A system and method for providing dynamic demand based management of traffic channel allocation in a mobile communications network providing high-speed circuit-switched data services. Traffic channel allocation for the data services is controlled dynamically by an InterWorking Function (IWF) which monitors the status of the associated buffers. The need for additional radio resources and the under-utilization of current radio resources is automatically detected by the IWF which respectively responds by initiating new traffic channel assignments via the Mobile Services switching Center or requesting the Mobile Services switching center deallocate an appropriate portion of the allocated radio spectrum.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the mobile communications field and, in particular, to a system and method for efficient radio resource allocation for high speed circuit switched data services over mobile communications network.
2. Description of Related Art
The provision of data services in a mobile environment is recently finding greater demand. Data services are herein defined as bearer services and, more particularly, as the service bearer""s ability to provide internetworking between a wireless network, e.g. the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and a fixed network. GSM was designed to provide basic data services, e.g. facsimile, data circuit asynchronous services, data circuit synchronous services, unrestricted digital information towards ISDN, and alternate speech/FAX. To provide these services within the GSM Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) and between the GSM network and other external networks, it is necessary to establish InterWorking Functions (IWF), which are essentially a gateway between the fixed and wireless network. In GSM, the Radio Link Protocol (RLP) was defined for this specific intention of protecting data across the radio path. However, the low bandwidth of the radio channels provides for a maximum transmission rate of only 9600 bit/s per channel.
In order to provide more bandwidth demanding services, e.g. Internet access, in a mobile environment with reasonable performance, high-speed circuit-switched data services have been developed that can provide data transfers over multiple traffic channels in parallel. Tariffs are accordingly imposed based on the number of traffic channels used during the call. In such an arrangement, a fair imposition of tariffs is problematic when data transfers are bursty in nature as is the inherent nature of Internet access and, in general, packet data services.
When data transfers occur in bursts, the data transfer rate is not constant and likely changes continually, and often dramatically, during the span of the call. Consequently, dedicated traffic channels are not used optimally. For example, if the data transfer rate is lower than the capacity of the traffic channels, the traffic channel resources are wasted proportionately to the channel capacity and data transfer differential. Conversely, if the data transfer rate is greater than the capacity of the traffic channels allocated for the transfer, the data transfer on the network side of the IWF will have to be stopped while the transfer on the mobile side continues to process the data, thereby increasing the time required to transfer the data respective to the time required to transfer the data on a greater number of channels.
Another problem. in networks providing high-speed circuit-switched data services is encountered when calls use autobauding. In this scenario, the subscriber is able to set the maximum data transfer rate by selecting, during call setup, a certain number of traffic channels to be used for the data transfer. The subscriber does so, however, with no knowledge of the data transfer rate that will be obtained on each channel since autobauding is used in the call set up. Thus, if the subscriber chooses an air interface configuration that does not provide sufficient capacity for the rate selected as a result of the autobauding, the data transfer will not take place at the highest possible rate. Conversely, if the subscriber chooses an air interface configuration that provides a higher capacity than needed for the rate selected at autobauding, excessive capacity will be allocated for the call resulting in the subscriber paying a tariff greater than needed for the call performance provided.
In GSM, the User Initiated Service Level Up and Downgrading (USLUD) procedure is defined to address the above-mentioned complications of implementing high-speed circuit-switched data services in a mobile environment. The USLUD provides the mobile terminal with the capability to request an increase or decrease of the air interface bandwidth. However, the USLUD procedure is unable to be implemented when the air interface bandwidth is too low since the mobile terminal cannot tell it is too low. Also, the mobile terminal does not have control over the air interface resources. Every request to increase or decrease the air interface bandwidth requires additional signaling between the mobile terminal and the Mobile Services Switching Centre which leads to a high signaling load when the frequency of requests is high.
It is, therefore, a first object of the present invention to provide an improved system and method for allocating bandwidth in a mobile communications network.
It is another object of the present invention to provide for improved system resource allocation in a mobile communications network providing data services.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide more efficient channel utilization in a mobile communications network providing high-speed circuit-switched data services.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide dynamic management of high-speed circuit-switched data service channels in a mobile communications network.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide channel allocation in a manner which results in optimal resource utilization in a mobile communications network providing high-speed circuit-switched data services.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a dynamic management of high-speed circuit-switched data service channel allocation that automatically averts allocation of channel bandwidth resulting in subscriber over or under-utilization of the allocated bandwidth.
The present invention is directed to a system and method for providing dynamic demand based management of traffic channel allocation in a mobile communications network providing high-speed circuit-switched data services. Traffic channel allocation for the data services is controlled dynamically by an IWF which monitors the status of associated buffers. The need for additional radio resources and the under-utilization of current radio resources is automatically detected by the IWF which respectively responds by initiating new traffic channel assignments via the Mobile Services switching Center or requesting that the Mobile Services switching center deallocate an appropriate portion of the allocated radio spectrum.

System and method for dynamic radio resource allocation for non-transparent high-speed circuit-switched data services


A system provides for establishing security in a network that include nodes having security functions operating in multiple protocol layers. Multiple network devices, such as remote access equipment, routers, switches, repeaters and network cards having security functions are configured to contribute to implementation of distributed firewall functions in the network. By distributing firewall functionality throughout many layers of the network in a variety of network devices, a pervasive firewall is implemented. The pervasive, multilayer firewall includes a policy definition component that accepts policy data that defines how the firewall should behave. The policy definition component can be a centralized component, or a component that is distributed over the network. The multilayer firewall also includes a collection of network devices that are used to enforce the defined policy. The security functions operating in this collection of network devices across multiple protocol layers are coordinated by the policy definition component so that particular devices enforce that part of the policy pertinent to their part of the network.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to establishing and enforcing security functions in a network; and more particularly to systems for establishing security functions in a plurality of protocol layers to establish a multilayer firewall in a network.
2. Description of Related Art
Security is an increasingly important issue for network users, both inside enterprises operating so called intranets, and for world wide global data networks. Substantial technology has been developed for the purposes of securing networks. The security features which have been developed include at least the following product categories: (1) filtering, (2) access control, (3) protected communications, (4) security assist, and (5) security policy management.
Filtering involves the dropping or transforming of packets or frames based on values within their headers or within their data. Access control involves deciding whether a user or a user initiated communication should be given access to a particular computing resource. Protected communications refers to the processes ensuring that control information or data has not been modified nor read by unauthorized individuals. Security assist product types provide support in a network device for securing other parts of the system. Security policy management refers to managing the data that defines the security policies in the network.
These kinds of security features are enforced in current systems in particular network devices. Network devices at which security is implemented in addition to traditional terminals and end systems include devices such as the following: (1) network interface cards (NICs) and modems, (2) repeaters, (3) switches, (4) routers, (5) remote access equipment, which includes line servers, packet servers and access servers, and (6) network management systems. Although products exist that provide for establishing security in particular product families, systems which take advantage of products in all the various categories of devices found in networks, require substantial administration. In a network involving a wide variety of network intermediate devices and terminals, an administrator is required to manage the establishment of security policy at all the various levels of protocol, and in all the various systems.
For example, in one prior art system it is possible to establish a configuration referred to as a virtual local area network (VLAN). By configuring the VLAN, membership in the group is controlled. For example, port number, medium access control address, layer-three protocol type, layer-three address, and user defined criteria that match patterns in layer-three packets can be utilized to define VLAN membership in such devices. Similar pattern matching may involve protocol data at layers 3 through 7, for example. Other systems support per-call filtering in remote access systems. This allows customers to permit or deny various kinds of traffic on a user by user basis. A wide variety of other security systems are available in the market.
However, the variety of security features, and the various devices and levels of protocol at which they operate, present a significant administration problem to users of the security features. Because of the complexity, it is difficult to establish a coordinated security policy across all layers, and device types of the network, and particularly difficult to maintain such a system even if it could be successfully implemented.
Furthermore, as networks evolve, older equipment, often referred to as legacy systems, remain that may not be able to participate in a particular security function. A security function which is added to a network, therefore may not be able to successfully penetrate the entire network. Alternatively, the presence of legacy systems in the network further complicates the coordination and implementation of a security system.
Traditionally, firewalls are implemented as border equipment, such as routers and application proxy gateways that protect a private network from external attack. However, it is likely that between 50% and 85% of losses by corporations are the result of insider attacks, for example by disgruntled or opportunistic employees. Consequently, a major security requirement of corporation intranets is protection against internal attacks.
In addition, the economics of modern corporate business increasingly requires companies to outsource work or partner with other companies. Since information technology permeates the day to day conduct of business in the modern corporation, such outsourcing and partnering invariably requires companies to share information with each other using electronic means. It is rare that this information is available in equipment isolated from that holding the rest of the company's information assets. Consequently outsourcing and partnering require a corporation to grant other companies access to parts of its intranet. Furthermore, each outsourcing or partnering arrangement usually involves different subsidiaries or divisions of the corporation. This means the percentage of a corporation's information assets accessible by at least one outside concern becomes fairly large.
The traditional border firewall is largely unsuited to meet the security requirements arising from these two concerns, that is arising from insider threats and widespread external sharing of data. Border firewalls are completely unsuitable to address insider threats. They are meant to keep external intruders from attacking the corporation intranet, but have no ability to prevent insiders from doing so.
In order to accommodate outside access of corporate information, "holes" must be made in border firewalls to allow the necessary information flow. In extreme cases, divisions may simply bypass corporate firewalls altogether and provide direct connections to outsourcing and partnering companies or their employees.
One approach to satisfying these requirements is to break up the corporation intranet into several pieces and place border firewalls between them. This approach has value, but introduces bottlenecks to the corporation intranet. That is internal firewalls adversely affect performance within the company. As the partitioning becomes finer grained, access to resources outside of the firewall partition experiences increasingly degraded performance.
Another approach to this problem is to distribute firewall functionality down into lower layers of the protocol hierarchy. So for example, if network interface cards, repeaters and switches perform some firewall packet filtering work, routers which traditionally do packet filtering are relieved of significant processing and therefore can provide better performance for a given cost. In addition, distributing the firewall provides better scaling opportunities. That is as the network grows, the resources available to perform filtering naturally grow as well. This prevents the emergence of choke points, such as those that might occur in internal border firewalls.
Typically in the prior art, firewall functionality, like packet filtering, is placed in single nodes, or groups of similar nodes with the same firewall rules. These nodes tend to be deployed at the borders of networks to protect the network from attacks from outside the network. However, this approach does not scale well as a network expands. Further it provides a very coarse granularity of control for the network security. A variety of different approaches that are possible to implement make it hard to understand how separate systems interact in the network. Furthermore, these individual systems, when adapted to protect from unauthorized activity inside a network, typically cause significant performance problems. (See, for example, "Building Internet Firewalls", by Chapman, et al., O'Reilly & Associates, September 1995; "Internet Firewalls and Security", 3Com Technical Report, 1996 by Semeria.)
Accordingly, it is desirable to implement a system which allows for a coordinated security policy implementation across multiple layers of network systems.


An anamorphic, tapered fused fiber optic bundle is provided having a longitudinal axis Z and two ends each having surfaces in a plane (X axis/Y axis) perpendicular to said Z axis, a first end having cross-sectional dimensions X and Y and a second end having dimensions X' and Y', at least X' being smaller than X, and the ratio X'/X being different from the ratio Y'/Y, wherein the X axis dimension of said fiber continuously varies along said Z axis from the value X in said first end to the value X' in said second end.

Methods are well-known for fusing bundles of optical fibers. The methods involved fusing individual fibers (e.g, U.S. Pat. No. 3,626,040 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,045,100) or preform blocks of fibers (multi or multi-multi-fiber bundles) (U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,940) using conventional methods under well-known conditions and techniques. Such methods have been applied to a wide variety of optical fiber glass types (or polymer (U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,064)), sizes, and applications. Fusing techniques are also utilized for formation of other fiber optic structures such as couplers (U.S. Pat. No. 5,066,087). U.S. Pat. No. 3,204,326 also discloses fusing processes using rolling mill equipment where fused bundles of a variety of cross-sectional shapes are produced from unfused original assemblies of a variety of shapes.
It is also known to draw out such fused fiber optic bundles by conventional pulling or drawing processes. These methods are utilized simply to decrease the overall dimension of a given fiber optic bundle or to prepare tapered optical fibers (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,115,940, 3,190,735 and 4,076,978) having ends of proportionately decreased dimensions.
A typical application of such drawn tapered fiber optic bundles is for coupling imaging devices having disproportionate formats, e.g., different sized rectangles at each end, a rectangle at one end and at square at the other end, a circle at one end and a square at the other end, etc. In conventional practice, a fiber optic bundle best accommodating the larger imaging device is tapered such that its other end accommodates to the extent possible the smaller imaging device. These conventional tapers are produced by the drawing processes and simply proportionately reduce at the smaller end the center-to-center fiber spacing at the original larger end. Thus, the size modifications along each of the X and Y axes at each end of the tapered fiber bundle are equivalent. Coupling of the two disproportionate imaging devices by such a conventional tapered bundle is accomplished by over- and/or under-filling each of the formats, thereby leaving ineffective either some fiber optic pixels or some border area of the imaging device. This reduces both the number of active pixels and system resolution.
In certain situations, pressing techniques have also been applied to fiber optic bundles. Typically, these techniques are employed to fuse the bundles, as discussed in the references above, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,626,040. Emphasis is placed on uniform application of pressure in order to avoid non-uniformities, especially distortions of the fibers in the bundles, especially the outer fibers (See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,940.)
Pressing techniques have not heretofore been applied to the production of tapers because of the serious tendency toward introducing distortions in the outer fibers caused by effects of heat or non-uniform pressing imposed, e.g., by contact between the pressing device and the fiber bundle. Such defects were noted in the conventional uniform pressing operations used to fuse fibers; heretofore, the problems were expected to be greatly exacerbated were a taper to have been attempted where the shape of the fiber at each end of the taper is to be different and/or the ratio of the fiber dimensions along the X and Y axes is to be changed disproportionately (the Z axis being the longitudinal axis of the fiber).
Consequently, there remains a need for a tapered anamorphic fused fiber optic bundle where the shape at one end is configured to fit precisely the corresponding cross-sectional shape of an imaging device and the shape at the other end is configured to fit precisely the cross-sectional surface area of a second imaging device to be coupled to the first, and wherein the cross-sectional dimensions at one end are anamorphic with respect to the other.


A downhole control system can include a pair of drive lines passing through a wellbore member such as a tubing hanger, and a plurality of hydraulic switches, each in communication with the drive lines. Each hydraulic switch can have a unique pressure band, wherein the switch only responds when the pressure in the drive lines is within the unique pressure band. Once the pressure in the drive lines is within the pressure band, the switch can open or close in response to a pressure differential in the drive lines.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to mineral recovery wells, and in particular to a control system for actuating hydraulic devices.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
Downhole devices are often used in a wellbore. Typical downhole devices can include, for example, flow control valves, hydraulic packers, and any variety of hydraulically actuated downhole tools. These downhole devices are typically controlled by hydraulic pressure, particularly because electronic controls cart be unreliable in high pressure, high temperature conditions that often exist in a wellbore. The hydraulic lines which control these downhole devices must pass through various well components such as, for example, tubing hangers. It can be difficult to pass a sufficient number of hydraulic lines through a tubing hanger, to control each and every downhole device.
Some systems exist which use Boolean logic to control multiple downhole devices from a relatively small number of lines. These systems can use, for example, multiple pulses of pressure to actuate a particular downhole device. Unfortunately, such Boolean systems can be unreliable.


A power-on reset circuit has a dummy flip-flop in addition to a setting flip-flop. Even if resetting is not performed by a power-on reset signal at power-on, output from the dummy flip-flop is used to perform resetting and initialization.

