A printer has a laser emitter for emitting a laser beam to irradiate a surface of a photosensitive member; a reflector for reflecting the laser beam to a target position on the photosensitive member; a driver for moving the reflector; a resolution changeover designation acceptor for accepting a designation on a low resolution or a high resolution as a resolution for image formation; and an emission controller for controlling the laser emitter to emit the laser beam along a scanning line in a forward direction or a scanning line in a backward direction defined by the movement of the reflector driven by the reflective mirror driver if the designated resolution is the low resolution, and for controlling the laser emitter to emit the laser beam along the scanning line in the forward direction and the scanning line in the backward direction if the designated resolution is the high resolution.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for forming an image with use of laser light, and an image forming method for use in the image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, there has been generally used a laser scanner equipped with a rotary polygon mirror in an image forming apparatus such as a copier, a printer, or a fax. In the image forming apparatus, the interval of scanning lines can be decreased by increasing the rotation number of the rotary polygon mirror, which enables to increase the number of scanning lines per unit time, thereby enhancing the resolution in the sub-scanning direction. Also, the resolution in the sub-scanning direction can be enhanced by decreasing the moving speed i.e. the rotating speed of a photosensitive member. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 09-52387 recites an image forming apparatus equipped with a galvano mirror in place of a rotary polygon mirror. The image forming apparatus performs image formation with an increased scanning speed by reciprocal scanning, namely, by causing the galvano mirror to swing back and forth or reciprocate within a certain angular range at a fixed cycle. The image forming apparatus enables to change the resolution in the sub-scanning direction by changing the moving speed of the galvano mirror or the rotating speed of the photosensitive member.
In the image forming apparatus with the increased rotation number of the rotary polygon mirror, various drawbacks, resulting from the increase of the rotation number of the rotary polygon mirror, may occur such as increase of a noise, shortening of the useful life of a motor, or required use of a costly motor. Also, a clock for outputting image data is required to be increased, which may lead to unduly increase of radiation. When the rotating speed of the photosensitive member is decreased, the printing speed may be decreased. Further, in the image forming apparatus with the increased rotation number of the rotary polygon mirror, and the image forming apparatus recited in the above publication, it is necessary to change the moving speed of the rotary polygon mirror, the galvano mirror, or the photosensitive member in order to change the resolution.

Image forming apparatus and image forming method


The present disclosure relates to hydrogels and their use for repairing or supplementing body tissue. The hydrogels are capable of safe injection into patients through fine gauge needles and are suitable for repairing, supplementing, or replacing the nucleus pulposus of an intervertebral disc. Methods of manufacturing and methods of using the hydrogels of the present disclosure to repair or replace tissues are also disclosed.

According to an extensive 2011 Institute of Medicine Report on chronic pain, approximately 100 million U.S. adults suffer from some form of chronic pain and low back pain is the most common contributor. Lifetime adult incidence of back pain is estimated at 70-80% and it is the second leading cause of physicians' visits. In the United States, back pain is the most common workers compensation claim and in 1999 it was estimated that 149 million workdays are lost every year due to low back pain and the total costs of low back pain are estimated at $50B-$60B per year. In the United Kingdom, where the population is ˜⅕th that of the United States, more than 100 million work days are lost every year. The global burden of back pain is estimated in the hundreds of billions of dollars range.
There are a number of causes of back pain but the most prevalent cause is degenerative disc disease. The human intervertebral disc is comprised of two major structures, an outer or peripheral tendinous structure, and an inner gelatinous nucleus pulposus located in a generally central region. Degeneration of the nucleus pulposus, which is typically associated with natural aging, may lead to disc degradation and loss of function.
Many patients experience chronic back pain caused by injury or age-related degeneration of an intervertebral disc. Current treatments range from conservative care to invasive surgical procedures, including discectomy, spinal fusion and total disc replacement. Conservative care often consists of some combination of rest, physical therapy, exercise, weight loss, yoga and pain medicines (such as opioids). Some patients with chronic back pain receive steroids injections and/or injections of pain medicines. Unfortunately, none of the conservative care options addresses the underlying degeneration of the intervertebral disc and there are limited options for patients who fail conservative care other than surgical interventions like discectomy, spinal fusion and total disc replacement. While numerous studies have shown that opioid pain killers are ineffective at alleviating chronic back pain, approximately half of all opioid prescriptions are for chronic back pain. There is a need for a percutaneous treatment option that addresses disc degeneration for patients with chronic back pain who fail conservative care.
Replacement or supplementation of the nucleus pulposus can relieve pain, restore healthy physiologic function to the disc and/or prevent additional wear or deterioration of the annulus. Currently, few minimally invasive techniques or materials exist for supplementation or replacement of the nucleus pulposus of a spinal disc into a selected site of a mammal. Even fewer techniques or materials provide the physiological/mechanical properties to restore the damaged disc to its full capacity.
Existing hydrogel technologies for supplementing or repairing the nucleus pulposus require the injection of solid, often pre-heated, hydrogels through a large gauge needle into the intervertebral space. The resulting punctures may cause severe patient discomfort and provide an opening through which the resulting implant may be expelled. Thus, there is a need for hydrogels that permit injection via fine gauge needles (15 gauge and finer) at temperatures that can be tolerated by a patient (for example, about 65° C. or less at the injection site) while providing tissue implants that possess the required mechanical properties to support an intervertebral disc and do not expulse when a person resumes physical activity.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The system, configured for being on board an aircraft, includes a probe for collecting samples of contrail, a chamber for collecting the samples, a collecting conduit for conducting the samples from the collecting probe the collecting chamber and at least one device for measuring at least one parameter characterizing the samples in the collecting conduit while they are conducted from the collecting probe to the collecting chamber. By virtue of the system, it is not necessary to use a second aircraft that follows the aircraft for collecting samples of contrail.

Measuring emissions generated by the jet engines of an aircraft in flight is important for understanding the contribution of these emissions to global climate change. It will be necessary in order to study new generation fuels, such as biofuels or hydrogen. In particular, understanding the contribution of condensation trails to global climate change is also important.
To analyze condensation trails, it would be possible to envisage using a second aircraft equipped with collection probes which collect samples of air and ice crystals from the condensation trails generated by an aircraft preceding it. Now, placing an aircraft in the jet engine flow of an aircraft preceding it may prove inefficient and costly by virtue of the use of the second aircraft.

System for sampling and analyzing contrails generated by an aircraft


In one embodiment, an HVAC system includes a first control unit communicatively coupled to a first plurality of HVAC units and a first interactive display. A second control unit communicatively coupled to a second plurality of HVAC units and a second interactive display. The first control unit is operable to detect and connect to the second control unit using a Wi-Fi direct protocol to create an HVAC control network that is designated as a primary communications network. The first control unit further operable to detect a Wi-Fi network including a wireless access point. The first control unit operable to re-designate the HVAC control network as a secondary communications network and to designate the Wi-Fi network as the primary communications network. The first control unit may also detect and connect to the second control unit over the Wi-Fi network, wherein the first control unit may receive a first temperature change request from the first interactive display and transmit the first temperature change request to the second control unit over the Wi-Fi network.

Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems regulate a number of environmental conditions in homes, offices, factories, warehouses, and vehicles. These HVAC systems may include one or more HVAC units to move, cool, or heat air. A thermostat may connect to the HVAC units over a communications network, to provide control to the HVAC units.

Distributed heating, ventilation and air conditioning system


A carton formed from a carton blank so that the carton has an outer layer formed from a relatively rigid material and an inner layer formed from a relatively flexible fluid impervious material. The outer layer and the inner layer have superposed weakened portions secured together so that the carton may be opened along the superposed weakened portions in one simultaneous operation. Also, in another embodiment, a similar carton is provided with a pour spout.

There are many kinds of leakproof cartons on the market. The vast majority of these cartons have an outer layer formed from a relatively rigid material for protection and an inner layer formed from a relatively flexible material for providing the leakproof qualities. When it is desired to remove the material in the carton, it is necessary to first open the outer layer, and then open the inner layer. Also, the inner layer generally is not secured to the outer layer so access to the inner layer sometimes presents a problem. This is particularly true in leakproof cartons that are designed to hold only one serving. Another problem relates to the formation of a pour spout in such cartons.

Carton blank and carton formed therefrom


An ejector is provided for an induction system in a vibratory system generating vibration, including a dust ejector for an air induction system of an internal combustion engine. An ejection valve is provided by an inertial mass inertially activated and driven by the vibration to discharge contaminant from the induction system.

The invention relates to effluent or contaminant ejectors, including for air induction systems, including pre-cleaners and air filters, of internal combustion engines.
Effluent or contaminant ejectors, including dust ejectors for air induction systems of internal combustion engines, are known. The air induction system may include a pre-cleaner and an air filter. In one typical arrangement, a dust ejection valve is provided between the pre-cleaner and air filter, for ejecting collected dust.
The present invention arose during development efforts in the above technology, and provides an inertially activated effluent or contaminant ejector. The invention also arose during development efforts in providing a dust ejector for the air induction system of an internal combustion engine.


