A test system that includes a generator and an analyzer acting cooperatively to test a device having a plurality of device communication channels. The device has a plurality of inputs and corresponding outputs, each input being connected to a corresponding one of the outputs. The correspondence between the input and output channels may change if the device is turned off and on or if the device is not actively sending data from the inputs to the outputs. The test system determines a mapping between the device inputs and outputs prior to performing bit error rate testing utilizing a mapping test pattern. The test system can then switch to a bit error rate test pattern without causing the device to drift such that the correspondence between the input and output channels is lost.

A parallel channel bit error rate tester is normally used in communication systems having a number of separate channels. Such testers provide a means for testing many channels simultaneously, and hence, reduce the time needed to test a communication system. In addition, such testers can detect errors that are only present when a number of channels are operating simultaneously. For example, errors resulting from cross-talk between two channels only appear when there is data on both channels. A parallel channel bit error rate tester typically includes a pattern generator for generating signals on each of the channels to be tested and an analyzer that examines the signals received at the terminus of the communication channels to determine if the received signals match the generated signals from the pattern generator.
A parallel channel bit error rate tester may also be used to test a communications channel having a data rate that is higher than that of the individual channels of the tester. To do this, individual test signals from the pattern generator channels are multiplexed together to form a high-speed signal which is sent on the high-speed channel. At the terminus of the communication channel, the high speed data stream is demultiplexed and fed to the error analyzer channels of the parallel channel bit error rate tester.
The multiplexer and demultiplexer circuits may be considered part of the instrument or part of the device under test (DUT), depending upon the application. For example, communication systems in which a number of relatively low speed signals are multiplexed to form a single high-speed signal that is sent on a high-speed link and then demultiplexed are well known in the communication arts. In such systems, the parallel channel bit error rate tester need not include the multiplexers and demultiplexers, as these are part of the communications system that is being tested. On the other hand, if the communications system being tested has only one input and output channel, the multiplexers and demultiplexers must be provided as part of the testing system to test the high-speed link.
The conversion of parallel streams into a serial stream and then back into parallel streams via multiplexers and demultiplexers can lead to a rearrangement of the data patterns such that the pattern input on the ith channel of the transmitting device is not received on the ith channel of the receiver. This can occur if the phases of the various multiplexers and demultiplexers are not properly synchronized. This lack of synchronization can result from the multiplexers not being synchronized with each other, the demultiplexers not being synchronized with each other, or the demultiplexers as a group not being synchronized with the multiplexers as a group. An unknown time delay through the communication link often results in a lack of synchronization between the multiplexers and the demultiplexers. Each of these conditions can result in a rearrangement of the data patterns.
These data rearrangements pose a problem because bit error-rate testing is based on knowledge of the data pattern expected in each channel by the error analyzer. If the expected data pattern is rearranged, then the test is useless unless this rearrangement can be identified. Once identified, the appropriate compensation can be instituted.
In principle, the rearrangements can be removed by synchronizing the multiplexer circuits with each other, and/or synchronizing the demultiplexer circuits with each other, and then synchronizing the multiplexer circuits to the demultiplexer circuits. At that point, the data streams entering the analyzer can be synchronized with each other in time. While communications multiplexers that are synchronized to each other (and also have synchronized phases) can be constructed, it is far less practical to construct communications demultiplexers that can be synchronized to each other and share a common internal phase. This is largely due to two phenomena. First, demultiplexers often recover the data clock from the data passing therethrough. The clock recovery circuits in these demultiplexers have divide by n circuits, where n is the fan out of the demultiplexer. These circuits typically initialize in a random state relative to the multiplexers, and hence, will not, in general, be properly synchronized. Secondly, the unavoidable time delay of propagating the data stream through the communication link connecting the multiplexers and demultiplexers results in the data arriving with an unknown phase relative to that of the multiplexers.
Broadly, it is the object of the present invention to provide an improved parallel channel bit error rate tester and method of using the same to test communications networks, and the like.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings.

Identifying and synchronizing permuted channels in a parallel channel bit error rate tester


Techniques for monitoring performance of a computer system are provided. Bucket data is stored that indicates that multiple buckets are associated with a particular type of request. Then, multiple requests are received, where a first request and a second request indicate the same type of request. Based on the bucket data, the first request is assigned to a first bucket and the second request is assigned to a second bucket. The assignment may be further based on a complexity determined for each request. First performance data is generated while processing the first request and is aggregated with second performance data that was generated while processing one or more third requests that are assigned to the first bucket. Third performance data is generated while processing the second request and aggregated with fourth performance data that was generated while processing one or more fourth requests that are assigned to the second bucket.

Performance of a computer system that processes requests from client devices may change abruptly, especially if the computer system experiences irregular traffic. Performance changes may be attributable to changes in workload, changes in configuration, software updates, etc. If performance of a computer system that performs many tasks, experiences irregular traffic, and has many hardware or software components declines, then it may be difficult to not only identify the source of the problem, but also determine whether the problem is one that originates with the computer system or just a result of normal operating conditions. If it is presumed that the computer system is suffering from an internal problem that does not exist or is low priority, then much valuable time and effort may be wasted searching for a solution. It would be helpful, for example, to determine that a decrease in system performance is due to a change in workload (which might not require immediate attention) rather than in a poorly-designed software program, which might require immediate attention. As another example, if only a few requests are negatively impacted by a system issue, then such an issue may not need to be immediately identified and addressed.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.

Monitoring performance of a computer system


An optical assembly for detecting a light beam returning from an optical storage media and generating a signal representative of the information stored on the storage media wherein the optical assembly includes a first photodetector that is positioned in the path of the returning light beam at a predetermined angle, so that p polarized light contained in the light beam will be absorbed by the first photodetector and s polarized light will be reflected and redirected toward a second photodetector, which is positioned in the path of the redirected s polarized light and perpendicular to the path of the s polarized light, such that substantially all of the s polarized light is absorbed by the second photodetector and the photocurrents produced by the two photodetectors are differenced to produce a signal representative of the information stored on the storage disk.

