A method of enabling “fast” suspend and “rapid” resume of virtual machines (VMs) employs a cache that is able to perform input/output operations at a faster rate than a storage device provisioned for the VMs. The cache may be local to a computer system that is hosting the VMs or may be shared cache commonly accessible to VMs hosted by different computer systems. The method includes the steps of saving the state of the VM to a checkpoint file stored in the cache and locking the checkpoint file so that data blocks of the checkpoint file are maintained in the cache and are not evicted, and resuming execution of the VM by reading into memory the data blocks of the checkpoint file stored in the cache.

Virtual machine (VM) suspend/resume is a feature in virtualized computer systems that allows administrators to save the running state of a VM and at a later time restore the VM to the exact same running state as when it was suspended. One benefit of resuming from a suspended VM is that the VM does not have to go through a complete boot cycle and as a result the VM can be brought on-line quickly with little or no disruption experienced by users.
The VM suspend/resume feature allows administrators to make efficient use of server resources that support the running VMs. Inactive, but otherwise live, VMs can be suspended to prevent them from consuming server resources. The server resources allocated to the suspended VMs can be re-allocated to active VMs that may benefit from the extra resource availability. In a virtual desktop environment, such as Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) which is commercially available from VMware, Inc., the resource savings can be enormous because studies have shown that many users stay logged into their remote desktops even though they have disconnected from the remote desktop sessions.
The process of suspending a VM is also referred to as checkpointing, which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,795,966, incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. During the VM suspend process, a file (known as a checkpoint file) is created on a storage device, typically a disk array, and the state of the VM, including its memory and CPU state, is stored in the file. During VM resume, this same file is loaded into memory to restore the state of the VM. With a shared storage device, it is possible to resume the VM on a different host than where it was suspended.
The VM suspend/resume process described above works well for the occasional suspend/resume of VMs, but does not scale if many VMs are suspended or resumed at the same time. When a large number of VMs are suspended at the same time, known as a "suspend storm," the process can take a long time to complete and consequently the benefits gained from freeing up hardware resources from the VM suspensions would be delayed. For example, if 100 VMs each having 4 GB of allocated memory are suspended at the same time, this would result in a 100×4 GB (400 GB) of data being written to the storage device. The same applies to a "resume storm," where many users are requesting connections to their VMs at about the same time. In the above example of 100 VMs, if users of such VMs were to request connections to their VMs at about the same time, the VM resume process would require 400 GB of data to be read from the storage device and loaded into memory, inevitably delaying many of the connections requested by the users.
While the impact of the suspend storm can be mitigated to an extent, by scheduling the VM suspensions in a staggered fashion to offset the load on the storage device, the resume storm cannot be staggered, because users are expecting to access their VMs shortly after they have requested access. As a result, the storage device becomes a bottleneck when resuming a large number of VMs at about the same time.

Rapid virtual machine suspend and resume


Embodiments described herein provide approaches for user access control to a secured application. Specifically, a custom authentication tool is configured to intercept a request from a user for access to a secured application and override one or more default requirements (e.g., application pre-registration, for accessing the application). That is, when credentials of the user are received at the authentication tool, they are verified against data within a user directory to generate a user profile, which is then provided to the secured application to satisfy the requirements for granting access to the user. As such, the secured application's requirements are met, yet users do not have to manually pre-register to obtain access because the registration is performed in the background by the authentication tool.

Security of information, assets, and people is a desired objective. Sensitive applications can be secured in part by managing access to such applications, including access to electronic information, networks, devices associated with networks, and information systems associated therewith. Managing access can include, for example, requiring authentication or access credentials before allowing access to such information, networks, devices, and information systems. Further, many business web/internet applications require users to pre-register and generate a user profile before the user is allowed to access the application. However, it becomes unnecessarily time consuming for the user to manually pre-register each time prior to accessing the business application. Therefore, what is needed is a solution that solves one or more deficiencies of the prior art.

User access control to a secured application

International Business Machines Corporation


A translator for translating objects defined in an object-oriented programming environment to a relational database schema permits persistent storage of object instances as records in a relational database. Object instances are mapped to entity tables with object instances represented by entity records. Simple attributes are mapped to primitive typed attribute columns and class valued attributes are represented by foreign keys into entity attribute tables. Derived attributes are represented by joins of the parent and child entity records.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a technique for storing object instances of an object-oriented programming language in a relational database schema. In particular, the present invention describes a method and apparatus for storing object instances in an object-oriented programming language such as C++ in a relational database using a language such as SQL (Structured Query Language), although the present invention should not be limited to these particular languages.
2. Background of the Invention
With the advent of object-oriented programming (OOP) languages, the software design paradigm has shifted such that computer systems executing a particular application are viewed as a collection of individual objects, which achieve the desired application function by exchanging messages among themselves. Object-oriented design and programming is described in Object Oriented Design with Applications, by Grady Booch, The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, Inc., 1990. Often, it is necessary or desirable to store objects in some form of persistent storage, such as on a computer tape or disk. Most source-level languages that support object orientation do so only in memory, through the class concept. However, when it becomes necessary to store a persistent representation of objects, after the memory holding the in-core representation of the object has been relinquished by the application processes, there is in general no language support. No standard format has been defined for storage of persistent objects in, say, a disk file in an operating system.
This function is sought to be achieved by object-oriented databases, whose aim is to store persistent objects in a transportable format independent of both the underlying file system structure as well as the application's memory representation. However, object-oriented databases are currently an immature technology, and are not expected to reach maturity until some time after this writing. Accordingly, there exists a need to provide for a mechanism to provide persistent storage for objects in an OOP environment.
Relational database products currently represent a relatively mature and popular technology with which application developers have extensive familiarity. As object-oriented programming languages (such as C++ and Smalltalk) gain rapid acceptance and application development moves to object orientation, it is expected that there will be a demand for techniques to store persistent object definitions within the schema of a Relational Database Management System at least until the time when object-oriented database technology wins sufficient developer confidence to be used in a production environment and probably far beyond. In addition, many developers have substantial investments in relational database technology. Those who wish to move to object oriented applications may be able to preserve substantial portions of their development by utilizing relational database technology which is already developed.
The current invention addresses the need for such persistent storage in an object-oriented programming environment and defines an automatic mapping and an interface definition for this purpose, among other things. This allows for the easy storage of persistent representations of objects defined in source constructs of an object-oriented programming language, within the schema of a relational database. In addition to providing for persistent storage, the present invention provides a mechanism to make object-oriented data available for manipulation in relational database management environments by providing a translator function.

Automatic storage of persistent objects in a relational schema


A heart stimulator for biventricular pacing comprises at least one stimulation pulse generator connected or connectable to a right ventricular or atrial stimulation electrode lead and a left ventricular or atrial electrode lead, respectively. The heart stimulator is adapted to generate right chamber stimulation pulses for a right atrium or ventricle and left chamber stimulation pulses for a left ventricle or atrium. A high rate protection unit connected to said stimulation pulse generator is adapted to trigger, upon any right or left chamber stimulation pulse, a protection time window having a predetermined duration in time and comprising an early part immediately followed by a late part. The protection unit is further adapted to only allow atrial or ventricular stimulation pulses in said early part of said protection time window and to suppress any atrial or ventricular stimulation pulse in said late part.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention refers to implantable medical devices (IMDs) providing means for electrical stimulation of heart chambers and a high rate protection preventing excessive stimulation rates. The invention relates in particular to implantable cardiac pacemaker or an implantable cardioverter/defibrillator (ICD) for bi-ventricular stimulation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Implantable heart stimulators can be used for treating a variety of heart disorders like bradycardia, tachycardia or fibrillation by way of electric stimulation pulses delivered to the heart tissue, the myocardium. A strong enough stimulation pulse outside a heart chamber's refractory period leads to an excitation of the myocardium of that heart chamber, which in turn is followed by a contraction of the respective heart chamber.
Depending on the disorder to be treated, such a heart stimulator generates electrical stimulation pulses that are delivered to the heart tissue (myocardium) of a respective heart chamber according to an adequate timing regime. Delivery of stimulation pulses to the myocardium is usually achieved by means of an electrode lead that is electrically connected to a stimulation pulse generator inside a heart stimulator's housing and that carries a stimulation electrode in the region of its distal end. A stimulation pulse also is called a pace. Similarly, pacing a heart chamber means stimulating a heart chamber by delivery of a stimulation pulse.
Usually, a heart stimulator features separate stimulation generators for each heart chamber to be stimulated. Therefore, in a dual chamber pacemaker, usually an atrial and a ventricular stimulation pulse generator for generating atrial and ventricular stimulation pulses are provided. Delivery of an atrial or a ventricular stimulation pulse causing an artificial excitation of the atrium or the ventricle, respectively, is called an atrial stimulation event AP (atrial paced event) or a ventricular stimulation event VP (ventricular paced event), respectively.
In biventricular pacemakers both ventricles of a heart are paced.
Biventricular pacemakers are used for a cardiac re-synchronization therapy that shall synchronize right ventricular contraction and left ventricular contraction to improve the output of a heart exhibiting a cardiovascular disease. In particular, cardiac synchronization therapy is used to treat heart failure in patients with wide QRS complex that results from a delayed excitation of the left heart side. It is believed, that a main contributor to heart failure (the heart's inability to generate enough cardiac output) is an asynchronous mechanical contraction of the left and right side of the heart.
In a heart cycle, an excitation of the myocardium leads to depolarization of the myocardium that causes a contraction of the heart chamber. If the myocardium is fully depolarized, it is unsusceptible for further excitation and thus refractory. Thereafter, the myocardium repolarizes and thus relaxes and the heart chamber is expanding again. In a typical electrogram (EGM), depolarization of the ventricle corresponds to a signal known as "R-wave". The repolarization of the ventricular myocardium coincides with a signal known as "T-wave". Atrial depolarization is manifested by a signal known as "P-wave".
After a pace event, the cardiac tissue in the paced chamber is refractive for at least 125 ms. This means that another pace during this period will not have any effect. The tissue then repolarises until it reaches the resting state, typically no later than 270 ms after the pace. The phase between the time when the tissue is refractive and the time when it reaches the resting state is known as the vulnerable period that approximately coincides with a T-wave. A second pace event during this time may cause a potentially fatal tachycardia.
Cardiac rhythm management (CRM) devices are designed to avoid pacing in the vulnerable period. However, a fault could result in this undesired behaviour. As an example of such a fault, the crystal oscillator circuit could lock on a harmonic of the crystal. Another cause for pacing in the vulnerable period could be a modification of the CRM device configuration due to ambient radiation (soft error).
This issue is recognized to the extent that a European Standard for pacemakers (EN 45502-2-1:2003, section 16.4) mandates the following:
The design of the implantable pulse generator shall include a feature to limit the pulse rate in the event of a fault within the device (run-away protection).
Dual chamber devices implement a high-rate protection (HRP) circuit on each of the two chambers: atrium and ventricle. These HRP circuits use an independent time base and pre-vent consecutive pace events from occurring closer than a chosen interval, typically 270 ms.

