A method of acquiring a remote node in a communication network includes sending a first acquisition command from a hub to the remote that instructs the remote to send an acquisition response and includes a first frequency (S100). The method also includes sending a first acquisition response based on the first acquisition command from the remote to the hub using the first frequency (S106) and sending a second acquisition command from the hub before receiving the first acquisition response at the hub (S102). A related method of acquiring a remote node in a synchronous communication network and a related hub apparatus, remote apparatus, computer program product and system each include similar features.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to communication networks and in particular to a method, apparatus and system for rapidly acquiring remote communication nodes in a communication network (e.g., satellite communication network).
2. Discussion of the Background
In communication systems having a communication segment (e.g., a communication link) between a hub and one or more remote communication terminals ("remotes" or "remote nodes") where the communication segment has a relatively high latency time (e.g., a satellite communication system), a disadvantageously long time may be required to acquire the remote nodes and bring them into the communication network. Remote nodes are considered to be out of the network when they are powered down, or recently powered up, or for some other reason have lost communication with the network. Remote nodes are considered to be in a network when they are configured to transmit a signal using a communication frequency and a symbol offset timing that allows the transmission to be recognized and understood by the hub. Moreover, a remote node is in the network when it is configured to send and receive signals in a fashion that is consistent with the network's protocol and timing. The process of converting out of network remotes to in network remotes is known as remote acquisition. The relatively high latency of the communication segment has conventionally resulted in long delays while remote nodes are acquired.
For example, a conventional communication system may include a satellite network having a star or star/mesh topology where the network control entity is located at a central hub earth station and remote earth stations are connected to the hub via satellite link. In such a satellite network, the hub transmits a continuous downstream carrier such that all remotes in the satellite's footprint can receive its transmission. The remote nodes transmit bursts of data to the hub using a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) communication scheme. When a remote is first powered on, performs a reset, comes out of a rain fade condition, or otherwise has lost contact with the hub, it must be reacquired. The process of acquisition involves the remote and hub performing station-keeping operations with the goal of preparing the remote to transmit TDMA bursts such that they can be received reliably without corrupting other users of the TDMA channel or neighboring users on other portions of the satellite or on neighboring satellites. Various frequency modifying conditions may cause an uplink transmission from a remote to a hub to arrive at the hub having a different frequency than expected. Frequency modifying conditions may include, for example, differences in cabling, radio frequency (RF) equipment, temperatures, or even satellite motion that causes the frequency to change or to be different than the frequency expected at the hub.
Background acquisition techniques vary from simple to complex, depending on the sophistication of the hub receive circuitry and control mechanism. A very simple and commonly used technique is ALOHA access where the remote terminals burst data randomly to the hub receiver and rely on there being a low probability that no other user will access the channel at that instant. Collisions between data bursts result in data corruption requiring the colliding users to retransmit lost data. Even in an ALOHA system, however, provisions must be made to ensure that the remote's local frequency reference is stable and that its power level is high enough to close the link, but not too high to introduce inter-modulation interference on the satellite transponder.
Different background techniques may be used for TDMA systems where remotes are assigned specific data communication slots in a predefined time frame in which to transmit. One background technique is for a remote to transmit a very short burst (much shorter than its time slot) into its assigned data communication slot. The remote adjusts parameters as directed until the hub determines that the remote is ready to transmit full length traffic bursts in its assigned data communication slot without interfering with other users.
Another background technique involves designating a portion of the TDMA frame as an acquisition slot with additional guard symbols (i.e., the acquisition slot is longer than the acquisition response burst intended to be received in the acquisition slot) to allow remotes to burst an acquisition response with full sized bursts until the station keeping parameters are adjusted.
ALOHA based acquisition inherently breaks down due to an increasing frequency of collisions when the channel use exceeds 18% capacity. Networks configured to operate at larger capacity use predefined slots and a slot assignment methodology and a corresponding acquisition procedure. Background acquisition procedures require multiple "handshakes" back-and-forth between hub and remote in order to bring all station keeping parameters (e.g., remote transmit frequency, symbol offset and power) under control. These handshakes involve waiting for commands and responses to propagate across the long latency satellite channel where the round trip time is as much as half a second. Thus, in the background systems, total acquisition time may be directly proportional to the latency of the communication network, and therefore background communication systems may have a significant scalability problem. Background acquisition algorithms may require several round trip times to complete a single acquisition (some implementations require 20 or more). For example, in a background satellite network requiring three round trips to acquire a single remote, the total time to acquire a remote would be approximately 1.5 seconds. Thus, a network of 1000 remote sites would require 1500 seconds (25 minutes) to fully recover from a network wide reset (less efficient implementations take many hours).
Alternative background systems have addressed this issue by adding complexity and cost to the hub controller such that it can receive many different overlapping messages simultaneously, however the total acquisition time may still be proportional to latency.
FIG. 11 shows an example of a communication network including hub 1100 configured to communicate using communication segment 1102 with a remotely located remote 1104. The communication segment 1102 has a relatively high latency time, for example, a latency of approximately 250 ms in one direction, as in a satellite communication network. Thus, in this example it may take approximately 250 ms for a signal sent by hub 1100 to be received by remote 1104. FIG. 12 shows a further example of a communication network including hub 1300 that is configured to communication via communication segment 1302 with three remote nodes, remote R0 1202, remote R1 1204 and remote R2 1206.
FIG. 13 shows a conventional method for acquiring a single remote in a communication network similar to that of FIG. 11 or 12. In this example to acquire the remote, a hub sends an acquisition command (S1300). The acquisition command is received by the remote and the remote sends an acquisition response (S1314). However that response is not received by the hub because the remote did not send the response using the appropriate communication parameters (e.g., frequency, symbol offset, or power levels) needed for the hub to receive the transmission. Accordingly, when the hub listens for the acquisition response (S1302), the hub does not receive the response. The hub may try again to send a different acquisition command (S1404) which may be received by the remote (S1316), but again the hub does not receive the acquisition response when it listens for the acquisition response (S1306) because the set of parameter values used by a remote for this transmission is still not suitable for allowing the hub to recognize its transmission. Finally, the hub sends acquisition command (S1308) which is received by the remote (S1318) and the acquisition response (which this time uses the correct parameter values) sent by the remote is received by the hub when it listens for the acquisition response (S1310). In this example, the amount of time required to acquire the first remote is shown as acquisition time 1320, which is composed of plural round trip communications that take round trip time 1322 to communicate from the hub to the remote and back to the hub again. In this conventional method, acquisition of the first remote completes prior to the beginning of acquisition of the next remote, for example the first remote must be acquired before sending an acquisition command (S1312) to start the acquisition process for a next remote.
Thus, in a conventional communication system with plural remotes, for example, the communication system shown in FIG. 12, the acquisition time for all of the remotes in the system ("system acquisition time") may be as much as the acquisition time for a single remote (e.g., acquisition time 1320) times the total number of remotes in the system.
Node acquisition may be a frequent occurrence in a background communication system. For example, in a satellite communication system a remote may become out of network due to weather or equipment conditions and plural remotes may become out of network when a maintenance condition or equipment failure causes the hub to be restarted or when plural remotes are remotely upgraded, for example. Further, in the background approach a great deal of time may be spent bringing remotes into the network (i.e., acquiring remotes) and during that acquisition time normal communications may be interrupted.