The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for measuring muscular activity, in particular in relation to bruxism, and providing an electrical stimulation in response to the measured muscular activity through electrodes applied to the skin of an individual, wherein the quality of the connectivity of the electrodes to the skin is monitored and the electrical stimulation signal is changed based on said quality measurement.

In conducting the measurement of EMG signals, electrodes are placed or adhered onto the skin, usually with a layer of electrically conducting gel between the skin surface and the electrode proper. The quality of the signals received will depend on the quality of the connection made between the skin and the electrode, and this may not be easy for the user to ascertain. If the connection is poor, the sensing of particular signals may fail and actions that should be triggered in response to particular conditions may not take place. In Functional Electrical Stimulation systems, electric currents are impressed on the skin by voltage applied via skin electrodes either to produce a muscular reaction or to provide a sensory input. If the connection between the electrode and the skin is poor, this can lead to excessive voltage being applied or can lead to a failure to produce the desired effect.
For instance, in WO2004/087258, episodes of bruxism are detected by monitoring EMG signals received from electrodes on the skin of a user and when such an episode is detected, an mild electric shock is applied via the electrodes as a biofeedback signal. In order that the apparatus can function correctly to detect the bruxism episodes and also to apply the biofeedback signal safely, a good connection between the skin and the electrodes is required. It is described that the connection can be checked by applying a voltage between a pair of the electrodes to be tested, so as to produce a predetermined current, and measuring the voltage required, and further that the user is informed, in case of reduced connection, to adjust the apparatus, such as the strap pressing the electrodes to the skin.
All patent and non-patent references cited in the application, or in the present application, are also hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.


A simulation environment establishment unit constructs a three-dimensional virtual space for a simulation, where a plurality of lattice points is orthogonally arranged as well as ensures in a storage step a storage region storing information for each of the plurality of lattice points. A surface shape processing unit sequentially grows and changes a material surface shape in the three-dimensional virtual space in accordance with manufacturing process conditions, calculates a level value representing a distance from the material surface for each lattice point, and stores the level value into a storage region of a corresponding lattice point to represent the surface shape. A material inside information processing unit calculates material inside information within the material when the surface passes through a lattice point due to the growth and change in the material and stores the material inside information into a storage region of a corresponding lattice point.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a shape simulation method, program and apparatus generating a shape of a micro device in accordance with a wafer process for fabricating semiconductors, HDD head elements, etc., and more particularly, to a shape simulation method, program and apparatus using a level set method for setting level values representing distances from a material surface to arranged lattice points to represent a surface shape.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, in fabrication of semiconductors, hard disk drive head elements, etc., since elements are increasingly miniaturized, a high-accuracy shape simulation is required which includes material inside information including a growth direction of a film, etc. A shape simulation apparatus for a conventional micro device has a function for outputting a final element shape formed after a manufacturing process and uses a shape change algorithm referred to as a level set method in order to calculate a shape change in the manufacturing process and the final element shape. To represent a surface shape, the level set method constructs a two-dimensional or three-dimensional virtual space for a simulation as a background, where a plurality of lattice points (nodes) is arranged, and a surface shape is represented by giving level values φ, which represent distances from a material surface, to the lattice points on the background.
FIG. 11 shows a shape representation method in the level set method in the case of a two-dimensional orthogonal lattice. An equally-spaced orthogonal lattice 100 is formed in a virtual space as a background and a material surface 102 is temporally grown in accordance with conditions of a manufacturing process in this space. Each lattice point is assigned with a level value φ representing a distance from the material surface 102 and a surface shape is represented by these level values φ. A level value assigned to a lattice point ensures a memory region corresponding to the lattice point on a memory and is stored in the memory region. With regard to a shape simulation using the level set method, a proposition has been made for increasing a speed and an accuracy of a surface shape calculation in the calculation technique of the level value.
However, in such a conventional shape simulation, since a simulation result is obtained only as level values representing a surface shape of a micro device manufactured by a semiconductor process, for example, if an element characteristic analysis such as a magnetic simulation is attempted with the use of a simulation result of a head element, because of absence of internal information of material grown by a manufacturing process, e.g., material inside information indicating a film growth direction, an estimate value must be used for necessary material inside information and, therefore, it is problematic that a analysis accuracy is deteriorated. As a method for generating such material inside information, e.g., a film growth direction through a shape simulation, it is contemplated as a method that a user separately generates and inputs a model for a growth direction or that all logs of a calculation process are recorded in a shape simulation. However, in the method of generating a growth model, it is problematic that it takes a lot of trouble and time to generate a model and, in the method of recording all logs of a calculation process, it is problematic that a huge amount of memory is used and that a calculation amount is increased since necessary inside information must be calculated separately from the obtained logs.

Shape simulation method, program and apparatus


A lightweight, remote-controlled, self-propelled equipment support and transport system is stabilized against unwanted angular deviation in each of three perpendicular axes and adapted for motion at high speed along a simple tubular monorail. The system can be quickly and efficiently ground-mounted on stands, suspended horizontally from brackets or from a variety of overhead supports, or vertically mounted alongside a mast or wall. The system includes an elongated drive car running on and partly surrounding a rail, and an equipment support associated with the drive car and configured so that the supported equipment is transversely and longitudinally spaced and balanced about a point just below the center of the rail. The equipment support is mounted in angular isolation relative to the drive car by a system of damped pivots about pitch and yaw axes. The drive car includes a steering adjustment adapted to counteract slight variations in wheel alignment that might tend to drive the transport off-level when in motion along the rail.

The present invention generally relates to the field of stabilized, equipment transporting devices, and more particularly, to a simple and efficient apparatus for the high-speed transport of lightweight cameras or other equipment which may be orientation-sensitive and/or stability-sensitive so that the equipment is isolated from unwanted motions. Although the following discussion will proceed in the context of motion picture (primarily video) applications for purposes of convenience in description, it is to be understood that the improvements which are described will find utility in connection with any of a variety of possible applications.
Since the beginning of motion picture photography, when it became desirable to transport cameras in a stable manner, so-called "camera dollies" have been used to ameliorate the adverse effects of motion in the camera. Such dollies tend to be simple wheeled vehicles, without any suspension or other means for isolating the camera from unwanted movements of the dolly. What is more, such dollies are quite cumbersome in use since unless the terrain consists of near perfect planar flooring, the dolly must ride on a system of rails for leveling irregularities in the supporting surface. Such rail systems must in turn be laboriously leveled to achieve their intended result.
Such shortcomings have led to the invention of the "Steadicam.RTM." and "Skycam.RTM." camera transporting systems. The "Steadicam.RTM." camera transporting system is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. RE 32,213; 4,156,512; 4,208,028; 4,394,075; and 4,474,439, and has become an industry standard for stabilizing ambulatory, hand-held cameras. The "Skycam.RTM." camera transporting system is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,533,955; 4,625,938; and 4,710,819, and provides a stabilized aerial camera transport to, in essence, "fly" a suspended camera over an area such as an arena or auditorium. Both of these devices avoid the need for rails, and operate conveniently and smoothly over rough terrain.
However, the underlying difficulties with rail systems remained unsolved and such problems have become aggravated as the required speed of transport (for camera systems) has increased responsive to the demands of the industry.
Known dolly and rail systems generally employ two rails for the dolly. So-called "monorail" systems have also been developed, employing a single rail structure having at least two surfaces (e.g., an I-beam) for receiving the dolly's wheels. In each case, the dolly is suitably referenced to the upright, level position which is needed for the equipment it supports. The difficulty is that the two rails, or the two surfaces of a monorail, must not only be laid straight and true along the path of the dolly's progress, but also must be carefully leveled in reference to one another. Otherwise, the dolly will tend to lurch (transverse lateral and rolling movements) down the rails (or rail) of the system. Even with the best of care, such leveling operations can only be as accurate as the equipment (e.g., the bubble level or digital level sensing device) employed. As the speed of the dolly's progress increases, virtually any irregularities can cause increasing vibration in the camera sequences obtained (i.e., the "shot").
As the need for stable, high-speed traveling shots increased over the years, a variety of isolated, mass/gyro-stabilized camera systems (housings) were developed which could be transported by other, essentially unstable vehicles (including helicopters and camera cars) at practical speeds. In an effort to provide a stabilized camera transport system smaller than a camera car, and adapted for sports coverage, a device (a vehicle known as "RailCam.TM.") was developed to transport such stabilized gyro-cameras using an electrically powered, unstabilized dolly running on a rail system. Although this device has been used to make exciting traveling shots of runners and ice-skaters, it is expensive, labor intensive, large and power demanding. As a result, the device can only meet the needs of large, well-funded sporting events.
At the same time, video cameras have continued to reduce in size, and the need for a small, stable, ultra-light, self-propelled camera transport system has become more acute. The above-described "RailCam.TM." device has been unable to meet limited budgeting requirements, yet the need to enhance viewer excitement by obtaining moving camera shots in an increasingly diverse spectrum of events, including sports, music and entertainment television, has continued to increase. In an effort to satisfy these ever-increasing needs, so-called "point-of-view" cameras have proliferated in an effort to place viewers in the midst of the action. Particularly for sporting events, such miniature cameras have been inconspicuously placed on race-cars, and on the helmets of football players, but the stability of the shots obtained using such equipment is limited to the inherent stability of the carrier (i.e., the race-car or football player).
Despite all efforts directed at this problem, there remains no comparable, ultra-small tracking camera system of a size and weight appropriate for use with the miniature high-quality video cameras which are currently available. It therefore remained to develop such a system, capable of delivering a slim, ultra-light, railed "footprint", and capable of rapid, versatile and silent deployment close to the action to be shot, yet which is stabilized to a sufficient degree to provide "broadcast-quality" images during such high-speed tracking applications.

