A deflection detection system and software. The apparatus includes a system of one or more deflection sensors (18(a)(b)) connected to a pliable rod or other structure. The sensors measure movement due to a fluid impinging on the deflection cylinder (12) and transfers the measurements to a small computer (24). The computer analyzes the sensor measurements and computes a value for fluid speed and direction. The software compensates for various inherent oscillations to improve accuracy over current fluid flow sensors. The device is constructed of low cost materials.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to fluid flow sensoring devices, specifically to such devices in which the fluid is measured by the deflection or movement of an object.
2. Background of the Invention
This invention relates to wind and fluid flow sensors, both direction and velocity. The wind sensors come in several basic forms including cup and vane, sonic anemometer, hot wire anemometer and diode type anemometer.
The cup and vane anemometers (U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,426, Casani, March 1978) are by far the most prevalent and can be seen at most airports, atmospheric weather stations and at other agencies interested in measuring wind speed and direction. The cup refers to (typically) three cups spread over 120 degree angles on a horizontal plane. The cups are attached to radially positioned rods that attach to the cup at one end and to a central hub on the other end. The center of the hub is designed in such a way as to allow smooth rotational movement along the vertical axis. In this way the cups will respond to air movement in the horizontal plane. A speed sensor or tachometer is attached to the hub in such a way as to measure to amount of rotation over a specified amount of time. This rotational movement relates to the speed of the impinging air currents and thus to wind speed. One of the drawbacks of this type of anemometer is that the inertia of the mechanical mechanism must be overcome before meaningful measurements can be made. Also, this style of anemometer is not conducive to measuring gusts, again because of the inertia. The Vane refers to an arrow like device that is attached at its center of gravity to a rotational sensor to measure angular deflection from (typically) North. In this way a measurement of the direction of the impinging wind currents can be measured and therefore the wind direction can be determined. A drawback of this type of wind sensor is found in the overshoot and oscillations that occur during changes in wind direction. Also, these sensors display a wind direction even when the wind is not blowing.
Sonic anemometers are a class of instruments that are typically used by research and other scientific concerns. These systems use the changes in the speed of sound as measured over a finite path by (typically) ultrasonic transducers (U.S. Pat. No. 4,320,666, Redding, March/1982). These systems require computers and sophisticated software to measure the speed of sound over several pathways to determine wind velocity and direction. These instruments overcome the failings of the more prevalent cup and vane systems but cost considerably more to purchase and maintain. Also, the vortices shed by the physical structures necessary to hold the transducers rigidly in place cause uncertainties in the measurements.
Hot wire anemometers (U.S. Pat. No. 4,011,756, Lemos, March/1977) consist of several hot wires placed typically at 90 degree intervals in front of appropriately placed shields to measure wind velocity and direction. The amount of air moving across a wire (typically NiChrome) set to a stable temperature, will cause a change in amperage necessary to maintain that temperature proportional to the wind speed. This system uses several sensors to measure the amount of air movement from various angles and therefore interpret the wind speed and direction. These systems require a good deal of power to operate properly and are insensitive to gust conditions. The software and hardware requirements are substantial resulting in high cost for procurement as well as maintenance.
Diode type anemometers (U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,063, Hopper, December/1984) use the same principles of the hot wire systems to determine wind speed and direction. They also suffer from the same drawbacks. Their advantage is in a more robust physical construction allowing their use in aerospace applications and other high vibration venues.
Van Cauwenberghe in U.S. Pat. No. 4,631,958 (1986) uses a sphere attached to a shaft. When the "wind force" moves the shaft, electromagnetic or optical sensors detect the deflection from the neutral position. Signals from the sensors are then computed using a formula to eventually display a wind speed and direction. Also, an actuator is used in the operation of the shaft. This causes excess maintenance and raises the cost of the device.
Gerardi in U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,687 (1992) also uses a sphere attached atop a shaft. The system also uses an array of strain gauges. The excessive use of strain gauges contributes to the overall complexity of the design.
Motycka in U.S. Pat. No. 4,631,959 (1986) employs a pivotally mounted shaft with a drag element attached to the shaft. Placed on the shaft is a ferrite block. Electromagnets are mounted orthogonally on the shaft, adjacent to the ferrite block. Changes in velocity of fluid are detected by a change in voltage across the electromagnets. This voltage is then computed in a micro-processor. Since electromagnets and ferrite are placed on the pivotal shaft, complexity is added to the design and computation of the fluid velocity.
Zysko in U.S. Pat. No. 6,370,949 (2002) also uses a shaft that is to be deflected by a fluid, however, he uses two pairs of sensors to detect the movement of the shaft. This system is only practical at high fluid velocities and could not accurately detect a fluid moving at a realitivley slow speed.
Lake in U.S. Pat. No. H1,688 (1997) employs a shaft as well but uses surface protrusions mounted in a spiral pattern on the shaft to assist in deflection. This system uses four sensors to measure deflection caused by the fluid. Also, a wire mesh, with square grid is used on the surface that is to be deflected. This adds unnecessary complexity to the design.
The fluid flow and direction sensor also has applications in measuring a liquid fluid flow such as but not limited to water. If the Fluid Flow Direction and Velocity Sensor were to be completely inverted. In this situation, the deflection cylinder would be realitivley pointing down. The bottom part of the deflection cylinder would be inserted into the liquid type fluid and detections of the fluid characteristics could be made in much the same manner it would if detecting a gaseous fluid.
In conclusion, we are not aware of any other invention formerly developed in either the detection of gaseous and/or liquid fluid that has our simple design, grade of accuracy, as well as cost efficiency. All of these we have incorporated into our Fluid Flow Direction and Velocity Sensor.

Fluid flow direction and velocity sensor


A non-transitory machine-readable medium embodying instructions that, when executed by a machine, allow the machine to perform a method are provided. In one aspect, a method includes receiving, at a computing device, user account credentials associated with an online user account. The method includes sending the user account credentials to a server. The method includes receiving, in response to sending the user account credentials to a server, a user profile associated with the user account. The method includes configuring an operating system session on the device based on the user profile. The method includes receiving an indication to terminate the operating system session. The method includes, erasing, upon termination of the operating system session, the received user profile and data stored locally on the computing device during the operating system session. Systems and methods are also provided.

The present disclosure generally relates to providing stored settings for a user of an operating system.
When a user of a computer turns the computer on, the user may be prompted to select a profile associated with the user and may be prompted to provide a password in order to verify the user is allowed access to use of the profile. An operating system session may be configured according to settings associated with the profile. In this way, a consistent environment is presented to the user each time the user uses the computer under the profile. Multiple profiles may be available so that more than one user may have access to a consistent environment from session to session. If the user does not have a profile stored on the computer, the user may choose a guest mode where the environment presented to the user is configured according to default settings independent of the user's preferences.


A refrigerator comprising a water conduit that is equipped with a socket for an exchangeable water filter and a monitoring unit for detecting the water throughput through the water conduit, said unit generating an alarm if the water throughput exceeds a threshold value. The monitoring unit can be deactivated if a water filter is mounted in the socket.

The present invention relates to a refrigeration device having a water supply line, a replaceable water filter installed in the water supply line, and a sensor for interaction with the water filter.
A refrigeration device of this type is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,355,177 B2. In this known refrigeration device, sensors in the form of two switches are arranged at a mounting location of the water filter, only one of said switches being actuated if a water filter is actually installed in the water supply line; the second of said switches being actuated if the water filter is installed or, if instead of the water filter a plug closes the water supply line, and none of said switches being actuated if neither filter nor plug is installed.
Moreover, means are provided in order to monitor the quantity of water that has flowed through the water filter by measuring the opening time period of a valve in the water supply line, and to generate a warning signal for a user if this quantity of water reaches the specified capacity of the water filter. The signal of one of the two switches is evaluated in order to reset a recorded counted measurand of the quantity of water if the filter has been replaced.
A refrigeration device with built-in water filter and a device for comparing a recorded quantity of water that has flowed through the filter, with a limiting value, and for generating a warning signal when the limiting value is reached, is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,613,236 B1. The limiting value can be selected according to the type of filter used in the refrigeration device.

Refrigeration device comprising a water filter


In the connection of a number of telephone sets to a private branch exchange, control information is communicated between the telephone sets and the exchange set in such a way that a bidirected conversion unit is required. In order to provide a high degree of service at a reasonable cost the telephone sets are collected in groups which share a generally smaller number of conversion units. By way of suitable control devices and switch units in the forwarding of control information, a suitable non-occupied conversion unit can be selected.

