A system for location identification in a local area network comprising: a current limited voltage source; a telecommunications outlet; communication cabling connecting the current limited voltage source to the telecommunications outlet; and a location identifier associated with the telecommunications outlet, the location identifier being responsive to a pre-determined voltage level from the current limited voltage source to transmit a multi-bit location data. In one embodiment the multi-bit location data is received at the power sourcing equipment and in another embodiment the multi-bit location data is received at a data terminal equipment connected to the telecommunications outlet.

The present invention relates to the field of physical location identification suitable for use with emergency services, and more particularly to a system and method of providing an identifier associated with a fixed physical location of a wall jack.
The use of local area networks, and in particular Ethernet based networks, continues to expand. Additionally, telephony utilizing voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) is rapidly becoming common for new workplace installations at least in part due to its reduced cost of installation and flexibility. VoIP advantageously is powered by power over Ethernet (PoE), as embodied in the IEEE 802.3af-2003 standard, published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., New York, N.Y. the entire contents of which is incorporate herein by reference. The above standard defines a power sourcing equipment (PSE) which identifies, optionally classifies, and optionally powers a powered device (PD). A PD is defined by the above standard as a device that is either drawing power or requesting power by participating in the PD detection algorithm. The device may comprise a data terminal equipment (DTE), and a DTE receiving power over the communication cabling is often termed a PD.
By utilizing both PoE and VoIP, a single set of low power communication cables provides both computing and telephone connectivity to users throughout an office. VoIP further allows a user to utilize telephone service via wireless access points, which are advantageously powered via PoE. VoIP further allows users to plug in to any Ethernet connection and obtain phone service.
One downside of the expanding use of VoIP is the difficulty in handling emergency calls, and in particular identifying the location of callers to emergency services. The user may connect from any point in the network, and may further be connected via a wireless access point. Traditional telephony has been designed with features which support delivering crucial location information to emergency operators in Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs). Unfortunately, VoIP, which allows for voice to be handled over data connections, is not designed to support delivering the crucial location information. For example, a roaming user in a wide area network may log in from a different city, and be connected as if he were locally located. In the event of an emergency call, the PSAP in the wrong city would then be notified, resulting in a delayed response or complete lack of response, from emergency services.
As the public adopts VoIP, emergency calls, also known in the United States as E-9-1-1 calls, will increasingly originate from VoIP users. The National Emergency Number Association VoIP-Packet Technical Committee has published a standard entitled "Interim VoIP Architecture for Enhanced 9-1-1 Services (i2)", available from National Emergency Number Association (NENA), Arlington Va., the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference. The standard defines an architecture for the interconnection of VoIP domains with existing Emergency Services Network infrastructure in support of the migration toward end-to-end emergency calling over the VoIP networks between callers and PSAPs.
During system installation, cables are laid throughout the premises to be wired, with the cables being terminated at a work area in a telecommunications outlet/connector (TO) as defined by TIE/EIA 568 published by the Telecommunications Industry Association 2001 of Arlington, Va., and by ISO/IEC 11801 the entire contents of both of which are incorporated herein by reference. The TO is connected via horizontal cabling, optionally through at most one each of a transition or consolidation point, a user patch panel and an equipment patch panel to the common equipment which typically comprises a switch/hub or bridge. Optionally, a midspan device may be connected between the common equipment and one user patch panel to provide power. The connections between the common equipment and the TO may be changed by rearranging patch cords connected between any of the common equipment, the user patch panel and the equipment patch panel. In an installation in which both a user patch panel and an equipment patch panel are provided, or a midspan device and a user patch panel are provided, the connections between the common equipment and the TO are typically changed by rearranging patch cords between the equipment patch panel or the midspan device and the user patch panel. The prior art teaches that any such changes are to manually uploaded to a database which is designed to supply information to the PSAP within 24 hours. Unfortunately, this is a manual task separate and apart from the reconnection, and is thus liable to be neglected or in error. It is understood that the TO is typically not moved, as moving the TO entails construction work such as moving of walls as well as re-cabling from the transition or consolidation point, or the equipment room.
Large commercial entities typically have a large number of computers, telephones, printers and other network connected electronic equipment, generally referred to as assets. Tracking the location and connection of each of the assets in the network is known as asset management. Prior art systems require special equipment and patch cords in order to register the actual interconnection of network based assets. Such a requirement adds cost, and reduces flexibility. It would be desirable to further provide asset management, wherein the connection path from at least the PSE to the TO is made known. Further preferably the connection path from the common equipment to the TO and/or the DTE or VoIP endpoint is made known. The approach being developed for E-9-1-1 services is based on the premise that the VoIP endpoint, defined as an endpoint IP device that is used to originate an emergency call, is the entity most qualified to store and manage its own location information. Unfortunately, prior art methods rely on a human update of any changes in the connection between the common equipment port and the VoIP Endpoint. In the event that these changes, which commonly occur when moving or changing location of personnel, and are commonly known as "moves, adds and changes", are not properly reflected in the location database or location information server (LIS) the location information sent by the VoIP endpoint will be in error. Such an error may result in a delay in the provisioning of life saving emergency services.
U.S. Patent Application Publication S/N US 2004/0073597 A1 published Apr. 15, 2004 to Caveney et al, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference, is addressed to a system for managing and documenting a local area communications network which deploys power sourcing equipment and powered devices by the use of active electronic modules, having an Ethernet controller and Power over Ethernet forwarding capabilities. The requirement for an Ethernet controller adds to the expense of such a solution.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,650,622 issued Nov. 18, 2003 to Austermann, III et al., the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference, is addressed to a communication system for generating and monitoring data over pre-existing conductors in cables between associated pieces of networked computer equipment. The system is not integrated with power over Ethernet. Additionally, asset management functionality is accomplished with a plurality of sender tags and a decoder plug associated with a computer or other DTE, and an immovable object, which is costly and difficult to implement.
What is needed therefore, and is not provided by the prior art, is a system and method providing location information which may be associated with a DTE, and in particular a DTE making an emergency call. Preferably, a DTE comprising either data or voice equipment is automatically associated with location information when plugged in, thus facilitating the transfer of correct location information in the event of an emergency call. Further preferably the system and method should not require attaching additional equipment to a DTE.

System and method for location identification

Microsemi Corp.- Analog Mixed Signal Group, Ltd.


Cable gels contain, in addition to polypropylene glycol and polyol, from 1 to 15 wt. % of a compressed fumed silica which has been rendered hydrophobic with silicone oil.

The invention relates to cable gels.
It is known to use thixotropic cable gels as filling material in optical fibre cables.
DE 36 22 211 describes a filling material which contains from 50 to 99 wt. % polypropylene glycol, especially having a molar mass from 2000 to 3500, and from 50 to 1 wt. % highly disperse silicon dioxide as thixotropic agent.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,701,016 describes a filling material which contains from 77 to 95 wt. % of an oil or of a mixture of oils and from 2 to 15 wt. % colloidal particles. They may additionally contain up to 15 wt. % of an elastomer. There are used as oils paraffin oil, naphthenic oil, polybutene oil, triglyceride-based vegetable oil, polypropylene oil, chlorinated paraffin oil and polyesters. The colloidal particles consist of hydrophobic fumed silica, precipitated silica and clay.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,669 there is described a filling material which contains from 75 to 95 wt. % of a polypropylene glycol having a molar mass of at least 3000, and from 2 to 20 wt. % of either a hydrophilic or hydrophobic fumed silica. The filling material may additionally contain an antioxidant in order to improve temperature resistance, and an elastomer in order to reduce oil separation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,872 describes a filling material which contains from 75 to 95 parts of a liquid to semi-solid polyol having a molar mass of at least 4000, small amounts of an unsaturated compound, and from 1 to 15 wt. % of a fumed silica as thickener. The filling material may additionally contain a thermoplastic elastomer in order to reduce oil separation.
DE 38 39 596 describes a thixotropic gel and its preparation based on a synthetic hydrocarbon oil and a hydrophobic thixotropic agent. The cable gel is suitable as filling material in the production of optical fibre cables.
It is also known from the series of documents Pigmente No. 63, Degussa AG, 1995, page 28 to 30, that compressing hydrophilic fumed silica enables the silica to be incorporated into the binder more rapidly, for example using a planetary mixer or a planetary dissolver. Incorporation is understood to be the time required until the finely divided silica has disappeared completely from the surface of the binder and is wetted with the binder. Depending on the size of the batch, the dispersing device and the recipe, the incorporation time can be up to several hours and is accordingly the step that determines the speed of production of the product in many applications. Furthermore, because of the increased density of the silica, reduced dust formation of the silica is achieved. The smaller volume of the compressed silica can also be of advantage when planning the system of dispersing devices.
It is a disadvantage that the viscosity of the silica-containing binder falls in most applications as the tamped density increases. Likewise, the dispersibility of the silica deteriorates. A phenomenon which manifests itself in the form of stippling, for example, in the case of a silicone sealing composition and higher surface roughness. Both effects are significant disadvantages. For that reason, compressed hydrophilic fumed silica can be used only in relatively limited fields of application.
Accordingly, the object is to produce cable gels in which those disadvantages do not occur.


