An image-forming apparatus is disclosed that includes at least one imaging optical system forming an electrostatic latent image on the scanning surface of a medium moving in a sub scanning direction by scanning the scanning surface in a main scanning direction by periodically deflecting a laser beam with a rotary deflector, a pixel clock generation part generating a pixel clock signal for controlling the emission timing of the laser beam and changing the phase of the pixel clock signal, a region setting part setting the length of each of multiple regions based on image writing magnifications in a line in the main scanning direction, the regions being formed by dividing part of the scanning surface corresponding to the line in the main scanning direction, and a phase control part controlling the changing of the phase of the pixel clock signal region by region based on the image writing magnifications.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to image-forming apparatuses and optical scanners, and more particularly to an image-forming apparatus and an optical scanner that employ an LD (laser diode) optical system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some conventional image-forming apparatuses employ a laser beam to form an image. According to this laser-beam method, the image-forming apparatuses form an image by an optical scanner emitting a laser beam on the scanning surface (or the surface to be scanned) of a photosensitive body (a medium to be scanned).
A description is given below, with reference to FIG. 1, of the operation of forming an image on a photosensitive body by an optical scanner according to the conventional laser-beam method. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an image-forming operation by a conventional image-forming apparatus employing the laser-beam method.
First, a charging unit (not graphically represented) such as a roller-type contact charger evenly charges a photosensitive body. A laser light source 1101 emits a laser beam to a rotary polygon mirror 1103. The polygon mirror 1103 periodically deflects the laser beam emitted from the laser light source 1101 so that the laser beam is transmitted through an fθ lens 1105 to scan the scanning surface of the photosensitive body repeatedly along a main scanning direction, the photosensitive body moving (rotating) in a sub scanning direction. On the photosensitive body, static electricity is removed from a beam spot or a part onto which the laser beam is emitted, so that an electrostatic pattern (an electrostatic latent image) is formed on the photosensitive body.
A controller (not graphically represented) causes image data in units of pages to be fed line by line (scan by scan) as an image signal (a video signal) to a laser driving circuit. The laser driving circuit outputs the image signal to the laser light source 1101 in synchronization with a pixel clock signal (a writing clock signal) to perform modulation. The pixel clock signal is input via a phase synchronization circuit from a pixel clock generator circuit (not graphically represented) forming a pixel clock generation part and a phase setting part.
Next, a description is given, with reference to FIG. 2, of the relationship between the pixel clock signal and its phase change (phase setting). FIG. 2 is a timing chart showing an example of the relationship between the pixel clock signal and its phase change. Referring to FIG. 2, the pixel clock generator circuit establishes synchronization with a synchronization detection signal input from a synchronization detection sensor, and generates and outputs a pixel clock signal clkw of (b), using a reference clock signal (an original clock signal) clko of (a) n times (four times in FIG. 2) the frequency of the pixel clock signal clkw and toggling the signal level between HIGH (H) and LOW (L) every four clock pulses of clko by count control. The reference clock signal clko is generated from an oscillator not graphically represented.
When the above-described optical scanner writes the electrostatic latent image by forming laser beam spots on the scanning surface, the optical scanner performs control so that the laser beam spots are written or formed at a uniform density.
However, once an environmental variation such as a change in temperature occurs around the fθ lens 1105, the fθ lens 1105 undergoes distortion so that its refractive index is changed. Further, when an environmental variation such as a change in temperature occurs around the laser light source 1101, the wavelength of the laser beam emitted from the laser light source is changed. The fθ lens 1105 refracts the entering laser beam at a predetermined angle in accordance with the wavelength of the entering laser beam. As a result, as shown in FIG. 1, an error may be caused in the angle of refraction of the laser beam entering the fθ lens 1105 so as to cause an error in the writing magnification (optical scanning length) per main scanning period (hereinafter, scanning period) of the laser beam deflected by the polygon mirror 1103, thus affecting an output image. In this case, the phase of the pixel clock signal clkw is shifted by phase changing to correct the writing magnification of the laser beam.
In the above-described optical scanner, the pixel clock generator circuit performs phase control using external pulse trains xpls in order to perform phase changing to shift the phase of the pixel clock signal clkw.
There are two types of external pulse trains xpls employed: an external pulse train xplsp for delaying the phase of the pixel clock signal clkw (indicated by (c) in FIG. 2) and an external pulse train xplsm for advancing the phase of the pixel clock signal clkw (indicated by (d) in FIG. 2).
For instance, in the case of generating the pixel clock signal clkw from the reference clock signal clko, the external pulse train xplsp or xplsm is input to increase or decrease the number of pulses to be counted of the reference clock signal clko so that a pulse of the pixel clock signal clkw, which is normally generated at an interval of eight pulses of the reference clock signal clko, is generated at an interval of nine or seven pulses of the reference clock signal clko. By changing (decreasing or increasing) the number of pulses to be counted of the reference clock signal clko, the frequency of the pixel clock signal clkw is multiplied by 8/7 (advancing control) or 8/9 (delaying control). As a result, it is possible to shift the pixel clock signal clkw after the phase changing. Letting the time of one main scanning line be Tm, this results in Tm−7/8 (advancing control) (indicated by (f) in FIG. 2) or Tm+9/8 (delaying control) (indicated by (e) in FIG. 2). As a result, the effect that the magnification of the line is enlarged or reduced can be produced. Thus, the optical scanner can form an image at a desired position on the photosensitive body irrespective of an environmental variation.
The pixel clock generator circuit includes a pulse generator circuit generating the external pulse trains xplsp and xplsm. The pulse generator circuit generates the external pulse train (hereinafter also referred to simply as pulses) xplsp or xplsm in accordance with a portion of the pixel clock pulse (train) clkw on which portion it is desired to perform phase changing.
Next, a description is given, with reference to FIG. 3, of the generation of the external pulse train xpls (xplsp or xplsm) by the pulse generator circuit. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a conventional pulse generator circuit.
Referring to FIG. 3, the pulse generator circuit includes comparators 1001 and 1002 and counters 1003 and 1004.
In the pulse generator circuit, an engine CPU (not graphically represented) sets a pulse generation interval (period) prd in the comparator 1001, and sets the number of pulses num in the comparator 1002. The pulse generator circuit operates as follows when the laser beam is deflected by the polygon mirror 1103 to perform a scan in the main scanning direction.
When a clear signal xlclr generated from the synchronization detection signal by a circuit (not graphically represented) is input to the counter 1003, the counter 1003, using the inputting as a reference point, starts a counting operation to count the number of pulses of the pixel clock signal clkw (a count value i), and stops the counting operation when a stop signal is input to the counter 1003 from the comparator 1002.
The comparator 1001 compares the count value i of the counter 1003 and the preset pulse generation interval (hereinafter also referred to as a set value) prd, and generates a pulse (xpls) every time the count value i reaches the set value prd.
The counter 1004 counts the number of pulses xpls generated from the comparator 1001 (a count value j).
The comparator 1002 compares the count value j of the counter 1004 and the preset number of pulses (hereinafter also referred to as a set value) num, and generates the stop signal when the count value j reaches the set value num.
A description is given below, with reference to FIG. 4, of the generation of the external pulse train xpls in the conventional pulse generator circuit. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the operation of the pulse generator circuit of FIG. 3.
First, in step S1001, when the pulse generator circuit is turned on, the counters 1003 and 1004 reset their respective count values i and j each to "1."
Thereafter, in step S1002, it is determined whether the clear signal xlclr has been input to the counter 1003. When "NO" in step S1002, the counter 1003 waits until the clear signal xlclr is input thereto. When "YES" in step S1002, after the inputting of the clear signal xlclr, in step S1003, the counter 1003 increments the count value i by one every time a pulse of the pixel clock signal clkw is input thereto.
Then, in step S1004, the comparator 1001 compares the count value i and the set value prd, and determines whether the count value i has reached the set value prd. If the count value i has not reached the set value prd (that is, "NO" in step S1004), the counter 1003 increments the count value i by one. The counter 1003 repeats the operation of step S1003 until the count value i reaches the set value prd.
When the count value i has reached the set value prd (that is, "YES" in step S1004), in step S1005, the comparator 1001 outputs a pulse (xpls). The generated pulse xpls is input to the counter 1003 so that the count value i of the counter 1003 is reset to "1."
In step S1006, the comparator 1002 compares the count value j of the counter 1004 and the set value num, and determines whether the count value j of the counter 1004 has reached the set value num. If the count value j has not reached the set value num (that is, "NO" in step S1006), in step S1007, the counter 1004 increments the count value j by one when the pulse xpls is input thereto.
Thereafter, the counters 1003 and 1004 and the comparator 1001 repeat the above-described operations. When the count value j reaches the set value num (that is, "YES" in step S1006), the comparator 1002 generates the stop signal. As a result, the pulse generator circuit ends the above-described series of operations, which are hereinafter referred to as a pulse generation operation.
FIG. 5 is a timing chart showing the conventional relationship between the clear signal xlclr and the external pulse train xpls.
Referring to FIG. 5, a pulse train generation part starts to output the external pulse train xpls indicated by (b) after the set value prd passes since the inputting of the clear signal xlclr indicated by (a). At this point, the pulse train generation part outputs as many pulses of a pulse width of one clock pulse clkw of the external pulse train xpls as the number of pulses num at the periods (intervals) prd before the inputting of the next clear signal xlclr.
Alternatively, using a RAM table, a fixed pulse train may be generated from output data obtained by counting up addresses based on a pixel clock signal.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the conventional image-forming apparatus with no fθ lens. As shown in FIG. 6, when the image-forming apparatus has no fθ lens, the optical system performs scanning with the laser beam being deflected by the polygon mirror 1103 at equal angles, that is, in a way to draw an arc. Accordingly, when scanning is performed linearly for a line on the photosensitive body surface, the light beam forms beam spots (images) on the photosensitive body surface at varying intervals even if the same interval is assumed for the center and the ends of the line. Further, the distance of beam emission to the photosensitive body surface varies between the center and the ends of the line. As a result, the beam diameter also varies between the center and the ends of the line during the single scan on the photosensitive body surface.
In contrast, the image-forming apparatus of FIG. 1 includes the fθ lens 1105 (and another lens group) in order to control the variations in beam spot interval and beam diameter caused in the image-forming apparatus of FIG. 6.
According to the image-forming apparatus of FIG. 1, the refractive index is controlled so as to absorb the difference in magnification between the center and each end of a single scanning line on the photosensitive body.
Such prior art technologies for controlling the magnification of an image in the main scanning direction as described above are disclosed in, for instance, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications No. 2000-141754 (JP 2000-141754) and No. 2001-318327 (JP 2001-318327). According to JP 2000-141754, in an image-forming apparatus where a light source is driven according to an image signal based on a writing clock signal, a scanning part causes a light beam emitted from the light source to perform scanning in the main scanning direction on a photosensitive body moving in the sub scanning direction so that an image is written on the photosensitive body, and the image on the photosensitive body is transferred onto transfer paper, the magnification of the image in the main scanning direction is corrected based on the size of the transfer paper in the main scanning direction.
According to JP 2001-318327, an optical beam scanner divides a scanning region on a scanning surface in two in the main scanning direction, and performs scanning with two imaging optical systems.
FIG. 7 is a graph showing beam emission positions on a photosensitive body surface and magnification deviations according to a conventional image-forming apparatus using an fθ lens as shown in FIG. 1.
In the conventional image-forming apparatus, the characteristic of the fθ lens is corrected on average. As a result, there is a tendency for magnification to become positive (+) within a predetermined distance from each end toward a center and negative (−) in the vicinity of the center and each end on a single scanning line.
In the case of forming an image by superposing several colors and in an optical system with emphasis on accuracy, such error components cause misregistration between color images, thus degrading image quality.
Even in the case of dividing an image region equally into multiple areas on a single scanning line so that magnification is corrected area by area, corrections are concentrated in particular areas. As a result, an increased number of pulses cannot be accommodated in such areas, thus preventing accurate correction from being performed.

