An submersible desalination unit composed of a structure containing a water intake system for acquiring sea water, a sea water pre-filtration system for removing lager contaminants and debris, a reverse osmosis system for the purification of the water, a permeate transfer system to carry the water to where it will be used, a power source for powering the equipment used in the process and a control system that operates and monitors the equipment and process of removing salt from the water and transferring the desalinated water to other use and returning the brine solution to the sea.

The increasing demand for water among households, industry, the environment, and especially agriculture is making global water scarcity a perilous possibility. However, salt or brackish water is readily available in many areas of the world. In fact, 97 percent of the surface water of the earth is salt water.
Much of the projected increase in water demand will occur in developing countries, where population growth and industrial and agricultural expansion will be greatest. The world's thirst for water is likely to become one of the most pressing resource issues of the 21st Century.
One-quarter of the world's population lives in areas where water is physically scarce, while about one-sixth of humanity—over a billion people—live where water is economically scarce. Declining groundwater supplies, pollution, flooding and drought could well worsen poverty in many areas.
Irrigation already accounts for about two thirds of water use worldwide. As rivers and lakes are dammed, dried up, or polluted, and as food demand grows in the next 50 years, farmers will become increasingly dependent on ground water for irrigation.
Nearly one third of all humanity relies almost exclusively on groundwater for drinking, including the residents of some of the largest cities in the developing world. Today water tables are falling on every continent. The depletion of aquifers is a new problem, one that has emerged only in the half past century or so, because it is only in this period that we have had the pumping capacity to quite literally deplete aquifers.
Desalination of sea water has been practiced for over half a century and is a well known means of water supply in many countries.
Evaporation and reverse osmosis are two common methods to produce fresh water from sea water. Evaporation methods involve heating the sea water, condensing the vapor produced and isolating the distillate.
Reverse osmosis is a membrane separation process in which the water from a pressurized saline solution is separated from the dissolved material by flowing through a membrane.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,456,802, osmotic membranes units are submerged at great depths in the sea, 3,000 to 4,000 feet, to take advantage of the hydrostatic pressure of the ocean for supplying the necessary differential pressure to the osmotic membranes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,125,463 discloses a reverse osmosis apparatus placed in a well hole and using the head pressure of the salt water to supply the necessary differential pressure to the osmotic membranes.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,005, a reverse osmosis apparatus is lowered into the ocean by means of lines attached to pulleys, then raised to the surface to remove the fresh water produced. The invention also uses hydrostatic pressure of the ocean for supplying the necessary differential pressure to the osmotic membranes.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,800,201 discloses a large open top metal cylinder anchored to the sea floor with several units of osmotic membranes attached to the side of the cylinder. Due to the pressure differential, freshwater passes through the membranes by reverse osmosis. The brine is disposed back to the ocean by gravity through an opening in the bottom of the cylinder.
Energy costs for desalination of prior inventions is still high, and one of the main drawbacks to the use of reverse osmosis systems as used by the prior art is the pumping energy required for raising the sea water to the pressures necessary for osmotic separation. These pressures are typically in the neighborhood of 800 to 1000 psi. The problem is amplified by the increasing cost of energy and the ongoing decreasing supply of available energy resources.
The above cited prior art inventions have attempted to save pumping energy by using the hydrostatic pressure of the ocean to desalinate seawater by reverse osmosis, but none of them have proved to be practical or economically viable since they all require the invention to be placed at great depths above 3,000 feet in order to obtain the required pressure of 800 to 1000 psi for osmotic separation. The amount of energy saved by such a process is offset by installation and maintenance costs since it requires working in extremely deep waters. Furthermore the important head requires substantial energy to pump the fresh water to the surface.
The present invention is distinguishable from the above prior art in that it can be located at much lower depth, as low as 70 feet. It combines the use of the ocean hydrostatic pressure and the sea currents renewable energy to supply the necessary differential pressure to the osmotic membranes.
It is an object of the present invention to reduce the pumping energy required for the desalination process.
Another object of this invention is the use of renewable energy for the three following pumping processes, contributing to the protection of our environment: pumping to raise the feed water pressure to reverse osmosis operational pressure above 800 PSI, pumping the brine back to the ocean, and pumping the product water to an onshore storage tank and the distribution network.
Another object of this invention is to eliminate the feed water and pre-filtration pumping processes by using exclusively the hydrostatic pressure of the ocean.
Another object of this invention is the discontinued use of land and building facilities for the desalination process. Land leasing, construction and contractor costs can therefore be avoided, reducing substantially the initial capital costs of the project. Only the product water storage will be required onshore.
Another object of this invention is to keep the desalination system unseen from shore, avoiding obnoxious noise and visual impact on the shoreline. Therefore, this invention is submerged at a sufficient depth to allow free maritime traffic over the operating area.
Another object of this invention is to facilitate an increased amount of output of desalinated water without the need to upgrade existing equipment. The vessels of this invention are stand alone and turnkey units, providing a modular plant design that can be easily upgraded and modified. The expansion of present facilities is only limited by the offshore operating area granted by the local authorities.
Another object of this invention is to reduce maintenance and installation cost issues by placing the invention into shallow waters less than 1200 feet, and regular maintenance is possible from the surface without the requirement of divers or submersible maintenance equipment to work on, repair, or maintain the system.
Another object of this invention is to provide the means to be rapidly moved to an alternate location in order to optimize the use of renewable energy resources and/or relocate the location of a source of intake water and the discharge of brine.
Another object of this invention is to produce large quantities of fresh water in locations distant from any public water distribution network or grid power source.
Another object of this invention is to reduce the accumulation of concentrated brine released by conventional desalination plants. Conventional desalination plants release their brine through pipelines laid on the seabed a few miles from shore. In absence of sufficient currents or water mixing at the disposal spot, the accumulation of concentrated brine could be harmful for the sea flora and fauna. This invention is designed to release the brine in the middle of strong sea currents at mid-depth, thus providing a rapid dispersion with minimal impact on the environment.
Another object of this invention is to reduce the risk of sea life impingement through the feed water intake system. Conventional desalination plants use single spot intake systems with particularly strong suction flows, while the modular configuration of this invention allows an efficient dispersion of the suction effect, as the desalination vessels are kept at a specific distance from each other.
Additional features of this invention will be apparent with the following description and accompanying drawings.

Submersible reverse osmosis desalination apparatus and method


A hardware-based digital random number generator is provided. In one embodiment, a processor includes a digital random number generator (DRNG) to condition entropy data provided by an entropy source, to generate a plurality of deterministic random bit (DRB) strings, and to generate a plurality of nondeterministic random bit (NRB) strings, and an execution unit coupled to the DRNG, in response to a first instruction to read a seed value, to retrieve one of the NRB strings from the DRNG and to store the NRB string in a destination register specified by the first instruction.

Cryptographic algorithms and the protocols that use them require keys (which are based upon random numbers). For example, such keys can be secret/shared keys used by symmetric key algorithms such as Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and Data Encryption Standard (DES) (used for block or stream encryption) and public/private key pairs used by asymmetric key algorithms such as Riverst, Shamir, Adleman (RSA) and Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA).
Random numbers are created by a random number generator. There are logically two kinds of random number generator: a True Random Number Generator (TRNG) and a Pseudo Random Number Generator (PRNG).
A TRNG can only be built using a HW-based "entropy source" and can produce a nondeterministic sequence of truly random numbers. The TRNG is often used to "seed" software PRNGs and is also known as a Nondeterministic Random Bit Generator (NRBG). The lack of high quality, high performance true TRNGs has resulted in computer system security failures.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments of the claimed subject matter, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended that the claimed subject matter be viewed broadly, and be defined only as set forth in the accompanying claims.

Method and apparatus for a non-deterministic random bit generator (NRBG)


Embodiment provides a terminal which comprises at least one processor. The at least one processor is configured to: obtain first biometric feature information of a measured target, where the first biometric feature information includes a pulse wave signal and/or an electrocardio signal of the measured target; obtain a first status of the measured target according to the first biometric feature information of the measured target; determine blood pressure calculation policy of the measured target according to the first status of the measured target; and determine a blood pressure value of the measured target according to the blood pressure calculation policy and the first biometric feature information of the measured target.

