A method and system for decoding a data symbol sequence that has been previously encoded using one or more unique code word polynomials in which at least one unique code word polynomial is used more than once. A set of 2d-1 unique branch metrics is computed, using the unique code word polynomials, where d is the number of unique code word polynomials. The computed set of 2d-1 unique branch metrics is stored in a memory. Path metrics are then calculated, based on the stored set of 2d-1 unique branch metrics. A decoded data symbol sequence is generated based on the computed path metrics.

The present invention relates to digital communication systems. In particular, the present invention relates to the decoding of a convolutionally encoded data symbol sequence in a digital communication system.
Various error detection and correction techniques are used to increase the reliability of a communication system. The techniques involve the encoding of the transmitted data symbol sequence and the decoding of the received encoded data symbol sequence.
One such encoding technique is channel encoding. Channel encoding involves the addition of carefully designed redundant information to the data symbol sequence being transmitted through the channel. The received encoded data symbol sequence on the receiver side is then decoded to obtain the original data symbol sequence. Convolutional coding is one such form of channel coding. Convolutional coding is used to introduce redundancies in the transmitted data. The transmitter sends convolutionally encoded data rather than the transmitted data across a noisy channel. The receiver receives the convolutionally encoded data symbol sequence along with the errors, and corrects these errors in the decoding process.
A convolutional code is a sequence of encoded symbols, which is generated by passing the information sequentially through a series of binary shift registers. For example, if a 1/r code rate convolutional coding is used, then each input bit is encoded into r bits of data. The encoded bits are generated using code word polynomials and a binary shift register defined by constraint length, K.
Once encoded, the resulting code is modulated and transmitted across the noisy channel. On the receiver side, the encoded data is demodulated before being decoded.
There are various algorithms for decoding convolutionally encoded data. The Viterbi algorithm is one such technique used in the art. The Viterbi algorithm decodes a convolutionally encoded data symbol sequence using the prior knowledge of the possible encoder state transitions from a given state to the next state. The prior knowledge is based on the dependence of a given data state on past data. The allowable state transitions can be represented using a trellis diagram. Each node in the trellis diagram denotes the state of a data symbol sequence at a point in time. The branches connecting the nodes denote the state transitions.
The Viterbi decoding process has three basic steps. In the first step, the received data symbol is processed to determine the Euclidean distance between the received data symbol sequence and all possible actual data symbol sequences that could result from a state transition from the present to a next state. This result is stored in a memory for use during the next step. The Euclidean distance computed also is referred to as the branch metric for the path. The branch metric computation provides a measurement of the likelihood that a given path from the present state to a next state is correct.
In the second step, the stored branch metric values for all possible state transitions are processed to determine an "accumulated distance" for each input path. The path with the minimum distance, i.e., maximum probability, is then selected as the survivor path. This step is known as Add-Compare-Select, or ACS. The ACS operation can be broken into two operations, the Add operation involving a path metric computation, and a Compare-Select operation. The path metric at a stage is the accumulation of the accumulated error metric resulting from previous branch metric computations and the branch metric values for a received data input symbol. The accumulated error metric values are computed from the Add operation, to determine and store the "trace-back bits" to indicate the selected survivor path.
The third step is known as trace-back. This step traces the maximum likelihood path through the trellis of state transitions, as determined by the first two steps, and reconstructs the most likely path through the trellis, to extract the original data input to the encoder.
Conventional implementations, for an encoder of code rate r, typically compute all 2^r branch metrics for a given data input symbol at any stage of a decoding process and store the entire branch metric set in memory. This technique requires a minimum of 2^r calculations, which consumes a large number of machine cycles. Further, storing the entire 2^r branch metrics uses a relatively large amount of memory. A large memory requirement together with a large number of machine cycles for decoding increases the power requirements of the decoder. Additionally, the die-area of the chip used to implement the decoder must be large to accommodate the large memory required.
Hence, there is a need for a method and system that reduces the computational complexity of the decoding technique, thereby reducing memory requirements and the system delay associated with the method of decoding. Further, there is a need for a method and system that reduces the power consumed in decoding the received data and for one that reduces the die-size of the chip implementing the decoder.


A container for storing capsules and discharging them individually, including an upwardly open capsule-holding receptacle, a cap rotatably mounted on the receptacle, an upright screw shaft with an external spiral groove fixedly mounted in the receptacle, and a hollow cylinder concentrically surrounding the screw shaft within the receptacle and coupled to the cap for rotation therewith. A thread on the inner surface of the cylinder faces and cooperates with the spiral groove to receive capsules admitted from the receptacle through an entry port in the cylinder and, as the cap is rotated, to raise the admitted capsules one by one to a central discharge port in the cap.

This invention relates to containers for storing capsules, and more particularly to such containers providing discharge of capsules individually, i.e., one by one.
A variety of products, including cosmetics, drugs, foods, detergents and the like, are commonly prepared in the form of capsules, which are packaged in bottles or other containers for storage and sale. In general, a capsule container includes a body constituting a receptacle for holding a plurality of capsules, and a lid for closing the receptacle. To obtain one or more capsules from the container, a user may take off the lid and tilt the open receptacle to cause capsules to fall out, or reach into the receptacle to remove capsules with the fingers.
Such operations present problems, however, in that when the open receptacle is tilted, an undesired excess of capsules may come out, while manual extraction of capsules from within the receptacle is not easily accomplished. In either case, there is a danger that capsules not intended to be withdrawn may be contaminated by contact with surfaces outside the container or with the user's fingers inside the container. Additionally, if the capsules are of low strength (as are some cosmetic capsules), attempted extraction with the fingers may subject them to breakage.
Expedients for overcoming these difficulties have heretofore been proposed, for example in Republic of Korea registered utility model No. 20-0334691 and Republic of Korea patent No. 10-1342843. The proposed expedients, however, do not entirely prevent discharge of more than one capsule at a time, may exert pressure sufficient to cause breakage of low-strength cosmetic capsules, and may require inconveniently complex manipulation.

Container for storing and individually discharging capsules


A batteryless non-contact IC card, using electromagnetic waves as a communication medium, includes an antenna resonance circuit for data transmission and reception; a phase variation detector for detecting a phase variation of a voltage of the antenna resonance circuit due to a received signal, on the basis of an amplitude variation of the received signal; and a demodulator for demodulating data in accordance with the phase variation detected by the phase variation detector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a non-contact type IC card using an electromagnetic wave as a communication medium, and a non-contact type IC card system employing this non-contact type IC card.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 43 shows a general arrangement of a known non-contact type IC card system including a non-contact type IC card where an electromagnetic wave is employed as a communication medium. In the illustration, the IC card system comprises a non-contact type IC card (which will hereinafter be referred to as a card) 1, a reader/writer (abbreviated as R/W) unit 2, and a host computer 3 being in connection with the R/W unit 2. That is, the non-contact type IC card employed system usually comprises the card 1, the R/W unit 2 operative to read and write data from and to the card, and the host computer 3 responsible for control of the whole system. Both the R/W unit 2 and host computer 3 can be constructed as one unit (R/W unit). The transmission and reception of the data between the card 1 and the R/W 2 are made using an electromagnetic wave as a medium.
However, such a prior non-contact type IC card system thus arranged does not produce satisfactory results for meeting requirements: (1) a batteryless card not requiring a built-in battery is necessary with a view to reducing its manufacturing cost, being released from the battery life, and coping with serious environmental problems; (2) depending upon the application fields, the received signal level will vary in accordance with the communication distance, i.e., the distance between the card and the R/W unit, whereupon the reception level is required to be adjustable at the card side; (3) in addition to effective power transmission and reception, the reduction of power consumption (demand) to the utmost is necessary for realizing long-distance communications with a batteryless card; (4) for communications from the R/W unit to the card, data transmission will be made simultaneously with power supply, while phase modulation or frequency modulation is needed because continuous power supply is impossible in amplitude modulation, and at this time demodulation with less current consumption needs to be carried out at reception in the card side; and (5) upon the reception of the transmitted data in the R/W unit side, the power transmission to the card side can once be stopped, for which reason the card needs to effectively operate only on the energy accumulated at power supply for the transmission of a necessary amount of data and, hence, to effectively execute the modulation.