Image-forming apparatus and optical scanner


A UHF mobile radio communications antenna that may be mounted on a vehicle window without drilling into or damaging the surface of the vehicle. An exterior part includes an antenna element and a resonant coupling circuit, and may be removably mounted to the exterior of the vehicle window. An interior part includes a resonant coupling circuit and a ground counterpoise, and may be removably mounted to the interior of the same window and positioned in alignment with the exterior part. The exterior and interior parts are in radio frequency communication by electromagnetic coupling therebetween. The interior part functions additionally as a radio frequency ground counterpoise independent of any vehicle metal. The interior part is adapted for connection to a mobile radio transceiver by coaxial cable. No post installation tuning of the invention is required and, thus, the invention may be easily installed without special skills. Use of adhesive pads for attachment of the interior and exterior parts to the vehicle window allows easy removal therefrom and without damage thereto.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to communications antennas and in particular to a UHF mobile communications antenna that may be attached to a vehicle window without drilling into or damaging the surface of the vehicle or window.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Mobile two-way communications for police, fire, taxicab and business use have generally been in the radio frequency bands of 32-40 MHz, 150-174 MHz, 420-270 MHz and 800-900 MHz. Cellular telephones using the 800 MHz band have become extremely popular for both business and personal use in recent years. As the radio bands used increase in frequency, higher gain and more efficient antennas are desirable. In addition to high efficiency and high gain, a broad bandwidth is also necessary for mobile telephone applications such as, for example, the new cellular mobile systems. Desirable features in any antenna system are broad bandwidth, gain, good efficiency, and low voltage standing wave ratio ("VSWR"). These requirements are necessary for proper operation with modern day mobile radio transceivers.
At VHF and UHF radio frequencies the distance that one may communicate is normally limited to line of sight. Therefore, the higher the mobile antenna is located on the vehicle, the better the useful communications range. A desirable antenna radiation pattern will produce the most efficient operation of the antenna and result in maximum clear signal range. The radiation pattern of an antenna is affected by the antenna's proximity to metal objects on or of the vehicle. Therefore, the most desirable location for an antenna on a vehicle would be the rooftop or mounting as close to the roof line of an automobile as possible.
To permanently mount a mobile antenna on a vehicle required drilling or cutting a hole into the vehicle body and then inserting the antenna in the hole. The metal surface of the vehicle acted as a ground plane for the mounted vertical antenna radiating element. Use of the vehicle body as a ground plane was mandatory for maximum efficiency in antenna operation. With alternate locations on a car such as the fender or trunk lid or bumper, the ground plane was not optimal and the antenna efficiency and radiation pattern suffered.
The hole cut in the vehicle body for installation of the mobile antenna resulted in damage that was expensive to repair when the antenna had to be removed. As automobiles increased in price and the cost of subsequent body repair work increased, a more satisfactory arrangement for permanently mounting mobile radio antennas to expensive vehicles without damage was desired without sacrificing communications performance.
Antenna systems, called "on-the-glass antennas," were devised that were removably mountable on a window of a vehicle without damage thereto. An antenna part was attached to the exterior surface of the window by means of glue, such as epoxy, or adhesive tape pads. An interior part was attached to the interior surface of the same window by similar means and in alignment with the antenna part. Radio frequency energy was transferred between the interior part and exterior antenna part by capacitive coupling.
A coupling capacitor was created when a conductive base plate, connected to the antenna element, was mounted to the exterior surface of a window forming one side of the capacitor, and an interior plate was mounted to the interior of the window opposite the exterior plate forming the other plate of the capacitor. The window glass was the dielectric insulator between the exterior and interior plates. Thus, radio frequency signals could pass between the exterior and interior parts of the antenna system without the necessity for any actual physical connection requiring a hole in the vehicle.
Early on-the-glass antennas, however, suffered from ineffective and inefficient ground planes or ground counterpoises. These antennas used either the interior metal parts of the vehicle or the coaxial cable outer shield conductor as a ground counterpoise. Using either resulted in radiation of radio frequency energy inside of the passenger compartment. This undesirable radiation was emitted from the outer shield of the coaxial cable that connected the antenna system to a mobile radio transceiver. Studies have revealed that radiation of radio frequency energy from a mobile radio transceiver may cause harmful effects to occupants within a vehicle. Therefore, reduction of radio frequency radiation within the vehicle was very important.
Further work was needed to reduce this radio frequency radiation problem. An early attempt to solve the radiation problem was to utilize a coupling device attached to the inside window that would function as a ground counterpoise and effectively decouple stray radio frequency energy from the outer coaxial cable shield. In addition, matching networks of various types were employed to reduce the VSWR of these antenna systems. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,660, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. However, all of the aforementioned on-the-glass antenna systems used capacitive (electrostatic coupling) to couple the radio frequency energy between the interior part and the exterior antenna part.
Capacitive coupling was detrimentally affected by stray capacitive coupling from adjacent conductive metal parts of the vehicle such as the window trim ring or embedded de-icing strips in a rear window. Normally, because of the vagaries of mounting locations for on-the-glass mobile antennas, the capacitive coupling effects of each installation cannot be determined beforehand with any certainty. Adjustable matching networks have been incorporated into antenna systems to tune for optimal performance after installation. Thus, each type of vehicle and different location thereon required post installation tuning adjustment for proper operation. Tuning of the antenna matching system required special test equipment and special knowledge of the radio technician to effectively adjust the antenna system for maximum radiation and minimum VSWR.