Method, apparatus and system for rapid acquisition of remote nodes in a communication system


A sealed switch has a vessel defining therein a hermetically sealed space which receives a pair of fixed contacts and a movable contact bridging the fixed contact. The movable contact is movable between an ON-position of closing with the fixed contact and an OFF-position of separating from the fixed contacts. Hydrogen gas or hydrogen rich gas is filled in the sealed space in order to suppress arc development between the movable and fixed contacts. The plunger carries at its axial one end the movable contact and carrying at the other axial end an actuator which moves the plunger axially for movement of the movable contact from the OFF-position to the ON-position. An over-travel spring is provided to give a bias for moving the movable contact relative to the plunger in order to develop a contacting pressure between the movable and fixed contacts. The over-travel spring is supported to a spring holder secured to the plunger. The plunger is formed with a threaded portion which extends through the actuator to allow the plunger to move axially relative to the actuator for adjustment of a contact gap between the movable and fixed contact, and the spring holder is formed with stopper protrusions which project in abuttable and slidable relation to the interior surface of the vessel such that the movable contact is prevented from rotating together with the plunger. Accordingly, the spring holder is best utilized to restrict the movable contact from rotating together with the actuator to enable an easy adjustment of the contact gap simply by rotating the actuator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a sealed contact device with contact gap adjustment capability, and more particularly to a sealed contact device filled with an arc diminishing gas and having a small adjustable contact gap.
2. Description of the Prior Art
WO 92/17897 discloses a sealed relay or contact device in which a movable contact and associated fixed contacts are disposed within a vacuum chamber. The use of the vacuum chamber enables to reduce a contact gap between the movable contact and the fixed contact in addition to restraining an arc development between the contacts. A demand is frequently seen in the manufacture of the device to adjust the contact gap between the movable and fixed contacts or the amount of an over-travel distance of a plunger carrying the movable contact. For this purpose, a threaded engagement is expected to be used between a plunger carrying the movable contact and an actuator which is driven by an external driving force to move the plunger in the direction of closing the contacts. When modifying the above prior art device with the threaded engagement, it is required to restrict the relative rotation of the plunger and the actuator so that the rotation of the actuator can be translated into a corresponding axial movement of the plunger. Notwithstanding the addition of a structure of restricting the relative rotation of the plunger to the actuator, it is further required that the structure should not interfere with the movement of the movable contact. Therefore, the contact gap adjustment is not easily achieved for the contact device. In addition, a minor rotation of the plunger and the movable contact fixed thereto with respect to the actuator may occur during the assembly of the device. Such minor rotation causes no critical problem in the above prior art device since it utilizes the movable contact in the form of a disk capable of contacting at any peripheral portion with the fixed contacts. However, when the movable contact of a bar-shaped or elongated configuration bridging the fixed contacts is utilized, even the minor rotation of the movable contact with respect to the actuator may lead to misalignment of the movable contact with the fixed contact; thereby, failing to keep a predetermined contacting relation between the movable and fixed contacts.

Sealed contact device with contact gap adjustment capability


A mirror sub-carrier demodulation circuit includes a waveform generation unit, which generates a composite waveform of received I and Q signals, and a peak detection unit, which detects peak values of the composite waveform generated by the waveform generation unit. The demodulation circuit also includes a peak interval detection unit, which detects an interval of the peak values detected by the peak detection unit and generates timing at which the received data is input. The demodulation further includes a temporary storage unit, which stores I data and Q data at the timing generated by the peak interval detection unit, a calculation unit, which performs a correlation calculation using the I data and the Q data of the temporary storage unit acquired during a 1-bit period on the basis of a setting value M of a mirror sub-carrier, and a data determination unit, which determines data of 0 or 1 from the result calculated by the calculation unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process of demodulating received data in a communication technique such as UHF RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) carried out using protocols defined by EPC global, and particularly to a mirror sub-carrier demodulation circuit capable of receiving and demodulating data of a mirror sub-carrier transmitted from a tag and a receiving device including the mirror sub-carrier demodulation circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, a method described below (Patent Document 1) was is disclosed as a method of demodulating an RFID. FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a receiving unit in RFID communication. In FIG. 16, Reference Numeral 1601 denotes an antenna receiving an UHF RFID wireless signal. Reference Numeral 1602 denotes an RF receiving unit which converts a received RF signal into an analog electric signal and includes a band pass filter, an LNA, and the like. Reference Numeral 1603 denotes a down-converter that performs a down-convert from the analog RF signal to an in-phase signal (I signal) and a quadrature signal (Q Signal) of a base-band subjected to the down-convert. The base-band signal subjected to the down-convert has a waveform illustrated in FIG. 17(a). Depending on the configuration of the RF receiving unit 1602, the waveform becomes a sine-like waveform illustrated in FIG. 17(b). Reference Numeral 1604 denotes an AD converter that converts the analog I and Q signals of the base-band signal into a digital signal. Reference Numeral 1605 denotes a demodulation circuit that demodulates data from the digitized reception signal. According to Patent Document 1, the RF receiving unit 1602 receives the wireless signal, the down-converter 1603 converts the analog I and Q signals of the base-band, the AD converter 1604 converts and samples the waveform of the I and Q signals into digital data. The modulation circuit 1605 determines and demodulates data of 0 or 1 in the I and Q signals by the number (length of positive data) of continuous positive data and the number (length of negative data) of continuous negative data in the data sampled as in FIG. 18. When the demodulation result of the I signal is different from the demodulation result of the Q signal, there is disclosed the fact that the result obtained by demodulating a side having a larger signal intensity is used.    Patent Document 1: U.S. Pat. No. 6,501,807
However, in the known modulation method, when a large pulse noise occurs in a much noise environment, there occurs a problem in that the sign of sampling data is changed and there is a high possibility of erroneously determining 1-bit data.
Moreover, since it is necessary to severally demodulate the I and Q signals, there occurs a problem in that the size of a circuit increases.
In an RFID demodulation circuit, a demand for surely demodulating more tag information in any environment increases.

Mirror sub-carrier demodulation circuit, receiving device with the same, and mirror sub-carrier demodulating method