High blood pressure is a common cardiovascular disease, and regularly measuring blood pressure is one of important means to ensure health of patients with high blood pressure. A blood pressure detection apparatus is also referred to as a blood pressure meter. Generally, the blood pressure meter is classified into a cuff blood pressure meter and a cuff-less blood pressure meter. Precision for the cuff blood pressure meter is relatively high, but the cuff blood pressure meter has a big volume, is not readily portable, and is operated complexly. Therefore, the cuff-less blood pressure meter is a main development direction of the blood pressure detection apparatus in recent years.
The cuff-less blood pressure meter determines blood pressure according to a relationship between the blood pressure and a pulse wave. Specifically, a speed at which a pulse wave is transmitted along arteries is in positive correlation with artery blood pressure. When the blood pressure increases, blood vessels dilate, and the transmission speed of the pulse wave increases. In contrast, when the blood pressure decreases, the transmission speed of the pulse wave decreases. In addition, the transmission speed of the pulse wave is also related to a physiological parameter such as age, elasticity of the artery wall, or blood density of a measured person, and physiological parameters of different measured persons are different. Therefore, when blood pressure is obtained by using a transmission speed of a pulse wave, calibration needs to be performed for each measured person.
A method for calibrating a cuff-less blood pressure meter is divided into two manners: manual calibration and automatic calibration. The manual calibration is to calibrate a measurement result of the cuff-less blood pressure meter by using a measurement result of a cuff blood pressure meter. The method for manually calibrating a blood pressure meter is complex, and a physiological parameter of a measured person changes in real time. Therefore, precision for the cuff-less blood pressure meter is still not high. The automatic calibration is to automatically correct an original measurement value according to vascular resistance, elasticity of the vessel artery wall, and blood viscosity, so as to obtain a more precise blood pressure value.
However, blood pressure varies with different measured parts and different postures of a measured person. For example, arteries of a right hand are from a first major branch of an aortic arch, and arteries of a left hand are from a third branch of the aortic arch. Generally, a difference between blood pressure values of the left arm and the right arm of a person is 10-20 mmHg. For a patient with high blood pressure, as a cardiovascular function declines, the difference between blood pressure values of the left arm and the right arm may be higher. Impact of a posture on blood pressure is from gravity. When a person is lying, systolic blood pressure increases. When a person is sitting, systolic blood pressure decreases; whereas, diastolic blood pressure of a person when standing is greater than diastolic blood pressure of the person when lying.
For the existing method for calibrating a cuff-less blood pressure meter, the foregoing impact of different measured parts and different postures of a measured person on blood pressure measurement values is not considered. Therefore, the precision for the cuff-less blood pressure meter is still not high.

Blood pressure measurement method, blood pressure measurement apparatus, and terminal


In one embodiment, an apparatus can include: (i) a power converter having an output terminal configured to supply power for a load; (ii) a first switch coupled between the power converter and an input voltage; (iii) a second switch coupled between a battery and the output terminal of the power converter; (iv) a PWM controller configured to control a switching state of a power transistor in the power converter; (v) a mode-switching circuit configured to select a charging mode or a discharging mode based on a voltage of the battery and a charging current; and (vi) a charging-discharging circuit configured to control the second switch based on the mode selection.

Battery powered circuits are widely applied in various electronic products, such as smart phones, tablets, and laptop computers. In a laptop computer example, an adaptor may be used to power a computer system and a battery. The battery can directly supply power to the computer system when the external power supply is off-line (disconnected). Also, a power converter can be situated between the adapter and the computer system and battery for power conversion.

Silergy Semiconductor Technology (Hangzhou) LTD


A wheelbarrow handle accessory has a tube member that slides over the end of a wheelbarrow handle, and a hand grip assembly including a partial sleeve that normally rests upon the tube member in aligned relationship, the hand grip assembly being rotatably supported from the tube member.

The standard wheelbarrow has a wheel at the forward end to carry the load and a pair of generally parallel handles that project rearwardly to be grasped by the hands of the person using the wheelbarrow. A very difficult problem arises when it is necessary to empty a very heavy load, such as wet concrete, in a desired location. The operator when lifting the handles has to maintain a tight grip on them to prevent the load from spilling sidewise. At the same time it becomes increasingly difficult to manipulate the handles when they start to assume a more nearly vertical position, which they must do in order to empty the load.
Not only is it very difficult to empty such a heavy load from the wheelbarrow, but the person doing it may have to change the position of their hands on the wheelbarrow handle, or alternatively must twist his or her hands through as much as 180 degrees of rotation in order to empty the load. In that twisting action the person may suffer the serious injury that is known as repetitive-motion or carpel tunnel syndrome injury. Or if the person's hands are removed and then engaged in a different position on the handle of the wheelbarrow, there is a risk of spilling the load in the wrong location.

Wheelbarrow easy dumping handle apparatus


A system and a method for publishing a newspaper page or other data through a Web page, such that the information can be made available more easily through a network such as the Internet. The data is automatically converted to the Web page format by first rendering the newspaper page into a digital format; converting the digital format to a basic internal publishing format; and then publishing the data in any one of a number of different possible publishing formats, including but not limited, a mark-up language document such as a Web page for example. The present invention supports such advanced features as arrangement of the content of the newspaper according to relationships within the information of the content and/or according to the preference(s) of the user by analyzing the newspaper page as a plurality of objects. Each newspaper object may optionally be a title, an article, a picture and/or other graphic advertisement, and so forth.

The present invention relates to a system and a method for the publication of data through Web pages, and in particular, for such a system and method in which data is automatically converted to a format which is suitable for direct publication as a Web page.
As the Internet grows, many different types of Web sites are becoming connected and therefore are available to users. A Web site refers to a type of graphical document presentation which is available through the "World Wide Web", or simply "Web", which may also be viewed as a subset of the content which is generally available through the Internet. These Web sites may contain information which is of interest to users, such as news for example. Indeed, many Internet users today obtain at least a portion of their news information from Web sites which publish such information.
Traditional newspapers and other sources of news have therefore been forced to embrace the new media which is represented by Web pages. Currently, many traditional (print) newspapers have Web sites which contain at least a portion of the news and information which is available through the print version of the newspaper. However, managing such Web sites can be cumbersome, since currently there is no simple mechanism for converting data which is available as the printed newspaper, into a format which can be directly published through the Web site. Indeed, typically newspaper publishers currently produce content for the Web site by manually reformatting the newspaper data into a format which is suitable for Web pages. Therefore, the content which is available at the Web site tends to be a relatively limited subset of the total content of the newspaper, with a structure which is not necessarily suitable for the Web site, but instead tends to reflect the structure of the printed newspaper. Thus, given the relatively limited nature of the content of the Web site, and the limited interaction with that content which is provided through the Web pages, newspapers have generally been unsuccessful at charging for the content which is available through the Web site. Indeed, the Web site may even compete with the newspaper for paying readers, thus potentially even harming the economic interests of the newspaper.
A more useful solution to this problem would enable the newspaper to more easily and more cost effectively publish news and other information through the Web site, by providing a mechanism for directly publishing the newspaper data in a format suitable for Web pages, thereby reducing the expenses associated with the maintenance of the Web site. In addition, this solution would also enable the newspapers to publish more news and information through the Web site, in a more elaborate and user-friendly layout format, such that the content of the Web site would be of greater interest to the readers of the newspaper. Such enhanced content could even be suitable for being sold by the newspaper, such that the newspaper could charge for access to the Web site content. Thus, rather than reducing the income of the newspaper, the Web site could even increase the number of paying readers and hence increase the income of the newspaper, for example by enabling international subscribers to receive a subscription to the Web site of the newspaper who would otherwise have difficulty obtaining the printed version.
Therefore, there is an unmet need for, and it would be highly useful to have, a system and a method for publishing data through Web pages, such that the data is automatically converted to a format which is suitable for publication as a Web page, preferably through the XML (extensible mark-up language) mark-up language, and such that the structure of the published content uses the interactive capabilities of the Web page to their fullest extent.

System and method for data publication through web pages


Various methods are described for assembling and/or coupling heater sections together for assemblage of heaters. The heater sections may be hot or cold heater sections having various geometries, dimensions, and specific electrical resistances. In one method, a cold heater section is assembled onto a pre-fabricated hot heater section with an oversized tube and pre-fabricated insulating cores. In another method, a pre-fabricated cold section is spliced onto a pre-fabricated hot section utilizing pre-fabricated semi-annular insulating cores and an oversized sleeve. In a further method, a first pre-fabricated hot section is spliced onto a second pre-fabricated hot section via an electrically conductive core and an oversized sleeve. These methods allow for the manufacture of stock lengths of hot and cold heater sections, that are then cut to length and coupled together. According to one aspect, the methods reduce tolerance errors in heater length. Various combinations of single or multiple coiled hot heater sections may be coupled together or to cold heater sections with single or multiple power pins. The hot heater sections may have the same specific resistance along its entire length or may be variable.

Heaters comprised of an inner resistance or heating coil surrounded by an insulating material that is in turn surrounded by an outer metal sheath are well known in the art. Such heaters are resistance heaters because with the passing of a current through the resistance coil, the resistance coil begins to warm up and produce heat. The heat is dissipated through the insulating material and the sheath to provide external heat. The amount of heat produced by the heater is dependent upon many factors, some of which are the size of the wire used for the resistance coil, the type of wire, the spacing of the coils of the resistance coil, and the amount of current allowed to pass through the resistance coil. The amount of heat produced per unit area of the heated portion of the heater is known as the watt density of the heater. The watt density is a function of the applied voltage and the electrical resistance per a linear unit of length of the resistance wire coil. The electrical resistance per linear unit of length, generally an inch, may be termed the specific resistance of the heater. Therefore, a given length of the resistance coil will have a given or specific electrical resistance.
In many applications, it is necessary to provide a heater that has a heatable or hot heater section disposed between two non-heatable or cold heater sections. The cold heater section is generally a terminal pin or power pin surrounded by an insulating material that is in turn surrounded by a metal sheath. The power pin is coupled to the resistance coil of the hot heater section. Voltage is applied to the power pin which conducts the current to the resistance coil to generate heat. In other applications it is necessary to manufacture heaters with varying watt density along the length of the heater. Many variations in heater assembly necessitate the custom manufacture of heaters.
With today's technology, the length of the heater's heated and cold sections are subjected to variation of manufacturing. The most common variables are the density of the insulating material, typically magnesium oxide (MgO), tube wall thickness, fill machine and compacting machine variations, and operator variation. These variables make it very difficult to fabricate heaters with consistent and tight tolerance in the heated and cold sections. Typically, the current heater uses 1-1.5% length tolerance for the heated or cold section. However, in real applications, this variation may not be desirable.
Because of the limitations of the machines used to fabricate the heaters, heaters required to be longer than the machine limitations must be spliced together. Therefore, in the prior art, heater manufacturing is custom manufacturing in almost every application.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a method for heater fabrication that produces consistent hot and cold heater sections to within 1/8 regardless of the design length.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of heater fabrication that imposes no limitations on length.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide a method of fabricating heaters wherein only stock lengths of heater sections, both hot and cold, may be premanufactured and used in assembling the required heater.
It is still further an object of the present invention to accurately fabricate multiple or variable watt density heaters.