Window mountable UHF mobile antenna system


A biodegradable test cylinder mold is used for testing concrete specimens. The mold comprises a cylindrical wall connected to a bottom wall to define a hollow, unitary cylindrical container for receiving concrete to form a test specimen. The cylindrical container is formed of a biodegradable material comprising corn starch or a blend of corn starch and plastic.

Various tests have been developed to ensure that concrete used in particular applications satisfy specifications. One of these is a compression test for testing concrete cylinders. The concrete cylinder is typically formed using a test cylinder mold. The mold is a hollow cylindrical container including a bottom wall used to test specimens of concrete at a construction site. Such molds are generally disposable.
Particularly, samples of concrete are routinely acquired from job site projects for laboratory testing to verify and certify the strength of the concrete used in a specific project. The specimens are collected, according to strict ASTM guidelines, in plastic containers or wax impregnated paper cylinders, commonly referred to as concrete test cylinder molds. The test cylinder molds are offered in different sizes, such as 6 inch diameter by 12 inches high, 4 inch diameter by 8 inches high, 3 inch diameter by 6 inches high, and 2 inch diameter by 4 inches high.
Initially, such molds were made of paper board with metal bottoms. More recently, the molds are injection molded from polypropylene which is recyclable.
Reprocessors/recyclers of plastics need to know the composition of the plastic in order to sell it in the plastic material after market. For example, plastic items molded for use in the food and medical market must be molded from "virgin" material. Scrap from these processes are sold to reprocessors since the molder cannot reuse. The reprocessor knows the exact composition of the plastic material purchased from the molder and can offer it in the after market.
In a consumer recycling program, plastic items are collected in bins by the local waste company and taken to a sorting point where the recyclable materials are separated. However, there are thousands of different grades of polypropylene. The grade used for typical test cylinder molds is a copolymer, 8-10 melt, 2.5-2.7 izod material. Polypropylenes which are homo polymers have higher or lower melts, or are of different izods and cannot be used. Since the recycle symbol does not distinguish the differences in the polypropylene grades, it is doubtful the test cylinder mold material would be accepted by a reprocessor for the material after market. As a result, the molds often end up in a landfill.
Testing laboratories would be in the industrial waste management market. They would use a 20-40 cubic foot container. The plastic test cylinders would be removed from the concrete specimens and thrown into the waste container, along with the broken concrete specimens as a result of the destructive testing. As a result, most test cylinder molds wind up in landfill and can contribute to environmental problems.
In accordance with the invention, a test cylinder mold is injection molded from a biodegradable material.


A pointing device (28), comprising light sources (30) and monitored by a computer vision task running in a microcontroller (108) and a computer (24). The computer vision task computes the spatial position and orientation of the pointing device, and enables an operator to control virtual three dimensional objects (73) on the display (22) of the computer. Images (78) are captured by a video camera (20) and digitized, and only image rows that contain bright pixels (80) from the light sources are processed. The light sources are the tips of optic fibers (30) guiding light from a laser diode (32), and an optical filter (46) on the camera is matched to the wavelength of the laser diode.

There is presently considerable interest in systems able to track the position and orientation of an object in space. In particular, these systems are being applied to virtual reality technology, in which the user interacts with a computer by moving a hand or the head to control a computer-generated world. The paper "A Survey of Position Trackers", by K. Meyer, H. Applewhite and F. Biocca, in Presence, vol. 1, number 2, Spring 1992, pp. 173-200, MIT Press, provides a survey of such technologies. Position tracking has been implemented using four different approaches: electro-optical, mechanical, magnetic, and acoustic. Electro-optical position trackers have received more attention than the other systems. They typically use video cameras to detect bright points of the tracked object, and compute, from the locations of these points in video frames, the six degrees of freedom of the object. For example, this paper mentions an electro-optical head position sensor described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,956,794 to Zeevi et al., entitled "Single Camera Three Dimensional Head Position Sensing System". At least three cues able to reflect light from a separate source are mounted along an imaginary circle around the head of the operator, and are detected in the video stream from a single camera. The locations of the images of these cues are claimed to contain enough information to provide indication of head rotation and translation at video frame rate. A close examination reveals, however, that the electronic circuitry disclosed in Zeevi is designed to detect only the rising edges created by the images of these cues in the video signal. Such an approach is only useful if the cues are relatively far from the camera and are seen as very small dots. When the cues are close to the camera, it would be more desirable to compute the centroids of the images of the cues. This computation would require detecting both the rising edges and the falling edges created by images of bright spots in the video signal, and integrating the information about such edges from all the rows of the video image occupied by the same bright spots. By detecting only rising edges in the video signal, a system as taught by Zeevi et al. cannot accurately detect the positions of the images of the cues when they are relatively close to the camera.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,672,562, issued to Egli et al., entitled "Method and Apparatus for Determining Location and Orientation of Objects", a method and apparatus are taught in which target points are mounted along orthogonal lines on the object, and the coordinates of the image spots created by these target points on the image plane of the camera are detected on the image plane. Computations using these coordinates provide spatial information about the object. However, Egli et al. do not teach any of the hardware requirements for detecting these image spots.
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/998470 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,985 disclosed by one of the present inventors, systems are described which use a single camera with at least four light sources in any noncoplanar arrangement mounted on the object. The systems are able to compute the position and orientation of the object from the bright spots created by the light sources in the image of the camera with very simple computing steps even when the number of light sources is large and in a complex arrangement. This task requires digitizing analog video data from an NTSC video signal, and grouping contiguous bright pixels in order to find the centers of the bright spots which are the projections of the light sources in the image. In order to accurately represent these bright spots, around 256 digital pixels must be obtained for each image row. Since each image row is transmitted out of the camera in around 50 .mu.s of NTSC signal, a new pixel has to be digitized approximately every 200 nanoseconds. Instructions for a typical inexpensive microprocessor running at 33 MHz takes from 300 to 600 nanoseconds, therefore there is not enough time for such a microprocessor, while the pixels are being digitized, to find the strings of bright pixels in an image row. Finding the strings of bright pixels while the pixels are being digitized would require relatively expensive hardware. The present invention teaches how to implement a system which provides the desired output with inexpensive components, by delaying the search for such strings of bright pixels to the end of each image row, or to the end of each image field--during the 1200 .mu.s of vertical retrace between 2 image fields.

