The invention provides organic optical waveguide devices which are lithographically formed and employ polymeric materials having low propagation loss. An optical waveguide has a substrate; a polymeric buffer layer on a surface of the substrate; a thin, polymeric undercladding layer on a surface of the buffer layer; a pattern of a light-transmissive, polymeric core on the surface of the undercladding layer; and a polymeric overcladding layer on a top surface of the core and on sidewalls of the core and on a portion of the undercladding layer; the undercladding layer having a thickness of from about 10 percent to about 50 percent a thickness of the core. The core has an index of refraction nc which is greater than an index of refraction of the overcladding layer no and also greater than an index of refraction of the undercladding layer nu; wherein xcex94n=ncxe2x88x92no, and wherein the difference between nc and the index of refraction of the buffer nb is at least about 1.5 times xcex94n.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical waveguides, or more particularly to lithographically formed single-mode optical waveguides employing organic polymeric materials. The waveguide structure has a low propagation loss.
2. Technical Background
In optical communication systems, messages are transmitted by carrier waves at optical frequencies that are generated by such sources as lasers and light-emitting diodes. There is interest in such optical communication systems because they offer several advantages over conventional communication systems. They have a greatly increased number of channels of communication as well as the ability to transmit messages at much higher speeds than electronic systems using copper wires. This invention is concerned with the formation of light-transmissive optical waveguide devices. The operation of an optical waveguide is based on the fact that when a medium which is transparent to light is surrounded or otherwise bounded by another medium having a lower refractive index, light introduced along the inner medium""s axis is highly reflected at the boundary with the surrounding medium, thus producing a guiding effect.
It is possible to produce polymeric optical waveguides and other optical interconnect devices which transport optical signals in optical circuitry or optical fiber networks. One method used to form an optical device involves the application of standard photolithographic processes. Photopolymers are of particular interest for optical interconnect applications because they can be patterned by photolithographic techniques which are well known in the art. Photopolymers also offer opportunity for simpler, more cost effective manufacturing processes. Lithographic processes are used to define a pattern in a light-sensitive, photopolymer containing layer deposited on a substrate. Among the many known photopolymers, acrylate materials have been widely used as waveguide materials because of their optical clarity, low birefringence and the ready availability of a wide range of monomers.
Planar polymer waveguides typically comprise layers of low loss optical materials of precise indices of refraction. Both step index and gradient index waveguide structures are known in the art. For planar polymer and glass waveguides, in particular, step index structures are most easily achieved through successive coating of materials with differing indices of refraction. Typically, the core has a refractive index which is 0.5% to 2% higher than the clad. The magnitude of this refractive index difference (xcex94n) is set to optimize the performance of the planar waveguides or to match light modes when the transition is made from the planar device to an optical fiber. In reality, most planar waveguide structures have a configuration where the underclad is applied first, followed by application and definition of the core layer, and followed finally by application of the overclad. Due to the height of the core, the overclad typically has a bump on it that can be quite large. This can occur in polymer waveguides in which polymers must be spin cast from a solvent solution due to their high molecular weight and viscosity. It can also occur in silica waveguides in which chemical vapor deposition of the overclad applies a uniform layer on top of the rib. In addition, reactive-ion etching of polymer or glass waveguide cores can result in high propagation losses due to scattering of light caused by rough sidewalls.
Waveguides can be made using photopolymerizable optical materials which can be coated and cured on a substrate. Typically, the materials include mixtures of monomeric and oligomeric components which are blended to provide the correct index of refraction. Mixtures are blended to provide a xcex94n between core and clad, of typically 0.5 to 2 percent. In the photolithography of these curing mixtures, typically a guiding region having an index gradient instead of a step index can be formed in the underclad layer. Also, a region can form at the side and the top of the core in which an index gradient is found instead of a step index. The formation of the gradient index in the region surrounding the core is due to migration of dissimilar chemical components, particularly a monomer component moving from the core layer into the cladding layers. In the region directly under the core, the monomer component can further react during the formation of the core forming an unwanted guiding region within the undercladding layer. When the lower clad region is of about the same thickness as the core, a guiding layer can be formed that penetrates the full thickness of the clad. In extreme cases it can be as intensely guiding as the core itself and allows light to reach the substrate surface. Since the substrates of this invention may be absorbing at optical wavelengths of importance to telecommunications, any portion of the propagating light that reaches the substrate is subject to absorption. Absorption of light by the substrate leads to a severe undesirable polarization-dependent loss of optical power from the propagating signal.
Other attempts have been made in the art to resolve these issues. One potential solution is using a thick undercladding layer to isolate the core from the substrate to prevent this undesirable result. Eliminating the problem to the desired degree, however, requires the use of an impracticably thick undercladding. Another solution includes using a buffer region with an index which is 2% or more lower than the core, wherein the buffer region is below the underclad. Even if monomer diffusion occurs deeply through the underclad and slightly into the buffer, the guiding in the buffer will be greatly suppressed, eliminating most light absorption by the silicon. However, the underclad can still guide light and multimode waveguides with residual polarization effects can still result.
One method of lithographically forming optical elements uses an acrylic photoactive composition which is capable of forming a waveguide material upon polymerization. However, this utilizes polymers with as high a glass transition temperature as possible in order to provide for the greatest operating temperatures. Another method involves the production of waveguides using light polymerizable compositions such as acrylics having a Tg of at least 100xc2x0 C. The foregoing waveguides suffer from undesirably high optical loss.
The invention provides a single-mode optical waveguide fabricated on a substrate wherein the substrate defines a surface. The single-mode optical waveguide comprises a polymeric buffer layer on the surface of the substrate, wherein the buffer layer defining a surface and having an index of refraction nb. A thin, polymeric undercladding layer is on the surface of the buffer layer, wherein the undercladding layer defining a surface and having an index of refraction layer nu. A pattern of a light-transmissive single-mode polymeric core is on the surface of the undercladding layer, wherein the core defines a top surface and sidewalls and wherein the core has an index of refraction nc. A polymeric overcladding layer is on the top surface of the core and on the sidewalls of the core and on a portion of the undercladding layer and having an index of refraction no. The undercladding layer has a thickness of from about 10 percent to about 50 percent of a thickness of the core. The core index of refraction nc is greater than the index of refraction of the overcladding layer no and also greater than the index of refraction of the undercladding layer nu. In the waveguide, xcex94n=ncxe2x88x92no, and the difference between nc and the index of refraction of the buffer nb is at least about 1.5 times xcex94n, and the value of xcex94n is such that it produces a single-mode waveguide at optical communication wavelengths.
The invention also provides a method for forming a single-mode optical waveguide on a surface of a substrate. The method comprises the steps of depositing a polymeric buffer layer onto the surface of the substrate, wherein the buffer layer defines a surface and having an index of refraction nb. One then deposits a polymeric undercladding layer onto the surface of the buffer layer, wherein the undercladding layer defines a surface and has an index of refraction nu. One then deposits a pattern of a light-transmissive, polymeric core onto the surface of the undercladding layer such that the undercladding layer has a thickness of from about 10 percent to about 50 percent of a thickness of the core. The core has a top surface and a pair of sidewalls and an index of refraction nc. One then deposits a polymeric overcladding layer onto the top surface core and onto the sidewalls of the core wherein the overcaldding has an index of refraction no. The core index of refraction nc is greater than the index of refraction of the overcladding layer no and also greater than an index of refraction of the undercladding layer nu; wherein xcex94n=ncxe2x88x92no, and wherein the difference between nc and the index of refraction of buffer nb is at least about 1.5 times xcex94n, and wherein the value of xcex94n produces a single-mode waveguide at optical communication wavelengths.
The invention further provides a method for forming a single-mode optical waveguide on a surface of a substrate. The method comprises the steps of depositing a polymeric buffer layer onto a surface of a substrate, wherein the buffer layer defining a surface and having an index of refraction nb. One then deposits a polymeric undercladding layer onto the surface of the buffer layer, wherein the undercladding layer defining a surface and having an index of refraction nu. One then deposits a photosensitive core layer onto the surface of the undercladding layer such that the undercladding layer has a thickness of from about 10 percent to about 50 percent of a thickness of the core, wherein the photosensitive core layer has an index of refraction nc. One then imagewise exposes the photosensitive core layer to actinic radiation and developing the core layer, thereby removing non-image areas of the core layer and not removing image areas of the core layer thus forming a patterned light-transmissive core on the undercladding layer and partially revealing a portion of the undercladding layer, which core has a top surface and a pair of side walls. One then deposits a polymeric overcladding layer onto the top surface of the core, onto the pair of sidewalls of the core and onto the revealed portions of the undercladding layer. The core index of refraction nc is greater than the index of refraction of the overcladding layer no and also greater than the index of refraction of the undercladding layer nu; wherein xcex94n=ncxe2x88x92no, and wherein the difference between nc and the index of refraction of buffer nb is at least about 1.5 times xcex94n, wherein the value of xcex94n produces a single-mode waveguide at optical communication wavelengths.
It would be desirable to produce optical devices from polymeric materials which have low absorption and scattering loss at application wavelengths, and have precisely controllable refractive indexes for mode and numerical aperture control. Precise refractive index control allows control of mode and numeric aperture and permits fabrication of single-mode waveguides that match single-mode fibers in both cross sectional dimensions and numeric aperture. When the core and cladding materials are comprised of two or more miscible monomers, the index at each layer of a waveguide can be precisely tailored by mixing selected pairs of high index and low index monomers. This property can be used to precisely control the mode of a waveguide and can be used to fabricate large-size single-mode waveguides that match commercial single-mode fibers in both cross sectional dimensions and numeric aperture.
In this invention, a planar waveguide structure is formed in which a buffer, a reduced-thickness underclad, a core, and a normal-thickness overclad are applied to a substrate. Upon the buffer layer, a unusually thin underclad layer is applied and pre-cured. A core layer is applied on top of the reduced-thickness underclad. During the core application and cure, diffusion of low molecular weight, high index of refraction material takes place and increases the index of the underclad. A gradient index is formed through the underclad. The gradient index then sharply falls off with distance into the buffer region. However, the dimension of the reduced-thickness underclad and core are chosen such that optical multimode behavior is frustrated for all potential values of underclad index. In addition, an overcladding is applied, which coats both the sides and the top of the core. A similar diffusion of high index monomer occurs thereby assuring a gradient index around the core. The index profile is found to be now more balanced around the sides and bottom of the waveguide core. According to this invention, clear single-mode performance can be combined with exceptionally low coupling loss due to the improved mode matching with round single core fibers.