Stabilized lightweight equipment transport system


A layer of adhesive is applied along a separation interface defined between a first surface of a first component and a second surface of a second component. A first portion of a pull cord is embedded into the adhesive layer along the separation interface and between the first and second surfaces. The first portion of the pull cord is positioned to enable the separation interface to be cleaved such that the first component is uncoupled from the second component. A second portion of the pull cord extends externally to the adhesive layer.

The present disclosure relates generally to consumable and/or refurbishable parts and, more particularly, to methods and systems used to removably couple a consumable part within a system.
Known systems generally require routine maintenance, including scheduled inspections and/or repair of various components. To perform at least some known maintenance actions, the system may be required to be removed from service. Components may be removed from the system for a variety of reasons including, without limitation, component maintenance and/or component failure.
Removing and/or replacing a component may be tedious and/or time-consuming. For example, to remove at least some known components, an adhesive coupling used to couple the component within the system must be manually removed at the component/system interface. After the adhesive is removed from the component system interface via a scraping action, for example, a surface of the system adjacent to the component/system interface must also be cleaned to prepare the surface for a replacement component while an area surrounding the surface is protected. During such a maintenance procedure, the replacement component is coupled to the prepared surface using an adhesive bond, and the replacement component is then re-inspected to ensure that the component/system interface complies with predetermined system specifications. Accordingly, at least some known replacement methods require a long clean up time, a long surface preparation time, and/or a long bonding cycle, all of which may lengthen an overall time that the system is out of service and/or unavailable.

Methods and systems for removably coupling consumable parts within a system


A pipefitting engaging tool assembly includes a housing that has a bottom wall and a peripheral wall. A head is attached to the housing and has a circular opening extending therethrough. The opening is defined by an outer edge that has a slot therein continually extending around the outer edge. A ring member has an outer perimeter edge and an inner perimeter edge. The inner perimeter edge has a plurality of teeth attached thereto and extends inwardly of the ring member. The teeth are configured to engage a pipefitting. The ring member is positioned in the slot in the outer edge of the opening. A drive assembly is mounted in the housing and is mechanically coupled to the ring member to selectively rotate the ring member in a first direction or a second direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pipefitting engaging tools and more particularly pertains to a new pipefitting engaging tool for positioning around a pipefitting and selectively loosening or tightening the pipefitting on a pipe by way of a powered tool.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of pipefitting engaging tools is known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,178,817 describes a powered pipe wrench for engaging and rotating a pipe fitting. Another type of pipefitting engaging tool having a similar use and structure to that found above is U.S. Pat. No. 3,774,481. Still yet another powered pipe wrench is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,269 that includes a jaw assembly having a toothed gear mounted in the jaw assembly. The toothed gear may be brought into communication with a pipefitting and then rotated with a motor so that the pipefitting is also rotated.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for a powered device that is adapted for being receiving and rotating a plurality of different sized pipefittings. Additionally, the device should include a means for securing a pipe with respect to a pipefitting.


A dual-MAC processor optimized so that two Viterbi ACS operations, including traceback bit storage, can be executed in two machine cycles is disclosed. The processor comprises a pair of adder arithmetic logic units connected to a common accumulator register bank and supporting full and split-mode add, subtract, and compare operations. Viterbi compare operations are executed using the subtract function and the sign bit is combined with a compare mode bit to generate a traceback output which indicates the proper traceback bit to store. When a compare operation is performed and a Viterbi mode bit is active, each generated traceback output is shifted into a traceback register for later use in a Viterbi traceback routine.

In an effort to achieve the demanding speed requirements of such data processing applications as high-speed digital communication and voice processing systems, use has been made of the digital signal processor (DSP), which is a special-purpose CPU utilized for digital processing and analysis of signals from analog sources, such as sound. The analog signals are converted into digital data and analyzed using various algorithms, such as Fast Fourier Transforms. DSPs are designed for particularly fast performance of certain operations, such as multiplication, multiplying and accumulating, and shifting and accumulating, because the mathintensive processing applications for DSPs rely heavily on such operations. For this reason, a DSP will typically include special hardware circuits to perform multiplication, accumulation and shifting operations.
One form of DSP architecture that exhibits significant benefits in processing speed is known as a Multiply-Accumulate or MAC processor. The MAC processor implements an architecture that takes advantage of the fact that the most common data processing operations involve multiplying two values, then adding the resulting value to another and accumulating the result. These basic operations are efficiently carried out utilizing specially configured, high-speed multipliers and accumulators, hence the "Multiply-Accumulate" nomenclature.
Another method for increasing processing speed is to perform different processes concurrently. Towards this end, DSP architectures with plural MAC structures have been developed. For example, a dual MAC processor is capable of performing two independent MAC operations concurrently. A simplified block diagram of a typical dual MAC processor 10 is illustrated in FIG. 1. Each half of the processor 12 has a 2-input multiplier 14 which receives input from an x or y (input) register 13 and stores its output in a product register 16. The product register is connected to one input of an adder 18, the output of which may selectively be stored in one of several accumulator registers 20. A second input of the adder 18 is connected to the accumulator array 20 to allow for a continuous series of cumulative operations. Additional data control signals (not shown) may allow the registers 13 to bypass the multiplier be connected directly to the inputs of adders 18. Conventional vector processors may have one or several MAC processors operating in parallel.
The DSP16000 dual-MAC processor, available from Lucent Technologies, includes a data arithmetic unit (DAU), which constitutes the primary computational unit. The inputs to the multipliers of the DAU are applied through a pair of double length registers designated as the x and y registers, while the output of each multiplier is applied to a respective product register. Concurrent accumulations are achieved by providing both two-input arithmetic logic unit (ALU) and a three-input adder, either of which may accumulate the data in either product register. When mathematical functions are performed by the ALU or adder, the result is stored in an accumulator register, a number of which are present in the DAU.
In wireless and wireline applications, particularly those with significant intersymbol interference, DSP's are used to perform data error detection and correction using convolutional encoding and Viterbi Decoding. Convolutional encoding is performed by convolving a data input bit with one or more previous uncoded input bits. The convolved data is decoded using the well known Viterbi algorithm. The Viterbi algorithm uses knowledge about the possible state transitions of the encoder from one given state to the next to determine the most likely encoder input given the received data.
FIG. 2 is an illustration of the basic Viterbi algorithm butterfly computation. Four possible encoder transitions from present state (PS) to next state (NS) are illustrated. The present state is equivalent to the numeric value of the data stored in a shift register of the encoder. When a bit is input, the encoder register is shifted to the right and the input bit is moved into the most significant bit position (shown in bold in the next state). Thus, as illustrated, NS.sub.0 can be reached with a 0 input bit from either PS.sub.0 or PS.sub.1. Similarly, NS.sub.8 can be reached with a 1 input bit from either PS.sub.0 or PS.sub.1. The Viterbi algorithm provides a way to determine which of the two possible transition paths is the most likely, e.g., which is the survivor path.
This determination consists of two basic steps. The first step is a branch metric computation which determines the Euclidean distance between the received data symbol and the actual data symbol which would result from a state transition from the present to a next state. The branch metric for a transition from a present state i to a next state j at instant k is signified as m.sub.i,j (k) and is represented by the equation: ##EQU1## where x.sub.n (k) is the received nth symbol, C.sub.n,ij is the actual symbol that would result from state transition of i to j (which is determined from the structure of the convolutional encoder), and the rate of the encoder (e.g., the number of output bits for every input bit) is 1/R. For a rate 1/R encoder, two branch metrics must be computed for each next state.
Once the branch metric for all possible state transitions is calculated, the accumulated distance is calculated for each input path and the path with the minimum distance (i.e., maximum probability) is selected as the survivor path. This step is known as Add-Compare-Select, or ACS. The third step is known as traceback. This step traces the maximum likelihood path through a trellis of possible present state to next state transitions, as determined by the first two steps, and reconstructs the path through the trellis to extract the original input data. In this example, the survivor path is represented by the least significant bit of the present state, conventionally referred to as the traceback bit (shown in bold in FIG. 2). For example, if the path from present state S.sub.1 is chosen over the path from present state So, the traceback bit is 1.
The ACS operation can be broken into two steps: (1) the Add operation, or path metric computation, and (2) the Compare-Select operation. The path metric add operation is the accumulation of the present state cost (a value initialized by the user at the start of the Viterbi processing) and the branch metric values. As shown in FIG. 2, the two path metrics for next state 0000 are: EQU PS.sub.0 +m.sub.0,0 and PS.sub.1 +m.sub.1,0 (Equ. 1)
and for next state 1000 are: EQU PS.sub.0 +m.sub.0,8 and PS.sub.1 +m.sub.1,8 (Equ. 2)
Once calculation of the two path metrics for each state is completed, the values are compared and the minimum or the maximum, depending on implementation details, is selected as the survivor cost and the corresponding traceback bit (TB) is determined and stored. This operation for the path metrics of Equs. 1 and 2 can be expressed, for example, as: EQU NS.sub.0 =min(PS.sub.0 +m.sub.0,0,PS.sub.1 +m.sub.1,0) (Equ. 3) EQU TB.sub.0 =0 if NS.sub.0 =PS.sub.0 +m.sub.0,0 else TB.sub.0 =1(Equ. 4)
and EQU NS.sub.8 =min(PS.sub.0 +m.sub.0,8,PS.sub.1 +m.sub.1,8) (Equ. 5) EQU TB.sub.8 =0 if NS.sub.8 =PS.sub.0 +m.sub.0,8 else TB.sub.8 =1(Equ. 6)
The above equations represent the analysis for a general decoder. For the more specific class of decoders having the property that the metric m.sub.0,8 =-m.sub.0,0, equations 2 can be expressed as: EQU PS.sub.0 -m.sub.0,0 and PS.sub.1 -m.sub.1,0 (Equ. 2a)
and Equations 5 and 6 can be expressed as: EQU NS.sub.8 =min(PS.sub.0 -m.sub.0,0,PS.sub.1 -m.sub.1,0) (Equ. 5a) EQU TB.sub.8 =0 if NS.sub.8 =PS.sub.0 -m.sub.0,0 else TB.sub.8 =1(Equ. 6a)
Although dedicated hardware Viterbi decoders constitute efficient and successful strategies for data detection, it is useful to implement a Viterbi algorithm using a signal and data processor which can be programmed for other applications as well. One form of architecture which has been used for this purpose is the MAC processor, discussed above.
Attempts have been made to optimize MAC processors to optimize speed of execution of the Viterbi ACS operations. For example, the TMS320C5xx single-MAC DSP from Texas Instruments provides an instruction which allows either Equ. 1 or Equ. 2 to be evaluated in one cycle by using a split mode 16-bit add/subtract operation. However, one-cycle performance can only be achieved for an encoder configured so that branch metric m.sub.1,0 =-m.sub.0,0 and thus this performance cannot be achieved for when the encoder does not have this property. The TMS320C5xx chip also provides a single cycle instruction to perform Equs. 3 and 4 concurrently or Equs. 5 and 6 concurrently using only a "maximum" criteria, and thus cannot easily perform a Viterbi algorithm implemented to require the minimum of the path metric values because the generated traceback bits are altered. Further, the compare and select operations are implemented using a dedicated comparator unit which is separate from the primary adder or arithmetic logic unit.
Texas Instruments also provides a dual-MAC DSP, part number TMS320C6xx, which can evaluate Equs. 1 and 2 in a single cycle. However, this chip does not contain the necessary hardware to perform Equs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 in a single cycle because the traceback bit is not automatically generated and stored in a traceback register but instead must be explicitly shifted into an appropriate register using an additional command. Thus, additional machine cycles are required to store a traceback bit based on the results of the comparison, reducing the efficiency of Viterbi decoding.
A dual-MAC processor of the present invention comprises a pair of adder units and/or arithmetic logic units (ALU) operating in parallel and connected to a common accumulator register bank. The processor is optimized so that two Viterbi ACS operations, including traceback bit storage, can be executed in two machine cycles. Each adder/ALU comprises means to add, subtract, and compare one pair of data inputs when a full mode operation is performed or two pairs of data input when a split mode operation is performed. According to the invention, compare operations are executed using the subtract function of the adder/ALU and the sign bit is combined with a compare mode bit to generate a traceback output which indicates the proper traceback bit to store during the compare portion of Viterbi convolutional decoding. Each traceback output is connected to the input of a traceback shift register. When a compare operation is performed and a Viterbi mode bit is active, the generated traceback output is shifted into the traceback register. Each adder/ALU is configured with a subset of full and split-mode functions optimized to perform efficiently Viterbi add-compare- select.