Information storage and retrieval systems, particularly those used in computer systems, typically record data magnetically, optically or magneto-optically onto several types of storage media, rotating magnetic or optic tape or disks for example. Such storage media may be utilized for document files, computer output memories, compact disk players, hard disk drives and the like. Depending on the type of storage media and recordation system, information may be recorded only once and then retrieved many times or it may be recorded, retrieved, erased and re-recorded indefinitely. Generally, the media of optical storage systems can only be written once and read many times, such as compact disks.
The limiting feature of tape recording systems is that the media deteriorates with use and time. Although the degeneration does not occur as quickly, magnetic disk media also wear and have a limited life span. And while there are removable magnetic recording systems, typically, these systems are not suited for removability and long term reliability is a constant problem with such systems, due to the media's susceptibility to data corruption and erasure by outside stimuli, such as stray electro-magnetic fields. On the other hand, magneto-optical storage has the advantage of indefinite recording and erasure cycles without media deterioration problems and the media has the added advantage of removability and transportability between drives, as the media with its built in dust protection and non-contact operation is remarkably stable against normal outside influences.
Data stored on disks, whether magnetic, optical or magneto-optical, is contained within thousands of spiral or concentric tracks about the disk center. The total number of tracks and thus the storage capacity of the disk depends on the diameter of the disk utilized and the method of recordation of the disk. The amount of information that can be stored per unit area on the optical or magneto-optical media surface is much greater than the amount that can be stored on magnetic media, because the precision of an optical stylus is about 1 .mu.m, allowing the tracks to be spaced closely together. However, the track spacing of magnetic disks is limited to greater than 15 .mu.m, due to track runout and the signal to noise considerations of electromagnetic fields. Accordingly, the recording density of an optical or magneto-optical disk is between 10 and 100 times greater than that of a magnetic disk.
In both magnetic recording and magneto-optical recording, information is stored on a storage disk by orienting the magnetic field of the media at given points or bits along a given track. In order to record, access and read data on a disk, a transducer head in the case of magnetic recording or an optical head as shown in FIG. 1 in the case of magneto-optical recording is moved along a generally radial path across the surface of the storage disk as the storage disk is rotated. The generally radial movement of the transducer head in the case of magnetic recording or the optical head in the case of magneto-optical recording will either follow a straight line path or an arcuate path, depending upon whether a linear or rotary actuator is utilized to position the head.
The principles of magneto-optical storage are well known. Information is recorded on and erased from a thin film of magnetic material which is deposited on a substrate of suitable material. Information is encoded and stored in a sequence of magnetic bits oriented normal to the storage media surface in either of two possible orientations, north pole up or north pole down for example. To erase a track, all of its magnetized bits are oriented in one direction. Typically, for magneto-optical media, the magnetic or coercive force required to reverse a magnetic bit from, say, north pole up to north pole down, varies greatly with the temperature of the media. At room temperature, magneto-optical material is relatively resistant to changes in magnetization. The measure of this resistance is called coercivity. The coercivity of the material used in magneto-optical recording can be readily altered at a high temperature, called the Curie point. At the Curie point, about 150.degree. C., the coercive force necessary to reverse the magnetization decreases substantially and the magnetization may be reversed by a relatively small magnet or an electromagnetic device.
Typically, magneto-optical storage devices comprise an optical head including lasers, collimating lenses, beam shaping prisms, beamsplitters, plane mirrors, an objective lens, a focus positioner, a tracking positioner, collecting lenses and detectors, as noted in prior art FIG. 1. These components are, as would be expected, complex, expensive and increase the mass and size of the optical head. Referring now to prior art FIG. 1, a conventional magneto-optical head assembly 27 and its operation will now be described. During a recording operation, a laser diode 10 provides the heat source necessary for a storage media 20 to reach its Curie point. A 4 or 5 mm laser beam 29 provided by laser diode 10 passes through a grating 11, a lens 12, a polarizer 13 and a beamsplitter 14 to a movable reflecting mirror 15 and is focused at a point 28 (which represents 1 bit of information) on the magnetic material 20 of a storage disk 18 by a movable objective lens 17.
In this manner, bit 28 on the storage disk 18 can be heated, thereby lowering the coercive force required to change the magnetization of the bit. A magnetic field generated by coil 19 will cause the orientation of the magnetic domain of bit 28 being heated by the laser beam 27 to be reversed. When the laser beam is turned off, heated bit 28 is cooled in the magnetic field, thereby freezing the bit in the desired orientation. The magnetic field generated in the coil 19 by a current is in one direction for writing and in the opposite direction for erasing.
Information is read from the magneto-optical storage disk using a laser beam of reduced intensity. Thus, the magnetic film's temperature increase and corresponding coercivity decrease are small enough that the direction of magnetization is not changed. Because of the magneto-optic phenomenon known as the Kerr effect, when a linearly polarized laser beam is reflected from the vertically magnetized film 20, the plane of polarization of the laser beam will be rotated as a function of the magnetic orientation of the bit. The polarization of laser beam portions reflected from bit positions on the disk is detected by opto-electronic detector circuitry, such as photodetectors. Signals from the detecting circuitry are then processed to determine whether the bit position is representative of a digital one or zero.
For data retrieval, the laser beam emitted from the laser diode or other suitable light source 10 is first linearly polarized by the polarizer 13. Then it passes through a beamsplitter 14 and is reflected by the mirror 15 through a lens 17 onto the disk 18. The laser beam 29 is then reflected by the magnetic film 20 of the storage disk 18. The beam 29 reflected from the film 20 of the disk 18 will have its plane of polarization rotated about 0.25.degree. to 0.5.degree. depending of the magnetic orientation of the bit due to the polar Kerr effect. Typically, magneto-optical storage films have Kerr rotation angles of less than 1.degree.. The reflected beam 29 then passes through the lens 17 and is reflected by the mirror 15 to the beamsplitter 14 where some of the beam is passed through the waveplate 21 to the polarizing beamsplitter 22, which splits the laser beam 29 into two orthogonal polarization states p=29a and s=29b, for example. Beams 29a and 29b then pass through cylindrical collecting lenses 23 and 24 and are detected by photodetectors 25 and 26, respectively. Photodetectors 25 and 26 transform the light irradiance from beams 29a and 29b into photoelectric signals i.sub.p and i.sub.s, which are then subtracted to yield a signal representative of the bit of information being read. The detected signal is then processed to extract the information contained therein. This differential type of detection is superior to other methods of signal detection as it provides some common mode noise reflection and has an improved signal to noise ratio.
Due to the many optical elements, the typical optical head measures several centimeters on a side, is 10 to 15 millimeters high, and weighs about 100 grams. Owing to its size and weight, the standard optical disk assembly is inferior to magnetic disk assemblies in its track-seek time, it's use in multi-head, multi-surface, multi-disk drives, and its use in size critical applications such as lap-top computers and notebook computers. Furthermore, optical and magneto-optical assemblies also entail a complex assembly and adjustment process, as the reduced track spacing and resulting bit densities require greater precision than magnetic storage systems. Due to the number of expensive components and corresponding complicated assembly, the average optical or magneto-optical storage assembly is much more costly than the average magnetic storage assembly.
Accordingly, there is need in the field of information storage systems for optical and magneto-optical assemblies, that have the customary advantages of stable media and large areal density, but that are also compact in size, light weight, less complex, and more economical. There is further need in the field for an improved optical storage assembly having multi-surface, multi-disk capabilities. The present invention meets these and other needs.

Differential detection assembly for data retrieval from a data storage disk


The present invention discloses and claims a more efficient and economical method and system for osmotic energy production and capture using responsive compounds and molecules. The present invention is an energy harvest system enabled by stimuli responsive draw solutions that are competent in terms of energy production, geographic location flexibility, and the affordable, efficient and economical production and delivery of osmotic power. Specifically, the present invention is a novel osmotic power system that uses stimuli responsive draw solutions, economically feasible larger permeable membranes, and low grade heat sources to deliver osmotic power more efficiently and economically with less negative environmental impact, greater power output, and located in more geographically diverse areas of the world than previously thought possible for supporting such a power source.

According to the International Energy Agency, the current global energy supply is overwhelmingly originated from fossil fuel combustion, and only a small portion of our world-wide energy needs are supplied by renewable resources such as solar, wind, wave, geothermal and hydroelectric power sources. International Energy Agency, World Energy Outlook, OECD/IEA, Paris, 2011. Osmotic power systems generating salinity gradient energy are considered to be a promising alternative renewable energy source with an estimated power potential of approximately 2 TWh/year globally. Logan, B. E.; Elimelech, M., Membrane-based processes for sustainable power generation using water. Nature 2012, 488 (7411), 313-319; Ramon, G. Z.; Feinberg, B. I; Hoek, E M., Membrane-based production of salinity-gradient power, Energy & Environmental Science 2011, 4, (11), 4423-4434.
Osmotic power, or salinity gradient energy, is an energy that can released and harvested by mixing two solutions with different concentrations in a power cycle or system. In 1954, R. E. Pattie first suggested the presence of an untapped osmotic pressure source of power in geographic locations where a freshwater river mixes with sea water. Pattle, R. E., "Production of electric power by mixing fresh and salt water in the hydroelectric pile," Nature, 174 (4431), 2 Oct. 1954. In the 1970s, Sidney Loeb outlined several practical methods for exploiting osmotic power using pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) and reverse electrodialysis (RED) systems. U.S. Pat. No. 3,906,250 to Loeb, issued Sep. 16, 1975 (PRO) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,409 to Loeb, issued Oct. 16, 1979 (RED).
Currently, pressure retarded osmosis (PRO), reverse electrodialysis (RED), and capacitive mixing (CM) have been investigated as the three major methods used to harvest salinity gradient energy; and, among these three methods, PRO is the most widely investigated salinity gradient energy technology. Lin, S.; Straub, A. P.; Elimelech, M., Thermodynamic limits of extractable energy by pressure retarded osmosis. Energy & Environmental Science 2014, 7, (8), 2706. Most of the research into pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) power systems has focused on the use of seawater as a draw solution and fresh river water as a feed solution, which requires the PRO power plant to be built in a geographic location near the interface of a freshwater river and the sea, or near another type of hypersaline water source, such as the Dead Sea or Great Salt Lake.
The problems currently associated with known osmotic power systems include the following: (1) limited geographic locations where there is an abundance of saline or hypersaline solutions and fresh river water used for feed and draw solution sources; (2) limited osmotic pressures that exist near sea level (seawater's osmotic pressure is approximately 27 bar, which is not sufficient to make PRO energetically competent); (3) membrane permeability problems limit the power system's economic feasibility (existing membranes are permeable for the sizes of Na+ and Cl− in the solute, which limits improvements without sacrificing selectivity); (4) environmental harm to certain animal or plant species resulting from the discharge of the brackish water from existing types of osmotic power systems, which can cause salinity fluctuations to sensitive ecosystems; and (5) net energy reductions resulting from energy required for operation of open systems, including energy consumed during intake, discharge, and pretreatment of feed and draw solutions.
The world's first PRO pilot plant was built by Statkraft, and this pilot power plant used the osmotic gradient between the sea and a nearby freshwater river. Akst, D., Wall Street Journal, Aug. 29, 2014 "A New Kind of Power From Salt Water;" Moskwa, W., Reuters, Nov. 24, 2009, "Norway opens world's first osmotic power plant." The Statkraft pilot plant is reported to have generated a gross power output of between 2-4 kW. Plans for further development and construction of additional osmotic power plants has been suspended by Statkraft based on the problems experienced with the pilot plant operations.
Enhancing the draw solution's osmotic pressure can be achieved by choosing brines from RO plant or hypersaline lakes (e.g., Dead Sea, Great Salt Lakes), but this solution does not resolve all the problems mentioned above, although such modifications can enhance the power density achieved by prior art systems to a small degree. Helfer, F.; Lemckert, C.; Anissimov, Y. G., Osmotic power with Pressure Retarded Osmosis: Theory, Performance and Trends—A Review," Journal of Membrane Science 2014, 453, 337-358. While other scholars have attempted to modify feed and draw compounds used in existing power systems, these modified systems do not resolve all of the above problems, which persist and remain unresolved prior to the conception and development of the present invention. McGinnis, R. L.; McCutcheon, J. R.; Elimelech, M., "A novel ammonia-carbon dioxide osmotic heat engine for power generation," Journal of Membrane Science 2007, 305, (1-2), 13-19; 7 Al-Mayahi, A.; Sharif A. Osmotic Energy. 2006, US 2006/0225420.

