A composition for controlling bacterial growth/colonization is provided. The composition comprises an enzyme, an anchor molecule coupled to the enzyme to form an enzyme-anchor complex, with the anchor being capable of attaching to a substrate proximal to a bacterial colony. The attachment to the substrate permits prolonged retention time of the enzyme-anchor complex where the bacterial colony is present to increase the effectiveness of the complex. The invention is also for a method of controlling colonization of bacterial plaque in the oral cavity, as well as a method of forming a composition for controlling the proliferation of bacterial colonies in the oral cavity.

Periodontal disease is one of the oldest and most common diseases of man. It is apparent in human fossil remains and occurs in otherwise healthy individuals. Today, periodontal disease represents a major worldwide health problem. The disease is a result of the accumulation of dental plaque at the gingival margin. There are two broad classes of periodontal disease which roughly approximates the degree or severity of the pathology: gingivitis and periodontitis.
Gingivitis is an inflammation of the marginal gingival tissue due to the accumulation of dental plaque. For the most part, gingivitis is characterized by redness, swelling and bleeding of the gingival tissue. The extent and severity of these characteristics indicate the degree to which the disease has progressed. Periodontitis is characterized not only by the inflammation of the marginal gingivae, but also by loss of the attachment of the periodontal ligament, loss of alveolar bone and loss of the epithelial attachment due to apical migration. The pathological consequences of these physiological losses is the formation of a periodontal pocket, which can become infected, and thus be the source of bacterial infiltration into the host. The progression of established gingivitis to an advanced lesion may well lay the foundation for periodontitis.
The literature indicates that there are significant microbial population shifts from sites of gingival inflammations to subgingival pockets. Certain identified and specific bacterial organisms are known to be responsible for periodontal disease in humans; however, other organisms may also contribute to the severity of the disease. In addition, results from clinical studies show a correlation between the presence of certain microbial species and different types and degrees of severity of periodontal disease. There is a cause-and-effect relationship between the presence and quantity of plaque, containing a wide variety of colonized bacterial strains, and periodontal disease. It therefore follows that, by limiting plaque, the extent and severity of periodontal disease can be controlled.
Both chronic gingivitis and chronic periodontitis share two important characteristics which may be the clue to their sequential relationship. Both conditions are usually painless until their more advanced stages and both pathologies have an absolute requirement for bacterial plaque before the sequence of these conditions progress and develop into advanced periodontal disease. While there are secondary systemic and external factors which affect the extent the disease, the most important factor, and one that provides the greatest promise of being controllable, is the relationship between bacterial plaque and periodontal disease.
The disease begins its progression through an accumulation of bacterial plaque at the gingival margin. As the pathology progresses, there is chronic inflammation of the gingiva and periodontal ligament, with subsequent degeneration of various gingiva-tooth structures. The chronic inflammation is exacerbated by calculus formed from mineralized plaque at the various tissue interfaces and in the periodontal pocket. Epithelial tissue migration into inflamed and necrotic areas can engulf plaque structures, resulting in abscesses accompanied by purulent exudate. The final and most severe stage of periodontal disease is the resorption of alveolar bone and the eventual exfoliation of the tooth.
Plaque is a heterogeneous mixture of bacterial aggregations embedded in a sticky matrix. While bacterial composition of plaque ranges from 50 to 70 percent, the matrix is derived from dead cells, salivary glycoproteins and serum proteins that are laid on a polysaccharide backbone. The bacteria synthesize the polysaccharides for the plaque backbone as a step in their own colonization process. In addition to the viable bacteria and the matrix, plaque also contains food debris, small numbers of epithelial cells, white blood cells and various other components which are derived from the host and the host's activities.
The formation and development or proliferation of plaque occurs in two stages. The first step may require a base layer of salivary glycoproteins on the tooth's surface as well as on the soft tissue in the oral cavity. This base organic layer, derived from saliva, is adsorbed onto the surface and forms an acquired pellicle. This insoluble acquired pellicle serves as the foundation for supragingival plaque. The second step is the bacterial colonization by "pioneering" bacteria of the acquired pellicle. Once the bacteria have attached to the surface of a structure, they aggregate, develop colonies and plaque begins to form.
There are well over 100 different bacterial species in various dental plaques. This variation in the types of bacteria is influenced by diet, salivary components and bacterial interactions, to name a few. The location of the plaque in the oral cavity, the time of the day, age of the patient and the status of the general oral hygiene of the patient all contribute to the implications and consequences of dental plaque and periodontal disease. Consequently, it is not surprising that plaque is a heterogeneous collection of bacterial communities attached to the tooth providing a vast array of biochemical and physiological consequences. Two major pathological conditions as consequences are periodontal disease and dental caries.
Enzymes as therapeutic agents present unique possibilities. However, some of the early oral pathology research using enzymes was based on the assumption that they would be bactericidal to colonies of organisms found in plaque and therefore would act as "disinfectants". This approach, however, was not fruitful. Recently, it was shown that treatment of buccal epithelial cells with protease altered bacterial adhesion; however, this treatment also distorted the ratios of various bacterial populations. More promising results were obtained when the focus was shifted from bactericidal action to altering plaque formation. These latter results were seen in vitro and in vivo as well as in animal models and human in clinical trials. However, these approaches also fell short of desired therapeutic effectiveness most likely because the required time for an effective action exceeded the retention time of the enzyme in the oral cavity. In short, salivary flow, other fluid and food movement and normal mechanical agitation in the oral cavity reduced the retention time of the enzyme(s). These factors shortened the residence time of the enzymes, resulting in less than desirable clinical efficacy.
When enzymes were tested in vitro, the importance of residence time within the oral cavity was not identified as an important issue. There is no indication that the design of these in vitro studies even identified this important variable. These in vitro systems, that demonstrated activity of enzymes in reducing plaque, did, however, identify other important factors. These other factors included: (1) possibly more than one enzyme may be necessary; (2) greater specific activity of the enzyme may be required; (3) a more appropriate enzyme may be required; or (4) a combination of enzymes may be more effective.
Plaque itself is an extremely complex mixture of various components, namely, macromolecules, living and dead cells (whole bacteria and sloughed epithelial cells from the host), cell fragments and various other contributions of material from both the host and the bacterial flora. The pioneering work on the chemical aspects of plaque focused on the carbohydrate or polysaccharide (PS) backbone of plaque. This was an ideal place to start because the PS backbone not only served as a structural element for the plaque matrix, but it also served as a carbohydrate food-store for the growing colonies of bacteria. Most of the research on PS was centered around determining the properties and structure of glucans; however, there are many other components that form the composition of plaque. In reviewing the scientific literature describing previous dental therapeutic research involving enzymes, certain patterns emerge. Most of the enzyme research to control plaque was conducted under the aegis of caries prevention; however, it is well established that plaque control is a fundamental issue related to both caries prevention and the prevention of periodontal disease. The types of investigations carried out included in vitro examination of bactericidal effects, animal studies and clinical investigations involving human experimentation. Furthermore, most of the clinical studies used a mouthwash as the vehicle to deliver the enzymes, while fewer studies used chewing gum.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,138,476 (Simonson) teaches of plaque dispersing enzymes as oral therapeutic agents by molecular alteration. A glucanohydrolase is combined with a phosphate carrier group such that the enzyme itself has increased affinity for the surfaces of the teeth. The modified glucanohydrolase enzyme covalently crosslinks with the carrier, in the presence of a reacting agent such as ethyl chloroformate, and has an increased binding capacity to hydroxyapatite components of the teeth.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,988 (Beggs) relates to the delivery of therapeutic agents to a target site. The patent teaches a highly specific process whereby an antibody fragment is able to bind to a target site through antigen-antibody binding, and provides for a therapeutic agent to be connected onto the antibody fragment through an additional peptide appended to the antibody fragment. The product is thus constituted by the antibody fragment, the peptide and the agent.
Examination of the published clinical protocols for evaluating enzymes shows that there were two reasons why the selected enzymes did not completely exert their desired effects, even though limited clinical efficacy was seen:
a. the enzymes were not modified so that they would be held in the oral cavity for an extended period of time; and PA1 b. the oral rinsing was done for various durations and various selected times during the day without particular attention to dosing just prior to a time of limited oral activity (swallowing, chewing and saliva generation, etc.) like sleeping.

Compositions for controlling bacterial colonization


A first storage node is connected to a host by using a first network interface card of the first storage node, and is connected to a second storage node by using a second network interface card. The first storage node receives a data processing request from the host, wherein the data processing request carries a target storage address of to-be-processed data, determines the second storage node based on the target storage address of the to-be-processed data, and sends the data processing request to the second storage node by using the second network interface card, wherein the data processing request instructs the second storage node to process the to-be-processed data.

