An electromagnetic linear generator and regenerative electromagnetic shock absorber is disclosed which converts variable frequency, repetitive intermittent linear displacement motion to useful electrical power. The innovative device provides for superposition of radial components of the magnetic flux density from a plurality of adjacent magnets to produce a maximum average radial magnetic flux density within a coil winding array. Due to the vector superposition of the magnetic fields and magnetic flux from a plurality of magnets, a nearly four-fold increase in magnetic flux density is achieved over conventional electromagnetic generator designs with a potential sixteen-fold increase in power generating capacity. As a regenerative shock absorber, the disclosed device is capable of converting parasitic displacement motion and vibrations encountered under normal urban driving conditions to a useful electrical energy for powering vehicles and accessories or charging batteries in electric and fossil fuel powered vehicles. The disclosed device is capable of high power generation capacity and energy conversion efficiency with minimal weight penalty for improved fuel efficiency.

Fuel consumption for transportation accounts for a considerable portion of total U.S. energy consumption. The efficiency of conventional gasoline powered vehicles has been estimated at less than ten percent based on energy delivered to the drive train wheels [see Efficient Use of Energy, K. W. Ford, et al. (eds.), American Institute of Physics (New York 1975), p 99-121, which is incorporated herein by reference]. Vehicle efficiency is further reduced by mechanical energy losses dissipated as heat from braking, aerodynamic drag and road resistance. For urban driving conditions, it is estimated that as much as thirty percent of drive train energy is lost in vehicle braking and between thirty to fifty percent of drive train energy is lost to road resistance. It is estimated that the combination of road resistance and aerodynamic drag account for 20-30 kW of power for conventional passenger vehicles and as much as 125 kW of power for heavy trucks at moderate highway speeds. Through the introduction of innovative vehicle designs and technologies, fuel efficiency may be improved and mechanical energy losses recovered.
Energy efficiency in both electric and conventional gasoline powered vehicles is generally compromised by road resistance with associated parasitic energy losses caused by mechanical displacements produced by road bumps and road roughness. It is anticipated that a fifty percent reduction in road resistance could reduce fuel consumption by fifteen to twenty-five percent. Thus, innovative devices which can recover these energy losses with minimum vehicle weight penalty would be highly desirable for improving the overall energy efficiency of both conventional fossil fuel powered and electric powered vehicles.
Conventional vehicle shock absorbers and other suspension damping devices are known in the art. Isermann [IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, v.1, no. 1, p.16-28 (March 1996)] has reviewed studies of semi-active vehicle suspension systems which are adaptive to changing vehicle conditions. While Isermann does not teach specific device designs or configurations, he discloses concepts of parameter adaptive vehicle suspension systems for continuously adjustable damping and feedback control for improved driving comfort and safety. Isermann does not appear to cite any references which teach or suggest a regenerative vehicle shock absorber which combines damping with power generation.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,842,753 to Theodore et al. discloses an improved damping system comprising an electro-magnetic damping means with feedback control means for dynamic control of undesirable vehicle suspension oscillations. Theodore does not appear to teach a means for generating power from suspension motion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,575 to Murty discloses an electric, variable damping vehicle suspension device which converts vertical suspension motion into rotational motion which drives a multiphase alternator for generating electrical current flow through a variable load resistance. The load resistance and current are varied by a control signal sensitive to displacement motion to provide dynamic variation in vertical damping force. The disclosed device dissipates the suspension kinetic energy through a variable load resistance as heat and does not appear to teach or suggest energy recovery and power generation from suspension motion.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,941,402 to Yankowski, et al., discloses an electromagnetic shock absorber to supplement or replace conventional hydraulic vehicle shock absorbers for damping road vibrations. The disclosed device employs two electromagnets, one of which has fixed field produced by a unidirectional current flow and another whose polarity is reversible due to bi-directional current flow which is switched depending on the direction of the shock to be absorbed or dampened. The disclosed reversible field electromagnet can produce either a repulsive or attractive force with the fixed field magnet in response to undesirable movement of the vehicle frame. The disclosed device requires an external power source for energizing the electromagnets for damping. In another embodiment, Yankowski discloses the use of permanent magnets of fixed polarity where damping of shocks in only a single direction is required. Due to the pole to pole configuration employed and relatively low flux magnetic flux density produced, it is anticipated that the disclosed device provides for relatively weak damping by way of either repulsive or attractive forces acting between single poles of two adjacent electromagnets or magnets. The disclosed device consumes rather than generates power.
Linear motion generators which recover energy from repetitive linear motion or vibrational motion are also known in the art. Boldea, et al. [IEEE Int. Electric Machines and Drives Conf. Record, IEMDC 1997, IEEE (Piscataway, N.J.), p. MA1-1.1-MA1-1.5 (1997)], provide a review of the art of linear motors, actuators and generators as well as oscillating motors and generators that employ either moving coil stators, moving permanent magnet stators and moving iron stators. The disclosed devices generally have a cylindrical configuration and are typically designed to operating at fixed displacement frequency and fixed displacement amplitude. None of the disclosed devices appear to teach or suggest the use of linear generators as a shock absorber for damping.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,827 to Merritt, et al., discloses a linear reciprocating electrical generator with a reciprocating armature comprising a plurality of rectangular permanent magnets which are coupled to a source of relative motion. The device has applications in automotive suspension systems, windmills and in ocean wave power generation. In the disclosed embodiments, armature magnets are arranged with alternating magnetic poles, configured orthogonal to the direction of reciprocating motion, which oscillate within a fixed stator comprising a plurality of spaced windings. The magnetic poles of adjacent magnets are aligned with individual winding groups for inducing current. One limitation of the disclosed device is that it does not appear to fully utilize the magnetic field and flux created by the magnet array since the generator apparently exploits only single magnetic pole-coil interactions and does not appear to provide for positioning the coil windings in the region of maximum magnetic flux density. This limitation results in reduced efficiency and power generation capability. Merritt discloses alternative embodiments in which the generator armature is mechanically or hydraulically linked to a conventional automobile control arm and its shock springs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,578,877 to Tiemann discloses a linear generator device for converting vibratory motion to electrical energy for powering tracking units, such as GPS or Loran-C receivers, or electronic sensors in vehicles such as railroad cars and tractor trailers. The disclosed device is apparently designed for large amplitude, low frequency motion where displacements are typically greater than one centimeter. In one disclosed embodiment, the apparatus comprises a carrier structure fitted with aligned rows of permanent rectangular magnets which are supported by a suspension means which allows reciprocating movement relative to an enclosure fitted with an armature assembly comprised of coil windings. In an alternative disclosed embodiment, the coil windings are attached to the vibrating carrier structure and the magnets are attached to the enclosure. The disclosed device does not appear to fully utilize the magnetic field and flux created by the magnet array since the magnet-coil configuration does not provide for placement of the coil windings in the region of maximum magnetic flux density. Since Tiemann teaches device enclosures made from ferromagnetic materials to couple to the magnets, the disclosed device will likely produce undesirable eddy currents within the housing enclosure during operation which will significantly dampen motion of the armature, resulting in reduced current output and compromised power generation capacity. It is anticipated that these limitations will result in a significant reduction in energy conversion efficiency and power generation capability. Tiemann discloses one embodiment where the generator is coupled to a charging circuit for recharging an attached battery. Tiemann does not appear to teach or suggest the use of the disclosed generator as a shock absorber.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,186 to Konotchick discloses several embodiments of a linear motion electric power generator which employ a cylindrical assembly of a rare earth NdFeB magnets and coil windings positioned to move reciprocally relative to each other. The device has applications in powering buoys, roadway signs, call boxes and portable radios. The disclosed device apparently is designed for relatively high amplitude, repetitive linear mechanical motion typically associated with high power motion such as ocean waves and jogging. One limitation of the disclosed embodiments is that they do not appear to fully utilize the magnetic field and magnetic flux generated from device magnets since the generator designs appear to exploit only single magnetic pole-coil interactions and do not appear to provide for positioning the coil windings in the region of maximum magnetic flux density. In one disclosed embodiment, Konotchick demonstrated a continuous power output of over 80 milliwatts could be maintained with hard shaking of the device. Konotchick also discloses circuitry for electrical regulation of the current and voltage output of the generator for charging batteries. In one preferred embodiment, the total power output observed by Konotchick's disclosed generator with intense shaking was limited to approximately 1 Watt or 1.54 watts per pound. The reported mechanical to electrical energy conversion efficiency for the total generator unit were relatively low, ranging from 2.7 to 4.8%. '186 to Konotchick does not appear to teach or suggest the use of his generators as shock absorbers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,818,132 to Konotchick discloses alternative configurations of the cylindrical linear motion generator of '186 for converting low amplitude, low power, repetitive linear displacements, or intermittent linear displacements into electrical power. Disclosed applications for the device include power generation for flashlights, alarm systems and communication devices. The disclosed design is similar to the device of'186 to Konotchick except for the partial substitution of ceramic magnets, or magnetically permeable disks, in sandwiched layered structures with rare earth magnets to reduce cost. Additional disclosed embodiments include variations such as reversing coil winding direction in adjacent coils, connecting multiple generating units in parallel or increasing the number of moving magnets for increased power output, employing a vented tube configuration to avoid air damping of magnet travel, and enhancing generator sensitivity by orienting magnet travel vertically. One disclosed embodiment produced peak to peak voltage of 3 to 20 volts with mild to heavy shaking with 17.5 milliwatts of peak power. '132 to Konotchick does not appear to teach or suggest the use of the disclosed device as a regenerative shock absorber for vehicles.