An introducer sheath has a tubular structure that is expandable and contractible to a desired diameter. In a first configuration, the tubular structure has a first diameter and a first axial length. In a second configuration, the tubular structure has a larger second diameter and a shorter second axial length. An actuator includes an inner member and an outer member. In response to relative movement between the members and the tubular structure in a first or second direction, the actuator allows the tubular structure to move to the respective between the first or second configurations. The tubular structure can be a braided structure. The members can form an everted tubular sleeve. A proximal end of the outer sleeve is movable relative a proximal end of the inner sleeve. A locking system can fix the introducer sheath at a desired diameter.

The present disclosure relates to a delivery device, including an introducer sheath for deploying, for example, a prosthesis within a body lumen or guiding interventional devices into a body lumen. It also relates to delivery device having an introducer sheath with an adjustable diameter and a mechanism for varying the diameter of the introducer sheath.
Numerous procedures have been developed that involve the percutaneous insertion of a medical device into a body lumen, such as a blood vessel or duct, of a patient's body. Such a device may be introduced into the lumen by a variety of known techniques. For example, a wire guide may be introduced into a blood vessel using the Seldinger technique. This technique involves creating a surgical opening in the vessel with a needle and inserting a wire guide into the vessel through a bore of the needle. The needle can be withdrawn, leaving the wire guide in place. A delivery device is then inserted over the wire guide and into the vessel. The delivery device may be used in conventional fashion to insert into the blood vessel a variety of medical devices, such as catheters, cardiac leads, balloons, stents, stent grafts, and the like.
For example, the delivery device may be used to deliver and deploy an expandable prosthesis, such as a stent graft, at a lesion site to treat a damaged or diseased body lumen such as a bile duct or a blood vessel. A stent graft is usually formed from a tubular body of a biocompatible graft material with one or more stents mounted into or onto the tubular body to provide support therefor. The stents may be balloon expandable stents and/or self-expanding stents. The deployment of the prosthesis into the lumen of a patient from a remote location by the use of an introducer delivery and deployment device is described in, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,435,253 to Hartley entitled "A Prosthesis and a Method and Means of Deploying a Prosthesis," which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The delivery device is configured to retain the prosthesis in a delivery configuration during delivery to the lesion site. The catheter typically includes an inner cannula spaced from an outer sheath to define a prosthesis retaining region for receiving the prosthesis. The prosthesis is loaded onto an inner cannula along a prosthesis retaining region, with an outer sheath retaining the prosthesis in the delivery configuration. After the delivery device is delivered to the lesion site, the prosthesis may be deployed, for example, with retraction of the outer sheath relative to the inner cannula away from the prosthesis to allow for expansion thereof. Accurate placement of an appropriately sized prosthesis should sufficiently cover the target lesion site for treatment and the ends of the prosthesis should be engaged with healthy tissue of the body lumen.
It would be desirable to load the appropriately sized prosthesis into an delivery device that is as small as possible. Besides the size of the prosthesis being a factor in the size selection of a delivery device, the shape and size of the body lumen can also be important. Thus, introducing a delivery device that is relatively smaller than the body lumen can avoid potential blockage of fluid or blood flow within the lumen, which can adversely affect the lumen and other parts of the body. Furthermore, the body lumen can be tortuous, thus making relatively smaller delivery devices easier to pass through the tortuous portions.
However, relatively smaller delivery devices can be problematic. For instance, substantial shear forces can be created between the prosthesis and the outer sheath when loading and/or deploying the prosthesis. Such substantial shear forces consequently will require higher pushing or retraction forces when attempting to move the outer sheath relative to the prosthesis during loading and/or deploying. The primary cause of the substantial shear forces is due to overpacking of the prosthesis within the annular space between the outer sheath and the inner cannula. For instance, substantially high overpacking can result when the prosthesis occupies greater than 70% of the annular space. Thus, with the desire to deploy a prosthesis as large as possible with an outer sheath as small as possible, such prosthesis can overfill the annular space. Such overfilling provides greater surface area contact between the prosthesis and the outer sheath and less radially inward movement from the prosthesis. In addition, frictional interference with the outer sheath can be greater than the columnar strength of the prosthesis, which can allow for deformation of the prosthesis in the longitudinal direction, thereby collapsing the prosthesis in an accordion-like fashion. Moreover, rigid portions of the prosthesis, such as the stents and/or barbs, may scrape the inner surface of the outer sheath. Scraping can form debris and thus increase the risk of introducing potential emboli into the body. Scraping can also compromise the retaining strength and weaken the outer sheath, which can allow the outer sheath to bulge undesirably to a larger delivery profile.
Thus, there remains a need to facilitate loading and/or deployment of a prosthesis within a delivery device, and in particular, to reduce the shear forces caused between a prosthesis and an introducer sheath. Further, there remains a need for an introducer sheath that can be radially movable between an expandable configuration, e.g., for reduction of shear forces, and a contracted configuration, e.g., for as small as possible delivery profile, multiple times during loading and deployment of the prosthesis and subsequent to deployment.

Delivery device having a variable diameter introducer sheath


Disclosed are a glass antenna jack for a vehicle comprising a jack connector, a jack terminal, and a locking structure engaging the jack connector and the jack terminal and a vehicle comprising the same.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a glass antenna jack of a vehicle, more particularly, to a glass antenna jack equipped with a locking structure between a connector and a terminal of the jack, which allows the connector and the terminal to be readily and firmly engaged.
2. Background
A vehicle is generally provided with an antenna for receiving signals from a broadcasting station such as AM/FM radio, TV and the like. In terms of a position to be installed and the appearance thereof, antennas can be categorized into pole antennas and glass antennas. Pole antennas are typically in shape of rod and projected from a body of a vehicle in an upright position. By contrast, as shown in FIG. 8, glass antennas are typically mounted or printed on a rear glass and/or a window glass.
Conventionally, while pole antennas have been widely used as antennas for transmitting and receiving radio waves of car telephones and portable telephones and receiving television broadcast waves, since the construction of these pole antennas requires them to protrude from the vehicle body, there have been caused drawbacks that the protrusion of the antennas is not preferable from safety and aesthetic appearance aspects and that the protruding antenna constitutes a disturbance and may be broken when washing a vehicle.
Due to this, in recent years, there have been demands for antennas with no protrusion such as glass antennas in which an antenna pattern is directly printed on a window glass of a vehicle and antennas in which a seal or sheet on which an antenna pattern is printed is affixed to a window glass of a vehicle, and those antennas have now been put to practical use.
In a conventional glass antenna system, the glass antenna is combined with a defogging or defrosting wire within a rear glass of a vehicle. Such a glass antenna system is necessarily provided with a device for coupling a printed antenna pattern, which is formed of thin conductive material like copper foil, to an electric cable via which received radio signals are transferred to a radio system of the vehicle. The device is a so-called glass antenna jack.
A glass antenna jack is typically furnished with a terminal coupled to a contact point of the antenna pattern, and a connector coupled to the electric cable.
Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, a conventional glass antenna jack is briefly described. The conventional glass antenna jack includes a jack connector 10 and a jack terminal 26, coupling between which is achieved by inserting a couple of inwardly concave plates 48 into contact point portions 50 of slit type. Specifically, the connection between the concave plates 48 and the contact point portions 50 can be readily rendered by inserting the concave plates 48 into openings of the jack terminal 26, and subsequently rotating the jack connector 10 with respect to the jack terminal 26 so that the concave plates 48 forcibly fits into the slits of the contact point portions 50.
However, in the coupling between the conventional connector and the terminal, if an inserting force applied to the connector is excessive, the concave plates of the connector can be damaged, even though the concave plates are normally coupled to the contact point portions of the terminal. Moreover, the concave plates of the connector can be easily separated from the contact point portions of the terminal.
Numerous structures of glass antenna jack have been proposed for use with vehicles. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-313513 published on Nov. 09, 2001 discloses a terminal device for a glass antenna, in which buried portions of metal legs are electrically connected to two input terminals of a four terminal circuit on a circuit board, and a connector supporting portion is provided at an upper side of a buried portion of a resin-molded main body, and electrodes of the connector are respectively connected to two output terminals of the four terminal circuit.
Further, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 1997-293550 published on Nov. 11, 1997 discloses a tap terminal comprising a base for installing a conductive metal plate which is securely connected to an antenna conductor or a heat coil formed at a window of a car, a terminal piece which is detachably connected to a connector of a lead wire connected to a power source, and a condenser which is detachably interposed between the base and the terminal piece, wherein the condenser is covered along with a part of the base and the terminal piece by a housing.
Furthermore, Korean Patent Laid-open No. 1999-021716 published on Mar. 25, 1999 discloses a terminal connecting device of a rear window glass antenna, comprising an antenna terminal which is protruded to an inner surface of a rear window glass so as to be electrically connected to the rear window glass antenna, a head lining which has a coupling hole formed at a rear place thereof so as to be placed in a position opposite to the antenna terminal and which is disposed at a lower side of a roof panel, and a connector assembly which is connected through the coupling hole of the head lining to the antenna terminal and also connected to a wiring at an inside of the head lining.
Furthermore, Korean Patent Laid-open No. 1998-076620 published on Nov. 16, 1998 discloses a terminal for a window glass antenna of vehicle, comprising a terminal housing which is formed with a plurality of terminal inserting holes respectively spaced at regular intervals and which has terminals respectively inserted into the terminal inserting holes, and a connector which has connecting terminals corresponding to the number of terminals installed in the terminal housing.
Nonetheless, the foregoing glass antenna jacks are disadvantageous in that coupling the connector and the terminal is labor-intensive work in the light of the structure thereof, which leads to decrease of the productivity. Therefore, there is a need for a glass antenna jack having an improved structure capable of securely and readily coupling the connector and the terminal.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art that is already known to a person skilled in the art.