Implantable medical device for biventricular stimulation


An apparatus and a method for operating antennas. A terminal includes a plurality of short range wireless communication antennas, each antenna disposed on different surface or in a vicinity of the different surface of the terminal, and a short range wireless communication control module configured to control to select at least one of the plurality of short range wireless communication antennas.

Due to a small size to carry while providing a specific user function, mobile terminals has been spotlighted in industrial and living fields. Nowadays, mobile terminals integrally providing various user applications are available. Such a mobile terminal is equipped with a screen to display the user applications to a user.
When performing a communication function of the mobile terminal, the mobile terminal communicates with the base stations. In order to provide a communication service without interruption, communication technology designs a system such that the coverages of each of a plurality of base stations may be overlapped and the communication continuity is guaranteed during hand off.

Apparatus and method for operating antennas


An inspection device in accordance with the present invention is configured so that a light source used for irradiating light, and a reflection-type prism that irradiates the light from the light source to a hologram provided on an inspection target that is placed downward and that diffracts light rays in different directions that are reflected from the hologram upward in the same or substantially the same direction are housed in a case. With such an arrangement, it becomes possible to provide an inspection device that can positively conduct an inspection process for identifying the genuineness of an inspection target having a hologram quickly, and is also advantageous in costs.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inspection device that carries out an inspection process for identifying the genuineness of an inspection target having a hologram thereon. Such an inspection target having a hologram is typically a banknote. However, the present invention may be applied to any item other than the banknote, such as cards made of paper or plastics, as long as it is provided with a hologram.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An example of a conventional bank-note inspection device is provided with a holding unit that holds a banknote, a light-emitting unit that is attached to the rear face of the holding unit and that irradiates the held banknote with light, and a switching unit that detects the held state of the banknote on the holding unit and allows the light-emitting unit to emit light based upon the result of this detection. This inspection device has an arrangement in which, when a banknote is held by the holding unit, the switching unit detects this and allows the light-emitting unit to automatically emit light, thereby allowing to identify the genuineness of the banknote by visually confirming whether or not a watermark is on the banknote through a sight through unit (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-141783).
In recent years, however, counterfeit banknotes with watermarks have been around, with the result that even when the counterfeit banknote is inspected by the above-mentioned conventional banknote inspection device, it tends to be erroneously identified as a real one, making it difficult to practically use this inspection device. New banknotes with holograms have come to be used for this reason. However, in order to confirm the hologram of the new banknotes, a plurality of images need to be confirmed so as to identify the genuineness of the banknote by viewing irregular portions of the hologram with the viewing angle being changed, and it is difficult to immediately direct the banknote in a plurality of predetermined angles so as to be identified, with the result that time-consuming tasks are required in identifying the genuineness of a banknote.
Moreover, in addition to the detection sensor for detecting the held state of the banknote, a switching unit that allows a light-emitting unit to emit light based upon the result of the detection from the detection sensor and the like are required, which could cause an increase in cost.


An item such as a passenger assist handle is anchored to an automotive framing component by a mounting stud passing through a hole in the framing component. The mounting stud includes a shaft with a helix at a first end and a threaded portion at a second end. The helix and threaded portion are of opposite hands and the threaded portion receives a stop nut thereon. The automotive framing component has a teardrop shaped opening therethrough having a first diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the shaft and a second diameter substantially equal to the radius of the helix. Upon threading the nut onto the shaft, while the stud is held initially stationary by frictional engagement between its surface and surfaces of the framing component adjacent to the teardrop shaped opening, the stop nut bottoms against a shoulder on the shaft and then begins rotating the shaft to drive the helix through the teardrop shaped opening. The stop nut then engages the base portion and urges the base portion of the item into a tight relationship with the faming component. Preferably, the mounting stud is made of an acetal homopolymer.

Currently two arrangements are used to anchor passenger assist handles to framing components of vehicles passenger compartments. In one arrangement a handle is retained by a push-in clip that is inserted through a hole previously punched in the framing component. The clip has a barbed point that expands once forced through the hole in the framing component.
In accordance with the second method, a threaded fastener and retaining nut are used. The nut often referred to as a J-clip or J-nut is aligned with a punched hole in the framing component and the threaded fastener is driven through both the handle and the nut. J-clips are relatively expensive and the labor costs related to inserting the nut are relatively high. Moreover, eliminating parts such as J-clips eases assembly.
In the passenger compartments of automotive vehicles there are numerous items such as coat hooks, visors, mirrors, light fixtures and other items which require attachment to framing components. There are also exterior items, such as but not limited to, roof racks, spoilers and mirrors. Reductions in cost, while maintaining or improving reliability, is a constant goal as anchors and attachment devices evolve.

Arrangements for anchoring items to automotive framing components


A microfluidic device comprising independently addressable arrays of interdigitated electrodes can be used to assembly and transport large-scale microparticle structures. The device and method uses collective phenomena in a negatively polarized suspension exposed to a high-gradient strong ac electric field to assemble the particles into predetermined locations and then transport them collectively to a work area for final assembly by sequentially energizing the electrode arrays.

The assembly of microparticles into large-scale structures is a proven and efficient method for the fabrication of structured materials with relevance to a wide variety of devices for photonic, electronic, magnetic, and sensor applications. See M. Boncheva and G. M. Whitesides, MRS Bull. 30, 736 (2005); and G. M. Whitesides and B. Grzybowski, Science 295, 2418 (2002). In comparison with techniques that rely on the spontaneous self-organization of particles into desired patterns, the use of optical, acoustic, electric, and magnetic fields to trap and transport the particles offers a significantly higher level of precision for the control of the particle positions. See B. A. Grzybowski et al., Nat. Mater. 2, 241 (2003); P. J. Burke, Nanodielectrophoresis: Electronic Nanotweezers, Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Vol. 6, edited by H. S. Nalwa (American Scientific, Stevenson Ranch, Calif., 2004), pp. 623-641; M. Riegelman et al., ASME J. Fluids Eng. 128, 6 (2006); J. P. Hoogenboom et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 80, 4828 (2002); W. D. Ristenpart et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 128303 (2003); and B. B. Yellen et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 102, 8860 (2005). A characteristic feature of these field-based methods is that all of them utilize a force exerted by a strong field gradient on an individual particle to trap it in regions of minimum or maximum field strength. When such a trap is displaced, the gradient force thereby generated causes an entrapped particle to follow the trap motion. Although precise, these techniques are slow since they deliver particles to a work area one at a time. To speed up the process, techniques recently reported in the literature involve the parallel transportation of particles by creating and simultaneously translating multiple field traps which, however, still contain a single particle. See P. Y. Chiou et al., Nature (London) 436, 370 (2005); T. P. Hunt et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 85, 6421 (2004); I. R. Perch-Nielsen et al., Opt. Express 13, 2852 (2005); and D. G. Grier, Nature (London) 424, 810 (2003).
Therefore, a need remains for a device and method to collectively assemble and transport microparticles to enable formation of large-scale structures.