Wang, et al. [IEEE Proc. Electric Power Applications, v145, no.6, p. 509-518 (November 1998)], disclose a small, linear microgenerator for generating low level electrical power as a battery substitute in telemetry vibration monitoring systems. The disclosed device employs rare earth NdFeB magnets in a translatable stator which vibrates within a cylindrical coil winding supported by beryllium copper springs to generate electrical power from the relative movement of the stator within the coil winding. The device requires springs with very high radial stiffness to withstand unbalanced magnetic forces and very low axial stiffness for operating at low resonance frequency. Wang's device is apparently designed for fixed vibrational frequencies and for stationary deployments. The device has a nominally 50 Hz fixed resonant frequency and a nominally ±0.8 mm fixed displacement stroke to provide an optimum power output. In one disclosed embodiment the device provides 11 milliwatts of power at about 4.3 Volts. Since the disclosed device apparently relies on natural resonance to drive the device with negligible damping provided, it is unlikely that the disclosed device could function as a shock absorber or provide acceptable power generation capacity and efficiency at the variable bump and displacement frequencies anticipated with vehicles under normal driving conditions on typical road surfaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,559,027 to Arsem discloses two embodiments of a regenerative vehicle shock absorber for converting mechanical energy into usable electric energy. In one electromechanical embodiment, the vertical motion of a vehicle wheel is converted to rotary motion with a threaded screw which causes a permanent magnet rotor to be rotated within a coil stator to create an alternating current which is converted to direct current by a rectifier for charging a battery. In an alternative electromagnetic embodiment, vertical wheel motion is directly employed to produce vertical movement of an magnet armature within a coil stator. In this embodiment, the armature is comprised of three coaxial permanent magnets mounted on a post which moves vertically within corresponding circular coil stators comprised of wire-wrapped, concentric, ring-shaped, iron cores to produce alternating current for charging a battery. The disclosed embodiments additionally employ a concentric steel shell housing which surround the magnets and stators. In one disclosed embodiment, resistance may be introduced in a control circuit as desired to vary the stiffness of the shock absorber.
Arsem's device apparently suffers several design limitations which compromise its performance. By employing wire-wound, concentric iron cores in the stators and steel housings, it is anticipated that movement of the magnets within the coil windings and housing would generate significant circumferential eddy currents within the magnetically permeable iron cores and housing which would produce equal and opposing magnetic fields to that of the magnets. This is due to the well-known principle stated in Lenz' law, that the induced current in the iron core loop will always flow in a direction such that the magnetic field induced by the current in the loop opposes motion. Thus, the resultant opposing magnetic field of nearly equal magnitude induced in the iron stator cores and steel housing would substantially dampen any vertical or rotary motion of the magnet armature within the coil stator due to attractive forces between the permanent magnets and the induced magnetic fields in the iron stator cores and housing.
In addition, the volume occupied by the iron cores within Arsem's stators substantially reduces both the coil volume and magnetic flux density available to the actual stator coil winding further limiting coil output current and electric power generating capacity. Furthermore, according to Faraday's law, vertical displacement of the magnet armature within the coil stator, will induce a current flowing in a circumferential direction. Since, as shown in FIG. 4 of '027 to Arsem, the predominant portion of the stator coil windings are wrapped around the iron stator cores in a direction perpendicular to the circumferential direction of the induced current flow, most of the coil stator winding volume is wasted since the perpendicularly oriented winding generates essentially no induced circumferential current while substantially increasing coil resistance due to the excessive length of inactive winding, thereby creating undesirable electric power losses due to the substantial joule heating energy losses.
Mechanical, hydraulic and electromechanical devices for recovering energy from the mechanical displacement of vehicle suspensions are also known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,487 to Gill discloses a mechanical device for converting vehicle vertical displacements to rotary motion for driving vehicle electrical components. The disclosed embodiments comprise variations of rack and pinion gears, pulleys, belts and drive shafts to convert reciprocating linear motion into rotary motion for driving alternators or generators to charge vehicle batteries.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,921,746 to Lewus discloses an auxiliary hydraulic power system for vehicles which converts vertical suspension motion to rotary motion for driving an electrical generator. A series of rack and pinion gears, levers, pistons, and pumps are employed, with hydraulic pumps, conduits and motors, for converting kinetic energy into electrical energy for operating auxiliary equipment. The disclosed device allegedly has sufficient inertia or mechanical resistance to suppress vertical movement and provide for shock absorption.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,981,204 to Starbard discloses a mechanical device for converting vertical reciprocating motion of a vehicle suspension to rotary motion for driving electrical alternators through a series of rack and pinion gears, pulleys, belts and drive shafts. The gears and belts allegedly provide sufficient drag to produce a shock absorbing effect.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,032,829 to Schenavar discloses a mechanical device which employs rack and pinion gears, drive shafts, springs, flywheels and clutches for transforming reciprocating vehicle axle motion to rotary motion for driving an electrical generator.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,781 to Ezell et al. disclose a mechanical device comprising a pair of opposing rotary electrical generators driven by a rack and pinion system of gears, shafts and springs for converted wasted vehicle kinetic energy from reciprocating vertical wheel movement into rotary movement for driving generators to produce useful electrical energy.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,934 to Nishina, et al. discloses a mechanical device comprising gears, shafts and levers for converting vertical vehicle axle movement into rotary motion for driving a magneto generator to produce electrical current to recharge a vehicle battery.
Conventional mechanical devices which attempt to convert suspension displacements from road vibrations and bumps into useful electrical energy suffer from a number of limitations. Mechanical devices which convert vertical motion into rotary motion for driving conventional generators or alternators typically employ a complex series of rack and pinion gears, levers, clutches, shafts, springs and drive belts which typically have a high weight and space penalty, high mechanical inertia, high displacement response threshold, slow displacement response time, large hysteresis due to requisite mechanical tolerances, and significant energy conversion losses due to heat generated from mechanical friction between components. Such conventional mechanical motion conversion devices are typically unresponsive to the high frequency, low amplitude bumps and vibrations which are a predominant source of road surface roughness and vertical wheel displacements under typical driving conditions. These mechanical devices generally require much larger vertical displacements at lower frequencies than are typically encountered in normal driving conditions. Thus, such devices would generally provide relatively low average power generation capability and efficiency under typical urban or highway driving conditions.
While electromagnetic devices which convert reciprocal linear motion into electrical energy, such as the devices disclosed in '827 to Merrit, et al., '877 to Tiemann, '186 and '132 to Konotchick and '027 to Arsem, do not suffer from the same limitations as conventional mechanical motion conversion devices, the power generating capacity, efficiency and energy conversion characteristics of such electromagnetic devices are critically dependent on proper magnet and coil configuration and orientation with respect to displacement motion. The performance of these prior art devices is generally compromised by non-optimized magnet and coil placement and magnetic pole orientations, excessive magnet-coil air gaps, underutilized coil volume, excessive coil resistance, unproductive coil winding orientation, a lack of overlap and combination of magnetic fields from multiple magnets for increased magnetic flux density, reduced magnetic flux density within the coil volume, a lack of accommodation for variable frequency operation to exploit realistic displacement frequencies and amplitudes, inadequate damping and poor matching of device current and voltage output to external electrical power requirements. Thus, conventional regenerative electromagnetic generator devices do not currently provide for efficient and viable power generation and damping for actual displacements and vibrations encountered under normal driving conditions on typical road surfaces.
Due to the limitations of current linear motion energy generator devices, it would be advantageous to provide an efficient, variable frequency, regenerative, linear electromagnetic generator with high power generating capacity and high energy conversion efficiency. Due to limitations in power generation capabilities and energy conversion efficiencies of conventional linear electromagnetic generator, electromagnetic generators which have a high power to weight and high power to volume ratio would be particularly useful in portable generator or regenerative electromagnetic vehicle shock absorber applications to justify the additional cost and weight penalty of such auxiliary power generating devices. For example, the linear electromagnetic generator devices disclosed in '186 and '132 to Konotchick exhibit peak power outputs ranging from 100 microwatts to 90 milliwatts at between 3 to 20 volts, a measured 2.7-4.8% energy conversion efficiency, and an apparent maximum power generating capacity of 1 to 1.54 watts per pound when the disclosed devices are subjected to vigorous displacement motion. It is unlikely that generator devices having such low power output, power generation capacity and energy conversion efficiency would be suitable for vehicle applications where estimates of road rolling resistance losses for typical passenger vehicles traveling between 40 mph and 60 mph on typical road surfaces range from about 3 kW to 10 kW, representing between 30 to 50% of the typical power and total energy delivered to vehicle power trains [see Efficient Use of Energy, Part I, A Physics Perspective, K. W. Ford, et al. (eds.), American Institute of Physics (New York 1975) p 99-121].
To achieve optimum vehicle fuel efficiency with auxiliary power generating devices which recuperate energy losses from parasitic displacement motion from road bumps and vibrations, it would be advantageous to develop innovative regenerative devices which exhibit high energy conversion efficiency and power generation capacity and supplement vehicle power requirements for vehicles traveling at normal speeds on typical road surfaces. Due to the potential power generation capabilities and energy conversion efficiencies of linear electromagnetic generator devices when compared to conventional mechanical linear motion conversion devices, regenerative electromagnetic shock absorbers whose electrical output characteristics are matched to vehicle power, damping and electrical load requirements for typical driving conditions are prime candidates for improving vehicle fuel efficiency. Devices which can operate at typical road bump frequencies, ranging from 1/10 to 1/100 cm−1, and typical road bump amplitudes, ranging from 1 to 6 mm, and which satisfy vehicle electrical system requirements are particularly useful. In order to justify the additional cost and weight penalties for equipping vehicles with these auxiliary power generation devices, regenerative devices which are capable of generating peak power ranging between 2 to 20 kW, average power ranging from 1 to 6 kW, with a power generation capacity ranging between 10 to 100 watts per pound, with typical energy conversion efficiencies of at least 50% would be most advantageous. Additionally, a regenerative vehicle shock absorber which provides not only efficient energy recovery but also road shock and vibration damping are particularly desirable for satisfying the competing requirements of increased fuel efficiency and enhanced passenger comfort and safety.