The present invention relates to communication between a telephone exchange, typically a private branch exchange, and telephone sets connected thereto.
In private branch exchanges, where communication between the exchange and the telephone sets connected thereto is performed in a digital way and by means of Serial communication, serial control information, which is sent, e.g., from a telephone set to the telephone exchange, must be converted to another suitable form, e.g., paraellel form, in order to be able to be processed by control circuits associated with the exchange and in certain cases the control logic of the telephone exchange itself. Also, the corresponding control information, which is issued from the telephone exchange, must be converted from the internal digital format of the exchange to serial signals on the line near the telephone sets connected to the exchange. Therefore, for each telephone set coupled to the exchange and its connecting line a line circuit is arranged performing conversion of the signals to a format suitable to the receiver. Such conversion circuits have been known for a long time as conventional construction elements and they perform conversion from digital signals in parallel form to digital signals forwarded in a serial form and the opposite.
The provision of a conversion unit for each telephone line may be rather costly, in particular considered from the viewpoint that each conversion unit in many cases is not used very often. An alternative solution to the conversion problem is then that a number of telephone sets share one common conversion unit. This solution can, however, result in problems, when several telephone sets in a group are to use, at the same time, the common conversion unit.
Prior conversion systems are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,054; No. 4,325,147; No. 4,630,232; and No. 4,365,293.

Apparatus for communication between a telephone exchange and connected telephone sets


A improved multilevel encoder and associated method is described. The encoder includes a device (e.g., serial to parallel converter) for presenting a plurality of information bits in parallel format. A symbol selector having a plurality of inputs and an output, the symbol selector being configured to output a symbol that is defined by a signal constellation, whereby the symbol is defined by a magnitude and phase that are uniquely associated with a state of the plurality of inputs. A first encoder has an input and an output, the input of the first encoder being associated with at least one of the outputs of the device and the output being associated with at least one of the inputs of the symbol selector, the first encoder configured by a code defining a four-way set partition of the signal constellation. A second encoder has an input and an output, the input of the second encoder being associated with at least one of the outputs of the device and the output being associated with at least one of the inputs of the symbol selector, the second encoder configured by a code defining a two-way set partition of the signal constellation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to systems for signal coding, and more particularly to a signal coding system utilizing a unique multilevel coding method for achieving improved bit error rates.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
As is known, many modems communicate digital data over an analog medium by mapping the data onto analog signals. Many sophisticated modems communicate digital information by mapping the data onto analog signals and, thereafter, modulating an analog carrier with those signals. Typically, a collection of bits are combined form a two-dimensional symbol, which symbol components are converted to analog form, and the analog-form components respectively modulate a carrier and a quadrature replica of the carrier. The two modulation products are added and filtered, and the result is applied to the transmission medium. A remote modem receives the signal, samples it, identifies the magnitudes and phases of the analog samples, converts the samples to symbols, and finally recovers the original bits of data. What these modems do, in effect, is encode the digital signals onto a two dimensional symbol constellation that is modulated onto a carrier.
Due to noise, imperfect channel conditions, and other factors that are known, there should be a way to help ensure the proper communication of signals across a transmission channel. In this regard, signal coding, or channel coding, has long been know as a way to protect the integrity of data transmitted through a channel. Through the implementation of coding, unsystematic redundancy can be removed from message signals so that channels can be used with maximum efficiency. In addition, through the use of coding, systematic redundancy can be introduced into the transmitted signal so that errors caused by noisy channels can be corrected. Stated another way, the ability to detect and/or correct errors resulting from a noisy transmission channel can only be provided by the additional transmission of redundant bits, and thus by lowering the effective information rate for a given transmission bandwidth.
A fundamental axiom which has motivated the development of coding methods, known as Shannon's coding theorem, provides that if a source generates information at a rate that is less than the capacity of a transmission channel, there exists some encoding procedure that will permit the source output to be transmitted through the channel with an arbitrarily small probability of error. Multilevel coding of signals is one coding method known for achieving increased transmission speeds. However, multilevel signals are more likely to be corrupted by channel noise. Therefore, error-correcting schemes are generally implemented in systems having multilevel signals.
One example of a multilevel coding system is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,579, invented by the inventor of the present invention. The system disclosed in that patent recognized the fact that some components of a symbol are more susceptible to errors (due to noise) than other components. Accordingly, those more susceptible components (e.g., least significant bits) are encoded more robustly than other components.
As is known, system design is largely performed by making a number of tradeoffs. For example, error detection and correction capability may be added to a system at the expense of added redundancy. Although the amount of information communicated is constant, more actual data is communicated. Likewise, as the encoder design becomes more intense or robust, system complexity is increased. In multilevel systems, additional protection may be obtained through additional coding layers. However, additional coding layers add delay to the system at the receiver/decoder.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system that provides improved performance through coding, while minimizing the system drawbacks or tradeoffs that must be made.


A microwave switch provides a random selection drive for selectively one or more reeds which are movable by an actuator to electrically bridge across a pair or pairs of microwave connector contacts. The preferred embodiment of the drive employs at least two actuators, normally three, in the form of cantilevered leaf springs, which are mounted at different levels or parallel plane in a drive body. Respective ones of the actuators are displaced by the rocking action of a wobble plate or rocker movable by repelling and attraction forces provided by a series of spaced magnetic coils spacedly mounted on the drive body. Integral pusher arms of various lengths extend from the bottom of the wobble plate with their distal ends terminating variously at the same different levels in which the leaf springs extend. Rocking of the wobble plate to one of three selected positions displaces a particular leaf spring which in turn depresses one or two selected reeds into bridging contact with a pair or pairs of selected microwave connector contacts. An indicator function is provided with respect to each leaf spring which indicates which pair(s) of the microwave connector contacts represent a closed RF path.

Heretofore, contacts between microwave coaxial connectors generally have been made by pushing on a pushrod, spring-return connected to an electrically-conductive reed or switch blade which positions the reed in a position bridging across conductive center pins of the connector. Typically the conductive parts are constructed of gold-plated beryllium copper which provides very good solderability, wear and RF qualities. Switching of the positions of a mechanical switch actuator can take place both in the power-off and power-on conditions. The pushrods can be actuated individually by actuating coils above each pushrod or a rotary drive may be used to sequence through an angular travel to depress each of the array of pushrods one-by-one. Single-pole-double throw (SPDT) coaxial switches have been employed to alter the path of an incoming signal to one or the other of two outputs or to select one input for an output. Particularly, current T-switches for operating a 6-reed standard arrangement or array 10 of reeds shown in FIG. 1 utilize a series of dielectric pushrods 11, each attached to a series of reeds 12a and 12b. Depression of one pushrod moves the reed 12a to electrically bridge across RF conductor contacts 14 and 15 and depression of another pushrod moves reed 12b to bridge across contacts 14 and 16, when the reeds are depressed by a force vector against a particular pushrod 11. FIG. 1 shows short reed 12a and long reed 12b in a switch open condition, while reed 12c and 12d are in a switch closed condition between contacts 14 and 17 and 15 and 16, respectively. Return springs 18 return the pushrods and reeds to their normal "unpushed" position upon release of the force vector. In the open stroke the reed is forced against the top of the cavity (FIG. 3). This effectively presents a waveguide below cut off frequency.
FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate a one-directional rotary drive 20 having coils 21 with cores 19 which are indexed to a desired pushrod 18 and move about shaft 22.
The reed actuator is based on interaction between two layers of magnets. One layer 23 consists of six magnets attached to dielectric pushrods 18 placed in the middle of each reed. All magnets are magnetized parallel to the direction of reed movement and have the same polarity.
The second layer 24 comprises another set of six magnets contained in the lower portion of a rotating disk or armature 29. The axis of magnetization for these magnets is the same as for the magnets in the first layer. However, four of these magnets are placed to attract the magnets from the first layer, and two of the magnets, 180.degree. apart, are of opposite polarity. These two magnets repel and force a pair of reeds to make contact. At the same time, the rest of the reeds (not shown in the Fig.) are grounded to the top of the RF body as a result of attraction between the magnets.
The rotating disk has six stable positions as a result of the magnets' interaction with cores which latch the disk every 60.degree.. During a full turn of the disk, each position of the switch is chosen twice. As shown in FIGS. 4A-4F, six positions of the disk actually represent three unique RF contact arrangements. Generally, the reed actuator assures proper reed arrangement for all three positions of the switch and latches the reeds in each position.
The rotating actuator or armature is based on electromagnetic interaction between a layer of six magnets 24a and six drive coils. This layer of magnets is contained in the upper rotating disk and has the same axis of magnetization as other magnets in the reed actuator discussed previously. However, those upper magnets are polarized alternatively so that every other magnet has the same polarity. There is a magnetic shielding plate 24c in the middle of the rotating actuator to isolate the magnetic forces from the upper and lower layers of magnets. To be able to change the position of the switch, it is necessary to rotate the disk. To accomplish this function, a multicoil drive approach has been used.
The drive consists of six coils 21 which are wound directly on ferromagnetic cores 19 and attached to a common ferromagnetic magnet plate 27. The coils are equally spaced on the same diameter as the magnets in the rotating disk 23, but the whole coil assembly is offset about 15.degree. from the position of the magnets. To obtain all three positions, shown in FIGS. 4A-4F, it is necessary to energize the coils with three separate voltage pulses. Each pulse shall have an opposite voltage polarity from the preceding pulse. The drive mechanism will latch the 3-switching positions sequentially and is unable to select any one of three switching positions randomly.
As can be envisioned, if one desires to rotate from the approximately one o'clock position (FIG. 2) to the seven o'clock position, one must first pass by two intervening positions. This takes extra time, travel distance and extra energy which may be a premium, particularly in, for example, a space application. On the top of magnet plate 27 there is placed a printed circuit board (PCB) with electronic control elements (not shown) and is shown removed in FIG. 3. FIG. 4 illustrates six positions A-F of this prior art rotary drive, particularly showing the six types of connections made possibly by six reeds between the various contacts 14, 15, 16 and 17.


