A memory architecture for a video transpose memory employs SDRAM memory devices which are arranged in memory rows such that elements in a single row may be accessed without memory set-up latency. The memory architecture includes at least two memory banks such that memory write operations to one bank may be interleaved with memory write operations to the other bank. Samples of the image along one direction are stored into the memory in groups such that corresponding samples in the orthogonal direction are held in the same memory row. The memory banks are interleaved on the store operation such that consecutive write operations access respective memory rows in the alternating memory banks. The number of samples in a group of samples is selected such that the total time for displaying the number of samples in the group is at least equal to the set-up latency of the memory. Accordingly, consecutive groups of samples may be stored into the alternating memory banks continuously. When image data are read from memory, the memory read operations are not interleaved. To compensate for the set-up latency in the read operations, the controller advances the first read operation for a particular image line or image column into the horizontal or vertical blanking interval by an amount of time equal to the total latency for the line or column. The system includes a first in first out (FIFO) buffer which receives the image data as it is provided from the memory in response to the memory read requests and provides the image data according to the output timing for the transpose memory.

The present invention is directed to digital memory architecture, and in particular to an Architecture for an image transposition memory which uses synchronous DRAM memory devices.
Image transposition memories are used in many applications in which a video image needs to be filtered in both the horizontal and vertical directions. While this filtering may be performed using a two-dimensional spatial filter, as filter kernel sizes increase this option becomes less and less economical. It is well known that many two-dimensional image filters may be decomposed into separate one-dimensional horizontal and vertical filters. This type of decomposition is especially desirable when the filtering process requires a relatively large kernel size.
When an image is processed using separate one dimensional filters, the image data for the rows of the image are processed sequentially, the image is stored and then the samples in the image columns are processed sequentially. The switch from handling sequential samples in image rows to sequential samples in image columns is achieved using an image transposition memory. In a memory of this type, image data are written into the memory as a sequence of samples following the image rows while the image data is read from the memory as a sequence of samples following the image columns.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a prior art image format conversion system. In this system, input data are provided to a one-dimensional horizontal interpolator 110, which changes the number of samples in the image by resizing the image. In an exemplary format converter, the image is first processed in the horizontal direction and then in the vertical direction. The image data provided by the horizontal interpolator 110 is stored into a transpose memory 112. The transpose memory 112 stores the image data as consecutive samples in raster scan order (i.e. as horizontal lines of samples). The vertical interpolator 114 then reads the samples from transpose memory 112 in column order (i.e. as consecutive samples taken along each column of the image). The interpolator 114 may, for example, perform the same function as the interpolator 110, to provide image data which is scaled in the same proportion in both the horizontal and vertical directions. The samples provided by the vertical interpolator 114, however, are not in raster scan order. Accordingly, these samples are applied to a second transpose memory 116, which stores the image data as consecutive samples along each column of the image and then provides the image data in raster scan order.
To perform a transpose operation, the entire image from one field or frame of a video signal is written into the transpose memory during one field or frame interval and then read out of the transpose memory during the next field or frame interval. As video signals are continuous, this type of access is typically achieved by configuring two field or frame memories in a Ping-Pong arrangement such that image data may be stored into one memory while it is being read from the other memory.
For real time applications, such as a format converter, it is also desirable for the entire memory to be written into or read from in a single field or frame interval. Typically, these speeds are achieved using static random access memory (SRAM). This type of memory, tends to be much more expensive than the more prevalent synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM). Accordingly, it would desirable to provide a memory architecture in which a transpose memory could be made using SDRAM memory devices.
The present invention is embodied in a memory architecture for a transpose memory which employs SDRAM memory devices.
According to one aspect of the invention, data in the memory is arranged in rows such that elements in a single row may be accessed without latency. The memory architecture includes at least two memory banks such that memory write operations to one bank may be interleaved with memory write operations to the other bank. Samples of the image along one direction are stored into the memory in groups such that corresponding samples in the orthogonal direction are held in the same memory row. The memory write operations are interleaved such that consecutive write operations access respective memory rows in the alternating memory banks. The number of samples in a group of samples is selected such that the total time for displaying the number of samples in the group is at least equal to the set-up latency for the next memory write operation. Accordingly, consecutive groups of samples may be stored continuously into the memory by alternating the memory banks into which they are stored.
According to another aspect of the invention, data along each column of the image is not read continuously because the column data is stored in multiple rows and each row change in the SDRAM interrupts the continuous flow of data. To compensate for the latency in the read operations, the controller advances the first read operation for a particular image line or image column into the horizontal or vertical blanking interval by a number of clock periods equal to the total set-up latency for the line or column. The system includes a first in first out (FIFO) buffer which receives the image data as it is provided from the memory in response to the memory read requests and provides the image data according to the output timing for the transpose memory.
According to another aspect of the invention, the image data or a pixel includes 20 bits comprising a 10-bit luminance value and a 10-bit chrominance value. Each frame of memory used in the system includes four one-megabit (Mb) by 16-bit SDRAM devices and one four-Mb by four-bit SDRAM device. Each of these devices includes respective first and second memory banks.

Modular architecture for image transposition memory using synchronous DRAM

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A method for setting conditions for a shaft diameter enlargement, a shaft diameter enlargement method, and a shaft diameter enlargement apparatus are provided. A controller of the shaft diameter enlargement apparatus controls a compressing section, a bending section, and a rotating section to enlarge an intermediate portion of a shaft workpiece to have a predetermined outer diameter by rotating the shaft workpiece about its axis with axial compressive force a bending angle being applied to the intermediate portion. The controller determines whether the shaft workpiece is acceptable, based on the number of rotations of die shaft workpiece required for enlarging the intermediate portion to have the predetermined outer diameter or based on an enlargement ratio of the intermediate portion.

A shaft diameter enlargement is a method for forming a large diameter portion on a portion of a shaft workpiece. With the shaft diameter enlargement method, for example, an intermediate portion of a shaft workpiece is enlarged by rotating the shaft workpiece while applying a compressive force and a bending angle to the intermediate portion of the shaft workpiece.
In general, in a shaft diameter enlargement apparatus used in the shaft diameter enlargement, a shaft workpiece is held by a pair of holders disposed at a distance from each other in an axial direction of the shaft workpiece, the distance between the pair of holders is reduced to apply a compressive force to an intermediate portion of the shaft workpiece, one of the holders is inclined against the other of the holders to apply a bending angle to the intermediate portion, and in this state, the pair of holders are rotated to rotate the shaft workpiece, and thus, the intermediate portion of the shaft workpiece is enlarged. The process for enlarging the intermediate portion of the shaft workpiece is ended when the distance between the pair of holders is reduced to a prescribed distance (see, for example, JP2008-212937A), or when an outer diameter of the intermediate portion reaches a predetermined outer diameter (see, for example, JP2008-212936A).
The shaft diameter enlargement can sometimes cause a crack at a boundary between the enlarged intermediate portion and a shaft portion other than the intermediate portion or at an outer periphery of the enlarged intermediate portion. A crack can be detected by, for example, visual inspection, magnetic particle inspection, eddy current inspection or the like, but it requires time and cost to check all mass-produced shaft products.

Shaft diameter enlargement condition setting method, shaft diameter enlargement method and shaft diameter enlargement apparatus


A cryptosystem has a secret based on an order of a group of points on a Jacobian of a curve. In certain embodiments, the cryptosystem is used to generate a product identifier corresponding to a particular product. The product identifier is generated by initially receiving a value associated with a copy (or copies) of a product. The received value is padded using a recognizable pattern, and the padded value is converted to a number represented by a particular number of bits. The number is then converted to an element of the Jacobian of the curve, and the element is then raised to a particular power. The result of raising the element to the particular power is then compressed and output as the product identifier. Subsequently, the encryption process can be reversed and the decrypted value used to indicate validity and/or authenticity of the product identifier.

As computers have become increasingly commonplace in homes and businesses throughout the world, and such computers have become increasingly interconnected via networks (such as the Internet), security and authentication concerns have become increasingly important. One manner in which these concerns have been addressed is the use of a cryptographic technique involving a key-based cipher. Using a key-based cipher, sequences of intelligible data (typically referred to as plaintext) that collectively form a message are mathematically transformed, through an enciphering process, into seemingly unintelligible data (typically referred to as ciphertext). The enciphering can be reversed, allowing recipients of the ciphertext with the appropriate key to transform the ciphertext back to plaintext, while making it very difficult, if not nearly impossible, for those without the appropriate key from recovering the plaintext.
Public-key cryptographic techniques are one type of key-based cipher. In public-key cryptography, each communicating party has a public/private key pair. The public key of each pair is made publicly available (or at least available to others who are intended to send encrypted communications), but the private key is kept secret. In order to communicate a plaintext message using encryption to a receiving party, an originating party encrypts the plaintext message into a ciphertext message using the public key of the receiving party and communicates the ciphertext message to the receiving party. Upon receipt of the ciphertext message, the receiving party decrypts the message using its secret private key, and thereby recovers the original plaintext message.
The RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) method is one well-known example of public/private key cryptology. To implement RSA, one generates two large prime numbers p and q and multiplies them together to get a large composite number N, which is made public. If the primes are properly chosen and large enough, it will be practically impossible (i.e., computationally infeasible) for someone who does not know p and q to determine them from just knowing N. However, in order to be secure, the size of N typically needs to be more than 1,000 bits. In some situations, though, such a large size makes the numbers too long to be practically useful.
One such situation is found in authentication, which can be required anywhere a party or a machine must prove that it is authorized to access or use a product or service. An example of such a situation is in a product ID system for a software program(s), where a user must enter a product ID sequence stamped on the outside of the properly licensed software package as proof that the software has been properly paid for. If the product ID sequence is too long, then it will be cumbersome and user unfriendly.
Additionally, not only do software manufacturers lose revenue from unauthorized copies of their products, but software manufacturers also frequently provide customer support, of one form or another, for their products. In an effort to limit such support to their licensees, customer support staffs often require a user to first provide the product ID associated with his or her copy of the product for which support is sought as a condition for receiving support. Many current methods of generating product IDs, however, have been easily discerned by unauthorized users, allowing product IDs to be generated by unauthorized users.
Given the apparent ease with which unauthorized users can obtain valid indicia, software manufacturers are experiencing considerable difficulty in discriminating between licensees and such unauthorized users in order to provide support to the former while denying it to the latter. As a result, manufacturers often unwittingly provide support to unauthorized users, thus incurring additional and unnecessary support costs. If the number of unauthorized users of a given software product is sufficiently large, then these excess costs associated with that product can be quite significant. Therefore, a need exists in the art for a technique that permits a software manufacturer to appreciably reduce the incidence of unauthorized copying of its software product, but which is not based on user entry of impractically long data sequences.
The invention addresses these problems and provides a cryptosystem based on a Jacobian of a curve.