Electromagnetic linear generator and shock absorber


Baits useful in the control of insect populations are made by a process that includes the steps of: (a) forming droplets of a homogeneous, substantially water-free mixture comprising: (i) 0.01-99 wt % of a feeding stimulant in the form of a finely divided particulate or liquid; (ii) 0.01-99 wt % of an insecticide; and (iii) a molten, polymeric binder composition that is solid at 25.degree. C. and exhibits a melting point within the range from about 35.degree. C. to about 65.degree. C.; and (b) making particulate baits from the droplets by cooling the droplets to a temperature below the melting point of the mixture. The absence of added water permits the use of active insecticidal ingredients that are generally temperature sensitive to the drying temperatures needed for commercial spray drying operations as well as those sensitive to the presence of water during extended storage and transport periods. The use of the present water-free process avoids hydrolysis of the active insecticide during those periods.

Diabroticine beetles are a significant problem during the growth of, inter alia, corn (field, pop, seed, and sweet), beans, Cucurbitaceae (including cucumbers, melons, squash, and pumpkins), peanuts, peas, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Corn is conveniently used to describe the effects of diabroticine beetles. These pests are the direct or indirect (i.e., as a vector for bacteria and inoculation of melons and squash) cause of millions of dollars of crop and garden damage annually. Damage by these beetles has continued despite over 30 years of attempts at control.
Diabroticine beetles encompass multivoltine and univoltine species. Multivoltine species (e.g., the southern corn rootworm) can produce up to 3 generations a year. Univoltine species (e.g., northern and western corn rootworm) have a life cycle that starts with eggs laid 4-24 inches below the soil surface in the Fall. In early Spring and over the course of several weeks, the larvae (a form of immature beetle) hatch and begin to feed on nearby roots thereby destroying the root's anchoring abilities and the microhairs responsible for mineral, nutrients, and water assimilation. If the plant roots have not been so damaged that the plants falls over, the yield from the affected plants is reduced due to impaired nutrition.
After feeding, the diabroticine larvae pupate and emerge from the ground as adult beetles. Univoltinc beetles emerge at some time during mid July through August (depending on local climate). Male diabroticine beetles emerge about 1 week before the females (week 1) which, in turn, emerge at about the same time as corn silks emerge. Because the fresh silks emit a number of volatile agents which are attractive to both the male and female beetles, the 7-10 days of silking represents a period of high feeding activity for the beetles. The beetles immediately begin to migrate up the stalk toward the leaves, ears, and silks. This compulsion is quite strong since there is evidence that the beetles will not move down the corn stalk in response to attractants. Throughout this period, the beetles feed and mate.
The key to control of the diabroticine beetles is to disrupt the life cycle by affecting the immature and/or adult beetles. One method known in the art as "banding" refers to the practice of trying to control the larvae by applying a contact insecticide in or along a furrow containing planted seeds. The theory behind banding is that larvae will enter the treated area when searching for roots and die due to contact with the insecticide.
Unfortunately, microbial attack impairs the efficacy of insecticides in the soil well before all the larvae have had time to hatch and enter the treated band. Concerns for groundwater contamination, the impact on nontarget organisms (e.g., bird kill), and the hazards of human exposure to the toxic insecticides all restrict the use of soil insecticides that might be capable of surviving in the soil through the larval feeding stage.
The effectiveness of banding is also limited by the plants themselves. Plant roots often extend well beyond the treated band leaving the roots vulnerable to attack.
It has been proposed to use the tissue of dried gourds from the Cucurbitale order in combination with 0.01-10% by weight (wt %) of an insecticide to make a lethal bait for the control of diabroticine beetles. Due to genetic evolution, corn rootworm larvae have evolved to compulsively feed on cucurbitacins.
From Canadian Patent No. 1,195,922, the bitter tasting cucurbitacins in the gourd tissue acts as a compulsive feeding stimulant for diabroticine beetles but is a feeding deterrent to beneficial insects. By coating the gourd tissues with an insecticide according to the teachings of the disclosure, it was asserted that the beetles would compulsively consume a lethal quantity of insecticide.
It would be desirable to have a bait formulation that would provide a high level of efficacy against immature and mature diabroticine beetles when applied through conventional application equipment as a sprayable aqueous solution, as well as when applied as a dry granular bait.
Many baits are made by spray drying a mixture of materials to form a particulate solid. Spray drying is performed typically by passing an aqueous slurry of ground AI and a binder material (usually a number of materials based on alkylnaphthylene or alkylformaldehyde condensate, calcium silicate, kaolinite, diatomaceous clays) through a nozzle into a tower. The droplets are dried at a temperature of about 150.degree. C. As the water is vaporized, the slurry droplets form the particulate product and are collected. Despite the high temperature drying, contact between the slurry water and the amount of residual adsorbed water in the binder can degrade many useful insecticides during storage.
It would be useful to have a manufacturing process that eliminated the need for contact with water to produce a bait that did not exhibit insecticide degradation due to hydrolysis.