Design of low insertion loss, single-mode polymeric waveguides


Apparatus for sealing a cylindrical roll with respect to a trough in which the roll is disposed is disclosed, the apparatus comprising an end seal applied to the end surface of the cylindrical roll, a longitudinally extending seal applied to the barrel-shaped outer surface of the cylindrical roll, and a spring for dynamically urging the end seal against the end surface of the cylindrical roll and against the longitudinally extending seal.

As will be apparent from Swedish Patent Nos. 503,010 and 509,519, such press rolls are at present sealed by means of an end seal that connects with the end surface of the roll, wherein a longitudinally extending seal in the form of a flexible element is pressed against the cylindrical surface of the roll.
It is generally difficult to seal around a corner of a rotating press roll, because the roll is moveable in two directions. Firstly, the roll moves axially as a result of thermal expansion, and secondly it moves radially as a result of variation in the clearance between rolls. Sealing against the roll end is achieved with the end seal and with the seal that extends longitudinally along the roll, both of these seals being pressurised and "floating" with the roll in a direction that is normal to the sealing surface. Sealing around the corner of a roll is effected with the aid of a static seal that seals against the longitudinally extending seal on the one hand and against the end seal on the other hand.
The static seal tends not to follow the sealing surface, and is therefore mounted with a given clearance in relation thereto. This clearance can result in leakage if excessively large and in wear of the sealing surface if excessively small.
One object of the present invention is to provide a seal at an edge of a moveable roll that will solve the aforesaid problems, and then in particular with regard to a roll of a roll press for de-watering material suspensions.


A remote controlled robot system that includes a mobile robot with a robot camera and a battery plug module, and a remote control station that transmits commands to control the mobile robot. The system also includes a battery charging module that mates with the mobile robot battery plug module, and an alignment system that aligns the battery plug module with the battery charging module. The battery modules may also be aligned with the aid of video images of the battery charging module provided to the remote station by a camera located within the battery plug module.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject matter disclosed generally relates to the field of mobile robots.
2. Background Information
There has been marketed a mobile robot introduced by InTouch Technologies, Inc., the assignee of this application, under the trademarks COMPANION, RP-6 and RP-7. The InTouch robot is controlled by a user at a remote station. The remote station may be a personal computer with a joystick that allows the user to remotely control the movement of the robot. Both the robot and remote station have cameras, monitors, speakers and microphones to allow for two-way video/audio communication. The robot camera provides video images to a screen at the remote station so that the user can view the robot's surroundings and move the robot accordingly.
The InTouch robot is wireless and thus must operate on battery power. The robot battery must be periodically recharged. This requires remotely moving the robot to an electrical outlet and then having someone at the robot site plug the robot into the outlet. There may be situations where the robot must be recharged but there is no one at the robot site to plug the robot into an electrical outlet.

Docking system for a tele-presence robot


An anode ripple voltage waveform is detected by a capacitor built into a flyback transformer. The detected waveform is then phased by a phasing circuit, amplitude adjusted by an amplitude adjusting circuit and subsequently delivered to an addition circuit. A horizontal component is detected by a horizontal output transformer, then phase adjusted by a phasing circuit and subsequently amplitude adjusted by an amplitude adjusting circuit. Thereafter, the horizontal component is added to the anode ripple component by the addition circuit, inverted and amplified by an inverting amplifier, and then supplied to an antenna arranged in proximity to the cathode ray tube. Thus, electric fields radiated from the face of the cathode ray tube are suppressed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for suppressing electric field radiation from a cathode ray tube used in a Visual Display Terminal (hereinafter referred to VDT) in a computer system.
2. Description of the Background Art
It has been recognized that the electric field radiation from a VDT, particularly that in the range from 5 Hz to 400 kHz adversely affects human health. According to the MPR standards (MPR 1990) in Sweden, for example, alternating electric fields (AEF) are regulated so as not to exceed 25 V/m and 2.5 V/m in the ranges from 5 Hz to 2 kHz and 2 kHz to 400 kHz, respectively. Regarding TCO standards, electric fields are regulated so as not to exceed 10 V/m and 1 V/m in the ranges from 5 Hz to 2 kHz and 2 kHz to 400 kHz, respectively.
Electric fields radiated from a VDT are largely caused by the flyback pulses of horizontal deflection, and such electric fields are generated mainly from a deflection yoke mounted on the cathode ray tube. The electric fields caused by flyback pulses of horizontal deflection are within a relatively high frequency domain as described above. Other than those caused by the flyback pulses of horizontal deflection as described above, the VDT also radiates electric fields caused by high voltages applied to the anode of the cathode ray tube. These voltages fluctuate in synchronization with the vertical field. The electric fields caused by voltage fluctuations in the vertical field are observed in a relatively low frequency domain in the above-described frequency range.
Such electric field radiation from portions other than the front surface of the cathode ray tube can be effectively shielded by a shielding device such as a metal plate, for example. At the front of the cathode ray tube, where images are visually displayed, such shielding by the metal plate cannot be simply applied.
Meanwhile, in order to prevent the front surface of the cathode ray tube from becoming charged due to the high voltage striking the cathode ray tube surface and thus attracting dust from the air, a transparent conductive film is formed either on the front surface of the cathode ray tube or on a transparent panel bonded to the front of the cathode ray tube and grounded. Such a film has a shielding effect to some extent, but applying the film can be costly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,626, for example, discloses an apparatus for suppressing such electric field radiation of horizontal components. Using the apparatus, a pulse obtained from a horizontal transformer or the like (such as flyback transformer and deflection yoke) is inverted in polarity, shaped and amplified into a waveform very close to the waveform of radiation but of opposite polarity. Regarding the vertical component, a pulse is also obtained by resistor-diving the anode voltage. This pulse is also shaped and amplified such that its shape is very close to that if the waveform of vertical radiation but is again of opposite polarity. The radiation of electric fields (both horizontal and vertical) is then suppressed by applying these opposite polarity pulses to a degaussing coil mounted at the front of the cathode ray tube.
According to another method described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,635, a sensor, such as an electrode plate, is attached in proximity to a cathode ray tube. Electric fields radiated from the cathode ray tube are directly detected by the sensor. The detection signal is inverted, then amplified and supplied to an antenna mounted around the cathode ray tube which again causes suppression of the electric field radiation.
Among the two aforementioned methods, the first method sufficiently satisfies MPR-II according to the AEF standards, but more precise detection waveforms for cancellation are required in order to satisfy TCO standards. More specifically, the first method of canceling electric fields by resistor-dividing the anode voltage requires that the detection resistance be several hundred M.OMEGA. or higher, which degrades the frequency characteristic and causes difficultly in accurately producing display picture components. Furthermore, noises within the flyback transformer may be detected as well.
Regarding the second method, positional deviation errors of either the sensor of radiation from the antenna, will impede the electric fields from being accurately detected, and canceled. The setup needed for this method is also complicated.