As a size of data gradually increases, a requirement of people for a storage device is increasing. To meet the requirement of people for the storage device, network storage becomes a common data storage manner in a current storage system. A special dedicated data storage system is defined in a network storage technology. A cross-platform file sharing function can be implemented in the storage system. Specifically, network storage forms include direct attached storage (DAS), network attached storage (NAS), a storage area network (SAN), and the like.
The storage system based on the network storage technology may include a plurality of storage nodes, and the plurality of storage nodes may access, by using a first network interface card disposed inside the storage node, a network to be connected to a host. In other words, in the storage system, the host may access a storage device in any storage node by using the network. When the host needs to access a storage device in a storage node (namely, a second storage node) in the storage system, the host needs to access the storage device in the second storage node through an access path formed by hardware devices such as a central processing unit (CPU) in the second storage node and a first network interface card of the second storage node.
However, if the storage device of the second storage node can be accessed only through the access path formed by the CPU of the second storage node and the first network interface card in the second storage node, when the CPU of the second storage node cannot process a data access request in a timely manner, the host cannot access the second storage node in a timely manner, or when the access path on the second storage node is faulty, the host cannot access the storage device of the second storage node.

Method and apparatus for transmitting data processing request


A resonant planar optical waveguide probe for measuring critical dimensions on an object in the range of 100 nm and below. The optical waveguide includes a central resonant cavity flanked by Bragg reflector layers with input and output means at either end. Light is supplied by a narrow bandwidth laser source. Light resonating in the cavity creates an evanescent electrical field. The object with the structures to be measured is translated past the resonant cavity. The refractive index contrasts presented by the structures perturb the field and cause variations in the intensity of the light in the cavity. The topography of the structures is determined from these variations.

This invention relates to the measurement of structures down to and below about 100 nanometers in size by indirect optical methods. More particularly, this invention exploits the interaction of an evanescent electrical field arising from an optical resonator structure with the structure of the measured object. This invention will find immediate application to wafer Critical Dimension metrology in the microelectronics art.
For routine critical dimension (CD) metrology on process wafers, there are at least four possible approaches: (1) far-field optics, (2) scanning electron microscopy (SEM), (3) scanning probe microscopies (SPM) such as near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM), and (4) scatterometry.
Each of these techniques have their advantages, as well as their limitations. Optical microscopy is non-invasive, robust, and inexpensive. However, the resolution of a far field optical instrument is Rayleigh limited. At optical wavelengths, sub-micrometer measurements are difficult due to the present computational intractability of the inverse problem. After a slow start in the early 1980's the SEM is now the workhorse of the semiconductor industry for wafer CD metrology. It promises to provide reliable linewidth measurements down to about 250 nm. However, the SEM is an invasive method and requires the inconvenient step of taking the wafer to high vacuum. SPM techniques are conceptually simple and essentially non-invasive. However, the tip convolution problem may prove impossible to overcome. For example, the NSOM tip is typically 250 nm wide (including the aluminum cladding) and must be brought to within about 10 nm of the sample. Therefore, NSOM cannot readily determine linewidths of high aspect ratio structures. Scatterometry appears to have considerable promise at the 250 nm feature size. However, it requires a rather large grating test structure in the scribe-grid and cannot be applied to isolated features.
Simply put, there is an unmet need in the semiconductor wafer processing art to be able to determine the topography of critical dimension structures on the wafer for dimensions at or below 100 nm feature size in a rapid and convenient manner.

Near field optical probe for critical dimension measurements


Component parts for a mixing assembly adapted to be used with clean in place techniques. The component parts may include an impeller assembly, an adjustable hub assembly, and a steady bearing assembly. The bearing assembly may include a supporting structure having a fitting and a plurality of legs extending from the fitting and securely engaging the vessel, and a guide bearing bore adapted to receive a shaft, wherein the guide bearing is adapted to be removably engaged from the supporting structure and wherein the guide bearing is removable from the supporting structure shaft without necessitating removal or lifting of the shaft.

Sanitary mixing vessels and tanks are used in a wide variety of applications including the food, dairy, beverage, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. Typically, the mixing vessel employs a mixing assembly including a shaft and a rotating impeller blade to mix the contents of the vessel. In many industries, including those mentioned above, it is vitally important that the mixing assembly be thoroughly cleaned between uses. As will be appreciated, it is also important that the mixing assembly, and any component parts, be cleaned in a quick, efficient and cost-effective manner.

Sanitary mixing assembly for vessels and tanks


A motorized wheelbarrow comprising a frame having a pair of handles with each handle having a proximal and a distal end and a pair of downwardly depending support elements. A first wheel is secured to the distal ends of the pair of handles by a frame element and a rear set of wheels is secured to the proximal ends of the pair of handles by a frame element. A mounting element is secured to the frame for supporting a drive engine. A drive mechanism including a chain and a sprocket is operably linked to a toothed wheel and to the drive engine. The toothed wheel includes an internal brake drum and internal brake shoes. A centrifugal clutch for engagement with the drive mechanism is operably engaged to a throttle mechanism and to the drive engine, and a load bucket is mounted to the frame.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates wheelbarrows, and more particularly to wheelbarrows which are equipped with an engine and drive means for propelling the wheelbarrow.
2. Description of the Related Art
The usefulness of wheelbarrows is well known to those involved in construction, gardening, and other uses where loads are moved and transported form one place to another. The wheelbarrow is a unique tool in that due to its single wheel design, a relatively heavy load may be balanced and moved. Wheelbarrows are also useful in that they may be used to move loads over rough and difficult terrain where other means of transport would be very difficult.
Heretofore, attempts have been made to power or motorize wheelbarrows by using gasoline powered engines in order to propel the wheelbarrow and load carried in the wheelbarrow. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,533,549 issued to Bell uses an air cooled gasoline motor and power transmission mechanism affixed to the wheelbarrow. U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,508 issued to Hoover et al. discloses a motorized wheelbarrow utilizing a gasoline engine which drives a front wheel through a friction drive transmission. The speed of the wheelbarrow is controlled by a throttle lever which is mounted on a handle of the wheelbarrow and is in combination with the friction drive lever which allows for the engine to be slowly and gradually engaged. U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,254 issued to Harris, III et al. discloses a motorized wheelbarrow using a displacement type engine and multi-speed transmission to drive the wheel of the wheelbarrow.
Such motorized wheelbarrows all suffer from significant disadvantages and limitations, which undoubtedly have been a reason they have not been widely accepted. For example, such wheelbarrows are bulky, cumbersome, and difficult and dangerous to use in many types of terrain. Further, such wheelbarrows are excessively heavy and unbalanced requiring the user to shift and manipulate the load to compensate therefore which detracts from the power gained from the motor.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of this invention to provide a motorized wheelbarrow which is lightweight, strong, balanced, and efficient at carrying and transporting a wide range of load sizes and weights. The motorized wheelbarrow of the present invention has high performance capability and possesses sufficient power to drive the wheelbarrow at both slow speeds or at high speeds with small, medium or large loads.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentality's and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.


The present invention is directed to a method and system for synchronizing the replay of a pre-recorded program between a plurality of playback devices utilizing closed-caption data. The internal block of the playback devices are synchronized. Upon receiving program content signals including a series of frames and a string of closed-caption (CC) characters, the string of CC characters is sampled at a predetermined sampling interval, and the sequence of sampled CC characters and the corresponding frame are stored according to a predetermined format in a memory. Thereafter, in response to a user's request, the desired program content signals responsive to the user's request are retrieved from the respective memory of playback devices and displayed for viewing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an information system, and more particularly to a system and method for synchronizing the replay of a pre-recorded program between a plurality of playback devices utilizing closed-caption data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Both ReplayTV (trademark of REPLAY NETWORKS, INC., of Palo Alto, Calif.) and TiVo (trademark of TIVO, Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif.) are the first wave of a new type of "VCR" that gives the viewer new abilities to capture and manipulate the stream of television shows, which flow from their cable and satellite systems. These personal interactive devices act as a personal assistant by recording programs that interest viewers and assisting the viewers to watch the recorded programs when they wish. Both devices have the ability to pause/rewind programs as they are broadcast, to watch a recorded program while recording another, to record for both short and long-term archival, and other related features including an electronic program guide (EPG), time-shifted viewing, and unattended recording of programs.
Currently, many efforts are made to develop integrated information systems that combine the above-described personal interactive devices and the Internet technologies to give new abilities to interact between users. For example, in a web-browsing environment, end user systems are linked together via the Internet with enhanced information delivery and interactive features, such as teleconferencing, video conferencing, etc. Some features allow two different end users to interact with the on-screen content by jumping to a specific section of information. To this end, one end user typically must transmit the concerned information to the other end user. However, such transmission requires a large bandwidth. In addition, it is not possible to search and jump to the related information between users as they interact together. Accordingly, the present invention proposes a mechanism for synchronizing the content being displayed on two or more playback systems, such that the replay of a particular portion of the program can be performed simultaneously.