Manufacture of bait with hot melt binder


In a floating point adder adding received two floating point data together and subtracting one such data from the other, before their exponent parts are matched in digit by a digit match unit the two data have their exponent parts compared and also their fraction parts compared, and a result of each comparison and a sign of each data are used to code a relationship in magnitude between data corresponding to a clipping coordinate and the other data fed. A clip code generated depending on the previously obtained comparison results from exponent part and fraction part compare units, rather than depending on a zero flag according to a result of an addition or a subtraction and a sign of the result of the addition or the subtraction, can rapidly be generated without the circuit increased in scale.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to floating point adders providing an operation performed to compare floating point data in magnitude, and particularly to floating point adders effectively used in clipping in graphics processing.
2. Description of the Background Art
In computer graphics, a clipping is performed to determine whether a coordinate of an object to be displayed exists in a view volume for projective transformation, a displaying window for two-dimensional graphics, and the like. Such clipping is described for example by J. D. Foley et al., Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice, 1992, pp. 271-278, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.
Clipping requires an operation performed to compare in magnitude a coordinate of an object to be displayed and a coordinate referred to to provide such clipping.
In general, in computer graphics, floating point data is used as a coordinate, and the coordinate""s magnitude is determined by adding or subtracting the floating point data. Such floating point data is added or subtracted according to a process flow, such as described by K. Hwang, translated by Horikoshi, Rapid Computer Operation System, pp. 295-299, 1980, Kindaikagakusha, and David A. Patterson and John L. Hennessy, Computer Architecture A Quantitative Approach. pp. A-16 to A-21, 1990, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Inc.
Throughout the present application, operation devices capable of adding first and second data values together as well as those capable of subtracting the first data value from the second data value will also be referred to as an adder.
Conventionally, a clip code serving as an indicator indicating whether a coordinate of an object to be displayed exists within a displaying window, is generated by a floating point adder.
FIG. 11 is a block diagram for illustrating how a clip code is conventionally generated.
Referring to FIG. 11, conventionally a floating point adder 501 and a code generation unit 502 cooperate to generate a clip code CODE.
Floating point adder 501 includes a preprocessing unit 510 receiving an instruction FUNC indicative of operation type and floating point data X and W, a digit match unit 11 matching a digit of floating point data X and that of floating point data W, a fraction part operation unit 12 adding together a fraction part of floating point data X having the digit matched and that of floating point data W having the digit matched or subtracting the fraction part of one data from that of the other data, a normalization unit 13 normalizing a result of an operation performed by fraction part operation unit 12, and a postprocessing unit 14 responsive to an output from normalization unit 13 for outputting a flag FLAG and an operation result RES.
Code generation unit 502 receives from floating point adder 501 the flag FLAG containing a zero flag, a sign flag and the like and separately performs a logical operation on the zero flag, the sign flag and the like to generate clip code CODE.
FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a configuration of preprocessing unit 510 shown in FIG. 11.
As shown in FIG. 12, preprocessing unit 510 includes an input verify unit 20 receiving instruction FUNC and two floating point data X and W and generating a special input flag SIF, an exponent part compare unit 21 comparing an exponent part ex of floating point data X and an exponent part ew of floating point data W with each other, a fraction part compare unit 22 comparing a fraction part fx of floating point data X and a fraction part fw of floating point data W with each other, and a select signal generator 24 receiving instruction FUNC, floating point data X and W, an output from exponent part compare unit 21 and an output from fraction part compare unit 22 to generate a select signal SEL for selecting either floating point data X or W to shift selected data to match the digit of floating point data X and that of floating point data W.
Exponent part compare unit 21 compares exponent parts ex and ew. If ex greater than ew then exponent part compare unit 21 sets a flag F (ex greater than ew) to 1. If exponent parts ex and ew match then exponent part compare unit 21 sets a flag F (ex==ew) to 1.
Fraction part compare unit 22 compares fraction parts fx and fw. If fx greater than fw then fraction part compare unit 22 sets a flag F (fx greater than fw) to 1.
If clipping is herein provided, floating point data X represents a coordinate of an object to be displayed and floating point data W represents a coordinate of a clipping window.
For example, if floating point data X is larger than floating point data W corresponding to a largest coordinate value forming a view volume then an object to be displayed is outside the view volume. As such, clip code CODE is 1. To generate such clip code CODE, initially a floating point subtraction of Xxe2x88x92W is performed.
With such operation""s result having a zero flag of Z and a sign flag of N, the FIG. 11 code generation unit 502 provides an NOR of Z and N to find that X greater than W and thus generate xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d as clip code CODE.
Clipping can also be provided via a dedicated hardware, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,764.
A conventional clip-code generation technique, as has been shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, initially performs a floating-point subtraction process and then uses an operation flag to generate a clip code. As such, the conventional method disadvantageously requires a long process time to generate a clip code. The technique using a dedicated hardware, however, requires disadvantageously increased hardware resources.
The present invention contemplates a floating point adder capable of rapidly generating a clip code while preventing the circuit from being increased in scale.
The present invention, as briefly described, is a floating point adder including a preprocessing unit, a digit match unit, an operation unit and a normalization unit.
The preprocessing unit receives first and second floating point data and outputs an exponent part comparison result and a fraction part comparison result and a clip code. The preprocessing unit includes an exponent part compare unit comparing an exponent part of the first floating point data and an exponent part of the second floating point data with each other and outputting the exponent part comparison result, a fraction part compare unit comparing a fraction part of the first floating point data and a fraction part of the second floating point data with each other and outputting the fraction part comparison result, and a clip code generation unit receiving the exponent part comparison result and the fraction part comparison result and generating the clip code. The digit match unit refers to the fraction part comparison result and the exponent part comparison result to match a digit of the fraction part of the first floating point data and a digit of the fraction part of the second floating point data. The operation unit adds together the fraction parts of the first and second floating point data having their digits matched by the digit match unit. The normalization unit receives and normalizes a result of an operation performed by the operation unit.
In accordance with the present invention, in another aspect, is a floating point adder including a preprocessing unit, a digit match unit, an operation unit and a normalization unit.
The preprocessing unit receives first and second floating point data and outputs an exponent part comparison result and a fraction part comparison result and a clip code. The preprocessing unit includes an exponent part compare unit comparing an exponent part of the first floating point data and an exponent part of the second floating point data with each other and outputting the exponent part comparison result, a fraction part compare unit comparing a fraction part of the first floating point data and a fraction part of the second floating point data with each other and outputting the fraction part comparison result, an input verify unit verifying that the first floating point data does not match 0, and a clip code generation circuit receiving an output from the input verify unit and the exponent part of the first floating point data and generating the clip code. The digit match unit refers to the fraction part comparison result and the exponent part comparison result to match a digit of the fraction part of the first floating point data and a digit of the fraction part of the second floating point data. The operation unit adds together the fraction parts of the first and second floating point data having their digits matched by the digit match unit. The normalization unit receives and normalizes a result of an operation performed by the operation unit.
In accordance with the present invention in still another aspect a floating point adder is responsive to a received instruction for either generating a clip code for first floating point data or performing an operation with the first and second floating point data received as an input and includes a preprocessing unit, a digit match unit, an operation unit and a normalization unit. The preprocessing unit receives the first and second floating point data and outputs a first exponent part comparison result and a first fraction part comparison result and a clip code. The preprocessing unit includes: a first data switch unit receiving the first and second floating point data and first boundary data corresponding to one boundary of a clip window, and selecting the first and second floating point data as first and second input data, respectively, when the instruction directs the operation, and selecting the first floating point data and the first boundary data as the first input data and the second input data, respectively, when the instruction directs generating a clip code; a first exponent part compare unit comparing an exponent part of the first input data and an exponent part of the second input data with each other and outputting the first exponent part comparison result; a first fraction part compare unit comparing a fraction part of the first input data and a fraction part of the second input data with each other and outputting the first fraction part comparison result; and a clip code generation unit outputting the clip code depending on the first exponent part comparison result and the first fraction part comparison result. The digit match unit matches a digit of the fraction part of the first floating point data and a digit of the fraction part of the second floating point data depending on the first fraction part comparison result and the first exponent part comparison result. The operation unit performs an operation on the fraction parts of the first and second floating point data having the digits matched by the digit match unit. The normalization unit receives and normalizes a result of the operation performed by the operation unit.
In accordance with the present invention in still another aspect a floating point adder includes a plurality of processing circuits associated with a plurality of coordinate axes, respectively. Each processing circuit includes a preprocessing unit receiving first and second floating point data corresponding to the coordinate axis, and outputting an exponent part comparison result and a fraction part comparison result and a clip code. The preprocessing unit includes an exponent part compare unit comparing an exponent part of the first floating point data and an exponent part of the second floating point data with each other and outputting the exponent part comparison result, a fraction part compare unit comparing a fraction part of the first floating point data and a fraction part of the second floating point data with each other and outputting the fraction part comparison result, and a clip code generation unit outputting the clip code depending on a relationship in magnitude between the first floating point data and reference data corresponding to a clip window. The digit match unit matches a digit of the fraction part of the first floating point data and a digit of the fraction part of the second floating point data depending on the fraction part comparison result and the exponent part comparison result. The operation unit performs an operation on the fraction parts of the first and second floating point data having the digits matched by the digit match unit. The normalization unit receives and normalizes a result of the operation performed by the operation unit.
As such, a main advantage of the present invention is that a functional block for adding floating points together or subtracting one floating point from the other can be diverted to minimize the hardware required for generating a clip code.
Another advantage of the present invention is that a functional block for adding floating points together or subtracting one floating point from the other can be diverted to simultaneously and rapidly generate clip codes for clipping upper and lower limits for any clipping window.
Still another advantage of the present invention is that a functional block for adding floating point data together or subtracting one floating point data from the other can be diverted to rapidly generate clip codes for multiple clipping coordinate axes.

Floating point adder capable of rapid clip-code generation


A thermal print head including a conductive base plate, a substrate slab mounted on the base and having various deposits on the upper and lower surfaces thereof, such deposits including conductive traces, conductive leads, a thermally insulating material, resistors, and conductive deposits for delivering electrical potential across the resistors, one or more integrated circuits mounted on the slab for controlling said print head based on electrical signals from external data processing equipment and connectors for delivering signals and potentials to the print head.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to devices for making a permanent record of electronic information and more specifically to thermal print heads.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the advent of high speed data processing and delivery systems, it has become necessary to develop high speed, high accuracy and economical means for rendering the data or information into permanent, readable form. The data processing industry has attempted to accomplish these goals utilizing conventional typewriter technology; line printers derived from lithograph techonolgy; and new technologies including rotary impact print heads such as the devices known as "daisy wheels;" impact matrix printers; and the subject of this invention, thermal printers. The applications of each of these technologies differ regarding the speed of operation, the total volume of materials printed, the type of printing medium utilized, the number of moving parts and the total cost of manufacture.
Thermal printers, such as the present invention, are designed to minimize moving parts and cost of construction. Thermal printers are not particularly applicable to situations with a high volume of data printed because they require specially treated paper which is more expensive than ordinary paper. Thermal printers are particularly utilized in calculators, printing scientific instruments, computer terminal and other applications with low volume paper requirements.
A thermal printer operates by causing the application of a point source of heat to specially treated paper. The point of heat causes the special paper to darken at the point of application in a dot form. The typical manner in which characters are formed using thermal printers is by the use of a matrix, that is an N.times.M array of dots. A microprocessor or other data processing unit typically determines the specific members of the array which will be darkened so as to create the letter, numeral or figure desired.
A thermal printer consists of a microprocessor or other unit which translates incoming data into a printable form, a system to deliver signals from the microprocessor to the printing head, high-current drivers which can deliver the required amount of energy to burn the dots, a print head upon which the point heat sources are created and a system for bringing the paper in contact with the print head. Various prior art thermal printers utilize a movable print head capable of moving laterally across the paper much in the same manner as a typewriter carriage. Other applications of thermal printers utilize a fixed print head and move only the paper relative to the print head. In the applications where a fixed print head is used, the print head must extend the entire usable width of the paper to print a full line.
One common element of the prior art print heads known to the inventors herein, is that the electronic driver circuits for the burn points, commonly transistors, are located externally to the print head itself. Consequently, all of the logic and switching mechanisms are located external to the print head. A disadvantage of using structures wherein the logic circuitry is exterior to the print head is that the number of input points on the print head is increased such that it equals or is a substantial subset of the number of burn points.
An example of a prior art print head is described in a publication of Displaytek Corporation describing part number DC-1157, 5.times.7 dot matrix, thermal print head component. This print head utilizes individual input leads for each of the 35 burn points in its 5.times.7 matrix. Furthermore, the input section of the print head is considerably wider than the printing section where the burn points are located. This makes it difficult to array print heads of this variety next to one another so as to form a line. The Displaytek DC-1157 and other prior art printing heads such as those manufactured by Gulton Industries, and described in Application Bulletin No. 201, utilize matrices which print the entire matrix at one time rather than printing the individual rows non-simultaneously. Printers which print an entire character matrix at one time, and have a discrete spacing between such matrices are incapable of appropriately representing graphic figures or other characters for which they are not specifically programmed. If fixed matrix printers are programmed to represent a graphic image such as the arc of a curve, the speed of printing is slow.