Provided is a battery with a higher capacity, a superior charge-discharge cycle characteristic and a superior load characteristic. A cathode and an anode with a separator in between are spirally wound. The cathode comprises a cathode mixed layer containing a composite oxide including Li and at least one kind selected from the group consisting of Co, Ni, Mn and Fe. The anode comprises an anode mixed layer including tin-containing alloy powders and a carbon material. The tin-containing alloy powders are made of tin and an element except for alkali metal before first charge. A porosity of the anode mixed layer before the first charge is within a range from 25 vol % to 65 vol % inclusive. Thereby, even if a tin-containing alloy expands, enough pores as lithium-ion paths can be secured. Therefore, a superior charge-discharge cycle characteristic and a superior high load characteristic can be obtained.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a battery comprising a cathode, an anode including tin-containing alloy powders, and an electrolyte.
2. Description of the Related Art
A large number of small-sized portable electronic devices such as camera/VTR (video tape recorder) combination systems, cellular phones, laptop computers or the like have come into widespread in accordance with recent advances in electronics, and a development for reducing their sizes and weights has proceeded. Accordingly, a development in compact and lightweight batteries having a high energy density, specifically secondary batteries as portable power sources used in the portable electronic devices has proceeded. As such a secondary battery, for example, a battery which uses a graphite material using intercalation reaction of lithium ions into graphite layers, or a carbon material using an application of insertion/extraction reaction of lithium ions into/from pores as an anode material have been developed and have been in practical use.
However, in accordance with a recent increase in performance of portable devices, a demand for capacity has been growing, so the battery is required to have a characteristic in which no decline in capacity occurs in spite of repeated cycles of charge and discharge, that is, an excellent charge-discharge cycle characteristic. Moreover, in accordance with diversification of use conditions of the devices, a demand for a battery exhibiting an excellent capacity at high load has been growing. As a method of obtaining such characteristics, it can be considered that light metal such as lithium metal or the like is used as is as an anode material. However, in this case, in a charging process, the light metal in dendrite form is likely to be deposited on an anode, and a current density becomes extremely high at a tip of a dendrite, so a charge-discharge cycle characteristic may decline due to the decomposition of an electrolyte or the like, or when the dendrite excessively grows to reach a cathode, an internal short circuit may be induced.
In order to inhibit the deposition of lithium in dendrite form, it is considered that a specific alloy is used as an anode active material, and during charge, lithium deposited on a surface of the anode is alloyed with a base metal of an alloy of the anode active material to be introduced into the alloy. As such an alloy, lithium-lead (Pb) alloy (for example, refer to Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 3-53743, Hei 5-34787, Hei 7-73044 and Hei 8-138654) or a bismuth (Bi)-tin (Sn)-lead-cadmium (Cd) alloy (for example, refer to Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 4-47431 and Hei 3-64987) have been disclosed, however, lead, bismuth and cadmium are not preferable in the viewpoint of recent environmental protection.
Moreover, although a method using a silicon (Si) alloy which causes very little damage to the environment has been proposed (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 7-302588, Hei 10-199524, Hei 7-326342, Hei 10-255768 and Hei 10-302770), the reaction between the silicon alloy and an organic solvent is so large that the charge-discharge cycle characteristic is poor, so it could not be put to practical use.
Further, a method using tin or a tin-containing alloy has been proposed. As the tin-containing alloy, for example, alloy materials of tin and nickel (Ni) (refer to Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 4-12586, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 10-162823 and Sho 10-308207), alloy materials of lithium, aluminum (Al) and tin (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Sho 61-66369), alloy materials of tin and zinc (Zn) (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Sho 62-145650), materials of a tin alloy containing 1 wt % to 55 wt % of phosphorus (P) (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 8-273602), Cu2NiSn and Mg2Sn (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 10-223221), alloy materials of tin and copper (Cu) (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Sho 10-308207), materials of a mixture of a tin-containing phase which absorbs lithium, and a phase made of manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), nickel and copper which does not absorb lithium (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 11-86854) have been disclosed.
However, in the case of a battery using tin or a tin-containing alloy, a problem that the battery cannot fully satisfy requirements for the capacity, the charge-discharge cycle characteristic and a load characteristic arises. As a cause of the problem, it is considered that when the materials absorb lithium, the materials expand. For example, it is known that in an alloy containing pure tin and lithium at a ratio of 1:4.4, the pure tin expands approximately 3.6 times, and when the tin-containing alloy absorbs lithium, it expands (refer to Electrochimica Acta 45(1999)31). In the case of using a conventional graphite material, expansion of the anode occurs, however, compared to an expansion coefficient of the material, an expansion coefficient in the case of using tin is much larger. Compared to tin, an expansion coefficient of the tin-containing alloy can be greatly improved (refer to Journal of the Electrochemical Society 148(5)A471(2001)), but it cannot satisfy requirements for practical use.
Further, according to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 6-187971, in order to improve the charge-discharge cycle characteristic, a secondary battery using an anode made of alloy powders containing lithium with a porosity of 20% to 35% has been disclosed, although, an average voltage and a capacity of the battery is so low that the battery cannot obtain a necessary capacity for use especially in portable devices.


Hair extensions are disclosed that include a weft and at least a single micro-cylinder, wherein the weft comprises a plurality of hair, a skin weft and at least a single i-tip. Hair extensions may also include a weft and at least a single micro-cylinder, wherein the weft comprises a plurality of hair, a skin weft and at least a single i-tip; wherein a top section of the plurality of hair is bonded together to form the skin weft and the at least single i-tip. Methods of attaching a hair extension, wherein the hair extension comprises a micro-cylinder, a plurality of hair, a skin weft and at least a single i-tip are also disclosed herein that include bonding the plurality of hair to form the skin weft and the at least a single i-tip; threading a segment of natural hair through the micro-cylinder; inserting the i-tip into the micro-cylinder; and crimping the micro-cylinder to secure the i-tip.

Hair extensions are meant to lengthen or thicken a user's natural hair by incorporating artificial hair or natural hair. They are also meant to change the look and style of one's hair while maintaining a realistic appearance. Conventional hair extensions are affixed to a user's natural hair by devices and methods that may cause damage the user's natural hair. Furthermore, conventional hair extensions, because of the way they are affixed, may generally only be used once and cannot be reused.
Conventional hair extensions may be affixed to the user's natural hair through a variety of methods. The most common methods are glue or other forms of adhesive to attach the hair extension to the user's hair. While this is simple to use, the adhesives stick to the hair and upon removal could tear out existing pieces of the user's natural hair. Furthermore, adhesives also adhere to anything else that may be in the hair, including dirt, hair products and other things. Thus, the entire extension must be removed and cannot be easily reused.
Other conventional hair extensions include using a clip that is pressed into the user's natural hair. Clips are rather bulky and are easily visible. In addition, they also weigh down a user's natural hair.
Other conventional hair extensions use a tube in which hair is attached. The user's natural hair is placed through a cylinder and the tube is inserted and the cylinder is crimped over the tube in order to secure it. These conventional embodiments are limited by the amount of times the tube can be deformed and formed, along with being limited to small wefts of hair which are directly connected to the crimped area.
It is clear that conventional hair extensions are not designed for easy construction, cleanliness, reuse and ease of application. Therefore, it would be ideal to address the failings of conventional hair extension systems and methods, while providing a better way of constructing and using hair extensions through a weft and attachment system comprised of a weft with a simple construction and an attachment.


A grenade machine gun or other weapon which employs superelevation of the barrel comprises a barrel unit and an aiming system mounted upon a support. The aiming system is mounted to the weapon and the support by a coupling unit. The aiming system comprises an imaging and display unit for displaying an image of a scene including a target, angle encoders for providing a signal representing displacement of the imaging unit in elevation relative to the support, and a control unit, e.g. a computer, for selecting either of two states for the coupling unit. The first state entrains the imaging unit to move with the barrel. The second state secures the imaging unit to the support and allows the barrel to move relative to both, i.e. during superelevation of the barrel. The coupling unit may comprise a first part connected to the weapon for rotation in elevation with the barrel unit and a second part connected to the imaging unit. The control unit may comprise a computer for superimposing upon the image an aiming reticle and a rangefinder reticle, the former representing an aiming point of the imaging unit and the latter representing an aiming point of the rangefinder, and may adjust the position of the aiming reticle in dependence upon the elevation signal, and stores coordinates for selected positions. The control computer may offset the displacement signal to displace the aiming reticle relative to the field of view in a direction opposite to the required superelevation angle.