System for synchronizing the playback of two or more connected playback devices using closed captioning


A display apparatus and a method for controlling thereof are provided. A display apparatus having a multi-view mode to concurrently provide different contents to different viewers includes a plurality of receivers operable in the multi-view mode to receive a plurality of different contents selected by multiple viewers, a video processor operable in the multi-view mode to process video data of the plurality of different contents received by the plurality of receivers; a video output which receives the video data processed by the video processor to display the plurality of different contents, an audio processor operable in the multi-view mode to process audio data corresponding to the selected contents, received by the receivers, and an audio output which outputs the processed audio data to a plurality of eyeglasses apparatuses for viewing the plurality of different contents, wherein a number of channels associated with the processed audio data output to the eyeglasses apparatus is different from a number of channels associated with the audio data received by the receivers.

1. Field
The present general inventive concept generally relates to a display apparatus and a method of controlling thereof, and more particularly, to a display apparatus which provides different types of content to a plurality of users, and a method for controlling thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various types of electronic products have been developed and supplied with the development of electronic technology. In particular, various types of display apparatuses, such as a TV, a portable phone, a personal computer (PC), a notebook PC, a personal digital assistant (PDA), etc., have been used in most homes.
User needs for more functionality have increased with an increase in the use of display apparatuses. Therefore, efforts of makers to satisfy the needs of the users have increased, and thus products having new functions and providing 3D content, etc. have been developed.
Efforts to develop a display apparatus, which simultaneously displays a plurality of content to allow a plurality of users to view different types of content, have been made.
The display apparatus transmits audio signals of the plurality of content eyeglasses apparatus mapped with the plurality of content by wired or wireless transmission. However, in the case of a wired transmission method, transmission lines increase by the number of eyeglasses, and thus lines connecting the display apparatus to the eyeglasses apparatus increase, thereby causing a user inconvenience.
If the audio signals are transmitted according to the wireless transmission method, a bandwidth of a particular channel between the display apparatus and the eyeglasses apparatus is restricted. Therefore, levels of transmittable audio data signals are restricted. However, if the number of eyeglasses apparatus increases, a transmission amount of audio data of the particular channel increases and thus exceeds an allowable bandwidth of the particular channel.
In order to solve these problems, the display apparatus may be connected to the eyeglasses apparatus through a plurality of channels to transmit an audio signal. In this case, if a particular eyeglasses apparatus changes a content mode (e.g., changes a content view), an image may be immediately changed, but a change of the audio signal may be delayed.

Display apparatus and method for controlling thereof


A limiting current type oxygen sensor having a gas diffusion mechanism comprising a gas diffusion bore and an internal space communicating with the gas diffusion bore for supplying a diffusion-rate-determined gas. The gas diffusion mechanism may be configured such that an oxygen concentration gradient within the internal space satisfies the expression:1/Ilim=(1/4 FDCo2){(l/S)+(lin/Sin)}based on the Faraday constant (F); a diffusion coefficient (D); an oxygen concentration (Co2); a bore area (S) of the gas diffusion bore; a bore length (l) in the axial direction of the gas diffusion bore; a distance (lin) in the internal space between the first electrode and the inner surface opposed thereto; an effective cross section (Sin) of the internal space; and an output current value (Ilim). This makes it possible to accurately sense and measure the oxygen concentration, even at low oxygen concentrations, and achieve easy producibility and cost reducibility.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a limiting current type oxygen sensor for use in sensing and measuring oxygen concentrations and a method of sensing and measuring oxygen concentrations using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A limiting current type oxygen sensor may use an ion conductor composed of, for example, stabilized zirconia of a solid electrolyte with an additive of yttrium oxide (Y2O3), (yttria stabilized zirconia: YSZ), as conventionally known. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a structure of a conventional limiting current type oxygen sensor. As shown in FIG. 10, a general, conventional limiting current type oxygen sensor 100 includes an ion conductor 101 of a solid electrolyte with an anode 102 and a cathode electrode 103 of porous material formed on both sides thereof to apply a monitor voltage across them. A gas diffusion mechanism, with gas diffusion bores 104, 105 and an internal space 106a to supply a diffusion-rate-determined gas to one electrode 103, is formed in a cap 106, which is attached to the ion conductor.
A heater 107 is provided on the outside of the cap 106 to set the ion conductor 101 at a monitor temperature of several 100° C. The heater 107 is connected to a lead wire 108. The gas diffusion bore 104 is formed through the cap 106 toward the electrode 103 while the gas diffusion bore 105 is formed through the cap along the surface of the electrode 103. Widely used limiting current type oxygen sensors are of the type that do not include one of the gas diffusion bores 105, 106, for example, the gas diffusion bore 105 formed therein.
The limiting current type oxygen sensor 100 is structured such that application of the monitor voltage across the electrodes 102, 103 allows an output current to flow in the ion conductor 101 in proportion to the voltage while the voltage is low. The limiting current type oxygen sensor 100 also has a characteristic that the output current saturates in time as the monitor voltage is elevated. The output current in the saturation region is called a limiting current. The intensity of the limiting current has a relationship to the oxygen concentration. Therefore, the limiting current type oxygen sensor 100 makes it possible to sense and measure an oxygen concentration from a limiting current value obtained in accordance with the monitor voltage.
The current flowing in the ion conductor 101 of the limiting current type oxygen sensor 100 is based on the migration of oxygen ions and has a current value that depends on the voltage and the temperature. Therefore, the limiting current type oxygen sensor 100 is set at a monitor temperature of around 400-500° C. and voltage-driven. Usually, the monitor temperature is set by providing the heater 107 on the cap 106 or a body portion of the limiting current type oxygen sensor 100, and energizing it.
Such a limiting current type oxygen sensor 100 is driven through a method of applying the monitor voltage across the electrodes 102, 103 while the heater 107 is always energized in many cases (see Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 3373741, for example). In order to increase the output current value on sensing and measuring a lower oxygen concentration, the conventional limiting current type oxygen sensor 100 thus configured is provided with a gas diffusion mechanism that includes not only the gas diffusion bore 104 but also the gas diffusion bore 105 formed through the cap 106.
In the limiting current type oxygen sensor 100 provided with the gas diffusion mechanism structured to include bore portions such as the gas diffusion bores 104, 105 formed through the cap 106, the gas diffusion mechanism is configured to satisfy the condition of the following expression (1) to measure an oxygen concentration:
[EXPRESSION 1]
                    IL        =                                                            -                4                                          FDSP                        RTL                                          ln                                      (                              1                -                                                      P                                          O                                                                                2                                                        P                                            )                                                          (        1        )            as a relation among the Faraday constant (F); a diffusion coefficient (D); a bore area (S) of the bore portion; a total gas pressure (P); a gas constant (R); a temperature (T); a bore length (L) of the bore portion; a partial oxygen pressure (Po2); and an output current value (IL).
In such a limiting current type oxygen sensor, the gas diffusion mechanism may be configured such that the distance in the internal space between the electrode and an inner surface opposed thereto, that is, the thickness of the internal space 106a in the axial direction of the gas diffusion bore 104 is made smaller than the bore diameter of the gas diffusion bore 104. In this case, the output current value exhibits the following characteristic illustrated in FIG. 11. FIG. 11 is a graph showing a characteristic of voltage (V)-current (I) in the conventional limiting current type oxygen sensor of such the type. As shown in FIG. 11, if the thickness of the internal space in the gas diffusion mechanism of the limiting current type oxygen sensor is smaller than the bore diameter of the gas diffusion bore, the relation between the bias voltage (Vs) and the output current (Is) in the sensor has the characteristic represented by solid line 111. Namely, if the thickness of the internal space is smaller, oxygen molecules diffused through the gas diffusion bore into the internal space are diffusion-rate-determined also in the internal space before reaching the end of the cathode electrode. Therefore, a flat zone 112 on the solid line 111 exhibits a larger vertical tilt (a non constant value) as a characteristic. Therefore, in the conventional limiting current type oxygen sensor, the limiting current value in accordance with the monitor voltage is represented by such a characteristic, and the oxygen concentration is sensed and measured based on this value. Thus, conventional limiting current type oxygen sensors with a smaller thickness of the internal space have the characteristic of the flat zone with the larger tilt in a voltage-current relation. Consequently, ripples, fluctuations or variations in the monitor voltage deteriorate the accuracy of sensing the limiting current value and make it difficult to obtain the limiting current of an accurate value.
In the above-described conventional limiting current type oxygen sensor 100, sensing and measuring a lower oxygen concentration requires the formation of a new gas diffusion bore 105 through the cap 106 in addition to the gas diffusion bore 104. This requires a larger number of process steps in the process of producing the limiting current type oxygen sensor 100 and complicates the sensor structure itself, resulting in an increased production cost.
Further, in the limiting current type oxygen sensor 100 the new gas diffusion bore 105 is formed through the cap along the surface of the electrode 103 (the electrode surface) on the ion conductor 101. Therefore, compared with the type that includes no gas diffusion bore 105 formed therein, a larger variation in production accuracy may be caused easily, depending on the process accuracy. As a result, the variation in tilt characteristic is caused and the measurement accuracy is not stabilized.
In addition, the bore diameter of the gas diffusion bore 104 may be enlarged, instead of the gas diffusion bore 105 as in the conventional limiting current type oxygen sensor described in the above Patent Document 1, and no gas diffusion bore 105 is provided. In such a sensor, within a limiting current region with oxygen concentrations of 1% or below, the limiting current value can not satisfy the condition of the above expression (1). Accordingly, it is not possible to sense and measure an accurate oxygen concentration.