A material handling and transport system for transporting goods between a number of discharge/induction stations and selectively receiving and discharging goods at the stations. A moving transport unit, for example a train-type string or cars or trolleys with tilting trays for receiving, transporting and discharging goods between induction and discharge stations positioned along a track, incorporates a number of self-contained, locally controlled sensing, signal and actuation devices which allow the trolleys to selectively interact with passive stations around the track. The centralization of systems control on the trolleys themselves, as opposed to on the track-side stations, results in greater system flexibility, reduced cost, and allows the train to operate in essentially autonomous mode without the need for external control and monitoring. In one embodiment each tray-supporting trolley includes a self-actuating tipper arm mechanism activated by local computer to engage discharge station as the trolley passes to discharge the load carried by the trolley. Each trolley also includes a sender/receiver device capable of reading passive status indicators associated with stations around the track, and signaling various switching devices to activate track-side structure for interaction with the trolley as it passes.

Automated material handling and sortation systems are known for receiving, transporting and discharging goods among various stations in large scale sortation operations, for example warehousing, distribution, postal sortation and handling of mail and packages, and airport baggage handling, to name a few. Whatever the operation, goods typically originate from one location within the facility and must be sorted and transported to several different locations for further handling, or originate from several locations within a facility and must be transported to a single location such as a shipping dock. The manner in which the goods are sorted and selectively distributed among various stations in a facility of course depends on the nature of the operation.
One known sortation and delivery method involves using powered belt or roller conveyers to transport individual items or sorted loads of items to various destinations within a facility. When goods from multiple sources must be delivered to a single station, associated take away conveyors must be merged onto a main conveyor or discharge point. This requires careful coordination of each item as it arrives to prevent jams or damage. Each merge point on such a conveyor system would accordingly require a complex system of sensors, start/stop controls, actuators, power supply lines, etc. Similarly, when items must be delivered to multiple destinations or stations in a facility, a main conveyor must be provided with diverter apparatus to direct individual items or batches of items to either continue or be diverted at various points. Each diverter apparatus would require an additional closed system including sensors, actuators, control mechanisms, wiring and power supply to accomplish the diverting operation and track and identify the items being diverted.
The disadvantages of conveyor-type systems have led to the development of tracked systems. In one known type of system, a closed loop track carries cars propelled by a continuous belt or chain drive. The cars are equipped with open trays which can be loaded from chutes, and subsequently tilted to unload their carloads into bins which are located around the track. These cars are often termed "dumb" because they do not initiate any sorting actions, but rather respond to stimuli from the induction stations to discharge their load. For example, car speed is controlled by a track-side motor which circulates the belt or train drive, and car dumping is controlled by track-side dumping mechanisms. Such systems are designed for long term installations which sort and transport large volumes of goods. Although these closed loop track systems are an improvement over conveyor-type systems, the complexity of their track, drive and tilting mechanisms makes it a major undertaking to set them up or rearrange their sortation layout. They must be shut down for nearly all maintenance tasks.
An improvement over continuous belt or chain drive closed loop track systems is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,928 to Hartlepp. Hartlepp discloses a train-type automated track sortation system, including a number of "smart" cars and a locomotive or tug for pulling the cars around the track between various discharge and induction stations. The cars on the train are loaded with goods to be sorted or delivered and given destination addresses for the goods at an induction or loading station. Once a train has left the loading station, functions such as keeping track of position, regulating speed and dumping cars are controlled by a microprocessor placed aboard each locomotive. This design allows the track to be simplified as it need only provide a path and power supply for the train (or trains) running between discharge stations positioned along the track. There is accordingly no drive train, drive motor or track-side dumping control mechanisms with attendant wiring required. The track design allows new track configurations to be made up by simply adding track switches, added track sections and discharge stations. Sorting capacity can be varied by adding or subtracting cars to a train in accordance with the capacity of the loading station, or by changing the number of trains operated on a track. It is also possible to perform many maintenance tasks by removing individual cars or trains from the track, leaving the rest of the system intact and operating.
The Hartlepp cars utilize a mechanical tipping mechanism with a computer-controlled tipping arm selectively activated to engage off-track tip actuating structure to initiate a discharge at a discharge station when the train passes. This occurs while the car and train are moving. As a car with a load to be discharged passes the appropriate discharge station, the tipping mechanism is activated to engage an actuator on the track to tilt a tray carrying the load to either side of the track where the discharge station is located.
Despite the advantages of the Hartlepp apparatus over conveyor-type and belt- or chain-driven track systems, there are some drawbacks. The Hartlepp system requires frequent communication between a central off-track computer which monitors and controls induction and discharge operations, and the train. Goods are received by the train at a "master" loading station with centralized PLC control. Destination information is fed from the central computer to the locomotive, which dumps packages from each car at the appropriate discharge stations. Since loading and discharge of packages to and from the cars on the train is centrally monitored and controlled by a host computer's instructions to the locomotive and induction stations, there is no communication between the induction and discharge stations and the train. If events at the stations would prevent a proper induction or discharge, or if the central computer's tracking of the items and station capacity is incorrect, or if the central computer is "down", there is no way for the train to accurately monitor and control its own operations with track-side devices on a local level. This can result in discharge malfunctions, overloaded trains, damage to packages or items being sorted, and general loss of control over the system.

Apparatus for centralized mechanical and systems control in a material handling system


A method for guiding a moving object to a target. The method comprising: transmitting a signal from one or more illuminating sources defined in a reference coordinate system; receiving the signal at three or more cavity waveguides disposed on the moving object; using one or more forward observers to determine the position of the target; fixing the one or more illuminating sources to the one or more forward observers; determining a position and/or orientation of the object in the reference coordinate system based on a strength of the signal received in the three or more cavity waveguides; and guiding the moving object to the target based on the determined position and/or orientation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to reference sources and target designator systems, and more particularly, to integrated reference source and target designator systems for high-precision guidance of guided munitions.
2. Prior Art
In general, a human or machine (such as an "Unmanned Aerial Vehicle" (UAV), or an "Unmanned Ground Vehicle" (UGV) or a manned aerial or ground vehicle, or the like) is used to identify a target. Some means (e.g., one or more of the systems and devices such as "Global Positioning System" GPS, range finders, inertial devices, etc.) are then used to determine the position of the target and other relevant target indication information. Hereinafter, the above human or machine that is used to determine the position of the target is referred to generally as the "forward observer".
In general, the position of the target is determined by the "forward observer" and is indicated relative to the earth. The "forward observer" must also determine its own position relative to the earth. The weapon platform that is to engage the target must also know its own position relative to the earth. The target position and other information that is acquired by the "forward observer" is then passed to the engaging weapon platform fire controller (usually a computer), which would then perform proper computations and pass target position and other guidance and control information to the guided munitions that is to be launched against the designated target. Once launched, the guided munitions will use the target position information (and sometimes target position updates when it is available) to guide itself to the designated target position. Near the target, guided munitions may, when equipped with some type of homing sensors, also use the latter sensors to guide them to the target.
As indicated above, in most current munitions guidance and control systems, the position of the target is determined by the forward observer relative to the earth, i.e., the earth is considered to be the reference system in which the position of the target, the weapon platform, and the forward observer is defined. In addition, the guided munitions, such as a projectile fired from a gun or a mortar shell, monitors its position relative to the same earth based (fixed) position reference system. There is, however, a positioning error relative to each one of the above four position measurements relative to the earth fixed position reference system. As a result, the four position error measurements add up to make up the amount of positioning error that the guided munitions will have relative to the target that it is desired to intercept, leading to a significant degradation of the precision with which a target could be intercepted.
In general, the only method available for increasing the precision with which guided munitions can be guided to intercept the target is by providing some type of homing device. Such homing systems may, for example, include target seekers such as heat seeking sensors or various guidance systems utilizing laser designators, etc. Such homing systems usually require sophisticated sensory devices that occupy relatively large spaces onboard and require relatively high onboard power to operate, which make them unsuitable for many munitions applications, particularly gun-fired munitions (particularly small and medium caliber munitions) and mortars. In addition, homing systems using various target designators such as laser target designator generally requires a forward target observer, usually a human, to designate the target, which is also not a desirable solution.
A need therefore exists for a method and apparatus that can be used to significantly increase the precision with which a target position can be provided to guide guided munitions without requiring aforementioned homing systems or the like seekers.
An object of the present invention is to provide such a method and apparatus that can be used in munitions, particularly in gun-fired munitions and mortars, to provide significantly higher precision with which the position of the target is provided to munitions for guidance to intercept a designated target.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus that provides higher target position precision to guided munitions without requiring onboard seekers.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus that provides higher target position precision to guided munitions using the aforementioned polarized RF position and orientation sensors and polarized RF sources such that not only the position of the target becomes known to guided munitions during their flights but information is also provided to the guided munitions as to their orientation relative to the target. The latter orientation information is essential for munitions guidance and control, since by knowing its orientation relative to the target at all times, the guided munitions can perform its guidance maneuvers with minimal control actuation efforts, thereby requiring smaller actuation devices and less power for guidance and control. As a result, less volume will need to be occupied by the latter components, thereby making it possible to provide guidance and control components to munitions without degrading their effectiveness, particularly for smaller caliber munitions.