Microfluidic device for the assembly and transport of microparticles


An image information processing apparatus includes a detector for detecting the move vector of an image of the present relative to that of the preceding field; a circuit for processing, on the basis of the move vector, the image of the present field stored in a field memory; and a residual memory for storing the residual information calculated during the period in which the image data of one horizontal scanning line is inputted. The residual information stored in the residual memory is shunted into a blank area of the field memory during a predetermined interval after the period in which the image data is input. The processing circuit performs a wobble correction to correct any shaking of the image between fields or compresses the data quantity of the dynamic image in image transmission, and the information of one entire picture is processed after being divided into a plurality of blocks, whereby the storage capacity of the residual memory can be widely reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image information processing apparatus such as a camera wobble corrector for correcting the interfield shape of an image in a video camera by detecting the interfield move vector in input dynamic image data, or such as an image compressor for compressing the data quantity of the dynamic image.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In an image information processing apparatus such as a camera wobble corrector for correcting the shake of an image derived from any camera wobbling action or the like in a video shooting operation or a dynamic image compressor for compressing the data quantity to achieve high-efficiency image transmission, it is necessary to execute an accurate calculation of the interfield move vector of the image so as to attain proper wobble correction or efficient data compression.
First a description will be given on a method for detecting the move vector V(n) of the present (n-th) field to the preceding ((n-i)th) field (i=1 in the following explanation).
FIG. 6 shows an exemplary arrangement where 16 representative points Pk (where k=0 to 15) are prepared on one picture to calculate a move vector V. In this example, the pixel data at the points Pk(n-1) in the (n-1)th field (hereinafter referred to as representative point data) are denoted by Ak(n 1). Within each of search regions Wk in the n th field (where a search origin is denoted by Pk(n), and each region consists of horizontal Q pixels and vertical R pixels), a search is executed for the pixel data Aij(n) of the n-th field corresponding to the representative point data Ak(n-1). More specifically, regarding the vector (1, m) from the search origin Pk to each of the search points (1, m) within the search regions Wk, the residual S (1, m) given by the following equation is calculated. ##EQU1##
In the above, Ak (1, m) (n) denote the pixel data of the n-th field at the search point (1, m) in the search region Wk.
With respect to the minimum residual S (11, ml) out of the entire residuals S (1, m) at All the search points, the move vector V(n) of the n-th field to the (n-1)th field is expressed as a vector (11, ml).
In addition to the example of FIG. 6 where the move vector V is obtained by calculating the residuals S relative to the entirety of one picture, there may be contrived another example of FIG. 7 where one picture is divided into a plurality of, e.g., four blocks B1, B2, B3, B4, and the move vectors V1, V2, V3, V4 of the individual blocks are detected similarly to the former example of FIG. 6. (Namely, each block is regarded as one entire picture in the foregoing example).
In accordance with a total of the four move vectors V1, V2, V3, V4 detected from the individual blocks, the move vector V(n) of the n-th field is determined on the basis of the following decision reference, for example.
First case: When more than three of the four move vectors are mutually the same, such coincident vectors are regarded as the move vector V(n) of the n-th field.
Second case (any of the cases other than the first one): The move vector V(n) is rendered undetectable, or each block is weighted and the move vector V(n) is determined; or the move vector Vw of the entire picture is detected simultaneously with the four vectors V1, V2, V3, V4 from the individual blocks, and the move vector Vw of the entire picture is adopted as the move vector V(n) of the n-th field.
The above is a method employed when the move vector V3 of the 3rd block B3, for example, is not properly detectable due to some harmful influence from moving objects such as men or vehicles.
FIGS. 8 and 9 are block diagrams showing the constitutions of conventional camera wobble correctors as image information processing apparatus which correspond respectively to FIGS. 6 and 7. The difference between the two apparatus of FIGS. 8 and 9 resides in that the former comprises a residual memory 54 having a storage capacity of Q.times.R words, whereas the latter comprises first and second residual memories 64, 65 each having a storage capacity of Q.times.R words for the 1st and 2nd blocks B1, B2 or 3rd and 4th blocks B3, B4.
Therefore, a description will be given on the example of FIG. 9 where one picture is divided into a plurality of blocks, and a repeated explanation will be omitted with regard to the example of FIG. 8 included therein.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a conventional image information processing apparatus which is a camera wobble corrector having the block arrangement of FIG. 7.
It is assumed here that, prior to the time T0 (shown in FIG. 7), image data Aij(n-1) of the (n-1)th field are stored in a field memory 8 via a data bus BU, and representative point data Ak(n-1) out of the image data Aij(n-1) are stored in a representative point memory 2 via the data bus BU.
During the time period T0 to T1, the image data Aij(n) of the n-th field inputted sequentially as an input signal 1 are supplied to a move vector detector 6. Then a subtracter 31 included in the move vector detector 6 calculates the difference between the pixel data at all of the search points in the 1st and 2nd blocks B1, B2 out of the image data Aij(n), and the representative point data Ak(n-1) supplied from the representative point memory 2 via the data bus BU, and the difference thus obtained is processed by an absolute value circuit 32 to have a difference absolute value. Subsequently a cumulation of the difference absolute value, i.e., an intermediate result or a final result of the residual S (1, m), is calculated by an adder 33 and then is stored in 1st and 2nd residual memories 64, 65.
The entire residual S1 (1, m) (or its intermediate result) of the 1st block B1 is stored in the 1st residual memory 64, while the entire residual S2 (1, m) (or its intermediate result) of the 2nd block B2 is stored in the 2nd residual memory 65. The residuals S1 (1, m) and S2 (1, m) are calculated as follows. ##EQU2##
A minimum residual calculator 39 detects the move vector S1 (111, m11) out of the entire residual S1 (1, m) of the 1st block B1 stored in the 1st residual memory 64 and outputs the detected residual as a move vector V1 (111, m11) of the 1st block B1.
The circuit configuration may be so modified as to detect the minimum residual S11 (111, m11), the 2nd minimum residual S12 (112, m12), the 3rd minimum residual S13 (113, m13) . . . and so forth, and then to output a plurality of move vectors V11 (111, m11), V12 (112, m12), V13 (111, m13) . . . and so forth as move vectors of the 1st block B1. The same operation may be performed with respect to any block other than the 1st block B1.
At the time T1, the move vector V1 (111, m11) of the 1st block B1 and the move vector V2 (121, m21) of the 2nd block B2 are outputted to a controller 7.
During the time period T1 to T2, the move vector V31 (131, m31) of the 3rd block B3 and the move vector V41 (141, m41) of the 4th block B4 are detected by the move vector detector 6. The residuals S3 (1, m) and S4 (1, m) stored respectively in the 1st and 2nd residual memories 64, 65 during the time period T1 to T2 are expressed by the following equations. ##EQU3##
At the time T2 corresponding to termination of the n-th field input, the move vector V(n) of the n-th field to the (n-1)th field is determined by the controller 7 from the move vectors V1, V2, V3, V4 of the blocks B1, B2, B3, B4 on the basis of the decision reference mentioned above. The move vector V(n) thus obtained is added to the cumulative move vector Vt subsequent to the reference field (e.g. 1st field) to thereby produce (Vt(n)=Vt(n-1)+V(n)), and a read address ADR corrected with respect to the cumulative move vector Vt(n) is outputted to a field memory 8.
During the time period T0 to T2, the representative point data Ak(n) out of the image data Aij(n) of the n-th field are stored in the representative point memory 2 simultaneously with detection of the move vectors V1, V2, V3, V4, and the representative point data Ak(n-1) already used are sequentially discarded to update the storage content of the memory. Also during the time period T0 to T2, the image data Aij(n-1) of the (n-1)th field stored in the field memory 8 are sequentially outputted to an interpolator 9 via the data bus BU, and the preceding image data Aij(n-1) already outputted are sequentially replaced with the image data Aij(n) of the n-th field so that the data are updated.
FIG. 10 illustrates an input image area to be stored in the field memory 8 and an output image area to be read out during the time period of the next field.
In FIG. 10, the input image area is composed of a reference-field output image area, and a correction area defined in the periphery of the reference-field output image area in conformity with an estimated maximum move vector. The output image area (denoted by a dotted line) for the reference field or any arbitrary field is slightly smaller than the input image area.
In case the output image area is smaller than an image frame area, it is necessary to magnify the image by interpolating the image data.
FIG. 11(A) is a block diagram of the interpolator 9; FIG. 11(B) is a timing chart of data for explaining the operation of the interpolator 9 in a mode to magnify the image 3/2 times; and FIG. 11(C) shows the result of interpolation.
In FIG. 11(A), the input signal 1 shown in FIG. 9 is inputted sequentially as scanning line data Yi (where i=0, 1, 2, . . . ) during respective horizontal scanning periods H. The input scanning line data Yi is multiplied by a coefficient C.sub.0 in a multiplier 91 and then is inputted to an adder 95. And simultaneously therewith, the scanning line data Y.sub.i is inputted also to a 1H delay line 93 via a switch 92 so as to be delayed for the time corresponding to one horizontal scanning period (1H), and the delayed data is multiplied by a coefficient C.sub.1 in a multiplier 94 and then is inputted to the adder 95. The outputs of the two multipliers 91 and 94 are added to each other in the adder 95, whereby output scanning line data yi is produced therefrom.
In FIG. 11(B) which shows the operation of line interpolation performed by the interpolator 9 in a 3/2-fold magnification mode, the scanning line data Yi (Y0, Y1, Y2, . . . ) are inputted sequentially as shown, while dummy data DM is inputted during one horizontal scanning period (1H) after input of the scanning line data Y0 or the two scanning line data Y1 and Y2, Y3 and Y4, . . . and so forth.
The switch 92 is selectively changed to a side a during the input period of the scanning line data or to a side b during the input period of the dummy data DM, so that the 1H delay line 93 outputs to the multiplier 94 the delay line data Y0, Y0, Y1, Y2, Y2, Y3, Y4, Y4, . . . and so forth each delayed for the time corresponding to one horizontal scanning period (1H).
The coefficient C.sub.0 of the multiplier 91 is so controlled as to become 0, 2/3 or 1/3 in synchronism with the horizontal scanning period (H) as shown, while the coefficient C.sub.1 of the multiplier 94 is so controlled as to become 1, 1/3 or 2/3 similarly thereto, whereby the corrected scanning line data yi given below are outputted from the adder 95 with a delay of 1H. EQU y0=Y0 EQU y1=1/3 Y0+2/3 Y1 EQU y2=2/3 Y1+1/3 Y2 EQU y3=Y2 EQU y4=1/3 Y2+2/3 Y3 EQU y5=2/3 Y3+1/3 Y4 EQU y6=Y4
In FIG. 11(C), the input scanning line data Yi are denoted by solid lines, and the corrected scanning line data are denoted by dotted lines respectively.
Although horizontal magnification of the image is necessary in addition to vertical magnification, an explanation thereof is omitted here since it is based on the known technique. In FIG. 10, when the output image area is coincident with the image frame, the image magnification described above is not required. However, with reference to the clock signal used for writing the input image area into the field memory 8, the output image area is outputted with insertion of dummy data DM per several lines similarly to the aforementioned, and the dummy data DM is removed by means of a data converter employed in place of the interpolator 9. Consequently, even in this case, there still exists the dummy data delivery time during which no output is supplied from the field memory to the data converter.
In FIG. 9, during the time period T0 to T2(n +1) of the next (n+1)th field, the image data Aij(n) stored in the field memory 8 is sequentially outputted via the data bus BU to the interpolator 9 on the basis of the read address ADR(n) outputted from the controller 7 and, after being interpolated as mentioned, the image data is delivered as an output signal 10.
In the conventional apparatus described above, the operations of writing data in and reading out the same from the field memory 8 are performed in the following manner. The input image data Aij(n) of the n-th field are sequentially written over the area included in the output image area of the (n-1)th field and outputted already to the interpolator 9, and also over the non-outputted area (correction area) in the periphery of the output image area.
In the above conventional example, the number of search points preset in each search region Wk is (Q.times.R).
In the above conventional apparatus, the residual S (1, m) is calculated with respect to each of the entire search points preset in the search regions Wk of one entire picture or each block, so that each of the residual memories 54, 64, 65 has a storage capacity of (Q.times.R) words.
In the example where one picture is divided into four blocks (=2.times.2), the blocks are settable in such a manner that the 1st plus 2nd blocks (B1+B2) are used as a 5th block B5; the 3rd plus 4th blocks (B3+B4) as a 6th block B6; and the 1st plus 2nd plus 3rd plus 4th blocks (=entire picture) as a 7th block B7. Furthermore, a division into 9 blocks (3.times.3) is also possible in addition to the above division into 4 (2.times.2). In such a case, it is necessary, according to the conventional apparatus, to provide a certain number a of residual memories each having a storage capacity of Q.times.R words so as to simultaneously detect move vectors of a blocks (e.g. four blocks B1, B2, B3, B7). Therefore, in an attempt to achieve exact detection of accurate move vectors by increasing the number of representative points or blocks, the capacity of each residual memory is rendered greater to eventually raise a problem that the circuit scale is enlarged.