The invention relates to weapon systems comprising a weapon and an aiming system and is especially, but not exclusively, applicable to weapons which employ superelevation of the barrel, such as grenade machine guns.
For some weapons, such as grenade launching machine guns, which fire relatively slow, heavy rounds, it is necessary to elevate the barrel by a relatively large angle, perhaps 30 degrees or more, above the sight line to the target. It is desirable to maintain the target image in view throughout the engagement to compensate for target changes, motion or other dynamic events. Modern weapons use sights with a high magnification to obtain precision aiming at large ranges. Such sights have a field of view of only a few degrees, increasing the likelihood that the user will lose sight of the target during xe2x80x9csuperelevationxe2x80x9d of the barrel.
One known aiming system, known as the Small Arms Module Fire Control System (SACMFCS) by Contraves Inc., has the sight mounted upon a motorized tilting platform. Once the target has been ranged and the aiming point displaced downwards according to the computed superelevation, the motorized platform is driven to tilt the sight downwards a corresponding amount. The target then is out of the field of view, so the operator raises both the barrel and the sight until the target is in view again. The system is not entirely satisfactory because the target is lost from view during superelevation, and because precision, speed of operation, and ruggedness are required, tending to make a suitable motor drive large and expensive. Also, the platform increases the height of the display above the barrel, so the operator""s head is exposed more than is desirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,193,334 (Jackson) issued Mar. 18, 1980 discloses a sight coupled to the weapon""s barrel by way of a slip clutch so that the sight moves with the barrel during superelevation of the latter. The slip clutch allows the user to depress the sight relative to the gun barrel so as to view the impact of the round, and then return the sight to alignment with the gun barrel. However, the user still loses sight of the target while the gun barrel is being superelevated. Now that laser rangefinders are common, the target may be able to detect that it has been targeted by a laser rangefinder and take evasive action. It is important, therefore, to minimize the time taken between ranging the target, superelevating the gun barrel, and firing the gun. It is also desirable to minimize the time taken to select and fire at a series of targets in quick succession. Jackson""s gun would be relatively slow because, not only must the sight be depressed to view the target, but it must then be returned manually to alignment with the barrel. During the time taken to superelevate the gun barrel and depress the sight to view the target again, the target might have moved, leading to inaccuracies. A further disadvantage is that the amount of superelevation is set by means of manually adjustable slides or scales.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,690 (Lougheed et al) issued November 1997 and commonly owned with the present invention, describes a weapon having a barrel and a sight mounted upon a support which can be rotated in azimuth but not in elevation. The gun barrel can be elevated relative to the support, but the sight cannot. Consequently, the sight remains trained on the target during the superelevation step. To change the field of view of the sight in elevation, however, the tripod must be adjusted or repositioned, which is awkward and time-consuming. A further disadvantage is that the rangefinder is mounted upon the gun barrel. Consequently, in order to range a new target, the user must depress the gun barrel until it is pointing directly at the new target again. Once the new target has been ranged, the gun barrel must be superelevated again. This is not satisfactory when there are multiple, fast-moving targets relatively close to each other. Yet another disadvantage is that the rangefinder and the sight must be boresighted to the gun barrel separately, which is time-consuming and makes it more difficult to obtain and maintain precise calibration.
One object of the present invention seeks to eliminate, or at least mitigate, the disadvantages of the above-mentioned weapon sights and to provide an improved weapon sight arrangement which permits the operator to view the target during superelevation of the weapon.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a weapon system comprising a weapon and an aiming system both mounted upon a support, the weapon having a barrel unit and the aiming system comprising:
(i) an imaging unit for providing an image of a scene within a field of view of the imaging unit;
(ii) a display unit for displaying the image;
(iii) the coupling unit having a first operational state in which the coupling unit fixes the imaging unit relative to the support while allowing elevation of the barrel unit relative thereto and a second, alternative state in which the coupling unit entrains the imaging unit to move with the barrel unit relative to the support,
(iv) angle encoding means for providing a displacement signal representing displacement of the imaging unit in elevation relative to said first part; and
(v) control means comprising means for controlling the coupling unit to select the first state and the second state alternatively and means responsive to the displacement signal for determining when a required change in elevation of the barrel unit relative to the support with the coupling unit in the first operational state has been effected and causing the display to provide an indication thereof.
The weapon system may further comprise a rangefinder for providing a range of a target in the field of view of the imaging unit, and the control means then may comprise:
a control computer unit comprising means for providing upon the image an aiming reticle representing an aiming point of the barrel once the imaging unit has been boresighted to the barrel unit and a ranging reticle representing an aiming point of the rangefinder, means for controlling the reticle providing means to adjust the position of the aiming reticle in dependence upon the displacement signal, and means for computing a required change in elevation of the barrel unit in dependence upon a range measured the rangefinder and applying a corresponding offset to the displacement signal so as to displace the aiming reticle relative to the field of view in a direction opposite the change.
The aiming system may further comprise means for providing an elevation signal representing displacement of a line of sight of the imaging unit relative to the ground and/or a cant signal representing inclination of the imaging unit relative to the ground. The control computer may take such cant and/or elevation signals into account when computing the required elevation.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided the aiming system per se for mounting onto a weapon to form a weapon system according to the first aspect.
In embodiments of either of the first and second aspects of the invention, where the offset is sufficient to displace the aiming reticle beyond limits in the displayed scene, the control unit may be operable apply a part of the offset to maintain the aiming reticle at a position adjacent a corresponding edge of the field of view and monitor the remaining offset, restoring movement of the aiming reticle with the barrel unit once the barrel unit has been displaced by an elevation angle greater than that corresponding to said remaining offset. The control unit may change the appearance of the aiming reticle while the aiming point is outside the field of view.
The imaging unit may be mounted alongside the barrel unit and coupled to a separate display unit mounted immediately above handles at the rear of the barrel unit for controlling aiming of the weapon. Such an arrangement allows the weapon to have a relatively low profile.
The imaging unit may be completely electronic, such as a CCD sensor unit, or a hybrid of an optical sight with an electronically-controlled superimposed aiming reticle.
In embodiments of either of the foregoing aspects of the invention, the coupling unit may comprise means for fixing the imaging unit relative to the support, specifically a first clutch unit acting between the first part and the second part and engageable to entrain the imaging unit to move with the barrel unit in elevation relative to the support and a second clutch unit acting between the second part and third part and engageable to secure the imaging unit to the support, and switch means for engaging the first clutch unit while simultaneously disengaging the second clutch unit and vice versa.
Alternatively, the coupling unit may comprise a first clutch unit acting between the first part and the second part and engageable to entrain the imaging unit to move in elevation with the barrel unit, and a slip clutch acting continuously between the second part and the third part with sufficient force to retain the imaging unit in fixed elevational relationship with the support, providing the first clutch unit is disengaged, but insufficient force to prevent said movement of the imaging unit when the first clutch unit is engaged.
The means for controlling the coupling unit may comprise a user-operable switch.

Aiming system for weapon capable of superelevation


An optical pickup providing the 3-D reading of the binary optical information from the multilayer fluorescent disk by means of fluorescent sites excitation, is described. The 2-D information at the separate layer is recorded by chemical transformation of the photosensitive material from one stable molecular form A (non fluorescent) to other stable molecular form B (fluorescent) via UV light illumination.. The present invention particularly concerns the methods and apparatus to read the stored memory from the read only 3-D optical memory and includes: (i) only one, focused to the desired layer, reading laser beam, which induces the fluorescence in the whole volume confined within conical surface of focused beam, (ii) active medium which posses the fluorescing properties and is organized in a form of multilayer optical disc, (iii) detection of fluorescence at the wavelength different from the excitation wavelength, (iv) spectral, spatial and electronic filtration of the detected signal in order to extract signal from the noise fluorescence coming from all out-of-focus layers. Utilization of dichroic mirror and/or filter in the optical pickup prevents the photo diode from the reading laser radiation.