Integrated reference source and target designator system for high-precision guidance of guided munitions


A thrust reverser for jet engines comprising a pair of symmetrical thrust reverser door members which are pivotally mounted on an engine about an axis which is substantially diametrical with respect to the exhaust nozzle of the engine, the doors having scarfed trailing edges in order that they may pivot between stowed and deployed positions, a pair of pivotally mounted half-shells surrounding at least the trailing edges and defining a planar exhaust outlet for the engine; the pivot axes for the doors is movable in order to vary the area of the exhaust outlet defined by the half-shells depending upon the particular stage of flight.

In order to reduce the landing distance of a jet engine powered aircraft, as well as to increase the margin of safety when the aircraft is landing on a wet or icy runway, thrust reversers are utilized on the jet engines in order to provide a braking thrust for the aircraft. Typically, such thrust reversers are formed by thrust reverser "doors" which are capable of pivoting between two positions about an axis which is transverse and substantially diametrical with respect to the jet of the engine.
The first position finds the doors in a stowed position, out of the direct path of the exhaust blast of the engine. In this position, the doors form the exhaust nozzle of the gas turbine engine so that the thrust of the engine is directly rearward, thereby producing the forward thrust of the aircraft. In the second position, the doors are pivoted about the pivot axis to a transverse, blast deflecting or deployed position, to intercept and redirect the jet blast and produce the braking thrust for the aircraft when needed. In such thrust reversers, the trailing edge of the reverser doors must be fully scarfed to enable the deployment of the doors and the butting of the trailing edges of the two doors against one another in the deployed position. This scarfing produces what is known as a "fishmouth" shape at the exhaust outlet because of its appearance when viewed from the side.
The prior art demonstrates some variable area exhaust nozzles for thrust reversers, and such devices are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,327 and French Patent 2,614,939. Theoretically, a variable area exhaust provides certain benefits for the jet engines, in enabling them to adapt to different conditions of the flight. For example, different characteristics of the engines are desirable for take off, climb and cruise modes of operation, and varying the exhaust area enables the engine to better achieve the optimum characteristics.
According to the prior patents mentioned above which integrate a variable exhaust area nozzle with the thrust reverser, the thrust reverser doors do not (and cannot) in any of the controllable positions of the reverser doors define the throat of the exhaust nozzle to be at the trailing edge of the nozzle/reverser doors. In these prior patents, the inner flow line of the thrust reverser doors is convergent to the throat, with a cylindrical extension aft of the throat. This means that at any position of the thrust reverser nozzle, the throat of the nozzle always remains significantly upstream of the reverser nozzle trailing edge. This is an inherent characteristic in the design of the prior art as it is described in French patent 2,382,594.
In the case of the prior art thrust reversers using the scarfed or fishmouth nozzles, another drawback arises in that the performance characteristics of the engine are somewhat degraded such that varying the exhaust area merely helps to recapture the efficiency lost to the scarfing. This degradation of performance is caused by a not-insignificant lateral efflux of exhaust gas in the area of the cutouts.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,194,692 and 4,093,122, the thrust reverser doors are incapable of defining, in any of their controllable positions, the throat area of the nozzle. By the term "throat" as it is commonly used in this field is meant the point or location of the minimum cross-sectional area of the engine's ejection nozzle. In both of these prior patents, the throat area of the nozzle is not adjusted by the thrust reverser doors, but rather by a separate variable convergent nozzle.
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a thrust reverser which overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages of prior art thrust reversers.
A further object of the invention is to provide an improved thrust reverser which integrates a variable area exhaust nozzle.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a thrust reverser having a variable area exhaust nozzle and a planar exhaust nozzle, eliminating the scarfed or fishmouth configuration of prior thrust reverser doors.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a thrust reverser in which variation in the area of the exhaust throat takes place at the trailing edge of the planar nozzle.
Still a further object of the invention is to provide a thrust reverser construction wherein the the reverser doors are the operating means for the exhaust nozzle in order to optimize the engine operating characteristics for different phases of the flight.
These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description of the invention.

Thrust reverser integrating a variable exhaust area nozzle


A method of the present invention includes measuring a thickness of an electrode in which an active material layer is formed on a current collector (Step 1); fixing the active material layer of the electrode to a substrate (Step 2); attaching a removal tape to the current collector of the electrode, and then measuring an adhesive strength of the removal tape and measuring a thickness of the electrode after the removal (Step 3); attaching a removal tape to the active material layer from which the current collector is removed, and then measuring an adhesive strength of the removal tape and measuring the thickness of the electrode after the removal, wherein this procedure is repeated until a measurement limit is reached (Step 4); and determining a distribution of a binder according to the thickness of the electrode from measured values obtained in Steps 3 and 4 (Step 5).

With the dramatic increase in the use of fossil fuels, there is an increasing demand for use of alternative energy or clean energy. The field of electricity generation and accumulation using an electrochemical reaction has been most actively studied to meet the increasing demand.
A current representative example of an electrochemical device using such electrochemical energy may include secondary batteries, and their applications have been on the gradual rise. Recently, the demand for secondary batteries as energy sources has surged with the increase in technical development and the demand for portable devices such as laptop computers, portable telephones, cameras, etc. Among such secondary batteries, a lithium secondary battery having high energy density and working potential, a long cycle lifespan, and a low self-discharge rate has been actively researched and widely used through commercialization.
Generally, a secondary battery consists of a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and an electrolyte, and is chargeable and dischargeable because it serves to transfer energy to electrodes while moving back and forth between both of the electrodes by intercalating lithium ions such as carbon particles emitted from a positive electrode active material into a negative electrode active material during a first charge and then deintercalating the lithium ions from the negative electrode active material during the discharge.
For example, the lithium secondary battery has a structure in which a lithium electrolyte is impregnated into an electrode assembly, which includes a positive electrode including a lithium transition metal oxide as an electrode active material, a negative electrode including a carbon-based active material, and a porous separator. The positive electrode is manufactured by coating an aluminum foil with a positive electrode mixture including a lithium transition metal oxide, and the negative electrode is manufactured by coating a copper foil with a negative electrode mixture including a carbon-based active material.
To check for uniformity in physical properties of a secondary battery, a technology capable of accurately measuring a distribution of a binder in a positive electrode mixture or a negative electrode mixture is required.

Method of measuring distribution of binder in electrode


A multi-bit programming apparatus may include a first control unit that may generates 2N threshold voltage states based on a target bit error rate (BER) of each of the page programming operations, a second control unit that may assign any one of the threshold voltage states to the N-bit data, and a programming unit that may program the assigned threshold voltage state in each of the at least one multi-bit cell to program the N-bit data.

1. Field
Example embodiments may relate to apparatuses and/or methods that may program data in memory devices. Additionally, example embodiments may relate to multi-bit (multi-level) programming apparatuses and/or methods that may program data in multi-level memory devices.
2. Description of Related Art
A single-level cell (SLC) memory device may store one bit of data in a single memory cell. The SLC memory may be referred to as a single-bit cell (SBC) memory. The SLC memory may store and read data of one bit at a voltage level which may be included in two distributions that may be divided by a threshold voltage level programmed in a memory cell.
For example, when a voltage level read from the memory cell is greater than 0.5V and less than 1.5V, it may be determined that the data stored in the memory cell has a logic value of "1". When the voltage level read from the memory cell is greater than 2.5V and less than 3.5V, it may be determined that the data stored in the memory cell has a logic value of "0". The data stored in the memory cell may be classified depending on the difference between cell currents and/or cell voltages during the reading operations.
A multi-level cell (MLC) memory device that may store data of two or more bits in a single memory cell may provide higher integration of memory. The MLC memory device may also be referred to as a multi-bit cell (MBC) memory. However, as the number of bits stored in the single memory cell increases, reliability may deteriorate and read-failure rate may increase. To store 'm' bits in a single memory cell, 2m voltage level distributions may be required. But, since the voltage window for a memory cell may be limited, the difference in threshold voltage between adjacent bits may decrease as 'm' increases, which may cause the read-failure rate to increase. For this reason, it may be difficult to improve storage density using a MLC memory device.
Accordingly, MLC memory devices may be widely used and thus error correction codes (ECC) or error control codes, which may detect an error occurring during data storing and reading operations and may correct the detected error, may be actively used.
Example embodiments may provide new multi-level (multi-bit) programming apparatuses and methods which may reduce the complexity ECC implemented in hardware.