The erase and verify method performs an erase operation and an erase verify read operation. If the erase verify read operation fails because unerased memory cells have been found, a normal memory read operation is performed in order to determine which memory cells are still programmed. A selective erase operation is then performed on the memory cells such that only the rows that comprise unerased memory cells undergo additional erase operations.

Memory devices are typically provided as internal, semiconductor, integrated circuits in computers or other electronic devices. There are many different types of memory including random-access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), and flash memory.
A flash memory is a type of memory that can be erased and reprogrammed in blocks instead of one byte at a time. A typical flash memory comprises a memory array, which includes a large number of memory cells. Each of the memory cells includes a floating gate field-effect transistor capable of holding a charge. The cells are usually grouped into blocks. Each of the cells within a block can be electrically programmed in a random basis by charging the floating gate. The data in a cell is determined by the presence or absence of the charge in the floating gate. The charge can be removed from the floating gate by a block erase operation.
FIG. 1 illustrates a typical prior art erase operation for a block of flash memory. The memory block is first pre-programmed 101 before an erase operation is performed. The memory block is then erased 103. An erase verify read is then performed 105. If the verify operation fails, the erase operation is performed 103. If the erase verify passes, the erase operation has been successfully completed 107.
The memory array to be erased is pre-programmed in order to reduce the chances of the cells going into a depletion mode. As the cells in a flash memory device get erased, they may get erased to the point where they go into depletion and conduct current even when those cells have a gate voltage of 0 V. This affects the reading of all other cells in their respective columns. By pre-programming the memory, the cells start from a known, programmed state and are therefore less likely to go into an overerased depletion state.
The erase operation is conducted to erase the cells to at least a minimum voltage level. FIG. 2 illustrates a simplified schematic diagram of a flash memory block undergoing a typical prior art erase operation. The drain and source connections of the bit lines are all left floating (F) as are the select gate drain transistors and the select gate source transistors. The word lines of the block to be erased are at ground potential. The dotted lines indicate the memory cells that are selected during this operation.
The erase verify operation is performed in order to determine the success of the erase operation on each cell of the memory block. A simplified schematic diagram of a flash memory block undergoing a typical prior art erase verify operation is illustrated in FIG. 3. The erase verify operation comprises, at least in part, comparing each cell's erase current to a sense amplifier reference current level. During this operation, all of the word lines of the block are held at 0V while the selected bit lines 301, 302 are biased at VCC. A 0V pulse is applied to the unselected bit lines 303. The select gate drain and source transistors are typically at 4.5V that is typically referred to in the art as Vpass. The dotted lines of FIG. 3 indicate the selected memory cells during this operation.
FIG. 16 shows yet another erase verify operation. This operation biases the word lines of the block at 0V while the bit lines are biased at 0V. The select gate drain and source transistors are typically at Vpass of 4.5V. The source line is at VCC.
If a column of cells has only one unerased cell after an erase verify, the prior art erase operation applies additional erase pulses to the entire column. This can overstress memory cells in the column that are already erased and do not require additional erase pulses. The overstressing of the cells can increase their failure rate.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for an erase algorithm that reduces the overstressing of memory cells in a flash memory device.

Memory block erasing in a flash memory device


A novel method and circuit are disclosed for providing an alternate function to a semiconductor device having a normal operating voltage range and an input pin for receiving an input signal of a voltage level within a normal signal voltage range, for selecting an alternate function, whose steps consist of determining, when a voltage is received at the input pin, whether the voltage is within a normal signal voltage range, enabling the performing of a primary function if the signal voltage is within a normal signal voltage range, and initiating an alternate function when the voltage is outside of the normal signal voltage range.

Semiconductor package designs are typically constrained by the functionality of the device itself. The functions of a device determine the number of contacts with the outside environment and the number of contacts determines the number of "pins" required in the final package. However, semiconductor devices in "legacy" applications, meaning applications that have a lifespan extending beyond immediate replacement, sometimes need to evolve with technologies outside the existing application. In other cases, existing technologies cannot be used because of the constraints of legacy packaging.
An example of this is testing technology. Many legacy designs do not include any pins that are dedicated to testing. However, dedicated test pins are common in more recent semiconductor device designs. One testing technology developed by the Joint Test Action Group (JTAG) in the mid-1980s is the boundary-scan standard, described in IEEE 1149.1 since 1990. Boundary scan testing provides robust testing through embedded test circuitry at the chip level to form a complete board-level test protocol. With boundary-scan, complex assemblies can be accessed for in-system device programming and for diagnosing hardware problems. However, JTAG boundary-scan testing requires dedicated on-chip features and a set of dedicated connection pins. Such pins cannot be implemented in a legacy application where packaging constraints determine the number of connection pins available and determine the function of the available connection pins. Designs of devices destined for such legacy applications sometimes forgo in-system testability because of these constraints.
Testability is only one area in which a limited number of connections pins constraints the design of semiconductors. Another example is an increase in memory density within a RAM chip in an existing semiconductor package. Additional memory registers are often unreachable because of the limited number of address pins in the semiconductor package.
Not only do legacy packaging constraints prevent the addition of dedicated pins that can be used to add new functionality, but also, legacy packaging constraints require that pins maintain the dedicated functions specified in the legacy specification. For example each input pin that receives a certain input must still receive the same input, and use the same signal voltage levels as specified in the legacy specification. Accordingly, the dedicated pin functionality of each pin, and the signaling voltage must maintained in the new design.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus that will allow for new functions to be implemented in semiconductor devices. Moreover, there is a need for a method an apparatus that meets the above needs and that does not require the use of additional dedicated pins and that maintains the dedicated functions of each pin. Also, there is a need for a method and apparatus that meets the above needs and that allows for testing of a semiconductor device using pins that have a dedicated function that is not a testing-related function. The present invention meets the above needs.

Over driving pin function selection method and circuit


Embodiments herein describe a reconfigurable integrated circuit (IC) where data can be retained in memory when performing a partial reconfiguration. Partial reconfiguration includes reconfiguring programmable logic in the IC while certain functions of the IC remain operational or active. In one embodiment, the reconfigurable IC includes control logic for saving or retaining data in the IC during a partial reconfiguration. That is, rather than clearing the memory elements, the user can specify that the memory blocks containing certain data should be retained while the other memory blocks can be cleared. In this manner, the data can be retained in the IC during a partial reconfiguration which saves time, power, and cost. Once partial reconfiguration is complete, the newly configured programmable logic can retrieve and process the saved data from the on-chip memory.

Partial Reconfiguration allows for the dynamic change of modules within an active design. This flow can include multiple configurations which ultimately results in full bitstreams for each configuration, and partial bitstreams for each Reconfigurable Module. Generally, partial reconfiguration permits a reconfigurable device (e.g., a reconfigurable integrated circuit such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), programmable logic device, and the like) to be reconfigured to perform a different function or functions while some portions of the device remain active—e.g., memory interfaces, PCIe interfaces, and the like.
When reconfiguring programmable logic in the device, the memory blocks in the device are typically cleared. Thus, any processed data generated when the device is in a first configuration is lost when the device is reconfigured into a second configuration.

Retaining memory during partial reconfiguration


A system and method for preserving unrepresented data in a document exchanged between applications. Applications handling the document, or computing devices executing the applications may have different capabilities with respect to a particular feature of the document such as certain formatting properties, footnotes, graphical attributes, and the like. Data associated with such features, unrepresented data, is preserved by employing a tree structure for the document and flagging nodes associated with unrepresented data. Flagged nodes are ignored, but preserved, when the document is handled by an application or computing device with different capabilities. When the document is handled again by an application or computing device that is capable of processing those features, the unrepresented data is made available along with any modifications made to the document during the previous handling.