Apparatus for suppressing electric field radiation from a cathode ray tube


A downhole mixing tool and method for removing sand and other debris from a wellbore which combines the sand with a treatment fluid so that the sand is lifted to the surface of the well for removal. The tool includes a chamber into which the sand laden fluid is drawn and the treatment fluid is introduced. Ports into the chamber are arranged to provide a pressure drop to draw the sand laden fluid into the chamber and a mixing time within the chamber before sand laden fluid of lower viscosity exits the chamber to travel to the surface. Additional features include blades on the tool for breaking up obstructions prior to being drawn into the chamber and a lubricating line through the tool to introduce lubricating fluid to the blades.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for removing sand and other debris from a wellbore and in particular, though not exclusively, to a downhole mixing tool which combines the sand with a treatment fluid so that the sand is lifted to the surface of the well for removal.
During production from an oil well, the oil fluid typically contains debris and foreign particles. Sand is a particular problem as it is swept out of the producing formation and the quantity found in the fluid can increase as oil production increases. Sufficient sand can build up in the wellbore to prevent efficient production.
Debris catchers have been developed which are run into the wellbore and filter sand and other debris from the fluid stream. The clean fluid is brought to the surface while the debris is held in a container. The main disadvantages with this approach are that the containers need to be emptied, requiring the tool to be pulled and run again; it is difficult to determine when a container is full so needless runs are made or no filtering is taking place; the filters can become blocked with debris; and the valves, which are typically used at an the entrance to the container, can also fail due to the build up of debris, thereby expelling the debris back into the wellbore as the tool is removed.
An alternative technique is to attempt to circulate the debris out of the wellbore. Fluid is pumped down a tubular string where upon it mixes with the sand and lifts it to the surface in the annulus between the string and the wall of the wellbore. This has been seen as inefficient as the circulating fluid is ineffectual at breaking up the sand and entraining it within the fluid. Additionally, due to the volume of debris suspended fluid which must be lifted in the annulus of a typical wellbore, insufficient annular velocity is available and the debris settles back out of the fluid.


An embodiment of this invention implements both suppression of occurrence of a print failure, and suppression of wasteful ink consumption along with bubble exhaust. Bubble sucking is performed as follows in a printing apparatus including a printhead in which a plurality of orifices are provided for discharging ink, an ink tank for supplying ink to the printhead through an ink channel, and a suction unit configured to suck ink from the orifices. A bubble is injected to the ink channel by using, for example, a pump and hollow needle. After injecting the bubble to the ink channel, the suction unit is operated to suck the injected bubble from the orifices.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus which prints an image on a printing medium by discharging an ink droplet from each ink orifice arranged in a printhead, and a method for exhausting bubbles from the ink channel of the printing apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
A printing apparatus which prints by discharging ink from the orifices of a printhead to a printing medium includes an ink channel for supplying ink to ink droplet orifices from an ink tank storing the ink. If a bubble which moves by the flow of ink at the time of printing exists in the ink channel, the bubble reaches the orifice, hinders discharge of ink, and causes a print failure. To prevent such a print failure, various techniques have been proposed.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-98959 has disclosed an arrangement in which a valve is arranged in an ink channel between an ink tank and an orifice, and opening/closing of the valve is controlled to increase a suction negative pressure and increase the fluid velocity in the ink channel, thereby improving the bubble exhaust performance from the ink channel. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-58398 has disclosed an arrangement in which the bubble exhaust performance from the ink channel is improved by alternately repeating opening/closing of a valve.
Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-55742 has disclosed the following arrangement in order to efficiently exhaust a bubble mixed in an ink orifice and ink chamber. More specifically, an ink supply port, bubble supply port, and bubble suction port are arranged in the ink chamber. A bubble is supplied from the bubble suction port into the ink chamber, and a bubble coalescent with tiny bubbles generated in the ink orifice and ink chamber is exhausted from the bubble suction port.
However, if the suction negative pressure is increased to increase the fluid velocity in the ink channel by using the bubble exhaust arrangements disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2007-98959 and 2004-58398, even the ink fluid flow is also increased. As a result, a large amount of ink is wastefully consumed owing to the high fluid flow. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-55742 does not describe handling of a bubble generated in the ink channel for supplying ink to the printhead from the ink tank storing the ink.

Printing apparatus and bubble exhaust method therefor


The invention relates to a system and method for efficient security runtime. If the same security demand for permissions occurs twice during the same code path (i.e. execution stack) the latter can be automatically turned (optimized) into a security assertion based on the former demand. A security runtime can determine which assertions to establish in a call stack, using declarative security information kept in an assembly metadata and based on execution history to know what has already been demanded for a specific stack frame. If the method being called has been allowed to execute before then a demand may be replaced with an assertion for the same permissions within the call stack. If that frame was executed then it means the security demand was successfully evaluated. Furthermore, if the permission evaluation result is known to be static (e.g., its result will not change) it can be determined that another check on the same permissions is not required higher on the stack, so this demand can safely be replaced by an assertion, which can effectively speed up the code execution without sacrificing security.

ECMA-335 is an international standard that defines a Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) in which applications written in multiple high-level languages can be executed in different system environments without the need to rewrite those applications to take into consideration the unique characteristics of those environments. Unfortunately, malicious applications running un-trusted code (e.g., downloaded applications from the Internet) can present potential risks to local secured computer resources. Code Access Security (CAS) is a well known security mechanism, implemented on computers with an ECMA-335 virtual machine (VM), to limit what managed code can do and access on the computer. In CAS permissions are granted, or refused, based on code evidences and security policies. Resources (e.g., assemblies) can specify requested permissions by using declarative security, which uses attributes to place security information into the metadata of the resource. At runtime if the code attempts to access any resource which requires permissions as specified by declarative security, a demand is issued to determine whether the code calling the resource and all other codes that have been called up that point (call stack) satisfies the requested permissions. If so, access to the resource is allowed, otherwise a security exception is thrown. CAS enforces this by doing "stack walks" where every method on the call stack (e.g., the chain of code being executed) is evaluated for the demanded permission. Although time consuming, this prevents luring attacks by less trusted code that can sit between a trusted application (bottom of the stack) and the code accessing the resource (top of the stack).
A call stack is divided up into contiguous pieces called stack frames, or frames for short; each frame is the data associated with one call to one function, also known as "method". When a demand for permission is executed CAS starts a stack walk for every frame in the execution stack, starting with the current caller method. Each stack frame, as well as assembly and application domain transitions, are evaluated to see if they satisfy the condition required by the permission.
Executing stack walks is a heavyweight process, but it does ensure that every caller (e.g., method call) has access to a resource before executing the code. However in some cases, like iterations or recursion, having multiple stack walks for the same set of permissions and the same call stalk (e.g. iterations), or a superset of the stack (e.g. recursion), does not augment security but greatly impacts application performance.
For such conditions, CAS includes a mechanism called an assertion, which allows the reduction of permissions checks up to a point in the stack walk where permissions do not need to be verified. For example, if a frame in a call stack asserts a permission to read files, then this permission is not checked for the frames above the frame that made the assertion. It can be safely assumed that the asserted permission has been determined to be allowed for all the above frames. Assertions, even if indirectly, are time savers because they reduce the number of stack frames to process. Using asserts for non-security purposes like performance optimizations, however, can be potentially harmful because they reduce the number of security checks done at runtime. Assertions require careful and manual auditing and any error (e.g. demand for permissions not executed) can lead to security vulnerabilities in applications.
FIG. 1 is block diagram of a security assertion in normal operation. By way of illustration, Assembly A may be an application from the Internet which calls Assembly B. Assembly B may be local code from a base class library. If a method inside Assembly B asserts a permission, a stack walk is prevented from proceeding up the call stack beyond the code that asserted the permission, which in this case is Method B1. If a demand is later made for the same permission(s), the call stack is checked once again, up to the point where the permission was previously asserted, and no further. Thus, in prior art systems even if code higher on the call stack (Assembly A) does not have the requisite permission(s) to access the resource, they can still access it because the stack walk is stopped before reaching that stack frame (or application domain/assembly transition). Since assertions remove security requirements, an incorrectly used assertion has the potential of opening up security vulnerabilities.
Problems of the present implementations are that most stack walks are invisible or unknown to the programmer; hence any performance problem is hard to diagnose. Using manual assertions is difficult and potentially harmful (if misused) making this mechanism a dangerous one to solve performance issues. As such, there is a need for safe performance optimizations that does not have the drawbacks of current implementations.

System and method for dynamic optimizations using security assertions


A method and apparatus for transporting IDL-defined data structures to and from a format convenient for transport between two computers are disclosed. The data structures is originally described in a string. The string description is converted to a different format containing additional information about the alignment and size of the data structure. An application in the sending computer removes the alignment from the data structure and stores the data structure in a buffer. The data structure is stored in the output buffer in a predetermined format that is based upon the type of the data structure. The buffer is then transmitted to a data file or to the memory of the receiving computer. The receiving computer extracts the data structure from the buffer based upon the predetermined format. The data structure is realigned and stored in the memory of the second computer.

