The invention relates to a sense amplifier for sensing and amplifying data stored in a memory cell, the sense amplifier being connected between a bit line (BL) and a reference bit line complementary (/BL) to the first bit line and comprising: a sense circuit (SC) capable of providing an output indicative of the data stored in the memory cell; and a precharge and decode circuit (PDC) comprising a pair of dual gate transistors (T5, T6) for precharging the first and second bit lines during a precharge operation and for transferring the output provided by the sense circuit to a data line (LIO,/LIO) during a read operation.

Basically, a DRAM is an integrated circuit that stores data in binary form (e.g., "1" or "0") in a large number of cells. The data is stored in a cell as a charge on a capacitor located within the cell. Typically, a high logic level is approximately equal to the power supply voltage and a low logic level is approximately equal to ground.
The cells of a conventional DRAM are arranged in an array so that individual cells can be addressed and accessed. The array can be thought of as rows and columns of cells. Each row includes a word line that interconnects cells on the row with a common control signal. Similarly, each column includes a bit line that is coupled to at most one cell in each row. Thus, the word and bit lines can be controlled so as to individually access each cell of the array.
To read data out of a cell, the capacitor of a cell is accessed by selecting the word line associated with the cell. A complementary bit line that is paired with the bit line for the selected cell is equilibrated to an equilibrium voltage. This equilibration voltage (Veq) is typically midway between the high Vdd and low Vss (typically ground) logic levels. Thus, conventionally, the bit lines are equilibrated to one-half of the power supply voltage, Vdd/2. When the word line is activated for the selected cell, the capacitor of the selected cell discharges the stored voltage onto the bit line, thus changing the voltage on the bit line. A differential amplifier, conventionally referred to as a sense amplifier, is then used to detect and amplify the difference in voltage on the pair of bit lines.
In order to comply with area constraints of a memory, a stacking technique, so-called "staggering" technique, is conventionally used to take into account the pitch difference in between the sense amplifier and the cells. Several sense amplifiers are therefore staggered one behind each other in the longitudinal direction of the bit lines. However, this architecture suffers that a bit line and its complementary run over all the staggered sense amplifiers. This leads to a congestion of the space available as metal-0 (metal used for the bit lines) indeed covers 100% of the sense amplifiers. Moreover, addressing a specific cell of the memory necessitates row and column address buses built from metal tracks, generally metal-1 tracks. When 64 column address buses are used to decode the sense amplifiers of the sense amplifier array, around 100 metal-1 tracks need to be present for power supplies, control commands, I/Os and decoding (64 tracks for this latest group). But in the near future, there needs to be a lot of focus of the core circuits of a DRAM, especially on the sense amplifier. Indeed, with introduction of FDSOI (Fully Depleted Silicon On Insulator) technology or introduction of high-k/metal gate, devices will get smaller and the metal lines could become the limiting factor, not any more the size of the devices. It is therefore understood that 100 metal-1 tracks are far too many.
FIG. 1 shows a memory architecture that helps limiting the available space congestion by dividing the memory cells array into sub-arrays MC0, MC1, MC2, MC3, by splitting the sense amplifiers into pairs of staggered sense amplifier banks and by providing the bit lines according to an interleaved arrangement so that they alternate in the lateral direction of the word lines WL between a bit line BL0, BL2 coupled to a sense amplifier SA0, SA2 of the first bank of the pair and a bit line BL1, BL3 coupled to a sense amplifier SA1, SA3 of the second bank of the pair. The alternative arrangement of the bit lines result in interconnect spaces available in each sense amplifier bank of the pair parallel to the bit lines. With this alternative arrangement, metal-0 now covers only 50% of the sense amplifiers. With relaxed constraints on the sense amplifiers, the layout is easier.
On FIG. 1, only relevant signals are represented for clarity:                Row decode signals φPCH running in the X direction and using metal-1 are used to address a line of sense amplifiers;        Column decode signals running on CoLumn Select lines (CSLi, CSLj) in the Y direction (column decode) and using metal-2 are used to address a column of sense amplifiers;        Local Input/Output lines (LIO and its complementary LIO) using metal-1 are used to transfer the data sensed and amplified from the sense amplifiers to Global Input/Output lines (GIOm, GIOn and their complementary GIOm, GIOn) running perpendicularly to the Local Input/Output lines and using metal-2. The length of the Local Input/Output lines (i.e. number of sense amplifiers tied on) depends on layout constraints, staggering, metal-2 pitch rules, circuit specification, etc.
Each CoLumn Select line (CSLi, CSLj) decodes a column of sense amplifiers in banks that are on the path. The selected sense amplifiers SA0, SA1, SA2, SA3 provide a valid behavior (read or write), while the half selected ones SA4, SA5 remain in HZ state (high impedance) and do not disturb the Global Input/Output lines except for being extra parasitics to be loaded/unloaded.
The data present on the Global Input/Output lines enters into all the Local Input/Output lines and therefore a precharge has to be done at the beginning of the following access to insure proper sensing and refresh. It cannot be anticipated. Considering the number of sense amplifiers and the total metal length (Global and Local Input Output lines), a significant power can be dissipated then.
In addition, a conventional sense amplifier fabricated in bulk silicon CMOs technology is made of eleven transistors and thus increases the surface area of the entire circuit.
Several solutions are possible to overcome the parasitic issues and possible power peaks.
According to a first solution, a local decoder (references to as switch S on FIG. 1) can be added between Local I/O lines and Global I/O lines. In that case, the unselected Local I/O lines remain undisturbed by the Global I/O lines and can be precharged in advance allowing very fast cycle times.
According to a second solution, a decoder, that can be as simple as for instance a NOR or a NAND gate, can be added between a CoLumn Select line and the row decode signal φPCH. With this second solution, the content of the half-selected sense amplifiers remains unaffected by the Local I/O lines. The load along the CoLumn Select lines can also be reduced (the decoder being used as a local signal booster) while the cycle time may be improved. This second solution is in particular described in the French patent application no 1152256 filed by the Applicant on Mar. 18, 2011 and not yet published.
Both first and second solutions can be applied simultaneously which afford for very good performances but may not be optimal on the layout point of view. Indeed, the only possible location for these decoders is immediately next to the sense amplifiers (or even into the sense amplifier layout) which introduces an "irregular" layout in a very sensitive region.

Sense amplifier with dual gate precharge and decode transistors


Methods and systems for regenerating damaged tissue rely on direct injection of selected therapeutic cells into a tissue at or near the site of tissue damage. Direct injection is accomplished using an intravascular catheter having a deployable needle, and injection is usually targeted into the adventitial and peri-adventitial tissues surrounding the blood vessel from which the needle is deployed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to medical methods and devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and systems for treating ischemic cardiac and other tissue damaged by myocardial infarction and other causes by intravascularly injecting therapeutic cells at or near the damaged tissue.
Cardiac tissue can be damaged by a variety of causes, including myocardial infarction, cardiac tissue infections, diseases such as rheumatic fever, trauma, and the like. Extensive damage to myocardial or valve tissues can cause heart failure and death. Present treatments include heart transplantation, valve repair surgery, and drug therapies. None of these treatments, however, is effective for all patients, and heart failure remains a leading cause of death world wide.
Neurologic tissue can also become ischemic due to a number of causes, including blocked arteries, stroke, trauma, and the like.
Chronic limb ischemia is a condition that arises from the inability of diseased arteries to conduct sufficient blood flow to the lower leg, ankle and toes. It can cause persistent, recurring rest pain, ulceration and gangrene. If blood flow cannot be restored by surgical or interventional procedures, patients will eventually require amputation of the affected limb. Recently, a study reported positive results of autologous bone marrow cell transplantation into patients with limb ischemia due to peripheral artery disease.
Such cell therapy apparently provided re-vascularization by promoting development of collateral arteries flowing to the ischemic muscle. Cells were injected intramuscularly requiring the harvest of 500 ml of bone marrow. Such marrow harvest is very traumatic. If cells could be delivered more precisely to the affected muscles and placed in a non-ischemic depot where there viability was maintained, it should be possible to achieve patient benefit with fewer cells. This would reduce patient discomfort associated with the bone marrow procedure and improve dose response.
Much research is focused on developing therapies for inducing or enhancing the repair of damaged cardiac tissues in patients suffering from or at risk of heart failure. Some, such as transmyocardial revascularization, rely on inducing controlled injury to damaged heart tissue in the hope of causing revascularization and tissue regeneration. Other therapies intended to regenerate tissue include systemic and local administration of growth factors, angiogenic factors, and the like, to promote tissue repair.
Of particular interest to the present invention, the introduction of therapeutic cells into damaged cardiac tissues has been proposed. For example, of the injection of pluripotent stem cells, such as embryonic stem cells or mesenchymal adult progenitor cells (MAPC's), has been shown to have therapeutic benefit when introduced into damaged cardiac tissues. Other cells and cell lines which are the subject of current research for cardiac tissue regeneration include cardiomyocytes, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and skeletal myoblasts.
Despite this promise, the injection of therapeutic stem and other cells presents a number of challenges. Direct injection of the cells to the myocardium through an epicardial surface is difficult, requiring either an open chest or a transthoracic procedure. Open chest procedures are very traumatic, and transthoracic procedures are complicated and limit the ability to precisely locate the site into which the cells are to be injected.
Intracardiac protocols where the therapeutic cells are injected through the endocardial surface have also been proposed. Such inside-the-heart procedures are also complex and require sophisticated intracardial catheters with complicated positioning systems. Even with such advanced systems, the precise delivery of the therapeutic cells to a particular target location can be difficult.
A third alternative which has recently been proposed is to use an arterial infusion catheter to deliver cells within a blood vessel near the site of the damaged tissue. This catheter-based technique relies on blocking blood flow with a balloon and infusing cells distally into the artery. The need for the cells to migrate through the endothelium, however, may be problematic and ultimately limit the success of this approach. Recent studies have also shown that intraluminal delivery of cells results in micro-infarctions due to the extended balloon occlusion of the artery or the embolism of cellular material blocking capillary flow.
For these reasons, it would be desirable to provide improved methods and systems for delivering therapeutic cells to damaged coronary and other tissues. Such methods and systems will preferably be catheter-based and permit introduction of the cells into cardiac and other tissue via the coronary and peripheral vasculature, including both arteries and veins. The methods and systems should further provide for delivering the therapeutic cells to precisely controlled locations within or adjacent to the damaged tissues, and should also provide for direct delivery into the tissue without dilution in the systemic circulation. Preferably, the methods and systems will allow for injection of the therapeutic cells into the space between a blocked artery and an adjacent collateral vessel to promote enlargement of the collateral vessel. Additionally, the cells which are injected and those which proliferate in situ should be able to migrate and distribute from the site of injection into adjacent regions of damaged tissue in order to provide effective therapy. At least some of these objectives will be met by the inventions described hereinafter.
2. Description of the Background Art
The endocardial and epicardial injection of stem and other cells are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,387,369; 6,099,832; 5,602,301; and 5,591,625, and U.S. Patent Publication No. US 2002/0182186. Isolation, purification and culturing of human mesenchymal stem cells are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,359. The full disclosures of each of these patents and patent publication are incorporated herein by reference.
Publications of interest include:    1. Penn M S, Francis G S, Ellis S G, Young J B, McCarthy P M, Topol E J; "Autologous Cell Transplantation for the Treatment of Damaged Myocardium". Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases, Vol. 45, No. 1, July/August 2002: pp 21-32.    2. Assmus B, MD; Schachinger V, MD; Teupe C, MD; Britten M, MD; Lehmann R, MD; Dobert N, MD; Grunwald F, MD; Aicher A, MD; Urbich C, PhD; Martin H, MD; Hoelzer D, MD; Dimmeler S, PhD; Zeiher A M, MD; "Transplantation of Progenitor Cells and Regeneration Enhancement in Acute Myocardial Infarction (TOPCARE-AMI)". Circulation. 2002; 106: 3009-3017.    3. Stamm C, Westphal B, Kleine H-D, Petzsch M, Kittner C, Klinge H, Schumichen C, Nienaber C A, Freund M, Steinhoff G; "Autologous bone-marrow stem-cell transplantation for myocardial regeneration". The Lancet Vol. 361 Jan. 4, 2003.    4. Zhong H, Zhu H, Zhang Z; "Affects of different access routes on autologous satellite cell implantation stimulating myocardial regeneration". Chin Med J (Engl) 2002 October; 115(10): 1521-4.    5. Strauer B E, MD; Brehm M, MD; Zeus T, MD; Kostering M, MD; Hernandez A, PhD; Sorg R V, PhD; Kogler G, PhD; Wernet P, MD; "Repair of Infarcted Myocardium by Autologous Intracoronary Mononuclear Bone Marrow Cell Transplantation in Humans". Circulation. 2002; 106: 1913-1918.    6. Tse H-F, Kwong Y-L, Chan J K F, Lo G, Ho C-L, Lau C-P; "Angiogenesis in ischaemic myocardium by intramyocardial autologous bone marrow mononuclear cell implantation". The Lancet 2003; 361: 47-49.    7. Hagege A A, Carrion C, Menasche P, Vilquin J-T, Duboc D, Marolleau J-P, Desnos M, Bruneval P; "Viability and differentiation of autologous skeletal myoblast grafts in ischaemic cardiomyopathy". The Lancet 2003; 361: 91-92.    8. Yateishi-Yuyama E, Matsubara H, Murohara T, Ikeda U, Shintani S, Masaki H, Amano K, Kishimoto Y, Yoshimoto K, Akashi H, Shimada K, Iwasaka T, Imaizumi T for the Therapeutic Angiogenesis using Cell Transplantation (TACT) Study Investigators; "Therapeutic angiogenesis for patients with limb ischaemia by autologous transplantation of bone-marrow cells: a pilot study and a randomized controlled trial". The Lancet 2002; 360: 427-35.    9. Kawamoto A, MD; Tkebuchava T, MD; Yamaguchi J-I, MD; Nishimura H, MD; Yoon Y-S, MD; Milliken C, BS; Uchida S, MD; Masuo O, MD; Iwaguro H, MD; Ma H, BS; Hanley A, BS; Silver M, BS; Kearney M, BS; Losordo D W, MD; Isner J M, MD; Asahara T, MD; "Intramyocardial Transplantation of Autologous Endothelial Progenitor Cells for Therapeutic Neovascularization of Myocardial Ischemia". Circulation. 2003; 107: 461-468.    10. Min J. Y., Sullivan M F, Yang Y, Zhang J P, Converso K L, Morgan J P, Xia Y F; "Significant improvement of heart function by cotransplantation of human mesenchymal stem cells and fetal cardiomyocytes in postinfarcted pigs". Ann Thorac Surg 2002 November; 74(5): 1568-75.    11. Shake J G, Gruber P J, Baumgartner W A, Senechal G, Meyers J, Redmond J M, Pittenger M F, Martin B J; "Mesenchymal stem cell implantation in a swine myocardial infarct model: engraftment and functional effects". Ann Thorac Surg 2002 June; 73(6): 1919-25; discussion 1926.    12. Fuchs S, M D; Baffour R, PhD; Zhou Y F, MD; Shou M, MD; Pierre A, BSc; Tio F O, MD; Weissman N J, MD; Leon M B, MD; Epstein S E, MD; Kornowski R, MD; "Transendocardial Delivery of Autologous Bone Marrow Enhances Collateral Perfusion and Regional Function in Pigs With Chronic Experimental Myocardial Ischemia". Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2001; Vol. 37, No. 6: 1726-1732.    13. Tomita S, MD, PhD; Mickle D A G, MD; Weisel RD, MD; Jia Z-Q, MD; Tumiati L C, BSc; Allidina Y, RTNM; Liu P, MD; Li R-K, MD, PhD; "Improved heart function with myogenesis and angiogenesis after autologous porcine bone marrow stromal cell transplantation". Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery; June 2002: 1132-1140.    14. Li R-K, MD, PhD; Weisel R D, MD; Mickle D A G, MD; Jia Z-Q, MD; Kim E-J, MD; Sakai T, MD; Tomita S, MD; Schwartz L, MD; Iwanochko M, MD; Husain M, MD; Cusimano R J, MD, MSc; Burns R J, MD; Yau T M, M D, MSc; "Autologous Porcine Heart Cell Transplantation Improved Heart Function After A Myocardial Infarction". Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery; January 2000: 62-68.    15. Yau T M, MD, MS; Tomita S, MD; Weisel R D, MD; Jia Z-Q, MD; Tumiati L C, MS; Mickle D A G, MD; Li R-K, MD, PhD; "Beneficial Effect of Autologous Cell Transplantation on Infarcted Heart Function: Comparison Between Bone Marrow Stromal Cells and Heart Cells". Ann Thorac Surg 2003; 75: 169-77.    16. Orlic D, Kajstura J, Chinenti S, Jakoniuk I, Anderson S M, Li B, Pickel J, McKay R, Nadal-Ginard B, Bodine D M, Leri A, Anversa P; "Bone marrow cells regenerate infracted myocardium". Nature 2001 Apr. 5; 410 (6829): 701-5.    17. Orlic D, Kajstura J, Chimenti S, Limana F, Jakoniuk I, Quaini F, Nadal-Ginard B, Bodine D M, Leri A, Anversa P; "Mobilized bone marrow cells repair the infracted heart, improving function and survival". PNAS Aug. 28, 2001.    18. Kocher A A, Schuster M D, Szabolcs M J, Takuma S, Burkhoff D, Wang J, Homma S, Edwards N M, Itescu S; "Neovascularization of ischemic myocardium by human bone-marrow-derived angioblasts prevents cardiomyocyte apoptosis, reduces remodeling and improves cardiac function". Nature Medicine; Vol. 1, No. 4, April 2001: 430-36.    19. Jackson K A, Majka S M, Wang H, Pocius J, Hartley C J, Majesky M W, Entman M L, Michael L H, Hirschi K K, Goodell M A; "Regeneration of ischemic cardiac muscle and vascular endothelium by adult stem cells". Journal of Clinical Investigation, June 2001, Vol. 107, Number 11: 1395-1402.    20. Kawamoto A, MD; Gwon H-C, MD; Iwaguro H, MD; Yamaguchi J-I, MD; Uchida S, MD; Masuda H, MD; Silver M, BS; Ma H, BS; Kearney M, BS; Isner J M, MD; Asahara T, MD; "Therapeutic Potential of Ex Vivo Expanded Endothelial Progenitor Cells for Myocardial Ischemia". Circulation. 2001; 103: 634-637.

Methods and systems for treating ischemic tissues


An actuator is for a vehicle engine including a carburetor having a throttle plate moveable between a minimum open position and a maximum open position. The actuator includes an input member movably coupled with the vehicle so as to be displaceable between an initial position and a maximum displaced position. A flexible connector has a first end connected with the input member and a second end connected with the throttle plate such that movement of the input member displaces the connector to move the throttle plate between the minimum and maximum positions. A guide is configured to direct movement of the connector such that a rate of displacement of the throttle plate is varied as the input member moves between the initial and maximum positions. Preferably, the guide includes two curved guide members engageable with the connector to take up a portion thereof at an intermediate input member position.

The present invention relates to gas-fueled vehicles, and more particularly to actuators for operating the throttle of the engines of such vehicles.
Throttle actuators, such as an "accelerator pedal" assembly, function to provide an appropriate interface between the operator and the vehicle powertrain. Typically, a flexible connector such as a cable extends between a pedal arm and the throttles, specifically the throttle valve or plate, such that the throttle opens when the pedal is depressed. The pull characteristic (cable travel vs. pedal position) greatly affects low speed maneuverability and the operator's perception of power. If the cable is pulled too aggressively at shallow pedal displacements then the vehicle will be difficult to maneuver in tight quarters. Conversely if the cable is pulled too little, the vehicle may be perceived as sluggish.


A method and a device of cyclic redundancy check are provided. The method includes determining a payload portion, the payload portion including at least one information field for carrying information bits; determining input bits for generating CRC bits, the input bits including information bits carried in a part or all of at least one information field; generating target CRC bits according to the input bits; generating control information including the payload portion and the target CRC bits.

Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) is a check method commonly used in a data communication field. The CRC is essentially an error detection function in data transmission. A sending-end device performs polynomial calculation on data, and attaches an obtained result to the rear of a frame to be transmitted, and a receiving-end device also performs similar polynomial calculation on the data to ensure correctness and integrity of the data transmission.
For a CRC check to control information in a related Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), the receiving-end device may also consider that an error occurs in the transmitted control information in a case that there is no error in transmitted Information Bits, but there is an error in transmitted Padding Bits, thereby resulting in a poor link performance of a communication system, and a related CRC checking method cannot satisfy personalized requirements of different pieces of control information on a Block Error Rate (BLER) and a False Alarm, thus affecting reception performance of control information.

Method and device of cyclic redundancy check


A rotary cutter includes an elongate body portion, a shank provided at one end of the body portion; a cutting head provided at the other end of the body portion, the head being fluted in one direction only by at least one flute of relatively short length provided in the cutting head, the flute having same-hand cutting and fluting directions; a relief providing transition surface located at a trailing end, relative to the shank, of a cutting portion of the at least one flute; a first gash face extending inwardly from a terminal end of a leading part of the at least one flute; and the first gash face being extended by a contiguous, secondary gash face on a rear face of the at least one flute.

This invention relates to a rotary cutter particularly though not exclusively for ultra high speed use, typically at 10,000 to 30,000 r.p.m., principally for metal cutting, typically of light alloys, by so-called peck-feeding.
A known cutter for ultra high speed peck-feeding comprises an elongate body portion with a shank at one end adapted to be clamped in a chuck of a machine tool and with a cutting head at the other end provided with two flutes e.g. at 45.degree. helix angle, and has relied on the basic geometry of an industry-standard slot drill. Such geometry was never intended for ultra high speed peck-feeding and results in both vibration and cutter distortion and also in a need for a finish machining operation to remove a visual defect that inevitably results.


Methods, systems and devices for determining contrast sensitivity function in a subject without requiring perceptual report by the subject.

The contrast sensitivity function (CSF) is a useful measure of visual system performance because it quantifies fundamental features of how the visual system extracts form from light, and is well correlated with many other measures of visual health and disease. The best means through which to assess the CSF, however, is a matter of ongoing research. Unlike other measures of basic visual function, the CSF describes a continuum of sensitivity thresholds and is consequently more difficult to assess than one-dimensional measures such as visual acuity. It can be constructed from a sequence of independent contrast thresholds computed at different spatial frequencies, but the time required to measure multiple thresholds with conventional psychophysical staircase procedures is unrealistic in clinical settings. Newer variants of the staircase technique reduce the time required to estimate the CSF by using adaptive Bayesian algorithms to repeatedly compute the most informative combination of spatial frequency and contrast to present in each trial. These methods often directly model the CSF as a parameterized function rather than fitting a curve to independent thresholds obtained at different spatial frequencies.
Simultaneous two-dimensional Bayesian approaches can estimate a participant's CSF in less than five minutes and can even be run on a portable device, but they do not address one of the fundamental restrictions of traditional psychophysical tasks: their reliance on extended periods of attention and volitional perceptual report. The tasks can be tedious because they require the repeated presentation of visually uninteresting stimuli such as filtered noise patterns and sinusoidal gratings. Adaptive procedures also naturally become more difficult as the threshold of an observer's ability is approached; by design, these tasks spend as much time as possible presenting stimuli at peri-threshold combinations of contrast and spatial frequency. These procedures can be tolerated by healthy adults, particularly if they are offered incentives, but are not well tolerated by observers who are less willing or less able to engage with the test, such as children or individuals with brain injury.
The only available workaround for less motivated subjects has been to add more trials (and hence more time) to the task. This strategy, however, does not help individuals (of any age) who have difficulty sustaining attention, following task instructions, or communicating their responses to an experimenter. There are alternatives to report-based tasks for these populations, but they also have significant shortcomings that have prevented them from being routinely used in clinical settings. Preferential looking paradigms such as Teller cards circumvent the need for verbal communication, but they are still highly dependent on the participant's attention span. Electrophysiological measures such as visual evoked potentials are also constrained by attention, and require specialized training to administer, can be unpleasant for the participant, and have reduced sensitivity relative to behavioral report.
Previous studies have assessed contrast sensitivity in rodents by filling their visual field with drifting gratings and observing which combinations of spatial frequency and contrast elicit the optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) response, which is a reflex that induces smooth conjugate eye movements to stabilize the visual world on the retina. A similar technique has been used to measure contrast sensitivity in humans (Dakin, S. C., & Turnbull, P. R (2016). Similar Contrast Sensitivity Functions Measured Using Psychophysics and Optokinetic Nystagmus, Scientific Reports, 6, 34514). An eye tracker was used to detect the direction of OKN in response to full-screen drifting noise on a computer display and found that trial outcomes classified by OKN direction produced sensitivity thresholds that were similar to thresholds obtained from perceptual report. This approach takes promising steps toward contrast sensitivity assessment in non-communicative populations: the task does not rely on volitional report and can potentially be administered without instruction provided that the participant attends to the screen. Other elements of this procedure, however, are likely to pose problems for many participants. The procedure takes almost twenty minutes to complete, which is an unrealistic requirement for inattentive or cognitively impaired participants. The time can be reduced by combining the procedure with an adaptive staircase, but it is unclear how well this would work, as their OKN matching algorithm has a false positive rate of 50% and the time-sensitive nature of the task's individual trials appear vulnerable to lapses in attention.

Systems and methods for evaluating contrast sensitivity and other visual metrics


The spindle motor includes a rotational shaft 30 which has a conical portion 34, whose outer surface gradually widens toward a thrust dynamic pressure bearing 70, and a straight portion 33 with a fixed outer diameter. Radial dynamic pressure bearing 60 supports the radial load of the rotating shaft 30. The radial bearing has a conical bearing surface 64 and a straight bearing surface 63 corresponding to the conical portion 34 and the straight portion 33 of the rotating shaft 30, respectively. Rotating shaft 30 is supported and aligned during rotation by fluid dynamic forces generated by the conical portion 34.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to spindle motors mounted in such as information devices or acoustic devices which require precise rotation, and in particular to spindle motors to be used in HDDs (hard disk drives) in magnetic disk units.
2. Related Prior Art
Spindle motors for HDDs are ordinarily constructed with a hub on a rotating shaft rotated by an electromagnetic motor and supported on bearings so as to rotate freely. Known examples are disclosed in (1) Japanese Patent Application (Kokai) Hei 11-262214 and (2) Japanese Patent Application (Kokai) 2001-289242. Bearings suitable for these spindle motors comprise combinations of radial bearings and thrust bearings respectively supporting the radial loads and thrust loads of the rotating shafts. The radial bearings and the thrust bearings are fluid dynamic bearings supporting the rotating shafts with high precision because of the dynamic pressure action of lubricants.
In addition to high rotation precision, HDD motors mounted in personal computers and notebook personal computers require high quietness and shock resistance. It is also desirable to reducing thickness of the end-product. Fluid dynamic bearings are effective from the standpoint of ensuring quietness and rotation precision. The shock resistance is ensured by providing a fluid dynamic thrust bearing for positioning and restraining removal of the rotating shaft in the axial direction. The positioning in the axial direction is particularly important in HDD motors where magnetic disks have to have their positions set in the axial direction. However, in spindle motors furnished with thrust bearings, the rotating shafts sometimes tend to shift easily in the axial direction and separate from the thrust bearings because of the dynamic pressure force generated by the thrust bearing. In order to suppress this phenomenon to ensure proper positioning and to prevent the rotating shaft from moving in the axial direction, the following various means have been previously adopted.
(1) Staggering the magnetic centers of the motor stator and the motor magnet so that the shaft-carrying hub to which the motor magnet is attached is pulled downwardly in the direction of the thrust bearing.
(2) Positioning a magnetic plate opposite the motor magnet attached to the hub, to create a magnetic force by which the hub is attracted in the thrust bearing direction.
(3) Providing a permanent magnet, as described in prior patent cite, to attract the hub in the thrust bearing direction with the permanent magnet.
(4) Providing a flange at the end of the thrust bearing side in the rotating shaft, as described in prior patent (2), to prevent disengagement of the rotating shaft from the radial bearing. Also, in this construction, dynamic pressure force is generated between the flange and the radial bearing, so that the rotating shaft is pulled in the direction of the thrust bearing by this dynamic pressure force.
However, in the motor having staggered magnetic centers, an electromagnetic noise is generated resulting in a loss of quietness. The motor construction having a magnetic plate results in a loss of drive force in the motor, and this is particularly undesirable because it puts a limit on the value of current in devices where power is low as in notebook computers. With respect to motor constructions disclosed in patents (1) and (2), along with increase of the number of parts and complications in manufacturing, it is inconvenient to reduce thickness of the product utilizing these motors.
Also with respect to a rotation precision, when both the radial bearing and the thrust bearing are fluid dynamic bearings, the rotation precision is sufficiently ensured, but it has been difficult to construct HDD motors in which both the bearing stiffness and bearing loss were optimized, that is with both a high bearing stiffness and a small bearing loss.


A system and method for injecting and canceling a bias voltage in an attenuated circuit is presented. The attenuated circuit is disposed within a tri-state logic-level measurement apparatus. The bias voltage is provided to ensure that when the measurement apparatus is floating, it floats at the tri-state voltage. In one embodiment, a summing network is connected to an attenuator, a first voltage generator which provides a bias voltage and a second voltage generator which provides a cancellation voltage. In another embodiment, a FET amplifier is provided in place of the summing network.

A typical measurement device designed to analyze tri-state logic systems which include a ground-referenced attenuator will show a logical "0" when the probe tip of the device is floating (i.e., open). While this situation is not a problem per se, it does indicate a logical state that doesn't really exist. In other words, the device will show "0," instead of "open," or some similar indication that the probe is not attached to anything. Another problem with this device, is that it will cause a floating data bus to be "tri-stated" when the probe is attached to the bus. That is, the bus is pulled down by the device because the attenuator is ground-referenced.

System and method for the injection and cancellation of a bias voltage in an attenuated circuit


Disclosed herewith is a process of forming an aerogel composite which comprises introducing a gaseous material into a formed aerogel monolith or powder, and causing decomposition of said gaseous material in said aerogel in amounts sufficient to cause deposition of the decomposition products of the gas on the surfaces of the pores of the said aerogel.. Also disclosed are the composites made by the process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to composite materials made using aerogel foam, and the process for the manufacture thereof. More particularly, the invention is based on the use and properties of aerogels.
Aerogels are open pore, low density solids (typically 5% solid) that are easily permeated by gases. Aerogels typically have a high surface area and can exhibit catalytic properties towards gas-phase reactions. Aerogels are made using sol-gel processing followed by supercritical extraction of the entrapped solvent. A combination of reacting fluids and solvents are mixed together and form a gel (a low density network of solids containing the solvents and liquid reaction products). To remove the solvent without destroying or altering the solid network, the gel is placed in a vessel and the temperature and pressure are raised above the critical point of the contained solvent. Thereafter the pressure is released. The resulting material is aerogel and is the starting point for this invention. Aerogels can be made of many materials including metal oxides, polymers, and carbon.
2. Description of Related Art Aerogels are known in the art. For example, aerogels have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,863 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,093,454 (S. S. Kistler, 1937); and in various articles, i.e. Aerogels, appearing in Scientific American, May 1988, Vol. 256, No. 5.
The aerogels described in the prior art are transparent arrays which can be utilized, for example, in windows, refrigerators (as insulation or as insulating windows), ovens (as insulation or as insulating windows), or in the walls and doors thereof, or as the active material in detectors for analyzing high-energy elementary particles or cosmic rays.
The uses of the aerogels of the prior art are somewhat limited, because they do not possess characteristics desirable for certain uses. For example, they are structurally weak and friable, can be broken down by water, and require vacuum-packing to attain their highest thermal-insulation properties.

Aerogel composites and method of manufacture


A network monitor gets a bill of materials for a communication across a network where different communication paths may be established. A bill of materials is a list of hardware/software components that are used to establish and maintain the communication. A request to generate a test communication between the same devices involved in the communication is received. A request to sample and send samples of test data is sent to a network analyzer. The test communication is established. A bill of materials for the test communication is determined. The bill of materials for the communication is compared to the bill of materials for the test communication. Test data is sent on the test communication. The sent test data is analyzed in relation to the sent samples of the test data and the compared bills of materials.

Currently, there are a variety of systems that are designed to test and identify potential faults in communication networks. With the proliferation and increased complexity of communication networks, it has become difficult to diagnose potential faults (either hardware or software) that may be causing communication errors. When a problem communication is detected, just establishing a second communication between the same devices for testing may not be sufficient to identify a specific cause of the problem. The reason is because the same network path is unlikely to be used in both communications. The two communications may use different links, gateways, ports, software, and the like.
An example of the above problem is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 7,173,910. A series of test probes are deployed around the boarder of a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) network. VOIP calls are placed between the test probes to identify a quality of service between the test probes. This solution suffers from the above problems because each time a VOIP call is made over the VOIP network, a different communication path may be used. Thus, a first VOIP communication that is established between two probes may get very different test results than a second VOIP communication between the same two test probes because the two communications may traverse a different communication path on the VOIP network. This solution may be able to identify that there is a problem in the network, but it cannot diagnose where in the network a problem resides.
Other solutions send test data in conjunction with an existing communication rather than setting up a second communication. For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0193999 discloses a system that adds test information to an ongoing voice communication. This allows a quality measurement for a specific voice call. However, this solution does not determine what network elements are involved in the voice communication; but instead it is used to determine the quality of service of a particular voice call. Moreover, this solution adds overhead to existing voice communications by increasing the number of packets sent for each communication. Like the prior solutions, this system may be able to diagnose that there may be a quality of service problem between two communication devices, but it cannot diagnose where in the network a problem resides.

System and method for testing a dynamic communication across a network


A process for decolorizing sugar solutions by contacting them with highly crosslinked, macroporous copolymers functionalized with weak-acid or weak-base ion exchange functional groups is disclosed. Treatment of sugar syrups using macroporous functionalized adsorbents allows for multiple regeneration cycles without loss of sugar decolorization properties.

This application relates to processes for decolorization of sugar syrups, and more particularly to decolorization of sugar syrups using functionalized adsorbents containing weak-acid cation exchange groups or weak-base anion exchange groups.
Decolorization of aqueous sugar syrups derived from corn, beets and sugar cane has traditionally relied upon carbonaceous adsorbents such as bone char or powdered and granular activated carbons. Although these carbonaceous materials themselves are inexpensive, the processes employing them tend to require expensive equipment and intensive labor. In a typical industrial decolorization process, powdered carbon is used in a batch adsorption process. After decolorization the sugar syrup must be filtered, as a separate step, to remove the carbon for reclamation and regeneration. In a continuous process the sugar syrup passes through beds of granular activated carbon for decolorization; periodically a fraction of the carbon bed is removed for regeneration and that carbon is replaced by either regenerated or new carbon. Carbon regeneration is a high-temperature process requiring fuel for the regeneration furnace and carbon losses during the regeneration can approach ten weight percent. Also, thermal regeneration destroys the color bodies removed during decolorization, preventing their recovery for study or other uses.
Ion exchange resins have been proposed for sugar syrup decolorization; they permit continuous use of the treatment column and in situ regeneration using readily available chemicals such as caustic and acid, and their long operational life and less expensive equipment and handling, compared to carbon, in most cases offsets their higher initial expense. Unfortunately, ion exchange resins have a low capacity for adsorbing color bodies from solution compared to carbon and require much larger quantities of regenerants to remove the color bodies than to remove typical ionic species. Additionally, ion exchange resins do not effectively remove impurities such as HMF (5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural) that increase the color of sugar syrups on standing and during further processing.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,950,332 and 5,416,124 propose using synthetic polymeric functionalized adsorbents prepared by swelling a porous styrene/divinylbenzene copolymer in a swelling solvent, adding chloromethyl groups to the polymer via a chloromethylation reaction and post-crosslinking the swollen structure with methylene groups in the presence of a Friedel Crafts catalyst, to form a macronet structure that remains when the solvent is removed. The macronet structure, however, contains a large amount of microporosity comparable to that of activated carbon, and as the above U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,124 indicates, such microporosity is expected to increase adsorption capacity but degrade adsorption and regeneration kinetics.
The present invention seeks to overcome the problems associated with prior art processes for decolorizing sugar syrups by using a functionalized adsorbent having a combination of properties not found in adsorbents heretofore available, that is, a high level of mesoporosity and macroporosity for good adsorption kinetics, stability and easy regeneration and a high adsorption capacity without the presence of microporosity.

Decolorization of sugar syrups using functionalized adsorbents


To provide a flowmeter producing stable measurement results and coincidentally achieving miniaturization, a bent portion is provided in a flow path located between an inlet port of fluids to the flowmeter and a second flow path at which a sensor detecting a flow rate is positioned, thus forming at a sensor an almost uniform flow-velocity distribution in cross-section of the fluids and a reproducible and constant flow-velocity distribution.

Conventionally, there has been appeared an apparatus to detect flow rate variations of the absorption nozzle for verifying how micro chips etc are absorbed, and a flowmeter is used for the purpose of detecting such flow rate variations. Flowmeters of this kind include, as shown in Patent document 1 (JP-A-2004-3887), for example, a flowmeter in which inlet port and outlet port are provided at both ends of the flow paths thereof, a flow path is provided perpendicular to the flow paths of the inlet port and the outlet port, respectively, and a flow path in the flowmeter is constituted such that these flow paths and a flow path in which a flow sensor is positioned placed at right angles to each other, thereby forming a repeatable flow-velocity distribution of fluids to be measured while miniaturizing the flowmeter and producing measurement results.
The above-mentioned traditional flowmeter is of a shape of the flow paths as aforesaid, which realizes a small flowmeter and produces constant measurement results. However, strong demands are made to the apparatus equipped with such a flowmeter for further lightening and miniaturization thereof, from the viewpoint of a limited mounting space and increase in weight. Therefore, there has been increased demands for the miniaturized and lightened flowmeters.
The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems. An object of the present invention is to provide a flowmeter producing constant measurement results, and coincidentally achieving miniaturization and lightening thereof.

Flowmeter having a bent inlet passage for constant flow-velocity distribution


In an implementation, a media drive includes bit patterned magnetic media and a module. The module is to cause data encoded by one or more error correction codes to be written on the bit patterned magnetic media with a constraint that is configured to be used to synchronize the data if a bit insertion or deletion occurs.

In a conventional magnetic media drive, a continuous film of magnetic material is typically used to store bits of data. Each bit is traditionally defined on the magnetic material through the action of a write head of the media drive. Thus, the locations of the bits of the media drive were usually defined by the action of the write head itself and not by the magnetic media on which the bits were written.
In order to increase the amount of bits that may be stored on traditional magnetic media, techniques were developed to decrease the amount of space consumed by each of the bits on the magnetic media. Thus, the amount of bits that could be stored on a given area of the traditional magnetic media increased as the amount of space consumed by each of the bits decreased. However, reliability of the bits to persist data may also decrease as the amount of space consumed by each of the bits decreases. For example, heat may cause bits to change a magnetic orientation when the amount of magnetic material used to store each of the bits becomes sufficiently small. Consequently, storage of data using these bits may become unreliable.
Accordingly, bit patterned magnetic media has been developed. Bit patterned magnetic media may physically isolate magnetic material that is used to store the bits as separate islands. This isolation helps retain magnetic orientation of the bits and therefore increases the reliability of data storage. However, conventional techniques that are commonly used to write to and read from bit patterned magnetic media may cause data errors.

Data synchronization for bit insertion or deletion


Capacitive decoupling circuits and methods of making the same are disclosed. In one aspect, a method of manufacturing is provided that includes providing a semiconductor chip with a first power rail for a first no-load bias level and a ground rail. A first voltage divider is electrically coupled between the first power rail and the ground rail and has a midpoint node. A first pair of capacitors is electrically coupled between the first power rail, the midpoint node and the ground rail to provide capacitive decoupling for power delivered to the first power rail. A second power rail has a second no-load bias less than the first no-load bias. A second pair of capacitors is electrically coupled between the ground rail and the second power rail to provide capacitive decoupling for power delivered to the second power rail.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to semiconductor processing, and more particularly to capacitive decoupling systems for integrated circuits and to methods of making the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cascode style circuits, such as those frequently used in microprocessors, graphics processors and application specific integrated circuits, typically require full-voltage and midpoint-voltage power supply rails. The on-die decoupling capacitance used to suppress power supply noise is typically also formed by stacking capacitors from a ground rail to the mid-voltage rail and from the mid-voltage rail to the full-voltage rail. This stacking introduces an AC voltage divider which inherently couples noise from the full-voltage rail on to the mid-voltage rail.
The issue of noise from the full-voltage rail coupling over to the mid-voltage rail may be particularly problematic for switching input/output circuits where the noise on the full-voltage rail can be significantly higher than the noise on mid-voltage rail. The reason is that high current draw devices, such as the output stages of input/output drivers or active terminations at the input stages of receivers are connected to the full-voltage rail, while lower power circuits are connected to the mid-voltage rail. One particular example of a high current draw device is an input/output driver for an external random access memory device. Another drawback of the conventional cascode architecture is the filtering nature of the conventional capacitor stack. The conventional capacitor stack serves essentially as an all-pass filter when capacitor leakage effects are considered.
One conventional technique for improving decoupling involves providing more raw capacitance on the die. However, this technique may be severely constrained by the requirements of packing density or will lead to die size growth.
The present invention is directed to overcoming or reducing the effects of one or more of the foregoing disadvantages.

Capacitance for decoupling intermediate level power rails


A wireless device 30 according to the present invention includes a location information acquiring unit 31 configured to acquire location information of the wireless device; an estimated error value acquiring unit 33 configured to acquire an estimated error value of the acquired location information; a moving status determining unit 34 configured to determine a moving status of the wireless device; and a location determining unit 36 configured to determine a location where the wireless device exists, based on the acquired estimated error value and the determined moving status.

Conventionally, a wireless device has been known in which its own location information is acquired using a GPS (Global Positioning System) function.
However, there has been a problem that the conventional wireless device cannot acquire location information with a sufficient positioning accuracy depending on an influence from a surrounding environment of a positioning point. Therefore, the conventional wireless device may fail to recognize, with the sufficient positioning accuracy, a location where the wireless device exists.
In order to solve the above-described problem, a method has been devised in which an averaging process is performed on location information (hereinafter referred to as a positioning coordinate point) acquired by using a positioning function so that the location where the wireless device exists is determined.
However, there has been a problem in the above-described method that the result acquired by performing the averaging process on the positioning coordinate point does not approximate the true coordinate point, such as when the positioning coordinate point has an offset value to the true coordinate point due to the influence from such as the surrounding environment of the positioning point, the disposition of a GPS satellite, and the like.
In addition, there has been a problem that a positioning accuracy is drastically decreased when the wireless device is in a moving state and when the location where the wireless device exists is determined based on a result acquired by averaging a current coordinate point and a previous coordinate point.


A lock status notification method, apparatus and corresponding medication storage device (e.g., mobile medication dispensing cart, medication cabinet, nurse server, etc.) are provided. In order to generate the notification, a computing device operating on the medication storage device may monitor the status of a manual lock associated with one or more drawers of the medication storage device (e.g., through the use of a sensor associated with the lock). A notification may be generated if it is determined that the medication storage device is unlocked at a certain point in time (e.g., when a user is attempting to log off of an application executing on the computing device). At least one of the drawers of the medication storage device may include a next case medication pocket having an automatic lock and in which medications prepared for the next case or procedure in which the user is participating can be securely stored.

One way for doctors, anesthesiologists, nurses, pharmacists, and the like (referred to hereinafter as "healthcare workers") to store, transport and dispense medications to their patients is through the use of a medication storage device (e.g., a mobile medication dispensing cart, a medication cabinet, a nurse server, etc.). In particular, a healthcare worker may have his or her own medication storage device, which stores various medications and/or items or devices used for dispensing or delivering those medications (e.g., syringes, gloves, etc.) throughout a given workday. An example of such a medication storage device may be an anesthesiology cart used by an anesthesiologist for storing all of the medications and dispensing/delivery equipment needed for the procedures (e.g., surgeries) in which he or she is going to participate within a given period of time (e.g., one workday).
In many instances medication storage devices may include controlled substances including, for example, one of various types of narcotics. Given the significant risk involved in association with an unauthorized person obtaining access to these controlled substances, it is very important that adequate security be provided for the medication storage device. In order to provide this security, at least two types of locks associated with the overall medication storage device have been used, each of which having its own set of drawbacks. The first type of lock that is often used is a manual lock that requires the use of a physical key to unlock. One drawback of this technique is that it forces the healthcare worker to carry around the physical key, which can be easily misplaced or stolen. In order to avoid carrying the key and, therefore, potentially losing it, the healthcare worker may be tempted to leave the key in the manual lock on the storage device. This significantly reduces, if not completely abolishes, the security affects of having a lock, thus providing a second drawback to the manual lock.
The second type of lock used by many medication storage devices is an automatic lock, wherein the healthcare worker operating the medication storage device may define a specific period of time after which the storage device will automatically lock. Once locked, the healthcare worker will be forced to manually unlock the storage device again if he or she still needs access to the medications and/or dispensing/delivery items stored in the medication storage device. While this technique eliminates the need for the healthcare worker to carry, and potentially misplace, a physical key, use of an automatic lock has drawbacks of its own. For example, no automatic lock setting appears to satisfy all of the needs of the healthcare worker. In particular, while one procedure, for which the healthcare worker is dispensing medications from the medication storage device, may last only a short period of time (e.g., one hour), another procedure may last significantly longer (e.g., over ten hours). Setting the automatic lock to lock after a short period of time may disrupt longer procedures, while setting the automatic lock to lock after a longer period of time to accommodate those procedures may greatly reduce the security provided by the automatic lock. In addition, healthcare workers that know that the medication storage device will automatically lock after a certain period of time may become dependent upon this functionality and, therefore, even less likely to manually lock the storage device themselves.
In addition to the foregoing, because emergency situations may occur at any moment, the idea of having any lock, whether manual or automatic, on a medication storage device that may prevent the healthcare worker from immediately accessing the needed medications stored within the medication storage device can be unnerving. One solution to this problem has been to have no security at all in relation to the medication storage device. Given the hazards described above with regard to unauthorized access to the controlled substances stored within the medication storage device, this option is less than ideal. A need, therefore, exists for a technique for securing a medication storage device (e.g., mobile medication dispensing cart, medication cabinet, nurse server, etc.) that addresses these, and similar, drawbacks.
Another related issue regarding the dispensing of medications to patients results from the lack of time many healthcare workers have between procedures or cases. In particular, as a result of the extremely quick turnaround time between operating room cases, which can be as little as 12 minutes, anesthesia providers and other healthcare workers often have to draw up or prepare medications for their next case prior to the completion of the current case. In many instances, once the medications (referred to hereinafter as the "next case medications") have been drawn up, they are placed on the top of the anesthesia provider's work surface (e.g., on a mobile medication dispensing cart). As noted above, however, in many instances these medications include controlled substances that should be secured whenever possible. In addition, placing the next case medications on the work surface on which the current case's medications have likely also been placed creates the potential for the medications to be mixed up or confused. A further need, therefore, exists for a technique for ensuring that next case medications are secure and not likely to be confused with the medications of a current case, but that still supports the need to prepare medications in advance.

Lock status notification and next case medication method, apparatus and corresponding medication storage device


Methods and apparatus for recovering a clock and data from a data signal. A method provides for receiving a clock signal having a first clock frequency and alternating between a first level and a second level, and receiving a data signal having a first data rate, the first data rate equal to the first clock frequency. The method also includes providing a first signal by storing the data signal when the clock signal alternates from the first level to the second level, and providing a second signal by passing the first signal when the clock signal is at the first level, and storing the first signal when the clock signal is at the second level. A third signal is provided by delaying the data signal an amount of time. An error signal is provided by combining the first signal and the third signal, and a reference signal is provided by combining the first signal and the second signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to phase-locked loops, and more specifically to linear phase detectors for high-speed clock and data recovery.
2. Description of the Related art
Data networking has exploded over the last several years and has changed the way people work, get information, and spend leisure time. Local area networks at the office allow for centralized file sharing and archiving. Wireless Application Protocol enabled mobile phones operating over a wide area network allow users access to news updates and stock quotes. The Internet has transformed shopping and has spawned a new recreational activity—web surfing. Many computers are used primarily as interfaces to these networks; thus the expression "the network is the computer" has been coined.
Devices such as network interface cards (NICs), bridges, routers, switches, and hubs move data between users, between users and servers, or between servers. Data moves over a variety of media such as fiber optic or twisted pair cables and the air. These media distort data, making it difficult to be read. Lightwaves traveling in a fiber optic cable reflect at the core-cladding interface and disperse. Twisted pair cables filter higher frequencies. Wireless signals bounce off surfaces in a phenomenon known as multipath, smudging one data bit into the next.
Accordingly, these devices, NICs, bridges, routers, switches, and hubs, receive distorted data and clean it up—or retime it—for use either by the device itself or for retransmission. A useful building block for this is the phase-locked loop (PLL). PLLs accept distorted data and provide a clock signal and retimed (or recovered) data as outputs.
The demands on PLLs have become more stringent with this phenomenal growth in networking. Equipment operating at data rates of 10 gigabits per second is replacing 1 gigabit devices, which recently replaced 100 megabit units. Exacerbating the situation is the competitive nature of the networking business itself. Pricing pressures are enormous but using high-speed specialized processes raises system costs. Thus, there is a need for phase detectors that are capable of operating at these data rates but which can be made using relatively inexpensive process technologies.

Linear phase detector for high-speed clock and data recovery


A compound selected from the group having the general formula ##STR1## wherein Z is a divalent moiety selected from linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated alkylene group, and the O.dbd.C(R) group contains one of a quaternary ammonium group and a sugar moiety, or the O.dbd.C(R) group is part of a neuraminic acid moiety, and their pharmacologically acceptable acid addition salts. Also a medical preparate with antineoplastic effects utilizing such a compound.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is about a series of novel symmetric amides of 1,4-bis-substituted alkylenediamino-5,8-dihydroxyanthraquinones with various monocarboxylic acid, which exist in the human organism, as well as other monocarboxylic acids, which can be obtained from substances, which exist in the human organism. These monocarboxylic acids are, among others, those which contain a quaternary ammonium group, like for instance 3-hydroxybutyric acid-4-trimethylammoniumchloride (carnitine chloride) and acetic acid trimethylammonium chloride, an oxidation product of choline, the N-acetyl neuraminic acid, as well as monocarboxylic derivatives of various sugar molecules, for example gluconic acid or 2-amino gluconic acid.
2. Description of the Related Art
About three decades ago, the first anthracycline antibiotics were obtained through biological synthesis by fungus Streptomyces paucetius var. caesius. As described in the classical reference book by A. Goodman Gilman, L. S. Goodman, T. W. Rall, F. Murad, "Goodman Gilman's Pharmaceutical Basis of Therapeutics", 7th edition, McMillan Publishing Company, New York, 1985, pp 1283, anthracycline antibiotics and their derivatives show a very strong antitumor activity. One representative of this group is daunorubicine. It was isolated independently by both DiMarco and Dubost et al. in 1963. A very similar compound is the doxorubicine. It was first isolated in 1969 by Arcamone. Although these two compounds are very similar in structure, daunorubicine is primarily used in acute leukemias while doxorubicine is applied against a wide range of human neoplasms including solid tumors.
However both of these compounds showed also toxic effects to the organism (Goodman Gilman's Pharmaceutical Basis of Therapeutics, 7th edition, 1985), and can cause, depending on the dose applied, an often irreversible cardiomyopathia. Following the invention of the first anthracycline antibiotics, several anthracycline derivatives were prepared and tested in order to find an alternative compound with high antitumor activity, but at the same time with reduced cardiac toxicity. Mitoxantrone, a synthetically obtained compound, is one of these antitumor agents. It is an aminoanthracenedione (1,4-bis[2-(2-hydroxyethylamino)ethylamino]5,8-dihydroxyanthraquinone hydrochloride) and is used very frequently against various neoplastic developments in human organism. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,249 from 1980 is about a series of substituted anthraquinone derivatives, including mitoxantrone.
The scientific publications of Zee-Cheng and Cheng (R. K.-Y. Zee-Cheng, C. C. Cheng, "Antineoplastic agents. Structure-reactivity relationship study of bis (substituted aminoalkylamino) anthraquinones, Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, volume 21, year 1978, pages 291-294) and of Murdock et al. (K. C. Murdock, R. G. Child, P. F. Fabio, R. B. Angier, R. E. Wallace, F. E. Durr, R. V. Citarella, "Antitumor agents. 1. 1,4-Bis[(aminoalkyl)amino]-9,10-anthracenediones", Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, Volume 22, year 1979, pages 1024-1030) report about various compounds of this class.


The present invention provides a non-aqueous electrolytic solution including a methylenebissulfonate derivative and improving initial irreversible capacity and other characteristics of a battery such as cycle characteristics, electric capacity, and storage characteristics; a method for producing thereof; and a battery using the electrolytic solution. The non-aqueous electrolytic solution includes: (1) a non-aqueous solvent comprising a cyclic carbonate ester, a straight chained carbonate ester, and/or a cyclic carboxylic acid ester, (2) a lithium salt which may be dissolved in the non-aqueous solvent, as an electrolyte salt, and (3) a methylenebissulfonate derivative of formula [I]:

In recent years, with the spread of various compact-type mobile electronic devices such as a mobile electronic terminal represented by a mobile phone, a notebook-type PC or the like, a secondary battery has fulfilled an important role as a power source thereof.
A lithium secondary battery is widely used as a power source of electronic devices of, for example, a mobile phone, a notebook-type PC or the like, a power source for an electric automobile or a power storage, or the like, and is mainly composed of a positive electrode, a non-aqueous electrolytic solution and a negative electrode.
As the positive electrode composing a lithium secondary battery, for example, LiCoO2, LiMn2O4, LiNiO2, LiFePO4 or the like has been known. It has been reported that, in the lithium secondary battery using these, when it becomes high temperature in a charged state, since a non-aqueous solvent in the non-aqueous electrolytic solution is locally subjected to oxidative decomposition partially at the interface between a positive electrode material and the non-aqueous electrolytic solution, a decomposed substance or gas generated by this decomposition inhibits an original electrochemical reaction of a battery, and as a result, battery performance such as cycle characteristics is decreased.
In addition, as the negative electrode, for example, metallic lithium, a metallic compound being able to store and discharge lithium (for example, a metal elementary substance, an oxide, an alloy with lithium or the like), a carbon material, or the like has been known, and particularly, a lithium secondary battery using a carbon material such as coke, artificial graphite, natural graphite, which is able to store and discharge lithium, has practically been used widely.
It has been reported that the lithium secondary battery using a highly crystallized carbon material of, for example, artificial graphite, natural graphite or the like, as a negative electrode material, decreases cycle characteristics, because a non-aqueous solvent in the non-aqueous electrolytic solution is reductively decomposed at a negative electrode surface in charging, and a decomposed substance or gas generated thereby inhibits an original electrochemical reaction of a battery. In addition, it has been known that the lithium secondary battery using, for example, a lithium metal or an alloy thereof, a metal elementary substance or an oxide using tin, silicon or the like, as a negative electrode material, has high initial capacity, however, because the negative electrode material becomes fine powder in cycle, reductive decomposition of the non-aqueous solvent occurs at an accelerated rate, as compared with a negative electrode made of the carbon material, resulting in decrease in charge-discharge efficiency at the first cycle accompanied with increase in initial irreversible capacity of a battery, and large decrease in battery performance such as battery capacity or cycle characteristics, accompanying therewith.
In this way, generation of fine powder of the negative electrode material or accumulation of a decomposed substance of the non-aqueous solvent inhibits smooth storage and discharge of lithium to the negative electrode, and as a result, has a problem of significant decrease in battery characteristics such as cycle characteristics.
As described above, a usual lithium secondary battery had a cause of decreasing battery performance, by inhibiting transfer of a lithium ion, or blistering the battery, by a decomposed substance or gas generated in decomposition of the non-aqueous electrolytic solution on the positive electrode or the negative electrode.
On the other hand, a tendency for multi-functionalization of electronic devices mounted with a lithium secondary battery has been progressing more and more, and it is now in a tendency of increasing power consumption amount. Accompanied with it, change to higher capacity of a lithium secondary battery has also been progressing more and more, and it has been a problem that volume occupied by the non-aqueous electrolytic solution inside a battery becomes smaller, for example, by improvement of increasing density of an electrode, decreasing useless space volume and dead space inside a battery or the like, and thus decomposition of a small amount of the non-aqueous electrolytic solution influences largely on decrease in battery performance.
Still more, in recent years, as new power source for an electric automobile or a hybrid electric automobile, there has been performed development of an electrical storage device; called an electric double layer capacitor using an activated carbon or the like for an electrode, in view of output density; called a hybrid capacitor (which utilizes both capacity by storage and discharge of lithium, and electric double layer capacity) combining principle of electricity accumulation of a lithium ion secondary battery and the electric double layer capacitor, in view of satisfying both energy density and output density, and it is a present state that enhancement of cycle characteristics or the like is required.
To enhance characteristics of the non-aqueous electrolytic solution battery, it has been required to enhance not only characteristics of a negative electrode or a positive electrode, but also characteristics of the non-aqueous electrolytic solution which takes a role of transfer of a lithium ion.
As the non-aqueous electrolytic solution of the non-aqueous electrolytic solution-type secondary battery at present, a non-aqueous solution is used, where a lithium salt (an electrolyte salt) of, for example, LiBF4, LiPF6, LiClO4, LiN(SO2CF3)2, LiN(SO2CF2CF3)2 or the like, is mixed into a non-proton organic solvent.
The non-aqueous electrolytic solution, where for example, LiBF4, LiPF6 or the like is dissolved into a non-aqueous solvent, has been known to be stable in high voltage, because of, for example, having high electrical conductivity, which exhibits transfer of the lithium ion, and high oxidative decomposition voltage of LiBF4 or LiPF6. Therefore, such the non-aqueous electrolytic solution-type secondary battery contributes to bring out features of having high voltage and high energy density (PATENT LITERATURE 1).
However, the non-aqueous electrolytic solution composed of a non-aqueous solvent dissolved with LiBF4 or LiPF6 as a lithium salt, has a problem of generation of hydrogen fluoride (HF) caused by decomposition of the lithium salt at high temperature environment of 60° C. or higher, due to inferior thermal stability of these electrolytes. This hydrogen fluoride causes a phenomenon of decomposition of, for example, a carbon material of a negative electrode in a battery or the like, therefore had a problem of not only decrease in battery capacity caused by decrease in charge-discharge efficiency at the first cycle or the like, accompanied with increase in initial irreversible capacity of a secondary battery provided with such the non-aqueous electrolytic solution, but also increase in internal resistance of a battery under high temperature environment, and significant decrease in battery performance such as charge-discharge cycle life.
In addition, as the non-proton organic solvent to dissolve the lithium salt in the non-aqueous electrolytic solution, for example, carbonates such as ethylene carbonate, propylene carbonate, and dimethyl carbonate are mainly used, and among them, a mixed solvent combining a high dielectric constant solvent having high solubility of an electrolyte, and a low viscosity solvent is preferable. It is because the high dielectric constant solvent has high viscosity and very slow ion transportation, and is thus required to decrease viscosity thereof to increase ion transportation and increase ionic conductivity. Specifically a mixed solvent composed of a cyclic carbonate ester of, for example, ethylene carbonate, propylene carbonate or the like, as the high dielectric constant solvent, and a straight chained carbonate ester of, for example, dimethyl carbonate, diethyl carbonate, ethylmethyl carbonate or the like, as the low viscosity solvent, is used, and an electrolytic solution comprising this provides high ionic conductivity.
However, in the case of using the mixed solvent composed of the cyclic carbonate ester such as ethylene carbonate, and the straight chained carbonate ester such as dimethyl carbonate or ethylmethyl carbonate, an ester exchange reaction brings about on the electrode, by the straight chained carbonate ester, which generates an alkoxide radical such as a methoxy group or an ethoxy group, as an intermediate thereof. Since these radicals generated by this ester exchange are strong nucleophilic agents, they promote ring-opening/decomposition of ethylene carbonate, propylene carbonate or the like, which is a cyclic carbonate ester, and generate gas, or dissolve a metal of the positive electrode active material and destroy a crystal structure, and as a result, it has a problem of increasing initial irreversible capacity of a battery, and decreasing battery characteristics such as battery capacity or cycle characteristics accompanying therewith.
For example, at the graphite negative electrode, potential for a lithium ion to be inserted is at the vicinity of 0.3 V (vs. Li+/Li), and at this potential, most of organic solvents are decomposed. Therefore, a reductive decomposition reaction of an electrolytic solution using ethylene carbonate or the like is generated at the vicinity of 1.0 V, in initial charging. Because a decomposed product of the electrolytic solution forms a surface coating on the graphite negative electrode, and suppresses the reductive decomposition of the electrolytic solution at or subsequent to the second cycle, charge-discharge efficiency at or subsequent to the second cycle becomes nearly 100%. However, because of generation of irreversible capacity caused by formation of the surface coating in the initial charging, research and development aiming at decreasing the above irreversible capacity of a battery by optimizing the electrolytic solution has been competed (NON-PATENT LITERATURE 1).
As described above, the non-aqueous electrolytic solution-type secondary battery has a problem of decrease in charge-discharge efficiency at the first cycle accompanied with increase in initial irreversible capacity of a battery, as well as a problem of decrease in electric capacity or increase in internal resistance, by storage at high temperature or repeated charge-discharge, and thus various additives have been proposed to enhance stability or various battery characteristics of the non-aqueous electrolytic solution-type secondary battery.
For example, in a secondary battery using a negative electrode made of graphite having high crystallinity, there have been proposed, for example, a non-aqueous electrolytic solution containing vinylene carbonate, vinylethylene carbonate or the like (PATENT LITERATURE 2 and PATENT LITERATURE 3), a non-aqueous electrolytic solution containing 1,3-propanesultone and butanesultone, for example, in a secondary battery using a carbon negative electrode (PATENT LITERATURE 4).
Because an electrolytic solution containing a cyclic carbonate compound having an unsaturated group such as vinylene carbonate, vinylethylene carbonate, or a sultone compound such as 1,3-propanesultone or butanesultone, forms a stable coating which suppresses reductive decomposition of the electrolytic solution at the negative electrode surface, by polymerization/reductive decomposition of these additives at the negative electrode surface, a side reaction such as decomposition of a solvent, which has been occurred at the negative electrode surface, can be suppressed by covering the negative electrode surface with this reactive coating layer, resulting in improvement of a problem of decrease or the like in charge-discharge efficiency at the first cycle, accompanied with increase in initial irreversible capacity of a battery. Therefore, the electrolytic solution containing these additives provides certain degree of effect, even in the case of using any negative electrode, however, in particular, for a negative electrode made of highly crystalline natural graphite or artificial graphite, vinylene carbonate exhibits effect of peeling suppression of a graphite layer, therefore it has been used widely as additives for the electrolytic solution of a battery having these as a negative electrode.
On the other hand, additives forming a coating on a negative electrode have been reported, other than the above sultone compound or the cyclic carbonate compound having an unsaturated group. There are included an electrolytic solution containing, as additives, a disulfonate ester derivative such as, for example, propylene glycol dimethanesulfonate, 1,4-butanediol dimethanesulfonate (PATENT LITERATURE 5, PATENT LITERATURE 6, and PATENT LITERATURE 7); an electrolytic solution containing, for example, both a disulfonate ester derivative such as ethylene glycol dimethanesulfonate and a sulfonate ester derivative such as methyl methanesulfonate (PATENT LITERATURE 8 and PATENT LITERATURE 9); an electrolytic solution containing, for example, a fluorine-containing sulfonate compound (PATENT LITERATURE 10 and PATENT LITERATURE 11); or the like.
However, for example, the above disulfonate ester derivative, the sulfonate ester derivative, the fluorine-containing sulfonate compound or the like have not sufficient coating forming ability on the negative electrode, and has a problem of not forming a coating sufficient to suppress reductive decomposition of the non-aqueous electrolytic solution, as well as has not sufficient durability of the coating. As a result, initial irreversible capacity increases, to generate a problem of decrease in charge-discharge efficiency at the first cycle. Even by adding the disulfonate ester derivative in excess into the non-aqueous electrolytic solution to improve this point, resistance of a coating component generated at the negative electrode surface increases, which, to the contrary, raises a problem of leading to decrease in battery performance. Therefore, the addition of these additives to the electrolytic solution was not sufficient to enhance total balance of battery characteristics and cost of the non-aqueous electrolytic solution, as well as environmental aspect, production step or the like.
In addition, in preparing the non-aqueous electrolytic solution, there was a problem that a lithium salt in the non-aqueous electrolytic solution reacts with moisture inside a system and decomposes to generate a free acid such as hydrogen fluoride (HF), because of temperature increase of the non-aqueous electrolytic solution itself due to heat generation in dissolving and concocting the above lithium salt. In particular, in the case of concocting the non-aqueous electrolytic solution containing the above sultone compound or the disulfonate ester derivative or the like, there was a problem of increase in a free acid in the non-aqueous electrolytic solution, as a result of promotion of the above side reaction by increase in temperature in concocting, or decomposition or the like of the sultone compound or the disulfonate ester derivative or the fluorine-containing sulfonate compound itself, and thus it was necessary to prevent temperature increase of the non-aqueous electrolytic solution, and prevent deterioration of the non-aqueous electrolytic solution.
Under these circumstances, in conventional technology, investigation has been still performed on the non-aqueous electrolytic solution satisfying both the problem relating to the above lithium salt, and the problem relating to the non-aqueous solvent, and further improvement is necessary on a preferable combination that makes difficult to appear the effect of respective negative side of composition element of the non-aqueous electrolytic solution (a non-aqueous solvent, a lithium salt, additives or the like), use of novel additives, prescription thereof or the like.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Nonaqueous electrolyte solution, method for producing same, and nonaqueous electrolyte battery using the electrolyte solution

Abstract: The method includes steps of dissolving a lithium salt in a non-aqueous solvent, and then dissolving the methylenebissulfonate derivative. The non-aqueous electrolytic solution battery includes (i) the non-aqueous electrolytic solution above, (ii) a negative electrode, (iii) a positive electrode, and (iv) a separator.


A system for assessing underwater biomass that comprises a frame that can float and hold the system on a body of water; a transducer that emits and receives wave signals; a motor box, that positions the transducer below a water line; a control unit to allow a user to operate the system and view results obtained from the system; an electronics housing that receives a CPU board that communicates with and relays information to and from, the control unit; and a communication device to facilitate communication between the control unit and the CPU board.

With increasing consumer demand, freshwater and saltwater based aquaculture is poised to become a major industry in the United States in the 21st century. In the state of Mississippi, channel catfish farming represents an approximate $260 million industry with strong growth potential.
At the present time, a system to inventory in-situ is not available.
An accurate inventory of ponds to determine biomass is desirable in order to increase production efficiencies. For example, the major portion of costs associated with raising channel catfish are related to the cost of feed and aeration which are directly related to the total number of fish being raised in each pond. An accurate inventory can optimize food and aeration expenditures. Inventories can provide farmers with information utilized for seasonal restocking. Additionally, this information can help provide collateral information as crop insurance and bank loans are contingent upon accurate population estimates. The present invention employs side-scan sonar. Side-scan sonar is a category of sonar system that is commonly used to efficiently create an image of large areas of the sea floor. Thus, this sonar system is frequently used for mapping the seabed for a wide variety of purposes, including creation of nautical charts and detection and identification of underwater objects and bathymetric features. It may be used to conduct surveys for maritime archaeology; in conjunction with seafloor samples it is able to provide an understanding of the differences in material and texture type of the seabed. Side scan sonar imagery is also a commonly used tool to detect debris items and other obstructions on the seafloor that may be hazardous to shipping or to seafloor installations by the oil and gas industry. In addition, the status of pipelines and cables on the seafloor can be investigated using side scan sonar. Side scan data is frequently acquired with bathymetric soundings and sub-bottom data which provides a glimpse of the shallow structure of the seabed. Side scan sonar is also used for fisheries research, dredging operations and environmental studies. It also has military applications including mine detection.
Side scan uses a sonar device that emits fan-shaped pulses down toward the seafloor across a wide angle perpendicular to the path of the sensor through the water, which is typically towed from a surface vessel or submarine, or mounted on the ship's hull. The intensity of the acoustic reflections from the seafloor of this fan-shaped beam is recorded in a series of cross-track slices, which when stitched together along the direction of motion, become an image of the sea bottom within the swath (coverage width) of the beam. The sound frequencies used in side-scan sonar can range from about 100 kHz to about 2.4 MHz and higher. In many conditions, the higher frequencies yield better resolution but less range.
The use of sonar and side scan sonar in some bodies of water, such as commercial catfish ponds, may pose problems with determining the pond's biomass. For example, the side walls can provide erroneous signals or mask fish signals. Additionally, the water is typically very murky, which also contributes to difficulty in reading sonar images. Further contributing to sonar difficulties are the typical soft, silty gaseous pond bottom.
One example of a system for identifying a target in a liquid medium is US Patent Application Publication Number 2005/0270905, incorporated herein by reference, which discloses a use of a side scan sonar. However, this system does not address or solve problems associated with the shallow water environments where the present invention is effective—a catfish pond, for example. Additionally this application fails to address the portability concerns addressed herein.
Thus, there is a substantial need for the present invention.

Underwater biomass assessment device and method


Provided is, among other things, an attachment apparatus that includes an attachment base, a magnet attached to a first side of the attachment base and a clip structure extending from a second side of the attachment base, the second side being opposite the first side. The clip structure, in turn, includes first and second arms which can be resiliently spread apart in order to receive an item and then released in order to close around the item.

Aquariums and terrariums often attempt to closely replicate the natural environment for various fish, reptiles and/or other types of animals. In many cases, for example, several different devices are employed to maintain the proper environment within an aquarium. Such devices can include heaters, air pumps and filters, which typically require the use of hoses, tubes and/or electrical wires. For both aesthetic and practical reasons, it often is desirable to secure such components to the side walls of the aquarium. Conventionally, this has been accomplished by using suction cups.
However, the present inventor has discovered that suction cups often fail after a relatively short period of time and have a number of other shortcomings.


The invention relates to methods and apparatus for accelerating ATM connections. The apparatus includes a receiver configured to receive an ATM connection setup message, a memory coupled to the receiver, a table stored in the memory configured to store at least one table connection setup parameter, a parser engine configured to extract at least one message connection setup parameter, an analysis engine configured to compare the extracted message connection setup parameter to at least one table connection setup parameter, and a setup engine that makes a connection between at least two of the plurality of nodes based upon the table connection setup parameter or the message connection setup parameter.

An attribute of asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) systems is the ability to provide a user-specified quality of service (QoS) on a connection basis. ATM allows multiple connections to be established over a single physical link and allows a different QoS to be associated with each connection. For example, the QoS may include the priority assigned to a connection so that a voice connection may be assigned a higher priority than a data connection. This prioritization permits information transmitted over the higher priority connections to experience a smaller propagation delay as it travels from the sender to the receiver. Thus, in a network carrying large amounts of information, voice transmission will typically experience minimal delays while the data may be delayed longer and some data packets may even be lost.
ATM is most commonly used in connection-oriented networks that require a setup procedure for every connection established through the network. The setup procedure requires that the requesting party define the QoS to be associated with that connection.
The QoS is defined by a traffic contract that is negotiated between the requestor and the network: the network will either agree to this traffic contract and establish a connection or it will reject the contract and block the connection. Certain applications, such as real-time multi-media, cellular, and telephony communications, demand efficiency and speed from the ATM network. This efficiency and speed is required not only in the transmission of information over connections but also in the initial setup of those connections.
The parameters used to define the traffic contract in ATM networks are very flexible, allowing in theory a very large number of different traffic contracts. The speed with which an ATM network can set up a connection is directly related to how efficiently the network can interpret the information in the requested traffic contract. Conventional ATM networks are relatively slow, generally capable of setting up between 10 and 100 connections per second.
Many factors determine the speed of connection setup, including the type and number of CPUs used in the ATM network, the speed of the signaling connection, the routing algorithms, etc. However, one of the major factors affecting connection setup speed is the generality of the traffic contract concept and the effort required by the network to interpret the contract proposed by a connection requestor. Current attempts to improve connection setup times include utilizing faster CPUs, changing network protocols, and dividing the network into a number of smaller partitions with fewer connection setup requests. However, these implementations are costly and can be difficult to implement in many networks.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a cost-effective means to improve ATM network performance by significantly reducing the time required to interpret traffic contract requirements and to subsequently set up the desired connection. It is a further object of this invention to provide an ATM network connection setup mechanism that is adaptable to new types of applications with new QoS requirements.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description thereof.
In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, these and other objects may be accomplished by the present invention, which enables reduction of the connection setup time in ATM networks by storing the attributes for connections with varying QoS characteristics in memory. These attributes need to be calculated only once, either when the network is initially configured or as the network learns of the connections required by different applications, and the results can be directly applied to all subsequent connection setup requests with similar or identical QoS requirements.
An embodiment of the invention includes an apparatus that accelerates ATM connection setup between network nodes. The apparatus includes a receiver, an analysis memory, an analysis engine, a setup memory, a setup engine, and a setup configuration block. The receiver may be configured to recognize an ATM connection setup message containing one or more parameters, including one or more traffic contract parameters. The analysis memory may contain predefined traffic contract configurations that have either been configured by individuals or learned by the setup configuration block. Each traffic contract configuration stored in the analysis memory contains a reference to an entry in the setup memory. Each entry in the setup memory contains a set of parameters that is used by the setup engine to allocate resources and establish an ATM connection.
Upon receipt of a message by the apparatus, the receiver analyzes the message to determine if it is an ATM setup message. If so, the receiver extracts the traffic contract parameters from the message and passes the parameters to the analysis engine. The analysis engine compares the traffic contract parameters to the entries in the analysis memory in an attempt to find a matching entry.
In a practice of the invention, the analysis engine may be designed to use fuzzy logic or neural network techniques so than an exact match is not required; the analysis engine finds the xe2x80x9cbestxe2x80x9d match according to criteria defined for the fuzzy logic or neural network search.
On finding a matching entry, the analysis engine extracts the reference to the setup memory and passes this reference to the setup engine. The setup engine uses the information contained in the reference setup memory entry to allocate resources, to create the required ATM connection and to establish the Quality of Service (QoS) parameters for the connection.
In another practice of the invention, the setup configuration block may analyze the traffic contract parameters and generate new setup parameters which it uses to create the required ATM connection and to establish the Quality of Service (QoS) parameters for the connection. It also may store the results of its analysis in the setup memory and create a pattern in the analysis memory with a reference to the setup memory entry. This procedure will ensure that the delay incurred by detailed analysis is not repeated when similar requests are received in subsequent setup messages.

ATM connection accelerator for use in communication networks