Mac processor with efficient Viterbi ACS operation and automatic traceback store


A waste heat boiler includes an axial bypass pipe and multiple heat transfer pipes disposed within a cylindrical jacket. A hot exhaust gas stream transported between inlet and outlet ends of the heat transfer pipes is cooled by a coolant. A control system controls gas passage velocity and quantity of the exhaust gas stream through the bypass pipe whereby the exhaust gas stream exhaust temperature is maintained within a predetermined temperature range. The control system includes a stopper disposed at the outlet end of the bypass pipe and has a head plate extending into the outlet end of the bypass pipe. The stopper is axially displaceable from a closed position, where an outer surface of the stopper head plate contacts an inner surface of the bypass pipe outlet end. The gas passage formed between the inner surface of the bypass pipe outlet end and the outer surface of the stopper head plate has a cross-section that increases as the stopper is axially displaced from the closed position. The stopper is cooled by a cooling medium.

The invention relates to a waste heat boiler that comprises, within a cylindrical jacket, a multiplicity of heat transfer pipes and a centrally arranged bypass pipe, each of which has an inlet end and an outlet end, and that comprises a control device to maintain the waste heat boiler gas exhaust temperature within a particular temperature range. The invention relates, in particular, to a waste heat boiler, the control device of which attaches to the outlet end of the bypass pipe in order to influence the waste heat boiler gas exhaust temperature.
Waste heat boilers that are fed on the pipe- and jacket side (channel side) with various gaseous and/or liquid mediums are used in numerous chemical and petrochemical processes. In the process, the hot exhaust gas that develops as a result of a process is fed to the heat transfer pipes, which are arranged as a pipe bundle within the waste heat boiler jacket, as well as to the bypass pipe. While passing through the heat transfer pipes, the hot exhaust gas transfers its heat to the cooling medium, generally water, on the jacket side and is subsequently removed from the waste heat boiler in a cooled state. In order to maintain the waste heat boiler gas exhaust temperature within a particular temperature range, it may be necessary to influence the exhaust temperature with the help of a controlled bypass. This may, for example, be accomplished by using a control damper or a rotating control damper or a control stopper that is arranged at the outlet end of the bypass pipe. Such control devices are known from printed publications DE AS 28 46 455 and EP 0 356 648 A1.
Because the exhaust gases in the bypass pipe of the waste heat boiler have a very high temperature and in the large majority of cases flow through at a high velocity, a control element such as a control damper or a control stopper that is arranged at the outlet end of the bypass pipe is subject to high thermal load. The control stoppers currently in use have the disadvantage that exhaust gases that flow out the outlet end of the opened bypass pipe form a powerful plume so that there is a danger of hot spots on the wall of the gas exhaust chamber. One or several of these hot spots cause thermal damage to the wall of the gas exhaust chamber, which in turn leads to undesirably short servicing intervals or to a shorter life span of the waste heat boiler.


Disclosed are compositions comprising at least one [benzo[4,5]imidazo(heterocycle)] compound, said [benzo[4,5]imidazo(heterocycle)] compound selected from the group consisting of structures I and II,

The invention relates to chemical compositions and their use as taggants for producing authenticatable polymers and articles, and methods for authenticating these polymers and articles. The invention is useful in security applications, particularly for authenticating articles such as security documents, pharmaceutical packaging, telecom accessories, such as cellular phone covers and batteries, and data storage media, such as compact disks (CDs) and digital versatile disks (DVDs).
A major problem confronting the various makers and users of data storage media is the unauthorized reproduction or copying of information by unauthorized manufacturers, sellers and/or users. Electronics-based and software-based approaches have been used. Piracy has evolved to the point that unauthorized duplicates now contain the original electronic anti-piracy circuit, code, etc. For example, standard holograms are now easily counterfeited and no longer guarantee the authenticity of a product. Similarly, computer codes to remove anti-piracy features and enable unlimited access to the data have been developed. Regardless of the manner, piracy of data storage media deprives legitimate software and entertainment content providers and original electronic equipment manufacturers of significant revenue and profit. Numerous approaches to thwart such consumer level piracy have been developed. One such approach involves the placement of 'tags' or authentication markers in substrates used in the construction of data storage media, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,099,930, 6,514,617, 6,296,911, U.S. Patent Application No. 2002/0149003A1, and World Patent Application No. WO 00/14736.
There is also a need for chemical compositions that can be incorporated as taggants in polymer matrices through traditional processes such as molding, extrusion, and the like. In the case of engineering thermoplastics, such as polycarbonate, such processes often involve high temperatures, of the order of 280° C., or even higher. Under these high temperatures and residence times in the processing equipment, the chemical compositions known in the art generally tends to decompose or degrade, thereby leading to an unsatisfactory performance as an effective taggant in the finished polymer composition or molded article.
Therefore, there is a need for more effective and thermally stable chemical entitites, which can be used as authentication tags (or taggants) or combinations of taggants for use in polymers and articles, particularly those comprising engineering thermoplastics. It would also be desirable to provide methods for preparing such chemical compositions, and authenticating the polymer compositions and articles, such that genuine manufacturers, sellers, and/or users of the authenticatable polymer compositions and authenticatable articles are not adversely affected by unauthorized manufacturers.