Related Application
The following related U.S. applications are hereby incorporated by reference: U.S. application Ser. No. 08/680,270 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Describing an Interface Definition Language-Defined Interface, Operation, and Data Type" by A. Schofield, filed Jul. 11, 1996; U.S. application Ser. No. 08/678,681 entitled "Method and Apparatus Using Parameterized Vectors For Converting Interface Definition Language-Defined Data Structures into a Transport and Platform Independent Format" by A. Schofield, filed Jul. 11, 1996; U.S. application Ser. No. 08/678,298 entitled "Data Structure Representing An Interface Definition Language Source File" by A. Schofield, filed Jul. 11, 1996; U.S. application Ser. No. 08/678,295 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Performing Distributed Object Calls" by A. Schofield filed Jul. 11, 1996; U.S. application Ser. No. 08/680,202 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Asynchronously Calling and Implementing Objects" by A. Schofield, filed Jul. 11, 1996; U.S. application Ser. No. 08/680,266 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Performing Distributed Object Calls using Proxies and Memory Allocation" by A. Schofield filed Jul. 11, 1996.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for transporting data structures described in the Object Management Group's Interface Definition Language between heterogeneous platforms. More particularly, the present invention utilizes functions for removing the alignment from data structures and storing the data structures in a predetermined format for transport to a file or across heterogeneous platforms.
2. Background
Distributed object computing combines the concepts of distributed computing and object-oriented computing. Distributed computing consists of two or more pieces of software sharing information with each other. These two pieces of software could be running on the same computer or on different computers connected to a common network. Most distributed computing is based on a client/server mode. With the client/server model, two major types of software are utilized: client software, which requests the information or service, and server software, which provides the information or service.
Object-oriented computing is based upon the object model where pieces of code called "objects"--often abstracted from real objects in the real world--own data (called "attributes" in object-oriented programming parlance) and provide services through methods (also known as "operations" or "member functions"). The data and methods contained in an object may be "public" or "private." Public data may be altered by any other object. Most data, however, is private and accessible only to methods owned by the object. Typically, the methods operate on the private data contained in the object.
A collection of similar objects make up an interface (or "class" in C++ parlance). An interface specifies the methods and types of data contained in all objects of the interface. Objects are then created ("instantiated") based upon that interface. Each object contains data specific to that object. Each specific object is identified within a distributed object system by a unique identifier called an object reference.
In a distributed object system, a client sends a request (or "object call") containing an indication of the operation for the server to perform, the object reference, and a mechanism to return "exception information" (unexpected occurrences) about the success or failure of a request. The server receives the request and, if possible, carries out the request and returns the appropriate exception information. An object request broker ("ORB") provides a communication hub for all objects in the system passing the request to the server and returning the reply to the client.
On the client side, the ORB handles requests for the invocation of a method and the related selection of servers and methods. When an application sends a request to the ORB for a method to be performed on an object, the ORB validates the arguments contained in the request against the interface and dispatches the request to the server, starting it if necessary. On the server side, the ORB receives such requests, unmarshals the arguments, sets up the context state as needed, invokes the method dispatcher, marshals the output arguments, and returns the results to the client, thereby completing the object invocation.
Both client and server must have information about the available objects and methods that can be performed. Through the hiding of private data ("encapsulation" in object-oriented parlance), the client does not need to know how the request will be carried out by the server. Nevertheless, both client and server must have access to common interface definitions to enable communication therebetween. Currently, the standard language for distributed object computing is the Object Management Group's ("OMG") Interface Definition Language ("IDL").
A distributed object system developer defines the system's available interfaces in IDL. An interface includes one or more operations that can be performed on objects of that interface. Each operation may receive one or more parameters. Each parameter is of a particular IDL data type.
IDL includes several data types. Integers are represented through long and short, signed and unsigned integer data types. OMG IDL floating point types are float and double. The float type represents IEEE single-precision floating point numbers while the double type represents the IEEE double-precision floating point numbers. OMG IDL defines a char data type consisting of 8-bit quantities. The boolean data type is used to represent true/false values. The "any" type permits the specification of values that can express any OMG IDL type. Complex types, such as structures, unions, and templates are also represented.
IDL is designed to be used in distributed object systems implementing OMG's Common Object Request Broker Architecture ("CORBA"). In a typical CORBA system, interface definitions are written in an IDL-defined source file (also known as a "translation unit"). The source file is compiled by an IDL compiler that maps the source file to a specific programming language. The IDL compiler generates programming-language-specific files, including client stub files, header files, and server skeleton files. Client stub files are then compiled and linked into client applications and are used to make requests. Header files are linked into client and server applications and are used to define data types. Server skeleton files are linked into server applications and are used to map client operations on objects (requests) to methods in a server implementation.
When object calls are made, data structures are transported from one computer system to another (client-to-server and server-to-client). Such object calls may occur between identical systems, but are likely to be made across heterogeneous platforms using different operating systems, programming languages, and compilers. Once IDL source files have been compiled and mapped to a particular programming language, each independent compiler vendor will align data structures on the stack in a particular manner. Accordingly, both the client and the server systems may align data structures differently. Moreover, both the client systems may align parameters within a structure differently. If the client and server application do not understand each other's method of alignment, the transported data structure will become garbled and an error will occur.
In addition, the hardware utilized by the client and server may be different. For example, one computer may include a CPU that requires so-called "BIGendian" integer representation where the most significant byte is listed first. The other computer may include a CPU that requires "LITTLEendian" representation where the least significant byte is listed first. Data structures cannot be passed effectively between these two machines without reciprocal knowledge of each system.
Moreover, if clients and servers are required to have detailed knowledge of each other, a primary goal of object-oriented computing--encapsulation--is lost. Both the client and the server applications must write detailed alignment functions to ensure compatibility during object calls. This extra coding work makes distributed object computing inefficient.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method for converting IDL-defined data structures into a platform-independent format, such that converted data types can be transported effectively across heterogeneous systems.
In addition, there is a need for a method that reduces the amount of code and execution time required by client and server applications to implement object calls.

Method and apparatus for transporting interface definition language-defined data structures between heterogeneous systems


A subscriber station provides the wireless connection of user telecommunications equipment to a remote central station of a wireless telecommunications system. The subscriber station includes a transmitter/receiver for wireless communication with a central station and for processing signals for transmission and/or received signals, at least one telephone line for connection to subscriber telecommunications equipment, and a high impedance test circuit connected across a telephone line under test. The use of a high impedance test circuit means that the test circuit can effectively be connected permanently across a telephone line under test. By effectively connecting the high impedance test circuit permanently across the telephone line under test, that is connecting the test circuit across the telephone line during all operational conditions of the telephone line, the test circuit is able to provide a range of test functions, including self-test functions in a cost effective manner, which would not be possible with the conventional test circuits which are only switched in during line testing.

A wireless telecommunications system has been proposed with a central terminal, or station, at a central location in wireless communication with a plurality of subscriber terminals, or stations, at subscriber locations to implement a wireless telephony system. The system is intended to be used with fixed subscriber locations rather than the more familiar mobile cellular telephone systems.
The system finds a wide variety of possible applications, for example in rural, remote, or sparsely populated areas where the cost of laying permanent wire or optical networks would be too expensive, in heavily built-up areas where conventional wired systems are at full capacity or the cost of laying such systems would involve too much interruption to the existing infrastructure or be too expensive, and so on.
In the proposed system, the subscriber terminal is required to perform wireless transmission and reception tasks, signal coding and decoding tasks, initialisation and authentication tasks as well conventional telephony tasks. It will be appreciated that in order to ensure reliable communication with the central station, various line test procedures are needed.
Conventionally, each Subscriber Line Interface Circuit (SLIC) has had both a test-out and a test-in relay associated with it in order that a test circuit could be switched on-line when tests are to be performed on the cable or the SLIC. To provide multiple relays includes a significant cost element in the provision of the test facilities. The present invention is directed to providing an improved apparatus and method for telephone line testing.

Testing a subscriber terminal of a wireless telecommunications system


A method includes receiving, by a processing device executing a compiler, source code of a function associated with a compiler prompt, in which the function includes at least one variable to be allocated in a memory space on a stack, determining that the compiler prompt indicates to retain at least a portion of the allocated memory space on the stack after execution of the function, and compiling, in view of the compiler prompt, the source code to generate a prologue function and an epilogue function associated with execution of the function, in which the prologue function is to allocate the memory space for the function, and at least one of the prologue function or the epilogue function is to cause to retain the at least a portion of the allocated memory space on the stack after the execution of the function.

Programming languages provide functions to allocate memory space for a variable. The size of the allocated memory may be determined statically during compilation of the program code, or dynamically during execution of the code. The variable may belong to a certain type that is available in the programming language. For example, the variable may be a structure type in C programming language that may further include members within the structure. The memory space of the variable may be allocated on a heap or a stack. A heap is a tree-type data structure that satisfies the heap property. A stack is a linear list in which all additions and deletions are restricted to one end of the list (such as the top of the list). The structure that is allocated on a stack may have the advantages of being thread-safe and having automatic resource clean-up determined by a function scope. The clean-up may include destantiation of the structure.
However, the trade-off for allocating memory space on the stack is that the members of a structure variable may need to be made public. Although certain programming languages (such as C++) may provide keyword access to these members so that the access to these members is limited to keyword holders, any change to this size (which needs to be made public), breaks the encapsulation provided by an Application Binary Interface (ABI). The ABI is the interface between two program modules at the machine code level.
One exemplary implementation of allocating the structure on a stack is the alloca( ) function in certain installations of software environments. While alloca( ) may circumvent some of the problems associated with allocating memory on a stack, implementations of alloca( ) do not guarantee dynamic stack-based memory allocation because, although alloca( ) appears to be a function, it is sometimes handled by the compiler in certain implementations. This may cause stack overflows and difficulties in debugging. Further, the use of alloca( ) allocations is limited to a single scope context.