Image information processor in which residual information is stored in a blank area of a field memory


The invention provides inducible promoter systems and their components incorporating components of a tetracycline operon. By coordinating expression of different transcriptional units in these systems as a result of selection of promoters and/or linking the units into the same DNA molecule, these systems can achieve higher levels of expression of coding segments of interest, increased differential levels of expression between on- and off-states, and/or greater responsiveness to inducing agents than conventional systems.

The tet operon confers tetracycline resistance in bacteria. The operon includes tet-operator sites, a promoter, and a bicistronic transcriptional unit encoding a tet-repressor and a tetracycline-resistance protein. In the absence of tetracycline, the tet-repressor binds to the tet-operator sites inhibiting expression from the promoter of both the tet-repressor and tetracycline-resistance protein. When tetracycline is present it binds to the tet-repressor inhibiting its own binding to the tet-operators. Tetracycline-resistance protein is then expressed as is more tet-repressor, which again shuts downs expression of the tet operon when the tetracycline has been exhausted.
The components of the tet operon have been incorporated into various inducible expression systems for regulating expression of a coding segment of interest (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,814,618, 5,654,168, 5,650,298 and 5,464,758 and 9,181,556). Generally, such systems have two components. A first construct includes one or more tet-operators, a promoter and a coding segment of interest. A second construct includes a promoter and a tet-repressor (or modified form thereof), sometimes fused to a transcriptional activation domain. The presence of tetracycline controls binding of the tet-repressor to the tet-operators, and consequently expression of the coding segment.


A multilayered chip capacitor (MLCC) includes internal electrodes and external electrodes formed to be perpendicular to the internal electrodes, whereby parasitic capacitance is reduced, resulting in no parallel resonance frequency effects. In addition, the MLCC has a capacitor structure, which provides a first surface and a second surface formed in a stacking direction of the dielectric layers in the capacitor body as a top surface and a bottom surface. Hence, in the thin capacitors having the same size, the number of internal electrode layers is increased, thereby reducing the equivalent series resistant (ESR) and equivalent series inductance (ESL). Further, the printed circuit board (PCB) having an embedded MLCC is easily manufactured.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, generally, to a multilayered chip capacitor (MLCC), and, more particularly, to a thin MLCC having excellent properties, which is suitable for embedding in a printed circuit board (PCB), and a PCB having an embedded MLCC.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an MLCC has a structure composed of a plurality of dielectric layers and a plurality of internal electrodes interposed between the dielectric layers. The MLCC, which is advantageous because it has a small size, a high capacitance and easy mountability, is widely applied to various electronic devices.
Recently, to decrease the overall package size and improve performance, the MLCC has been used in the state of being embedded in PCBs for memory cards, PC main boards and various RF modules. Such an MLCC is described with reference to a conventional MLCC shown in FIGS. 1a and 1b.
FIGS. 1a and 1b are a schematic perspective view and a side sectional view, respectively, showing a conventional thin capacitor.
As shown in FIGS. 1a and 1b, a conventional MLCC 10 includes a capacitor body 11 formed by stacking a plurality of dielectric layers. First and second internal electrodes 12 and 13 are alternately formed on the plurality of dielectric layers. In addition, the first and second internal electrodes 12 and 13 face other second and first internal electrodes 13 and 12 with one of the plurality of dielectric layers interposed therebetween, and are connected, respectively, to first and second external electrodes formed on both side surfaces of the capacitor body 11.
Typically, since the first and second external electrodes 14 and 15 are manufactured in such a way that both side surfaces of the capacitor body 11 are dipped into a metal paste, they may be formed to extend the other surfaces neighboring the side surfaces of the capacitor body 11. In particular, when the above MLCC 10 is embedded in the PCB, the regions of the external electrodes, which extend the top and bottom surfaces of the capacitor body 11, allow the external electrodes of the capacitor to be connected to conductive via holes or conductive lines of the PCB.
Turning now to FIG. 2a, there is illustrated a PCB 20 in which the MLCC 10 of FIG. 1a has been embedded. The PCB 20 is composed of three layers 21a, 21b and 21c, on which predetermined conductive lines 22a, 22b and 22c are formed. A cavity C is formed in the middle layer 21b of the PCB 20, and the MLCC 10 is mounted in the cavity C. As such, the conductive line 22a to which chip components (not shown) are mounted, along with the conductive line 22b of the other layer 21b, is connected to the regions of the first external electrodes 14 positioned on the top surface of the capacitor 10 through the conductive via holes 23a and 23b. Also, the ground conductive line 22c is connected to the regions of the second external electrodes 15 positioned on the bottom surface of the capacitor 10 by soldering.
As is apparent from the equivalent circuit diagram of FIG. 1c, the MLCC 10 has not only capacitance Cs, which is an actual value, but also equivalent series resistance (ESR) Rs and insulation resistance Rp due to resistance loss of the dielectric layer and resistance loss of the electrode layer, and parasitic capacitance Cp and equivalent series inductance (ESL) Ls.
With the aim of easily embedding such an MLCC 10 in the PCB 20, the MLCC 10 should be manufactured to have a low thickness T. For this, a thin dielectric layer having a high dielectric constant is required. In the portion represented by A in FIG. 1b, the intervals between the internal electrodes 12 and 13 and the regions of the external electrodes 14 and 15 formed on the top and bottom surfaces of the capacitor body 11 are decreased, hence increasing parasitic capacitance Cp. As such, such parasitic capacitance Cp may cause an undesired parallel resonance frequency at a high frequency together with the ESL Ls.
Meanwhile, the MLCC 10 is disadvantageous in that because the areas of the external electrodes extending the top and bottom surfaces of the capacitor body 11 are small, it is difficult to embed the MLCC 10 in the PCB 20. For example, as in FIG. 2b, in the case in which the conductive via hole 23b is connected to the first external electrodes 14, the widths d2 of the upper regions of the first external electrodes 14 are small, and thus, an allowable range of variation of the diameter d1 of the via hole becomes narrow. To solve such a problem, the upper and lower regions of the first and second external electrodes 14 and 15 may be sufficiently enlarged. As a result, however, the parasitic capacitance Cp is increased, and as well, in more severe cases, short circuits between the external electrodes 14 and 15 may be caused.

Multilayered chip capacitor and printed circuit board having embedded multilayered chip capacitor


In a medical guide wire, a core line securement portion (11) is provided in which the core wire (2) is fixed to an inner side of the helical coil body (3) so as to form a top leading end portion (10) between the core line securement (11) and the head plug (4). A flat plane structure (13) is formed in which the core wire (2) of the top leading end portion (10) gradually changes through stepped portions (S) so that the core wire (2) progressively reduces its thickness stepwisely while successively increasing its breadth stepwisely as approaching a foremost distal end of the top leading end portion (10). This provides an improved flexibility, sensitivity, torsibility and torque transmissibility with the flat plane structure (13) so as to be accessible to the diseased area with a high detective and ablative ability.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a medical guide wire to facilitate inserting a catheter into a cardiovascular system and hepatovascular system, and particularly concerns a medical guide wire with an improved leading distal end structure.
2. Description of Related Art
A medical guide wire has been used to assist a very thin and flexible catheter to insert it into a blood vessel, to check its diseased area with an angiography to facilitate using a balloon catheter to treat a coronary stenosis, and to insert the catheter into a hepatovascular system to cure a diseased area of the liver.
In these applications, the leading distal end of the medical guide wire is introduced into the diseased area through a sinuous vascular system, a bifurcated blood vessel or a vascular stenosis by a "push-pull and turn" manipulation at a hand access portion located outside a subject patient.
To achieve a smooth manipulation when inserting the leading distal end into the diseased area, the medical guide wire must have multi-mechanical properties. The multi-mechanical properties include high flexibility, good torque transmissibility and high bending characteristics with a small radius of curvature together with a good steerability by the hand access portion.
By way of illustration, FIG. 12 shows a diseased area (P) in which a completely obstructed area 25 occurs in a blood vessel (T) consisting of the intima 21, the media 22 and the adventitia. The completely obstructed area 25 is 10-15 mm long and filled with occlusive substances such as atheroma, plaque, thrombi. Both ends of the obstructed area 25 are calcified with a deposit of calcium salt to form a hardened fibrous cap.
In this example, a user steers a leading distal end 106 of a guide wire (G) at the obstructed area 25 to feel for a reaction against a concave area of the vascular wall based on a sensation coming to the hand access portion. Then, the user moves the guide wire (G) to a normal position (GA) by repeatedly pushing and turning the leading distal end 106 within a range of 2-3 mm. In order to efficiently and precisely perform the manipulation, it is necessary to give the guide wire (G) a high flexibility, a good torque transmissibility and sensitivity against the vascular wall. When the leading distal end 106 of the guide wire (G) lacks the flexibility, the leading distal end 106 does not follow a curved profile at the sinuous blood vessel. The leading distal end 106 is prone to remaining straight and likely advances into the intima 21 and the media 22 so as to often result in a vascular perforation as shown in FIG. 13. Otherwise, the leading distal end 106 unfavorably induces a false lumen 26 as shown in FIG. 14. In order to avoid these problems, it is necessary for the leading distal end 106 to have a bending characteristics that allow it to bend at an extremely small radius of curvature.
A medical guide wire with some of these mechanical properties has been introduced in a Laid-open Japanese Patent Application No. 4-292175. In this prior art reference, a flexible and elongated shaft portion 100 is disclosed as a main portion with its rear portion manipulated by a hand access portion 107 as shown in FIG. 15. A front distal end portion of the shaft portion 100 has a thin core wire 102 which is inserted into a helical coil body. A head plug 104 is secured to both top distal front end of the core wire 102 and the helical coil body 103 so as to form the leading distal end 106. As shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the leading distal end 106 has a core line securement portion 111 somewhat remote (e.g., approximately 26 mm) from the front distal end of the head plug 104 to secure the helical coil body 103 to the core wire 102 by means of a soldering procedure. A lengthwise extension of the core wire 102 from the core line securement portion 111 to a proximal end of the head plug 104, progressively increases its breadth (m) variably toward the front distal end of the head plug 104 while successively reducing its thickness (h) variably to taper off toward the front distal end of the head plug 104 so as to form a duckbill structure 130.
The leading distal end 106 of the duckbill structure 130 has as its objective merely to allow a selective insertability against the bifurcated portion of the blood vessel, and accordingly, diminishing detection of the stenosis and the obstructed area of the blood vessel, thus reducing an ablative ability against a narrow portion of the blood vessel and lowering the sensitivity against the vascular wall and the diseased area.
Therefore, it is an objective of the invention to overcome the above drawbacks by improving the indispensable mechanical properties so as to provide a high quality medical guide wire with good performance.

Medical guide wire having a stepwisely thickness-reduced but breadth-increased distal tip structure


A memory cell array employs a memory element as a memory cell. The memory element is constructed of a gate electrode formed via a gate insulation film on a semiconductor layer, a channel region arranged under the gate electrode, diffusion regions that are arranged on both sides of the channel region and have a conductive type opposite to that of the channel region, and memory function bodies that are arranged on both sides of the gate electrode and have a function to retain electric charges. When first and second power voltages VCC1 and VCC2 supplied from the outside are lower than a prescribed voltage, a rewrite command to a memory circuit 34 that includes the memory cell array is inhibited by a lockout circuit 33a. With this arrangement, there are provided a semiconductor storage device capable of achieving storage retainment of two bits or more per memory element and stable operation even if the device is miniaturized and preventing the occurrence of a malfunction of rewrite error and so on attributed to a reduction in the power voltage supplied from the outside and a control method therefor.

Conventionally, a flash memory has typically been used as a nonvolatile semiconductor storage device.
In this flash memory, as shown in FIG. 28, a floating gate 902, an insulation film 907 and a word line (control gate) 903 are formed in this order via a gate insulation film 908 on a semiconductor substrate 901, and a source line 904 and a bit line 905 respectively constructed of diffusion regions are formed on both sides of the floating gate 902, constituting a memory cell. Around this memory cell are formed element isolation regions 906 (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. HEI 5-304277).
The memory cell retains storage as the quantity of charge in the floating gate 902. In the memory cell array constructed by arranging the memory cells, the desired memory cell can be subjected to rewrite and read operations by selecting the specified word line and bit line and applying a prescribed voltage to the lines.
The flash memory as described above exhibits a drain current Id to gate voltage Vg characteristic indicated by the solid line curve and the dashed line curve in FIG. 29 when the quantity of charges in the floating gate 902 changes. That is, if the quantity of negative charges in the floating gate 902 is increased, then the characteristic curve changes from the characteristic indicated by the solid line curve to the characteristic indicated by the dashed line curve in FIG. 29, and the Id-Vg curve is displaced roughly parallel in a direction in which the gate voltage Vg increases with respect to same drain current Id with an increase in the threshold voltage.
However, the flash memory as described above has been functionally required to arrange the insulation film 907 that isolates the floating gate 902 from the word line 903 and had difficulties in reducing the thickness of the gate insulation film to prevent the leak of charges from the floating gate 902. Therefore, it has been difficult to effectively reduce the thickness of the insulation film 907 and the gate insulation film, and this has hindered the miniaturization of the memory cell.
Therefore, the semiconductor storage device provided with the memory cell array that employs the aforementioned memory elements as memory cells has the problem that reliable operation cannot be achieved with a further reduced circuit area.
Moreover, the semiconductor storage device that employs the aforementioned memory elements as memory cells in the memory cell array has a problem that a malfunction of rewrite error and so on occurs when the level of the power voltage supplied to the memory circuit including the memory cell array is lowered during the rewrite operation. In this case, the term of "rewrite" means operation that includes at least write or erase.
Moreover, it is required to reduce power consumption in a standby stage in order to increase the operating time on a battery in the portable electronic equipment that employs the memory circuit including the memory cell array. In particular, the memory circuit has had an increasing occupation ratio in recent years in integrated circuits and so on for the purpose of executing real-time processing of motion pictures, and it has been a major problem to reduce the leak current of the memory circuit in the standby state for the long-time operation on the battery.

Semiconductor memory device, method for controlling the same, and mobile electronic device


Disclosed is a weapons vault specifically designed to operate within the parameters of security and restricted access systems. The said weapons vault consists of an electronic enclosure having an asymmetrical shaped hopper capable of holding a pistol or hand gun. The hopper is secured into place by a solenoid locking mechanism and through the force of gravity, the hopper can physically move the pistol or handgun outside of the electronic enclosure. Provided in the electronic enclosure is a magnetic micro switch detecting the position of the hopper in the open or closed position. The electronic enclosure is also provided with flush mounting features, and industry standard equipment for versatility of operating methods. The weapons vault can be connected to most any security or restricted access systems as an accessory capable of being programmed to effect various signals for dispatch.

In an effort to address the issue of restricting access to loaded handguns, the Weapons Security Apparatus described herein achieves a different approach to this issue. With over ten years of experience in the security and restricted access industry, I Chris J. Zocco designed this device to be compatible with existing systems in the security industry. The Weapons Security Apparatus can be connected to any Burglar, Security, or Restricted access system, and is considered to be an "accessory" to said systems. The Weapons Security Apparatus was designed to, and is proposed to meet UL standard 50 for electronic enclosures, as well as National Burglar and Fire Alarm Associations installation requirements in that it affords the minimum power supply features needed to properly connect to existing security/restricted access systems. The overall intent is to make available for installation, a Weapons Security Apparatus that will restrict access to authorized users with the potential to generate required signals for industry communications equipment for police dispatch. The general nature of the Weapons Security Apparatus affords security industry experts the ability to design standard or custom installations utilizing the apparatus as the basic accessory needed, and adding to it various methods of operation. Features needed to add operating methods such as keypads, readers etc. have been designed into the Weapons Security Apparatus for proper connection and mounting.


A temperature indicator for indicating the temperature condition of an object while subjecting the object to an external temperature environment. The temperature indicator includes a substantially transparent outer shell containing a substantially transport modeling structure, which includes a plurality of heat receiving elements, for modeling the thermal diffusivity of the object. The indicator also includes a temperature measuring device in thermal contact with the modeling structure for measuring the temperature within the outer shell to thereby indicate the temperature condition of the object. The outer shell including first and second sections which apply a compressive force to the modeling structure when the first and second sections are secured together to thereby confine the modeling structure within the outer shell.

When applying heat for the purposes of cooking, canning or sterilizing an object, the process is completed once the object has attained a specific internal temperature. The internal temperature of the object is often estimated by measuring the time period over which the object is exposed to a heat source. Generally, several factors influence the heating process, such as the number of objects concurrently being heated, the initial temperature of the utensils and the object, the actual temperature of the heat source and the altitude at which heat is applied. Due to the wide variety of factors influencing the heating process, timing the process does not provide a true indication of the object's temperature condition. A more accurate determination as to when an object is fully heated is obtained by actually measuring its internal temperature.
In certain instances the internal temperature of an object may be measured during the application of heat. For example, meat thermometers and candy thermometers include probes for insertion into the substance being heated. However, with certain objects, measuring the internal temperature is not feasible. A temperature probe cannot be inserted into an object having an impenetrable outer surface, such as an egg, canned product or other sealed container. Thus, the internal temperature of the object must be estimated, as by measuring the time required for heating the object or by simulating the temperature condition within the object.
One method of determining the internal temperature of an object or container is by placing a device in thermal contact with the outer surface of the container. U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,188 discloses a time-temperature indicator having a thermochromic material placed within a cylinder with one end of the material in thermal contact with the container or closed vessel. When the temperature within the container increases to a certain level, the thermochromic material will change color indicating the temperature of the contents. The disclosed device indicates the temperature of the contents by responding to heat diffusing through the container lid. The temperature-time indicator, while providing an accurate estimate for some containers, is not particularly suitable for measuring the internal temperature of an object in which the temperature at the exterior surface does not represent the object's internal temperature. A temperature indicator for simulating the internal temperature of an object independent of the temperature at the object's surface is desirable.
An alternative method of simulating an object's internal temperature is by concurrently heating a temperature indicating device with the object. U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,769 discloses a time-temperature indicator having a thermally responsive indicator material embedded in a solid body of transparent plastic material. The plastic material preferably has a thermal diffusivity approximating that of the object being heated. The rate at which heat diffuses into the time-temperature indicator approximates the rate at which heat diffuses through the object.
During heating, the time-temperature indicator and the object will be exposed to the same conditions. Since the rate at which the object and the disclosed device are heated is approximately equal, measuring the internal temperature of the device will provide a substantially accurate estimate of the internal temperature of the object. The indicator material responds to the occurrence of a predetermined temperature within the device, thereby indicating that sufficient heat has been supplied to complete the heating process.
To insure that the indicating material is responding to heat diffusing through the plastic, in the disclosed device the indicator material is embedded within a solid body by pouring a hardenable plastic into a mold in layers. The layers of plastic bond together, forming the solid body. However, exposing the solid plastic device to a large temperature change introduces significant thermal stresses. With repeated use, the thermal stresses often cause delamination or separation of the solid body and failure of the assembly. A temperature indicator which may be repeatedly exposed to changes in temperature without developing significant thermal stresses is highly desirable.
The internal stresses introduced by repeated exposure to a temperature gradient also induce the formation of surface cracks and the emission of objectionable odors. In addition, embedding the indicating material within a solid body is a time consuming and labor intensive process which is not precisely repeatable. A temperature indicator which may be efficiently and economically manufactured is desirable. Similarly, a temperature indicating device which may be repeatedly subjected to a temperature gradient without the formation of cracks or the emission of offensive odors is desirable.


An apparatus and process is provided for testing the hardness of paper rolls. The apparatus includes a tester that is selectively moveable across a roll of paper. The tester includes an impact anvil which strikes the paper at a selected frequency and which determines the hardness of the paper roll based on forces encountered by the impact anvil. The tester further includes an encoder wheel for identifying relative positions on the paper roll at which each test is performed. The impact anvil and the encoder wheel are operatively connected to a computer which receives signals and calculates hardness at each of the plurality of positions tested. The computer provides output of data on the most recent traversal of a paper roll and on plural sequentially tested rolls to assess trends in the hardness of paper rolls produced by a particular machine.

Paper mills include large complex machinery to convert wood pulp into a slurry and subsequently into paper sheets. The paper sheets are wound onto large rolls that may be any size up to six feet in diameter and thirty feet long. A roll of paper produced to these dimensions may weigh up to twenty tons. Some mills may simultaneously produce plural rolls of the same or different axial lengths, with the respective rolls being disposed in generally end-to-end axial alignment. The large rolls of paper generally will be transported to another location for cutting, folding and/or printing in accordance with the intended end use of the paper.
Characteristics of the paper produced by the mill vary widely in accordance with the intended use of the paper. In particular, paper thickness, weight and surface characteristics can vary widely from one specified end use to another.
Many machines are available for testing characteristics of the paper being produced by the mill to ensure that the paper conforms to specifications. For example, available machines will employ samples of the paper being produced to test burst strength, tear strength, thickness, smoothness, gloss and other quantifiable characteristics. A prior art apparatus for determining the density of a finished roll in a mill is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,880 which issued to Murdoch et al on Jun. 17, 1986. A prior art apparatus for assessing the cross-sectional profile of the paper produced by a mill is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,983 which issued to Dunfield et al on Dec. 26, 1989. A prior art apparatus for measuring the mottle or surface gloss of paper produced by a mill is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,455 which issued to Avni et al on Oct. 30, 1990.
It is also desireable to perform non-destructive hardness tests on at least selected rolls produced by a paper mill. In particular, roll hardness observation (rho) meters are employed to test the hardness of a finished roll of paper. The typical prior art rho meter employs a hammer apparatus operatively connected to electronic means, such as an amplifier. The hammer is employed to strike the roll with a specified force, and the response of the hammer after striking the roll is measured and can be compared to specified responses indicative of the roll hardness. The prior art rho meter can be employed at selected locations along the length of the paper roll to accumulate plural readings for assessing hardness.
The prior art rho meters have been large, costly and cumbersome apparatus. Output data of the prior art rho meter has been inaccurate, and it has been difficult to properly correlate the reading taken by the prior art rho meter with the particular location on the paper being tested. Furthermore, the prior art rho meter has not been an effective tool for the anticipation or early identification of problems in the paper mill. A typical prior art rho meter is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,588 which issued Knight et al on Jul. 9, 1974.
The prior art rho meters do not enable an efficient assessment of roll hardness of paper produced by a mill. Similarly, none of the prior art rho meters provide a simple apparatus that can readily be used by workers at the mill to accurately assess hardness of a roll.
In view of the above, it is an object of the subject invention to provide a rho testing apparatus for accurately and efficiently testing the hardness of a paper roll produced by a mill.
It is another object of the subject invention to provide a rho testing apparatus that is easily transportable by workers in the paper mill.
It is another object of the subject invention to provide a rho testing apparatus and process that accurately correlates hardness data to positions on the roll being tested.
Still a further object of the subject invention is to provide a rho testing apparatus that identifies test positions independent of the speed of moving the rho tester relative to the paper.
Still an additional object of the subject invention is to provide a rho testing apparatus and process for providing the worker with usable information and summaries for assessing the performance of equipment at the paper mill over a selected period of the paper mill operation.

Roll hardness observation testing apparatus and process


An indirect communication system and a method of indirect communication include a mobile phone as either a calling device or receiving device. The mobile phone calls another device to set up a prospective communication, and then uses Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to communicate with the other device over the Internet. The receiving device receives a generated signal notifying the receiving device of a proposed communication with the calling device. A server sets up a meeting point channel after the calling device has connected to the server. The server receives outgoing VoIP packets from the calling device and redirects the outgoing VoIP packets to the receiving device.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a device and method of making and receiving relatively low cost, high quality phone calls using a mobile phone with wireless media and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
2. Description of the Related Art
A call made with a mobile phone is carried over the same channel that carried the notifier or ring-tone that established the connection. Thus, charges accrue for the airtime required to maintain the channel, as well as for the notifier or ring-tone. Furthermore, the communication quality of a mobile phone is subject to the vagaries of wireless and VoIP communication.

Mobile phone related indirect communication system and method


The present invention discloses a connector, including: a first interface, a second interface, and a signal boost circuit, where at least one of the first interface and the second interface includes a power supply contact head, and the power supply contact head is configured to power the signal boost circuit; and a casing, where the signal boost circuit is arranged inside the casing and concatenated between the first interface and the second interface, and the signal boost circuit performs signal amplification processing on a differential signal received by the first interface and outputs the signal over the second interface, and the first interface and the second interface are arranged on different surfaces outside the casing. Further, the present invention discloses an electronic device.

Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of using a connector to connect a backplane and a circuit board in an electronic device in the prior art. As illustrated in FIG. 1, in the prior art, components forming a high-speed second circuit board link include a backplane 11, a circuit board 12, a circuit board 15, a connector 10, and a connector 14. The connector 14 is used to connect the backplane 11 to the circuit board 15, and the connector 10 is used to connect the backplane 11 to the circuit board 12. A chip 16 is arranged on the circuit board 12, a chip 13 is arranged on the circuit board 13, and internal circuit connection wires (not illustrated in FIG. 1) are arranged inside the backplane 11, the circuit board 12, the circuit board 15, the connector 14, and the connector 10. The connector 14 is connected to the backplane 11 and the circuit board 15. After the connector 10 is connected to the backplane 11 and the circuit board 12, an electrical connection is implemented between the chip 16 and the chip 13.
Referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is a detailed circuit diagram of connections between a connector and a second circuit board as well as the circuit board in the prior art. FIG. 2 further illustrates detailed circuit connection relationships between the connector 10 and the backplane 11 and the circuit board 12 that are illustrated in FIG. 1. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the connector 10 includes conductive contact heads 101, 102, 103, and 104 (for clarity in FIG. 2, only the 4 contact heads are given as examples, and the actual number of contact heads is illustrated in FIG. 2), and conductive contact heads 105, 106, 107, and 108 (for clarity in FIG. 2, only the 4 contact heads are given as examples, and the actual number of contact heads is illustrated in FIG. 2). The conductive contact heads 101, 102, 103, and 104 are optionally pluggable into the backplane 11, the conductive contact heads 105, 106, 107, and 108 are optionally pluggable into the circuit board 12, an internal electrical connection is implemented between the conductive contact head 101 and the conductive contact head 108 in the connector 10, an internal electrical connection is implemented between the conductive contact head 102 and the conductive contact head 107 in the connector 10, an internal electrical connection is implemented between the conductive contact head 103 and the conductive contact head 106 in the connector 10, and an internal electrical connection is implemented between the conductive contact head 104 and the conductive contact head 105 in the connector 10. Therefore, when the circuit board 12 is connected to the backplane 11 by using the connector 10, a plurality of electrical connections may be formed between the backplane 11 and the circuit board 12, and data signals are transmitted over the plurality of electrical connections.
In the long-term research, the inventor of the present invention finds that the signal transmission speed of the high-speed second circuit board link is required to be higher and higher. For example, it will be increased from the current 10 Gbs to 17 Gbs gradually, and is predicted to be further increased from 17 Gbs to 25 Gbs. Under a high data transmission speed, signal attenuation will be higher and higher. Due to cabling loss restriction of traditional circuit boards, in order to implement a link with a speed of 25 Gbs, an M6 board material or a high-speed cable solution is required to control signal attenuation that occurs in the internal circuit connection wires. However, M6 board materials and high-speed cables are very expensive, increasing the costs. In addition, if high-speed cables are used instead of the foregoing connection manner, tens of thousands of lines on the second circuit board have to be replaced with cable connections. This extremely complicates the design solution.
Another solution in the prior art is to add a balancer on the circuit board 12 connected to the connector 10 to boost signal amplitude and control signal attenuation. However, due to the increasing integration of products, space on the circuit board 12 is scarce, and the balancer added on the circuit board 12 will increase the product size.


A smart socket is provided. The smart socket has a set of power sockets, configured for a set of power pins of a smart plug to plug into, a driving pin and a set of detection pins, configured for forming a circuit with a set of feedback pins of a smart plug when the set of power pins is plugged into the power sockets, and an identification code module, configured for obtaining an identification code of an electric appliance, from the circuit, to which the smart plug belongs.

Electric meters are popularly used in houses, offices, industrial plants, or specific places for monitoring overall power consumption thereof.
To precisely measure the power consumption, the electric meters can be disposed on each electric appliance. However, this manner costs a lot and is impracticable. Sometimes, a compromise power consumption measurement method is used, where the electric meters are only disposed on a power socket for measuring electric appliances that are provided power by the power socket. Predictably, this manner fails to precisely measure the operation or standby power consumption of each of the electric appliances.
Therefore, an apparatus which helps to identify various electric appliances and to monitor the power consumption of electric appliances will be for establishment of a smart power grid.

Smart plugs, smart sockets and smart adaptors

Industrial Technology Research Institute


Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture consistent with the present invention provide a cache manager that monitors access to an information model associated with a business service application and generates an access pattern for the information model based on a number of accesses to the information model.

Corporations and other enterprises commonly implement their business services on computer systems using a tiered architecture model that provides benefits such as reusability, flexibility, manageability, maintainability, and scalability for a business service application. The tiered architecture model segments an application's components into three tiers of services: the presentation or visualization tier, the middle or business logic tier, and the data or resource tier. These tiers do not necessarily correspond to physical locations on various computers on a network, but rather to logical layers of the application.
The visualization tier or layer provides an interface for the end user into the application. The business logic tier or layer (also referenced as the application layer) typically includes application specific code or components for enforcing a set of business and data rules used to implement a given business service. The resource tier is a data management layer for storing and retrieving information or persistent data usually stored in a database or in permanent storage.
In one implementation of the tiered architecture model, the application layer is operatively connected to the resource layer through information model nodes, which function as an interim translation layer for access to the persistent data that reside in the resource tier. An information model typically describes the combination of a data model (one type of information model node) and a content model (another type of information model node) together with one or more associations between information model nodes. A data model describes the techniques for describing well structured data within an application. For example, the technique or structure for formatting a paragraph in a document created using the Microsoft® Word application may be represented in a data model. A content model is a set of meta data that describes unstructured data, such as data that a user writes in a document described by a given information model. The meta data of the content model may describe associations between the unstructured data as well as information about the unstructured data. For example, the content model for the document created using the Microsoft® Word application may define meta data to include author, date created, data classification (e.g., letter, diagram, spreadsheet, etc.).
One of the problems the information model creates, however, is scalable access from the application layer. For example, a particular business service application may have access to thousands of information model nodes, each of which may have one or more associations to other information model nodes. Thus, a query or request by a user to view data related to one or more information model nodes typically requires significant time using traditional data access techniques, such as read through caching via a relational database management system ("RDBMS"). Furthermore, associations between the information models often lead to cache "bleed." Cache "bleed" occurs when an information model consists of a significant number of nodes and caching two disparate nodes connected by many other associated nodes causes the cache manager to store in cache memory all of the associated nodes in order to retrieve and store the desired two disparate nodes for access by the corresponding business application manager. Since conventional cache memory is a finite size, the cache manager is unable to store (e.g., "bleeds out") other nodes that would be of value to cache for the business service application.
Therefore, a need has long existed for a method and a system that overcome the problems noted above and others previously experienced.

Methods and systems for caching information model nodes


An integrated chemical delivery and cleaning system is provided. The system includes a cleaning medium. The system also includes a plurality of chemicals infused into portions of the cleaning medium. The system further includes a plurality of membranes configurable within the cleaning medium and designed to compartmentalize a plurality of regions within the cleaning medium. Additionally, the system includes a surface layer positionable on a surface of the cleaning medium wherein the surface layer is structured to include materials designed to clean surfaces of objects.

Previous attempts to create systems to deliver cleaning mediums with the appropriate chemicals included have been unsuccessful. In many instances, a variety of these systems still include acquiring separate cleaning mediums and chemicals, increasing human interaction and significant time expenditure to acquire them, human interaction and time-consuming activity to apply the chemicals to the cleaning medium, and human interaction and taxing time operations to clean up after cleaning evolutions. Further, these systems involve inefficient use of the chemical because quite often more chemical than is needed is applied, and the remaining chemicals get washed off the cleaning medium and results in an increase in waste effluent discharges. Consequently, resulting in increased costs and pollution.
The nature of acquiring separate cleaning chemicals and cleaning mediums has in the past involved generating waste. The waste comes from plastic and non-recyclable materials used in packaging, delivering, and storing these items. As the world's population increases the amount of waste involved in manufacturing and delivering chemicals and cleaning mediums has increased. This increase of waste adds to the problem of pollution and earth friendly waste management.
Cleaning involves time consuming evolutions such as acquiring chemicals and cleaning mediums. Most activities involved in cleaning household items, vehicles, inside and outside areas require extensive amount of human interaction and time-consuming activities. This time expenditure takes away from people's available time to do other things. If there existed systems to make these cleaning evolutions more efficient, it would increase quality of life for many people.
As the world's population increases, the need for cleaning chemicals and cleaning mediums such as sponges has increased. In areas throughout the United States and other countries, the amount of cleaning chemicals and cleaning mediums has increased. The current systems for utilizing chemicals and cleaning mediums has resulted in an increase in chemicals and sponges use which are used inefficiently. These inefficiencies result in waste. Further, due to the shelf life of some chemicals, there continues to be spoilage of chemicals. These inefficiencies result in waste, unavailability of chemicals in certain areas, and in increased costs to deliver chemicals.
Accordingly, there is an established need for chemical delivery and cleaning systems which solve at least one of the aforementioned problems. Further, there is an established need for integrated chemical delivery and cleaning systems, having various forms, that can help people clean while minimizing time actively involved in getting the chemicals and cleaning mediums and in cleaning up afterwards.

Integrated chemical delivery and cleaning systems


The present invention provides a liquid hydrocarbon fuel composition comprising a major amount of a liquid hydrocarbon fuel and, as identifiable marker, a detectable amount of at least one C.sub.7-20 hydrocarbon containing at least one non-aromatic carbocyclic ring of at least 7 ring carbon atoms; and a method of modifying a liquid hydrocarbon fuel which comprises adding to the fuel, as identifiable marker, a detectable amount of at least one C.sub.7-20 hydrocarbon containing at least one non-aromatic carbocyclic ring of at least 7 ring carbon atoms.

There is a need to be able to identify various hydrocarbon fuels, such as gasolines, kerosines, jet fuels, diesel fuels heating oils and heavy fuel oils, from the points of view both of type and origin. Identification of the origin of spillages, and detection of counterfeiting or fraud are examples of such need.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,475 (ass. SRI International) indicates that prior art attempts to use dyes, detection of which would be by fluorescence, have suffered from the problem that gasoline and other fuel fluorescence strongly in the absence of added dye. Furthermore, in the case of spills, dyes tend to adsorb onto soil and become eliminated from spilled fuel.
In order to seek to overcome such problems, U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,475 provides for incorporation into hydrocarbon fuels of quantities of one or more fullerene derivatives. Such materials are described as clustered carbon structures generally spherical in shape and having a carbon content generally ranging from about 50 to about 90 carbon atoms, those having the structures C.sub.60 (buckminsterfullerene), C.sub.70, C.sub.74, C.sub.76, C.sub.78, C.sub.82, C.sub.84, C.sub.86, C.sub.88, C.sub.90, C.sub.92 and C.sub.94 being specifically mentioned (Col. 2, lines 25 to 30). Identification may be by mass spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy or high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) (Col. 2, lines 50 to 60).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,937 (ass. Isotag) describes a method for identifying the source of a transported chemical shipment, such as crude oil. This method employs a chemical element or an organic compound with one or more atoms which are non-radioactive isotopes generally not found in nature. Identification of samples as marked material is by comparison with an authentic sample of marked material. Preferred compounds are deuterated compounds or those rendered isotopic by carbon-13, fluorine- 19, nitrogen- 15, oxygen- 17 and oxygen- 18. Gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy are mentioned as appropriate analysis techniques. The examples relate to crude oil. Example 1 uses deuterated octane. Example 2 uses deuterated acetone. Example 3 does not use any specified isotopes, but employs a mixture of tetrafluoroethylene, chloroform and trichloroethylene in "the ratio" 1:3:7.
Each of these prior art approaches has the disadvantage either that it employs unusual or not readily obtainable additive or additives or that it employs one or more additives which are chemically different from anything else which might be present in the liquid to be identified, and which therefore may have the potential to interact adversely with one or more performance additives which might be incorporated when the liquid to be identified is a hydrocarbon fuel.


An endoscope for transurethral surgery and has a main body irrotationally supporting an optics and a surgical instrument, further an outer tube affixed to the main body and tubularly enclosing the optics and the surgical instrument, which is characterized in that the outer tube is rotational relative to the remaining endoscope parts.

Endoscopes used for such surgery have outer tubes which are placed into the patient's urethra. The optical system allows viewing the field of surgery. The surgical instrument, for instance scissors, tongs or, typically, a high-frequency cutting electrode, allows surgery, specifically, cutting. The main body of the endoscope comprises actuators driving the surgical instrument, for instance to reciprocate it axially. As a rule, the endoscope also comprises fittings for flushing water with which the area of surgery is flushed to achieve better viewing.
As regards endoscopes comprising a pistol grip at the main body, rotating means are known whereby parts of the main body can be rotated relative to the remaining parts of the endoscope. However, the surgical instrument and the outer tube always are mutually non-rotational.
When operating in the bladder, in particular when resecting the prostate gland, the rotational position of the surgical instrument relative to field of surgery frequently must be changed. Illustratively, when operating on the prostate, removal must take place alternatingly on the right, left, top and bottom. When using a known endoscope of the kind mentioned above wherein the surgical instrument is stationary relative to the outer tube, this outer tube therefore must be constantly rotated in the urethra. However, the friction between the outer tube wall and the urethra wall irritates the sensitive mucous lining of the urethra and may lead to injury.


A method and system for sensing the temperature of an integrated circuit are presented. The method compares a first current that is proportional to a temperature reading of the integrated circuit to a reference current. While the first current is greater than the reference current, a counter is incremented, and the reference current is increased in response to incrementing the counter. A system for sensing the temperature of an integrated circuit includes a first current source providing a source current to a node. The first current source is based on an input from a proportional to absolute temperature device. The system also includes a second current source providing a sink current to the node, with the amount of sink current being based on an input from a digital control module. The system also includes a comparator coupled to the node to provide a comparator signal that indicates a relationship between the source current and the sink current.

The performance of many integrated circuit components varies according to the temperature of the component. For example, dynamic memory modules, such as DRAM, are refreshed at a higher rate as the temperature of the module increases. However, refreshing a dynamic memory module at a predetermined high rate can waste power if the rate is not demanded by the memory module temperature.
Furthermore, the temperature of an integrated circuit may vary over time. Moreover, because power usage is often at a premium in an integrated circuit, it is beneficial if a system or method for measuring the temperature conserves power.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved low power system and method that is capable of measuring the temperature in an integrated circuit.


A plurality of generator polynomials are prepared for error correction and stored in a table by assigning a specific table number to each generator polynomial. Each generator polynomial provides a different error correction capability so that a different number of error correction bits are added to each set of transmission data. For radio communication, an electric field intensity is first measured, and in accordance with this electric field intensity, a generator polynomial to be used at that time for error correction calculation is determined. It is therefore possible to change the number of error correction bits in accordance with the environment at that time and to perform efficient error correction. For example, if a base station is in a near area, an error rate is small so that the number of addition bits is reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an error correction method and a radio communication apparatus for communicating over a mobile communication network with its error rate changing from time to time.
2. Description of the Related Art
Second-generation mobile communication systems characterized in digital communication are prevailing rapidly. For example, Personal Handyphone System (PHS) widely used in Japan adopts a scheme of Time Division Multiplex Access/Time Division Duplex (TDMA/TDD). This PHS scheme has a transmission capacity of 32 kbps per slot so that not only audio signals, data signals and still image signals, but also moving image signals can be transmitted. This PHS scheme is therefore much expected as the infrastructure capable of realizing mobile multimedia communication.
A conventional error correction method will be described. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a conventional radio communication apparatus. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 1 represents a forward error correction (FEC) operator unit, reference numeral 2 represents a multiplexer, reference numeral 3 represents a baseband processor unit, reference numeral 4 represents a radio frequency (RF) module, reference numeral 5 represents a separator, reference numeral 6 represents an FEC unit, and reference numeral 7 represents a generator polynomial table.
FIG. 5 shows a configuration of a packet used for data transfer between radio communication apparatuses such as shown in FIG. 4. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 25 represents a packet start detection flag field, reference numeral 26 represents an address field, reference numeral 27 represents a control field, reference numeral 28 represents a data field, reference numeral 29 represents an FEC addition bit field, and reference numeral 30 represents a packet end detection flag field.
Referring to FIG. 4, data to be transmitted is input to the FEC operator unit 1 and multiplexer 2. This data includes audio data, moving picture data, or the like to be loaded in the data field 28 shown in FIG. 5, and data to be loaded in the address and control fields 26 and 27 shown in FIG. 5. The address field 26 is used for the supply of discrimination information of communication partners, and the control field 27 is used for the supply of a frame type and a transmission/reception sequential order.
The FEC operator unit 1 calculates FEC addition bits by using a generator polynomial of a single type output from the generator polynomial table 7. FEC is one type of error correction method and is adopted by PHSs.
As the transmission data is input to the FEC operator unit 1, this unit 1 outputs FEC addition bits which are multiplexed with the transmission data by the multiplexer 2. This multiplexer 2 also multiplexes the data in the packet start and end detection flag fields 25 and 30 shown in FIG. 5 to configure a transmission packet shown in FIG. 5.
The baseband processor unit 3 shown in FIG. 4 performs a baseband signal communication process in accordance with protocols of a mobile communication network. Specifically, the baseband processor unit 3 loads a transmission packet supplied from the multiplexer 2 on the baseband signal, and unloads a reception packet supplied from the RF module 4 from the baseband signal. The RF module 4 modulates the baseband signal to generate radio signals, and demodulates received radio signals into the baseband signal.
The separator 5 separates a received packet into FEC addition bits and reception data before the error correction. The FTC unit 6 performs error detection and correction of the reception data in accordance with the FEC addition bits output from the separator 5, by using a generator polynomial of the single type output from the generator polynomial table 7.
Next, error correction will be described. For the error correction, binary cyclic codes (n, k) of the Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem (BCH) code system are used, where n indicates a code length and k indicates the number of information points. The code length n is the total number of bits in the address field 26, control field 27, data field 28 and FEC addition bit field 29. The number k of information points is the total number of bits in the address field 26, control field 27 and data field 28. Therefore, the number of bits in the FEC addition bit field 29 is (n-k). In this case, the generator polynomial g(x) is given by the following equation. EQU g(x)=a.sub.n-k-1 .multidot.X.sup.n-k-1 +a.sub.n-k-2 .multidot.X.sup.n-k-2 +a.sub.n-k-3 .multidot.X.sup.n-k-3 + . . . +a.sub.1 .multidot.X+a.sub.0
The above-described error correction method has, however, a limited error correction capability because it uses only one type of generator polynomial. Therefore, if errors in excess of the error correction capability are generated, these excessive errors cannot be corrected.

Error correction method for radio communication and radio communication apparatus