Chemical compositions for authenticatable polymers and articles, and authentication methods thereof

Abstract: wherein R1 and R2 are independently selected from the group consisting of a hydrogen atom, electron withdrawing group, organic group, divalent 1,2-cycloalkylidene group, or combinations thereof; “q” is independently an integer from 1–4, L is a linking group, and “r” is independently 0 or 1; said at least one [benzo[4,5]imidazo(heterocycle)] compound being present at a concentration sufficient to cause said composition to exhibit upon exposure to an excitation radiation having a wavelength of from about 330 nanometers to about 390 nanometers, a maximum fluorescence emission wavelength of greater than or equal to about 470 nanometers; and a Stokes shift of greater than or equal to about 80 nanometers; wherein the wavelengths are measured in bisphenol A polycarbonate matrix.


Process for producing a 7-bromoquinolone-carboxylic acid derivative of the following formula or its salt

As the process for producing a compound of the general formula [1], there has been known the process described in WO97/29102. That is to say, said publication describes that a compound of the general formula [1] can be produced by subjecting a 5-halogenoisoindoline derivative represented by the following general formula [4] or its salt:
wherein R3, R4 and R5 have the same meanings as mentioned above and X1 represents a halogen atom, to lithiation or Grignard reaction and thereafter to reaction with a trialkyl borate to form an isoindoline-5-boronic acid derivative represented by the following general formula [2c] or its salt:
wherein R3, R4 and R5 have the same meanings as mentioned above and R11 represents a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group; and subsequently reacting the isoindoline-5-boronic acid derivative or its salt with a 7-halogenoquinolonecarboxylic acid represented by the following general formula [3b]:
wherein R1, R2, R6 and A have the same meanings as mentioned above and X3 represents a halogen atom, in the presence of a palladium complex such as bis(triphenylphosphine)-palladium(II) chloride, tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)-palladium(0) or the like.
Among the compounds of the general formula [1], (R)-1-cyclopropyl-8-difluoromethoxy-7-(1-methyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-5-isoindolyl)-4-oxo-1,4-dihydro-3-quinoline-carboxylic acid represented by the formula:
(referred to hereinafter as T-3811) is a compound excellent in activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and the development of a process for industrially producing the same has been desired.
Moreover, T-3811 is low in solubility in the vicinity of neutral, so that the enhancement of solubility at a physiologically acceptable pH has been desired.

Processes for producing 7-isoindoline-quinolonecarboxylic acid derivative and its intermediate, as well as salt of 7-isoindoline-quinolonecarboxylic acid derivative, its hydrate and composition comprising the same as active ingredient

Abstract: by reacting a 2,4-dibromo-3-hydroxybenzoic acid ester compound of the formulaR7a-x to obtain a 3-alkoxy-2,4-dibromobenzoic acid ester, subjecting the 3-alkoxy-2,4-dibromobenzoic acid ester to elimination reaction of the carboxyl-protecting group to obtain a 3-alkoxy-2,4-dibromobenzoic acid, subjecting the 3-alkoxy-2,4-dibromobenzoic acid to ketoesterification reaction to obtain a 3-alkoxy-2,4-dibromobenyolacetic acid ester, reacting the 3-alkoxy-2,4-dibromobenzoylacetic acid ester with an orthoester or an acetal, then reacting the reaction product with a compound of the formula R2—NH or its salt to obtain a 2-(3-alkoxy-2,4-dibromobenzoyl)-3-substituted aminoacrylic acid ester and subjecting the 2-(3-alkoxy-2,4-dibromobenzoyl)-3-substituted aminoacrylic acid ester to ring-closing reaction, and products thereof.


Systems and methods track objects within an operating room. A machine vision system includes at least one camera and a machine vision controller. A navigation system includes a camera unit including a plurality of sensor arrays. The sensor arrays include a plurality of sensing elements. For each of the plurality of sensor arrays, the navigation system identifies a first subset of the plurality of sensing elements to be active based on the position of the object and a second subset of the plurality of sensing elements to be inactive based on the position of the object. The navigation processor is also configured to track a movement of the object within the operating room using the first subset of the plurality of sensing elements while preventing the use of the second subset of the plurality of sensing elements.

Navigation systems assist users in locating objects. For instance, navigation systems are used in industrial, aerospace, and medical applications. In the medical field, navigation systems assist surgeons in precisely placing surgical instruments relative to a patient's anatomy. Surgeries in which navigation systems are used include neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery. Typically, the instrument and the anatomy are tracked together with their relative movement shown on a display.
Navigation systems may employ light signals, sound waves, magnetic fields, RF signals, etc., in order to track the position and/or orientation of objects. Often the navigation system cooperates with tracking devices attached to the object being tracked. The navigation system includes a localizer to determine a position of the tracking devices, and ultimately to determine a position and/or orientation of the object. The navigation system monitors movement of the object via the tracking devices.
Frequently, localizers determine the position of tracked objects by sampling reflections or emissions of light from trackers attached to the tracked objects at a defined sampling rate. For example, some localizers sample light from the trackers at about 60 Hertz (Hz). Other localizers may sample light from the trackers up to about 335 Hz. Two-dimensional sensors employed by a localizer require processing a large volume of data. The localizer includes optical sensors, each sensor having an array of sensing elements and each sensing element having a range of values corresponding to the incident energy on the element. Processing an image from these values requires reading out the information from each element in sequence, that is—the readout processing cannot be parallelized. Sensors suitable for use in a localizer have a high number of elements with large ranges of values, so processing the sensor readout becomes a bottleneck and is a limiting factor in improving the sampling rate for tracking technologies. These sampling rates may be insufficient to detect rapid movement of the tracked objects adequately. Similarly, a low sampling rate may be insufficient to detect small movements of the tracked objects.
Increasing the sampling rate to address these shortcomings introduces its own challenges. For example, an increase in the sampling rate can substantially increase a processing workload for a processor that is tasked with analyzing the sampled signals to determine the presence and pose of the tracked objects. In some situations, the processor may not be able to keep up with the rate and number of sampled signals received from the trackers and may thus fail to detect changes in pose of the tracked objects. As described above, the readout from the sensor itself is a limiting factor in improving processing time as more data from the processor increases the workload of the processor.
The present disclosure addresses one or more of the above-described problems.

Systems and methods for tracking objects


The current invention is an apparatus and method for an inner and outer dual hull boat capable of transforming between different levels of planing ability. The design is a gateway in the outer hull which allows water to pass through the void between the inner and outer hull. By controlling the position of a gate, the flow of water through the gateway in the forward moving boat can be controlled, which allows for the control of the planing or displacement capacity of the boat.

Boat manufacturers strive to develop boats to work for as many different situations as possible; an attempt at one boat does it all. For years, water-ski tournament boats were designed to produce as little wake as possible to cater to the slalom water ski market. The market changed and wakeboard "water-skiers" demanded boats that produced large wakes. Now with the sport of wake surfing growing, there is demand for boats that produce a larger wake at slower speeds. Also, wake surfers will want to ride on either the left or the right side of the boat. Currently, to shift from left to right requires repositioning ballast. It is likely that the people in the boat will want to do all of these activities in the same outing. Designing a boat to perform well for all these demands is difficult with current technology.
For larger ocean capable boats, a displacement hull is advantageous in that it rides deeper in the water thus riding through the waves. Displacement hulls also consume comparatively less fuel when underway, but can only attain slower boat speeds. To attain higher speeds, a planing hull is needed. Planing hulls ride higher in the water when operating at higher speeds. The disadvantage is that by riding more on the top of the waves as opposed to riding through them, planing hull boats "bounce" across wave tops and therefore the ride is not as smooth as that of a displacement hull. It would be advantageous if the boat's operator could modify a boat hull's performance during operation.
A boat hull that has an upward curved rocker towards the stern will ride deeper in the water. This is a shape frequently utilized in a displacement hull.
In order to produce a boat that produces a small wake, the hull of a boat can have a reverse rocker (a slight downward turn) near the stern of the boat. This reverse rocker creates a lifting effect on the rear of the boat, causing the rear of the boat to ride higher in the water when moving forward, thus decreasing the wake size. Most tournament ski boats incorporate this reverse rocker.
Another method for reducing the size of the boat's wake is with trim tabs. Trim tabs are plates that mount to the boat's transom, or to the hull of the boat forward of the transom, and then extend rearward from there. The front end of the trim tab is typically flush with the bottom of the boat and frequently attached by a hinge joint. The rear end of the trim tab may be fixed or adjustable up and down, typically by hydraulic linear actuators. With the trim tab in the up position, there is little or no force on the water generated by the trim tab. With the trim tab in the down position, the trim tab creates an upward force on the rear of the boat. Trim tabs increase the versatility of boats. With motor driven or hydraulic trim tabs, the boat's operator can adjust them while the boat is underway and modify the performance of the boat.
One approach to increasing the size of the boat's wake is with the use of underwater wings. These wings are "upside-down" hydrofoils that generate downward force when the boat is moving forward. One example of this downward force hydrofoil is the "Wedge" commercially available on Malibu brand tournament ski boats. Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,527 which describes the use of "upside-down" hydrofoils to enhance wake size.
Another approach to increasing the size of the boat's wake is water ballast. There is significant prior art for boat ballast such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,835 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,099. Wake surfers add a few hundred pounds of ballast, or even more; as much as 2,000 pounds. While this produces a larger wake, it reduces the performance and safety margin of the boat.
Yet another approach to increasing the size of the wake is to add wave forming protuberances to the sides of the boat as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,527. While perhaps functional, this approach is not practical as the boat would be unable to utilize existing trailers, boat lifts or typical docking facilities.
Another approach to develop a multi-functional boat hull is commercially available on some Correct Craft brand tournament ski boats. Specific Correct Craft boats have a feature called Hydro-Gate™ that is a vertically oriented plate at the center of the transom of the boat. It can be retracted out of the flow of water or extended into the flow of water passing beneath the boat. When extended into the down position, into the water, it creates a lifting force on the rear of the boat.

Apparatus and method for a dual hull boat with control gate


The present invention relates to a display, and more particularly, to circuit for driving a display of a low power consumption. For the purpose, the circuit includes a light emitting display of current driven type having a plurality of column electrode lines arranged in a column direction, a plurality of row electrode lines arranged perpendicular to the column electrode lines, and a matrix of pixels at crossing points of the column electrode lines and the row electrode lines, a power source part, a column driving circuit connected to the column electrode lines formed in the column direction for supplying/discharging a current to/from the column electrode lines, for driving the light emitting display of current driven type, and an electric transformer for, when the current supplied to the column electrode lines is discharged, recovering the current discharged from the column electrode lines and re-supplying a recovered current to the power source part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display, and more particularly, to a circuit for driving a display of a low power consumption.
2. Background of the Related Art
Recently, passing ahead CRTs (Cathode Ray Tubes) that have been used the most widely, the flat displays, shown up starting particularly from the LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) at the fore front, are developed rapidly in the fields of PDP (Plasma Display Panel), VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display), FED (Field Emission Display), LED (Light Emitting Diode), EL (Electroluminescence), and the like.
Because the foregoing displays of a current driven type have, not only good vision and color feeling, but also a simple fabrication process, the displays are widening fields of their applications.
However, the display of a current driven type consumes more current both at the display and a driving circuit thereof as a panel of the display becomes larger. Moreover, the display of a current driven type requires more current for obtaining a desired luminance as a resolution of the display of a current driven type becomes higher because a time period allowed for driving becomes shorter due to a physical quantity required for the display.
Currently, despite the unfavorable characteristics in a response time, an angle of view, the color feeling, and the like, the major reason the LCD is used the most widely is that the LCD has a very small power consumption.
Of course, though the power consumption of the LCD is not small when the back light is taken into account, recently, the LCD of a transflective type, or a reflective type, that permits to dispense with the back light, is employed.
Recently, an organic EL display is paid attention as a flat display that occupies a small space following fabrication of large sized display. FIG. 1 illustrates a related art organic EL driving circuit.
Referring to FIG. 1, the related art organic EL display panel driving circuit is provided with a power source Vdd for applying a voltage to elements, a data driving part of a PMOS for controlling a current from the power source to an anode of an light emitting device 2 in response to a data signal, a data sink part 3 of an NMOS, a scan driving part 4 of an NMOS for making a cathode voltage from the light emitting device 2 conductive in response to a scan signal, and a scan controlling part 5 of a PMOS for applying an inverse voltage to the scan driving part 4.
The other side of the scan driving part 4 is connected to the ground, directly. The data signal and the scan signal applied to the data driving part 1 and the scan driving part 4 respectively are controlled by the controller (not shown).
The scan controlling part 5 has a power supplied from the Vpp, an inverse voltage, and is connected to a cathode of the light emitting device 2. The inverse voltage serves to prevent cross talk of the light emitting device 2.
The foregoing display has smaller power consumption in comparison to the CRT, no distortion at edge parts, and permits to fabricate an extra thin display. Moreover, the foregoing display permits fabrication of a large sized screen because it is robust in comparison to the LCD and has a wider angle of view owing to self-luminescence and a good responsive characteristics, has a wide range of service temperature of −40°–+70°, permits to select a wide variety of colors without restraints, and is operative even with a voltage as low as 15V.
However, a major reason the LCDs, which have more unfavorable characteristics than the displays of a current driven type with the foregoing advantages, are employed in portable information devices and the like more than the displays of a current driven type is that the organic ELs have a power consumption greater than the LCDs.
Since the great power consumption of the portable information terminal devices rises as a great problem as use of the portable information terminal devices increases, the problem acts as a factor that restricts use of the display of a current driven type.
However, in general, though the power consumption of the display of a current driven type is a few times of the LCD, this simple comparison has no meaning. That is, if the back light of the LCD is included, there is not so much difference of power consumption between the LCD and the display of a current driven type.
Moreover, if the power consumption of the display of a current driven type is reduced by approx. half from a total level, a total power consumption of the display of a current driven type can be reduced to a level almost the same with the LCD.


A tank receives raw water for clarification by flotation. An array of lamellae define a set of generally vertically oriented channels with solid side walls. Flotation occurs in each channel. The channels are preferably inclined. With a round tank, a frame rotates an interlocking array of radial and concentric lamellae. A stationary raw water inlet distribution box fills the channels with raw treated water. An aligned clarified water collection box withdraws clarified water. A stationary skimmer directs floating sludge to a removal conduit with a variable pitch screw conveyor. Sliding seals on the lamellae isolate individual channels or groups of channels as they move through the tank. The channels lock and move columns of water through the tank with substantially no turbulence.

This invention relates in general to an apparatus and method for the clarification of water where the removal of suspended particles is accomplished by a flocculating agent and flotation using a stream of rising, microscopic air bubbles. More specifically, it relates to an improved clarification apparatus and method of the general type described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,022,696 and 4,931,175 using single stage flotation in a flotation tank.
Water clarification the removal of particulate contaminants suspended in water, is used to treat waste water from manufacturing processes, particularly in the paper and pulp industries, in the treatment of municipal water drinking supplies, and in sewage treatment. The water can be clarified by sedimentation or flotation of the particles. Known sedimentation techniques and apparatus are efficient, but are limited even at peak efficiency to a comparatively slow sedimentation rate, about 0.5 gallons per minute per square foot (40 l/m.sup.2 /min). To handle large volumes of raw input water, sedimentation facilities must therefore be large, with attendant cost and space utilization disadvantages.
Flotation techniques dissolve a few percent of air by volume in pressurized water and then release the air in the form of microscopic bubbles which attach to the particles and carry them upwardly to the surface where they form a floating sludge. The particles are usually coagulated and flocculated using conventional agents such as alum and/or polymers before the air bubbles are introduced. Flotation techniques are theoretically capable of achieving clarification rates of 7.5 gallons per minute per square foot of flotation area (300 l/m.sup.2 /min) Heretofore in practice the rates have been less than this theoretical value, but significantly better than for sedimentation techniques.
Several early attempts by applicant to use flotation techniques to clarify water are described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,874,842 issued in 1959 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,182,799 issued in 1965. They use a stationary tank with no skimmers or other moving components in the tank. The gas bubbles were introduced via the main raw water inlet and guided within the tank by an internal deflector ('842) or a stack of internal baffles ('799). Because the gas bubbles were guided by stationary components, there was no design problem created by the turbulence of moving part in the flotation tank. Also these devices did not lend themselves to treatment at high flow rates. The '799 apparatus had the additional problems in that (i) the inlet water had to be separately fed from the side to the region between each adjacent pair of baffles and (ii) the flow paths for floated particles varies depending on the vertical position of the associated baffles defining the flow path. This latter situation means that the apparatus either does not fully treat the inlet water, or is slow.
Applicant holds several other U.S. patents for water clarification apparatus and processes, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,022,696; 4,377,485; 4,626,345; 4,184,967; and 4,931,175, which greatly improve over the performance of the early '842 and '799 devices. In the '696 clarifier, sold under the trade designations "SPC" and "Supracell", the flotation occurs in a circular tank. The raw water is fed into the tank via a central pipe, a hydraulic joint, and an inlet pipe with multiple outlets immersed in the tank which rotates about the tank. The inlet flow is oriented opposite to the direction of rotation of the inlet pipe and is at a velocity with respect to the rotation rate such that the raw water has a net zero velocity as it enters the tank. The raw water inlet flow assembly and a scoop for removing the floated sludge are mounted on a carriage that rotates about the tank. The scoop is preferably of the type described in applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,967. The rate of rotation is set so that the floated particles will reach the surface of the water held in the tank in the time of one rotation. A good degree of clarification can be achieved with each rotation of the carriage using a ccmparatively shallow tank, e.g. 16-18 inches. This SPC unit clarifies at a rate of about 130 liters/m.sup.2 /min. This is much better than the rate using sedimentation techniques, but less than half of the theoretical maximum rate.
In the Supracell and the other clarifiers described in the aforementioned patents, there are common design features and limitations. For one, the flotation of the flocced particles is generally vertical, and is in a body of water that is comparatively shallow and generally free from turbulence. Also, in all of these designs the removal of the floated sludge is by a bladed, rotating scoop feeding an inclined discharge pipe. Also, heretofore, in order to increase the capacity of a given type of clarifier, one built a larger diameter tank. While in theory one can build a large enough tank to accommodate any clarification load, cost and space constraints have provided practical limitations on the capacities of these units.
It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide an improved water clarification apparatus that can increase the clarification rate of known flotation-type clarifiers by a factor of at least two with no attendant increase in the size of the unit.
Another principal object is to provide the foregoing increase in productivity with a comparatively small increase in cost.
Yet another object is to provide an improved sludge removal apparatus.

Lamellar apparatus and method for clarifying water


A wireless communication system generates operating information indicating if a monitoring wireless communication device is in active mode or in idle mode for a wireless data service. The wireless system receives location information that indicates geographic locations of a monitored wireless communication device for delivery to the monitoring wireless communication device. The system stores the location information if the monitoring wireless communication device is in idle mode. The system wirelessly transfers the location information to the monitoring wireless communication device if the monitoring wireless communication device is in active mode. If the monitoring wireless communication device transitions from idle mode to active mode and has stored location information, the system generates summary location data for the monitored wireless communication device based on the stored location information and wirelessly transfers the summary location data to the monitoring wireless communication device.

Wireless communication systems typically include equipment and networks for exchanging the communications of wireless communication devices. In addition to traditional communications, such as voice calls, the wireless communication devices can report location-oriented information related to the present location, personal activity, or destinations of the users of the wireless communication devices. This information is typically referred to as presence information, and transferred to a presence server which collects presence information for possibly many wireless communication devices. Another wireless communication device can then monitor this presence information by receiving presence messages from the presence server. For example, a mother could remotely monitor the activities of her family using this presence information.
However, as the number of monitored wireless communication devices or the amount of presence information increases, the monitoring wireless communication device can be overloaded with receiving presence information, leading to lower battery life of the monitoring wireless communication device, and increased loading on the communication system over which the presence information is transferred.

Selective delivery of presence messages for wireless communication devices


A method and apparatus for transmitting/receiving a differential space-time block code (STBC) by estimating only channel power in a wireless communication system using a plurality of transmission antennas. A receiver for receiving information symbols encoded by a differential STBC before and decoding the received information symbols collects a signal received at a reception antenna from a plurality of transmission antennas for one block duration; calculates a substitution signal by multiplying the received signal by a signal received for a previous block duration; estimates channel power for a channel from the plurality of transmission antennas to the reception antenna; normalizes the estimated channel power with a normalization value determined as a size of previously received symbols; and calculates information symbols by dividing the substitution signal by the normalized channel power.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a wireless communication system, and in particular, to a transmission/reception apparatus and method using transmit antenna diversity to cope with signal degradation caused by fading.
2. Description of the Related Art
Transmit diversity is one of the many effective technologies designed for relieving fading in a wireless communication system. Typical transmit diversity technology detects desired data symbols using a channel characteristic from a transmitter to a receiver. However, because of the mobility and variation of a channel, it is impossible to correctly detect a channel characteristic between a transmitter and a receiver. Further, feeding back channel state information to the transmitter undesirably results in a reduction in the channel capacity. Therefore, a large amount of research has been conducted on transmit diversity for the case where a transmitter has no channel information.
Recently, space-time block coding (STBC) has attracted a great deal of public attention because it provides good performance when a high data rate is required. In particular, Tarokh et al. proposes a space-block trellis code capable of obtaining both good coding gains and diversity gains when a plurality of antennas are used (see Vahid Tarokh, Et al. "Space time block coding from orthogonal design," IEEE Trans. on Info. Theory, Vol. 45, pp. 1456-1467, July 1999). Here, the diversity gain corresponds to a reduction in channel gain generated by a fading channel.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional transmitter using a space-time block code (STBC). As illustrated in FIG. 1, the transmitter includes a serial-to-parallel (S/P) converter 10, an encoder 20, and N transmission antennas 30-1, 30-2, . . . , 30-N.
Referring to FIG. 1, the S/P converter 10 creates a block of symbols by grouping symbols received from a predetermined information source (not shown) by the N symbols, and provides the created symbol block to the encoder 20. The encoder 20 creates a predetermined number of combinations with the N symbols, and delivers the combinations via the N transmission antennas 30-1, 30-2, . . . , 30-N for their corresponding time periods. The time periods indicate symbol durations.
When 4 transmission antennas are used, symbols output from the encoder 20 can be expressed by a 4*4 encoding matrix shown in Equation (1) below.
                              g          44                =                  (                                                                      s                  1                                                                              s                  2                                                                              s                  3                                                                              s                  4                                                                                -                                      s                    2                                                                                s                  1                                                                              -                                      s                    4                                                                                s                  3                                                                                -                                      s                    3                                                                                s                  4                                                                              s                  1                                                                              -                                      s                    2                                                                                -                                      s                    4                                                                                -                                      s                    3                                                                                s                  2                                                                              s                  1                                                              )                                    (        1        )
In Equation (1), s1, s2, s3, and s4 are data symbols to be transmitted. Symbols in each column are transmitted for respective time periods, and symbols in each row are transmitted via the respective antennas. Because symbols of one block are transmitted for 4 time periods, the 4 time periods are referred to as "one block duration." Respective columns of the encoding matrix are orthogonal with one another, and this simplifies coding, helps to decoding and obtains maximum diversity gain.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional receiver for receiving the signal transmitted from the transmitter illustrated in FIG. 1. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the receiver includes M reception antennas 40-1, 40-2, . . . , 40-M, a channel estimator 50, a multi-channel symbol arranger 60, and a detector 70.
Referring to FIG. 2, the channel estimator 50 estimates channel coefficients indicating channel gains from the transmission antennas 30-1 to 30-N to the reception antennas 40-1 to 40-M, and the multi-channel symbol arranger 60 collects symbols received by the reception antennas 40-1 to 40-M and provides the collected symbols to the detector 70. The detector 70 detects desired symbols by maximum likelihood (ML) decoding, using hypothesis symbols calculated by multiplying the received signals by the channel coefficients.
In the receiver, a received signal x is expressed by Equation (2) below.
                              r          i                =                                            ∑              i                                                                  h                i                                                          s                                  t                  ,                  i                                                              +                      w            t                                              (        2        )
In Equation (2), t is a symbol duration index (t=0,1, . . . ), and hi indicates channel gain from an ith transmission antenna to the receiver, and is assumed to be an independent complex Gaussian random variable having a variance of 0.5 per real dimension under flat fading. In addition, st,i indicates a symbol output via an ith transmission antenna for a tth symbol duration, and wt is a noise at a tth symbol duration and has an independent zero mean complex Gaussian characteristic having a variance of 1/SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio) per complex dimension.
When symbols used during transmission/reception are PSK (Phase Shift Keying) symbols, the symbols are located in a unit circle of a constellation. This means that the symbols are all identical in amplitude. Then, ML decoding of transmitted symbols is equivalent to finding symbols nearest to a linear combination of a received signal r and a channel gain h among all possible symbols.
To decode STBC, information on channel gains is required. When channel characteristic vary fast, it is very difficult to estimate correct information on channel gain, and when a channel characteristic is incorrectly measured, performance of STBC is considerably deteriorated. In order to enable a receiver to effectively estimate a channel characteristic, a transmitter must transmit a training sequence, and the transmission of a training sequence reduces transmission efficiency.
In order to resolve the above-mentioned problem, differential STBC has been developed for which information on a channel characteristic is not required (see H. Jafarkhani, Vahid Tarokh, "Multiple Transmit antenna differential Detection from generalized orthogonal designs," IEEE Trans. on Info. Theory, Vol. 47, pp. 2626-2631, September 2001).
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional transmitter using a differential space-time block code (STBC). As illustrated in FIG. 3, the transmitter includes a serial-to-parallel (S/P) converter 105, multipliers 110-1, . . . , 110-K, an adder 115, a delay 120, an encoder 125, and K transmission antennas 130-1, 130-2, . . . , 130-K.
Referring to FIG. 3, the S/P converter 105 parallel-converts a previously transmitted symbol block Sv delayed by the delay 120, and outputs K previous symbols Sv,1, . . . , Sv,K. The multipliers 110-1 to 110-K multiply the K previous symbols by information symbols Pv+1,1, . . . , Pv+1,K to be actually transmitted, respectively, and the adder 115 adds output symbols of the multipliers 110-1 to 110-K, and delivers the result to the delay 120, thereby enabling the result to be multiplied by the next information symbols. Further, the adder 115 provides the added result to the encoder 125. The encoder 125 creates a predetermined number of combinations with output symbols of the multipliers 110-1 to 110-K, and transmits the combinations via the transmission antennas 130-1, 130-2, . . . , 130-K for the corresponding time periods.
An operation of the transmitter will be described with reference to an example where K=4. Initially, the transmitter transmits a particular symbol block S1=[s1,1˜s1,4] having no information according to the encoding matrix. Thereafter, the transmitter transmits Sv=[Sv,1˜Sv,4] in the same manner according to the encoding matrix. When information symbols Pv+1=(Pv+1,1 . . . Pv+1,4) to be transmitted at a time v+1 are received, a transmission symbol Sv+1 is determined by Equation (3) below.
                              S                      v            +            1                          =                              ∑                          k              =              1                        4                                                        P                                                v                  +                  1                                ,                k                                                                                V                k                                                          (                                  S                  v                                )                                                                        (        3        )
That is, information symbols to be transmitted at a time v+1 are multiplied by respective symbols of a symbol block Vk(Sv) transmitted at a previous time v, and then added before being transmitted. Here, the information symbols are a real number created by BPSK (Binary Phase Shift Keying). For the symbol block Vk(Sv), symbol combinations output from the encoder 125 for 4 symbol durations are given by Equation (4),V1(Sv)=(sv,1,sv,2,sv,3,sv,4)T V2(Sv)=(sv,2,−sv,1,sv,4,−sv,3)T V3(Sv)=(sv,3,−sv,4,−sv,1,sv,2)T V4(Sv)=(sv,4,sv,3,−sv,2,−sv,1)T  (4)where T indicates a transposed matrix.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional receiver for receiving a signal transmitted from the transmitter illustrated in FIG. 3. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the receiver includes M reception antennas 150-1, 150-2, . . . , 150-M, K delays 155-1, . . . , 155-K, K multipliers 160-1, . . . , 160-K, a symbol arranger 165, and a detector 170.
Referring to FIG. 4, the delays 155-1 to 155-K delay signals previously received for one block duration, and output the delayed signals to the multipliers 160-1 to 160-K. The symbol arranger 165 provides the multipliers 160-1 to 160-K with signals received at the reception antennas 150-1 to 150-M from the transmission antennas 130-1 to 130-K for one block duration. The multipliers 160-1 to 160-K calculate substitution signals by multiplying the receive signals by the previously received signals, and provide the calculated substitution signals to the detector 170. The detector 170 detects an information sequence with the substitution signals according to a corresponding modulation scheme.
In order to describe an operation of the receiver, if the received signal shown in Equation (1) is extended for plural block durations, thenrv,t=h1sv,t,1+h2sv,t,2+h3sv,t,3+h4sv,t,4+wv,t  (5).
In Equation (5), t is a symbol duration index, and v is a block duration index. In the case of STBC using 4 transmission antennas, one block duration is comprised of 4 symbol durations. In addition, wv,t is a noise at a tth symbol duration in a vth block duration. When 4 transmission antennas and the encoding matrix of Equation (1) are used, Equation (5) can be rewritten asrv,1=h1sv,1+h2sv,2+h3sv,3+h4sv,4+wv,1 rv,2=−h1sv,2+h2sv,1−h3sv,4+h4sv,3+wv,2 rv,3=−h1sv,3+h2sv,4+h3sv,1−h4sv,2+wv,3 rv,4=−hlsv,4−h2sv,3+h3sv,2+h4sv,1+wv,4  (6).
By arranging Equation (6), reception signal combinations are created as follows in Equation (7).Rv1=(rv,1,rv,2,rv,3,rv,4)=(sv,1,sv,2,sv,3sv,4)H⊥+(wv,1,wv,2,wv,3,wv,4)Rv2=(−rv,2,rv,1,rv,4,−rv,3)=(sv,2,−sv,1,sv,4−sv,3)H⊥+(−wv,2,wv,1,wv,4,−wv,3)Rv3=(−rv,3,−rv,4,rv,1,rv,2)=(sv,3,−sv,4,−sv,1,sv,2)H⊥+(−wv,3,−wv,4,wv,1,wv,2)Rv4=(−rv,4,rv,3,−rv,2,rv,1)=(sv,4,sv,3,−sv,2,−sv,1)H⊥+(−wv,4,wv,3,−wv,2,wv,1)  (7)
The reception signal combination Rvi is used to detect an ith information symbol. Here, H⊥ indicates channel characteristics in a matrix form, and is defined by Equation (8) as follows.
                              H          ⊥                =                  [                                                                      h                  1                                                                              h                  2                                                                              h                  3                                                                              h                  4                                                                                h                  2                                                                              -                                      h                    1                                                                                -                                      h                    4                                                                                h                  3                                                                                h                  3                                                                              h                  4                                                                              -                                      h                    1                                                                                -                                      h                    2                                                                                h                  4                                                                              -                                      h                    3                                                                                h                  2                                                                              -                                      h                    1                                                                                ]                                    (        8        )
A product of a reception signal at a time v and a reception signal at a time v+1, i.e., a substitution signal, is determined by Equation (9).
                                                                        R                                                  {                                                            R                                              v                        +                        1                                            n                                                                                R                      v                      nH                                                        }                                            =                              R                                                  {                                                                                S                                                  v                          +                          1                                                T                                                                                H                        ⊥                                                                                H                            ⊥                            H                                                                                (                                                                                V                                  n                                                                                (                                                                      S                                    v                                                                    )                                                                                T                                                        )                                                                          H                                                              +                                          W                      n                                                        }                                                                                =                                                                    ∑                    i                    4                                                                                                                                  h                          i                                                                                            2                                                                                P                                                                        v                          +                          1                                                ,                        n                                                                                +                                  R                                                        {                                          W                      n                                        }                                                                                (        9        )
In Equation (9), R{·} means real conversion, and (·)H indicates Hermitian transpose. Equation (9) represents a substitution signal for calculating an nth information symbol Pv+1,n.
According to Equation (9), all elements except the information symbols Pv+1,1 to Pv+1,4 are real numbers, and the noise information is already known. On a 4-dimention hyper sphere having each of the information symbols as one axis, if a distance from the origin of the information symbols is identical, a receiver can detect information symbol Pv+1,1 to Pv+1,4 even though a value of h indicating a channel characteristic is unknown.
In the conventional transmission/reception system described above, decoding can be performed even though a channel characteristic is unknown. However, symbols in use must be real symbols having the same size. Therefore, in differential STBC technology, transmission symbols are restricted to BPSK symbols. BPSK symbols carry 1-bit information per second per bandwidth (1 bit/hz/sec). However, it is possible to transmit PSK modulation data by grouping transmission symbols by a predetermined number of symbols. For example, it is possible to group 4 symbols by the 2 symbols and then carry 16PSK modulation data on each symbol group. When 2 symbols transmit 16PSK modulation data in this manner, two 16PSK symbols are transmitted for 4 time periods. As a result, it is possible to carry 2-bit information per second per bandwidth (2 bits/hz/sec).
As is well known, M-ary QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) is more effective than M-ary PSK in view of a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In the conventional differential STBC system, PSK must be used even when information of 2 bits or more is carried. Therefore, it is not possible to secure performance improvement attributable to the use of QAM. For example, when 64PSK is used instead of 64QAM, a decrease in SNR accounts to 9.95 dB, and this has a fatal effect on the wireless communication system.

Apparatus and method for transmitting/receiving differential STBC using channel power


A text-to-speech system that includes an arrangement for accepting text input, an arrangement for providing synthetic speech output, and an arrangement for imparting emotion-based features to synthetic speech output. The arrangement for imparting emotion-based features includes an arrangement for accepting instruction for imparting at least one emotion-based paradigm to synthetic speech output, as well as an arrangement for applying at least one emotion-based paradigm to synthetic speech output.

Although there has long been an interest and recognized need for text-to-speech (TTS) systems to convey emotion in order to sound completely natural, the emotion dimension has largely been tabled until the voice quality of the basic, default emotional state of the system has improved. The state of the art has now reached the point where basic TTS systems provide suitably natural sounding in a large percentage of synthesized sentences. At this point, efforts are being initiated towards expanding such basic systems into ones which are capable of conveying emotion. So far, though, that capability has not yet yielded an interface which would enable a user (either a human or computer application such as a natural language generator) to conveniently specify an emotion desired.

Application of emotion-based intonation and prosody to speech in text-to-speech systems

International Business Machines Corporation