Function attribute for dynamic stack allocation


A paper feeding cassette includes a frame provided with a bottom plate to support paper and a plurality of walls to define a paper loading size. The paper feeding cassette also includes a loading size adjustment device to pivotally connect at least one of the walls to be hinged on the bottom plate, so that the at least one wall is movable between a vertical position to limit the paper loading size, and a horizontal position to not limit the paper loading size, enabling a variation of the paper loading size. Since the loading size of the paper feeding cassette is varied in accordance with a size of papers to be used, papers of various sizes may be used without having to increase a size of the cassette and an office machine which uses the cassette.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper feeding cassette for use in an office machine such as a printer, copy machine and facsimile machine, and more particularly, to a paper feeding cassette capable of varying paper loading size in accordance with a size a of paper being used.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an office machine such as a printer, copy machine, and facsimile machine is provided with a paper feeding tray or cassette (hereinafter, to be referred as "paper feeding cassette") to load a number of papers. The paper feeding cassette is classified into an exclusive cassette of a fixed size, and a universal cassette of an adjustable size to load paper of different sizes and to freely use the papers irrespective of their sizes.
Because it has a fixed paper loading size intended only for one size paper, the exclusive cassette has an advantage of ensuring that the paper of a desired size is fed. However, the exclusive cassette has a disadvantage in that the cassette needs to be replaced with another exclusive cassette of a different size for a printing operation that uses a paper of a size other than the exclusive cassette initially used. Furthermore, in order to use papers of different sizes, it is necessary to prepare various sizes of paper feeding cassettes to be used exclusively for a corresponding paper size. Therefore, a number of paper feeding cassettes are needed and thus, a space to separately house the paper feeding cassettes may be required.
To overcome the above-described disadvantages of the exclusive cassette, universal cassettes capable of using plural sizes of papers have recently been used.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown conventional universal paper feeding cassette which is designed to allow a user to adjust the cassette to meet various sizes of papers by moving one or more side guide members and/or a rear guide member to load the various sizes of papers into the cassette.
The conventional universal paper feeding cassette 1 includes a frame 10 within which one or more papers are loaded, left and right side guide members 20 and 20′ which are located at front opposite sides of the frame 10 to slide crosswise of the papers loaded in the frame 10 while supporting lateral edges of the papers loaded in the frame 10, and a rear guide member 30 which is located at a rear center of the frame 10 to slide lengthwise of the papers loaded in the frame 10 while supporting rear edges of the papers.
The universal cassette 1 is capable of loading papers of different sizes by adjusting the left guide member 20 and the rear guide member 30.
However, because universal cassettes are limited in that the universal cassettes are manufactured in a predetermined range of sizes to increase a loading rate or capacity of office machines during shipping, the universal cassettes may be loaded for papers having a limited size range. Thus, for example, the papers may not exceed A3 size (420×297 mm) and may be adjusted only within the predetermined range of sizes.
Therefore, when papers exceed the A3 size (for example, when Super-A3 size (445×297 mm) papers are required to be printed), there is an inconvenience in that the papers need to be loaded in an abnormal manner or the printing is performed by using a separate exclusive cassette.

Paper feeding cassette to load paper of various sizes


An IPTV and a method for controlling a video widget in the IPTV are disclosed. Herein, a method for providing a video widget application includes playing-back a video content within an IP packet, executing a video widget application, and selecting a specific area of the video content being played-back, and outputting an object guide including an object list included in the selected specific area. The method also includes selecting at least one object from the object guide, selecting a video filter to be applied to the at least one selected object from the video Widget application, and applying the selected video filter to the at least one selected object.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an internet protocol television (IPTV) receiver, and more particularly, to an IPTV receiver and a method for controlling an application for applying video filters in video contents that are being played.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Related art broadcast receivers received broadcast signals from a broadcasting medium, such as terrestrial, satellite, and cable, thereby providing the broadcast signals to users. Recently, however, IPTV services enabling the reception and transmission of broadcast signals in IP packets via internet protocol (IP) are being actively provided. Unlike other broadcasting media, such IPTV services are free from all geographical limitations. More specifically, once a user is connected to an internet protocol (IP), the user may be provided with the requested IPTV services. However, in the related art broadcast receivers, the settings for video filters that have already been provided were uniformly (or equally) applied for all video contents, which eventually lead to problems of not being able to fully reflect the individuality of each video content, thereby causing inconvenience to the user.

IPTV receiver and method for controlling an application in the IPTV receiver


A method is described of improving adhesion of an ocular implant to corneal tissue by forming an implant adhesive layer on the ocular implant, the implant adhesive layer having greater adhesive strength than a rest of the implant or by forming a corneal adhesive layer on a posterior surface of a posterior portion of the corneal tissue, the corneal adhesive layer having greater adhesive strength than a rest of the corneal tissue.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,109,997 and 8,500,803 to Daphna describe bonding a hydrophobic pseudo-endothelial implant to a posterior portion of the cornea adjacent the aqueous humor with a binding agent. The implant serves as a water barrier enabling dehydration of the cornea, and may be used in the treatment of an edematous cornea.
The adhesion of an implant to corneal tissue without sutures or mechanical fasteners poses a challenge. The adhesive materials must be compatible with the ocular environment and yet must provide good adhesion for a long time without degradation in the ocular quality of the eye.

Treatment to improve adhesive properties of corneal implant


According to various aspects, exemplary embodiments are provided of antenna radial systems. In one exemplary embodiment, an antenna radial system generally includes a washer having a channel disposed along a first side of the washer. A radial includes a locking portion configured to be received within the channel. The radial also includes elongate portions extending outwardly from the locking portion such that an angle is defined between each elongate portion and the locking portion. A bushing cooperates with the washer for sandwiching the radial's locking portion therebetween to thereby help retain the radial's locking portion within the channel.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Antenna radial systems are sometimes used to simulate a ground plane to enhance radio frequency (RF) radiation. For example, an antenna radial system may be used to convert a mobile antenna to a base station antenna.

Antenna radial systems and related methods


In an information processing system including a file shared by computer systems each having a central processing system and a main memory, a method for controlling access to the shared file includes a step of storing blocks read from the file into the main memory when the blocks of the file are updated, and a step of comparing at least a portion of the blocks held in a cache memory with at least a portion of the blocks stored in the main memory. When the comparison of at least the portion of the blocks held in the cache memory with at least the portion of the blocks stored in the main memory indicates mismatching, the block is read from the file into the main memory, and when the comparison indicates matching, the block of the main memory is updated. The data to be updated may be in a resident area, an input/output buffer or a same area.

The present invention relates to access control to a shared file stored, for example on a disk drive or magnetic tape drive which is shared and updated by a plurality of computer systems, and more particularly to access control which eliminates need for exclusive control in an update process and improves performance of data accessing in block writing.
In middle size to large size information processing systems, one disk file is frequently shared by a plurality of computer systems. Especially, a system register disk file on which files are registered is shared and frequently updated or overwritten.
In the past, when one file is shared by a plurality of computer systems, duplicate updating is prevented by exclusive control of the writing of a desired block to the reading for updating when data processing is to be performed for the desired stored block by a computer system. For example, as described in the "DASD Sharing with other systems" manual for Programmer of Hitachi Program Product VOS3/ES System, 1988, pages 97-104, when an I/O request to a shared file is issued, a disk drive on which the shared file is stored is exclusively occupied by the associated computer system by an instruction set such as a RESERVE macro which is issued from a CPU to the disk drive to designate and occupy the disk drive, and I/O requests from other computer systems have to wait until the occupation is released by an instruction set such as a DEQ macro which is issued to release the designated disk drive from the occupation (exclusive control).
The file such as a system register comprises an index field and a data field, and in many cases, it is a file structure having a pointer relationship among blocks of the file. When the file is shared with updating, the exclusive control is performed even for an input process without updating, during a period from the reading of an index having the pointer into a desired data block to the reading by the disk drive of the data block which is at the address pointed by the pointer. This is done in order to prevent process discrepancy that if addition (updating) of a record to a data block is done in an updating process by another computer system during the period from the reading of the index in the input process to the reading of the data block, the target data which was in the data block pointed by the index at the time of reading of the index in the input process has been moved to another data block and the target data which should exist cannot be located.
In the prior art, when the computer system accesses the shared file, the exclusive control is performed to suppress simultaneous access by other computer systems. Accordingly, the processing performance of the overall information processing system cannot be enhanced. In a single computer system, a resident area is provided in a main memory to reduce input/output operation of the file and enhance data accessing performance. On the other hand, in a multi-computer system, in the input process from the computer system to the shared file, the content of the desired block which has been previously written into the main memory is not used but the block on the file is fetched on the assumption that the block has been updated by a process executed by another computer system. Thus, the resident function cannot be used among the computer systems.