Limiting current type oxygen sensor and method of sensing and measuring oxygen concentrations using the same


Systems and methods are provided for reducing network traffic in a mesh network by reducing the number of status messages communicated over the network. The nodes of the network can provide status information to a gateway based on each node's distance from the gateway. The closer nodes respond to the request from the gateway first and then the farther nodes respond to the request. When a node is ready to transmit a status message with status information to the gateway, the node sends the message to the nodes in communication with the transmitting node. One of the closer nodes that receives the message then forwards the message to additional nodes in communication with the forwarding node, while the other nodes that received the message do not forward the message. The process of forwarding messages by a single closer node is repeated until the status information is received by the gateway.

A mesh network having a plurality of interconnected nodes can be incorporated into a control system, such as a lighting control system, used in a facility. Each of the nodes of the mesh network can be connected to and/or incorporate one or more components (e.g., sensors, modules, fixtures, local controllers, etc.) of the control system to permit communication between the components and a site controller. The communications can include instructions to the components from the site controller and status messages from the components to the site controller. The site controller can use the information from the status messages to refine operation of the control system or perform other tasks. One type of status message that may be sent to the site controller is a sensor measurement, such as a power usage measurement, from a sensor. The reporting of sensor measurements by components of the control system can result in a significant amount of traffic that may increase congestion on the network. The increased network congestion may cause sluggish response times, missed events, or limit traffic for other industrial control systems sharing the mesh network.
Status messages to the site controller can typically be transmitted by the components of the control system using either unicast messaging or multicast messaging. Unicast messaging involves the transmission of a message from a component to the site controller along a defined path or route of intermediate nodes of the mesh network. One drawback to using unicast messaging is that there can be significant traffic generated to discover or find routes through the network. In addition, unicast messaging is often highly reliable as it typically utilizes acknowledgments to confirm that a message is successfully received by the next node as the message hops from node-to-node along a route. However, the additional traffic from route discovery and acknowledgments can dramatically increase network traffic, in many cases limiting the density or scale of the network.
In multicast messaging, a message from a component is broadcast through a network without following a specific route, unlike unicast messages. That is, each node that receives a multicast message generally retransmits it so that other nodes in the network may also receive the message. To prevent a multicast message from endlessly propagating through the network, a multicast message has a value, referred to as a "time-to-live" or "TTL" value, which is decremented by the node that is retransmitting it. Once the TTL value falls below a threshold, the nodes stop retransmitting the message thereby stopping the message from continuing to propagate through the network.
Since multicast messages do not follow defined routes but rather are broadcast by the network, this type of messaging does not require routing tables, thereby obviating the need for route discovery by the nodes. In addition, acknowledgements are not typically used with multicast messages, thereby making communication less reliable. In general, it is expected that the sheer volume of retransmissions of the multicast message helps to ensure that the multicast message is successfully received as is needed, but without acknowledgements, there typically is no guarantee of successful delivery of the message to any given node.
Thus, using multicast messaging can help to improve network bandwidth by reducing or eliminating acknowledgements and traffic required to find and maintain routes through the network, but multicast messaging is generally less reliable since it does not typically ensure successful delivery through the use of acknowledgements. In addition, the bandwidth savings realized by reducing or eliminating route discovery messages is somewhat offset by traffic increases resulting from the many retransmissions of a multicast message by each node that receives it until its TTL value falls below a threshold. That is, the broadcast nature of a multicast message generally results in a higher volume of traffic relative to the transmission of a unicast message that follows a discrete path through the network.
Indeed, if a large number of nodes attempt to transmit multicast messages at the about the same time, then a significant number of data collisions would likely occur, and it is unlikely that many of the multicast messages would be successfully communicated throughout the network. For this reason, attempts have been made to control the timing of messages for collision avoidance. As an example, for sensor networks having a large number of nodes that may transmit status messages over time, attempts have been made to stagger the transmission of such messages. As an example, a site controller may synchronize the transmission of status messages by broadcasting a multicast message, referred to hereafter as a "status request," requesting the nodes to generate and transmit status messages in response to this multicast message from the site controller. Each node may be assigned a respective window in which to reply to the status request. Thus, the replies may be staggered in time so that data collisions between replies are reduced. However, utilizing such transmission windows increases the complexity of the system. In addition, the size of the network may be limited by window availability.

Systems and methods for reducing network traffic


The data processing apparatus has processing logic for performing data processing operations and a register bank for storing data associated with the processing logic. The register bank has at least one register group, each register group having a plurality of register sets. The processing logic has an operating state associated with each register group defining how that register group is used, a first operating state being a state in which each register set in the register group is used to support an independent execution thread of the processing logic, and a second operating state being a state in which the register sets of the register group are collectively used to support a single execution thread of the processing logic. Control logic is provided to control how the register sets of each register group are used dependent on the operating state associated with that register group.

It is known to provide a data processing apparatus having a multi-threading architecture, in which a processor of the data processing apparatus has access to a plurality of different sets of registers, each register set being associated with a different execution thread of the processor. Such a multi-threading architecture at the hardware level (i.e. through the provision of multiple register sets) provides significant performance improvements for the data processing apparatus, since by increasing the amount of processing work available at any point in time, this tends to increase the amount of useful work that can be performed by the data processing apparatus at that time. For example, when a particular execution thread reaches a point where a significant delay is incurred, for example due to the requirement to perform a fetch of a data value from memory, then the processor can switch to another execution thread at that time with minimal delay, due to the fact that the execution context of that other execution thread is already available in the associated register set provided for that other execution thread. As used herein, the term "execution context" refers to the architectural state associated with a given execution thread, typically most if not all of this architectural state being provided by the contents of the register set associated with that execution thread, and hence for example the execution context will identify certain control parameters applicable to the processor when executing that execution thread, and certain data values accessible by the processor when executing that execution thread.
As another example of where such a multi-threading architecture can provide significant performance improvements, in a multi-issue apparatus having multiple functional units, instructions from a second thread can be run on functional units that are not currently needed by a first thread and would otherwise be idle. As yet another example, the processor could run alternating threads on alternating clock cycles to diminish the effect of register read delays, etc.
In addition to the above multi-threaded architectures, there also exist certain single-threaded architectures, where the processor only has a single execution thread. Whilst in such a single-threaded architecture the processor will normally use a single register set, it is sometimes the case that certain registers within the register set are "banked", i.e. duplicated, such that when transitioning from a certain mode of operation to another mode of operation, certain architectural state can be retained within the banked registers associated with the mode being exited, such that on a return to that mode those items of architectural state are readily available. Such single-threaded architectures that employ banked registers will be referred to herein as "single-threaded banked architectures".
One particular example of a data processing apparatus that employs such a single-threaded banked architecture has a processor which is operable in a plurality of modes and either a secure domain or a non-secure domain. The plurality of modes include at least one non-secure mode being a mode in the non-secure domain and at least one secure mode being a mode in the secure domain. The processor is operable such that when executing a program in a secure mode the program has access to secure data which is not accessible when the processor is operating in a non-secure mode. In such a system, a certain number of the registers are banked so that when the processor is operating in a non-secure mode, one of the banked group of registers is used, whilst when the processor is operating in a secure mode, the other banked group of registers is used. The remainder of the registers in the register set are non-banked, and are accordingly shared between both domains. Hence, when transitioning from the secure domain to the non-secure domain, such non-banked registers would typically be flushed so that any secure data associated with that secure domain is not accessible in the non-secure domain. In the following text, this particular example of a single-threaded architecture employing both a secure domain and a non-secure domain will be referred to as a TrustZone (TZ) architecture. An example of a data processing apparatus having such a TZ architecture is described in GB-A-2,402,785.
When adopting a single-threaded banked architecture such as the TZ architecture, this increases the size and cost of the data processing apparatus since extra silicon area is provided to contain the banked registers. Any multi-threaded architecture would also require additional registers to be provided to accommodate the additional execution contexts applicable to the multiple execution threads.
Whilst it is desirable to use data processing systems employing multi-threaded architectures, due to the performance benefits that can be realised, it is also desirable to support within such data processing systems software developed for single-threaded banked architectures such as the above-mentioned TZ architecture, since much effort will have been invested in producing robust, certified software for such architectures. However, a multi-threaded data processing apparatus already requires additional register sets to be provided to accommodate the multiple execution contexts, and if each of these execution contexts also has to provide the extra banked registers required by certain single-threaded banked architectures such as the TZ architecture, this will further increase the size and cost of the data processing apparatus and hence make that data processing apparatus less attractive, particularly for applications which do not make use of the single threaded banked architecture.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a multi-threaded data processing apparatus which provided a more efficient mechanism for supporting software written for single-threaded banked architectures, for example a multiple domain architecture such as the TZ architecture.