A receiving circuit is provided for receiving a data signal and a clock signal, which are RSDS signals, and outputting an output data signal to a data driver. The receiving circuit includes a data comparator, a data intermediate circuit, a clock comparator, a clock intermediate, and a flip-flop. The data comparator, driven with a data bias current, receives the data signal, and outputs a compared data signal. The clock comparator, driven with a clock bias current, receives the clock signal, and outputs a compared clock signal. The flip-flop receives the compared data signal via the data intermediate circuit and the compared clock signal via the clock intermediate circuit. The phase difference between the compared data signal and the compared clock signal is improved by adjusting the data and the clock bias currents.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a receiving circuit for a data driver, and more particularly to a receiving circuit for receiving a reduced swing differential signal (RSDS).
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows a conventional receiving circuit 100 for receiving a reduced swing differential signal (RSDS). The receiving circuit 100 receives input differential data signals D1 and P1, and generates output data signals S1 to S4. The input data signals D1 and P1 and the input clock signal C1 are all RSDSs.
Referring to FIG. 1, the comparator 131 receives the input clock signal C1 and generates a compared clock signal C2. The compared clock signal C2 is transmitted to flip-flops 117, 119, 128 and 130 via a wire 132 and a buffer 133. After the compared clock signal is transmitted via wire 132, buffer 133 and an inverter 134, the compared clock signal C2 is inverted to produce an inverse compared clock signal C2′. Then the inverse compared clock signal C2′ is transmitted to flip-flops 118 and 129. The flip-flops 117, 119, 128 and 130 are positive edge-triggered. The flip-flops 118 and 129 are both negative edge triggered.
The comparator 111 receives an input data signal D1 and generates a compared data signal D2. The compared data signal D2 is transmitted to the flip-flops 117 and 118 via a wire 112 and buffers 113 to 116.
The flip-flops 117 and 118 produce an output data signal S2 and a negative edged data signal T1 from the compared data signal D2, respectively, according to the compared clock signal C2 and the inverse compared clock signal C2′. The negative edged data signal T1 is then transmitted via a positive edge triggered flip-flop 119. The flip-flop 119 adjusts the timing of the negative edged data signal T1 to generate an output data signal S1.
Similarly, the comparator 121 receives the input data signal P1 and generates a compared data signal P2. The compared data signal P2 is transmitted to the flip-flops 128 and 129 via a wire 122 and buffers 123 to 127. The flip-flops 128 and 129 produce an output data signal S4 and a negative edged data signal T2, respectively, from the compared data signal P2 according to the compared clock signal C2 and the inverse clock signal C2′. The negative edged data signal T2 is then transmitted via a positive edge triggered flip-flop 130. The flip-flop 130 adjusts the timing of the negative edged data signal T2 to generate an output data signal S3. The circuit structures of the data comparators 111, 121 and a clock comparator 131 are the same.
Since the input clock signal C1 lags the input data signals D1 and P1, the buffers are positioned after the wires 112 and 122 to delay the compared data signals D2 and P2.
In addition, since in the conventional receiving circuit 100, the distance between the comparator 111 and its corresponding flip-flop, and the distance between the comparator 121 and its corresponding flip-flop are not equal, the wires 112 and 122 have different lengths. Therefore, the delay time after the compared data signal D2 is transmitted via the wire 112 is unequal to the delay time after the compared data signal P2 is transmitted via the wire 122. To compensate for the different delay times, different numbers of buffers are used after the wires 112 and 122. For buffering the compared data signal D2, four buffers 113 to 116 are used, and for buffering the compared data signal P2, five buffers 123 to 127 are used. Thus, the total delay time after the compared data signal D2 is transmitted via the wire 112 and the buffers 113 to 116, is more consistent with the delay time after the compared data signal P2 is transmitted via the wire 122 and the buffers 123 to 127.
A buffer is very sensitive to its driving voltage. When the driving voltage changes, the delay time of the buffer, changes. Thus, when a conventional receiver is used under different driving voltages, the delay times of the buffers change. Thus, the delay times after the compared data signals D2 and P2 are transmitted via the two ways will still be different again.
FIG. 2 shows an example of the relationship between the compared data signal D2 and the compared clock signal C2 received by the flip-flop 117 in a conventional receiving circuit under different driving voltages. The compared data signal D2 and the compared clock signal C2 are transmitted via the wire 112 and the buffers 113 to 116 before being received by the flip-flop 117. Referring to FIG. 2, the waveform 201 is the waveform of the compared clock signal. The waveforms 202 and 203 are the waveforms of the data signal D2 in the conventional receiving circuit 100 in, respectively, the hold time condition and the setup time condition when the driving voltage is 3.3 V.
The waveforms 204 and 205 are the waveforms of the compared data signal D2 in the conventional receiving circuit 100 in, respectively, the hold time condition and the setup time condition when the driving voltage is 3.6 V. The waveforms 206 and 207 are the waveforms of the compared data signal D2 in, respectively, the hold time condition and the setup time condition when the driving voltage is 2.2 V.
At the time point tf, the waveform 201 forms a negative edge. Take the flip-flop 117 to be a negative edge triggered flip-flop as an example. In FIG. 2, the hold times th1, th2, and th3 formed by the waveforms 202 and 201, 204 and 201, and 206 and 201, respectively, are unequal. The setup times ts1, ts2, and ts3 formed by the waveforms 203 and 201, 205 and 201, and 207 and 201, respectively, are also unequal. Hence, different driving voltages will change the delay times of the buffers in the flip-flop 117, so that the phase difference between the compared data signal and the compared clock signal will change.
After the compared data signal D1 is transmitted via the wire 112 and the buffers 113 to 116, the setup time and the hold time formed by the compared data signal D1 and the compared clock signal C2 will not match the setup time and the hold time required by the flip-flop 117. Thus the flip-flop 117 may output an incorrect output data signal S2. From the above, if the conventional receiving circuit is to be used under different driving voltage conditions, the influence of the driving voltage on the buffers must be considered, which is very inconvenient for the designer
Also, the inverse compared clock signal C2′ is generated by the inverter 134. It will cause a phase difference between the inverse compared clock signal C2′ and the compared clock signal C2, which means the two clock signals C2 and C2′ have different phases. Therefore, the negative edge triggered flip-flops 118 and 129 may output incorrect negative edged data signals T1 and T2 from the compared data signals D1 and D2.


A deactivator having a deactivation antenna coil and a capacitor to store energy. The deactivator converts the stored energy to an alternating current over a deactivation period to generate a deactivation magnetic field when driven through the deactivation antenna coil during the deactivation period. The alternating current defines a ring down envelope during the deactivation period. An energy recovery module having an electrical impedance is coupled to the deactivator to recover a portion of the energy converted to the alternating current during a portion of the deactivation period based on the impedance. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems are used to control inventory and to prevent theft or unauthorized removal from a controlled area of items tagged with EAS security labels. Such systems may include a transmitter and a receiver to establish a surveillance zone (typically entrances and/or exits in retail stores) encompassing the controlled area. The surveillance zone is set-up such that items removed from or brought into the controlled area must traverse the surveillance zone.
An EAS security label may be affixed to an item, such as, for example, an article of merchandise, product, case, pallet, container, and the like. The label includes a marker or sensor adapted to interact with a first signal that the EAS system transmitter transmits into the surveillance zone. The interaction establishes a second signal in the surveillance zone. The EAS system receiver receives the second signal. If an item tagged with an EAS security label traverses the surveillance zone, the EAS system recognizes the second signal as an unauthorized presence of the item in the controlled area and may activate an alarm under certain circumstances, for example. Once an item is purchased, the EAS security label is deactivated so that the alarm is not activated when the label traverses the surveillance zone.

Techniques for deactivating electronic article surveillance labels using energy recovery


The method of noise attenuation comprises the steps of generating a noise canceling signal, sensing for an system condition, and ceasing the generation of the noise canceling based upon the system condition. This method is embodied in a system that includes an air induction body, a speaker in proximity to the air induction body, a sensor for sensing a system condition, and a control unit with a noise cancellation feature. The control unit is in communication with both the speaker and the sensor. Based upon the sensed system condition, the control unit may disable the noise cancellation feature.

This invention relates to an active method and system for controlling automotive induction noise.
Manufacturers have employed active and passive methods to reduce engine noise within the passenger compartment. Such noise frequently emanates from the engine, travels through the air induction system and emanates out of the mouth of the air intake into the passenger compartment. Efforts have been made to reduce the amount of engine noise traveling through the air induction system. These efforts include the use of both passive devices such as expansion chambers and Helmholtz resonators and active devices involving anti-noise generators.
Active systems use a speaker to create a canceling sound that attenuates engine noise. The sound created is out of phase with the engine noise and combines with this noise to result in its reduction. Generally, this sound is generated in proximity to the mouth of the air induction system. In one such system, a control unit, such as a digital signal processor, obtains data from the vehicle engine, creates a predictive model of engine noise, and thereby generates the appropriate cancellation signal based on the results of this model. This signal is then transmitted to the speaker, which transforms this signal into a canceling sound. Because the control unit may not perfectly model engine noise, an error microphone is placed in proximity to the mouth of the air induction system to determine if engine noise need be further attenuated.
At times of low engine load, such as when the vehicle is cruising or idling, such a system may experience a condition of low engine noise to background noise. As a consequence, rather than quieting noise in the passenger compartment, the system generates a high pitch sound. This sound is undesirable.
A need therefore exists to prevent the generation of this undesirable tone by a noise cancellation system.