Method for controlling access to a shared file and apparatus therefor


Suspensions having good flow properties are produced by including a particulate thickener containing chemically or physically bound polymer.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a suspension and to products produced from it.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fumed silica is known for use as thickener and rheological additive. Fumed silica is bulky and exhibits a high degree of interparticulate interaction, and in liquid media produces stable gel states, more particularly at high solids content.
Use as a reinforcing filler in reactive resins and polymer systems, however, necessitates high levels of loading with active fillers which at the same time are particulate thickeners, such as with fumed silica, for example. In many cases, a high thickening action and hence high viscosity and gel state, and hence loss of fluidity, represents a major problem in the processing of active, finely divided, and colloidal fillers. The results are high viscosity, poor fluidity, crepe hardening, lack of pumpability, lack of spreadability, lack of sprayability, inadequate flow in paints, varnishes, and surface coatings, and inadequate processing properties.
It is known that the thickening action of colloidal fillers is associated with OH groups on their surface, and also that oxidic fillers with a high specific surface area are subject to strong Van-der-Waals' interactions, and hence thicken and crepe-harden liquids such as polymers, reactive resins, paints, varnishes, coating materials, adhesives, elastomers, and plastomers, in other words increase their viscosity.
One known way of suppressing the thickening action of metal oxides which at the same time are particulate thickeners is to surface-treat them. In many cases, however, surface treatment may likewise lead to a pronounced rise in the viscosity and in the development of a yield point, as described in EP-A-0686676.

Stabilized fumed silica suspensions for reinforcement of reactive resins


A sewing machine includes a bed, an irradiating portion configured to irradiate laser light onto a specific position on the bed, an image capturing portion configured to capture an image of an area including the specific position and to generate captured image data, a processor, and a memory configured to store computer-readable instructions. The computer-readable instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the sewing machine to perform processes that include causing the irradiating portion to intermittently irradiate the laser light onto the specific position, acquiring the captured image data by causing the image capturing portion to capture an image of the area in synchronization with irradiation on the specific position, and identifying irradiated coordinates based on the captured image data. The irradiated coordinates are coordinates, in the captured image, of an irradiated position. The irradiated position is a position, in the area, onto which the laser light is irradiated.

The present disclosure relates to a sewing machine that includes an image capturing portion.
A sewing machine is known that includes a projecting portion and an image capturing portion. For example, in a known sewing machine, based on generated projection image data, the projecting portion irradiates projection light onto a sewing workpiece and thus projects a pattern. The image capturing portion captures an image of the pattern projected on the sewing workpiece and generates captured image data. The sewing machine identifies a position of the pattern based on the captured image data. The identified position of the pattern is used to calculate a thickness of the sewing workpiece.


Provided is a method and apparatus for distributed transmission power control in a wireless network. The method and apparatus for distributed transmission power control may substantially maximize a minimum value of a transmission rate of each transmitter by controlling a transmission power of each transmitter. The transmission power may be controlled so that transmission rates of transmitters are substantially identical to each other. If the transmission rate is less than a requested transmission rate, the method and apparatus may change a resource of a transmitter that uses a substantially maximum power.

1. Field
The following description relates to a method and apparatus for performing a distributed transmission power control in a wireless network. More particularly, examples are directed to a method and apparatus for controlling a transmission power of a transmitter in a cellular communication system and a multi-hop communication system.
2. Description of Related Art
A cellular communication system may include a plurality of cells adjacent to each other. A base station located at a center of each cell may communicate with a terminal located at a predetermined position within a corresponding cell. Each base station may determine a transmission power based on a status of a channel to a corresponding terminal, and the transmission power may be increased to enhance a transmission rate with respect to the corresponding terminal. However, a signal transmitted by each base station may interfere with a terminal in a neighboring cell.
In a multi-hop communication system, data may be transmitted from a source node to a destination node through a plurality of relay nodes. Each link in a multi-hop communication system may include a single transmission node and a single reception node, and a transmission node may control a transmission power based on a channel status of a corresponding link while transmitting data to a corresponding reception node. Since a plurality of transmission nodes may simultaneously transmit data, a signal of each transmission node may interfere with a reception node of a neighboring link.

Method and apparatus for distributed transmission power control in wireless networks


Device structures and fabrication methods for a bipolar junction transistor. A first semiconductor layer is formed on a substrate containing a first terminal. An etch stop layer is formed on the first semiconductor layer, and a second semiconductor layer is formed on the etch stop layer. The second semiconductor layer is etched to define a second terminal at a location of an etch mask on the second semiconductor layer. A first material comprising the etch stop layer and a second material comprising the second semiconductor layer are selected such that the second material of the second semiconductor layer etches at a greater etch rate than the first material of the etch stop layer. The first semiconductor layer may be a base layer that is used to form an intrinsic base and an extrinsic base of the bipolar junction transistor.

The invention relates generally to semiconductor devices and integrated circuit fabrication and, in particular, to fabrication methods and device structures for a bipolar junction transistor.
Bipolar junction transistors may be found, among other end uses, in high-frequency and high-power applications. In particular, bipolar junction transistors may be used in microwave power amplifiers used in wireless communications systems and power amplifiers in mobile devices. Bipolar junction transistors may also be used in high-speed logic circuits.
Bipolar junction transistors are three-terminal electronic devices that include semiconductor regions defining an emitter, an intrinsic base, and a collector. An NPN bipolar junction transistor includes two regions of n-type semiconductor material constituting the emitter and collector, and a region of p-type semiconductor material constituting the intrinsic base situated between the two regions of n-type semiconductor material. A PNP bipolar junction transistor includes two regions of p-type semiconductor material constituting the emitter and collector, and a region of n-type semiconductor material constituting the intrinsic base situated between the two regions of p-type semiconductor material. The emitter, intrinsic base, and collector define a pair of p-n junctions, namely a collector-base junction and an emitter-base junction, across which the conductivity type of the respective semiconductor materials changes. A voltage applied across the emitter-base junction controls the movement of charge carriers that produces charge flow between the collector and emitter.
Improved fabrication methods and device structures are needed for a bipolar junction transistor.

Self-aligned emitter-base bipolar junction transistor with reduced base resistance and base-collector capacitance


A mixed aqueous solution is prepared in which a phosphorus source, a divalent Fe compound, and an oxidant are mixed at a predetermined ratio. Then, this mixed aqueous solution is dropwise added into a buffer solution having a pH value of 1.5 to 9, thereby to produce a precipitated powder of FePO4. This FePO4 is synthesized with a lithium compound to obtain LiFePO4. An electrode active substance containing this LiFePO4 as a major component is used as a positive electrode material of a secondary battery.

In accordance with enlargement of the market of portable electronic apparatus such as portable phones, notebook-type personal computers, and digital cameras, a secondary battery having a large energy density and having a long lifetime is expected as a cordless power source of these electronic apparatus.
Then, in order to meet such a demand, a secondary battery having alkali metal ions such as lithium ions as a charge carrier and using the electrochemical reaction accompanying the donation and receipt of the electric charge thereof is being developed. In particular, a lithium ion secondary battery having a large energy density is currently widely prevalent.
Among the constituent elements of a secondary battery, an electrode active substance is a substance that directly contributes to battery electrode reaction which includes charging reaction and discharging reaction, and hence plays a central role of the secondary battery. In other words, the battery electrode reaction is a reaction that is generated accompanying giving and receiving of the electrons by application of a voltage to the electrode active substance that is electrically connected to the electrode disposed in the electrolyte, and proceeds during the charging and discharging of the battery. Therefore, as described above, the electrode active substance plays a central role of the secondary battery from the viewpoint of the system.
Then, in the above-described lithium ion secondary battery, a lithium-containing transient metal oxide is used as a positive electrode active substance; a carbon material is used as a negative electrode substance; and charging and discharging are carried out by using the intercalation reaction and elimination reaction of lithium ions to these electrode active substances.
As a lithium-containing transient metal oxide used as the positive electrode active substance, lithium cobaltate (LiCoO2), lithium nickelate (LiNiO2), lithium manganate (LiMn2O4), and others are known from the past. Among these, LiCoO2 is widely adopted because of having good charging/discharging characteristics and energy density as compared with LiMn2O4 or the like.
However, LiCoO2 has problems of having large resource restrictions, being expensive, and containing highly toxic Co. Also, LiCoO2 releases a large amount of oxygen at a temperature around 180° C., thereby raising a problem also in view of safety in a lithium ion battery using a flammable organic electrolyte. For this reason, when LiCoO2 is used as an electrode active substance, it is suitable for a small-capacity secondary battery but has a lot of problems to be solved in using it in a high-output large-capacity secondary battery.
Thus, in recent years, as an electrode active substance for a lithium ion secondary battery, lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) having an olivine-type crystal structure is attracting people's attention. This LiFePO4 contains phosphorus (P) as a constituent element, and all of the oxygen is covalently bonded firmly to phosphorus. For this reason, it does not release oxygen even at a high temperature, is stable in thermal stability, and is considered to be suitable for application to an electrode active substance for a high-output large-capacity secondary battery.
Then, Non-Patent Document 1, for example, reports synthesis and electrochemical properties of LiFePO4 doped with a metal obtained from a waste slag of FeSO4.7H2O.
In this Non-Patent Document 1, first, after FeSO4.7H2O is dissolved into water, H2PO4 and H2O2 are added and stirred, thereby to prepare a mixed aqueous solution. During the process, divalent Fe is oxidized to be trivalent by oxidation function of H2O2. Thereafter, ammonia water is dropwise added to adjust the pH value to be about 2.1, whereby a precipitated powder of FePO4.nH2O is obtained.
In other words, in Non-Patent Document 1, by oxidation function of H2O2 and dropwise addition of ammonia water, a precipitated powder of an Fe compound (FePO4.nH2O) containing trivalent Fe that is stable in ambient atmosphere is obtained from an Fe compound (FeSO4.7H2O) containing divalent Fe that is unstable in ambient atmosphere and is liable to be oxidized.
Further, crystalline LiFePO4 is obtained by allowing FePO4.nH2O to react with a lithium compound to obtain amorphous LiFePO4 and thereafter performing a thermal treatment.
Non-Patent Document 1: "Synthesis and electrochemical properties of metals-doped LiFePO4 prepared from the FeSO4.7H2O waste slag" by Ling Wu et al., Journal of Power Sources, 189, 2009, p. 681-684

Method of producing iron phosphate, lithium iron phosphate, electrode active substance, and secondary battery


As set forth herein, a system identifies soft failures of devices. An interface captures transactional data between one or more users and one or more devices within the system. A data log receives the transactional data from the interface and stores the data as historical data for subsequent retrieval. A warning system evaluates the historical data in the data log to identify one or more devices that have a soft failure condition, wherein an alarm is output for each soft failure identified. A display module combines the historical data from the data log and one or more alarms from the warning system into a single display for review.

The present exemplary embodiments relate to device monitoring. They find particular application in conjunction with failure detection of devices in a network. In one embodiment, usage characteristics of network devices are monitored and presented visually to determine if a soft failure has occurred. However, it is to be appreciated that the present exemplary embodiments are also amenable to other like applications.
Devices employed in today's world provide a plurality of specific functionalities to process data in a variety of disparate forms. Such devices can be employed in a system, such as an office environment. For example, a printing device can allow electronically stored data to be printed as a hard copy. In another example, a scanning device can convert hard copy data into a digital format. Since most devices have a specialized use, several different device types may be employed to accommodate various user requirements. Alternatively or in addition, several of the same device types can accommodate a large number of the same data processing requirements.
Networks provide interconnectivity between devices and allow users to access diverse resources connected to the system. For logistical reasons, particular devices can be located proximate to one or more users that employ such devices on a regular basis. Generally, one device type can satisfy the data processing requirements of a number of different users. In one example, a printer is located in a corner of an office plan and is utilized regularly by a portion of office staff stationed in the same area. By providing users with data processing proximate to their respective work areas, a system can operate with greater efficiency.
Failure can be defined as any event that disables or diminishes the functionality of a device. It is not cost effective, however, to monitor and capture every possible deleterious condition associated with each device. Accordingly, a dichotomy exists between events that cause a message output from a device and those that do not. Such events are defined as hard failures and soft failures respectively.
Generally, hard failures cause a device to output a message to indicate that a predefined event has occurred. A hard failure message can be sent to a local device interface and/or via the network to inform personnel that a particular deleterious event has occurred. Examples of hard failures for a printing device include a paper jam, a toner condition, and a mechanical breakdown. Events that are not defined as hard failures are considered soft failures. In one example, a soft failure includes hard copies created with blurred text, ink lines, and/or character misalignment. Since a message is not output when a soft failure occurs, a deleterious condition can go undetected for an unnecessary period of time.
In order to detect soft failures within a system, usage characteristics have been analyzed to determine if a secondary device is used in place of a commonly used primary device. Generally, a switch from a primary device to a secondary device has been employed to identify primary device failure wherein a secondary device is employed as a substitute. Such an inference, however, is tenuous in view of the vast amount data generated from device and user interaction logs. Moreover, even if a switch is identified, the motivation for the change may be unrelated to soft failure. For example, a user may vary device use based on permanent usage changes (e.g., moving to another office) or because of temporary unusual usage needs (e.g., other personnel require use of the same primary devices). Thus, device switching alone does not provide enough information to accurately infer that a soft failure condition exists.
Accordingly, there is a need for systems and methods for the accurate detection and presentation of soft device failure within a system.

Visualization of user interactions in a system of networked devices


The present invention is directed to a bite tray having fiducial markers for head scan registration and method of use. The bite tray is held by a patient in his teeth while the scan of his head and the fiducial markers is made by x-ray, CT, or MM and the scan is entered into a computer to register the scan to the fiducial markers. Instrument optical markers are placed on a dental instrument and it is observed by a camera and the observation is entered into the computer to register the instrument optical markers to the dental instrument. Patient optical markers are placed on the patient and it is observed by the camera and the observation is entered into the computer to register the patient optical markers to the patient. The tip of the dental instrument is then touched to one of the fiducial markers making the location of the tip and the fiducial marker the same. The computer then registers the scan to the instrument and the patient. The bite tray is then removed from the mouth allowing access by the dentist to the teeth. The camera follows the movement of the instrument optical markers to the patient optical markers to create a display of the instrument and tip on the scan.

Surgical navigation systems using computers and monitors that register the locations of surgical instrument in relation to the patient are known in the art. An article titled "Basic research and 12 years of clinical experience in computer-assisted navigation technology: a review" by R. Ewers, et al. shows a setup for operating on a dental patient using an infrared camera to monitor tracking sensors attached to a surgical instrument and the head of the patient. Fiducial markers are placed on the patient before the CT scan is made. The tracking system picks up the positions of the patient and the surgical instrument and transfers them to a computer for registration.
FIG. 1 shows a prior art template 200 for use in dental implant surgery. Reference ceramic balls 202 are positioned over the desired positions for the implants. The balls are held in position for the scan by the vacuum formed template. FIG. 2 shows another prior art vacuum formed template 204 with pins 206 representing the proposed implant locations held in place at the desired locations. The x-ray or CT scan is then made and the results are used for planning purposes with respect to bone availability and mucosal thickness. The exact implant positions, diameters, and lengths can be determined. The templates are then removed for any actual oral surgery. No real time review and planning is possible using these fixtures.
A system for registering scans of the head and display of instruments on the scans in real time would be an advantage to oral and other surgeons.