Non-contact IC card with phase variation detector


A division code is added to both ends of a group of pieces of data registered in an item of a data record L and between each pair of adjacent data, so that a piece of code-added data is produced. Thereafter, a character chain pattern (C1,C2) of each pair of adjacent characters C1 and C2 in the code-added data is prepared, an occurrence frequency Fi of each character Ci in each piece of data H is calculated, and character chain information (F1,F2,H,L) corresponding to each character chain pattern (C1,C2) is prepared. Therefore, a index file in which pieces of character chain information prepared for the same item of a plurality of data records are listed is prepared. When a keyword is input by a user, the division code is added to both ends of the keyword to produce a code-added keyword, and a series of keyword character chain patterns is prepared from the code-added keyword in the same manner. Thereafter, a series of particular character chain information (F1,F2,H,L) corresponding to the series of keyword character chain patterns on condition that F2 of first information equals to F1 of second information following the first information and data numbers H and record numbers L are respectively the same value. Therefore, a particular data record L in which a piece of particular data H including the keyword is registered can be quickly retrieved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an information retrieval system for retrieving a data record of particular data including a keyword input by a user from a data base in which a large amount of data is registered in a plurality of data records, and more particularly to an information retrieval system for correctly retrieving a data record relating to desired data from a data base such as a data table.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the information retrieval, an automatic information retrieval system in which all data registered in a data base is checked and particular data including a keyword is automatically retrieved when a user inputs the keyword composed of a string of characters has been recently paid attention. In particular, the automatic information retrieval system has been manufactured in a relational data base managing system (RDBMS) and has been applied for various technical fields.
2.1. Previously Proposed Art
In a conventional relational data base, as shown in FIG. 1, for example, a record relating to Yokohama city of Kanagawa prefecture is registered in a recording region identified by a record number 1, and a record relating to Kamakura city of Kanagawa prefecture is registered in a recording region identified by a record number 2. In this case, a plurality of items indicating attributes of each record are arranged as a data structure, attribute data indicating one attribute is stored in each item in correspondence to each record number, so that a data base formed in a table is obtained.
When a user desires to retrieve a record relating to "Kamakura city" from the data base, as shown in FIG. 2, the user inputs an item (item 2) of the table and a keyword "Kamakura" to a conventional information retrieval system. Thereafter, a large amount of data registered in the data base is read out to the conventional information retrieval system, the item 2 is set as a retrieved item, and the keyword is collated with data of the item 2 for each record number. When particular data agreeing with the keyword is detected, a record number (the record number 2) corresponding to the particular data is output.
Therefore, a desired record can be retrieved in the conventional information retrieval system by using an item and a keyword input by the user as a key.
2.2. Problems to be Solved by the Invention
However, in the conventional information retrieval system, in cases where a first record relates to "Chinese town" of Yokohama city and a second record relates to "Yamashita park" of Yokohama city, a specific item relating to a famous place is added to the data base, data "Chinese town" is additionally registered in the specific item of the first record, and data "Yamashita park" is additionally registered in the specific item of the second record. Therefore, there is a drawback that the number of items is considerably increased.
Also, in cases where the user desires a record relating to the Chinese town of Yokohama city, the user is required to specify an item relating to a city name and an item relating to a famous place. In this case, the user is required to know in advance that the Chinese town is registered in the item relating to the famous place. Therefore, there is another drawback that it is troublesome to operate the conventional information retrieval system and it takes a long time to retrieve a desired record.
To avoid the above drawbacks, a method in which pieces of data are registered in each item is known. For example, a piece of data "Yokohama" and a piece of data "Chinese town" are registered in one item as combined data "Yokohama Chinese town". Also, a piece of data "Yokohama" and a piece of data "Yamashita park" are registered in one item as combined data "Yokohama Yamashita park". In this case, because a record relating to the data "Chinese town", a record relating to "Yamashita park" or a record relating to the data "Yokohama" is not exist, even though the user intends to retrieve a record relating to only the data "Yokohama", the record cannot be retrieved.
In this case, when the conventional information retrieval system is operated so as to retrieve all records respectively relating to data including a word "Yokohama", the user can obtain a desired record. However, a large number of records not desired by the user are output, so that it is troublesome to select the desired record from a large number of records relating to "Yokohama".
Also, in cases where pieces of data are registered in each item, a character string indicating the combined data is lengthened. In this case, because it is checked character by character whether or not a keyword input by the user agrees with a group of characters in the combined data, it takes a long time to collate the keyword with the combined data.
Also, to retrieve a record relating to long data, a front character agreement retrieval, a rear character agreement retrieval and a perfect agreement retrieval are known. In the front character agreement retrieval, it is checked whether or not a series of characters of a keyword agrees with a series of characters placed in a top region of long data. In the rear character agreement retrieval, it is checked whether or not a series of characters of a keyword agrees with a series of characters placed in a rear region of long data. In the perfect agreement retrieval, it is checked whether or not a series of characters of a keyword agrees with a series of all characters of a piece of data. However, the retrieving time still becomes long.

Information retrieval system for retrieving a record of data including a keyword

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A hair carrier clutch bag for storing and transporting hair products such as wigs or hair extensions comprising an elongated body having a top, a bottom, a first side, a second side, an inner surface and an outer surface wherein the elongated body includes a plurality of fold sections and a top overlap section. At least one clip for securing a hair product coupled to the inner surface of the elongated body and offset from the top of the elongated body. A protective cover for covering the hair product including at least one cover sheet having a top, a bottom, a first side, a second side, an inner surface, and an outer surface wherein the first side of the cover sheet is coupled to the second side of the elongated body. The cover sheet is foldable about the joint formed between the cover sheet and the body. The body of the hair carrier clutch bag can be folded upon itself such that the folded body resembles a woman's clutch bag.

The market and use for hair enhancement products is continually growing. The use of hair extensions, wigs, and falls made of human and synthetic hair are all increasing in frequency and amount. A variety of people are buying and utilizing various hair systems on the market today. One particular niche is the use of hair extensions to supplement a user's natural hair, often to create the appearance of longer and fuller hair. Further, hair extensions of varying colors can be used to create highlights or depth of color on demand. Thus, a user may have a somewhat conservative hair style for their work and use a set of hair extensions to create long flowing hair styles for weekends or more formal social engagements. Further, the use of wigs has become more common for a variety of uses. Many cancer patients use wigs after losing their hair through either radiation or chemotherapy treatment or both. Many users are turning to wigs to quickly change their hairstyle. A person with multiple wigs may have multiple colors, styles, and lengths that can be selected any given time and used at will to provide a desired appearance for that particular day.
With the increased popularity of hair extensions, wigs, falls and their more widespread use, many users are looking for a way to conveniently store their hair products. Further, users are continually looking for a good way to travel with their hair products wherein the hair does not get damaged. In addition, many of the users of these products are fashion conscious and would desire a fashionable apparatus for storing and travelling with their hair products.
There are a couple attempts to provide the users of these hair products an approach for storing, carrying, and transporting the hair products. One existing attempt is essentially a soft bag of fabric that surrounds the entire length of hair extensions. The hair extension is tied up at the top of the bag and ties along the length bring in the excess fabric to narrow the profile. Another attempt is a "hair dress" that wraps around the hair extensions to look like a woman's dress. Further, another hair carrier holds extensions in a horizontal position and the hair is merely placed in a pocket like enclosure wherein the hair bunches up and can damage itself when the pocket is moved or shifts positions.
All of the existing attempts to meet the needs of consumers of hair extension carriers fail to securely hold the hair product in the carrier and fail to protect the hair product from damage from its own weight or from an outside force. Further, none of the existing offerings are configured to carry products other than hair extensions.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a hair carrier apparatus to store hair products including extensions, wigs, and falls. There is a further need to provide a component storage system that can carry the hair products compactly for travel. There is a further need in the art for a hair storage and travel carrier that is fashionable and has the appearance of a clutch purse currently carried by women as a fashion accessory.


A golf ball comprising a core and a cover is manufactured by the steps of (A) enclosing the core with a thermoplastic resin and (B) tailoring the thermoplastic resin layer by applying heat and pressure thereto, for adjusting the thickness of the thermoplastic resin layer to 0.3-1.0 mm. A golf ball whose cover layer has a very thin and uniform thickness as well as an improved outer appearance is manufactured. The golf ball can derive the rebound and other characteristics of the core to the maximum extent.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for manufacturing a golf ball comprising a core and a cover of one or more layers around the core, the method being capable of forming the cover layer uniformly to a significantly reduced thickness.
2. Background Art
In golf balls comprising a core and a cover of one or more layers around the core, the materials and thicknesses of the core and the cover and combinations thereof are selected as appropriate in accordance with the various characteristics required as competition balls and the favor of players.
Since the core makes a major contribution to the rebound of golf balls, the cover layer is advantageously formed thinner if flight performance is of more interest.
In the prior art, solid golf balls comprising a spherical core of an elastomer, typically rubber, enclosed with a resin cover are manufactured in several ways. For example, one typical method uses a mold consisting of a pair of upper and lower split mold halves which define a spherical cavity when mated, have a plurality of dimple-shaping protrusions on their inner wall and are provided with a plurality of vertically extending support pins. An elastic core is vertically held in place within the cavity by means of the support pins. A cover material is injected around the core to form a cover.
However, the injection molding technique is difficult to form a cover uniformly to a thickness of 1 mm or less. The reason is described below. Typically four to eight gates are disposed in the parting plane between the mold halves corresponding to the equator of the cavity. The injection pressure of the cover material from these gates is very high along the equator. The support pins are retracted to be flush with the mold inner wall immediately before the end of cover material injection. After the retraction of support pins, the injection pressure of the cover material causes the core to be deformed into an elliptic or rugby ball shape elongated in polar directions, and the cover is molded on the core in the deformed state. As a result, the golf ball as molded has the cover which is thicker near the equator and thinner near the opposite poles, and in extreme cases, so thin that the dimple bottom is in direct contact with the core surface. The resulting golf ball lacks uniformity substantially. Thin cover portions are formed near the opposite poles because the space between the core surface and the mold inner wall is narrow, which can obstruct the flow of the cover material during injection molding. This results in that weld marks are left on the cover surface after the molding, detracting from the outer appearance. Thus the above-described method is difficult to manufacture golf balls having a cover which is as thin as 1 mm or less.
In another known method, as also described in JP-A 61-199872, a spherical elastic core is encased in a pair of half shells which have been separately molded from resinous cover material. The assembly is placed in a spherical cavity defined by a pair of upper and lower mold halves having a plurality of dimple-shaping protrusions on their inner wall, where compression molding is effected by applying heat and pressure.
When the cover is molded in this way, the air trapped between the shells on the core and the mold inner wall and any extra cover material (often amounting to so much) run out from the parting plane between the mold halves. Fins are formed by curing of the run-out cover material and integrated with the golf ball as molded. It is cumbersome to trim the fins and polish for finishing. Additionally, the trapped air is not completely expelled. Residual air trap causes defective outer appearance, resulting in balls to be rejected.
There remains a need for golf balls having a cover layer whose thickness is very thin and uniform and which has an aesthetic outer appearance.


An integrated QoS control system is provided that transmits, in real time, the stream data between a bandwidth-guaranteed network and a bandwidth-not-guaranteed network. The QoS manager 102 records the remaining bandwidth of the bandwidth-guaranteed network 2 captured by the remaining bandwidth table capturer 103 and the remaining bandwidth of the bandwidth-not-guaranteed network 1 calculated with traffic information notified by the network status monitor 107 on the use bandwidth registration table 104 (for comprehensively managing the bandwidth of an integrated network). The Qos manager 102 converts a QoS parameter received via the QoS request receiver 106 into a traffic parameter and controllably adapts the value of the traffic parameter to a service quality required by the application 109.

The present invention relates to an integrated network QoS (Quality of Service (referred to as "QoS")) control system that manages and controls a bandwidth and the QoS in an integrated network. In the integrated network, data is transmitted between a bandwidth-guaranteed network and a bandwidth-not-guaranteed network (or a bandwidth-guaranteed network and a bandwidth-not-guaranteed network are inter-linked and communications can be conducted between a terminal on the bandwidth-guaranteed network and a terminal on the bandwidth-not-guaranteed network inter-linked).

QoS control middleware in integrated network, QoS control method, and the program for the same


A ribbon connector for use in an audio system as a speaker cable. The ribbon connector comprises two sets of flat conductors encapsulated in fluorinated ethylene polypropylene. Each of the sets is spaced apart from one another by a median strip of insulation. The median strip has a width greater than the thickness of the insulation between adjacent conductors in a set. This allows the sets to be separated from one another when a terminal is placed on each set. The conductors of a set function as a single conductor in that when used they are joined to a single terminal. The ribbon connector has enhanced capacitance and inductance characteristics compared to round twisted wire conductors.

Ribbon cables are a standard component in computer hardware. A series of conductors, which conductors may be flat, round and/or a combination of both, are extruded or laminated with a polymeric material as an integral piece with the conductors and ground wires encapsulated in the polymer. The polymer or insulation maintain the conductors in parallel spaced apart relationship. The ribbon conductors are designed to minimize cross talk, to control impedance within predetermined limits and to maximize signal speed. In ribbon cables, the number of signal lines can range anywhere from 9 to 64 with each line having a ground line on either side resulting in a configuration of a ground line, a signal line, two ground lines, a signal line, two ground lines, etc. Before a ribbon cable is secured to a connector, the ends are stripped, the ground lines are deflected in one direction, either upwardly or downwardly, and connected to a common buss and the signal lines are deflected in the other direction, either upwardly or downwardly, and connected to the desired pins in the connector.
The present invention is directed to a ribbon connector which is structured and functions as a one- or two-paired speaker cable.
Current speaker cables comprise a pair of insulated round conductors having terminals at their ends, which terminals are connected to audio components in a sound equipment system.
Broadly the invention is a ribbon connector which comprises two sets of flat conductors encapsulated in a polymeric material (insulation) and in the preferred embodiment, encapsulated in clear fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP). Each of the sets is spaced apart from one another by a medium strip of insulation. This medium strip has a width greater than the thickness of the insulation between adjacent conductors in a set. This allows the sets to be separated from one another when a terminal is placed on each set, i.e. the first set is physically separated from the second set, without exposing the conductors and/or affecting the electrical characteristics of the cable. At least one side of the cable is characterized by a polarity stripe. The conductors of a set function as a single conductor in that when used they are joined to a single terminal.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the conductors are copper and the FEP is clear and a polarity stripe of a color distinct from the FEP and copper conductors is used. This provides an aesthetically attractive ribbon cable which can function as a decorative feature of a sound system. Alternatively, because of its flatness, the cable is easily placed under a rug or may lay flat against a wall. Surprisingly, because of the design of the speaker cable, it has a much better current carrying capacity than prior round paired conductors. In the preferred embodiment, with a four conductor configuration for each set, the amount of copper used for the four conductors is that which would be required for a round, single conductor of 16 gauge. However, because of the geometry of the four flat conductors, the set of conductors has the current carrying capacity of a 12 gauge round conductor. In addition to reducing the material requirements for this current carrying capacity, the configuration also has superior capacitance and inductance characteristics.


A system for playing a multiplayer zero-sum game includes a gaming server operable under program control to regulate the progress of at least one instance of the multiplayer zero-sum game by a predetermined plurality of players, a user access facility corresponding to each player, a plurality of portals associated with a plurality of competing game provider entities, and a clearing account facility having a separate clearing account for each game provider entity. Each user access facility is operable by a player to access the gaming server for participation in the at least one instance of the multiplayer zero-sum game through a selectable one of the plurality of portals, wherein each portal can be logically connected to a plurality of user access facilities simultaneously.

The game of poker is widely played in many jurisdictions, particularly in the United States of America. A traditional game of poker is a multiplayer game, generally accommodating a minimum of 4 and a maximum of between 8 and 10 players. In a turn of the game, one of the participating players assumes the role of a dealer and deals five cards (an "initial hand"), from a conventional deck of 52 playing cards, to each participating player, inclusive of the dealer. The playing cards in the initial hand are dealt face down to each player who does not, at this stage of the game, disclose the playing cards that have been dealt to him.
Each one of the players is then required to decide, in turn, whether to continue with his participation in the turn of the game (that is, to "play"), or to terminate his participation in the turn (that is, to "fold"), as a function of the playing cards in his initial hand. Any player who decides to fold does not participate any longer in the turn of the game. If all participating players decide to fold, the turn of the game terminates. The first player to decide to play is required to make an opening wager on the turn of the game. Any other player who subsequently also decides to play in the turn of the game is required to match or to increase ("raise") the size of the opening wager. When the size of the opening wager is raised, players who have made prior opening wagers are required to top up their wagers to match the size of the largest opening wager made by any player who has elected to play in the turn of the game. This phase of the turn of the game continues until every player who desires to play in that turn has made an equivalent opening wager.
All the wagers made by each of the players are accumulated in a single jackpot ("the pot").
At this stage of the game, each player who has decided to play may, in turn, then decide to retain (that is, to "hold") any one or more of the five cards in his initial hand. Once a player has decided which, if any, of the five cards to hold, the player may then "draw", in which the remaining cards of the initial hand are discarded and are replaced by an equivalent number of further cards dealt by the dealer from the deck of playing cards. This phase of the game will be referred to, for convenience, as the drawing phase. If the player does not hold any of the cards in his initial hand, he is then effectively dealt an entirely new hand of five cards at the drawing phase of the game. On the other hand, if a particular player holds all of the five cards in his initial hand, he does not participate in the drawing phase, but still continues to play in the turn of the game.
Once the drawing phase of the game has been completed, each player evaluates the five cards that he has accumulated in the manner described above in order to determine whether they contain any one of a number of desirable combinations of playing cards. The desirability of any combination of playing cards is inversely proportional to the probability of being dealt that particular combination of cards. For a standard deck of 52 playing cards, desirable combinations of playing cards are, in order of increasing desirability: a pair of cards having the same rank ("one pair"); two pairs of cards in which the rank of each pair is different ("two pairs"); three cards each having the same rank ("three of a kind"); a "straight" in which the five cards of a hand are in sequentially increasing rank order, with no restriction on suite; a "flush" in which the five cards are all of the same suite; a "full house" in which three cards are each of the same rank, while the remaining two cards each have another identical rank; "four of a kind" in which four cards of the hand each have the same rank; a "straight flush" in which the five cards are in sequentially ascending rank order and are all of the same suite; and a "royal flush" in which the five cards are all of the same suite and are ranked Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10. Where a deck is used that has fewer than 52 cards, the probability of being dealt a full house is greater than being dealt a flush, making the latter combination of cards more desirable than the former.
After completion of the drawing phase of the turn of the game and evaluation of the playing cards, all the players who have previously decided to play in the particular turn of the game are then again required to decide, in turn, as a function of the playing cards they have accumulated in the manner described above, whether to continue playing or to fold. If all these players decide to fold, the turn of the game terminates. The contents of the pot are carried forward to the next turn of the game. Any player who decides to fold does not participate any further in the particular turn of the game and forfeits all the wagers, he has made in that turn. The first player who made an opening wager may, if he decides to play, make a supplementary wager on the turn of the game. Any other player who subsequently also decides to play is required to match or to raise the size of the supplementary wager. Players who have previously made supplementary wagers are required to top up their supplementary wagers to match the size of the largest supplementary wager. This phase of the particular turn of the game continues until every player who has not folded has made an equivalent supplementary wager. This stage of the game will be referred to, for convenience, as the supplementary wagering stage.
The supplementary wagers made by each of the players who have decided to continue playing in the particular turn of the game are added to the pot.
Once the supplementary wagering stage of the turn of the game has been completed, the players who remain in the game reveal the playing cards in their hands. The hands are compared, and the player with the highest-ranking desirable hand wins the accumulated pot.
The rules of the game of poker have been described with particular reference to a variation of the game called "draw poker". There are many other variations of the game of poker that are not germane to the essence of the invention and that will not, for this reason, be described here in detail.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the game of poker is a zero-sum game insofar as, in each turn of the game, a gain of the winner is equal to accumulated losses of the other players in the game. It is, however, also known for a party who arranges or hosts a game of poker to levy a commission ("a rake") on the players or on the accumulated jackpot in order to obtain revenue.
The game of poker is played at both land-based and on-line casinos, at the latter by means of the World Wide Web of the Internet. A general feature of such arrangements is that a player may only play in a poker game at which an unoccupied playing position, or vacancy, exists. If a poker game has no vacancies available, a would-be player may have to wait a considerable time before a vacant playing position becomes available, allowing the player to join the game, which causes frustration and which may cause the would-be player to leave the casino. Conversely, a would-be player may also have to wait for a considerable period before a sufficient number of other would-be players become available to establish a poker game and to enable play to commence, which may also cause frustration and lead to player attrition. Both of these situations are tedious and, particularly in an on-line environment, costly in terms of connection charges to the World Wide Web of the Internet.


A vehicle control system is provided. The vehicle control system is applied to a vehicle having a clutch device adapted to selectively connect and disconnect a power transmission route between a prime mover and drive wheels. The vehicle control system disconnects the power transmission route during running to allow the vehicle to coast. The vehicle control system is comprised of: a means detecting a vehicle speed; a means detecting an operation of an accelerator by a driver; a means detecting a braking operation of the driver; an execution means executing a coasting control when an operating amount of the accelerator is reduced to be smaller than a predetermined value during running, by bringing the clutch device into disengagement to disconnect the power transmission route so as to allow the vehicle to coast; a determination means determining whether or not a deceleration demand of the driver is larger than a predetermined value during execution of the coasting control based on the vehicle speed and the braking operation; and a termination means determining a fact that the deceleration demand is strong if the deceleration demand is larger than the predetermined value, and that terminates the coasting control by bringing the clutch device into engagement to connect the power transmission route.

In order to improve fuel economy, a fuel cut-off control for stopping fuel supply to an engine during running, and a coasting control for coasting the vehicle by disconnecting the engine from a drive line during running have been employed in recent years. Specifically, the fuel cut-off is carried out to stop fuel supply to the engine given that an accelerator is returned to close an accelerator valve completely, and that an engine speed is higher than an idling speed so that a vehicle speed is higher than a predetermined speed. Under the fuel cut-off control, although the combustion of fuel in the engine is stopped, the engine is still rotating by a torque from the drive wheels. Therefore, a braking torque resulting from a pumping loss of the engine and a friction torque is applied to the drive wheels. Consequently, an engine braking force is applied to the vehicle.
For example, the coasting control is carried out when the accelerator is returned during running to coast the vehicle without rotating the engine passively by bringing the clutch into disengagement disposed between the engine and the drive wheels. Therefore, under the coasting control, the engine braking force will not be applied to the vehicle so that the vehicle is allowed to coast utilizing an inertia energy.
The coasting control may be carried out not only by stopping the fuel supply to the engine but also without stopping the fuel supply to the engine while lowering the engine speed close to the idling speed. In case of carrying out the coasting control while stopping the engine, the fuel will not be consumed during coasting the vehicle so that the fuel economy can be improved significantly. By contrast, in case of carrying out the coasting control without stopping the engine, the fuel economy will not be improved as the case of stopping the engine. In this case, however, it is not necessary to arrange additional devices for insuring a required oil pressure under cessation of the engine such as an electric oil pump, a hydraulic accumulator etc. Therefore, the coasting control can be carried out easily without requiring additional modification of the vehicle and additional equipment. In the following explanation, the coasting control without stopping the engine will be called the "neutral coasting control" or the "N coasting control".
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-117497 describes a controller for a vehicle driving device configured to carry out the coasting control. The controller taught by Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-117497 is applied to a vehicle driving device comprised of an engine and an electromagnetic clutch disposed, on a power transmission route between the engine and drive wheels to selectively provide a connection therebetween. According to the teachings of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-117497, a power transmission between the engine and the drive wheels is cut-off by the electromagnetic clutch given that an engine braking force exceeds a driving force propelling the vehicle established by operating an accelerator. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-117497 further describes a fact that the engine and the drive wheels is connected by increasing a torque transmission capacity of the electromagnetic clutch at a predetermined ratio with respect to an elapsed time, given that a brake is depressed during interrupting the power transmission therebetween.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-227885 describes a clutch control device comprised of a clutch disposed on a power transmission route between an engine and drive wheels, and a control valve for actuating the clutch. The control device is configured to allow the vehicle to coast by opening the clutch by the control valve. According to the teachings of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-227885, the coasting mode is cancelled if a brake pedal is depressed by a pressure greater than a predetermined pressure, if a distance from a forerunning vehicle shorter than a predetermined distance, or if a vehicle speed exceeds an upper limit speed or falls below a lower limit speed. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-227885 further discloses to adjust an engine speed during the coasting mode in a manner such that a speed difference of the clutch is reduced to be lower than a predetermined value, and to temporarily interrupt such control for reducing the speed difference of the clutch when cancelling the coasting mode.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-60010 describes a control device for automatic transmission. According to the teachings of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-60010, a power transmission between an engine and drive wheels is selectively interrupted by a clutch, and a vehicle speed is maintained to a constant speed during running down a downslope. When the vehicle runs down a slope where a downgrade is smaller than a set value, a sliding fastening control of the clutch is executed without altering a speed ratio. In this case, if the downgrade of the slope exceeds the set value, the vehicle speed is maintained to a constant speed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-144878 describes a hydraulic control device for vehicular transmission comprising a hydraulic engagement device. The hydraulic engagement device is adapted to transmit an engine power to drive wheels when engaged, and provided with a cushion plate as a spring member interposed between a frictional engagement element and a pushing portion of the piston. In order to reduce an idling load of the engine, the hydraulic control device executes a neutral control upon satisfaction of a predetermined condition, by causing the engagement device to slip or bringing the engagement device into disengagement thereby restricting a power transmission between the engine and the drive wheels. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-144878 further discloses to temporarily hold an engagement, pressure of the engagement device when cancelling the coasting control at a standby pressure to be applied to the cushion plate to push the cushion plate.
The controller taught by Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-117497 is configured to connect the power transmission route between the engine and the drive wheels to terminate the coasting upon activation of the brake device during coasting the vehicle while disconnecting the power transmission route. According to the teachings of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-117497, therefore, the vehicle is decelerated not only by a braking force generated by depressing a brake pedal but also by an engine braking force resulting from a pumping loss and a friction torque. For this reason, the vehicle can be decelerated promptly in line with the driver's intension.
However, fuel economy may be reduced if the coasting is terminated based on an operation of the brake device during the coasting as taught by Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-117497. Basically, the deceleration demanded by the driver by depressing the accelerator pedal differs depending on a vehicle speed. Therefore, if the coasting control is terminated based only on an operation of the brake device, the coasting control may be terminated in spite of the fact that the driver does not intends to decelerate the vehicle significantly. In this case, fuel economy to be achieved by the coasting control would be reduced. In addition, the vehicle may be decelerated more than expected and the vehicle has to be accelerated unnecessarily. Consequently, the fuel economy of the vehicle would be further reduced.


Techniques relate to fingerprint-initiated trace extraction. A determination is made of whether a fingerprint is present in software that is currently executing on a processor of a computer system. The fingerprint comprises a representation of a sequence of behavior that occurs in the processor while the software is executing. In response to determining that the fingerprint is not present in the software currently executing on the processor, monitoring continues for the software executing on the processor to determine whether the fingerprint is present. In response to determining that the fingerprint is present in the software executing on the processor, a trace is triggered of a code segment of the software corresponding to when the fingerprint is recognized. The trace is for a record of instructions of the code segment of the software.

The present invention relates generally to computer processors, and more specifically, to fingerprint-initiated trace extraction.
A debugger or debugging tool is a computer program that is used to test and debug other programs (the "target" program). The code to be examined might alternatively be running on an instruction set simulator (ISS). This is a technique that has the ability to halt when specific conditions are encountered, but which will typically be somewhat slower than executing the code directly on the appropriate (or the same) processor. Some debuggers offer two modes of operation, full or partial simulation, to limit this impact.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


An RMS-to-DC converter system is disclosed. The system includes a variable gain amplifier having transfer function ripple that receives an input signal and provides an amplifier output signal, a detector that receives the amplifier output signal and provides a detector output signal, an error amplifier that receives the detector output signal and provides an error amplifier output signal having an AC component, and a feedback circuit coupled to the error amplifier output signal and to the variable gain amplifier for providing a feedback signal to the variable gain amplifier that includes an AC component for reducing transfer function ripple of the RMS-to-DC converter system.

The invention generally relates to power control systems for signal transmission systems, and relates in particular to power monitoring systems for radio frequency (RF) transmitters.
Conventional transmitters for wireless telephone cellular networks generally require strict control of transmitted RF power. In wireless cellular networks, strict power control permits the size of cells to be precisely set to enhance coverage. Precise power control also avoids the need for excessive thermal dimensioning of the RF power amplifier (PA), which is required when there is uncertainty about the actual transmitted power. For example if a 50 W (47 dBm) power amplifier has a transmit power variability of even ±1 dB, the PA must be dimensioned so that it may safely (i.e., without overheating) transmit 63 Watts (48 dBm). Power measurement and control is also used in the receive section, usually at intermediate frequencies (IFs). In certain applications it is desirable to measure and control the gain of the received signal so that IF amplifiers and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) are not overdriven. While precision in the measurement of the received signal (commonly referred to as received signal strength indicator or RSSI) is useful for maximizing the signal-to-noise ratio, it is less important than on the transmit side, the goal being to merely keep the received signal under a certain limit.
Root-mean-square (RMS) RF power detectors are capable of measuring RF power independent of signal peak-to-average ratio or crest factor. This is critical when the peak-to-average ratio of a measured signal is changing, which is common in wireless cellular networks due to the ever-changing number of calls being carried by a cellular basestation. The changing peak-to-average ratio results both from the transmission of multiple carriers at varying power levels and from the variations in code-domain power in a single Code Division Multiple Access carrier.
RMS power detection, therefore, is required to measure and control transmitted power in multi-carrier wireless infrastructure. Traditional power detectors, using diode detection or log amps do not accurately measure power when the peak-to-average ratio of the transmitted signal is not fixed.
There is a need, therefore, for a system and method for efficiently and accurately measuring the power in a multi-carrier wireless infrastructure.

System and method for reducing transfer function ripple in a logarithmic RMS-to-DC converter


In a telecommunication system configured to provide a connection between a caller and a callee via a telephone network, wherein the telephone network is configured to connect the caller and the callee, a method for allowing the callee to prevent the caller from establishing the connection with the callee. The method includes receiving an instruction from the callee to prevent the caller from establishing the connection with the callee and identifying a first telephone number associated with the caller. The method also includes preventing one or more phone calls from the first telephone number from being forwarded to a second telephone number associated with the callee.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention broadly relates to telecommunication services, and, more particularly, to a telephone service where a called party can block phone calls from a specific caller by simply instructing the telephone service provider's network for the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Telephones and telephone communication are so prevalent in modern society that they may be justifiably considered an integral part of human existence. Telephones are useful not only to carry out personal communication, but also to transact business. Telephones give their operators access to the world. However, because of the ease with which a telephone call may be placed, there may be times when the called party (hereafter, the "callee") prefers to block unwanted phone calls from a calling party (hereafter, the "caller"). For example, a callee may not wish to receive any more phone calls from a telemarketer who interrupted the callee's dinner conversation with callee's friends. As another example, a callee may want to place a block on harassing phone calls from an unknown caller prior to reporting the incident to the police.
Telephone service providers (or telephone companies) provide many calling services designed to protect a callee from unwanted or undesired phone calls and also to help the callee identify the calls that the callee considers important. For example, the caller ID service lets the callee see the name and phone number of the caller trying to reach the callee—all before the callee answers the phone. The display unit for the caller ID service may also display the date and time of the incoming call. Thus, the callee can decide beforehand whether or not to take the call. In the call waiting ID service, the callee can view the incoming caller's name and phone number while the callee is on phone with another caller. The callee does not need to hang up on the current caller to receive the incoming call. In the anonymous call blocking service, the callee may request the telephone service provider to block calls from callers who prevent their names and phone numbers from being displayed on the callee's caller ID device. When activated, the anonymous call blocking service plays a message to the blocked callers instructing them to hang-up, remove their blocking, and call again.
It is noted that the anonymous call blocking service may block all the anonymous phone calls regardless of the identity of the caller. Thus, a callee subscribing to such a service may not be able to receive phone calls from those desired callers (e.g., friends, relatives, etc.) who happen to have call blocks placed on their phone lines. Furthermore, the anonymous call blocking service may discourage certain callers to perform the removal of call blocking and initiate another phone call to the callee. In such a situation, it may be desirable that the callee be able to receive the phone call first, and, thereafter, place a block on all the future phone calls if the caller of the received phone call is found to be undesirable or unwanted.
Of course, the callee always has an option to directly contact a telemarketer and request the telemarketer to remove the callee's phone number from the telemarketer's call list. However, such requesting may be burdensome to the callee, and, even after the request, the telemarketer may still fail, for whatever reason, to comply with the callee's request. To remedy such a situation, there is a subscription-based call-blocking service available to telemarketers. The service allows a telemarketer to provide a list of "do-not-call" telephone, modem, and fax numbers to the service, which, in turn, blocks all the phone calls placed from the subscriber telemarketer's establishment to any of the phone numbers appearing in the "do-not-call" list. However, a telemarketer may not avail of such a service and may frequently end up calling the callee who had earlier requested the telemarketer not to call the callee. This may be quite annoying and disturbing to the callee.
In a privacy protection service offered on a subscription basis by Ameritech of Chicago, USA, all calls showing up as "blocked", "private", "out of area", "unavailable", or "unknown" on a caller ID display of the service subscriber (i.e., the callee) are first identified by the service. Thereafter, the service answers such calls without ringing the subscriber's (i.e., callee's) phone—i.e., the subscriber remains unaware of such phone calls until they are allowed to go through by the service. The service asks the caller to give his or her name, which is then displayed to the subscriber callee. The callee can thereafter select whether to answer the call or to reject the call with or without appropriate voice message. Although such an arrangement offers privacy protection against unscrupulous callers or telemarketers, the manner of call blocking may be analogized with the anonymous call blocking service described hereinbefore where the service blocks calls from all callers (regardless of the identity of the caller) who prevent their names and phone numbers from being displayed on the callee's caller ID device. Thus, in such a privacy protection service, some desirable callers may also face call blocking along with some undesirable ones. The subscriber (i.e., the callee) does not have control over which caller is to be blocked and which caller is to be allowed to contact the subscriber. Furthermore, if a caller is unable to clearly identify himself/herself to the service because of, for example, the caller's age, physical condition, or the place and atmosphere surrounding the calling area, etc., that caller may not get a chance to speak with the subscriber even if the caller is not one of the unwanted callers.
It is therefore desirable to allow the callee to control the call blocking process and to selectively block those callers who are found to be unwanted or undesirable. It is thus desirable to offer a telephone service that allows the service subscriber (i.e., the callee) to respond to a phone call first, and, then, instruct the service to place a block on future phone calls if the caller is found to be undesirable or unwanted.


A hybrid drive includes an electric motor coupled to a hydraulic drive having a double-acting hydraulic piston and a piston rod, and a substantially throttle-less valve for actuating the hydraulic drive, and a control unit for actuating the electric machine. To avoid unnecessary energy consumption, an actuating direction requested by the hybrid drive and a desired actuating force are determined, the valve is switched to a position such that the hydraulic drive is effective in the actuating direction, at least when the actuating force cannot be generated by the electric motor alone, the difference between the force generated by the hydraulic drive and the actuating force is determined, and the electric motor is operated such that the desired actuating force is achieved by adding the force generated by the motor to the force generated by the hydraulic drive, or subtracting the first from the latter.

The present invention relates to a method for operating a hybrid drive and such hybrid drive.
Hybrid drives for driving movable elements of machine tools, in particular also of injection molding machines, are generally known. For example, it is known to provide a drive, for example for an axial feed, composed of both an electric and a hydraulic partial drive for driving the plasticizing and injection unit of an injection molding machine. Reference is hereby made to DE 43 44 335 C2, wherein in one embodiment, the driving force produced by a combination of electric motors is hydraulically supported.
A similar device of a combination of hydraulic with an electric drive for the axial feed is known from JP 04189525.
In addition, reference is made to EP 760 277 which discloses a control method for the hydraulic support of an electric drive, wherein pressure is applied to a hydraulic piston via a storage device for a pressurized medium when a defined control valuable that corresponds to a defined load state of the electric motor has been reached. The pressure increase in the cylinder is hereby proportional to the load on the electric motor.
DE 101 04 109 A1 discloses another control method for the hydraulic support of an electric drive for an axially movable machine part in an injection molding machine. Both the force from an electric motor, wherein the rotation of the electric motor is converted by a gear into a longitudinal motion, and the force from the piston of a hydraulic cylinder operate on the axially movable machine part in the longitudinal direction. The force applied by the electric motor is limited to a value that prevents damage to the gear. The force component generated by the electric motor is limited by forming a control deviation from the desired value for the force operating in the axial direction on the machine element and the actual value of this force, with the control deviation controlling the sum of the force portions operating on the machine element in the axial direction. A desired value for the force operating in the axial direction on the piston is formed from the actual value of the force operating in the axial direction on the machine element and a value which takes into account the mechanical loading capacity of the gear. A control deviation is formed from the desired value for the force operating in the axial direction on the piston and its actual value, which controls a force portion operating on the machine element in the axial direction.
Disadvantageously, the hydraulic cylinders are typically controlled with proportional valves which determine the forward and backward movement commensurate with their control. Such control ensures that the movement in a predetermined application occurs at a predetermined speed. The speed with which the hydraulic cylinder moves is here proportional to the volume flow. A volume flow of different size can be produced by deflecting the valve more or less. On the other hand, a less rapid displacement of the cylinder also corresponds to a higher degree of throttling during the flow through the valve, which disadvantageously converts excess energy that would otherwise be available into heat which is then lost.

Method for operating a hybrid drive and hybrid drive


Methods and apparatuses for wireless power transfer, and particularly, wireless power transfer to remote systems such as electric vehicles are disclosed. In one aspect, a wireless power transfer device is provided comprising a casing housing at least one component, with a first portion of the casing containing a set first flowable medium, and a second portion of the casing containing a second set flowable medium having a different density to that of the first set flowable medium. The casing can include a locating portion, with the locating portion in contact with a flowable medium set within the casing. In another aspect, a method of manufacturing a wireless power transfer device is provided. During manufacturing, a casing of the device may be loaded to maintain a desired shape while at least one component and a settable flowable medium are introduced into the casing.

Remote systems, such as vehicles, have been introduced that include locomotion power derived from electricity received from an energy storage device such as a battery. For example, hybrid electric vehicles include on-board chargers that use power from vehicle braking and motors to charge the vehicles. Vehicles that are solely electric generally receive the electricity for charging the batteries from other sources. Battery electric vehicles (electric vehicles) are often proposed to be charged through some type of wired alternating current (AC) such as household or commercial AC supply sources. The wired charging connections require cables or other similar connectors that are physically connected to a power supply. Cables and similar connectors may sometimes be inconvenient or cumbersome and have other drawbacks.
Wireless charging systems that are capable of transferring power in free space (e.g., via a wireless field) to be used to charge electric vehicles may overcome some of the deficiencies of wired charging solutions. As such, wireless charging systems and methods that efficiently and safely transfer power for charging electric vehicles are desirable.
Wireless power transfer systems may utilize inductive power transfer (IPT) to transfer power between base and pickup power devices. In the context of vehicle use, the devices may be positioned on the ground and therefore subject to harsh conditions both in terms of impact and compressive forces (particularly from being driven over) and also in terms of exposure to the elements, especially water. Protection of the devices may be accomplished by using thick shielding in the construction of the device to increase mechanical strength, or by embedding the base device in the ground. However, it is generally desirable to reduce the physical footprint of the device for the purposes of both aesthetic appeal and ease of mounting. It is also desirable to minimize the degree of shielding between the base and pickup devices to reduce effects on power transfer. Further, it can be desirable to reduce the weight of the devices—particularly those mounted to vehicles.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Wireless power transfer device and method of manufacture


Alarms adaptable to common American bathtub cover plate configurations. Two different embodiments are illustrated. In a first embodiment, the alarm unit is designed to allow use with the three different mounting styles of cover plates used in the United States. The unit housing is preferably formed of plastic or metal with different colors and finishes and includes removable areas to allow use with a single center screw; dual screws or a center pivoting drain lever with dual screws. The various electronics components remain sealed inside the waterproof plastic or metal housing in all instances. In a second embodiment, a waterproof housing attaches to an adapter ring. The adapter ring is configured to cooperate with single center screw and dual screw variations. An alternative adapter ring can be used with European and newer American threaded overflow drains. In the first two embodiments there can be upper and lower sensor(s), preferably a pair of each, to provide initial and critical warnings. The warnings include audible warnings emitted by the alarm unit as well as transmitted signals for detection by remote devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a bathtub overflow alarm and more particularly pertains to alerting a user to water reaching a hazardous or dangerous level within a bathtub or other container.
2. Description of the Related Art
People often do other things while waiting for a bathtub to fill in order not to waste time. Sometimes they get engrossed in a different activity and forget they started the water. Most bathtubs are equipped with drains to prevent the overflow of the water; however, that drain line or the cover over the drain line is often not large enough to allow water to go to the drain at the rate the water is entering the bathtub. Thus damage can be caused by the water overflowing the top of the bathtub. The direct damage to surrounding materials can be great but the water may also provide an environment suitable for dangerous mold and mildew or create a slipping hazard when someone finally comes to turn off the water.
American plumbing for bathtubs are installed with piping going vertically up the end of the bathtub to a height level of the overflow drain hole in the bathtub. A right angle of pipe is added to attach the plumbing to the bathtub. That piece of pipe has one or more threaded holes for attaching a fixed overflow cover plate to it and draw it up against the bathtub. At the bottom edge of the cover plate is a narrow opening for the water to evacuate the bathtub when the water level reaches that height. However, this narrow opening often limits the amount of water which can enter the piping to an amount less than that flowing into the bathtub. Thus it is possible to overflow the entire bathtub, with the overflow cover plate fully under water.
American bathtubs have three designs for the overflow cover plate. Two of them just have different screw hole configurations for mounting the cover plate to the overflow pipes. The other has a trip lever in the center with two screw holes. As noted above, the past and present overflow plumbing designs do not allow enough volume of liquid to escape from the bathtub when the bathtub is being filled with the current overflow cover plates. Furthermore, these cover plates and the evacuation areas on the sides of the cover plates may become blocked with a variety of things as well as just a buildup of hard water deposits.
There have been many attempts to solve overflowing of bathtubs in the past but have all met with problems. The majority of examples of prior art in water level alarms are devices which float in the bathtub or suction to the side. These fail for practical purposes because people do not want the device to remain in the bathtub with them while they are relaxing and so must be removable. This means that it is likely that a person will not go to the trouble of setting the device back in the bathtub each time.
There are many different type of fluid level alarms; however, none are financially feasible for the home or commercial bathtub applications. The current designs are attached to the side of bathtubs with suction cups, so they are easily removed or stolen; attached to the wall above the bathtub and get in the way of the person bathing; uses floats which can be fouled by hard water or other debris or are hard to mount; use a diaphragm switch sensitive to pressure changes, but the rubber can wear out and not react or can leak itself, or the switch itself is buoyant, which could get stuck in the drain.
Two designs address some of the problems but create new problems. U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,462 discloses a bath overflow alarm which replaces the bath drain cover and provides an audible alarm. U.S. patent application Ser. No. US2002/0047784 A1 discloses an alternative design for replacing the bath drain cover which further may provide an alarm output using a low-power radio transmitter. While these designs solve some of the prior art problems, they require specific embodiments for each particular bath drain design. This increases their cost and creates inventory problems for both the manufacturer and the retailer. It would be desirable to provide the benefits these designs provide and reduce the cost and inventory problems they create.

Bath overflow alarm suitable for different installation arrangements


A device for isolating stacked flat workpieces includes a driven, web-like supporting framework which rotates in a frame. Rotating rolls are supported at equal intervals on a circle concentric to the turning axis of the framework. Each roll is provided with a row of suction boxes. Driving gears of the rolls are rotated, in a direction opposite to the rotation direction of the supporting framework, by a spider gear fixed to the framework. Intermediate gears, through which the spider gear rotates the driving gears, are supported in the supporting framework. A stacking cartridge is placed at the external cylinder defined by the row of suction boxes in such a way that each row of suction boxes of each roll withdraws an exposed workpiece from the cartridge. A transport device which removes an isolated workpiece and further transports the workpiece is placed at the external cylinder. In order to prevent a stack from being set into vibration by a passing roll, a stacking cartridge completely confines the stack.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for isolating stacked flat workpieces, preferably stacked tubular pieces, including a driven, web-like supporting framework that rotates on a frame. Rotating rolls are supported at equal intervals on a circle concentric with the turning axis of the rolls. Each roll is provided with a row of suction boxes. The driving gears of the rolls are rotated, in a direction opposite to the rotation direction of the supporting framework, by a spider gear fixed to the frame. Intermediate gears, through which the driving gears are rotated, are supported in the supporting framework. A stacking cartridge is placed at an external cylinder defined by the row of suction boxes in such a way that each row of suction boxes of each roll withdraws an exposed workpiece from the cartridge. A transport device placed at the external cylinder removes an isolated workpiece and further transports the same.
2. Description of Related Art
A so-called rotary feeder of this type is known from DE-PS 1,277,655. In the known feeder, a stacking cartridge for accepting a stack of workpieces is located above the external cylinder described by the suction rolls. The stack, which is to be separated into single workpieces, is supported against the suction rolls and against additional back-up rolls arranged between the suction rolls forming the same external cylinder as the suction rolls. This type of support is necessary for the known rotary feeder so that a lower exposed workpiece can be withdrawn from the stack by each suction roll.
However, since suction rolls and back-up rolls supporting a stack impact upon the stack as they pass by, the rolls unavoidably stimulate vibration in the stack. In stack production, rotary feeders are positioned in front of bottom-laying machines. Modern bottom-laying machines have a high capacity so that a rotary feeder must also operate at high speed in order to supply a bottom-laying machine with isolated tubular pieces at a correspondingly increased cadence. However, at higher speeds, a stack supported on the suction and back-up rolls of a rotary feeder tends to start vibrating so forcefully that it is no longer guaranteed that the row of suction boxes of each suction roll will securely pick up the bottom tubular piece in the front edge region of the latter. As a result, either no isolation takes place or a tubular piece to be isolated is only incompletely withdrawn, possibly in an oblique position.

Device for isolating stacked flat workpieces


A solar cell includes a light-absorbing layer comprising a 2d-perovskite.

Pressure to use renewable energy sources is growing. One renewable energy source is the sun. Energy from the sun can be harvested by converting sunlight to electricity using a photovoltaic cell or a photoelectrochemical cell. Both such cells are commonly known as "solar cells."
A basic photovoltaic cell includes a light-absorbing region bounded on one side by a hole-selective contact and on the other side by an electron-selective contact. When sunlight shines on a photovoltaic cell, it can be reflected, absorbed, or transmitted. Only the light that is absorbed in the light-absorbing region ultimately generates electricity. More particularly, only photons having an energy that is at least equal to the band gap of the light-absorbing region can free an electron in that region. The band gap for most photovoltaics is 1.1-1.7 eV. The selective contacts act like sinks for either electrons or holes and each contact establishes a potential gradient. The potential gradient generates a drift current.
Recently, researchers have been experimenting with three-dimensional (3d) hybrid perovskites of the form (MA)[PbX3] for use as the light-absorbing layer of solar cells (where: MA=CH3NH3+ and X═Cl, Br, or I).
High-quality films of 3d hybrid perovskites can be formed via thermal evaporation and two-step vapor or dip-conversion methods. Simpler deposition methods, such as single-step spin coating or dipcoating, can be used, but they produce lower quality films, which negatively impact solar-cell performance. Furthermore, 3d-perovskites are not stable in the presence of moisture, thereby requiring anhydrous processing conditions.

The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University


A method of driving backlight of a display apparatus and the display apparatus are provided. The method includes: generating a control pulse configured to drive a backlight unit, the control pulse including: a first high pulse section configured to turn on the backlight unit; and an afterimage removal section configured to remove a frame afterimage; and inputting the control pulse into the backlight unit to alternately turn on and off the backlight unit, wherein the afterimage removal section comprises at least one second high pulse section having smaller duty than duty of the first high pulse section.

1. Field
Apparatuses and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to providing a display apparatus and a method of driving backlight thereof, and more particularly, to providing a display apparatus that, if a dimming frequency of the display apparatus is lower than or equal to a preset frequency, reduces a flicker phenomenon, and a method of driving backlight thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display (LCD) is thinner, lighter, and requires a lower driving voltage and lower power consumption than other types of display apparatuses and thus has been widely used. However, the LCD is a nonluminous device that does not emit light and thus requires an additional backlight unit for supplying light to a liquid crystal panel.
However, if the LCD displays consecutive frames, a section in which frames overlap each other is generated, and thus an afterimage is left. A method of dimming a light-emitting diode (LED) is used to solve this problem of the afterimage. In other words, an operation of turning on the LED for a preset time and an operation of turning off the LED for a preset time are alternately repeated to prevent a phenomenon in which an afterimage of a frame is left.
Specifically, a dimming method of an LED is classified into an analog dimming method and a digital dimming method. The analog dimming method refers to a method of adjusting an amount of current supplied to the LED to adjust brightness of the LED. A pulse width modulation (PWM) dimming method which is one of digital dimming methods refers to a method of adjusting a ratio between on and off times of the LED to adjust the brightness of the LED. For example, if a PWM signal in which a ratio between on and off times is 4:1 is provided to the LED, the brightness of the LED may be about 80% of maximum brightness.
If a basic dimming frequency is lower than or equal to a preset frequency (for example, 60 Hz), duration of each of the LED being turned on and turned off becomes longer. Therefore, there may occur a flicker phenomenon in which a user visually feels periodic changes of light intensity such as flickering of a screen. As a result, there is a need for a technology for mitigating such a flicker phenomenon.

Display apparatus and method of driving backlight thereof


Provided is an XY table actuator that, while building-in a drive means for freely moving an object placed on a table within an XY-plane and positioning the object, can be significantly reduced in size and that helps to suppress an increase in table height. The actuator has: a stationary plate (2) having a receiving groove extending in an X-direction; a moving plate (5) having a receiving groove extending in a Y-direction; an intermediate plate (4) whose lower body is assembled to the receiving groove (20) of the stationary plate (2) through intermediation of rolling bodies (3), whose upper body is assembled to the receiving groove of the moving plate (5) through intermediation of rolling bodies (3), and which is movable in the X-direction with respect to the stationary plate, with the moving plate being movable in the Y-direction with respect to the intermediate plate; an X-drive means (6) for propelling the intermediate plate in the X-direction with respect to the stationary plate; and a Y-drive means (7) for propelling the moving plate in the Y-direction with respect to the intermediate plate, in which the intermediate plate is provided with receiving chambers (40, 41) for the X-drive means and the Y-drive means, respectively.

Conventionally, a so-called built-up type XY table actuator utilizing a linear guide has been known as an apparatus for moving an object freely within the XY-plane to perform positioning thereon at an arbitrary position. More specifically, a track rail extending in the X-direction is arranged on a stationary portion such as a bed or a column, and there is provided a lower table moving along this track rail. Further, a track rail extending in the Y-direction is arranged on the lower table, and there is provided an upper table moving along this track rail; and the upper table is moved freely in the X-direction and the Y-direction with respect to the stationary portion. As means for causing the lower table to advance and retreat in the Y-direction with respect to the stationary portion and for causing the upper table to advance and retreat in the X-direction with respect to the lower table, there is known one which converts the rotary motion of a motor to a linear motion by a ball screw and which transmits the linear movement to the lower table or the upper table.
In the XY table actuator constructed as described above, a load of a linear guide device supporting movement of the lower table and the upper table is arbitrarily selected, whereby the XY table actuator is flexibly applicable to various uses from small load uses to large load uses. Further, through appropriate selection of a length of the track rail, it is also possible to elongate a stroke amount of the upper table. However, since the track rail in the Y-direction is arranged on the lower table, which is movable in the X-direction, high rigidity is required of the lower table itself. Further, the height of the XY table actuator as measured from the stationary portion to the upper table cannot but be rather large, resulting in an increase in size and weight of the entire tables.
JP 05-18415 A discloses an XY table in which a reduction in size and weight is achieved through press working of a thin steel plate. More specifically, end portions of steel plates are bent and raised by press working to thereby form a lower plate and an upper plate of a channel-like configuration. Further, there is formed an intermediate plate in which, of its four sides, two opposing sides are bent downwardly and remaining two sides are bent upwardly, with the upper plate, the intermediate plate, and the lower plate being combined with each other such that side wall portions formed by bending are opposed to each other. Balls are arranged between the side wall portions opposed to each other, and the balls roll on the side wall portions, whereby the intermediate plate can move in the X-direction with respect to the lower plate, and the upper plate can move freely in the Y-direction with respect to the intermediate plate. In this XY table, the lower plate and the upper plate may be completely of the same structure although they differ in moving direction with respect to the intermediate plate, thus advantageously helping to achieve a reduction in production cost. Patent Document 1: JP 05-18415 A


A method for packaging an image sensor includes the steps of providing a substrate, forming a first adhesive on one surface of the substrate, attaching a transparent material on the first adhesive, cutting or carving the surface of the transparent material to a depth penetrating the transparent material while not penetrating the first adhesive, cleaning the cut or carved surface of the transparent material, depositing a frame glue on the transparent material, and combining the transparent material with a microchip that includes a plurality of micro-lenses. The micro-lens is packaged within the transparent material. The microchip is then ground to perform a lithography process. Next, the substrate and part of the first adhesive are detached after the lithography process. After performing a cutting or carving procedure, the packaging process of the image sensors is completed.

The present invention relates generally to an image sensor packaging method and structure thereof, and more particularly to an image sensor packaging method that fabricates first a transparent layer of the image sensor, and then combines the image sensor with a microchip. The image sensor is thus automatically fabricated, thereby preventing the damage or waste of microchips and lowering the manufacturing cost and thickness of the image sensor. When cutting or carving the transparent layer, the amount of fragmental pieces generated is reduced, thus improving the conventional method for manufacturing image sensors.
In recent years, the prosperity of multimedia industry has made a trend of digitizing image data. The development of digital cameras, digital video cameras, image scanners, etc. represents that the age of digital images has arrived. The key component of the products listed above is an image sensor, which is one kind of electro-optical device in the electro-optical industry. The grand integration of video, audio, and digital communications in different platforms has sketched a new shape of people's life along the development of the computer network technology. Therefore, many different products that can exchange image data and information, such as personal computer, personal digital assistant, handheld personal computer, cellular phone, interactive television, web machine, facsimile machine, etc., have been developed.
In general, the image sensor is classified into three different categories, namely, the charge coupling device (CCD) image sensor, the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor, and the contact image sensor (CIS). In practice, since the CIS does not constitute the optical focusing problem of the CCD image sensor, it is often used in a facsimile machine and an image scanner. Thus, the CIS will replace the CCD image sensor to become a standard image sensor used in intermediate or lower level scanners.
However, the quality of the image sensors described above depends mainly on the manufacturing processes and the costs. For example, in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,285,064, which is entitled "Chip Scale Packaging for Optical Image Sensor Integrated Circuits", a manufacturing process is disclosed. In the manufacturing process, a plurality of micro lenses is applied onto a wafer. The wafer includes a plurality of image sensor integrated circuits. The micro lenses are applied to a sensing array portion of the image sensor integrated circuits. Then, an adhesive matrix is applied on the wafer. The adhesive matrix includes a plurality of openings located to correspond to the sensing array portion when the adhesive matrix is applied to the wafer. Next, a cover glass is applied on the adhesive matrix such that a cavity containing a non-adhesive material is formed over the micro lenses. One advantage of the image sensor packaging method is in that the distortion and decay of the received images can be reduced. However, after applying the cover glass, one still needs to planarize and cut the wafers. This will damage the wafer or increase the damage rate. In addition, cutting the cover glass will leave many glass particles on the image sensor. Therefore, defective products are easily derived from the manufacturing processes. Moreover, the manufacturing cost is relatively higher, too.

Image sensor packaging method and structure thereof


In at least some embodiments, a method comprises emulating a Universal Serial Bus (USB) host controller at a computer system. The method further comprises using the emulated USB host controller to interface a remote management console with the computer system.

This invention relates in general to the field of electronics and more particularly to emulating a Universal Serial Bus (USB) host controller. The Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a host-centric bus in which the host initiates all of the transactions. USB has enjoyed broad adoption in part because it makes personal computer (PC) peripheral expansion very easy to accomplish.
Virtual devices can be used in remote administration applications in order to manage/monitor a computer system such as a server from a remote location. Some previous implementations of virtual devices have utilized a USB device core included in the management subsystem that had to be connected to the monitored system's USB host controller and controlled by firmware running on the management subsystem. Because it is a single device core, only one device can be emulated at a given time. Also, the virtual device requires real USB device hardware as well as a port on the system's USB host controller to be implemented.
For a background on the operation of a conventional USB host controller, a design guide entitled "Universal Host Controller Interface (UHCI) Design Guide," Revision 1.1., March 1996, by Intel Corporation provides a good background on a UHCI's design and operation and is hereby incorporated by reference. A discussion on USB virtual devices can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,636,929, entitled "USB Virtual Devices" by Frantz et al. which is also incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A high performance zoom lens with a high zoom ratio is suitable for a wide range of uses. The zoom lens includes, in order from the object side, a first lens group having a positive refractive power, a second lens group having a negative refractive power, a third lens group having a positive refractive power, a fourth lens group having a negative refractive power, and the fifth lens group having a positive refractive power. A magnification of the second lens group, a magnification of the third lens group and a magnification of the fourth lens group almost simultaneously attain near equal magnification. The zoom lens system satisfies at least one predetermined condition.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a zoom lens structure. In particular, the zoom lens has a structure to permit a high zoom capability.
2. Description of Related Art
A finite optical system is used widely in various electronic image devices, which require focusing and shooting by an optical system. In particular, a finite optical system is used for a lens system in digital still cameras, close-up shooting optical systems, enlargement development optical systems, reduction development optical systems, projection lenses for video projectors using liquid-crystal display and the like.
Among known finite optical systems, a finite single focus lens has limited use. Accordingly, a special optical system is required for each purpose. On the other hand, a finite zoom lens has a wider range of uses compared to a single focus lens. However, a finite zoom lens lacks a variety of lenses. A finite zoom lens is used widely in lens systems for 35 mm still cameras, lens systems for 16 mm cinema scope cameras, and lens systems for televisions. A shooting zoom lens with low magnification, around 1/50.times..about.1/30.times., with wide field angle, is advantageous for a compact and high image quality image input optical system in electronic image equipment.
A low magnification and wide field angle zoom lens is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 3-71686 (JP 686). However, a zoom method of the zoom lens in JP 686 encounters problems in shifting to a high magnification, and a zoom locus for each lens group is complicated. Moreover, with the zoom lens of JP 686, an optical system for a measurement projection equipment requires strong telecentricity. Additionally, an effective F-number is relatively large at around F/3.5-F/6.5. Therefore, the zoom lens is not sufficient to shoot an object with a dark and/or black design, depending on illumination conditions. Thus, a bright, wide angle high zooming capability and performance optical system has been long desired.
For an optical system in electronic image equipment, the system must cope with numerous uses. Therefore, a special optical system is needed to correspond to each purpose. In other words, in a conventional zoom lens, a special optical system is required for each purpose, making this optical system very inefficient and uneconomical.
With an optical system for use in photo-imaging systems with high resolution, a zoom lens should favorably correct chromatic aberrations of magnification. Further, the zoom lens should be bright, have high performance, be capable of shifting to high zooming, have a short conjugal length, be capable of presenting wide field angle, and have small distortion and fluctuation during zooming. Additionally, the zoom lens should be capable of securing sufficient amount of light in a marginal zone, to minimize shading.
Considering the problems described above, embodiments of the present invention aim to provide a high performance, high zooming ratio zoom lens capable of coping with a wide variety of utilization purposes.


A learning unit 81 generates a plurality of sample groups from samples to be used for learning, and generates a plurality of prediction models while inhibiting overlapping of a sample group to be used for learning among the generated sample groups. An optimization unit 82 generates an objective function based on an explained variable predicted by the prediction model and based on a constraint condition for optimization, and optimizes a generated objective function. An evaluation unit 83 evaluates an optimization result by using a sample group that has not been used in learning of a prediction model used for generating an objective function targeted for the optimization.

In recent years, data-driven decision making has received a great deal of attention, and has been used in ninny practical applications. One of the most promising approaches is mathematical optimization based on prediction models generated by machine learning. Recent advances in machine learning have made it easier to create accurate prediction models, and prediction results have been used to build mathematical optimization problems. In the following description, such a problem is referred to as predictive mathematical optimization, or simply as prediction optimization.
These approaches are used in applications where frequent trial and error processes are not practical, such as water distribution optimization, energy generation planning, retail price optimization, supply chain management, and portfolio optimization.
One of the important features of prediction optimization is that, unlike standard optimization, an objective function is estimated by machine learning. For example, in price optimization based on prediction, since future profits are originally unknown, a function for predicting profits is estimated by a regression equation of a demand, as a function of product prices.
PTL 1 discloses an ordering plan determination device that determines an ordering plan for a product. The ordering plan determination device described in PTL 1 calculates a combination of a price and an order quantity of a product for maximizing a profit, by predicting a demand of the product for each price, and using the predicted demand to solve an objective function optimization problem with a price and an order quantity as an input and a profit as an output.    NPL 1 describes a method of determining an appropriate discount for a given Sharpe ratio.

Evaluation system, evaluation method, and evaluation program for evaluating a result of optimization based on prediction