Cryptosystem based on a Jacobian of a curve


A tandem support structure for an exhaust gas purifying catalyst comprises a sleeve, a first honeycomb disposed on an upstream side of exhaust gases, and a second honeycomb disposed on a downstream side of exhaust gases at a position axially separated from the first honeycomb. The second honeycomb is fixed to the sleeve, and the first honeycomb is held by a holding member which axially extends in an upstream direction from said second honeycomb, without contacting the sleeve. Since an air layer exists between the first honeycomb and the sleeve, heat radiation from the first honeycomb is prevented and temperature rising characteristics of the first honeycomb are improved.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a support structure used for a catalyst for purifying exhaust gases of an internal combustion engine, and in particular to a tandem support structure for an exhaust gas purifying catalyst in which two or more honeycombs are disposed in a sleeve.
2. State of the Art
As a catalyst for purifying exhaust gases of an automobile engine, it is common to use a catalyst in which a catalyst carrier comprising activated alumina or the like is formed on a ceramic or metallic honeycomb, and catalyst metal comprising platinum or rhodium is loaded on the catalyst carrier.
The catalyst metal, however, cannot exhibit catalyst activity at temperatures of less than 300.degree. C. Since the temperature of the honeycomb is low immediately after the engine starts, harmful substances are exhausted with almost no purification until the honeycomb is heated and reaches a temperature of 300.degree. C. or more by the heat of the exhausted gases.
In order to improve this matter, it has become common to employ a honeycomb made of metal which is superior in heat conductivity and temperature rising characteristics to ceramics. Further, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication (KOKAI) No. 141632/1988 and No. 83320/1990 disclose a tandem support structure where two honeycombs are fixed at positions separated from each other in a sleeve, and the metal honeycomb in small volume is disposed on an upstream side of exhaust gases, while the ceramic or metal honeycomb is disposed on an downstream side of the exhaust gases. The reduction of the heat capacity of the honeycomb on the upstream side allows the temperature of the honeycomb on the upstream side to rise rapidly. Besides, catalyst design freedom is increased. For example, it becomes possible to load a larger quantity of catalyst metal which exhibits high activity at low temperatures on the honeycomb on the upstream side.
Further, the above publications and Japanese Utility Model Publication (KOKAI) No. 111124/1989 disclose a support structure in which a metal honeycomb makes only a partial contact with a sleeve, and a support structure in which a metal honeycomb is fixed to a sleeve by way of a heat insulating cushioning material. The employment of these support structures prevents heat radiation caused by the heat transmission between the metal honeycomb and the sleeve. Therefore, the rise of the metal honeycomb temperature is promoted, and the capacity of purifying exhaust gases at the beginning of an engine operation is increased.
Even the tandem support structures described in the above, however, do not have sufficient capacity of purifying exhaust gases at low temperatures immediately after an engine starts, because of the following problems: Even when the metal honeycomb having small heat capacity is disposed on the upstream side of exhaust gases, heat radiates due to the heat transmission at connecting parts of the metal honeycomb and the sleeve. Further, the heat insulating cushioning material has problems in heat resistance and durability in itself, and therefore can be used only for very limited parts. In addition, the employment of the heat insulating cushioning material causes the increase in the whole size of the support structure, production costs, and required space for installing the support structure.

Support structure for an exhaust gas purifying catalyst


Apparatus and methods are provided for feedback circuitry in a power converter, the feedback circuitry including a first resistor coupled to a first node between a high switch and a low switch, a first capacitor in series with the first resistor, the first capacitor coupled to a second node, a first comparator having a positive terminal connected between the first resistor and the first capacitor and a negative terminal connected to a third node, the first comparator configured to compare a voltage at the positive terminal to a voltage at the negative terminal, wherein the feedback circuitry is configured to generate a ramp waveform at the positive terminal of the first comparator, an amplitude of the ramp waveform based on a time constant of the first resistor and the first capacitor.

DC-DC power converters can be used to convert a first voltage to a second voltage that may be higher or lower than the first voltage. Typically, a duty cycle of the output stage of the power converter is controlled by control logic in order to properly regulate the output voltage. However, power converters may have a slow load transient response due to delays in the control logic caused by a feedback path from the power converter output. For example, the control logic may include a compensation network and an error amplifier to sample the output voltage, which adds delays to the load transient response.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to some illustrative example embodiments, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Enhanced peak current mode DC-DC power converter


A magnetic head includes a first shielding layer, a second shielding layer, an MR element, and a marker layer. The layers and the element are exposed from a medium sliding surface while being inclined at an azimuth angle. A major part of the marker layer is disposed inside two imaginary azimuth lines, which extend straight in one direction through both end portions in the track-width direction of the MR element, in the track-width direction, and both end portions thereof are disposed outside the imaginary azimuth lines in the track-width direction. In the magnetic head, the MR height can be precisely controlled, and changes in asymmetry are reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic head and a tape-medium reading and writing apparatus that read magnetically recorded information by helical scanning.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a sliding magnetic head having an MR (magnetoresistive) element has been developed as a magnetic reading head for use in digital video recorders and digital audio recorders. This magnetic head is used while being mounted on a rotary cylinder with a base plate therebetween in a state in which an MR element is inclined at a predetermined azimuth angle. The magnetic head reads magnetically recorded information using so-called helical scanning. That is, magnetically recorded information is read by rotating the rotary cylinder with the magnetic head in one direction while sliding a magnetic tape medium in the same direction.
Information is magnetically recorded in the form of digital signals with inductive heads with the narrow track width by so-called guard-bandless recording. That is, two to four inductive heads having different azimuth angles are mounted on a rotary cylinder, and are alternately brought into contact with a magnetic tape medium by the rotation of the rotary cylinder, thereby sequentially superimposing a track on a part of a track previously written on the magnetic tape medium.
In order to precisely read the tracks written by the above-described guard-bandless recording, the height from the base plate to the center in the track width of the MR element must be precisely fixed among the magnetic heads. For that purpose, a method has been adopted in which the MR element is positioned while observing a marker layer provided on a shielding layer under an optical microscope. An example of a marker layer is a convex portion provided on a shielding layer, as disclosed in FIG. 3 or 4 of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-93120.
Helical scanning generally adopts a narrow write/wide read method in which the reading track width is larger than in a plate-shaped magnetic head, and the MR element has a track width that is almost double the written track width. For this reason, the reading characteristics of the MR element are required to be fixed at any position in the track width in order to reduce reading errors.
However, in the magnetic head disclosed in the above patent publication, the width of the convex portion is smaller than the track width of the MR element, and the height between the base plate and the MR element is substantially equal to the height of the convex portion. Therefore, both end portions of the convex portion in the direction of the track width of the MR element are placed within the track width. Because of such a convex portion, the asymmetry of the magnetic head (symmetry of the reproduced signal) substantially changes in the direction of the track width. Consequently, the reading characteristics cannot be fixed.

Magnetic head having marker layer, and tape-medium reading and writing apparatus


A heating element includes a base substrate, a pair of electrodes, a resistor capable of generating heat, a conductive resin, a terminal member, a hot melt adhesion metal, a hot melt cohesion metal, and a lead wire. The pair of electrodes is provided on the base substrate, and the resistor is formed between the pair of electrodes. The conductive resin is provided on each of the electrodes, and the terminal member is provided on the conductive resin. The adhesion metal is provided on the terminal member, and the cohesion metal forms a molten phase along with the adhesion metal. An end of the lead wire is welded to the cohesion metal. The conductive resin is provided in the vicinity of the adhesion metal so as to be affected by heat of the adhesion metal.