Method of osmotic energy harvesting using responsive compounds and molecules

KING ABDULLAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


The present invention is directed to antibodies binding to aquaporin 4 (AQP4) and methods of using such antibodies to treat neuromyelitis optica (NMO) either as a monotherapy or in combination with standard NMO therapies such as immunosuppressives or plasmaphersis.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the fields of medicine, immunology, neurology and pathology. More particularly, it concerns the development of immunoreagents for use in treating neuromyelitis optica (NMO).
2. Background of the Invention
AQP4 (aquaporin-4) is a water channel expressed in astrocytes throughout the central nervous system (Lennon et al., 2005) which is involved in water balance in brain (Manley et al., 2000; Papadopoulos et al., 2004) and spinal cord (Saadoun et al., 2008), sensory signal transduction (Li and Verkman, 2001; Lu et al., 2008) and neuroexcitatory phenomena including seizure activity (Binder et al., 2006) and cortical spreading depression (Padmawar et al., 2005) and astrocyte migration and glial scarring (Saadoun et al., 2005; Auguste et al., 2007). AQP4 is expressed in astrocytes as two major isoforms: a long (M1) isoform with translation initiation at Met-1, and a shorter (M23) isoform with translation initiation at Met-23 (Hasegawa et al., 1994; Jung et al., 1994; Yang et al., 1995; Lu et al., 1996). M23 AQP4 assembles in membranes as regular square arrays called orthogonal arrays of particles (OAPs), which were originally seen by freeze-fracture electron microscopy (Landis and Reese, 1974; Wolburg, 1995). OAP formation by M23 results from tetramer-tetramer interactions involving residues just downstream of Met-23 at its cytoplasmic N-terminus, while residues in M1 AQP4 just upstream of Met-23 disrupt this interaction (Crane and Verkman, 2009). While M1 does not form OAPs on its own, it can co-assemble with M23 in heterotetramers that limit OAP size (Neely et al., 1999; Furman et al., 2003; Crane et al. (2009); Tajima et al., 2010). The biological significance of OAP formation by AQP4 remains unknown, with speculated functions including cell-cell adhesion, enhanced AQP4 water permeability, and AQP4 polarization to astrocyte end-feet.
A defining feature of the neuroinflammatory demyelinating disease neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is the presence of serum autoantibodies (NMO-IgG) against AQP4. The presence of NMO-IgG is specific for NMO, and in some reports serum NMO-IgG titers correlate with NMO disease activity (Matiello et al., 2008; Jujus et al., 2008). Studies in rodents suggest that NMO-IgG is pathogenic in NMO. Human NMO-IgG produces many features of NMO disease in rats with pre-existing experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (Bennett et al., 2009; Bradl et al., 2009) or pre-treated with complete Freund's adjuvant (Kinoshita et al., 2010), and in naïve mice when injected together with human complement (Saadoun et al., 2010). These animals develop characteristic NMO lesions with neuroinflammation, perivascular deposition of activated complement, demyelination, and loss of astrocyte GFAP and AQP4 immunoreactivity. At present, there remain limited treatments for symptoms of NMO with no known therapies that prevent the underlying inflammatory event.

Compositions and methods for the treatment of neuromyelitis optica

THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, A CALIFORNIA CORPORATION

THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO A BODY CORPORATE


Methods and apparatus for efficiently transporting data through network tunnels. In one embodiment, a tunneled device advertises certain capabilities to peer devices of a network, and discovers capabilities of peer devices of the network. In a second embodiment, each device of a tunneled network derives a network parameter from a transit protocol parameter for use in data networking.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of computerized devices, networks, and buses. More particularly, in one exemplary aspect, the present invention is directed to efficiently transporting data through network tunnels.
2. Description of Related Technology
Within the context of data networking, a "tunnel" is a network communications channel between networked elements that embeds a network protocol (that is shared by the networked elements) within a transit protocol (which is native to the transit or bearer network). Tunneling is commonly used to logically connect sub-networks that cannot be physically combined. For example, private networks can establish secure tunnels through a public network to create a shared virtual private network. Tunneling can also be used to embed several network protocols over a common transport. For example, the incipient Thunderbolt™ high-speed data bus can support PCI-Express™ (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) and DisplayPort™ data simultaneously over a single, cost effective interface.
Current implementations of the Thunderbolt interface provide a PCI Express (PCIe) tunnel, DisplayPort (DP) tunnel, and a general-purpose Native Host Interface (NHI)/User Transport Interface (UTI) tunnel within a single serial data interface. During operation, a PCIe stream and DP stream are packetized into Thunderbolt packets for transport. The packets are interleaved together for transmission over a shared Thunderbolt connection, and then de-interleaved into their respective constituent streams at the receiver. Since neither PCIe nor DP data streams are modified in transit, the resulting streams are natively compatible with existing PCI Express and DisplayPort hardware and software.
However, it is widely appreciated that bus protocols widely vary in capabilities and functionality. For example, PCIe does not provide a way to reserve bandwidth for a given data stream. Instead, the PCIe specification defines traffic classes and virtual channels, which can be used to prioritize transactions within a typical PCIe system. Unfortunately, these capabilities have not been included in current Thunderbolt solutions; existing Thunderbolt transceivers do not support virtual channels or traffic classes used within the PCIe protocol. Instead, Thunderbolt transceivers can only prioritize traffic at the Converged Input/Output (CIO) layer (as used herein, the Converged Input/Output (CIO) protocol is the transit protocol for Thunderbolt transceivers). For example, a Thunderbolt transceiver can only prioritize DP traffic over PCIe traffic.
Moreover, Thunderbolt hot-pluggable transports will ideally provide generic, ubiquitous hardware and software interfaces, similar to USB (Universal Serial Bus) and FireWire™ devices. To these ends, current research is directed to minimizing the use of specialty device drivers for Thunderbolt devices, so as to offer "transparent" operation to customers and developers alike.
Accordingly, solutions are needed to prioritize certain types of traffic within tunneled PCIe streams, for use with Thunderbolt transport technology. Ideally, such solutions should not require specialized software or hardware structures, and be effectively transparent to the user. More generally, solutions are needed for enabling certain protocol-specific capabilities within tunneled data networks.

Methods and apparatus for transporting data through network tunnels


A laser material processing system and method are provided. A further aspect of the present invention employs a laser for micromachining. In another aspect of the present invention, the system uses a hollow waveguide. In another aspect of the present invention, a laser beam pulse is given broad bandwidth for workpiece modification.

The present invention generally relates to a material processing system and more particularly to micromachining with a laser.
It is known to employ femtosecond lasers for micromachining. The use of these ultrafast lasers has significantly improved the machining efficiency by quickly removing the workpiece material due to the instantaneous increase of the material temperature into a plasma regime. Furthermore, ionization of the material reduces splatter and debris during operation. An exemplary conventional device using a 50-200 femtosecond laser for micromachining is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,979,798 entitled "Laser System and Method for Material Processing with Ultra Fast Lasers" which issued to Gu et al. on Dec. 27, 2005, and is incorporated by reference herein. It is noteworthy, however, that a leading publication, P. Bado et al., Micromachining Handbook, Clark-MXR, Inc., version 2.3, chapter 14 (2001), discusses that there are "Shortcomings of Femtosecond Lasers" for conventional machining "because the rate of removal of material is dependent on average power, thruput is low. The technology that makes these ultrafast laser pulses does not produce high average power. Additionally, the technology is VERY expensive . . . . "
Furthermore, conventional nanosecond laser induced breakdown spectroscopy suffers some limitations due to inefficient coupling of the laser pulse energy into a sample. The laser creates a plasma, which couples with the bulk (electron-phonon coupling) and supplies the energy for melting, followed by evaporation and excitation of the gas phase atoms. The inefficient coupling requires high energies per pulse, typically in the 10-100 mJ/pulse range, and leaves a scar caused by melting.
In accordance with the present invention, a laser material processing system and method are provided. A further aspect of the present invention employs a laser for micromachining. In another aspect of the present invention, the system uses a hollow waveguide. In yet another aspect of the present invention, a laser beam pulse is given broad bandwidth for workpiece modification. A further aspect of the present invention allows a single laser beam to simultaneously operate in multiple machining workstations and/or to machine multiple holes in the same workpiece. Additionally, a system includes a laser, pulse shaper and compensation device, and control system, with another aspect of the present invention. In a further aspect of the present invention, a system employs Multiphoton Intrapulse Interference Phase Scan to improve laser pulse performance. A method of operating a laser for micromachining is also provided.
The present invention is advantageous over conventional constructions since the equipment or the processing throughput used in the system of the present invention is significantly less expensive than traditional equipment. Furthermore, multiple workstations can be simultaneously powered by a single laser, thereby reducing the laser expense per workpiece. The novel waveguide of the present invention system also beneficially increases ps or fs pulse bandwidth so a less expensive, longer pulse lasers can be employed while improving micromachining efficiency. For another exemplary advantage, an inexpensive picosecond laser of the present invention, directly pumped by a flash lamp, is employed in some variations instead of considerably more expensive conventional femtosecond lasers, pumped by green laser sources; nevertheless, the present invention system provides the functional advantages of femtosecond ablation of the workpiece, in part, due to enhancing the laser pulse bandwidth instead of reducing the pulse duration. Multiphoton Intrapulse Interference Phase Scan and binary pulse shaping are further beneficial in accurately and inexpensively controlling ps or fs laser pulses for micromachining. The present invention advantageously uses laser induced breakdown spectroscopy with shaped pulses and/or MIIPS optimization, and with or without chirped pulses, for feedback and closed loop control of micromachining; the LIBS signal can provide an atomic signature of each workpiece layer when stacked so as to provide sensed feedback when each layer is completely penetrated whereby the controller automatically varies the process accordingly. Additional advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Board of Trustees of Michigan State University