The invention relates to a method and a receiver having control logic means for determining a target packet level of a jitter buffer adapted to receive packets with digitized signal samples, which packets are subject to delay jitter, from a packet data network. According to the invention, the jitter buffer is made adaptive to current network conditions, i.e., the nature and magnitude of the jitter observed by the receiver, by collecting statistical measures that describe these conditions. The target buffer level is determined with regard to the effect of packet losses in terms of duration of the discontinued playback of the true signal. This effect is derived from statistical measures of the network conditions as perceived by the receiving side and as reflected by a probability mass function which is continuously updated with packet inter-arrival times. The target buffer level is the result of minimization of a cost function which weights the internal buffer delay and an expected length of buffer underflow.

In packet switched networks, such as the Internet, data packets transferred by the network are subject to varying delays due to network load when transferring a packet, network path for a transferred packet, and other network conditions. Thus, data packets that are produced by a transmitter at a constant rate arrive at a receiver with variable delays. The varying delay of a data packet is mainly due to the delay inflicted by the packet network and is often referred to as jitter. The severity of the jitter can vary significantly depending on network type and current conditions; the variance of the packet delay can change with several orders of magnitude from one network type to another.
In order to reproduce an audio stream that is true to the original, a decoder must be provided with data packets at the same constant rate with which they were sent. Therefore, a device called a jitter buffer is commonly introduced in the receiver. The jitter buffer must de-jitter the incoming stream of packets and provide a constant flow of data to the decoder. This is done by holding the packets in a buffer, thus introducing a delay at the receiver, so that future packets that are subject to larger delays will have arrived before their respective time-of-use. In other words, packets are needed in the jitter buffer to prevent the buffer from underflowing, or at least minimizing the time during which the buffer is in a state of underflow. A long delay of a packet may not only result in that the buffer becomes empty, but also that the buffer may be empty for an unacceptable long time. If the buffer becomes empty, continued playback of the received signal is no longer possible and the delayed packet will be treated as a lost packet. However, a high buffer level will introduce a long delay at the receiver which is detrimental in itself for two-way human communication.
There is an inevitable trade-off in jitter buffers between buffer delay on the one hand and packet losses due to late arrivals on the other. Aiming for a low buffer level, and thus a short delay, results in a larger portion of packets being discarded since they will arrive too late for continuous playback, while a high buffer level and a long delay will be very annoying for two-way human communication.
In the prior art, attempts are often made to estimate and control an end-to-end delay, i.e. the total delay from the sound source, e.g. a microphone, to the destination, e.g. a loudspeaker. This total delay is hard to estimate and requires synchronized clocks on transmitting and receiving ends. In addition to requiring synchronized clocks, this solution suffers from the problem of sample clock drift.
The present invention addresses the problem of how to determine a jitter buffer level which provides a suitable trade-off between buffer delay and packet losses.

Method and receiver for determining a jitter buffer level


Queries executed against a materialized view can execute up to orders of magnitude faster than equivalent queries on a source (or base) table. However, although a query can reference a materialized view directly, a user (e.g., query author) may not know about a relevant materialized view. Moreover, if a source table has multiple materialized views generated, the user may not know which materialized view to reference in the query. Thus, embodiments of the present disclosure provide techniques for automatically rewriting queries directed to a source table to utilize existing materialized views.

Databases are widely used for data storage and access in computing applications. A goal of database storage is to provide enormous sums of information in an organized manner so that it can be accessed, managed, and updated. In a database, data may be organized into rows, columns, and tables. Different database storage systems may be used for storing different types of content, such as bibliographic, full text, numeric, and/or image content. Further, in computing, different database systems may be classified according to the organization approach of the database. There are many different types of databases, including relational databases, distributed databases, cloud databases, object-oriented and others.
When a user wants to query a database to extract certain information from the database, a query statement is executed against the database data. The query returns certain data according to one or more query predicates that indicate what information should be returned by the query. The query extracts specific data from the database and formats that data into a readable form. The query may be written in a language that is understood by the database, such as Structured Query Language ("SQL"), so the database systems can determine what data should be located and how it should be returned. The query may request any pertinent information that is stored within the database. If the appropriate data can be found to respond to the query, the database has the potential to reveal complex trends and activities.
However, the database may store an enormous amount of information. It can be challenging to execute queries on such an enormous amount of data because a significant amount of time and computing resources is required to scan the entire table.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A device for defogging and deicing windshields and other glass surfaces is described. The device comprises two air channels that each circumscribe a glass surface, one channel along the interior edge of the glass surface and the other along the exterior edge. Each of the channels feature numerous outlets that disperse hot air onto the glass surface, thereby blanketing the glass surface in hot air on both sides. The two channels may be incorporated into a single boot made of rubber or some other material that doubles as a gasket to hold the windshield or other window in place. An electric heating element may be incorporated into the device so that warmed engine coolant passing through a traditional vehicle heater system coil is unnecessary. Several such devices may be incorporated into a vehicle to heat each glass surface individually.