Data processing apparatus and method for controlling thread access of register sets when selectively operating in secure and non-secure domains


An apparatus and method for scheduling users in a mobile communication system are provided, in which a Base Station (BS) calculates scheduling utility values of each Mobile Station (MS) for a plurality of cases of interference from neighbor BSs, forms a candidate MS list by selecting a predetermined number of MSs in a descending order of utility value for each of the cases of interference from the neighbor BSs, transmits the candidate MS list to the neighbor BSs, receives candidate MS lists from the neighbor BSs, calculates the channel transmission rates of candidate MSs included in the candidate MS lists, and selects an MS to be serviced according to the channel transmission rates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an apparatus and method for scheduling users in a mobile communication system. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for scheduling users, taking into account inter-cell interference in a multi-cellular mobile communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A mobile communication system provides a variety of high-speed multimedia services to users on radio channels. These services have different Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. For instance, a real-time service such as a video call service is tolerant of transmission errors, although the service is sensitive to transmission delays. A service such as a file download service is opposite case in which it is delay-tolerant and error-sensitive. In this context, radio resources can be efficiently used by controlling data rates for different service types, taking into account the congestion of a wireless network. To do so, the mobile communication system adopts scheduling.
Scheduling is a scheme that efficiently utilizes radio resources by selecting a receiving user, a transmission time, and a data rate, upon requests for services from users. A criterion for the selection is fairness. Two popular notions for fairness are proportional fairness and max-min fairness. Proportional fairness is a form of fairness that allocates the same amount of radio resources to Mobile Stations (MSs) irrespective of the MSs channel statuses. For example, almost the same number of time slots are allocated to an MS in good channel status and an MS in poor channel status. The principle of max-min fairness is to allocate radio resources in such a way that the same amount of data is transmitted to MSs rather than the same amount of radio resources are allocated to them. That is, max-min fairness allocates the same data rate to the MSs. Because a wide range of maximum allowed data rates even with a ten-times difference can be supported for MSs, too many time slots may be allocated to an MS with a low data rate, compared to an MS with a high data rate. On the other hand, proportional fairness is not effective in ensuring QoS because it does not support a predetermined or higher data rate for each MS. To avert these problems, a Generalized Proportional Fair (GPF) scheduler has been proposed to achieve a good compromise between proportional fairness and max-min fairness. A major example of the GPF scheduler is a Proportional Fair (PF) scheduler discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,449,490 "Transmitter Directed, Code Division Multiple Access System Using Path Diversity to Equitably Maximize Throughput" filed on Sep. 10, 2002.
However, the PF scheduler is designed for a single cell, with no regard to inter-cell interference under a multi-cellular mobile communication environment. In a multi-cellular mobile communication system, an MS at a cell boundary often cannot receive a service due to interference from neighbor cells. Therefore, a fair service is not expected from the PF scheduler. Even if the MS receives the service, the MSs' required QoS is not satisfied because of the neighbor-cell interference. As illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the neighbor-cell interference decreases a required QoS in the multi-cell mobile communication system. Referring to FIG. 1A, when an MS 104 serviced by a BS 100 (BS A) is located at the boundary of the service area 106 of BS A, a signal from a neighbor BS 102 (BS B) interferes with the MS 104. Due to the interference from BS B, the MS 104 fails to receive a service from BS A or if a service is received, the MS 104 receives the service with a degraded QoS. Referring to FIG. 1B, when an MS 107 serviced by a BS 101 (BS A) is located at the boundary of the service area 110 of BS A, signals from neighbor BSs 103 and 105 (BS B and BS C) interfere with the MS 107. Due to the interference from BS B and BS C, the MS 107 fails to receive a service from BS A or if a service is received, the MS 107 receives the service with a degraded QoS.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an apparatus and method for scheduling MSs, taking into account interference from neighbor cells, while supporting proportional fairness and max-min fairness in a multi-cellular mobile communication system.

Apparatus and method for scheduling users in a mobile communication system


A pack for holding articles and providing fluid hydration is provided. The pack includes a bladder compartment having an opening for securing a fluid bladder therein for hydration with a hose attached thereto. The bladder has a front side adapted to be positioned against the user's back and a back side opposite the front side. The pack bag is sewn onto the back of the bladder compartment and is larger than the bladder compartment. The bladder compartment provides a cushion between the pack bag and the user and contours the back of the user. Shoulder straps are attached from the top of the bladder compartment to the bottom of the pack bag. A hip belt also extends from the bottom of the pack bag around the hips of the user. The top of the bladder compartment is at least partially separated from the top of the pack bag to allow the contouring of the bladder compartment along the upper portion of the back of the user. A lift strap extends between the top of the shoulder pad and the top of the pack bag. The bladder compartment also includes a side zipper extending substantially the length of the bladder compartment for removal of the bladder therefrom.

Active people find adequate hydration essential to achieving and sustaining high performance. To fulfill this need, hikers, bikers, skiers, snowshoers, skaters, and others have used water bottles carried on hip belts, on bike frames, or elsewhere. During these sports and other extreme sports, gripping ski poles, handlebars, etc. and maintaining momentum make it inconvenient to access and use a water bottle. Therefore, hydration bladders with hoses and bite valves have been used. The bladder may be placed within a conventional backpack or within its own specially constructed pack.
If a bladder, hose, and bite valve are used with a larger pack, the bladder (1) may be harmed by objects placed within the pack, (2) may not maintain a proper orientation for delivery of fluid, and/or (3) may have low pressure for poor fluid delivery. Furthermore, inherent advantages of the bladder are not realized when the bladder is simply placed within a larger pack.
If the bladder, hose, and bite valve are used with their own container, the container may be too small to carry extra necessary equipment. Furthermore, placing articles within the bladder container may damage the bladder or interrupt liquid delivery.
Therefore, a need exists for a hydration system integrally combined with a pack. The bladder can provide not only increased ease of hydration, but also pack comfort and stability.


A method for an ingress node to send packets to an egress node, the method comprising: sending a plurality of service packets over a first network path; and sending a supplemental packet comprising a plurality of hash values over a second network path, wherein the plurality of packet hash values are computed respectively from the plurality of service packets. A method for an egress node to receive packets from an ingress node, the method comprising: extracting a plurality of packet hashes from a supplemental packet received from a second network path; computing a plurality of packet hash values, each hash value computed from a corresponding service packet comprised in a plurality of service packets received over a first network path; and recovering a lost service packet that is identified by comparing the plurality of computed packet hash values with the plurality of extracted packet hash values.

Packets can be transmitted between nodes connected by packet switched communications networks with differing levels of cost and performance. Pricing of network services with strong Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees is typically higher than those with few or no such guarantees. In effect, end-users pay a premium for "Carrier-Grade" (CG) services (such as business Virtual Private Network service) having QoS guarantees, while Best Effort (BE) services having few or no QoS guarantees may be free (as in the case of free public WiFi access) or minimally priced (as in residential Internet access).
Packets in a BE service may be lost between source and destination (for example, due to buffer overflow or deliberate discarding), so that Packet Loss Ratios (PLRs) of the order of 1% for BE services are not uncommon. Packets in a BE service may also experience large end-to-end data transmission latencies (generally due to waiting in router queues), so that end-to-end latencies for BE services may be twice as long as a theoretical minimal latency based solely on the physical constraints of a network (or networks) serving a given BE service.
In contrast, packets in a CG service experience low PLRs (by way of example on the order of 1 packet per million) and low end-to-end latency, by way of example, within 15% of the minimal physically possible latency. However, CG services are priced substantially higher than BE services, perhaps 5 to 10 times higher.