There is a growing demand in a cheap and reliable carrier of digital information for computers, video systems, multimedia, etc. This carrier should have a storage capacity in excess of 10.sup.10 bytes, fast access time, high transfer rate and long term stability.
Digital information is recorded at high density (about 10.sup.8 bytes per square inch) using optical and magnetic methods. Optical and magneto-optical disks, magnetic disks and magnetic tapes are most popular carriers of digital information. Optical methods have advantages over magnetic ones because of less restricted requirements to the components and environment. Parallel writing of information at mass production is another advantage of the optical memory. The information is usually written as local variations of thickness, refractive index or absorption coefficient of the media.
The optical disk capacity is diffraction limited by a value of (disk area .lambda..sup.-2) bits because only one binary value is stored in a diffraction limited pixel. Quadrupled capacity can be gained using "super resolution" at fractions of wavelengths. High density of information is received when 3-5 bits are stored in a single pit as a small variation of the pit length around diffraction limit. Precision optical, mechanical and electronic components as well as high quality media are required to realize this method.
The stacks of two or more disks is a way to increase the capacity of digital data carrier. Some problems of disks stack methods are listed below. They are the multiple reflections between the reflective surfaces, power losses at each information plane during the propagation of reading and reflected beams to and from the internal layers, interference of the light reflected from different layers, and beam distortions due to the optical aberrations. The aberrations appear when the optical path within the storage media is changed to read different information planes. High quality optical adhesives are required to assemble stack of disks, having on aberrations, bubbles, separations, inclusions as well as no mechanical, thermal and chemical impact on the disks. The information capacity of multi stack disks is limited in practice around 10.sup.10 bytes. These discs are composed of 2 structures of 2-3 information layers, the structures are attached together by back sides to double capacity of the disk to the value around 2.multidot.10.sup.10 bytes.
Three dimensional (3-D) recording can dramatically increase the capacity of storage device. An optical memory enables to store the binary-stated information into a storage medium at very high density, each binary bit occupying a space only about wavelength in diameter, .lambda..sup.-3.about. 10.sup.12 bits/cm.sup.3. When practical limitations are taken into account it reduced to 10.sup.10 -10.sup.11 bits/cm.sup.3.
The 3-D writing and reading was reported (J. H. Stricler, W. W. Webb, Optics Lett., 16, 1970, (1991); H. Ueki, Y. Kawata, S. Kawata, Applied Optics, 35, 2457, (1996); Y. KAWATA, R. Yuskaitis, T. Tanaka, T. Wilson, S. KAWATA, Applied Optics, 35, 2466, (1996);), using local changes of refractive index of the optical media. These local variations of refractive index result in the birefringence and variations of polarization of the reading beam transmitted thought the media. The variations were measured and can be interpreted as a binary code. The signal is very weak requiring high power laser and highly sensitive detectors.
The 3-D regular structure of the information carrier acts as a material at a macro scale introducing the non informative depolarization and defocusing of the transmitted beam.
The variations of the refractive index of the media introduce the phase modulation located in the adjacent layers, diffraction and power losses. The measurement of the transmitted beam is conducted requiring two optical head (transmitting and receiving) from both sides of the carrier.
This optical solution is very complicated and expensive requiring simultaneous alignment of the heads to a diffraction limited spot, especially taking into account the variation of the required optical path, medium inhomogeniouty, and carrier/heads movement perturbations. The data recording is possible only by the laser utilization--thus it does not allow to implement cheap replication method, like mask lithography.
Solidification/polymerization process results in non-controllable material deformation during the recording procedure. Afterwards, the volume induced strengthens may lead to the recorded site movements and information distortion. Thus, all mentioned above drawbacks will put obstacles in the way of converting this approach to be realized into the practical 3D-memory device.
First device for reading the information from the multilayer fluorescent medium was suggested by Russell, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,090,031 and 5,278,816, and was based on utilization of optical data layers with different color dyes or different fluorescent materials and selectively positioning of corresponding color filters in front of the light detector.
Further, the fluorescent 3-D memory and apparatus for retrieving the information was suggested by D. A. Pathenopoulos and R. M. Rentzepis, Science, 245,843, (1989).[5]., R. M. Rentzepis, U.S. Pat. No. 5,268,862. The active material contains the photo chromic molecules having two isomeric forms. First isomeric form "A" is not fluorescent, it has absorption bands for UV radiation, and it is transferred to the second form "B" under the two visible photon absorption. The form B absorbs the two photon of reading radiation and fluoresces in the infrared range.
The information is retrieved from the medium by a two-photon absorption process, and corresponding fluorescence at the point where two focused beams are crossed at the region having dimensions of .lambda..sup.-3. Each beam should be formed by a picosecond or femtosecond pulse of light to provide the intensity required for both writing and reading processes. This also means that two pulses should overlap in a time domain. The Rentzepis patent [6], was the first implementing the photo chrome materials for 3-D optical memory, and describing the principles and methods of two-photon rewritable 3-D apparatus.
Accordingly, this approach has also a series of drawbacks, which will hardly permit it to be practically realized. First, the two-photon approach requires extremely high intensity laser pulses, I.sup..about. 10.sup.12 -10.sup.13 W/cm.sup.2, which in turn requires the femtosecond pulse width Ti:Saphhire lasers. Second, the .mu.m-sized intersection of two focused laser beam required for 3-D reading would be very difficult or even impossible for practical realization. Third, the reliable, stable photochromic material which may withstand multiple writing/erasing/reading cycles at a room temperature and posses the optical properties compatible with the existed miniature (diode) laser sources does not yet exist. Another problem is a long time required for writing of the information into the disk. The required time is about 10.sup.5 sec, if optimistic information writing rate is 10.sup.6 bits/sec. This makes the described solution to be very expensive even for the mass production. Thus, all mentioned problems make the described method impractical for optical memory device.
There are many different physical principles based on transmission, holography, polarization e.t.c. for recording and reading the optical information, but only two of them based on the reflectivity and fluorescence provide simple, convenient and reliable optical pick-up, where the same objective lens is used for both focusing the incoming light to the layer and collecting the out coming light for detection.
The 3-D optical data reading by one focused laser beam is inevitably followed by fluorescence of a large number of fluorescent cells from non addressed layers confined within the conical surface of the focused laser beam. There are several main drawbacks typical for all existed or described in a number of patents optical apparatus to readout from 3-D or multilayer disk structure:
1. Different intensity of reading laser at different information layers. PA1 2. Different detected signal value coming from different information layers. PA1 3. Strong noise from non addressed layers due to scattering and/or multiple reflection. PA1 4. Dramatic reduction of Signal-to-Noise ratio. PA1 5. Reading beam quality distortion associated with non uniform, refractive index distribution in a thick medium. PA1 6. Spherical aberrations associated with thick medium and variable focus depth requirement. PA1 (1) only one focused to the diffraction-limited spot size reading laser beam, PA1 (2) optical as well as electronic for selective detection of single bit information from the addressed layer and separation from the noise coming from all non addressed layers, which includes PA1 (3) optical means to provide the auto tracking and auto focusing error correction system which is suitable for non reflective, transparent fluorescent media, which based on fluorescence signal from continues tracks or fluorescent cells and photo diode array (4-section photo diode).
The obvious disadvantage of the fluorescent principle is low coupling efficiency: while reflected signal value can easily reach 50-80% of incident light, the fluorescence light which is collected by the lens with NA=0.6 can not overcome 10% of incident light. Usually it is much less taking into account the pit absorption rate and fluorescence quantum efficiency of material. However this situation is dramatically changed when the multiple optical data layer system is considered. It would be demonstrated later that even for three data layer disc the detected signal value from reflective and fluorescent media becomes the same .sup..about. 1% of incident light power. While the reflectivity signal will be completely lost due to the multiple reflection, and unavoidable attenuation during it's propagation through the reflective layers, the fluorescence output can be made completely free of noise.

Optical pickup for 3-D data storage reading from the multilayer fluorescent optical disk


A shift register circuit includes a first circuit, M second circuits, and N third circuits. M and N are both positive integers, N is an integer multiple of M, M is greater than or equal to 2, and a quotient of N and M is greater than or equal to 2. The first circuit includes a first signal output terminal. Each second circuit includes a second signal input terminal connected to the first signal output terminal. Each third circuit includes a third signal input terminal that is connected to one of second signal input terminals of the M second circuits. A second signal output terminal of each second circuit is connected to third signal input terminals of N/M third circuits, and different second signal output terminals are connected to different third signal input terminals.

Thin film transistor liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCDs) and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are increasingly used in the high performance display field. In order to increase a screen-to-body ratio of a display device as much as possible, a gate drive circuit is usually set as a gate driver on array (GOA) circuit.

Shift register circuit and driving method therefor, and gate drive circuit and display device

CHONGQING BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


The present invention can reduce the amount of ink in an outlet-side space which is sucked together with gas, without making the thickness of an isolating member for separating the inside of the sub-tank into an inlet-side space and the outlet-side space in the horizontal direction extremely thin nor making an inflow channel for allowing the ink in the inlet-side space to flow into the outlet-side space extremely small. The present invention has an isolating member in the form of a plate for separating the inside of a sub-tank coupled to a recording head into an inlet-side space connected to a main-tank and an outlet-side space connected to the recording head, and an inflow channel in the form of a slit for increasing the ink level in the inlet-side space while allowing the ink in the inlet-side space to flow into the outlet-side space from the isolating member.

The present invention relates to a recording apparatus designed to supply ink supplied to a sub-tank from a main-tank to a recording head from the sub-tank, and particularly relates to a recording apparatus suitable for use in an ink jet printer for printing data created by a personal computer, etc.


An electromechanical valve control actuator for internal combustion engines, includes an electromagnet with a magnet and a mobile magnetic plate moving into the vicinity of the electromagnet. The magnet is located on a surface of the electromagnet opposite the plate. The actuator includes an E-shaped magnetic circuit, and the magnet is located at the end of a branch of this E-shaped circuit.