Fogging and icing are persistent problems for passenger vehicles, aircraft, watercraft, trains, residential and commercial buildings, and all other devices that incorporate glass surfaces that are exposed to significant ambient air temperature gradients. The condition commonly known as fogging is caused by condensed water vapor collecting on a glass surface due to the difference in temperature between the glass and the adjacent air. This is a common problem for many types of vehicles (including cars, trucks, aircraft, watercraft, and trains) because the inside temperature of the vehicle often must differ significantly from the outside temperature to maintain passenger comfort. For example, if the interior temperature of a car is warmer than the outside temperature (as when a car is left outside in cold weather), the inside surface of the car windshield will be cooler than the air inside the vehicle. Air in contact with the inside surface of the windshield will thus cool down through contact with the glass. The cooling of this air reduces its ability to retain moisture, and thus the moisture that is released condenses on the inside surface of the windshield. Heating the inside surface of the windshield (as through a traditional car defroster system) will vaporize this condensed water, and will also prevent condensation from again appearing on the surface while the defroster is activated. This same problem is encountered with windows in residential and commercial buildings because of the difference in outside and inside temperature.
Icing, like fogging, can also be effectively removed or prevented through the heating of a windshield or other glass surface. Typically, icing on a vehicle's windshield occurs when the vehicle is not in motion and thus must be removed before the vehicle may be safely operated. The vehicle operator must then either wait for the vehicle defroster to melt the ice (which typically requires several minutes with a traditional defroster system), or must scrape the ice manually and suffer the outside cold temperatures during the process.
A particularly dangerous situation may occur when water at or near the freezing point strikes the relatively cool windshield of a vehicle while it is in motion, such as when cold water is splashed up onto a car windshield by a passing tractor trailer. Under certain conditions, water splashed up in this manner can "flash freeze" across a windshield virtually instantaneously, blocking a driver's vision entirely. Rapid, direct heating of the ice is necessary to quickly restore the operator's vision and thereby prevent a potentially life-threatening accident.
Traditional vehicle defroster mechanisms derive heat from the vehicle's engine coolant system. Liquid coolant passing through the engine block absorbs heat, thereby removing heat from the engine. The coolant then passes through a radiator or other type of heat exchanger where the coolant's heat is expelled and the coolant is ready to be passed through the engine block again in a closed loop. To heat the air for traditional vehicle defroster systems, air is blown across a heat exchange system through which the heated engine coolant passes, thereby transferring the heat energy from the coolant to the air. This heated air is then pushed by the blower through ductwork in the dashboard of the vehicle and onto the vehicle's windshield through large vents at the base of the windshield.
Several disadvantages result from this traditional approach. First, the air passing through the blower cannot be heated until the engine coolant is warmed due to engine fuel combustion. As a result, it may be several minutes after the engine begins running before the air being blown against the vehicle windshield is sufficiently heated to have any effect on fogging or icing. Second, the heated air is usually directed against the windshield in only one or a few locations, typically near the bottom of the front windshield. Consequently, only a small portion of the windshield is initially exposed to the heated air, and the remaining portions of the windshield are only gradually heated as the heated air slowly fills the passenger compartment through one or a few restricted openings. Third, there is no means to directly heat the exterior of the windshield while the interior is being heated; instead, the windshield exterior is only heated through the conduction of heat through the glass to the exterior side. Glass is a poor conductor of heat, resulting in still more delay and wasted energy while the glass is slowly heated through from the interior side before any defogging or deicing effect is realized on the exterior of the windshield. Fourth, traditional heater systems require a substantial amount of ductwork and a number of vents stretching through the passenger compartment to provide heat to occupants. Most vehicle heater systems provide uneven heat to the passenger compartment, with the front portion of a vehicle heating first and those passengers in the rear remaining uncomfortable until convection finally carries heat to the rear of the passenger compartment. Somewhat more even heating may be achieved through the use of additional ductwork and vents directed into the rear portion of the passenger compartment, but initial heating is still concentrated only in proximity to those handful of vents. Moreover, the additional ductwork required to deliver heat to rear passengers is bulky and thus reduces the passenger and cargo space within the vehicle.
Several attempts to improve the performance of traditional heater and defroster systems have been made. U.S. Pat. No. 2,304,691, issued to F. C. Hund, discloses a windshield defroster for an aircraft that distributes heated air along all edges of the windshield. Hund '691 teaches a double-pane windshield with the heated air being introduced between the panes of glass.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,672,735, issued to J. Fusselman, discloses a device to prevent condensation on refrigerated display case windows. Fusselman '735 teaches that a series of air outlets appear above and below the display case window, and distribute hot air across the exterior surface of the window. The display case's refrigeration unit provides the necessary heat for the unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,718,037, issued to A. R. Lintern, discloses a finned tube heater and defroster unit for a vehicle. Lintern '037 teaches a long tube extending beneath the length of a windshield, through which hot liquid from the engine coolant system is passed. The tube comprises a plurality of fins extending therefrom, over which air is blown from one end of the tube. The air is heated as it passes over the finned tube, and the fins direct the air upward against the inside surface of the windshield.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,173,586, issued to Peter N. Gold, discloses an electric heating attachment to free frozen windshield wipers resting at the bottom portion of the exterior of a vehicle windshield. The Gold '586 device extends along the bottom of a vehicle windshield and contacts the blade of windshield wipers resting against it.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,476, issued to John B. Fresch et al., teaches a supplementary vehicle heater that is placed in-line with a traditional vehicle heater system. The Fresch et al. '476 device comprises a polymer block that heats in reaction to the passage of electrical current therethrough. The device also has a number of holes through which air may pass. As air is pushed from the vehicle heater blower through the passages in the heated polymer block, the air is heated. This device is intended to heat air prior to the heating of engine coolant during the first few minutes after the vehicle is started.
None of these devices provide an ideal solution to the problem of heating, defrosting, and deicing within a passenger vehicle. In particular, none of these devices are useful to heat the interior and exterior of a vehicle windshield or other glass surface simultaneously, and therefore cannot quickly and efficiently remove fogging or icing no matter which surface of the windshield the fogging and icing appears on. Moreover, none of these devices effectively solve the special and extremely dangerous problem of "flash icing" which, as described above, may completely blind the operator of a vehicle while that vehicle is in motion. The slow conduction of heat from the inside of a windshield to the outside cannot remove ice quickly enough to safely clear the vision of the vehicle's operator. Finally, none of these devices are useful to heat the interior passenger compartment of a vehicle evenly and efficiently without the necessity of the multitude of vents and ductwork found in cars utilizing traditional heater systems.


A method of forming an optically active region on a silicon substrate includes the steps of epitaxially growing a silicon buffer layer on the silicon substrate and epitaxially growing a SiGe cladding layer having a plurality of arrays of quantum dots disposed therein, the quantum dots being formed from a compound semiconductor material having a lattice mismatch with the silicon buffer layer. The optically active region may be incorporated into devices such as light emitting diodes, laser diodes, and photodetectors.

Optoelectronic devices are becoming increasingly important to a number of industries such as, for example, the telecommunication industry. Exemplary optoelectronic-based devices include laser diods (LD), light emitting diodes (LEDs), and photodetectors (PDs). These devices are fabricated with an optically active region made of semiconducting materials that have different lattice constants than the substrate on which they are located. Silicon (Si) is a well known substrate material used in integrated circuit technologies and has developed a mature technological base with respect to its use in fabricating integrated circuits. Unfortunately, silicon is unable to emit light and therefore cannot be used in the "active" portion of optoelectronic devices for the emission or detection of optical radiation.
There have been unsuccessful efforts in the past to integrate compound semiconductor materials that are optically active (e.g., they emit optical radiation) with silicon. The primary obstacle in integrating compound semiconductor materials in silicon are the crystalline defects produced caused by the growth of the compound semiconductor materials on the silicon substrate. The defects are the result of the relatively large lattice mismatch (i.e., different lattice constants) between the adjacent compound semiconductor materials and the underlying silicon substrate. For instance, there is an approximately 11% lattice mismatch between InAs and Si, and a 4% lattice mismatch between GaAs and Si. InGaAs is an alloy of two compound semiconducting material (InAs and GaAs) that emits light at a wavelength ranging from 0.8 μm to above 1.5 μm—the wavelength for most of the optical fiber network that serves current telecommunication needs (e.g., the internet and other WANs).
InGaAs, when epitaxially grown on Si <001> substrates, is known to have a critical layer thickness on the order of 10 angstroms. Thus, the thickness of InGaAs which can be grown epitaxially on a Si substrate is below 10 angstroms. In comparison, the thickness of a typical quantum well laser formed from InGaAs is on the order of 2000 angstroms. Consequently, dislocation in InGaAs has been unavoidable. Dislocation introduced by epitaxial film relaxation severely limits the performance and useful life of optoelectronic devices including, for example, semiconductor lasers.
There thus is a need for a device and method in which compound semiconductor materials are employed on silicon substrates. Preferably, the device can be created by epitaxially forming the optically active region of optoelectronic devices on a silicon substrate. Preferably, the device may be formed with a very small or limited amount of optically active material.

Quantum dot based optoelectronic device and method of making same

The Regents of the University of California


A software update manager running on an information handling system over a type 1 hypervisor operating system retrieves a virtual firmware update through a primary network interface. The virtual firmware update executes over the hypervisor to initiate a download of a firmware update to a management processor of the information handling system through a management network interface. The firmware update executes to update the firmware of the information handling system with an update process managed by an end user through the primary network interface and the software update manager.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of information handling firmware maintenance, and more particularly to in-band hypervisor-managed firmware updates.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
In order to more effectively manage information handling system resources, some enterprises have turned to virtual machines. Virtual machines use hardware virtualization techniques to support multiple operating system guests running on a common host hardware platform. A virtual machine manager, also known as a hypervisor, presents guest operating systems with a virtual operating platform to manage the execution of the guest operating systems. The hypervisor is essentially a type of operating system that coordinates physical processing resources to support operation of virtual machines in a secure manner. A type 1 hypervisor runs directly on the host platform hardware to control the hardware and manage the guest operating systems, which run as a second level over the hypervisor. Some examples of commercially-available type 1 hypervisors are the VMware ESX and ESXi hypervisors. A type 2 hypervisor runs at a second level within another operating system so that guest virtual machine operating systems run over the hypervisor at a third level. Dividing physical processing resources into multiple virtual machines provides efficient use of resources while introducing only minimal overhead to processing operations. Each guest operating system runs as a separate kernel on the host physical processing resources to provide secure separation of virtual machines from each other.
One difficulty with virtualization using a type 1 hypervisor is that the security measures of the hypervisor that separate virtual machines from each other tend to limit maintenance operations performed by in-band communications through the hypervisor to the physical processing resources. Hypervisor-based update tools, such as VMware Update Manager, allow updates to virtual machine software, such as patch maintenance to operating systems; however, security considerations limit access by tools running over the hypervisor to the hardware and firmware of the underlying physical host system. In some instances, installed firmware versions are not visible via hypervisor application programming interfaces, so hypervisor update tools are not able to determine what firmware is installed versus what is available, making it difficult to obtain reporting on systems that need updates. Instead, information technology professionals typically have to access the physical host system by shutting down the hypervisor or through an out-of-band network interface to perform firmware updates, such as re-flashing the BIOS or other firmware instructions. Physical access is performed with a keyboard that interfaces directly with the system or with a remote access keyboard supported by a chassis or server management processor, such as a baseboard management controller, a lifecycle controller and/or a chassis management controller. Remote access is supported via an out-of-band network interface used for system maintenance that is separate from normal in-band operations performed by the host. Performing firmware updates separate from software updates increases the complexity of system management and increases the risk that necessary updates will go undone for decreased system security.