Active noise cancellation stability solution


A method, system, and program for responding to recipient ratings of wirelessly broadcast electronic works are provided. A secondary player receives a wireless broadcast of an electronic work from a primary player. Next, responsive to a playback of the electronic work from the secondary player, the secondary player requires a recipient of the electronic work to rate the electronic work. Then, responsive to the recipient rating the electronic work or an automatic rating selection made based on the recipient's preferences, the options available to the recipient may be dynamically adjusted. First, responsive to the recipient rating the electronic work with a favorable rating, the secondary player triggers a purchase offer for the electronic work when the secondary player is connected to a network providing access to a purchase server. Second, responsive to the recipient rating the electronic work, the secondary player transfers the rating to the primary player, such that the primary player is enabled to dynamically adjust a next electronic work selection for broadcast based on the rating for the previously broadcast electronic work.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to improved broadcasting systems and in particular to an improved rating response system for recipient rated wirelessly broadcast electronic works. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to selecting electronic works to broadcast based on previous ratings by a recipient of wirelessly broadcast electronic works and offering purchase options to a recipient of a wirelessly broadcast electronic work rated affirmatively by the recipient.
2. Description of the Related Art
Technological advancements in portable computer systems enable display and audio output of copyrightable works in an electronic form. These electronic works include, but are not limited to, music, film, video, and books. The technological advances, for example, continue to expand the types of electronic devices that play music and video. Further, technological advances are providing new ways of encapsulating music and video and new ways of distributing music and video.
In particular, one of the advances in devices that play electronic works is in portable electronic devices that play music from MPEG-1 Layer 3 (MP3) and other types of electronic compression file formats. MP3 files are typically small in memory size and thus are ideal for storage and play on portable electronic devices. Further, MP3 and other types of electronic formats of licensed works are often easily transferable from one device to another via a wire or wireless network. Further, music files may be streamed from one portable device to another creating a type of ad-hoc radio system.
As sharing of electronic works between users proliferates, users often receive copies of electronic works without the proper licenses. In some cases, recipients do not intend to acquire proper licensing. In other cases, however, recipients acquire copies of electronic works to sample the works and decide if they would like to purchase the work. Thus, it would be advantageous to prompt a user receiving a sample work to rate the work and prompt the user to purchase the work if the user gives the work a favorable rating.
Further, in the typical file sharing system, when electronic works are shared between users, it is typical for one user to view the electronic work catalog of the other user and request a copy of a specific work. In a broadcast system creating an ad-hoc radio, however, it would be more advantageous for electronic works to be continually broadcast based on the preferences of the recipient(s) or sender(s), but without the recipient(s) or sender(s) having to specifically choose each broadcast electronic work. Furthermore, it would be advantageous for a recipient of an electronic work to rate broadcast electronic works such that broadcast selections are dynamically adjusted based on ratings of recently broadcast electronic works.
Therefore, in view of the foregoing, it would be advantageous to provide a method, system, and program for prompting recipients of broadcast electronic works to rate the works and then use those ratings to dynamically adjust future broadcast work selections and to filter offers to purchase electronic works.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Responding to recipient rated wirelessly broadcast electronic works

International Business Machines Corporation


A system for retrieving an image from a network comprises: (1) a server application; (2) a plurality of image files, each storing an image in a plurality of different versions, and connected to the server application; (3) a client application which enables a user to select and retrieve a desired version of a desired image; and (4) a communication application providing a communication link between the client and server applications wherein, in use, the user can select a desired image and a desired version of that desired image for retrieval and display. The versions of the image are stored such that when a low resolution version of the image has been obtained, a high resolution version can be obtained simply by downloading the difference between the two versions of the image.

One of the greatest difficulties that users of the Internet and other networks face is the delay in downloading data rich image and graphic files. Many technologies have tried to devise ways to ease the burden of the delay by introducing concepts such as progressive displays which show the user the image as it is being processed, as well as various compression technologies to make the file smaller so that they could be moved through the Internet faster. Currently, there is no truly interactive method of speeding up the time it takes to get the image to the end user as well as to save the image bank or server valuable storage space and communication costs.

File format for an image including multiple versions of an image, and related system and method


An antialiasing image generation apparatus includes a distribution information acquisition unit configured to acquire distribution information that indicates the distribution of a plurality of Z values, a polygon data expansion unit configured to expand polygon data into display coordinates, a representative point pixel data generation unit configured to generate pixel data including a Z value at a representative point, an antialiasing technique selection unit configured to select an antialiasing technique using the Z value included in the pixel data and the distribution information, and an antialiasing processing unit configured to generate a graphics image by performing antialiasing processing on the pixel according to the selected antialiasing technique.

There have conventionally been antialiasing image generation apparatuses that perform antialiasing processing and generate a graphics image on which the antialiasing processing has been performed, the antialiasing processing being performed for smoothly displaying polygons when a three-dimensional image constituted by the polygons is rendered in a two-dimensional plane. The technique disclosed in PTL 1 relates to such an antialiasing image generation apparatus.

Antialiasing image generation apparatus for selecting an antialiasing technique to be applied to a pixel using pixel data

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


A method for operating a hybrid electric vehicle having a variable voltage converter (VVC) includes commanding a first voltage across a VVC in response to a signal requesting a VVC test, continuously monitoring a first VVC voltage difference over a first calibratable time period, and generating a diagnostic signal if the first voltage difference exceeds a first calibratable threshold for the duration of a first calibratable time period. The method further includes, in response to the first voltage difference dropping below the first calibratable threshold, commanding a second voltage across the VVC, continuously monitoring a second VVC voltage difference over a second calibratable time period, generating a diagnostic signal if the second voltage difference exceeds a second calibratable threshold for the duration of a second calibratable time period, and signaling a test pass in response to the second voltage difference dropping below the second calibratable threshold.

Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) include an internal combustion engine and one or more electric machines, wherein the energy source for the engine is fuel and the energy source for the electric machine is a battery. In a HEV, the engine is the main source of energy for vehicle propulsion with the battery providing supplemental energy for vehicle propulsion. The battery buffers fuel energy and recovers kinematic energy in electric form. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are like HEVs, but have a larger capacity battery that is rechargeable from an external electric grid. In a PHEV, the battery is the main source of energy for vehicle propulsion until the battery depletes to a low energy level, at which time the PHEV operates like a HEV for vehicle propulsion.
Electric Vehicles may include a direct current (DC) voltage converter connected between the battery and the electric machine. Such a voltage converter increases or boosts the voltage potential of the electrical power provided to the electric machine and facilitates torque capability optimization. The electric vehicle may also include an inverter connected between the DC voltage converter and the electric machine, when the electric machine is an alternating current (AC) motor. In the event of a voltage converter failure during a drive cycle, an electric vehicle will experience a shutdown. This behavior, if experienced, reduces customer satisfaction.

Hybrid electric vehicle power-up sequencing with VVC test


The present invention improves the performance of microchannel systems for chemical and biological synthesis and analysis by providing a method and apparatus for producing a thin band of a species sample. Thin sample bands improve the resolution of microchannel separation processes, as well as many other processes requiring precise control of sample size and volume. The new method comprises a series of steps in which a species sample is manipulated by controlled transport through a junction formed at the intersection of four or more channels. A sample is first inserted into the end of one of these channels in the vicinity of the junction. Next, this sample is thinned by transport across the junction one or more times. During these thinning steps, flow enters the junction through one of the channels and exists through those remaining, providing a divergent flow field that progressively stretches and thins the band with each traverse of the junction. The thickness of the resulting sample band may be smaller than the channel width. Moreover, the thickness of the band may be varied and controlled by altering the method alone, without modification to the channel or junction geometries. The invention is applicable to both electroosmotic and electrophoretic transport, to combined electrokinetic transport, and to some special cases in which bulk fluid transport is driven by pressure gradients. It is further applicable to channels that are open, filled with a gel or filled with a porous or granular material.

Microchannel devices are finding increased use in the identification and synthesis of chemical and biological species. Employing transverse channel dimensions from a few microns to about one millimeter, such systems may permit the miniaturization and large-scale integration of many chemical processes in a manner analogous to that already achieved in microelectronics. Applications for microchannel devices now under development include such diverse processes as DNA sequencing, immunoassay, the identification of explosives, identification of chemical and biological warfare agents, and the synthesis of chemicals and drugs.
Most microchannel systems for chemical and biological analysis employ some variant of electrochromatographic or electrophoretic separation. In chromatographic processes, bulk electroosmotic motion of a fluid is induced by applying an electric field along the length of the separation column. Individual species move through the column at various speeds due to preferential adsorption on stationary surfaces such as the channel walls or an internal porous packing. In contrast, electrophoretic processes involve little or no bulk fluid motion. Here the applied electric field instead produces motion of ionic species through a stationary or nearly stationary transport medium that may be either a fluid or a gel. Species separation in electrophoretic processes occurs as a result of differing ratios of the ion charge to the ion mobility and consequent differing ion speeds.
Electroosmotic flows offer two important benefits over pressure-driven flows for transport processes in microchannel devices. First, transport speeds in electroosmotic flow are independent of the width and depth of a channel cross-section over a wide range of conditions, making this technique for driving fluid motion extensible to extremely small physical scales. In contrast, pressure-driven flows require a pressure gradient that increases inversely with the square of the minimum transverse dimension to maintain a given fluid speed. Second, the profile of the fluid velocity across the cross-section of a long straight channel is essentially flat in electroosmotic flows, again over a wide range of conditions. All transverse variation in the axial speed is confined to a small region adjacent to the channel walls and comparable in thickness to the electric Debye layer. The benefit of this flat velocity profile is that samples may be transported over long ranges with very little hydrodynamic dispersion due to nonuniform fluid speeds.
Electrophoretic processes offer somewhat different benefits in microchannel devices. Because the overall dimensions of microchannel devices tend to be only a few centimeters, very large electric fields may be produced by relatively small electric potentials. This permits larger ion speeds and reduces the overall time for separation processes. Electrophoretic motion is also easy to produce in microchannel systems since, like electroosmotic flow, only electrodes and a power supply are required to produce the phenomenon. Mechanical pumps are unnecessary. Also like electroosmotic flows, this method of producing species motion introduces little extraneous spreading of a sample band as it moves along the separation column since the electric field in a long straight channel is spatially uniform.
Despite these benefits in long-range transport, electrokinetic mechanisms are not particularly well suited to producing a thin sample band for subsequent processing in a separation or other process channel. The reason for this is that species motion in both electroosmotic and electrophoretic transport processes is governed by the highly-diffusive Laplace equation, and the region over which motion is induced usually occupies at least one channel width. As a result, the thickness of a sample band produced by such motion will usually exceed the channel width; this is not acceptable for many processes of practical interest.
For electrochromatographic and electrophoretic separation processes, the thickness of the initial sample band measured in the direction of the sample motion may need to be small compared to the channel width. Separation columns in microchannel systems are typically not very long, so final spacings between constituent bands may span only a channel width or so. To resolve these bands requires that the thickness of the sample band initially injected into the column is much smaller than the band spacing or, equivalently, much smaller than the channel width. In addition to separation processes, small sample sizes and sharp definition of species interfaces are also desirable during routine sample transport. These desired characteristics allow more precise control over processes such as mixing, dilution and synthesis.
The invention described here provides a method and apparatus for producing a sample band for subsequent processing wherein the thickness of the band in the direction of sample motion is small compared to the channel width. Further, the thickness of the band may be controlled to provide a desired sample volume or size. This method can even produce sample bands having an overall thickness an order of magnitude or so smaller than the channel width. The method can be implemented using conventional channel geometries and conventional electrical hardware. Additional benefits can be obtained by using these new methods in conjunction with improved channel geometries. Such improved geometries are also disclosed here.

Apparatus for producing a thin sample band in a microchannel system


An accessory of any kind, for example an end-cap, is designed to be fitted to the base of trunking. To make the retention of the end-cap to the trunking more firm, at least one thickness-increasing device is fitted to its base, before the end-cap, and forms a localized increased thickness on the base. Applications include moldings.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns trunking, that is to say extrusions or like members made up of a base with an open cross-section and a cover.
It is more particularly, but not necessarily exclusively, directed to trunking adapted to accommodate and to protect electrical equipment of any kind.
For example, it can be small-size trunking used only to accommodate and to protect electrical conductors of any kind, known in the art as moldings.
However, it can also be trunking of sufficient size also to accommodate and to protect electrical equipment of any kind, such as socket outlet bases, for example.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The base, which is made from a synthetic material, is generally manufactured by extrusion.
The base generally, although not necessarily exclusively, has a U-profile external cross-section with a median baseplate, two lateral flanges and possibly one or more internal partitions parallel to the latter.
It is shaped to receive a cover or a cover section which is nested over it, usually clipped to it and adapted to close it longitudinally over at least part of its length and/or, locally substituted for a cover or cover section of this kind, an accessory of any kind, such as an end-cap adapted to close it transversely at one end, for example, and one or more supports adapted to receive electrical equipment.
The problem that arises here is that, given inevitable manufacturing tolerances, securing an accessory of this kind onto a base of this kind, and thus onto the corresponding trunking, can be somewhat haphazard and, given the method of fabricating the base by extrusion, it is difficult to provide on the latter any disparity or irregularity of a kind that can secure it more firmly.
To comply with the sealing provisions of the applicable standards, it is important for it to be secured sufficiently firmly to resist impact, whether the impact is applied directly to the accessory in question or is transmitted to it through the trunking itself or any other accessory also attached to the latter.
A general object of the present invention is a method and a device that meet this requirement in a very simple manner.

Method and device for more firmly securing to trunking an accessory of any kind to be attached to the base thereof by nesting over it


A capacitive type touch sensing device includes a first electrode array including a plurality of drive electrodes and a plurality of sense electrodes, and a second electrode array spaced apart from the first electrode array and including a plurality of discrete, electrically floating conductive regions. At least part of the second electrode array positionally overlaps with at least part of the first electrode array to define a separation distance therebetween, the separation distance varying with a force applied to a surface of the touch sensing device. Further, each conductive region is positioned relative to a respective drive electrode and sense electrode of the first electrode array so that a capacitance between certain pairs of drive and sense electrodes is more sensitive to a variation in the separation distance than a capacitance between other pairs of drive and sense electrodes.

Touch panels have recently become widely adopted as the input device for high-end portable electronic products such as smart-phones and tablet devices. Although, a number of different technologies can be used to create these touch panels, capacitive systems have proven to be the most popular due to their accuracy, durability and ability to detect touch input events with little or no activation force.
The most basic method of capacitive sensing for touch panels is demonstrated in surface capacitive systems, for example as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,293,734 (Pepper, Oct. 6, 1981). A typical implementation of a surface capacitance type touch panel is illustrated in FIG. 1 and comprises a transparent substrate 10, the surface of which is coated with a conductive material that forms a sensing electrode 11. One or more voltage sources 12 are connected to the sensing electrode, for example at each corner, and are used to generate an electrostatic field above the substrate. When a conductive object, such as a human finger 13, comes into close proximity to the sensing electrode, a capacitor 14 is dynamically formed between the sensing electrode 11 and the finger 13 and this field is disturbed. The capacitor 14 causes a change in the amount of current drawn from the voltage sources 12 wherein the magnitude of current change is related to the distance between the finger location and the point at which the voltage source is connected to the sensing electrode. Current sensors 15 are provided to measure the current drawn from each voltage source 12 and the location of the touch input event is calculated by comparing the magnitude of the current measured at each source. Although simple in construction and operation, surface capacitive type touch panels are unable to detect multiple simultaneous touch input events as occurs when, for example, two or more fingers are in contact with the touch panel.
Another well-known method of capacitive sensing applied to touch panels can be found in projected capacitive systems. In this method, as shown in FIG. 2, a drive electrode 20 and sense electrode 21 are formed on a transparent substrate (not shown). The drive electrode 20 is fed with a changing voltage or excitation signal by a voltage source 22. A signal is then induced on the adjacent sense electrode 21 by means of capacitive coupling via the mutual coupling capacitor 23 formed between the drive electrode 20 and sense electrode 21. A current measurement means 24 is connected to the sense electrode 21 and provides a measurement of the size of the mutual coupling capacitor 23. When a conductive object such as a finger 13 is brought within close proximity of both electrodes, it forms a first dynamic capacitor to the drive electrode 27 and a second dynamic capacitor to the sense electrode 28. The effect of these dynamically formed capacitances is manifested as a reduction of the amount of capacitive coupling in between the drive and sense electrodes and hence a reduction in the magnitude of the signal measured by the current measurement means 24 attached to the sense electrode 21. As is well-known, by arranging a plurality of drive and sense electrodes in an array, such as a two-dimensional matrix array, this projected capacitance sensing method may be used to form a touch panel device. An advantage of the projected capacitance sensing method over the surface capacitance method is that multiple simultaneous touch input events may be detected. However, in spite of the multi-touch capabilities of the projected capacitive method, it has some significant limitations. For example, it cannot be used to detect the force of touch input and is unable to detect touch input from non-conductive objects such as a plastic stylus or pen.
In order to overcome these limitations, hybrid systems incorporating force sensing devices into projected capacitive touch panels have been proposed. For example, "Metal-polymer composite with nanostructured filler particles and amplified physical properties", Applied Physics Letters 88, 102013 (2006), discloses a force sensitive material which may be used to form a ring around the periphery of the touch panel. Alternatively, U.S. Pat. No. 6,492,979 (Kent, Dec. 10, 2002) describes a touch panel system incorporating discrete force sensing devices. A force sensor may also be formed in the touch sensor electrode layer: for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,285 (Sommer, Jun. 22, 1999) describes strain gauges formed from Indium Tin Oxide, and inter-digitated amongst the touch sensor electrodes. However, these systems are limited in that they cannot individually measure multiple forces applied at different points.
A method of simultaneously measuring multiple separate touches, together with their associated forces, is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,538,760 (Hotelling, May 26, 2009). This patent describes compressible structures of capacitive sensor electrodes, such as that shown in FIG. 3. The structure of FIG. 3 employs a layer of projected capacitive sense electrodes 410 and a first set of drive electrodes 420 to determine the location of each touch, in the manner of a conventional projected capacitive touch sensor. These sense electrodes 410 and drive electrodes 420 are formed on opposite sides of a sensor substrate 430. A spring structure 440 separates the sense electrodes 410 from a second set of drive electrodes 450. A protective cosmetic layer 460 lies on top of the first set of drive electrodes, and the entire sensor structure is supported by a support substrate 470. The force applied to a point on the sensor influences the local compression of the spring structure, and therefore changes the local capacitance measured between the sense electrodes 410 and the second set of drive electrodes 450. This local capacitance is indicative of the local touch force. Although such a device may permit measurement of both touch position and touch force, it requires the addition of the patterned drive layer 450, to which electrical connections must be provided, incurring a significant extra manufacturing cost. Furthermore, several upper layers must be deformed in order to compress the spring structure 440. This limits the device's sensitivity, spatial resolution and mechanical robustness.
An alternative means of providing multi-touch force sensitivity is described in U.S. application Ser. No. 13/195,364 filed on Aug. 1, 2011. An additional substrate having a resistive layer is placed above a conventional capacitive sensor, spaced from the sensor by an elastic medium. The capacitive sensor is typically operated at two different frequencies. At the higher frequency, the resistive layer has little effect on the measured capacitances, and the sensor measures touch as per usual. At the lower frequency, however, conduction occurs within the resistive layer and so its compression towards the sensor substrate influences the measured capacitance. Although this device is able to measure multiple simultaneous applied forces and does not require an electrical connection to the additional substrate, it does require a controller circuit that can stimulate and measure the response of the sensor at multiple frequencies. This increases the complexity of the circuit and may reduce the accuracy of the sensor and introduce unwanted co-dependencies between the force and touch measurement results.
A touch sensor device that overcomes the aforementioned problems and provides measurements of force without reducing the accuracy of the touch measurement or significantly increasing the complexity or cost of the device is therefore sought.

Capacitive touch panel with force sensing


A method and system are provided for secure messaging on mobile computing devices. The method and system provide for an indication of a security trust level associated with a security method used with an electronic message.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to the field of secure electronic messaging, and in particular to indicating security message information for a secure message.
2. Description of the Related Art
Messages encrypted according to secure messaging protocols such as Secure Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) or Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) among others can be encrypted using different ciphers. There are numerous ciphers available for this purpose, such as Triple Data Encryption Standard (Triple-DES), and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), among others. Some ciphers are classified as "strong" ciphers, while others are classified as "weak" ciphers. Additionally, the perceived strength of a cipher may change over time, as new cryptanalytic attacks for the cipher are discovered.
When a user receives an encrypted message, the level of trust that the user can place on the validity of the message and the authenticity of the sender depends on the strength of the cipher used for encryption. If a strong cipher is used, the user can be confident that the message was not read by someone or tampered with. The weaker the cipher used, the less confident the user may be regarding the security of the communications channel.
Secure messaging clients, such as email applications for desktop or mobile computing devices, typically indicate details of the cipher used for the received secure message. For instance, the messaging client may indicate that the Triple-DES cipher algorithm was used to encrypt the message. However, indicating the cipher used may not necessarily indicate to the user whether the cipher used is considered to be strong or weak unless the user is well-versed in the area of cryptography. Additionally, different users may have different standards for determining the strength of a cipher and thus they may have differing perceptions regarding whether a particular cipher is "strong" or "weak."

System and method of indicating the strength of encryption


A speaker apparatus is a bass-reflex type woofer used in a speaker system, and includes a body portion for housing a speaker unit and a bass-reflex port mounted and fixed in the body portion. Further, in the speaker apparatus, a protrusion for temporarily fastening the bass-reflex port in the case of mounting and fixing the bass-reflex port is provided in the body portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a speaker apparatus and a manufacturing method of the speaker apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, in a speaker system, there are cases where a woofer of bass-reflex structure is used for improving reproducing characteristics of a bass range.
FIG. 1 is a partially enlarged sectional view of a conventional bass-reflex type speaker.
As shown in FIG. 1, a bass-reflex port 101 for outputting a bass range is mounted in a bass-reflex type speaker 100.
This bass-reflex port 101 is a substantially cylindrical resin molded product whose ends are both opened in circular shape. A flange portion 102 for fixing is provided in one end of the bass-reflex port 101, and this flange portion 102 is mounted in the outer circumference 110b of an opening 110a formed in a chassis 110 of the bass-reflex type speaker 100 with the flange portion fixed by screwing etc. Also, the other end 103 of the bass-reflex port 101 has a horn shape in which an inside diameter increases as approaching the other end in order to send sound outputted from a speaker unit to the inside of the bass-reflex port efficiently (refer to JP-A-5-268686, for example).

Speaker apparatus and manufacturing method of speaker apparatus


The specification describes techniques for chemically machining extruded glass preforms used to draw glass ferrules for optical fiber connectors. Using the chemical machining technique the dimensions of the preform, including OD, ID, and the OD to ID ratio can be adjusted so that the dimensions of drawn ferrules meet strict dimensional standards. The technique is especially useful for adjusting the dimensions of extruded preforms that have an inherent bow along in the length of the preform. The technique allows adjustment in dimensions while preserving a desired OD to ID ratio. Also described are techniques for reducing eccentricity and/or ellipticity of hollow bore glass preforms.

Optical fiber connectors that comprise a glass ferrule are known. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,670. However, despite potential cost advantage over conventionally used ceramic ferrules, glass ferrules have found only limited use, e.g., in the so-called rotary splice. This general failure to adopt an otherwise advantageous technology is due at least in part by the failure of many prior art glass ferrules to meet stringent mechanical requirements, including strength and dimensional standards. Indeed, in the rotary splice there is only minimal mechanical stress on the glass ferrule since the rotary splice is designed for one time assembly.
In view of the significant cost savings that can be realized from the replacement of ceramic ferrule optical fiber connectors with relatively inexpensive glass ferrule optical fiber connectors, it would be highly desirable to have available glass ferrules with improved strength that can meet the design standards for current connectors, and also have the dimensional control necessary to meet those standards.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,213 discloses a method of strengthening alkali-containing glass ferrules by ion exchange. The ion exchange method applies to borosilicate glass containing 3 to 10 wt. % Na.sub.2 O, and results in a thin layer of strengthened glass on the outer surface of the glass where the ion exchange process occurs. However, this layer is thin, typically 10-20 .mu.m, and is easily abraded away in practical service and the ferrule then returns to its original weak state. Moreover, this technique is not applicable to vitreous silica or PYREX.TM. ferrules. It is well known that glasses with a higher amount of sodium and with a significant amount of alumina are more effective when treated by an ion-exchange process, and we have used such glass compositions, e.g. those described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,661,545 to make ferrules with a strengthened layer 75 .mu.m thick. This ferrule can survive very harsh abrasion treatment and thermal shock with only moderate loss of the enhanced strength.
Another technique for producing glass ferrules for optical fiber connectors is described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,496. This technique involves etching the outer surface of the glass ferrule to improve the strength of the glass, and coating the etched surface with an adherent coating of, e.g. Ni and Au.
In these and other similar known techniques, glass ferrules are produced from a tubular preform by drawing the preform into a continuous glass tube, and cutting the tube into sections each of which becomes a glass ferrule. Since the early recognition of the potential economies of substituting glass ferrules for ceramic ferrules, a concern about reliability of glass ferrule manufacture has been the dimensional control capabilities of glass making technology as compared with the known dimensional precision inherent in ceramic technology. In practice, it has been found that relatively good dimensional control can be realized with glass ferrule fabrication techniques. This is due to inherent behavior of glass during tube drawing in which the geometry of the preform is replicated to a high degree in the tube, and the success of glass ferrule technology so far has relied on that inherent property. While the replication in the drawn tube is indeed high, the ability to manufacture the starting preforms with precise dimensional control is less assured.
Preforms for these processes may be produced e.g. by extruding large cylindrical hollow bore glass bodies with a relatively large outside diameter, and lengths of e.g. 20" or more. It is found in practice that no two extruded preforms are alike in inside and outside diameter and ratio OD/ID, and some preforms have eccentricity between OD and ID. With such variations in preform manufacture it is difficult to produce drawn glass ferrules with required dimensional standards. For multimode fiber ferrule connectors, dimensional control should be within .+-.1.5 .mu.m for OD, and within .+-.3.0 .mu.m for ID. For single mode fibers, the precision required is even higher. In terms of the precision required for preform dimensions, for a preform with e.g. a 40 mm OD, to be drawn into 2.5 mm OD ferrules, the OD of the preform should be controlled to within .+-.24 .mu.m. The standards for ovality and concentricity are equally stringent.
Efforts have been made to adjust the OD, and bring the OD/ID ratio into compliance with desired limits, by mechanically machining the preform. This is a known technique for adjusting the dimensions of glass preforms, and typically involves removing glass material from the preform using a glass lathe. However, this approach does not allow adjusting the ID of the preform, and is not effective in many cases for correcting eccentricity in hollow bore preforms.
Moreover, in the course of this work it was discovered that almost all of the hollow bore cylindrical preforms produced by one of the glass forming methods, i.e. extrusion, exhibit a slight bowing, typically 0.2-1 mm per 750 mm length (approximately 0.02--0.13%). This bowing occurs is essentially congruent in both the OD and the ID along the length of the hollow bore cylinder. Since the bowing occurs in essentially equal measure in both the OD and the ID, it does not affect the ratio OD/ID in the drawn state and therefore is considered to be within the dimensional tolerance of the process. Thus it is an acceptable defect in conventional practice. However, when the OD is adjusted by machining, typically machining in a glass lathe, the outer bow, or a portion thereof, is removed while the inner bow remains. This produces an eccentricity in the preform (or exacerbates existing eccentricity) which varies axially along the preform. This lack of concentricity is replicated in the drawn state. Any significant offset in the location of the center bore is not acceptable in the drawn ferrule connectors.
A process for making glass ferrules with high dimensional stability, and with the capability of adjusting both the ID and OD of the preform without causing bore eccentricity would be a significant advance in this technology.

Dimensional control in the manufacture of optical fiber ferrule connectors by etching


A dispersing device (1) has a dispersing tool (3), which has a shaft tube (2), and a drive (4). A dispersing rotor is provided at the free shaft tube (2) end (5) remote from the drive (4), the dispersing rotor being connected to the drive (4) via a shaft which can be coupled to the drive (4) and which is arranged within the shaft tube (2). In order to monitor the temperature of the medium to be dispersed, a temperature sensor (7) with a corresponding electric input and output line (8) is provided on the shaft tube (2), which is stationary relative to the dispersing rotor and the rotatable shaft, the input and output lines (8) connecting the temperature sensor (7) to the drive (4) and/or analyzing electronics and/or a control or regulating device.

The invention relates to a dispersing device comprising a dispersing tool, which has a shaft tube and on the free end of which, facing away from a drive, a dispersing rotor is provided which can be driven via a rotatable shaft connected to the drive and disposed in this shaft tube.
A comparable dispersing device is known from DE 10 2004 009 708 B3. Here, the simple handling involved in connecting the shaft tube and dispersing tool to its drive is favorable. In order to determine the temperature of the media to be dispersed, which temperature determination is in many cases desired, additional measures or instruments are necessary, which automatically implies corresponding expense.

Dispersing device with temperature sensor


A baby monitor transmitter is provided for use in combination with a receiver unit. The transmitter includes an arcuately shaped antenna which conforms to an arcuate shape of an upper edge of the transmitter housing. The antenna may be pivoted outwardly away from the housing to a plurality of predetermined positions. In addition, the transmitter includes a clip member which may be used to hang the transmitter on various supporting surfaces. The clip member includes a vertical leg extending parallel to a rear surface of the transmitter and the vertical leg may be moved toward and away from the housing in order to accommodate supporting structures of different sizes.

The present invention relates to a baby monitor and, more particularly, to a transmitter for use in combination with a receiver to monitor the sounds made by a baby.
Baby monitors are increasingly used by parents to monitor a baby while the parent goes to a different location away from the baby such as a different room or outside of the house while the baby is sleeping. The typical baby monitor includes a transmitter or baby unit and a receiver or parent unit wherein the baby unit transmits sounds from the baby to the parent unit and, in some monitoring systems, the parent unit may also transmit the parent's voice to the baby unit.
In known prior art baby monitoring units, the unit is designed to lay flat on its back on a table, or in some instances, also be mounted to a wall. Further, it is known to provide both the baby and parent unit with volume adjustment knobs whereby the sound being transmitted by the baby unit must be above a certain level and the loudness of the sound emitted by the parent unit may be controlled.
It is also known to provide an LED display such that the audio transmission on the parent unit may be shut off and a series of LED lights will light up on the planar front face of the parent unit wherein the number of LED lights displayed will correspond to the loudness of the sound being transmitted by the baby unit.
In the use of prior art baby monitoring systems, there has been a need for baby units which may be mounted in a greater variety of locations as well as units which have a great ease of portability.


Synthetic methods and compounds involving amino amides, peptides and peptidomimetics. Amino amide derivatives are prepared via the one-step three-component reaction of a glyoxamide, an amine, and an organoboron derivative. Conversion of the product to another glyoxamide intermediate allows the iterative use of this chemistry for the synthesis of peptides and peptidomimetics.

The present application relates to amino amides, peptides and peptidomimetics, and methods for preparing such compounds.
The unique roles of various peptides, including their function as extra-cellular messengers, hormones, neurotransmitters neuromodulators, and immune defense modulators, is well established. Consequently, the use of peptides or amino amides containing natural and unnatural amino acid units against many therapeutic targets is of continued interest. Numerous methods have been developed for the synthesis of amino amides or peptides both in solution and on a solid support (Bodanszky, M. Principle of Peptide Synthesis, 2nd Edition, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1993; Guillier, F.; Orain, D.; Bradley, M. Chem. Rev., 100:2091; 100:2091; 2000; Humphrey, J. M.; Chamberlin, A. R. Chem. Rev., 97:2243, 1997).
Due to difficulties resulting from the limited selectivity, stability, delivery and bioavailability of certain peptides, the design and synthesis of peptidomimetic molecules continues to be at the forefront of drug design and discovery and many peptidomimetic frameworks and methods for their synthesis have been developed (Babine, R. E.; Bender, S. L., Chem. Rev., 97:1359, 1997; Hanessian, S.; et al., Tetrahedron, 53:12789, 1997; Fletcher, M. D.; Cambell, M. C., Chem. Rev., 98:763, 1998).
Traditional peptide synthesis in both solution phase and solid phase involves the stepwise or iterative use of the following six transformations: (a) synthesis of amino acid units; (b) monoprotection of certain amino acid units at their N-terminus; (c) monoprotection of certain amino acid units at their C-terminus; (d) coupling of an N-protected and a C-protected amino acid unit via amide bond formation; (e) removal of the protecting group from the N-terminus; and (f) removal of the protective group from the C-terminus. A number of unconventional approaches to the synthesis of peptides have also been developed, including the use of the Ugi four-component condensation reaction of acids, aldehydes, isocyanides and amines (Waki, M.; Meienhofer, J. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 99:6075, 1977; Hoyng, C. F.; Patel, A. D. Tetrahedron Lett., 21:4795, 1980).
Among the drawbacks of the traditional approaches to peptides and peptidomimetics is the large number of required reaction steps and the difficulties in incorporating certain unnatural amino acid side chains, such as alkenyl, alkynyl, allenyl, aryl and heteroaryl groups.

Amino amides, peptides and peptidomimetics


A system and method for automatically and uniquely assigning identification codes to a plurality of slave processors. A master processor having communication port is linked to a first slave processor, which, itself, has first and second communication ports. The first communication port is used in support of the aforementioned link to the computer. A second slave processor, also having first and second serial ports, is linked by its first communication port to the second communication port of the first slave processor. The slave processors are programmed to read designated pins on their first communication ports. The read values determine the identification code of each processor. Thereafter, each slave processor outputs to its second port a value one greater than the value read from its first port. Therefore, each slave processor assigns itself a particular identification code and directs the next slave processor to assign itself an identification code one greater.

Digital system architectures commonly include a master processor that delivers commands to a multiplicity of slave processors. In such architectures, the master processor typically takes charge of the slave processors by delivering high-level commands to those processors. The slave processors typically enact lower-level control over a system or environment. For example, in the context of communication equipment, a computer (master processor) may be used to communicate with a plurality of central processing unit (CPU) cards or other devices (slave processors). The cards or other devices may be held in a chassis or other frame or panel. A chassis is a structural unit of functional cards or other devices, including a CPU card and a plurality of other cards, such as a media converter card, an alarm card, etc. A CPU card is used to control the other cards in a chassis.
To enable the computer to command the plurality of CPU cards, a variety of communication schemes may be employed. According to one such scheme, the computer may be connected to a first CPU card by a set of serial data communication lines. The first CPU card is, in turn, connected to a second CPU card by a set of serial data communication lines. Each of the serial data communication lines connecting the computer to the first CPU card is directly coupled to a corresponding serial data line connecting the second CPU card to the first CPU card. Thus, both the first and second CPU cards effectively share a common set of serial data communication lines with the computer. Accordingly, a transmission from the computer is received by both the first and second CPU cards. If the computer is to exert control over a third CPU card, the third CPU card would be attached via a set of serial data lines to the second CPU card, so that the first, second, and third CPU cards effectively share a common set of serial data communication lines with the computer. A fourth CPU card would be attached to the third CPU card, and so on. This sort of scheme is referred to as either a serial multidrop communication link or a daisy chain.
One shortcoming of the above-described scheme is that because each CPU card receives every transmission emanating from the computer, each CPU card will respond to the computer's commands, unless the computer identifies which CPU card a particular instruction is intended for. Therefore, an identification code is typically assigned to each CPU card. The computer addresses a particular CPU card by transmitting a command coupled with an identification code pointing out which CPU card the command was intended for. All other CPU cards ignore the command.
Heretofore, the process of assigning an identification code to a particular CPU has been cumbersome and subject to error. To assign an identification code to a CPU, a set of dip switches must be manually manipulated. The position of the dip switches determines the identification code. Manual manipulation of dip switches is time consuming and therefore undesirable. Further, manual manipulation of dip switches leaves open the possibility of redundant assignment of identification codes, in which case more than one CPU would respond to a particular command. Such an eventuality could lead to data collisions and other undesirable phenomena on the serial link.
As is evident from the foregoing discussion, there exists an unmet need for a scheme by which unique identification codes can be assigned to slave processors. A favorable scheme will require little or no human effort and will ensure that redundant identification code assignment does not occur.

Systems and methods for automatic assignment of identification codes to devices


A high speed switch. The novel switch includes an input circuit having a transistor Q1 for receiving an input signal, a first mechanism for providing a path from an output of Q1 to an output terminal, and a second mechanism for receiving a control signal and in accordance therewith reducing the conductivity of the path during a mute mode. The first mechanism includes a first circuit for providing a first path from an output of Q1 to a first node, and a second circuit for providing a second path connecting the first node to the output terminal. The second mechanism is adapted to apply a signal to the first node during the mute mode such that the first and second circuits are off or partially conducting. The switch also includes a circuit for clamping the first node to a first predetermined voltage during the mute mode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronics. More specifically, the present invention relates to switches.
2. Description of the Related Art
Analog to digital converters are widely used for converting analog signals to corresponding digital signals for many electronic circuits. For example, a high resolution, high speed analog to digital converter (ADC) may find application in broadband communications, video circuits, radar, and electronic warfare applications. In the field of analog to digital conversion, there continue to be many driving goals, such as speed, increased number of bits (relating to dynamic range and spur-free operation), power consumption, and size. Two of the most critical specifications remain speed and dynamic range.
The fastest ADC architecture is called "flash" conversion. A flash ADC produces an N-bit digital output in one step using a comparator bank comprised of 2N−1 parallel comparators. This architecture, however, is limited in dynamic range to about 8 bits, since the number of comparators grows rapidly as the number of bits N becomes larger. The next fastest converter technique is a subranging pipelined architecture.
Subranging ADCs typically use a low resolution flash quantizer during a first stage or "coarse pass" to convert an analog input signal into the most significant bits (MSB) of its digital value. An analog version of the MSB word, generated by a digital analog converter (DAC), is then subtracted from the input signal at a summing node to produce a residue or residual signal. The residue signal is amplified by an amplifier, and subsequently digitized by one or more additional stages or "fine passes" to produce the least significant bits of the input signal. The digital words produced by each stage are then combined by digital error correcting circuitry to produce a digital output representing the original analog input signal.
In a subranging ADC, the summing node is perhaps the most critical node in the chain. This is because an error appearing at the summing node cannot be corrected by the error correction circuit and will therefore appear as an error in the digital output. The problem that must be overcome is that when the input sample and hold (S/H) circuit begins its next sample, the quantizer and DAC have not reached equilibrium, resulting in a large voltage swing at the summing node. This causes some of the internal stages of the following amplifier to go into saturation. Once this happens, the settling time of the amplifier is lengthened considerably and the speed of conversion is significantly degraded.
A switch is typically used to isolate the amplifier from the summing node during the period when the driving circuits have not reached equilibrium. This switch must switch and settle rapidly. It must also provide isolation when off and provide linear operation when on. Prior art implementations, however, either perturb the summing node by capacitively coupling charge or affect the settling time by switching input stages within the amplifier.
Hence, there is a need in the art for an improved switch offering faster speed and greater accuracy than prior art switches.