Three dimensional pointing device monitored by computer vision


Generating program code to be used by a protocol analyzer based on definitional information relating to a data protocol. A protocol database that includes definitional information relating to characteristics of a protocol is stored. The definitional information, which is expressed in a computer-interpretable format, is processed to generate program code expressed in a programming language. The program code incorporates the definitional information and includes logic that is to be executed to interpret and analyze data packets having the protocol. In this manner, the program code to be used by the protocol analyzer is generated mechanically, without requiring software developers. When the program code needs to be updated in view of changes to existing protocols or the introduction of new protocols, the protocol database is updated. These updates are then propagated to the program code without requiring direct manipulation of the code by software developers.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to communications networks. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems and methods for interpreting the content of data frames that are present on a communications network.
2. The Relevant Technology
Computer and data communications networks continue to proliferate due to declining costs, increasing performance of computer and networking equipment, and increasing demand for communication bandwidth. Communications networks—including wide area networks ("WANs") and local area networks ("LANs")—allow increased productivity and utilization of distributed computers or stations through the sharing of resources, the transfer of voice and data, and the processing of voice, data and related information at the most efficient locations. Moreover, as organizations have recognized the economic benefits of using communications networks, network applications such as electronic mail, voice and data transfer, host access, and shared and distributed databases are increasingly used as a means to increase user productivity. This increased demand, together with the growing number of distributed computing resources, has resulted in a rapid expansion of the number of installed networks.
As the demand for networks has grown, network technology has grown to include many different physical configurations. Examples include Ethernet, Token Ring, Fiber Distributed Data Interface ("FDDI"), Fibre Channel, and InfiniBand networks. These and the many other types of networks that have been developed typically utilize different cabling systems, different bandwidths and typically transmit data at different speeds. In addition, each of the different network types have different sets of standards, referred to as protocols, which set forth the rules for accessing the network and for communicating among the resources on the network.
However, many of the network types have similar characteristics. For the most part, digital data are usually transmitted over a network medium via frames (also referred to as "data frames" or "data packets") that can be of a fixed or a variable length. Typically, data frames have headers and footers on the two ends of the frame, and a data portion disposed in the middle. The specific layout of these data frames is typically specified by the "physical layer protocol" of the network being used. For example, the Ethernet physical layer protocol specifies that the structure of a data frame include a preamble field, a six-byte destination address field, a six-byte source address field, a two-byte type field, a data field having a variable size (46-1,500 bytes), and a four-byte error checking field. Other physical layer protocols will specify similar types of frame layouts.
As is well known, transmissions from one network connected device to another device are typically passed through a hierarchy of protocol layers. Each layer in one network connected device essentially carries on a conversation with a corresponding layer in another network connected device with which the communication is taking place and in accordance with a protocol defining the rules of communication.
For example, one well-known protocol standard is the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Model. OSI defines a seven-layer protocol model, which is widely used to describe and define how various vendors' products communicate. In that model, the highest network layer is the Application Layer. It is the level through which user applications access network services. The next layer is the Presentation Layer which translates data from the Application Layer into an intermediate format and provides data encryption and compression services. The next layer is referred to as the Session Layer, which allows two applications on different network connected devices to communicate by establishing a dialog control between the two devices that regulates which side transmits, when each side transmits, and for how long. The next layer, the Transport Layer, is responsible for error recognition and recovery, repackaging of long messages into small packages of information, and providing an acknowledgement of receipt. The next layer is the Network Layer, which addresses messages, determines the route along the network from the source to the destination computer, and manages traffic problems, such as switching, routing and controlling the congestion of data transmissions.
It is the next layer, referred to as the Data Link Layer, which packages raw bits into the logical structured data packets or data frames, referred to above. This would correspond, for example, to the Ethernet physical layer protocol noted above. This layer then sends the data frame from one network connected device to another. The lowest layer in the hierarchal model is the Physical Layer, which is responsible for transmitting bits from one network connected device to another by regulating the transmission of a stream of bits over a physical medium. This layer defines how the cable is attached to the network interface card within the network connected device and what transmission techniques are used to send data over the cable.
Thus, as a message is passed down through each of these respective layers, each layer may add protocol information to the message. Thus, the "data" present within the data payload of the data frame at the Data Link Layer (e.g., the Ethernet data frame) typically comprises a protocol stack comprised of multiple message packets. Each message packet has its own protocol format, and it may in turn be embedded within the data payload of another higher layer message, also having a different protocol.
As communication networks have increased in number and complexity, the networks have become more likely to develop a variety of problems, that are in turn more and more difficult to diagnose and solve. For example, network performance can suffer due to a variety of causes, such as the transmission of unnecessarily small frames of information, inefficient or incorrect routing of information, improper network configuration and superfluous network traffic, to name just a few. Such problems are compounded by the fact that many networks are continually changing and evolving due to growth, reconfiguration and introduction of new network typologies and protocols as well as new interconnection devices and software applications.
Consequently, diagnostic equipment, commonly referred to as "network protocol analyzers," have been developed for capturing, analyzing, and displaying information about data frames that are transmitted over a network. Typically, protocol analyzers are designed to identify, analyze and resolve interoperability and performance problems in different networks typologies and protocols. For example, the equipment enables users to perform a wide variety of network analysis tasks, such as counting errors, filtering frames, generating traffic and triggering alarms.
To do so, a protocol analyzer typically has the capability to capture all of the physical layer data frames (packets) generated by other stations (nodes) on the network. The analyzer is then designed to evaluate the contents of each data frame and, preferably, display the contents along with a meaningful description, and preferably in the sequence in which they were captured from the network. Thus, a protocol analyzer typically includes a capture engine and a protocol decoder. The analysis data that can be displayed with each captured data frame can include a variety of information, including the time at which the packet was captured, the length of the packet, packet address information for one or more protocol layers, and a set of protocol decodes at each layer that the protocol analyzer is capable of decoding.
While protocol analyzers have proven to be extremely useful tools for debugging, testing and otherwise evaluating various operating characteristics of networks and network equipment, the implementation of such analyzers is difficult and previous approaches have not been entirely satisfactory. In particular, in order for the protocol analyzer to provide useful information for a given network, ideally it must be capable of interpreting each of the various—and sometimes numerous—protocols that are typically embedded within the physical layer data frame. The ability to perform this task is complicated greatly by the fact that today's communications networks utilize literally hundreds of different message protocols that may be present in any given data frame. As noted, a typical physical layer data frame on a network cable medium will have a data payload that is composed of multiple protocol layers. In fact, this "stacking" of message protocols within a physical layer data frame can often be more than five layers deep. Thus, today's protocol analyzer must be capable of interpreting and analyzing a myriad of different protocol types and combinations.
However, most protocol analyzers are specifically programmed to interpret and present a finite number of protocol types, and thus are limited in their ability to fully analyze all networks. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that new protocols are continuously being developed and existing protocols modified and updated. Thus, it has been extremely difficult for protocol analyzers to support all existing protocols, and it is difficult to update existing protocol analyzers to support new and modified protocols.
Typically, protocol analyzers are configured to support particular protocols by way of customized software. Specifically, the protocol analyzer is a programmable device (or is operatively connected to a programmable master device, such as a personal computer) that is programmed with dedicated program code addressed specifically to the interpretation and analysis of a protocol type. If a new protocol capability is needed, or if the existing protocol is changed, then the source code for the program must be modified, updated or rewritten and then recompiled in order for the analyzer to support the new protocol. When a change regarding the protocol capabilities of the protocol analyzer is to be made, the software developer obtains a protocol specification, written in a declarative format, studies the declarative protocol specification, and manually translates the declarative protocol specification to procedural executable code, written in a procedural language (e.g., C++).
Obviously, this approach of manually converting a declarative protocol specification into procedural executable code is terribly inefficient, and is costly and difficult to implement, since it requires software developers with significant knowledge of the details of a particular protocol. In addition, the program code is written in a single selected programming language, such as C++. Once the program code is developed using a particular programming language, it is difficult and expensive to write analogous code in other programming languages.
Thus, there is a need in the art to provide an efficient and flexible method for defining a protocol, and then generating the program code for analyzing it. The generation of programming code allows for the most efficient embodiment of a decoder. Such a method would require a minimal amount of manual work by software developers. In particular, the methodology should be able to be performed by anyone with familiarity with communications protocols, and not require advanced programming skills. Also it would be desirable if different program code could be generated with equivalent functionality, to suit the needs of different computing devices or computer operating systems. These and other needs are addressed by embodiments of the present invention.

Compiling protocol analysis code using protocol database


In an information reproducing device for performing maximum likelihood decoding using asynchronous sample data, data from the recording medium 101 is sampled by an A/D converter 103 at an asynchronous sampling clock generated by a clock generator 104, to obtain asynchronous sample data. A timing detector 106 detects a phase θ of the asynchronous sampling clock, where recording timings of data of the recording medium 101 are reference points. A reference value generator 108 generates reference values used in a Viterbi decoder 107, based on basic phase reference values at a phase of 0 and a phase signal θ of the asynchronous sampling clock. A basic reference value learner 109 learns and modifies the phase-0 basic reference values based on the phase signal θ, the asynchronous sample data, and the reference values.

Conventionally, there is an information reproducing device comprising a Viterbi decoder as described in, for example, Patent Document 1, in which synchronous sample data is obtained, and thereafter, the synchronous sample data is input to the Viterbi decoder, and most likely data is reproduced.
On the other hand, for example, as described in Patent Document 2, asynchronous sample data is directly input to a Viterbi decoder, and most likely data is reproduced.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 3260870
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent No. 3628790


A novel method of vehicle modulated administration of an anticonvulsive agent to the mucous membranes of humans and animals is disclosed. The vehicle system is an aqueous pharmaceutical carrier comprising an aliphatic alcohol (10–80%) or a glycol (10–80%), and their combinations with a biological surfactant such as a bile salt or a lecithin. The pharmaceutical composition provides a means to control and promote the rate and extent of transmucosal permeation and absorption of the medicaments via a single and multiple administration. Nasal administration of the pharmaceutical preparation produces a high plasma concentration of the anticonvulsant nearly as fast as intravenous administration. Such compositions are particularly suitable for a prompt and timely medication of patients in the acute and/or emergency treatment of status epilepticus and other fever-induced seizures.

Status epilepticus is a neurological emergency in which mortality ranges from 3–35%. The major goal of treatment is rapid management of pathological seizure activity; the longer that the episode of status epilepticus is untreated, the more difficult it is to control and the greater the risk of permanent brain damage. Thus, critical to the management of the patient is a clear plan, involving prompt treatment with effective drugs in adequate doses having a proper pharmaceutical formulation as well as attention to hypoventilation and hypotension.
Currently several drug regimens have been proven to be applicable in treating status epilepticus. Diazepam and lorazepam are the most widely used benzodiazepines for this purpose. Intravenous administration of anticonvulsants is the most rapid way to suppress epileptic convulsions. However, other routes of administration may be highly desirable when intravenous administration is inconvenient and delaying, for instance, because of technical difficulties such as requirements for sterile equipment and skilled personnel, and because of the possible development of thrombophlebitis. In addition, intravenous medication is often associated with hypotension, cardiac dysrhythmia or central nervous system depression. In this regard Moolenaar [Moolenaar et al., Int. J. Pharm., 5: 127–137 (1986)] attempted to administer diazepam in humans via several other routes such as intramuscular injection, oral tablet and rectal solution. Only the rectal administration was found to provide a fairly rapid absorption and thus, it might be looked upon as an alternative route to IV injection. However, the rectal route is a very inconvenient way of drug administration particularly in emergency treatment. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,720 of Burghardt, a sublingual sprayable pharmaceutical preparation is disclosed, in which the active drug can be a benzodiazepine, optimally comprising polyethylene glycol (PEG) and requiring ethanol, di- and/or triglyceride of fatty acids and a pharmaceutically acceptable propellant gas.
More recently, it appears that the mucosal membrane of the nose offers a practical route of administration for therapeutic effect of many medicinal substances. Intranasal administration has the advantages that drugs may be administered readily and simply to achieve a systemic or localized effect, as required. However, the major problem associated with intranasal drug administration is the fact that most drug molecules diffuse poorly and slowly through the nasal mucosal membrane and thus the desired levels of the therapeutic agent cannot be achieved by means of simple transnasal administration. An additional constraint concerning nasal administration is that a small administration volume is needed; it is not generally possible to administer more than approximately 150 μl per nostril; above this, the formulation will be drained out into the pharynx and swallowed. Therefore, a great need exists for solvent vehicles, in which the solubility of the drug is high and which, on the other hand, are non-irritating to the nasal mucosa. The intranasal absorption of drugs can be increased by coadministering a chemical adjuvant or permeation enhancers. For example, Lau and Slattery [Lau et al., Int. J. Pharm., 54: 171–174 (1989)] attempted to administer a benzodiazepine such as diazepam and lorazepam by dissolving these medicaments in a variety of solvents; triacetin, dimethylsulfoxide, PEG 400, Cremophor EL, Lipal-9-LA, isopropyl adipate and Azone. While many of the solvents dissolved diazepam and lorazepam in the desired concentrations, they were too irritatable to be used, when administered to the nose. Cremophor EL was found to be the least irritating for nasal mucosal tissue, but the nasal absorption in the use of this vehicle in humans was rather slow (Tmax≡1.4 hours) and the peak concentration was low relative to that observed after IV administration. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,664 of Rugby described the nasal administration of a benzodiazepine hypnotic in a pharmaceutically acceptable nasal carrier. The carrier may be an aqueous saline solution, an alcohol, a glycol, a glycol ether or mixtures thereof. The results of pharmacokinetic studies in dogs showed that the time to maximum plasma concentration for triazolam was achieved at 18 minutes after the nasal administration, while an effective treatment within 5 minutes is considered to be an attractive goal. Bechgaard and Hjortkjer [Bechgaard et al., J. Pharm. Pharmacol., 49: 747–750 (1997)] described the use of pure organic solvents such as glycofurol and tetraethyleneglycol, and their combinations as carriers for nasal delivery of diazepam. The absolute bioavailability, measured during the first 30 minutes, after the nasal administration, was 49–62% for the most promising carrier systems examined. In PCT WO 95/31217, Dumex described the use of a pharmaceutical emulsion preparation based on tocopherol and its derivatives for intranasal administration of biologically active compounds including benzodiazepines.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Transnasal anticonvulsive compositions and modulated process


A surgical needle for use in phaco-emulsification procedures during eye surgery is disclosed. The surgical needle comprises a tubular principal section substantially concentric about a longitudinal principal axis and a tubular terminal section for channeling aspiration flow away from the surgical site. The terminal section is angled with respect to the principal section to access a greater area of the surgical site. The angled terminal section also presents an angled side face to the reciprocating motion when the surgical needle is reciprocated along the principal axis, causing increased cavitational emulsification. An aspiration bore at an extreme distal end of the terminal receives the aspiration flow. The aspiration bore has two planar end faces, one to minimize the possibility of accidental tearing of eye tissue, and the other to open up the aspiration bore to the direction of reciprocation and maximize the occlusion and mechanical cavitation of material.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relate to surgical needles, and more particularly to needles used in phaco-emulsification procedures during eye surgery.
2. Description of Related Art
In a number of surgical procedures, the tip of a small needle is inserted into body tissue or a cavity and used to remove unwanted material, often with the assistance of ultrasonic mechanical vibration. One prominent example of this type of application is the phaco-emulsification procedure, adopted several decades ago, for the removal of cataracts and other material from the capsular bag of the eye, particularly to facilitate an artificial lens implant. In the earliest examples of this procedure, a straight needle was inserted through a small incision into the capsular bag, and ultrasonic oscillation of the needle tip caused the tip to contact and mechanically emulsify the material. In addition, the ultrasonic oscillation of the needle tip in the liquid of the capsular bag caused a small amount of cavitational emulsification of the material.
An aspiration bore in the center of the needle drew out the material as it was emulsified. The suction effect of the aspiration flow in the aspiration bore created a pressure differential between the inside and outside of the needle and caused material to occlude at, and adhere to, the needle tip, an effect that was generally beneficial because the adhesion helped the tip contact and mechanically emulsify the adhering material. In addition, the peristaltic pump that generated the aspiration flow would increase the suction upon detection of an occlusion, thereby facilitating removal of the occlusion. The aspiration of emulsified material concurrent with the emulsification process enabled the complete procedure to be effected within a relatively short interval. Due to the small incisions and limited invasiveness, there were minimal side effects and very short recovery time under ideal conditions.
Ideal conditions, however, were rarely available, and as many thousands of these operations were completed, it was found desirable to use one or more of a number of variations for different purposes, not all of which are compatible. For example, the interior volume of the capsular bag is of maximum depth in the mid-region, into which a straight needle can conveniently be inserted. Alongside the incision in the anterior capsular bag wall and in the corners of the capsular bag, however, access can better be obtained by a curved or bent needle. Accordingly, a number of different variants on the curved needle were introduced, as evidenced in part by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,750,488; 4,301,802; 4,136,700; 5,154,694 and 5,417,654, in which different variations were used for different purposes and advantages. In addition, it was found that curved or bent needles could improve cavitational emulsification, because cavitation increases when the larger surface area presented by the side of the curved or bent needle moves in opposition to the material. Some of the curvatures were also intended to reduce the danger that the cutting edge of the tip would encounter and damage the rear wall of the capsular bag as the needle was manipulated within the capsular bag.
Such changes, however, introduce other problems and limitations in practical situations. Conventional needles have a sloping face terminating in a sharp point to aid in puncturing tissue. Simply bending such a needle to a desired angle may result in the sharp point facing the capsular bag wall in certain needle orientations, thereby increasing the chance of damage to the capsular bag wall.
A curved or bent needle also decreases the surgeon's visibility of the needle tip. Typically, a surgeon operates from above the eye, pointing the needle downward into the eye with the bend in the needle pointing downward. When viewed from above, the tip of a needle with a severe bend tends to disappear underneath the body of the needle, decreasing its visibility and increasing the danger of positioning error by the surgeon.
In addition, the aspiration bore of bent or curved needles often faces away from the direction of reciprocation, and thus does not present a large opening in the direction of reciprocation upon which the material may be occluded. Furthermore, the sharp point created by the sloping face of bent conventional needles may not allow the aspiration bore to be placed in close proximity to material in certain orientations, thereby decreasing occlusion of material at the aspiration bore. The bend of the needle also increases frictional contact of the aspiration flow with the interior walls of the needle, which increases flow resistance, decreases the aspiration rate, and reduces the occlusion of material at the aspiration bore. The reduced occlusion and adhesion of material to the needle tip resulting from bent or curved needles ultimately decreases the efficiency of emulsification, increases the required operating time, and increases the possibility of heat damage or other damage to the eye. To offset the reduced occlusion of bent needles, aspiration pressure may be increased. However, increased aspiration pressure makes the phaco-emulsification procedure less controllable and increases the danger of collapsing the capsular bag.
The effect of curved or bent needles on capsular bag access, cavitational emulsification, puncture avoidance, tip visibility, aspiration rate, occlusion, and mechanical emulsification therefore varies as the curvature or bend in the needle increases. As the curvature or bend increases, capsular bag access and cavitational emulsification increase, while tip visibility, aspiration rate, occlusion, and mechanical emulsification generally decrease. Consequently, there is a need for a needle offering the advantages of better cavitational emulsification, easier manipulation and access within the capsular bag, and lessened chance of unintended puncturing of the back wall of the capsular bag, while at the same time providing an aspiration bore orientation and flow rate that facilitates occlusions at the needle tip and enhanced mechanical emulsification.


The present invention relates to a method of overwriting data of a rewritable disk quickly, which regards a rewritable disk as empty irrespective of whether or not the disk contains written data, or modifies not-empty-regarded information about a rewritable disk to empty one, based on a user's request; transmits disk information including said regarded or modified empty information to a host connected through an interface; and writes input data received from an external source from start of data recordable zone of the rewritable disk. This data overwriting method enables old data to be overwritten with new data without physical data erasing operation, thereby eliminating relatively long waiting time of a user until an inserted disk becomes empty.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for overwriting data of a rewritable optical disk quickly without physical erasing operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a disk drive, which writes/reads data to/from a rewritable disk such as CD-R/W, is used as connected with a host such as a personal computer (PC). Therefore, a disk drive receives data to write from a host, and sends reproduced data to it.
A disk drive conducting these writing/reading operations is configured as FIG. 1. The disk drive of FIG. 1 comprises an optical pickup 2 for writing/reading data to/from a rewritable disk 1, for example, a CD-R/W, an R/F unit 3 for equalizing and shaping RF signals reproduced by the optical pickup 2 to produce binary signals, a digital reproduced signal processing unit 4 for processing the binary signals from the R/F unit 3 to restore original digital data, an interface 5 for transmitting the restored digital data to a connected PC 200 and receiving data and commands from the PC 200, a digital recording signal processing unit 6 for converting the data received through the interface 5 to writing signals suitable for an optical disk, a servo and drive unit 7 for adjusting rotation speed of the rewritable disk 1 and moving writing/reading position on the disk 1, and a microcomputer 8 for supervising overall operation for conducting an entered key command from a user or a requested command from the PC 200.
FIG. 2 is a procedure conducted in the disk drive 100 configured as FIG. 1 when data overwriting is requested for a data-contained rewritable disk 1.
Explaining the procedure depicted in FIG. 2, when the rewritable disk 1 is inserted in the disk drive 100 (S10), the microcomputer 8 reads out disk information from the rewritable disk 1 (S12). The disk information consists of data written in Program Memory Area (PMA) and Table Of Contents (TOC) in which navigation data for all recorded tracks are included.
If the rewritable disk 1 is CD-R/W, the PMA, located next to most inward Power Calibration Area (PCA) as shown in FIG. 3, has record information for all recorded tracks, and the TOC, written in Lead-In Area (LIA) located at the head of each session, has all information about each corresponding session.
Therefore, to read out the disk information, the microcomputer 8 searches the rewritable disk 1 for the PMA and the first TOC, first of all. After reading the disk information, the microcomputer 8 checks disk type and record status (S14) based on the read disk information, then, it transmits the checked disk type and record status to the PC 200 (S16) connected through the interface 5 as well as stores them locally. An Operating System (OS) running in the PC 200 stores the received information from the disk drive 100 in device management information.
If the inserted rewritable disk 1 has useless data in it, a user should make the disk 1 blank, that is, erase all data at first to write new data in the disk 1. If writing of new data is requested without data deletion, since the OS has already known the disk information stored in the device management information, it compares the size of new data with remaining storage capacity of the rewritable disk 1, which is included in the disk information, then, it requests the disk drive 100 to write the new data only if the size of new data is smaller than the remaining capacity, otherwise, it does not request. In case that the remaining capacity can accommodate the new data, the disk drive 100 writes the new data from the start of blank program area, namely, after the useless data written in the disk 1 because it is aware of current record status. As a result, the useless data still remains after new data is recorded.
In the meantime, if the disk drive 200 receives a command of 'disk erase' (S20), it checks the erasing type, namely, that is 'full' or 'quick'. If the type is 'full', the disk drive 200 makes a beam, whose power is set for data deletion, incident to whole disk area data have been written in, and if 'quick' it makes the erasing-power beam incident only to disk information area, i.e., PMA and each LIA to delete only disk information. FIG. 4 shows the erasing-power compared with reading and writing power. According to this erasing operation, the inserted disk becomes 'blank', so that the disk drive 200 reports the 'blank' status to the PC 200 (S22).
After receiving the 'blank' status from the disk drive 100, the OS of the PC 200 updates the device management information to reflect the 'blank' status of the inserted disk. Afterward, if new data is requested to be written, the OS checks whether the size of new data is smaller than the full storage capacity of the blank disk. If then, the OS requests the disk drive 100 to write the new data.
If the writing request is received (S24), the disk drive 100 writes the new data from the start of data zone of the rewritable disk 1 (S26) because the disk 1 has been made blank.
However, in the above data writing method, the necessary disk erasing operation takes long time even if its type is 'quick' needless to say 'full'-type erasing, which causes a user inconvenience of waiting too much to re-use a data-contained rewritable disk.

Method of overwriting data of rewritable disk


Disclosed is a generator. The generator in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes: a thermoelectric element, which creates an electromotive force by using a temperature difference between a high-temperature portion and a low-temperature portion; a heat source, which is thermally coupled to the high-temperature portion and transfers heat to the high-temperature portion; and a vibrating capillary-shaped heat-pipe, which has a working fluid injected therein, is thermally coupled to the low-temperature portion, and discharges heat of the low-temperature portion. The generator in accordance with the present invention can increase an efficiency of power generation using the thermoelectric element by employing a highly exothermic vibrating capillary-shaped heat-pipe to maintain the temperature difference required for power generation.

Generally, when a heat engine, such as an internal combustion engine, generates power, it also generates high-temperature emission. Since this high-temperature emission contains high energy, energy can be obtained to increase the efficiency of the heat engine by properly utilizing the high-temperature emission.
Accordingly, there have been a number of studies on generators for obtaining electricity from the high-temperature emission, resulting in development of a generator employing a thermoelectric element.
However, the conventional thermoelectric generator primarily employs a heat-dissipating fin type cooling system and thus requires a heavy and big cooling system to create a temperature difference of the thermoelectric element, thereby having limited use. Especially, in the case where electricity is generated using vehicle exhaust gas, the conventional thermoelectric generator is too large and heavy to be installed in a vehicle, making it hardly practical for commercial use.
Moreover, the heat-dissipating fin type cooling system used in the conventional thermoelectric generator has a low generation efficiency problem because it cannot maintain the temperature difference required for power generation due to a limited cooling capacity.


The invention relates to a driving assistance method for a vehicle, wherein the movement of the vehicle in the direction of travel can be influenced in accordance with a traffic-controlling signal system positioned on the road in front of the vehicle and having cyclically recurring signal states, and wherein, inside the vehicle, first data relating to the position of a stop line associated with the signal system, and second data relating to the start times and end times of individual signal states of the signal system are determined via a first data processing system (electronic horizon) and provided in the form of data packets (messages) (A, B) for electronic control devices by means of a data connection inside the vehicle, and wherein individual data packets contain at least the following data: an earliest possible and/or latest possible time for the exchange of a signal phase, as well as a most probable time of the exchange of a signal phase. The corresponding data can be provided in a more efficient manner in the vehicle, in a predetermined bit length according to the ADASIS v2-protocol and optionally by means of a CAN-bus-transport protocol, in such a way that the electronic control devices can base the planning of driving assistance measures on same.

The invention lies in the field of electrical engineering and can be used particularly advantageously in automotive engineering. It specifically relates to a driving assistance method in a vehicle.
Driving assistance systems for vehicles have been discussed and also implemented for a long time in automotive engineering. Early examples of such assistance systems are, for example, braking aids and autonomous braking systems. Such systems may support or partially replace the driver's perception by means of sensors, on the one hand, and/or may support the implementation of intended actions by the driver, on the other hand. With advancing technology, more and more complex functions can be increasingly undertaken by automatic systems during the driving of a vehicle and the state of current technological development in this field is reflected in the practice of calling current systems "ADAS"=advanced driving assistant systems.
Such advanced assistance systems obtain data from the so-called electronic horizon, that is to say a unit and a method in the vehicle which in various ways provides the driver and particular assistance devices in the vehicle with information which is as comprehensive as possible and is not available or is not yet available at a particular time without the aid of the electronic horizon solely on the basis of the perception or sensor system. For example, the system may use sensors which have a higher sensitivity than the human perception system, but, on the other hand, information relating to road sections ahead in the direction of travel may also be requested by third parties or taken from a database. A modern electronic horizon therefore usually has database information which assigns a number of attributes, that is to say properties relevant to driving, to the road sections ahead in the direction of travel.
In this manner, the electronic horizon can signal, for example, that a future route which is currently not yet visible has a particular incline or a particular gradient. The electronic horizon can transmit this information inside a vehicle to electronic control devices of the assistance devices which can plan the driving of the vehicle in an anticipatory manner. In this manner, an electronic horizon, together with corresponding planning methods, allows comfortable, anticipatory, energy-saving, possibly time-saving, but particularly safe driving in any case.
In order to make information from an electronic horizon device available to control devices via a data connection inside a vehicle, standardized reporting methods and mechanisms have been developed, a few of which have been discussed at the ADASIS forum and have been stipulated in the so-called ADASIS protocol. Version 2 of the ADASIS protocol is specialized in the anticipatory assessment of a particularly likely future route, with the result that information specifically selected for this most likely route can be made available. It is possible for information relating to particular singular phenomena on the route (for example a bridge, a driving ban, a tunnel entrance) or particular road properties along the route to be reported in the form of a profile using particular standard messages via the electronic horizon and the corresponding communication means in the motor vehicle. Electronic control devices in the vehicle are set up for the type of these messages.
A disadvantage of the existing protocol solutions is that only static phenomena have hitherto usually been included in the messages.
Although WO 2011/117141 has already in principle disclosed the idea of also providing at least one control unit of the vehicle with dynamic variables via an electronic horizon, the practice of integrating dynamic phenomena, for example in the form of traffic lights, in the electronic horizon is also discussed there.
However, no specific way of being able to take into account the temporal conditions in the case of temporally variable phenomena on the route or on the most likely future route using the known protocols has hitherto been shown.

Method for driving assistance, in accordance with a signal system


A method and system for compensating stressed pixels on a light-emitting diode (LED) based display device is disclosed. After receiving a video data input for displaying a video image frame at a first frequency, one or more pixels in the video image frame are detected as stressed pixels. Based on the information for the stressed pixels, a primary sub-frame is displayed, the primary sub-frame having one or more stressed pixels with at least one of whose display parameters being degraded due to an accumulative usage of the LED display device. At least one secondary sub-frame is then displayed having the detected stressed pixels thereon with the degraded display parameter compensated. The primary and secondary sub-frames are displayed sequentially at a second frequency so that the separation of these two sub-frames is undetected by a viewer.

The present disclosure relates generally to electro-optical display devices, and methods and systems for processing display images. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to the methods and systems for driving images on electroluminescence display devices with stressed pixels.
Common types of electroluminescence display devices utilize components of light-emitting devices to form image elements known as pixels. Pixels in typical display devices comprise of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that emit monochromatic or white light. Pixels are typically arranged in a single-plane array and are each driven with time-based specific brightness, color, turn on/off and other display parameters from an image signal processor, to collectively display a specific image at a given time.
FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a conventional display system 100 and the identification of some key components. Video pixel data 102 is shown as input into a processor/controller section 104 which will process the accumulated pixel data into display information for a whole video image frame. The processor/controller 104 may store and buffer the incoming video pixel data 102 and/or processed video image data into a memory device 106. When the processed video information is ready for display output, the data is then sent to each pixel of the video display device 108 to create an image frame. Each pixel of the video display device 108 is unique with its own assigned display parameters such as brightness, color and on/off state. Individual pixels may be identified as Pxy, where x and y correspond to planar x-y coordinate locations of the video display device's screen. The accumulated plurality of pixels, Pxy, which fill an entire planar screen array of the video display device 108 to complete a single video image, is known as a video image frame.
All LED types, such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), experience permanent, irreversible decrease in light output as the LED progresses in the usage life. These decreases are usually related to chemical and/or physical changes in the material components of the LED structures. These time-related decay characteristics result in display devices with pixels of varying age and light output as the display device ages in time. When a display device is used with static or repetitive images, the more frequently used pixels will exhibit significantly greater light output decay than relatively infrequently used pixels. These more frequently used pixels become "stressed" pixels, producing dimmer light output than their less frequently used neighbor pixels.
This phenomenon of pixel differential aging will also induce undesired artifacts upon the displayed images. When the display image is changed, the previous image can sometimes be visible as a reduced brightness overlay onto the new image as result of differential pixel aging. When past images become long lingering into the display via differential aging, a latent image is said to appear. Latent images can cause considerable distraction to a display user, and may impair correct interpretation of the displayed images. Since display usage cannot be predicted nor controlled, some means must be utilized to prevent latent images from becoming visible. It is not possible to completely eliminate the differential aging mechanism, so other means must be found to compensate for the effect.
FIG. 2 illustrates a typical video image processing methodology that attempts to correct visible image defects due to the differential aging mechanism of stressed pixels. Algorithms are incorporated into the video image processor/controller to determine compensation adjustments to the output of individual display pixels based upon past historical usage of each display pixel. The flow diagram of FIG. 2 shows the first step 202 of the methodology is to periodically sample individual video pixel data to capture the usage status of each pixel. The data sample period is dependant upon the design of the display system where typically, higher sample rates will provide higher compensation accuracy. It is also noted that to obtain high data sample rates, the size and capabilities of the display system's hardware may have to accommodate accordingly. The next step 204 of the methodology is to compile the usage history for each pixel, comprising of the results of all periodic samples of pixel data, are stored into a memory location(s). After a predetermined number of samplings, the third step of the methodology is to estimate the luminance decay status (step 206) of each pixel based upon the compiled usage history of each. One way to accomplish this estimation is by fitting the collected pixel history data into an established exponential LED aging equation to determine the luminance decay point of each pixel. The next step of the methodology 208 is to determine the lowest luminance values of pixels that have been used most frequently during a predetermined sample period. The methodology then determines a luminance correction factor for each pixel in the next step 210. The correction/compensation factor is typically calculated by a ratio of the lowest luminance values to the luminance decay point of the stressed pixels. The compensation/correction factors are then applied to the pixels' display parameters such that the luminance of the plurality of pixels appears to have equal age-related decay. As the corrections are applied to the stressed pixels, a corrected display image frame is said to be displayed upon the display device, as step 212 of the methodology.
This video image processing methodology provides a substantial solution to the elimination of most latent images and image defects due to aging and stressed pixels. It however, is an image correction methodology that is complex with its use of estimated luminance decay equations, pre-determined data sampling rates and assumed correlations concerning minimum and maximum luminance values to pixel usage. The complexities and assumptions may lead to produce certain image quality issues with the displayed images. Specifically, non-exact decay equations may lead to incorrect pixel values and uneven image brightness. Calculators for the equations may be dependant upon the calculators' accuracy capabilities with values such as floating point numbers. The stored, collected pixel data values may be incorrect due to insufficient data collection, storage and/or data sampling rates.
The above described method assumes correlations of minimum and maximum luminance values to pixel usage for setting the basis for adjustment so that the luminance of all pixels appears to have equal age-related decay. As the plurality of pixels actually age and the maximum luminance values drop, the display images using this correction methodology will experience lower overall brightness, or intensity of the video levels. The display device will also begin to experience lower image contrast levels, where the luminance or brightness range span becomes shorter with time.
What is needed are improved image display methods and systems that effectively correct for the issues related to the pixel differential aging mechanism and to stressed pixels.

Method for displaying images on electroluminescence devices with stressed pixels


An enterprise information system in which personal work stations, personal data bases which are held in the work stations, a processor only for use in a division, and intradivision data and interdivision data which are held in the processor are provided. An informal communication path directly connects the work stations in an enterprise among the divisions and an intradivision formal communication path mutually connects the work station in the division to the processor to hold the intradivision data base or the interdivision data base corresponding to the division or both of them. An interdivision formal communication path mutually connects the processors to hold the interdivision data bases. The intradivision data base can only be accessed by the intradivision formal communication path of the division.

The present invention relates to an enterprise information system and, more particularly, to an enterprise information system which is suitable to manage flows of information between divisions in an enterprise, between an organization and a person in charge, and the like.
In a conventional enterprise information system, an application system is individually constructed for every division. However, in recent years, there is a tendency of integratedly managing various information in enterprise. As one of the measures, there is a tendency of connecting work stations by a single communication path.
With respect to a network, for instance, a form in which an enterprise LAN and a division LAN (or floor LAN) are connected by gates is widely known. However, such a form merely relates to a wiring problem. If such a form is seen from the work station, a single logic communication path in which the enterprise LAN and the division LAN are integrated is merely seen.
As a well-known example of a system in which work stations are connected by a single communication path, for instance, there can be mentioned an enterprise information communication network to an intelligent building which has been disclosed in "VAN LAN Use Strategy", published by Urban Produce Publishing Division, 1987, pages 642 to 644. The above technique intends to connect divisions in a building by a basic network and a bus subnetwork and to integratedly provide integrated communication services to various terminals such as telephone terminals, data terminals, and the like.

Enterprise information system having three level hierarchy of data bases and communication paths


A behavioral language-based methodology for the verification and testing of digital circuit designs. An automated or interactive simulation verification system can be used in accordance with the methodology to verify a digital circuit on inexpensive, simple digital circuit simulators, using behavioral languages, and achieve certain performance features found only on more costly, complex simulators.

A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the design and testing of digital electronic circuits, and more particularly to the design and verification of customizable logic devices, such as Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs).
B. Statement of Related Art
Digital electronic circuits may be designed using a variety of methods, which include, but are not limited to, schematic capture, VISIC Hardware Description Language (VHDL), Verilog.RTM. Hardware Description Language, and hand drawn schematic diagrams. Once a logic circuit is developed, it is desirable to simulate its performance by providing circuit stimulating test vectors as inputs to the circuit model. This simulation may be done using a variety of commercially available products, such as Mentor Graphics Quicksim II.RTM., Ikos' hardware accelerator, Cadence Design Systems' Verilog XL.RTM. etc. Background references relating to the subject of design and verification of electronic circuits include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,452,227; 5,349,539; 5,325,309; 4,590,581; and the textbook Thomas E. Dilinger, VLSI Engineering, Prentis Hall (1988), Chapter 4, pp. 91-135, which are incorporated by reference herein.
In designing digital electronic circuits, it is customary to validate and test the architecture and instruction set using a behavioral model of the circuit which implements this architecture. Later in the development process, lower level models such as a structural model and a Register Transfer (RTL) model may be designed. Behavioral models are useful in circuit design because certain statements in VHDL and Verilog are not directly synthesizeable from logic gates, and hence a complex software model, i.e., a behavioral model, must be built to model these circuits. In essence, the behavioral model is like a black box, as it generates the outputs of the circuit given a set of possible inputs.
As the design is simulated, the circuit outputs need to be examined in order to verify that they respond in the manner expected by the designer. This verification process may be performed many ways, including, but not limited to, visual inspection of ASCII data files, representing circuit outputs (tabular data files), visual inspection of graphical waveforms of circuit outputs, or any other method of determining circuit correctness. These verifications may be done either post-simulation, or interactively. In post simulation testing and verification, a complete simulation is performed, data is captured for all signals, and the data verified after simulation. In iterative testing and verification, the simulation is run for a short time, the simulation is paused in order to verify the current simulation output data, continue simulation, pause to verify new output data etc.
Systematic digital electronic circuit design and test techniques usually approach the design on a functional block by block basis. That is, one block is designed, simulated and verified, before proceeding to the next block. Also, all new blocks are designed, simulated and verified, before interconnecting with previously tested blocks. It becomes apparent that as each new block is added to the design, earlier blocks must also be re-verified to ensure they still function as desired and that they have not been effected by newly-added blocks.
The verification process can thus become very repetitive and tedious as the design increases in terms of size, function and complexity. It is thus desirable to provide an automated or semi-automated methodology for module verification.
Prior art simulation systems provide this capability through the use of additional designer-supplied signals referred to as expected outputs (EO). Each EO represents the logical value of each corresponding circuit output which is expected to result after the application of circuit input stimulus. This provides an answer-key-like pattern of what the correct response for each signal, over all simulation time, should be. When the circuit is simulated and verified, these simulators associate the EO with the respective signal and continuously compare them throughout the simulation. When a miscompare between the EO and its associated signal occurs, the simulator may respond appropriately. Appropriate responses may include, but are not limited to, incrementing a counter of all currently accumulated errors, halting simulation, pausing simulation, terminating simulation, generating an error report, etc. These responses depend on the type of verification (viz. interactive or post-processing) and the capabilities of the simulator.
This method of testing over all time is not always desirable, as it is very difficult and impractical to provide an exact representation of each signal under all conditions (i.e. different voltages, different temperatures, each affecting subtle timing shifts, causing the circuit output to differ from the EO). It is therefore desirable to partition the simulation into discrete simulation periods, each the same fixed duration long, and only verify the circuit output during a designer defined portion of this simulation period. For example, if a simulation period is defined as a 20 nS interval, the simulation period may be referred to, relative to the start of each period, as 0 nS (start)-20 nS (end). The actual verification time (also known as the "data strobe" or "strobe window") may take place only during, say, time 15 ns-19 ns. A strobe window, possibly different for each signal, would be able to be specified by the designer for every signal. This allows the designer to control when each signal is tested.
Additionally, a designer may not be interested in the output of a signal from one function, say function B, while the designer is verifying another function, say function A. In this manner the designer desires the ability to suppress a miscompare on demand or prevent an error condition from being detected. This technique is referred to herein as "masking" a signal output.
The object of this invention is to provide a system which performs automatic iterative digital circuit verification.
Another object of this invention is to provide a system which performs automatic circuit verification over all logic levels 1 (logic high), 0 (logic low), HI-Z (High impedance).
Another object of this invention to provide a testing and verification system permits designer-specified test parameters to increase the ease and efficiency of the testing and verification process. The present invention enables the designer to specify test periods, to specify verification strobe windows within a test period, and the capability to mask or prevent miscompares of individual signals at the designers discretion.
Another object of the invention is to decrease the time required to verify a circuit using these simulators, and while increasing the repeatability and completeness of each verification operation. This invention also enables less-sophisticated and less expensive simulators to use the teachings of the present invention to enjoy advanced features found only in more complex and costly simulators.
These and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention.

Behavioral language models for testing and verification of digital electronic circuits


A damper assembly includes a housing, a rotor rotatable within the housing, a rotor shaft projecting outwardly of the housing and a damper gear disposed on the rotor shaft. A bracket includes legs disposed outwardly of the damper for securing the assembly in a device, the bracket further having a body between the damper and the damper gear, the body exerting force against each the damper and the damper gear. The damper is selectively engageable with and disengageable from the bracket for enabling and disabling relative movement between the damper and the bracket.

Movement dampers are used in a wide variety of devices to control the movement of device components. In some situations, dampers are used to control movements of components that would otherwise move more suddenly and forcefully than desired. The damper may control movement caused by gravitational forces or movement induced by springs or other actuators. Doors, drawers and pullouts in furniture are some examples of known applications for dampers. In automobiles, dampers are known for use on, for example, glove box doors, console covers, sunglass bins, retractable cup holders and other storage bins or storage areas. Many other devices also use dampers.
Viscous dampers are known. In a viscous damper a rotor is rotatable within a housing that contains a viscous damping fluid. Internal structures of the rotor and/or housing establish ports for relative movement of the damping fluid and rotor, thereby providing a desired degree of resistance or "damping".
Both one-way and two-way dampers are known. As the names imply, a one-way damper controls movement in only one direction while applying minimal resistance to movement in the opposite direction, and a two-way damper provides resistance or control of movement in both directions. To provide one-way damping, it is known to have driving structure between the damper and the component controlled that engages for movement in one direction and disengages for movement in the other direction. The engagement and disengagement can be problematic if not effected completely, and operation is compromised if not firmly engaged and/or noisy if not completely disengaged and separated.
It is known to use automatically retracting straps to control or direct crowd movement. For example, in public facilities, it is known to provide a plurality of self-standing posts or pedestals with reel assemblies at the tops thereof, each having a length of nylon or other webbing material wound therein. Each post further includes one or more slot for engaging an end of a strap from an adjacent post. The stands are moved and arranged easily, with the straps connected therebetween to designate paths for crowd movement, to block areas people are to be restricted from and to otherwise define pedestrian traffic patterns when necessary. The web or strap is extendable outwardly from the reel, often tightening a spring or other retraction device in the process so that when the web is released it automatically retracts, rewinding on the reel. To ensure efficient and complete wind up, and to hold the web securely in the wound up state, the automatic drive features are known to be both strong and rapid. However, the rapid roll-up of the web having a hardened plastic fixture at the distal end thereof for engaging an adjacent post can cause random whipping and uncontrolled movement as the extended web length rapid shortens. In large crowds it sometimes happens that a post is inadvertently tipped over causing attached straps to disengage within a crowded area. Individuals leaning on a post or strap, individuals manipulating or moving the components and other random acts can cause an unintended disengagement of strap ends from adjacent posts, and the rapid, random wind-up that sometimes occurs.
It is desirable to provide a crowd control device with a more effective damper, and a damper that engages and disengages effectively for use in the crowd control device and other structures.

Damper assembly and device utilizing the same