Computing devices have proliferated in numbers and types over the recent years becoming a part of daily life for many people. Different computing devices, such as laptops, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA's), smart phones, and the like, have displays and graphics controllers with varying capabilities.
Displays are composed of a rectangular array of pixels (picture elements). The more pixels, the more detail may be shown in a given amount of space. This is termed the resolution. In order to work together, operating systems, graphics cards, and monitors support a number of standard video modes. As hardware has improved, and users have become more demanding, video modes have tended towards higher resolutions and greater color depth. As a result, a larger amount of memory is dedicated to display operations on a computer motherboard and/or on the graphics card.
On the other hand, physical and economical restraints tend to encourage software developers to provide applications with distinct levels of capabilities for different computing devices. For example, the full version of MICROSOFT WORD® (Registered Trademark of Microsoft Corp.) includes a large number of user edit capabilities that may be completely exploited in a computing device with an advanced graphics controller and display. Versions of the same application such as WORD MOBILE® (Registered Trademark of Microsoft Corp.) are also available for computing devices with limited display and graphics capabilities enabling the user to use the word processing application without all functions.

System and method for user edit merging with preservation of unrepresented data


A phase change memory cell has a first electrode, a heater, a phase change material, and a second electrode. The heater is over the first electrode, and the heater includes a pillar. The phase change material is around the heater. The second electrode is electrically coupled to the phase change material. In some embodiments, a method includes forming a electrode layer over a substrate, depositing a first layer, providing nanoclusters over the first layer, and etching the first layer. The first layer comprises one of a group consisting of a heater material and a phase change material. The first layer may be etched using the nanocluster defined pattern to form pillars from the first layer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to semiconductor devices and more specifically to phase change memories.
2. Description of the Related Art
A phase change memory is a memory that utilizes phase change material to store information. Information is stored in a structure of phase change material where the phase of the phase change material is indicative of the value stored in the memory cell. In one type of phase change memory, the phase change material of a memory cell may be in an amorphous stage for storing a first value and in a crystalline phase for storing a second value. Each of these different phases provides a different resistance value, which can be measured to determine the value stored.
Some types of phase change memories include heater structures for generating heat sufficient to change the phase of the phase change structure of the memory cell. Heat is generated by passing current through the heater structure, where the relatively high resistivity of the heater structure generates heat with the current passing through it. In some types of phase change memories, the amount and duration of heat generation in the heater structure controls whether the phase change material will be changed to an amorphous phase or a crystalline phase.
What is desired is an improved phase change memory cell.
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates identical items unless otherwise noted. The Figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.

Phase change memory structures including pillars


A magnetic laminated film used for a magnetic transducer is constructed in such a way that a ferromagnetic film as a ferromagnetic body is made of, for example, a Ni--Fe alloy film, formed on a substrate made of, for example, glass, and an antiferromagnetic film as an antiferromagnetic body having crystal structure of body-centered cubic lattice, for example, made of a Cr alloy film is laminated on the top layer. Further, a magnetic transducer using the magnetic laminated film is applied to a magnetic head in a magnetic recording device in accordance with the present invention.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic transducer utilizing unidirectional anisotropy and to a magnetic recording device for reading and writing information using said magnetic transducer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Unidirectional anisotropic phenomenon has been well known. This phenomenon takes place as a result of interaction when a ferromagnetic body contacts an antiferromagnetic body caused by bonding action of exchanging magnetic momentums in the boundary surface between them both. It is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 54-10997 (1979) that exchange coupling between a ferromagnetic Ni--Fe alloy film and an antiferromagnetic Fe--Mn alloy film causes unidirectional an isotropy and consequently the B-H loop of the Ni--Fe alloy thin film is shifted from the origin. Further, as to an antiferromagnetic material showing unidirectional an isotropy other than the Fe--Mn alloy, a gamma-phase Mn alloy is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,315. In the patent, materials such as NiO, Fe.sub.2 O.sub.3, Ni--Mn are disclosed as other antiferromagnetic materials.
Furthermore, as to an antiferromagnetic body used for a magnetic-resistance sensor, a Mn alloy having crystal structure of face-centered cubic lattice is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-76247 (1994). Particularly, alloys of Ni--Mn, Ir--Mn, Pd--Mn, Pt--Mn, Rh--Mn and alloys added with a specified element are described. The conventional materials showing unidirectional an isotropy described above are alloys of gamma phase and face-centered cubic lattice except oxide metals.
According to the conventional technology, a magnetic transducer constructed from an antiferromagnetic Fe--Mn film showing unidirectional an isotropy and a ferromagnetic Ni--Fe film has a lot of difficulties in practical use since the antiferromagnetic Fe--Mn film has an extremely low corrosion resistivity. Further, when a Fe--Mn--Cr film, which is obtained by adding Cr to a Fe--Mn alloy, is used, there is a problem in that the thermal temperature is decreased since the Neel temperature of the antiferromagnetic film is lowered with Cr.
Although the oxide metal antiferromagnetic film, such as NiO film, has a thermal resistivity of approximately 200.degree. C. and a good corrosion resistivity, there is a problem in using a magnetic transducer since the oxide metal is small in electric conductivity. The Ni--Mn film also has a problem in manufacturing since it requires a long time thermal treatment to obtain unidirectional an isotropy. As described above, the conventional magnetic transducers have disadvantages in corrosion resistivity, electric conductivity, thermal resistivity, productivity, and so on.

Magnetic transducer and magnetic recording device utilizing material in which undirectional anisotropy can be formed


An accumulator having an internal valve opened by applying air pressure to a diaphragm with a small solenoid to apply air to the diaphragm where the air is supplied from a pilot air supply. When the internal valve operated by the diaphragm opens, it snaps to a fully open position thereby opening the valve and uncovering a passageway leading to a filter for cleaning. The passageway is sufficiently wide that the resulting flow of air through the passageway is so explosive that air pressure on the filter is distributed over the surface area of the filter for a brief moment, blowing the dust on the filter free.

In plastic fabrication manufacturing operations, it is not uncommon for the resin and similar particulate/powdery materials, consumed in the operation to be shipped to the manufacturing facility in heavy containers. These containers are delivered to a manufacturing facility and are stored until required for use in the manufacturing process. When the resin or other particulate matter is required for manufacture, the container is either emptied all at once, or portions of the particulate matter are removed from time to time on an as-needed basis.  The containers are usually too heavy to be lifted manually. Typically a vacuum loader is used to remove the contents.
These plants typically have a supply of "pilot" air, which is at pressure just above ambient, in conduits running throughout the plants. The pilot air is controlled by solenoid or other types of valves and is used for a variety of purposes in the manufacturing plant.
These plants also typically have vacuum lines running through the plant in which relatively low level, i.e. close to but below ambient pressure, is maintained. This moderate vacuum is used for various functions in the manufacturing process.
These plants also typically high pressure air in containers or tanks located at strategic positions within the plant. This high pressure air is typically used for air blown cleaning and sometimes for blow molding, if manufacturing of finished parts is a part of the plant operation. An air compressor may be present if the plant uses significant amounts of high pressure air.
A vacuum loader includes one or more tubes coupled to a vacuum source. The tube(s) is placed within the material storage container and the loader is activated. The resin or particulate material is drawn and conveyed by suction (resulting from vacuum generated by the vacuum loader) from the container to an intermediate location, such as a dryer, prior to being fed to an injection molding machine or an extruder.
Known vacuum loaders filter the air drawn from the material storage container to reduce the presence of contaminants within the particulate resin. It is common for the vacuum source to pull air from the top of a chamber portion of the vacuum loader, to assist in manufacturing the desired product.
Vacuum is used to convey resin pellets and resin recycle material into position for processing by molding or extrusion. It is also common to place a filter in the vacuum loader, beneath the top chamber, so that all of the air drawn (typically upwardly) through the vacuum loader must pass through the filter. As a result, the air drawn through the top chamber of the vacuum loader is largely free of dust particles and other contaminants. When the vacuum drawing stops, however, the dust and contaminants remain, clogging the filter. This reduces the quantity of air that may be drawn by vacuum through the filter when the system resumes operation. It also compromises the level of suction furnished by the vacuum source.
To overcome this, it is known to blow compressed air downwardly through the filter, in a direction opposite to the direction in which the vacuum is drawn when the system operates. This "blast" of compressed air is typically provided by an air accumulator in conjunction with a solenoid operated valve. A typical accumulator includes an associated reservoir for accumulating a large volume of compressed air within a reservoir space adjacent to the filter. A solenoid actuated valve is positioned between the reservoir and the filter. When the valve is in a closed position, pressurized air accumulates within the reservoir of the air accumulator. Upon opening the solenoid valve, compressed air within the air accumulator, being exposed to the vacuum environment in the vacuum loader, evacuates the accumulator as an air blast, which is directed downwardly through the filter. The air blast applies more air to the filter at a greater pressure, for a longer time period and in a direction opposite that of the air drawn through the filter during normal operation. This reverse flow of air against the normal direction of flow of air drawn by the vacuum source cleans the filter by blasting the dust and contaminants off the filter. Without such an accumulator, the volume and pressure  of air available to blow dust off the filter in the vacuum loader is limited by the amount of air that can flow through the pilot air supply line.
A solenoid operated valve and an air accumulator provide an improvement over other known vacuum loaders and filters that do not have such components. The resulting improvement however, has several limitations. For example, the resulting air blast from the accumulator acts only on a single area of the filter. This is because flow of air into the vacuum loader chamber, where the filter to be cleaned is located, is limited by the size, namely the cross-sectional area, of the internal orifice of the actuating solenoid, through which the "cleaning blast air" must pass. Even when using an accumulator having an associated reservoir, the resulting air blast is limited by the cross-sectional area of the passageway through the solenoid valve, thereby only clearing a correspondingly sized area on the filter; the remainder of the filter is not cleaned.
While simply providing a larger solenoid valve is a possible solution, there are significant cost increases associated with larger solenoid valves. Costs associated with providing a solenoid valve large enough to cover the entire filter is prohibitive. Even with this approach, there is still reduced effectiveness of the vacuum source due to the remaining clogged portions of the filter, when a solenoid valve having a passageway with a cross-sectional area less than the area of the filter is used.
A second approach to this problem is to provide multiple outlets for the air blast against the filter using multiple reservoir chambers and/or multiple solenoid valves. However, this does little to improve the situation. The available "plant" air flow in modern  plastic resin processing facilities is simply too limited to provide sufficient volume and pressure for a multi-outlet configuration to function effectively.
As is apparent, there is a continued need for a highly efficient device to provide periodic air blasts in sufficient volume, at sufficient force over a sufficient area to effectively clean filter units of vacuum loaders, especially those in plants concerned with conveying granular resin pellets and regrind material to injection molding machines and extruders for fabrication.

Dust clearing blow-back valve and reservoir


A slight, 13.2 psia, underpressure is created, and dynamically maintained, in the ullage space of the oil tanks of an unmanned barge in order to prevent or reduce the spillage of oil due to any rupture of the tanks. The underpressure is created by ejecting a high pressure gas, preferably 500 psia inert nitrogen gas in a 16 ft.sup.3 storage bottle, through an ejector that is also flow-connected to the ullage spaces of the barge's tanks. The gaseous mixture within the ullage space is preferably inerted so as to prevent combustion or explosion by mixing with the same high pressure inert gas that is otherwise used to energize the ejection. All flow connections are controlled by electric valves managed by a control computer that responds to tank level, pressure, and/or gaseous mixture sensors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally concerns systems and methods for preventing or reducing the spillage of oil in the event of an accidental rupture of the tanks of a barge.
The present invention particularly concerns system and methods for creating, and for dynamically maintaining, a slight underpressure in the ullage space of the tanks of an unmanned barge which is generally towed by a tugboat.
2. Background Information
There are approximately 10,000 barges in the United States. As a group they are a principal polluter of inland waterways and coastal waters due to accidental ruptures in their hulls.
The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 mandates "Double Containment" for all barges less than 5,000 gross tons. "Double containment" within the meaning of the Act is not restricted to double hulls. Instead, it means any system that effectively prevent spillage of oil from an accidental rupture of the oil tanks of barges.
Barges under 5,000 gross tons are typically unmanned and without propulsion, i.e. they are not self propelled. The lack of these assets will be found to compatible to the present invention, which can be retrofitted to existing barges with minimum modifications.
2.1 Related Background to the Present Invention--Oil Spillage Avoidance
Avoidance of spillage from the rupture of tanks containing liquids--typically oil--is desirable on economic, environmental and aesthetic grounds. With the advent of supertankers, a single incidence of an oil spill from a large tanker can (i) cause significant damage to the environment, (ii) disrupt the ecological balance, and (iii) cause substantial economic loss. The accident of EXXON VALDEZ is perhaps the worst oil spillage disaster in U.S. history. The EXXON VALDEZ leaked about 240,000 barrels--over 10 million gallons of oil. The economic and environmental cost is estimated to have been over two billion dollars.
The predecessor, related, patent applications to the present application teach inventions for reducing or preventing any outflow of liquid, such as oil, due to the rupture of a tank, typically a ship's tank. The system, and method, of one related invention involves the creation, and the subsequent dynamic maintenance, of a partial vacuum in the effected tank or tanks. A partial vacuum below atmospheric pressure is preferably, and initially, created in the ship's tank before any rupture has occurred, and normally after a filling of the tank and before disembarkation of the ship. Thereafter the partial vacuum is continuously dynamically maintained in a precise balance responsive to the forces acting on the liquid contents of the tank, which forces change when the tank is ruptured. The dynamically maintained partial vacuum serves to hold the liquid contents of the tank within the tank even if, and when, the tank is ruptured--much in the manner that liquid is held within an inverted glass when the glass is pulled above the liquid level of a reservoir.
If the rupture is below the water line, and on the side of the ship's hull, then surface tension dynamics at the rupture between the tank's interior liquid, nominally oil, and the exterior water will induce a stratified flow, forcing water into the tank through the lower part of the rupture while forcing the liquid oil upward and out of the tank, oppositely to the flow of water. This stratified flow will continue until the water level reaches the top part of the rupture.
In one, preferred, embodiment of a related invention this stratified flow is stopped because a non-structural barrier, typically a tarpaulin, is placed over the rupture. The barrier is placed over the rupture even as, and while, the partial vacuum is dynamically maintained. The combination of dynamic underpressure control and the non-structural barrier substantially forestalls oil outflow--even below the level of the rupture.

System to reduce spillage of oil due to rupture of the tanks of unmanned barges


A magnetic stack with a multilayer free layer having a switchable magnetization orientation, the free layer comprising a first ferromagnetic portion and a second ferromagnetic portion with an electrically conducting non-magnetic intermediate layer between the first portion and the second portion. The magnetic stack also includes a first ferromagnetic reference layer having a pinned magnetization orientation, a first non-magnetic spacer layer between the free layer and the first reference layer, a second ferromagnetic reference layer having a pinned magnetization orientation, and a second non-magnetic spacer layer between the free layer and the second reference layer.

Fast growth of the pervasive computing and handheld/communication industry has generated exploding demand for high capacity nonvolatile solid-state data storage devices and rotating magnetic data storage devices. Current technology like flash memory has several drawbacks such as slow access speed, limited endurance, and the integration difficulty. Flash memory (NAND or NOR) also faces scaling problems. Also, traditional rotating storage faces challenges in increasing areal density and in making components like reading/recording heads smaller and more reliable.
Resistive sense memories are promising candidates for future nonvolatile and universal memory by storing data bits as either a high or low resistance state. One such memory, magnetic random access memory (MRAM), features non-volatility, fast writing/reading speed, almost unlimited programming endurance and zero standby power. The basic component of MRAM is a magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ). MRAM switches the MTJ resistance by using a current induced magnetic field to switch the magnetization of MTJ. Current induced spin-torque may alternately be used to switch the magnetization of an MTJ in STRAM memories. As the MTJ size shrinks, the switching magnetic field amplitude increases and the switching variation becomes more severe.
However, many yield-limiting factors must be overcome before such magnetic stacks can reliable be used as memory devices or field sensors. Therefore, magnetic stacks with increased layer uniformity are desired. One concern in traditional STRAM design is the thickness tradeoff of the free layer of the STRAM cell. A thicker free layer improves the thermal stability and data retention but also increases the switching current requirement since it is proportional to the thickness of the free layer. Thus, the amount of current required to switch the STRAM cell between resistance data states is large.


The present invention provides for a structured packing element, the element being corrugated with corrugations which form alternating peaks and troughs across the element, the corrugations having a longitudinal axis, the element having at least one band of first fluting at an angle between 0.degree. and 180.degree. to the longitudinal axis of the corrugations and at least one band of second fluting at an angle between 0.degree. and 180.degree. to the longitudinal axis of the corrugations, the first fluting being at an angle greater than zero to the second fluting. The element preferably has a plurality of holes through the element. The foregoing structured packing is suited for use in processes requiring a contact device for accomplishing mass and/or heat transfer. The foregoing structured packing is particularly suited for a cryogenic air separation process comprising contacting vapor and liquid countercurrently in at least one distillation column containing at least one mass transfer zone wherein liquid-vapor contact is established by at least one structured packing element.