Packet loss reduction using auxiliary path


Bosses extending in the boom width direction are provided in a front end part of a main boom body rotated upward, and hooks opening downward are provided in a base end part of an extension boom body rotated downward. The above hooks and the bosses are arranged so as to satisfy a condition that at the time of second relative rotation by a two-step pin hole matching method of matching pin holes in order from the upper side and with a different center, the hooks and the bosses are moved away from each other while lower pin holes are matched with each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a working machine to which a structure for assembling a division type boom is installed.
2. Description of the Related Art
An attachment of a working machine for demolishing buildings, collecting and loading rubble, crushing stones and the like is replaced by other attachment which has a different specification in accordance with a work object (such as demolition, rubble collection and loading), work height (such as a high place and a low place) and the like (refer to Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. Sho64-28452).
For example, when a demolition work or the like is performed on a low rise structure, a first attachment A1 having a fundamental separate specification which is a basic specification shown in FIG. 11A is used. When the demolition work or the like is performed on a middle rise structure, a second attachment A2 having an extension separate specification shown in FIG. 11B is used.
As a common configuration among both the first and second attachments A1 and A2, an arm 2 is attached to a front end of a boom 1, a working device (a crusher shown in the figure or a backhoe bucket) 3 is attached to a front end of the arm 2, and a base end part of the boom 1 is attached to a base machine B so as to be raised and lowered around a boom foot pin 4.
The reference numeral 5 denotes a first boom cylinder (a raising and lowering cylinder) provided between the base machine B and the boom 1 for raising and lowering the entire attachment. The reference numeral 6 denotes an arm cylinder provided between the boom 1 and the arm 2 for rotating the arm 2. The reference numeral 7 denotes a working device cylinder provided between the arm 2 and the working device 3 for rotating the working device 3.
In the case of the first attachment A1 in FIG. 11A, the boom 1 is formed by a main boom body 8 on the base end side, and a front boom body 10 coupled to a front end of the main boom body 8 to rotate around a horizontal pin (hereinafter, referred to as a rotation spindle) 9. The front boom body 10 is rotated and folded into a reverse V shape by a second boom cylinder 11 provided between both the boom bodies 8 and 10.
In the second attachment A2 in FIG. 11B, one or more extension boom body 12 (a description will be given to a case of a single extension boom body shown in the figure) is fixed and connected to the main boom body 8 of the first attachment A1 with horizontal pins 13 and 14 on the upper and lower sides in a state that the boom is horizontal. The extension boom body 12 and the front boom body 10 are coupled to each other by the rotation spindle 9, and the second boom cylinder 11 is attached between the extension boom body 12 and the front boom body 10.
A structure of connecting the main boom body 8 and the extension boom body 12 at the time of assembling the second attachment A2 in FIG. 11B or at the time of replacing the first attachment A1 by the second attachment A2 in such a working machine is already shown in Japanese Utility Model No. 2535667.
A description will be given to the above conventional technique with FIGS. 12 to 15.
Upper pin holes 15 and 16 are provided in an upper part of a front end of the main boom body 8 and an upper part of a base end of the extension boom body 12 (the upper parts are on the upper side in a state that the boom is horizontal, the direction hereinafter is all the same), and lower pin holes 17 and 18 are provided in lower parts thereof.
A hook 19 opening upward is provided nearer to the front end than the upper pin hole 15 in a front end part of the main boom body 8. Meanwhile, a boss (normally, a round pin) 20 horizontally extending in the boom width direction is provided on an outer surface nearer to the front end than the upper pin hole 16 in a base end part of the extension boom body 12.
It should be noted that both the boom bodies 8 and 12 are formed into a box shape and symmetrically connected by pins on both the left and right sides of ends thereof. Therefore, the pin holes 15 to 18, the hook 19 and the boss 20 are provided on both the left and right sides respectively. However, in the description of the above conventional technique and a description of embodiments mentioned later, the left and right will not be distinguished for simplification.
Connection processes for both the boom bodies 8 and 12 are as follows.
(i) As shown in FIG. 12, the main boom body 8 is attached to the base machine B, while the extension boom body 12 is supported on mounts 21 in a state that the boss 20 is horizontal. The figure shows a case where the extension boom body 12 is supported on the mounts 21 in a state that other attachment elements including the extension boom body 12 (a second boom body cylinder, an arm cylinder and a working device cylinder are omitted) are already assembled.
(ii) The base machine B is moved and the hook 19 is engaged with the boss 20 from the lower side as shown in FIG. 13. In the above stage, the upper and lower pin holes 15 to 18 are not matched with each other.
(iii) The first boom cylinder 5 is elongated in the above state and the main boom body 8 is rotated upward (a scooping action).
By the above scooping action, the extension boom body 12 is rotated in the gradually lowering direction (downward rotation) around the boss 20. Therefore, the upper pin holes 15 and 16 and the lower pin holes 17 and 18 are matched with each other.
(iv) As shown in FIG. 14, the upper pin 13 is inserted into the matched upper pin holes 15 and 16, and the lower pin 14 is inserted into the lower pin holes 17 and 18 so as to connect both the boom bodies 8 and 12 to each other.
However, according to the above conventional technique, there is a need for bringing the hook 19 and the boss 20 into contact with each other as shown in FIG. 14 in a state that the upper pin holes 15 and 16 and the lower pin holes 17 and 18 are matched with each other (a connection state). Therefore, at the stage after removing the mounts 21 or at the time of work after assembling, an attachment load is imposed not only on both the pins 13 and 14 but also on an engagement part between the hook 19 and the boss 20. As a result, there is a problem that the hook and the boss are broken.
In order to prevent the problem, as shown in FIG. 15, positional relationships between the hook 19 and the boss 20 and the pin holes 15 and 16 and the pin holes 17 and 18 have to be set so as to generate a clearance C in the engagement part between the hook 19 and the boss 20 in a state that the upper pin holes 15 and 16 and the lower pin holes 17 and 18 are matched with each other.
However, when the positional relationships are set as above, the pin holes 15 and 16 and the pin holes 17 and 18 are taken away from an arc around a center of the boss at the time of the scooping action in FIG. 13. Therefore, the pin holes 15 and 16 and the pin holes 17 and 18 are not matched with each other only by the scooping action. Thus, pin hole matching becomes troublesome and hence it is not possible to sufficiently achieve an initial object of simplifying the pin hole matching with the hook 19 and the boss 20.
It should be noted that as another method, the upper pin holes may be matched by first relative rotation around the boss 20, and the lower pin holes may be matched by second relative rotation around the upper pin 13 (the pin holes are matched in order from the upper side and with a different center, the above method will be referred to as a two-step pin hole matching method hereinafter). However, according to the conventional technique, the hook 19 is moved upward and the boss 20 is moved downward at the time of the second relative rotation so that the hook 19 and the boss 20 are abutted with each other. Therefore, it is not possible to perform rotation itself.

Working machine with structure for assembling boom thereof

Kobelco Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.


There is provided an apparatus and method for amplification of audio content. The apparatus includes a first power line connectable to a first connector of the plurality of data output connectors; a second power line connectable to a second connector of the plurality of data output connectors; an amplifier connected along each of the first and the second power lines; and a coil driver coupled to each of the amplifiers, the coil drivers being arranged such that magnetic summation occurs when the coil drivers are energized. The method also enables magnetic summation to occur when the coil drivers are energized.

There is a wide variety of speaker systems currently available for users. The wide variety of speaker systems allow users to obtain a type of speaker system which best suits their needs. The wide variety of speaker systems currently available may differ in parameters such as, for example, audio reproduction quality, power source, portability, appearance and so forth. There is little doubt that a power source for a speaker system is one of the primary considerations for the user when selecting a speaker system as this parameter directly affects the other aforementioned parameters of the speaker systems.
Typical power sources currently available for a speaker system include, for example, drawing of power from an AC mains supply, dry cell batteries, drawing of power from a connected audio content source, and so forth. There are currently issues relating to the use of the aforementioned typical power sources which affects the portability of the speaker system. It is evident that the drawing of power from an AC mains supply for a speaker system hampers the portability of such a system. Using dry cell batteries in the speaker systems also leads to inconveniences such as the excessive weight and limited life span of the dry cell batteries. In addition, drawing of power from a connected audio content source (for example, media player, PC, notebook, and so forth) typically is only for speaker systems with both low sound pressure level (SPL) and power ratings due to limitations stemming from a low amount of current which can be drawn from the connected audio content source. For the sake of illustration, a USB speaker system powered by a single USB port is restricted by USB specifications to draw 5V DC, 500 mA which provides a speaker system rated at only 1 W.
In view of the aforementioned, it is evident that there are issues relating to having a portable speaker system with both SPL and power ratings that are not compromised by drawing a low amount of current from the connected audio content source. In this regard, the present invention aims to address the aforementioned issues.

Apparatus and method for amplification of audio content


A method of providing Mobile IP functionality for a non Mobile IP capable mobile node by a switching device by proxy, wherein a first address (HOA) and a second address (SA) are being allocated to said mobile node (MN), said method comprising the steps of: utilizing said first address (HOA) for non Mobile IP based communication legs by routing data to a home agent (HA) of a home network of said mobile node (MN); discovering an address of said home agent (HA) by said switching device; advertising said second address (SA) as care-of-address (CA) with respect to said first address (HOA) by said switching device to said home agent (HA); and utilizing said second address (SA) for Mobile IP based communication legs by routing data to said switching device (GGSN/MIP PROXY).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of providing Mobile IP (MIP) functionality for a non Mobile IP capable mobile node. Further, the present invention relates to a switching device for acting as a Mobile IP proxy.
2. Related Background Art
Currently, a user equipment (UE) in a General Packet Radio System/Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (GPRS/UMTS) network keeps its Internet Protocol (IP) address for the whole duration of a session. Here, a session refers to the lifetime of a packet data protocol (PDP) context. This however implies that such user equipment is not able to move from one Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) to another GGSN, even though it may have moved closer to a new GGSN. In the latter case, however, it would be more efficient to route the traffic to the mobile node through the new GGSN.
Moreover, a user equipment is currently provided with an IP address either dynamically, when a PDP context is activated, or statically at the subscription time. With dynamic IP addresses, the user equipment can get an IP address whenever it roams to a visited network and a GGSN will be allocated in the visited network. However, it needs to be noted that even in this case, a new PDP context has to be activated.
If push services besides multimedia services based on the UMTS IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) architecture are considered in this case, either dynamic modifications in the Domain Name Server (DNS) are needed (i.e. to be updated to the new IP address associated to the user equipment in the visited network) or the user equipment will not be reachable for such services unless the user equipment first contacts possible future correspondent nodes (CN).