A carrier tape includes an insulating film supporting a plurality of leads. The film has a center device hole for receiving a semiconductor chip therein, a plurality of outer lead holes formed at the periphery of the center device hole, a lead supporting portion positioned between the center device hole and the outer lead holes, and a link portion positioned between a pair of adjacent outer lead holes and connected to the lead supporting portion for directing the flow of molten resin during encapsulation of the semiconductor chip. The link portion includes an opening or recess. The plurality of leads of the carrier tape are supported on the lead supporting of the film, with one end portion of each lead projecting into the center device hole of the film. During manufacture, a semiconductor chip having a plurality of electrodes is positioned within the center device hole, and the leads are electrically connected to respective electrodes of the semiconductor chip. The resultant chip is placed within a cavity of a mold, and a molten resin is injected into the cavity through the opening or recess passage formed in the link portion of the film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a carrier tape on which semiconductor chips are to be mounted in a tape automated bonding (TAB) method, and also relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device employing the .#carrier tape.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 7A and 7B are a plan view and a sectional view, respectively, of a part of a conventional carrier tape on which a semiconductor chip is mounted. The carrier tape has a film 1 formed of an insulating material such as polyimide. The film 1 has a plurality of perforations 6 formed at equal intervals along the edges of the film, and a rectangular center device hole 3 formed centrally between the edges of the film for receiving a semiconductor chip 2. A plurality of outer lead holes 5 are formed at the periphery of the center device hole 3. A plurality of leads 4 formed of copper are secured to the surface of the film 1. These leads 4 are supported by a lead supporting portion 7 positioned between the center device hole 3 and the outer lead holes 5. A front end portion of each lead 4 projects into the center device hole 3 as an inner lead 4a, while an intermediate portion of the lead 4 is positioned above the corresponding outer lead hole 5 as an outer lead 4b which is to be connected to an external circuit. A test pad 4c is formed at the rear end of each lead 4. The lead supporting portion 7 is linked to portions of the film 1 by bridge portions 8 each positioned between two adjacent outer lead holes 5.
As shown in FIG. 7B, within the center device hole 3 of the carrier tape, the inner lead 4a of each lead 4 is connected to a bump electrode 21 of the semiconductor chip 2. The semiconductor chip 2 and the associated part of the carrier tape constitute a tape carrier.
Such a tape carrier is sealed with a resin package, in order to protect the semiconductor chip 2, the leads 4, etc. from external forces and the external environment. The resin package is molded using, for instance, an upper mold part 10a and a lower mold part 10b, shown in FIG. 8. During resin molding, the tape carrier is set between the upper mold part 10a and the lower mold part 10b. At this time, the tape carrier is aligned in such a manner that the semiconductor chip 2 is received in a cavity half 12b of the lower mold part 10b. Thereafter, the upper mold part 10a and the lower mold part 10b are clamped, and a molten resin 11 is injected into a cavity defined by a cavity half 12a of the upper mold part 10a and the cavity half 12b of the lower mold part 10b, through a groove-shaped gate 13 and a gate land 13a formed in the upper mold part 10a. After the curing of the resin 11, a molded product, such as that shown in FIG. 9, is obtained. After the molded product has been taken out from the upper and lower mold parts 10a and 10b, the so-called gate-breaking process is executed. In this process, the molded resin 11 is broken at a portion 11a corresponding to the gate land 13a of the upper mold part 10a, thereby removing an unnecessary, gate-corresponding resin portion 11b. Furthermore, each of the leads 4 is cut along the boundary between the outer lead 4b and the test pad 4c, and each of the bridge portions 8 of the film 1 is cut off, thereby obtaining a semiconductor device.
The above described art, however, involves the following problems. Since the groove-shaped gate 13 of the upper mold part 10a is positioned above lead hole 5a, one of the outer lead holes 5 of the film 1, as shown in FIG. 8, during resin molding, molten resin 11 which is to be injected into the cavity flows through the gate 13 in the direction indicated by an arrow A in FIG. 7A. As a result, the resin 11 enters not only the cavity but also the outer lead hole 5a of the film 1, whereby an unnecessary molded resin portion 11c, disposed partially within the land-corresponding resin portion 11a, is formed, as shown in FIG. 9. Accordingly, it is necessary to perform, after the resin molding process, the process of removing an unnecessary molded resin portion 11c, thereby inevitably complicating the manufacture of the semiconductor device.
In addition, since the leads 4 generally have a relatively small thickness of about 35 .mu.m, the outer leads 4b tend to be broken when the unnecessary molded resin portion 11c is being removed. If the leads break the semiconductor device is unreliable.
Furthermore, when, with a view to rendering the entire structure of a semiconductor device thin, the thickness of that resin portion over the semiconductor chip 2 is reduced, as shown in FIG. 9, the thickness t2 the molded resin 11 on the lead supporting portion 7 of the film 1 becomes relatively thin compared with the thickness t1 of the resin portion 11a corresponding to the gate land 13a of the upper mold part 10a. Accordingly, there is a risk that a package-forming portion of the molded resin 11 may chip during the gate-breaking process, thereby opening the package and leading to a degradation in the qualities of the semiconductor device.


Provided are an indoor positioning system and method based on geomagnetic signals in combination with computer vision, including: a computer vision positioning module for acquiring a spatial image of a surrounding environment to create computer vision coordinates; a geomagnetic signal positioning module for detecting trajectories of the geomagnetic signals for creating geomagnetic signal coordinates; a map generating module including a database for storing the created computer vision coordinates and the created geomagnetic signal coordinates, and an inertial measurement unit for detecting a current position and a traveling trajectory, to generate a computer vision map and a geomagnetic data map; and a weighting module for calculating a computer vision weight and a geomagnetic signal weight based on the created computer vision coordinates and the created geomagnetic signal coordinates, and inputting the computer vision weight and the geomagnetic signal weight in a weight equation to estimate a present location.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an indoor positioning system, and more particularly, to an indoor positioning system based on geomagnetic signal positioning technology in combination with computer vision positioning technology.
2. Description of Related Art
As the development of internet of things (IoT) applications has gradually matured, Online to Offline (O2O) business model has become a booming industry. As a result, indoor positioning technology is developed to provide O2O more options with new combination of strategies.
Most of the current indoor positioning technology is based and build upon hardware equipment, such as the existing Becon or WiFi positioning, which utilize the signal strength between the hardware equipment and obtain the current position of the moving device via the calculation of triangulation positioning. However, in order to achieve the effect of accurate positioning, current Beacon or WiFi positioning technology both require a large amount of bluetooth nodes or increased number of WiFi routers. It is inevitable that the initial cost for construction is rather high as a result of high demand for hardware, let alone the maintenance and upgrading cost and technical problems that will be faced for operation.
In order to reduce the hardware equipment cost, computer vision positioning and geomagnetic signal positioning are current technologies. Current computer vision positioning features Visual-Inertial Odometry (VIO) and camera lens to record the indoor image and spatial coordinate system to generate indoor image data which is matched with the image created during map generating to capture the coordinate values, thereby achieving the goal of positioning. However, the indoor positioning image data may become too big when the field to be positioned is large. This will occupy a lot of CPUs' computation and thus slows down the operation and thereby affecting the comparing time.
On the other hand, geomagnetic signal positioning uses geomagnetic signals for indoor positioning. When the indoor image data is constructed, both the geomagnetic signals and coordinate system of the indoor space will be recorded at the same time to generate a final geomagnetic indoor image data. However, as the geomagnetic is a wave signal that will have slight fluctuations in different time, the relative relations of the signal remain constant. Therefore, in the user mode, when the user has a position shift, the repositioning can be done via algorithm. However, when the field is too big, convergence time will take longer, i.e., the user is required to travel for longer distance for effective positioning.
From the above, it is clear that there are drawbacks of the current indoor positioning technology. In view of these drawbacks arise from the current technology, the inventor of the present disclosure successfully develops an indoor positioning system based on geomagnetic signal in combination with computer vision.