Apparatus and method of multi-bit programming


The invention is directed to polypeptide or fragments thereof which interact with autoantigens of autoimmune diseases such as type I diabetes, and nucleic acid sequences which encode those polypeptide. The invention is also directed to methods for screening for autoimmune diseases such as type I diabetes, and methods and compositions for modulating hormone and neuropeptide secretion using proteins which interact with autoantigens of autoimmune diseases.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to proteins, polypeptides, or fragments thereof, which interact with autoantigens of autoimmune diseases, such as type I diabetes. More particularly the invention relates to polypeptides, or fragments thereof, which interact with human ICA512 and phogrin. The invention also relates to nucleic acid sequences which encode these polypeptide or polypeptide fragments. The invention also relates to methods for identifying and treating individuals who suffer from or are susceptible to diabetes, screening for autoimmune diseases such as type I diabetes, and modulating hormone and neuropeptide secretion using proteins or protein fragments which interact with autoantigens of autoimmune diseases.
2. Description of the Related Art
Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (also known as IDDM or type I diabetes) primarily afflicts young people. Although insulin is available for treatment, the several-fold increased morbidity and mortality associated with this disease urge the development of early diagnostic and preventive methods. The destruction of pancreatic .beta.-cells, which precedes the clinical onset of IDDM, is mediated by autoimmune mechanisms. Among the most thoroughly studied autoimmune abnormalities associated with the disease is the high increase of circulating .beta.-cell-specific autoantibodies at the time of diagnosis.
A major goal of diabetes research has been to develop immune interventions that block or inhibit the destruction of .beta.-cells and development of IDDM. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,512,447, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes assays for the detection of diabetes and prediabetic status by exposing patient serum samples to purified ligand capable of binding autoantibodies specific for a 64 kD autoantigen present in pancreatic .beta.-cells. One of the most intriguing observations resulting from studying the cell biology of .beta.-cell autoantigens is that all major targets of IDDM autoantibodies identified thus far are directly connected with the secretory apparatus of .beta.-cells (Solimena, Diabetes, Metab. Rev. 14:227-240 (1994)).
A large body of evidence indicates that protein and lipid phosphorylation participates in the trafficking of secretory granules (SGs), synaptic vesicles (SVs), and synaptic-like microvesicles (SLMVs) of neuroendocrine cells, including pancreatic .beta.-cells. Several membrane and cytosolic phosphoproteins involved in priming, docking and fusion of regulated secretory vesicles (Ferro-Novick, S. et al., Nature 370:191-193 (1994); Martin, T. F., Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 4:626-632 (1994); Calakos, N. et al., Physiol. Rev. 76:1-29 (1996)) have been shown to be substrates for serine/threonine phosphorylation (Greengard, P. et al., Science 259:780-785 (1993); Ashcroft, F. M. et al., J. Cell Biochem. 55 Supp:54-65 (1994)). However, less evidence is available implicating tyrosine phosphorylation in these processes. The following evidence suggests that tyrosine phosphorylation may play a role in regulated secretion.
The protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) inhibitors genistein and herbimycin A both stimulate insulin secretion in neonatal islets (Sorenson, R. L. et al., Endocrinol. 134:1975-1978 (1994)), and genistein has been shown to affect the ATP-dependent priming of SGs in semi-intact PC12 cells (Hay, J. C. et al., J. Cell Biol. 119:139-151 (1992)). In GH3 cells, both PTK and protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) inhibitors have been shown to impair the biogenesis of SGs from the trans-Golgi network (Austin, C. D. et al., J. Cell Biol. 135:1471-1483 (1996)) as well as modulate the activity of L-type Ca.sup.2+ channels (Cataldi, M. et al., J. Biol. Chem. 271:9441-9446 (1996)) which are known to be coupled to neurosecretion.
Synaptophysin and synaptogyrin, two intrinsic membrane proteins of SVs, have both been shown to be tyrosine phosphorylated (Pang, D. T. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 85:762-766 (1988); Stenius, K., et al., J. Cell Biol. 131:1801-1809 (1995)), but the physiological relevance has not yet been determined. Furthermore, PTK pp60.sup.c-src has been shown to be peripherally associated with regulated secretory vesicles, including SGs of chromaffin cells (Parsons, S. J. et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 134:736-742 (1986); Grandori, C. et al., J. Cell Biol. 107:2125-2135 (1988)).
Annexins (soluble Ca.sup.2+ and phospholipid-binding proteins) have been implicated in exocytosis in different cell types, including endocrine cells (Burgoyne, R. D. et al., J. Anat. 183:309-314 (1993)). Annexin II, in particular, has been shown to bind chromaffin SGs and to reconstitute secretion from permeabilized chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla (Sarafian, T. et al., C.J. Cell Biol. 114:1135-1147 (1991)), and has been shown to be tyrosine phosphorylated by 60.sup.c-src (Hubaishy, I. et al., Biochemistry 34:14527-14534 (1995)). pp60.sup.c-src has also been shown to phosphorylate botulinum A and E (Ferrer-Montiel, A. V. et al., J. Biol. Chem. 271:18322-18325 (1996)), two clostridium neurotoxins which cause the block of neurosecretion and paralysis by cleaving the synaptobrevin binding protein SNAP-25 at neuromuscular junctions (Tonello, F. et al., Adv. Exp. Med. Biol. 389:251-260 (1996)). Since tyrosine phosphorylation enhances the protease activity of both botulinum A and E, it is possible that tyrosine phosphorylation and regulated secretion are coupled in certain cells.
Islet cell autoantigen 512 (ICA512, also known as IA-2 and PTP35), is an intrinsic membrane protein of SGs which is expressed in virtually all neuroendocrine cells including peptide-secreting endocrine cells, neurons of the autonomic nervous system, and neurons of the hypothalamus and the amygdala in the brain (Solimena, M. et al., EMBO J. 15:2102-2114 (1996)). Human ICA512 has been identified as an autoantigen of IDDM (Rabin, D. U. et al., Diabetes 41:183-186 (1992); Rabin, D. U. et al., J. Immunol. 152:3183-3188 (1994); Lan, M. S. et al., DNA Cell Biol. 13:505-514 (1994)), and has been postulated to play a role in regulated peptidergic secretion from neuroendocrine cells, including insulin-secreting cells of the pancreatic islets. The open reading frame of human ICA512 encodes a protein of 979 amino acids (FIG. 1). The sequence includes a signal peptide (residues 1-34) and two putative N-glycosylation sites (residues 506 and 524) in the extracellular domain (residues 1-575, henceforth defined as ectodomain), a single transmembrane domain (residues 576-600), and a cytoplasmic domain (residues 601-979) which includes a region displaying homology to protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) (residues 696-979). Like several other enzymatically active receptor protein tyrosine phosphatases (RPTPs) (Streuli, M. et al., EMBO J. 11:897-907 (1992); Serra-Pages, C. et al., J. Biol. Chem. 269:23632-23641 (1994); Brady-Kalnay, S. M. et al., J. Biol. Chem. 269:28472-28477 (1994); Pulido, R. et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 92:11686-11690 (1995)), ICA512 is processed within its ectodomain (Solimena, M. et al., EMBO J. 15:2102-2014 (1996); Hermel et al., Eur. J. Neurosci. 11:20690 (1999)). Cleavage of ICA512 (arrow in FIG. 1) generates a 65 kD transmembrane fragment (residues 449-979) which remains associated with SG membranes, and a putative N-terminal fragment (residues 35-448).
The cytoplasmic domain of ICA512 is homologous with PTPs and suggests that ICA512 participates in signal transduction pathways involving tyrosine phosphorylation. Several features, however, distinguish ICA512 from conventional RPTPs.
First, the ectodomain of human ICA512 does not contain any of the motifs found in most RPTPs, including Ig domains, type III fibronectin repeats, MAM (meprin, A5, PTP.mu.) domains, or carbonic anhydrase-like motifs, all of which are thought to mediate cell--cell or cell-matrix contact (Brady-Kalnay, S. M. et al., Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 7:650-657 (1995); Streuli, M. Curr. Opin. Cell Bio. 8:182-188 (1996)). (The RGD motif of the type III fibronectin repeat, however, is present once in the ectodomains of rat and mouse ICA512 (Passini, N. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 92:9412-9416 (1995); Lu, J. et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 204:930-936)).
Second, ICA512 joins phogrin and striate enriched phosphatase (STEP) isoforms as a member of the RPTP family which resides in an intracellular compartment (Rydelk, F. L. et al. Soc. Neurosci. 22:1005 (400.5) (1996); Bult A., et al., J. Neuroscience 16:7821-7831 (1996)). In contrast, the majority of other receptor protein tyrosine phosphatases are believed to be constitutively expressed at the plasma membrane. Phogrin (also known as IA-2.beta. or ICAAR), in particular, is a mammalian protein with significant structural and most likely functional homology to ICA512 (Wasmeier, C. et al., J. Biol. Chem. 271:18161-18170 (1996)). Phogrin is also associated with secretory granules of neuroendocrine cells, including .beta.-cells, and is an autoantigen of IDDM (Pietropaolo, M. et al., Diabetes Care 20:208-214 (1997); Hatfield, E. C., Diabetologia 40:1327-1333 (1997)).
Third, recombinant ICA512 does not display PTP activity when tested with common PTP substrates (Rabin, D. U. et al., Diabetes 41:183-186 (1992); Lan, M. S. et al., DNA Cell Biol. 13:505-514 (1994); Lu, J. et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Com. 204:930-936 (1994)). The lack of catalytic activity of ICA512 results from two amino acid substitutions within its PTP homology domain: an aspartic acid (D) instead of an alanine (A) at position 911 within the so-called PTP "signature motif", and an alanine instead of an aspartic acid at position 877. However, an ICA512 mutant in which alanine 877 and aspartic acid 911 have been replaced with aspartic acid and alanine, respectively, displays PTP activity similar to conventional PTPs (Magistrelli, G. et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 227:581-588 (1996)). In addition, replacement of aspartic acid with alanine within the PTP signature motif of phogrin is sufficient to confer PTP activity (Rydelk, F. L. et al. Soc. Neurosci. 22:1005 (400.5) (1996)).
There is evidence that other members of the RPTP family interact with proteins of the spectrin family. CD45, a receptor involved in T- and B-cells proliferation, has been shown to bind .beta.II-spectrin (also known as .beta.-fodrin) via its C-terminus PTP domain (Iida et al., J. Biol. Chem. 269:28576-28583 (1994)). Strikingly, this PTP domain in CD45, like that in ICA512, contains an aspartic acid rather than an alanine within its PTP signature motif and appears to be enzymatically inactive. A protein termed TRIO, which contains multiple spectrin repeats, has been recently found to interact with the regulatory, enzymatically inactive, PTP domain of RPTP LAR (Debant, A. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 93:5466-5471 (1996)). Taken together, this data suggests that modified, non-catalytic PTP domains may mediate the interaction of RPTPs with the actin cytoskeleton via an interaction with different members of the spectrin family.
There is also evidence that spectrins can be the targets of autoimmunity in human diseases. For instance .alpha.II-spectrin (also known as .alpha.-fodrin) has been recently found to be a major autoantigen in Sjorgren syndrome (Haneji, N. et al., Science 276:604-607 (1997); Yanagi et al., Eur. J. Immunol. 28:3336 (1998)), a disorder resulting from the autoimmune infiltration of the salivary gland. Recently, both cellular and humoral autoimmunity directed against .alpha.II-spectrin has been detected in the non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse (Yanagi et al., Eur. J. Immunol. 28:3336-3345 (1998)), a mouse strain that spontaneously develops an autoimmune sialadenitis resembling human Sjogren syndrome as well as an autoimmune diabetes resembling human type I diabetes. These data raise the question of whether autoimmunity directed against .alpha.II-spectrin can develop in type I diabetic patients in the absence of Sjogren syndrome. Relevant to this question is whether .alpha.II-spectrin is expressed in pancreatic .beta.-cells. To the inventor's knowledge, no members of the spectrin family, including .alpha.II-spectrin, has been reported to be expressed in pancreatic .beta.-cells.
Heretofore, studies on vesicular trafficking in neuroendocrine cells and signal transduction via tyrosine phosphorylation have proceeded without significant overlap. Recently, however, it has been postulated that a close relationship may exist between the cell biology of regulated secretion and the organization of the cortical cytomatrix, a preferential target for tyrosine phosphorylation. ICA512 and phogrin could each play a role in regulating peptide hormone secretion and/or survival and differentiation of neuroendocrine cells. However, the precise role of these autoantigens remains elusive, as the proteins appear to lack PTP activity. Therefore, there is a need in the diabetes treatment art for the identification, isolation, and characterization of protein molecules, or fragments thereof, that associate with autoantigens of type I diabetes, such as human ICA512 and phogrin, in order to assist in the determination of the precise role of these autoantigens in peptide hormone secretion. In addition, such proteins, or fragments thereof, could be the targets of autoimmunity in human diseases related to peptide hormone secretion, including IDDM, and hence would be useful as a tool in attenuating or screening for such diseases. The present invention is believed to be an answer to that need.