In-band hypervisor-managed firmware updates


A system for adjusting keystoning in a projector may include sensing using an imaging device at least two boundaries defining a projection screen and determining a transformation to adjust the keystoning of an image projected from the projector. The image may be modified from the projector in accordance with the transformation and projecting the modified image from the projector, wherein the imaging device and the projector are maintained in a fixed relationship with respect to each other.

This invention relates generally to image projectors, and more particularly, to modifying projected images.
Portable digital image projectors are common. Such digital image projectors, while connected to a personal computer or other image/video source, sit on a surface and are directed at a projection surface to show a "slide" presentation or a video presentation. Many of these projectors use transmissive or reflective liquid crystal displays, and typically only have a single main lens. Other such projectors use different imaging devices, such as digital micro-mirrors, and may include more than one lens. The projectors can display images one at the time or as a sequence of images, as in the case of video.
These digital projectors are typically designed so that undistorted rectangular images are projected on the projection surface when the projector is placed horizontally on a level support surface with the projector's optical axis lined up perpendicular to the projection surface. However, if the alignment and orientation is modified, then the resulting image on the projection surface may be distorted. In many cases the image will appear as a trapezoid, and in other cases an arbitrarily shaped quadrilateral. The non-rectangular shape of the resulting projected image is referred to as keystoning.
One technique to adjust for keystoning is to tediously adjust the physical position of the projector by moving it around, tilting and rotating it, until a near rectangular image is displayed. However, in many situations, it may not be feasible to sufficiently physically adjust the position of the projector. For example, the projector may need to be positioned above or below the display surface for proper image presentation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,548,357, entitled "Keystoning and focus correction for an overhead projector," describes a system where a test slide is displayed. A user then identifies line pairs that appear to be parallel to each other. The user identified line pair activates a distortion correction program that uses the oblique angle between the horizontal plane through the projector and the viewing screen. This is a burdensome task for a user to correctly perform.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,795,046, entitled "Method for pre-compensating an asymmetrical picture in a projection system for displaying a picture," describe a system where the projection angle, and the trapezoidal error, is compensated for by the user entering positional information into the system via a keyboard. The determination and inputting of positional information is difficult and burdensome for the user.
U.S. patent Publication 2002/0021418 A1, entitled "Automatic Keystone Correction For Projectors With Arbitrary Orientation", describes a projection system that includes a pair of tilt sensors and a camera. The system using data from the tilt sensors and the camera warps the projected image to display an image that is rectangular. Unfortunately, the tilt sensors tend to be expensive and the system requires complex re-calibration when the projector lens moves, e.g., when the projector is zoomed and/or focused. This inherent complexity increases the expense of the resulting projector.
The foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Projection system that adjusts for keystoning


Aircraft systems including cascade thrust reversers are disclosed herein. An aircraft system in accordance with one embodiment includes a cascade thrust reverser having a fixed reverser ramp and a nozzle outer wall section at least partially aft of the fixed reverser ramp. The nozzle outer wall section is movable between a deployed position and a stowed position. The nozzle outer wall section includes a forward portion with a leading edge section. The fixed reverser ramp has a portion forward of and adjacent to the nozzle outer wall section when the nozzle outer wall section is in the stowed position. The portion of the fixed reverser ramp has a first slope. The forward portion of the nozzle outer wall section that is aft of the leading edge section has a second slope different than the first slope.

Jet aircraft, such as commercial passenger and military aircraft, include nacelles for housing the jet engines. The nacelles couple the engines to the wings and include thrust reversers to reduce the aircraft's speed after landing. FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a section of an aft portion of a conventional nacelle 10. The nacelle 10 includes a fan casing 20 and a thrust reverser 30 aft of the fan casing 20. The fan casing 20 has a nozzle outer wall section 22 and a nozzle inner wall section 24 positioned radially inward of the outer wall section 22. The thrust reverser 30 includes a nozzle outer wall section 40 and a nozzle inner wall section 50 positioned radially inward of the outer wall section 40. The nozzle outer wall sections 22 and 40 and the nozzle inner wall sections 24 and 50 of the fan casing 20 and thrust reverser 30 define a nozzle 58 through which fan gas flows to produce forward thrust. The nozzle outer wall section 40 in the thrust reverser 30 includes a forward portion 42 with a leading edge section 44 and a blocker door 46. The blocker door 46 is movable between a stowed position (shown in FIG. 1) and a deployed position.
The conventional thrust reverser 30 further includes a translating cowling 32 coupled to the nozzle outer wall section 40 and a plurality of guide vanes 70 positioned operably between the translating cowling 32 and the nozzle outer wall section 40. The translating cowling 32 and the nozzle outer wall section 40 are movable as a unit between a stowed position (shown in FIG. 1) and a deployed position. In the deployed position, the cowling 32 and the outer wall section 40 are positioned aft of the guide vanes 70 so that the guide vanes 70 are exposed to gas flow in the nozzle 58 and the ambient environment. When the cowling 32, outer wall section 40, and blocker door 46 are in the deployed position, the blocker door 46 obstructs gas flow through the nozzle 58 so that at least a portion of the flow is diverted radially outward through the guide vanes 70. When the cowling 32, outer wall section 40, and blocker door 46 are in the stowed position, fan gas flows through the nozzle 58 to produce forward thrust. The nozzle outer wall section 22 of the fan casing 20 and the nozzle outer wall section 40 of the thrust reverser 30 form a generally smooth flow line and aerodynamically continuous surface to maximize the forward thrust produced by the engine. More specifically, at the transition between the fan casing 20 and the thrust reverser 30, the leading edge section 44 and/or the forward portion 42 of the nozzle outer wall section 40 is generally aligned with and parallel to the nozzle outer wall section 22 when the nozzle outer wall section 40 is in the stowed position.
One drawback of conventional thrust reversers is that they require large actuators and tracks for moving the translating cowlings and the nozzle outer wall sections between the stowed and deployed positions. The actuators and tracks are heavy and require significant space within the nacelle. Typically, the tracks project from the cowling and so the nacelle includes a fairing to enclose the tracks. The track fairing and the weight of the components reduces the performance of the aircraft nacelle. Therefore, a need exists to reduce the weight and size of a thrust reverser's actuator and tracks.


A system and method for detecting the under ringing and/or sliding of merchandise by a cashier in a retail establishment is disclosed including the use of a system employing many cash registers and cashiers. The cash register system compiles raw cash register data which includes total items sold and dollar sales of the items sold by each cashier on each day a cashier works. A cash register database stores the cash register data in a medium for processing on a central computer. A computer program including instruction for averaging data is embodied in computer-readable forms to determine a daily average price of the items sold by each cashier per cashier day and a store average item price representing the average of all cashier average item prices of all qualifying cashiers during a specified period. A cashier database is generated which includes the daily cashier average item prices. Comparative instructions analyze the daily cashier average item price for each cashier and the store average item price to determine a daily deviation of each cashier from the store average item price, and for calculating a total cashier deviation for each cashier by algebraic summing of the daily deviations of each cashier. Generating a report to identify a cashier deviation which is statistically significantly different from other cashiers.

This invention relates to cashier exception report information systems for retail establishments, and more particularly, to a method and system for detecting merchandise under ringing and sliding by cashiers in retail establishments employing electronic cash register systems.
Typical electronic cash register data collection systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,189,607 and 4,502,120 which collect cash register data from a plurality of electronic cash registers at which cashiers are employed. Previously, exception report information systems for retail establishment have been known which used the electronically collected cash register data, and calculate the average transaction price for each cashier. Exception reports are then generated comparing the average transaction price by cashier. Additionally, the average transaction price is commonly calculated by store in a chain of stores. The exception report details any deviation of a cashier and/or a store beyond a normal deviation. The average transaction price for the individual cashiers is averaged to provide an average store transaction price. The individual cashier transaction prices are then compared to the store average. Any cashier who deviates more than 30% from the store average is suspect. This will identify a cashier who possibly is under ringing merchandise. Suspected under ringing can then be readily proven by an audit. However, the problem arises in that analysis of the average transaction price for the cashier does not take into effect the differences in the days and shifts which the cashiers work. The average transaction price may vary itself on the particular day and time of purchase. Also, the prior systems have not been satisfactory in detecting the sliding of merchandise. The sliding of merchandise means that the cashier passes merchandise through the checkout without ringing a price. When merchandise bypasses the cash register, there is no paper audit trail.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and system for detecting the under ringing and/or sliding of merchandise by cashiers at a retail establishment in an effective and reliable manner. In particular, an object of the invention is to eliminate the variances in the average transaction price of cashiers caused by time and shift differences to more reliably detect merchandise under ringing, and to provide a method and system for detecting the sliding of merchandise.