In many processes, such as distillation or direct contact cooling, it is advantageous to use structured packing to promote heat and mass transfer between liquid and vapor streams which flow countercurrently to each other inside a column. Structured packing offers the benefit of high efficiency for heat and mass transfer combined with low pressure drop, when it is compared with dumped or random packing or with distillation trays. The most commonly used structured packing consists of corrugated sheets of metal or plastics foil or corrugated mesh cloths stacked vertically. These foils have various forms of apertures and/or surface roughening features aimed at improving the heat and mass transfer efficiency. While there are many types of structured packing described in the prior art, some of which are discussed below, they have evolved from a variety of applications and most have not been developed or optimized specifically for cryogenic separation processes, such as those used for separating the components of air.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,296,050 (Meier) describes the use of the combination of apertures with fluting or grooves in a structured packing. The fluting runs at an angle of 15.degree.-90.degree. to the vertical, in a direction generally opposed to that of the corrugations, which run at an angle of 15.degree.-60.degree. to the vertical. The wavelength of the fluting is in the range of 0.3 to 3.0 mm. The packing has widespread application in a variety of heat and mass transfer processes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,159 (Huber) discloses a structured packing having alternating bands of fluted and unfluted (plain) regions which run horizontally across the packing when it is viewed in its intended orientation within the column. The extent of these bands is at least 5 mm. The open area is specified to be 5-20%.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,339 (Meier) describes the use of alternating corrugated and uncorrugated portions within each sheet of structured packing. The liquid acceleration, which would occur in the uncorrugated portions, is claimed to improve mass transfer performance.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,916 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,247 (Chen et al.) describe the use of crisscrossing patterns produced by expanded metal. They also show the use of perforations in combination with the crisscrossing patterns or horizontal slits. The use of perforated sheets alternating with corrugated sheets, both with a variety of holes and features, is also disclosed.
EP-A-337150 (Lockett et al.) describes the use of especially deep fluting which is said to improve the mass transfer performance due to increased liquid hold up and better spreading.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,621 (Pluss) describes the use of crisscrossing texture without holes, which improve the liquid spreading.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,132,056 (Lockett et al.) describes the use of edge modification to improve wetting, especially under turndown conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,988 (Maeda) discloses the use of special fluting in a corrugated packing with no holes. The fluting generally runs in a horizontal direction and is more square-wave like than sine-wave like in cross-section. The fluting also has a meandering flow path for laterally spreading liquid.
It is also well-known in the prior art that mesh type packing helps spread liquid efficiently and gives good mass transfer performance, but mesh type of packing is much more expensive than most of the foil type packing described above.
An object of the present invention is to provide a specific structure that shows high performance characteristics for cryogenic applications such as those used in air separation.
A further object of the present invention is to generalize the specific structure such that it also shows a high performance in other, and preferably all, heat and mass transfer applications.

Structured packing element with bi-directional surface texture and a mass and heat transfer process using such packing element


A lithographic apparatus including a moveable object (WT) and a displacement measuring system arranged to determine a position quantity of the moveable object. The displacement measuring system includes an encoder (BC) and a grid structure. One of the encoder and the grid structure is connected to the moveable object. The grid structure includes a high precision grid portion (HG) and a low precision grid portion (LG). The encoder is arranged to cooperate with the high precision grid portion to determine the position quantity relative to the grid structure with a high precision. The encoder is arranged to cooperate with the low precision grid portion to determine the position quantity relative to the grid structure with a low precision.

A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a substrate, usually onto a target portion of the substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In such a case, a patterning device, which is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern to be formed on an individual layer of the IC. This pattern can be transferred onto a target portion on a substrate, e.g., a silicon wafer. Transfer of the pattern is typically via imaging onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material provided on the substrate. In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively patterned. Conventional lithographic apparatus include so-called steppers, in which each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion at once. Conventional lithographic apparatus include so-called scanners, in which each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through a radiation beam in a given direction while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti-parallel to this direction. It is also possible to transfer the pattern from the patterning device to the substrate by imprinting the pattern onto the substrate.
For measuring displacements in a lithographic apparatus, there is provided a displacement measuring system that is configured to determine a position of the substrate and/or the patterning device. The displacement measuring system may have at least one encoder constructed and arranged to measure a position with respect to a grid structure provided with a repetitive pattern. It may be difficult to manufacture a grid structure at the required size and precision.

Lithographic apparatus, device manufacturing method and displacement measurement system


An improved sub-band speech coding system is provided by subdividing signals into a lower an higher subband, downsampling the lower subband before coding and coding the higher subband without downsampling. The decoder includes decoding and upsampling of the lower subband and decoding the higher subband and adding the higher subband to the lower subband.

Speech compression is a fundamental part of digital communication systems. In a traditional telephone network, the speech signal is a narrow band signal that is band limited to 4 kHz. Many of the new emerging applications do not require the speech bandwidth to be limited. Hence, wideband signals with a signal bandwidth of 50 to 7,0000 Hz, resulting in a higher perceived quality, are rapidly becoming more attractive for new application such as voice over Internet Protocol, or third generation wireless services. Consequently, digital coding of wideband speech is becoming increasingly important.
Code-Excited Linear Prediction (CELP) is a well-known class of speech coding algorithms with good performance at low to medium bit rates (4 to 16 kb/s) for narrow band speech. See B. S. Atal and M. Schroeder's article entitled "Stochastic Coding of Speech Signals at Very Low Bit Rates," IEEE International conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, May 1984. For wide band speech, the same algorithm can be used over the entire input bandwidth with some degree of success. Alternatively, the input signal can be decomposed into two or more sub-bands which are coded independently. In these sub-band coders the signal is downsampled, coded, and upsampled again. In traditional sub-band coders, the signal is critically subsampled. Some anti-aliasing filters with non-zero transition bands used in practical applications introduce some leakage between the bands, which causes sometimes audible aliasing distortions. Quadrature Mirror Filters (QMF) where the aliasing is cancelled out during resynthesis can be used in the case of equal sub-band decomposition. In the general case of unequal sub-band, critical subsampling introduces aliasing.


The user of a mobile entity with camera functionality uses it to capture an image item which the user then transfers to a networked service system for future access. To facilitate the sharing of the image item with persons who were nearby when the image item was captured, the user uses the mobile entity to form a viewer set of permitted viewers of the image item. The process of forming the viewer set involves the user selection of individuals from a group of persons identified as nearby by a wireless enquiry carried out by the mobile entity contemporaneously with image-item capture. Each viewer in the viewer set is then sent a message with access information for accessing the image item at the service system.

Taking a photograph of a group of people or a scene of interest whilst among friends is a common event and is often followed by a discussion on how best to distribute the photographs. In the modem world of digital image capture and web publishing, images are often uploaded onto web based photo albums and can easily be shared by referencing or following a well known URL combined with some form of access control such as use of a user ID and password. However, at the time of taking a picture, whilst the URL of the album is known and can be passed on, there is no easy way of providing fine-grained access control whereby persons involved in an image just captured can be given access to that image but not to other images in the album.
It is an object of the present invention to facilitate sharing of an image item with persons who were nearby at the time the image item was captured.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


Provided are novel polymerizable monomers allowing preparation of exceptionally useful surface coatings by polymerization. Embodiments include highly reticulated chiral nanoparticles useful, for example, for covalently grating biological ligands, epitaxial growth of conductive polymers onto surface modified indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes and arrays of gold nanodots and electroconductive polymers.

