An optical switch for routing optical signals includes ports located on the optical switch and a refractive plate that may be oriented to passively loop back an optical signal from one of the ports to the same one of the ports.

The invention relates generally to optical networks and, more particularly, to testing components in an optical network.
In an optical network, a signal may go through many optical components while traveling along a network path between a source node and a destination node. The form of the path may be selected through mechanical optical switches distributed through the network. Some conventional switches employ movable refractive plates to select the switch connectivities defining the path.
If any component along the path of a signal functions poorly, the signal received at a destination node may be of poor quality. To determine why a received signal is of poor quality, a system manager must generally test each optical component along the network path taken by the signal.
Testing each component along an optical path may be difficult, because the paths are large or inaccessible. The paths may be long, because the optical network may span more than a hundred miles. The network components, e.g., optical fibers, can also have dimensions of tens or hundreds of miles. In smaller optical networks found in optical devices, the optical paths may be inaccessible. For example, some optical devices enclose the optical network in a sealed box, which is difficult to look inside or open.
A network can be tested by transmitting a signal into the network and detecting the signal at remote monitoring points. The detector may use active monitoring devices located at the remote points, e.g., photo-detectors. The active devices may be either permanently or temporarily inserted into the signal path. Permanently inserted devices can reduce optical signal intensities. Temporarily inserted devices may be difficult to use due to the size of network components and may be expensive due to the number of devices needed to monitor the whole network.
Other prior art techniques for testing an optical network are manual and involve inserting a patch cord at a remote location to monitor signals. Manual testing of signal networks having many optical components can be slow. Such manual testing methods can produce unacceptably long down times.
The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing, one or more of the problems set forth above.
In a first aspect, the invention provides an optical network for transmitting optical signals between a plurality of nodes. The optical network includes a plurality of optical conduits and a plurality of optical switches. Each node couples to one of the optical conduits. The optical switches have ports coupling to the optical conduits to form connected paths between associated pairs of the nodes. The paths have first and second modes of operation. In the first mode, one of the paths transmits an optical signal between the associated pair of nodes. In the second mode, the one of the paths transmits an optical signal from a node through a partial portion of the path and reroutes the same optical signal back to the same node.
In a second aspect, the invention provides a method of testing a component of an optical network. The method includes transmitting an optical signal from a node of the optical network through a path that the component is on and passively looping the same optical signal back to the node. The method also includes analyzing the passively looped back optical signal.
In a third aspect, the invention provides an optical switch for routing optical signals between ports of the switch. The switch includes a refractive plate that may be oriented to passively loop back an optical signal from one of the ports to the same one of the ports.
In a fourth embodiment, the invention provides an optical switch to reroute incoming optical signals. The optical switch includes a plurality of ports to hold optical fiber ends, a focusing reflector to reflect light incoming from the ports, and a plurality of refractive plates. The refractive plates are located along paths of light rays going from the ports to the focusing reflector. Each refractive plate has two working orientations. A loop back arrangement of the working orientations reroutes light incoming from one of the ports to the focusing reflector and back to the same one of the ports.

Looping back signals in optical switches


A panel display device is provided, which includes: a transparent back panel having a first surface and a second surface, where the first surface is adapted for reflecting incident lights from the outside, and the second surface is adapted for transmitting lights from the outside; a backlight source, disposed at one side of the second surface of the transparent back panel, which is adapted for emitting lights to the transparent back panel; a polarized grating, disposed at one side of the first surface of the transparent back panel, which includes a plurality of grating strips with gaps formed between neighboring grating strips, where the polarized grating enables the incident lights from the transparent back panel to be polarized and then pass through the gaps; a semiconductor switch array; and a transmission light valve array. The panel display device of the disclosure increase the utilization efficiency of lights.

Typically, panel devices include Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) device and Light Emitting Diode (LED) display device. LCD devices have characteristics of thin structure and low power consumption, which thereby are widely used as a computer's monitor, or a monitor of a portable communication device, such as a mobile telephone, or the like. The existing LCD devices include projection-type LCD, reflection-type LCD and semipermeability LCD. Permeability LCD uses a transparent electrode as a pixel electrode to apply a voltage to a liquid crystal layer, and a backlight source is disposed at the back of the LCD.
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a structure of a conventional LCD device. Referring to FIG. 1, the LCD device includes: a backlight source 100 for emitting white lights; a bottom polarized layer 102 made of an organic material, through which vertical components of the lights from the backlight source 100 may pass; a transparent insulation layer 112 formed on the bottom polarized layer 102; a plurality of thin film transistors 105 formed on the transparent insulation layer 112, where a transparent insulation material are formed within and overlying the plurality of thin film transistors 105, which are used to protect the plurality of thin film transistors 105; a liquid crystal layer 107 formed on the plurality of thin film transistors 105; an optical filter 108 formed on the liquid crystal layer 107; and a top polarized layer 110 formed on the optical filter 108.
More information about the conventional LCD device may refer to US patent application No. US20070268428A1. The conventional LED display device uses a light valve array instead of the liquid crystal layer to output images, accordingly, a higher luminous efficiency can be achieved, compared with the LCD device.
Referring to FIG. 1, the bottom polarized layer 102 including an organic material enables the vertical component of the lights from the backlight source 100 to pass therethrough, while other components other than the vertical components may be absorbed by the bottom polarized layer 102, as a result, the conventional panel display device has a low utilization efficiency of the light from the backlight source 100.

LEXVU OPTO MICROELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY (SHANGHAI) LTD


The invention relates to a spark-ignition engine with a highly structural compression ratio greater than 15:1, throttle regulation, externally supplied ignition and with direct fuel injection into a precombustion chamber, which is connected to the main combustion chamber via an overflow channel. The fuel is injected into the precombustion chamber during the compression stroke and is ignited by a spark plug located in a manner that is as central as possible. The invention relates to a spark-ignition engine with a highly structural compression ratio greater than 15:1, throttle regulation, externally supplied ignition and with direct fuel injection into a precombustion chamber, which is connected to the main combustion chamber via an overflow channel. The fuel is injected into the precombustion chamber during the compression stroke and is ignited by a spark plug located in a manner that is as central as possible.

Spark-ignition engines being built and offered at present have a relatively low compression as compared with a diesel engine, and therefore have a higher fuel consumption especially in the part-load range. The diesel engine, on the other hand, requires a relatively stronger and heavier construction because of its high peak pressure, generally runs louder and more roughly, and generates more nitrogen oxides but, especially, more health-endangering soot particles.
The higher part-load fuel consumption of the spark-ignition engine has an effect principally in part-load operation, which is very negative for everyday operation since our automobiles, because of heavy road traffic, can now be operated almost only in the part-load range.
A variety of improvements have been introduced for lowering the fuel consumption of the spark-ignition engine: improving combustion by way of swirl and turbulence in the fuel-air mixture, mixture leaning, charge stratification, multiple sparking, and others. In the case of the diesel engine, improvements have been sought by way of direct fuel injection into precombustion chambers and secondary combustion chambers, a directed injection stream, and much more. All the improvements in the prior art have not, however, yielded any substantial decrease in fuel consumption, especially in the spark-ignition engine.
In order to appreciably lower fuel consumption in the spark-ignition engine, especially in the part-load range, the compression ratio must be effectively raised, so that thermal efficiency can increase appreciably. Present-day spark-ignition engines operate, as is known, with structural compression ratios of approx. ε=10:1. If this value is substantially exceeded, the risk then exists, during full-load operation, of spontaneous ignition with "pinging" or even "knocking" combustion, which, as is known, can result in a drastic drop in torque and power and possibly in destruction of the combustion engine. Diesel engines operate with structural compression ratios of ε=18 to 25:1, including in the part-load range, since the diesel engine, in contrast to the Otto-cycle engine, must compress almost the entire cylinder charge in every load condition, in order to achieve the necessary self-ignition temperature. The diesel engine therefore operates, particularly in the part-load range, with a substantially higher thermal efficiency than the spark-ignition engine, which, because of its throttle control system, compresses only a partial charge in each case and thus sometimes operates at very low effective compression ratios of less than ε=3:1. At idle, for example, a spark-ignition engine has only an approx. 20 to 25 percent charge.
A disadvantage of the diesel engine, however, is that because of the high compression of almost the entire cylinder charge, the engine must also perform a great deal of compression work. It is therefore known in the art that a spark-ignition engine that could operate in the part-load range with high compression ratios similar to those of a diesel engine would be superior to the latter because of the lower compression required.

High compression spark-ignition engine with throttle control, externally supplied ignition, and direct fuel injection into a precombustion chamber


An integrated system is described in which digital image data of a patient, obtained from a variety of image sources, including CT scanner, X-Ray, 2D or 3D scanners and color photographs, are combined into a common coordinate system to create a virtual three-dimensional patient model. Software tools are provided for manipulating the virtual patient model to simulation changes in position or orientation of craniofacial structures (e.g., jaw or teeth) and simulate their affect on the appearance of the patient. The simulation (which may be pure simulations or may be so-called “morphing” type simulations) enables a comprehensive approach to planning treatment for the patient. In one embodiment, the treatment may encompass orthodontic treatment. Similarly, surgical treatment plans can be created. Data is extracted from the virtual patient model or simulations thereof for purposes of manufacture of customized therapeutic devices for any component of the craniofacial structures, e.g., orthodontic appliances.

A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of computerized techniques for diagnosis and planning medical and dental treatment of human patients. More particularly, the invention is directed to a unified workstation and associated computerized techniques for creating a virtual three-dimensional model of the patient, including bone, soft tissue, and teeth from data from a variety of diverse imaging sources. The invention is also related to computer software tools enabling a user to use such a virtual model for diagnosis and planning treatment of craniofacial structures of the patient, including teeth, and for export of data to diverse manufacturers of therapeutic devices for the patient, such as orthodontic appliances.
B. Description of Related Art
The diagnosis and treatment of patients with craniofacial problems or disease typically begins with the obtaining of clinical history, medical history, dental history, ultrasonic scanned images, 2D or 3D scanned images, photographs, and 2D or 3D X-rays. Such X-rays are taken from the front and the side view. X-rays are also taken to show the condition of the teeth and the jaws. At this stage, diagnosis and treatment planning is often done by the practitioner on a sheet of acetate over the X-rays. Generally, this process is not very scientific, and it is time consuming and requires experience. There is no guarantee how good the results of the treatment will be. Similarly, orthodontists typically mentally visualize a target or desired occlusion for an orthodontic patient and attempt to bend archwires by hand to move teeth to the desired position. This approach also lacks reliability, reproducibility and precision.
More sophisticated, computer-based approaches to diagnosis and treatment planning of craniofacial structures, including the straightening of teeth, have been proposed. See Andreiko, U.S. Pat. No. 6,015,289; Snow, U.S. Pat. No. 6,068,482; Kopelmann et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,099,314; Doyle, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,158; Wu et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,198, and Chisti et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,975,893 and 6,227,850, the contents of each of which is incorporated by reference herein. Also, imaging and medical diagnostic software and related products are marketed by Dolphin Imaging, 661 Independence Avenue, Canoga Park, Calif. 91309-2944. A method for generation of a 3D model of the dentition from an in-vivo scan of the patient, and interactive computer-based treatment planning for orthodontic patients, is described in published PCT patent application of OraMetrix, Inc., the assignee of this invention, publication no. WO 01/80761, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. Other background references related to capturing three dimensional models of dentition and associated craniofacial structures include S. M. Yamany and A. A. Farag, "A System for Human Jaw Modeling Using Intra-Oral Images" in Proc. IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Soc. (EMBS) Conf, Vol. 20, Hong Kong, October 1998, pp. 563-566; and M. Yamany, A. A. Farag, David Tasman, A. G. Farman, "A 3-D Reconstruction System for the Human Jaw Using a Sequence of Optical Images," IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, Vol. 19, No. 5, May 2000, pp. 538-547. The contents of these references are incorporated by reference herein.
The technical literature further includes a body of literature describing the creation of 3D models of faces from photographs, and computerized facial animation and morphable modeling of faces. See, e.g., Pighin et al., Synthesizing Realistic Facial Expression from Photographs, Computer Graphics Proceedings SIGGRAPH '98, pp. 78-94 (1998); Pighin et al., Realistic Facial Animation Using Image-based 3D Morphing, Technical Report no. UW-CSE-97-01-03, University of Washinton (May 9, 1997); and Blantz et al., A Morphable Model for The Synthesis of 3D Faces, Computer Graphics Proceedings SIGGRAPH '99 (August, 1999). The contents of these references are incorporated by reference herein.
The art has lacked a truly integrated and unified system in which soft tissue (skin, lips, etc.) and the underlying bone and other craniofacial features, including teeth, are superimposed and registered together in a common coordinate system to create a complete virtual patient model that also includes the exterior appearance of the patient, and in which the user is provided with tools to study the interaction of such craniofacial features to each other and to simulate with a computer changes in craniofacial features (such as by means of proposed tooth extraction, orthodontic manipulation, or surgery) and their effects on the external, visual appearance of the patient, and design optimal therapeutics based upon the unified virtual patient.
A principal benefit of the invention is that it provides a powerful tool to the physician, dentist or orthodontist for diagnosis and treatment planning. The unified workstation provides comprehensive, multiple functionalities in the same unit, thus eliminating the need for more expensive and less efficient multiple workstations wherein each workstation is dedicated to performing one specific function or a limited sub-set of functions necessary for the practitioner's practice. Moreover, the three-dimensional virtual patient model described herein is useful datum for use in a diverse set of possible treatment regimes for treatment of the patient. As such, the virtual patient model (or perhaps some subset of data from the model) can be provided or exported to manufacturers of appliance systems for their use in designing and/or fabricating customized appliances for treatment of the patient, e.g., customized orthodontic appliances.

Unified workstation for virtual craniofacial diagnosis, treatment planning and therapeutics


Disclosed herein are systems and methods for assessing an impact of malicious software causing a denial of service of components of industrial automation and control systems (IACS). In one aspect, an exemplary method comprises, generating a configuration of the IACS on a testing device based on specifications, obtaining a set of investigated software, where the set includes at least one sample of one malicious software, testing the generated configuration using the received set of investigated software, identifying occurrences of denials of service of the components of the testing device which are used to simulate the generated configuration, determining an impact of the malicious software on the generated configuration, and a degree of degradation of a performance of the generated configuration of IACS, and pronouncing a verdict as to a danger of the malicious software for the generated configuration of IACS based on the determined impact of the malicious software.

At present, one observes an interest on the part of various malicious actors in critical infrastructure objects. The critical infrastructure objects may comprise objects in industrial areas, such as objects used for electrical power supply, water supply, the oil and gas industry, the automotive industry, and for automation systems of buildings, data storage, and data transmission. These objects contain various systems of industrial automation, such as an Industrial Control System (ICS) or Industrial Automation and Control Systems (IACS). In turn, the ICS may contain monitoring systems. One example of an industrial monitoring system is an Automated Control System for Technological Processes (ACS TP).
The assurance of the safety of an ICS involves a specific process having a number of differences when compared with the traditional handling of cyber threats. A cyber threat is an assemblage of factors and conditions creating a danger of disruption of information security. In particular, the protection strategy of the ICS involves ways to preserve the operational capabilities of the technological process. In contrast, in corporate systems, it is more important to preserve the confidentiality and availability of data.
A large number of the threats to industrial systems and their respective ICS and IT systems involve ordinary malicious software, i.e., software that is not designed for targeted cyberattacks. In this context, "ordinary malicious software" refers to a malicious software that is not developed specially for an attack on industrial systems. Even so, as experience shows, while their impact on the working of IT systems is insignificant, these malicious software may affect the integrity and availability of components of the ICS, and as one consequence, they may indirectly affect the stability of the technological and manufacturing processes. For example, malicious programs, such as encryption malware and programs whose goal is to destroy files from the hard disk of a computer (wipers), may have devastating technical impact on ICS, and IT systems of various technological systems.
In another example, a miner program (a program for mining cryptocurrency by utilizing substantial computing resources) is considered relatively harmless in an office network. However, in the course of operation and propagation of miner programs, their mining activity may result in denial of service of certain components of the ICS.
In another example, network worms (a variety of malicious program) represent great danger to both IT systems and technological networks, and the consequences of their actions may be far more substantial when compared with the consequences of miner programs. For instance, with the help of network exploits, the network worms found on many computers of ICS are known to have propagated themselves through network folders, removable media, and through local (LAN) and global networks (WAN) and to have destroyed data on the infected devices. In a number of cases, such actions of network worms are able to cause a denial of service of the ICS, especially to the monitoring and remote control systems. Moreover, network worms may also result in emergency situations.
In another example, a multifunctional spyware is a software that is generally able to steal confidential information, download and run other malware, and cause further damage by providing the possibility of unauthorized remote control of the infected devices to other malicious actors. These programs are also known as backdoors.
The consequences of the activities on computers by such malicious software programs depend on the importance of the attacked technological systems to the production process and the business processes of the enterprise. In many cases, such malicious software programs have a disproportionately heavy impact on the ICS. This effect is due primarily to the specific architecture and intrusion in the systems of the ICS. As a result, malicious software that may not have a significant negative influence on the IT systems of an enterprise may yet result in severe consequences to the enterprise. For instance, the malicious software may cause downtime of systems in the industrial network and a disruption of the production processes.
It should also be pointed out that not only malicious software can have a substantial negative impact on ICS, especially on automated control systems, but also legitimate software which contains errors is able to result in unaccounted behavior and disruption of the working of the ICS.
Moreover, the security of industrial systems against external computer threats is itself an urgent problem. In particular, it is necessary to control and ensure the security of industrial controllers (Programmable Logic Controllers) and automated control systems.
At the same time, in order to create the necessary level of protection against threats, it is necessary to perform an advance assessment of the risks of industrial systems enabling a consideration of external actions on various elements (such as the PLC, SCADA, SiS) of industrial systems based on ordinary software and/or malicious software.
One example of a threat is attacks on elements of industrial systems during which those elements are notified of a denial of service. The usual strategy involves testing each individual device of the ICS in each configuration. This often causes problems, since the usual strategy requires purchasing and putting in place the devices of the ICS, which may prove to be a costly affair. Moreover, how a particular element will behave in an industrial network, which in most instances will be unique to the specific industrial object, is likewise unknown.
Thus, there is a need for a method for determination (i.e., in advance) of the conditions of occurrence of denials of service of industrial systems and their ICS elements (components) caused by indirect actions of the malicious software. In other words, there is a need for determining the impact of malicious software on industrial automation and control system prior to an attack.

System and method for assessing an impact of malicious software causing a denial of service of components of industrial automation and control systems


A steering wheel having a collapsible hub, the steering wheel comprising a wheel 100 having a rim 140, a plurality of spokes 130 connected with the rim 140 and a lower plate 150 having edges and connected with the spokes 130 at the middle of the wheel 100, the edges of the lower plate forming a shape of an open box; a back plate 200 fixed to the said plurality of spokes 130 of the wheel 100 and having an escape hole 220 opened from the middle to one side of the plate 200; an upper plate 300 having first and second vertical surfaces 320 and 330 fixed to the back plate 200 and a horizontal surface 340 connecting the vertical surfaces 320 and 330 to form a space between the back plate 200 and the upper plate 300; and a hub cover 400 installed on the wheel 100 for covering the upper plate 300, so the upper plate 300 collapses to absorb impact of a driver in a car accident.

Usually, an air bag system is mounted in a car as a subsidiary device to a seat belt and the air bag system comprises an air bag module having an air bag, a gas generator, a pat cover, a front impact sensor, a rotary contact switch, and a calculator.
Generally, the air bag module of the air bag system is installed in a steering wheel, so that a cavity is formed in a hub of a steering wheel for mounting the air bag module therein.
Therefore, steering wheels are manufactured differently according to a mounted air bag and a nonmounted air bag.
The air bag system is provided optionally in a vehicle since the system is expensive, so that there are many vehicles in which an air bag system is not installed.
General construction of a steering wheel for a nonmounted air bag is shown in FIG. 1 according to the prior art.
As shown in FIG. 1, a steering wheel 20 is made of hard materials and the steering wheel is mounted at an upper end of a steering shaft 10. A hub cover 30 made of a hard material is fixed at the center of the steering wheel 20.
In a car accident, the driver's head collides with the hub cover 30. However, the contact area of the driver's head and the steering wheel is small and the repelling force from the steering wheel is large, so that the steering wheel causes major injuries to a driver because the steering wheel 20 and the hub cover 30 are made of hard materials as described above.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a steering wheel having a collapsible hub used for a nonmounted air bag in a vehicle in which the hub of the steering wheel is so constructed as to absorb the impact of a driver in a car accident.


The present invention is a projector provided with a light source, a color separating optical system for separating the light from the light source into three colored light beams of red, green and blue, a liquid crystal panel for the red color for modulating the red colored light beam, a liquid crystal panel for the green color for modulating the green colored light beam, a liquid crystal panel for the blue color for modulating the blue colored light beam, and a projection lens which projects the light that was modulated by the three liquid crystal panels, wherein only the liquid crystal panel for the red color is provided with a micro lens from among the three liquid crystal panels. In this configuration, the color balance of the color image is improved and the color reproducibility (color matching) as a whole is improved, and the projector of the present invention is suitable for use as a projector for projecting a color image onto a projection surface such as a screen.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the optical system of a conventional projector. As can be seen in FIG. 7 this projector 90 is provided with an illumination optical system 100, a color separating optical system 200, a relay optical system 240, a reflecting mirror 20, two field lenses 300R and 300G, three liquid crystal panels 3108, 310G, and 310B, a dichroic prism 400, and a projection lens 420. The color separating optical system 200 has dichroic mirrors 210 and 212. The relay optical system 240 has reflecting mirrors 252 and 254, an incident side lens 262, a relay lens 264, and a field lens 266.
The projector 90 separates the light that exits from the light source 110 into the three colors of light red, green, and blue by means of the color separating optical system 200. Then each of the three colored light beams are modulated by three liquid crystal panels 3108, 310G, and 310B, and they are synthesized by means of the dichroic prism 400 and the synthesize beam is projected through the projection lens 420 onto the screen S.
The illumination optical system 100 of this projector 90 separates light that exits from the light source 110 into a plurality of luminous fluxes by means of the first lens array 120, and is gathered in the vicinity of the second lens array 130 so that each luminous flux is compiled by the superimposed lens 150 on the liquid crystal panels 310R, 310G, and 310B. By adopting this type of illumination optical system 100, illumination distribution can be unified within the cross-section of luminous flux that exits the light source 110, making it possible for the liquid crystal panels 310R, 310G, and 310B to be irradiated comparatively uniformly with the illumination of light.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the cross-sectional structure of the liquid crystal panel used for the liquid crystal panels 3108, 310G, and 310B. As shown in FIG. 8, the liquid crystal panel 310 has a structure where the liquid crystal layer 317 is arranged in the gap between a TFT substrate 311 where a picture element electrode 312 and TFT element 313 are arranged on the surface, and an opposing substrate 314 where a black matrix 315 and a common electrode 316 are arranged on the surface. Further, polarizing plates 318 and 319 are attached to the other surface of the TFT substrate 311 and the other surface of the opposing substrate 314.
The liquid crystal panel 310 can control transmittance in each picture element for the incident light L that enters from the opposing substrate 314 side by controlling the voltage applied between the picture element electrodes 312 and the common electrodes 316 for each picture element by means of the operation of the TFT element 313. However, by the operation of the black matrix 315, the unnecessary leakage of light from parts other than the picture elements can be prevented. Therefore, the liquid crystal panel 310 can function as a light valve with high contrast.
Accordingly, a projector having a high contrast with superior display quality is achieved by using this type of liquid crystal panel 310 that is a high contrast light valve as three liquid crystal panels 3108, 310G, and 310B of the projector 90.
In recent years, liquid crystal panels with increased light utilization efficiency have been realized by effectively using light that is interrupted by the black matrix. In FIG. 9, a cross-sectional structure of this type of liquid crystal panel is shown. As shown in FIG. 9, the liquid crystal panel 320 has basically the same structure as the liquid crystal panel 310 shown in FIG. 8, with the difference that a micro lens 321 is formed on the opposing substrate 314. Therefore, since the liquid crystal panel 320 has the ability to effectively utilize light interrupted by the black matrix through the operation of the micro lens 321, to increase the luminance of the projector in which the liquid crystal panel 320 as is used for the three liquid crystal panels can be improved.
However, the demand is increasing for projectors with further improvements to the color reproducibility (color matching) of the image displayed on a screen.
An object of the present invention is to further improve the color reproducibility of the image displayed on a screen with a projector.


A method and system is disclosed for preventing write errors in a Single Event Upset (SEU) hardened static random access memory (SRAM) cell. A compensating element has been connected to a feedback path of the SRAM cell. The compensating element operates to cancel out capacitive coupling generated in an active delay element of the SRAM cell. If the compensating element sufficiently cancels the effects of the capacitive coupling, a write error will not occur in the SRAM cell. The compensating element also occupies a smaller silicon area than other proposed solutions.

A memory, such as a static random access memory (SRAM), typically comprises a plurality of memory cells each of which stores a bit of information. A memory cell 100 that is typically used in an SRAM is depicted in FIG. 1. The memory cell 100 is a six transistor cell and includes a first inverter 102 and a second inverter 104. The first inverter 102 includes MOSFETs 106 and 108, and the second inverter 104 includes MOSFETs 110 and 112.
The source terminals of the MOSFETs 106 and 110 are connected to a source VSS, and the source terminals of the MOSFETs 108 and 112 are connected to a supply VDD. The first and second inverters 102 and 104 are cross coupled. Accordingly, the gate terminals of the MOSFETs 106 and 108 are connected to the drain terminals of the MOSFETs 110 and 112, and the gate terminals of the MOSFETs 110 and 112 are connected to the drain terminals of the MOSFETs 106 and 108.
A first transmission gate 114, also known as a pass gate, includes a MOSFET having a first source/drain terminal connected to the drain terminals of the MOSFETs 106 108, a second source/drain terminal connected to a bit line BL, and a gate terminal connected to a non-inverted word line WL. Also, a second transmission gate 116, or pass gate, includes a MOSFET having a first source/drain terminal connected to the drain terminals of the MOSFETs 110 and 112, a second source/drain terminal connected to an inverted bit line NBL, and a gate terminal connected to the non-inverted word line WL.
Each memory cell within the SRAM may be vulnerable to high-energy particles from a radiation harsh environment. These high-energy particles may cause a Single Upset Event (SEU) in a memory cell, which is a change in the stored state of the memory cell. The SEU may occur when a high-energy particle deposits a charge on a given node within the memory cell. The charge threshold at which the SEU may occur is called the critical charge of the memory cell.
Heavy ions are typically considered the dominating cause for SEUs. Heavy ions may be capable of depositing relatively large amounts of charge on a memory cell node. The large deposited charge may force the memory cell node from its original state to an opposite state for some period of time. If the memory cell node is held in the opposite state for a period longer than the delay around the memory cell feedback loop, the memory cell will switch states and the data will be lost.
In addition, protons and neutrons may also cause SEUs. Protons and neutrons typically do not deposit enough charge on a memory cell node to cause an SEU, but protons or neutrons may interact with a Si nuclei of the SRAM. The interaction between the protons or neutrons and the Si nuclei may create secondary high-energy particles, which are also known as recoiling heavy ions. The recoiling heavy ions may be able to travel through a Si lattice and reach the memory cell node. If the recoiling heavy ion does reach the memory cell node, the recoiling heavy ion may cause a SEU under certain conditions.
Many design techniques for reducing the sensitivity of SRAM cells to SEUs caused by high energy particles have been proposed previously. One common design technique to make an SRAM cell more SEU hardened is to add an active delay element between the cross coupled inverters of the SRAM cell. A memory cell 200 with a cross-connected active delay element is depicted in FIG. 2. The memory cell 200 is substantially the same as the memory cell 100 in FIG. 1, except that first and second inverters 202 and 204 are cross-connected through an active delay element 218. Accordingly, the gate terminals of MOSFETs 206 and 208 are connected directly to the drain terminals of the MOSFETs 210 and 212, and the gate terminals of the MOSFETs 210 and 212 are connected to the drain terminals of the MOSFETs 206 and 208 through the active delay element 218.
The active delay element 218 may include a switch transistor. The switch transistor may take various forms. For example, the switch transistor may be a single enhancement-mode NMOSFET, or the switch transistor may be a single enhancement-mode PMOSFET. The gate of the switch transistor may be connected to a word line, and the switch transistor may be turned on during a write operation to improve write performance. The active delay element 218 may also include additional components, such as leaky diodes or resistors connected in parallel with the switch transistor.
The addition of the active delay element 218 is beneficial because it may add delay to the feedback path through the inverters 202 and 204. The increased feedback delay may give a data state holding transistor of the inverters 202 and 204 time to remove a charge deposited by high energy particles before the feedback is completed. If the data state holding transistor removes the deposited charge before the feedback is completed, the SEU may be avoided. Thus, the addition of the active delay element 218 may improve the SEU hardness of the memory cell 200. Further, the active delay element 218 may not substantially increase the write time of the memory cell 200 during dynamic mode.
However, there may also be disadvantages to the addition of the active delay element 218 to the memory cell 200. One disadvantage is that capacitive coupling generated in the active delay element 218 may disturb write data that passes through the active delay element 218 during a write operation. The capacitive coupling may be generated in the switch transistor of the active delay element 218, or may be generated in the leaky diode of the active delay element 218. If the capacitive coupling of the active delay element 218 sufficiently alters the voltage potential of the write data at the output of the active delay element 218, the inverter 204 may switch back to its original state, and a write error will occur.
FIG. 3 illustrates how a write error may occur in memory cell 200 when the active delay element 218 includes a NMOSFET switch transistor with its gate connected to the non-inverted word line WL. FIG. 3 depicts the voltage potential during a write operation for the bit line BL, the word line WL, the input of the active delay element 218 (BIT), the output of the active delay element 218 (BITISO), and the output of the inverter 204 (NBIT). Typically, a "1" may be written in the memory cell 200 that is holding a "0" by raising both the non-inverted bit line BL and the word line WL to a "1" and pulling the inverted bit line NBL to a "0."
A "write 1" operation is initialized in FIG. 3 at time t0. As shown in the Figure, BIT is set to "1" and NBIT is set to "0" at time t0. The "1" at BIT is then passed through the active delay element 218, causing BITISO to transition from "0" to a degraded "1" between time t0 and time t1. However, the capacitive coupling in the active delay element 218 may disturb the voltage potential of BITISO at time t1, when the non-inverted word line WL transitions from "1" back to "0." As shown in the Figure, the capacitive coupling in the active delay element 218 may drop the voltage potential of BITISO below the switch point of the inverter 204. Accordingly, when the write operation is complete at time t1, NBIT will switch back to "1," BIT will be driven back to "0," and a "1" will not be written to memory cell 200.
A similar problem may occur when the active delay element 218 includes a PMOSFET switch transistor with its gate connected to an inverted word line, and a "write 0" operation is initialized. Further, as SRAM cells become more scalable and the source VDD decreases, write errors may become more prevalent as a result of smaller write margins. Accordingly, there is a need for a SRAM cell that prevents write errors caused by capacitive coupling in an active delay element.

Radiation-hardened SRAM cell with write error protection


A spatial mask printer may be used in conjunction with an optical inspection tool. The tool can be used to obtain a Fourier image of an inspected object, and a filter mask image can be designed to block certain aspects of the object's image in the Fourier plane corresponding to repetitive aspects of the imaged object. The filter mask image can then be printed and used in the tool during the inspection process. The mask image may be designed by hand or by computer and may be stored for later use. Filters may be automatically placed into the optical path of the inspection tool by a filter wheel, or may be housed in other filter banks. The printer may be configured to operate in a clean room environment, and may be integrated into the optical inspection tool.

In the semiconductor industry, devices are fabricated by a number of processes to produce precisely-defined structures of an ever-decreasing size. Even the slightest structural defect can ruin a semiconductor device, and so to avoid losses of time and effort, detection of defects is critical before a defective device is mass-produced or further processes are performed on a defective wafer. Fast, on-line detection of wafer defects is possible through the use of optical wafer inspection systems. For example, in one type of system, a two-dimensional image of a selected field of view of a wafer is obtained, and that field of view is compared to another view which, under ideal conditions, should be identical. The comparison of like fields of view can thus reveal irregularities which could indicate a defect.
Generally speaking, a semiconductor wafer may include a number of repetitive patterns, and any defects in the semiconductor wafer will generally produce a variance in those patterns. To streamline the inspection process, a mask or masks may be configured to block portions of the light corresponding to the repetitive aspects of the wafer. In the resulting comparison of fields of view, the signal corresponding to a defect or other non-blocked feature will thus stand out more readily from the background. Such blocking is generally referred to as "Fourier filtering." See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,970,168, issued to Montesanto et al, for a discussion of one type of Fourier filter.
However, prior Fourier filtering methodologies may be less than ideal when utilized in the field. For instance, a high-throughput wafer production facility will have a correspondingly high throughput need for wafer inspections. Fourier filtering in such an environment will require fast, accurate production of appropriate filters for different expected patterns. A reconfigurable filter is one way to meet the high demand for filters in such an environment, but such filters can introduce an additional level of complexity (and thus point of failure) into an already-complex environment. Reconfigurable Fourier filters based on MEMS and LCD technologies have been proposed for use in optical inspection tools, but such filters may not always be practical for certain applications. For instance, both LCD filters and micromirror arrays may have fill factors, extinction ratios, and transmittance characteristics that are less than ideal. Also, light may leak from "closed" micro-elements in a MEMS-based device. Additionally, resolution of reconfigurable filters may be limited by the size of the reconfigurable elements and the size of the filter, such as the number of reconfigurable elements in a row.
Fixed Fourier filters can have higher transmittance, higher resolution, and avoid problems with fill factors. Additionally, fixed filters are generally less physically complex than reconfigurable filters, but require labor and skill to construct. Furthermore, great care must be taken during the construction and use of any filter to avoid the introduction of contaminants to the inspection environment, and to precisely position blocking elements. In the case of a fixed filter, manual construction is not only time-consuming, but generally must be performed outside the inspection cleanroom in order to avoid contaminating the wafer or optical inspection tool.
There remains a need for a Fourier filtering system which can be used for inspecting a variety of wafers with minimal impact on inspection throughput and labor costs.

Printed fourier filtering in optical inspection tools

Applied Materials South East Asia Pte. Ltd.


A vehicle body front structure includes a side frame and a tubular member. The side member extends in a longitudinal direction of a vehicle body. The side frame member is configured to have a closed hollow section in a vertical direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction. The tubular member extends in the longitudinal direction within the side frame. The tubular member is configured to have a closed hollow section in the vertical direction. The tubular member is spaced apart from the side frame.

A vehicle body front structure for absorbing a load of a frontal collision is disclosed in JP2015-009712A, in which a front end portion of a front side member (frame) is formed as a crash box.
In this vehicle body front structure, there is a demand for improving the degree of flexibility in designing energy absorption performance during a frontal collision.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle body front structure capable of improving the degree of flexibility in designing energy absorption performance during a frontal collision.


An embodiment includes an integrated circuit comprising a standard cell, the standard cell comprising: first and second active regions having different conductivity types and extending in a first direction; first, second, and third conductive lines extending over the first and second active regions in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction, and disposed parallel to each other; and a cutting layer extending in the first direction between the first and second active regions and separating the first conductive line into a first upper conductive line and a first lower conductive line, the second conductive line into a second upper conductive line and a second lower conductive line, and the third conductive line into a third upper conductive line and a third lower conductive line; wherein: the first upper conductive line and the third lower conductive line are electrically connected together; and the second upper conductive line and the second lower conductive line are electrically connected together.

Embodiments relate to an integrated circuit, and more particularly, to an integrated circuit including a standard cell, and a semiconductor device including to the integrated circuit.
Designing of a semiconductor integrated circuit is an operation of converting a behavior model regarding a chip describing an operation to be obtained from a semiconductor system into a detailed structural model describing connections between components. When a library with cells that are in the semiconductor integrated circuit is generated and the semiconductor integrated circuit is realized by using the library while designing such a semiconductor integrated circuit, time and costs consumed in designing and realizing the semiconductor integrated circuit may be reduced.

Integrated circuit and semiconductor device


Operations for decompression of compressed data is performed in parallel and in a pipelined manner to generate addresses into a memory on-the-fly rather than using a large look-up table. The logic circuits for doing so are thus reduced to the point of being able to be formed by suitable programming of a field programmable gate array (FPGA) while achieving substantial increase in processing speed beyond speed increases attributable to increase of clock rates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to decompressing compressed data at high speeds, and, more particularly, decompressing JPEG compressed image data at high speed for image reproduction by printers or displays.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Storage and transfer of data in digital form is becoming increasingly widespread at least because digital signals are less subject to noise, errors can often be corrected, archival storage media are more efficient and economical and electronic infrastructure for transmission and processing of digital data is widely available. However, some types of data, such as image data, when placed in digital form, often requires very large numbers of bytes of data to represent a single image; thus increasing the cost of storage medium or time of transmission which would be required to accommodate such a relatively massive amount of data.
As a solution to these problems, numerous data compression techniques have been developed in recent years. Notably, a technique has been developed by the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) which has become an industry standard for compression of image data. This technique provides substantial flexibility in controlling the size of the resulting compressed data and maximizes fidelity of a reconstructed image for a given degree of data compression. JPEG can be implemented in either hardware or software or a combination thereof. In general, since data processing for JPEG compression or decompression/reconstruction is relatively complex, special hardware was initially preferred and remains so for some particularly demanding applications such as high-speed printers or copiers or displays, although JPEG is currently more often implemented in software where speed is less critical. However, where speed is critical for image reproduction from compressed data, special purpose hardware remains preferred for decompression.
There are a number of software and hardware solutions that use very different algorithms to manage decompression, all resulting in more memory requirements and larger circuit counts. The first JPEG chip was produced by a startup company, C-Cube, in 1989 and was their stepping stone to MPEG hardware. C-Cube no longer supplies JPEG hardware. Several other JPEG chips previously offered have gone end-of-life and are, in any event, no longer capable of meeting current requirements for processing speed. Moreover, design of application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) capable of required decompression processing speeds is difficult and expensive since they would require a relatively large chip to provide sufficient memory and, since the number of applications requiring exceptional decompression processing speeds are relatively limited, such large ASICs are not considered to be economically feasible at the present time. As an alternative to ASICs, however, so-called field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) of large size and increased speed have recently become available and FPGAs are available at marginally acceptable cost since they are fabricated in a generalized form that may be freely programmed and thus are applicable to a wide range of applications. such large and high clock speed FPGAs have been investigated for use in high speed image data decompression applications. FPGAs are essentially arrays of various logic gates which may be effectively connected together to perform a desired collective function in accordance with signals stored in a preferably non-volatile memory structure.
Unfortunately, it has been found that the processing for decoding JPEG Huffman codes (and corresponding codes using other compression techniques) could not be accomplished at the required speeds even at the increased clock rates available in current FPGAs. Moreover, the look-up tables used in the process of decoding such codes (which must be alterable) are generally very large and could not be accommodated by smaller and more economically feasible currently available FPGAs.

Digital data decompression implemented in a field programmable array device

International Business Machines Corporation


A method for diffusing titanium and nitride into a base material having a generally compact, granular microstructure (e.g., carbide). The method generally includes the steps of providing a base material having a generally compact, granular microstructure; providing a salt bath which includes sodium dioxide and a salt selected from the group consisting of sodium cyanate and potassium cyanate; dispersing metallic titanium formed by electrolysis of a titanium compound in the bath; heating the salt bath to a temperature ranging from about 430° C. to about 670° C.; and soaking the base material in the salt bath for a time of from about 10 minutes to about 24 hours. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the base material may further be treated with conventional surface treatments or coatings.

The present invention generally relates to a process for diffusing titanium and nitride into a base material. More specifically, a process is provided for diffusing titanium and nitride into a base material having a generally compact, granular microstructure (e.g., carbide).
The present invention relates to a low temperature process for diffusing titanium and nitride into a base material having a generally compact, granular microstructure in the presence of electrolyzed titanium. A low temperature process is preferred in that it prevents or lessens warping and twisting of the material, two disadvantages of conventional surface treatment processes. Titanium is considered a generally inert, light-weight material which has very high tensile strength (or toughness) and excellent corrosion resistance. Accordingly, because of their inert nature, increased hardness, increased tensile strength and increased resistance to wear, products containing titanium may be used in various applications including industrial, biomedical, aerospace, automotive, defense, jewelry, tools, tool-making, gun-making applications and other such applications.
Some materials having a generally compact, granular microstructure are known to be extremely hard and capable of withstanding high temperatures. Carbide is an example of one such material. Known carbides include, but are not limited to, boron carbide (B4C); chromium carbide (Cr3C2); iron carbide or cementite (Fe3C); niobium carbide (NbC or Nb2C); silicon carbide (SiC); tantalum carbide (TaC); titanium carbide (TiC); tungsten carbide (WC or W2C); vanadium carbide (VC); zirconium carbide (ZrC); ceramic carbide; any metal alloy containing carbide, and any other metal containing carbide. In one application of carbides, cutting tools containing such are generally used instead of high-speed steel or carbon steel tools to machine tough materials. In fact, cutting tools containing carbides may be used to machine carbon steel or other tough metals.
Nevertheless, carbides are generally more brittle than some metal materials or alloys, making them susceptible to chipping and/or breaking. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, carbides generally comprise a compact, granular microstructure. Although the granular microstructure contributes to the hardness of the carbide, among the grains 20 are small voids 22 which perpetuate the brittleness of the carbide structure. Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a process for diffusing titanium and nitride into a material having a generally compact, granular microstructure to fill the voids inherent therein in order to further provide the enhanced properties of titanium therethrough (e.g., increased toughness or tensile strength).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,566, which is incorporated by reference herein and made a part hereof, describes a process for diffusing titanium and nitride into a variety of base materials including steel and steel alloys, aluminum and aluminum alloys, titanium and titanium alloys. Nevertheless, U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,566 does not describe a method for diffusing titanium and nitride into a material having a generally compact, granular microstructure or otherwise containing carbide. Carbides are generally known to be structurally different from other materials, metals or metal alloys. For example, as respectively illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, steel, aluminum and titanium (the base materials described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,566) generally have an amorphous microstructure including an amorphous substructure 24 a, b and c having voids 26 therethrough.
The amorphous microstructure of steel, aluminum and titanium is markedly different from the generally compact, granular microstructure of carbide. The generally granular microstructure causes carbide to be generally harder than steel, titanium, and aluminum, which have generally amorphous microstructures. Moreover, the grains 20 of the carbide microstructure are generally more compact than the amorphous substructures 24 a, b and c of steel, aluminum and titanium. Accordingly, the voids 22 among the grains 20 of carbide are generally smaller than the voids 26 a, b and c among the amorphous substructure 24 a, b and c of steel, aluminum and titanium.
For materials such as steel, aluminum and titanium, the amorphous substructure 24 a, b and c and larger voids 26 a, b and c assist in the diffusion of titanium and nitride therethrough in the process as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,566. In contrast, it is generally known that it is more difficult and nearly impossible to diffuse any substance into a material having a compact, granular microstructure such as carbide. Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to diffuse titanium and nitride into a material such as carbide to fill the voids inherent in its granular microstructure, despite its compact orientation, in order to provide the enhanced properties of titanium therethrough.
Other conventional surface treatment and coating processes for providing a protective layer on a base material or for strengthening materials have been applied to materials containing carbides. However, these processes are deficient in many respects. In one example, conventional surface treatments and coating processes have been typically applied to steel and steel alloys. Steel and steel alloys are generally known to contain a high content of iron. Some conventional nitriding surface treatment processes, such as in some Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD), Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) and Ion Assisted Coating (IAC) processes, introduce nitrogen such that it reacts to iron in the steel or steel alloy to form a hardened ferrous nitride layer. This reaction causes the formation of a hardened ferrous nitride layer, which serves as a suitable protective layer on the base material.
These nitriding processes, however, are generally deficient when treating carbides. More specifically, carbides are generally known to contain a relatively low content of iron. As such, when applying these processes to carbides, there is generally not enough iron for nitrogen to react with. Accordingly, conventional nitriding surface treatments cannot generally form a hardened ferrous nitride layer on carbide due to its low iron content. Instead, a protective layer is formed which has a weak adhesion with the carbide surface, thereby causing it to be susceptible to chipping. It is therefore an object of the present invention to diffuse titanium and nitride into a material having a relatively low content of iron. It is further an object of the present invention to provide a process for strengthening the adhesion between a base material containing carbide and a protective layer formed by conventional surface treatments or coatings.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Process for diffusing titanium and nitride into a material having a generally compact, granular microstructure


A method, apparatus, system, and computer readable medium are disclosed. In one embodiment the method includes detecting a virtual machine (VM) attempting to communicate with a device coupled to a computer system using a first software plug-in interface that is incompatible with the device. The method continues by temporarily removing the VM from controlling system. Then the first software plug-in interface in the VM is replaced with a second software plug-in interface, which is compatible with the device, without the knowledge of the VM. Then control is returned to the VM and the VM is allowed to resume the communication attempt with the device using the second software plug-in interface.

Virtualization technology allows a guest operating system (OS), running on a guest virtual machine (VM), to run under the supervision and control of a host OS (referred to in different contexts as a hypervisor or a virtual machine manager (VMM)). There may be multiple guest VMs (with multiple guest OSs) running in a single computer system (i.e. computer platform), each being allocated a certain amount of dedicated memory space and computational time in the system. There are many occasions where it is desirable for a guest OS/VM running on one physical computer system to be migrated over to another physical computer system.
In order to enable seamless migration of a guest OS/VM between two different physical computer systems, the hypervisor may expose an emulated hardware layer to the guest OS/VM. Thus, even if underlying physical hardware changes during the migration, the guest OS/VM would see the same hardware components before and after the migration.
In input/output (I/O) technology space, it is common for an emulation layer exists that shows a guest OS/VM an emulated generic I/O device in the computer system instead of the actual physical hardware device. Therefore, the hypervisor is required to translate all commands and accesses between the guest OS/VM and the virtual I/O device to commands and accesses compatible with the real hardware I/O device on the platform. This translation scheme creates a performance impact.
To eliminate the emulation layer performance impact, a physical I/O device present on the platform may be directly exposed to the guest OS/VM. But this can lead to issues such as scalability, isolation, and mobility. In the context of scalability, it is difficult to efficiently assign a limited number of I/O devices on a platform to a large number of guests. With isolation, it is also difficult to ensure a specific I/O device will only be allowed to access the appropriate guest OS/VM address space. And as far as mobility, migrating a guest OS/VM between machines with disparate I/O devices also causes problems that are difficult to fix seamlessly.

Method, device, and system for seamless migration of a virtual machine between platforms with different I/O hardware


A survival method for a foreign microorganism, which comprises the steps of disturbing the equilibrium state of an ecosystem in which plural kinds of microorganisms coexist, to temporarily bring the ecosystem into a non-equilibrium state, and then introducing a foreign microorganism into the ecosystem. There are three states of equilibrium involved of which comprise a first state wherein the ecosystem is in equilibrium, a second state wherein the ecosystem is converted to a state which is not in equilibrium, and a third state wherein the ecosystem is converted to a new state of equilibrium to provide for an ecological niche for survival of an introduced foreign microorganism in the ecosystem. The foreign microorganism is also used in a method for remedying an environment contaminated with a pollutant.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for introducing and making foreign microorganisms survive in an ecological system such as waste water or soil in which various kinds of microorganisms coexist. More specifically, it relates to a method for survival of foreign microorganisms without replenishing the foreign microorganisms or nutrients, as well as a method to efficiently remedying the environment using the above-mentioned method in water treatment and soil remediation etc.
2. Related Background Art
In the field of waste water treatment, processes have been widely carried out to decompose target substances using activated sludge in which the activity of microorganisms is utilized. Furthermore, for the remediation of the polluted soil or polluted ground water, it has been attempted to introduce the microorganisms capable of degrading pollutants into the polluted area to remedy it.
The microorganisms, however, are generally passive to the environment and often sensitive to the given environment. They can not immediately adapt themselves to the given environment and the degradation activity is often lost or extinction may occur. In an ecosystem comprising plural kinds of microorganisms, it is observed that the niches of the ecosystem are already occupied by the various kinds of originally living microorganisms, and these native microorganisms do not easily permit the survival and growth of newly introduced foreign microorganisms.
In these cases, the foreign microorganism introduced into waste water or soil can not adapt to the new environment, and the population of the microorganism rapidly decreases resulting in little decomposition of a target substance. Otherwise, when the foreign microorganism adapts to the new environment at first, the population of the microorganism may decrease later due to the change of various environmental factors, so that the function of degradation and detoxification deteriorates or ceases to work entirely. For example, if a substance harmful to microorganisms is mixed into waste water, the activity of the activated sludge deteriorates and the target substance cannot be degraded any more. Even if the microorganisms having the degradation ability are newly introduced to restore the pollutant degradation ability of the activated sludge, it is difficult for the introduced microorganisms to squeeze themselves into the niches to live and grow, in the ecosystem already occupied by the various kinds of originally existing microorganisms.
If the target ecosystem is soil or the soil-water system including ground water, the interaction between the microorganisms and environmental components is stronger than in the activated sludge. Therefore, when the foreign microorganisms are introduced into such a system by an ordinary method, it is more difficult for the foreign microorganisms to stably grow in the ecosystem and maintain their concentration necessary for the degradation of the pollutants.
In order to compensate the reduction of the degradation microorganisms, usually the system such as a septic tank or soil is supplemented with an excessive amount of the degradation microorganisms to increase the amount of the decomposing microorganisms. Furthermore, in order to secure the good growth of the introduced microorganism, the ecosystem is replenished with components containing nutrients for the introduced microorganisms and oxygen gas to promote their growth and to increase the amount of the introduced microorganisms.
As stated above, when foreign microorganisms are introduced into an environment such as a septic tank or soil in this manner, there is a problem that the population of the introduced microorganisms decreases rapidly and as a result, the function of degradation and detoxification is lost. Supplementing the foreign microorganisms, nutrients, oxygen and the like as a measure to address this problem is time-consuming, and raises the cost when the foreign microorganisms and the nutrients are expensive. Moreover, since the reduction of the foreign microorganisms may occur at any moment, the population of the foreign microorganisms and the degradation ability of the microorganisms should be frequently measured to quantitatively determine the timing of replenishing the foreign microorganisms and the nutrients, and hence this method is very troublesome in practice.

Method for survival of foreign microorganism and method for remedying environment by using it


The present invention belongs to the field of techniques related to a laser robot and a method of controlling the same, particularly for performing weaving of a laser beam easily with high accuracy without the provision of a vibrating condenser lens at the leading edge of an arm.. To solve the problems, in the laser robot (RB) of the present invention, a first inclined mirror (41a) is mounted on a motor (42a) inclined at a predetermined angle from a plane perpendicular to the direction of the rotation axis of a rotor shaft. Similarly, a second inclined mirror (41b) is mounted on a motor (42b) inclined at a predetermined angle. The laser beam (LB) emitted from a laser oscillator (8) is reflected in series by the first and second inclined mirrors (41a, 41b) and is subsequently propagated in the laser robot (RB) to be directed toward workpieces from the tip of a torch (7). By controlling the numbers of rotations, rotation directions and rotation phases of the first and second inclined mirrors (41a, 41b), weaving modes of the laser beam (LB) are selected.

Laser robots have found various applications, and their use as welding robots has attracted much attention recently. In butt welding and the like, however, there are found a large number of non uniform gaps between workpieces, and a laser beam has a considerably small spot diameter. There arises a problem that sufficient welding results cannot be achieved without performing weaving weld in which the illuminating direction of the laser beam is changed. For the use of the laser robots as the welding robots, it is necessary to improve the weaving performances thereof.
It has been known that a system for imparting weaving function to the laser robots can be roughly divided into two types.
One of the types is a system conventionally used for arc welding robots and the like, in which a laser torch LT is moved in the direction of a beveled edge while the laser torch LT itself is periodically fluctuated in the direction perpendicular to the direction of the beveled edge, as shown in FIG. 43(a) (arrow A1).
The other is a system in which the laser torch LT is moved in the direction of the arrow A2 of FIG. 43(b) along the beveled edge while the deflection angle of the laser beam emitted from the laser torch LT is periodically changed as indicated by the arrow A3. For achievement of the system of the second type, there are two known methods:
(1) a method of periodically vibrating or fluctuating a condenser lens for the laser beam, and
(2) a method of deflecting the laser beam by the combination of a pair of galvano mirrors.
The first system however, has a problem that welding speed is low because an arm for fluctuating the torch cannot be moved at a very high speed.
In the method (1) of the second system, it is necessary to equip the leading edge portion of the arm with a lens drive mechanism since the condenser lens is mounted adjacent to the leading edge of the arm. This structure increases the size and inertia of the leading edge portion of the arm, resulting in increased interference between the leading edge portion of the arm and obstructions and deterioration in controllability.
In the method (2) of the second system, there arises a problem that drive control for the galvano mirrors is not easy. That is, since a laser used for welding is a high power laser (e.g., a carbon dioxide laser of CW oscillation type), the material and thickness of the galvano mirrors are required to resist the high power, and the inertia of the galvano mirrors necessarily increases. Since the galvano mirrors must be vibrated at high frequencies, a torque load on a vibrating mechanism for the galvano mirrors changes violently. As a result, the vibrations of the respective galvano mirrors are difficult to be in synchronism with each other.
These problems are not limited to the welding robots but are common to the laser robots in which the laser beam is required to be deflected periodically.

Laser robot and method of controlling same, and light beam deflector and control signal generator therefor


A cover for closing a top opening of a thermite reaction chamber of a crucible is substantially continuous and is secured to an annular filter lining via a bottom peripheral edge for making contact on a top peripheral edge of the crucible. The filter lining is substantially continuous and is suitable for constituting a substantially continuous contact medium between the bottom edge and top edge. The cover is applicable, for example, to thermite welding, e.g., for use in tunnels or underground.

The present invention relates to a cover for closing a top opening of defined inside dimensions of a thermite reaction chamber of a crucible, the cover including for this purpose a bottom peripheral edge suitable for bearing against a top peripheral edge defining said top opening.
Such a cover has been proposed by the Applicant in its European patent EP 0 407 240 B1, in the context of a complete apparatus for thermite welding, the apparatus also comprising a crucible for producing metal in the liquid state by the thermite reaction, and a mold for receiving and confining said molten metal in a space between two metal parts that are to be welded together by means of said metal.
In the embodiment described in EP 0 407 240 B1, the bottom edge of the cover bears against the top edge of the crucible in a manner that is substantially continuous and substantially leaktight, and the cover is provided with vent slots opening out into a central depression of a top wall of the cover and allowing the fumes given off by the thermite reaction to escape to the atmosphere, while trapping a maximum number of particles that might be projected by the reaction.
In order to enable the crucible to be used under certain conditions in which the fumes could be harmful or even dangerous, for example in a tunnel or underground, EP 0 407 240 B1 proposes placing a filter cap on the cover, said cap covering at least the vent slots.
Such a filter cap is sold by the Applicant in a shape that is slightly different from the shape described in EP 0 407 240 B1, while nevertheless being of the same general design as that described, and when it is associated with a cover presenting the shape as described in EP 0 407 240 B1 it is recognized as being effective.
Nevertheless, it has been felt that the fume filtering technique described in EP 0 407 240 B1 could be improved, and that is the object of the present invention.
As presently manufactured and sold by the Applicant, the filter cap is in the form of a steel frustoconical chimney that flares from a bottom edge making substantially continuous leaktight contact with a peripheral rim of the crucible cover towards a top edge for releasably and interchangeably receiving a disk of refractory felt that acts as a filter between a bottom support grid secured at its periphery to the top edge of the chimney and a top retention grid that is releasably held on the chimney by spring clips.
When the welding apparatus is in use, which apparatus is in all other points identical to that described by way of preferred example in EP 0 407 240 B1, the filter cap fitted with a new refractory felt is placed on the rim of the crucible cover while the cover is separate from the crucible, and the crucible is placed on the mold, after which the thermite charge in the crucible chamber is ignited and the assembly constituted by the cover and the filter cap is placed thereon. Once the thermite reaction has terminated, the filter cap is removed from the cover and then the mold is separated from the crucible and its cover by destroying them (if they are made for single use as described in EP 0 407 240 B1), prior to destroying the mold itself in order to reveal the weld and proceed with finishing of the weld. Thereafter, the refractory felt is changed and the cap is ready for being used again on a new weld.
Nevertheless, this possibility of reusing the cap is limited insofar as the chimney becomes warped due to the temperatures to which it is subjected during the thermite reaction, and as a result it becomes progressively less suitable for standing in continuous manner on the rim of a cover, so that it starts to allow non-filtered fumes to escape between itself and the cover, and it no longer enables the filter to be positioned in repeatable manner and to be compressed between the grids, so the quality of filtering deteriorates with increasing number of uses.
In addition, the filter cap as presently made is quite heavy, weighing about 7 decanewtons (daN) to 8 daN which makes it awkward to transport from worksite to worksite, and this runs the risk of leading to cracks in the cover when it is made of agglomerated sand, as it is preferred, unless the cap is put onto the cover with a certain amount of care, and also runs the same risk of cracking the crucible when the assembly constituted by the cap and the cover is put into place thereon.
Furthermore, given the bulky nature of the cap in the vertical direction, its center of gravity is rather high and the position of the center of gravity of the assembly constituted by the crucible, its cover, and the filter cap is particularly high compared with the support given by the mold to the crucible. This drawback is particularly awkward insofar as the cover itself is quite heavy, weighing about 2.1 daN when it is made of agglomerated sand, and it too occupies a certain height, and consequently has a relatively high center of gravity, because of the disposition selected for the vent means in order to avoid as much as possible any particles being projected out from the crucible during the thermite reaction. This leads to a certain amount of instability firstly for the assembly constituted by the cover and its filter cap on the crucible, and secondly for the assembly constituted by the crucible, its cover, and its filter cap on the mold, when the crucible is supported directly by the mold as described in EP 0 407 240 B1, which means that great care needs to be taken in use, e.g. when welding rails that are canted.
The filter cap presently in use also presents the drawback of requiring a used filter and a new filter to be handled between two welding operations, which is disagreeable for welding personnel, given the nature of the materials constituting the filters. Furthermore, there is always the possibility of filter replacement being forgotten between two welding operations, i.e. of a filter being reused after it has already been partially clogged by the dust conveyed by the smoke or by particles projected through the vents of the cover, and that leads to a danger of the pressure of the gas given off by the thermite reaction lifting the filter cap, thereby making it largely ineffective, or even expelling it, thereby constituting a hazard for the welding personnel.
The same drawbacks are to be found if the metal produced by the thermite reaction in the crucible chamber is intended for applications other than welding, and the object of the present invention is to remedy at least some of those drawbacks, and in preferred implementations all of those drawbacks, independently of the intended application.

Crucible cover for aluminothermic reaction


Disclosed is a valve gate assembly for an injection molding machine. By controlling a valve pin through a linear motor controlled by a pulse signal and through a cooling block, an opening/closing amount of a gate can be precisely managed. Thereby, a mold is increased in quality and efficient management is possible when the valve gate assembly is applied to a multiple cavity matallic mold.

Generally, the valve assembly for the injection molding machine is for injecting a liquid resin into a cavity of a metallic mold, wherein the liquid resin is supplied from a cylinder (also referred to as an extruder) in which a resin is molten. The valve assembly is designed to open or close a gate by a upward or downward movement of a valve pin, and is generally classified into two types: manifold and cylinder, according to the number of parts (or molds) molded at a time wherein the manifold type is used to mold multiple molds from the liquid resin supplied through a manifold, while the cylinder type is used to mold a single mold from the liquid resin supplied through a cylinder.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a valve gate assembly for a conventional injection molding machine (U.S. Pat. No. 6,343,925/HOT RUNNER VALVE GATE PISTON ASSEMBLY). As shown, the valve gate assembly is generally comprised of a driver 100 and a valve body 200. As a driving power source for an upward or downward movement of a valve pin 210, high-pressure air is used.
Specifically, the driver 100 is provided with a plurality of air passageways or channels 110 and 120 for supplying and discharging the high-pressure air from/toward an outside. An air piston 140 in an cylinder 130 ascends or descends through the plurality of channels 110 and 120. A valve pin 210 is cooperatively coupled to a lower end of the piston 130. Thus, the valve pin 210 is raised or lowered with the piston 130, and thereby a gate 220 of the valve body 200 is selectively closed or opened.
Meanwhile, the valve body 200 is provided with a resin channel 230 which is spaced around the valve pin 210. The resin channel 230 is connected with the gate 220 on one end and with a resin channel 310 of a manifold 300 on the other end.
In the valve gate assembly for the injection molding machine constructed in this manner, when the high-pressure operation air is selectively supplied to the air channels 110 and 120, the piston 140 is raised or lowered. Simultaneously, the valve pin 210 is also raised or lowered. Therefore, raising or lowering of the piston 140 causes the gate 220 to be opened or closed. Eventually, the resin, which has been supplied through the manifold 300, is either supplied through the gate 220 to a metallic mold or blocked.
To sum up, the valve gate assembly for the conventional injection molding machine operated by the air pressure supplies the high-pressure air through the selected air channel 110 or 120 to the cylinder 130, thereby raising or lowering the piston 140. In cooperation with the piston 140, the valve pin 210 opens or closes the gate 220.
However, the conventional valve gate assembly constructed as above makes use of the air as the operation source for raising or lowering the valve pin 210. As a result, there is a problem in that it has a slow responsibility and a low reliability on operation. Particularly, an airtight structure must be employed in order to prevent the high-pressure air, the operation source, from leaking out. This incurs another problem in that the assembly has an increased entire volume and a complicated structure, so that it is considerably restricted in installation space. Consequently, a degree of freedom in design of metallic molds is limited as well as maintenance and management are not easy.
In order to these problems, a valve assembly is proposed as shown in FIG. 2, which is electrically powered to generate a driving force, and thus actuating a valve pin.
Looking at a configuration of an electrically powered valve assembly as shown in FIG. 2, it is generally comprised of a valve body 500 and a driving means 600. The valve body 500 has a structure of a typical valve body, which is provided with a resin channel 510 for injecting a resin into a metallic mold through a gate formed at a leading end of the valve body, wherein the resin is supplied from a resin channel 710 formed in a manifold 700.
The driving means 600 is designed to include an actuator for raising and lowering a valve pin 530 through supply of power. The actuator is configured in such a manner that first and second tubular electromagnets 610 and 620 are vertically disposed at a distance apart from each other and selectively generate a magnetic force, and a core 630 magnetized by the magnetic force is installed between the electromagnets 610 and 620. Here, the core 630 is supported by an elastic spring 640 for restoring the valve pin on its upper surface.
The valve assembly of the electrically powered valve assembly constructed in this manner can be made in a small size by employing the actuator as the driving source, so that it is possible not only to increase a degree of freedom in design of metallic molds, but also to rapidly and precisely control a movement amount of the valve pin.
However, because the valve assembly of the electrically powered valve assembly employs the actuator as the driving source, it has disadvantages in that an opening/closing amount of the gate can not be controlled, and that an ambient temperature is high during injection molding, components, such as a coil and circuitry, constituting the actuator is deteriorated, and thus there is a need for frequent repairs, which results in a lowered reliability. Particularly, in the case that the valve assembly is applied to a metallic mold capable of molding a plurality of molds at a time, it is not easy to perform exchange or repair of the driving source, so that workability and productivity are decreased.

Valve gate assembly for injection molding machine


A system and method for automatically generating scenario patterns are disclosed. The system includes a processor; and a memory operatively connected to the processor via a communication interface. The processor receives a request to create new features in connection with development and/or testing of one or more applications; automatically generates scenario patterns corresponding to the new features by utilizing an automatic scenario patterns generating tool; outputs the scenario patterns in a predefined file format providing an end-2-end (E2E) view spanning multiple applications, state models and events; uploads the scenario patterns in the predefined file format onto a system different from the automatic scenario patterns generating tool; deploys corresponding application programming interface (API) on a private cloud to request the scenario patterns in the predefined file format from the system; and implements the requested scenario patterns to create the new features.

The developments described in this section are known to the inventors. However, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the developments described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section, or that those developments are known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.
Today, across the multiple lines of businesses (LOB) at an organization, application developers are constantly faced with a daunting task of developing, testing, and deploying new applications for improving customer experience as well as productivity. As software applications become increasingly more complex, checking out the code, building, testing, and deploying such software applications also become more complex as a large number of unique combinations of paths and modules may be tested for each program. While conventional deployment and operational engines may help address some of the problem, one may still find that the deployment and operational focus required may be challenged at times based on other functional delivery priorities and operations experiences.
For example, Specification by example (SbE) is a collaborative approach to defining requirements and business-oriented functional tests for software products based on capturing and illustrating requirements using realistic examples instead of abstract statements. SbE may be applied in the context of agile software development methods, in particular behavior-driven development. This approach may be particularly successful for managing requirements and functional tests on large-scale projects of significant domain and organizational complexity. However, traditionally, SbE focuses on a single input/output and is very one dimensional, thereby lacking the capability of providing a more E2E view spanning multiple applications, state models and events.
Thus, there is a need for additional visualization artifacts to articulate requirements, design and implementation for E2E transactions spanning multiple components or applications.

System and method for implementing an automatic scenario pattern generating module


An image forming apparatus is supplied that can obtain a correct temperature inside an image forming section and can perform an optimum temperature control so that it is possible to prevent remainder toner on the surface of the image carrying body from solidifying. In the image forming apparatus, in order to heat and fix toner image onto print medium, an image forming section forms the toner image on surface of an image carrying body; a conveying section conveys the print medium; a transferring section transfers the toner image on the image carrying body onto the print medium conveyed by the conveying section; a fixing section heats and fixes the toner image transferred on the print medium; a fixing section temperature detection section detects a temperature of the fixing section; an apparatus controlling section controls the temperature of the fixing section on the basis of a detection result of the fixing section temperature detection section; and an inner temperature detection section detects an image forming apparatus inner temperature, wherein the inner temperature detection section is set up in a location outside the image forming section, where temperature changes due to a heat influence from the fixing section as that a toner accommodating portion inside the image forming section has the same heat influence, and the apparatus controlling section sets a temperature setting value of the fixing section on the basis of a detection result of the inner temperature detection section.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an image forming apparatus to heat and fix a toner image in print medium.
2. Related Background Art
Until now, as a kind of an image forming apparatus, for example, as disclosed in a patent document 1, it is proposed that uses a cleaning roller to scrape and remove remainder toner remaining on the surface of an image carrying body. In the image forming apparatus, in order to prevent that the temperature inside the image forming section rises along with a heating and fixing process in a fixing section so that the remainder toner occurs a solidification of the remainder toner and adheres to the surface of the image carrying body and the cleaning roller, a temperature sensor is set to connect with the shaft of the cleaning roller, through the temperature sensor, a control of heating temperature of heater that is furnished in a fixing roller of the fixing section is performed to set the temperature detected by the temperature sensor to be under a temperature that is previously decided by experiment and can make the remainder toner does occur solidification.    Patent document 1: Japan patent publication 8-123274.
However, in the image forming apparatus, because the temperature sensor is furnished near to the fixing section, the temperature sensor obtains an influence of heat produced by the heater of the fixing section, and detects a temperature that is higher than a fact temperature inside the image forming section. For this, in the image forming apparatus, it is impossible to control an optimum temperature because a correct temperature inside the image forming section can not be detected, so that it is impossible to prevent the adherence of the remainder toner on the surface of the image carrying body and the like.
For measuring the temperature correctly, for example, it can be considered to furnish a temperature sensor in the image forming section. But, with respect to the image forming section of removable attachment type, it is difficult to ensure a connection relation between the temperature sensor and the apparatus side. Further, in the image forming apparatus that seeks a small size, it is difficult to ensure wiring space in the image forming section, so that the temperature sensor can not be furnished.

Image forming apparatus to heat and fix a toner image onto a print medium


Access to protected documents is controlled by delegating the decryption from a document source to a document processing device. Interactions between an input device and the document source are provided to generate public and non-commutative proxy keys. The document processing device can use the proxy keys to convert the documents originally encrypted for the owner/publisher/distributor to ones encrypted for the end user. Authorization and usage are combined by invoking a method of trusted rendering of documents. Thus, the proxy conversion and decryption are delayed to a late stage within the document rendering application.

1. Field of Invention
This invention is directed to systems and methods for document distribution and usage authorization of protected documents.
2. Description of Related Art
A sender of a document often wants to ensure that unauthorized access to the document is prevented. The senders have endeavored to add security measures to their documents so that the documents are protected during distribution and usage. Accordingly, only authorized end users can access the protected document.
Document distribution and usage authorization for a protected document may include:
1) An end user as a receiver of protected document contents. For authorization and cryptography purposes, the end user possesses an access device which will engage in the authorized usage.
2) A document processing device, which is a general-purpose computing system such as a PC or a workstation. The protected document is stored and a rendering application is run by the document processing device to process the protected document for the end user.
3) A remote authorization device which acts on behalf of the document owner/distributor to document user authentication, usage authorization and to track document usage.
Protected electronic documents may be secured in electronic envelopes, for example. That is, a content owner/distributor may seal a document in an envelope, and may send the envelope to an end user to open. The envelope is "secured" in that only an intended end user can open the envelope with an access key, for example. Access to a protected document is usually controlled via channels to each end user who wants to view, print, extract, or the like, the protected content, namely, a "high bandwidth" content distribution channel and a "low bandwidth" (secure) key distribution channel. Hence, whether or not the end user is authorized to use the protected document is then controlled mainly by whether or not the end user is allowed to receive the envelope, to possess the right access key to open the envelope, or both.

Authorized document usage including rendering a protected document