.beta.IV-spectrin-polypeptides and nucleic acids encoding same


A processing apparatus configured to process a substrate under a vacuum environment includes a holding unit configured to hold the substrate, a dust collection part having a surface opposite to the substrate held by the holding unit, a vacuum chamber configured to accommodate the holding unit and to have an internal space that can be decompressed, a temperature controlling unit configured to control a temperature of the surface of the dust collection part opposite to the substrate to a temperature lower than a temperature of the substrate, and a driving unit configured to bring one of the holding unit and the dust collection part close to the other after the temperature controlling unit controls the temperature of the surface of the dust collection part opposite to the substrate.

The present invention relates to an atmosphere exchange method.
A conventional load lock chamber imports a substrate from a substrate stocker that is placed in the atmosphere environment, into a processing chamber that processes the substrate in the vacuum atmosphere, or exports a processed substrate from the processing chamber to the substrate stocker. The processing chamber, as used herein, covers a EUV (extreme ultraviolet) exposure apparatus and a plasma processing apparatus.
The load lock chamber serves to exchange an atmosphere in the internal space between the atmosphere environment and the vacuum environment. More specifically, the load lock chamber exchanges the atmosphere from the atmosphere environment to the vacuum environment in importing the substrate into the processing chamber (in the exhaust process), and exchanges the atmosphere from the vacuum environment to the atmosphere environment in exporting the substrate to the substrate stocker (in the air-supply process). The load lock chamber is connected to the processing chamber via a gate valve, and includes a substrate transport mechanism.
However, particles swirl from the gate valve and the substrate transport mechanism in the air-supply and exhaust time. Therefore, a means is necessary to reduce or prevent their adhesions to the substrate. Accordingly, one proposed method reduces particles' adhesions to the substrate utilizing the thermophoretic force. As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2,886,521, this method heats the holder of the substrate up to a temperature higher than the peripheral temperature, and collects particles from a low-temperature particle collector maintained at a temperature lower than the peripheral temperature.
According to the principle of the thermophoretic force, with a temperature gradient in the gas around the particles, the particles are given the kinetic energy from the gas molecules at the high temperature side higher than that of the gas molecules at the low temperature side, and moves from the object at the high temperature side to the low temperature side. Thermophoretic force Fx is given by the following equation by the thermophoresis coefficient equation described in Kikuo Okuyama, Hiroaki Masuda, and Seiji Morooka, "New System Chemical Engineering, Fine Particles Engineering," pp. 106-107, May of 1992, Ohmsha Publishing.
                    Fx        =                                                            -                6                                          π                                                                                D                p                                                          μ                2                                                                            C                  s                                                                  (                                      K                    +                                                                  C                        t                                                                                K                        n                                                                              )                                                                                ρ                                                  (                                      1                    +                                          3                                                                    C                        m                                                                                K                        n                                                                              )                                                                          (                                  1                  +                                      2                                        K                                    +                                      2                                                              C                      t                                                                                K                      n                                                                      )                                              ·                      1            T                    ·                                    Δ                                                                                T                                      Δ                                                                                x                                                          EQUATION                                                  1
Equation 1 assumes that the particle is spherical and the fluid is the ideal gas. Dp is a particle diameter. T is a gas temperature. μ is a viscosity density. ρ is a gas density. Kn is a Knudsen number and 2λ/Dp. λ is a mean free path and η/{0.499 P(8M/πRT)1/2}. M is a molecular weight. R is a gas constant. K is k/kP. k is a thermal conductivity of the gas only caused by the parallel movement energy. kp is the thermal conductivity of the particle. Cs is 1.17. Ct is 2.18. Cm is 1.14. ΔT/Δx is a temperature gradient.
The dimension of the load lock chamber is restricted by the gate opening size (W360 mm×H80 mm) determined by the uniform standard in the semiconductor field, and cannot be made as small as the substrate's external shape. Therefore, the thermophoretic force near the substrate holder inevitably depends upon a shape of the load lock chamber, and cannot be maximized.

Processing apparatus and atmosphere exchange method


In one example embodiment, an integration system obtains, based on data from a wireless location system, location data of a wireless device in a spatial area. The integration system determines location data of a person in the spatial area based on at least one image of the person captured by a camera. Based on the location data of the wireless device and the location data of the person, the integration system calculates a proximity parameter representing a spatial relationship between the wireless device and the person. Based on the proximity parameter, the integration system computes a probability of association between the wireless device and the person and determines, based on the probability of association, whether the person is a user of the wireless device.

A user having a wireless device that was not previously logged into a wireless network which operates in a certain environment, e.g. a Wi-Fi network operating in an enterprise, may want to log into the wireless network. The user may therefore register the wireless device with the wireless network by inputting into the wireless device data such as a user identifier and password. Such data may be stored in association with an identifier of the wireless device in order to facilitate future logging in of the wireless device to the wireless network.
Cameras that are part of a computer vision system may also be deployed in the certain environment. A computer vision system may be used in technologies such as collaboration, video surveillance, video telephony, telepresence, videoconferencing, telepresence video conferencing, etc.
In accordance with common practice the various features illustrated in the drawings may not be drawn to scale. Accordingly, the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity. In addition, some of the drawings may not necessarily depict all of the elements, stages, etc.

Integrating computer vision and wireless data to provide identification