A negotiation is carried out between a plurality of participants. Each participant defines an invocation pattern. A set of coordinator parameters are attached to each invocation pattern, where the set of coordinator parameters define interdependencies between parameters of the plurality of participants that are shared across their invocation patterns. A graph is constructed to carry out the negotiation of a set of actions to be performed by selected ones of the plurality of participants, with nodes of a first node type that represents a negotiating context or a second node type that represents a decision point. The participants construct the graph with primitives instantiated by the invocation patterns. At least one node in the graph is a decision point that merges two or more negotiation contexts into a single decision point. The single decision point combines values of the parameters from the two or more negotiation contexts.

The present invention relates generally to a negotiation mechanism, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for negotiating performance of a set of actions by a plurality of participants in the negotiation.
Negotiation is a pervasive aspect of everyday life, and it is not surprising that various approaches have been proposed to use computer software to support some forms of negotiation processes in various applications. In particular, existing multi-agent systems support negotiations in meeting scheduling, electronic trading, service matching and many other collaborative applications. More generic forms of negotiation also exist in service discovery mechanisms, advanced transaction models, quality of service selection etc.
While most of these forms of negotiation make sense in the context of the applications for which they have been designed, they are difficult to transport across applications, and across architectural layers within an application. In other words, there is no satisfactory generic model of negotiation that could provide the basis of a middleware tool that any distributed application could rely on at multiple levels.
Middleware systems are programs that provide "glue" for programmatically coupling various components of a distributed program. Such systems are gaining momentum, following the extensive use of the Internet and intranets, because they try to address recurrent needs of distributed application development, such as in the domain of electronic commerce. In addition, middleware is evolving towards the role of an "integration tool" for coordinating users and applications.
One example of a middleware system is CLF (Coordination Language Facility) developed by Xerox Corporation. CLF is a lightweight coordination middleware toolkit designed to integrate discovery, transaction and notification aspects in distributed component systems. Aspects of CLF are described by: J-M. Andreoli et al., in "Multiparty Negotiation for Dynamic Distributed Object Services", published in Journal of Science of Computer Programming, 31(2-3):179-203, 1998; J-M. Andreoli et al., in "CLF/Mekano: a Framework for Building Virtual-Enterprise Applications", published in Proc. of EDOC'99, Manheim, Germany, 1999; and J-M. Andreoli and S. Castellani, in "Towards a Flexible Middleware Negotiation Facility for Distributed Components", published in Proc. of DEXA 2000 e-Negotiations Workshop, Munich, Germany, 2001.
While existing middleware systems currently provide some form of support for network communication, coordination, reliability, scalability, and heterogeneity, they however currently: do not scale well beyond local area networks, are not adapted to new forms of networking (e.g. wireless or hybrid), and are not always dependable nor flexible enough to provide generic negotiation capabilities. Some improvements provide large scale distribution, adaptive reconfigurability and support for mobility as described by W. Emmerich, entitled "Software Engineering and Middleware: A Roadmap", published in Proc. of ICSE 2000, The future of Software Engineering, Munich, Germany, 2001.
Most computing models, however, are not able to support the processing of partial and contextual information, which are important ingredients of negotiation. Indeed, a negotiation decision is always taken in the context of previous decisions that limit its scope of validity, and each decision brings only a partial contribution to the final agreement. In the computing models adopted by most middleware systems (e.g., CLF), it is up to the application programmer to manage partial and contextual information (i.e., to treat two separate values as partial information about the same negotiation, and to keep track of the context of all the decisions that have been made to reach a certain value in a negotiation).
There exists, however, one paradigm that naturally supports both partial and contextual information: constraint programming, and in particular, its (concurrent) logic-programming flavor. In constraint programming, a constraint is a piece of partial information about some entities, and constraints can be gathered into constraint stores which may be non-deterministically and incrementally evolving (typically in a search procedure), each state of the store providing the context for further constraint propagations.
Based on constraint programming concepts, it would be advantageous to provide a new, generic model of negotiation that is independent of any application domain, thus qualifying as foundation for a middleware service, but that also avoids overgeneralization where a negotiation is viewed as any process performing transitions through a state graph, triggered by external actions.


There is provided an antenna arrangement for use in an ultra-wideband network, the antenna arrangement comprising an active element; and a plurality of passive elements arranged around the active element; each passive element being controllable to selectively reflect or transmit radio signals emitted by the active element so as to create a desired beam pattern from the active element.

Ultra-wideband is a radio technology that transmits digital data across a very wide frequency range, 3.1 to 10.6 GHz. It makes use of ultra low transmission power, typically less than −41 dBm/MHz, so that the technology can literally hide under other transmission frequencies such as existing Wi-Fi, GSM and Bluetooth. This means that ultra-wideband can co-exist with other radio frequency technologies. However, this has the limitation of limiting communication to distances of typically 5 to 20 metres.
There are two approaches to UWB: the time-domain approach, which constructs a signal from pulse waveforms with UWB properties, and a frequency-domain modulation approach using conventional FFT-based Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) over Multiple (frequency) Bands, giving MB-OFDM. Both UWB approaches give rise to spectral components covering a very wide bandwidth in the frequency spectrum, hence the term ultra-wideband, whereby the bandwidth occupies more than 20 percent of the centre frequency, typically at least 500 MHz.
These properties of ultra-wideband, coupled with the very wide bandwidth, mean that UWB is an ideal technology for providing high-speed wireless communication in the home or office environment, whereby the communicating devices are within a range of 20 m of one another.
FIG. 1 shows the arrangement of frequency bands in a Multi Band Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (MB-OFDM) system for ultra-wideband communication. The MB-OFDM system comprises fourteen sub-bands of 528 MHz each, and uses frequency hopping every 312 ns between sub-bands as an access method. Within each sub-band OFDM and QPSK or DCM coding is employed to transmit data. It is noted that the sub-band around 5 GHz, currently 5.1-5.8 GHz, is left blank to avoid interference with existing narrowband systems, for example 802.11a WLAN systems, security agency communication systems, or the aviation industry.
The fourteen sub-bands are organized into five band groups, four having three 528 MHz sub-bands, and one band group having two 528 MHz sub-bands. As shown in FIG. 1, the first band group comprises sub-band 1, sub-band 2 and sub-band 3. An example UWB system will employ frequency hopping between sub-bands of a band group, such that a first data symbol is transmitted in a first 312.5 ns duration time interval in a first frequency sub-band of a band group, a second data symbol is transmitted in a second 312.5 ns duration time interval in a second frequency sub-band of a band group, and a third data symbol is transmitted in a third 312.5 ns duration time interval in a third frequency sub-band of the band group. Therefore, during each time interval a data symbol is transmitted in a respective sub-band having a bandwidth of 528 MHz, for example sub-band 2 having a 528 MHz baseband signal centred at 3960 MHz.
The technical properties of ultra-wideband mean that it is being deployed for applications in the field of data communications. For example, a wide variety of applications exist that focus on cable replacement in the following environments:                communication between PCs and peripherals, i.e. external devices such as hard disc drives, CD writers, printers, scanner, etc.        home entertainment, such as televisions and devices that connect by wireless means, wireless speakers, etc.        communication between handheld devices and PCs, for example mobile phones and PDAs, digital cameras and MP3 players, etc.
The antenna arrangements used in ultra-wideband systems are usually omni-directional, meaning that radio signals are emitted in all directions from an active radiating element, or elements. However, it is desirable to be able to alter the profile of the emitted radio signals so that they are emitted from the antenna arrangement in a particular direction or directions. In addition, it is desirable to be able to switch an antenna arrangement with more than one active radiating element from an omni-directional mode to a mode in which the antenna arrangement serves a number of different sectors.
By directing the emitted radio signals in a particular direction or directions, interference with other nearby communication links can be reduced, thereby allowing the capacity of the communication system (in terms of the number of possible communication links) to be increased.
Although fixed beam directional antennas are known, for example, horns, reflector or planar linear and conformal arrays based on a plurality of active radiating elements each of which is individually fed and appropriately phased these fixed conventional arrangements can only provide a limited range of coverage with the directed beam. Furthermore, in these conventional arrangements the direction of the beam cannot be switched particularly quickly. A number of directional beam technologies suffer from the limitation that the width of the main peak of the radiated beam depends on the wavelength of the radio signals emitted. Phased arrays based on a plurality of individually fed (with tailored distribution in amplitude and phase) active elements can in principle provide adjustable beams in shape and angular position. However, these antennas are unacceptably expensive. In addition, the state of the art of these antennas suggest that these structures will be less capable of covering the UWB bandwidth, primarily due to mutual coupling or grating lobe problems. Thus, these conventional antenna arrangements are not particularly suitable for use in ultra-wideband systems intended for consumer electronic applications.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a directional antenna arrangement for use in an ultra-wideband system that overcomes the problems with the above conventional systems.