The present invention relates to a power-on reset circuit for use in a semiconductor device, particularly to a power-on reset circuit for preventing malfunction of a semiconductor device at power-on, and also relates to a semiconductor device having such a power-on reset circuit.
Recent semiconductor devices, which have been sophisticated and systematized, incorporate many functions. In order to have these functions work correctly according to commands from the outside, the commands must be held. A latch circuit such as a flip-flop is mainly used to store command information externally input, and internal circuit operation is controlled according to the stored command information. The latch circuit such as a flip-flop is initialized to a reset state by using a power-on reset signal at power-on to prevent malfunction of the internal circuit. The resetting of the latch circuit at power-on is performed by a circuit called a power-on reset circuit.
However, there are a variety of power-on methods depending on various systems, and they are different in the rising speed of the power source and the manners of change thereof (for example, the power may rise smoothly or stepwise). Therefore, there sometimes occurs a condition that has not been considered in simulation of a circuit for outputting a power-on reset signal. This condition may lead to a phenomenon that resetting cannot be performed properly. Thus, consideration must be given to a case in which the power-on reset signal does not operate properly to reset the latch circuit at power-on. For this purpose, the latch circuit is designed so that it readily becomes a reset state. In this respect, a method is known to adjust transistor sizes to configure a latch circuit such that the circuit is easy to be shifted to a specific direction (an expected value level or reset state at power-on). However, such method is not perfect.
When the power-on reset circuit outputs a latch signal different from an expected value at power-on, the latch circuit is often set to a special kind of mode. For example, if the latch circuit is set to a mode to stop internal power source for power saving, the circuit may be subsequently unable to operate normally (unless the circuit is reset). Moreover, following the increase of the number of functions incorporated in a semiconductor device, the number of latch circuits to latch commands has also been increased to cope with those functions. It becomes important to reliably initialize these many latch circuits to the reset state at power-on. Therefore, there is a demand for a power-on reset circuit that is applicable to a variety of systems without causing malfunction during power-on.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, power-on reset circuits of the related art will be described. FIG. 1 shows a power-on reset circuit having an RS-flip-flop as a latch circuit, and the flip-flop is formed by an NAND circuit. FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram of the RS-flip-flop 71 in the level of transistors. The flip-flop 71 receives an inverted signal SB of a set signal S7 as set input, and an output signal RB from an NOR circuit receiving a reset signal R7 and a power-on reset signal PON7, as a reset signal, and outputs output 7A. An inverted signal of the output 7A from the flip-flop 71 is a latch signal T7.
In the case of the logical configuration shown in FIG. 1, the power-on reset signal PON7 is a signal that becomes "H" level only during power-on. The reset signal R7 is a reset signal that is generated according to normal (regular) input from the outside. For example, the reset signal R7 may be a mode register set command used in an SDRAM. Therefore, the reset signal R7 remains "L" level during power-on. The power-on reset circuit shown in FIG. 1 resets the flip-flop 71 by the NOR of the reset signal R7 and the power-on reset signal PON7. When the power source rises, the flip-flop 71 is reset by the power-on reset signal PON7 becoming "H" level in a pulsed manner, and the latch signal T7 is set to the expected value, "L" level. The set signal S7 is a signal that is input when the latch signal T7 is to be activated (when the latch signal T7 is to be shifted to "H" level in the case of the logical configuration of FIG. 1).
In the configuration of FIG. 1, it is by the power-on reset signal PON7 that the latch signal T7 is set to the expected value, "L" level at power-on. In the event that no power-on reset signal PON7 is generated, the latch signal T7 will become indefinite. If the latch signal T7 becomes "H" level instead of the expected value, the mode may be set to an unexpected one, causing failure in operation of the internal circuit. In consideration of a case in which no power-on reset signal PON7 is generated, it is also proposed to design the flip-flop 71 such that the flip-flop 71 is readily shifted to the expected value (reset state) at power-on.
FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram showing the flip-flop 71 in the transistor level. In order to turn the latch signal T7 to the expected value or "L" level at power-on, an output contact 7A must be at "H" level. The output contact 7A can be made easy to be shifted to "H" level at power-on, for example by designing the sizes of transistors such that: the capacity of transistors P1 and P2 is smaller than the capacity of transistors P3 and P4; and the capacity of transistors N1 and N2 is greater than the capacity of transistors N3 and N4. In general, a flip-flop is made symmetrical by balancing the capacities of its inverter circuits. However, this flip-flop is made asymmetrical and designed such that one of the output levels is easier to output at power-on. When the flip-flop is made to output one of the output levels, for example "H" level more easily, it is represented that the flip-flop is made easy to be shifted to "H" level.
The capacity setting for the transistors in this case are adjusted in such a manner that, in order to increase the capacity of a transistor, for example, the channel width of the transistor is set relatively large or the channel length is set relatively short. Thus, the power-on reset signal generated at power-on and the sizes of the transistors in the latch circuit are devised so as to avoid malfunction during power-on. However, when such a latch circuit is practically used in various systems, these measures sometimes are not valid to solve the problems, resulting in failure of resetting. Therefore, there is a demand for a power-on reset circuit having simple configuration and yet capable of reliably realizing an expected value.
The power-on resetting at power-on is described in prior patent publications as follows. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication NO. H08-111089 (Patent Publication 1) describes a technique in which the resetting is performed by generating a new power-on reset signal having a long pulse width from a precharged signal and a normal power-on reset signal. This new power-on reset signal having a long pulse width eliminates the effect of the rising up of the power source. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication NO. 2001-273054 (Patent Publication 2) describes a technique in which initialization at power-on is performing by monitoring and setting the output value of a latch circuit so as to prevent the through current. The power-on resetting techniques as described in the prior patent publications above are not applicable universally. Therefore, there is a demand for a power-on reset circuit having simple configuration and yet capable of realizing an expected value (reset state) more reliably.

Power-on reset circuit using flip-flop and semiconductor device having such power-on reset circuit


A method of measuring the density of light in a visible region reflected from a planar image recorded on an image-recording material. A reference calibration plate, having known reflection densities for types of wavelengths and exhibiting spectral absorption in the invisible region, is placed in a plane. Light in a predetermined invisible region is applied to the reference calibration plate, and a quantity of light in the predetermined invisible region reflected from the reference calibration plate is determined. The recording material is placed at the same position and a quantity of light in the predetermined invisible region reflected from the recording material is determined. The density of light, to be set, in the visible region reflected from the planar image is corrected in correspondence with a difference in the quantity of light between the light in the predetermined invisible region reflected from the reference calibration plate and the light in the predetermined invisible region reflected from the planar image as well as with the difference in the quantity of reflected light on the basis of the difference in the spectral absorption.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of measuring the density of a visible region of a beam of light reflected from a planar image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in order to detect the density at a predetermined position (hereinafter referred to as the detection position) of a planar image recorded on a recording material, a beam of light is radiated from above the detection position, and the intensity of the light beam reflected from the image is detected by an RGB sensor. The RGB sensor has three photosensors provided with red (R), green (G), and blue (B) filters, respectively.
Since a current value i detected by the photosensors and the quantity of light are in direct proportion to each other, the quantity of light can be readily calculated from the measured current value i. In addition, the quantity of light and density D of the image are the relationship shown below. EQU Density D=log .sub.10 (I.sub.0 /I) (1)
where
I.sub.0 : intensity of incident light PA1 I: intensity of reflected light
Accordingly, the density can be determined from the quantity of light radiating from a light source and the quantity of light calculated from the detected current value.
However, in cases where the density is measured as described above, an angle between the incident light radiated from the light source and the light reflected from the planar image recorded on a recording material, as well as an angle between the reflected light made incident upon the RGB sensor and a perpendicular direction (normal) to a detection surface of the RGB sensor are not necessarily constant but instead are dependent on the detection positions. As these angles vary, the detected value also varies, thereby making it impossible to effect the measurement in a stable manner. For this reason, an attempt has been made to minimize the aforementioned angular changes at each detection position through a mechanical means employing a tool such as a micro-tracer using a ball screw. With such an arrangement, however, a rise in the product cost is unavoidable.

Method of measuring the reflection density of an image


Integrated power semiconductor devices having improved high frequency switching performance, improved edge termination characteristics and reduced on-state resistance include GD-UMOSFET unit cells with upper trench-based gate electrodes and lower trench-based source electrodes. The use of the trench-based source electrode instead of a larger gate electrode reduces the gate-to-drain capacitance (C.sub.GD) of the UMOSFET and improves switching speed by reducing the amount of gate charging and discharging current that is needed during high frequency operation.