An electromechanical actuator 100 (FIG. 1) for a valve 110 comprises mechanical means, such as springs 102 and 104, and electromagnetic means, such as electromagnets 106 and 108, for controlling the position of the valve 110 by means of electric signals.
The rod of the valve 110 is applied for this purpose against the rod 112 of a magnetic plate 114 located between the two electromagnets 106 and 108.
When current flows in the coil 109 of the electromagnet 108, the latter is activated and generates a magnetic field attracting the plate 114, which comes into contact with it.
The simultaneous displacement of the rod 112 enables the spring 102 to bring the valve 110 into the closed position, the head of the valve 110 coming into contact with the seat 111 and preventing the exchange of gas between the interior and the exterior of the cylinder 117.
Analogously (not shown), when a current flows in the coil 107 of the electromagnet 106, the electromagnet 108 being deactivated, and it is activated and it attracts the plate 114, which comes into contact with it and displaces the rod 112 by means of the spring 104 in such a way that this rod 112 acts on the valve 110 and brings the latter into the open position, the head of the valve being moved away from its seat 111 to permit, for example, the admission or the injection of gas into the cylinder 117.
Thus, the valve 110 alternates between the open and closed positions, the so-called switched positions, with transient displacements between these two positions. The open or closed state of a valve will hereinafter be called the "switched state."
The actuator 100 may also be equipped with a magnet 118, which is located in the electromagnet 108, and with a magnet 116, which is located in the electromagnet 106, the magnets being intended to reduce the energy necessary for maintaining the plate 114 in a switched position.
Each magnet is located for this purpose between two subelements of the electromagnet with which it is associated in such a way that its magnetic field, possibly combined with the field generated by the electromagnet, supports the maintenance of the valve 110 in the open or closed position. For example, the magnet 116 is located between two subelements 106a and 106b.
Due to the action of the magnet on the magnetic plate, such an electromagnet 106 or 108, called an electromagnet with magnet or polarized electromagnet, requires considerably less energy for controlling a valve, as the maintenance of a valve in a switched position represents a considerable energy consumption for the actuator.
The present invention results from the observation that the actuator 100 has numerous drawbacks.
In fact, this actuator requires the use of two distinct subelements 106a and 106b to form an electromagnet 106. Operations peculiar to the manufacture and the stocking of each of these subelements are therefore necessary, which increases the complexity and the manufacturing costs of the actuator.
Moreover, the operation required for assembling these subelements 106a and 106b with the magnet 116 increases the cost and the complexity of the manufacture of the actuator, and there is a risk during this assembly that the subelements 106a and 106b and/or the magnet 116 may be assembled incorrectly or that they will be damaged, which would reduce the performance of the electromagnet.
A new drawback is the difficulty of a possible replacement of a magnet 116 or 118. In fact, it is necessary to disassemble the electromagnet unit 106 to replace a defective magnet 116.
Another drawback is the considerable size of the actuator 100, which is due especially to the fact that its height h is dictated by the cross section Sa of the magnets 116 and 118. This cross section Sa is, in fact, considerable in order to obtain a high magnetic flux from these magnets.
In addition, such an actuator has a considerable leakage due to the dispersion of the magnetic flux in the air gaps.
The actuator 100 also requires the use of a magnetic plate 114 of a large mass due especially to its considerable cross section Sp. In fact, this cross section is, in general, equal to the cross section Se of the branches of the electromagnet to achieve optimal functioning of the actuator, as the branches of the support of the electromagnet and the plate form a magnetic circuit of constant cross section.
However, the use of a plate 114 of a considerable cross section and consequently of a large mass has numerous drawbacks, which were described above.
First, the actuator 100 requires springs of high rigidity to displace the considerable mass of the plate. Consequently, the sensitivity of the control exerted by the electromagnets on the plate by means of the current flowing in the coils is reduced, while the consumption required by the electromagnet for controlling the plate is increased.
The use of springs of increased rigidity causes, as a corollary, the latter to form an oscillating device with the mobile elements of the actuator 100, which said device is characterized by a switching time that is fixed more or less by the rigidity k102 and k104 of the springs 102 and 104 and by the mass md of the elements being displaced (plate 114, rod 112, mobile mass of the springs 102 and 104, and valve 110).
Second, the energy lost, e.g., in the form of the operating noise of the actuator due to the impact of the plate on the electromagnet is generally increased by an increase in the mass of the plate. Such an increase in the energy loss causes a lower energy efficiency of the actuator.

Electromechanical valve control actuator for internal combustion engines and internal combustion engine equipped with such an actuator


Materials that exhibit stress-induced porosity, and methods of making and using the same, are described.

A plethora of biological systems cannot achieve certain biological functions without relying on some porous media for biological transport. For instance, the regulation of what enters and exits the cell (including oxygen, carbon dioxide, and other molecules and ions) cannot transpire if the cell membrane were not permeable (porous). Another example is the ability of the cuttlefish to use its cuttlebone, a bony, calcium carbonate-like material with almost 90% porosity, to achieve buoyancy control by controlling the flow of water in and out through the porous structure.
Synthetic attempts at systems with dynamic porosity have been focused mainly at length scales in the nanometer scale. Some have developed a non-destructive selective swelling method for creating dynamic porosity in di-block copolymers (BCP) structures. This method relies on individual blocks to have a significant contrast in solubility or polarity to a particular solvent, such that after a sufficient immersion period, the minority block phase swells and then upon drying releases the solvent, which acts as the porogen, in the plasticized matrix. Interestingly, subsequent exposure to the solvent results in a re-swelled structure, which appears to close the pores. However, only pores of 10-50 nm can be produced using this technique. Another phenomenon that falls under dynamic porosity is stimuli-activated pores, and the stimulus can be temperature, stress etc. Others have demonstrated one-way thermally activated pore contraction in microcellular shape memory polymer blends of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and polylactide (PLA) using a solid-state foaming process. Upon cooling from the melt, the two polymers formed immiscible blends, whose morphology can be adjusted from co-continuous to nodular based on the TPU/PLA ratio. After processing, pores were observed in both TPU and PLA phases that were in the range of 1 to 30 μm. The porous structure was considered the temporary deformed shape, while the programmed shape was the starting non-porous blend. Although details of the specific molecular mechanism were not discussed, the logic employed was that heating the porous structure to 70° C., above the PLA's glass transition temperature (Tg), the structure will relax allowing the pores to shrink. Significant pore contraction was observed as indicated by relative density (porous: non-porous density ratio) of the 80/20 wt % TPU/PLA blend rising from 25% to 85% and the average pore size in the 50/50 wt. % TPU/PLA blend halving from 25 to 12 μm. SmartSkin™, a commercial wetsuit designed for divers by Midè Technology Corporation, is a wetsuit that can dynamically change the porous structure to regulate diver's body temperature. A passive closed-cell Neoprene foam is used in the outer layer of the wetsuit while the inner layer is made up an active hydrogel copolymer consisting of hydrophilic and hydrophobic blocks. As a result, the material can change the volume around a transition temperature that can be altered by the concentration of the components. Below the transition temperature (body temperature), the material swells while it can shrink above it. As a result, if the diver's body temperature exceeds the limit, material shrinkage increases the water intake whereas a fall in body temperature impedes the water flush to the material owing to hydrogel swelling.
There is a need in the art for new and improved porous materials.

Microcellular materials with stress-activated pores exhibiting opto-mechanical properties and their use as sensors


A universal electric motor having an arbor mounted on a rotating armature with a run winding for generating a magnetic field having a polarity relative to the armature and for rotating the arbor, a first switch for connecting the run winding to a power source, and a brake winding for generating a counter magnetic field opposed with respect to the armature winding to that generated by the run winding. The brake winding operates when energized, to stop rotation of the arbor by generating a counter magnetic field which interacts with the magnetic field of the armature Also included is an electrical circuit for providing a residual magnetism in the stator iron to help stop the arbor rotation The circuit includes an energy storage capacitor for providing current to the brake winding thereby helping to begin generation of the counter magnetic field, a second switch for connecting the energy storage to the brake winding when the first switch disconnects the run winding from the power source, a biasing diode for biasing the energy storage capacitor to a predetermined polarity, a rectifying resistor and diode for coupling the energy storage capacitor to the power source and an alternate discharge path for discharging the energy stored in the event that the normal discharge path is inoperative.

The invention relates to electric powered tools, and more particularly, to a dynamic brake electrical circuit for use in stopping an alternating current universal electrical motor used in power tools.
Alternating current (a.c) universal motors have been commonly used in electrically powered tools such as power saws, drills, and other types of equipment. Generally they are a high-power, light weight power source for electrical tools. The typical universal motor has a housing supporting a stator assembly and a rotatable arbor or shaft which has an armature mounted thereon. Current flowing through the run coil on the stator creates a magnetic field which interacts with the armature magnetic field which in turn drives the arbor rotationally. A tool such as a saw blade or drill bit may be mounted directly on the arbor or the arbor may be coupled to the tool by a simple gear transmission or the like.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that universal motors have a tendency to coast, or to continue rotation of the arbor shaft for some time after electrical power is disconnected from the motor. This tendency to coast is due simply to the rotational momentum of the arbor shaft, transmission, and tool attachments. For this reason, it is sometimes desirable to equip the motor with a brake. One such brake is a regenerative dynamic discharging capacitor was to generate, and thereby guarantee the existence of, a residual magnetism in the stator iron to help assure adequate braking action. The addition of the discharge capacitor helps eliminate the "dead-zone" but can create other problems. For example, if the break coil leads break, or, more likely, the commutator brushes are worn and not in contact with the armature, the capacitor remains charged for some time creating a shock hazard to anyone attempting to service the tool. While the capacitor may be manually discharged, for example, by shorting the capacitor leads with a screwdriver blade, service personnel do not always observe this precaution. Moreover, shorting the capacitor leads in such a manner may destroy the component or decrease its effective life.
An additional problem is that conventional dynamic braking circuits have required complicated switching arrangements which necessitate more expensive and complex switches. A simplified circuit design allows the use of a less expensive switch having fewer leads and moveable parts and, therefore, having a greater degree of reliability. Thus, it is desirable to provide a dynamic braking circuit which is reliable, and inexpensive to manufacture.