The present disclosure provides a bone-implantable device and methods of use. The bone-implantable device comprises a body having an exterior surface, wherein a portion of the exterior surface includes a cured osteostimulative material comprising MgO.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Implant loosening is commonly encountered in humans and other animals that undergo orthopedic surgery and results in compromised construct stability, decreased patient comfort, and additional expenses. The holding power of an implant in bone is associated with multiple factors such as the mechanical and structural properties of the implant, mechanical and physical properties of the bone, placement of the implant, load distribution, and bone-implant integration. Cyclic loading, infection, inflammatory reaction around the implant and subsequent bone resorption, micromotion-induced implant loosening, and fatigue failure at the bone-implant or bone-cement interface are other common causes of implant failure.
Various implant surface configurations, coating methods, and biomaterials have been developed to improve integration between bones and implants. An assortment of osteoinductive and osteoconductive materials has been used to fill bone defects and to anchor implants to bone. To achieve this, a material should adhere implant to bone, tolerate and transfer loads on the implant to bone, promote bone healing, and be readily absorbed at a rate that allows adequate time for osseointegration.
The biomechanical properties of the filler material should resemble those of bone and should be resistant to fragmentation and wear debris formation. Furthermore, the formulation should be easy to apply, should not cause thermal damage during the process of curing, and should be tolerated by the host.
Polymethylmethacrylate is an acrylic bone cement, which has been used for plate luting and total arthroplasties for almost 50 years. Because PMMA is nonabsorbable, two interfaces will inevitably exist: one between the implant and cement and another between the cement and bone. Wear particle formation, thermal necrosis from the curing process, and fractures within the cement layer are known complications associated with the use of PMMA and can lead to failure of the implant construct. Calcium-phosphate cement was the first biodegradable bone cement to be made commercially available. It can tolerate high compressive strength, fill in gaps between implant and bone, act as an osteoconductive medium, and increase biomechanical strength of the bone-implant interface. However, calcium phosphate cement lacks adhesive properties and has a long absorption time.
In addition, existing osteostimulative materials must disadvantageously be applied immediately before implantation. Such a requirement increases the procedure time, and increases the risk of uneven application of the osteostimulative material on an implant.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The present disclosure relates to a spinal implant or spacer that addresses the variation in anatomy of vertebrae along the spine by having inferior and superior surface angle and convexity variations that are adapted to address the differences in lordosis and endplate surface convexity of the spine. The difference between the convexity of the superior and inferior surface of the spacer increases as the lordotic angle of the spacer increases. The spacers described herein thus provide overall improved fit into vertebral disc space and in some embodiments are even used in the absence of fusion for a prolonged period. The vertebral spacers described herein in some embodiments are used with supplemental internal fixation systems, such as an anchor plate. The interior of the spacer has channels and undercuts to increase graft volume and retention, support bony ingrowth, and bony stability for better secondary and tertiary stabilization.

Spinal disc and/or vertebral bodies may be displaced, unstable, or damaged due to trauma (e.g. fracture), disease (e.g. tumor), degenerative effects, or wear over an extended period of time. The displacement, instability, or damage of the spinal disc and/or vertebral bodies often causes chronic back pain. In order to alleviate the chronic back pain, all or at least part of the problematic spinal disc is removed, optionally along with all or part of at least one of the neighboring vertebrae. The removal of the spinal disc and/or vertebral body leaves a void that is subsequently filled by insertion of a surgical implant or spacer into the void. The inserted surgical implant or spacer provides distraction of neighboring vertebral bodies and promotes the healing fusion of the remaining bony anatomy. The success of alleviation of the chronic pain is limited however, due to several factors. For example, the spacer or implant or cage used to fill the space left by the removed disc may not be strong enough to support the spine. The spacer may not remain in the position in which it is placed by the surgeon. The spacer may not comprise of such a material to promote bony growth around the spacer and within the spinal region. At least some of the limitations are due to the fact that the surgical implant or spacer failed to adequately address the variation in anatomy of the vertebrae along the spine.

Vertebral body replacement or fusion device


Ceramic membranes with integral seals and support, and related electrochemical cells and cell stacks. The membrane comprises a thin electrolyte layer supported on a porous electrode layer which in turn is supported on a thick ceramic support layer, preferably a ceramic electrolyte support. The support layer is divided into a plurality of self-supporting thin membrane regions by a network of thicker integrated support ribs. The thin electrolyte layer and thick ceramic support layer preferably define a sealing perimeter surrounding the porous electrode layer.

Tubular solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are the most extensively demonstrated of the many designs proposed for SOFCs. In these structures, a multi-layer tube is fabricated with cathode, electrolyte, and anode layers. Tubes that are supported by anodes, cathodes, and electrolytes each have been proposed in the literature and demonstrated. Electrolyte- and cathode-supported tubes, in both circular and flat tube configurations, have been demonstrated by Westinghouse and Siemens-Westinghouse Power Corporation. Anode-supported tubes have been demonstrated by a range of manufacturers.
In tubular SOFCs, fuel or air is flowed down the center of the tube, depending on whether the tube is anode- or cathode-supported, while the complementary gas mix is flowed outside the tube. Such tubes can have open or closed ends and are typically sealed outside the reaction zone of the SOFC. Conventional tubular cells typically suffer from low volumetric or gravimetric power density because large tubes do not pack well and have a low surface area to volume ratio.
Microtubular SOFCs, in which small-diameter (i.e., <5 mm) tubes of electrolyte are slurry coated with cathode and anode components, overcome some of the disadvantages of conventional tubes. Sealing of small diameter microtubes is simpler than sealing of conventional tubes. Microtubular cells also overcome the low surface area to volume ratio associated with conventional tubular cells. However, microtubular cells require complex manifolding and electrical interconnection schemes, which makes scaling to large power stacks difficult.
Planar SOFCs, which may be supported by either the electrode or the electrolyte, also have been demonstrated extensively. Electrode-supported cells have a thick electrode component that acts as the mechanical load-bearing member of the cell and a thin electrolyte layer. This design reduces electrolyte ohmic resistance in the cell and allows operation at intermediate temperatures (e.g., T<800° C.). Electrode-supported SOFCs typically are produced by co-sintering the support electrode material and a thin coating of electrolyte material. The electrode support is typically tape cast, calendared, or slip cast, although other preparation methods have been demonstrated. The thin electrolyte can be deposited in a number of ways, including but not limited to lamination of electrolyte tape, screen printing, calendaring, and spray deposition. Electrode-supported cells preferably have an electrolyte that is less than twenty microns in thickness after sintering and well-adhered to the electrode support.
Electrode-supported planar SOFCs include both cathode- and anode-supported cells. Cathode-supported cells have the potential to be lightweight and lower in cost than anode-supported cells. However, processing of cathode-supported cells is difficult because the co-firing of most cathode materials in contact with an electrolyte produces insulating intermediate compounds. Anode-supported electrolytes are perhaps the most widely evaluated cell geometry for low temperature operation. Processing of anode-supported cells is comparatively easy because sintering temperatures in excess of 1300° C. can be used to achieve dense electrolytes without concern for interaction between the anode material and the supported electrolyte.
Planar anode-supported cells are particularly attractive for mass market, cost driven applications because of their high areal power density and their advantageous packing efficiency. Performance of anode-supported cells at 700° C. has been demonstrated to be over 1 W/cm2 in small cells at low fuel utilization. With appropriate seal and interconnect technology, power densities greater than 0.4 W/cm2 have been reported for anode-supported cell stacks. However, anode-supported cells are not without drawbacks. When conventional nickel oxide/yttrium-stabilized zirconia (NiO/YSZ) composites are used as support materials, the reduction of NiO to nickel metal creates stress in the electrolyte layer, which may cause considerable deformation during this reduction process. Operating planar anode-supported cells at high power density and high fuel utilization also is difficult; the thick porous layer prevents rapid diffusion of steam away from the electrolyte and results in increased cell area-specific resistance (ASR) at high current density.
Electrolyte-supported planar cells have an electrolyte layer that provides the mechanical strength of the cell. The electrolyte layer can be produced by tape casting or other methods. Electrodes typically are deposited on the electrolyte layer by screen printing or spray coating and fired in a second step. To achieve strong electrode adhesion, the ink particle size, composition, and surface area must be tailored to the target firing temperature and controlled during fabrication. Electrodes can be sintered in two separate steps or simultaneously, depending upon the requisite temperatures for the cathode and anode. In many cases, the anode ink is fired first because it is more refractory and more difficult to sinter, and the cathode ink is applied and fired in a second step at a lower temperature to minimize the chemical interaction between the electrolyte and cathode.
Electrolyte-supported cells offer numerous advantages in the production of SOFCs. The sealing of electrolyte-supported cells is simpler than electrode-supported planar cells because a dense electrolyte perimeter can be preserved during cell processing, which provides a dense, smooth surface for sealing operations. Electrolyte-supported cells also have good stability during reduction. Because only a thin layer of anode ink is affected by the reduction process, this process generally has little impact on cell mechanical stability. The gas diffusion path in and out of the thinner anode layer is short, making fuel and steam diffusion limitations less of a concern.
However, under identical operating conditions, electrolyte-supported cells often exhibit much higher area-specific resistance values than electrode-supported cells because the electrolyte is more resistive than the anode or cathode materials. To compensate for this higher area-specific resistance, the operating temperature for electrolyte-supported cells generally is higher than anode-supported cells using the same materials set. The higher operating temperature of the electrolyte-supported cells can be a drawback, particularly for developers wishing to use metallic interconnect materials.
In spite of more than thirty years of continuous research in the area of SOFCs, these systems remain far from commercialization. Until SOFC cells are developed that address the shortcomings of existing cell structures, it will be difficult for SOFCs to overcome the commercialization barriers and compete with conventional energy production routes. Considering planar cells in particular, a cell that delivers high performance, high mechanical strength, and easier sealing than current electrolyte- or anode-supported cells is essential in advancing commercialization of SOFCs.

Ceramic membranes with integral seals and support, and electrochemical cells and electrochemical cell stacks including the same


A method and a device for determining a degree of thermal hair damage are provided. A method for determining a degree of thermal hair damage includes, during exposure of a hair sample of hair to UV or UV/VIS light, recording a spectrum of at least a portion of the UV or UV/VIS light that has interacted with the hair sample. Further, the method includes comparing at least a portion of the spectrum with a spectroscopic calibration model obtained using UV or UV/VIS spectra and degrees of thermal damage of a plurality of calibration hair samples. Also, the method includes determining the degree of thermal hair damage by using the comparison.

When hair is treated with cosmetic products, an effect of the product, e.g. an intensity of a coloring, may depend strongly on the degree of damage to the hair.
Therefore, a determination of damage to the hair may be of great importance.
Hair may be damaged by natural or man-made processes. An important type of damage may be thermal damage.
When drying damp hair with a hairdryer, but especially during semi-permanent hair styling with a straightening iron or curling tongs, high temperatures (up to about 240° C.) act on the hair. Previously damaged hair, in particular, may be severely (further) damaged by such high temperatures.
The damaging process may be caused by a decomposition of amino acids, e.g. a decomposition of the amino acid tryptophan and its oxidation products (kynurenines) which are frequently found in hair.
In addition to chemical damage to the hair, physical damage may also occur, for example in the form of cracks in the hair cuticula.
These structural and chemical damages of the hair may lead to brittle hair, increased hair breakage during combing and an increase in combing work.
In the academic and industrial sector, a researcher or developer has a variety of physical and chemical analytical methods at his or her disposal to determine the degree of thermal damage, for example, a quantitative determination of the degree of thermal damage.
Chromatographic methods such as High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) may be used to determine the content of an amino acid. However, these initially require a complex acidic, basic or enzymatic hydrolytic digestion of the hair sample. Alternatively, colorimetric methods may be used.
However, all of these methods are complicated and expensive, so that they are not available to the end user.
Damaging cosmetic treatments, such as hair coloration, heat treatments, perms or oxidative procedures such as bleaching, and many others, are typically performed in the private sector or in the field of commercial services to the end consumer. Although performing another damaging method on (thermally) previously damaged hair may lead to catastrophic results or even complete hair breakage, it has not been possible to determine the degree of previous thermal damage to the hair, for example quantitatively.
In addition, more and more users of products want a product tailored to their individual needs. This is especially true for cosmetic products such as skin and/or hair treatment products.

Method and device for determining a degree of thermal damage to hair


A system having a memory device accessible by a plurality of processors is provided. The system includes a memory device, a first processor, and a second processor. The memory device has a first memory array part and a second memory array part. The first processor predominantly accesses the first memory array part of the memory device and selectively accesses the second memory array part of the memory device. The second processor predominantly accesses the second memory array part of the memory device and selectively accesses the first memory array part of the memory device.

1. Field of the Invention
Example embodiments of the present invention relate to a system, for example, a portable communications apparatus, having a memory device accessible by a plurality of processors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Depending on the characteristics and functions of communications and/or operation systems of a portable communications system, a multi-processor system may be implemented, wherein each processor may have a particular task. For example, in a portable communications system, for example, a cellular phone, a baseband processor may process code data for use in communications and/or an application processor may process data, for example, pictures and/or moving images.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional portable communications system 100. Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional portable communications system 100 may include a baseband processor 110, which may process a signal received via an antenna 10 and an application processor 120, which may drive one or more multi-media devices. The baseband processor 110 may operate one or more communication modems, micro-processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), compressor/decompressors (CODECs), etc. The baseband processor 110 may use a NOR flash memory 112 and a small-capacity mobile DRAM (MDRAM) 114 to achieve high-speed data processing. The application processor 120 may include device drivers for driving one or more multi-media devices, for example, an input/output device (e.g., a keyboard, an LCD, a memory, an infrared, USB, a multi-media card (MMC), an SDIO card), an audio player, a camera, a video recorder etc. The application processor 120 may use a large-capacity MDRAM 122 and a NAND flash memory 124 to process large-capacity data.
In the conventional portable communications system 100 of FIG. 1, the baseband processor 110 exclusively uses the memory devices 112 and 114 and the application processor 120 exclusively uses the memory devices 122 and 124. The above-described structure may increase power consumption by the portable communications system 100 and the manufacturing costs thereof, in part, because the baseband processor 110 and application processor 120 do not share a memory device.
FIG. 2 describes a conventional portable communications apparatus that may have a memory that is used exclusively and/or shared by a plurality of processors. Referring to FIG. 2, the portable communications apparatus, which is indicated by reference numeral 50 herein, may include a plurality of processors 70 and 80 and a single memory device 30, which may have a single memory array 35.
The memory device 30 may be used to store data and/or instructions that may be executed by the processors 70 and 80. The memory array 35 may include parts 31, 32, and 33. The part 33 is used exclusively by the processor 70, so only the processor 70 can access the part 33. Similarly, the part 31 is used exclusively by the processor 80, so only the processor 80 can access the part 31. The part 32 allocated in the memory array 35 may be accessed by both the processors 70 and 80. For example, while one of the processors 70 and 80 reads out contents recorded in the part 32, the other can write data to the part 32.
In the portable communications apparatus 50, data processed by the processor 70 must be stored in the part 33 or 32 of the memory array 35, and data processed by the processor 80 must be stored in the part 31 or 32 of the memory array 35. If data to be processed by the processor 70 is stored in the part 31 of the memory array 35, the processor 70 cannot be used until the data stored in the part 31 is moved to the part 32 by processor 80. On the other hand, if data to be processed by the processor 80 is stored in the part 33 of the memory array 35, the processor 80 cannot be used until the data stored in the part 33 is moved to the part 32 by processor 70.
In other words, the processor 70 and/or the processor 80 are burdened with having to move data to be processed to the part 32, which is shared by the processors 70 and 80. The additional data moving operation may degrade the performance of the conventional portable communications apparatus 50 and/or increase the power consumption thereof.

System having memory device accessible to multiple processors


An open roof system for a vehicle comprises at least first and second movable elements, each movable between a retracted and a deployed position. At least two drive cable assemblies transfer the motor torque to said movable elements. The drive cable assemblies comprise a flexible first part having first and second ends, the first part being driven by a motor. The first end portion of the flexible first part connects to one of the first and second movable elements, and a first guiding channel guides the second end. The drive cable assembly further comprises an elongated second part, guided in a second guiding channel to one of the first and second movable elements and connected thereto. During at least part of the operation, the elongated second part moves substantially in the same direction as an end portion of the first part of the cable assembly.

The discussion below is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
Aspects of the invention relate to an open roof system for a vehicle having an opening in its fixed roof, comprising a stationary part to be fixed to the roof, at least first and second movable elements, which are each movable between a position in which it is retracted, and a position in which it is deployed, a motor for driving the movable elements at least partly between the two positions, and at least two drive cable assemblies for transferring the torque of the motor to said movable elements, whereby the stationary part comprises at least first and second guiding channels and laterally positioned guides for respectively guiding the drive cable assemblies and the movable elements whereby the drive cable assemblies comprise a flexible first part having first and second ends, said first part being driven by the motor, and whereby said first end of said flexible first part is connected to the first movable element, in a first direction, and said second end is guided in a first guiding channel in the lateral guide, said second end oriented in a direction substantially parallel to the first end towards said first movable element.


A sterilization process is assessed using a test pack having a tube (16) for simulating the difficult to clean areas of instruments, such as lumens. The tube is disposed in a tray (10), and a biological indicator (30) is connected to a tube open end. Additional biological and chemical indicators (42, 24) are inserted in corresponding receiving wells or pockets (40, 22) of the tray. The test pack is covered with a porous wrapping (54) to simulate the challenge of wrapped instruments. The test pack is inserted in a sterilizer along with instruments to be sterilized. The biological indicator (30) will only register effective sterilization if sufficient sterilant flows through the length of the tube to the indicator.

The present invention relates to the sterilization and disinfection arts. It finds particular application in conjunction with the assessment of vaporized hydrogen peroxide sterilization systems, and will be described with particular reference thereto. It should be appreciated, however, that the invention is also applicable to other sterilization, disinfection, and sanitization methods.
The reusability of medical instruments has become increasingly important in an effort to provide cost effective health care. Many of the instruments that are now sterilized, such as endoscopes, contain tortuous paths, narrow lumens, and other difficult to sterilize areas. In addition, it is often preferable to sterilize medical instruments in the wrappings used to maintain the sterility of the instruments between sterilization and reuse. Such wrappings increase the difficulty of ensuring successful sterilization of the instrument.
A number of methods have been developed for assessment of sterilization processes that are employed to destroy microorganisms which were deposited on the instruments during use. Biological indicators and chemical indicators are among the techniques currently used for monitoring the effectiveness of sterilization cycles. Biological indicators contain a calibrated population of living organisms, e.g. bacterial spores, having a high resistance to the sterilization process under investigation. After exposure to the sterilization cycle, the indicator is incubated in a bacteriological nutrient media to encourage outgrowth of any remaining viable spores. Growth of microorganisms is an indication that the sterilization process has not been effective. Typically several days to a week are required for a detectable outgrowth.
Chemical indicators contain a substance that exhibits a change in a measurable property under predesignated conditions which are normally coincident with sterilization. Chemical indicators provide an instant readout, but the readout only indicates that the conditions for sterilization were met, without assuring that sterilization in fact occurred. Typically, a biological and/or chemical indicator is placed in the sterilizer, along with the instruments to be sterilized, to assess the effectiveness of the cycle.
A variety of sterilants are now available for sterilization of medical instruments. Hydrogen peroxide vapor is a particularly useful sterilant because of its effectiveness at low temperatures, which avoids degradation of heat-sensitive medical instruments. Hydrogen peroxide decomposes to water and oxygen which are not harmful to medical personnel supervising the sterilization process or to patients. Moreover, the water and oxygen by-products are environmentally safe and require no special processing for disposal.
As for other sterilants, however, medical instruments and their wrappings can provide challenges to the effectiveness of sterilization. Hydrogen peroxide vapor is normally mixed with water vapor which, at the temperatures employed for hydrogen peroxide sterilization, is not a sterilant. Moreover, water vapor permeates into wrappings and narrow lumens more readily than hydrogen peroxide vapor, reducing the effectiveness of the hydrogen peroxide sterilant. In addition, condensed water vapor shields any submerged organisms from the hydrogen peroxide. As a result, complete sterilization of the instrument may not always be effectuated. For this reason, conventional biological and chemical indicators can sometimes over-estimate the effectiveness of hydrogen peroxide sterilization processes for those medical instruments and their wrappings which encourage condensation.
The present invention provides a new and improved hydrogen peroxide sterilization evaluation system which overcomes the above referenced problems and others.

Test pack for assessing the efficiency of a sterilization process


A seal device includes a first resilient seal ring having a first resilient seal portion and first and second seal portions; and a second resilient seal ring. The first resilient seal portion urges a first seal surface of the first seal ring against the second seal surface of the second seal ring. The second seal portion mates with the first retainer portion of the first seal ring, while the first seal portion is in a sealing relation with one component. The second resilient seal ring has a second resilient seal portion, and first and second seal portions. The second resilient seal portion urges a second seal surface of the second seal ring against the first seal surface of the first seal ring, while the second seal portion mates with the second retainer portion of the second seat ring.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seal device disposed between a pair of relatively rotating elements typically seen in the rollers of a crawler, track roller, reduction gear, hydraulic motor or the like. More particularly, the invention relates to a seal device in the reduction gear unit of automobiles or hydraulic motors of a variety of machinery, which provides an effective seal at the interface of relatively moving elements against a process fluid containing slurry or a high pressure process fluid.
2. Description of the Related Art
Primary related art of the present invention is found as a seal ring in U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,069. A similar type of seal ring as the one shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,069 is illustrated, for example, in FIG. 8. The seal ring 101 in FIG. 8 is, for example, mounted to a crawler unit 100.
In FIG. 8, 120 represents a shaft. The shaft 120 is disposed within a through bore of a roller 125, and a ring seal 101 is disposed in the chamber formed between the shaft 120 and the roller 125. The ring seal 101 provides a seal by preventing dusty water or muddy fluid from entering.
In this ring seal 101, a primary resilient ring 102 has an annularly shaped body whose cross section is "J"-shaped and outer surface forms a curved concave face 105. One end face of the primary resilient ring 102 is defined as outer fitting face 102A while the other end face is defined as inner fitting face 102B. Likewise, a secondary resilient ring 103 has also an annularly shaped body whose cross section is "J"-shaped and outer surface forms a curved concave face 105. Therefore one end face of the secondary resilient ring 103 defines outer fitting face 103A while the other end face defines inner fitting face 103B.
Next a first seal ring 110 has an annularly shaped body whose cross section is "U"-shaped and its radially extending end face of the first seal ring 110 defines a seal face 110A. An annular groove of the seal ring 110 which is located on the other side of the seal face 110A defines a mount groove portion 110B. Likewise, a second seal ring 111 has an annularly shaped body whose cross section is also "U"-shaped and its radially extending end face of the second seal ring 111 defines a mating seal face 111A. An annular groove disposed on the other side of the seal face 111A then defines a mount groove portion 111B.
The first resilient ring 102 and the second resilient ring 103 thus constructed as well as the first seal ring 110 and the second seal ring 111 are all installed within the chamber formed between the shaft 120 and the roller 125, as depicted in FIG. 8. Therefore the first resilient ring 102 and the second resilient ring 103 retain curved concave surfaces 105, 105 relative to an ambient passage chamber 126. Also the first resilient ring 102 and the second resilient ring 103 possess curved convex surfaces relative to a lubricant-filled internal chamber 127. The first resilient ring 102 exerts a resiliently urging force such that the seal surface 110A of the first seal ring 110 is pressed against the second seal ring 103. The opposed seal surfaces 110A and 111A being pressed against each other provide an effective seal for the process fluid coming into the ambient passage chamber 126.
In addition a floating seal device 150 shown in FIG. 9 is the second prior art related to the current invention. This floating seal device 150 include a first seal ring 152 and a second seal ring 153 which are disposed around the shaft in axially symmetric a manner. A seal surface 152A of the first seal ring 152 and a seal surface 153A of the second seal ring 153 therein exhibit a seal-tight joint. Such a joint between the seal surface 152A of the first seal ring 152 and the seal surface 153A of the second seal ring 153 is achieved by the resiliently urging forces due to compressed rubber materials as shown by the elliptic cross sections used for a first O-ring 155 and a second O-ring 156. For that purpose, the first O-ring 155 and the second O-ring 156 are disposed, respectively, between a housing and the first seal ring 152 and the housing and the second seal ring 153 such that the elliptic cross section forms an angle to the radial direction.
A first seal face 155A of the first O-ring 155 and a first seal face 156A of the second O-ring 156 individually form a sealing contact with the housing while a second seal face 155B of the first O-ring 155 and a second seal face 156B of the second O-ring 156, respectively, make a sealing contact with the first seal ring 152 and the second seal ring 153. However, the degree of the sealing contact at the seal surfaces 152A and 153A urged by the first O-ring 155 and the second O-ring 156 relies on the reaction force of the compressed rubber materials. Therefore a choice of hardness in rubber materials may vary and it makes difficult to make an optimal decision of rubber materials.
This floating seal device 150 provides a seal for a process fluid containing slurry. It can also be applied to a fluid containing fine particles. The first O-ring 155 and the second O-ring 156 which are resiliently compressed and disposed in a symmetric manner, respectively, provide urging forces to the first seal ring 152 and the second seal ring 153 so that a sealing contact is made between the opposed seal surfaces 152A and 153A. Therefore the fact that the elastic reaction forces due to the rubber materials of the first O-ring 155 and the second O-ring 156 is the source of the sealing contact at the seal surfaces 152A and 153A will lead to an acceleration of abrasion of the seal surfaces 152A and 153A caused by large urging forces.
In addition if slurry particles or as such are trapped at the joint surface between the first O-ring 155 and the first seal ring 152 or the second O-ring 156 and the second seal ring 153, the fine particles of slurry remain in the interface and cause the first O-ring 155 and the second O-ring 156 to be worn because of the resilient nature of the first O-ring 155 and the second O-ring 156. Furthermore a constant compressive stress given to the first O-ring 155 and the second O-ring 156 causes a stress relaxation and permanent deformation, which will reduce the intended resilient urging forces.
In the first prior art when a pressure accumulated in the ambient passage chamber 126 is applied to the first resilient ring 102 and the second resilient ring 103 where the pressure is received by the respective curved concave surfaces 105, 105, this will cause the curved concave surfaces 105, 105 to be further bent toward the internal chamber 127 which in turn will lessen the contact force at the seal surfaces 110A and 111A.
Promotion of the stress relaxation of the rubber material in the first resilient ring 102 and the second resilient ring 103 will lead to an unwanted permanent deformation in them. At the same time as the respective inner fitting faces 102B, 103B of the first resilient ring 102 and the second resilient ring 103, respectively, undergo elastic deformation in such a manner to depart from the mount groove portions 110B, 111B, the seal capability of the inner fitting faces 102B, 103B will deteriorate. As a consequence, fine particles contained in the process fluid or sediment located to the side of the ambient passage chamber 126 are trapped between the gaps between the inner fitting faces 102B, 103B and the mount groove portions 110B, 111B, respectively, which cause an abrasion of the inner fitting faces 102B, 103B and a decrease in their seal capability.
In the second prior art the first seal ring 152 and the second seal ring 153 are supported by the first O-ring 155 and the second O-ring 156, respectively. However, the urging force is originated from the resilient reaction force due to a small deformation in the compressed rubber materials of the first O-ring 155 and the second O-ring 156. Therefore the resilient urging force will quickly decrease as the rubber deformation gets small. For that reason the initial resilient urging force of the first O-ring 155 and the second O-ring 156 needs to be set relatively high by taking a subsequent stress relaxation into consideration. This, however, leads to the acceleration of abrasion of the seal surfaces 152A and 153A due to the high urging contact force.
Since the first seal ring 152 and the second seal ring 153 are exerted a resiliently urging force by the first O-ring 155 and the second O-ring 156 which are elastically deformed under compressive forces, a progress of the stress relaxation in the first O-ring 155 and the second O-ring 156 decreases their elasticity, as time proceeds, to provide a resiliently urging force to the seal surfaces 152A and 153A. Furthermore if slurry is introduced to the joint surface of the first O-ring 155 or the second O-ring 156, the slurry particles trapped at the joint surface of the first O-ring 155 or the second O-ring 156, respectively, cause an abrasion of the first O-ring 155 or the second O-ring 156.
The present invention is introduced to alleviate the above mentioned problems. A primary technical goal which this invention tries to achieve is to prevent the abrasion of seal surfaces even under the influence of a process fluid of high pressure or containing slurry. Another goal is to prevent the abrasion of seal surfaces attached with resilient seal rings and to improve the seal capability even when the seal surfaces are subjected to a muddy fluid or the like. Yet another goal is to prevent the stress relaxation of the resilient seal rings in conjunction with elastic deformation and to maintain the seal capability of the resilient seal rings.


Transferring data from a local storage device to a remote storage device includes providing, to a portion of the local storage device, data to be transferred from the local storage device to the remote storage device using a first mode that accesses an indicator of data being transferred, selecting a second mode for transferring data different from the first mode, where the second mode does not require the indicator, subdividing the portion of the local storage device into chunks, for each of the chunks, transferring the data, and, after all of the data from the chunks has been transferred, using the second mode for transferring data that is provided to the local storage device after selecting the second mode. Transferring data from a local storage device to a remote storage device may also include, prior to all of the data from the chunks being transferred, using a transition mode different from the first and second modes to transfer data that is provided to the local storage device after selecting the second mode, where the transition mode does not require the indicator.

1. Technical Field
This application relates to computer storage devices, and more particularly to the field of transferring data between storage devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Host processor systems may store and retrieve data using a storage device containing a plurality of host interface units (host adapters), disk drives, and disk interface units (disk adapters). Such storage devices are provided, for example, by EMC Corporation of Hopkinton, Mass. and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,939 to Yanai et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,394 to Galtzur et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,147 to Vishlitzky et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,208 to Ofek. The host systems access the storage device through a plurality of channels provided therewith. Host systems provide data and access control information through the channels to the storage device and the storage device provides data to the host systems also through the channels. The host systems do not address the disk drives of the storage device directly, but rather, access what appears to the host systems as a plurality of logical disk units. The logical disk units may or may not correspond to the actual disk drives. Allowing multiple host systems to access the single storage device unit allows the host systems to share data stored therein.
In some instances, it may be desirable to copy or mirror data from one storage device to one or more others. For example, if a host writes data to a first storage device, it may be desirable to copy that data to a second storage device provided in a different location so that if a disaster occurs that renders the first storage device inoperable, the host (or another host) may resume operation using the data of the second storage device. Mirrored systems may be used for many purposes, ranging from preservation of real-time operations during back-up to data center migration, and mirrors may be located in any two or more different logical devices. An example of mirrored system capability is provided, for example, by the Symmetrix Remote Data Facility (RDF) product provided by EMC Corporation of Hopkinton, Mass. and further described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,742,792. With RDF, a first storage device, denoted the "primary storage device" (or "R1") is coupled to the host. One or more other storage devices, called "secondary storage devices" (or "R2") receive copies of the data that is written to the primary storage device by the host. The host interacts directly with the primary storage device, but any data changes made to the primary storage device are automatically provided to the one or more secondary storage devices using RDF. The primary and secondary storage devices may be connected by a data link, such as an ESCON link, a Fibre Channel link, and/or a Gigabit Ethernet link. The RDF functionality may be facilitated with an RDF adapter (RA) provided at each of the storage devices.
In any mirrored system, it is necessary to determine whether data will be written to all mirrors in a synchronous or near-synchronous mode, or whether a primary storage device will be written in advance of its mirrors (asysnchronous mode). There are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches. Thus, certain mirroring systems may allow or require switching between asynchronous and synchronous modes in certain circumstances. For example, RDF allows synchronous data transfer where, after data written from a host to a primary storage device is transferred from the primary storage device to a secondary storage device using RDF, receipt is acknowledged by the secondary storage device to the primary storage device which then provides a write acknowledge back to the host. Thus, in synchronous mode, the host does not receive a write acknowledge from the primary storage device until the RDF transfer to the secondary storage device has been completed and acknowledged by the secondary storage device.
A drawback to the synchronous RDF system is that the latency of each of the write operations is increased by waiting for the acknowledgement of the RDF transfer. This problem is worse when there is a long distance between the primary storage device and the secondary storage device; because of transmission delays, the time delay required for making the RDF transfer and then waiting for an acknowledgement back after the transfer is complete may be unacceptable.
It is also possible to use RDF in an a semi-synchronous mode, in which case the data is written from the host to the primary storage device which acknowledges the write immediately and then, at the same time, begins the process of transferring the data to the secondary storage device. Thus, for a single transfer of data, this scheme overcomes some of the disadvantages of using RDF in the synchronous mode. However, for data integrity purposes, the semi-synchronous transfer mode does not allow the primary storage device to transfer data to the secondary storage device until a previous transfer is acknowledged by the secondary storage device. Thus, the bottlenecks associated with using RDF in the synchronous mode are simply delayed by one iteration because transfer of a second amount of data cannot occur until transfer of previous data has been acknowledged by the secondary storage device.
Another possibility is to have the host write data to the primary storage device in an asynchronous mode and have the primary storage device copy data to the secondary storage device in the background (sometime called "ADP Copy mode"). The background copy involves cycling through each of the subdivisions and corresponding tracks of the primary storage device sequentially and, when it is determined that a particular block has been modified since the last time that block was copied, the block is transferred from the primary storage device to the secondary storage device. Although this mechanism may attenuate the latency problem associated with synchronous and semi-synchronous data transfer modes, a difficulty still exists because there can not be a guarantee of data consistency between the primary and secondary storage devices. If there are problems, such as a failure of the primary system, the secondary system may end up with out-of-order changes that make the data unusable.
Accordingly, in some instances, it is appropriate to switch between ADP Copy mode and synchronous or semi-synchronous RDF transfer modes to take advantage of the benefits of both systems. However, to complete the transition from ADP Copy mode to synchronous or semi-synchronous RDF transfer mode, it is necessary to have finished transferring all of the write pending data left over from the ADP copy mode. The overhead associated with this may be unacceptable in some situations. Thus, it is desirable to have an RDF system that transitions from ADP copy mode to synchronous or semi-synchronous RDF transfer mode without all of the overhead associated with transferring the left over write pending ADP copy data.

Switching between copy mode and synchronous RDF mode


A multi-reflection mass spectrometer comprising two ion mirrors spaced apart and opposing each other in a direction X, each mirror elongated generally along a drift direction Y, the drift direction Y being orthogonal to the direction X, a pulsed ion injector for injecting pulses of ions into the space between the ion mirrors, the ions entering the space at a non-zero inclination angle to the X direction, the ions thereby forming an ion beam that follows a zigzag ion path having N reflections between the ion mirrors in the direction X whilst drifting along the drift direction Y, a detector for detecting ions after completing the same number N of reflections between the ion mirrors, and an ion focusing arrangement at least partly located between the opposing ion mirrors and configured to provide focusing of the ion beam in the drift direction Y, such that a spatial spread of the ion beam in the drift direction Y passes through a single minimum at or immediately after a reflection having a number between 0.25N and 0.75N, wherein all detected ions are detected after completing the same number N of reflections between the ion mirrors.

Time of flight (ToF) mass spectrometers are widely used to determine the mass to charge ratio (m/z) of ions on the basis of their flight time along a flight path. In ToF mass spectrometry, short ion pulses are generated by a pulsed ion injector and directed along a prescribed flight path through an evacuated space to reach an ion detector. The detector then detects the arrival of the ions and provides an output to a data acquisition system. The ions in a pulse become separated according to their m/z based on their time-of-flight along the flight path and arrive at the detector as time-separated short ion packets.
Various arrangements utilizing multi-reflections to extend the flight path of ions within mass spectrometers are known. Flight path extension is desirable to increase time-of-flight separation of ions within time-of-flight (ToF) mass spectrometers or to increase the trapping time of ions within electrostatic trap (EST) mass spectrometers. In both cases the ability to distinguish small mass differences between ions is thereby improved. Improved resolution, along with advantages in increased mass accuracy and sensitivity that typically come with it, is an important attribute for a mass spectrometer for a wide range of applications, particularly with regard to applications in biological science, such as proteomics and metabolomics for example.
Mass resolution in time-of-flight mass spectrometers is known to increase in proportion to the length of the ions' flight path, assuming that ion focal properties remain constant. Unfortunately, ion energy distributions and space charge interactions can cause ions to spread out in flight, which in long systems can cause them to be lost from the analyser or to reach the detector at a highly aberrant time-of-flight.
Giles and Gill disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,136,100 that additional focusing lenses at an intermediate position within the flight tube of a conventional single reflection ToF analyser, as shown in FIG. 1, were sufficient to greatly reduce beam divergence at the ion mirror and the detector, allowing an increase in the length of the ion flight path.
Nazerenko et al in SU1725289 disclosed a multi-reflection time-of-flight analyser (MR-ToF) composed of two opposing ion mirrors, elongated in a drift direction. Ions oscillate between the mirrors whilst they drift down the length of the system, in the drift direction, to a detector, such that the ions follow a zigzag flight path, reflecting between the mirrors and thereby resulting in the folding of a long flight path into a relatively compact volume as illustrated in FIG. 2. A problem is that the system has no means to reduce ion beam divergence in the drift direction so that only a few reflections are possible until the beam is wider than any detector. Another problem with an uncontrolled beam expansion is that it can become possible for ions from different numbers of reflections to reach the detector, creating additional "overtone" peaks for ions of a single m/z. To address this problem, Verenchikov in GB2478300 proposed allowing or inducing beam divergence in such a system and using signal processing to generate single peaks from the data. A long focus lens between the ion source and detector is used to alter the number and/or position of overtones.
A solution to the problem of drift divergence has been demonstrated by Verenchikov in GB2403063. The solution uses periodically spaced lenses located within the field-free region between the two parallel elongated opposing mirrors as shown in FIG. 3. The periodic lenses provide regular drift focusing after every reflection, every other reflection, or every few reflections. Instruments based on this design have shown high resolutions of 50,000-100,000 and higher. A major downside is that the ion path is strictly defined by the lens position, and requires precise alignment of the many elements to minimise ToF aberrations and ion losses. In this arrangement the number of reflections is set by the position of the lenses and there is no possibility to change the number of reflections and thereby the flight path length by altering the ion injection angle. The restricted spatial acceptance of the lenses also requires a very tightly focused beam, leaving the system relatively susceptible to space charge effects with higher ion populations. To further increase the path length, it was proposed that a deflector be placed at the distal end of the mirror structure from the ion injector, so that the ions may be deflected back through the mirror structure, doubling the flight path length. However, the use of a deflector in this way is prone to introducing beam aberrations which will ultimately limit the maximum resolving power that can be obtained.
Sudakov in WO2008/047891 also disclosed a system comprising two opposing ion mirrors, elongated in a drift direction, but proposed an alternative means for both doubling the flight path length by returning ions back along the drift length and at the same time inducing beam convergence in the drift direction. Sudakov proposed segmentation of the opposing mirrors to create a superimposed third mirror in the drift direction as shown in FIG. 4A, such that ions with substantial variations in drift velocity were allowed to spread out and then be reflected back to a focus at the front of the mirror. The third mirror was thus oriented perpendicularly to the opposing mirrors and located at the distal end of the opposing mirrors from the ion injector. The ions in such a system are allowed to diverge in the drift direction as they proceed through the analyser from the ion injector but the third ion mirror reverses this divergence. After reflection in the third mirror, upon arriving back in the vicinity of the ion injector the ions are once again converged in the drift direction. This advantageously allows the ion beam to be spread out in space throughout most of its journey through the analyser, reducing space charge interactions, as well as avoiding the use of multiple periodic structures along or between the mirrors for ion focusing. The third mirror also induces spatial focusing with respect to initial ion energy in the drift direction. However, the third mirror is necessarily built into the structure of the two opposing elongated mirrors and effectively sections the elongated mirrors, i.e. the elongated mirrors are no longer continuous. Such a system was theoretically highly advantageous as it more than doubled the flight path, and the high beam divergence meant good space charge tolerance, as well as ability to alter injection angle and with few intrinsic ToF aberrations (for example like those induced by periodic lenses, or by using a strong deflector to turn the ion beam back in the drift direction). Unfortunately, the strong electric fields between the segments of the opposing mirrors that are required to integrate the third mirror into the electrode structure causes scattering of the ion beam, which is an effect that can only be limited with a high number of segments thereby making mirror construction very complex.
Grinfeld and Makarov in U.S. Pat. No. 9,136,101 disclosed a practical way of achieving reflection in the drift direction in a system compromising two opposing ion mirrors, elongated in the drift direction. They disclosed reflection in the drift direction provided by converging opposing mirrors, which create a pseudo-potential gradient along the drift direction that acts as an ion mirror to reverse the ion drift velocity as well as spatially focus the ions in the drift direction to a focal point where a detector is placed. A specially shaped central correction or compensation electrode is used to correct ToF aberrations induced by the non-constant mirror separation. This arrangement, shown in FIG. 4B, avoids scattering of the ion beam and both eliminates the need for a complex mirror construction and the need for a third ion mirror as proposed by Sudakov. However, the balancing between mirror convergence and correction electrode potential still necessitates a high mechanical accuracy.
In view of the above, it can be seen that improvements are still desired in multi-reflection time-of-flight (MR ToF) and electrostatic trap (MR-EST) mass spectrometers. Desired properties of such spectrometers include extended flight path in a time-of-flight analyser to provide high resolution (e.g. >50K), whilst maintaining relatively compact size, high ion transmission, robust construction with tolerance to small mechanical deviations.


An MRAM is disclosed that has a MTJ comprised of a ferromagnetic layer with a magnetization direction along a first axis, a super-paramagnetic (SP) free layer, and an insulating layer formed therebetween. The SP free layer has a remnant magnetization that is substantially zero in the absence of an external field, and in which magnetization is roughly proportional to an external field until reaching a saturation value. In one embodiment, a separate storage layer is formed above, below, or adjacent to the MTJ and has uniaxial anisotropy with a magnetization direction along its easy axis which parallels the first axis. In a second embodiment, the storage layer is formed on a non-magnetic conducting spacer layer within the MTJ and is patterned simultaneously with the MTJ. The SP free layer may be multiple layers or laminated layers of CoFeB. The storage layer may have a SyAP configuration and a laminated structure.

Magnetic random access memory (MRAM) that incorporates a MTJ as a memory storage device is a strong candidate to provide a high density, fast (1-30 ns read/write speed), and non-volatile solution for future memory applications. An MRAM array is generally comprised of an array of parallel first conductive lines on a horizontal plane, an array of parallel second conductive lines on a second horizontal plane spaced above and formed in a direction perpendicular to the first conductive lines, and a MTJ interposed between a first conductive line and a second conductive line at each crossover point. A first conductive line may be a word line while a second conductive line is a bit line or vice versa. Alternatively, the first conductive line may be a sectioned line which is a bottom electrode. There are typically other devices including transistors and diodes below the array of first conductive lines.
The MTJ consists of a stack of layers with a configuration in which two ferromagnetic layers are separated by a thin insulating layer such as Al2O3, AlNXOY, or NiOX which is called a tunnel barrier layer. One of the ferromagnetic layers is a pinned layer in which the magnetization (magnetic moment) direction is more or less uniform along a preset direction and is fixed by exchange coupling with an adjacent anti-ferromagnetic (AFM) pinning layer. The second ferromagnetic layer is a free layer in which the magnetization direction can be changed by external magnetic fields. The magnetization direction of the free layer may change in response to external magnetic fields which can be generated by passing currents through the conductive lines as in a write operation. When the magnetization direction of the free layer is parallel to that of the pinned layer, there is a lower resistance for tunneling current across the insulating layer (tunnel barrier) than when the magnetization directions of the free and pinned layers are anti-parallel. The MTJ stores digital information ("0" and "1") as a result of having one of two different magnetic states.
In a read operation, the information is read by sensing the magnetic state (resistance level) of the MTJ through a sensing current flowing through the MTJ, typically in a current perpendicular to plane (CPP) configuration. During a write operation, the information is written to the MTJ by changing the magnetic state to an appropriate one by generating external magnetic fields as a result of applying bit line and word line currents. Cells which are selectively written to are subject to magnetic fields from both a bit line and word line while adjacent cells (half-selected cells) are only exposed to a bit line or a word line field. Due to variations in MTJ size and shape that affect the switching field of a free layer, a magnetic state in a half-selected cell may be undesirably altered when writing to a selected cell.
To preserve data (magnetic state) against erasure, an in-plane magnetic anisotropy has to be strong enough in the storing magnetic layer. Current designs are based on shape anisotropy involving rectangular, ellipse, eye, and diamond-like patterns. Coercivity in these designs is highly dependent on shape, aspect ratio, and MTJ cell size and is therefore very sensitive to cell shape and edge shape which are subject to variations because of cell patterning processes. As a result, MTJ cell differences can make the switching field highly variable and difficult to control.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional MTJ 1 is shown between a first conductive layer 2 and a second conductive layer 9. The MTJ 1 is comprised of a seed layer 3, an anti-ferromagnetic (AFM) layer 4, a ferromagnetic (pinned) layer 5, a tunnel barrier layer 6, a ferromagnetic (free) layer 7, and a capping layer 8. A sensing current 10 is shown in a CPP configuration along the z-axis. In the quiescent state, the free layer magnetization lies along the orientation of the pinned layer, either parallel or anti-parallel to the pinned layer magnetization. In other words, in an example where the magnetic direction of the pinned layer 5 is aligned along the +x direction, the magnetic direction of the free layer 7 may be oriented along either the +x or −x direction. Storage of the digital information is thus provided by the direction of the free layer magnetization.
Referring to FIG. 2, the resistance of a MTJ element is shown as a function of the external field along the orientation of the pinned layer magnetization. When the field is off, the two states with minimum and maximum resistance correspond to the free layer magnetization being parallel and anti-parallel, respectively, to the pinned layer magnetization. The field (Hs) required to switch between the two states is determined by the anisotropy energy which is related to shape anisotropy, for example, of the element.
The MTJ configuration depicted in FIG. 1 has several shortcomings with regard to MRAM applications. The coupling between the free layer and the pinned layer due to roughness of the tunnel barrier (oxide) layer is often called the orange peel effect. This coupling induces a bias in the switching threshold of free layer magnetization. Variations in this coupling cause undesirable variations in the switching threshold. A second problem with conventional MTJs is that magnetic charges at the edges of the pinned layer produce a bias and variations in this bias also lead to variations in the switching threshold. Another issue is that in order to achieve reliable switching behavior, the free layer is generally limited to materials with small coercivity (Hc). However, materials with small Hc typically do not produce a sufficiently high magnetoresistive (MR) ratio to meet high performance requirements. On the other hand, materials such as CoFeB and CoFe with high Fe content that are desirable for high MR ratios do not have the necessary magnetic softness for low coercivity. Therefore, a novel MTJ configuration is needed to overcome these shortcomings in state of the art MRAM devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,844,202 discloses a sensor to detect the presence of magnetic particles that are essentially paramagnetic such that their magnetization is a function of the external magnetic field. The sensor element is a planar layer with a circular magnetic moment that changes to a radial direction due to a radial fringing field of the magnetic particles.
A MTJ is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,730,395 and in related U.S. Patent Application 2002/0074541 wherein a hard layer of a magnetic device is made of nanoparticles that are separated by an insulating barrier comprised of a carbon-based coating. The free layer is formed on the insulating barrier. In this case, the nanoparticles are required to remain ferromagnetic to maintain a magnetic moment.
In U.S. Patent Application 2005/0026308, a magnetic liner is formed with super para-magnetic properties to eliminate fringing fields and hysteresis effects. Ferromagnetic films are made from ferromagnetic particles about 10 nm in size and are separated from one another by a polymer, non-magnetic metal, or an oxide.
U.S. Patent Application 2004/0023065 and a related publication "Spin-Dependent Tunneling Junctions with Superparamagnetic Sensing Layers" by D. Wang et. al, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 19, No. 5, p. 2812-2814 (2003) describe a super-paramagnetic (SP) free layer made of NiFeCo that is formed on a Ru bottom electrode. The Ru bottom electrode functions as a buffer layer to enable formation of uniform platelets in the overlying NiFeCo layer. However, as the device has no hysteresis, information cannot be stored therein. Thus, the scope is limited to a magnetic field sensor and does not encompass memory applications.

MRAM with storage layer and super-paramagnetic sensing layer


Presented herein are systems, methods, and apparatus for real-time high definition television encoding. In one embodiment, there is a method for encoding video data. The method comprises estimating amounts of data for encoding a plurality of pictures in parallel; generating a plurality of target rates corresponding to the plurality of pictures based on the estimated amounts of data for encoding the plurality of pictures; and lossy compressing the plurality of pictures based on the target rates corresponding to the plurality of pictures.

Advanced Video Coding (AVC) (also referred to as H.264 and MPEG-4, Part 10) can be used to compress video content for transmission and storage, thereby saving bandwidth and memory. However, encoding in accordance with AVC can be computationally intense.
In certain applications, for example, live broadcasts, it is desirable to compress high definition television content in accordance with AVC in real time. However, the computationally intense nature of AVC operations in real time may exhaust the processing capabilities of certain processors. Parallel processing may be used to achieve real time AVC encoding, where the AVC operations are divided and distributed to multiple instances of hardware which perform the distributed AVC operations, simultaneously.
Ideally, the throughput can be multiplied by the number of instances of the hardware. However, in cases where a first operation is dependent on the results of a second operation, the first operation may not be executable simultaneously with the second operation. In contrast, the performance of the first operation may have to wait for completion of the second operation.
AVC uses temporal coding to compress video data. Temporal coding divides a picture into blocks and encodes the blocks using similar blocks from other pictures, known as reference pictures. To achieve the foregoing, the encoder searches the reference picture for a similar block. This is known as motion estimation. At the decoder, the block is reconstructed from the reference picture. However, the decoder uses a reconstructed reference picture. The reconstructed reference picture is different, albeit imperceptibly, from the original reference picture. Therefore, the encoder uses encoded and reconstructed reference pictures for motion estimation.
Using encoded and reconstructed reference pictures for motion estimation causes encoding of a picture to be dependent on the encoding of the reference pictures. This is can be disadvantageous for parallel processing.
Additional limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art through comparison of such systems with the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

Systems, methods, and apparatus for real-time encoding


Data transfers between a workstation bus and a graphics adapter bus are handled by a plurality of first-in-first-out (FIFO) buffers, each of which is independently operable to transfer data in a selected direction between the two buses. The FIFOs are accessible either directly by the workstation processor or by means of a DMA operation. Each FIFO is assigned a unique range of addresses in the address space of the workstation processor to permit a workstation process to transfer a block of data to or from a selected FIFO using a single instruction. Workstation writes (reads) to a FIFO are suspended in response to a first status signal indicating that the high (low) threshold for that FIFO has been reached and are restarted in response to a second status signal indicating that the low (high) threshold has been reached. A buffer counter indicating the amount of data in each FIFO is initialized at zero for outbound transfers from the workstation to the adapter or at the maximum buffer count for inbound transfers from the adapter to the workstation. The buffer count is incremented in response to accesses from the workstation side and is decremented in response to accesses from the adapter side, regardless of the direction of transfer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a FIFO buffer for interfacing between two system buses and, more particularly, to a buffer for interfacing between an I/O bus of a computer workstation and an internal bus of a graphics adapter.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data or information in computers is processed in a predominantly serial fashion. Many times there are sources and destinations of data that are connected by buses. Usually there is a mismatch in the rate at which data is produced and the rate at which is can be accepted. The data is therefore stored in a first-in-first-out (FIFO) buffer between the data source and data destination to accommodate any mismatches between the rate at which the data source can generate the data and the rate at which the data destination can process it.
One such application for a FIFO buffer is for interfacing between the I/O system bus of a computer or workstation and the internal bus of a graphics adapter coupled to a display device. The buffering requirements are complicated by the fact that, typically, several processes are running concurrently on the workstation processor, each of which may have to access the graphics adapter. Also, in many systems, read access as well as write access to the graphics adapter is required. What is desired, therefore, is a FIFO buffer that can transfer data bidirectionally and can accommodate several processes running simultaneously on the workstation processor.

Bidirectional FIFO buffer for interfacing between two buses of a multitasking system

International Business Machines Corporation


An analog physiologic signal, e.g., the cardiac EGM, sensed by an IMD is filtered with a high pass filter (HPF), the cut-off frequency of the HPF being within a predetermined frequency bandwidth, wherein a low-band portion of the predetermined frequency bandwidth is attenuated in the filtered physiologic signal. The filtered physiologic signal is digitized in real time order, and the digital data set is filtered in reverse time order employing a digital IIR filter having characteristics substantially matching the cut-off frequency and filter characteristics of the HPF. When the system is implemented within an IMD, the filtered digital data set is compressed by lossy compression algorithm, and the compressed data set is filtered in reverse time order. In certain embodiments, the filtered digital data set is uplink telemetry transmitted to an external medical device, and the uplink telemetered data set is filtered in reverse time order employing a digital backward IIR filter resident in the external medical device.

The electrocardiogram (ECG) or electrogram (EGM) of the cardiac cycle detected across sense electrode pairs located on the patient's skin or in the patient's body, respectively, is a repetitive waveform characterized by a periodic PQRST electrical activation sequence of the upper and lower heart chambers. The PQRST sequence is associated with the sequential depolarization and contraction of the atria followed by the depolarization and contraction of the ventricles, and successive PQRST complexes are separated by a baseline or isoelectric region. The PQRST electrical activation sequence commences with the P-wave indicative of the depolarization and contraction of the atria and is followed by the QRS complex indicative of the depolarization and contraction of the ventricles. The T-wave at the termination of the ST segment time delay is associated with repolarization of the ventricles. The PQRST electrical activation sequence with intact A-V activation detected across a sense electrode pair is fairly predictable in shape. The P-wave, R-wave and T-wave events occurring in sequence in the range of normal heart rates are usually readily recognized by visual examination of the external ECG or an EGM recorded by implanted electrodes that are correctly oriented with the depolarization waves. The P-wave and R-wave are readily sensed by sense amplifiers of a monitor or therapy delivery device coupled with appropriately placed sense electrode pairs.
The ECG and EGM signals are often plagued by baseline wander involving large amplitude, low-frequency, non-physiological signals that, in the IMD context, can saturate a measurement system, resulting in the loss of signal fidelity. Sources of baseline wander include patient movement that disturb the electrode-tissue interface, causing a low frequency signal to be superimposed on the EGM, and voltage after-potentials that linger in the electrode-tissue interface following delivery of pacing or cardioversion energy through the electrodes. The fidelity of recording, displaying, and analyzing ECGs is reduced by such noise. Also, in most current IMDs, the analog EGM is applied to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) so that the encoded data can be stored in IMD memory and/or uplink telemetry transmitted. Baseline wander increases the dynamic range of the EGM signal such that higher bit resolution and higher dynamic range or the ADC are needed to digitize the analog EGM. The consumption of current from the IMD battery undesirably increases as ADC bit resolution and dynamic range are increased.
Due to the above-mentioned problems, the ECG and EGM signals must be bandpass filtered to block such noise without itself reducing ECG and EGM signal quality. The sense amplifiers of external ECG equipment are normally employed with skin electrodes applied to the patient's skin, and the ECG signals are often plagued by interference from stochastic or random noise or by 50 Hz or 60 Hz electrical mains noise in the patient's body. The fidelity of recording, displaying, and analyzing ECGs is reduced by such noise. Therefore, the ECG signals must be bandpass filtered to block such noise without itself reducing ECG signal quality. The high pass filter cut-off frequency must be selected to still enable passage of the low frequency components of the ECG, e.g., any baseline deviations due to ST segment elevation or depression caused by cardiac ischemia.
The Ad Hoc Writing Group of the Committee on Electrocardiography and Cardiac Electrophysiology of the Council on Clinical Cardiology of the American Heart Association and the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) recommend that the low frequency cut-off should be on the order of 0.67 Hz provided that the filter meets certain phase and amplitude requirements. Although these recommendations were written specifically for surface ECG instruments and similar documents for intracardiac electrogram instruments do not exist, they provide general guidelines for improving the value and performance of IMD based EGM recording to observe ischemia. The AAMI standards require recording instruments to reproduce a 3 mV by 100 ms step input with no more than a 100 μV overshoot. Any first order RC high pass filter with corner frequency at or below 0.05 Hz and any linear-phase high pass filter with corner frequency at or below 0.67 Hz will pass this step input test. Both of these implementations can be found in today's commercial surface ECG instruments.
Various techniques have been employed to reduce baseline distortion in ECG signals. The most common technique presently used is Cubic-Spline interpolation where the onset of QRS signals are isolated and interpolation techniques are employed to determine the smoothest curve joining several QRS onsets. The ECG baseline can then be estimated by subtracting the curve representing the baseline wander as estimated by the Cubic-Spline technique from the recorded ECG signal. However, the QRS onset points used by the Cubic-Spline method, do not sufficiently model noise in an ECG baseline due to the scarcity of interpolation points at low heart rates. Determination of the QRS onset can be difficult or impossible in the presence of high amplitude baseline wander. Furthermore, it is necessary to delay the ECG in order to obtain reference points (QRS onset points) for calculation of the Cubic-Spline curve. This delay (often as long as 5 seconds or longer) renders the Cubic-Spline interpolation unsuitable for real time monitoring of patients.
A faster method of correcting baseline distortion has been to use high pass filtering techniques. One such filtering technique is to employ Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filters as suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,603, for example. In one approach, the output is taken after the FIR transfer is combined with a delay based on an integral number of the filter. These filters offer a linear phase response providing an undistorted ECG signal. FIR filters have the disadvantage of being highly computational. Nearly ideal filter characteristics may be obtained at the price of having to perform many floating point calculations and additions.
A commonly used FIR filter is the Comb Filter which is a recursive implementation of a non-recursive FIR filter. While offering the advantage of significantly lower computational requirements, this filter offers only moderate attenuation of baseline noise. The maximum stop band attenuation of the Comb Filter is a modest −13.5 db. Another disadvantage of this type of filter is that it has a wide pass band to stop band transition in the frequency domain resulting in poor noise attenuation near the cut-off frequency.
It has also been proposed to employ high pass Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) filters which are recursive filters that offer the advantage of fewer computations than FIR filters. However, the nonlinear phase response of high pass IIR filters causes an unacceptable level of phase distortion of the ECG signal. The nonlinear phase response causes different frequency components of the signal to be delayed or shifted in time by different degrees. The worst distortion occurs at of just above the cut-off frequency of the filter for the class of filters appropriate to ECG filtering, that is, Butterworth filters that have maximally flat frequency response.
A solution to the phase distortion problem is to apply the ECG signal in a forward direction, which can be in real time, and then in a backward or reverse directions to the IIR filter, which is referred to as a "zero phase IIR filter". The ECG baseline distortions are filtered out when the ECG passes through the zero phase IIR filter in the forward direction, but the ECG signal itself is distorted. The reverse direction filtering process corrects the distortion of the ECG signal and further attenuates baseline noise.
The use of such a zero phase IIR filter effective in achieving 0.67 Hz passband frequencies on ECG signals is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,297,557, 5,402,795, and 5,479,922 wherein the ECG signal is filtered in the forward direction over a selected window, and then the same window is filtered in a reverse direction to remove phase distortion. It is asserted that the delays associated with use of the zero phase IIR filter in this manner are small enough to enable real time ECG measurement and display of patients engaged in stress exercise. Two basic filter variations are disclosed that are implementations of analog 3 pole or 5 pole Butterworth filters that offer a trade-off between computational complexity, stop band attenuation, phase response and transient settling time. Other filters, such as Bessel filters, may be used in place of the design employing the Butterworth filter. The Bessel filter has the advantage of providing a design containing less overshoot in response to impulse signals and the disadvantage of providing less attenuation in the stop band.
As already mentioned, in most current IMDs, the analog EGM is applied to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) so that the encoded data can be stored in IMD memory and/or uplink telemetry transmitted. Baseline wander increases the dynamic range of the EGM signal such that higher bit resolution and higher dynamic range or the ADC is needed to digitize the analog EGM. The consumption of current from the IMD battery undesirably increases as ADC bit resolution and dynamic range is increased. The previously mentioned methods involving use of the Cubic-Spline interpolation technique, FIR, or the zero-phase IIR filters used in '557, '795, '922 patents are digital signal processing techniques for removing baseline wander. In most of these techniques, the removal of baseline wander can only occur after the EGM to be filtered is digitized. Therefore, these techniques need to be employed with an ADC with higher bit resolution and wider dynamic range.
In commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,317,625, a signal measuring system for an IMD is provided for sensing EGM signals having a relatively large effective dynamic range due to baseline wander without increasing ADC bit resolution and dynamic range. Low frequency compression/enhancement techniques are combined with dither techniques to effectively increase the dynamic range while maintaining resolution without increasing the number of bits of the ADC that is used to convert the sensed signal to digital format. In one embodiment, the system includes a high-pass filter (HPF), an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), a decimation filter (DF), and a compensation filter (CF). The EGM (including baseline wander imposed on the EGM) is passed through the HPF, and the HPF attenuates the low frequency components of the signal. Unlike conventional systems, the HPF serves to attenuate the bias current signal so that the sampled signal remains within the dynamic range of the system. In one embodiment, the HPF attenuates frequency components that are within the frequency bandwidth of the desired output signal. The ADC then over-samples the output signal of the HPF. The DF receives the output samples of the ADC and generates output samples at a rate that is at least twice the maximum frequency of the desired output signal. The CF then amplifies the low frequency end of the DF output samples. The gain and cut-off frequency of the CF are, ideally, set to substantially offset the attenuation of the HFP for those low frequency components of the input signal below the cut-off frequency of the HPF and above the minimum frequency of the desired output signal. Although it would appear that the resolution of these low frequency components has been degraded, dither techniques are used, in effect, to exchange sample rate for resolution. In one embodiment, system noise (noise inherent in the system due to imperfections in the components, thermal noise, etc.) is used as the dither. As a result of the compression/enhancement and dither techniques, the output signal remains within the dynamic range of the system with the desired resolution, which allows the system to display an accurately measured signal significantly faster than conventional systems.
Thus, the system disclosed in the '625 patent avoids the necessity of increasing the ADC bit resolution so that the EGM can be digitized by an ADC with lower dynamic range and then reconstructs the EGM after it has been digitized. But, the reconstruction process reconstructs both the desired EGM signal and the noise or baseline wander.
Although the above-described methods and apparatus represents a substantial improvement over the prior art, further improvement is, of course, generally desirable. Thus, there is a need for a low-cost, energy-efficient, physiological signal measuring system for use in an IMD having a relatively large dynamic range, high resolution, high fidelity, and good noise rejection characteristics. The system should minimize the changes in the morphology of the physiological signal being measured and minimize the noise content of the signal recorded so that the ability to provide accurate patient diagnoses based on the signal characteristics is not only uncompromised, but is enhanced.

Methods and apparatus for filtering EGM signals detected by an implantable medical device