Bite tray having fiducial markers for head scan registration and method of use


An apparatus for leading to normal tearing of an instrument panel having a built-in passenger air bag (PAB). The apparatus includes an instrument panel having an air bag module located thereinside, a tear line formed on the instrument panel in a predetermined shape such that the air bag easily comes out of the instrument panel when deployed, and a heating device installed inside the instrument panel so as to heat a surrounding area of the tear line and at least one predetermined area of the instrument panel which acts as a hinge section when the air bag is deployed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for leading to normal tearing of an instrument panel having a built-in passenger air bag (PAB) and, more particularly, to an apparatus for leading to normal cutting of an instrument panel having a built-in PAB, in which, when the PAB is deployed in a low-temperature environment, the instrument panel is generally torn along a tear line without brittle fracture, and particularly a hinge section of the instrument panel is prevented from being exfoliated or splintered.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an air bag is an apparatus that is installed on a driver seat and a passenger seat in order to protect a driver and a passenger. The air bag for the driver seat is designed to be deployed from a steering wheel, whereas the air bag for the passenger is designed to be deployed from an instrument panel, at a predetermined position of which an air bag door is installed and opened toward the passenger.
The air bag for the passenger (or briefly called passenger air bag (PAB)), which is installed in order to protect the occupant of the passenger seat, is mounted on a motor vehicle in the state of an air bag module including an inflator. The air bag door, which is installed in the instrument panel such that the air bag is to be deployed toward the passenger, is called an invisible door that is not be able to be seen in order to improve an exterior view. This invisible door has a tear-off line (hereinafter, referred to as a "tear line") notched in the instrument panel at a predetermined depth using a laser so as to define a boundary thereof. The air bag door is not separately installed on the instrument panel. In detail, when the tear line is formed in the instrument panel itself using the laser, the instrument panel itself having the tear line serves as the air bag door.
Thus, when the air bag is deployed from the interior of the instrument panel, the air bag door is torn along the tear line by volume expansion of the air bag, and then the air bag comes out of the instrument panel. At this time, in the case of the area such as North America where a low-temperature environment is dominant, a temperature at the instrument panel is very low. As such, when the instrument panel is pressed by the inflating air bag, the tear line is not torn as it stands. In detail, the instrument panel undergoes brittle fracture, so that a tear-off face thereof becomes sharp or that splinters thereof are thrown toward the passenger.
Thus, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 3, there has been proposed an apparatus for preventing the brittle fracture of the instrument panel.
FIG. 1 illustrates the configuration of a conventional apparatus for preventing brittle fracture of an instrument panel. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of an instrument panel in which a PAB is installed. FIG. 3 schematically illustrates arrangement of a tear line and a heater, both of which are formed on a conventional instrument panel.
First, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the instrument panel 10 is located under the windshield of a motor vehicle, and particularly in front of a passenger seat. An air bag module 1 causing volume expansion by means of an electrical signal is installed in the instrument panel 10.
As illustrated, a tear line 20 having a "U" shape is formed on the instrument panel 10 such that the air bag module 1 can easily break through the instrument panel 10 in an outward direction during the volume expansion.
Further, a heater 30 is installed inside the instrument panel 10 spaced apart from the tear line 20 by a predetermined interval such that the tear line 20 can be easily torn in a low-temperature environment.
The heater 30 is operated by a controller 50, which receives the signal of temperature at the instrument panel 110 from a temperature detector 40 located in the middle of the tear line 20. When the temperature of the instrument panel 10 is lower than a preset temperature, the controller 50 supplies the heater 30 with electrical power so as to heat a surrounding area of the tear line 20. Thereby, when the tear line 20 is torn off by pressure of the air bag, the instrument panel is neatly and clearly torn along the tear line without brittle fracture.
In this manner, the surrounding area A of the tear line 20 at which the heater 30 is installed is torn when the air bag is deployed, and the other area of the instrument panel 10 at which the tear line 20 is not installed acts as a hinge section B. Part of the instrument panel 10, which is torn along the tear line 20, is folded around the hinge section B in an outward direction, and then the air bag is deployed outwardly.
However, as illustrated in FIG. 3, since the heater 30 is not installed on the hinge section B of the instrument panel 10, and since the heat of the heater 30 is not transmitted to the hinge section B, the hinge section B continues to be under low temperature unlike the surround area A of the tear line 20. Thus, when the air bag is deployed, the hinge section B is folded but the hinge section B is exfoliated, and the resultant splinters are pinched toward the passenger, and cause damage to the passenger.

Apparatus for leading to normal tearing of instrument panel having built-in passenger air bag


Disclosed is an isolated protein from the Chinese medicinal herb, Yuzhu, Polygonatum odoratum (Liliaceae). The protein disclosed is an effective agent showing potent antiviral activities while demonstrating antiproliferative effect on HL-60 leukemia and MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines in vitro. A method of obtaining the target protein and use thereof are also provided.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to an extract of a plant and use thereof, particularly to an isolated protein from a traditional Chinese herbal medicine (TCM), Yuzhu, Polygonatum odoratum (Liliaceae) and use thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Yuzhu, Polygonatum odoratum (Mill) Druce, belonging to liliaceae, is a famous Chinese herbal medicine, and commonly found in dry to moist shaded areas where the soil is rich. This perennial stands one to three feet high at maturity, producing small, white, and bell-shaped flowers and dark purple fruits that hang from the leaf axils largely in pairs. The rhizome itself is edible, and has traditionally been used for treatment of coughing, fever and weakness due to malaise, and for treatment of hyperlipidemia, preventing cardiovascular disease and improvement of cardiac muscle due to the toxicity of digitalis, as well as treating paralysis due to stroke. Hence, it is widely cultivated in temperate regions of China, from Northern Guandong to Northern-east China provinces.
In the PRC Pharmacopoeia (2000), Polygonatum odoratum is an official plant species for Yuzhu (Rhizoma Polygonati Odorati). However, other related species have been also used as "Yuzhu" in the market. The criterion of quality control for Yuzhu, according to the PRC Pharmacopoeia, is the polysaccharide content in it. The content of polysaccharide is based on the glucose content (not less than 6% of its dry-weight) by sulfuric-phenol methods. However, the PRC Pharmacopoeia provides no data on the function of proteins.
In China, the firstly recorded use of Yuzhu might go back to the "Shen'nong Bencaojing" of the first century AD. It is considered a yin tonic, and is thought to be particularly applicable to problems affecting the digestive, respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Taking advantage of the long history of consumption by the Chinese to treat various diseases in the complex decoctions without any obvious adverse effect, the protein from this herb, therefore, can be considered relatively safe for human consumption.

Isolated proteins from a traditional Chinese medicine Yuzhu and use thereof


To eliminate the duplication of the same type of compilers, promote the effective use of a disk memory, and save user time and labor using a server machine under distributed environment where a plurality of different types of computers are interconnected by a network, a compiler-installed machine table showing the relationship between compilers for each type of machine and each language and machines holding the compilers, and a library-installed machine table showing the relationship between libraries for each type of machine and machines holding the libraries are provided in a server machine which operates on a specific machine. When the server machine receives a compile request from a client machine which operates on a machine under the above-mentioned environment, the machine searches for machines holding a compiler and libraries required for compilation requested by the client machine using these two tables, and transmits information on the machines to the client machine. The client machine transfers a source program and library-installed machine information received from the server machine to the compiler-installed machine. The compiler-installed machine which receives the program and data collects necessary libraries from the machine holding the libraries by scanning the library-installed machine information to compile the source program and link the libraries. Then, the machine transfers a resultant object file to the client machine.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a compiling system under distributed environment where a plurality of different types of computers are interconnected by a network.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 10 is a flow chart of a source program from translation to execution. The source program 101 is compiled by a compiler 103 after being processed by a pre-processing system 102. The output of the compiler 103 is an assembler language program, machine language codes which can be almost directly executed, or machine language codes containing information which can be located on any area of a memory device. When the output of the compiler 103 is an assembler language program, an assembler 104 receives the program and converts it into relocatable codes. A linkage editor 105 collects some of the relocatable codes from a library 106 to link them, and replaces code references for separately compiled programs with addresses when the programs are loaded on the memory device. The above processes are generally performed on a single machine, and an object code 107 is obtained.
Such processes, for example, appear on "1.3 Compiler and Programming Environment" (pp. 10 to 11) of "Iwanami Koza Software Chemistry--5, Programming Language Processing System".
FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the configuration of a computer network. Since the computer network is configured in such a way that system resources (such as hardware, software and databases) are interconnected so that they can be shared, and a plurality of computers having independent functions are connected to the network so that the exchange and shared use of information among the computers are possible, the system resources can be shared by the computers, the hardware and software functions of other computers can be used, or databases managed by other computers can be accessed. In FIG. 9, the network consists of computers 1 to 3 and terminals 4 to 11.
Such a computer network, for example, is described in "1-2-1-1 Distributed Processing System of Computer Network" (pp. 1019 to 1120) of the Illustrated Computer Encyclopaedia published by Ohm.
The operation of this computer network will be described hereafter.
A conventional compiling system compiles a source file prepared by a user's machine holding a library and a compiler of its own. However, this results in the existence of a plurality of compilers of the same type over the network, not making the most of the advantage a computer network can have in sharing and exchanging information. Take the example where the computers 1 and 2 are of the same type, the computer 3 is of a different type, the computer 1 does not have a compiler, and the computers 2 and 3 have each a compiler and a library of their own. In this case, the compiling system over the network when a user prepares a source file on the computer 1 is one in which the source file is transferred to the computer 2 for compilation and linkage on the computer 2, and a resultant object file is transferred to the computer 1. In this compiling system, the user needs to operate all transfers deliberately, resulting in a burden on the user. In another example, the computer 1 and 2 are of the same type, the computer 3 is of a different type, and the computer 2 has a cross compiler of the computer 3. In this case, the compiling system when a user prepares on the computer 2 a file to be executed on the computer 3 is one in which a source file prepared on the computer 2 is cross-compiled on the computer 2 and a resultant object file is transferred to the computer 3. However, in this system, the user must perform the transfer himself, also resulting in a burden on the user.
In such conventional systems, computers of the same type each have the same compiler and related libraries, and the disk memory of the machine is occupied by the compiler and the libraries under distributed environment. In addition, a user needs to purchase software to install the compiler and the libraries, and also needs to perform many data input/output operations to compile a source file on another machine, thus taking extra time and labor.
Another conventional compiling system is one in which a source file is compiled by a single large computer with a variety of microprocessor software using a time sharing system (TSS). The problems seen in a compiling system using TSS are the heavy load falling on a host computer and the inability to use microprocessor software other than that offered by the system, resulting in lack of extendibility.

Compiling system for distributed computer system with multiple types of computers