called xe2x80x9clatch-up startxe2x80x9d phenomenon corresponding to a latching of inrush current liable to destroy the bipolar transistors. These risks are illustrated in FIG. 1b.
The object of the present invention is to remedy the aforesaid drawbacks of the circuits of the prior art, through the implementation of a circuit for regulating the supply of a slave element linked to a master element by a serial link, this regulating circuit making it possible to slave the slaved regulated slave supply voltage to the peak value of the master digital output signals, thereby making it possible to eliminate any risk of degradation or of destruction of the slave circuits and moreover to adapt automatically to any type of telephone 1.8 V; 2.7 V; 3.3 V without changing the slave circuit.
Another object of the present invention is also, on account of the aforesaid slaving of the slave regulated supply voltage to the peak value of the master digital output signals, the implementation of a slave regulated supply circuit of substantially simplified structure, in which any reference voltage generator of xe2x80x9cbandgapxe2x80x9d type is eliminated.
The slaved supply for linking a slave element linked to a master element by a serial link that is the subject of the present invention is formed by a master element comprising a master module for regulating the electrical supply voltage of a master output circuit delivering master digital output signals and by a master input circuit, receiving slave digital output signals by way of this serial link. The slave element comprises, supplied by a slave electrical supply voltage, a slave input circuit receiving the master digital output signals by way of this serial link. A slave output circuit delivers the slave digital output signals and a slave module for regulating the electrical supply voltage of the slave input and output circuits is provided.
The slave module for regulating the electrical supply voltage comprises, on the one hand, a module for sampling and for detecting the peak value of the master digital output signals received by way of the serial link, this sampling and detecting module delivering a sampled peak value of the master digital output signals, and, on the other hand, a slaving module tracking the slave supply voltage of the slave input and output circuits to a value substantially equal to that of the sampled peak value of the master output signals. The slave module for regulating the electrical supply voltage makes it possible to deliver slave digital output signals whose peak amplitude is substantially matched to the peak amplitude of the master digital output signals.
The slaved supply and the slave module for regulating the supply voltage, which are the subjects of the present invention, find application to the embodying of electrical supply circuits of telecommunication equipment such as mobile or fixed telephones and their equipment microprocessor cards, in the form of CMOS type integrated circuits.

Slaved supply for serial link, of master slave type

Abstract: The slaved supply comprises a slave module for regulating the supply voltage comprising a module (1) for sampling and for detecting the peak value of the master digital output signals delivering a sampled peak value of the master output signals and a module (2) for slaving the slave supply voltage to a value substantially equal to that of the sampled peak value of the master output signals. The slave output signals delivered exhibit a peak amplitude matched to that of the master output signals.

Abstract: Application to the supply of master slave circuits in mobile or fixed telephony.


The invention relates to a detection device (6) for detecting photons emitted by a radiation source (2). A signal generation unit (20) generates a detection signal indicative of the energy of a detected photon while photons strike the detection device (6), and a baseline signal, which is affected by photons that previously struck the detection device (6), while photons are prevented from striking the detection device (6). A baseline shift determination unit (40) determines a baseline shift of the detection signal depending on the baseline signal. An energy determination unit (30) determines the energy of a detected photon depending on the detection signal and the determined baseline shift. Since the baseline shift of the detection signal is determined from a baseline signal that is generated while photons are prevented from striking the detection device (6), the baseline shift can be determined with higher accuracy, resulting in an improved energy determination.

US 2010/0066426 A1 discloses that alternating current (AC) capacitive coupling strategies are commonly used in the data acquisition (DAQ) signal paths of positron emission tomography (PET) systems using, for example, a scintillation crystal in optical communication with a plurality of photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) for sensing incident gamma rays. In such systems, the energy absorbed from a gamma ray interacting with the scintillation crystal is measured by integrating the photosensor current. This current represents the amount of light collected by the sensing PMTs. Because of the AC coupling, only the AC portion of the photosensor current is passed to the integrator while the direct current (DC) portion is effectively blocked by a coupling capacitor. This has the disadvantage of causing a count rate dependent baseline shift or wander in the integrated photosensor current signals, which, in turn, can lead to incorrect energy measurements. In order to mitigate these adverse effects, a baseline restoration circuit comprising a passive network is integrated into the DAQ signal path. However, this circuit may not always be able to sufficiently correct the baseline shift induced by the AC coupling.

Detection device for detecting photons emitted by a radiation source


A kitchen instrument with a replaceable head is described having a handle, an ejection shaft, and an ejection knob. The handle is mostly hollow with an opening on a first side and an opening on the second side opposite the first side. The opening on the first side includes an indent shaped to secure a replaceable head by preventing exiting from the indent and also from rotating. The replaceable head has a connector with a first connecting portion and a second connecting portion shaped to be secured in the indent. An ejection shaft is sized and arranged to be inserted in the second side and pass through the handle. The ejection shaft is sized to press on the replaceable head to eject the replaceable head. Multiple replaceable kitchen utensils in the form of replaceable heads are attachable to the same handle of the kitchen instrument.

Various attempts have been made to create kitchen utensils with replaceable heads. So far, none have had widespread success. A few key reasons for the limited success of these kitchen utensils are difficulty in replacing heads which are very insecure and rattling fittings of the replaceable heads to the handles. Attempts to make the replaceable head secure often make it difficult to replace the heads and attempts to make replacing the head easy often make the head have a loose or rattling fit to the handle.
Accordingly, there is still a need to create an improved kitchen instrument having a myriad of replaceable heads that can substitute for a number of kitchen utensils and minimize clutter in a kitchen.

Kitchen instrument with replaceable head


In the presence of an imide compound (e.g., N-hydroxyphthalimide) shown by the formula (2):                 wherein R1 and R2 independently represents a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group, a cycloalkyl group; or R1 and R2 may bond together to form a double bond or an aromatic or non-aromatic ring; Y is O or OH and n=1 to 3;or the imide compound and a co-catalyst (e.g., a transition metal compound), an adamantane derivative having a functional group such as a nitro group, an amino group, a hydroxyl group, a carboxyl group, a hydroxymethyl group and an isocyanato group is oxidized with oxygen. According to the above method, an adamantane derivative having a hydroxyl group together with a functional group such as a nitro group, an amino group, a hydroxyl group, a carboxyl group, a hydroxymethyl group and an isocyanato group is efficiently obtained.

The adamantane has a three-dimensionally symmetric structure and skeletons which insure mutual stabilization of each ring, and, as a result, endowed with distinctive functions. Various copolymers each having enhanced or improved functions or characteristics can be obtained by introducing a hydroxyl group into an adamantane and, if necessary, inducing them into an acrylic acid derivative or a carbonate. There have been proposed various production processes for obtaining such copolymers from a functional group (e.g., a hydroxyl group, an amino group, a carboxyl group)-introduced adamantane. The processes include, for example, a process of producing a polyester [e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 21090/1975 (JP-A-50-21090)], a process of producing a polycarbonate [e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,594,427], a process for producing a polyamide or a polyimide [e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,832,,332], a process for producing a polyurethane [e.g., Japanese Patent Publication No. 12891/1969 (JP-B-44-12891)], a process for producing a polysulfone and a polysulfonate [e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,753,950], and a process for producing a vinyl polymer [e.g., Japanese Patent Publication No. 28419/1971 (JP-B-46-28419)].
Generally, these polymers provided from an adamantane derivative have excellent functions or characteristics (high functionality) such as, for example, small light-inducing loss, high refractive index, double refraction index and other optical characteristics, and moisture resistance, excellent heat resistance, coefficient of thermal expansion and other characteristics. Such excellent characteristics cannot be achieved by using conventional polymers. Accordingly, they have been investigated applications of said polymer for optical fibers, optical elements, optical lenses, hologram, optical discs, contact lenses and other optical materials, transparent resin coating compositions for organic glasses, electric conductive polymers, photosensitive materials, fluorescent materials and so forth.
Moreover, an amino derivative derived from an alcohol of an adamantane is useful for introducing various pharmaceuticals and/or agricultural chemicals each having excellent pharmacological activity, and is utilized for producing a therapeutic agent for Parkinson's disease such as "SYM-METREL" (a trade name).
Thus, an adamantane having a functional group such as a hydroxyl group is applied to various uses.
As a process for producing an alcohol of the adamantane, there have been proposed process, such as a process for hydrolyzing a bromide of adamantane [Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 196744/1990 (JP-A-2-196744)], a process for oxidizing an adamantane using chromic acid [Japanese Patent Publication No. 16621/1967 (JP-B-42-16621)], a process for oxidizing a fused adamantane with oxygen using a cobalt salt as a catalyst [Japanese Patent Publication No. 26792/1967 (JP-B-42-26792)], a biological process [J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Comm., 1833 (1996)]. However, introduction of a hydroxyl group (specifically, a plurality of hydroxyl groups) to adamantane by using these processes is difficult.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 38909/1996 (JP-A-8-38909) proposes a process for oxidizing a substrate with oxygen by using an imide compound as a catalyst. By applying the above oxidation process to the oxidation of a substrate such as adamantane, an adamantanol is obtained.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a novel adamantane derivative and a process for producing the same.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an adamantane derivative having at least one hydroxyl group and at least one functional group selected from a nitro group, an amino group, an acylamino group, a carboxyl group, hydroxymethyl group and other groups, and a process for producing the same.
A further object of the invention is to provide a process for producing the above mentioned adamantane derivative effectively with high transformation rate or conversion and selectivity even under mild or moderate conditions.

Adamantane derivatives and process for producing them


A radial blower for producing an air stream which is supplied as a secondary air to a waste gas stream of an internal combustion engine has a spiral housing having a substantially tangentially oriented blower output and accommodating a blower wheel which rotates in the spiral housing about a rotary axis in a rotary plane. The blower output forms with the rotary plane of the blower wheel an acute angle which converges in a flow direction of air. An air guiding chamber is provided with stationary guiding elements, and the blower output is open in the air guiding chamber. An overflow opening extends substantially radially to the rotary axis of the blower wheel. The guiding elements of the guiding chamber deviate an inflowing air substantially radially to the overflow opening. A second spiral housing accommodates a second blower wheel. The overflow opening opens in the central region of the second spiral housing.

The present invention relates to a radial blower which has a radial wheel rotating in a spiral housing.
In order to increase the action of the controlled three-way catalysts it is known to use two methods, namely the waste gas recirculation and the secondary air supply. These methods minimize the generation of nitrogen or reduce the content of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons before the waste gas reaches the catalyst. During the secondary air supply the waste gas supplies fresh air behind the motor in the shortest possible way to eliminate hydrocarbon compounds and carbon monoxide produced during the combustion process. Thereby post burning of the waste gas at temperatures of above 600.degree. C. is obtained. During this additional combustion process heat is supplied to the catalyst. This is especially important during "cold start" when a relatively solid mixture is driven, whereby automatically the CO- and HC-fractions are increased in an over-proportional degree. Due to the secondary air supply in the hot waste gas practically a post burning is set in progress, during which the unburnt carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon in the motor are post-oxidated or post-burnt. The secondary air supply has however another effect. The control catalyst operates optimally starting from a predetermined operational temperature. This heat phase can continue for a limited time, during which the vehicle can cover several kilometers. After the post combustion through a secondary air supply system increase in this heat phase the waste gas temperatures. The higher temperatures allow faster reaction of the G-catalyst. The G-catalyst can earlier complete its function, namely to convert the pollutants.
With the secondary air supply there is however the difficulty to provide a compact, effectively operated blower which can overcome the high pressure in the exhaust train and pump sufficiently high quantity of fresh air into the waste train. It has to be taken into account that in the motor chamber as a rule there is only little space for additional aggregates so that compact construction for an efficient blower is an especially important criterium.

Radial blower with blower wheel rotating in spiral housing


A heat exchanger (10) has an outer housing (16) and a first helical fluid flow path or coil (12) located in the housing (16) defining a plurality of turns and having an inlet (24) and an outlet (22) for entry and exit of fluid into the flow path to be heated or cooled. A second helical coil (14) defining a second fluid flow path is located within the housing (16) adjacent to the first coil. The second coil also has an inlet (24) and outlet (22) for a passage for hot or cold service media. A conductive or non-conductive sheath (18) is disposed between the coils. A transfer medium is disposed in the housing for transfer of heat between the first and second flow paths. A plurality of baffles (20) are located between the outer housing and sheath and disposed between turns of the first coil. A plurality of baffles (21) are also disposed between turns of the second coil (14). By interposing a transfer medium between the two fluid flow paths rather than having one of the fluid flows as the medium itself, control over the cooling or heating of the fluid to be heated or cooled is possible. The fluid being cooled or heated and fluid transfer medium may be at different temperatures. The sheath (18) and baffles (20, 21) help control the transfer of heat and improve the efficiency of the heat exchanger.

Heat exchangers are commonly used in clubs, bars, hotels and other venues to chill beverages, typically, from a temperature of around 20° to 30° C. to around 0° C. for sale to patrons. Such heat exchangers are usually installed under a traditional bench or bar top.
Existing technology for cooling beverages, such as beer, prior to dispensing from a tap, tends to be relatively large and consequently, rather expensive. Many of the larger cooling installations are set up to chill numerous lines of beer prior to dispensing it from one of a number of taps, but also typically chill a number of glass cabinets for pre-chilling the glasses into which beverages are dispensed.
There is a need for a low cost compact system for dispensing beverages for smaller venues such as restaurants which may sell only one or two different beverages and will only require one or more chilling and dispensing lines. The existing installations which are used in pubs, clubs and hotels are all too large and expensive.
One further problem with dispensing beverages, such as beer from a tap, is that the beverage companies such as brewers and soft drink manufacturers, often require their beverages to be dispensed at a particular temperature or within a particular range of temperatures. For example beers, are typically required to be sold at a temperature of between 2 and 4° C. inside the glass which means that the beer has be dispensed from the tap in a hotel at around 0.5 to 1° C. to allow for the heat capacity of the glass which will typically be at a temperature of greater than 4° C. The dispensing temperature of 0.5 to 1° C. is approaching the freezing temperature for beer and if a beer tap is little used and the beer over chilled, there is a risk that the beer will freeze in the pipes of the dispensing apparatus. At the same time, the dispensing apparatus must be sufficiently efficient to be able to dispense beer at the correct temperature as prescribed by the beverage company and on demand.
The present invention aims to address or alleviate at least some of the problems of the prior art discussed above.
The present invention also aims to apply any solutions to the problems discussed above to other fields where heat exchangers are or may be utilised.
Any discussion of documents, act, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in the present specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application.


The invention relates to a device (1), a method, and a kit for analysing liquid samples. The device (1) comprises a sample layer (111) having a plurality of liquid permeable test sites (112) separated by a liquid impermeable barrier region (113), and an inlet part (2) comprising a plurality of inlet channels (211), which lead to respective test sites (112) of the sample layer (111), such that a flow connection between said inlet channels (211) and said respective test sites (112) is established or can be established, wherein said inlet channels (211) comprise first openings (218) and second openings (219), wherein a second surface area defined by the positions of said second openings (219) is smaller than a first surface area defined by the positions of said first openings (218) The invention further relates to a method for functionalizing a sample layer (111).

Protein microarrays consist of spatially addressable test sites with micro to nano dimensions for highly multiplexed sensing. Miniature, planar test sites have several advantages (e.g. they are insensitive to sample volume errors, have high signal-to-noise ratios and high throughput), but are not well suited for analysing dilute samples because of the long incubation times needed to reach equilibrium (Ekins & Chu, 1991, Clin Chem 37(11), 1955-1967; Xu & Bao, 2003, Anal Chem 75(20), 5345-5351).
In contrast, immunofiltration assays can rapidly detect low amounts of analyte by flowing samples vertically through membranes dense with capture probes. However, relatively large spot diameters and issues isolating samples mean that these systems lack the high signal-to-noise ratio and throughput of microarrays (Valkirs, G. E., Barton, R., 1985, Clin Chem 31(9), 1427-1431).
Microfiltration devices are commercially available in a 96-well format as enzyme-linked immunofiltration (ELIFA) or dot blot systems for parallel, vertical flow analysis (Clark et al., 1993, Biotechnology Techniques 7(6), 461-466; Ijsselmuiden et al., 1987, European Journal of Clinical Microbiology 6(3), 281-285). Therein, a membrane made from, for example, nylon, nitrocellulose, or cellulose acetate, is clamped between two plastic well plates and samples are isolated through the use of rubber gaskets.
Due to the high surface to volume ratio of the porous membrane, binding kinetics closely resemble that of proteins in solution (Shen et al., 2011, Polymer Journal 43(1), 35-40; Valkirs & Barton, 1985, Clin Chem 31(9), 1427-1431; Xu & Bao, 2003, Anal Chem 75(20), 5345-5351).
This reduces assay time from hours for a solid-phase immunoassay to minutes for an immunofiltration assay, and is particularly beneficial when analysing low concentration samples (Clark et al., 1993, Biotechnology Techniques 7(6), 461-466; Xu & Bao, ibid.). In 1991, Poulsen and Bjerrum demonstrated that in addition to speed, vertical flow can also increase the sensitivity of an immunoassay by concentrating dilute analytes in the membrane (Poulsen, F., Bjerrum, O. J., 1991, CRC Press). The high capture probe density and nm pores make it possible to bind all the analyte flowing through the matrix, creating a system sensitive to total antigen amount instead of concentration. This discovery was not well explored, likely because the minimum sample volumes were already 100s of microlitres and mm-diameter spots would have poor signal-to-noise for dilute samples.
For multiplexed analyte detection within the wells the membranes can be pre-spotted with capture probes (Chinnasamy et al., 2014, Clin Chem 60(9), 1209-1216; Ramachandran et al., 2013, Diagnostics 3(2), 244-260; Xu & Bao, 2003, Anal Chem 75(20), 5345-5351). The captured analytes are confined to a smaller test site for higher signal-to-noise (micron spots compared to millimetre wells), however, introducing several test sites within a sample well means analytes can pass through the membrane undetected in the areas surrounding the microspots.
An alternative method for creating vertical flow-through arrays is to pattern channels directly into the membranes (Carrilho et al., 2009, Anal Chem 81(16), 7091-7095; Lu et al., 2009, Electrophoresis 30(9), 1497-1500).
The membranes can then be irreversibly stacked (Martinez et al., 2008, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105(50), 19606-19611), or folded in the style of origami (Ge et al., 2012, Lab Chip 12(17), 3150-3158; Liu & Crooks, 2011, J Am Chem Soc 133(44), 17564-17566) to form three dimensional paper based analytical devices. With this design the patterned layers serve to distribute the sample from the inlet channel to multiple detection zones. While this approach is less expensive than robotic spotting and relies only on capillary forces, it also does not take advantage of analyte concentration during vertical flow.
A vertical flow microarray, which combines micron test sites with high capture probe density for rapid and sensitive analysis of several samples in parallel, was previously introduced (WO2011015359 A1; de Lange & Vörös, 2014, Anal Chem 86(9), 4209-4216). This 3D microarray performs multiplexed analyte detection on each sample and requires only μl volumes. It is referred to as the FoRe array herein.
By means of the FoRe microarray technology, immunofiltration is brought from the milli-scale to the micro-scale, and microarray multiplexing is combined with rapid low concentration sensing. The 3D FoRe array is formed by stacking wax-patterned nitrocellulose membranes, each functionalised with a different capture probe. The wax forms hydrophobic barriers around the array of antibody-loaded spots. This allows to restrict the channel diameter, reducing the minimum required volume (from 100s of μl for an ELIFA to <1 μl), and to confine the capture probes to a smaller area for increased signal-to-noise. When stacked and aligned, the nitrocellulose layers form an array of separable multiplexed affinity columns (FIG. 1), providing an inexpensive and customisable way to analyse several samples in parallel for multiple proteins.

Device and method for analysing liquid samples


A communication device holder for vehicles includes an upper cover and a lower cover cooperating with the upper cover; a left wing member and a right wing member, which are horizontally displaceable, are disposed in between the upper cover and the lower cover; one end of the left wing member is formed with at least one clamping jaw, and the other end of the left wing member is formed with a horizontal rack; one end of the right wing member is formed with at least one clamping jaw, and the other end of the right wing member is formed with the horizontal rack and at least one raised portion, and the raised portion is connected with a post formed on the upper cover through a spring; the spring pushes the right wing member to displace towards the outside of the upper cover.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to a communication device holder, and in particular, to a communication device holder for vehicles.
2. The Prior Arts
Nowadays, people are using digital electronic products like cell phones and PDAs in many more occasions, such as in an office, a home or in a car. When these electronic products are used in the home or in the office, they can be placed in a convenient and safe place for future use; however, it will be very dangerous when these electronic products are placed haphazardly in a car after use, especially due to changes in road conditions and car movements, these electronic terminals could be displaced to some corners to affect the driving safety.
To solve the aforementioned problem, some clamping holders for holding the electronic products have appeared on the market, whose principle of clamping or holding is to adopt a holder of a specific designated shape for fixing the electronic products, thereby preventing the electronic products from displacement. Referring to FIG. 1, the Taiwanese patent application No. 093207930 discloses a communication device holder for vehicles in which the surface of the clamping holder is formed with clamping bars having a permanent shape at the two sides, and the communication device can be prevented from displacement inside the car when it is received within the clamping bars. Nevertheless, these kinds of clamping holders are only usable for holding communication devices which have compatible sizes to the clamping holders, which means that, if the communication devices have larger or smaller sizes than the clamping holder, they are either unable to be received or unable to be held tightly, thereby failing to hold the communication devices effectively.

Communication device holder for vehicles


A method of processing digital content according to a workflow. The digital content is received and information for the workflow is checked to decide if a processing device is authorized to process the content, the workflow imposing that the digital content be processed in a process chain comprising at least two nodes, wherein the processing device is authorized to process the content if it corresponds to the node that according to the process chain is the next node to process the digital content. If the processing device is authorized to process the content, the digital content is processed and the information for the workflow is updated. Also provided is a system.

This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art, which may be related to various aspects of the present invention that are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Content, such as multimedia content—e.g. films and music—documents, photos and so on often need to be processed before it is released for the enjoyment of the end user.
Films, for example, pass many processing steps from the actual recording to the release: de-rushing, mixing, addition of digital effects, dubbing, subtitling, and so on.
It will be readily appreciated that a content provider has two requirements for a processing (also called post-processing) system: 1) strict and traceable processing operations, and 2) easy transmission and duplication of the content. The person skilled in the art will appreciate that prior art systems satisfy one or the other requirement, but not both.
Analogue systems generally satisfy the first requirement. As content is stored on tapes or film reels, it is relatively easy to control the processing: a particular content remains with a certain department until the tape is sent to the next department. In addition, it is also possible to trace the tape in case of theft. On the other hand, transmission of the content is less straight-forward, as this requires sending the physical tape, which naturally is difficult, particularly if long distances are involved. It is also difficult to provide the content to more than one entity at once, as the content has to be physically duplicated. In addition, erasing and/or destroying content after use may also provide constraints on the users.
Digital systems provide easy transmission and duplication of content. However, it is much more difficult to control the processing of the content: if the content resides on a server, it is very difficult to control who has access to it and errors may often be made if one department erroneously believes that the previous department has finished processing the content.
FIG. 1 shows an exemplary processing system in which the invention may be used. The system 100 comprises a subtitling device 110, a colour management device 120, a dubbing device 140, a digital special effects device 150, a storage device 160, and an emission clearance device 130, all connected by a network 170.
In the system of FIG. 1, it may for example be required that content pass colour management 120 and digital effects 150 (in no particular order) before being sent to dubbing 140 and optionally further to subtitling 110, before passing through emission clearance 130. As every device has access to the storage 160, it is difficult to control that the workflow is respected.
This difficulty in digital systems is inherent in Digital Rights Management (DRM) Systems. DRM controls access to the content according to usage restrictions. The content is encrypted and a separate license is provided to the end user.
A DRM architecture comprises a content provider, a content distributor, a license issuer, and content users, and has the following characteristics: 1) they are built around the servers, 2) an end user is not allowed to create new content and licenses from the obtained content, and 3) the right to decrypt the content is global—the user either has it or he doesn't.
It will thus be appreciated that most prior art DRM solutions are not appropriate to fulfil the two requirements listed hereinbefore.
International application PCT/EP08/053181 presents a solution in which a workflow for digital content is ensured by having each processing device store a number of rules linking decryption keys and encryption keys. Imagine that digital content is supposed to be treated by a colour management device, a dubbing device and a subtitling device, in that order. The content is ingested into the system by encrypting it using an encryption key for which only the colour management device has the corresponding decryption key. The colour management device stores a rule stating that content decrypted using the decryption key should be encrypted using an encryption key for which only the dubbing device possesses the corresponding decryption key. The same scheme is applied to the other devices. As such, the workflow is ensured.
While this solution works well in many cases, it can in some instances be difficult to manage the keys in the system, especially when the content is to be treated by external devices.
It can thus be appreciated that there is a need for an alternative solution that enables a processing system in which digital content may be easily distributed and duplicated, while it also imposes strict processing operations, this solution being called Digital Processing Management (DPM).
The present invention provides such a solution, with a number of variants.

Method and system digital for processing digital content according to a workflow