The present invention is directed to systems and methods for detecting unsolicited and threatening communications and communicating threat information related thereto. Threat information is received from one or more sources; such sources can include external security databases and threat information data from one or more application and/or network layer security systems. The received threat information is reduced into a canonical form. Features are extracted from the reduced threat information; these features in conjuntion with configuration data such as goals are used to produce rules. In some embodiments, these rules are tested against one or more sets of test data and compared against the same or different goals; if one or more tests fail, the rules are refined until the tests succeed within an acceptable margin of error. The rules are then propagated to one or more application layer security systems.

The present invention is directed to systems and methods for receiving information related to messaging threats, processing the information, and generating rules and policies in response to those threats. More specifically, without limitation, the present invention relates to computer-based systems and methods for responding to a range of threats to messaging systems including viruses, spam, worms, and other attacks on the server software.
The Internet is a global network of connected computer networks. Over the last several years, the Internet has grown in significant measure. A large number of computers on the Internet provide information in various forms. Anyone with a computer connected to the Internet can potentially tap into this vast pool of information.
The information available via the Internet encompasses information available via a variety of types of application layer information servers such as SMTP (simple mail transfer protocol), POP3 (Post Office Protocol), GOPHER (RFC 1436), WAIS, HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol, RFC 2616) and FTP (file transfer protocol, RFC 1123).
One of the most wide spread method of providing information over the Internet is via the World Wide Web (the Web). The Web consists of a subset of the computers connected to the Internet; the computers in this subset run Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) servers (Web servers). Several extensions and modifications to HTTP have been proposed including, for example, an extension framework (RFC 2774 ) and authentication (RFC 2617). Information on the Internet can be accessed through the use of a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI, RFC 2396). A URI uniquely specifies the location a particular piece of information on the Internet. A URI will typically be composed of several components. The first component typically designates the protocol by which the address piece of information is accessed (e.g., HTTP, GOPHER, etc.). This first component is separated from the remainder of the URI by a colon (':'). The remainder of the URI will depend upon the protocol component. Typically, the remainder designates a computer on the Internet by name, or by IP number, as well as a more specific designation of the location of the resource on the designated computer. For instance, a typical URI for an HTTP resource might be:
http://www.server.com/dir1/dir2/resource.htm
where http is the protocol, www.server.com is the designated computer and /dir1/dir2/resource.htm designates the location of the resource on the designated eomputer. The term URI includes Uniform Resource Names (URN's) including URN's as defiend according to RFC 2141.Web servers host information in the form of Web pages; collectively the server and the information hosted are referred to as a Web site. A significant number of Web pages are encoded using the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) although other encodings using eXtensible Markup Language (XML) or XHTML. The published specifications for these languages are incorporated by reference herein; such specifications are available from the World Wide Web Consortium and its Web site (http://www.w3c.org). Web pages in these formatting languages may include links to other Web pages on the same Web site or another. As will be known to those skilled in the art, Web pages may be generated dynamically by a server by integrating a variety of elements into a formatted page prior to transmission to a Web client. Web servers, and information servers of other types, await requests for the information from Internet clients.
Client software has evolved that allows users of computers connected to the Internet to access this information. Advanced clients such a Netscape's Navigator and Microsoft's Internet Explorer allow users to access software provided via a variety of information servers in a unified client environment. Typically, such client software is referred to as browser software.
Electronic mail (e-mail) is another wide spread application using the Internet. A variety of protocols are often used for e-mail transmission, delivery and processing including SMTP and POP3 as discussed above. These protocols refer, respectively, to standards for communicating e-mail messages between servers and for server-client communication related to e-mail messages. These protocols are defined respectively in particular RFC's (Request for Comments) promulgated by the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force). The SMTP protocol is defined in RFC 821, and the POP3 protocol is defined in RFC 1939.)
Since the inception of these standards, various needs have evolved in the field of e-mail leading to the development of further standards including enhancements or additional protocols. For instance, various enhancements have evolved to the SMTP standards leading to the evolution of extended SMTP. Examples of extensions may be seen in (1) RFC 1869 that defines a framework for extending the SMTP service by defining a means whereby a server SMTP can inform a client SMTP as to the service extensions it supports and in (2) RFC 1891 that defines an extension to the SMTP service, which allows an SMTP client to specify (a) that delivery status notifications (DSNs) should be generated under certain conditions, (b) whether such notifications should return the contents of the message, and (c) additional information, to be returned with a DSN, that allows the sender to identify both the recipient(s) for which the DSN was issued, and the transaction in which the original message was sent.
In addition, the IMAP protocol has evolved as an alternative to POP3 that supports more advanced interactions between e-mail servers and clients. This protocol is described in RFC 2060.
The various standards discussed above by reference to particular RFC's are hereby incorporated by reference herein for all purposes. These RFC's are available to the public through the IETF and can be retrieved from its Web site (http://www.ietf.org/rfc.html). The specified protocols are not intended to be limited to the specific RFC's quoted herein above but are intended to include extensions and revisions thereto. Such extensions and/or revisions may or may not be encompassed by current and/or future RFC's.
A host of e-mail server and client products have been developed in order to foster e-mail communication over the Internet. E-mail server software includes such products as sendmail-based servers, Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes Server, and Novell Group Wise; sendmail-based servers refer to a number of variations of servers originally based upon the sendmail program developed for the UNIX operating systems. A large number of e-mail clients have also been developed that allow a user to retrieve and view e-mail messages from a server; example products include Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Outlook Express, Netscape Messenger and Eudora. In addition, since e-mail servers, or e-mail servers in conjunction with a Web server, allow a Web browser to act as an e-mail client using the HTTP standard.
As the Internet has become more widely used, it has also created new risks for corporations. Breaches of computer security by hackers and intruders and the potential for compromising sensitive corporate information are a very real and serious threat. Organizations have deployed some or all of the following security technologies to protect their networks from Internet attacks:
Firewalls have been deployed at the perimeter of corporate networks. Firewalls act as gatekeepers and allow only authorized users to access a company network. Firewalls play an important role in controlling traffic into networks and are an important first step to provide Internet security.
Intrusion detector systems (IDS) are being deployed throughout corporate networks. While the firewall acts as a gatekeeper, IDS acts like a video camera. IDS monitor network traffic for suspicious patterns of activity, and issue alerts when that activity is detected. IDS proactively monitor your network 24 hours a day in order to identify intruders within a corporate or other local network.
Firewall and IDS technologies have helped corporations to protect their networks and defend their corporate information assets. However, as use of these devices has become widespread, hackers have adapted and are now shifting their point-of-attack from the network to Internet applications. The most vulnerable applications are those that require a direct "always-open" connection with the Internet such as web and e-mail. As a result, intruders are launching sophisticated attacks that target security holes within these applications.
Many corporations have installed a network firewall, as one measure in controlling the flow of traffic in and out of corporate computer networks, but when it comes to Internet application communications such as e-mail messages and Web requests and responses, corporations often allow employees to send and receive from or to anyone or anywhere inside or outside the company. That is done by opening a port, or hole in their firewall (typically, port 25 for e-mail and port 80 for Web), to allow the flow of traffic. Firewalls do not scrutinize traffic flowing through this port. This is similar to deploying a security guard at a company's entrance but allowing anyone who looks like a serviceman to enter the building. An intruder can pretend to be a serviceman, bypass the perimeter security, and compromise the serviced Internet application.
FIG. 1 depicts a typical prior art server access architecture. With in a corporation's local network 190, a variety of computer systems may reside. These systems typically include application servers 120 such as Web servers and e-mail servers, user workstations running local clients 130 such as e-mail readers and Web browsers, and data storage devices 110 such as databases and network connected disks. These systems communicate with each other via a local communication network such as Ethernet 150. Firewall system 140 resides between the local communication network and Internet 160. Connected to the Internet 160 are a host of external servers 170 and external clients 180.
Local clients 130 can access application servers 120 and shared data storage 110 via the local communication network. External clients 180 can access external application servers 170 via the Internet 160. In instances where a local server 120 or a local client 130 requires access to an external server 170 or where an external client 180 or an external server 170 requires access to a local server 120, electronic communications in the appropriate protocol for a given application server flow through "always open" ports of firewall system 140.
The security risks do not stop there. After taking over the mall server, it is relatively easy for the intruder to use it as a launch pad to compromise other business servers and steal critical business information. This information may include financial data, sales projections, customer pipelines, contract negotiations, legal matters, and operational documents. This kind of hacker attack on servers can cause immeasurable and irreparable losses to a business.
In the 1980's, viruses were spread mainly by floppy diskettes. In today's interconnected world, applications such as e-mail serve as a transport for easily and widely spreading viruses. Viruses such as "I Love You" use the technique exploited by distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attackers to mass propagate. Once the "I Love You" is received, the recipient's Microsoft Outlook sends e-mails carrying viruses to everyone in the Outlook address book. The "I Love You" virus infected millions of computers within a short time of its release. Trojan horses, such as Code Red use this same technique to propagate themselves. Viruses and Trojan horses can cause significant lost productivity due to down time and the loss of crucial data.
The Nimda worm simultaneously attacked both email and web applications. It propagated itself by creating and sending infectious email messages, infecting computers over the network and striking vulnerable Microsoft HS Web servers, deployed on Exchange mail servers to provide web mail.
Most e-mail and Web requests and responses are sent in plain text today, making it just as exposed as a postcard. This includes the e-mail message, its header, and its attachments, or in a Web context, a user name and password and/or cookie information in an HTTP request. In addition, when you dial into an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to send or receive e-mail messages, the user ID and a password are also sent in plain text, which can be snooped, copied, or altered. This can be done without leaving a trace, making it impossible to know whether a message has been compromised.
As the Internet has become more widely used, it has also created new troubles for users. In particular, the amount of "spam" received by individual users has increased dramatically in the recent past. Spam, as used in this specification, refers to any communication receipt of which is either unsolicited or not desired by its recipient.
The following are additional security risks caused by Internet applications:                E-mail spamming consumes corporate resources and impacts productivity. Furthermore, spammers use a corporation's own mail servers for unauthorized email relay, making it appear as if the message is coming from that corporation.        E-mail and Web abuse, such as sending and receiving inappropriate messages and Web pages, are creating liabilities for corporations. Corporations are increasingly facing litigation for sexual harassment or slander due to e-mail their employees have sent or received.        Regulatory requirements such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (regulating financial institutions) create liabilities for companies where confidential patient or client information may be exposed in e-mail and/or Web servers or communications including e-mails, Web pages and HTTP requests.
Using the "always open" port, a hacker can easily reach an appropriate Internet application server, exploit its vulnerabilities, and take over the server. This provides hackers easy access to information available to the server, often including sensitive and confidential information. The systems and methods according to the present invention provide enhanced security for communications involved with such Internet applications requiring an "always-open" connection.
Anti-spam systems in use today include fail-open systems in which all incoming messages are filtered for spam. In these systems, a message is considered not to be spam until some form of examination proves otherwise. A message is determined to be spam based on an identification technique. Operators of such systems continue to invest significant resources in efforts to reduce the number of legitimate messages that are misclassified as spam. The penalties for any misclassification are significant and therefore most systems are designed to be predisposed not to classify messages as spam.
One such approach requires a user to explicitly list users from whom email is desirable. Such a list is one type of "whitelist". There are currently two approaches for creating such a whitelist. In a desktop environment, an end-user can import an address book as the whitelist. This approach can become a burden when operated at a more central location such as the gateway of an organization. Therefore, some organizations only add a few entries to the whitelist as necessary. In that case, however, the full effect of whitelisting is not achieved. The present invention improves upon these systems by including a system that allows a more effective solution for whitelisting while requiring reduced manual effort by end-users or administrators. The present invention also allows a whitelist system to be strengthened by authenticating sender information.
Other systems in use today employ a fail-closed system in which a sender must prove its legitimacy. A common example of this type of system uses a challenge and response. Such a system blocks all messages from unknown senders and itself sends a confirmation message to the sender. The sender must respond to verify that it is a legitimate sender. If the sender responds, the sender is added to the whitelist. However, spammers can create tools to respond to the confirmation messages. Some confirmation messages are more advanced in an effort to require that a human send the response. The present invention is an improvement upon these systems. The present invention can reference information provided by users to determine who should be whitelisted rather than rely on the sender's confirmation. The systems and methods according to the present invention provide enhanced accuracy in the automated processing of electronic communications.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,709, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by this reference, assigned to Bright Light Technologies discloses a system for collecting spam messages so that rules can be created and sent to servers. The disclosed system includes the steps of data collection, rule creation, and distribution of rules to clients. The disclosed system is directed to a particular method of data collection for spam messages. No system or method for creating rules based on input data are disclosed. Nor does it disclose a systematic approach to generating rules. Furthermore, the disclosed system is limited to spam threats and only allows one type of input. The threat management center of the present invention is operative on all messaging threats including, but not limited to, spam, virus, worms, Trojans, intrusion attempts, etc. The threat management center of the present invention also includes novel approaches to the process of rule creation. Additionally, the present invention improves on the state of the art by providing a more generalized and useful data collection approach. The data collection system of the present invention includes modules that process input into data that can be used by the rule creation process. The present invention can also use feedback from application layer security servers as input to the rule creation process.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/154,137 (publication 2002/0199095 A1), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by this reference, discloses a system for message filtering. The disclosed system allows spam messages to be forwarded to a database by users of the system. In contrast, the systems and methods of the present invention do not rely on the users; rather the messaging security system(s) can automatically determine spam using identification techniques and then forward the results to a database. The system of the present invention can add known spam messages as well as misclassified messages forwarded by users to the database to retrain the system. Systems known in the art require the forwarding of entire messages in the databases. In the present invention, individual messaging or application layer security systems can extract meaningful features from spam messages, threatening messages and/or non-spam/non-threatening messages and forward only relevant features to a database.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,130, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by this reference, discloses a technique for detecting "junk" email. The disclosed system is operative only on spam and not the entire class of messaging security threats. The inputs for the disclosed system are limited spam and non-spam e-mail. This patent discloses text analysis based features such as the tokens in a message. This patent discloses "predefined handcrafted distinction" but does not further disclose what they are or how these can be created. The system of the present invention can classify based on not only the text analysis but also other features of messages. Additionally, the system of the present invention can include fully automated feature extraction for non-text based features.
In addition, known security systems have been developed to provide peer-to-peer communication of threat information. Such systems are typically designed for a ring of untrusted peers and therefore addresses trust management between the peers. Additionally, current peer-to-peer systems do not have a central entity. The system of the present invention operates between a set of trusted peers, therefore, trust management need not be addressed by the present invention. Further, a centralized threat management system coordinates threat information among multiple trusted application layer security systems communicating in a peer-to-peer manner. Therefore, the threat notification system can process more real-time data exchange. This makes the distributed IDS (intrusion detection system) more scalable.
In addition, current systems only exchange instrusion alerts. These systems can only notify each other of attacks of which they are aware. While the underlying detection method could be misuse or anomaly detection, the data exchanged is only the detected attack information. The system of the present invention distributes more general information about traffic patterns as well as specific threat information. As a non-limiting example, if anomaly detection is used, the system of the present invention can exchange the underlying statistics instead of waiting for the statistics to indicate an attack. Exchanged statistics can include information about the frequency of certain attacks. Therefore, even if other systems already have a signature for a certain attack, the system of the present invention will notify them of an outbreak of this attack. Additionally, traffic patterns can be exchanged among peers and that information can be further processed by the other peers to infer a global view of traffic patterns. This information exchange can be similar to routing protocols that allow each node to infer a global view of the network topology.

Systems and methods for message threat management


The present disclosure relates to an imaging device and an electronic device that make it possible to obtain a better pixel signal. A photoelectric conversion part that converts received light into a charge; a holding part that holds a charge transferred from the photoelectric conversion part; and a light shielding part that shields light between the photoelectric conversion part and the holding part are provided. The photoelectric conversion part, the holding part, and the light shielding part are formed in a semiconductor substrate. The light shielding part of a transfer region that transfers the charge from the photoelectric conversion part to the holding part is formed as a non-penetrating light shielding part that does not penetrate the semiconductor substrate. The light shielding part other than the transfer region is formed as a penetrating light shielding part that penetrates the semiconductor substrate. The present technology is applicable to an imaging device.

Imaging devices such as complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors and charge coupled devices (CCDs) are widely used in digital still cameras, digital video cameras, and the like.
For example, light incident on a CMOS image sensor is subjected to photoelectric conversion in a photodiode (PD) included in a pixel. Then, a charge generated in the PD is transferred to floating diffusion (FD) through a transfer transistor, and converted into a pixel signal having a level according to an amount of received light.
Meanwhile, in a conventional CMOS image sensor, since a scheme of sequentially reading pixel signals from respective pixels row by row, a so-called rolling shutter scheme is generally employed, distortion has sometimes occurred in an image due to a difference in exposure timing.
Therefore, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a CMOS image sensor that employs a scheme of reading pixel signals from all pixels simultaneously by providing a charge holding part in each pixel, a so-called global shutter scheme, the CMOS image sensor having an all pixel simultaneous electronic shutter function. By employing the global shutter scheme, exposure timing becomes the same for all the pixels, making it possible to avoid the occurrence of distortion in an image.

Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation


A method and system for livestock breeding and management for use with a herd where each female animal carries a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag. The system comprises a herd management system and one or more breeding activity monitors to be carried by each male animal. Each breeding activity monitor is adapted to detect when the male animal is mounting a female animal based on the body position of the male animal, read identification data from the RFID tag carried by the mounted female animal, and generate breeding activity data including the identification data of the mounted female animal, mounting male animal and timing data for each mounting for output to the herd management system. The herd management system is adapted to process breeding activity data output from the breeding activity monitors to generate herd management data.

In the livestock industry productivity and profitability is reduced by animals which do not conceive each breeding season. With every breeding herd, it is important to maximize the asset utilization throughout the breeding cycle. Any female not falling pregnant, is in fact a non productive asset. Depending on oestrus cycle and bull availability, this can leave a female unproductive during an extended time period. The end result is lost revenue due to lost offspring production.
Known methods to monitor conception in a breeding herd include rounding up the animals and having a veterinary surgeon (Vet) perform a physical examination of every female animal, often called the "Palpation" method. The veterinary surgeon checks for swelling of the uterus and ovary. This can be a time consuming and costly task for both farmer and vet depending on the size of the herd being examined. Analysis of blood samples for progesterone can also be used to determine whether animals have conceived, this can also be time consuming and expensive.
Actions to increase the conception rate in a herd can involve either providing more conception opportunities for an animal or providing the conception opportunities at or around an optimal time in the oestrus cycle when the animal is most likely to conceive (in heat).
For example, to provide more conception opportunities a farmer can either reduce the roaming distance or increase the male to female ratio of the herd and simply let nature take its course. Each of these options increases the likelihood of a male animal being around a female animal when she is in heat, thereby potentially increasing the odds of a successful conception.
Determining when an animal is in heat can enable a farmer to bring the female animal into proximity with a male animal for natural breeding or artificially inseminate the animal at an optimum time. Artificial Insemination is traditionally used to guarantee a particular attribute of the male animal not owned by the farmer. It is still not totally effective with an approximate 50% conception rate. For the majority of farms, this approach is limited or impractical.
Known methods to determine when an animal is in heat include:                observation of the animals by the farmer to look for signs of heat, such as mounting of the animal by other animals, swelling or reddening of the vulva, mucus discharge, restlessness or aggressive behaviour, and shortened feeding time;        paint, chalk or dye marking which is traditionally seen in sheep herds, where the ram has a paint/chalk marker attached to the under belly, when the ram mounts a ewe a mark is left on the mounted ewe and can be observed by the farmer, the effectiveness of this method is dependent on the climate; and        mount detecting devices which are pressure sensitive devices glued to the back or rear of the female animal, when the animal is mounted by another the device changes colour or provides some other indication of the mounting which can then be observed by the farmer. All of these methods depend on some physical observation by the farmer and although the observation can detect when an animal is in heat, another check is required after mating or insemination to determine whether the animal has conceived. Whilst it can be determined whether an animal has conceived, it is difficult to determine how easily the animal conceived, for example how may times did the male need to service the female for her to become pregnant. Further, unless artificial insemination is used or there is only one fertile male animal in the herd, tracking of the parentage of the offspring can be difficult or impossible.
There is a need for a system which enables a more reliable monitoring of the oestrus cycles and breeding activities of livestock.

Livestock breeding and management system


An apparatus for capturing audio information from a target location includes first and second beamformers arranged in a recording environment and having first and second recording characteristics, respectively, and a signal generator. The first and second beamformers are configured for recording first and second beamformer audio signals, respectively, when they are directed towards the target location with respect to the first and second recording characteristics. The first and second beamformers are arranged such that first and second virtual straight lines, defined to pass through the first and second beamformers, respectively, and the target location, are not mutually parallel. The signal generator is configured to generate an audio output signal based on the first and second beamformer audio signals so that the audio output signal reflects relatively more audio information from the target location compared to the audio information from the target location in the first and second beamformer audio signals.

Spatial sound acquisition aims at capturing an entire sound field which is present at a recording room or just certain desired components of the sound field that are of interest for the application at hand. As an example, in a situation where several people in a room have a conversation, it may be of interest to either capture the entire sound field (including its spatial characteristics) or just a signal that a certain talker produces. The latter enables to isolate the sound and apply specific processing to it, such as amplification, filtering etc.
There are a number of methods known for spatially selectively capturing certain sound components. These methods often employ microphones with a high directionality or microphone arrays. Most methods have in common that the microphone or the microphone array is arranged in a fixed known geometry. The spacing between the microphones is as small as possible for coincident microphone techniques, whereas it is normally a few centimeters for the other methods. In the following, we refer to any apparatus for the directionally selective acquisition of the spatial sound (e.g., directional microphones, microphone arrays, etc.) as a beamformer.
Traditionally, directional (spatial) selectivity in sound capture, i.e., a spatially selective sound acquisition, can be achieved in several ways:
One possible way is to employ directional microphones (e.g., cardioid, super cardioid, or shot gun microphones). There, all microphones capture the sound differently depending on the direction-of-arrival (DOA) relative to the microphone. In some microphones, this effect is minor, as they capture sound almost independently of the direction. These microphones are called omnidirectional microphones. Typically in such microphones, a circular diaphragm is attached to a small airtight enclosure, see, for example,    [Ea01] Eargle J. "The Microphone Book" Focal press 2001.
If the diaphragm is not attached to the enclosure and sound reaches it equally from each side, its directional pattern has two lobes of equal magnitude. It captures sound with equal level from both front and back of the diaphragm, however, with inversed polarities. This microphone does not capture sound coming from the directions parallel to the plane of the diaphragm. This directional pattern is called dipole or figure-of-eight. If the enclosure of omnidirectional microphone is not airtight, but a special construction is made, which allows the sound waves to propagate through the enclosure and reach the diaphragm, the directional pattern is somewhere between omnidirectional and dipole (see [Ea01]). The patterns may have two lobes; however, the lobes may have different magnitudes. The patterns may also have a single lobe; the most important example is the cardioid pattern, where the directional function D can be expressed as D=0.5(1+cos(θ)), where θ is the direction of arrival of sound (see [Ea01]). This function quantifies the relative magnitude of the captured sound level of a plane wave at the angle θ with respect to the angle with the highest sensitivity. Omnidirectional microphones are called zeroth-order microphones and other patterns mentioned in the previous, such as dipole and cardioid patterns, are known as first-order patterns. These kinds of microphones do not allow arbitrary shaping of the pattern since their directivity pattern is almost entirely determined by their mechanical construction.
Some special acoustical structures also exist which can be used to create narrower directional patterns to microphones than first-order ones. For example, if a tube which has holes in it is attached to an omnidirectional microphone, a microphone with a very narrow directional pattern can be created. Such microphones are called shotgun or rifle microphones (see [Ea01]). They typically do not have flat frequency responses and their directivity cannot be controlled after recording.
Another method to construct a microphone with directional characteristics is to record sound with an array of omnidirectional or directional microphones and to apply signal processing afterwards, see, for example,    [BW01] M. Brandstein, D. Ward: "Microphone Arrays—Signal Processing Techniques and Applications", Springer Berlin, 2001, ISBN: 978-3-540-41953-2.
There exist a variety of methods for this. In simplest form, when sound is recorded with two omnidirectional microphones close to each other and subtracted from each other, a virtual microphone signal with a dipole characteristic is formed. See, e.g.    [Elk00] G. W. Elko: "Superdirectional microphone arrays" in S. G. Gay, J. Benesty (eds.): "Acoustic Signal Processing for Telecommunication", Chapter 10, Kluwer Academic Press, 2000, ISBN: 978-0792378143.
The microphone signals can also be delayed or filtered before summing to each other. In beamforming, a signal corresponding to a narrow beam is formed by filtering each microphone signal with a specially designed filter and then adding them together. This "filter-and-sum beamforming" is explained in    [BS01]: J. Bitzer, K. U. Simmer: "Superdirective microphone arrays" in M. Brandstein, D. Ward (eds.): "Microphone Arrays—Signal Processing Techniques and Applications", Chapter 2, Springer Berlin, 2001, ISBN: 978-3-540-41953-2.
These techniques are blind to the signal itself, e.g., they are not aware of the direction of arrival of sound. Instead, estimation of the "direction of arrival" (DOA) is a task of its own, see, for example,    [CBH06] J. Chen, J. Benesty, Y. Huang: "Time Delay Estimation in Room Acoustic Environments: An Overview", EURASIP Journal on Applied Signal Processing, Article ID 26503, Volume 2006 (2006).
In principle, many different directional characteristics can be formed with these techniques. For forming arbitrary spatially very selective sensitivity patterns, however, a large number of microphones may be used. In general, all these techniques rely on distances of adjacent microphones which are small compared to the wavelength of interest.
Another way for realizing directional selectivity in sound capture is parametric spatial filtering. Standard beamformer designs, which may, for example, be based on a limited number of microphones and which possess time-invariant filters in their filter-and-sum structure (see [BS01]) usually exhibit only limited spatial selectivity. To increase the spatial selectivity, recently parametric spatial filtering techniques have been proposed which apply (time-variant) spectral gain functions to the input signal spectrum. The gain functions are designed based on parameters, which are related to the human perception of spatial sound. One spatial filtering approach is presented in    [DiFi2009] M. Kallinger, G. Del Galdo, F. Küch, D. Mahne, and R. Schultz-Amling, "Spatial Filtering using Directional Audio Coding Parameters," in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing (ICASSP), April 2009,and is implemented in the parameters domain of Directional Audio Coding (DirAC), an efficient spatial coding technique. Directional Audio Coding is described in    [Pu106] Pulkki, V., "Directional audio coding in spatial sound reproduction and stereo upmixing," in Proceedings of The AES 28th International Conference, pp. 251-258, PiteA, Sweden, Jun. 30-Jul. 2, 2006.
In DirAC, the sound field is analyzed in one location at which the active intensity vector as well as the sound pressure is measured. These physical quantities are used to extract the three DirAC parameters: sound pressure, direction-of-arrival (DOA) and diffuseness of sound. DirAC makes use of the assumption that the human auditory system can only process one direction per time- and frequency-tile. This assumption is also exploited by other spatial audio coding techniques like MPEG Surround, see, for example:    [Vil06] L. Villemoes, J. Herre, J. Breebaart, G. Hotho, S. Disch, H. Purnhagen, and K. Kjörling, "MPEG Surround: The Forthcoming ISO Standard for Spatial Audio Coding," in AES 28th International Conference, Pitea, Sweden, June 2006.
The spatial filtering approach, as described in [DiFi2009], allows for an almost free choice of spatial selectivity.
A further technique makes use of comparable spatial parameters. This technique is explained in    [Fa108] C. Faller: "Obtaining a Highly Directive Center Channel from Coincident Stereo Microphone Signals", Proc. 124th AES convention, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2008, Preprint 7380.
In contrast to the technique described in [DiFi2009], in which a spectral gain function is applied to an omnidirectional microphone signal, the approach in [Fa108] makes use of two cardioid microphones.
The two mentioned parametric spatial filtering techniques rely on microphone spacings, which are small compared to the wavelength of interest. Ideally, the techniques described in [DiFi2009] and [Fa108] are based on coincident directional microphones.
Another way of realizing directional selectivity in sound capture is a filtering of microphone signals based on the coherence between microphone signals. In    [SBM01] K. U. Simmer, J. Bitzer, and C. Marro: "Post-Filtering Techniques" in M. Brandstein, D. Ward (eds.): "Microphone Arrays—Signal Processing Techniques and Applications", Chapter 3, Springer Berlin, 2001, ISBN: 978-3-540-41953-2,a family of systems is described, which employ at least two (not necessarily directional) microphones and a processing of their output signal is based on the coherence of the signals. The underlying assumption is that diffuse background noise will appear as incoherent parts in the two microphone signals, whereas a source signal will appear coherently in these signals. Based on this premise, the coherent part is extracted as source signal. Techniques mentioned in [SBM01] were developed due to the fact that filter-and-sum beamformers with a limited number of microphones are hardly capable of reducing diffuse noise signals. No assumptions on the location of the microphones are made; not even the spacing of microphones needs to be known.
A major limitation of traditional approaches for spatially selective sound acquisition is that the recorded sound is invariably related to the location of the beamformer. In many applications it is, however, not possible (or feasible) to place a beamformer in the desired position, e.g., at a desired angle relative to the sound source of interest.
Traditional beamformers, may, for example, employ microphone arrays and can form a directional pattern ("beam") to capture sound from one direction—and reject sound from other directions. Consequently, there is no possibility to restrict the region of sound capture regarding its distance from the capturing microphone array.
It would be extremely desirable to have a capturing device which can selectively capture sound originating not only from one direction, but directly restricted to originating from one place (spot), similar to the way a close-up spot microphone at the desired place would perform.

Apparatus and method for spatially selective sound acquisition by acoustic  triangulation

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.


A vibration quenching substrate which effectively isolates diagnostic equipment such as magnetic resonance imaging devices from image degrading vibrations. The substrate comprises numerous layers including a base layer, an elastomeric layer, and an inertia base layer which free-floats on the elastomeric layer. Importantly, the elastomeric layer is free of any rigid connection to either the base or inertia base layers.

It has been found that diagnostic medical imaging equipment, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) devices, are sensitive to mechanical or natural vibrations from external sources. The vibrations are generally transmitted to the device through the base upon which the imaging device is situated.
Numerous external sources of vibration have been identified. Generally, diagnostic equipment is located in hospitals or other healthcare sites situated near major roads or highways and developed areas wherein road traffic comprising automobiles, buses, trucks and even trains have been noted for causing harmful vibrations. Other such vibration producing sources within healthcare sites include but are not limited to mechanical and hydraulic elevators, heating ventilating and air conditioning systems (HVAC), air compressors, extractor fans and water and vacuum pumps.
Generally, the vibrations transmitted to diagnostic equipment result in degraded and reduced quality images at least in the form of snowy, blurred or replicated images. Since the preferred magnet is an open type and not the tunnel or sewer pipe, it is theorized that the North and South Pole relationship actually changes. This causes a fluctuation in the magnetic field purity. This purity is specified in PPM (part per million). The preferred MRI device of the present invention has a specification of 3 PPM and any disturbance greater than about 0.03 PPM will cause image artifacts which are recorded by the MRI Imager.
Prior to the present invention, there have been numerous attempts to reduce vibrations, noise, impulses or shocks both to and from various machines.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,126,660 to Pogue relates to apparatus reportedly used for preventing the vibrations of an engine or machine from being transmitted to the building or structure within which or upon which the engine or machine is installed, and particularly, anti-vibration-supporting apparatus of the type that employ springs for taking up or absorbing the vibrations of the engine or machine.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,605,066 to Brown relates to machinery supports for heavy, impact generating machines, such as forging machines, wherein the vibration from the machines to surrounding surfaces is limited.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,499,255 to Sweeney et al. relates to a vibration isolation floor construction for supporting vibration sensitive and vibration producing machines, equipment and the like. The floors comprise pads of glass fiber material which are formed so as to maintain constant natural frequencies under variations in loading. In particular, the floor constructions are constructed and loaded in accordance with fabricated isolation pads. In addition, the floor constructions can be fabricated in accordance with a formula which has been established to provide the above-mentioned advantages.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,436,274 to Kramer relates to a laminated vibration isolation pad comprising first or top rigid layer of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene material, a second layer of vulcanized elastomeric material with an additional third or bottom layer of spaced resilient vulcanized elastomeric projections. The laminated vibration isolation pad is fabricated as a unitary structure with the polyethylene layer bonded or fused to the rubber layer while being formed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,638 to Hsieh relates to a medical NMR scanner adapted to be supported on the floor of a building or other structure by vibration limiting supports. The scanner includes a frame defining a patient-receiving space adapted to receive a human body. It also includes a pair of opposed polar regions aligned on a polar axis. The polar regions are disposed on opposite sides of the patient-receiving space. Structure is provided in each of the polar regions for producing a magnetic field within the patient-receiving space. Attenuators, positioned intermediate the frame and the building floor, are provided for reportedly attenuating transmission of vibrations from the floor to the magnetic field producing structure in order to reduce scanner image degradation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,220 to Whittaker et al. relates to a reportedly vibration absorbing and leveling machinery foundation mount and a method for tuning the same, the mount consisting of a rigid horizontal platform having a plurality of vibration absorbing legs. A leveler is mounted in the central region of the platform having a vertically adjustable riser, and the legs are formed by pockets housing a composite vibration absorbing material extending below the platform and engaging the surface upon which the machinery mount is supported which may be tuned to most effectively absorb the vibration to which the mount is subjected.

Vibration quenching substrate for diagnostic equipment susceptible to vibrations


A power steering apparatus having enhanced neutral rigidity and improved operation stability at the time of straight traveling. The apparatus includes a pair of spring members which sandwich an input shaft and are disposed in an output shaft or a member rotating integrally with this output shaft. A preset force is exerted by a spring force of the spring members.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a power steering apparatus utilizing a torsion bar.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In conventional power steering apparatus utilizing a torsion bar, it is so constructed that a feeling from a steering wheel is determined by a torsion resistance of this torsion bar. However, when the steering wheel is in its neutral position, there occurs little torsion resistance in the torsion bar, therefore its neutral rigidity becomes weak.
Thus, various types of apparatuses for enhancing the neutral rigidity have been proposed. For example, apparatuses disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.Hei6-171520 and Hei3-139470 have been well known since before.
In the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.Hei6-171520, the input shaft is inserted into the output shaft so that a space is formed between both the shafts, and a ring-shaped spring is incorporated in this space. This spring is formed by cutting one position of the material and can be opened to the right and left from that cut position. Then, pins are protruded to both sides, the input shaft side and the output shaft side, and the respective pins are inserted into the cut positions of the above spring members.
If the input shaft and the output shaft are rotated relative to each other with the above condition, the ring-shaped spring members are opened from the cut positions. Reaction of the spring which occurs when they are opened acts as a preset force to enhance the neutral rigidity.
In the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.Hei3-139470, the input shaft is inserted into the output shaft and protrusions are formed on portions opposing each other of both the shafts. A spring force of the leaf spring is applied to these protrusions in such a condition that they are nipped.
If both the shafts are rotated relative to each other, the protrusions go contradictorily. When the protrusion are contradictory to each other, a spring force of the leaf spring acts. A preset force is exerted by this spring force.
The invention disclosed in the above Japanese Patent No.Hei6-171520 has such a problem that the spring force of the ring-shaped spring member cannot be specified easily.
Further, if its preset force is intended to increase, a deflection amount initially set must be increased. However, if the deflection amount initially set is increased, the spring members must be assembled at a predetermined position in such a condition that they are largely deflected. Assembly of the spring members in the deflection state worsens the assembly performance thereof.
On the contrary, if the amount of deflection initially set is decreased, the spring constant must be increased correspondingly. If the spring constant is increased, spring stress is increased correspondingly so that the spring may be broken in normal application range.
In the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.Hei3-139470, if the protrusions on both the shafts are not set symmetrically, preset force is deviated or looseness occurs. However, if it is intended to arrange them symmetrically, quite high an accuracy is needed, and therefore productivity of this product is reduced.


The present invention is directed to a system, software system and method for manipulating multimedia broadcast presentations. Manipulating multimedia events offers users increased options in how they experience multimedia presentations. Thus increasing the overall multimedia experience and consequently user satisfaction. Utilization of the present invention allows the user to experience combinations of media previously unavailable. For example, in implementations of the present invention, users may option various combinations of audio and video; including the rate at which a user experiences the media. Further, the user may text search to find starting and stopping points for recording, viewing and pausing operations. The user play programming allows the user to customize how a single media, such as audio, is experienced.

Presently, the public at large is offered a variety of entertainment selections. As competition between different multimedia presentations increases users may become overwhelmed with choices. While users are typically offered diverse multimedia choices, these selections in some instances may conflict with other multimedia presentations that the user may wish to experience. Other drawbacks to present multimedia presentations include conflicts between the user's schedule and the broadcast of a multimedia presentation and conflicts between members of groups of users.
In order to allow users to optimize their options various technologies have been developed to enable the user some limited flexibility as to which multimedia presentation they will experience. In particular the field of broadcast multimedia presentations includes video cassette recorders (VCR). VCRs allow a user the opportunity to tape a broadcast for replay at a later time. The VCR user is limited to certain primitive data management techniques. VCR data management techniques limit the VCR user to viewing or recording a single broadcast or requires the user to employ multiple VCRs to achieve additional functionality. A VCR user is limited to playing an event, rewinding, fast forwarding, and pausing the recorded event.
A personal video recorder (PVR) offers increased features over that of VCRs such as allowing a user the opportunity to record and view simultaneously. The user of a PVR may even be able to view a delayed presentation of an event being currently recorded, as well as previously recorded events. While the PVR allows additional features in comparison to the VCR, the PVR fails to provide additional features to enhance the user's overall experience.
Drawbacks to current PVRs include limitations on how the user may experience multimedia presentations. While PVRs offer advantages over VCR technology, drawbacks to current PVRs may impact consumer choices. Consumers typically are offered a range of features, which may enhance a user's overall viewing experience. Compelling functional characteristics may add to a user's overall satisfaction with a PVR and ultimately, additional functionality may cause a consumer to purchase one PVR over that of a competing PVR manufacturer or may act as an incentive for a consumer to purchase a higher priced PVR to obtain additional functionality.
Presently, PVRs are limited to recording a multimedia broadcast in its entirety for replay at a later time or for delayed broadcast. Delayed broadcast may include beginning to record a broadcast event and while the event is occurring starting the event for the PVR user. When a current PVR is utilized in the delayed broadcast manner the user may be limited to performing a single time shift, such as the time shift between recording and display, thus a user may not be able to scroll through the stored portion of the event without disturbing the recording of the event.
Current PVRs fail to offer effective data management. Thus, should a current PVR be programmed to store a particular multimedia broadcast, which exceeds available storage capacity this may cause the PVR to record over a previously stored multimedia broadcast that the user may wish to retain. Difficulties in managing data may result in user frustration and dissatisfaction.
An additional disadvantage of current PVRs is the deactivation during a pause, such a one initiated by a user. During a pause while utilizing a current PVR the multimedia presentation output is halted resulting thus no media is presented. This may not meet user desires.
Furthermore, PVRs currently do not allow a user to vary the multimedia experience. For example a user may wish to only to be presented with the audio portion of the media broadcast, be presented with audio from one broadcast while viewing a second broadcast or view a picture-in-picture PIP
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a method and system for providing an enhanced personal video recorder experience. The enhanced personal video recorder system and method may be capable of providing additional functionality thereby allowing a user additional options heretofore unavailable with current PVR systems.

Enhanced personal video recorder including user play programming


A quality test device tests a display device having a plurality of thin film transistors (TFTs). The quality test device includes a color analyzer for determining a color of an image displayed by the display device, and a quality inspection module. The quality inspection module controls a display state of the display device and determines whether the TFTs are adequately disposed within the display device based on a performance threshold. The quality inspection module determines that the display device is defective when a performance data of the display device is outside of the performance threshold, and determines that the display device is normal when the performance data is within the performance threshold.

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art. Vehicles, such as automobiles, buses, trucks, and trains, can be equipped with one or more display modules for conveying information to an occupant. Display devices include, for example, infotainment centers with liquid crystal displays (LCDs), head-up displays (HUD), and/or instrument panels.
A display device can include multiple thin-film transistors (TFTs) which are field-effect transistors that have thin films of an active semiconductor layer, a dielectric layer, and metallic contacts over a supporting non-conducting material, such as glass. As part of a pixel, a given TFT is connected to a printed circuit board (PCB) which may control the operation the pixel via the TFT. The display device may include equal number of red, blue, and green pixels.
The TFTs can control the intensity of the color emitted by the pixel. For example, a TFT that produces a low intensity color may be referred to as a least significant bit (LSB) and a TFT that produces a high intensity color may be referred to as a most significant bit (MSB). A MSB may affect the color of an image generated by the display device more than a LSB. Accordingly, when a LSB is not properly connected to the PCB (e.g., an open or short connection), the image displayed by the display device may not appear abnormal to a user. However, when a MSB is not properly connected, the image displayed by the display device may appear abnormal to the user. Therefore, it is difficult to determine whether all of the TFTs are connected to the PCB by simply looking at the image displayed by the display device.

Quality test device for inspecting vehicular display module having thin-film transistors


An image forming apparatus including a photoconductive member, a charging mechanism, an optical writing mechanism, a development mechanism, a sensing mechanism, and a controlling mechanism. The charging mechanism charges a surface of the photoconductive member at a charge voltage. The optical writing mechanism writes latent images including first and second latent images on the surface of the photoconductive member. The development mechanism develops the first latent image into a first toner pattern at a solid toner density and the second latent image into a second toner pattern at a half-tone tone density. The sensing mechanism detects reflection densities of the first and second toner patterns and generates output signals representing detection results detected by the sensing mechanism. The controlling mechanism adjusts values of the solid toner density, the charge voltage, and the half-tone toner density based on the output signals. The controlling mechanism adjusts the value of the charge voltage by changing a voltage to be applied to the charging mechanism at intervals of a predetermined time period and adjusts the value of the half-tone toner density by controlling the optical writing mechanism to change a light amount.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for image forming, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for image forming that is capable of effectively performing an image density adjustment.
2. Discussion of the Background
In order to maintain high image quality using image forming apparatuses such as digital copying machines, printers, and facsimile machines which form an image on a photoconductive member with a laser beam, stabilizing a half-tone image density has been considered a major factor. One example of an image forming apparatus which attempts to stabilize the half-tone image density is described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 6-208271. This image forming apparatus has a configuration whereby several calculations are performed. A control voltage which controls a charging mechanism for charging a photoconductive member at a desired dark voltage is calculated. An amount of a laser beam for obtaining a desired half-tone image voltage is calculated based on a voltage of a latent image patch which is formed on the photoconductive member charged at the desired dark voltage and a light amount for producing the latent image patch. A development bias voltage is calculated by subtracting the desired dark voltage by a predetermined voltage. Based on these calculations, the control voltage, the amount of the laser beam, and the development bias voltage are updated. However, this technique requires voltage detection. Since voltage detection equipment normally is an expensive tool, the manufacturing cost of the image forming apparatus is increased.
Another example of an image forming apparatus which attempts to stabilize the halftone image density is described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 8-265570. This image forming apparatus includes a toner pattern generating mechanism for generating a toner image density detection pattern on an image bearing member, an image density detection mechanism for detecting an image density of a toner image, a controlling mechanism for controlling the image density in accordance with the detection result, and a data table for representing a gray-scale based on a relationship between the detection result and the image density. However, this technique requires a relatively long time period to perform the detection of a half-tone image since it generates a number of half-tone image patterns during the time of such detection. Moreover, since this technique conducts the adjustment of the half-tone image density during a time period of a power wide modulation of a laser diode, the accuracy with respect to a width of the adjustment is relatively rough.
Another example of an image forming apparatus which attempts to control an amount of toner deposition in a range of images from a solid black image to a half-tone image is described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 8-297834. This image forming apparatus includes a test patch generating mechanism for generating test patches for solid black and half-tone images using toner on an image carrying member and an image density detection mechanism for detecting image density of the test patches. With such a configuration, the image forming apparatus controls a density of a solid black image by controlling a rotation speed of the image carrying member based on the detection result with respect to the solid black image. Then, detection of image density with respect to the test patch of the half-tone image is performed and, based on the detection result, the density of the half-tone image is controlled by control of a laser power. However, controlling the rotation speed of the image bearing member requires an expensive mechanism which increases the manufacturing cost of the image forming apparatus. Moreover, this configuration may cause an overlapping of a background image or an erroneous white mark in a rear edge of a half-tone image by changing the rotation speed of the image carrying member, particularly, in a case that the image forming apparatus uses a development agent of two components and a magnetic brush. In addition, the above-mentioned three image forming apparatuses commonly use a scorotron charger, that is, a corona charger having a screen electrode and which is prone to produce ozone.
A contact type charger such as a charging roller is known to produce less ozone but also to cause variations of charge voltage to a relatively great extent. The variations of the charge voltage can be reduced with a technique which corrects a charge output using a sensor for detecting a reflection density. However, this technique also has a drawback in that the difference between the charge voltages before and after the adjustment adversely affects a voltage of the half-tone image and, as a result, the image density of the half-tone image is varied.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a novel image forming apparatus. The novel image forming apparatus includes a photoconductive member, a charging mechanism, an optical writing mechanism, a development mechanism, a sensing mechanism, and a controlling mechanism. The charging mechanism is configured to charge a surface of the photoconductive member in order that the surface is charged at a charge voltage. The optical writing mechanism is configured to write latent images including a first latent image and a second latent image on the surface of the photoconductive member charged at the charge voltage. The development mechanism is configured to develop the first latent image into a first toner pattern at a solid toner density and the second latent image into a second toner pattern at a half-tone tone density. The sensing mechanism is configured to detect reflection densities of the first and second toner patterns and to generate output signals representing detection results detected by the sensing mechanism. The controlling mechanism is configured to adjust values of the solid toner density, the charge voltage, and the half-tone toner density based on the output signals generated by the sensing mechanism. In the above-mentioned novel image forming apparatus, the controlling mechanism adjusts the value of the charge voltage by changing a voltage to be applied to the charging mechanism at intervals of a predetermined time period and adjusts the value of the half-tone toner density by controlling the optical writing mechanism to change a light amount.
The charging mechanism may include a charging roller configured to apply a charge to the photoconductive member in contact thereto.
The optical writing mechanism may write a third latent image on the surface of the photoconductive member charged at the charge voltage and the development mechanism may develop the third latent image into a third toner pattern at a solid toner density so that the first toner pattern is used to adjust the value of the solid toner density and the third toner pattern is used to adjust a value of the charge voltage.
The controlling mechanism is configured to adjust the value of the half-tone toner density based on the output signals generated by the sensing mechanism upon completing the adjustment of the solid toner density and the charge voltage based on the output signals generated by the sensing mechanism after the completion of a job.
The controlling mechanism is configured to adjust the value of the half-tone toner density by controlling the optical writing mechanism to change the light amount at multiple levels so that the apparatus forms a multi-level half-tone image.
The image forming apparatus is configured to form the multi-level half-tone image using an error diffusion.
The present invention further provides a novel method for image density adjustment. The novel method of image density adjustment includes the steps of charging, optically writing, developing, detecting, generating, and adjusting. The charging step charges a surface of a photoconductive member so that the surface is charged at a charge voltage. The optically writing step writes latent images including a first latent image and a second latent image on the surface of the photoconductive member charged at the charge voltage. The developing step develops the first latent image into a first toner pattern at a solid toner density and the second latent image into a second toner pattern at a half-tone tone density. The detecting step detects reflection densities of the first and second toner patterns. The generating step generates output signals representing results of the detecting step. The adjusting step adjusts values of the solid toner density, the charge voltage, and the half-tone toner density based on the output signals generated by the generating step. In the above described novel method, the adjusting step adjusts the value of the charge voltage by changing a voltage to be applied in the charging step at intervals of a predetermined time period and the value of the half-tone toner density by controlling the optically writing step to change a light amount.
The charging step may use a charging roller configured to apply a charge to the photoconductive member in contact thereto.
The optically writing step may write a third latent image on the surface of the photoconductive member charged at the charge voltage and the development step may develop the third latent image into a third toner pattern at a solid toner density so that the first toner pattern is used to adjust the value of the solid toner density and the third toner pattern is used to adjust value of the charge voltage.
The adjusting step may adjust the value of the half-tone toner density based on the output signals generated in the generating step upon completing the adjustment of the solid toner density and the charge voltage based on the output signals generated in the generating step after the completion of a job.
The adjusting step may adjust the value of the half-tone toner density by controlling the optically writing step to change the light amount at multiple levels so that the method is applied to a multi-level half-tone image.
The method for image density adjustment may be applied to the multi-level half-tone image using an error diffusion.

Method and apparatus for image forming capable of effectively performing image density adjustment


A system and methods for automated DSP processing of media entities to create a persistent data store having DSP processed media entities is provided. In connection with a system that convergently merges perceptual and digital signal processing analysis of media entities for purposes of classifying the media entities, various means are provided to automatically DSP process media entities data for storage in persistent data store. Techniques for incorporating DSP processed media entity data into a music matching and analysis system are also included. In an illustrative implementation, the DSP processed media entity data may be generated and stored for leveraging to participating users.

Classifying information that has subjectively perceived attributes or characteristics is difficult. When the information is one or more musical compositions, classification is complicated by the widely varying subjective perceptions of the musical compositions by different listeners. One listener may perceive a particular musical composition as "hauntingly beautiful" whereas another may perceive the same composition as "annoyingly twangy."
In the classical music context, musicologists have developed names for various attributes of musical compositions. Terms such as adagio, fortissimo, or allegro broadly describe the strength with which instruments in an orchestra should be played to properly render a musical composition from sheet music. In the popular music context, there is less agreement upon proper terminology. Composers indicate how to render their musical compositions with annotations such as brightly, softly, etc., but there is no consistent, concise, agreed-upon system for such annotations.
As a result of rapid movement of musical recordings from sheet music to pre-recorded analog media to digital storage and retrieval technologies, this problem has become acute. In particular, as large libraries of digital musical recordings have become available through global computer networks, a need has developed to classify individual musical compositions in a quantitative manner based on highly subjective features, in order to facilitate rapid search and retrieval of large collections of compositions.
Musical compositions and other information are now widely available for sampling and purchase over global computer networks through online merchants such as Amazon.com, Inc., barnesandnoble.com, cdnow.com, etc. A prospective consumer can use a computer system equipped with a standard Web browser to contact an online merchant, browse an online catalog of pre-recorded music, select a song or collection of songs ("album"), and purchase the song or album for shipment direct to the consumer. In this context, online merchants and others desire to assist the consumer in making a purchase selection and desire to suggest possible selections for purchase. However, current classification systems and search and retrieval systems are inadequate for these tasks.
A variety of inadequate classification and search approaches are now used. In one approach, a consumer selects a musical composition for listening or for purchase based on past positive experience with the same artist or with similar music. This approach has a significant disadvantage in that it involves guessing because the consumer has no familiarity with the musical composition that is selected.
In another approach, a merchant classifies musical compositions into broad categories or genres. The disadvantage of this approach is that typically the genres are too broad. For example, a wide variety of qualitatively different albums and songs may be classified in the genre of "Popular Music" or "Rock and Roll."
In still another approach, an online merchant presents a search page to a client associated with the consumer. The merchant receives selection criteria from the client for use in searching the merchant's catalog or database of available music. Normally the selection criteria are limited to song name, album title, or artist name. The merchant searches the database based on the selection criteria and returns a list of matching results to the client. The client selects one item in the list and receives further, detailed information about that item. The merchant also creates and returns one or more critics' reviews, customer reviews, or past purchase information associated with the item.
For example, the merchant may present a review by a music critic of a magazine that critiques the album selected by the client. The merchant may also present informal reviews of the album that have been previously entered into the system by other consumers. Further, the merchant may present suggestions of related music based on prior purchases of others. For example, in the approach of Amazon.com, when a client requests detailed information about a particular album or song, the system displays information stating, "People who bought this album also bought . . . " followed by a list of other albums or songs. The list of other albums or songs is derived from actual purchase experience of the system. This is called "collaborative filtering."
However, this approach has a significant disadvantage, namely that the suggested albums or songs are based on extrinsic similarity as indicated by purchase decisions of others, rather than based upon objective similarity of intrinsic attributes of a requested album or song and the suggested albums or songs. A decision by another consumer to purchase two albums at the same time does not indicate that the two albums are objectively similar or even that the consumer liked both. For example, the consumer might have bought one for the consumer and the second for a third party having greatly differing subjective taste than the consumer. As a result, some pundits have termed the prior approach as the "greater fools" approach because it relies on the judgment of others.
Another disadvantage of collaborative filtering is that output data is normally available only for complete albums and not for individual songs. Thus, a first album that the consumer likes may be broadly similar to second album, but the second album may contain individual songs that are strikingly dissimilar from the first album, and the consumer has no way to detect or act on such dissimilarity.
Still another disadvantage of collaborative filtering is that it requires a large mass of historical data in order to provide useful search results. The search results indicating what others bought are only useful after a large number of transactions, so that meaningful patterns and meaningful similarity emerge. Moreover, early transactions tend to over-influence later buyers, and popular titles tend to self-perpetuate.
In a related approach, the merchant may present information describing a song or an album that is prepared and distributed by the recording artist, a record label, or other entities that are commercially associated with the recording. A disadvantage of this information is that it may be biased, it may deliberately mischaracterize the recording in the hope of increasing its sales, and it is normally based on inconsistent terms and meanings.
In still another approach, digital signal processing (DSP) analysis is used to try to match characteristics from song to song, but DSP analysis alone has proven to be insufficient for classification purposes. While DSP analysis may be effective for some groups or classes of songs, it is ineffective for others, and there has so far been no technique for determining what makes the technique effective for some music and not others. Specifically, such acoustical analysis as has been implemented thus far suffers defects because 1) the effectiveness of the analysis is being questioned regarding the accuracy of the results, thus diminishing the perceived quality by the user and 2) recommendations can only be made if the user manually types in a desired artist or song title from that specific website. Accordingly, DSP analysis, by itself, is unreliable and thus insufficient for widespread commercial or other use.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method of classifying information that is characterized by the convergence of subjective or perceptual analysis and DSP acoustical analysis criteria. This classification process requires extensive DSP processing so that media entity characteristics can be properly classified for processed media entities. With such a classification technique, it would be desirable to provide the capability to automatically perform DSP processing of media entities so as to create a persistent data store of processed media entities. It would be further desirable to provide a system and methods as a result of which participating users receive the benefit of the DSP processed media entities through a media entity distribution application. It would be still further desirable to aggregate DSP processed media entities into a persistent data store so that when new media entities are added to a universe of media entities the new media entities are automatically DSP processed and stored in the persistent data store that is made available to participating users.

System and methods for automatic DSP processing


A universal athleticism rating system and related athletic performance measuring systems for accurately detecting and recording athletic performance are disclosed. The athleticism rating system evaluates individual athletes against a common, standardized, set of athletic performance tests. Each athlete performs the athletic tests and his or her scores in the individual tests are entered into a standardized calculation to produce a single athletic performance score. The related performance measuring system is preferably a timing system that ensures quick, easy, and accurate collection of athletic event timing related data without the need for the athlete to wear any special detection devices or the like. In a preferred embodiment, the performance measuring system integrates with the rating system to provide seamless athletic data collection and rating of athletes.

Athletics are extremely important in our society. In addition to competing against each other on the field, athletes often compete with each other off the field. For example, student athletes routinely compete with each other for a spot on the team, or even if they are already on the team, for more "game time" or a higher starting position. Graduating high school seniors are also in competition with other student athletes for coveted college athletic scholarships and the like. Also, amateur athletes in some sports often compete with each other for jobs as professional athletes in that sport. The critical factor in all of these competitions is the athletic performance, or athleticism, of the particular athlete, and the ability of that athlete to demonstrate or document those abilities to others.
Speed, agility, reaction time, and power are some of the determining characteristics influencing the athleticism of an athlete. Accordingly, athletes strive to improve their athletic performance in these areas, and coaches and recruiters tend to seek those athletes that have the best set of these characteristics for the particular sport.
To date, this evaluation and comparison of athletes has been largely subjective. Scouts tour the country viewing potential athletes for particular teams, and many top athletes are recruited site unseen, simply by word of mouth. These methods for evaluating and recruiting athletes are usually hit or miss.
One method for evaluating and comparing athletes' athleticism involves having the athletes perform a common set of exercises and drills. Athletes that perform the exercises or drills more quickly and/or more accurately are usually considered to be better than those with slower or less accurate performance for the same exercise or drill. For example, "cone drills" are routinely used in training and evaluating athletes. In a typical "cone drill" the athlete must follow a pre-determined course between several marker cones and, in the process, execute a number of rapid direction changes, and/or switch from forward to backward or lateral running.
Although widely used in a large number of institutions, high schools, colleges, training camps, and amateur and professional teams, such training and testing drills usually rely on the subjective evaluation of the coach or trainer or on timing devices manually triggered by a human operator. Accordingly, they are subject to human perception and the error inherent in it. These variances and errors in human perception can lead to the best athlete not being determined and rewarded.
Moreover, efforts to meaningfully compile and evaluate the timing and other information gathered from these exercises and drills have been limited. For example, while the fastest athlete from a group of athletes through a given drill may be determinable, these known systems do not allow that athlete to be meaningfully compared to athletes from all over the world that may not have participated in the exact same drill on the exact same day.
Automated sensing and start/stop devices are used in some specific sports and competitions such as track and field and other track-based races, such as motorcycle, skiing, and horse races. These devices are usually expensive and complex, making them difficult to set-up, calibrate, and operate effectively. Accordingly, these devices are usually permanently installed at a particular facility. These facilities are often not regularly accessible to athletes for routine training purposes. Moreover, the data compiled by these devices is often not meaningfully compiled and accessible for athlete evaluation and comparison purposes.

Athleticism rating and performance measuring systems


An optical recording medium, on which a wobble signal having header information is recorded, an apparatus and method of recording the wobble signal, and an apparatus and method of reproducing the wobble signal are provided. The optical recording medium has a wobbled track on which user data is recorded. The wobble signal is recorded on the wobbled track. The wobble signal is a single-frequency signal having at least edge-modulated first header information. Accordingly, a clock signal as well as header information can be extracted more stably from the wobble signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical recording medium, and more particularly, to an optical recording medium having wobbled tracks on which a wobble signal is recorded, an apparatus and method of recording the wobble signal, and an apparatus and method of reproducing the wobble signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recordable optical discs such as a Digital Versatile Disc-RAM (DVD-RAM) have concentric or spiral tracks including groove and land tracks. A wobble signal is recorded on the tracks. A track on which the wobble signal is recorded is called a wobbled track. The wobble signal is used in recording an auxiliary clock signal obtaining synchronization information while recording and reproducing information. Hence, the wobble signal has a frequency band that has no impact upon a tracking servo-mechanism provided in a recording and/or reproducing apparatus. The DVD specifications for Rewritable Disc Version 2.0 support a servo band of approximately 3 KHz to radially track and a wobble signal frequency of approximately 157 KHz at standard linear velocity.
User data is recorded on a wobbled track by an optical pickup. To record user data using a laser beam, an optical pickup provided in a recording apparatus and oscillating a recording laser is allowed to move to a desired location. To this end, addressing information used to move the pickup to its desired location is recorded on an optical disc. Here, addressing information refers to identification information assigned for each unit recording block when an information track is divided into a plurality of unit recording blocks.
A representative conventional approach to record addressing information on an optical disc involves recording addressing information on a header region provided separately from tracks on which user data is written. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional optical disc. Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional optical disc has tracks including groove and land tracks where user data can be written, and a header region where header information is recorded in the form of pre-pits. The header region is located at a predefined position in a sector (unit recording block), and addressing information recorded in the header region is used to allow a pick-up device provided in a recording and/or reproducing apparatus to easily move to its desired location. Furthermore, the addressing information can identify information such as a sector number, a sector type, and servo-control information recorded in the header region.
Header information recording supported by the 1999 DVD-RAM standard version 2.0 uses Complementary Allocated Pit Address (CAPA) techniques. According to CAPA techniques, as shown in FIG. 1, header information is recorded in pairs, each pair of information deviating to the right and left of the center of an information track by a half-track.
However, providing an extra header region complicates the fabrication process of an optical disk while requiring an additional circuit to compensate for a wobble signal, since the wobble signal cannot be obtained while a pick-up device passes the header region. Furthermore, in spite of an increased demand for high-density recording media due to the use of multimedia contents, providing an extra header region results in a smaller region in which user data can be recorded.

Optical recording medium on which a wobble signal having header information is recorded, an apparatus and method of recording wobble signal, and an apparatus and method of reproducing the wobble signal


A device, method and system of displaying a file on a mobile communication device may comprise duplicating at least a leftmost part of a file to obtain a duplicated leftmost part of the file, and displaying a frame through moving a display window along the frame, the frame comprising a rightmost part of the file and the duplicated leftmost part of the file, wherein the duplicated leftmost part of the file is placed on right of the rightmost part of the file. In some embodiments, the mobile communication device may control the display window to automatically move to a leftmost side of the frame, if the display window moves to a rightmost side of the frame, and further in response to a user instruction of continuing viewing the file.

Nowadays, more and more people read files (e.g., web pages) on a mobile communication device, such as a smart phone, a tablet or a computer. Sometimes, the file may not be optimized for displaying on a screen of the mobile communication device. For example, the file may be wider than the screen, in which case, before starting to read next lines, people usually have to move a display window from a rightmost side of the file long-distance back to a leftmost side of the file, by pressing a left/right key on a keyboard or a sliding bar on a touch screen of the mobile communication device.

Method, apparatus and system of displaying a file


Compounds useful for treating cellular proliferative diseases and disorders by modulating the activity of KSP are disclosed.

Among the therapeutic agents used to treat cancer are the taxanes and vinca alkaloids, which act on microtubules. Microtubules are the primary structural element of the mitotic spindle. The mitotic spindle is responsible for distribution of replicate copies of the genome to each of the two daughter cells that result from cell division. It is presumed that disruption of the mitotic spindle by these drugs results in inhibition of cancer cell division, and induction of cancer cell death. However, microtubules form other types of cellular structures, including tracks for intracellular transport in nerve processes. Because these agents do not specifically target mitotic spindles, they have side effects that limit their usefulness.
Improvements in the specificity of agents used to treat cancer is of considerable interest because of the therapeutic benefits which would be realized if the side effects associated with the administration of these agents could be reduced. Traditionally, dramatic improvements in the treatment of cancer are associated with identification of therapeutic agents acting through novel mechanisms. Examples of this include not only the taxanes, but also the camptothecin class of topoisomerase I inhibitors. From both of these perspectives, mitotic kinesins are attractive targets for new anti-cancer agents.
Mitotic kinesins are enzymes essential for assembly and function of the mitotic spindle, but are not generally part of other microtubule structures, such as in nerve processes. Mitotic kinesins play essential roles during all phases of mitosis. These enzymes are "molecular motors" that transform energy released by hydrolysis of ATP into mechanical force which drives the directional movement of cellular cargoes along microtubules. The catalytic domain sufficient for this task is a compact structure of approximately 340 amino acids. During mitosis, kinesins organize microtubules into the bipolar structure that is the mitotic spindle. Kinesins mediate movement of chromosomes along spindle microtubules, as well as structural changes in the mitotic spindle associated with specific phases of mitosis. Experimental perturbation of mitotic kinesin function causes malformation or dysfunction of the mitotic spindle, frequently resulting in cell cycle arrest and cell death.
Among the mitotic kinesins which have been identified is KSP. KSP belongs to an evolutionarily conserved kinesin subfamily of plus end-directed microtubule motors that assemble into bipolar homotetramers consisting of antiparallel homodimers. During mitosis KSP associates with microtubules of the mitotic spindle. Microinjection of antibodies directed against KSP into human cells prevents spindle pole separation during prometaphase, giving rise to monopolar spindles and causing mitotic arrest and induction of programmed cell death. KSP and related kinesins in other, non-human, organisms, bundle antiparallel microtubules and slide them relative to one another, thus forcing the two spindle poles apart. KSP may also mediate in anaphase B spindle elongation and focussing of microtubules at the spindle pole.
Human KSP (also termed HsEg5) has been described (Blangy, et al., Cell, 83:1159–69 (1995); Whitehead, et al., Arthritis Rheum., 39:1635–42 (1996); Galgio et al., J. Cell Biol., 135:339–414 (1996); Blangy, et al., J Biol. Chem., 272:19418–24 (1997); Blangy, et al., Cell Motil Cytoskeleton, 40:174–82 (1998); Whitehead and Rattner, J. Cell Sci., 111:2551–61 (1998); Kaiser, et al., JBC 274:18925–31 (1999); GenBank accession numbers: X85137, NM004523 and U37426), and a fragment of the KSP gene (TRIP5) has been described (Lee, et al., Mol Endocrinol., 9:243–54 (1995); GenBank accession number L40372). Xenopus KSP homologs (Eg5), as well as Drosophila KLP61 F/KRP1 30 have been reported.
Mitotic kinesins, including KSP, are attractive targets for the discovery and development of novel antimitotic chemotherapeutics. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide compounds, compositions and methods useful in the inhibition of KSP.


The invention pertains to a comparison circuit for an analog/digital converter. In order to reduce the effect of the offset voltages of the various comparators of the comparison circuit, voltage followers and a resistor network delivering at its outputs, mean voltages that are the average of those present on outputs of the comparators are linked downstream of the outputs of the comparators.

The invention pertains to a comparison circuit for an analog/digital converter. The comparison circuit comprises a network of comparators each comparing an analog voltage to be converted with a reference voltage. The analog voltage to be converted generally arises from a sample-and-hold module allowing the whole assembly of comparators of the network to receive the same analog voltage at the moment at which they perform the comparison with the reference voltage.
The reference voltages received by the comparators are distributed over a range in which the analog voltage can vary. The distribution is generally uniform over the range and it is for example obtained by means of a network of resistors, all of like value and linked in series between the terminals of a source of supply voltage of the comparator. There are substantially as many resistors as comparators. The reference voltages are then tapped off at the various inter-resistor junction points.
Each comparator comprises two outputs, one direct and the other inverse. The voltages present on its outputs are dependent on the potential difference between the analog voltage and the reference voltage received by the comparator concerned. FIG. 1 represents three curves showing the variation in the voltage present on the direct output On−1, On and On+1 as a function of the analog voltage V, for three comparators C of rank n−1, n and n+1 in the network of comparators. These three comparators receive respectively reference voltages Vref n−1, Vref n and Vref n+1. The comparators receive reference voltages similar in their distribution over the range.
For a given comparator, for example the comparator of rank n, if its response were perfect, the voltage On present on its direct output ought to be zero when the analog voltage V is equal to the reference voltage Vn. However, the response of the comparators is not perfect and a voltage mismatch, termed the offset voltage, is noted between the reference voltage Vref n and the analog voltage V causing a zero voltage On on the direct output of the comparator of rank n. In practice it is noted that each comparator C has its own offset voltage independent of that of the other comparators. In FIG. 1, the comparator C of rank n−1 has an offset voltage Offset n−1, the comparator C of rank n has an offset voltage Offset n and the comparator C of rank n+1 has an offset voltage Offset n+1. The offset voltages may be negative or positive. Their values are randomly distributed for the various comparators of an analog/digital converter. These offset voltages impair the accuracy of the converter and it is noted that they tend to increase when the size of the electronic component on which the converter is made is reduced.
Additionally, the resolution LSB of an analog digital converter may be expressed by the mismatch in the analog voltage modifying the value of a low-order bit at the output of the converter. The LSB resolution is expressed as follows:
  LSB  =            Vpeak      /      peak              2      n      where Vpeak/peak represents the maximum amplitude of the analog voltage that the converter can convert, and where n is the number of comparators in the network. If the resolution LSB is less than three times the offset voltage, there is a loss of linearity of the converter and the low-order bit is no longer meaningful.

Comparison circuit for analog/digital converter