Method of providing mobile IP functionality for a non mobile IP capable mobile node and switching device for acting as a mobile IP proxy


An audio system comprises a headset comprising a pair of earpieces positionable with respect to the user's ears so that, in use, the user is inhibited from hearing sounds from the user's environment, at least one of the earpieces having a transducer for reproducing sounds from an input audio signal; a microphone for generating a captured audio signal representing captured sounds from the user's environment; a detector for detecting the presence of any of a set of one or more characteristic sounds in the captured audio signal; and a controller operable to transmit sounds from the user's environment to the user in response to a detection that one or more of the set of characteristic sounds is present in the captured audio signal.

1. Field
This invention relates to audio systems.
2. Description of Related Art
The "background" description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, is neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
A head-mountable display (HMD) is an image or video display device which may be worn on the head or as part of a helmet. Either one eye or both eyes are provided with small electronic display devices.
Some HMDs allow a displayed image to be superimposed on a real-world view. This type of HMD can be referred to as an optical see-through HMD and generally requires the display devices to be positioned somewhere other than directly in front of the users eyes.
Some way of deflecting the displayed image so that the user may see it is then required. This might be through the use of a partially reflective mirror placed in front of the user's eyes so as to allow the user to see through the mirror but also to see a reflection of the output of the display devices. In another arrangement, disclosed in EP-A-1 731 943 and US-A-2010/0157433, a waveguide arrangement employing total internal reflection is used to convey a displayed image from a display device disposed to the side of the user's head so that the user may see the displayed image but still see a view of the real world through the waveguide. Once again, in either of these types of arrangement, a virtual image of the display is created (using known techniques) so that the user sees the virtual image at an appropriate size and distance to allow relaxed viewing. For example, even though the physical display device may be tiny (for example, 10 mm×10 mm) and may be just a few millimeters from the user's eye, the virtual image may be arranged so as to be perceived by the user at a distance of (for example) 20 m from the user, having a perceived size of 5 m×5 m.
Other HMDs, however, allow the user only to see the displayed images, which is to say that they obscure the real world environment surrounding the user. This type of HMD can position the actual display devices in front of the user's eyes, in association with appropriate lenses which place a virtual displayed image at a suitable distance for the user to focus in a relaxed manner—for example, at a similar virtual distance and perceived size as the optical see-through HMD described above. This type of device might be used for viewing movies or similar recorded content, or for viewing so-called virtual reality content representing a virtual space surrounding the user. It is of course however possible to display a real-world view on this type of HMD, for example by using a forward-facing camera to generate images for display on the display devices.
Although the original development of HMDs was perhaps driven by the military and professional applications of these devices, HMDs are becoming more popular for use by casual users in, for example, computer game or domestic computing applications.
In head mountable displays where the user sees only the displayed images, and potentially hears only the generated sounds provided by a headset, the user is shielded from interaction with the real world. Such arrangements can be referred to as "total immersion" meaning that substantially all of the user's attention is taken up by the audio and video supplied by the head mountable display. While this can give an improved audio/video or gaming experience, it can lead to health and safety problems because the user is unaware of outside events.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited


A method and device may be useful for dynamically verifying a processor architecture at runtime. The checker may more efficiently and cheaply verify at least some of the functionality provided by the execution unit of the processor architecture. The checker may verify operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a dynamic verification method and device for a processor architecture. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to a dynamic verification method and device for a processor architecture which more efficiently verifies at least some of the functionality provided by the execution (EXE) unit of the processor architecture.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern processors face growing verification and reliability challenges. These challenges are posed by increasing system micro-architecture complexity (i.e., the increasing number of transistors) and aggressive technology scaling (i.e., the decreasing size of transistors). It is becoming increasingly impossible to catch all processor design bugs in pre-silicon verification. At the same time, post-silicon verification cost is ballooning. Moreover, technology scaling leads to hardware that is more vulnerable to run-time errors post-deployment such as aging, environmentally induced hard errors, transients, and intermittent failures. "Verification" may refer to the process of determining whether a processor design is correct. Verification may be performed by a hardware-based and/or software-based checker. A "checker" is a device or method which checks for correctly executed results at runtime. If the checker is hardware-based, it may be a processor, controller, or the like. Alternatively, it may be a functional unit in a processor, controller, or the like. This approach is traditionally used when full-bit checking and correction are demanded.
To provide resilient and fault-tolerant computing, designers have adopted various techniques such as:                i. Spatial replication: An odd number of redundant modules all compute an instruction and produce a result. A voting mechanism is then employed to pick the majority result. An example of spatial replication is Triple-Modular Redundancy (R. E. Lyons and W. Vanderkulk: The use of Triple-Modular Redundancy to Improve Computer Reliability. IBM Journal. April 1962).        ii. Temporal replication: The same module is used to compute (and re-compute) an instruction and produce a result an odd number of times. A voting mechanism is then employed to pick the majority result. An example of temporal replication is AR-SMT (Eric Rotenberg: AR-SMT: A Microarchitectural Approach to Fault Tolerance in Microprocessor. Proceedings of Fault-Tolerant Computing Systems (FTCS). 1999).        iii. Coding: Error detecting codes such as parity bits or residue bits are employed to detect computation errors up to a certain number of bit errors. Error correcting codes may also be employed.        iv. Adaptive clocking and/or supply: The same module is used to compute (and re-compute) an instruction and produce a result an odd number of times using different voltages and/or clock frequencies. A voting mechanism is then employed to pick the majority result.
A more recent approach is DIVA (T. M. Austin: DIVA: A Dynamic Approach to Microprocessor Verification. Journal of Instruction-Level Parallelism. May 2000. and T. M. Austin: DIVA: A Reliable Substrate for Deep Submicron Microarchitecture Design. In Proceedings of the 32nd Annual ACM/IEEE International Symposium on Microarchitecture, IEEE Computer Society, Haifa, Israel, 196-207. 1999) in which a checker computes an instruction and produces a result. The checker is simpler (i.e., less complex) than the processor it is meant to check. The result from the checker is then compared to the result from the complex core processor for equality before the complex core result is committed. Even though the checker is far simpler than the core processor, the checker is nonetheless an additional, redundant execution unit. Therefore, DIVA-type approaches end up duplicating or re-implementing a substantial amount of logic such as, for example, the Arithmetic Logic Units (ALUs) in the Execution (EXE) unit.

Method and device for dynamically verifying a processor architecture


A hybrid work vehicle is provided with an internal combustion engine for supplying driving force to a running device and a work implement via a transmission shaft, a motor generator for assisting the internal combustion engine by outputting power to the transmission shaft, and a battery for receiving charging electricity from the motor generator and giving driving electricity to the motor generator. A load information generation unit generates load information indicating a rotational load received by the internal combustion engine when in a constant-speed control mode for maintaining a constant number of revolutions of the internal combustion engine, based on an input parameter, and an assistance calculation unit calculates an amount of assistance for internal combustion engine by the motor generator, based on the load information when in the constant-speed control mode.

With a hybrid work vehicle in which a motor generator assists an internal combustion engine, the vehicle is caused to run with power supplied from the internal combustion engine, and the motor generator is operated as a motor in accordance with running conditions (vehicle speed, amount of operation of an accelerator pedal (accelerator opening), operation state of internal combustion engine, state of running road surface, gear position, remaining battery capacity, etc.), and the running of the vehicle is assisted with power that is output from the motor generator. Also, this motor generator can be operated as a generator, and can supply electricity to a battery to charge it. The vehicle is configured such that, when the motor generator is operated as a motor, torque (assistance torque) that should be borne by the motor generator can be generated in accordance with a ratio between vehicle drive torque to be borne by the internal combustion engine and vehicle drive torque to be borne by the motor generator with respect to the vehicle drive torque required by a driver (target vehicle drive torque, which is obtained based on an accelerator pedal operation by a driver etc., for example) (this load ratio is specified based on running conditions etc.), by controlling torque generated by the motor generator.
For example, with a hybrid power unit disclosed in Patent Literature 1 (JP 2002-252904 A), two control maps with different assistance patterns (relationships between the number of engine revolutions and torque) for an internal combustion engine by a motor generator are prepared, and the control maps are switched to perform assistance control in accordance with state information such as the state of battery charging capacity (SOC), the vehicle speed, the state of a transmission, and the internal combustion engine temperature. Thus, excellent driving performance is maintained while using a small-horsepower internal combustion engine.
Also, with a hybrid power unit disclosed in Patent Literature 2 (JP H4-325736 A) including an electric motor for providing torque assistance to an internal combustion engine when starting or accelerating a vehicle, a battery charging state is detected, an auxiliary torque amount (assistance amount) that can be supplied from the electric motor to the internal combustion engine is calculated based on the detected charging state, and the amount of fuel supplied to the internal combustion engine and the ratio to be borne by the electric motor are varied based on the auxiliary torque amount. Thus, electricity supply to the electric motor is stopped when the charging percentage is small, thereby preventing the battery from going flat.
Vehicles that employ a hydraulic operation mechanism for a transmission as a hydraulic vehicle operation device include a vehicle in which a transmission hydraulic pump provided in the transmission is driven by a running-drive electric motor, and a desired transmission gear ratio is achieved by controlling, with a controller, transmission hydraulic pressure supplied from this transmission hydraulic pump. With such a transmission with a transmission hydraulic pump driven by an electric motor, in order to avoid incapability to smoothly shift gears due to a delay in the rise of transmission hydraulic pressure, the transmission hydraulic pressure is always supplied to the transmission by constantly rotating the electric motor. However, the constant rotation of the electric motor is uneconomical due to needless battery consumption. To solve this problem, with a hydraulic transmission control device disclosed in Patent Literature 3 (JP H07-174218 A), an electric motor for driving a transmission hydraulic pump is stopped in a state where a shift lever is set to a parking range or a neutral range, a hand brake is pulled, and an accelerator pedal is not stepped, and meanwhile, the electric motor is actuated in a state where the shift lever is set to the parking range or the neutral range, when at least the hand brake is released or the accelerator pedal is stepped. In other words, the timing of control for turning on/off an electric-hydraulic pump is determined in accordance with the state of vehicle operation, thereby suppressing needless rotation of the electric-hydraulic pump, that is, an electric motor for driving a pump, and suppressing battery consumption. Although the battery consumption is suppressed by controlling the turning on/off of the electric-hydraulic pump when hydraulic pressure is necessary in this hydraulic vehicle operation device, control for optimizing the amount of hydraulic pressure by adjusting the number of rotations of the hydraulic pump is not taken into account.
Also, Patent Literature 4 (JP H06-107215 A) recites a vehicle in which a vehicle electric-hydraulic power-steering device using an electric-hydraulic pump is mounted as a hydraulic vehicle operation device. With this vehicle electric-hydraulic power-steering device, when a steering wheel is operated, a driving wheel is steered through a steering mechanism in accordance with the steering wheel operation. At this time, the electric-hydraulic pump operates with an electric motor, which serves as a driving source, to drive hydraulic fluid, the hydraulic fluid is supplied to a piston mechanism through a hydraulic circuit, and the steering in the steering mechanism is assisted by the piston mechanism. The operation of the electric-hydraulic pump is controlled by a pump control means based on a detection signal from a steering angle detection means, and particularly, if it is determined by a straight running determination means that the vehicle is in a straight running mode in a case where the steering angle detected by the steering angle detection means is smaller than or equal to a predetermined amount and a frequency of change in a steering state is higher than or equal to a predetermined frequency, the operation of the electric-hydraulic pump is stopped by a pump stop means provided in the pump control means. Battery consumption is suppressed by stopping the electric-hydraulic pump in a case of straight running and a certain steering angle. However, particularly with work vehicles operated at a larger steering angle, such as a tractor, the necessary amount of hydraulic pressure that should be supplied to a hydraulic circuit varies in various steering processes, and it therefore is insufficient to simply perform control for turning on/off the electric-hydraulic pump under the only conditions of straight running and curve driving.


A switching system for automatically transferring a call is provided. A detecting unit (80) is used to detect an event. First and second outputs (10, 20) are provided for receiving an incoming call. A switch (12) automatically switches from the first output (10) to the second output (20) when the event occurs. Thus, the incoming call is received by the first output (10) before the event occurs, and by the second output (20) after the event occurs. In another embodiment of the invention, a switching system for automatic user access is provided. In this embodiment, a detecting unit (80) is again used to detect an event. An output device (106, 107) is also provided. Both the detecting unit and the output device (106, 107) are coupled to a processor (100). Access to the output device (106, 107) is automatically granted by the processor (100) after the event occurs.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a system and method for automatically transferring calls or allowing access based on received signals, and more particularly to transferring calls to a wireless system or allowing access to a confidential area when a signal is received from a detecting system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless telephone systems which utilize cellular telephones are common and readily available. Electronic door lock systems are also common. For example, many hotels employ electronic door lock systems and many hotel clientele utilize cellular telephones. Presently, while staying at a hotel, a user can forward telephone calls from a personal cellular telephone to a telephone in their hotel room. In this arrangement, the user must remember to manually disable the telephone call forwarding when leaving the hotel room. If a user forgets to forward the telephone calls to the hotel room, the user would have to answer any incoming telephone call on the cellular telephone and incur the associated air time costs. Also, if the user forgets to manually disable the telephone call forwarding after leaving the hotel room, the user may miss an important telephone call which is forwarded to the telephone in the vacant hotel room.
If the telephone calls are forwarded from the hotel room telephone to the cellular telephone, the same problems arise if the user forgets to disable the forwarding. In addition, this arrangement provides little security for the user. Anyone with access to the user's hotel room (e.g., the maid) can pick-up the telephone and enable (or disable) a telephone call forwarding setting.
In public wireless systems, it is desirable to reduce air time usage, and therefore reduce air time charges. Similarly, in private wireless systems, it is desirable to reduce congestion on an internal network. Thus, it is desirable to have automatic transferring between in-room telephones and cellular telephones which provides both the desired cost reduction and the desired congestion reduction. It is also desirable to provide a system in which the user does not have to remember to enable and disable the telephone call forwarding. Finally, it is desirable to provide a system where only the user can enable and disable the telephone call forwarding.
In a business environment, different levels of access to confidential information can be provided to employees with different levels of security. Usually passwords or encoded cards/keys are used to provide an employee's level of security clearance. The passwords are typically entered into a keyboard, and the encoded cards/keys are usually physically placed in a card/key reader. These passwords and encoded cards/keys can be copied or stolen. Also, the card/key readers often break or malfunction from constant physical use. An employee may forget a password or forget to insert an encoded card/key. Thus, it is desirable to have a system which does not require passwords or encoded cards/keys. When a multi-access security system is used, it is usually desirable to provide as much security as possible. Therefore, an automatic input in addition to a password or the manual insertion of a key provides another, transparent level of security which is desirable.

System and method for automatically transferring calls or allowing access

Siemens Business Communication Systems, Inc.


A method for reducing the chemical vapor permeability of a polyfluoroorgano resin substrate by coating its surface with a vinylidene dichloride copolymer is disclosed. The method produces a polyfluoroorgano resin substrate-vinylidene dichloride copolymer composite, for example a Teflon PFA pipe having its surface immediate to the environment treated with a vinylidene dichloride/vinyl chloride copolymer.

As used hereinafter, the expression "polyfluoroorgano substrate" means a Teflon.TM. resin, which includes Teflon PFA (perfluoroalkoxy) resin, a copolymer of tetrafluoroethylene and perfluoroalkyl vinylether, Teflon FEP, a copolymer of tetrafluoroethylene and hexafluoropropylene, and Teflon PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene). These materials are manufactured by E. I. Dupont De Nemours and Co. and are often used as barrier resins. The compositions include thermoplastics and are also used in the electronics industry and the pharmaceutical industry because they have outstanding chemical resistance. Experience has shown, however, that while in most instances, a Teflon resin substrate can serve as an excellent barrier material, permeation of toxic materials in the gas phase can occur through the bulk of the substrate when it is in contact with a liquid containing chemicals having a high vapor pressure. The problem becomes particularly acute when the noxious liquid is at a high temperature.
It would be desirable therefore to provide a Teflon resin substrate which would be suitable for handling a vapor-generating, corrosive medium while substantially precluding the passage of such chemical vapors through the bulk material of the Teflon resin substrate to the external environment.

Polyfluoroorgano composites and method for making

International Business Machines Corporation


Since cable external equipment has the advantage over radio external equipment, data is transferred through a cable when active cable external equipment exists, and data is automatically transferred to radio external equipment when active cable external equipment does not exist.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic equipment provided with at least two cable and radio interfaces.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, local radio systems such as Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11, etc. have become popular, and electronic equipment provided with a radio interface and a conventional cable interface has been presented. For example, a digital camera and a PDA provided with a Bluetooth radio interface, and a USB cable interface, etc. have been popularized on the market. External connection equipment for the above mentioned electronic equipment can be, for example, equipment of the same type having a different interface such as a BLUETOOTH printer, a USB printer, etc., equipment provided with both Bluetooth and USB interfaces, etc.
However, when the electronic equipment provided with both radio interface and cable interface as described above is connected to external connection equipment provided with a radio interface or external connection equipment provided with a cable interface, the operator has to be constantly aware which type of interface is to be connected. For example, when the same type of external equipment can be simultaneously connected (for example, a USB printer and a BLUETOOTH printer can be available), it is necessary to determine which external equipment is to be connected. When there are the same types of external connection equipment via radio or cable (for example, a radio printer and a cable printer), the operator has to be aware which interface is connected to the external equipment.

Electronic equipment and data transfer method