1. Biosensors
Recently developed microfabrication techniques have facilitated the specific design and preparation of diagnostic microdevices that integrate the recognition properties of biological macromolecules with the sensitivity of electrochemical transducers. These transducers consist of conductive microsurfaces, which when modified by appropriate ligands, enable the detection and measurement of biological interactions occurring thereupon. Particularly attractive as microdevice transducers are microelectrodes covered by electropolymerized conductive polymers (ECPs) capable of immobilizing various biomolecules and ligands such as enzymes, proteins, antibodies and small ligands (for example, catalysts, porphyrins, DNA/cDNA/RNA sequences and the like). ECPs are infusible and insoluble organic materials which show intrinsic electronic conductivities due to their highly conjugated backbones.
The main advantages of ECPs are (1) a capacity to be mildly electrogenerated on microelectrodes of defined geometries, (2) electroconductivity, allowing strictly controlled growth of the polymeric layers, (3) the relative ease of chemically modifying the electropolymerizable precursor monomers, and (4) the known compatibility of the oxidative/reductive electrochemical conditions with peptides and DNA sequences for film generation onto electrodes.
Basically, in order to build biosensing microdevices successfully, two main strategies can be envisaged for stable immobilization of any biomolecule or ligand onto an electrode via ECPs: entrapment within a growing polymer during the respective electrochemical growth process or covalent attachment onto a preformed functionalized polymer. In the case of proteins and for some smaller ligands, the former strategy is plagued by a number of problems: difficult access of analytes to the immobilized proteins and reduced activities of entrapped enzymes. Additionally, it should be noted that the direct grafting of precursor monomer-linked biological macromolecules does not provide homopolymerization although an electrochemical copolymerization process with unsubstituted monomers can afford the desired biopolymers. Consequently, much of the effort to develop ECPs as matrices for the covalent grafting of various biomolecules or ligands (e.g., proteins, antibodies) in the biosensor field has been directed towards the search for polymers with improved performance chemically activated surfaces. For example, useful precursor polymers have been produced by polymerizing specially functionalized racemic thiophene or pyrrole monomers onto metallic microelectrodes. Additionally, the great versatility of ECPs find a novel and exciting application in the newly emerging field of biochip technologies and related surface modifications.
2. The Biochip Field
Shifting from single analyte tests (biosensors) to integrated assemblies, or arrays of molecular probes allowing for massive parallel throughput screening, has fueled the active development of ligands or molecular probes matrices (biochips) functionalized by diverse DNA, cDNA, peptides or proteins entities. Highly parallel screening of suitable analytes at a high density and capacity format are the main characteristics of biochips technologies. But, functionalizing a given support surface as a bidimensional matrix of molecular probes without cross-contamination requires, developing a versatile surface chemistry able to selectively link these molecular probes onto the support, preferably covalently for analytical reliability. Different kinds of surface chemistries have been designed and developed in this field owing (1) to diagnostic applications, (2) to desired surface densities of molecular probes, (3) to their chemical types, as well as (4) to detection methods for fingerprint analysis after analyte incubation (using, for example, radioactivity, fluorescence, luminescence, electroluminescence and electrochemical techniques). For example, the Affymetrix (Santa Clara, Calif., U.S.A) method consists of arrays of target DNA sequences synthesized combinatorially on aminated silicon wafers, using protected photosensitive N-acyl-deoxynucleoside phosphoramidites, for the consecutive elongation of the oligodeoxynucleotide probes on the chip surface. High density DNA biochips have been produced (400,000 DNA probes) onto a 1.28 cm2 silicon surface. Moreover, the APEX silicon chip of Nanogen (San Diego, Calif., U.S.A.) contains an array of 64 micro-electrodes, each with a different DNA segment attached via an aminated or streptavidin permeation polymeric layer. Electric currents are used to direct the oligodeoxynucleotide probes onto the activated electrodes with a concomitant increase in the rapidity of the hybridization reaction.
Regarding the use of ECPs, another method makes use of functional DNA-linked ECPs on a chip bearing 128 microelectrodes (CisBio International, Bagnols-sur-Ceze, France). The microelectrodes are sequentially functionalized by oxidative electropolymerization of oligodeoxynucleotide-pyrrole probes. Those chips have been used for genetic testing and pathogen identification based on DNA sequences probes.
In the same trend of research and mainly driven by cost and technical simplicity, the present inventor and associates have developed a novel and general concept for the production of DNA/cDNA/RNA/proteins biochips which use biotinylated surfaces and the well-known avidin-biotin system for quasi-covalent probe attachment onto the biochips surfaces (Kd=10−15). This substrate-protein interaction is always viewed as an extraordinary tool for bioconjugation in molecular biology and numerous reagents have been chemically modified by biotin for diagnostic purposes like immunological systems. Interestingly, this approach to diagnostic biochips integrates surface modifications by a sublayer of biotinylated-poly(dipyrrole) ECPs with the use of commercially available micro/nanospotting devices for surface arraying to produce the required matrices of probes.
3. Functional ECPs
U.S. Pat. No. 6,197,881 describes electrically conductive copolymers suitable for presenting a wide variety of biologically interesting molecules on a surface, especially in a surface array or matrix useful in the preparation of biochips and biosensors. More specifically, there is taught a conductive copolymer consisting of two oxidizable and polymerizable monomers "A" and "B". A is a first polymerizable monomer containing a biotin (or a complex of biotin) as a functional group and it produces an electrically conductive polymer when polymerized. B is a second polymerizable monomer, lacks the biotin functional group, but may contain a group having a desired chemical functionality, which when copolymerized with monomer, or polymer A produces an electrically conductive copolymer. A and B are independently selected from the group consisiting of pyrrole, carbazole, acetylene, azine, p-phenylene, p-phenylene vinylene, pyrene, thiophene, furan, selenophene, pyridazine, aniline and tyramide.
The oxidizable pyrrole moiety of the A and B monomers described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,197,881 form, after oxidation, long polymeric chains (see below the indicated polymer growth directions). The resulting copolymer films exhibit a highly cross-linked skeleton and, hence, the mechanical stability and ionic permeability essential for polymer growth.
wherein X represents OH, —HN—(CH2)n—NH2 or —HN—(CH2)n—NH-biotin; n represents an integer equal or greater than 1; and n2 and m2 indicate the degree of polymerization of the drawn polymer and are such that averaged molecular weights of more than 1,000,000 Daltons are routinely obtained.
The proximity of an electron withdrawing ester group to one of the two oxidizable groups should differentiate them oxidatively, and enable us to modulate the structural and physico-chemical properties of resulting films.
More specifically, the conductive copolymer of the U.S. Pat. No. 6,197,881 is formed by electropolymerization of two co-monomers, only one of them containing a functional group capable of binding a ligand, having the general structure:

A and B are oxidizable moeities (pyrrole; carbazole, thiophene and the like), A is chemically functionalized whereas B is not functionalized. A and B can represent identical or non-identical moieties
Fg is a functional group capable of binding a ligand and it is linked to the oxidizable moiety A. It is biotin (or a biotin-containing complex) in the monomers described in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,197,881;
The linker separates the oxidizable moeity A from the functional group Fg. The linker can be of any chemical nature;
n1, m1, n2 and m2 represent the number of the individual monomers in the copolymer and they may be identical, or non-identical;
d is the average distance between two Fg groups linked to oxidized A units in the copolymeric chain. This distance is absolutely not homogenous in the case of co-polymers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,197,881 provides some preliminary data on biochip preparation using biotinylated ECPs.
There are some major disadvantages characterizing the polymers of the U.S. Pat. No. 6,197,881:
1. The copolymerized product described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,197,881 contains functional groups in a non-organized arrangement in which the distance between adjacent functional groups, each capable of binding a ligand, is irregular and sporadic.
2. Of the two electropolymerizable monomers participating in the formation of the copolymer of U.S. Pat. No. 6,197,881, only one contains a functional binding group (biotin). The functional groups (biotin) of such copolymer have the limitation of sporadically spreading over the biochip surface. Consequently, it is neither possible to plan the desired distance between two adjacent active combining groups nor it possible to surface engineer tailor-made nanoscale assemblies in which the distance between the adjacent active binding groups is pre-determined in rational way.
3. Neither of the monomers described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,197,881 contains optical active chiral center. Consequently, the polymer layers lack the stereoselectivity frequently required for specific binding of a ligand.
In light of the above, it is clear that there is a need for a new polymerized conductive polymer (ECP) for surface engineering of novel nanoscaled assemblies. These assemblies are useful in a wide scope of biological applications relying mainly on the covalent grafting of specific ligands (such as, for example, proteins; DNA/cDNA/RNA sequences) to active binding groups exist on spherical, hemispherical or planar polymeric surfaces structures at A nanoscale level.
More specifically, there is a need for:
(a) a C2-C6 fully symmetrical polymerizable monomer containing at least two identical oxidizable groups and at least two chiral centers, wherein each of the chiral carbon atom links a carboxylated group capable of binding a functional group or a ligand; and
(b) a polymerizable monomer containing at least two non-identical oxidizable groups and at least two chiral centers, wherein each of the chiral carbon atoms links a carboxylated group capable of binding a functional group or a ligand.
Such a group of monomers is henceforth referred to as C2-C6 "pseudo-symmetrical" monomers.
There is also a need for C2, C3, C4, C5, and C6 symmetrical and pseudo-symmetrical monomers, as described above, wherein during the (co)polymerization process the oxidizable groups are subjected to diverse electrochemical and chemical oxidation/reduction techniques.
There is also a need for polymeric chiral-linked functional groups (ECP) adsorbed on microelectrodes that can be used for the covalent grafting of biological ligands such as proteins, enzymes; antibodies amino-linked DNA/cDNA/RNA.
There is also a need for an array of biosensors of nanoscaled electrodes capable of chirally matched-mismatched grafting of chiral biological probes onto chiral polymeric films.
There is also a need for highly reticulated polymeric (ECP)-, and/or composite polymeric (ECP)-magnetic nanoparticles for covalently grafting various biological probes.
There is also a need for the epitaxial growth of chiral monomers onto oxidizable siloxane-based monolayers as a novel way to engineer conductive surfaces.
There is also a need for array of composite gold-carboxylated polymeric ECPs nanoelectrodes.
There is also a need for a nanoscaled chiral polymeric (ECP) cylinder capable of covalently grafting of amino-containing biological probes.
There is also a need for biosensor and/or biochip devices comprising nanoscaled chiral polymers (ECP) capable of covalently grafting amino-containing biological probes.


An appliance console is provided, wherein the console is quickly and easily mounted on the appliance without the use of mounting hardware or tools. The console includes pairs of front and rear feet which are adapted to be received within corresponding slots in the top cover of the cabinet. In mounting the console to the appliance cabinet, the console is tilted forwardly with the front feet extending into the front slots. The console is then rotated rearwardly such that the rear feet extend into the rear slots. The length of the slots is substantially the same as the width of the feet, such that the console is substantially free from forward and rearward movement relative to the top cover of the cabinet. A back plate is connected to the back of the console and the back of the appliance to provide enhanced structural integrity and security to the mounted console.

Household appliances, such as a clothes washing machine or a clothes dryer, normally have a cabinet with a control console mounted on top of the cabinet. Prior art consoles conventionally are mounted to the top of the cabinet with hardware, including screws. For ease of installation, the screws are often times located on the front of the console, and thus are visible to a person using the appliance. Such prior art mounting hardware adds to the cost of the appliance due to the materials and labor required for mounting the console onto the cabinet. The mounting hardware is also unsightly if located on the front of the console.
Accordingly, a primary objective of the present invention is the provision of a console which is mounted to an appliance without the use of hardware.
A further objective of the present invention is the provision of a console which is quickly and easily attached to the top of an appliance.
Another objective of the present invention is the provision of a console which can be mounted to an appliance without the use of tools.
A further objective of the present invention is the provision of a console having downwardly extending feet adapted to be received in corresponding slots in the top cover of the cabinet such that the console is substantially free from forward and rearward movement relative to the top cover of the cabinet.
These and other objectives will become apparent from the following description of the invention.


An interface circuit included in a ring interconnected group of processing elements includes a backup FIFO to temporarily store information received by the interface circuit when it receives an indication that it temporarily should not forward information to the next processing element in the ring. The interface circuit can receive such an indication, for example, when it receives a signal from the downstream processing element in the ring indicating that the downstream circuit is unable to receive information, or when it receives an information packet requesting a read from the core of the processing element. When the interface circuit receives such an indication, it de-asserts an outgoing ready signal to the upstream processing element in the ring, which should cause the upstream processing element to stop sending information. Once the interface circuit receives an indication that it again may transmit information, the contents of the backup FIFO is released to the output of the interface and possibly is mixed with read data from the core. The control of the flow of information into and out of the backup FIFO is accomplished by storing information in single-bit registers within the control logic of the ASIC in which the interface circuit is implemented that identifies the contents of the various registers in the backup FIFO. In this manner, the information flow into and out of the backup FIFO may be controlled by inspecting the single-bit registers rather than decoding the contents of the backup FIFO itself.

Computer graphics systems commonly are used for displaying graphical representations of objects on a two dimensional display screen. Current computer graphics systems can provide highly detailed representations and are used in a variety of applications.
In typical computer graphics systems, an object to be represented on a display screen is broken down into a plurality of graphics primitives. Primitives are basic components of a graphics picture such as points, lines, vectors and polygons (e.g., triangles). Typically, a hardware/software scheme is implemented to render (draw) on a two-dimensional display screen, the graphics primitives that comprise a view of one or more objects.
A host computer commonly provides primitive data that represents the primitives of a three-dimensional object to be rendered. When the primitive is a triangle, for example, the host computer may define the triangle in terms of the x, y, z coordinates and the red, green, blue (R, G, B) color values of each vertex. Rendering hardware interpolates the primitive data to compute the display screen pixels that constitute each primitive, and the R, G, B color values for each pixel.
The basic components of a typical computer graphics system include a geometry accelerator, a rasterizer and a frame buffer. The system also may include other hardware such as texture mapping hardware (described below). The geometry accelerator receives, from the host computer, vertex coordinate and color data for primitives that constitute an object. The geometry accelerator typically performs transformations on the vertex coordinate data (i.e., to screen space coordinates), decomposes quadrilaterals intro triangles, and may perform other functions such as lighting, clipping and performing plane equation calculations for each primitive. The output from the geometry accelerator, referred to as rendering data, is used by the rasterizer (and optional texture mapping hardware) to compute final screen space coordinates and R, G, B color values for each pixel constituting the primitives. The final data is stored in the frame buffer for display on a display screen. Some graphics systems are pipelined such that various operations (such as transformations, interpolation, etc.) are performed simultaneously by different components on different object primitives.
More sophisticated systems offer texture mapping as an option so that objects can be displayed with improved surface detail. Texture mapping is a method that involves mapping a source image, referred to as a texture, onto a surface of a three-dimensional object, and thereafter mapping the textured three-dimensional object to the two-dimensional graphics display screen to display the resulting image. Texture mapping involves applying one or more point elements (texels) of a texture to each point element (pixel) of the displayed portion of the object to which the texture is being mapped. Texture mapping hardware subsystems typically include a local memory that stores texture data associated with the portion of the object being rendered.
Pipelined graphics systems, particularly those that offer data-intensive texture mapping, commonly include complex bus structures on which data is communicated between the various components. System bandwidth often is compromised as a result. In such systems, it is common, for example, to have data paths (buses) dedicated to particular data types and operations, which paths remain otherwise unused. In the absence of such dedicated paths, the pipelined main rendering bus system may have to be flushed to perform certain operations, such as downloading texture data from the host to a local texture mapping memory. In addition, in systems having multiple chips connected in parallel, often the bus structure includes a separate bus to each of those chips, further reducing system bandwidth.
System bandwidth is directly related to the system performance. As technology advances, the host processors are capable of providing primitive data at increased speeds to the graphics rendering chips. In order to accommodate the increased technology of the host processors, a bus structure that is capable of handling high bandwidth communications is required.
It accordingly is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved bus structure and data communication protocol for a pipelined computer graphics system which maximizes system bandwidth.


This solid electrolyte is a zirconium phosphate-based solid electrolyte in which a part of phosphorous or zirconium that is contained in the solid electrolyte is substituted with an element with a variable valence.

Using a non-retardant polymer electrolyte and an ionic liquid as electrolytes for batteries has been considered. However, both electrolytes contain organic substances. For this reason, it is difficult to eliminate concern regarding liquid leakage, liquid depletion, and the like from batteries using these materials.
Meanwhile, all-solid lithium-ion secondary batteries using ceramics as electrolytes are essentially non-combustible, are safe, and can eliminate concerns regarding liquid leakage, liquid depletion, and the like. Therefore, all-solid lithium-ion secondary batteries have attracted attention in recent years.
As solid electrolytes for all-solid lithium-ion secondary batteries, various materials have been reported. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that LiZr2(PO4)3 can be used as a solid electrolyte. Meanwhile, there is a problem that LiZr2(PO4)3 changes to a crystal structure with low ionic conductivity at a temperature of equal to or less than 60° C. and the ionic conductivity is degraded.
Also, Patent Document 2 and 3 disclose that a part of zirconium in LiZr2(PO4)3 is substituted with an element with a valence that does not easily change, such as Ca. A stable phase of a crystal changes, and a rhombohedral crystal with high ionic conductivity is still maintained at room temperature by substituting a part of this element.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Solid electrolyte and all-solid lithium-ion secondary battery


A cylinder block assembly for a reciprocating pump includes a block body having a piston chamber that receives a piston of the reciprocating pump. The cylinder block assembly has an outlet valve assembly positioned within the block body that is positioned in fluid communication with the piston chamber. An outlet valve retainer retains the outlet valve relative to the piston chamber. The cylinder block assembly includes an inlet valve assembly extending through a side of the block body to the piston chamber. An inlet valve retainer also retains the inlet valve assembly relative to the piston chamber. A discharge passage extends from the outlet valve assembly to another side of the block body. A portion of the discharge passage extends between the inlet valve assembly and the inlet valve retainer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to reciprocating pumps, and more specifically to a manifold assembly of an oil field mud or service pump.
2. Background of the Invention
In oil field operations, reciprocating pumps are often used for various purposes. Some reciprocating pumps are generally known as "service pumps" that are typically used for operations such cementing, acidizing, or fracing the well. Typically, these service pumps run for short periods of time, but on a frequent basis. Other reciprocating pumps, generally known as "mud pumps," are typically used for circulating drilling mud downhole through a drill string and back up to the surface along the outer surface of the drill string during drilling operations. Typically, these mud pumps run for long continuous periods of time.
A typical reciprocating pump has a fluid end block with an inlet and an outlet for fluid to enter and exit the pumping chambers. The piston chambers are horizontal. The inlet is typically located below the piston chambers, and is fed fluid from an inlet manifold attached below the piston chamber. Inlet valve assemblies generally extend vertically upward from a lower surface of the fluid end block, and into the piston chambers, to selectively open the inlets of the piston chambers.
Outlet valve assemblies also typically extend vertically down from the upper surface of the fluid end block to selectively open the outlet of the piston chamber. Each outlet valve assembly is generally coaxial with an inlet valve assembly. The outlet discharges the fluid to a discharge manifold. The vertical dimension of the fluid end is fairly large because the inlet valve assembly is located directly below the outlet assembly. In some installations, the amount of space for the fluid end is limited.

Manifold assembly for reciprocating pump