Dynamic brake circuit for an electric motor


Disclosed is a method for synchronizing video in a system including a host CPU and a plurality of transcoder instances, the method comprising: receiving, by two or more transcoder instances in the plurality of transcoder instances, a synchronization Internet Protocol (“IP”) packet from the host CPU, wherein the synchronization IP packet is received as one packet in a multicast stream of IP packets; detecting, by the two or more transcoder instances in the plurality of transcoder instances, the synchronization IP packet at the same point in the multicast stream; and transcoding, by the two or more transcoder instances in the plurality of transcoder instances, the multicast stream of IP packets immediately after detecting the synchronization IP packet.

Transcoder products have typically been limited to one or two channels. However, system-on-a-chip ("SOC") technologies allow a transcoder product to integrate a larger number of transcoder channels into a single chassis via multiple transcoder SOC instances. The transcoder SOC instances may perform transcoding in parallel. A host central processor unit ("CPU") communicates with each of the transcoder SOC instances to coordinate the transcoding. When using multiple transcoder instances, unless the transcoders are initialized or synchronized to begin transcoding at the same time, there may be a time delay or gap in information (e.g., misaligned segments) from one transcoder to another. This may cause problems for streaming video, such as when changing from one resolution or compression rate to another if the segments from one compression rate do not align with the segments from another compression rate. This not-so-seamless transition is undesirable for viewers and should be minimized or eliminated.

Synchronizing multiple transcoding devices utilizing simultaneity of receipt of multicast packets


Disclosed are cyanide free electroplating solutions for gold or alloys thereof; said solutions comprising gold in the form of a soluble sulfite complex, an added source of sulfite and/or bisulfite ion and a supporting electrolyte; and said solutions further comprising both an organic polyamine or mixture of polyamines of molecular weight from about 60 to 50,000, and an aromatic organic nitro compound; wherein the pH of said solutions is below about 6.5.

Electroplating solutions containing gold in the form of a soluble sulfite complex have been known since about 1962, see, e.g., Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 3,0059,789. As originally formulated, commercial solutions based on a gold-sulfite complex were stable only at pH values above about 8.0, and in practice were usually operated at pH range of from 9 to 11. In 1969, Meyer et al., in Swiss Patent No. 506,828, reported that in the presence of organic polyamines, notably ethylenediamine, sulfite-based plating solutions for gold-copper alloys could be stabilized at pH values as low as 6.5. More recently, Kikuchi et al., in the 1990 Japanese Kokai Tokkyo Koho JP 02,232,378 (90,232,378), reported a solution containing sodium gold sulfite which was stabilized at pH 8 by the presence of sodium 3-nitrobenzene sulfonate.
Other gold-sulfite complex plating compositions include the following:
Smith et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,057,789, which discloses a cyanide free electrolytic bath containing a potassium or a sodium gold sulfite complex and disodium ethylenediamine tetracetate.
Smith et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,666,640, entitled "Gold Plating Bath and Process," which discloses an aqueous bath for electroplating gold, comprising; alkali gold sulfite; an alkali sulfite; an alkali sulfate; a soluble compound of cadmium, copper, nickel, and/or arsenic; and an organic acid chelating agent, wherein the bath contains sufficient acid or alkali to adjust its pH to between 8.5 to 13.
Stevens, U.S. Pat. No. 4,048,023, which discloses a slightly alkaline gold plating solution, free of cyanide and phosphates, containing a sodium gold sulfite complex and a palladosamine chloride complex.
Laude et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,192,723, which provides an aqueous solution comprising monovalent gold and ammonium sulfite complex.
Wilkinson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,366,035, which described a cyanide-free bath for the electrodeposition of gold alloys comprising an aqueous alkaline mixture of a gold sulfite, a water soluble copper alloying salt or complex, a water soluble palladium alloying salt or complex and an alkali metal sulfite or ammonium sulfite.
Baker et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,435,253, which provides gold sulfite electroplating solutions comprising an alkali metal or ammonium gold sulfite, a water soluble salt of thallium metal, and a non-hydroxy, non-amino carboxylic acid.
Shemyakina et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,696, which relates to a gold plating electrolyte which comprises the interaction of the reagents; chloroauric acid, salts of alkali metals of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid, and alkali metal sulfite or ammonium sulfite.
Nakazawa et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,459, which is directed to an electrolytic gold plating solution including a soluble gold salt, a conductivity salt and, in addition, a mixture of a lead compound and a complexing agent.
It is often desirable to operate gold electroplating solutions at pH values lower than neutral; as, for example, in plating on circuitry defined using alkaline-developable photoresists. It is characteristic of sulfite gold plating solutions that for stable operation a slight excess of sulfite ion beyond that required for complexation of the gold should be present in the solution. Additionally, however, the nature of the gold sulfite complex is such that for every ion of gold added to the solution two ions of sulfite are added. When gold is plated out of the solution at alkaline pH the excess sulfite remains, and can become oxidized to sulfate at the anode. Thus the dissolved solids content, and hence the specific gravity of typical sulfite gold plating solutions increases as the solutions are replenished. For certain applications such as high speed plating this characteristic tends to limit the operating lifetime of the solution. Sulfur dioxide begins to be evolved from sulfite-containing solutions at pH values below about 6.5, forming bisulfite ion, which can itself further react to sulfur dioxide and water. If a sulfite gold plating solution could be operated under stable control at pH values below about 6.5, the controlled evolution of sulfur dioxide could be used to remove a portion of the excess sulfite in a manner analogous to that by which excess cyanide is volatilized from acid gold cyanide electroplating systems.
Finally, it is well known in the art that various alloying, brightening and surface-conditioning agents tend to operate best in selective ranges of pH. Extending the operable pH range of sulfite gold plating solutions should thus increase their adaptability for use with such additives.

Non-cyanide electroplating solution for gold or alloys thereof


Disclosed herein is a Torenia hybrida plant which has bi-colored brilliant purple and deep purple flower petals and a brilliant purple floral tube. The plant has semi-erect growth habit, medium branching and forms a great profusion blooms with the entire plant remaining in bloom for an extended period of time. The plant has a high resistance to heat, and moderate resistance to diseases and pests. The new variety has the ability to flower and to maintain its advantageous semi-erect growth habit even when grown in the shade.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of Torenia hybrida plant obtained from crossing `Crown Violet` (non-patented in the United States) (.female.) and `Con Color` (non-patented in the United States) (.male.).
The Torenia (i.e., wishbone flower) is a very popular plant and is used for flower bedding and potting in the summer season. There are only a few varieties of the torenia plant which have a semi-erect growth habit, and a high resistance to heat and diseases. The typical Torenia plant needs full sunshine and hardly grows or flowers when grown in the shade. Accordingly, this invention was aimed at obtaining a new variety having a great profusion of flowers with brilliant purple and deep purple bi-colored flower petals and brilliant purple floral tube, a semi-erect growth habit, a high resistance to heat, a moderate resistance to diseases, and the ability to grow and flower in the shade while retaining a semi-erect growth habit. When typical torenia plants are grown in the shade, they commonly assume a spindly growth habit and no longer exhibit a semi-erect growth habit and tend not to flower.
The new variety of Torenia plant according to this invention is an interspecific hybrid originated from crossing the `Con Color` variety of Torenia concolor as pollen parent and the `Crown Violet` variety of Torenia fournieri having purplish-white flower petals as female parent.
Initially, 25 ovules were obtained from crossing the `Con Color` variety and the `Crown Violet` variety which has purplish-white flower petals in the spring of 1993 in the Hakushu Nursery Center of SUNTORY Ltd., 2913-1 Torihara, Hakushu-cho, Kitakoma-gun, Yamanashi-ken, Japan. More specifically, seven days after crossing the ovules were removed from ovaries and were cultured in vitro. These 25 ovules were sprouted, grown and plants were obtained. Subsequently they were grown in a bed and in pots as a trial beginning in the summer of 1993. The botanical characteristics of the plants were examined, using parent varieties `Crown Violet` and `Con Color`, for comparison. As a result, only one plant was selected. It was concluded that this one torenia plant is distinguishable from any other variety, whose existence is known to us, and is uniform and stable in its characteristics following asexual reproduction by cuttings. This new variety of Torenia plant was named `Sunrenidibu`.
In the following description, the color-coding is in accordance with The Horticultural Colour Chart of The Royal Horticultural Society, London, England (R.H.S. Color Chart), and the Inter-Society color Council-Nation Bureau of Standard Color Name (I.S.C.C.-N.B.S. Color Name). A color chart based on The Japan Color Standard for Horticultural Plant (J.H.S. Color Chart) is also added for reference.
Torenia fournieri `Crown Violet` having violet petals was the female parent which was used in the formation of this new `Sunrenidibu` variety, and was one of the Crown Series bred by the Sakata Seed Corp., Japan. The Crown Series includes plants having purplish blue flower petals, white flower petals, bi-colored of white and purplish blue and the like, and these plants are commonly characterized by a high resistance to heat and are commercially available in Japan. The main botanical characteristics of `Crown Violet` are as follows.
Plant: PA0 Stem: PA0 Leaf: PA0 Flower: PA0 Physiological and ecological characteristics: Low resistance to diseases and pests, high tolerances to heat, and low tolerance to cold. Typically this plant cannot maintain a semi-erect growth habit or flower well when grown in the shade. PA0 Plant: PA0 Stem: PA0 Leaf: PA0 Flower: PA0 Physiological and ecological characteristics: High resistance to diseases and pests, high tolerances to heat, and low tolerance of cold.
Growth habit.--Erect. PA2 Plant height.--20-30 cm. PA2 Plant width.--30-50 cm. PA2 Diameter.--3.0 mm. PA2 Anthocyanin pigmentation.--Present. PA2 Branching.--Slight. PA2 Pubescence.--Slight. PA2 Length of internode.--1-3 cm. PA2 Phyllotaxis.--Opposite. PA2 Shape of blade.--Ovate to ovate-lanceolate. PA2 Apex.--Acute. PA2 Base.--Cordate. PA2 Length.--2.0-4.0 cm. PA2 Width.--2.0-3.0 cm. PA2 Depth of incision.--Deep. PA2 Color.--Moderate olive green (R.H.S. 137A, JHS 3508). PA2 Pubescence.--Slight. PA2 Facing direction.--Laterally. PA2 Diameter.--2.0-3.0 cm. PA2 Height.--20-30 mm. PA2 Color of floral tube.--Soft violet (R.H.S. 92C, JHS 8008). PA2 Color of petal.--Single color; purplish white (R.H.S. 62D, JHS 8001). PA2 Yellow eye color.--Vivid yellow (R.H.S. 17C, JHS 2507). PA2 Calyx.--1.5-2.0 cm in length. PA2 Anthrocyanin pigmentation of calyx limb.--Present. PA2 Peduncle.--1.5-2.0 mm in thickness; and 1.5-2.0 cm in length. PA2 Reproductive organs.--1 pistil and 4 stamens. PA2 Anther color.--White. PA2 Flowering duration.--Medium. PA2 Growth habit.--Decumbent. PA2 Plant height.--10-15 cm. PA2 Plant width.--50-70 cm. PA2 Diameter.--1.5 mm. PA2 Anthrocyanin pigmentation.--Present. PA2 Branching.--Profuse. PA2 Pubescence.--Slight. PA2 Length of internode.--4-6 cm. PA2 Phyllotaxis.--Opposite. PA2 Shape of blade.--Ovate to ovate-cordate. PA2 Length.--1.0-2.0 cm. PA2 Width.--1.0-2.0 cm. PA2 Depth of incision.--Medium. PA2 Color.--Moderate olive green (R.H.S. 137A, JHS 3508). PA2 Pubescence.--Slight. PA2 Facing direction.--Laterally. PA2 Diameter.--2.0-3.0 cm. PA2 Height.--20-30 mm. PA2 Color of floral tube.--Moderate Purple (R.H.S. 83B, JHS 8613). PA2 Color of petal.--Single color, Deep purple (R.H.S. 89C, JHS 8311). PA2 Eye coloration.--Lacking. PA2 Calyx.--1.5-2.0 cm in length. PA2 Anthrocyanin pigmentation of calyx limb.--Present. PA2 Peduncle.--1.5-2.0 mm in thickness; and 3.0-5.0 cm in length. PA2 Reproductive organs.--1 pistil and 4 stamens. PA2 Anther color.--White. PA2 Flowering duration.--Medium.
Torenia concolor `Con Color` which was used as the male parent in the crossing of this new `Sunrenidibu` variety, is one of the Con Color Series bred by the Sakata Seed Corp., Japan. The Con Color Series includes plants having violet flower petal, bi-colored of strong purple and pale purple and the like, and these plants are commonly characterized by a high resistance to heat and are commercially available in Japan. The main botanical characteristics of `Con Color` are as follows.


Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to a projecting status indicator for use in connection with a laboratory machine or instrument (collectively referred to as a “unit”). The indicator projects a projected visible light image or beam of light in a line directly above a particular unit so that lab personnel can tell the status of the unit from a distance. In a specific embodiment, the indicator projects an extended line of light on a ceiling above the unit, rather than a small point of light.

In a laboratory environment, a number of units may often be running samples and collecting data at the same time. In many instances, multiple rows of units may be managed and monitored by a limited number of laboratory technicians or personnel.
Some current units have indicator lights that indicate the unit's status. Such status indicators are usually provided as a small button on the front of the unit. In examples in which the status indicator light has been made more prominent, the status indicator light structure 70 may be a raised, curved arch made of a translucent material that protrudes above the upper surface of the unit. An LED light associated with the status indicator light structure may cause the translucent material to glow the desired color. In some examples, a single point of light 72 may be emitted. One example is illustrated by FIG. 16.
One challenge presented by the current laboratory indicator light standard is that although the lights are positioned on the unit and although they indicate the status of the unit, they are not easily viewable unless the laboratory technician or personnel is looking directly at the unit, often standing directly in front of the unit or in a direct line of sight of the unit. However, in a laboratory with multiple rows of machines/instruments/units, a single person may be running a number of units at one time, without a direct line of sight to the status indicator of a particular unit. Factors that present challenges to the view of status indicator may depend upon the height of the unit, the height of the status indicator itself, and/or the height of the person attempting to read the status indicator. Improvements are thus desirable.


A method includes: assembling a thermal-exchange tube in a module housing for an energy storage pack; assembling cells in the module housing, wherein the thermal-exchange tube runs between rows of the cells; applying an adhesive that affixes the cells and the thermal-exchange tube to the module housing; curing a first portion of the adhesive by radiation, wherein a second portion of the adhesive is shielded from the radiation by the cells or the thermal-exchange tube; and curing at least the second portion of the adhesive by a chemical cure mechanism.

Some energy storage systems (e.g., battery packs) pump a cooling fluid through a cooling tube in between or near the energy-storing cells. One aspect of the thermal architecture of such an energy storage system is the thermal resistance between the cells and the heat transfer fluid contained within the cooling tube. Thermal interface materials (TIMs) can be used for bridging the physical gap between the cell and the cooling tube. In the past, cells have been populated inside a plastic housing, a straight cooling tube has been run between cell rows, and the interior has been flooded with a thermally conductive epoxy. Such epoxy may be high-cost and high-mass, with large conduction path lengths. In another approach, appropriate thermal resistance has been obtained using a high-cost, compressible silicone sponge TIM applied to a scalloped cooling tube.


The present invention is a flight management system with precision merging that may determine a rejoin turn location based upon a heading to allow proper spacing between an aircraft and an identified target aircraft. The flight management system may monitor for deviation from assigned airspace, winds, turn radius and desired airport speed profile for the approach to further refine a turn-back location. Advantageously, a delay in landing of the target aircraft may not affect the landing approach of other aircraft. This may result in more accurate spacing between aircraft which are closer to the allowed separation minima and may provide an increase in capacity especially in high-density areas.

The use of aircraft is vital for transporting individuals and shipping products. During peak travel times, over five thousand airplanes may be in the sky each hour in the United States. Air traffic controllers direct each aircraft in the air to ensure safe operation of each aircraft and to maintain a safe distance between each aircraft.
Airspace around airports is especially congested. This problem is exacerbated at large airports where many aircraft are departing and landing in short intervals of time. An air traffic controller may direct a pilot to adjust an aircraft's heading, speed and altitude to begin the runway approach. Air traffic controllers base their directions to each aircraft to establish an efficient approach procedure for each aircraft. On the final leg of a runway approach, an air traffic controller must ensure aircraft separation. For example, it may be desired that each aircraft has at least ninety-one (91) seconds of time separation between landings. As a result, the air traffic controller must add extra buffers to allow margins for pilots to ensure a safe landing approach for each aircraft. However, a delay of a first aircraft to land may cause a daisy-chain effect which causes a delay in other aircraft waiting to land. Consequently, an efficient method and system for landing aircraft while maintaining safe separation among aircraft is necessary.

Flight management system with precision merging


A cordless telephone system provides home security. Each handset associated with the cordless telephone system detects an event, such as a noise level that exceeds a threshold noise level, smoke, carbon monoxide, intrusion or moisture level. If an event is detected the system presents a message from the base unit to an alert telephone number of the home owner that provides notification of the event.

Home security is a necessary part of modern society. Locks, burglar alarms and the like are designed to keep out intruders who might steal contents of a home or harm its occupants. Whether home or away, a home security system provides comfort to home owners who know that the system will likely warn them and/or authorities of the presence of an intruder.
Unfortunately, modern day home security systems are generally expensive, and difficult to install. For example, windows must be taped and doors must be configured such that they provide notice to the home security system when they are opened. Further, these systems include many mechanical parts, including detectors that are susceptible to failure and wear. Motion detectors and other devices can provide auditory warnings to a dwelling's occupants. However, unless they are connected to a more expensive monitoring system, they do not provide warnings to home owners or authorities. The expense, in particular, can place home security systems beyond the reach of many home owners. Consequently, a more affordable home security system is required.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Cordless phone system with integrated alarm and remote monitoring capability


An exemplary embodiment of the present techniques may detect and correlate events from moving object sensor data by receiving data from a sensor. The data received from the sensor may be mapped, and events may be detected based on the mapped sensor data. Events from the mapped sensor data may be correlated online.

Event correlation is a technique for processing a stream of events occurring within a system. Event correlation may include discovering events, processing events, and extracting the most important events from the stream of events. Many systems that use operations management, such as transportation networks, data centers, and electrical grids, have various events that occur during operation. These events can be correlated for a greater understanding of the complete system.
Often, event correlation is implemented using a rule based technique to discover, process, and extract events. However, rule based event correlation may not discover events corresponding to unknown rules. As a result, some events may be missed in their entirety. Further, the systems are often dynamic, where the causes of the events change over time. Dynamic systems may also allow some events to be missed when using rule based event correlation.

System and method for event detection and correlation from moving object sensor data

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP