If a CRL is cached for an increased speed of a certificate validation process, when a certification authority issues a CRL in an urgent situation, the accuracy of the certificate validation result cannot be secured because the cached CRL is not the latest one. This problem is solved as follows. When it issues a CRL, the certification authority sends a CRL issuance notification to certificate validation servers. The certificate validation servers that received the CRL issuance notification cache the latest CRL. Thus, the accuracy of the certificate validation result can be secured.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a public key infrastructure system comprising a certification authority that issues a public key certificate revocation list, a server for certificate validation that verifies a validity of a public key certificate, and a client who uses the certificate validation server.
2. Description of the Related Art
[Patent Reference 1]: US 2002/0046340A1, [Non-Patent Reference 1]: ITU, ITU-T Recommendation X.509 "Information technology—Open systems interconnection—The Directory: Public-key and attribute certificate frameworks", ITU, March 2000, p. 7-53, and [Non-Patent Reference 2]: "GPKI Government Public Key Infrastructure interoperability specification" p. 18-20, 27-29, "online", Apr. 25, 2001, approved by Basic Problem Workgroup, "searched on Mar. 14, 2003", Internet <URL:
http://www.soumu.go.jp/gyoukan/kanri/010514—2.pdf>teach CRLs, server models, and public keys.
Systems using the public key infrastructure (referred to simply as PKI) including a Government Public Key Infrastructure (GPKI), are coming into wide use to identify a person who produced an electronic document of interest and guarantee that the electronic document has not been changed or tampered with (see, for example, non-patent reference 1). In a PKI-based system, an electronic document is electronically signed by a person affixing his or her digital signature using a key called a private key, which is owned only by that person (referred to as a signatory). When an electronic document with a digital signature is received, the digital signature is verified to identify a producer of the electronic document and confirm that the electronic document is not tapered with.
In uses that require a high level of trust, to verify a digital signature requires not only verifying the digital signature of interest by using a key called a public key embodied in a public key certificate (simply referred to as a certificate) of the signatory but also checking whether or not the certificate of the signatory is a valid one for a person who verifies the digital signature (referred to as a verifier). To verify whether or not the certificate of the signatory is valid for the verifier, it is necessary to (1) discover a certification path and (2) verify the certification path.
The certification path is a chain of trust from the verifier to the signatory and is expressed in the form of a chain of certificates. Where the certification authorities issue certificates to each other, in particular, special certificates, called cross-certificates, are issued. When nine certification authorities from 11 to 19 have a cross-certification relationship with one another, as shown in FIG. 2, the certification path from a verifier having a certificate issued by the certification authority I2 to a signatory having a certificate issued by the certification authority I1 is a chain of certificates beginning with a cross-certificate 918 followed by a cross-certificate 968, a cross-certificate 946, a cross-certificate 924, and then finally a certificate of the verifier. A method of validating the certification path discovered in this manner is detailed in the above non-patent reference 1.
In one of the GPKI specifications, there are described an end entity model and a certificate validation server model as models for verifying the validities of certificates (see, for example, non-patent reference 2). The certificate validation server model uses a certificate validation server that provides a function to perform an online check on the validity of the certificate concerned on behalf of a client.
The certificate validation server model has the following advantages over the end entity model. First, since there is no need to mount a certification path discovery function on a client, the certificate validation server model can make the client signature verification program small. Further, because a client trusts the result of decision made by the certificate validation server, it is possible to flexibly cope with system configuration changes by simply changing a setting of the certificate validation server. According to the above non-patent reference 2, whether a particular certificate is valid or not is verified using a certificate revocation list (referred to as a CRL) issued by the certification authorities or an OCSP responder.
Since it is not efficient to retrieve the CRL from the certification authority every time a certificate validation is performed, the patent reference 1 discloses a method whereby the certificate validation server caches the certificates, the CRL and the certification path to increase the speed of the certificate validation process.
To verify a digital signature and build a certification path requires obtaining a certificate of the signatory.
The methods of obtaining a signatory certificate can be classed largely into two types.
One type of method involves a signatory sending an electronic document signed with a digital signature, with a certificate of the signatory to be obtained separately. One example of this method concerns a caser where a signatory sends an electronic document with a digital signature along with a URL that indicates the location where a certificate for verifying the digital signature is stored. With this method, the verifier needs to access the location where the certificate is stored (hereafter referred to as a certificate repository) to obtain the certificate.
Another type of method involves a signatory sending an electronic document with a digital signature along with a certificate that is used to verify the digital signature.
If a CRL is cached for an increased speed of the certificate validation process, when a certification authority issues a CRL in an urgent situation, the cached CRL is not the latest one any more. The patent reference 1 does not refer to this point.
One method for solving the above-mentioned problem to ensure that the certificate validation can be performed correctly even when the CRL is issued in an urgent situation, involves having the certificate validation server periodically access a location where the CRL is stored (hereinafter referred to as a CRL repository) to check if the CRL is updated. The above-described method is further classified into two types. One is to have the certificate validation server itself make a check via the network and another is to introduce CRL issuance check software into the CRL repository.
In enhancing the accuracy of the certificate validation by using the method of periodically checking whether or not the CRL is updated, it is necessary to shorten an interval between the checks as practically as possible. In the method where the certificate validation server itself makes a check through the network, however, shortening the check interval will give rise to a problem of increasing the load of the network.
In the method that introduces a CRL issuance check program into the CRL repository, on the other hand, there is a problem that if an administrator of the CRL repository and an administrator of the certificate validation server should differ, the installing of the CRL issuance check software is not permitted, leaving the check unperformable.
Further, in an environment where a plurality of certificate validation servers exist, all the certificate validation servers cannot perform the validation process with the same accuracy unless they all use the CRL issuance check software introduced into the CRL repository. So, if the number of operational certificate validation servers is to be increased or reduced, the setting of the CRL issuance check software needs to be changed. However, if the administrator of the CRL repository and the administrator of the certificate validation servers differ, it is difficult to flexibly change the number of certificate validation servers.
Another problem is that, if the certification path is cached but the certification authorities have revoked old cross-certificates and issued new cross-certificates, it is necessary to build a certification path including the new cross-certificates.
Further, in an environment in which there are a plurality of certificate validation servers, even if the plurality of certificate validation servers validate the same certificate, each of the certificate validation servers performs the certification path discovery and obtains the CRL. This raises a possibility of accesses concentrating on a particular CRL repository or on a particular certificate repository and also a possibility of an increased network load. The patent reference 1 does not refer to these problems.
Further, in the preceding method of obtaining the certificate separately, there is a problem that, to request the certificate validation server to verify the certificate, the client must first access the certificate repository to obtain the certificate.
Under these circumstances, a new technique for resolving these problems is being called for.

Authentication and authorization infrastructure system with CRL issuance notification function


The invention is systems and methods for determining a fundamental route between central offices in a telecommunications network. The invention receives a “request for service” as location names or location information associated with the two selected locations. The location names or location information are correlated with one or more corresponding SONET carrier identification codes (SCID). If the two selected locations have intermediate locations between them, the invention determines a set of intermediate locations. Location information associated with each intermediate location can then be correlated with one or more corresponding SONET carrier identification codes (SCID). A set of routes can then be generated between the two user-selected locations, including routes between locations and sub-locations, and between sub-locations, each based upon fundamental route criteria. Fundamental route criteria can include the distance between points, transmission equipment utilization, transmission capacity, or redundancy. Finally, a fundamental route is selected based upon at least one fundamental route criteria.

Telecommunications service providers have extensive networks which can include landline equipment and fiber optic lines connecting central offices. Generally, a telecommunications network consists of one or more central offices with landline connections between central offices for carrying voice and/or data signals between central offices. The last central office located near the physical location of a subscriber and that physically connects to that subscriber's customer premises equipment is called an "end office". Each central office and end office house switching equipment that connects subscriber lines together so that voice and data signals can be transmitted between subscribers.
In conventional telecommunications networks, fiber optic lines can carry voice and/or data signal traffic between the central offices and end offices. Conventional fiber optic lines can vary in size and capacity. For example, one configuration of a telecommunications network that utilizes fiber optical lines is a synchronous optical network or "SONET". One type of SONET configuration is designated as "STS/DS-3/OCN", which is an acronym for "Synchronous Transport Signal; Digital Service, Level 3; Optical Carrier, Level n", which identifies a capacity and rate for digital signal transmission over a particular fiber optical line.
When a subscriber contacts a telecommunications service provider to initiate telecommunications network service between two particular locations in a network, then a "request of service" is initiated with the telecommunications service provider. A "request of service" is merely a request to route voice and/or data traffic between at least two particular central offices or end offices in a network. Since each location is serviced by at least one central office or end office, voice and data traffic must be routed between the respective central offices or end offices so that a subscriber can obtain telecommunications service between the two locations in the network.
However, in a telecommunications network utilizing fiber optic lines for transmission of voice and/or data signals, there are numerous combinations of signal routes that can be utilized for voice and/or data service between two central offices or hubs in such a network. For example, in an OC-48 lightweight optical network, there are at least 192×55=10,348 different combinations of signal routes between any two central offices or hubs in the network. When a signal is transmitted through more than two central offices, the number of possible combinations of signal routes between the central offices increases.
When larger distances are involved between two locations in a network, voice and data traffic may have to be routed through more than two central offices. Thus, determining signal routes between central offices can be a time consuming and expensive proposition.
Moreover, several technical problems can arise in selecting a route for voice and data traffic between two particular locations in a network. First, more switching and transmission equipment than what is needed may be utilized for providing voice and data service between two location; thus resulting in inefficient utilization of resources and higher operating costs. Next, the selected signal route may not be the shortest route between two locations, thus resulting in longer communication times, and higher operating costs.
One attempt to address these problems utilizes a conventional spreadsheet to track signal routes between central offices or end offices. Operating company personnel manually key in data to a spreadsheet to update signal route information as needed or when known. When a request for service is received, operating company personnel determine an optimum signal route by manually sorting through rows and tables of spreadsheet data for particular route information between central offices.
An optimum signal route between two central offices or end offices in a telecommunications network is known as a "fundamental route". A fundamental route can be one of the most efficient transmission paths for voice and/or data traffic between two central offices or end offices in a conventional telecommunications network.
Therefore, a need exists for systems and methods for determining a fundamental route between at least two central offices in a telecommunications network.
A further need exists for systems and methods for determining a signal route between two locations in a telecommunications network.
Yet a further need exists for systems and methods for determining a fundamental route in response to a request for service.

Systems and methods for determining a fundamental route between central offices in a telecommunications network

BellSouth Intellectual Property Corporation


Ink droplets placement errors of a recording apparatus is to be corrected with high accuracy. Ink droplets placement errors in a subsidiary scanning direction of recording head units of a recording head array are obtained based on a result identified by reading a test chart for adjusting head alignment for detecting the errors, and it is then determined as to whether or not the errors identified is in a prescribed tolerance level (i.e., whether or not the printing result is good). In the case where it is judged that the printing result is not good, adjustment of alignment is carried out based on the errors identified. That is, the ink discharging timing of the recording head units is controlled per the period of the printing pulses, and the ink discharging timing of the recording head units is then controlled per the period of the controlling pulses.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for correcting ink droplets placement errors for a recording apparatus, a recording apparatus having an apparatus for correcting ink droplets placement errors, and a method for correcting ink droplets placement errors in a recording apparatus. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus for correcting ink droplets placement errors for a recording apparatus having a recording head part constituted by arranging plural recording heads in a first direction, the recording heads each being formed by arranging plural recording head units in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, the recording head units each having plural ink discharging surface, and it also relates to the recording apparatus having an apparatus for correcting ink droplets placement errors, and a method for correcting ink droplets placement errors in the recording apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a conventional ink-jet recording apparatus, the following full multi recording head has been disclosed. The full multi recording head is constituted by mounting plural recording head units, each of which has plural orifices, on a substrate by sliding them into sliding grooves, as described in paragraphs 0017 to 0020 and FIG. 1 of JP-A-9-1789.
In the full multi recording head, however, because the recording head units are mounted by sliding them into sliding grooves, i.e., they are mounted by a mechanical system, there is a possibility of causing errors, and thus they cannot be mounted with high accuracy. Therefore, no high image quality can be expected for an image obtained by the conventional ink-jet recording apparatus.

Apparatus for correcting ink droplets placement errors for recording apparatus, recording apparatus having apparatus for correcting ink droplets placement errors, and method for correcting ink droplets placement errors


A vehicle spring guide assembly is shown for mounting a coil spring to a suspension component of a vehicle. The assembly can include a vehicle mounting member and a spring guide member. The vehicle mounting member includes a bumper portion and a mounting interface portion. The mounting interface portion can be configured to engage the bumper portion and fixedly mount the bumper portion to a suspension component of a vehicle. The spring guide member can include an annular portion configured to engage with one end of a coil spring and a flexible frustoconical portion configured to extend within the inside diameter of the coil spring. The flexible frustoconical portion can be detachably engaged with the mounting interface portion of the vehicle mounting member, and can be configured to guide and isolate the coil spring during assembly.

1. Field
The disclosed subject matter relates to suspension system components for motor vehicles.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Suspension systems for vehicles can be interposed between a vehicle wheel and the body of the vehicle to dampen vibrations that are transmitted from the wheel to the vehicle body. The suspension systems can include a shock absorber, and a coil spring disposed around at least a portion of the shock absorber. The shock absorber typically includes a cylindrical member and a piston rod disposed to slide in and out of the cylindrical member. The cylindrical member can be connected either directly or indirectly to a wheel of the vehicle. The piston rod is typically disposed so as to advance and retract with respect to the cylindrical member, and can be connected either directly or indirectly to a portion of the vehicle body.
The coil spring is usually disposed outside the shock absorber by a predetermined space. One of the opposite ends of the coil spring can be held on a first seat, which can be connected to the cylindrical member. The opposite end of the coil spring can be held on a second seat, which can be connected to the piston rod. Additional suspension system components can include a shock-absorbing bumper member mounted inside of the coil spring and provided with a central, axially extending hole through which the piston rod can be extended. The bumper member can be disposed to limit the travel of the cylindrical member relative to the piston rod.
Installation of the coil spring over the cylindrical member, piston rod and bumper member during assembly or repair of the suspension components often requires the use of an elaborate installation jig to avoid contact between the coil spring and any metal or other portions of the suspension components that may be damaged by such contact.
Potential problems associated with known methods of assembling the suspension components and installing the coil spring can include the expense and complexity of required installation jigs such as described above, increased assembly and repair times that may result, and limitations on the possible configurations of the suspension system components to allow for the placement and use of such installation jigs. In addition, conventional jigs sometimes do not provide an adequate amount of protection, resulting in damage to vehicle components during assembly of the suspension components.

Assembly guide for vehicle spring and method


A mobile wireless communication device like a cellular handset includes multiple communication addresses stored in its memory. Each address is associated with one or more inputs of an input key. For example a first telephone number is associated with a single input of a particular key, and a second telephone number may be associated with two sequential inputs of the same key. The communication address is transmitted from the wireless communication device upon entering the one or more key inputs associated therewith and upon maintaining a last of the sequential key inputs for a predetermined time interval.

Quick dialing features are known generally in cellular telephones. The Motorola StarTAC cellular telephones, for example, include a "Turbo Dial" feature that allows users to dial telephone numbers stored in memory locations 1-9 by merely depressing and holding a corresponding one of the input keys for a specified time interval. In the Motorola StarTAC phones, telephone numbers are associated with numeric input keys 1-9 by designating the corresponding memory location, i.e., locations 1-9, in which the telephone number is stored when the number is entered initially. Memory location 1 corresponds to numeric key 1, etc.
The Nokia 6100 series of cellular handsets, by Nokia Mobile Phones Limited, include a "1-touch dialing" feature. In the Nokia handsets, telephone numbers are associated with input keys by entering the "1-touch dialing" mode, whereupon previously stored telephone numbers may be assigned to corresponding alphanumeric input keys on the keypad. Thereafter, stored telephone numbers may be dialed by depressing and holding the corresponding input key associated therewith for a specified time interval.
In known telephones having speed dialing features, the number of telephone numbers that may be assigned to alphanumeric input keys is limited by key availability, e.g., usually keys 1-9 in cellular telephones. Additionally, some phones reserve one or more numeric keys for the assignment of specific numbers. In the Nokia 6100 series handsets, for example, input key 1 is reserved for the user's voice-mail number and input key 9 is reserved for speed dialing an emergency number.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,710,810 entitled "Quick Dialing In A Mobile Phone", assigned to Nokia Mobile Phones Limited, discloses a quick dialing feature that allows users to associate several telephone numbers, e.g., "work", "home", "mobile", etc., with a particular name stored in memory. This supposed quick dialing feature however requires multiple inputs and scrolling to dial one of several telephone numbers stored in association with a particular name. Users must first display a list of stored names, and then select a name by scrolling through the displayed list, whereupon numbers or indicia thereof like "home" "work", etc., associated with the selected name are displayed on a touch sensitive display. One of the displayed numbers may then be dialed by depressing the corresponding portion of the touch sensitive display, once or twice with a finger or an input device, associated with the desired number.
The various aspects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more fully apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon careful consideration of the following Detailed Description with the accompanying drawings described below.

