A bone repair system and method for percutaneously fixing a first bone segment to a second bone segment, such as rib bone segments, in a body of a patient include drilling a first hole through the first bone segment and a second hole through the second bone segment, and feeding a first tether through the first hole and a second tether through the second hole, each tether having a proximal end and a distal end. The first and second tether distal ends are withdrawn from the body while the first and second tether proximal ends have not passed through the first and second bone segments, respectively. A reinforcing member, such as a bone plate, having first and second openings, is passed onto the first and second tether distal ends, and the reinforcing member is pulled into engagement with the first and second bone segments guided by the tethers. The reinforcing member is secured to the first bone segment with a first fastener assembly through the first hole and the first opening and to the second bone segment with a second fastener assembly through the second hole and the second opening to fix the first bone segment to the second bone segment.

A flail chest is a condition that occurs when multiple adjacent ribs are broken, separating a segment of the chest wall so that it becomes detached from the rest of the chest wall and moves independently therefrom. This detached segment moves in the opposite direction as the rest of the chest wall, moving inward while the rest of the chest is moving outward and vice versa, creating "paradoxical motion" that increases the effort and pain involved in breathing.
Most rib fractures are treated conservatively using pain management and/or bracing techniques. Fractured ribs in a flail chest treated in such a manner may undergo progressive displacement during the healing phase, resulting in considerable deformity, volume loss, atelectasis, and chronic pain. Long-term problems of patients with flail chest injuries treated nonoperatively include subjective chest tightness, thoracic cage pain, and dyspnea.
Four categories of fixation devices for operative chest wall fixation have been utilized, namely plates, intramedullary devices, vertical bridging, and wiring. The results of these repair techniques are often less than desirable because of the difficulty in correctly locating the broken rib ends with one another. Stabilizing rib fractures is challenging because large incisions are typically needed to accommodate fixation, which leads to a more morbid procedure. In addition, ribs are narrow with a thin cortex that surrounds soft marrow, making reliable fixation problematic under conditions that include upwards of 25,000 breathing cycles per day, as well as coughing. Still further, there is risk of damage to the neurovascular bundle.
Currently, the surgery involves a significant operative procedure with mobilization of large chest wall flaps or open thoracotomy. The problems and risks of an operative approach include the surgical trauma itself and the loosening and migration of implants. The surgery involves a major incision through the muscle directly down to the ribs, which can have complications such as loss of muscle function, blood loss, and damage to surrounding vascular and neural tissue. The ribs that are to be fixed need to be adequately exposed in order to obtain a good placement of metal fixation plates. A wide incision is performed, and myocutaneous flaps may need to be raised to allow visualization of all segments. Posterior injuries are usually challenging due to the presence and required exposure of large muscle fibers (e.g., latissimus dorsi, trapezius, rhomboids, paraspinous muscles). The procedure utilized in current practice is typically at least three hours in length with an additional hour required for the closing of the surgical exposure.


The device for the simultaneous detection of dissimilar gas components contains a number of electrochemical, three-electrode measuring cells with a common electrolyte, that are formed from a number of working electrodes with a common counter-electrode and a common reference electrode. Measured values are generated with the aid of a potentiostatic evaluation circuit that also adjusts and sets the potentials at the working electrodes. The current signals correlated with the gas concentrations to be measured are displayed with the aid of current-measuring instruments 11.sub.1 . . . 11.sub.n in the lines to the working electrodes 5.sub.1 . . . 5.sub.n. At the same time it is important that all three-electrode measuring cells have a common counter-electrode 3 and a common reference electrode 4, and that the potentiostatic evaluation circuit 6 contains control loops 7.sub.1 . . . 7.sub.n which maintain the potentials of the working electrodes 5.sub.1 . . . 5.sub.n constant with respect to the reference electrode 4, both individually and independently of each other.

The invention is based on device for simultaneous detection of dissimilar gas components, with a number of electrochemical, three-electrode measuring cells (working electrode/counter-electrode/reference electrode) with a common electrolyte and a potentiostatic evaluation circuit for setting and regulating different potentials at the working electrodes, and for measuring the electrochemically-produced electric currents that are correlated with the individual gas concentrations.
Potentiostatic, three-electrode sensors are widely used for the measurement of gases in trace detection through to investigations on pure gases. These gas sensors are usually reproducible, sensitive, and can be made for a number of different gases. The selectivity can be controlled by the choice of catalyst at the measuring electrode, the electrolyte and the potential at the measuring electrode (working electrode). However, not all cross-sensitivities can be eliminated simultaneously. In fact, in practice a compromise has to be found between sensitivity and the suppression of cross-sensitivity with respect to other interfering gases.
Alternatively, several sensors can be combined in a sensor array and the various sensitivities for the sought-for measured components, and the interfering cross-components, are used during processing of the measured variables. The composition of the gas can then be determined (sample detection) by taking all sensor signals into account. In the past such sensor arrays have been based on conductivity-type solid-state gas sensors.
An electrochemical multi-electrode sensor in which the gas flows through successive electrochemical measuring cells, is described in DE 24 35 813. The measuring cells are interconnected via a resistance network that is connected to the electrodes, so that only one measuring voltage related to one specific pollutant is generated in each cell. This requires that a complete reaction takes place in each stage so that longer retention times and thus longer dead times have to be accepted during the measurement. Furthermore, the underlying measurement principle requires that all electrodes are brought out separately for each measuring cell. These characteristics contradict the requirement for a compact electrochemical, multi-electrode of simple construction. Temperature-differences and differing inflow rates in the individual measuring cells must also be taken into account.
Furthermore, potentiostatic, four-electrode sensors for measuring special gas systems are known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,315,753 and Ep 00 64 337. But there is no facility for selecting the potentials of the working electrodes independently of each other. Consequently there is very little freedom for optimizing the selectivities individually. Apart from that, expensive gas control is also necessary to some extent in this state-of-the-art.
The aim of the invention is to measure several gas components simultaneously and independently of each other with the aid of an electrochemical, multi-electrode sensor, whereby with regard to optimization of the selectivity for detection of the individual gas components, full freedom in determining the electrode potential, the choice of electrode material, including catalytic additives, and the use of suitable gas filters and gas diffusion barriers, is provided.

Device for the simultaneous detection of dissimilar gas components


The radiotherapy treatment planning system is for calculating the radiation dose to be absorbed by an object to be irradiated, prior to radiotherapy. The distribution of contribution output unit outputs the distribution of contribution showing the contribution rates of scattered beam or electron beam to an observational point in each point of the object to be irradiated. The arithmetic unit calculates the absorbed dose of the observational point due to the scattered beam or the absorbed dose due to the electron beam, by summing up each contribution rate multiplied with the electron density at the point corresponding thereto.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radiotherapy treatment planning system, so as to calculate the absorbed dose in an object to be irradiated, at radiotherapy with a medical linac and a cobalt-60 .gamma.-ray irradiating system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view to represent how to irradiate a lesion of humans (an object to be irradiated) with X ray in order to perform X-ray treatment. In the figure, the numerical FIG. 30 represents an X-ray source (radiation source); 32, a patient (human body); 34, a lesion of the patient; 36, the X-ray beam width.
As is shown in FIG. 2, the most part of X-ray 38 incident to the human body 32 is scattered by Compton scattering. That is, X-ray 38 bombards the electrons in the atoms of the human body 32 (water holds its most part), and X-ray itself is concurrently scattered and becomes a scattered beam 42. Comparing with the energy of the initial X ray, the scattered beam 42 has a reduced energy, by the energy which is given to the electrons, leading to a phenomenon to lengthen the wave length. The scattered angle .beta. of the electron beam 40 is then 90.degree. or less.
The absorbed dose of the lesion 34 from X-ray irradiation (referred to as "dose" hereinafter) is in proportion with the number of ion pairs generated when the electron beam 40 passes the lesion 34. As is shown in FIG. 3, the process for the electron beam 40 incident to an observational region 44 in the lesion 34 consists of a direct process in which the electrons through a first Compton scattering is directly incident to the observational region 44, a first scattering in which the electrons generated at a second scattering of X ray are incident to the observational region 44, and a multiple scattering in which the electrons generated at more than triple scattering are incident to the observational region 44.
The treatment of a patient 32 with X ray 38, requires the information of the dose of a lesion 34. This is derived from the need to determine the dose of X ray 38 so as to cause necessary damage on the lesion 34. Therefore, there is a demand for a radiotherapy treatment planning system to execute dose calculation. For conventional radiotherapy treatment planning systems, the dose calculation has been performed by employing Monte Carlo technique, convolution method, delta-volumetric method, equivalent tissue air ratio (ETAR) technique, power law method, scatter air ratio technique or RTAR technique.
Monte Carlo technique, a process in which the three-dimensional calculation without approximation is iteratively carried out by means of simulation until a sufficient precision can be achieved, proposes the most accurate dose distribution, but it takes eight hours or longer even if 1MIPS computer is employed as a radiotherapy treatment planning system. In order to shorten such calculation time, according to the convolution method, the distribution of dose contribution to other points due to the occurrence of scattering at one point is preliminarily calculated, which calculation is then applied to the entire X-ray irradiated points to add up the individual distributions together, leading to the determination of dose distribution. According to delta-volumetric method, concerning a region of interest, X ray is divided into direct ray, a first scattered beam and other scattered beams, which are then integrally calculated in three dimension. On the contrary, by ETAR technique, the three-dimensional effects of scattered beam are introduced into a two-dimensional equivalent plane to perform two-dimensional integration. As is shown in FIG. 4, the power law method is a correction method applied for the case in which there are heterogeneous layers of densities .rho..sub.1 and .rho..sub.2 in a depth direction. The symbol 46 herein represents the observational point in the observational region 44. RTAR technique is a method utilizing the evidence that the absorbed dose becomes identical if the ratio of an area in an irradiated field to a circumferential length is identical, when viewed from the side of a source 30. SAR technique is a method searching SAR table, after converting the contribution of scattered beam into an equivalent irradiation field radius, based on the form of an irradiated field.
The radiotherapy treatment planning systems utilizing each of the methods described above are generally realized by employing computer programs. In performing each calculation, tomographic images by X-ray CT are widely used. From the density of the CT images, the electron density corresponding to the X-ray energy is calculated for use.
The radiotherapy treatment planning systems utilizing each of the methods mentioned hereinabove are described in detail in "Computer Application in Radiation Therapy Treatment Planning", Vol. 1, No. 2, James A. Purdy, 1983.
Since the conventional radiotherapy treatment planning systems are in such structure as has been described above, they have such problems as follows; those determining the contribution of scattered beam by three-dimensional calculation take too long calculation time to be applied in practical radiotherapy treatment; those determining the contribution of scattered beam by two-dimensional calculation cannot sufficiently compensate the heterogeneity in electron density and the deformation of an irradiated field, so that there has been suggested a problem about them such that there cannot be performed under all conceivable conditions the dose calculation to meet the ICRU (International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements) recommendation, namely, that the error in an applied dose should be suppressed within 5% or less. In case that the ETAR method has been used, for example, the error exceeding 7% has occurred in some cases.
FIG. 5 shows a real-time dose distribution arithmetic and display system in the conventional radiotherapy treatment planning systems. In FIG. 5, the FIG. 101 represents a displacement input unit comprising a truck ball or a rotary switch, provided with a required potentiometer to transform the input from an operator to the system, into an electric signal corresponding to the input. 102 is a main arithmetic unit, comprising a digital computer of a required scale. 103 is a high-speed arithmetic unit comprising an array processor, to execute the required calculation of dose distribution at a high velocity. 104 is an image memory, to memorize the calculated results of dose distribution with the high-speed arithmetic unit 103, in order to display the results on desirable images. 105 is a character-display CRT and 106 is a key board, both of which perform the necessary functions as man-machine interface between an operator and the system. 107 is a graphic CRT, to display on its scope the contents stored in the image memory 104.
FIG. 6 is a flow chart to explain the operation of the system.
The operation of the above system will be now explained with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.
A first step S400, push and press motion of a certain suitable start key (not shown in the figure) or the like will make start the real-time dose distribution arithmetic and display system.
At next step S401, the key board 106 as a man-machine interface proposes a preset arithmetic condition (arithmetic matrix, arithmetic precision, computing time and the like) through an operator. As an arithmetic precision, for example, either one of high-precision calculation and simple calculation is then selected. At step S402 following the above step, it is judged whether high-precision calculation is selected or not. When the result of such judgment is YES, the displacement is input at step S408, sequentially followed by the transformation of the displacement into arithmetic parameters (S409), the calculation based on a preset formula with high precision (S410) and the display of the results of such calculation (S411). The operation from steps S408 to S411 is carried out as follows. That is, a preset displacement is input through a displacement input unit 101 by an operator, which is then transformed into a suitable therapeutic parameter such as angle of the body of a therapeutic system, form of an irradiated field, form of shielding blocks and the like, by the subsequent main arithmetic unit 102. Through the character display CRT 105 and the key board 106 as man-machine interface, being in connection with the main arithmetic unit 102, an operator preliminarily determines a preset arithmetic condition (arithmetic matrix, arithmetic precision, computing time and the like). The high-speed arithmetic unit 103 executes the required calculation by using the preset arithmetic formula for calculating dose distribution (a high-precision formula herein), on the basis of the arithmetic condition described above. The dose distribution data obtained as the results of the calculation is loaded into the image memory 104 at the subsequent step. By executing such operation on real time, the dose distribution based on the preset parameters is displayed on the graphic CRT 107. After the display is done, the initial step S401 is resumed.
Alternatively, when the result of the judgment at step S402 is NO, displacement is input at step S403, followed by the transformation of the displacement into calculating parameters (S404), the calculation based on a preset simple formula (S405) and the display of the results of such calculation (S406). At the subsequent step (S407), the judgment is done concerning whether or not real-time processing is completed. When the result of the judgement is NO, return to step S403 and then the processing of the following steps is repeated. On the contrary, when the result of the judgment at the above step S407 is YES, return to the initial step S401. The operation from the steps S403 to S406 is the same as the operation from the aforementioned steps S408 to S411, except the calculation by the simple formula. The detailed explanation is therefore not recited herein.
In the conventional real-time arithmetic result display system in such structure as described above, the arithmetic condition is preliminarily set by an operator, and the system realizes real-time (calculation) display based on a preset displacement input. In the conventional system, real-time display using an arithmetic formula with a high speed but with a low precision (in other words, for example, smaller arithmetic matrix) is generally done, while an operator searches the optimum parameters while appropriately changing input displacement. Consequently, real-time (calculation) display with a high-precision formula (in other words, larger arithmetic matrix) is executed, by using the optimum parameters searched. There has been suggested such a problem that it becomes extremely complex the work to optimize therapeutical parameters under a high-precision condition (in other words, larger arithmetic matrix) which is necessary for an operator.


Use of a composition which contains at least one semifluorinated alkane compound and at least one liquid siloxane, wherein the composition is of a density in a range of 0.8 to 1.5 g/cm3, for preserving organs or limbs.

The invention concerns the use of a composition for preserving organs and limbs.
When organs or limbs are removed for a transplant they have to be stored until they are used in such a way that they suffer as little damage and spoiling as possible. Limbs which were severed and which are to be sewn back on again must be stored in a protected condition until they are integrated into the blood circulation again. The organs or limbs have to be protected from mechanical damage but also from harmful effects which occur by virtue of the fact that they are not integrated into the blood circulation. In order to retard the degradation process or the onset of decay which occurs as soon as the organs or limbs are separated from the circulatory system, various methods have been developed. One possible option involves storing the organs or limbs in liquid perfluorocarbons. Perfluorocarbons have the advantage that they are inert, that is to say they do not react with the organ tissue. Perfluorocarbons also have the advantage that they have a high absorption capability for oxygen so that when they are stored in perfluorocarbons the organs or limbs can be supplied with oxygen. That prolongs the survival time of the organ or the limbs. Use of the perfluorocarbons was an important advance in transplant medicine.
A disadvantage when using perfluorocarbons however is that they are of a very high density which is far above the density of the organs or limbs. For that reason the organs or limbs float up in the liquid instead of being immersed therein. In order to provide that the organ is enclosed by perfluorocarbons it is necessary to apply a force for counteracting the buoyancy. In general that is done by the organs or limbs being held under the surface of the perfluorocarbons with holding devices. It is only then that it is ensured that they are adequately supplied with oxygen and do not come into contact with the environment which is harmful to organs or limbs. However capillary systems in the tissue can be mechanically damaged by the holding devices. The damage to the structures may be so extensive that a transplant or sewing back on is no longer a possibility.
A further disadvantage of perfluorocarbons is their low dissolving power for other compounds. It is therefore not possible to add to a preserving solution of perfluorocarbons, active substances which can perform a function that is helpful in terms of preserving the organs and limbs.
It is known for organs to be stored at very low temperature, that is to say to effect cryopreservation. It will be noted however that for that purpose water first has to be removed from the tissue so that the cells do not burst during the freezing process. Storage is effected in the case of cryopreservation at temperatures in the range of −100° C. to −180° C. Cryopreservation is suitable for cells which are not very sensitive to mechanical stresses, but it leads to major problems in relation to organs and delicate tissues.
The demands on a composition for preserving organs or limbs are thus many and varied.

Method for preserving organs or limbs using a composition containing a siloxane and a semifluorinated alkane and/or hydrofluoroether


A beverage cup with an integral coupon panel extending from an outer seam edge of the cup and overlying the outer face of the cup wall. The coupon panel includes a central vertically downward strippable coupon integral with vertical side retaining strips along severance lines with the retaining strips bonded to the cup wall and the coupon free of the cup wall and secured solely by the side retaining strips.

The invention broadly relates to coupons for prizes and the like which are associated with containers for comestibles, and more particularly drinking or beverage cups.
While such coupons are generally known, most are less than completely satisfactory for any of a variety of reasons.
For example, one major problem encountered is that the removal or exposure of the coupon requires at least a partial weakening or destruction of the cup itself by an actual removal of a section of the cup wall or, if the coupon is adhesively secured, by a tearing of the adhesive bond which itself tends to peel away and weaken a portion of the cup wall.
Other problems arise in the actual forming of the coupon. For example, if the coupon is formed as a part of the cup blank, this frequently gives rise to excess waste material in the cutting layout to accommodate rather irregularly shaped extensions which are used to define the coupon. Similarly, in those instances wherein the coupon is formed separately from the cup or container and subsequently secured thereto or inserted therein, the expense involved in separately forming the coupon, printing the coupon and applying or inserting the coupon would result in a coupon cup which is not economically practical, particularly when considering the millions of such cups which are used each year and disposed of after a single use.


An interactive white board, a data processing method and device for same are disclosed. The interactive white board includes a touch component, a device processor, a first control unit and multiple first channel modules, where the touch component is configured to generate first touch data and send it to the device processor; the device processor is configured to mark the first touch data according to a current display channel to generate second touch data and send it to the first control unit, where the second touch data includes an identifier corresponding to the current display channel; the first control unit is configured to send the second touch data to a corresponding one of the first channel modules according to the identifier corresponding to the current display channel; and the first channel module is configured to receive the second touch data through the corresponding display channel and make a touch response.

Interactive white boards become more and more widely used in education and conferences. An interactive white board usually include multiple channel modules such as an Android module and a PC module. Therefore, when using different channel modules, it is necessary to send touch data to a corresponding module.
A common way is to provide a USB-Switch switch situated between a channel module and a processor. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for distributing touch data in some implementations. As shown in FIG. 1, distribution channels for touch data in this example include a PC module channel, an Android module channel, and external channels HDMI/DP/VGA, etc. The touch component is configured to generate the touch data, and the Android master circuit controls on-off between the USB-Switch and each channel using a microcontroller (MCU).
The problem in these implementations is that it takes excessive time due to the required re-enumeration a touch component when a touch display channel is switched through the USB switch. There is a need for effective solution to solve the practical problem.

Interactive white board and data processing method and device for same

GUANGZHOU SHIZHEN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A weaving machine having an apparatus for tucking in one or more weft thread ends (2′a) and for forming a cloth edge (10) as well as a shed forming apparatus for forming a shed (14) with a shed apex (14a). The apparatus for tucking in one or more weft thread ends (2′a) includes an air tucker (4) which is arranged outside the cloth width (12) and at least one additional blowing nozzle (6) which is arranged within the cloth width (12), and the jet direction (6a) of which is oriented towards the shed apex (14a) in order to be able to blow the weft thread ends (2′a) into the shed apex.

The invention relates to a weaving machine, and to an apparatus and method for tucking in one or more weft thread ends and for forming a cloth edge.
In order to form a firm cloth edge, the weft threads which are inserted into a shed in a weaving machine are severed at their ends with excess length after completion of the weft insertion and the free ends are bent into the open shed after the next change of shed but before the next beating up of the weft thread. As a rule the procedure for the bending in, which is designated as tucking in of the weft thread in technical textile terminology, takes place either mechanically, pneumatically or pneumo-mechanically. An example of a mechanical selvedge tucking apparatus with a strip tucking needle is disclosed for example in the published document DE-AS 1 710 353. An example of a pneumo-mechanical embodiment is known from EP-A-0 134 377. In this pneumo-mechanical embodiment a tucking needle with an eye is used into which the thread end is threaded by means of compressed air. The disadvantage of both the mechanical and the pneumo-mechanical selvedge tucking apparatuses consists in that their use is restricted to certain maximum speeds of rotation of the weaving machine, which is caused by the mechanical processes.
In order nevertheless to enable higher speeds of rotation of the weaving machine in the manufacture of cloths with selvedges, purely pneumatic selvedge tucking apparatuses, so-called air tuckers, are used. A typical example of a pneumatic selvedge tucking apparatus of this kind, which is also designated as an air strip tucker or air tucker, can be found in the specification EP-A-1 088 922. The selvedge tucking apparatus which is described in this document includes a nozzle arrangement with a plurality of nozzles which is arranged outside the cloth width in order to blow the weft thread ends into a shed.
In the case of soft and pliable weft yarns the known tuckers from the prior art normally function in a problem-free manner. However, as soon as harder and/or stiffer yarns are used, it becomes increasingly more difficult to produce an unobjectionable cloth edge. Thus e.g. the thread ends of stiffer yarns can completely or partially jump back from the tucked in position and/or the thread ends of yarns of this kind can completely or partially penetrate through the upper or lower shed before the thread ends together with the following weft threads are beaten up and bound in. The penetration of the weft thread ends through the upper or lower shed is also designated as bleeding through. As a result of the weaving errors which are caused by the improper tucking in of the weft thread ends the cloth is classed as inferior. Problems can also arise with normally pliable yarns when a plurality of weft thread ends, e.g. two, are tucked into the same shed. In this case, frequently one weft thread end is properly tucked in whereas the other weft thread end is improperly positioned and e.g. can bleed through.

Weaving machine including a selvedge tucking apparatus for weft threads


The present invention provides, a system and method for unobtrusively determining water content within a fuel cell. One embodiment of a system in accordance with the present invention includes a fuel cell body including an ionomeric membrane, water and a fluorophore contained therein. The system further includes a medium for permitting light transfer therein, such as an optical fiber, having opposing ends, wherein one end contacts or is disposed in a portion of the ionomeric membrane and the other end extends from the fuel cell body. The other end is preferably divided into at least two portions, one portion being operatively associated with a light source, and another portion being operatively associated with a spectrometer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the operation of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell, and in particular, a system and method for using fiber optic fluorescence spectroscopy to detect changes in the Nafion® membrane water content in a fuel cell at several operating conditions.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells ("PEFCs," which are also referred to as Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells, or "PEMFCs") are well suited for a variety of applications by virtue of their efficiency, environment friendly nature and high power densities.
A PEFC generally consists of a membrane sandwiched between two electrodes that are typically made from platinum or platinum-ruthenium supported on carbon, along with ionomeric material or electrolytes to promote protonic conductivity, such as sulfonic acid groups disposed in the membrane. Porous carbon backings (with a micro porous carbon layer on one side) are used to distribute the fuel and oxidant gases uniformly throughout the active electrode area, to conduct electrons and facilitate water transport, among other things. The gases enter the system through flow fields machined into graphite plates, which also serve as current collectors.
Fuel, typically hydrogen (H2) or methanol, is electrochemically oxidized at one of the electrodes, which is called the anode, to form protons and electrons. The protons diffuse through the polymer electrolyte membrane ("PEM") to the other electrode, called the cathode, where they combine electrochemically with the oxidant, which is usually air, to produce water. The electrons needed to complete this reduction reaction are directed to the cathode via an external circuit electrically connecting the anode and cathode.
One of the most common PEMs in use today for solid electrolyte for H2/O2 polymer electrolyte fuel cells is Nafion®, a commercially available perfluorinated sulfonic acid ionomer manufactured by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. Nafion® is a copolymer of tetrafluoroethyelene and sulfonyl fluoride vinyl ether and has reverse micelle morphology in the dry state, where the ionic clusters are dispersed in a continuous tetrafluoroethyelene phase. The Teflon-like inert hydrophobic backbone provides chemical, mechanical and thermal stability, whereas the pendant sulfonic acid group of the vinyl ether imparts hydrophilicity and, most importantly, proton conductivity.
While this membrane performs very well in a saturated environment, its charge carriers are hydrated protons, resulting in membrane proton conductivity that is largely influenced by water content. Proton conductivity decreases considerably when the water content in the operating environment is low (i.e., low relative humidity conditions). When the water content in the membrane is at or above a critical level, the ionic domains swell with water absorption to form interconnected proton-conducting channels. The conductivity increases because this swelling reduces the separation between the micelles and aids in the transport of proton. However, if the water content is too great the ionic groups become diluted which decreases the concentration of the protons therein and reduces proton conductivity.
The proton transport in the membrane is known to occur via hydronium ions (electro-osmotic drag), which results in drying of the anode. To prevent anode drying, the hydrogen gas is typically saturated with water vapor. The water generated at the cathode and that carried by electro-osmotic drag create a water gradient resulting in back diffusion of the water towards the anode. The water distribution throughout the membrane is determined by the membrane water uptake, the spatial variations in fuel (i.e., H2) supply and the interplay between electro-osmotic drag and back diffusion. Uneven distribution of the feed in the gas distribution channels and catalyst poisoning can lead to non-uniform electrochemical reaction and uneven water content in the x-y plane of the membrane. In sum, water management is crucial, and determining the in-situ water content can be used to greatly improve the efficiency of fuel cell operation.
Gravimetric analysis, Near-IR and NMR spectroscopy can quantify the water content, but in-situ measurements are difficult. An estimate of the water content inside the cell can be obtained using water mass balancing, that is, by measuring the relative humidity of the incoming and outgoing streams at steady state, but this does not truly represent the membrane water content as water can condense in the gas distribution channel and gas diffusion layer. The membranes within the fuel cell are thin and coated with electrodes on either side, and the cell is clamped under high pressure for a good electrical circuit and made leak proof, making incorporation of a conventional sensor within the fuel cell therein extremely difficult.
Thus, what is needed is a system and method for accurately measuring water content in PEFCs without compromising the integrity or disturbing the normal fuel cell arrangement. As is readily apparent, such a system and method would provide higher efficiency PEFC operation and yield advantages in fuel cell applications which may not have been contemplated due to the limitations described above.

Optical fiber based fluorescence sensor for in-situ measurement and control of fuel cells


The invention provides a method of displaying an evaluation tool for evaluating a proposed commission on behalf of a professional at the time of carrying out a transaction. Using a principal and share/unit price for the proposed transaction, the method identifies nearest neighbour historical transactions. A graph is displayed showing the professional's proposed commission in relation to these nearest neighbour historical transactions. The professional can modify the proposed commission in light of the historical data before executing the transaction and charging the commission.

In many industries, when a professional provides a transactional service for a client (such as executing a trade in the securities industry), the professional has discretion over the price (i.e. the professional's fee or commission) charged to the client for the service. Ultimately, the price charged by the professional must be within the market-acceptable boundaries, or clients will go elsewhere. However, if the price charged is too low, the professional may have a high volume of business, but, in fact, not be earning the maximum amount of revenue available to them.
While the discretion over pricing allows professionals much freedom to reward client loyalty, or encourage new business or more desirable business, many salespeople and sales force managers with such discretion find it a source of difficulty and frustration. In practice, many professionals do not have a reliable sense of how they themselves price transactions and are uninformed as to the actual pricing behavior of their competitors. In some industries or firms there are "benchmarks" that are commonly used by professionals (with some tinkering to account for differences between their clients, the types of assets being transacted and the types of transactions). However, the benchmarks are often out of step with market realities. Ideally, a professional should be able to charge a client "what the market will bear" but this is difficult without accurate and up-to-date information on the state of the market. There is also pressure on professionals in certain industries or particular firms to maximize revenue by charging higher prices. However, with little reliable guidance, it is difficult for a professional to know how to adopt a pricing strategy that is competitive and revenue-maximizing, without losing touch with his own client, asset and transactional variables.
Such transaction pricing information has started to become available. Professionals can now use reports of their past pricing behavior and evaluate their pricing against prices charged by their peers (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 7,028,006) or against reference prices based on historical data (e.g. US Published Patent Application No. 2008/0097886 A1). However, it would be desirable to make comparison data available in a simple visual format at the time it is most needed by the professional—when preparing a transaction for execution, and determining his commission. This would further allow the professional to change the commission in light of the specifics of the transaction and comparison data with similar historical transactions before executing the transaction (committing to the commission).

Personal point of sale commission rate benchmarking tool


A statistic method for arbitration is provided, implementing in an arbitration system comprising a bus, a main controller connected to the bus, and a plurality of peripheral devices able to be accessed by the main controller through the bus. The statistic method for arbitration is in response to various conditions where a bus is shared by peripheral devices, characterized in that a host at arbitration dynamically modulates the peripheral devices' access through the bus by utilizing an attenuation function to perform operation on a preceding cycle and a statistic value representing the use of the bus by the peripheral devices in response to the peripheral devices' access through the bus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a statistic method for arbitration and more particularly, to a statistic method for arbitration in response to various conditions where a bus is shared by a plurality of peripheral devices, such that a host at arbitration dynamically modulates the peripheral devices' access through the bus by utilizing an attenuation function to perform operation on a preceding cycle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a general computer architecture, there are many devices and peripheral devices, between which a plurality of buses are provided for signal transmission and/or data communication. For the sake of high efficiency, a bus is often shared by a plurality of peripheral devices.
However, a bus can only be accessed by a peripheral device during a certain period of time. It has become a key issue to decide which one of the plurality of peripheral devices to access the bus when a number of peripheral devices sharing the same bus are required to access the bus at the same time.
Generally speaking, an ideal arbitration architecture is required to satisfy the requirements: fairness and efficiency. A fair arbitrator protects any peripheral device from neither being completely forbidden to access through the bus nor being not granted an unreasonably long time to access through the bus, even if the peripheral device has a very low priority. An ideal arbitrator granting the bus to be efficiently accessed, however, is able to let a peripheral device with higher priority unfairly get access through the bus. Moreover, some of the peripheral devices are limited in bandwidth. In other words, the arbitrator must be able to provide the peripheral devices with a certain amount of bandwidth such that the peripheral devices can operate without problems. More particularly, the industry has developed various ways to give consideration to both sides of improving the efficiency and maintaining the bandwidth and fairness for the peripheral devices.
Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a block diagram schematically illustrating a conventional arbitration system. The arbitration system comprises a common bus 12, which is connected to a main bridge 10. The main bridge 10 comprises a bus arbitrator 105 so as to arbitrate a plurality of peripheral devices connected to the bus 12. Moreover, a main controller 14 is provided so as to control a plurality of peripheral devices such as the first peripheral device 161, the second peripheral device 163, the third peripheral device 165, and the fourth peripheral device 167. The plurality of peripheral devices are connected to the bus 12 through the main controller 14. Meanwhile, an arbitrator 145 in the main controller 14 is used to determine which peripheral device has the higher priority.
In the above-mentioned system, even though some peripheral devices may request a lowest limit in bandwidth that the bus 12 can provide, the lowest limit in bandwidth can change in response to the operation of the system. If the arbitrator 145 arbitrates the peripheral devices according to their requests in bandwidth, it usually occurs that the peripheral device requesting a higher lowest limit in bandwidth occupies most of the operation time of the bus 12. Accordingly, the other peripheral devices can hardly get access through the bus 12 even when the former peripheral device is idle.
In order to overcome the afore-mentioned problem, the industry has developed a method, in which a register (not shown) is provided in the main controller 14 so as to keep track of the conditions of the peripheral devices granted to get access to the bus. As shown in FIG. 2, which is a schematic diagram showing a conventional statistic method for arbitration. In FIG. 2, the numbers indicate the number of times each peripheral device is granted to get access through the bus. In other words, the column corresponding to the first peripheral device counts 1 when the peripheral devices request access through the bus and the first peripheral device gets access through the bus. Moreover, the column corresponding to the first peripheral device counts 2 when the first peripheral device gets access through the bus again. Similarly, the columns corresponding to the second and the third peripheral devices count the same way.
Since any peripheral device can not possibly keep operating with its highest load, the demand for access through the bus for each peripheral device varies with time. Accordingly, the arbitrator in the main controller analyzes the demand for access through the bus for each peripheral device by using the statistic number in the register after a pre-determined period of time (for example, 1000 clock pulses), thereby rearranging the priority and number of times each peripheral device is granted to get access through the bus. As a result, the problem that fixed allocation of bus bandwidth results in low efficiency can be overcome.
However, the above-mentioned method can only provide a follow-up cycle only when the former cycle of counting has been lasting for a certain period of time. In other words, the arbitration system can not respond to the demand for access through the bus for each peripheral device immediately such that the arbitration system may fail to arbitrate the peripheral devices when one of the peripheral devices has stronger demand than the others.
Therefore, there is need in providing a statistic method for arbitration so as to overcome the aforementioned problems.


The present invention relates to a method of providing error margin information for threshold errors associated with a digital peak detector. The method comprises comparing a plurality of peak sample values associated with the digital peak detector to a threshold margin test level and incrementing a counter each time the threshold margin test level exceeds one of the plurality of peak sample values. The value associated with the counter relates to an amount of threshold margin associated with the digital peak detector. The present invention also relates to a method of providing error margin information for peak shift errors associated with a digital peak detector. The method comprises identifying relevant peak sample data points associated with each of a plurality of detected peaks and determining a peak shift amplitude associated with each of the detected peaks using the identified relevant peak sample data points. The method further comprises comparing the peak shift amplitudes associated with the detected peak to a peak shift test level and incrementing a counter each time the peak shift amplitudes associated with the detected peaks exceed the peak shift test level. The value associated with the counter relates to an amount of peak shift margin associated with the digital peak detector.

The present invention relates in general to the field of mass storage devices, and more particularly to a system and method of providing error margin information for threshold errors and peak shift errors, respectively, in read channel circuits.
Hard disk drives such as the exemplary drive 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 include a stack of magnetically coated platters 12 that are used for storing information. The magnetically coated platters 12 are mounted together in a stacked position through a spindle 14 which may be referred to as a platter stack. The platter stack is typically rotated by a motor that is referred to as a spindle motor or a servo motor (not shown). A space is provided between each platter to allow an arm 18 having a read/write head or slider 20 associated therewith to be positioned on each side of each platter 12 so that information may be stored and retrieved. Information is stored on each side of each platter 12 and is generally organized into sectors, tracks, zones, and cylinders.
Each of the read/write heads or sliders 20 are mounted to one end of the dedicated suspension arm 18 so that each of the read/write heads may be positioned as desired. The opposite end of each of the suspension arms 18 are coupled together at a voice coil motor 16 (VCM) to form one unit or assembly (often referred to as a head stack assembly) that is positionable by the voice coil motor. Each of the suspension arms 18 are provided in a fixed position relative to each other. The voice coil motor 16 positions all the suspension arms 18 so that the active read/write head 20 is properly positioned for reading or writing information. The read/write heads 20 may move from at least an inner diameter to an outer diameter of each platter 12 where data is stored. This distance may be referred to as a data stroke.
Hard disk drives also include a variety of electronic circuitry for processing data and for controlling its overall operation. This electronic circuitry may include a preamplifier, a read channel, a write channel, a servo controller, a motor control circuit, a read-only memory (ROM), a random-access memory (RAM), and a variety of disk control circuitry (not shown) to control the operation of the hard disk drive and to properly interface the hard disk drive to a system bus. The preamplifier may contain a read preamplifier and a write preamplifier that is also referred to as a write driver. The preamplifier may be implemented in a single integrated circuit or in separate integrated circuits such as a read preamplifier and a write preamplifier or write driver. The disk control circuitry generally includes a separate microprocessor for executing instructions stored in memory to control the operation and interface of the hard disk drive.
Hard disk drives perform write, read, and servo operations when storing and retrieving data. Generally, a write operation includes receiving data from a system bus and storing the data in the RAM. The microprocessor schedules a series of events to allow the information to be transferred from the RAM to the platters 12 through the write channel. Before the information is transferred, the read/write heads 20 are positioned on the appropriate track and the appropriate sector of the track is located. The data from the RAM is then communicated to the write channel as a digital write signal. The write channel processes the digital write signal and generates an analog write signal. In doing this, the write channel may encode the data so that the data can be more reliably retrieved later. The digital write signal may then be provided to an appropriate read/write head 20 after first being conditioned by the preamplifier. Writing data to the recording medium or platter 12 is typically performed by applying a current to a coil of the head 20 so that a magnetic field is induced in an adjacent magnetically permeable core, with the core transmitting a magnetic signal across a spacing of the disk to magnetize a small pattern or digital bit of the media associated with the disk.
Circuitry associated with a read operation is illustrated in FIG. 2, and designated at reference numeral 30. In a read operation, the appropriate sector to be read is located and data that has been previously written to the platters 12 is detected. The appropriate read/write head 20 (illustrated as a magneto-resistive load 20a in FIG. 2) senses the changes in the magnetic flux and generates a corresponding analog read signal. The analog read signal is provided back to the electronic circuitry where a preamplifier circuit 32 amplifies the analog read signal. The amplified analog read signal is then provided to a read channel circuit 34 where the read channel conditions the signal and detects xe2x80x9czerosxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9conesxe2x80x9d from the signal to generate a digital read signal. The read channel may condition the signal by amplifying the signal to an appropriate level using, for example, automatic gain control (AGC) techniques. The read channel may then filter the signal to eliminate unwanted high frequency noise, equalize the channel, perform the data recovery from the signal, and format the digital read signal. The digital read signal is then transferred from the read channel and is stored in the RAM (not shown). The microprocessor may then communicate to the host that data is ready to be transferred.
Each bit of information stored on a disk or platter 12 corresponds to a magnetic transition, and a read head generates electrical signals corresponding to the magnetic transition. A xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d may be used to designated the presence of a magnetic transition, and a xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d to designate the lack of a magnetic transition. The read head generates either a positive or a negative pulse for each magnetic transition depending on the polarity of the transition. Data are read from the disk by processing the pulse transition responses.
The read channel circuit 34 may be implemented using any of a variety of known or available read channels. For example, the read channel 34 may be implemented as an analog peak detection type read channel or as a digital peak detection type of read channel. One conventional analog peak detection method is to differentiate the signal and detect zero crossings of the signal derivative. The signal derivative is zero for local minimums and local maximums. The amplitude of the signal where the derivative is zero is then compared to a threshold level to identify peak samples. Such peak detection methods typically have a sample comparison window two to three samples wide.
A conventional digital peak detection method includes converting the analog samples to digital samples, and then comparing a sample to the previous sample and the subsequent sample. If the sample is greater than the previous and subsequent samples, then the sample is compared with a threshold level. If the sample exceeds the threshold then the sample is identified as a pulse or peak. Similar to the conventional analog peak detection system, such digital methods typically have a peak comparison window that is three samples wide.
Two primary sources of reading error in digital peak detection read channels are threshold errors and peak shift errors. In one type of threshold error, an error occurs when the peak of the pulse falls below the threshold and is not detected. This source of threshold error is often called a xe2x80x9cmissing bitxe2x80x9d error. Another type of threshold error occurs when a peak is falsely identified. This type of threshold error is often referred to an xe2x80x9cextra bitxe2x80x9d error. A peak shift error is often called a xe2x80x9cbit shift errorxe2x80x9d because the peak (associated with a data bit) is shifted undesirably into the next timing window.
There is a need in the art to provide read channel circuits having improved reliability and therefore there is a need for systems and methods for characterizing such circuit reliability with respect to threshold errors and peak shift errors, respectively.
The present invention relates to a system and method of providing a channel quality monitor for digital peak detection systems in read channels which will provide a user an indication of how close the read channel is to experiencing threshold type errors and peak shift type errors, respectively. Such an indication thus provides the user with information relating to the reliability of the read channel design.
The present invention relates to a system and method of characterizing the reliability of a read channel circuit with respect to threshold type errors. The invention identifies a peak sample data point and identifies a threshold margin associated therewith, wherein the threshold margin is a difference magnitude between the peak sample data point value and a predetermined threshold setting or margin test level. The difference is then analyzed, for example, by determining whether the difference is positive or negative which indicates whether the peak is above or below the margin test level. If the peak is less than the margin test level, a count is incremented. By performing such an analysis for multiple detected peaks over a range of margin test levels, a count distribution is determined which aids a user in determining the threshold margin of the design and thus how close the read channel circuit is to experiencing threshold type errors.
The present invention also relates to a system and method of characterizing the reliability of a read channel circuit with respect to peak shift type errors. The present invention identifies relevant sample data points which are associated with a detected peak and identifies a peak shift amplitude associated therewith, wherein the peak shift amplitude is a value that relates to an amount of peak shift associated with the detected peak. The peak shift amplitude is then compared to a peak shift test level and a count may be incremented based on the comparison. By performing such an analysis for multiple detected peaks over a range of peak shift test levels, a count distribution is determined which aids a user in determining how close a read channel circuit is to experiencing peak shift type errors.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a method of providing error margin information for threshold errors associated with a digital peak detector is disclosed. The method comprises comparing a plurality of peak sample values associated with a digital peak detector portion of the read channel circuit to a threshold margin test level. The method further comprises incrementing a counter each time the threshold margin test level exceeds one of the plurality of peak sample values, wherein a value associated with the counter relates to an amount of threshold margin associated with the digital peak detector. The method may further comprise altering the threshold margin test level a plurality of times and repeating the steps of comparing the plurality of peak sample values to the various altered threshold margin test levels and incrementing the counter. Such repeating results in a count distribution over the plurality of threshold margin test levels, wherein the count distribution provides an indication of an amount of threshold margin associated with the digital peak detector.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a threshold margin channel quality monitor system is disclosed. The system comprises a digital peak detector system operable to detect peaks associated with a read signal and generate a value associated with a magnitude of the detected peaks. The system further comprises a comparison circuit operable to compare the magnitude of a detected peak from the digital peak detector system with a margin test level value, and output a signal indicative of whether the detected peak magnitude is greater than or less than the margin test level. In addition, the system comprises a counter circuit operable to increment a count associated therewith when the comparison circuit signal indicates that the detected peak level is less than the margin test level, such that the count is indicative of a number of detected peaks having amplitudes less than the margin test level. The system may further comprise a control circuit operable to alter the margin test level one or more times after establishing the count for a predetermined number of sample peaks, thereby generating a count distribution as a function of margin test levels. The count distribution may then be used as an indication of the reliability of a read channel circuit with respect to threshold errors.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a method of providing error margin information for peak shift errors associated with a digital peak detector is disclosed. The method comprises identifying relevant peak sample data points associated with each of a plurality of detected peaks and determining a peak shift amplitude associated with each of the detected peaks using the identified relevant peak sample data points. The method further comprises comparing the peak shift amplitudes associated with the detected peak to a peak shift test level and incrementing a counter each time the peak shift amplitudes associated with the detected peaks exceed the peak shift test level. In the above manner a value associated with the counter relates to an amount of peak shift margin associated with the digital peak detector.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, the step of identifying relevant peak sample data points comprises identifying three digital sample data points in which at least two of the data points straddle a peak portion of a detected peak. The peak shift amplitude is then determined by subtracting a value associated with a first of the three data points from a value associated with a third of the three data points. Alternatively, the peak shift amplitude is determined by subtracting a value associated with a second of the three data points from a value associated with a greater value of the first or third of the three data points. In such case, a different analysis proceeds with the comparison, wherein a counter is incremented if the peak shift test margin exceeds the peak shift amplitude.
The above method may further comprise repeating the steps of identifying relevant peak sample data points, determining the peak shift amplitudes, comparing the peak shift amplitudes to the peak shift test level, and incrementing the counter for a plurality of different peak shift test levels. In the above manner a count distribution as a function of peak shift test levels is generated, wherein the count distribution provides an indication of how close a read channel circuit is to experiencing peak shift errors.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a peak shift margin channel quality monitor system is disclosed. The system comprises a digital peak detector system operable to detect peaks associated with a read signal and provide a plurality of peak sample data points associated with the detected peaks. The system further comprises a comparison circuit operable to compare a peak shift amplitude, which is a value associated with two of the plurality of peak sample data points of a detected peak from the digital peak detector system which reflects a peak shift associated therewith, with a peak shift test level, and output a signal indicative of whether the detected peak shift is greater or less than the peak shift test level. In addition, the system comprises a counter circuit operable to increment a count associated therewith when the signal indicates that the detected peak shift is greater than the peak shift test level. In this manner, the count is indicative of a number of detected peaks having peak shifts greater than the peak shift test level.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, in the above system the plurality of peak sample data points comprise at least three data points, wherein two of the three data points straddle a detected peak. In such circumstances, the comparison circuit comprises a subtraction circuit operable to calculate a difference between a value associated with a first of the three data points and a value associated with a third of the three data points, wherein the difference represents the peak shift amplitude value of the detected peak. The comparison circuit also comprises a second subtraction circuit operable to subtract the peak shift test level from the difference value associated with the detected peak. Lastly, the comparison circuit comprises a threshold detect circuit operable to generate an indication having a state which is a function of whether a subtraction result of the second subtraction circuit is positive or negative.
Alternatively, in the above system the comparison circuit may comprise a subtraction circuit operable to subtract a value associated with a second data point of the three data points from a value associated with a greater value of the first or third of the three data points to generate a peak shift amplitude associated with the detected peak. In the subsequent comparison using, for example, the subtraction circuit, if the peak shift amplitude is less than the peak shift test level, the counter is incremented.
To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative aspects and implementations of the invention. These are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed. Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the drawings.

Channel quality monitor (CQM) for digital peak detection (DPD)


A fiber optic conduit for use in a hostile environment includes an axial tube. The axial tube comprises a corrosion resistant material and is operable to receive one or more optical fibers. The fiber optic conduit further includes a hydrogen barrier shell that is disposed in contact with the axial tube. The hydrogen barrier shell comprises a material that is capable of reducing hydrogen permeation through the fiber optic conduit and has a thickness of at least approximately one-thousandth of an inch.

Fiber optic cables used in hostile environments, such as those found "under-sea" in telecommunications systems and/or "down-hole" in oil and gas wells, provide a critical link between sensors within the hostile environment and instrumentation outside the environment. In some oil and gas applications, the environment in a down-hole well can include relatively high temperatures, high vibration, corrosive chemistries, and/or the presence of hydrogen. In other oil and gas applications, the environment in a down-hole well can also include X-rays, gamma-rays, or other forms a radiation. Using conventional fiber optic cables in down-hole environments having relatively high temperatures, the presence of hydrogen, and/or the presence of radiation often results in degradation of the fiber optic cable. In most cases, degradation of the fiber optic cable can reduce the normal life expectancy of the optical fibers within the cable. Moreover, degradation of the fiber optic cable typically reduces the optical performance of the optical fibers.

Method and apparatus for providing a hydrogen diffusion barrier for fiber optic cables used in hostile environments


Systems and methods for monitoring and/or operating a rig site system are provided. In accordance with one embodiment, a method for monitoring a rig site system may include obtaining sensor data at a rig site and transmitting pre-processed sensor data pertaining to the sensor data from the rig site over a network link to a monitoring site. The method may also include demodulating the pre-processed sensor data at the monitoring site to produce demodulated data. The method may also include analyzing the demodulated data at the monitoring site. The sensor data may comprise at least one of surface sensor data, MWD sensor data, or LWD sensor data, or any combination thereof.

The present invention relates generally to oil well rig operations and, more particularly, to efficiently and reliably monitoring and processing pre-processed sensor data from a location apart from the rig site.
Monitoring and analysis of downhole telemetry and rig site data requires monitoring of the telemetry and acquisition system hardware and software to ensure that equipment at the rig site is operating properly. Specifically, a field engineer is typically located at the rig site to rapidly verify that telemetry and surface sensor data are acquired, demodulated, decoded, and processed properly. The engineer is typically at the rig site to use software to extract the information about operation from the acquired data and to provide the information about operation sent by the downhole tools or other surface information to clients for real time drilling and well control. Also, the engineer is able to identify and correct any operational or hardware problems immediately. Further, a monitoring system that enables real time control and adjustment of the sensors, hardware, and software often requires an experienced engineer at the location of the equipment to efficiently and accurately interpret what the rig site telemetry and surface sensor data indicates about operation.
Experienced engineers are costly resources that are often too valuable to be deployed to a single oil rig site for extensive periods of time. Indeed, the cost of dedicating one or more experienced engineer to a rig site is also a safety concern. In situations where an engineer's knowledge and experience are valuable, company management often desires to reduce the amount of time engineers spend at any one rig site.
According to systems used prior to the present disclosure, a final display of processed data modulated at the rig site is the extent of data that is viewable remotely (relative to the rig site) due to bandwidth limitations. In fact, due to bandwidth limitations, such a display at a location apart from the rig site may merely allow Operations Support Center personnel to view the final display of data, but does not enable active manipulation of data and troubleshooting that is often needed when errors on the display are identified. Such a display may also suffer from interruptions and slowdowns in data transmission due at least partially to the size of the processed telemetry and surface sensor data and limitations in satellite transmission rates, further complicating and delaying real time monitoring and control, which is desirable to operate oil well rig sites.

Method and apparatus for off-rig processing rig sensor data


An integrated memory circuit comprises a plurality of memory cells and access transistors; and a digit line comprising conductive tabs extending from at least one side of a conductive digit line. The use of one digit line allows for a reduction in internal noise and coupling between digit line pairs. The use of one digit line also allows for a reduction in array size.

Integrated circuit memories have become increasingly dense due to the need for increased memory storage. While fabrication techniques and design options have been fairly successful in maintaining steady increases in memory storage from design generation to generation, the need for new highly-populated circuits continues.
A dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device comprises an arrangement of individual memory cells. Each memory cell includes a capacitor capable of holding data as an electrical charge and an access transistor for accessing the charge stored on the capacitor. The charge is referred to as a data bit and its presence or absence on a storage capacitor produces either a high voltage or a low voltage, thereby representing data in a binary fashion. A high voltage corresponds to a "1" (i.e., a charged capacitor) and a low voltage corresponds to a "0" (i.e., an uncharged capacitor).
Data can be either stored to the memory cells during a write mode, or data may be retrieved from the memory cells during a read mode. The data is transmitted on signal lines, referred to as bit lines, or digit lines, which are connected to input/output (I/O) lines through field-effect transistors (FETs) used as switching devices. In conventional DRAM architecture, a data bit's true logic state is available on an I/O line and its complementary logic state is available on an I/O complement line. Thus, each conventional memory cell has two associated digit lines: digit and digit complement. The digit line is coupled directly to a source/drain region of an access transistor for a particular memory cell.
Typically, memory cells are arranged in an array and each cell has an address identifying its location in the array. The array is a configuration of intersecting rows and columns, and a memory cell is associated with each intersection. In order to read from, or write to, a cell, the particular cell in question must be selected, or addressed. The address for the selected cell is represented by input signals to a row decoder and to a column decoder. The row decoder activates a word line in response to the row address. The selected word line activates the access transistors for each of the memory cells in communication with the selected word line. The column decoder selects a digit line pair in response to the column address. For a read operation, the selected word line activates the access transistors for a given row address, and data is latched to a digit line.
Conventional dynamic memories use memory cells fabricated as capacitors in an integrated circuit to store data. That is, a logical "1" is stored as a charge on the capacitor and the capacitor is discharged for a logical "0". The pairs of digit lines are fabricated as metal, or silicided/polycided polysilicon, lines on the integrated circuit and connected to the memory cells for transmitting data stored in the memory cells. Sense amplifiers are utilized to sense small voltage differentials between a digit line and its complement. The sense amplifiers drive the digit lines to full power supply rails for either reading the memory cells, or writing thereto.
Although unique fabrication techniques and processes have been developed to reduce the size of the memory cells and access circuitry, the physical spacing requirements for the digit line architecture create a barrier to maximizing the available die area. That is, the reductions in memory cell size cannot be fully exploited due to the use of digit line pairs to read/write to a memory cell. Each individual digit line is highly capacitive, due to the large quantity of attached memory bits, the length of the line, and its proximity to other features. This capacitance dictates the design parameters of die circuitry. These problems are compounded due to the use of digit line pairs.
In the past, open digit line array architecture was most commonly used for DRAM circuitry, as shown in prior art FIG. 1. Such architecture is characterized by a memory cell located at each intersection between a word line and a digit line, or digit line complement. This type of architecture increases the chip density. However, several problems prevent such architecture from meeting the needs of highly dense ICs. Such problems include coupling between digit lines and high internal noise. Coupling between adjacent lines is inversely proportional to their spacing. As devices become smaller, the coupling problem becomes more pronounced.
Referring to prior art FIG. 1, a portion of a conventional dynamic memory access circuitry is described, showing an open digit line architecture. Memory arrays 100 have a plurality of memory cells 102, which are fabricated as capacitors having one capacitive plate connected to a reference voltage, or ground, at 104 and the other node connected to an access transistor 106. A typical reference voltage is one-half of the power supply voltage (Vcc). Each access transistor is a n-type transistor having its gate connected to a word line 108.
Digit lines 110 are each connected to a line of access transistors 106 and memory cells 102. When access transistors 106 are selectively activated, the charge stored on the corresponding memory cell 102 is coupled to the corresponding digit line 110. N-type isolation transistors 112 and 114 are used to selectively isolate digit lines 110 from the sense amplifiers 118 and bias circuitry. Bias circuits 116 are used to equalize the nodes of sense amplifiers 118 to the same voltage. The sense amplifiers 118 read the voltage difference between a pair of digit lines 110 to determine the logic of a memory cell 102. For example, a digit line 110 pair is shown in FIG. 1 as the digit line in column "A" and the digit line in column "B."
Alternatively, a folded digit line architecture was designed to improve noise immunity of such devices. Prior art FIG. 2 illustrates a portion of a memory array 200 having a folded digit line architecture. Folded digit line architecture is characterized by a memory cell 202 located at every other digit line 210/word line 208 intersection. A memory array 200 has a plurality of memory cells 202 which are fabricated as capacitors having one capacitive plate connected to a reference voltage, or ground, at 204 and having the other node connected to an access transistor 206. A typical reference voltage is one-half of the power supply voltage (Vcc). Each access transistor 206 is a n-type transistor having its gate connected to a word line 208(0)-(n).
Digit lines 210 are connected to access transistors 206 and memory cells 202. When access transistors 206 are selectively activated, the charge stored on the corresponding memory cell 202 is coupled to the digit line 210. The sensing implementation and other related components are similar to those described in prior art FIG. 1. N-type isolation transistors 212 and 214 are used to selectively isolate digit lines 210 from the sense amplifier 218 and bias circuitry 216. Bias circuit 216 is used to equalize the nodes of the sense amplifier 218 to the same voltage. The sense amplifier 218 reads the voltage difference between a pair of digit lines 210. The digit line 210 pair for any of the memory cells 204 shown in FIG. 2 is the two digit lines 210 in columns "A" and "B."
This type of architecture does not provide the same degree of packing density seen in the open digit line architecture described above. Its packing density is approximately twenty-five-percent lower than in the open digit line architecture. However, noise immunity of the integrated circuit is improved using folded digit line architecture over the open digit line architecture.
Plan views of the open digit line architecture and the folded digit line architecture are shown, respectively, in prior art FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 shows a memory cell 302 located at each intersection between a word line 308 and a digit line 310. Digit lines 310 run perpendicular to the word lines 308. Digit line interconnects 330 connect underlying source/drain regions of access transistors to digit lines 310.
FIG. 4 shows a memory cell 402 located at every other intersection between a word line 408 and a digit line 410. Digit lines 410 run perpendicular to the word lines 408. Digit lines 410 make connections to underlying source/drain regions of access transistors at interconnects 430.
While the layout of a folded bit architecture of FIG. 4 is not as efficient as that in FIG. 3, the noise immunity of the circuit is improved, over the open bit architecture of FIG. 3. The continued decrease in device size makes using an open digit line architecture, such as that in FIG. 3, problematic, due to coupling between digit line 310 pairs. Folded digit line architecture does not perfect such coupling problems, however. Recently, the trend in fabricating integrated circuit memories includes twisting adjacent digit line pairs to improve signal-to-noise characteristics. Such twisting is undesired because it occupies valuable silicon area. As devices are becoming more dense, silicon area is becoming more scarce.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for a DRAM architecture, having a higher packing density, which allows for more densely populated memories, and less coupling between digit lines. This must be accomplished while maintaining, or lowering, the noise immunity present in the folded digit line architecture.

Single digit line with cell contact interconnect


A method for operating a braking apparatus with a service and parking brake function, which braking apparatus can be applied both in a hydraulic manner by means of a hydraulic pressure generator and by means of an electromechanical force generator. A transfer takes place from the pressure generator, which exerts the hydraulic brake application, to the force generator, which exerts the electromechanical brake application, as soon as the braking torque is active at the braking apparatus. During the transfer, the braking torque, which is applied by the hydraulic pressure generator and the braking torque which is applied by the electromechanical force generator, is at least as high as the braking torque applied solely by the hydraulic pressure generator before the transfer.

Motor vehicles are usually equipped with service brakes and parking brakes which are independent of one another. The latter are often called "handbrake" or "park brake". In contrast to service brakes, parking brakes do not require further activation after the actuation. Rather, they serve predominantly to secure a parked vehicle against rolling away. Sometimes, a parking brake is designed in such a way that the vehicle may be brought to a standstill by way of the parking brake if the service brake fails. Dedicated actuating members for the parking brake are conventionally provided in motor vehicles, such as handbrake levers or foot levers which are coupled to dedicated brake application elements by way of control cables.
In the case of relatively modern parking brake systems, the actuation by way of muscular force is increasingly being replaced by an actuating unit, which may be automated, and is, as a rule, electromechanical. Here, tightening or releasing of the parking brake may be caused, for example, by way of a switch actuation or else automatically by way of an electronic control device. Thus, for example, the vehicle which is first of all held at a standstill by a hydraulically actuable service brake may be held solely by way of the automatically actuated electromechanical parking brake after a certain time, or if the vehicle driver leaves the vehicle.
A parking brake system for a vehicle, the friction brakes of which can be actuated both in a hydraulic manner by way of a hydraulic pressure generator and bypassing said hydraulic transfer directly by way of an electric motor force generator, is known. In this system, means stipulate the actuating type (hydraulic or electromechanical) and bring about a change between the two actuating types from case to case. A transfer from an actuating device which exerts the first actuating type to an actuating device which exerts the second actuating type takes place only when a braking force is built up in the actuating device which assumes the brake actuation, which braking force is at least as high as the braking force in the transferring actuating device.
Against this background, the present invention is based on the object of providing a method for operating a braking apparatus with a service and parking brake function and a motor vehicle, which make a transfer from a hydraulic actuating type to a purely electromechanical actuating type of the braking apparatus possible, which transfer is more rapid temporally than the currently known prior art; in addition, the load which acts on the braking apparatus is to be reduced.

Method for operating a braking apparatus with a service and parking brake function


A bicycle saddle is composed of a main body, a support frame, two shock-absorbing devices, and a bridge. The main body has a shape narrowing toward the front end thereof and is provided in the underside of the rear end thereof with two fastening posts. The main body is mounted on the support frame which is formed of two steel bars such that the front ends of the steel bar are joined together and fastened with the front end of the main body. Two steel bars have a hooked rear end. The shock-absorbing devices are fastened with the fastening posts of the main body and the hooked rear ends of the support frame and are composed of a cap, a shock-absorbing pad, and a base. The shock-absorbing pad has one end which is retained in the cap, and another end which is provided with a recess for retaining a conical portion of the base. The hooked rear ends of the support fame are engaged with the bases of the two shock-absorbing devices. The bridge has a beam and two end portions, which are held respectively between the shock-absorbing pad and the base of the shock-absorbing devices.

The conventional bicycle saddle is generally composed of a support frame of a metal material, two shock-absorbing coiled springs, and a plastic seat tapering toward the front end thereof. The support frame is formed of two metal bars such that the front ends of the metal bars are joined together to support the front end of the plastic seat, and that the rear ends of the two metal bars are fastened with the bottom ends of the coiled springs. The rear end of the plastic seat is supported by the top ends of the two coiled springs. Such conventional bicycle saddle as described above is defective in design in that the coiled springs are not effective in absorbing shock, and that the overall weight of the saddle can not be meaningfully reduced.


A solution is provided wherein a single service implementation may be exposed to users as two or more different web service protocols. The service then appears to the user to be utilizing a desired protocol even though the service itself is potentially operating under a different protocol. A gateway may be utilized that maintains mappings between the supported protocols. When a user sends a request to a particular service, the gateway may determine whether the request is in the format of the protocol utilized by the underlying web service. If not, the gateway may convert the format to match the correct protocol. An embodiment is also possible where a single endpoint is utilized for multiple services having multiple protocols. This may be coupled with an ability to detect a protocol automatically from request contents, thus seamlessly integrating multiple protocols into a user's experience.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of web services. More specifically, the present invention relates to multi-protocol support for web services.
2. Description of the Related Art
The field of Web Services involves the creation and utilization of software systems designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine operation over a network (typically the World Wide Web, hence the name "Web Services"). There are a variety of different protocols utilized by various Web Services vendors and customers when operating these web services. Three of the most common Web Services protocols are Simple Object Access protocol (SOAP), Representational State Transfer (REST), and Extensible Markup Language Remote Procedure Call (XML-RPC).
In SOAP, XML-based messages are exchanged, typically using HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The use of XML can be both a benefit and a drawback. Its format is easy for humans to read and understand, but it can create slow processing times and the extra XML wrapper around every request and response can create bandwidth issues. Additionally, the use of SOAP requires the knowledge of a new XML specification, and many developers will need a SOAP toolkit to form requests and parse the results. In spite of these drawbacks, SOAP is currently the most commonly used Web Services protocol.
In REST, a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) is utilized for the messaging. The most common type of URI is a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), which many users will recognize as the data located in a web address field of an Internet browser. For example, http://www.brokerage.com/quote?symbol=QQQ may be a URI in the REST protocol for issuing a request for a stock quote. REST has the advantage of the fact that any developer can figure out how to create and modify a URI to access different web services. The major disadvantage of REST is security, in that is can be dangerous to provide sensitive information as parameters in a URI. Despite this limitation, REST has been gaining momentum in comparison to SOAP.
XML-RPC is a predecessor of SOAP. Despite numerous improvements made by SOAP over XML-RPC, XML-RPC is still in use in many systems simply because many vendors have been slow to adopt newer protocols, a common occurrence in the computer industry.
Since it is common to see many different protocols utilized in various web services, it would be beneficial to provide a way for a single web service to be easily utilized by users familiar with any of the web services protocols, as opposed to limiting access to a particular web service to only those users familiar with the one particular protocol utilized by the web service.
In the past, the solution to this problem has been to provide different versions of the same web service for the various protocols. For example, the aforementioned stock quote web service might be implemented with a SOAP version, a REST version, and an XML-RPC version, and the user can simply select which version to access. This solution, however, requires additional programming and wastes resources. What is needed is a solution that avoids the drawbacks of the prior art.


A device for positioning an article (2) to be wrapped by a machine has a horizontal support body (3) centrally fixed on a vertical rotation shaft (4). The device (1) is equipped with at a least one plier device (5) connected, to turn together with the rotation shaft, to support the body (3), the plier device provided with at least two jaws (6,7). An opening apparatus (8) is connected to at least one of the jaws (6,7) to hold and to release the article (2). The at least one plier device (5) is connected to the support body (3) by a respective rotation device (9) for rotating the at least one plier device (5) and of the article held thereby, around an axis almost radial in respect to the support body (3).

In the non specialized known wrapping machine, for wrapping various kinds of products such as chocolates, it is necessary to use pliers mounted on vertical axis wheels.
Said known wheels have the drawback to orientate the products in a manner not suitable for the chocolate-coated cherry with liqueur wrapper stile.
Other drawback of said known wheels consists in that their conformation can make impossible the automatic positioning of a wrapping sheet above the product because said known wheels do not leave sufficient space for the members fit for said positioning.
Further drawback of said known pliers wheels consists in that they can have an excessive stressing handling and can lose the handling synchronism with the risks of damaging the articles to be wrapped and of damaging the machine.

Device for positioning an article to be wrapped


A radio communications method, a base station, and a terminal, where the base station sends downlink control information to the terminal, where the downlink control information includes uplink scheduling indication information, and the uplink scheduling indication information instructing the terminal to send uplink data in a plurality of uplink subframes on at least one unlicensed carrier such that the terminal sends uplink data in a plurality of uplink subframes on one or more corresponding unlicensed carriers based on the uplink scheduling indication information, thereby implementing scheduling, using uplink scheduling indication information in one piece of downlink control information, of a plurality of uplink subframes to perform uplink transmission. This increases a data volume in data transmission while effectively reducing scheduling signaling overheads.

Licensed-assisted access using Long Term Evolution (Licensed-Assisted Access Using Long Term Evolution, LAA-LTE for short) specifically means that on a basis of deploying and operating an LTE system on licensed carriers, unlicensed carriers are introduced to share data traffic on the licensed carriers. The unlicensed carriers have advantages such as low costs, low admission requirements, and resource sharing. Specifically, a specific implementation of applying the unlicensed carriers to LTE includes the following: Based on carrier aggregation (Carrier Aggregation, CA for short) and dual connectivity (Dual Connectivity, DC for short) modes, when operation is performed in the carrier aggregation mode, a licensed carrier serves as a primary carrier (Pcell) and an unlicensed carrier serves as a secondary carrier (Scell). An uplink and a downlink may be both transmitted on a same unlicensed carrier. Specifically, transmission may be performed in a form of time division multiplexing (Time Division Multiplexing, TDM for short).
When a base station performs uplink and downlink data transmission by using an unlicensed carrier, first, the base station performs clear channel assessment (clear channel assessment) to preempt a channel, sends downlink data when detecting that the channel is idle, and performs uplink-downlink conversion after downlink data sending is completed; and a terminal performs CCA before sending uplink data, and then the terminal sends the uplink data. In the foregoing process, the base station may use a self-scheduling mode to schedule an uplink subframe for sending the uplink data. Specifically, downlink control information is sent in a downlink subframe on the unlicensed carrier, and the downlink control information includes an uplink scheduling indication for scheduling the uplink subframe. Specifically, one piece of downlink control information is sent in one downlink subframe, and one downlink subframe and one uplink subframe are correspondingly scheduled for the downlink control information. However, in a data transmission process, if a quantity of uplink subframes that need to be scheduled is greater than a quantity of downlink subframes that need to be scheduled, the self-scheduling mode can meet a requirement. To further meet various scheduling requirements, when the quantity of uplink subframes to be scheduled is greater than the quantity of downlink subframes to be scheduled, the downlink subframes may be scheduled by using self-scheduling on the unlicensed carrier, and the uplink subframes may be scheduled across carriers by using licensed carriers. Alternatively, the downlink subframes and some uplink subframes are scheduled by using self-scheduling on the unlicensed carrier, and remaining uplink subframes are scheduled across carriers by using licensed carriers.
However, in a process of scheduling uplink subframes in the foregoing manner, scheduling of one uplink subframe needs uplink scheduling indication information in one piece of downlink control information, and the base station usually needs to schedule a plurality of uplink subframes. Therefore, uplink scheduling indication information in a plurality of downlink subframes is needed, resulting in a problem of heavy signaling overheads between the base station and the terminal.

Radio communications method, base station, and terminal


A heat sink includes a base having a first side in contact with a heat-generating electronic element and a second side opposed to the first side. Fins are formed on the second side of the base. A non-rectilinear air channel is formed between two adjacent fins, with a length of the non-rectilinear air channel being greater than a length of the base along an extending direction of the fins on the base. The heat sink may be provided to an outlet side of a heat-dissipating fan to form a cooler.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to heat sinks for a cooler. In particular, the present invention relates to heat sinks for a cooler, wherein the heat sinks have a plurality of wavy or zigzag fins formed on a base, forming a non-rectilinear air channel between each two adjacent fins. The present invention also relates to coolers incorporating the heat sinks.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 12 illustrates a conventional cooler comprised of a heat-dissipating fan 100 and a heat sink. The heat sink includes a base 10 and a plurality of fins 11a formed on an upper side thereof, thereby defining a plurality of air channels 12a. The underside of the base 10 is secured to a heat-generating electronic element (not shown). The heat-dissipating fan 100 includes a metal casing 101 that is integrally formed with the base 10. A fan wheel 102 is mounted in the metal casing 101, and a lid or cover 110 is mounted to the casing 101. The fan wheel 102 includes a plurality of blades 104 for driving air into the casing 101 via an air inlet 111 in the cover 110. The air passes through the air channels 12a of the heat sink such that the fins 11a and the air channels 12a undergo heat exchange with the heat-generating electronic element. Although the integrally formed heat sink/heat-dissipating fan has a simple structure and thus suitable for compact electronic devices, the airflow for carrying the heat generated by the heat-dissipating fan is apt to quickly pass the respective rectilinear air channel 12a and thus fails to provide sufficient time for heat-exchange.
FIG. 13 illustrates another conventional heat sink disclosed in, e.g., Taiwan Utility Model Publication No. 524430. As shown in FIG. 13, the heat sink includes a base 10 on which a plurality of fins 11a are formed, providing a plurality of rectilinear air channels 12a. The fins 11a are of different heights to provide at least three peaks 13a, thereby increasing the overall heat-exchange area for the fins 11a. A heat-dissipating fan 20 is mounted on top of the heat sink to form a cooler. The wavy structure of the heat sink increases the overall height of the heat sink although the heat-dissipating efficiency is improved. As a result, the heat sink could not be used with miniature electronic devices. Further, the air flow for carrying the heat generated by the heat-dissipating fan is apt to quickly pass the respective rectilinear air channel 12a and thus fails to provide sufficient time for heat-exchange.