Indoor positioning system and method based on geomagnetic signals in combination with computer vision


In manufacturing a photomask, a molybdenum silicide film is formed on the main surface of a quartz substrate. A resist film having a pattern is, then, formed on the molybdenum silicide film. Thereafter, the molybdenum silicide film is etched using the resist film as a mask. The etching is effected in a plasma generated in a mixed gas containing nitrogen gas in CF.sub.4 gas.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a photomask for use in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device such as a large scale integrated circuit device (LSI).
A fine processing technique is indispensable in manufacturing a highly integrated semiconductor device such as an LSI. A technique for transferring a pattern to a semiconductor substrate is important in the fine processing techniques. Above all, it is important to transfer a pattern to a resist applied to the semiconductor substrate by means of a exposure technique. In the photolithography which plays an important role in the fine processing techniques, a photomask is the basis from which a fine pattern is transferred to the resist. A fine pattern of the photomask is formed on a transparent glass substrate through a substance which intercepts an ultraviolet light.
FIGS. lA to lD are partially sectional views showing a conventional method for manufacturing a photomask in order of steps disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laying-Open Gazette No. 173251/1986. The conventional method for manufacturing the photomask is described with reference to FIGS. lA to lD.
Referring to FIG. lA, a metal silicide film 2 having the thickness of approximately 1000 .ANG. is formed on the overall surface of a transparent glass substrate 1 such as a quartz substrate by means of a sputtering or an electron beam deposition using a metal silicide such as molybdenum silicide (MoSi.sub.x) or tungsten silicide (WSi.sub.x) as a target.
Referring to FIG. lB, a resist such as PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate) is applied to the metal silicide film 2 in the thickness of 4000 .ANG. to 6000 .ANG. to form a resist film 3. A desired pattern is drawn thereon by ultraviolet lights or electron beams. Thereafter, the resist film 3 having the pattern is developed and baked at temperatures of 100.degree. C. to 140.degree. C.
As shown in FIG. lC, the metal silicide film 2 is etched using the resist film 3 as a mask.
As shown in FIG. lD, the resist film 3 is removed so that a photomask pattern is formed in the metal silicide film 2. The photomask thus formed is utilized for manufacturing a semiconductor device.
According to the above-described conventional method for manufacturing a photomask, the step of etching shown in FIG. lC is that of dry etching, which is performed by a reactive ion etching as a kind of plasma etching using a plane parallel plate type of apparatus. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of apparatus used in the reactive ion etching. Referring to FIG. 2, an anode plate 5a and a cathode plate 5b are provided as plane parallel plates in a chamber 4. The transparent glass substrate 1 on which the metal silicide film 2 and the resist film 3 are formed is placed on the cathode plate 5b. The cathode plate 5b is grounded through an RF power supply 6 having a high frequency.
The step of etching the metal silicide film 2 in a plasma by using the apparatus is described hereinafter. FIGS. 3A and 3B show the process of the plasma etching in accordance with the conventional method for manufacturing the photomask. Referring to FIGS. 2, 3A, and 3B, a sample is placed on the cathode plate 5b. A gas in the chamber 4 is discharged therefrom in the direction shown by the arrow A shown in FIG. 2 so as to keep the atmosphere in the chamber 4 less than 0.1 Torr. Thereafter, a mixed gas of 95%-CF.sub.4 and 5%-O.sub.2 is introduced from a gas bomb 7a into the chamber 4 through a regulator 8 and a valve 9. A mass-flow controller 10 keeps the pressure in the chamber 4 constant, for example, approximately 0.2 Torr. An RF discharge occurs in the chamber 4 at the frequency of 13.56 MHz and the output of 300 W to generate a plasma between the anode plate 5a and the cathode plate 5b. The plasma contains a radical substance which is chemically active. Fluorine radical substance F* is contained in the plasma in this case. The radical substance acts as an etchant for etching the metal silicide film 2. While the metal silicide film 2 is thus etched, a light having a certain wavelength is monitored through a glass 12 and a light receiving portion 11 provided outside the chamber 4 so that the end point of etching is detected by an end point detection unit 13. The switch of the RF power supply 6 is turned off when the end point of the etching is detected. Thereafter, a gas remaining in the chamber 4 is removed therefrom so that the pressure therein is below 0.1 Torr. Nitrogen gas is, then, introduced into the chamber 4 in the direction shown by the arrow B in FIG. 2. As a result, the chamber 4 is maintained at atmospheric pressure. The sample is taken out of the chamber 4. Thus, the metal silicide film 2 formed on the transparent glass substrate 1 is etched.
As described above, a pattern is drawn by the electron beam on the electron beam sensitive resist applied in the thickness of 4000 .ANG. to 6000 .ANG. to the molybdenum silicide film 2. As the sheet resistance of the molybdenum silicide 2 is approximately 100.OMEGA./.quadrature., the molybdenum silicide 2 does not cause a charge-up phenomenon that the electron beams are deflected by the electric charge which has remained on the surface of the metal silicide film. Further, the dry etching of the molybdenum silicide film can be more easily effected than that of a chromium film. For example, when the dry etchings of the molybdenum silicide film and the chromium film are performed in the above-described condition, the molybdenum silicide film is etched at the rate of approximately 500 .ANG. to 1000 .ANG./min, which is approximately 5 to 10 times that of the chromium film. Furthermore, since the metal silicide principally includes silicon, its adhesiveness to the quartz substrate (including SiO.sub.2, Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, and the like) is desirable, so that the metal silicide is not peeled from the quartz substrate. Thus, a photomask can be reliably manufactured.
A photomask thus manufactured is reliable. However, the conventional method has a disadvantage in that dry etching-resistant resists can be only used. Another disadvantage thereof is that positive type resists having resistances to the dry etchings are low in their sensitivities to electron beams, and, therefore, such resists are used at the sacrifice of the throughout of an electron beam exposure device. Further, there occurs a case in which such a resist is not completely removed from the metal silicide, so that a pattern developed on the metal silicide cannot be preferably reproduced.


A method of forming a semiconductor device (10, 40, 45, 50) forms a plurality of P and N stripes (16,17) within a first region (12) that is formed with an opposite conductivity to a substrate (11). The plurality of P and N stripes assist in providing a low on-resistance. A portion (15) of the first region underlies the P and N stripes and protects the semiconductor device from high voltages applied to the drain. A base layer (41) and a cap layer (48) further reduce the on-resistance of the semiconductor device.

The present invention relates, in general, to electronics, and more particularly, to methods of forming semiconductor devices and structures.
In the past, the semiconductor industry utilized various techniques to produce transistors that have a low on-resistance and a high breakdown voltage. One particular technique utilized a plurality of P and N type strips arranged on a P-type semiconductor substrate. One example of such a structure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,097,063 entitled xe2x80x9cSemiconductor Device Having A Plurality of Parallel Drift Regionsxe2x80x9d issued to Tatsuhiko Fujihira on Aug. 1, 2000. When such a device was connected as a high side driver, latch-up often occurred and the transistor was damaged or destroyed. Another problem was that the on-resistance often changed after the device was manufactured. Further, to obtain a usable on-resistance, the stripes had to be deep and narrow resulting in increased manufacturing costs. Typically, the depth was greater than two microns while the width was greater than one-half micron. Such an aspect ratio made the device difficult to manufacture.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have a transistor with a low on-resistance, that can also be connected as a high side driver and that does not latch-up or damage the transistor, that has reduced manufacturing costs, and that has an on-resistance that does not drift after manufacturing.

Method of forming a semiconductor device and structure therefor


A holder for supporting articles such as brooms in suspension comprises a support member for a pair of pivotal arms displaceable towards and away from one another and adapted to receive an article therebetween. The arms have inner ends in the form of balls received in corresponding sockets in the support member, and the arms extend outwardly from the balls through slots provided therefor in the support member. The ball and socket arrangement provides for the arms to pivot relative to the support member in planes which incline downwardly and inwardly relative to a vertical plane between the arms, and about pivot axes which incline upwardly and forwardly and converge toward the vertical plane. Springs interposed between the balls and corresponding sockets bias the arms towards one another.

This invention relates to the art of article holders and, more particularly, to improved article holders of the type having pivotal, biased arms for engaging an article therebetween.
A wide variety of devices are available for holding articles such as brooms, shovels and the like in suspension through the use of arms which have a frictional, clamping or wedging engagement with the handle of the article. Such devices heretofore provided include spring-clip type holders having a supporting base and a pair of arms integral therewith and extending forwardly therefrom to receive an article therebetween. An article such as a broom handle introduced between the arms is clampingly engaged therebetween by the resilient spring force of the holder. Accordingly, the ability of such spring-clip holders to adequately support an article depends on the spring biasing force of the arms and the weight of the article. If the article is too heavy relative to the biasing force, the article will slide from between the arms. Other similar devices include arms which are mounted on a support for pivotal displacement about vertical axes and are spring biased towards one another so as to clampingly engage an article therebetween. In addition to the same limitation regarding the ability to support an article based on the weight of the latter and the spring force, these article holders are generally structurally complex and of an undesirably large overall size.
Other devices heretofore provided for holding articles have included cam-cleat devices wherein an eccentric having a serrated outer surface portion is pivotally mounted relative to a fixed abutment or a second serrated eccentric so that displacement of an article or a rope received therebetween in one direction results in a progressively increasing wedging action against the article. This wedging action is advantageous in that it avoids slipping between the article and holder as the weight of the article increases. At the same time, however, the serrated article engaging surfaces have to be spaced apart from one another a distance corresponding to the maximum diameter or thickness of an article to be received therebetween. Accordingly, the pivot axes for the eccentrics have to be even further spaced apart, whereby the overall horizontal space required to accommodate the holder is undesirably large. Expressed another way, the diameter or width of an article which can be held by such a cam-cleat arrangement is less than the space between the support axes for the eccentrics.


Carriers (51) in a communication system (10) are prioritized (70) according to their usability. The carriers (51) that are below a usability threshold are placed on an ingress list (122). Those that exceed the threshold are placed on a preferred list (121). The carriers (51) on the preferred list (121) are then ranked (76) according to their word error rates (WER) and signal quality (SQ). The carriers (51) on the ingress list (122) have their usability re-checked periodically and may be transferred to the preferred list (121) if their usability does not again drop below threshold during a pre-set time period.

In many types of communication systems, such as wireless systems and systems configured based upon radiotelephone-like technology (such as some of the proposed cable systems), sporadic interference may occur.
In cable distributions systems, the system is sealed to prevent the radio frequency (RF) signals from leaking out into the surrounding areas as well as prevent leakage "ingress" into the cable system. This type of ingress can be due to typical wireless systems (e.g. dispatch, cellular, etc.) as well as other types of equipment (e.g. radiation from commercial, medical, and industrial equipment).
When ingress occurs in the downstream spectrum of the cable (the portion currently used for video transmissions) it may be seen as distortion (such as snow) on the picture or effect the sound. The upstream and downstream portions will both be carrying other signals such as voice and data, which may also be corrupted.
Presently, it is expected that ingress is likely to be narrow band in nature (on the order of tens of kilohertz, kHz) and located more in the upstream portion of the cable spectrum. In addition, ingress will be more disruptive to a cable exchange services which provide for alternate, competitive, basic telephony services in local exchange areas or for alternate access to inter-exchange services. The cable exchange service may also provide other special services such as data, ISDN, digital video phone, and interactive multi-media services.
Therefore, it would be desirable for the operators of such a system to minimize the potential distortion and provide a system having optimal performance.

Method for prioritizing channels in a communication system


A chemical pruning, and contact composition for the selective inhibition of suckering in plant species subject thereto, particularly tobacco, said composition comprising as an active species 2-butyl-2-ethyl-1,3-propanediol.

Certain species of plants exhibit at least in the mature stages a tendency to suckering i.e., the formation of subordinate shoots springing from a bud on the stem, so-called axillary buds. This secondary growth has the effect of subverting the maturation of blossoms, fruit, or leaves for ultimate harvesting and is accordingly desirously avoided in cultivation. This tendency is particularly pronounced in the tobacco plant, especially in the maturation stage following topping or decapitation, i.e., the removal of the terminal growth, main leader or stem apex. In other cases, topping or removal of apical meristematic tissue is itself desirably accomplished chemically.
Large leaf tobaccos as grown in the United States have typically been topped at or shortly after flowering, when dark air cured and fire cured types may have 10 to 16 leaves and burley, flue-cured, Maryland or cigar types may have 16 to 20 leaves. Tops (the blossoms) in tobacco tend to suppress sucker growth down the stalk, so when tops are removed rapid and profuse sucker growth occurs at the juncture of the stem and each leaf thus limiting the development of the upper leaves which are by far the most profitable. Also, suckers provide food for young budworms and hornworms in addition to supplying a preferred site for hornworm egg laying. Accordingly, sucker control is essential for commercial cultivation. It is also important for efficient harvesting, as current mechanical harvesters require near-perfect sucker control for proper operation.
Recently, earlier topping in the button stage has been employed as a means of increasing yields and affording better pest control. The resultant increased tendency to sucker had been controlled in the past by hand removal as often as three times in one season. Most recently, control has been achieved by the use of contact chemical control agents, such as methyl caproate in combination with a later application of a systemic agent such as maleic hydrazide which controls subsequent secondary growths. Successful sucker control permits most of the plant resources to be directed into making larger and heavier leaves, with sufficient spread to have desirable quality.
Various contact chemical agents have been tested for improved sucker control including dimethyldodecylamine acetate ("Penar" manufactured by Pennwalt), 1-octanol/1-decanol mixtures (C.sub.6 -C.sub.12) (available, for example as Off-Shoot-T from Proctor and Gamble Co.), the lower alkyl esters of fatty acids (available as Off-Shoot-O from Proctor and Gamble Co. and Emgard from Emery Industries, Inc.) and methyl pelargonate (T-61, available from Emery Industries). See Tobacco Science XIV, pp. 65-68 (1970) and XVI, pp. 134-135 (1972). Although results of testing vary, the dual use of the higher fatty alcohol/maleic hydrazide systems proved superior in testing as reported in Tobacco Science XIV, pp. 86-88 (1970), resulting in the lowest sucker numbers and weight per plant with destruction of the primary and secondary buds in the leaf axils contacted.
A more detailed study of the higher fatty alcohol systems in J. Agri. Food Chem. Vol. 15, #16, pp. 972-5 (1967) showed that the C.sub.9 -C.sub.11 species were highly active, more so than the corresponding higher fatty acid methyl ester, whereas higher or lower fatty alcohols were relatively inactive.
The higher fatty alcohols and derivatives thereof are in somewhat short supply, and are relatively expensive. Also such systems require the proper type and amount of surfactant to control translocation and avoid nonselective tissue kill.
In addition to the fatty alcohols (U.S. Pat. No. 3,824,094), the lower alkyl esters thereof (U.S. Pat. No. 3,340,040; Canada Pat. No. 968,176) or the combination thereof with an N-carbamate (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,438,765 and 3,326,664), the patent literature also evidences as chemical pinching agents polyoxyethylene glycol ester mixtures (U.S. Pat. No. 3,985,541); combinations of carboxylic acid diesters of aliphatic glycols, surfactants and aliphatic alcohols of 8 to 12 carbon atoms (U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,307); glycol esters of fatty acids (U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,351); combinations of diethylene glycol monobutyl ether and hydrocarbyl ether derivatives (U.S. Pat. No. 3,713,804); and alcohol/glycol esters of styrene-maleic anhydride copolymers (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,697,250 or 3,556,763) in the last of which there is compared the performance of polyalkylene glycol ethers.
In the case of certain of these chemical agents, consequential metabolic changes are induced in the product leaf which are considered to lower the quality of the tobacco. In other cases, there is evidence of undesirable residues being imparted to the leaf. In still further instances, topical application may involve chlorosis, necrosis or distortion of leaf structure, nodal scars or stem burn.
Accordingly, the development of new and improved contact compositions for control of meristematic tissue at reasonable expense is desired, especially for effective control with minimum damage to the cultivar. Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,047,925 discloses the use of alkane diols of 2 to 6 carbon atoms and in particular, 1,3-butanediol, as selective suckering inhibitors for various kinds of plants, including tobacco. Other commonly assigned patent applications disclose the use of additional selective suckering inhibitors, for the same purpose, viz., U.S. Ser. No. 934,303 discloses the use of 2-ethyl-1,3-hexanediol, U.S. Ser. No. 953,664 discloses the use of 1,6-hexanediol in combination with a polyalkyleneoxy condensate and a more recently filed application discloses the use of 2,2-diethyl-1,3-propanediol. As noted in these applications, however, other structurally related alkane diols have been found to demonstrate little, if any, effectiveness for this and related uses. It is therefore apparent that no predictable relationship exists between the chemical structure of a composition and its ability to effectuate to a useful extent pinching and other desirable phytological responses except in the case of a relatively narrowly defined class of substances.

2-Butyl-2-ethyl-1,3-propanediol as a chemical pinching agent


A method and apparatus for separating solids of different relative weights by exposing the generally horizontally flowing solids to a fluid separating current flowing in a generally upward direction to buoy up the lighter solids while permitting the heavier solids to sink. The separating current is established by means of a hydrostatic pressure differential between two communicating fluid zones having different fluid levels.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the separation of solids of relatively different weights, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for separating the lighter meat from the heavier shells of bivalve mollusks.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Brine flotation techniques have long been used to separate the meat from the shells of bivalve mollusks such as clams, oysters and scallops. These techniques take advantage of differences in buoyancy of the meat and shells by collecting floating meat from the surface of a brine bath and heavier shells from the bottom.
While brine flotation works effectively to separate the meat from the shells, the prior art has recognized that the use of brine to achieve the separation can be detrimental to the quality of the meat treated in this manner. Efforts to overcome this problem have involved the use of submerged jets of compressed air in a non-briny bath to buoy the meat upwardly but allow the heavier shells to sink. Rising currents of water which are created by pressurized, submerged water jets have been used to effect separation of other types of solids.
Submerged jets of compressed air may also have a deleterious effect on the bivalve meat in that the meat may be physically damaged by vigorous agitation. Prior art separators which use rising currents of water require expensive and cumbersome high pressure pumps and related equipment to create these currents.

Method and apparatus for separating solids


A skirt assembly (20) for a rotor tiller (10) includes a pair of shields (21,22) positioned substantially vertically at the outer extremities of the tines; and a framework (23). The framework (23) includes a pair of strap members (24,24) mounted to the deck (17) of the rotor tiller (10) on either side of the motor (14), a plurality of cross members (26,26) operatively engaging the pair of strap members (24,24) and extending beyond the sides of the tiller (10), a plurality of suspension members (28,28) connected to the pair of shields (21,22), and a T-shaped connector (27) to operatively connect each suspension member (28) to at least one of the cross members (26).

This invention relates in general to rotor tillers or cultivators. More particularly, this invention relates to a skirt assembly comprising a pair of shields disposed along the sides of a rotor tiller which prevent plants from being covered with dirt or entangled with the tines of the rotor tiller during operation of the tiller. Specifically, the invention relates to a skirt assembly having a pair of shields connected by a framework which may be installed on the guard panel or deck of a rotor tiller either in the course of manufacturing or by retrofitting it onto an existing tiller, the shields of which are individually adjustable and free-floating.


A method for managing a buffer pool containing a plurality of queues is based on consideration of both (a) when to drop a packet and (b) from which queue the packet should be dropped. According to the method a packet drop is signaled with the global average queue occupancy exceeds a maximum threshold and is signaled on a probabilistic basis when the global occupancy is between a minimum threshold and the maximum threshold. Each queue has a particular local threshold value associated with it and is considered to be xe2x80x9coffendingxe2x80x9d when its buffer occupancy exceeds its local threshold. When a packet drop is signaled, one of the offending queues is selected using a hierarchical, unweighted round robin selection scheme which ensures that offending queues are selected in a fair manner. A packet is then dropped from the selected offending queue.

This invention is related to a method and system for managing data packet queuing in a network gateway environment. More particularly, this invention relates to a method and system that determines both when a packet must be dropped and what packet to drop and which also provides fair queuing link scheduling and hierarchical link sharing.
An important aspect of a data network is management of gateway buffers. For large networks, such as the Internet, a typical gateway buffer will process many data flows, each of which must be buffered in some manner. In practice, the volume of each flow varies and each flow is often xe2x80x9cgreedyxe2x80x9d, seeking to use more of the total buffer space than would be permitted under a fair share allocation. Gateway queuing policies therefore strive to balance maximum throughput with fair allocation of resources.
A common data transmission protocol is Transmission Control Protocol, (xe2x80x9cTCPxe2x80x9d). TCP, the most common data transport layer protocol used on local area networks and the Internet, is an adaptive protocol that seeks to adjust the data transport rate to the available link bandwidth. A TCP connection is a xe2x80x9cclosed loopxe2x80x9d flow whose behavior depends on feedback from the network. This feedback comes in the form of acknowledgments (xe2x80x9cACKsxe2x80x9d) from the destination site corresponding to successfully delivered data packets. When the network is congested, packets are dropped and corresponding ACKs are not returned. When TCP detects that a packet has been dropped, it reduces its data throughput. Thus TCP throughput is sensitive to packet dropping policies at congestion points in the network.
Packet dropping policies drop packets to manage buffer overload conditions and to signal a TCP flow to reduce its data throughput. Conventional packet dropping policies make a determination about one of either (a) when to drop a packet, in which case the packet to be dropped is fixed, or (b) which packet to drop, in which case when to drop is fixed. Conventional policies and can be classified according to which of the decisions are not fixed.
Known packet dropping policies, such as Early Random Drop (xe2x80x9cERDxe2x80x9d), Random Early Detection (xe2x80x9cREDxe2x80x9d), and Flow Random Early Drop (xe2x80x9cFREDxe2x80x9d), determine when a packet drop is required based on the global state of the server or the local states of the individual data flows. Then, once the decision to drop a packet is made, the next incoming packet is dropped. In other words, the xe2x80x9cwhat to dropxe2x80x9d dimension is fixed. Both ERD and RED examine the global state of the server and drop a packet when the occupancy exceeds a given threshold. In ERD, incoming packets are dropped With a predetermined probability when the instantaneous buffer occupancy exceeds a minimum threshold. In RED, packets are always dropped when the global average queue length exceeds a maximum threshold and are dropped with a probability which is a function of the average queue length when the global average queue length is between a minimum threshold value and the maximum threshold. FRED operates similarly to RED, except that the state of each queue is examined. If an arriving packet""s flow queue is greater than a global maximum threshold value, then the packet is dropped. If the queue length is between a minimum and the maximum thresholds, the packed is dropped with a given probability.
A primary drawback to these types of packet drop policies is that the policy is not fair to data flows with input rates that are smaller than their fair output share. This is because all of the data flows experience the same loss rate and, as a result, a flow that uses much less than its fair share still experiences dropped packets. This in turn prevents a low bandwidth adaptive flow, such as TCP, from claiming its fair share of the buffer resources and link bandwidth. In addition, the presence of a non-adaptive flow in the buffer can cause excessive packet drops from all of the flows. If a non-adaptive flow is aggressive in its use of buffer resources, the packet drops will cause the adaptive flows to reduce their bandwidth, thus preventing the adaptive flows from achieving their fair share of resources, even if the congestion is not severe. Furthermore, while FRED addresses some deficiencies of using the global state to make the when-to-drop decision, it may also be unfairly limiting, since no queue is allowed to have a length exceeding the global maximum threshold, even if no other queues are backlogged and thus, excess buffer capacity is available. In addition, neither RED, FRED, nor ERD contemplate managing flows which are assigned different shares of the server""s resources.
Other packet drop algorithms such as Longest Queue Drop (xe2x80x9cLQDxe2x80x9d) and Approximated Longest Queue Drop (ALQD) drop a packet when the buffer is full. Thus, the xe2x80x9cwhen to dropxe2x80x9d dimension for these algorithms is fixed. The xe2x80x9cwhat to dropxe2x80x9d decision is based on the state of the per-flow queues. For example, when the buffer is full, LQD drops a packet from the largest queue. However, algorithms of this type also hinder adaptive flows from reaching their fair share of the link bandwidth. LQD in particular slows down the rate-adjustment of adaptive flows to changes in their allocated fair share due to changing load and the arrival and departure of bursts of competing traffic. LQD also produces large variations in the xe2x80x9cshortxe2x80x9d term throughput of an adaptive flow, reducing the overall throughput.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a packet drop algorithm which solves these problems, provides an early signaling mechanism for adaptive flows, so that they can adjust their rates before more drastic cuts are needed, and fairly drops packets from flows exceeding a hierarchically assigned share of the server""s resources, thus avoiding consecutive drops from the same flow and causing a xe2x80x9csmoothingxe2x80x9d out of the reductions in the rates of adaptive flows over all of the flows which seek to use more than their respective fair share.
According to the present invention, a method for managing a buffer pool is presented which considers both when a packet should be dropped and which packet should be dropped. The buffer receives data packets from two or more data flows and buffers these packets in a plurality of queues. On a recurring basis, such as the arrival and departure of packets from the buffer, the global average queue occupancy of the queues is determined. A packet-drop indication is provided when the global average exceeds a predetermined maximum threshold. When a packet is to be dropped, each of the queues is then evaluated to locate xe2x80x9coffendingxe2x80x9d queues which are using more than a predetermined amount of the available global queue resources, i.e., those queues which are using more than a determined fair share of the global resources. One of the offender queues is then selected and a packet is dropped from the selected offender queue.
In a preferred embodiment, the global average queue occupancy is determined using an exponential weighted moving average filter. A packet drop indication is also preferably made on a probabilistic basis when the global average queue occupancy exceeds a predetermined minimum threshold but does not exceed the maximum threshold.
The buffer management method of the present invention can be used in combination with any type of link scheduler as part of a network gateway to increase system efficiency. Experimentally, the best performance increase relative to conventional buffer management techniques has been found to occur when early fair drop buffer management is used in connection with a per-flow fair link scheduling algorithm, such as WF, or a hierarchical link scheduling algorithm, such as WF2Q+.

Early fair drop buffer management method


An aqueous adhesive composition and a process for preparing such compositions are disclosed. The composition comprises macromolecular complex comprising (A) a first component comprising (i) a framework element and (ii) a polyphenol, and (B) second component comprising a polypeptide, oligopeptide, amino acid, or polyamine. The framework element comprises (a) a polypeptide, oligopeptide, amino acid, or polyamine, (b) a polysaccharide, oligosaccharide, or monosaccharide, or a saccharide conjugate, or (c) a lignin, a lignan or a lignin conjugate. The polyphenol comprises a tannin, a tannic acid, a flavonoid, or a poly-resorcinol. An adhesive precursor composition comprising the first component is also disclosed.

Medium density fibre board, particle board, and other panel boards, plywood and veneers and similar engineered wood products are typically composed of lignocellulosic or cellulosic material of small dimension—whether as particles or sheets—combined with an adhesive or resin with the composition subsequently pressed or shaped into a panel or similar and heated to cure the adhesive to fix the shape and provide internal bonding.
In industry, the adhesives that are most commonly used are urea-formaldehyde (UF) resins and phenol-formaldehyde resins. Isocyanate resins are also used. Phenolic resins provide composite materials with superior material properties including stability, hardness and water resistance. UF resins provide good strength and are extremely cost competitive. But both resins have disadvantages. Both are synthetic resins derived from fossil fuels and both result in the formation and emission of volatile organic compounds, particularly formaldehyde, during both the manufacture and use of the resulting panels.
A resin that retains the material properties of UF and phenolic resins but is formaldehyde free and made from renewable or mostly renewable resources would potentially be of benefit to the wood composite industry, wood composite users, indoor living spaces and the environment. Ideally any such resin would be compatible with current production facilities and schedules particularly in regard to such matters as resin handling and application, pressing and curing. Ideally, it would also able to be formulated using typical adhesive manufacturing practice.
It is an object of the invention to provide an adhesive suitable for adhering wood and other lignocellulosic substrates that is preferably formaldehyde free or can be used to reduce formaldehyde emissions, and comprised substantially of renewable materials, or to at least provide the public with a useful choice.

NEW ZEALAND FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE LIMITED


Compositions comprising covalently modified and mutated biotin-binding proteins, particularly biotin-binding proteins having a negative charge at physiological pH, are provided. Methods of producing such proteins are also provided, as are methods of immobilizing, sequencing, and making nucleic acids employing such proteins.

Techniques in molecular biology and molecular medicine often rely on analysis of single biological molecules. Such techniques include DNA and RNA sequencing, polymorphism detection, detection of proteins of interest, detection of protein-nucleic acid complexes, and many others. The high sensitivity, high throughput and low reagent costs involved in single molecule analysis make this type of analysis an increasingly attractive approach for a variety of detection and analysis problems in molecular medicine, from low cost genomics to high sensitivity marker analysis.
Many techniques for single molecule analysis rely on immobilization of the molecule or complex of interest on a solid support, typically within an optical confinement reaction/observation region such as a zero mode waveguide Immobilization of a given molecule must be robust, since dissociation means that molecule is lost to further analysis.
Immobilization of biological molecules is frequently accomplished by capture through moieties such as biotin. Biotin is a cofactor that is covalently attached to several enzymes involved in the transfer of activated carboxyl groups. Biotin labeling of molecules not normally biotinylated can be used to label, detect, purify, and/or immobilize such molecules. These methods also rely upon proteins such as avidin or streptavidin, which bind very tightly and specifically to biotin. However, single molecule analysis imposes challenges not seen in analysis of bulk samples, since it relies on robust immobilization of individual molecules rather than of a population of such molecules.
Improved methods for immobilizing single molecules and complexes are therefore desirable. The invention described herein fulfills these and other needs, as will be apparent upon review of the following.

Modified biotin-binding proteins for immobilization


2-Hydroxy-3-aminopropylsulfonamides are provided along with methods for synthesizing and using such compounds, and chemical intermediates employed in the synthetic methods.

Depending on their use, antibacterial agents can be classified as antiseptics (agents that destroy or inhibit microorganisms when applied to living tissue) and disinfectants (agents that perform the same function but are intended for use on inanimate objects). There are a wide variety of compounds that decrease bacterial count when applied directly to a surface. Sulfonamides, for example, have a wide range of antibacterial activity. Bacterial strains, however, have become increasingly resistant to known antibacterial compounds, and the usefulness of these compounds has diminished correspondingly. Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for novel antibacterial agents to which commonly-encountered bacteria are not resistant.

Trustees Of The University Of Pennsylvania


A lens barrel for a camera wherein an outer profile thereof has a reduced dimension in a radial direction of a movable lens and with a lens holding member that can be moved smoothly in a direction of an optical axis of the movable lens held on the barrel. The lens barrel comprises an outer shell having a pair of guide portions provided therein and a lens holding member holding a movable lens thereon. The lens holding member has a pair of guide portions provided at the opposite locations thereof with respect to the optical axis and is supported at the guide portions thereof for sliding movement on the guide portions of the outer shell. The lens barrel further comprises an actuator including a coil securely mounted on the lens holding member and a magnet securely mounted on the outer shell. The coil and magnet are disposed coaxially to each other around the optical axis. Position detecting means is disposed in a spaced relationship by substantially equal distances from the guide portions of the lens holding member and detects a position of the lens holding member with respect to the outer shell.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a novel lens barrel for a camera. More particularly, this invention relates to a lens barrel for a camera which includes an electromagnetic driving means for moving a movable lens and a position detecting means for detecting a position of the movable lens. This invention provides a novel lens barrel for a camera wherein an outer shell can be made small in size and configured such that it is free from a partial radial protrusion from the lens barrel by providing a specific arrangement of the driving means and/or the position detecting means. The arrangement does not provide, when the movable lens is moved, such a moment that will cause an inclination of an optical axis of the movable lens.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A lens barrel for a camera having an automatic focusing function or an electrically driven zooming function includes a driving means for driving a movable lens for focusing, or another movable lens for zooming to move in a direction of an optical axis of the lens. Such driving means frequently employs an electromagnetically-driven actuator which includes a coil and a magnet.
An exemplary conventional lens barrel which includes such an actuator as described above is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 1-196011 and is shown in FIG. 8. Referring to FIG. 8, the conventional lens barrel generally denoted at 50 includes an outer shell 51 having a substantially cylindrical profile. The outer shell 51 has a master lens 52 and some other required lenses (not shown) disposed in the inside of the shell such that the lenses have a common optical axis. The master lens 52 is held on a substantially cylindrical lens holding portion 54 of a lens holding member 53.
The lens holding member 53 is moved by an actuator 55. The actuator 55 includes a housing 56 which is mounted on an outer periphery of the outer shell 51 such that most of the actuator is projected sidewardly from the outer shell 51 and an inner space defined by the actuator 55 is defined contiguously with an inner space of the outer shell 51. A sliding shaft 57 is supported at its opposite end portions thereof for sliding movement by means of a pair of bearings 58 secured to the opposite front and rear end portions of the housing 56 and extends in a direction parallel to the optical axis of the master lens 52. A yoke 60 is secured to the housing 56 and has a disk portion 61, a cylindrical portion 62 which extends rearwardly from an outer circumferential edge of the disk portion 61, and a magnet 63 having a substantially ring-like profile is mounted on a rear face of the disk portion 61 of the yoke 60 in a coaxial relationship with the cylindrical portion 62. The yoke 60 is secured at its disk portion 61 to the housing 56 such that the magnet 63 and the cylindrical portion 62 of the yoke 60 surround a portion adjacent the front end of the sliding shaft 52. A coil bobbin 65 having a hub portion 66 and a coaxial cylindrical coil winding portion 68 is secured at the hub portion 66 thereof in an outwardly fitted condition to the sliding shaft 56. A coil 69 is wound on an outer periphery of the coil mounting portion 68 of the coil bobbin 65 and is positioned corresponding to a location between the cylindrical portion 62 of the yoke 60 and the magnet 63. The lens holding member 53 is secured, at a connecting portion 71 extending from the lens holding portion 54, to a rear face of the coil bobbin 65, and is supported at an arm 72 of the member 53 for sliding movement on a guide shaft 73 secured to the outer shell 51.
Thus, if a driving electric current is supplied to the coil 69, a moving force is exerted on the sliding shaft 57 in accordance with a direction of flow of the driving electric current. Consequently, the coil bobbin 65, the sliding shaft 57 and the lens holding member 53 are integrally moved forwardly or rearwardly (leftwardly or rightwardly in FIG. 8) thereby to move the master lens 52.
With a lens barrel 50 as described above, since the actuator 55 for moving the master lens 52 is positioned such that it projects radially sidewardly from the outer periphery of the outer shell 51, i.e., toward the top of FIG. 8, the outer profile of the lens barrel 50 will have a partial but significant protrusion caused by the actuator 55. Moreover, since a cover is provided on the actuator 55, the projection of the protrusion is unexpectedly great. Thus, there is a problem in that the dimension of the lens system of the lens barrel 50 in a radial direction is considerably greater in dimension compared with a radial dimension of a maximum diameter of the lens system.
Such a protrusion of the lens barrel 50 as described above adversely affects use of the camera since both holding the camera and operation of various operating members disposed on the outer periphery of the lens barrel are made difficult.
Furthermore, since the moving force produced on the coil 69 is applied to the connecting portion 71 of the lens holding member 53, i.e., the portion which is projected sidewardly from the lens holding portion 54 on which the movable lens 52 is held, movement of the lens holding member 53 produces a moment on the lens holding member. Thus, there is a problem that movement of the lens holding member 53 is made to feel heavier, or that the optical axis of the movable lens 52 is inclined by such moment.