The silicon bipolar transistor has been the device of choice for high power applications in motor drive circuits, appliance controls, robotics and lighting ballasts. This is because bipolar transistors can be designed to handle relatively large current densities in the range of 40-50 A/cm.sup.2 and support relatively high blocking voltages in the range of 500-1000V.
Despite the attractive power ratings achieved by bipolar transistors, there exist several fundamental drawbacks to their suitability for all high power applications. First of all, bipolar transistors are current controlled devices which require relatively large base currents, typically one fifth to one tenth of the collector current, to maintain the transistor in an operating mode. Proportionally larger base currents can be expected for applications which also require high speed turn-off. Because of the large base current demands, the base drive circuitry for controlling turn-on and turn-off is relatively complex and expensive. Bipolar transistors are also vulnerable to premature breakdown if a high current and high voltage are simultaneously applied to the device, as commonly required in inductive power circuit applications. Furthermore, it is relatively difficult to operate bipolar transistors in parallel because current diversion to a single transistor typically occurs at high temperatures, making emitter ballasting schemes necessary.
The silicon power MOSFET was developed to address this base drive problem. In a power MOSFET, the gate electrode provides turn-on and turn-off control upon the application of an appropriate gate bias. For example, turn-on in an N-type enhancement MOSFET occurs when a conductive N-type inversion layer is formed in the P-type base region (also referred to as "channel region") in response to the application of a positive gate bias. The inversion layer electrically connects the N-type source and drain regions and allows for majority carrier conduction therebetween.
The power MOSFET's gate electrode is separated from the base region by an intervening insulating layer, typically silicon dioxide. Because the gate is insulated from the base region, little if any gate current is required to maintain the MOSFET in a conductive state or to switch the MOSFET from an on-state to an off-state or vice-versa. The gate current is kept small during switching because the gate forms a capacitor with the MOSFET's base region. Thus, only charging and discharging current ("displacement current") is required during switching. Because of the high input impedance associated with the insulated-gate electrode, minimal current demands are placed on the gate and the gate drive circuitry can be easily implemented. Moreover, because current conduction in the MOSFET occurs through majority carrier transport only, the delay associated with the recombination and storage of excess minority carriers is not present. Accordingly, the switching speed of power MOSFETs can be made orders of magnitude faster than that of bipolar transistors. Unlike bipolar transistors, power MOSFETs can be designed to withstand high current densities and the application of high voltages for relatively long durations, without encountering the destructive failure mechanism known as "second breakdown". Power MOSFETs can also be easily paralleled, because the forward voltage drop across power MOSFETs increases with increasing temperature, thereby promoting an even current distribution in parallel connected devices.
In view of these desirable characteristics, many variations of power MOSFETs have been designed. Two popular types are the double-diffused MOSFET device (DMOSFET) and the UMOSFET device. These and other power MOSFETs are described in a textbook by B. J. Baliga entitled Power Semiconductor Devices, PWS Publishing Co. (ISBN 0-534-94098-6) (1995), the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Chapter 7 of this textbook describes power MOSFETs at pages 335-425. Examples of silicon power MOSFETs including accumulation, inversion and extended trench FETs having trench gate electrodes extending into the N+ drain region are also disclosed in an article by T. Syau, P. Venkatraman and B. J. Baliga, entitled Comparison of Ultralow Specific On-Resistance UMOSFET Structures: The ACCUFET, EXTFET, INVFET, and Convention UMOSFETs, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 41, No. 5, May (1994). As described by Syau et al., specific on-resistances in the range of 100-250 .mu..OMEGA.cm.sup.2 were experimentally demonstrated for devices capable of supporting a maximum of 25 volts. However, the performance of these devices was limited by the fact that the forward blocking voltage must be supported across the gate oxide at the bottom of the trench.
FIG. 1, which is a reproduction of FIG. 1(d) from the aforementioned Syau et al. article, discloses a conventional UMOSFET structure. In the blocking mode of operation, this UMOSFET supports most of the forward blocking voltage across the N-type drift layer which must be doped at relatively low levels to obtain a high maximum blocking voltage capability, however low doping levels typically increase the on-state series resistance. Based on these competing design requirements of high blocking voltage and low on-state resistance, a fundamental figure of merit for power devices has been derived which relates specific on-resistance (R.sub.on,sp) to the maximum blocking voltage (BV). As explained at page 373 of the aforementioned textbook to B. J. Baliga, the ideal specific on-resistance for an N-type silicon drift region is given by the following relation: EQU R.sub.on,sp =5.93.times.10.sup.-9 (BV).sup.2.5 (1)
Thus, for a device with 60 volt blocking capability, the ideal specific on-resistance is 170 .mu..OMEGA.cm.sup.2. However, because of the additional resistance contribution from the base region (e.g., P-type base region in an N-channel MOSFET), reported specific on-resistances for UMOSFETs are typically much higher. For example, a UMOSFET having a specific on-resistance of 730 .mu..OMEGA.cm.sup.2 is disclosed in an article by H. Chang, entitled Numerical and Experimental Comparison of 60V Vertical Double-Diffused MOSFETs and MOSFETs With A Trench-Gate Structure, Solid-State Electronics, Vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 247-251, (1989). However, in this device a lower-than-ideal uniform doping concentration in the drift region was required to compensate for the high concentration of field lines near the bottom corner of the trench when blocking high forward voltages. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,637,989 and 5,742,076 and U.S. application Ser. No. 08/906,916, filed Aug. 6, 1997, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein be reference, also disclose popular power semiconductor devices having vertical current carrying capability.
In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 5,637,898 to Baliga discloses a preferred silicon field effect transistor which is commonly referred to as a graded-doped (GD) UMOSFET. As illustrated by FIG. 2, which is a reproduction of FIG. 3 from the '898 patent, a unit cell 100 of an integrated power semiconductor device field effect transistor may have a width "W.sub.c " of 1 .mu.m and comprise a highly doped drain layer 114 of first conductivity type (e.g., N+) substrate, a drift layer 112 of first conductivity type having a linearly graded doping concentration therein, a relatively thin base layer 116 of second conductivity type (e.g., P-type) and a highly doped source layer 118 of first conductivity type (e.g., N+). The drift layer 112 may be formed by epitaxially growing an N-type in-situ doped monocrystalline silicon layer having a thickness of 4 .mu.m on an N-type drain layer 114 having a thickness of 100 .mu.m and a doping concentration of greater than 1.times.10.sup.18 cm.sup.-3 (e.g. 1.times.10.sup.19 cm.sup.-3) therein. The drift layer 112 also has a linearly graded doping concentration therein with a maximum concentration of 3.times.10.sup.17 cm.sup.-3 at the N+/N junction with the drain layer 114, and a minimum concentration of 1.times.10.sup.16 cm.sup.-3 beginning at a distance 3 .mu.m from the N+/N junction (i.e., at a depth of 1 .mu.m) and continuing at a uniform level to the upper face. The base layer 116 may be formed by implanting a P-type dopant such as boron into the drift layer 112 at an energy of 100 kEV and at a dose level of 1.times.10.sup.14 cm.sup.-2. The P-type dopant may then be diffused to a depth of 0.5 .mu.m into the drift layer 112. An N-type dopant such as arsenic may also be implanted at an energy of 50 kEV and at dose level of 1.times.10.sup.15 cm.sup.-2. The N-type and P-type dopants can then be diffused simultaneously to a depth of 0.5 .mu.m and 1.0 .mu.m, respectively, to form a composite semiconductor substrate containing the drain, drift, base and source layers.
A stripe-shaped trench having a pair of opposing sidewalls 120a which extend in a third dimension (not shown) and a bottom 120b is then formed in the substrate. For a unit cell 100 having a width W.sub.c of 1 .mu.m, the trench is preferably formed to have a width "W.sub.t " of 0.5 .mu.m at the end of processing. An insulated gate electrode, comprising a gate insulating region 124 and an electrically conductive gate 126 (e.g., polysilicon), is then formed in the trench. The portion of the gate insulating region 124 extending adjacent the trench bottom 120b and the drift layer 112 may have a thickness "T.sub.1 " of about 2000 .ANG. to inhibit the occurrence of high electric fields at the bottom of the trench and to provide a substantially uniform potential gradient along the trench sidewalls 120a. The portion of the gate insulating region 124 extending opposite the base layer 116 and the source layer 118 may have a thickness "T.sub.2 " of about 500 .ANG. to maintain the threshold voltage of the device at about 2-3 volts. Simulations of the unit cell 100 at a gate bias of 15 Volts confirm that a vertical silicon field effect transistor having a maximum blocking voltage capability of 60 Volts and a specific on-resistance (R.sub.sp,on) of 40 .mu..OMEGA.cm.sup.2, which is four (4) times smaller than the ideal specific on-resistance of 170 .mu..OMEGA.cm.sup.2 for a 60 volt power UMOSFET, can be achieved. Notwithstanding these excellent characteristics, the transistor of FIG. 2 may suffer from a relatively low high-frequency figure-of-merit (HFOM) if the overall gate-to-drain capacitance (C.sub.GD) is too large. Improper edge termination of the MOSFET may also prevent the maximum blocking voltage from being achieved.
Thus, notwithstanding these attempts to develop power semiconductor devices that can be switched at high speed and have high maximum blocking voltage capability and low specific on-resistance, there still continues to be a need to develop power devices having improved electrical characteristics.

Power semiconductor devices having improved high frequency switching and breakdown characteristics


A shared memory switch is provided for storing and retrieving data from BlockRAM (BRAM) memory of a PLD. A set of class queues maintain a group of pointers that show the location of the incoming “cells” or “packets” stored in the memory in the switch based on the time of storage in the BRAM. A non-blocking memory architecture is implemented that allows for a scalable N×N memory structure to be created (N=number of input and output ports). A write controller stripes the data across this N×N memory to prevent data collisions on read in or read out of data. The data is scheduled for read out of this N×N shared memory buffer based on priorities or classes in the class queues, with priorities being set by a user, and then data is read out from the BRAM.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a network switch providing communication between nodes that uses a BlockRAM (BRAM) memory of a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) to store data.
2. Related Art
Traditional switching functions in network systems require the interconnection of various nodes, or modules that perform a specific function. Nodes can be formed on a single device, such as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), or multiple chips, with the nodes configured to communicate with one another. Communications are accomplished using direct communication links between the nodes over a circuit switched crossbar, or by using a bus structure.
The crossbar switch provides a set of connecting wires, with no support for the data formats that are transmitted between nodes or modules formed in the logic. The crossbar connection scheme while providing extremely low latency for traversal times between the nodes provides no support to the packets or cells or other types of data bursts that form the data interchange format between the nodes.
To support packet or cell data formats, cells or packets buffers can be provided at the input or output ports of the switch. The buffers then function to switch the packet or cell information packet or cell at a time. More sophisticated ASICs provide for switching of cell or packet data between nodes using busses, but they provide switching tailored for use in systems that use specific protocols such as Ethernet, Internet Protocol Version 4 and 6 (IPv4 and IPv6), PCI Express, Rapid I/O, Infiniband, etc. with support for cells/packets/data-grams or other types of data bursts associated with the respective protocols. A PCI express switch will not support other protocols or standards when it is supplied in an ASIC.
Programmable logic devices PLDs, such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), allow for programming of multiple nodes within a single device with circuitry further programmed to provide for communication between the nodes. Communication between nodes is typically provided using a crossbar switch programmed using interconnect logic of the FPGA. Communication between nodes, however, can also be provided using a bus structure and data buffering using a memory. The memory device is typically used to store packets of data while the data is buffered and transferred between nodes. Programming the memory and scheduler for writing data to and reading data from the memory being transferred between nodes, however, uses a significant amount of logic available on the FPGA. Significantly more logic must be made available with a network data switch on an FPGA to accommodate a selection between all different types of data protocols a programmer might wish to use. Limited memory is available on the FPGA for storing data long term.
It would be desirable to provide a communication system for interconnecting nodes on an FPGA that can adapt to different communication protocols. It would further be desirable to provide such a communication systems that use minimal logic resources of the FPGA, leaving logic available for programming additional nodes.

Striping of data into memory of a network data switch to prevent read and write collisions


Systems and methods for erasing content stored on a set top box via a dedicated input object of a remote input device are described. A set top box (STB) receives a request to activate the set top box. The STB can create a storage location to which the STB is configured to store identifiers and passwords of a guest. The STB stores one or more user identifiers and passwords of the guest that correspond to one of one or more applications or web services accessed via the device. The STB receives, from a remote control device via a wireless communication, a command to delete the user identifiers and passwords stored on the STB responsive to selection of a delete button on the remote control device. An agent executing on the STB can delete the one or more user identifiers and passwords from the STB responsive to receipt of the command.

Many hotel rooms are equipped with a set top box through which guests of the hotel room can watch content on a television. The guests can request access to particular types of content through the set top box, which is linked to a hotel management system of the hotel. When the guest checks out of the hotel, the hotel charges the guest for the requested access to the content. In existing systems, the content that the guest can request access to is limited and often overpriced. As a result, very few guests request access to content via the set top box.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Systems and methods automatically erasing content stored on a set top box


A video decoder and a method for using the same are provided. Selected frames of a video stream are trimmed during the decoding of the video stream. The video stream is received. The video stream includes, I, P, and B frames. Only predetermined portions of each B frame of the video stream are decoded.

Generally, a video stream must first be decoded and converted to be capable of being displayed on an entertainment device, such as a television. For example, an MPEG transport or program stream usually moves through a system including several components before being in the correct format to be viewed on a display.
The type of system used in decoding and converting the video streams for display may include a demultiplexer and a decoder. The demultiplexer extracts the information in the transport layer or program layer. The demultiplexer then outputs elementary streams to a video decoder, an audio decoder, or both.
The video decoder receives the video elementary stream, decodes it, and outputs the decoded video signal. For an MPEG stream, the decoded video signal is usually in a form of CCIR656 standard. The decoded video signal is then received by a digital-to-analog converter to be converted to an analog RGB signal which may be displayed on a display type device. Other components that may come into play include formatters such as a 656 formatter, and additional memory.
For many display devices, portions of the picture are trimmed for display after the decoding process so that the pictures may fit correctly onto the display device screen. One example may include cutting a portion of the left end of the picture and cutting a portion of the right end of the picture for the end display. However, generally decoding of an entire picture is done before this type of trimming and scaling to display occurs. Since the entire picture is decoded, the decoded data is saved to one or more components. What is needed is a video decoder to trim the picture during the decoding process itself thereby saving both memory space and processor efficiency.

Video decoder and method for using the same


Methods for producing non-oriented electrical steel sheets comprising steps including hot rolling a slab having a chemical composition comprising C: not more than 0.01 mass %, Si: not more than 6 mass %, Mn: 0.05-3 mass %, P: not more than 0.2 mass %, Al: not more than 2 mass %, N: not more than 0.005 mass %, S: not more than 0.01 mass %, Ga: not more than 0.0005 mass %, and the remainder being Fe and inevitable impurities, pickling without conducting hot band annealing or after conducting hot band annealing or self-annealing, subjecting to one or more cold rollings including an intermediate annealing therebetween and a finish annealing, and forming an insulation coating, an average heating rate from 500 to 800° C. in the heating process of the finish annealing is not less than 50° C./s, whereby a non-oriented electrical steel sheet having excellent magnetic properties is obtained even if hot band annealing is omitted.

A non-oriented electrical steel sheet is a type of soft magnetic material widely used as an iron core material for rotors and the like. In the recent trend of energy saving, there are increasing demands for efficiency improvement, downsizing and weight reduction of electrical machineries. Hence it becomes more important to improve magnetic properties of the iron core material.
The non-electrical steel sheet is usually produced by subjecting a raw steel material (slab) containing silicon to hot rolling, hot-band annealing if necessary, cold rolling and finish annealing. In order to realize excellent magnetic properties, it is required to obtain a texture suitable for the magnetic properties at a stage after the finish annealing. To this end, the hot-band annealing is traditionally considered to be essential.
However, the addition of the hot band annealing process has a problem that not only the number of days for production becomes long but also the production cost is increased. In particular, an increase of the productivity and a decrease of the production cost recently start to be considered important in association with an increase of demands for the electrical steel sheet, and hence techniques of omitting the hot band annealing have been actively developed.
As the technique of omitting the hot-band annealing, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method of improving magnetic properties by decreasing S content to not more than 0.0015 mass % to improve growth of crystal grains, adding Sb and Sn to suppress nitriding of the surface layer, and winding the sheet at a high temperature during the hot rolling to coarsen the crystal grain size of the hot rolled sheet having an influence on the magnetic flux density.
Patent Document 2 discloses a technique as to a production method of a non-oriented electrical steel sheet wherein an iron loss is decreased and a magnetic flux density is increased without conducting the hot band annealing by controlling alloy-component elements and optimizing hot rolling conditions using phase transformation of steel to control hot-rolled texture.

Method for producing non-oriented electrical steel sheet having excellent magnetic properties


The present invention is a new and distinct autumn primocane raspberry variety designated ‘EXPR02’. This new variety was discovered after planting a seed produced by a controlled cross of ‘SP821’ (unpatented) and ‘SP804’ (unpatented). The new variety exhibits good productivity of red colored, conical shaped, firm fruit and sparse spine density.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of raspberry hereinafter referred to as 'EXPR02'. The new and distinct variety of raspberry was developed from a hand pollination cross between the female parent raspberry plant 'SP804' and the male parent raspberry plant 'SP821'. This cross was made in Los Reyes, Michoacán, México in 2013.
The seed resulting from this controlled hybridization were germinated in a greenhouse in the autumn of 2013 and planted in a field in Los Reyes, Michoacán, Mexico. The seedlings fruited during the Autumn of 2014 and one, designated EXPR02 was selected for its excellent fruit quality, vigorous and productive plant, erect plant growth habit and tolerant to pest and disease.
During 2014, the original plant selection was propagated asexually from root cuttings in Los Reyes, Michoacán, Mexico and a test planting of one tunnel was established. A larger test planting was subsequently established in Zacoalco de Torres, Jalisco, México. The new variety has been asexually multiplied annually since 2014 by use of root cuttings and by tissue culture. During all asexual multiplication, the characteristics of the original plant have been maintained and no aberrant phenotypes have appeared.


An exercising apparatus is disclosed having a padded support for a user's hips and all, or a portion of, the user's torso. The padded support is positioned on either a fixed-length, or an adjustable support at approximately hip height and it is angled upward from the floor on which the exercise device is resting at approximately midway between horizontal and vertical, and is capable of side to side arcuate movement along an axis that is located in line with and above the upper surface of the padded support.

An exercising apparatus should allow the user to strengthen specific muscles used in the sport. For a swimming simulator, the rotation of the body and its positioning relative to the direction of forces exerted should simulate the motions involved in swimming in water. Existing exercise devices, include swim benches which allow some form of rotation of the body, however independent rotation of the upper and lower body portions of the user is not provided by the prior art systems with the exception of the pivotable torso exercise support in U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,632 issued to Doane on May 13, 1997.
Prior art swimming simulator systems require the user to lay horizontally on a bench surface and to pull against a resistance. When said resistance is high, the user's body has a tendency to slide forward on the bench. The user is forced to activate muscles not normally used in swimming in order to hold themselves in place and prevent the body from moving forward relative to the bench. Prior art systems that require the user to lay horizontally on a bench surface also result in a large space requirement for the devices as there must be room for the fully extended body with legs extended horizontally behind the device and hands outstretched in front of the head.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,740 issued to lams et al. on Jun. 23, 1987 discloses a swimming trainer which allows for a rocking motion of the body during execution of the stroke. The user's torso and hips in the lam device lay horizontally on a common bench and the entire frame moves as one, causing the entire body to rock. A drawback to this design is that the lower body must rotate with the upper body in the same direction and to the same degree.
Another related swimming machine uses two independent supports for the upper and lower body. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,513, issued to Reeves on Oct. 27, 1992, the user's body is supported in a generally horizontal position so the user can pull against hand paddles which activate a resistance mechanism. However, the support for the upper body which allows for chest rotation forces the chest out of line with the head because its center of rotation is below the body. A proper stroke technique requires that the body should rotate about a center axis which is approximately in line with the spine of the body.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,251, issued to Sleamaker, discloses a swimming machine that uses a bench support for the user's body where the bench tilts from side to side. U.S. Pat. No. 7,585,256, issued to Harbaugh IV et al., also allows the bench to pivot on an axis directly underneath the body support bench. Each of these allows for movement and rotation of the body from side to side in order for the user to lean into the stroke. However, this type of movement causes a user to weave from left to right while he/she progresses through the water. Thus, the swimmer would be traveling a greater distance because they would not be moving in a straight line.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,902, issued to Robertson et al., discloses a lumbar extension machine that supports the user in a manner very similar to the equilibrium position, or the resting position, of the present invention, however its support pad is fixed in one position and does not allow the user to freely rotate their torso.
Other exercising devices such as that of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,830,363 and 3,791,646 are known, but the prior art does not provide for independent movement of the user's upper and lower body and where the torso or upper body portion is permitted to rotate with a center of rotation that is located above the bench and approximately in line with most users' spines. The prior art also does not allow the user to operate the device in a leaning position that saves horizontal space and prevents unwanted movement of the user's body relative to the device.

Exercise bench with rotating torso support


An applicator for creating designs, patterns and configurations in the paint or other material being applied to a surface area, comprising a body portion for the user to hold and a working portion to apply the paint or other material to the surface area. The working portion includes a plurality of absorbent flexible sheet cup members or pods, having radially extending folds which flare outwardly to the outer free end. A thread is drawn through the radial folds at the outer free end portion of each cup member or pod which has been folded over around the outer circumference. The thread is drawn up to bring the radial folds together in close side-by-side relationship, giving a patterned or textured outer free end surface to the working portion of the applicator. A restricting band is drawn up relatively tighter around the mid-section of each cup member or pod about midway between the outer free end and the lower end which is secured to the body portion. A narrowed or restricted passageway is then provided between the outer end portion of each cup member or pod and the lower chamber portion attached to the body portion. The lower chamber portion of each pod or cup member fills with paint when the applicator is dipped into a paint container. The paint is dispensed in a limited controlled manner through the restricted passageway to the surface being painted when the painter brushes and presses the applicator against the surface being painted.

Prior art devices in this field of which the inventor is aware include those disclosed in the following U.S. patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,419 PA1 5,206,979 PA1 4,930,179 PA1 4,257,140 PA1 3,669,069 PA1 1,811,372 PA1 1,789,627 PA1 1,700,079 PA1 1,121,272 PA1 589,467
Copies of these patents are readily available in a number of public libraries and from the Patent and Trademark Office, as well as from various sources on the Internet.


A security framework for a host computer system which allows a host to control access to a compliant security token by ensuring enforcement of established security policies administered by a middleware application. Processing between the host computer system and the security token is performed using one or more modular security application agents. The modular security application agents are counterpart applications to security applications installed in the security token and may be retrieved and installed upon to ensure compatibility between counterpart token and host security applications. The security policies are a composite of host security policies and token security policies which are logically combined by the middleware application at the beginning of a session.

In the relevant art, host applications for supporting authentication and secure messaging functions involving the use of security tokens lack a uniform programming framework which has largely resulted in development of proprietary applications. The proprietary nature of these applications limits the ability to provide a uniform approach in the development and implementation of security applications. Vendors prefer to provide end-to-end solutions which generally work well with there own applications but are difficult to configure and maintain when combined with software and/or firmware provided by others.
Efforts to address interoperability of host security applications have focused primarily on resolving specific compatibility issues rather than providing a uniform programming framework in which to develop security applications. Little effort has been made to provide a standardized framework for a host computer system which allows applications developed by different providers to be installed without encountering interoperability issues. To date, the majority of attention has been focused on developing customized security token applications rather than on the host applications intended to interface with the security token applications.
For example, one vendor may excel at providing user authentication mechanisms using dynamic passwords while another may excel at providing certain types of biometric authentication mechanisms such as fingerprint reading, while another may excel at providing biometric iris scanning mechanisms.
However, in the relevant art it is generally difficult to mix vendor products due to compatibility issues and the non-modular nature of security applications deployed. While efforts have been made to standardize certain portions of the host security applications, the majority of host security applications available today intend to provide the entire solution rather than allowing a potential customer to pick and choose the most cost effective application(s) to meet a particular security requirement. The vendor's host security applications are specifically written to interface with the vendor's security token applications. Compatibility with other vendor products being of secondary importance.
Therefore, what is needed is a uniform host applications framework for deployment on a host computer system which allows interoperability of host security applications, allows modularization of host security applications and interfaces with security tokens having a compatible internal framework.

Uniform modular framework for a host computer system


A noise reducing device including a noise silencing device having a delay unit for delaying a phase of the noise wave, an amplifying unit for adjusting a gain of the delayed noise wave, a superposing unit for superposing the delayed noise wave as the noise silencing wave, a frequency selecting unit for selecting at least one frequency with respect to the noise wave, a factor selecting unit for selecting at least one of a delaying factor used for the delaying unit and a gain factor used for the amplifying unit with respect to the selected frequency, and a controlling unit for controlling at least one of the delaying unit and amplifying unit utilizing the selected delaying factor and a gain factor, respectively, whereby a noise silencing wave having the same frequency and amplitude as that of a noise to reduced but having a reverse phase can be easily obtained, and thus efficient noise reduction can be obtained despite variation of the frequency of the noise.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a noise reducing device applied to noise generated by a noise source whose level is frequently varied, more particularly to one applied to a noise source such as an engine or muffler in an automobile, fan, or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mufflers, sound insulating materials, sound absorbing materials, and the like are used for reducing noise in houses, factories, vehicle cabins, and the like.
Of particular note are those used in cabins of automobiles, aircraft, trains, and the like.
FIG. 1 shows one example of a conventional noise reducing device, which includes a microphone 14, a delaying means 2 connected to the microphone, a power amplifier 18 connected to the delaying means, and a speaker 15 connected to the power amplifier. When a noise wave a is generated at a noise source point Pa, the noise wave a is converted to an electric signal by the microphone 14. The electric signal is then delayed in the delaying means 2. The power of the delayed signal is amplified at the power amplifier 18 and then converted to actual sound in the speaker 15.
In this device, therefore, sound delayed in a phase from the original noise wave a can be generated from the speaker 15 as a noise silencing wave b. When the noise wave a, generated at a noise source point Pa, reaches a monitoring point Pb, the speaker 15 emits the noise silencing wave b. As this has a reverse phase from the noise wave a at the monitoring point Pb, it erases the noise wave a to reduce the level of the noise.
This kind of noise reducing device works for noise having stable peak frequencies but there are many noise sources which generate noise having variable peak frequencies, for example, an internal combustion engine used in an automobile or a fan used in a gas exhausting duct or the like in which the fan is rotated by an alternating current. The noise reducing device as explained above does not work well for such noise. Many problems arise in dealing with such noise. There problems will be explained with reference to automobiles hereunder, but are not restricted to automobiles.
To reduce the level of noise introduced into a cabin of an automobile, the stiffness of the car body is increased or the sound silencing performance of the muffler is increased. These methods, however, sometimes increases the weight of the car body, reducing the engine performance and increasing production costs. Therefore, a more economical noise reducing means has been required.
The noise reducing device shown in FIG. 1 is economical, but when used for reducing noise in a cabin of an automobile, problems arise. Specifically, in an automobile, noise having a low frequency is usually generated. The noise, i.e., a gas exhaust sound, is generated by the pressure variation caused by the exhaust gas periodically output from the engine. The frequency usually varies in accordance with the rotation number of the engine. This is clear from FIG. 2, which shows general relationship among a speed of an automobile, a rotation number of an engine, and a frequency of noise generated from the engine. It is difficult to form a noise silencing wave b having a reverse phase from the original noise wave a when the frequency of the noise wave a introduced inside the cabin, varies in accordance with the rotation number of the engine.
Generally speaking, the sound frequency level which can be caught by the human ear, is from 50 Hz to 5 kHz. As shown in FIG. 2, the noise generated from an engine of an automobile usually has a frequency of 50 Hz to 100 Hz. Therefore, this noise should be removed to make the cabin environment more comfortable.
On the other hand, when the noise generated from an engine is analyzed, it can be understood that the noise has a peak level at a frequency of around 100 Hz with several higher harmonic waves, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.
FIG. 3 shows a distribution of noise levels of noise generated from an engine at 2800 rpm, while FIG. 4 shows the same at 3500 rpm. As apparent from these figures, the peak level appears at the frequency of 100.0 Hz at 2800 rpm and of 125.0 Hz at 3500 rpm. This shows that the peak level of the noise varies depending upon the rotation number of the engine. It is most important that this peak level be reduced or erased. As far as the other higher harmonic waves are concerned, they are not so high in level, so do not usually cause strict problems to passengers.


A mechanical wheel casino game of chance using a freely moving internal indicator such as a ball within a housing to randomly move and bounce into one possible outcome segment in a set of possible outcome segments. The expected value is controlled through a combination of geometrical and mathematical considerations. The set of possible outcome segments randomly picked and placed at the bottom of the wheel so that as the wheel stops, the freely moving, bouncing ball lands in one of the possible outcome segments. The segment the ball lands in is sensed and the award associated with the landed in segment is paid out to the player. A periodic testing method determines whether mechanical bias exists in the casino game of chance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to casino gaming and, in particular, to gaming machines having mechanical bonus wheels.
2. Discussion of the Background
Before the advent of modern day computers, gaming regulators approved gaming machines that were purely mechanical in nature. Many gaming machines used mechanical reels and/or wheels. At the time of the mechanical spin, the spin outcome was unknown. Today, regulators hold new gaming machines to a much higher standard. Prior to the reel or wheel spin, the outcome is already known, and machines are generally required to check that the spin outcome depicted matches the predetermined outcome. Another important facet of today's gaming machine is the ability, within the precision required by gaming regulators, to demonstrate a calculable and predictable "expected return" on the part of the player (or alternately from the point of view of the house, "house advantage").
Novel bonus games, particularly those encompassing a mechanical apparatus, are popular in current casino gaming machines. When a bonus game is combined with an underlying slot machine, the entire game must comply with regulatory requirements. As such, bonus games of a mechanical nature are desirable (due to eye-candy appeal to players) but, too often, resort to predetermined outcomes (due to regulatory hurdles).
The use of a wheel in a casino game top box is conventional, such as that found in mechanical wheel games of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,823,874 and 5,848,932. In these wheel bonus games, a static indicator (stationary pointer) remains motionless while an adjacent mechanical wheel rotates. In this approach, the wheel gradually slows down and stops, with the segment on the wheel indicated by the pointer representing the player's win. The "MONTE CARLO" from Bally Corporation top box concept (originally a 1970s game with a "parallel" bonus in which the player continued to wager, and recently revived by Bally as a conventional bonus game with the same name) takes a slightly different approach in which the mechanical indicator is dynamic (moving pointer) while the wheel is static. In the Bally approach, the pointer rotates, in the plane of the surface of the wheel, and stops, with the segment on the wheel indicated by the pointer representing the player's win. Both of these current approaches utilize a predetermined outcome, such as a computer controlling a stepper motor to stop the wheel at a precise, predetermined outcome (i.e., a segment of the wheel having a "value")—the actual spin of the "wheel" is simply a cosmetic fait accompli.
The California Lottery has a TV game trademarked "THE BIG SPIN" in which a free moving ball is housed internally in a wheel whose segments depict awards. The wheel is spun by a contestant to determine the contestant's award. The free moving and usually bouncing ball finally lands in a segment representing the winning award. The California Lottery Commission retains an independent auditor to carefully examine and test the wheel and equipment prior to each television show. However, from a gaming perspective, having people check the equipment, such as prior to each play (or each hour or each day), is completely impractical, as hundreds or thousands of operations (i.e., game plays) may occur on each of the hundreds or thousands of gaming devices every day in the casino environment. Similarly, it is also impractical to have the player physically spin the wheel while an agent of the casino visually determines the outcome. THE BIG SPIN wheel freely spins and the ball freely lands in an award segment. The contestant views the wheel spin, which is witnessed by the state and further "verified" by a live television audience. This represents a methodology that is highly impractical and/or would not pass regulatory approval for automated slot machine use in a casino.
Roulette and the large casino wheels such as the Big Six wheel are considered casino table games and do not have the same regulatory hurdle of slot/automated gaming machines due to the presence of a casino employee at each spin. In the sense of having a casino/lottery agent verifying game outcome, THE BIG SPIN wheel is similar to the Big Six wheel.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,963, any bias in the mechanical components of the Pachinko top box, as a bonus game to an underlying casino slot machine, is eliminated. Lane values are randomly selected and "locked-in" to the lanes. Thereafter, a ball is released from the top of the playfield and, after traversing a forest of deflecting pins, settles into a lane. The lane "selected" by the ball represents the player's win. A distinct advantage to this approach is that the influence of any mechanical imperfections or biasing problems are eliminated by the disclosed methodology of assigning lane values, such that both the player and the casino are protected from faulty equipment. As a corollary, neither the casino nor the regulators need to check the Pachinko equipment any more often than usual.
While modern bonus "wheels" in gaming devices have been successful, nevertheless a player may feel that the gaming machine is controlling the outcome, because the final arrangement of the indicator and wheel, in these modern versions, is carefully controlled by a processor and a stepper motor and in no way represents free motion. Indeed, the final outcome of the wheel game is predetermined before the "spin" even begins. For example, in current wheel bonus games, it is common for the wheel to come to rest at a nominal value (say, $25), having just passed an adjacent segment of high value (say, $500). Although this leads to some suspense on the part of the player, it also may lead the player to a feeling of "undue control" by the gaming machine.
The Pachinko approach discussed above alleviates this problem in that, once the lane values are randomly locked-in, the free motion of the Pachinko ball dictates the outcome of the game. The contrivance of a pre-determined outcome to the various possible awards is eliminated, to the benefit of the players.
A need exists to develop a mechanical wheel-type casino game of chance in which the final outcome is not predetermined and controlled precisely by a computer in the gaming machine.
A further need exists to develop a mechanical wheel-type of casino game of chance in which free motion is used to determine the final outcome.
A need further exists to develop a mechanical wheel-type of casino game of chance in which both the "indicator" and the "wheel" have dynamic mechanical motion, instead of one or the other being static. It would be desirable to use a freely moving ball, or similar bouncing object, as the indicator.
A need further exists to develop a wheel-type of casino game of chance similar to the California Lottery THE BIG SPIN wheel, wherein the spin and determination of the outcome are performed automatically, and wherein the expected value of such a casino game is nevertheless calculable and controlled to mitigate mechanical bias, such that the game may be approved by regulators. Because of the free-motion nature of the game, it would be further desirable to self-monitor the outcomes to check that no mechanical bias has crept in.
A final need exists to incorporate such features in a casino game of chance as a bonus game to underlying gaming machines such as slot gaming machines.

Mechanical wheel casino game of chance having a free-motion internal indicator and method therefor

Progressive Gaming International Corporation


A wireless remote multi-data information and intelligence gathering machine and system designed to be used tactically by the military as well as law enforcement personnel to assist them in intelligence an information gathering in a multitude of scenarios from S.W.A.T. (Special Weapons And Tactics) emergencies, covert surveillance, nighttime intrusion detection, to rescue operations of trapped victims. The information gathering unit and system (IGS) housed in an, all-climate and conditions housing, that's unique combination of components, gather data ranging from gamma detection, zone intrusion detection, audio surveillance, video surveillance, video documentation of identification of personnel and visitors to high risk locations to use in nighttime rescue operations. The high quality data transmitted is received by a base station that is fully capable furthering the information gathered via the internet to offsite officials as well as being equipped to fully document all data gathered in high quality digital format. Further, this ruggedly designed system unit collects, and transmits wirelessly over long distances, making standoff security tactics easy to effect. The unit is fully equipped to operate in totally dark conditions by the use of it's built in infrared lighting illumination.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of law enforcement and force protection equipment employed by S.W.A.T. teams and A.T. (Anti-Terrorism) military personnel in the functions of protecting the public, assets, or themselves while preserving the peace. More particularly, a wireless, self contained information gathering unit and system (IGS) designed to effect numerous tactical, information gathering tasks, such as remote intrusion detection, under vehicle and trunk inspections, tactical surveillance from a safe stand-off distance, remote identification recording and entrance documentation, at-night evidence gathering at crime scenes, radiological element detection, search and rescue operations and many other stand-off related, remote viewing and information gathering scenarios. In addition, the system is equipped with a microphone for remote audio surveillance and full audio and video documentation for use at crime scenes, emergency response and arrest documentation. When used by fire departments, the described invention becomes a threat and risk assessment aid as well as a means of providing rescue crews an advantage by extending sight and sound capabilities, way beyond the norm such as might be needed in collapsed buildings or fire restricted areas as well as providing an audio-visual communication link to rescue persons trapped who can be given the IGS unit to use to communicate, but cannot be gotten to yet to be freed.
2. Background of the Invention
Development of special equipment such as the present invention, (IGS system) has grown out of the need for law enforcement and military personnel to respond to critical, usually manmade, emergencies such as hostage taking, terrorist infiltration and attacks and a multitude of other real-life, critical situations that need to be responded to by specialists, with specialized equipment, in order to, neutralize the situation or minimize loss after a situation has unfolded. Current domestic law enforcement use of special weapons and tactics originated with the first Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) Unit which consisted of 15 four-man teams. Members of each team, who volunteered from the ranks of patrol and other police assignments, had specialized experience and prior military service. Each unit was activated for monthly training or when the need for special weapons personnel actually arose. These units, known as "station defense teams," provided security for police facilities during civil unrest. In 1983, the Los Angeles Police Department sent three S.W.A.T. supervisors to Europe to evaluate and develop the techniques employed by military groups such as the German GSG-9, French GIGN and the legendary British 22nd SAS. A rigorous and difficult training program was implemented with one objective—to develop a true hostage rescue capability within the LAPD S.W.A.T. Team. Since the advent of the domestic hostage rescue skill, the LAPD S.W.A.T. Team has rescued dozens of hostages and currently handles approximately 80 barricaded suspect incidents and 50 high-risk warrants a year. After the terrorist attacks of September 11th, S.W.A.T. teams across the have had to reorganize to thwart possible terrorist attacks and have become A.T. (anti-terrorism) teams as well as S.W.A.T teams, requiring them to develop new tactics and seek out new equipment for handling new types of terrorist risks and life threatening situations. The present invention has been fully reviewed and endorsed by A.T. (antiterrorism) and F.P. (force protection) security personnel from many Govt. agencies such as NASA, DHS, TSA U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, Charlotte, N.C. S.W.A.T. team and others, with a very positive support for it's use and implementation. Indeed, with it's truly diverse tactical uses, as well as A.T. counter-measures that provides instant remote viewing, remote stealth detection, remote night vision surveillance, remote first responder footage review in real-time by offsite government agencies, remote audio listening and situation debriefing, remote sound detection as well as with many other features and uses, along with it's rugged design and excellent thermal and weather proofing features, the present invention is truly a innovation that fits, not only right in to the traditional S.W.A.T. arsenal for S.W.A.T scenarios, but also provides for many new tactical countermeasure procedures needed by the A.T. and FP (force protection) world of the 21st century. The system also equipped with a radiological, detector is an excellent tool for law enforcement officials to use to detect dirty bombs, a new threat in today's world.

Remote intelligence and information gathering system (IGS)


A one piece card guide for edge grounding a printed circuit board and guiding the board to a mounted position. The card guide is formed out of a single piece comprising an integrally formed pair of sidewalls facing each other and spaced apart to form a longitudinal slot into which the circuit board is inserted. At least one pair of grounding points is integrally formed into the side walls for contact with an inserted circuit board. The grounding points may be formed as integral spring fingers on opposite sides of the sidewalls to maximize the contact with the circuit board. The card guide allows for different numbers of grounding points in the card guide. The single piece construction of the card guide reduces intermittent contact with circuit cards by providing a guide that ensures continuous edge grounding.

1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the invention relate generally to the field of electrical edge grounding for printed circuit boards and more particularly to an apparatus to guide a printed circuit board or card to a mounted position to engage an edge connector.
2. Background
There exists a need for a printed circuit board card guide that can reduce inconsistencies of the guiding system resulting from use of multiple materials. A need also exists for a printed circuit board card guide that can be manufactured at a lower cost and in a shorter time.
It is well known in the art that printed circuit cards or boards provide for support and interconnection with various electronic components mounted thereon. Conductive strips of material are coated on one side of the printed circuit boards for interconnecting the electronic components.
There exist printed circuit board card guides, such as guides including multiple pieces of copper and electromagnetic interference (EMI) clips. However, existing products are limited in resulting consistency of the guide system and have high manufacturing costs. