The current invention provides a process in which ethers are converted into α-olefins by passage over a modified alumina catalyst. The alumina catalyst is made by treating gamma-alumina with a rare earth metal oxide such as lanthanum oxide, La2O3. The modified aluminum catalysts convert 1-methoxyoctane into 1-octene with high selectivity at high conversion rates.

The dehydration of alcohols using a heterogeneous alumina catalyst is a well known chemical transformation. Early work on this reaction showed that alcohols could be converted into their corresponding olefins, without extensive isomerization, if base treated alumina was used as a catalyst. See for example, Herman Pines et. al. in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1960, v82, at pages 2401 and 2471 and Herman Pines et. al. in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1961, v83 at pages 2847 and 3270. The authors treated alumina with sodium hydroxide, ammonia, methylammonia and pipyridine and found that, the stronger the base used, the smaller the degree of isomerization observed. Hence by rendering an alumina catalyst less acidic, isomerization of product olefins was suppressed.
The patent literature discloses several methods to produce olefins from both the dehydration of alcohols or the cracking of ethers using a base modified alumina catalyst.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,234,752 to Phillips Petroleum Company discloses that linear or branched alcohols containing from 2 to about 20 carbon atoms can be converted to olefins by dehydration over a base modified gamma-alumina catalyst. In one embodiment, 3-methyl-1-butanol was converted to 3-methyl-1-butene with over 90% yield. Excessive acidic sites in the alumina were neutralized with sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide.
US Patent Application, 2003/0065233 to Kuraray Co. describes a process for making α-olefins from primary alcohols or ethers through elimination reactions catalyzed by a modified alumina catalyst. The alumina catalyst was modified with an organic amine.
Similarly, US Patent application 2006/0036121 to Oxeno discloses a base catalyzed process for the production of α-olefins from ethers ("1-alkoxyalkanes"). The catalysts used were alumina or zirconia catalysts which had been treated with alkali and/or alkali earth oxides. In a preferred embodiment 1-methoxyoctane is converted to 1-octene with 94.2% selectivity at a conversion of about 83.7%.
Cracking processes, such as those which convert ethers to α-olefins may play a significant role in the final stages of converting butadiene to 1-octene, an α-olefin of significant commercial utility, particularly to the plastics, surfactants and lubricants industries.
For example, WO 92/10450 describes a process in which 1,3-butadiene is converted first to 2,7-octadienyl ether over a palladium catalyst in the presence of methanol. The 2,7-octadienyl ether is then hydrogenated to 1-methoxyoctane which is cleaved over alumina to provide 1-octene. Alternatively, butadiene may be reacted with a carboxylic acid instead of methanol in the first step according to EP 0,440,955. The selectivity of the ether cleavage step in each of these processes is poor at high conversions, due to acidic alumina sites which not only catalyze the ether cleavage reaction, but also contribute to isomerization of the product α-olefins to internal olefins.
There remains a need for new catalysts which crack ethers into 1-olefins with an improved combination of selectively and conversion.
The current invention provides a process in which ethers are converted to α-olefins with high selectivity at high conversions using an alumina catalyst which has been treated with a rare earth metal oxide.
The current invention also provides modified alumina catalysts in which selectivity to 1-olefins as well as conversion rates are relatively insensitive to the loading of the rare earth metal oxide. Hence, preparation of the inventive catalysts is facile and requires little optimization.

Catalytic cracking of ethers to 1-olefins


The present invention is provided to overcome the difficulties of a conventional tail wheel-type airplane such as the remarkably inferior straight ground-run properties during a take-off run (particularly, low-speed taxiing), and the extremely difficult control during the take-off run. A mechanism of the present invention is structured such that left and right coaxial gears and main wheel gears (or connection gears) are engaged together when not stepping on rudder pedals in take-off and landing run. Under this operation, since the above gears themselves are engaged together, left and right main wheels rotate synchronously through a co-axis, and as a result, an airframe makes a straight ground-run. When stepping on the rudder pedals in taxiing, the coaxial gears and main wheel gears (or connection gears) are disengaged from each other, the left and right main wheels then rotate independently, and as a result, the airframe easily taxis (i.e., a case of turning the airframe right or left). The present invention is also applied to a tail wheel-type radio control model airplane.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a straight ground-run mechanism of a tail wheel-type airplane so as to improve the straight ground-run properties of the tail wheel-type airplane during its take-off run (particularly, low-speed taxiing).
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, a tail wheel-type airplane has been remarkably inferior in straight ground-run properties included in the properties of this tail wheel-type airplane, and it has been extremely difficult to control the tail wheel-type airplane. Sometimes, the airplane of this type has caused an accident during its take-off run.
On the other hand, a nose wheel-type airplane is relatively excellent in straight ground-run properties, and therefore, amounts to a large percentage of contemporary airplanes.

Straight ground-run mechanism of tail wheel-type airplane


Implementations for monitoring seismic data recorded in a marine survey of a subterranean formation for coverage gaps are described herein. Implementations include computing Fresnel sum operators for Fresnel zones of the subterranean formation based on a Kirchhoff migration impulse response at horizons of a representative plane layer model of a survey area of the subterranean formation. Implementations also include computing an acceptability map of the survey area based on the Fresnel sum operators. The acceptability map reveals coverage gaps in the survey area. Geoscientist may use the acceptability map to infill seismic data in areas of the survey area that correspond to the coverage gaps.

Marine seismology companies invest heavily in the development of marine seismic surveying equipment and seismic data processing techniques to obtain accurate, high-resolution seismic images of subterranean formations located beneath a body of water. Such images may be used, for example, to reveal the geological structure of subterranean formations, to discover petroleum reservoirs, and to monitor petroleum reservoirs during production. A typical marine survey is carried out with one or more survey vessels that tow one or more seismic sources and numerous streamers through the body of water. The survey vessel contains seismic acquisition equipment, such as navigation control, seismic source control, seismic receiver control, and recording equipment. The seismic source control controls activation of the one or more seismic sources at selected times or locations. A seismic source typically comprises an array of source elements, such as air guns, that are activated to produce an acoustic impulse. The acoustic impulse is a sound wave that spreads out in all directions. A portion of the impulse that travels down through the water and into a subterranean formation propagates as a sound wave within the subterranean formation. At each interface between different types of rock and sediment, a portion of the sound wave is refracted, a portion is transmitted, and another portion is reflected into the body of water to propagate toward the water surface. The streamers are elongated cable-like structures that are towed behind a survey vessel in the inline direction and are typically arranged parallel to one another in the crossline direction. Each streamer contains seismic receivers or sensors that detect pressure and/or particle motion wavefields of the sound waves reflected into the water from the subterranean formation. The streamers collectively form a seismic data acquisition surface. Each receiver records the pressure and/or particle motion wavefields in a trace of seismic data. The recorded pressure and/or particle motion wavefields are processed to generate images of the subterranean formation, enabling geoscientist to identify potential hydrocarbon reservoirs that may be suitable for oil and gas extraction and to monitor hydrocarbon reservoirs under production.

Infill monitoring using the three-dimensional Fresnel zone of a migration operator


A image forming apparatus for providing an enlarged user work space. The image forming apparatus includes a printing module with a housing, a scanning module positioned above the printing module, a modular work surface positioned above the printing module, and a document handler positioned above the modular work surface. The modular work surface includes at least a unitary central work surface. The central work surface includes a top surface having a width dimension extending in a horizontal sheet feed direction, the width dimension of the top surface of the central work surface being larger than a width dimension of the housing of the printing module.

This disclosure relates to a work surface of an image forming apparatus.
Image forming apparatus such as photocopiers, printers, multi-functional devices, scanners, and other image capture devices and image producing devices have been widely used in commercial and industrial environments having limited floor space for installation. Higher demands to minimize a floor space occupied by an image forming apparatus created a need by image forming apparatus manufacturers to reduce a size of the apparatus's static footprint, i.e., the floor space that the apparatus occupies. The need for the reduction of the static footprint has resulted in the development of compact image forming apparatus that maximize a vertical spatial area occupied by the apparatus, such as vertical feed type image forming apparatus.
A vertical feed type image forming apparatus generally involves a layered structure including a sheet supply tray portion, an image forming portion, a scanner and a document handler/feeder that are sequentially arranged to feed/convey paper along a vertical sheet feed path extending from a bottom to a top of the apparatus. Such vertical feed type image forming apparatus reduced the static footprint.
There are various existing types of vertical feed type image forming apparatus. For example, FIG. 1 shows a conventional vertical feed type image forming apparatus. The vertical feed type image forming apparatus 100 includes sheet supply trays 110a-110c, a printing module 120 as the image forming portion, a scanner module 130 as a image capture device, a top planar work surface 140 and a document handler/feeder 150 that collectively produce a static footprint S100 of the printing module 120, as measured along a horizontal sheet feed direction indicated by arrow F100. The vertical feed type image forming apparatus 100 also includes additional features of an assembler/finisher module 200, attachments/wings 300, a display module 400, a paper input tray 500 and a paper output tray 600 that collectively produce a dynamic footprint D100 of the entire image forming apparatus 100, as measured along the direction of arrow F100. Since the work surface 140 is predominately occupied by the overlying document handler/feeder 150, the additional attachments/wings 300 may be provided to extend the work surface 140 to expand the limited available working areas, i.e., areas not occupied by the document handler/feeder 150. Therefore, the user of the image forming apparatus 100 may perform other operations such as placing documents, copies, clips, pens, etc. on the wings, even if a separate work table is not available.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,741,818 describes another conventional vertical feed type image forming apparatus. The vertical feed type image forming apparatus is a multifunctional printer including a print module housing a main print engine and a scanning module, a central work surface provided above the print module and sandwiched between top surfaces of additional accessories, and a document feeder/handler provided above the central work surface. Since the central work surface is predominately occupied by the overlying document feeder/handler, the top surfaces of the accessories constitute the few unoccupied working spaces available for users of the multifunctional printer.

Modular work surface of an image forming apparatus


An electronic device according to various embodiments may include at least one transceiver, and at least one processor, operatively coupled to the at least one transceiver, configured to control to transmit, via a device-to-device (D2D) communication path to at least another electronic device, a signal with a first transmit (Tx) power, and control to re-transmit, via the D2D communication path to the at least another electronic device, the signal with a second Tx power lower than the first Tx power.

Electronic devices capable of performing device-to-device (D2D) communication for public safety or vehicle to everything (V2X) are released. Such D2D communication does not need a base station, and thus achieves a required reception rate mostly using a retransmission scheme. However, since the retransmission scheme demands higher power consumption than a typical transmission scheme, what is demanded is a solution for reducing the power consumption of the retransmission in the D2D communication.

Electronic device and method for controlling transmit power in device-to-device communication


A brake control apparatus switches the braking mode from an auto-braking mode to a manual braking mode when a braking operation is carried out. The braking control apparatus includes a mode switching delay unit for delaying the time at which the braking mode is switched to the manual mode from the start time of the braking operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a brake control apparatus, and more particularly to a brake control apparatus switching a control mode from an auto-braking mode, in which a brake force is controlled in accordance with a distance between a vehicle and a forward vehicle or obstacle, to a manual braking mode in which the brake force is controlled in accordance with a braking operation of a driver.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a running control apparatus in which a distance between a vehicle and a forward vehicle is measured and a running control of the vehicle is performed, based on the measured distance and a speed of the vehicle, so that the distance between the vehicle and the forward vehicle is not less than a constant value has been proposed (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No.4-201692). In such a running control apparatus, a running state (the speed and/or acceleration) of the vehicle is controlled by the acceleration control and brake control (in an auto-braking mode) based on the measured distance between the vehicle and the forward vehicle and the speed of the vehicle. Then, for example, when a driver carries out a brake operation (an operation of stepping on a brake pedal) during the brake force control in the auto-braking mode, an intention of the driver takes priority over the brake force control in the auto-braking mode, so that the auto-braking mode is released. As a result, the vehicle is braked with a brake force depending on an amount of operation of the brake pedal (in the manual braking mode).
In the above mentioned conventional brake control apparatus, as shown in FIG. 1, when a brake force (a wheel cylinder pressure) Pw (=Pw1) is generated, the auto-braking mode may be switched to the manual braking mode. In this case, after the brake force Pw is rapidly decreased, the brake force Pw (=Pm: a master cylinder pressure) is gradually increased in accordance with the amount of braking operation (the amount of operation of stepping on the brake pedal). As a result, at a time ta at which the control mode is switched to the manual braking mode, the deceleration of the vehicle is temporarily decreased. At this time, the driver may feel a physical disorder, such as the vehicle advancing.


A system that includes a receiver (100) that is configured for: selecting (210) a set of demodulator output samples and a corresponding set of reference symbols each having a magnitude; generating (220) a set of raw channel estimates based on the set of demodulator output samples and the corresponding set of reference symbols; determining (230) a set of linearly-constrained filter coefficient parameters; and combining (240) the set of raw channel estimates with the set of linearly-constrained filter coefficient parameters to generate a channel estimate.

Pilot symbol aided Minimum Mean-Squared Error (MMSE) channel estimation (which uses only pre-determined or known symbols, commonly referred to in the art as pilot and preamble symbols, in deriving channel estimates) is a well-known method of obtaining channel gain information for symbol decoding in single or multi-carrier systems. For example, the pilot symbol aided MMSE channel estimation method is used in Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) systems such as those that operate in accordance with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11a and 802.11g standards.
In some systems, pilot symbol placement and density is designed to enable adequate pilot symbol aided MMSE channel estimation only for low speed applications, for example applications at pedestrian speeds. However, when such systems are operated at higher speeds, a strictly pilot symbol aided channel estimation methodology often proves inadequate. To improve channel estimation for such systems at higher speeds, a decision directed MMSE channel estimation approach may be used. This decision directed approach is also referred to herein as reference symbol aided channel estimation to cover the potential use of both pre-determined as well as regenerated symbols in the channel estimation process. The regenerated reference symbols are typically but not necessarily data symbols.
To implement the reference symbol aided MMSE channel estimation approach using pilot and regenerated data symbols, a receiver in an OFDM system generally includes a MMSE predictive channel estimator to extrapolate the channel gain at a given data symbol location or instant. The MMSE estimator is essentially a linear filter that produces smoothed or predicted channel estimates from a set of "raw" or instantaneous estimates typically at nearby (in the time or frequency sense) symbols. The estimator combines these raw channel estimates with filter coefficients selected from a corresponding set of filter coefficients to predict the channel estimate for the given data symbol.
A set of coefficients can be pre-computed for each data symbol instant and stored in a look-up table. For symmetric delay/Doppler profiles the coefficients are real-valued, providing computational and memory savings. As an improvement, several banks of coefficients pertaining to different channel conditions (e.g., fading rate, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), etc.) can be provided and the best selected adaptively.
For multi-level constellation systems (e.g., 16 or 64 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)), the noise variances of the instantaneous channel estimates depend on the magnitudes of the modulated symbols. To optimize performance in this case, the filter coefficients should ideally be designed as functions of the symbol magnitudes. However, this can lead to a prohibitively large memory requirement. For an N-tap estimator, the number of coefficient sets is equal to MN, where M is the number of symbol magnitudes (e.g., M=3 for 16QAM, and M=9 for 64QAM). For example, a ten tap estimator in a receiver using 64QAM would require 910 different sets of coefficients.
One known method for minimizing coefficient memory is to assume equal symbol magnitude in computing estimator coefficients. However, this approach results in sub-optimal performance for receivers using 16QAM or 64QAM due to what is commonly referred to in the art as "noise enhancement." In forming the raw channel estimates, noise is enhanced whenever a symbol's squared magnitude is less than the average. For instance, the raw channel estimate for a symbol i is given by gi=vi/pi=(pihi+ni)/pi=hi+(ni/pi), where v is the receiver's demodulator output, p is the symbol value, h is the channel gain and n is the noise. As can be seen, for small magnitudes the effective noise term ni/pi is magnified. Typically, the average noise enhancement is about 2.8 dB for 16QAM and about 4.3 dB for 64QAM.
Thus, there exists a need for a channel estimation method and apparatus that gives improved performance for multi-level constellations without necessitating an impractical amount of memory. It is also desirable that the channel estimation method and apparatus operate with reduced computational complexity, for both multi-level and non-multi-level constellations. It is further desirable that the channel estimation method and apparatus enable higher-speed operation of systems with pilot symbol aided MMSE channel estimation.

Channel estimation using linearly constrained filter coefficients


A method for vehicle blind zone detection, applied to an electronic device coupled to one or more cameras arranged on a vehicle, the method comprising: setting a capture zone in a current frame image captured by the camera and detecting an object entering the capture zone in the current frame image, wherein the object meeting a capture criterion and a location information of the object meeting the capture criterion are added into a tracking list; performing tracking operations on an existing object, which has been detected and thus added to the tracking list, in one or more previous frame images preceding the current frame image captured by the camera, to obtain a new location information of the existing object in the current frame image, and determining whether to have the existing object remained in the tracking list in accordance with the new location information of the existing object and the detection scope; and making a warning determination in accordance with the location information in the current frame image for all the objects remained in the tracking list.

As the increasing of the number of motor vehicles, the volume of vehicles on the traffic roads also increases rapidly, resulting in a deteriorating trend of traffic accidents. Especially for general vehicles, the blind zones for the rear view mirrors on both sides of the vehicle may make the driver not able to realize the situation on the sides of the vehicle clearly, having the risk of car accident increased. Vehicle blind zone detecting technology can effectively compensate for the increased risk of car accidents, improving driving safety significantly, and greatly reducing the traffic accidents caused by the blind zones.
The current vehicle blind zone detecting technologies are mainly realized with radar devices, visual principles or visual processing. Radar-based blind zone detecting technologies mainly detect surrounding obstacles by providing a radar system in the vehicle, which has the advantage of high sensitivity of detection; but its disadvantages are obvious as well, for example, no intuitive visual information can be provided for the driver; moving objects cannot be distinguished from the background; and unnecessary false alarms could be produced since warning determinations depending on the moving directions and trends are not available.
The technologies based on visual principles or visual processing includes two major types. One is to reduce or even eliminate the blind zone by expanding the visual field of the rear view mirrors on the sides, e.g. by replacing conventional plane mirrors with various types of curvature mirror, so as to reduce the risk caused by blind zones, which, however, will cause severe deformation of the images seen by the driver and make determinations about information such as the distance impossible. The other is to set up cameras on sides as visual sensors, which has better practical effect by providing drivers with intuitive visual information, and reduces accident rate by effectively providing the visual information as assistance for the driver.
However, there are still many problems in the blind zone detections based on computer visual processing technologies, mainly including low accuracy and excessively large calculation amount. If a high accuracy is desired, usually, a complex algorithm of machine learning is usually required for support. Moreover, with this kind of method, only warnings on certain types of objects, such as vehicles, can be given. If it is desired to give warnings on multiple types of objects, the requirement for the computing capability of the equipment will be very demanding; and the real-time performance can hardly meet actual needs.


Apparatus for cutting fibrous reinforcement material in relationship with an ejector nozzle. The apparatus comprises at least two feeding rollers and a rotary cutter which is provided with a substantially cylindrical mantle surface with attachments for a number of knives. These cooperate with a support roller with an elastic surface layer for forming a thread nip. The mantle surface of the cutter is provided with slot-shaped recesses for the fiber thread, which recesses extend peripherally along the mantle surface and between successive knives. The recesses enable the thread to be fed forward by means of the feeding rollers at a feeding rate which deviates from the speed of the cutter, for adaptation of the cutting length of the fiber thread.

In robot-controlled production, there is usually a high demand for precision in the delivery of raw material. For example, when feeding fiber thread to a robot-controlled fiber feeding apparatus, the feeding rate may be about 10 meters per second. If jerks occur in feeding, the thread may be torn off or damaged, which will lead to serious losses in production.
When cutting fiber thread, a cutting apparatus of the above described type is normally used. Each time the fiber thread is hit by the sharp edge of the knife means, the fiber is folded in V-shape around the edge while being pressed into the elastic layer of the support roller. This operation occurs at a high frequency during a period of time of some fractions of a second. The mechanical deformation leads to fracture of the single fibers of the thread.
Known apparatus for this purpose are adapted to cutting fibers of a certain thread length. The distance between two cuts normally depends upon the distance between the knife means of the cutter. Thus, the feeding rate of the feeding rollers and the cutter is synchronized.
It would be desirable to be able to vary the length of the cut fiber pieces inf initely variable. Besides, a drawback with the method is in that a sudden jerk is developed in the thread each time it is hit by a knife means, because the thread is momentarily accelerated while being folded around the knife edge. These rapid jerks can lead to tearing off of the fiber thread at wrong places.

Apparatus for cutting reinforcing fiber material


In a method of forming a thin-film structure employed in a non-volatile semiconductor device, an oxide film is formed on a substrate. An upper nitride film is formed on the oxide film by nitrifying an upper portion of the oxide film through a plasma nitration process. A lower nitride film is formed between the substrate and the oxide film by nitrifying a lower portion of the oxide film through a thermal nitration process. A damage to the thin-film structure generated in the plasma nitration process may be at least partially cured in the thermal nitration process, and/or may be cured in a post-thermal treatment process.

Semiconductor memory devices may generally be classified as volatile semiconductor devices and non-volatile semiconductor devices. A volatile semiconductor device, for example, a random-access memory (RAM) device, may have a rapid response speed but loses stored data when power is turned off. A non-volatile semiconductor device, such as a read-only memory (ROM) device, may have a slower response speed but maintains the stored data when power is turned off. Conventional ROM devices have the additional limitation that data may not be stored in them after initial programming.
Non-volatile semiconductor devices, such as electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) devices and/or flash memory devices, are widely used in various electric or electronic devices, because data may be electrically programmed into an EEPROM device and/or a flash memory device, and/or may be erased from the EEPROM or the flash memory device.
In the flash memory device, data may be electrically programmed and/or erased using a Fowler-Nordheim tunneling mechanism and/or a hot electron injection mechanism.
To manufacture a conventional flash memory device, a tunnel oxide layer is typically formed on an active region of a semiconductor substrate, and then a floating gate is formed on the tunnel oxide layer. After a dielectric layer is formed on the floating gate, a control gate is formed on the dielectric layer. Impurities are doped into portions of the active region adjacent to the floating gate so as to form impurity regions.
A conventional flash memory device typically has a stacked structure that includes the tunnel oxide layer, the floating gate, the dielectric layer and the control gate sequentially formed on the semiconductor substrate. When proper voltages are applied to the control gate and the impurity region, electrons are injected into the floating gate from the impurity region so that data is programmed into the conventional flash memory device.
To inject the electrons into the floating gate, the voltages applied to the control gate and the impurity region should be larger than a threshold voltage (Vth) of the conventional flash memory device. The threshold voltage of the flash memory device mainly depends on characteristics of the tunnel oxide layer. When the tunnel oxide layer has poor characteristics, the threshold voltages of unit cells in the flash memory device may be different from one another, which may reduce the reliability of the flash memory device.
To improve the characteristics of the tunnel oxide layer, U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,681 (issued to Dirk J. Wristers, et al.) describes a method of forming a tunnel oxide layer having a surface portion that contains nitrogen, by thermally treating the tunnel oxide layer under a nitric oxide (NO) gas atmosphere. However, since a tunnel oxide layer formed according to the techniques described in the above U.S. patent may not have a dense structure, leakage current through the tunnel oxide layer may be increased.
Korean Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-4797 discloses a method of forming a tunnel oxide layer by nitrifying an oxide layer using a plasma, or by thermally nitrifying the oxide layer. However, the tunnel oxide layer may be damaged during the process of nitrifying of the oxide layer, which may also result in increased leakage current through the tunnel oxide layer.

Methods of forming a thin-film structure, methods of manufacturing non-volatile semiconductor devices using the same, and resulting non-volatile semiconductor devices


A sample holder for receiving, containing and storing multiple samples for delivery to an electrophoretic gel; and a method of preparing a gel for electrophoresis such that samples are first loaded onto a separate holder which can then be positioned at an edge of a gel bed surface while the electrophoretic gel is poured, whereby after solidifcation thereof the sample holder is removed leaving the samples adhered in a position for delivery to the electrophoretic gel after current is applied to the system.

Electrophoresis is a process in which macromolecules are separated on the basis of their charge-to-mass ratios by forcing them to move through a carrier medium, such as a porous gel, by means of a voltage gradient applied across the gel. Molecules having uniform charge-to-mass ratios, such as DNA and RNA, are differentiated on the basis of size.
Gel electrophoresis is a technique frequently used for separation with proteins and nucleic acids. In traditional methodology, a gel is cast as a thin slab between plates (for vertical runs) or alternatively poured and cast onto a flat bed (for horizontal runs) and positioned between buffer/electrode compartments in an electrophoresis apparatus. An appropriate buffer solution is added to the buffer/electrode compartments of the apparatus, and a small amount of sample solution is then carefully pipetted into precast notches on top of the gel. Usually glycerol and a "tracking" dye are contained within the notches, or added to the sample solution. An electric current is then applied across the gel until the tracking dye band has migrated through the length of the slab. The electric current is discontinued, and the gel is removed from the apparatus. At this point the gel is analyzed to determine the relative migration of the sample molecules. The gel may be stained, for example, with a dye that binds to proteins or nucleic acids, and the gel may then be dried or preserved, or a photograph taken, thus rendering a permanent visual record of the size distribution of the molecules in the original sample solution.
Electrophoresis gels typically are cast to accommodate multiple samples in an elongated gel slab. The gel slab is usually formed by inserting a comb device into nonsolidified gel medium. Usually the comb device has a plurality of equally spaced protrusions which resemble the teeth of a hair comb. The gel medium is then allowed to "gel", or harden, and the comb is removed resulting in the formation of sample-receiving wells within the upper portion of the gel slab.
Gel electrophoresis run in the conventional manner, as described above, is inherently inefficient. Typically, an operator must load the wells of the gel slab manually with a hand-held pipette. Samples must then be run immediately to prevent diffusion of the samples into the buffer. Therefore, loaded samples may not be stored, and thus, an operator must run tests immediately rather than when convenient. Also, the number of samples per gel made in the conventional manner is limited in order to provide a target well large enough to be loaded accurately.
Roger C. Wiggins in an article entitled "Agarose Drop Method for Loading Thin Polyacrylamide Gels", Analytical Biochemistry 126, pp. 422-424 (1982), describes a technique for gel electrophoresis where molten agarose is added to a crystalline sample and allowed to solidify. Each sample is then separated by cutting the backing on which it is placed, and the sample is slid onto a glass back plate of a horizontal gel mold and placed in contact with a polymerized stacking gel. The disadvantages of the Wiggins' technique are that the process is more labor intensive than simple well loading, and only has utility for very small samples sizes. The technology does not lend itself to automation thus limiting the number of samples that could be analyzed in a period of time. The technology is also limited in that the resulting band profile is a function of the size and shape of the sample drop, leading to lane patterns that are not reproducible.
Automation has been attempted in efforts to increase sample throughput in electrophoresis processes. For example, in a development program for automating gel loading at Beckman Instruments, Inc., a programmable pipetting machine, the Biomek Workstation, has been developed. Each individual precast gel is mounted on the Biomek, electrophoresis samples are loaded by the instrument, and then the gel is removed. The disadvantage of this system is that only a single gel can be loaded at a time. Also, because of the limits of pipetting accuracy, sample loading wells have to be quite large to be accessed accurately by the robotic arm. It is difficult to accurately deliver the Biomek pipet into a thin sample well, and thin wells are desirable because they determine band resolution in the gel. If the well is made thick enough to allow accurate pipetting, significant band resolution is lost. Another disadvantage of the Biomek method is that only one gel at a time can be loaded. Because of the above problems, and the lack of ease of operation, the Biomek method of automated gel loading has not been adapted widely by the research community.
A system for automated gel loading also eliminates pipetting error which occurs when samples are switched or mixed up during hand-held loading. Thus, multiple robotic pipetting not only hastens the loading procedure but also protects against application of wrong sample sequences.
In designing the sample holder and automatable gel loading process of the instant invention, Applicant recognized several constraints. First, the efficiency of an automated process would be improved by increasing the number of samples which could be loaded simultaneously on a sample loading machine. However, when the size and spacing of sample wells is decreased in an effort to provide a higher density of wells per gel, the pipetting machine must be increasingly more precise in order to successfully deliver samples to the smaller wells. Hence, one problem to overcome is how to increase the number of sample wells per gel while maintaining a target well size that can be hit by a robot arm on the pipetting machine. A second related constraint involves trying to maintain a very thin well in the dimension of the direction of sample electrophoresis to maintain high band resolution. A third constraint involves the need to design a sample loading system whereby the automated sample delivery device can efficiently load samples for more than one gel slab at a time. A fourth constraint is the need to provide a system of loading samples wherein the loaded samples may be stored for a length of time before they are electrophoresed through the gel. Sample diffusion and integrity must be controlled during storage.
Hence, a better, more efficient method of automatable gel electrophoresis is needed. It is an object of the present invention to solve the problems associated with conventional gel electrophoresis by providing a method of loading samples into a separate sample holder unconnected from the gel slab, wherein the samples are allowed to gel within individual wells within the sample holder and can therein be stored until electrophoresis. Another unique and beneficial feature of Applicant's gel loading system is that sample aliquots are delivered to the sample well chamber from a position parallel and not perpendicular to the electrophoretic axis, in other words, into the front of the sample well chamber rather than into the "top" of the sample well chamber, relative to the direction of the electrophoretic current as the well is viewed when in position for electrophoresis. Thus, the surface area available for delivery of the sample to the well is greatly increased compared to traditional horizontal loading schemes, where the sample is loaded into the top portion of the well chamber from an angle perpendicular to the electrophoretic axis.

Sample holder and method for automated high throughput electrophoresis


An inflatable furniture system. In one aspect, the disclosed system includes: a pair of interchangeable inflatable cushions, wherein a bottom surface of each cushion includes a plurality of attachment loops affixed thereto; a substantially H-shaped inflatable arm/back rest that includes a bottom surface having a plurality of attachment loops affixed thereto; a plurality of extension straps, each with two ends, wherein each end includes an attachment loop; and a plurality of S-clips, each configured to connect a pair of attachment loops.

There exist numerous types and styles of inflatable furniture. There also exist various types of inflatable floatable furniture for use in or out of a pool or body of water. Moreover, there exist modular inflatable furniture systems. However, none of the existing designs provides an inflatable, floatable, modular furniture system that is truly stylish and functional. In particular, none of the existing designs provide a high end look, while at the same time providing a versatile, comfortable, and easy-to-use system that can be easily transformed into different configurations for use in or out of the water.

Inflatable, floatable, modular furniture system


Metal armature for a tight strip or a seal, for use in particular in the automotive industry and specially for the production of members such as guides, slides, pane bottom or car window wiper rings ... etc, having a U-shape in its operational condition and comprising of sequence of elements arranged at intervals and connected with each other, each element, being composed of two nearly parallel strips joined by means of spacers and two adjacent elements being connected to each other using a connecting strip. The spacers and connecting strips are slanted to the mean longitudinal direction of the armature yet with opposite angles. The armature is for use in particular in the automotive industry and especially for the production of elements such as guides, slides, pane bottom or car window wiper rings.

1 . Field of the Invention
The invention relate% to a metal armature for a tight strip or a seal for use in particular in the automotive industry and especially for the production of guides, slides, pane bottom or car window . . . etc, as well as to seals such as guides, slides, wiper rings . . . etc including such armatures.
2. The Prior Art
An armature is already known from FR-A 2 435 644 for such tight strips or seals, which is composed of a series of adjacent elements connected with each other by means of short connecting strips, other designs being known, for example, from FR-A 2 389 052, FR-A 2 352 942, FR-A 2 033 026, FR-A 2 258 514 or EP-A 0 252 659, . . . etc. However, these known armatures are not quite satisfactory because, on the one hand, their compressibility is extremely low and, on the other hand, they are subject to prohibitive elongation if the tensile stress is not directed along a predetermined direction.
Now, the rationalizing requirements regarding the seal mounting operations, as well as those concerning slides, wiper rings, . . . etc, have led car manufacturers to give up the cutting of the seal after fitting for the exclusive use of seals, slides, wiper rings precut to the required length, which are compression positioned which, besides a more reasonable cost, offers the advantage of a better adherence of the seal or guide to the window mount.
The object of the invention is to provide an armature of the aforesaid type, without the disadvantages of the known types, and which has good tension-compression properties with a high compressibility level and a low extensibility level as compared with compressibility, while being easily and inexpensive constructed.

Metal armature for a tight strip or a seal, for use, in particular, in the automotive industry


A method and apparatus for automatically and dynamically tuning individual heater segments of a multi-zone furnace which allows simultaneous minimization of temperature gradients within the furnace and prevention of premature aging and failure of the segments by controlling the relative temperatures thereof and equalization of the contributions of the segments to the heating of the furnace. Furnace and heater temperatures are monitored and furnace temperatures are used to develop set point biases for automatic control of heater segment temperatures. Some segments are also controlled as a function of power applied to other segments. Temperatures sensed within the furnace are combined such as by averaging to effectively provide virtual sensors in locations where sensors cannot otherwise be practically provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to automatic controls for heating equipment and, more particularly, to automatic tuning of multi-zone furnaces.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The manufacturing processes for many types of devices and materials include heat treatment processes. These processes may include raising the device or material to a predetermined temperature for a predetermined period of time or treatment of the device or material at a sequence of different temperatures for respective different periods of time.
It is also often desirable in such manufacturing processes, to provide for continuous processing of such devices or materials, particularly where a sequence of different temperatures are to be used. Furnaces for continuous production often take the form of an elongated chamber which is divided into a plurality of zones which may be maintained at different temperatures. Such a furnace, used for cooking, is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,554,437, to Wagner et al. The furnace may include a muffle, generally of circular or elliptical cross-section, to assist in regulating difference in temperature from zone to zone and confine the atmosphere in the vicinity of the heated material as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,623, to Takahashi. In such arrangements, it is common to place temperature sensors at the muffle in proximity to each heating segment to regulate the muffle temperature and to avoid deformation thereof. The devices or material are then transported therethrough on a conveyor-like arrangement at a speed which assures the desired amount of heat treatment at each temperature. This is referred to as a continuous furnace. Also, in such arrangements, certain zones can be maintained at intermediate temperatures in order to "ramp up" or "ramp down" from one temperature to another.
Ovens of similar multi-zone construction may also be used for batch processing where the oven is initially charged with material and the heat treatment carried out without moving the material. In such a case, the conveyor arrangement may be omitted and all zones maintained at the same temperature, although temperature could be selectively changed as a function of time during the heat treatment process. In this case, the avoidance of temperature gradients is even more critical than in the case of the continuous furnace which will at least perform heat treatment equally on all material passed therethrough.
It can be readily appreciated that such multi-zone furnaces are potentially far more efficient than a furnace where the device or material remained stationary and the temperature of the furnace varied. The consistency of the heat treatment is inherently more uniform and the thermal mass of the furnace itself does not slow heating or cooling when temperature is to be altered, allowing throughput of the furnace to be maximized. Further, since the temperature of each zone ideally remains substantially constant, no energy is wasted in altering the temperature of the thermal mass of the furnace itself.
Multi-zone furnaces, however, are inherently large due to the number of zones which may be provided. The volume of each zone must be comparable to the volume of a single furnace which would be suitable for the device or material to receive heat treatment and may be advantageously made larger to provide for a more smooth temperature transition between zones. Typically, the atmosphere within the furnace will be able to circulate between zones and within each zone and substantial undesirable temperature gradients may occur between or within zones, due to convection and other heat transfer mechanisms. It is therefore known to provide for automatic control of furnaces intended for use where such temperature gradients may be critical, such as in the processing of semiconductor wafers or the manufacture of electronic components such as multi-layer ceramic (MLC) modules. Such an arrangement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,954, to Yu et al., which shows a plurality of sensors, digital signal mixing and temperature computation and the use of a so-called PID algorithm (Proportional-plus-Integral-plus-Derivative) to develop signals for control of each heater element of the furnace. Generally speaking, a PID algorithm uses a measured value and an operating set point to derive control for a variable in such a way as to simultaneously maximize the response time for correction and the stability of the automatically controlled system. The details of operation of such an algorithm are not necessary to an understanding of the invention However, additional information concerning PID algorithms and use of the same may be found in Control System Principles and Design, by Ernest O. Doebelin, pp. 422-436, John Wiley & Sons, publisher and Control Systems - Analysis, Design and Simulation, by John W. Brewer, pp. 199-202, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Publisher, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Most furnaces will have heating elements or "segments" placed around the periphery of the muffle in which heat treatment is to be performed and each segment will be controlled either individually or together with one or more of the other segments. U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,954, cited above, is exemplary of such arrangements. To provide inputs to the control arrangement including a PID algorithm, sensors are typically placed near the muffle and in proximity to the heater segment to be controlled. These segments will be subjected to thermal and mechanical stresses during use as they are turned on and off or otherwise controlled to maintain a nearly constant temperature. The segments will be subjected to further mechanical stresses in the form of vibration due to the means for transporting devices or materials through the furnace. Therefore, occasional failure of a segment is to be anticipated.
However, the failure of even a single segment will require shutting down the furnace in order to replace the segment, resulting in loss of productivity. The likelihood of interruption of operation for such repairs is increased by the number of segments which are present and increases with the number of zones in the multi-zone furnace. Moreover, the economic loss may not be limited to the "down time" of the furnace where, for instance, in a large run of electronic components which must be processed under highly uniform conditions to minimizes chip-to-chip variations, failure of a single heater segment could cause catastrophic loss of an entire run of the components.
Also, in the prior art, it should be noted that one or more sensors may be provided with a PID algorithm (hereinafter simply PID) for each heater segment. The sensors, which are typically thermocouples, are usually located in some proximity to the heater segment since they cannot be placed in the same location as the material or device to be treated. Therefore, each combination of heater segment, sensor group and PID typically operates autonomously from other combinations of heater, sensors and PID. Consequently, it can be understood, as theorized by the inventors, that the more closely the temperature of the furnace is controlled, the greater the number of control cycles will be, which may contribute to degradation of the heater segments and early failure thereof.
For example, as taught by Yu, U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,954, it is also known to provide separate temperature control systems for heater segments at the top and bottom of the furnace in order to reduce the top-to-bottom temperature gradient in the furnace. As disclosed therein, when the top and bottom are commonly heated, the temperature gradient is more pronounced at lower temperatures where heat transfer by convection will be of greater significance in comparison to radiation. This would also occur if the top and bottom sections (each comprising one or more heater segments) were independently controlled relative to a common set point. To minimize the temperature gradient, the system of Yu, U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,954, uses the sensed temperature at the bottom of the furnace both to control the bottom segments and as a set point for the top segments. While this technique was evidently effective to reduce top-to-bottom temperature gradients, such slaving of the top heater segments to the bottom will also tend to maximize the difference between duty cycles of the top and bottom heaters. For example, if the bottom sensor senses a temperature below the set point, the bottom heater segments will be turned on, producing convection and increasing the temperature sensed by the temperature sensors at the top of the furnace. At the same time, the PID for the top heater segments will be controlled to a lower set point and be held off in conformance with the goal of reducing the top-to-bottom temperature gradient. It can be seen that during periods of increasing the furnace temperature, with which Yu, U.S. Pat. No. 4,866,954, is concerned, the heating will be principally done by the bottom heater segments. Therefore, while this arrangement may be successful in reducing temperature gradients, it also tends to maximize the differences in conditions which lead to decay (e.g. thermal aging) and failure of the heater segments.

Heater autotone control apparatus and method

International Business Machines Corporation


A SiP (System-in-Package) having large-capacity passive elements incorporated therein or mounted thereon is provided. On an interposer made of a silicon substrate, metal substrate or glass substrate having via-holes formed therein, IC chips, or a plurality of chips, passive elements formed on a silicon substrate, metal substrate or glass substrate, are mounted in a face-up manner and re-wired en bloc on the chip. Because all of the silicon substrate, metal substrate and glass substrate are durable against high-temperature annealing for crystallizing a high-dielectric-constant material, large-capacity passive elements can be formed on the substrate which serves as an interposer or on the re-wiring of the chips to be mounted. It is also allowable that large-capacity passive elements formed on the silicon substrate, metal substrate or glass substrate is divided into chips, and that the resultant chips are mounted together with the IC chips.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of fabricating the semiconductor device, and in particular to a semiconductor device and a method of fabricating the semiconductor device capable of embedding or mounting large-capacity passive elements such as a decoupling capacitor.
2. Description of the Related Art
A technique for modularizing a plurality of IC chips and passive elements such as an inductor, capacitor and resistor on a single plane has long been adopted in the field of hybrid ICs. This technique was, however, not so advantageous in terms of attainable size and cost, because IC chips and passive elements were mounted on a printed board or ceramic substrate in a form of packaged chip.
As measures for satisfying a need for miniaturization, memory-chips developed thereafter and put into practical use for memory chips for laptop computers and mobile telephones have configurations shown in FIGS. 15 through 17, which relate to a flip-chip structure in which bear IC chips 2 are mounted upside down (face-down) on a substrate which is a printed board or a ceramic substrate, while placing external terminals 3 in between (FIG. 15); a multilayer chip structure in which the IC chip 2 is stacked on the substrate 1 and bonded thereto through wires 4 (FIG. 16); and an interposer-type multilayer substrate structure in which the substrates 1 having the IC chip 2 mounted thereon are stacked while placing connection terminals 5 in between (FIG. 17).
Besides the conventional structures shown in FIGS. 15 through 17, other efforts have been made in order to cope with multi-chip modularization for high-frequency devices, by which inductors (L), capacitors (C) and resistors (R) are fabricated in an organic substrate or an inorganic substrate to thereby form a filter circuit, Barun circuit or switch circuit.
The capacitor (C) fabricated in the organic substrate, however, cannot use high-dielectric-constant materials since it is not durable against high-temperature annealing, and available materials are limited to insulating polyimide (PI), polyamide (PA), benzocyclobutene (BCB), poly-p-phenylenebenzobisoxazole (PBO) or the like. The capacity is thus limited to as small as 10 fF/μm2. The inductor (L) can only have an inductance of as small as 10 nH while being restricted by warping of the substrate, thin-film structure thereof, and technical limit of etching. The resistor (R) can be fabricated anyhow, but trimming will be necessary in a matching circuit, and this makes the incorporation unpractical. Another disadvantage resides in that the film formation for fabricating the L, C, R is carried out in separated processes, and this makes the device have a multi-layered substrate structure and increases the cost. On the other hand, the ceramic substrate, often composed of a low-temperature-cofired ceramic (LTCC), is difficult to be stacked with different kinds of materials, so that characteristics of the capacitor (C) are inevitably determined by a dielectric constant of an LTCC to be used therefor. It is also disadvantageous that use of a high-dielectric-constant material undesirably increases the delay time and ruins the high-frequency characteristics.

Semiconductor device and method of fabricating the same


A plate joiner including a fence support, a drive, and a fence system. The fence support includes a cutter and a contact surface, which defines a cutter slot. The cutter is arranged and configured to protrude from fence support through cutter slot to make a plunge cut into a surface of a workpiece when the contact surface is pressed against the surface and the cutter is plunged into the workpiece by pushing on a rearward handle portion of the tool. The drive is arranged and configured to rotatably drive the cutter through a motor.. A preferred plate joiner is configured for substantially continuous adjustment of fence height while restraining lateral and tortional movement of the fence and providing an accurate measure of the height of the fence from any point in the thickness of the blade. The height adjustment system preferably includes an adjustment screw arranged and configured to provide substantially continuous adjustment of fence height and guide pins which restrain lateral and tortional movement of the fence at the height it is adjusted and locked. A preferred height adjustment system is employed in conjunction with a height gauge arranged and configured to be accurate each selected front fence angle.

The present invention relates to a plate joiner including a fence support, a drive, and a fence system. The fence support includes a cutter and a contact surface, which defines a cutter slot. The cutter is arranged and configured to protrude from fence support through cutter slot to make a plunge cut into a surface of a workpiece when the contact surface is pressed against the surface and the cutter is plunged into the workpiece by pushing on a rearward handle portion of the tool. The drive is arranged and configured to rotatably drive the cutter through a motor.
A preferred plate joiner is configured for substantially continuous adjustment of fence height while restraining lateral and tortional movement of the fence and providing an accurate measure of the height of the fence from any point in the thickness of the blade. The height adjustment system preferably includes an adjustment screw arranged and configured to provide substantially continuous adjustment of fence height and guide pins which restrain lateral and tortional movement of the fence at the height it is adjusted and locked. A preferred height adjustment system is employed in conjunction with a height gauge arranged and configured to be accurate each selected front fence angle.


A method and system for distributing credit using a fiber channel switch element is provided. The switch element includes, a wait threshold counter that is used to set up a status for a port that has to wait for certain duration to send a frame due to lack of buffer to buffer credit; a credit module that controls buffer to buffer credit for a transmit segment of the fiber channel switch element; and a virtual lane credit module with a counter that is incremented every time a frame assigned to a virtual lane is sent and decreased every time a VC_RDY is received. The method includes, determining if a VC_RDY primitive is received; and allocating credit to a virtual lane that is not at its maximum credit, after the VC_RDY primitive is received.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fibre channel systems, and more particularly, to credit recovery involving virtual lanes.
2. Background of the Invention
Fibre channel is a set of American National Standard Institute (ANSI) standards, which provide a serial transmission protocol for storage and network protocols such as HIPPI, SCSI, IP, ATM and others. Fibre channel provides an input/output interface to meet the requirements of both channel and network users.
Fibre channel supports three different topologies: point-to-point, arbitrated loop and fibre channel fabric. The point-to-point topology attaches two devices directly. The arbitrated loop topology attaches devices in a loop. The fibre channel fabric topology attaches host systems directly to a fabric, which are then connected to multiple devices. The fibre channel fabric topology allows several media types to be interconnected.
Fibre channel is a closed system that relies on multiple ports to exchange information on attributes and characteristics to determine if the ports can operate together. If the ports can work together, they define the criteria under which they communicate.
In fibre channel, a path is established between two nodes where the path's primary task is to transport data from one point to another at high speed with low latency, performing only simple error detection in hardware.
Fibre channel fabric devices include a node port or "N_Port" that manages fabric connections. The N_port establishes a connection to a fabric element (e.g., a switch) having a fabric port or F_port. Fabric elements include the intelligence to handle routing, error detection, recovery, and similar management functions.
A fibre channel switch is a multi-port device where each port manages a simple point-to-point connection between itself and its attached system. Each port can be attached to a server, peripheral, I/O subsystem, bridge, hub, router, or even another switch. A switch receives messages from one port and automatically routes it to another port. Multiple calls or data transfers happen concurrently through the multi-port fibre channel switch.
Fibre channel switches use memory buffers to hold frames received and sent across a network. Associated with these buffers are credits, which are the number of frames that a buffer can hold per fabric port.
Fibre channel switches use "virtual lanes" (or virtual channels) to allocate receive credits at an E_port. Virtual lanes are a portion of the data path between a source and destination port.
In Fibre Channel, buffer-to-buffer credit mechanism is used to control frame flow on a Fibre Channel link to prevent the inability to deliver any frames because of lost R_RDYs or lost frames. Fibre Channel point-to-point links lose credit when an R_RDY or a SOFx is corrupted in transit. As credit is lost, performance degrades until frame timeouts occur. Then the only recourse is to reset the link.
The Fibre Channel standard has a credit recovery mechanism for lost R_RDYs or lost frames. Both ports on the link must support Fibre Channel credit recovery before it can be enabled.
Fibre Channel credit recovery defines BB_SC_N, a number from 0 to 15 and two primitive signals, BB_SCr and BB_SCs for credit recovery. When BB_SC_N is net zero, credit recovery is enabled. Two credit recovery operations are used, one for lost frame(s) and another for lost R_RDY(s).
For lost frame(s) credit recovery, BB_SCs are transmitted whenever 2**BB_SC_N frames have been transmitted since the last BB_SC was transmitted. The receiving port counts the number of frames received between received BB_SCs primitive signals and if the number is less than 2*BB_SC_N, it transmits as many R_RDYs as frames were lost back to the originator of the frames. Thus the originator does not lose credit for transmitting more frames.
For lost R_RDY(s) credit recovery, BB_SCr is transmitted whenever 2**BB_SC_N R_RDYs have been transmitted since the last. BB_SCr was transmitted. The receiving port counts the number of R_RDYs received between received BB_SCr primitive signals and if the number is less than 2*BB_SC_N, it adds the lost number of credits to its credit counter. Thus a receiver does not lose credit for transmitting more frames.
The present fibre channel standard does not provide any guidance regarding the foregoing credit recovery methodology if virtual or pseudo virtual lanes are used. The current fibre channel standards as well as conventional fibre channel switches do not have a system or methodology for detecting loss of credit and then allocating the credit to the proper virtual/pseudo virtual lane.
As fibre channel systems become more complex and operate in higher bandwidth environments, credit recovery and proper credit allocation become essential for overall system performance. Therefore, what is required is a process and system that efficiently detects credit loss and allocates credit to the proper virtual/pseudo lanes.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for buffer-to-buffer credit recovery in fibre channel systems using virtual and/or pseudo virtual lanes


A method for providing dynamic group call among a group of users both wireless (10-30) and wireline (40) places the selectability of the call in the hands of an originating user (10). An originating user (10) may make a fixed number of entries (80). The originating user (10) can create a dynamic group call, add a group call list for later execution, add a member to the group call list, or create a dynamic group call list and immediately execute a group call (92). The method for dynamic group call also provides for selecting a time to live for each group call entry (81) in database (60). This parameter time to live is directly selectable by the originating user (167) or the server. In addition, any member to a previous or existing group call may rejoin or reestablish the dynamic group call (220).

The present invention pertains to communication systems and more particularly to communication systems supporting group calls which utilize internet protocol (IP).
Group calls are similar to conference calls in which a number of subscribers are interconnected for the purpose of common conversation. Modern technology supports both wireless and wireline users in these group calls.
Typically group calls are manually initiated by an originating user calling and establishing connection with a first participating user, then another participating user, etc. The originating user must control the selection and implement the connection to each of the participating users. This is very often time consuming and a slow lengthy process. Further, the originating user must have the capability of initiating conference calls via the originating user's local network.
In more recent times, service providers offer a bridging arrangement for connecting multiple participants in a conference call. Typically these participants call in to a common number and enter a password for security purposes and then are interconnected through the bridging service provided by the service provider. Again, this is slow and it is up to each individual participant to call in to a common conference.
Modern wireless technology provides for supporting group call functions. These arrangements typically involve dispatch services or push-to-talk (PTT) services. These group call interconnections may be made to wireline participants via the internet, for example. Typically the groups for the group call arrangements presently known are statically defined. That is a user, or administrator working on behalf of the user, must indicate to the switching network a list of participants for a group call in the background mode, or well in advance of the group call. This could be provisioned in the network by the user or an agent, and then provided some form of group identity to make the call. Then at another time an originating user may perform some signaling to initiate that he wishes to establish a group call with each of the pre-designated participants.
As the needs of the originating participant change, this predefined group membership often leads to an inappropriate group for a particular set of circumstances. Often groups are larger than they need to be, since it is unknown when a group is established who will be needed for given future communication. Also, this presents a problem of privacy, since participants may be hearing a conversation that the originating user does not want them to hear. Further, this statically defined/provisioned group call wastes network time and resources and is relatively inflexible.
Accordingly, what is needed is a method for maximizing communication efficiency for group calls in a communication system.


A system and method for prescription therapy management and compliance are provided. The system framework integrates primary databases from pharmacies, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), health plans, and EHR providers with a secondary database system, user interface, and wireless messaging platform, in order to extract and aggregate user-specific prescription data and make it available to users through a personalized account and as a part of a wireless prescription reminder service. The system helps users access, aggregate, manage, update, automate, and schedule the prescriptions they are currently taking. Users receive real-time wireless prescription dosing reminders based on their prescribed drug, dosage, and other indications, tailored to each individual's daily schedule. These wireless dosing reminders (i) include additional instructional content such as pill images, compliance tools, and Web or WAP drug links, (ii) are automatically scheduled and transmitted based on the user's prescription source data, in conjunction with selections indicated on their personal account, and (iii) are transmitted via SMS, EMS, MMS, WAP, email, and other formats to the user's mobile phone, PDA, or other wireless device. The integrated interface and secondary database system enable a number of additional system features which focus on compliance and management of the underlying source prescription data.

Prescription drug therapy is now a standard component of most medical treatments. The volume and growth of prescription drug consumption has increased at record rates over the past decade. The primary drivers for this growth have been (i) an increase in drug usage due to an increasing number of chronic conditions and preventative treatments, (ii) advances in technology and newer drugs, (iii) accelerated FDA drug approvals, (iv) an aging population with a higher consumption rate, and (v) increased insurance and prescription drug coverage.
Once only an elderly or infirm phenomenon, prescription drugs are now being consumed on a regular basis by all age groups. Several chronic conditions and preventative treatments for each age group have made high per capita consumption rates the norm for a majority of Americans. In 2003, 3.4 billion prescriptions were dispensed in the United States, with an average per capita consumption rate of 11.8 prescriptions per person. By 2005, IMS Health reported that this number had grown to 15.4 prescriptions per person. In a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 91% of Americans reported that they take prescription drugs, and more than half said they take prescription drugs regularly.
Despite numerous advances in modern medicine, prescription compliance remains a problem which continues to plague the healthcare industry. A study by the Kaiser Family Foundation has shown that over 70% of Americans either forget to take their medications or don't take them at the right times. There are multiple reasons for this phenomenon including: busy schedules with multiple demands, forgetfulness, an increasingly mobile culture, overestimation of negative side effects, and the cost of the drugs themselves. The most obvious reason may be that people don't seem to remember to take their medications when they don't feel sick.
This failure to comply with prescribed drug treatments results in ineffective drug treatments, hospitalizations, and emergency room visits, which in turn leads to increased health care costs for consumers, insurance companies, and the U.S. government. Prescription drug non-compliance costs society nearly $100 billion a year and leads to an estimated 125,000 deaths, according to statistics cited by the Department of Health and Human Services.
One of the biggest reasons for prescription non-compliance is the lack of interaction between patients and health care providers after drugs are dispensed and patients commence their prescription treatments. A prescription received by a pharmacy may come complete with drug name, dosage, dosing, and indications, but it does not associate dosing with specific times of the day, events, or in relation to other drugs consumed. It is left to the patient to adapt the prescription to his or her daily schedule, manage multiple prescriptions, remember each set of instructions at precise times of the day, and adapt their treatment regimens as new prescriptions are added or terminated. This process becomes much more complicated when patients are prescribed multiple drugs with different dosing regimens such as (i) once in the morning, (ii) every eight hours, (iii) three times a day, (iv) with meals, and (v) to be taken with drug X. Although the instructions and indications are printed on the container, they may be forgotten over the course of weeks and months. In addition, certain patients simply be incapable of adhering to a particular routine or regimen, and require personal compliance assistance from an individual such as a mother, spouse, sibling, or other caregiver. In these cases, those additional individuals need real-time access to the user's prescription instructions in order to assist them in taking their medications. Lastly, in cases where users sustain adverse reactions to a prescription dose taken, the user's prescription source data, used in conjunction with a real-time notification system, may be a critical step in getting the user timely, targeted health care support or emergency medical care.
There is currently a huge need for a system cheap and easy enough for the average consumer to use which can help users manage their prescription therapies and increase their rate of prescription compliance. Online, wireless, and other technologies which have high rates of consumer penetration are now routinely being used in numerous applications. U.S. wireless penetration currently exceeds 65%, and a majority of Americans use mobile phones throughout the day for business and personal use. Wireless data technologies such as wireless short message service (SMS), enhanced message service (EMS), multi-media message service (MMS), wireless application protocol (WAP), binary runtime environment for wireless (BREW), session initiation protocol (SIP), and instant messaging (IM) make efficient use of a wireless carrier's network and are available to all mobile phone users with a basic handset.
The present invention outlines a prescription therapy management and compliance system which uses standard technologies available to all consumers. Several health care entities such as pharmacies, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), health insurance companies or health plans, and electronic health record (EHR) providers maintain primary databases which store user-specific prescription information and HIPAA Protected Health Information (PHI). Although important, this information on its own is of no use from a drug management or compliance perspective. The proposed invention aggregates, customizes, formats, and otherwise uses the data stored on these primary databases in order to provide users with a real-time prescription management account, wireless dosing reminders, and other compliance features using standard technologies such as mobile phones and wireless devices. The use of accessible consumer technologies makes it easy for the average consumer to incorporate the system into their daily routine, thereby achieving the system's end goals of enhancing prescription therapy management and increasing prescription compliance.

Integrated prescription management and compliance system


In certain embodiments, a system includes a frame with top, middle, and bottom sections. The system further includes a first roller section coupled to the frame and positioned at the top section of the frame. A second roller section is coupled to the frame and positioned at the middle section of the frame. One of the first and second roller sections includes a battery, wireless receiver, motor, and optical sensor.

Target shooting often involves shooting at a variety of targets like cans and bottles. Once the targets have been shot, the targets need to be replaced by resetting the targets or setting up new targets. This requires target shooters to walk back and forth to the target area. This also typically results in the shot targets to be left in the target area as litter.


An electronic device includes a main body, a cover, and two supports. The main body defines two receiving slots. The cover is hinged on the main body. Each support includes a supporting member and a driving member hinged on each other. The driving member is hinged on the main body, so that the supporting member of each support is capable of being fully received in the receiving slots or pushed out of the main body, in response of the positions of the cover.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to electronic devices and, particularly, to an electronic device with a retractable support.
2. Description of Related Art
Notebook computers have become popular alternatives to desktop computers because of their portability. A typical notebook computer includes a display body and a main body with a keyboard. The display body is hinged on the main body so that the display body can be opened and closed relative to the main body. In most circumstances, a typical notebook computer is operated on a table or desktop. However, the keyboard on the main body is usually parallel to the tabletop making it uncomfortable to operate. In addition, a bottom face of the main body of the notebook computer is substantially entirely in contact with the tabletop. Heat produced by internal electronic components cannot be dispersed efficiently from the main body of the notebook, even though the notebook has a fan for heat dissipation. As a result, the internal electronic components may be damaged from overheating. Accordingly, a notebook computer which can solve the described limitations is needed.
One such notebook computer has a keyboard that pops up away from a main body of the notebook computer and angles relative to the main body so that it is more comfortable to operate. In addition, a gap for evacuating heat is formed between the keyboard and the main body.
However, dust and other contaminants may easily enter the main body through the gap and deposit on the internal electronic components, causing short circuit of the internal electronic components and making it difficult to fully disperse heat produced thereby.
Therefore, an electronic device which overcomes the described limitations is desirable.

Electronic device with retractable support

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.