Mobile wireless communication devices with quick-send features and methods therefor


A disc positioning structure includes a driver, a turntable and a positioning element. The turntable is disposed on the driver and used for placing a disc driven by the driver. The positioning element is disposed on the turntable and the disc is clamped onto the positioning element. The positioning element includes a first ring, a second ring and a plurality of spokes. Wherein, the second ring resides inside the first ring while the spokes are connected between the first ring and the second ring. The disc positioning structure provided by the present invention is able to compensate the positioning error of the disc and to reduce the production cost.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a positioning structure, and particularly to a disc positioning structure of an optical disc drive.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optical discs have advantages such as enormous memory capacity, convenience to store, long lifetime of data keeping, low price and durability of stored data. Along with such advantages, currently optical discs are gradually replacing the conventional magnetic storage medium and have become an indispensable optical storage medium for modern people.
For modern optical disc drives, in terms of the structure positioning a disc onto a disc-carrying mechanism on a turntable, there are a sliding cone positioning structure and a multi-claw positioning structure. Although the sliding cone positioning structure, in general speaking, is able to provide higher positioning accuracy, it has disadvantages of structure complexity and higher cost. Therefore, the manufacturers of optical disc drives do not prefer the sliding cone positioning structure.
FIG. 1 is an exploded diagram of a conventional disc positioning structure assembled with an optical disc, which uses a multi-claw positioning structure. Referring to FIG. 1, a disc positioning structure 100 includes a carrier plate 110, a driver 120, a spin shaft 130 and a turntable 140. The driver 120 is disposed on the carrier plate 110 while the spin shaft 130 is disposed at the center of the driver 120 for driving the turntable 140 to turn. A fixing portion 142 is disposed at the center of the turntable 140. The spin shaft 130 inserts into the fixing portion 142 of the turntable 140 to hold the turntable 140 on the driver 120. In addition, independent five locking claws 144 are disposed on the turntable for holding an optical disc 200 onto an upper surface 140a of the turntable 140 in the disc positioning structure 100.
FIG. 2 is a section view showing an optical disc held on a turntable by locking claw. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the optical disc 200 is desired to hold onto the turntable 140, a circle opening 210 at the center of the optical disc 200 is aligned with the center of the turntable 140 first, then pressing down the optical disc 200 toward the turntable 140. Due to an unavoidable offset between the centerline of the circle opening at the optical disc 200 and the centerline of the turntable 140, a displacement or a deformation caused from the locking claws 144 will occur as the optical disc 200 is pressed down. After that, by means of a displacement/deformation restoring-force of the locking claws 144, the optical disc 200 is shifted to align with the centerline of the turntable 140 and snapped on the turntable 140.
In more detail, as the optical disc 200 is placed onto the turntable 140 from the top of the turntable 140, usually only on one side of the opening 210 thereof is snapped into one of the locking claws 144 first, then the following pressing makes the circle opening 210 in sequence to be snapped into the rest locking claws 144. Since a positioning deviation occurs as the circle opening 210 of the optical disc 200 is snapped into the first claw of the locking claws 144 and there are no linkage between any two locking claws in the prior art, the produced deviation of the optical disc 200 is corrected by the first locking claw 144 only. While the rest locking claws are relatively off-duty to correct the deviation of the optical disc 200, so that the positioning performance of the prior art is poor and a serious offset error between the optical disc 200 and the optical disc drive will occur. When the optical disc 200 is poorly positioned, the servo control system of the optical disc drive is likely to be out of order.
In addition, most of the locking claws 144 are fabricated by molding. Due to the inaccuracy of molding manufacture, each one of the locking claws 144 may have different manufacturing tolerance from themselves that contributes a resulted positioning error from a desired positioning accuracy.
In summary, to make a conventional disc positioning structure in multi-claw centering mode having a less positioning error, it requires a more precise manufacturing technique and needs more sampling parts to maintain the production quality. Consequently, this leads to a high production cost.


An information storage device is disclosed (such as a disk drive) comprising an interface for connecting to a host through a cable, and control circuitry for communicating with the host over the cable by executing a communication process. The communication processes comprises the steps of transmitting a communication request to the host over the cable and waiting to receive a response from the host over the cable. A cable loss event is logged if the host fails to respond after executing the communication process at least twice. Performing the communication process multiple times before logging a cable loss event helps ensure a communication failure is actually due to a faulty cable connection.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to information storage devices for computer systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to an information storage device capable of logging a cable loss event.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When an information storage device, such as a disk drive, fails while in the field, it is typically returned to the manufacturer where it is analyzed to determine what caused the failure. This information is useful in correcting flaws in manufacturing so as to increase manufacturing yield and reliability. A returned disk drive is typically evaluated by connecting it to a test station that runs a number of diagnostic procedures. In addition, the disk drive itself may maintain an error log while in the field in order to save operational information that may be useful in diagnosing defects in a disk drive after it has been returned to the manufacturer.
Many times a failed disk drive returned to the manufacturer is found to have no defects; that is, the disk drive will operate normally when connected to the test station. It is suspected that many of these failures are caused by a bad cable connection between the disk drive and the host while in the field. That is, the cable itself may be defective or may come loose while operating in the field, leading to an assumption that the disk drive is defective. When the disk drive is returned to the manufacturer and connected to the test station using a reliable cable (and reliable connection), the disk drive operates normally.
There is, therefore, a need for an information storage device that detects and logs cable loss events to help manufacturers rule-out a bad cable connection as the root cause of the storage device being returned.

Disk drive or any serial attached device logging a cable loss event


Methods, systems and computer products are provided for preventing display of sensitive information. Displayed information may be designated as sensitive information and may be covered from display on a computer screen display by an opaque covering. The sensitive information covering may be removed to expose the underlying information in response to minimal user action. Uncovered sensitive information may be automatically re-covered according to a number of triggering mechanisms.

With the advent of the computer age, computer and software users have grown accustomed to user-friendly software applications that help them write, calculate, organize, prepare presentations, send and receive electronic mail, make music, and the like. For example, modern electronic word processing applications allow users to prepare a variety of useful documents. Modern electronic notes applications allow users to store, sort, review and utilize typed and handwritten notes.
Often users enter information into electronic documents created by such applications that is considered sensitive information that should not be displayed to other persons. For example, notes or other information may be entered into a notes application that include personal or business financial information, or a supervisor may enter typed or handwritten notes regarding the work performance of an employee. If a document or other data entry medium containing the sensitive information is displayed on a computer screen display, persons entering visual range of the computer screen display may be able to read or otherwise review the sensitive information as displayed.
Methods have been employed for password protecting portions of information from display to unauthorized users. For example, if a user attempts to open and display a password-protected portion of information, the user must enter a password into a password dialog for gaining access to the desired information. Such methods do prevent unauthorized access, but such methods require too much user interaction and time consumption for information that is sensitive but that does not require password protection. Often users would simply like to cover sensitive information with a lightweight cover to prevent display of the information in a manner that allows the sensitive information to be subsequently uncovered by an authorized user with minimal user action and time consumption.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present invention has been made.

Lightweight privacy cover for displayed sensitive information


A discrete multitone modulation transmission system is described in which frame synchronization is monitored using a transmitted synchronizing frame. The existence or loss of frame synchronization is determined by comparing the values of the synchronizing frame with corresponding stored values.

The principles of multicarrier modulation are described for example in "Multicarrier Modulation For Data Transmission: An Idea Whose Time Has Come" by John A. C. Bingham, IEEE Communications Magazine, Vol. 28, No. 5, pages 5-14, May 1990. As is known, in a transmission system using multicarrier modulation, FDM (frequency division multiplexed) sub-carriers spaced within a usable frequency band of a transmission channel, forming a set of sub-carriers, are modulated at a block or symbol transmission rate of the system. The bits of input data for transmission within each block or symbol period are allocated to the sub-carriers in a manner which is dependent upon the signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of the sub-carriers, typically so that the bit error rates of the sub-carriers, as monitored at the receiver, are substantially equal. As a result, the different sub-carriers carry different numbers of bits in each symbol period. With an appropriate allocation of bits and transmit powers to the sub-carriers, such a system provides a desirable performance.
One particular form of multicarrier modulation, in which the modulation is effected using a discrete Fourier transform, is referred to as discrete multitone, or DMT, modulation. The related applications referred to above disclose details of multicarrier systems using DMT modulation.
As in any communication system, it is necessary to establish and maintain synchronization between the transmitter and receiver of a DMT or other multicarrier system. Frequency synchronization is conveniently provided in a DMT system by using one of the multiple tones as a pilot tone to control a phase locked loop at the receiver, as indicated in Standards Committee Contribution T1E1.4/93-022 by J. S. Chow et al. entitled "DMT Initialization: Parameters Needed For Specification In A Standard", Mar. 8, 1993. This reference also outlines other initialization processes of a DMT system, including the allocation of bits to sub-carriers or tones of the system.
In addition to this frequency synchronization, synchronization of the transmitted blocks or symbols of data is required. This is referred to herein as frame synchronization, each frame corresponding to one block or symbol of the multicarrier system, for consistency with the same term as used in single carrier transmission systems. It should be appreciated that each frame, block, or symbol can comprise a substantial amount of information, for example about 1700 bits (providing a transmission rate of about 6.8 Mb/s with a symbol period of about 250 .mu.s).
A single carrier transmission system, for example a QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) system, usually operates entirely in the time domain. In such a system, a relatively "random" frame synchronization sequence can be used to maintain frame synchronization, the sequence being inserted directly into the time-domain signal sample stream at the transmitter and being extracted and correlated with a stored copy of the sequence at the receiver. A large correlation result indicates that frame synchronization has been maintained, and a small correlation result indicates a loss of frame synchronization, i.e. that there has been a slip by an unknown number of time-domain samples. In the latter case the receiver instigates a search procedure to resynchronize the receiver, i.e. to re-align the frame boundaries at the receiver to those at the transmitter.
This time domain frame synchronization provides a simple yes or no answer to the question of whether the receiver is frame synchronized. To resynchronize the receiver when frame synchronization is lost, the system may be required to correlate and search through a large number of possible frame alignments. This is a time-consuming, and hence undesirable, procedure.
An object of this invention is to provide an improved method of providing frame synchronization in a transmission system using multicarrier modulation, and an improved transmission system which makes use of this method.

Frame synchronization in multicarrier transmission systems


A drill instrument with calibrated depressions as markings on the shaft set at determinable distances apart, e.g. at 1 mm increments is disclosed. These calibrations are designed to give a visible depth gauge indication when the tip or point of the drill is at the full length of the depth of a drilled hole. A stop means is variably fixable to the drill at determinable locations. This stop defines a predetermined length available for drilling a hole into bone or a tooth canal up to the precise location of the stop on the drill corresponding to the depth desired to be drilled.. An organizer block or kit accommodates the drills and stops of the invention and preferably provides an alignment device for preparing drills having the pre-determined lengths according to the invention via a drill-length determining device for applying the stop means to the drill at the desired pre-determined length.

There are many procedures encountered where the drilling of holes to specified depths is required. This is especially true in dental procedures. For example, when a dentist is involved in a procedure in which a hole or channel must be drilled in bone or in the canal of a root, several major hurdles and obstacles are encountered. Since the depth of the hole to be drilled is not visible to the naked eye as drilling proceeds, ancillary diagnostic equipment must be used to give an indication as to when the proper depth has been reached. This, in some cases, involves using x-rays to locate a probe in the canal or the hole in the bone. In some cases it involves the use of an electronic device in which the patient is grounded and a circuit completed between the patient and the metal instrument which is inserted into the canal.
The problem is especially acute in dealing with drilling into bone in dental implant procedures. In these cases, it is extremely important that a precisely constructed depth of drilling be obtained because the internal structures in the jawbones are filled with areas that could be seriously damaged were they to be struck with the drill. Such structures as nerves, muscles, and sinuses are especially vulnerable because the dentist cannot see these structures as drilling proceeds.
In practice, once the length of the canal or the location of sensitive structure is accurately determined, the dentist is then faced with the problem of fixing that length in a manner in which the depth can be accurately measured. Current techniques for performing this depth measurement as, for example, by holding the canal probe with forceps at the level at which it exits the canal, removing the probe and measuring the distance between the tip of the probe and the forceps, are cumbersome. The dentist can only estimate when the appropriate drilling depth has been reached. This technique gives rise to error and is fraught with the possibility of mishandling.
For determining the location of critical structures, measurements must be taken from x-rays and transferred to the drilling instrument. Yet there is no reliable way to transfer these measurements to the drill and maintain the same during drilling. The dental profession is constantly seeking new and alternative means for fixing the drilling depth of a drill in a simple way so that when drills of different lengths and diameter are used to drill a hole in bone or in a canal, the dentist will know that the appropriate depth has been obtained when a predetermined part of the drill has been reached.


Methods and apparatuses are provided for detecting blur within digital images using wavelet transform and/or Cepstrum analysis blur detection techniques that are able to detect motion blur and/or out-of-focus blur.

With the increasing popularity of personal computers, handheld appliances and the like, there has been a corresponding increase in the popularity and affordability of image rendering/manipulation applications.
Thus, for example, many personal computers and workstations are being configured as multimedia devices that are capable of receiving image data, for example, directly from a digital camera or indirectly from another networked device. These so-called multimedia devices are further configured to display the image data (e.g., still images, video, etc.). As for still images and single video frames, most multimedia devices can be further coupled to a printing device that is configured to provide a printed hardcopy of the image data.
When provided with the appropriate software application(s), the multimedia device can be configured to allow the user to manipulate all or portions of the image data in some manner. For example, there is a variety of photo/drawing manipulation applications and video editing applications available today. One example of a photo/drawing manipulation program is PhotoDraw® 2000, available from the Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. Another example of an image manipulation program is Picture It! 2000, also available from the Microsoft Corporation. One example of a video editing application is Adobe Premiere 6.0 available from Adobe Systems Incorporated of San Jose, Calif.
These and other image manipulation programs provide a multitude of image editing tools/features. In some instances, for example, in the key-frame evaluation and photo quality estimation features of Picture It! 2000, the image manipulation program may need to calculate certain characteristics associated with the image data in terms of its' blurriness/sharpness. Doing so allows for the user and/or the application to selectively or automatically manipulate blurred image data in some desired fashion. For example, a blurred portion of the image may be sharpened or perhaps protected from additional blurring.
With this in mind, previous methods for calculating blur characteristics have been designed for image restoration. By way of example, see the article by M. C. Chiang and T. E. Boult, titled "Local Blur Estimation and Super-Resolution", as published in Proc. IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, pp. 821-826, June 1997. Also, for example, see the article by R. L. Lagendijk, A. M. Tekalp and J. Biemond, titled "Maximum Likelihood Image and Blur Identification: A Unifying Approach" as published in Optical Engineering, 29(5):422-435, May 1990.
These exemplary conventional techniques utilize methods that estimate the parameters needed by the reverse process of blur. Unfortunately, these methods tend to be complex and time-consuming.
Still other techniques utilize compressed domain methods based on discrete cosine transform (DCT) coefficient statistics, which can be used to estimate the blurriness of motion picture expert group (MPEG) frame in real-time. For example, see the methods presented by Xavier Marichal, Wei-Ying Ma and HongJiang Zhang at the International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP) in Kobe, Japan on Oct. 25-29, 1999, as published in an article titled "Blur Determination in the Compressed Domain Using DCT Information". Unfortunately, these methods often find it difficult to handle images with relatively large uni-color patches.
Hence, there is an on-going need for improved methods and apparatuses for calculating or otherwise determining blurriness/sharpness characteristics in an image.

Hierarchical scheme for blur detection in digital image using wavelet transform


A plasma display panel includes first and second substrates facing each other, discharge sustain electrodes formed on the first substrate, and address electrodes formed on the second substrate. Barrier ribs are disposed between the first and second substrates to form a plurality of discharge cells. A phosphor layer is formed at each discharge cell. The discharge sustain electrode has first bus electrode portions spaced apart from each other by a certain distance, second bus electrode portions at least partially separated from the first bus electrode portions while being electrically connected thereto, and transparent electrodes not overlapped with the second bus electrode portions but being electrically connected to the first bus electrode portions. Interconnection electrodes are arranged over the barrier ribs to interconnect the first and second bus electrode portions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to plasma display panels, and in particular, to a bus electrode formed on a front substrate of a plasma display panel.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A plasma display panel (PDP), recognized as a wide and high quality display device, expresses natural gray scales, and realizes excellent color representation, short response time, and large-scaled dimensions.
FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a plasma display panel, and FIG. 6 is a plan view of an electrode structure formed at a front substrate of the plasma display panel.
The plasma display panel as shown in FIG. 5 includes two sheets of front and rear transparent glass substrates 1 and 2 facing each other, a plurality of stripe-shaped parallel transparent electrodes 3 formed on the inner surface of the front substrate, and a bus electrode 4, formed along the longitudinal side of each transparent electrode 3, with a width smaller than the transparent electrode. A transparent dielectric layer 5 covers the transparent electrodes 3 and the bus electrodes 4, and a transparent protective layer 6 is formed on the dielectric layer 5 with magnesium oxide (MgO).
Additionally, a plurality of stripe-shaped address electrodes 7, orthogonal to the transparent electrodes 3, is formed on the inner surface of the rear substrate 2. A highly reflective dielectric layer 8 covers the address electrodes 7, and a plurality of barrier ribs 9 is formed on the dielectric layer 8. The barrier ribs 9 are formed between the address electrodes 7, while proceeding parallel thereto, thereby forming groove-shaped discharge cells 10. Red, green, and blue phosphors 11 are formed in the discharge cells 10.
The PDP is assembled by facing the two glass substrates 1 and 2 towards each other, injecting a gas mixture such as Ne—Xe or He—Xe into the discharge cells 10, and sealing the peripheries of the substrates 1 and 2 with glass frit.
The transparent electrodes 3 are formed with a transparent conductive material such as indium tin oxide (ITO) or SnO2, and the bus electrodes 4 are formed with a material such as Ag or Cr—Cu—Cr, which have a sheet resistance lower than that of ITO or SnO2. As a result, the bus electrode 4 lowers the resistance of the transparent electrode 3, thereby enhancing its conductivity.
With a PDP structured as above, the transparent electrodes 3, the bus electrodes 4, and the address electrodes 7 are drawn to the outside of the substrates 1 and 2, and voltages are selectively applied to the terminals connected thereto in order to permit discharging within the relevant discharge cells 10. This discharging excites the phosphors 11 to generate visible rays, thereby displaying the desired images.
PDP quality depends upon several factors including the characteristics of brightness and contrast. Contrast is further classified as dark-room contrast and bright-room contrast. Considering that users commonly operate PDPs in a bright environment, bright-room contrast substantially affects image quality.
For this reason, much effort has been made to enhance the PDP's bright room contrast. For example, black colored bus electrodes may be formed on the transparent electrodes to try to darken the bus electrodes and improve the contrast.
However, in this case, transparent electrodes are between the bus electrodes and the user, which requires the user to look through the transparent electrodes to see the bus electrodes. The transparent electrode, therefore, obstructs the user's view of the darkened bus electrode, so that the color of the bus electrode is not clearly seen, which negatively impacts the capability of the colored bus electrode to control bright room contrast.
Additionally, external light (natural light or artificial light) may enter the PDP's front substrate and reflect off of the transparent electrode. In this instance, the reflected light may also obstruct the viewer from clearly seeing the color of the bus electrode, thereby limiting the bus electrode's capability to control bright room contrast.


Methods for detecting parenchymal plaque deposits in the brain of a living mammal are described that include administering a polyamine modified, labeled polypeptide having specific binding affinity for the extracellular deposit, to the living mammal. Isolated β-amyloid peptides that are polyamine modified and labeled with a radioisotope or contrast agent also are described.

Alzheimer's disease is a devastating disease of the brain which results in progressive dementia, physical disability and death over a relatively long period of time. With the aging population in the United States and other countries, the number of Alzheimer's patients is rapidly rising and can accurately be characterized as a silent epidemic. Much research is being conducted to develop drugs that will slow or halt the progression of the disease, and there is hope that a vaccine or inhibitors of secretase may ultimately be developed.
One of the difficulties in managing this disease is the lack of means for its early detection and means for measuring its progression. Such means are needed to identify persons who should receive treatment and to measure the effectiveness of the treatment. An immediate problem is the need for a method which measures the progression of the disease in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the many drugs being developed.
Many techniques have been proposed for detecting and measuring the progress of Alzheimer's disease. These include cognitive tests which attempt to measure brain functions by having the patient perform different tasks. The problem with this approach is that it does not distinguish between dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease and dementia caused by other factors. In addition, the ability to measure the progression of the disease using cognitive tests is very limited.
Neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) and neuritic plaques (NPs) are the classical neuropathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. Numerous neuropathological studies indicate that the first appearance of NFTs and NPs in the hippocampal region of the brain marks the beginning of the degenerative process. Many studies have been done in which the structure of the brain has been imaged to determine structural changes that are linked to the presence and the progression of Alzheimer's disease. These include: 2-D estimates of size; measures of medical temporal lobe gray matter volume; the qualitative rating of the amount of CSF accumulating in the hippocampal fissures, the size of the suprasellar cistern; and the increased distance between the right and left uncus. None of have been particularly successful, and in fact, it has been found that profound structural changes can occur in the brain of some individuals with no cognitive impairment or other symptoms of the disease being evident.
Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is characterized neuropathologically by neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Neuritic or senile plaques contain a dense core consisting largely of several species of amyloid-β(Aβ) peptide. Aβ is a 39-43 amino acid peptide derived from amyloid precursor protein. Aβ is highly hydrophobic and spontaneously aggregates in vitro to form β pleated sheets. Maggio, J. E. and Mantyh, P. W., Brain Pathol., 6:147-162 (1996). Aβ also has been reported to be neurotoxic in vitro and in vivo. The main link between AD and Aβ is based on genetic mutations that have been discovered in familial forms of AD and Down's syndrome that result in aberrant processing or increased levels and deposition of Aβ. Selkoe, D. J., Science, 275:630-631 (1997). Furthermore, transgenic mice overexpressing the same mutations have been shown to develop amyloid deposits like those in AD as well as significant behavioral deficits. Hsiao, K., et al., Science 274:99-102 (1996); and Holcomb, L., et al., Nature Med., 4:97-100 (1998). There also appears to be a significant correlation between amyloid burden and dementia in AD patients.
Currently, there is no definitive diagnosis for AD except by post-mortem observation of these deposits and a process of elimination of other neurodegenerative disorders.

Methods for detecting parenchymal plaques in vivo

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research


Disclosed is a swivel faucet, such as one having a pull-out sprayer. In one aspect the inlet and outlet lines are formed in an integral structure with a transverse plate that faces a mixing valve. In another aspect the control handle for the faucet is provided with a concentric visible bore and hidden set screw bore combined with a bushing having a cutout to facilitate their use. In still another aspect there is provided a bearing that mounts to a pivotable sprayer and provides distinct swivel positions through the use of a detent connection to a land.

This invention relates generally to faucets with spray heads. More particularly it relates to such a faucet in which there is a pull-out sprayer mounted on a swivelable harbor.
In one aspect of known faucets with spray heads/handles, prior designs (e.g. as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,757,921) include a separate elbow which is linked at its lower end to inlet hot and cold lines and an outlet line, and to a mixing valve at its vertical side which is connected to an actuation handle. This required the outer housing to bulge in order to accommodate the elbow plus the other relevant connections, and thus created design constraints. It is desirable to have a more compact assembly for connecting the inlet and outlet lines to a side mounted mixing valve.
In another aspect of known faucets with spray heads/handles, prior designs included a control handle with an exposed set screw which could be inadvertently loosened or corroded by water, and/or reduced the aesthetic appeal of the handle. Some of these handles were also formed with an unsightly visible cutaway to permit tilting of the handle to occur (e.g. the valve required both rotation and tilting motion of a control lever). Hence, it is also desirable to improve the exterior aesthetics of such control handles without compromising functionality.
In yet another aspect of known faucets with spray heads/handles, prior designs had a "harbor" for the pull-out spray, the harbor then being swingable like a standard kitchen faucet. When the housings for the harbor or valve base were non-circular in cross section, it became somewhat difficult to easily align the parts to the forward position between uses. U.S. patent application publication 2006/0157127 sought to address this concern. However, it had a variety of deficiencies, such as placing a wear point on the spout hub, which could result in the need to replace an expensive outer part.
Thus, there is a desire to improve various aspects of such faucet assemblies.


At a signal transmission rate of 1 Gb/s, the "bit time" is 1 ns. This corresponds to a bit length in an optical fibre of 0.2 m. In view of the fact that skew shall not exceed one-tenth of a bit length, this means that length differences between different conductors in a transmission line may not exceed 2 cm. With the intention of minimizing the skew that would thus otherwise occur in a transmission line, the transmission line (1) and its conductors (2) have been joined to form a ribbon cable or flat cable where the length difference (5) between different conductors (2) in the transmission line does not exceed 2 cm. By providing transmission lines, such as rolled-up flat ribbon cables for instance, which have been previously cut to precise and appropriate lengths, such as lengths of 10, 20, 30 m for instance, with a largest length deviation between different conductors of .+-.1 cm, skew can be minimized when using the cables. By conductor is primarily meant an optical fiber, although other conductors such as coaxial conductors or twin wire conductors are conceivable. Since the three fibres are seated together along the major part of their lengths, they can be readily laid in an installation, which is an advantage in many types of installations, and the cable parts can be easily drawn apart and laid individually. With a guaranteed greatest length deviation of .+-.1 cm of each fibre, skew can be controlled and more reliable signal transmission made possible with the aid of a majority decision.

The demand for "faultless" signal transmission in the field of telecommunications is very high in certain cases. For instance, in the aforesaid digital transmission links of a switching core of a telecommunications switching centre or exchange the bit error rate (BER) must be extremely low.
Reliability can be further improved by tripling the transmission, wherein three separate links are used, with each link transmitting the same information. By mutually comparing the signals/bits received on the three links and applying the majority decision, it is often possible to sort out the majority of occurrent bit errors when the three sets of received information are not identical.
However, it is necessary for the three signals to arrive simultaneously at the point at which the majority decision shall be taken. However, the requirement of exact simultaneity may be difficult to achieve for several reasons. The time deviation or so-called skew in parallel signal transmissions can occur in the electronic components and also in the signal transmission lines. Skew in electronic components can be minimized by suitable construction of the components.

Method and arrangement for minimizing skew


An electronic module is provided having an integrated thermoelectric cooling assembly disposed therein coupled to the module""s electronic device. The thermoelectric assembly includes one or more thermoelectric stages and a thermal space transformer, for example, disposed between a first thermoelectric stage and a second thermoelectric stage. The electronic device is mounted to a substrate with the thermoelectric assembly disposed in thermal contact with the electronic device and a thermally conductive cap is positioned over the thermoelectric assembly, and is also in thermal contact with the thermoelectric assembly. Power to the thermoelectric assembly can be provided using electrically conductive springs disposed between one or more stages of the assembly and pads on an upper surface of the substrate, which electrically connect to power planes disposed within the substrate.

1. Technical Field
The present invention is directed to cooling assemblies and other apparatus used for removing heat from electronic devices. More particularly, the present invention is directed to an electronic module with integrated thermoelectric cooling elements. Even more particularly, this invention is directed to a multi-stage thermoelectric apparatus employing a thermal space transformer which is interposed within an electronic module in thermal contact with a heat generating component thereof, such as an integrated circuit chip.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known, as the circuit density of electronic chip devices increases, there is a correspondingly increasing demand for the removal of heat generated by these devices. The increased heat demand arises both because the circuit devices are packed more closely together and because the circuits themselves are operated at increasingly high clock frequencies. Nonetheless, it is also known that runaway thermal conditions and excessive heat generated by chips is a leading cause for failure of chip devices. Furthermore, it is anticipated that the demand for heat removal. for these devices will increase indefinitely. Accordingly, it is seen that there is a large and significant need to provide useful cooling mechanisms for electronic circuit devices.
Thermoelectric cooling elements operate electronically to produce a cooling effect. By passing a direct current through the legs of a thermoelectric device, a temperature difference is produced across the device which is contrary to that which would be expected from Fourier""s Law.
At one junction of the thermoelectric element both holes and electrons move away, toward the other junction, as a consequence of the current flow through the junction. Holes move through the p-type material and electrons through the n-type material. To compensate for this loss of charge carriers, additional electrons are raised from the valence band to the conduction band to create new pairs of electrons and holes. Since energy is required to do this, heat is absorbed at this junction. Conversely, as an electron drops into a hole at the other junction, its surplus energy is released in the form of heat. This transfer of thermal energy from the cold junction to the hot junction is known as the Peltier effect.
Use of the Peltier effect permits the surfaces attached to a heat source to be maintained at a temperature below that of a surface attached to a heat sink. What these thermoelectric modules provide is the ability to operate the cold side below the ambient temperature of the cooling medium (air or water) or provide greater heat removal capacity for a given cold plate or component temperature. When direct current is passed through these thermoelectric modules a temperature difference is produced with the result that one side is relatively cooler than the other side. These thermoelectric modules are therefore seen to possess a hot side and a cold side, and provide a mechanism for facilitating the transfer of thermal energy from the cold side of the thermoelectric module to the hot side of the module.
Conventional configurations and positionings of thermoelectric assemblies are nonetheless seen herein to be unnecessarily limiting in terms of the thermal energy which may be transferred and the long term reliability attained. Thus, while the use of thermoelectric devices is seen to provide a means for the solid state cooling of adjacent electrical devices, their efficiency and reliability has been less than optimal.
In addition, as complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuit and process technologies approach scaling limits, it becomes necessary to seek approaches and opportunities to achieve further performance gains. One avenue which is receiving increased attention is the operation of CMOS circuits at lower temperatures. The circuit performance enhancements which may be achieved vary from about 1.1xc3x97 at a cooling condition of 25xc2x0 C., to 1.8xc3x97 at a cooling condition of xe2x88x92200xc2x0 C. To obtain cooling conditions down to about xe2x88x9250xc2x0 C. or so, conventional refrigeration technology may be utilized. However, conventional refrigeration systems may be difficult to control for variations in heat load, and may not be responsive enough during transient operating conditions.
Thermoelectric devices, used in conjunction with other module cooling technologies, are known to be able to lower junction temperatures below that which can be achieved by the other module cooling technologies alone. Problems arise, however, when thermoelectric devices are taken down in temperature below the ambient, and in particular, below the environment dew point temperature. Traditionally, thermoelectric devices, which are separate from and attached to an electronic module casing (i.e., cap) are exposed to the system environment. When brought down in temperature below the dew point, condensation forms. This condensation significantly reduces the fatigue life due to corrosion of the solder joints forming the thermoelectric junctions. In fact, the mere presence of oxygen accelerates solder fatigue cracking.
Advantageously, disclosed herein is a means for improving thermoelectric device reliability when used in conjunction with cooling of electronic modules. Specifically, a thermoelectric apparatus is integrated within an electronic module itself so that the thermoelectric apparatus is maintained in a controlled, i.e., oxygen and moisture restricted, environment. Furthermore, by integrating a thermoelectric apparatus into the electronic module, power delivery to the thermoelectric devices can be integrated with the module, thus simplifying system level design, i.e., in comparison with delivering power to externally mounted thermoelectric devices.
To summarize, in one aspect, presented herein is an electronic module which includes an electronic device and a thermoelectric assembly. The thermoelectric assembly is thermally coupled to the electronic device for removing heat generating thereby. A housing surrounds the electronic device and the thermoelectric assembly so that the electronic device and the thermoelectric assembly are sealed from the surrounding environment.
As an enhancement, the thermoelectric assembly can comprise a cascaded thermoelectric cooling assembly with a thermal space transformer interposed between adjacent thermoelectric stages for improved thermal performance. The thermal space transformer provides enhanced spreading of heat being xe2x80x9celectronically pumpedxe2x80x9d from the heat load by a first thermoelectric stage, along with the heat dissipated by the thermoelectric elements of the first stage. This spreading of heat takes place in the plane of the thermal space transformer principally in a direction radially outward from the center of the first stage thermoelectric assembly, i.e., in a direction transverse to the principal heat flow through the first thermoelectric stage. Increased thermal spreading makes it possible to utilize a larger surface area for the second stage encompassing an increased number of thermoelectric couples or elements in the second stage, thereby reducing the amount of heat to be xe2x80x9celectronically pumpedxe2x80x9d by each element. The combined effect of the first and second stage thermoelectric assemblies with the thermal space transformer in between is to accommodate an increased amount of heat to be pumped from the electronic device while maintaining the same temperature difference from the base of the first stage (i.e., Tcold) to the top of the second stage (i.e., Thot), or to allow a greater temperature difference between the two stages for the same heat load (i.e., Tcold).
As a further enhancement, by integrating a cascaded thermoelectric cooling assembly within the electronic module, power delivery to the thermoelectric elements can be simplified by eliminating discrete wiring outside of the module. Wire bond or electrical spring contacts can be employed within the module to couple the thermoelectric stages to appropriate power planes, e.g., disposed within the substrate of the module.
Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present invention. Other embodiments and aspects of the invention are described in detail herein and are considered part of the claimed invention.

Electronic module with integrated thermoelectric cooling assembly

International Business Machines Corporation


Disclosed is a sample analyzer which comprises: a sample preparing section configured to prepare a measurement sample by mixing a sample and a nucleic acid staining reagent; an optical detector configured to irradiate light on cells contained in the measurement sample, receive fluorescent light given off by the irradiated cells, and output fluorescent light signals; a signal processing section which obtains fluorescent light intensity and fluorescence pulse area of the cells from the fluorescent light signals output by the optical detector; and an information processing section configured to detect white blood cells contained in the measurement sample based on the fluorescence pulse area, and detect bacteria contained in the measurement sample based on the fluorescent light intensity.

Sample analysis by analyzing the components contained in a sample such as urine or blood collected from a living body is widely performed in the field of clinical examinations, and sample analyzers that automate the sample analysis process have come into use in recent years.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/091746 discloses a cell analyzer that analyzes cells by the flow cytometry method. The cell analyzer causes a measurement sample containing stained nucleic acid to flow through a flow cell and which is irradiated by laser light that forms a beam spot that is 3 to 8 μm in diameter in the flow direction of the measurement sample flowing through the flow cell, and uses the pulse area (integral value) of the resulting fluorescent light signal to classify cells with a nucleus 10 to 15 μm in size as abnormal cells, and classify cell with a nucleus 5 to 7 μm in size as normal cells.
Urine and body fluids may contain small cells such as bacteria in addition to white blood cells, epithelial cells, and atypical cells which are relatively larger. For example, white blood cells have a diameter of approximately 10 to 15 μm, and the diameter of the nucleus is about 10 μm. In contrast, the diameter of a bacterium is only approximately 0.4 to 2 μm. That is, a bacterium is much smaller than the nucleus of a white blood cell.
Although the cell analyzer disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/091746 is suitable for analyzing body fluids which contain large cells, it is unsuitable for analyzing samples which contain cells in a broad range of sizes from large cells to small cells as in the case of urine and body fluids.
It is desired to accurately analyze samples such as urine and body fluids which contain cells in a broad range of sizes from large cells to small cells.

Sample analyzer and sample analyzing method


A wheel/hub assembly includes an axle shaft, a wheel, and a hub supporting the wheel on the axle shaft. The wheel/hub assembly has a target resonant frequency of vibration. A tuned mass-spring damper is vibrationally coupled to the wheel/hub assembly, and has a counteracting resonant frequency of vibration that is predetermined with reference to the target resonant frequency of vibration.

Vibrations generated when a tire rolls on a surface can cause undesirable NVH issues including wheel hop, vehicle vibrations, and noise. Typically, dampers in vehicle suspensions or viscoelastic damping in the tire itself can reduce the amplitude of these NVH issues. However, as tires are designed for ever-lower rolling resistance targets, the mass and damping of the tires are reduced which, in turn, reduces their ability to damp vibrations. If a vehicle has low suspension damping and/or low tire damping, NVH issues can be exacerbated.

Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC


An electronic apparatus, which accommodates a chip card, includes a casing, a limit element and a carrier. The limit element is connected to the casing and has a protruding part. The carrier is slidingly disposed on the casing and has at least a contact area disposed on a side of the carrier. The limit element is located at a first position as the protruding part contacts the contact area, and the limit element is located at a second position as the protruding part is away from the contact area. The protruding part moves between the first position and the second position.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus and, in particular, to an electronic apparatus that a chip card can be easily taken out from or disposed therein.
2. Related Art
Accompanying progressive of the technology, the electronic apparatus (e.g. the cell phone) has been widely used in daily life. In order to have a more preferable extension interface in the electronic apparatus, the electronic apparatus normally includes an extension slot (e.g. a memory card slot or an ID card slot) for multifunctional extension in the future.
For preventing improper sliding or shifting of the extension card, standards are needed for the extension card and the corresponding slot. However, when it is desired to replace the electronic apparatus or to change the extension card in the electronic apparatus, since the extension card and the slot are connected tightly, it could be difficult to remove the extension card, or an additional tool is needed to remove the extension card. Regarding to this, the forces applied improperly can cause the deformation of or scratch on the extension card, or even cause contact problems of the extension card.
Therefore, since the conventional electronic apparatus is not idealistic in practice, it is an important subject to provide an electronic apparatus that the chip card can be easily removed.


Provided in the present invention is a preparation method for a nano organometallic carboxylate which effectively solves the problems of a complex washing process, and cumbersome, dangerous and uneconomical preparation of lye in traditional methods for producing organometallic carboxylates. A new method for preparing high-quality organometallic carboxylates by using a carboxylic acid, caustic soda, a metal oxide or a hydroxide as starting materials, and using ball milling to assist reaction thereof. The present invention not only efficiently utilizes lye, it also obtains high-quality organometallic carboxylates, which overcomes the technical prejudice that the prior art uses calcium chloride, sodium chloride and other salts for poor reaction efficiency. The problem in environmental pollution caused by the washing waste liquid in the existing process is fundamentally solved. At the same time, addition of non-ionic surfactants makes ball milling more efficient and significantly reduces the particle size of the product.

The traditional method of preparing metal carboxylates is based on the following reversible reaction:

At present, preparation of calcium carboxylate by traditional methods is basically outdated or even eliminated. It can be seen from the above reaction formula that the main problems of the traditional methods include: during preparation, both CaCl2 and NaCl are water-soluble salts, and the conversion rate of materials in the corresponding reaction is pretty low. Even worse by using the traditional methods is that the waste residue produced by the reaction contains a large number of raw materials and products, resulting in a low yield of the product. In terms of the product, the washing process is a complex and cumbersome process, and this is the key to success of the reaction. In the traditional methods of producing metal organic carboxylates, the water washing process is complex; the preparation of alkali liquor is cumbersome, dangerous and uneconomical.

Preparation method for nano organometallic carboxylate


A miter guide for guiding a work piece along the cutting path of a saw blade or another working tool. The miter guide includes a guide bar which fits in a slot in the surface of a table, a fence for supporting the work piece, and a telescoping extension arm connected between the fence and the guide bar for fixing the position of the fence at a predetermined angle with respect to the plane of the saw blade. The fence is pivotally connected to the guide bar, and the telescoping extension arm is also pivotally connected to the guide bar, as well as being pivotally connected to the fence at an end of the fence remote from the guide bar. A broad based triangle is formed by the guide bar, the fence and the extension arm. The extension arm includes a rod that is slidably received in a tube, and a knob that is turned to push a deformable portion of the tube against the rod to fix a length of the extension arm, thereby setting the angle of the fence.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to an apparatus for accurately positioning a work piece in relation to a working tool, and more particularly to a miter guide for table saws or other cutting or shaping tools, such as those used in woodworking.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typical miter guides currently in use are comprised of a calibrated protractor fence which is pivotally attached to a steel bar. The protractor fence is usually an aluminum casting approximately 6 inches wide and 13/4 inches high. There is a blind pivot pin centered in its width attaching the casting to the guide bar and allowing the fence to rotate equally 45 degrees left and 45 degrees right, thereby changing the relative angle between the work piece and the cutting blade. Projecting vertically from the radiused protractor portion of the casting, there is a handle threaded into the steel guide bar that can be loosened to allow rotation of the fence and tightened to secure the fence in the desired angular orientation. Once the desired angle is selected and secured, the work piece is held tightly against the face of the casting. The casting is then manually moved forward in a straight line as the guide bar slides in the slot in the table top, thereby feeding the work piece into the plane of the cutting blade at the relative angle necessary to produce the desired cut. This configuration is universally typical in standard equipment miter guides which are included with the purchase of new woodworking table saws.
Some practical deficiencies in this approach to crosscutting a work piece are as follows. The surface area of the fence is proportionately too small to effectively stabilize the material being cut, consequently the material must be held very tightly against the face of the guide to counter the vibration that occurs when the work piece comes into contact with the rotating blade. Ultimately, this vibration causes slight lateral movement in the work piece, across the face of the guide, resulting in a finished cut that is not flat or true. This lack of fixed stability in the work piece can also increase the potential for the accidental kick-back of the work piece.
The danger of kick-back and potential for inconsistent cuts is so prevalent that many woodworkers modify the standard miter guide by attaching a longer, wider wooden face to the casting, thereby increasing the surface area against which the work piece can be secured. This is only moderately effective in resolving the problems. While the resulting increase in the surface area of the fence helps reduce the lateral movement caused by vibration, it also effectively creates a lever that works against the locking mechanism. The distance between the pivot point and the center of the tightening handle is often less than 3 inches. An extended face of only 12 or 14 inches can multiply the force against the locking handle and allow the gauge to slip. In addition, pushing or pulling the outermost end of the extension will invariably induce flexing, because the extension is only secured to the face of the casting. The outer end of the added piece is free to move as much as the material it is made of will allow. That is, even with the handle securely tightened, the outermost end of the wooden extension can flex sufficiently to compromise the integrity of the angle and of the face of the cut.
Still another deficiency in the current art is the method by which the desired angle is selected and secured. As the guide is rotated, a calibrated scale on the top face of the radiused portion of the casting passes beneath a stationary pointer. The increments (degrees) are indicated by raised or recessed lines. These lines are often foundry cast. The lines can be wide enough for the casting to move more than one half degree without taking the stationary pointer off the line, thereby compromising the accuracy of the setting.
In Macksound (U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,437), a longer fence is provided, and the outside end is stabilized with a diagonal bar. However, this design is self defeating due to the method of achieving variable angles. A three point configuration is used in an attempt to establish the desired stability inherent in a broad based triangle. However, as the fence is adjusted outward to a more acute angle, the movable arm that slides through the slot in the fence must move progressively closer to the plane of the cutting blade. When the device is set up to make a 45 degree cut, the three point base becomes very narrow. The outermost edge of the fence is no longer directly supported by the diagonal bar. This is the functional equivalent of a typical miter guide with an extension attached to the face. The outer end is free to flex and acts as a lever working against the locking mechanism that secures the device at a given angle.
In Frame (U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,429), an extended fence is added to the existing protractor type miter guide, and the outer end is stabilized with a stabilizing bar. Again, the intention was apparently to gain the benefit of the longer guide face and eliminate the problem of instability created by doing so. This approach is more effective than that of the previous example at keeping the end of the fence stationary. However, it is more elaborate and requires significant setup before it can be used. The process of changing angles for each different cut requires removing and replacing pins that fit into preset holes for specific angles. Additionally, when the device is set up to cut there are two guides that must move simultaneously to ensure accuracy. The mechanism has several links and adjustable contact points that would make it difficult to advance the entire assembly forward without one guide dragging or binding. It is not a device that is quick and easy to use.
The device disclosed by Hallenbeck (U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,508) maintains a wide based triangular configuration at any of the angles within its limited range. This ensures that at any setting the long fence is stable at both ends, and it significantly reduces the potential for deviation from the desired angular cut due to leverage against the locking mechanism or flexing. However, this device is cumbersome and involved. It requires a sliding table that covers the top of the saw. Its range of adjustment is limited. The fence starts out at a 90 degree cut and advances forwardly presumably to 45 degrees plus. There is no provision, however, for drawing the fence back to make cuts in the opposite direction. Any opposing cuts must be laid out on the back of the work piece and cut upside down. The main pivot at the end of the fence closest to the plane of the cutting blade is so far back toward the operator, that by the time the work piece has been fed completely through the cutting plane, the entire assembly is practically hanging off the far end of the table saw. Knobs and pins must be removed and replaced to change angles. With so many adjustments in different parts of the assembly, a little slop in each one cumulatively creates the potential for significant inaccuracy, in addition to the inconvenience of the set up process.
Each of the above described devices only work on one side of the saw blade and cannot be set up to feed from the other side. This is a disadvantage because the blade on some table saws adjusts angularly from 90 degrees (straight up) to 45 degrees left. Others adjust from 90 degrees to 45 degrees right. These designs are complicated to set up and limited in their usefulness.


A first and a second resonator are fabricated monolithically adjacent to one another. The first resonator is the reference resonator. The resonant frequency of the second resonator is offset by a difference frequency Fo from the first resonator. Each resonator is included within an oscillator. A mixer receives the output of both oscillators. A low pass filter receives the mixer output and generates a clock signal whose frequency is equal to the difference frequency Fo.

Several methods exist to generate low frequency system reference clocks. Currently the most common uses a crystal-based oscillator utilizing quartz for the crystal element. Crystal oscillators can be temperature compensated. The fundamental resonant frequency of the crystal typically ranges from below 10 MHz up to perhaps 70 MHz. This tone is then used in a phase lock loop to control a higher frequency voltage controlled oscillator that generates the desired frequency of operation of the system. The temperature controlled crystal oscillator typically costs between $0.30 and $1.00 depending upon performance requirements and is considered a commodity in many markets with manufacturers competing primarily on price.
In addition to the cost impact, a crystal oscillator is slow to start, as the crystal itself must go through many periods before there is sufficient energy to support the oscillation. This start up time is inefficient as the radio cannot function until it is done.

Avago Technologies Wireless IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


Disclosed is a fuel cell including a fuel cell stack; a stack case which contains the fuel cell stack; and a blocking device including connecting portions which electrically connect, to output terminal portions of the fuel cell stack, output cables to transmit the output of the fuel cell stack to a device provided outside the stack case, the blocking device being capable of blocking the mutual connection performed by the mechanical operation of the connecting portions from the outside of the stack case. Moreover, at least a portion of the blocking device in which the output cables are electrically connected to the connecting portions is arranged outside the stack case.

In recent years, a fuel cell car and the like using a fuel cell as an energy source have received attention, the fuel cell being configured to generate a power by an electrochemical reaction between a fuel gas and an oxidizing gas. This fuel cell usually includes a fuel cell stack provided with a cell laminate in which the required number of cells are laminated, the cells being configured to generate the power by the electrochemical reaction between the fuel gas and the oxidizing gas, and the outer periphery of this fuel cell stack is covered with a stack case.
Moreover, this fuel cell provided with a so-called service plug is known, and the plug functions as a current block unit which electrically blocks output cables and the fuel cell stack in a case where the fuel cell stack is subjected to maintenance and inspection (e.g., see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-367666).


Techniques for facilitating device-to-device (D2D) communications using a high efficiency distributed channel access scheme are generally described herein. In some examples, a communication zone allocated for wireless D2D communications is divided into resource contention and scheduled transmission portions. The resource contention segment may be used to transmit a request message from a transmitting device to a receiving device (a request-to-send message), and transmit a response to the request message from the receiving device to the transmitting device (a clear-to-send message). The response can indicate a time for the data transmission to occur during the scheduled transmission segment. During the scheduled transmission segment, the scheduled data transmission and other D2D data transmissions among the various devices will be performed. In further examples, contention access techniques may be used during the resource contention segment to manage access to the resource channel.

D2D wireless communication techniques may be used to offload data communications and perform peer-to-peer communications among mobile devices and networks. D2D communications between mobile devices (e.g., user equipment (UEs)) are generally designed to complement the use of centralized communications from a wireless base station (e.g., centralized station-to-mobile communications from an evolved NodeB (eNodeB) in a 3GPP Long Term Evolution/Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE/LTE-A) network). D2D communications can reuse spectrum in licensed communication bands and channels used by a centralized network. Complexity exists, however, when scheduling and coordinating the D2D communications with the centralized network and independently operating devices.
For example, with certain 3GPP LTE/LTE-A standards, a time-frequency zone ("D2D zone") may be allocated by the eNodeB for D2D communications. Within the D2D zone, contention-based channel access techniques may be used to manage distributed device access to D2D communication resources. Contention-based channel access helps to minimize the scheduling and control overhead on the common interface used by the eNodeB and multiple D2D UEs. Some contention-based methods, such as Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA), are not efficient, however in terms of the contention overhead and power consumption due to packet collisions and channel monitoring.

High efficiency distributed device-to-device (D2D) channel access


A display panel according to one aspect of the present invention includes a lower substrate, an upper substrate and a liquid crystal layer. The lower substrate includes a plate, a switching element, an insulating layer, a transmission electrode and a protrusion. The plate has a transmission region through which a light may pass. The switching element is formed on the plate. The insulating layer is formed on the plate to cover the switching element. The transmission electrode is electrically connected to the switching element. The transmission electrode is formed in the transmission region. The protrusion divides the transmission region into a plurality of transmission portions. The upper substrate faces the lower substrate. The liquid crystal layer is disposed between the lower substrate and the upper substrate. Advantageously, an image display quality of the display apparatus is improved, and manufacturing cost is decreased.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate for a display apparatus, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a substrate for a display apparatus having improved image display quality, including but not limited to an improved viewing angle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an LCD apparatus that is one of flat panel display (FPD) apparatuses, generally, liquid crystal arrangement varies in response to an electric field applied to the liquid crystal, and thus a light transmittance of the liquid crystal may be changed to display an image.
The LCD apparatus displays the image using the liquid crystal having anisotropy so that the anisotropy of the liquid crystal varies based on a direction of a light that passes through the liquid crystal. The image display quality is dependent on an angle of a viewpoint. In a conventional LCD apparatus, the range of the viewpoint angle is restricted by image display quality deterioration. The viewpoint angle having a contrast ratio of more than about 10:1 is defined as a viewing angle limit/threshold of the LCD apparatus. The contrast ratio is a ratio of a luminance of a dark image to a luminance of a bright image. When the LCD apparatus displays a darker image, and has more uniform luminance, the contrast ratio of the LCD apparatus increases.
The LCD apparatus may include a normally black mode and a black matrix having a decreased reflectivity so as to prevent the leakage of a light and to display the darker image. When voltage is not applied to a common electrode and a pixel electrode of the LCD apparatus having the normally black mode, a black image is displayed. In order to make the luminance uniform, the LCD apparatus includes a compensation film or a liquid crystal layer having a multi-domain. A plurality of domains in the liquid crystal layer forms the multi-domain.
In order to improve the image display quality, liquid crystal molecules may have optimized optical characteristics. In addition, the LCD apparatus may have the multi-domain, a retardation film, etc.
The LCD apparatus of the multi-domain includes a vertical alignment (VA) mode, an in-plane switching (IPS) mode, etc. When an electric field is applied to a liquid crystal layer of the LCD apparatus of the multi-domain, liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer are aligned in a plurality of directions so that the viewing angle of the LCD apparatus is increased.
A transmissive-reflective LCD apparatus includes a reflection region and a transmission region, and the transmissive-reflective LCD apparatus displays an image having good image display quality in a dark place or a bright place. In general, the liquid crystal layer of the reflection region has different thickness from the liquid crystal layer of the transmission region. The thickness of the liquid crystal layer is determined by a light path. A mobile display apparatus has the VA mode or the liquid crystal layer having the multi-domain to increase the viewing angle.
The transmissive-reflective LCD apparatus includes the retardation film between a polarizer and the liquid crystal layer so that a light that has passed through the polarizer is circularly polarized.
The light transmittance of the liquid crystal layer of the transmissive-reflective LCD apparatus is determined by an angle of the liquid crystal with respect to a vertical direction of the liquid crystal layer so that the transmissive-reflective LCD apparatus may be manufactured without a rubbing process. However, when the transmissive-reflective LCD apparatus is manufactured without the rubbing process, a portion of the liquid crystal layer corresponding to a central portion of the transmission region may be misaligned so that the image display quality of the LCD apparatus is lowered. In particular, a stepped portion is formed at an interface between the reflection region and the transmission region so that a portion of the liquid crystal layer adjacent to the stepped portion is aligned along the interface. In contrast, the portion of the liquid crystal layer corresponding to the central portion of the transmission region may not be aligned along the interface.
When the transmissive-reflective LCD apparatus is manufactured through the rubbing process, manufacturing cost of transmissive-reflective LCD apparatus is increased. In addition, the LCD apparatus may be non-uniformly rubbed so that the image display quality of the LCD apparatus is deteriorated.