A known heating element is disclosed in, for example, WO2004/001775A1. Hereinafter, a constitution of the heating element will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 18A is a partially cut-away plan view of a conventional heating element, and FIG. 18B is a sectional view for a main portion of the same.
A silver paste is dried to form a pair of electrodes 112 on flexible base substrate 111 that is formed of a mesh and a film. Resistor 113 is formed between electrodes 112. Terminal portion 114 is formed on an end of electrode 112. Cover material 115 is formed to cover them. In terminal portion 114, terminal member (hereinafter as "member") 116, such as copper foil, is adhered to the end of electrode 112 using conductive adhesive (hereinafter as "adhesive") 117 to be electrically connected to the electrode. Lead wire 119 is connected to another end of member 116 by solder 118.
Lead wire 119 cannot be directly soldered on electrode 112 that is formed by drying the silver paste. Accordingly, member 116 is adhered to electrode 112 using adhesive 117 to form terminal portion 114, and lead wire 119 is soldered on member 116. Thereby, electrode 112 and lead wire 119 are electrically connected to each other.
In this constitution, member 116 and lead wire 119 relatively firmly adhere to each other by solder 118, but physical and electrical adhesion of electrode 112 and member 116 depends on adhesive 117. In the typical conductive adhesive, conductive particles, such as gold, silver, nickel, and carbon, are dispersed in epoxy resin. However, if resin curable in a room temperature is used in consideration of workability, adhesion strength is not enough.

Heating element and production method thereof


A signal drive apparatus includes a first buffer circuit where a signal converted into an electric signal from a first light signal is amplified; a second buffer circuit where a signal converted into an electric signal from a second light signal is amplified; a control circuit causing one of the first and second buffer circuits to be in an operating state and causing an output stage of the other buffer circuit to be in an idle state of a high impedance, so as to output a changeover control signal which picks up either the first or the second light signal; and a voltage changeover circuit causing any one of the output stages of the first and the second buffer circuits to be in the idle state and supplying a transistor constituting the output stage with a bias voltage equal to or less than a withstand voltage of the transistor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a signal drive apparatus in which a plurality of buffer circuits are arranged in parallel and the buffer circuits are switched to output a signal and an optical pickup apparatus using the signal drive apparatus. In particular, the buffer circuits having a plurality of light detecting circuits are switched to disconnect the buffer circuit for optical detection which is not in operation, and an optical detection signal is supplied to a following signal-processing circuit via a flexible substrate (or cable).
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows a conventional optical pickup apparatus 200 which has external changeover switches, switches the changeover switches, selects signals detected by a plurality of PD's (photo-detecting diode), and transfers the thus selected data by means of one flexible substrate (also referred to as a cable). This optical pickup apparatus 200 is constituted by an OEIC (Optical Electoro IC; photoelectric conversion integrated circuit) 201 for BD (Blu-ray laser diode), an OEIC 202 for DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)/CD (Compact Disc), a switch 203 for switching between outputs from these, one flexible substrate 204, and a signal processing IC.
During recording and reproduction by means of a Blu ray LD (Blu ray laser diode), a laser diode for DVD/CD stops emitting light or, alternatively, is operated to transfer any one of the signals (data) of the OEIC 201 for BD and the OEIC 202 for DVD/CD by means of one flexible substrate. Thus, the changeover switch 203 is provided for choosing the signals alternatively and transmitting the signal from any one of the OEIC's.
When transferring the output data to a signal-processing IC 205 from the OEIC 201 for BD, the changeover switch 203 is switched to the OEIC 201 side for BD, and the output data (signal) from the OEIC 201 for BD is outputted to the flexible substrate 204. At the same time, a drive circuit provided at a following stage of the OEIC 202 for DVD/CD is in operation. However, since it is switched with the changeover switch 203, the output of OEIC for DVD/CD does not adversely influence the operation of the drive circuit in an output stage of the OEIC 201 for BD.
Conversely, when transferring the output signal from the OEIC 202 for DVD/CD via the flexible substrate 204 to a signal-processing (IC) circuit 205, the changeover switch 203 is switched to the OEIC 202 side for DVD/CD. Then, the signal outputted from the OEIC for DVD/CD is transferred to the signal-processing IC 205 through the flexible substrate 204.
At this time, since the drive circuit of the output stage of the OEIC 201 for BD is switched with the changeover switch 203, it does not affect the output of the drive circuit of the OEIC for DVD/CD.
Although one flexible substrate is arranged, using the switch leads to a disadvantage that a space is needed and costs are high.
Another conventional optical pickup apparatus 250 is shown in FIG. 2. This optical pickup apparatus 250 is arranged to use two flexible substrates. An output signal of an OEIC 251 for BD is outputted to a signal-processing IC 255 via a flexible substrate 253. Further, an output signal of an OEIC 252 for DVD/CD is outputted to a signal-processing IC 255 via a flexible substrate 254 which is further provided.
An output terminal of the OEIC 251 for BD is connected with the signal-processing IC 255 via the flexible substrate 253. Further, an output terminal of the OEIC 252 for DVD/CD is connected to the signal-processing IC 255 via the flexible substrate 254. Therefore, it is necessary for the signal-processing IC 255 side to switch between the signals by means of a control signal, whereby either the signal is supplied from the OEIC 251 for BD or the signal is supplied from the OEIC 252 for DVD/CDE.
Furthermore, the conventional optical pickup apparatus 250 requires at least two flexible substrates. Thus, there is a disadvantage that signal interference takes place between the flexible substrates, a noise may be introduced, etc., and a transferred signal may deteriorate, which also leads to a malfunction.
Still further, since two or more (plural) flexible substrates are needed, there is a disadvantage that a space is needed, it is difficult to miniaturize the apparatus, and the cost increases with an increasing number of flexible substrates.

Signal drive apparatus and optical pickup apparatus using the same


Implementation including an outputter (11) following a control to output a signal, a microphone (10) for acquisition of sound from inside a ball (1a), a determiner (121) working in accordance with a level of sound acquired through the microphone (10) to determine a state of the ball (1a), and a control processor (122) working in accordance with a result of determination at the determiner (121) to generate a signal to output through the outputter (11).

The ball has been a familiar play tool since ever, while there have been balls developed in recent years with various electronics incorporated therein to provide new functions. For instance, there has been use of a light emitting element set, such as an LED (light-emitting diode) set, incorporated in a ball to enable emission of light from the ball.
There has been disclosure of a ball adapted to count shocks thereto, to operate depending on the number of counts, to change emitting light in color, for satisfaction in degree of attainment in a monotonous exercise, such as an exercise of juggling a soccer ball (refer to Patent Literature 1, for instance).
Also, there has been disclosure of a ball adapted to emit light upon reception of shock, allowing for an enhanced interest in a play (refer to Patent Literature 2, for instance).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


In a TFT substrate for a liquid crystal display and the liquid crystal display having such a TFT substrate, a defect in the wiring due to improper patterning of a gate electrode is prevented and an orientation property is improved by connecting wiring areas to a scan line and connecting a gate electrode to the scan line at two points, and the connecting wiring areas are formed in a ring shape so that a source electrode is located in an area surrounded by the connecting wiring areas, or arranging the wiring area to relieve a step.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate for a liquid crystal display device and the liquid crystal display device having the same, and more particularly to a substrate for a liquid crystal display device and a liquid crystal display device having the same which are suitably used in displaying an image of a high resolution such as a television image.
2. Related Background Art
A simple matrix type liquid crystal device having a pair of substrates, each having stripe electrodes, arranged to face each other with the electrode thereof crossing, is sufficient for displaying time or a simple image but there is a limit in time division drive and the number of pixels required increases in displaying an image which requires a high resolution and a high grade such as a television image and it is not possible to control it by the time division drive. Recently, an active matrix system has been developed to take place of the simple matrix system.
In an active matrix type liquid crystal drive device, a common electrode is provided on one of the substrates and a pixel electrode for each pixels is provided on the other substrate, and a thin film transistor (TFT) is arranged as a switching device for each pixel electrode. The TFT comprises two main electrodes called a source electrode and a drain electrode, and a control electrode called a gate electrode. In the active matrix system, one of the main electrodes is usually connected to a signal line, the other main electrode is connected to the pixel electrode, and the gate electrode is connected to a scan line. Which one of the main electrodes is to be used as the source electrode may vary depending on a type of the transistor and an applied voltage. In the present specification, an electrode closer to a display signal line is defined as a source electrode, and an electrode closer to the pixel electrode is defined as a drain electrode.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a TFT substrate of an active matrix type liquid crystal display device. In FIG. 1, numeral 2 denotes a scan line, numeral 3 denotes a signal line, numeral 4 denotes a pixel electrode, and numeral 10 denotes a TFT. As shown in FIG. 1, the scan lines 2 and the signal lines 3 are arranged in matrix and an operation of the TFT 10 provided for each pixel to control the application of a voltage to the pixel electrode 4 to attain a desired display.
FIGS. 2A to 2C show a TFT 10 and its periphery. In FIGS. 2A to 2C, numeral 1 denotes a gate electrode, numeral 6 denotes a semiconductor layer, numeral 7 denotes a source electrode, numeral 8 denotes a drain electrode, numerals 9-1 to 9-3 denote interlayer insulating layers, and numerals 2 to 4 denote the same as those of FIG. 1. FIG. 2B shows a B-B' sectional view of FIG. 2A and 2C shows a C-C' sectional view of FIG. 2A. In FIG. 2A and FIG. 2C, the interlayer insulating layer 9 is omitted for the purpose of simplification.
As shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C, the gate electrode 1 is formed on the semiconductor layer 6 which is formed on the insulating transparent substrate, through the interlayer insulating layer 9-1. The interlayer insulating layer 9-2 is formed thereon and a contact hole is formed in the interlayer insulating layer 9-2 to form the source electrode 7 and the drain electrode 8. Polycrystalline or amorphous Si, or single crystal Si is normally used as a material for the semiconductor layer 6, and poly-Si or a metal such as Al, Cr or Ta which may be easily filmed is used as a material for the gate electrode 1 and the scan line 2. The source electrode 7 and the signal line 3 are made of a metal such as Al, and the pixel electrode 4 is made of transparent indium tin oxide (ITO).
Since the required layers are arranged in overlapping or crossing manner in the periphery of the TFT, there is a step in a section as shown in FIG. 2B and FIG. 2C, and the layers coated on the step are easily broken.
Particularly in the gate electrode 1 extending from the scan signal line 2, a defect easily occurs in patterning by the semiconductor layer 6 in the step area, and this is one factor to reduce a yield of the TFT substrate. Further, as a pixel size increases, the length of the scan line increases and a resistance increases so that a sufficiently large pulse cannot be applied.

Substrate for a liquid crystal display device and liquid crystal display device having the same


An instrument cluster assembly is disclosed and includes at least one gauge. The gauge includes a dial surface having a primary scale and a secondary scale. A needle indicator assembly comprising a primary needle and a secondary needle is rotatable about an axis and spaced from the dial surface. The tip of the primary needle is positioned to indicate on the primary scale, and the tip of the secondary needle is positioned to indicate on the secondary scale. The gauge further includes a primary light source for illuminating the primary needle and a secondary light source for illuminating the secondary needle. The primary light source and the secondary light source are independently illuminable.

The present disclosure is related generally to instrument clusters for vehicles.
Vehicles include instrument clusters and gauges for communicating desired operating parameters such as vehicle speed, engine rpm and direction indicators. Different methods and devices are known for communicating this information. Each method and device provides not only the function of communicating operating information to a driver, but also form and contribute to the style and aesthetic appearance of a vehicle interior. Accordingly, it is desirable to develop new and unique devices and methods for communicating and representing vehicle operating information to contribute to a desired appearance.


A sun visor for vehicles, which has a sun visor body made of plastic and a main element and an end element. The end element may be oriented obliquely in relation to the main element. A casing, which encloses all of the sun visor body and is made from foil blanks or the like, is provided for the connection between the main element and the end element. In addition to a circumferential weld bead, a weld bead fixes the foil blanks in place with respect to each other and defines a predetermined bending place in the area located between the main element and the end element. For reinforcement and for improvement of the appearance of this sun visor, a cover device is provided, which surrounds the additional weld bead and the predetermined bending location in the shape of a ring, but does not hamper the intended bending of the end element.

Sun visors with an end element, which can be bent obliquely away from the main element, are suitable to be matched to the shape of the roof of a vehicle, and, in particular, in the transition area toward the windshield pillar and are part of the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,610,680 discloses a sun visor, with a sun visor body divided into a main element and an end element by a perforation line, wherein the end element can be oriented obliquely relative to the main element. The connection between the main element and the end element of the sun visor body of the known sun visor is quickly lost during normal use of the sun visor, so that the end element hangs down limply from the main element, which is not considered to be beautiful, aside from the fact that the sun visor can only partially perform its function.


A hydraulic support device in a paper making machine for supporting a first beam (52) on a second beam (53), having a pressure cushion (54) between the two beams. The pressure prevailing in the pressure cushion is variable but it is uniform over the entire length of the pressure cushion. The pressure cushion (54) rests on a contact surface of the first beam (52). The width (b) of the contact surface as seen in cross section is less than the total width (B) of the pressure cushion (54). A free space (55) into which a loop of the pressure cushion (54) can penetrate is provided on each side of the contact surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hydraulic support device for supporting a first beam on a second beam which extends parallel thereto.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are two fundamentally different fields of use for such a hydraulic support device:
1. One of the two beams is part of a flow guide wall, for instance of a head box of a paper making machine. Here the purpose of the hydraulic support device is to maintain the flow guide wall free of flexure. The pressure of the fluid (namely, the fiber suspension) is transmitted here from the flow guide wall via the pressure cushion to the other beam. This beam is connected by flexurally elastic elements to the first-mentioned beam only at its two ends and can bend freely under the support force of the pressure cushion. Thus, no means are provided for coupling the beams at locations along the beams which are between the two ends. See for instance, Federal Republic of Germany OS 36 14 302, which is equivalent to U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,745. When the one beam, which is part of the flow guide wall, bends for any reason, the pressure of the pressure cushion is changed in such direction as to cancel the bend.
2. One of the two beams is developed as a ledge which is moveable in operation for the resilient supporting of a wire screen in the region of the double wire zone of a paper making machine; in this connection it is displaceable or swingable with regard to the other beam. In such case, the hydraulic support device acts as a resilient lift device. Any change in the pressure of the pressure cushion therefore produces a change, for instance, in the distance between the two beams and a change in the force which is applied by the ledge against the wire. Thus, no means are provided for limiting a change in the distance between the two beams while there is pressure in the pressure cushion and during pressing of the contact surfaces on the pressure cushion. See, for instance, International Application WO 89/02499.
From FIGS. 1 to 5 of the above-cited German OS 36 14 302 it is known to use a tube as pressure cushion. This tube, seen in cross section, is pressed more or less flat depending on the distance between the two beams. The distance between the two beams is generally not the same over the length of the beams, primarily because the one beam is bent relative to the other beam. This has the result that the supporting force of the pressure cushion along the length of the beams (i.e. over the width of the machine) varies relatively greatly from a desired constant value.
From FIGS. 6 to 8 of Federal Republic of Germany OS 36 14 302 it is known that the individual pressure cushion can have a bellows-like profile with side walls folded inward. In this way, it has been attempted to eliminate the aforementioned disadvantage. In other words, by this proposal it was attempted to obtain a constant value of the support force over the width of the machine despite the different distance between the two beams over the width of the machine. However, this proposal is also unsuccessful even though the width of the contact surface between the pressure cushion and the beams remains the same with different distances between the two beams. The reason for this is that the internal pressure in each inclined section of the side wall produces a component of force which represents a disturbing force acting perpendicularly on the adjacent contact surface. The amount of this disturbing force depends on the inclination of the section of the side wall and thus on the distance between the two beams. Another disadvantage of this known embodiment is that it is very difficult to produce a pressure cushion which has such inwardly folded side walls and nevertheless withstands the necessary internal pressures.

Hydraulic support device in a paper making machine


A digital frequency discrimination circuit includes an edge detector coupled to receive a transmission signal for producing an edge detected signal; an edge timer including a shift register clocked by the clock signal and having the edge detected signal as a data input, and a timeout determining subcircuit having a plurality of bits of the shift register coupled as edge detection inputs, for determining and providing a timeout signal indicating whether any of the edge detection inputs represents an edge detection; and a state machine circuit coupled to receive the clock signal, the edge detected signal, and the timeout signal for producing an unsquelch signal indicating whether the transmission signal meets frequency discrimination requirements.

The invention relates generally to the field of computer networks, specifically to the field of Local Area Network (LAN) signal reception and qualification.
Data receivers used in LAN applications must qualify received signals; that is, discriminate between valid data signals and spurious noise. This function is commonly known as receive squelch. One typical standard for receive squelch is the IEEE 802.3 standard (hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety). Section 14 of this, for Ethernet over twisted pair wiring, requires that all signals not meeting minimum amplitude and frequency requirements be filtered out. Implementing the amplitude requirements is relatively straightforward, but implementing the frequency requirements is more complex.
The IEEE 802.3 standard has different specifications for different transmission media. A 10Base-T specification is illustrated in FIG. 1. The 10base-T interface is an alternative to the more standard Attachment Unit Interface ("AUI"), which is also discussed in the 802.3 specification and which shares a number of the requirements discussed here. Referring to FIG. 1, an Ethernet controller 10 is coupled through a Manchester encoder 20 and a Manchester decoder 30 to a Medium Attachment unit ("MAU") 40. MAU 40 receives data from twisted pair line 50 and transmits data on twisted pair line 60, in communication with another MAU at the other end of the twisted pair. The data is Manchester encoded prior to transmission in order to provide clocking information within the data stream.
The 10Base-T specification requires that receivers squelch out single-cycle signals and all signals below 2 MHz in frequency. Once the receiver has begun accepting data, it must accept all signals within the frequency range of 5 and 10 MHz, while tolerating edge "jitter" (referring to the allowable phase variation of a signal's zero crossing, either forward or backward in time) of up to .+-.13.5 ns. The receiver must "shut off" (terminate data reception) if no signal transitions, either rising or falling, are detected for 230 ns, indicating the end of a data packet.
A MAU receiver must also recognize another type of signal, distinct from data, namely, a "Link Pulse". A Link Pulse is an idle signal exchanged by MAUs over the twisted pair segment as part of a "Link Integrity Test" function. The Link Pulse verifies that the receive pair of one MAU is functionally connected to the transmit pair of another MAU, and vice versa. Every 16 ms (.+-.8 ms) the MAU transmitter sends out a single 100 ns wide logic "1" (RD+ positive with respect to RD-) pulse. The MAU receiver at the other end of the segment must recognize this pulse as a valid Link Pulse, even though transmission-line effects may cause the pulse to "smear" out to 200 ns wide.
Conventional implementations of these frequency requirements have typically employed linear timing components, such as monostable multivibrators ("monostables"), based on resistive-capacitive time constants. For example, for data packet termination, the monostable would be triggered by edge transitions, and if no transition were received before it timed out, the receiver would treat the data packet as terminated and would shut off.
The conventional approach has two significant drawbacks: cost and accuracy. Space, and therefore cost, requirements of LAN adapters are becoming increasingly stringent, forcing them to be implemented with all of the necessary functions integrated together on a single ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Linear functions, however, are expensive to integrate within an ASIC. Furthermore, linear functions such as monostables are not very accurate over the typical variations in temperature, voltage, and process conditions. Sufficient and consistent accuracy in the monostable to accept all signals having edge transitions occurring up to 127 ns apart, while rejecting those having edge transitions 230 ns apart, adds significant expense to the manufacturing environment for LAN equipment production.

Method and apparatus for frequency discriminating computer network signals


A CPU heat sink including a heat sink body and a cover plate covered on the heat sink body, the heat sink body having a circular recessed chamber at an eccentric location which receives a fan, and a plurality of radiating fins spirally arranged around the circular recessed chamber and defining a plurality of spiral air passages adapted for guiding currents of air out of the circular recessed chamber, the cover plate having a circular opening corresponding to the circular recessed chamber of the heat sink body, rows of air vents, and a plurality of sloping wind guide strips respectively projecting into the air vents for guiding outside air through the air vents into the spiral air passages of the heat sink body.

The present invention relates to CPU heat sinks, and more particularly to such a CPU heat sink assembly which has spiral air passages and air vents for convection.
When a CPU of a computer is operated, it produces heat. If heat is not quickly carried away from the CPU, the function of the CPU may be affected. A variety of heat sinks have been disclosed for this purpose. These heat sinks may be mounted with a fan on the inside for quick dissipation of heat. However, these heat sinks cannot achieve a satisfactory heat dissipation result because they commonly have only one opening right above the fan for convection.

No. 2, Alley 1, Lane 160, Kai De St., Chien Chen Chu


The security clearance card, system and method of the present invention includes a card that stores data to verify the identity of an owner of the card. In addition to other types of information, the card stores biometric data of the owner and other identity data. Different portions of the data may be encrypted with different encryption techniques based upon a predetermined level of security assigned to the portions of the stored data. Reader elements are then capable of reading at least a portion of the encrypted data stored on the security clearance card, and receiving at least one biometric from an individual. The biometric stored in the card is then compared with the biometric of the individual presenting the security clearance card to verify that the holder of the card is the owner of the card.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention is related to security systems in general, and more specifically directed to a security system that uses security clearance cards with increased storage space and increased security for information store thereon, and a security system that selectively controls access to data on the card by different card readers and operators, as well as selective controlled access to different portions of a facility by a cardholder.
2. Description of Related Art
Most companies and governmental entities use security systems to control access to facilities, data, etc. Access is typically controlled through the use of security clearance cards and/or password access. Many conventional security systems are electronically operated through the use of card readers, biometric scanners, and the like. Further, many conventional security systems are network based. Specifically, these systems use a centralized data server that contains security access codes and data related to personnel allowed access to a facility, data, etc., such as a security identification number associated with the personnel and/or stored biometrics associated with the personnel. In general, these conventional security systems operate in a centralized networked mode, which can slow access decision-making. Further, the clearance cards used in these systems may be rudimentary in that they only include tokens used to identify data associated with the user located in the server, or the cards may include processors and memory that may be easily compromised. Conventional security systems also typically do not include complex decision-making concerning access to facilities and locations. Specifically, most systems only use a standard entry/no-entry decision-making and do not allow for dynamic alteration of access criteria. Finally, many conventional security systems do not have the ability to limit access to different levels of information stored on a security clearance card by different security readers and security employees. These issues are discussed more fully below.
Security clearance cards are typically issued to individuals who have been approved to access a particular location, object, information, electronic media, and/or any other tangible or intangible item to which access is limited. For example, organizations that include items to which access is restricted, usually issue security clearance cards to those individuals who the organization deems authorized to access the items. The security clearance cards therefore may carry some type of information, indication and/or means that that permit the person carrying the card to access one or more restricted items. For example, a card may include visual information so that a security guard or other personnel may visually inspect the card to ensure that the card is valid, and/or the card may include information that allows automated access to the restricted item.
Usually individuals must undergo some type of background check prior to issuance of a security clearance card, such as by providing evidence of their identity, i.e., a birth certificate, proof of address, drivers license, social security card, visa, passport, and/or any other information that demonstrates the individual's identity. In addition, individuals may have to provide detailed information regarding their background, such as education, prior jobs, affiliations, and/or any other information regarding the individual's history that is pertinent to the particular type of background check. Once the desired information regarding the individual is accumulated, it may be verified in whatever manner is acceptable to the organization to ensure that the information is valid.
Some conventional security cards may include bar codes, magnetic strips, and/or other similar type(s) of data storage devices, for encoding data associated with the individual to whom the card is issued. The cards may also include other types of data in addition to the basic identity and access data described above.
In some security systems, a biometric of the cardholder is used for verification. In these systems, one or more biometrics of the cardholder, such as a fingerprint, a retina scan, a voice sample, DNA sample, or the like, are taken of the cardholder and stored on a centralized database of the security system. A token or other identifier is then stored on the card in the form of a bar code or similar encoded device. In operation, when the holder presents the card to a card reader, the token associated with a biometric is read. The security system uses the token to then poll the network database to retrieve the token associated with the holder. Further, the holder also has their biometric scanned with a biometric scanner connected to the security system. The security system compares the scanned biometric taken from the scanner with the stored biometric taken from the card to determine whether the person presenting the card is the registered cardholder.
As mentioned, the biometric identifier is typically not stored directly in the security card. Instead, a token is stored in the card, and the token provides the information necessary to query a remote database in which the biometric identifier associated with the owner of the card is stored. Therefore, a card reader may read the token stored in the card, and then query the appropriate remote database based upon the instructions provided by the token. In this instance, the card reader must be in continuous or semi-continuous communication with the remote database in order to verify the cardholder. In other words, the comparison of the stored biometric with a scanned biometric is dependent upon the card reader's capability to communicate with the remote database. In addition, the integrity of the stored biometric is dependent upon the integrity of the remote database. The biometric comparison may easily be jeopardized because communication between the card reader and the remote database may be blocked, and/or the remote database may become intentionally or inadvertently corrupted. Further, there may be added delay associated with polling and retrieving the biometric from the remote database. Also, the requirement of a network connection for card readers may not be practical for instances where the security system is used at a remotely located security checkpoint.
Another disadvantage of many conventional security card systems is storage capacity. The amount of data that can be stored in these conventional cards may be limited by the amount of data that may be encoded into the bar code, magnetic strip and/or other similar type(s) of data storage means printed on the face of the card.
Recently, business cards have been developed that use a CD-ROM for data storage. These business cards include a CD-ROM that has been shaped to resemble a card. Located on a surface of the CD-ROM is business data related to the card owner, such as name, title, company, address, phone number, etc. These business cards are advantageous as they allow for added storage of data on the CD-ROM. For instance, CD-ROM cards have been utilized to store data about a company associated with the card owner. This data can be viewed by a recipient of the business card via a conventional CD-ROM player.
Although CD-ROM business cards increase the amount of data that can be stored in a card, these conventional cards are not suitable for use in a security setting. Specifically, while these conventional business cards include information on the front of the card such as name, company, address, etc. and additional marketing information about the company stored on the CD-ROM, there is typically no information either printed on or stored in the card that verifies to a recipient that the card belongs to the card owner. Therefore, if an individual presents a CD-ROM card, there is no way to ensure that the CD-ROM card belongs to that individual, or that the data carried by the card is associated with the individual.
Smart cards have also been developed for use in security systems. Smart cards include either an embedded memory or both an embedded memory and a processor. These cards allow for additional data information storage on the security card. Further, the processor can be used to perform processing of data stored in the memory. These cards, however, also may have associated security issues. Specifically, smart carts are susceptible to hacking. Once the procedures for reading and writing to the memory of the smart card are determined, the security data on the card can be easily accessed and changed. As such, the card could be either compromised or altered for used by a non-authorized person.
In addition to the shortcomings associated with conventional security clearance cards, there are also some shortcomings with the security systems themselves. One issue is limiting data access. Specifically, it may be desirable to include a wide range of data on a security card, where some of the data is more sensitive than other portions of the data. For example, in addition to data for verifying the cardholder, the card may also include personal data about the cardholder, such as financial, medical, and criminal records. In this instances, it is important to limit access to the personal data, while at the same time allowing access to data for verifying the owner of the card. Unfortunately, for many conventional security cards, this is not possible. There typically is no way to ensure that personnel operating a card reader cannot access all of the data stored on the card. Therefore, typically anyone capable of reading the card is authorized to view all of the data stored on the card, which may limit the type of data a card owner will be willing to store on the card, unless the only person accessing the data carried by the card is the owner of the card.
An additional problem with many conventional security systems is flexibility in deciding who does and who does not have access to a facility, or data, or anything else to which security is required. Specifically, many conventional systems operate on "go/no go" decision-making. The list of those allowed access to a certain facility, data, etc., is hard coded in the system and cannot be altered dynamically. For example, an individual may originally have authorization to access one portion of a facility, but not another portion of the facility. For many conventional security systems, the list of individuals provided access to the second portion of the facility will have to be manually updated with the individual's information and then provided to the card reader or security gate at the second portion of the facilities entrance. This can be time consuming, especially in situations where the list of individuals allowed access to a facility is altered on a regular basis.
In light of these shortcomings in the prior art, there is a need for a security card that is capable of carrying large amounts of data, while also providing means for verifying the identity of an owner of the card. Cards are also needed that are less tamper proof and provide added data security. In addition, there is a need for such a card that limits access to different levels of data stored on the card based on the security level of the individual attempting to gain access to the information. Needs also exist for security systems that do not require constant connection to a network to verify security information, as well as security systems that allow for dynamic updating of information related to who is allowed access to facilities.

Security clearance card, system and method of reading a security clearance card


An ice breaking seal for a ball screw comprises a first, ice breaking section and a second, sealing section formed integrally with the ice breaking section. The ice breaking section is formed of a polymeric material and has a first hardness. The sealing section is formed of a polymeric material and has a second hardness, which is lower than the first hardness.

Ball screws are a well-known form of rotary actuator and comprise a rotary ball screw received in a ball nut. A plurality of balls is provided between the ball screw and the ball nut. Rotation of the ball screw or the ball nut results in translation of the ball screw or the ball nut. A seal is provided between the ball nut and the ball screw so as to retain lubricant within the ball nut, thereby facilitating relative rotation of the ball screw and ball nut. Ball screws are used in a wide range of atmospheric conditions and in certain operating conditions may be prone to the accumulation of ice on the ball screw shaft. This may interfere with the proper operation of the ball screw, so it is known to also provide an ice breaking element between the ball screw and ball nut.
In a known arrangement, a metallic ice breaking element is formed, for projecting into the thread of the ball screw. A sealing element is then attached to the ice breaking element, for example by moulding or overmoulding. This construction is effective but may be heavy and difficult to accurately manufacture.


A fluoropolymer including a vinylidene fluoride unit, a tetrafluoroethylene unit, and a unit represented by the following formula (1):—CHX1—CX2(OR)—  (1)wherein one of X1 and X2 is a hydrogen atom, and the other is a fluorine atom; and R is a hydrogen atom or a C1-C8 alkyl group.

Porous membranes have recently been utilized in various fields, including not only for treatment of water (e.g. water purification, waste water treatment), medical usage (e.g. blood purification), and the food industry, but also for use as charged membranes, battery separators, and fuel cells.
For example, porous membranes are used in the field of water treatment such as water purification and waste water treatment for substitution for conventional purposes, including sand filtration and coagulative precipitation, and improvement in the quality of treated water. Since a large quantity of water is treated in the field of water treatment, porous membranes are required to have excellent hydrophilicity. Porous membranes with excellent hydrophilicity enable to reduce the area of the membranes, which in turn reduces the size of water purification apparatuses. Accordingly, facility costs can be reduced. Moreover, membranes with hydrophilicity are less likely to be stained. Thus, such membranes can stably maintain the filtration performance for a long period of time, and can reduce the frequency of cleaning the membranes.
Furthermore, porous membranes are required to have chemical resistance because they may be washed with an alkaline solution in chemical cleaning. Studies have been made on porous membranes that contain a fluoropolymer (e.g. polyvinylidene fluoride resin) as a material with high chemical resistance (see, for example, Patent Literatures 1 to 14). However, conventional fluoropolymers have insufficient hydrophilicity or mechanical strength, and thus need improvement as a material for porous polymer membranes.

Fluoropolymer, production method for fluoropolymer, and porous polymer film


A repeater device allows a remote unit to control, program and/or monitor a medical implant device from a much further distance than has heretofore been possible. Such repeater device also facilitates transmitting other signals, i.e., other than control signals, to the medical implant device, such as, e.g., streaming audio, or other auxiliary input data. In one embodiment, the repeater device also allows status signals or sensed data originating within the medical implant device to be transmitted from the medical implant device through the repeater device to the remote unit, even though the remote unit may be located some distance, e.g., up to 200 feet, from the medical implant device. Such transmitted signals when received at the remote unit may be processed, analyzed, stored, monitored and/or displayed.

The present invention relates to implantable neural stimulators, and more particularly to a way of increasing the distance from which an external remote control device is able to control and monitor the operation of a fully implantable neural system, such as a fully implantable cochlear implant system.
Representative cochlear implant systems are disclosed in the following U.S. patents, each of which is incorporated herein by reference: U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,824,022; 5,584,869; 5,603,726; and 6,219,580. A representative fully implantable cochlear implant system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,308,101, also incorporated herein by reference.
A fully implantable cochlear implant system, or other fully implantable neural system, requires the use of a bi-directional telecommunications link, e.g., a radio frequency (RF) link, to communicate between the implant components and a remote control device for the purpose of setting the operating parameters of the implant system, and for monitoring its operation. The operating parameters of the implant system may include adjusting sensitivity, volume, program selection, ON/OFF control, and the like.
In a fully implanted cochlear implant system, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,308,101, the functions of the implant system are split between electronic circuitry contained in two separate housings: (1) an implantable speech processor (ISP) and (2) an implantable cochlear stimulator (ICS). The two housings are coupled to each other through a compact multi-turn coil through mutual inductance, as taught, e.g., in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/346,482, filed Jan. 17, 2003, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,054,691 on May 30, 2006, which application and patent are assigned to the same assignee as the present application, and which application and patent are incorporated herein by reference. In such a system, the implantable speech processor (ISP) receives and transmits control signals through the multi-turn coil, using mutual inductance, by way of an imperceptible amount of energy which couples into the radiating modes. This link is therefore very limited in its transmission and reception range, which is typically only about 10–20 inches.
In the past, it has been necessary to hold the remote control device very close to an implantable device, .e.g., on or very near the skin surface above the location where the implant device is implanted. This is cumbersome and unsightly. In use, with the remote control device held on the skin above the implant location, it is usually difficult for the user to see the controls or displays on the remote control device when it must be held adjacent to the implant location.
In order to allow the remote control device to communicate with a fully implantable device from a farther distance, it has been necessary to increase the energy level of the signal transmitted to the implant device. Disadvantageously, such increase in transmitted signal strength only works in one direction, and increases the power consumption of the remote control device.
While radio repeater systems have been in use for many years for telephone, television and all forms of communications that use conventional rf communication links over large distances through the atmosphere or space, they have not, to applicant's knowledge, been adapted for use with medical implant systems where the signal must traverse through body tissue and fluids.
Therefore, it is evident that a need exists for improvements in the manner in which a remote control device communicates with a medical implant system, i.e., in the way that a remote control device communicates bi-directionally with a fully implanted device.

Implantable neurostimulator having data repeater for long range control and data streaming


Chalcogenide-containing film forming compositions, methods of synthesizing the same, and methods of forming Chalcogenide-containing films on one or more substrates via vapor deposition processes using the Chalcogenide-containing film forming compositions are disclosed.

Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 7,638,645) discloses compounds containing metals in the +4 oxidation state bonded to four amidinate ligands, the broad disclosure of metals which includes tellurium. The metal tetra-amidinate compounds may be used to form metal-containing films in a vapor deposition process, exemplary deposition methods being CVD and ALD. The process includes exposing the substrate to a source of nitrogen, and the thin film comprises a metal nitride. The source of nitrogen comprises ammonia.
Patent application (EP2000561A1) discloses formamidinate compounds wherein the metal is chosen from a Group 2 to Group 16, the broad disclosure of which includes Te and Se. It discloses that the numerous formamidinate compounds may be used in ALD and CVD processes to deposit metal or metal oxide or metal nitride or metal silicate or metal silicon oxynitride thin films. The method for depositing films permits the use of a second precursor, the second precursor being any precursor that reacts with the first precursor. Oxygen, ozone, water, peroxide, alcohols, nitrous oxide and ammonia are mentioned as exemplary second precursors.
Document (US2009/137100) discloses a method of forming tellurium-containing film, wherein a silyltellurium precursor is used as a source of tellurium for the alloy film and is reacted with an alcohol during the deposition process using chemical vapor deposition methods at low temperatures. The tellurium precursor being selected from the group consisting of (R1R2R3Si)2Te, (R1R2R3Si)TeR4, (R1R2R3Si)TeN(R4R5) where R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5 are individually hydrogen, alkyl groups with 1 to 10 carbons in linear, branched or cyclic form, or an aromatic group. An alcohol with the general formula ROH where R is an alkyl group with 1 to 10 carbon atoms in linear, branched, or cyclic form or an aromatic group, is to be reacted with tellurium precursor to form a tellurium layer. Tellurium nitride films can not be obtained with this method.
Patent application (WO2011/056519) mentions ALD processes for forming Group VA element containing films. Among other processes, ALD for forming nitrogen-containing thin films is provided. In that particular case, the vapor phase reactant N-source may have the formula [N(AR1R2R3)xR3-x], [N[A1(X1R1R2R3)3][A2(X2R4R5R6)3][A3(X3R7R8R9)3]] or [N[A1(X1R1R2R3)3][A2(X2R4R5R6)3]H]; wherein x is from 1 to 3, A is Si, Ge or Sn and R1-9 can be independently selected to be linear, cyclic, branched or substituted alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, hydrogen or ayrl groups. In some embodiments, R1-R9 can be any organic groups containing heteroatoms or can be a halogen atoms. X1-3 can be Si, Ge, N or O. Selected examples of N-containing precursors are N(SiMe2tBu)3, N(SiH3)3, N(SiEt3)3 or N(SiMe3)3. The N-containing precursors may be used in combination with metal precursors selected from the group consisting of elements from Group IIIA to VIA. Concretely, the authors focus on BN, AlN, GaN films.
In particular, they can be used in combination with Te and Se precursors. Te and Se precursors may have the formula A(SiR1R2R3)2, [R1R2R3X1]3—Si-A-Si—[X2R4R5R6]3, R1R2R3Si—Si-A-Si—SiR4R5R6, R1 R2N—Si-A- Si—NR3R4, R1OSi-A-SiOR2, or R1R2Si-A-SiR3R4; wherein A is Te or Se and R1, R2, R3, R4, R5 and R6 are hydrogen, alkyl groups comprising one or more carbon atoms, alkenyl, alkynyl or aryl groups, organic groups containing hydrogen atoms, halogen atoms and X1, X2 can be Si, O, N. Selected examples are Se(SiMe2tBu)2, Te(SiEt3)2, Te(SiMe3)2, Se(SiEt3)2 or Se(SiMe3)2. In other embodiments, the Te and Se precursors may also have multiple atoms of Si and Te or Se.
Patent application (US2009/256127) discloses tellurium metal-organic compounds with the general formula {RTe-L,} where R represents either substituted β-diketiminato ({R′C(NR)CRC(NR)R}) or β-ketoiminato ({R′COCR C(NR)R}) ligands, wherein R′ and R may be the same or different and represent a linear or branched C1-C5 alkyl, halogen-substituted linear or branched C1-C7 alkyl, a C1-C4 alkylamide, a C1-C4 alkoxide, an aryl substituted phenyl, or an organosilyl; and each L is independently selected from the group consisting of a hydrocarbon, an oxygen-containing hydrocarbon, a nitrogen-containing hydrocarbon, an amine or polyamine, a bipyridine, a heterocycle containing oxygen or nitrogen, or any combination thereof. It discloses the use of such complexes for the deposition of tellurium nitride, the nitrogen source being ammonia, hydrazine and alkyl derivatives, containing radicals (for instance N., NH., NH˜.), NO, N˜O, NO˜, amines, and any combination thereof.
Patent application (US2009/299084) discloses tellurium metal-organic compounds with the general formulas {(XR1R2R3)Te(XR4R5R6)}, {(—(R1R2X)nTe—}y)}, {(—(R1R2X)nTe(XR3R4)m)Te—)y)}, {Te(XNR1CR2R3CR4R5NR6)}, {Te(XNR1CR2═CR3NR4)}, wherein X is a carbon, silicon or germanium atom, n,m are selected from 0 to 2, each R1-6 is independently selected from among H, a C1-C6 alkyl, a C1-C6 alkoxy, a C1-C6 alkylsilyl, a C1-C6 perfluorocarbon, a C1-C6 alkylsiloxy, a C1-C6 alkylamino an alkylsilylamino and an aminoamido; and the use of those precursors onto the substrate to form a tellurium containing film with H2, NH3, hydrogen radicals; and mixtures thereof as co-reactant.
A need remains for chalcogenide-containing precursor molecules suitable for vapor phase film deposition in thermal mode at low temperatures.

Vapor deposition of chalcogenide-containing films

L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude


Methods and apparatuses for separating sheets of brittle material are disclosed. According to one embodiment, a separation apparatus for separating a sheet of brittle material includes a first separation cam positioned adjacent to a sheet conveyance pathway and a second separation cam positioned opposite from and downstream of the first separation cam. The first and second separation cams may be rotated such that the contact faces of the separation cams periodically extend across a centerline of the conveyance pathway. Rotation of the first and second separation cams may be synchronized such that at least the portion of the contact face of the first separation cam and at least the portion of the contact face of the second separation cam periodically extend across the centerline of the conveyance pathway at a separation time and periodically do not extend across the centerline of the conveyance pathway at a non-separation time.

Field
The present specification generally relates to the manufacture of discrete sheets of brittle material, such as glass, ceramic or the like, and, more specifically, to apparatuses for separating sheets of brittle material from continuous ribbons of brittle material and methods for separating sheets of brittle material from continuous ribbons of brittle material.
Technical Background
Sheets of brittle material, such as sheets of glass or ceramic material, may be formed as continuous ribbons. For example, continuous glass ribbons are commonly formed by downdraw processes, such a fusion draw processes or slot draw processes. As the molten glass is drawn, the glass cools and solidifies. Ultimately, individual sheets of glass are sectioned from the continuous glass ribbon. These individual sheets of glass sectioned from continuous glass ribbons can be used in a variety of devices including flat panel displays, touch sensors, photovoltaic devices and other electronic applications.
The rate of ribbon formation is often adjusted to accommodate the speed of manufacturing processes downstream of the ribbon formation as the cycle time of such processes (such as separation processes and the like) are often slower than the maximum rate of ribbon formation. For example, in continuous glass ribbon forming operations, the glass ribbon is often segmented in to discrete glass sheets utilizing equipment that tracks with and attaches to the continuous glass ribbon as the glass ribbon is conveyed in a draw direction. Once the separation operation is completed, the equipment detaches from the glass ribbon and cycles upstream to repeat the process. The cycle time of these operations is slower than the maximum rate of ribbon formation and, as such, the rate of ribbon formation is reduced to accommodate the cycle time of the separation process. However, reducing the cycle time of the processes also reduces production throughput.
Accordingly, a need exists for alternative methods and apparatuses for separating discrete sheets of brittle material from continuous ribbons of brittle material.

Separation apparatuses for separating sheets of brittle material and methods for separating sheets of brittle material


Routing packet traffic using hierarchical forwarding groups is disclosed. In an embodiment, a packet is received at a packet router. Data related to the packet is received at a first forwarding group. Based on a first forwarding policy associated with the first forwarding group, a particular second forwarding group is selected from a set of forwarding groups that are members of the first forwarding group. Each forwarding group of the set of forwarding groups that are members of the first forwarding group is associated with a unique set of paths. Data related to the packet is provided to the particular second forwarding group. Based on a second forwarding policy associated with the particular second forwarding group, a particular path is selected from a set of paths that are associated with the particular second forwarding group. The packet is forwarded to a network node via the particular path.

The approaches described in this section could be pursued, but are not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Entities such as business enterprises often obtain video, voice and data networking services from network service providers. A service provider typically enters into a contractual agreement with a customer that elects to use the service provider's network for sending and receiving packets. An example of such a contract is a Service Level Agreement. The contract outlines the terms the service provider must meet while transmitting the customer's packet traffic over the service provider's network. The service provider typically meets the terms of the contract by classifying packet traffic flowing through its network into various classes and designates a path for each class.
Packet traffic classification is typically dependent upon quantitative or statistical attributes of paths such as throughput, delay, jitter and/or loss. Additionally, relative attributes such as a packet's priority of access to network resources may also be used. Once a packet has been classified, the service provider routes that packet through its network via the path designated for the packet's class.
Present approaches for classifying packet traffic are typically coarse and face scalability issues as the size of the network grows. They do not provide the capability to achieve a finer level of packet traffic classification that is desired to accommodate modern application requirements and customer expectations nor the flexibility required to manage a network with such level of packet traffic classification.


In a nuclear reactor internal structure, generation and promotion of object-downstream separating vortices are suppressed so that coolant uniformly flows in a reactor core and pressure loss of flow of the coolant is reduced so that the flow of the coolant is stabilized. A lower connecting plate 30 arranged in a lower plenum 8 comprises a ring portion 31 in which an arcuate portion 32 and a cut-off portion are alternately formed. An outer peripheral portion of the ring portion 31 is asymmetric relative to a flow direction of main flow and also asymmetric relative to a separating flow generation direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a nuclear reactor internal structure and more specifically to an internal structure and coolant supply structure of a pressurized water reactor by which flow of coolant in the reactor can be rectified.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a conventional technology relating to a nuclear reactor internal structure by which flow of coolant can be rectified, there are known the following patent documents, that is, the Japanese patent publication Nos. 2999124 (pages 2 and 3, FIGS. 3 and 4) and 3193532 (pages 3 and 4, FIGS. 2 and 3) and the Japanese laid-open patent application Hei 8-62372 (page 2, FIG. 4). In these documents, a connecting plate having its outer periphery formed in a circular shape is disclosed. A basic structure of a reactor vessel of a pressurized water reactor in which such a connecting plate is used is shown here in FIG. 19. In FIG. 19, coolant 1 flows in through a coolant inlet nozzle 3 that is integrally formed with a reactor vessel 2 and flows down as a downflow 6 in a downflow path portion or a downcomer portion 5 formed in an annular shape between the reactor vessel 2 and a reactor core tank 4. The downflow 6 passes through a radial key portion 7 provided having a key groove structure for positioning a lower portion of the reactor core tank 4 relative to the reactor vessel 2 and enters a lower plenum 8. Then, the coolant 1 is directed upward by a spherical inner surface 9 of the lower plenum 8 to pass through a lower connecting plate 10, upper connecting plate 11, lower reactor core supporting plate 12, etc. and flows in a reactor core 13.
An upflow 14 that has entered the reactor core 13 absorbs heat generated by a fuel assembly 15 in the reactor core 13 to be heated to a high temperature and passes through a coolant outlet nozzle 17 in an upper plenum 16 to flow out to a steam generator (not shown). Then, the coolant 1 transfers the heat to cooled water in the steam generator to heat and boil it and is again sent toward the nuclear reactor by a coolant circulating pump (not shown) to be returned into the reactor vessel 2 through the coolant inlet nozzle 3. In FIG. 19, numeral 4a designates a lower reactor core plate that supports the fuel assembly 15, numeral 19 a lower reactor core strut, numeral 20 a falling shock absorbing plate and numeral 20a an instrument guide pipe.
The mode of arrangement of the coolant inlet nozzle 3 and coolant outlet nozzle 17 is shown in FIG. 20 being a cross sectional view taken on line IIX—IIX of FIG. 19.
In FIG. 20, for convenience of description, an axis relative to which the coolant outlet nozzles 17 of an upper pair are positioned in symmetry to each other is defined as an angle 0° axis and each axis is designated by the angle counted counter-clockwise. Thus, on the opposite side of the coolant outlet nozzles 17 of the upper pair, the coolant outlet nozzles 17 of another pair are positioned in symmetry relative to the 180′ axis. Also, the coolant inlet nozzles 3 of a pair are positioned in symmetry relative to the 90° axis and the coolant inlet nozzles 3 of another pair are positioned in symmetry relative to the 270′ axis.
On the other hand, the mode of arrangement of the radial key portion 7 of a lower portion of the downcomer portion 5 is shown in FIG. 21 being a cross sectional view taken on line IX—IX of FIG. 19. As shown in FIG. 21, six of the radial key portions 7 are arranged at positions of 60° intervals starting from the reference of the 0° axis in the downcomer portion 5.
In FIG. 22 being a cross sectional view taken on line X—X of FIG. 19, the lower connecting plate 10 arranged in the lower plenum 8 is a circular plate-like member having its outer circumferential periphery formed in a ring shape as a ring portion 21. A circular inside portion of the ring portion 21 is formed by a rim portion 23 having a multiplicity of small holes 22 into which the instrument guide pipes 20a are inserted. The rim portion 23 spreads in a mesh form so as to surround and support these small holes 22 and connects to the ring portion 21.
Both of FIGS. 23(a) and (b) are views of the lower connecting plate 10 as seen from below in the lower plenum 8 and show the state of flow of the coolant 1 on the lower side of the lower connecting plate 10 in the lower plenum 8.
The coolant 1 flowing into the reactor through the coolant inlet nozzles 3 of one pair joins together so that the flow velocity thereof becomes faster and flows down in the downcomer portion 5, wherein a portion of the coolant 1 disperses in the circumferential direction in the downcomer portion 5.
Thus, the flow of the coolant 1 can be divided into two portions, that is, on one hand, a main flow 26, 27, as shown in FIG. 23(b), in which the coolant 1 flows down in the downcomer portion 5 substantially perpendicularly from the coolant inlet nozzle 3 and flows in toward a central portion of the lower plenum 8 through between the ring portion 21 of the lower connecting plate 10 and the inner surface 9 of the lower plenum 8 and, on the other hand, a dispersing flow in which flow of the coolant 1 disperses in the circumferential direction in the downcomer portion 5.
A portion of the dispersing flow, while it goes down, impinges on the radial key portion 7 to thereby form a separating flow 28, 29, as shown in FIG. 23(a), on both sides of the radial key portion 7 and this separating flow 28, 29 flows in toward the central portion of the lower plenum likewise through between the lower connecting plate 10 and the inner surface 9 of the lower plenum 8.
FIG. 23(a) shows the state of the separating flow 28, 29 on the lower side of the lower connecting plate 10 and the state of generation of small vortices, that is, object-downstream separating vortices caused by the separating flow 28, 29 around the radial key portion 7. Here, as the coolant 1 flows in the state of turbulence of a high Reynolds number, by the characteristic of the turbulence, the flow of the coolant 1 is in the state of a random velocity in which the small vortices repeat appearance/disappearance in the flow. If the impinging flow and the separating flow join together, while a further complicated flow is generated, there is also considered a possibility that the separating flow is stabilized or rather promoted or the small vortices are stabilized or rather promoted according to the mode of the joining.
FIG. 23(b) shows the state in which the main flow 26, 27 coming in from the 90° axis side and the 270° axis side, respectively, impinges on the separating flow around the central portion of the falling shock absorbing plate 20 to become the impinging flow separated into the 0° axis side and the 180° axis side and flows toward around the radial key portion 7. The separation is enlarged by the main flow 26, 27 coming in around the radial key portion 7 and the separating vortices are promoted so that the size of the separating vortices themselves becomes larger.
With respect to each pair of the coolant inlet nozzle 3 and the coolant outlet nozzle 17, adjacent to each other, the steam generator and the coolant pump, respectively, are connected to them, so that four loops of a primary cooling system are formed, wherein each of the coolant pumps generally has the same discharge rate.
FIG. 24 is a development view for explaining the structure of the downcomer portion 5, wherein an outer circumferential surface of the reactor core tank 4 of a cylindrical shape is developed into a flat plane.
On the outer circumferential surface of the reactor core tank 4, a thermal insulator 319 of a substantially rectangular shape is provided so as to slightly protrude into the downcomer portion 5. Between two adjacent thermal insulators 319, an inter-thermal insulator flow path 321, 322 of a substantially equal width is formed so that the coolant 1 flows down along this inter-thermal insulator flow path 321, 322.
Also, below the thermal insulator 319, there is provided a radial connection portion 7′ of a substantially rectangular shape having a key groove structure for positioning the lower portion of the reactor core tank 4 relative to the reactor vessel 2 and by this radial connection portion 7′, the reactor core tank 4 is connected to the reactor vessel 2 in the downcomer portion 5.
As shown in FIG. 19, the coolant 1 flows in from the coolant inlet nozzle 3 and flows down in the downcomer portion 5 as the downflow 6. In the downcomer portion 5, as shown in FIG. 24, the coolant 1 mainly flows down through the inter-thermal insulator flow path 321, 322 and enters the lower plenum 8 through between the radial connection portions 7′.
Here, the inter-thermal insulator flow path 321 is provided below the coolant inlet nozzle 3 and constitutes a main flow path through which the coolant 1 flows with a relatively fast velocity. On the other hand, in the inter-thermal insulator flow path 322 provided below the coolant outlet nozzle 17, the coolant 1 flows with a slower velocity than in the main flow path. Also, the radial connection portion 7′ is located at a central position of the flow path 322, 321.


An apparatus for a bicycle includes an intermediate power connector configured for transmitting power between a bicycle component and a power source positioned remote from the bicycle component. The intermediate power connector has a coupling portion configured for removable attachment to a connecting portion of the bicycle component. The bicycle component can also include a battery having a battery coupling portion configured for removable attachment to the connecting portion of the bicycle component. The battery and the intermediate power connector can be selectively attachable to the bicycle component to provide power thereto.

Electric shifting systems for bicycles have batteries. In some cases, it is a common battery that powers all the components. Generally, the cables that transmit the power also transmit the control signals. U.S. Pat. No. 6,741,045 B2, for example, uses the same wire of a cable for power and for control. This is commonly done to minimize the number of conductors in a bundled cable. More recently, wireless systems have been introduced that have individual batteries at each component. The control signals should also be wireless to achieve the full benefit of a wireless system. Therefore, each wireless derailleur may have a wireless receiver and a battery, such as a rechargeable and removable battery. Wireless systems for use in bicycle shifting systems are known, for example in US Patent Application Publication Number 2015/0111675 A1, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.


A method for modeling a test space is provided. The method comprises defining a coverage model including one or more attributes, wherein respective values for the attributes are assigned, one or more definitions of value properties for said attributes with assigned values, and one or more requirements that limit combination of attribute values that are legal for the model, wherein at least one of said requirements is defined using at least one value property.

Model based techniques may be used for modeling software systems by generating tests for verifying the behavior of a computing system on which the software is executed. A model includes a set of attributes in addition to values for the attributes and corresponding restrictions on said values or value combinations. The set of valid value combinations defines the space to be tested.
In a Cartesian-product based model, the test space is defined as all possible combinations of variable (i.e., attribute) values that are not ruled out by restrictions. The size of a Cartesian-product based model is the product of the number of values for each attribute (i.e., A1*A2* . . . *An), where An represents the number of valid values for the nth attribute. One would appreciate that the size of the model can become prohibitively large, depending on the number of attributes and the possible number of values assigned to each attribute.
Depending on the testing environment, tests may be selected from large data sets or large test suits where the set of values for one or more attributes may be too large to be accommodated by the available resources in a computing system under test. In some scenarios, there may be multiple values that are equivalent with respect to a given testing. Thus, it may be desirable to select tests based on properties associates with values, instead of the values themselves.
For example, in healthcare there are thousands of diagnosis codes. Testing all of them, not to mention combinations of all of them, with procedure codes, for example, may consume a vast volume of resources. It would be desirable to reduce the number of tests by requiring coverage of groups of codes (e.g., blood vs. bone related diagnosis). Such groups may be semantic or procedural. That is, a group of values may share the same processing path and hence only one value from each group may need to be covered.
Currently, implementing a grouping such as that noted above requires writing a program or a script that transforms the original input values to the smaller set of groups or group representatives. The coding process is an expensive, time consuming step and requires skills that are frequently not available to the novice members of test teams. A less expensive and more flexible alternative is desirable that can be used to simplify the modeling of software system.

Attribute value properties for test selection with cartesian product models

International Business Machines Corporation