System and method for detecting merchandise sliding and under ringing at cash register


When a small-size dummy has collided against a vehicle and once the head of the small-size dummy hits the deployed external airbag at a pre-determined velocity, the inner pressure of the deployed external airbag is set to a characteristic such that the inner pressure takes a predetermined maximum level value capable of not only preventing the dummy from bouncing off the airbag but also preventing the head of the dummy from hitting the bottom of the airbag. When a medium-size dummy has collided against the vehicle, the inner pressure of the deployed external airbag is set to a characteristic such that the inner pressure decreases away from the maximum level value at a predetermined decrease rate to prevent the medium-size dummy from bouncing off the airbag.

Collision of an external obstacle or external object, such as a pedestrian, against a front portion of a vehicle may take various forms depending on the case. It is generally conceivable that an external object first collides against a front bumper or the like of a vehicle (this first collision will hereinafter be referred to as "primary collision") and subsequently collides against another portion of the vehicle (this subsequent collision will hereinafter be referred to as "secondary collision").
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-90812, for example, discloses a vehicular external airbag apparatus and method for deploying the vehicular external airbag, in accordance with which the external airbag is inflated and developed or deployed, upon primary collision of an external obstacle or object, to cover the front outside of the vehicle, such as the outer surfaces of the front pillars and front windshield, so as to lessen or cushion an impact caused by a secondary collision of the external object against the front outside of the vehicle.
FIGS. 10 and 11 are explanatory of the vehicular external airbag apparatus and method for deploying the vehicular external airbag disclosed in the above-identified No. 2004-90812 publication. Specifically, FIG. 10 shows a vehicle 500 equipped with the vehicular external airbag apparatus 510, and FIG. 11 is a sectional side view of the vehicular external airbag apparatus 510.
The conventional vehicular external airbag apparatus 510 includes an external airbag 511 to be inflated and deployed along the outer surfaces of the front windshield 501 and other part adjoining the front windshield 501 of the vehicle 500 (see FIG. 10), an inflator 512 for producing high-pressure gas to inflate the airbag 511, and a storage case 513 for storing the airbag 511 in a folded position and storing the inflator 512 as well.
Upon primary collision of an external object (not shown) against a front bumper 502 of the vehicle 500, the high-pressure gas is produced from the inflator 512 to inflate and deploy the airbag 511 along the outer surfaces of the front windshield 501 and other part adjoining the front windshield 501, so as to cushion an impact caused by a secondary collision of the external object against another portion of the vehicle 100.
Further, as illustrated in FIG. 11, the airbag 511 has a vent hole 514, and an airbag pressure release mechanism 515 that lets out the gas from the airbag 511 to the atmosphere through the vent hole 514 once the inner pressure of the airbag 511 reaches a predetermined level value. When the inner pressure of the airbag 511 has reached the predetermined level value, for instance, as the external object collides and presses against the deployed airbag 511, the airbag pressure release mechanism 515 causes the vent hole 514 to open. As a consequence, the gas within the airbag 511 is allowed to escape through the vent hole 514 to the atmosphere.
Form of the secondary collision of the external object against the outer surface of the vehicle 500 varies from one case to another. For example, a position and time at which the external object comes into the secondary collision against the inflated and deployed airbag 511 differ depending on the size (weight included) of the external object and colliding velocity of the external object coming into the secondary collision; for example, if pedestrians are assumed as possible colliding external objects, each pedestrian has a different height and weight. As generally known, the colliding velocity at which a relatively tall pedestrian comes into the secondary collision is lower than the colliding velocity at which a shorter pedestrian comes into the secondary collision, and hence the time point at which the tall pedestrian comes into the secondary collision tends to be later than the time point at which the shorter pedestrian comes into the secondary collision.
For such reasons, it is preferable that arrangements be made for sufficiently cushioning the impact on the external object irrespective of the size (weight included) and colliding velocity of the external object coming into the secondary collision.
As also generally known, the time point at which an external object comes into the secondary collision after the primary collision against a vehicle differs depending on a traveling velocity of the vehicle. Namely, the lower the traveling velocity of the vehicle, the later the time point of the secondary collision. Thus, it is also preferable that arrangements be made for sufficiently cushioning the impact on the external object irrespective of the traveling velocity of the vehicle at the time point of the primary collision.

Method for setting inner pressure of vehicular external airbag, and vehicular external airbag system


There is provided a process to recover phthalic anhydride from a plastic material which contains a phthalate ester as a plasticizer comprising the steps of:. (a) heating the plastic material so that the plastic material is gasified to produce a first product,. (b) contacting the first product with alumina catalyst so that the product is catalytically cracked to produce a first catalytically cracked product comprising phthalic anhydride; and. (c) recovering phthalic anhydride from the first catalytically cracked product.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process of cracking a plastic material into useful components and recovering them. In addition, the present invention also relates to an apparatus of carrying out the process according to the present invention. The term "plastic material" is intended to mean, in addition to, a plastic material such as a general-purpose plastic material and an engineering plastic material, a rubber material. Such a plastic material may be of any type, for example, a waste material.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. 53-60974 describes a process in which a waste plastic material such as a polyvinyl chloride plastic material is supplied into a retort, which is heated to a temperature of not higher than 350.degree. C. so as to thermally decompose the material; a distilled organic material comprising a plasticizer and its cracked materials are burnt off while produced chlorine gas is recovered; and activated carbon is recovered from a residue comprising carbonaceous material after cracking.
When a chlorine containing plastic material such as a polyvinyl chloride is thermally decomposed and formed chlorine gas is recovered as described above, effective source utilization is achieved by reusing the recovered chlorine gas. However, since a plasticizer mainly comprising a phthalate ester contained in the plastic material cannot be effectively cracked, it is burnt off, for example, in a low temperature gasification combustion process.
Thus, there is a problem that an industrial useful material such as phthalic anhydride which constitutes the phthalic ester plasticizer cannot be utilized by the process as described above, so that not only sources are wasted but also such an effective material is degraded due to contamination by the plasticizer and its cracked components. In addition, an aliphatic hydrocarbon produced with cracking of the plasticizer such as octanol is reacted with a chlorine compound such as hydrogen chloride from the plastic material, whereby a chlorinated hydrocarbon such as octyl chloride is produced of which disposal causes a problem.

Process of recovering useful material through cracking of plastic material


A circuit assembly includes multiple substrate with a regions of embedded signal processing circuitry can be connected to a region of adjustable signal processing circuitry and a cavity formed through an area of the substrate layers to expose signal connection terminals. These signal connection terminals are connected to the embedded signal processing circuitry and/or to the customizable circuitry and enables the addition of a circuit element to the assembly after the bonding of the substrate layers and enables the connection of that added element to the signal processing circuitry and to the adjustable processing circuitry.

The development of planar transmission media in the early 1950's had a major impact on microwave circuit and component packaging technology. The engineering of the microwave printed circuit and the supporting analytical theories for stripline and microstrip occurred at a rapid pace. The early years of stripline circuit design were devoted almost entirely to the design of passive circuits such as directional couplers, power dividers, filters, and antenna feed networks. Early implementations were housed in bulky metal housings and connected by coaxial connectors.
To reduce size and weight, case-less and connector-less couplers were developed. These later implementations were sometimes referred to as "filmbrids" and included laminated stripline assemblies bonded together by fusion, or with thermoplastic or thermoset films. Further refinements continued in areas such as the dielectric materials used in these devices and the microwave-circuit fabrication process itself. A historical perspective on the development and applications of microwave integrated circuits, can be found in "Microwave Integrated Circuits—An Historical Perspective", H. Howe, Jr., IEEE Trans. MTT-S, Vol. MTT-32, pp. 991-996; September 1984; and "Microwave Printed Circuits—The Early Years", R. M. Barrett, IEEE Trans. MTT-S, Vol. MTT-32, pp. 983-990; September 1984.
Stripline and microstrip components have been integrated for various applications in housings and packages, as well as monolithically on a common substrate. Methods of integration and packaging affect the system interface and installation, as well as the module's ability to handle post-processing temperatures (i.e., post-manufacture of the stripline or microstrip component), and the module's operating thermal management ability (i.e., its heat transfer ability). Common techniques for integrating components call for bonding them together using, e.g., epoxies, adhesives and solder. In some cases, a module that uses epoxies, adhesives, solder and/or other bonding agents will be subject to subsequent processing steps exposing the module to high temperatures or other processing conditions. These subsequent processing steps must be compatible with the bonding agent and material used in forming the modules. For example, when a module is formed using conventional epoxies, adhesives, and solders, high temperature post-processing may need to be avoided as it may cause deterioration in module bonding.
Planar signal coupling and processing modules that can be subject to, and retain their integrity under, a wider range of manufacturing processes are desired. Accordingly, there exists a need to integrate coupler circuitry, DC blocking structures, impedance matching networks, bias decoupling structures and RF load terminations into a modular planar structure that will be able to withstand, e.g., high temperature processing or other processing steps that the module may be subject to after its manufacture. Such processing may occur, e.g., when the microwave module is integrated with other components in a circuit assembly. Furthermore, there exist a need to have coupling circuitry that can be easily customized by the addition of components post-manufacture of the coupling assembly.


A pulse generator which, by generating a carrier wave having a certain frequency over a predetermined unit duration time, generates a modulated pulse signal, having a pulse width regulated by the unit duration time, which bears information contained in a baseband signal, includes: a pulse width adjustment section which adjusts the pulse width by adjusting the unit duration time of the modulated pulse signal in accordance with a supplied pulse width control signal.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a pulse generator, a communication device and a pulse generation method which are applied to, for example, a wireless communication system using a pulse.
2. Related Art
Recently, wireless terminal devices such as a mobile phone and a wireless LAN have grown dramatically in popularity, and a frequency band used in communication therein has also extended to a GHz band. For this reason, there is a situation in which it is difficult to use a new frequency band for communication.
Under this kind of situation, a communication method using an impulse-like pulse and whose width is very narrow (for example, around 1 ns), has drawn attention as a new method of using frequency resources.
As this kind of communication method using the pulse, for example, a communication method described in JP-A-10-508725 (Abstract and FIG. 10) (hereafter referred to as Patent Document 1) has been proposed. In this communication method using the pulse, unlike a signal transmission using a normal continuous wave, an information transmission is carried out by means of an intermittent energy transmission and reception. This kind of communication method using the pulse, being of low power consumption and likely to achieve a miniaturization of the device, is suitable for a mobile device such as the mobile phone.
Also, the width of the pulse used to bear the information transmitted by means of the communication method using the pulse is very narrow, as heretofore described, and consequently, a frequency band of a frequency spectrum of the pulse becomes wider than in communication using the normal continuous wave, dispersing a signal energy.
As a result thereof, a signal energy per unit frequency band is minimized, there is less fear of causing interference with another communication system, and a sharing of the frequency band is taken to be possible.
However, a case in which another communication system is in proximity is not limited to this. For example, in a kind of case in which a communication system using the pulse and the other communication system are mixed in an identical casing of an electronic device, it may happen that communication between two-way devices in the communication system using the pulse exerts interference on the other communication system. In the same way, it may happen that the communication suffers interference from the other communication system.
Focusing attention on the heretofore described problem, a proposition for minimizing an interference signal directed to another device has also been made, for example, as shown in JP-A-2004-336764 (Paragraphs 0006 to 0013) (hereafter referred to as Patent Document 2).
That is, a technology of, in order to minimize power while guaranteeing a communication quality to some extent, detecting a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) or a bit error rate (BER), and changing a coding rate, a modulation order (BPSK, QPSK), a pulse interval (a clock speed) or transmission power, is disclosed in Patent Document 2.
However, although the technology disclosed in Patent Document 2 is one which adapts a technique, which is also applied to a heretofore known wireless communication method which makes the coding rate, modulation order (BPSK, QPSK) or clock speed variable, to the communication using the pulse, in practice, it being insufficient as a measure against an interference wave in communication using a pulse having a very wide bandwidth, a possibility of a band used for that communication system extending into a band used by another communication cannot be eliminated.

Pulse generator, communication device, and pulse generation method


A capping layer (118) is used during an anneal to form fully silicided NiSi gate electrodes (120). The capping layer (118) comprises a material with an affinity for boron, such as TiN. The capping layer (118) serves as a boron trap that reduces the interface boron concentration for PMOS transistors without reducing the interface arsenic concentration for NMOS transistors.

Metal gate electrodes are being investigated to replace polysilicon in order to solve problems of poly-depletion effects and boron penetration for future CMOS devices. Traditionally, a polysilicon gate electrode with an overlying silicide has been used for the gate electrodes in CMOS devices. However, as device feature size continues to shrink, poly depletion becomes a serious issue. Accordingly, metal gates are being proposed. However, in order to optimize Vt in high-performance devices, the metal gates need tunable work functions for NMOS and PMOS devices similar to present polysilicon gate technology, requiring the work functions of metal gates ranging from 4.1˜4.4 eV for NMOS and 4.8˜5.1 eV for PMOS (see, B. Cheng, B. Maiti, S. Samayedam, J. Grant, B. Taylor, P. Tobin, J. Mogab, IEEE Intl. SOI Conf Proc., pp. 91–92, 2001). Several methods have been suggested for tuning the work functions. Metal inter-diffusion gate based on diffusion between two metals during thermal reaction, yields two work function values that are strongly dependent on the metal material properties. Nitrogen implantation into a single metal has also been suggested to tune the work functions.
Recently, fully silicided metal gates have been demonstrated based on the extension of existing self-aligned silicide (SALICIDE) technology. In this approach, polysilicon is deposited over the gate dielectric. Ni is deposited over the polysilicon and reacted to completely consume the polysilicon resulting in a fully silicided metal gate rather than a deposited metal gate. The fully silicided metal gate provides a metal gate with the least perturbation to the conventional process and avoids contamination issues. Furthermore, poly doping has been shown to affect the work function of NiSi metal gates. Methods for improving the performance of fully silicided NiSi gates are needed for CMOS applications.

NiSi metal gate stacks using a boron-trap


In an open magnetic circuit type laminated coil component having a laminate formed by laminating a magnetic layer and a non-magnetic layer or a low magnetic permeability layer and a coil conductor disposed in the laminate, a zirconium oxide is included in the non-magnetic layer or the low magnetic permeability layer forming the laminate. The content of the zirconium oxide in the low magnetic permeability layer is in the range of about 0.02 wt % to about 1.0 wt %. A zirconium oxide is also included in the magnetic layer in a proportion of less than about 1.0 wt %. As the magnetic layer, a material including Ni—Cu—Zn ferrite as a main component is preferably used. As the non-magnetic layer or the low magnetic permeability layer, a material including Cu—Zn ferrite as a main component is preferably used.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laminated coil component, such as a laminated inductor, and more particularly, to an open magnetic circuit type laminated coil component including a coil conductor that is disposed inside a laminate in which a magnetic layer and a non-magnetic layer or a low magnetic permeability layer are laminated.
2. Description of the Related Art
Laminated coil components including a coil conductor that is disposed in a laminate formed by laminating a plurality of coil conductor patterns and a plurality of magnetic ceramic layers are widely used. Among the laminated coil components, a closed magnetic circuit type laminated coil component has problems in that, when a superposed direct current is gradually increased, an inductance value is substantially constant or gradually decreases until the superposed direct current reaches a certain current value, but, after exceeding the certain current value, magnetic saturation arises which sharply reduces the inductance value.
In order to solve the problems, an open magnetic circuit type laminated coil component is known in which a non-magnetic ceramic layer is inserted in a laminate, in which magnetic material ceramic layers (magnetic layer) are laminated, near the center of a coil as viewed in the lamination direction (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-311944).
The open magnetic circuit type laminated coil component of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-311944 includes a spiral coil L formed by electrically connecting a plurality of coil conductor patterns 55 is built into a laminate 60 formed by laminating magnetic material ceramic layers as shown in FIG. 9. The laminate 60 has a coil portion 51 which is a region in which the spiral coil L is disposed and outer layer portions 52 and 53 laminated outside the coil portion 51. A non-magnetic ceramic layer 54 is disposed at the approximate center of the coil L in the lamination direction of the laminate 60. Moreover, external electrodes 56 and 57 connected to the spiral coil L are disposed in the laminate 60.
In the laminated coil component as described above, the magnetic flux φ generated by the spiral coil L crosses the non-magnetic ceramic layer 54 which prevents magnetic saturation.
However, the open magnetic circuit type laminated coil component in which the non-magnetic ceramic layer 54 is inserted into the laminate 60 in which the magnetic material ceramic layers (magnetic layer) are laminated as described above is produced through a process of firing a laminate in which a laminated magnetic layer and a non-magnetic layer are laminated. The open magnetic circuit type laminated coil component has problems in that the interface between the layers suffers from cracking, chipping, peeling, and other defects, and thus, the properties deteriorate due to different shrinkage behaviors, such as a shrinkage starting temperature or a shrinkage rate, of the layers in a process of firing the magnetic layer (magnetic ceramic layer) and the non-magnetic layer (non-magnetic ceramic layer).
For example, in a firing process after the magnetic layer on which the coil conductor pattern 55 is printed and the non-magnetic layer 54 are laminated in a desired order, the non-magnetic layer is usually sintered and shrunk earlier than the magnetic layer. Therefore, there is a problem in that cracking, chipping, peeling, and other defects, are likely to occur at the interface (particularly at the side of the magnetic layer) between the non-magnetic layer 54 and the magnetic layer that is sintered later than the non-magnetic layer.
Moreover, a laminated chip component has been proposed in which magnetic layers are laminated and whose mechanical strength is increased by blending a zirconium oxide in a proportion of 0.01 wt % to 1.2 wt % in Ni—Cu—Zn ferrite which is a magnetic material (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 7-57922).
However, the laminated chip component has a closed magnetic circuit structure in which only magnetic layers are laminated, is likely to be magnetically saturated, and is limited to attempting to increase direct current superposition characteristics. Therefore, it is problematic for the laminated chip component to be unable to fully satisfy various demands in terms of properties that are particular to the laminated coil component.


Embodiments are disclosed that relate to hover detection in interactive display devices. One embodiment provides an interactive display device comprising a display panel configured to display an image on an interactive surface, an imaging optical wedge disposed adjacent to the display panel, an image sensor configured to capture an image of an object located in front of the interactive surface and spaced from the interactive surface by capturing the image through the imaging optical wedge, a logic subsystem, and a data-holding subsystem comprising instructions executable by the logic subsystem to operate the display panel and the image sensor, and to detect a hover input based upon one or more images received from the image sensor.

An interactive display device, such as surface computing device, may be configured to allow a user to interact with the device via a touch-interactive display surface, rather than, or in addition to, peripheral input and output devices such as keyboards, cursor control devices, and monitors. A variety of touch-sensing mechanisms may be used to sense touch in an interactive display device, including but not limited to capacitive, resistive, and optical mechanisms. An optical touch-sensing mechanism may utilize one or more cameras to acquire images of the touch-sensitive surface, thereby allowing the detection of fingers and other objects touching the touch-sensitive surface in such images.

Hover detection in an interactive display device


A suspension arm assembly including at least two members relatively rotatable about each other at a joint, with at least one of the joints comprising an infinite rotation joint. The infinite rotation joint allows the members at the infinite rotation joint to have unlimited rotation relative to one another. The infinite rotation joint is configured to pass at least an optical signal therethrough. The infinite rotation joint includes a stator and a rotor. At least two portions of the infinite rotation joint are separable and can automatically form a unit when adjacent arms are connected together such that the infinite rotation joint can be separated into the at least two portions. The at least two portions are configured to be automatically connected to allow the optical signal to pass therethrough once the at least two portions are engaged.

Surgical monitors have been used in operating rooms to provide images to surgeons in the room. Likewise, other wired devices, such as surgical lights, speakers, joysticks, keyboards and cameras, have been used in operating rooms to provide surgical information to a surgeon or other person in the operating room (e.g., images from a camera or patient vital information). Such devices receive and/or provide signals and power to and/or from various supports mounted or provided in the operating room, thereby requiring wiring to extend through supports for such devices to the devices. Such wiring arrangements have necessitated that the rotation of joints of the supports be limited (e.g., using stops to limit rotation) to allow the wiring to extend fully through the supports without subjecting the wiring to excessive and damaging twisting of the wiring. Alternatively, if the rotation of the joints allowed for a larger range of rotation, such arrangements do not allow for a large data transfer rate through the supports to the devices. Thus, there is a need for accommodating wiring in a way which will allow for a large data transfer rate while simultaneously allowing the supports to be fully and easily adjustable.

Separable infinite rotation fiber optic and slip ring rotary joint for suspension arm


Proposed is a motor control device that executes rotational control that follows load fluctuations in a startup mode. The proposed motor control device is provided with: detection means 4 that detects a current peak value Ip and a current electrical angle θi based on phase currents Iu to Iw; detection means 5 that detects an induced voltage peak value Ep and an induced voltage electrical angle θe based on phase currents Iu to Iw and applied voltages Vu to Vw; rotor position detection means 6 that detects a rotor position θm using θm=θi−β−90° or θm=θe−γ−90°; velocity fluctuation detection means 15 that detects a rotational velocity ω based on this θm; and startup means 10 that outputs a startup voltage instruction value Vp and a startup voltage phase instruction value θv, increases the rotational velocity of the synchronous motor M with predetermined acceleration, and makes the rotational velocity ω detected by the velocity fluctuation detection means 15 be reflected in θv.

In a sine wave drive system (a 180-degree energizing system) that has been increasingly adopted in application examples as a synchronous motor (permanent magnet synchronous motor) drive system, a rotor position (a rotation position of a rotor) is detected in a sensorless manner, and control for effecting appropriate energization of a stator coil is executed. As such a motor control device having a function of detecting a rotor position in a sensorless manner, a motor control device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is proposed. The motor control device in Patent Document 1 enables detection of a rotor position θm with a constant accuracy and a low processing load in a normal operation mode (positional detection operation) of the synchronous motor.
The synchronous motor has a startup mode (forced commutation operation) as a preliminary stage to a normal operation mode, and in this startup mode, since an estimated error of a rotor position θm representing an angle of d axis in a rotor coordinate system (an absolute position of the rotor) relative to α axis in a stator coordinate system becomes high, a position detection operation based on the rotor position θm is not performed. Thus, in the startup mode, the synchronous motor is started by a motor control device disclosed in Patent Document 2. Upon receiving an operation instruction including a target rotational velocity (a target number of revolutions) in a motor-stopped state, the motor control device in Patent Document 2 starts driving with an applied voltage and an applied voltage phase that are set by a startup voltage setting unit and a startup phase setting unit, whereby a rotational velocity is gradually increased with constant acceleration. When the rotational velocity reaches a predetermined value lower than a target rotational velocity, it is deemed that the startup is completed, and control for transition to the normal operation mode is executed. In this configuration, no computing device having a high processing capacity is necessary, and end of startup can be simplified and secured.


A method for treating sulfur contaminants is provided. The method comprises introducing a methylmorpholine-N-oxide solution to a vessel, wherein the vessel comprises a water layer and a gas layer, wherein the water layer and the gas layer comprise the hydrogen sulfide; introducing methylmorpholine-N-oxide into the water layer; and treating the water layer by allowing the methylmorpholine-N-oxide to react with the hydrogen sulfide.

Refineries and petrochemical plants are commonly contaminated with sulfur contaminants such as H2S. These sulfur contaminants may typically be mitigated or removed as part of decontamination procedures, for instance, prior to vessel (e.g., large storage tanks) entry by individuals. A conventional approach to decontamination is to use hydrogen sulfide scavengers (e.g., liquid scavengers) such as triazine, acrolein, or formaldehyde. Such scavengers may rely on non-oxidative complexation and may be an economical approach for H2S decontamination. Liquid scavengers may tie up H2S as water-soluble compounds that may be discharged to wastewater treatment facilities. However, such scavengers have drawbacks. For instance, some of the reaction products may not be water-soluble, and some of the treatment chemicals may have associated toxicity or environmental restrictions in certain locations. In addition, some sulfur contaminants may only be removed by specific scavengers, for example, typically only acrolein may neutralize pyrophoric iron sulfides. Additionally, triazine treatments may raise the pH of effluent streams and as a result, may promote the formation of scales on metal surfaces. Formaldehyde reactions with H2S typically produce water insoluble products. Further, acrolein benefits may be tempered by its toxicity.
Other methods have been developed and demonstrated to be effective at oxidizing and eliminating sulfur contaminants. Such methods include using permanganate (e.g., potassium permanganate), persulfate, sodium nitrite, ozone, hypochlorite, adducts of peroxide such as perborates and percarbonates, and long-chain amine oxides. The oxidizing chemicals may irreversibly convert sulfur contaminants (e.g., H2S) to harmless water soluble forms of sulfur, which may be compatible with effluent discharge. Each of these oxidizing compounds (i.e., oxidizing chemicals) have certain drawbacks. Hypochlorite may form dangerous chlorine compounds. Ozone and permanganate may involve field mixing. Permanganate decontaminations may be further complicated by large amounts of reaction solids that are typically processed at additional cost. Percarbonates, as with permanganate, may also be exothermic in their reaction, which may be particularly dangerous if hydrocarbon vapors are present. Further, treatments using strong oxidizers (i.e., permanganate, percarbonate, persulfate) are typically accomplished in small sequential batches outside the storage vessel in order to control the associated exotherm. As a result, these treatments may involve considerable time and therefore cost. The strong oxidizers may also be corrosive. Moreover, these compounds may also react violently with hydrocarbon components that may be present in sour sludge. For example, the strong oxidizers may be non-selective in their reaction and may react with many of the hydrocarbon components that may exist in sludge which may be contained in storage vessels. As a result, these treatments may be preformed in small sequential batches outside the vessel, which may increase operation time and expenditures.
Mild oxidizers such as amine oxides and nitrites may be effective at oxidizing sulfur contaminants to harmless forms of sulfur while having limited or having no effect on hydrocarbons, unlike strong oxidizers. Additionally, mild oxidizers may be added directly to a vessel as their associated reactions may be non-exothermic. However, mild oxidizers also have drawbacks. For instance, typical long-chain amine oxides may pose foaming issues due to their surfactant nature. These amine oxides may also have limited efficiency for large amounts of H2S, since they are typically diluted in water to prevent gel formation. Nitrites may also have drawbacks, as their reaction with hydrogen sulfide produces ammonia. As a result, the nitrite oxidation reaction may be accompanied by a rise in pH, which at some point may cease the oxidation before it is complete.
Consequently, there is a need for improved methods and systems for decontaminating vessels contaminated with sulfur contaminants.

Decontamination of sulfur contaminants from a vessel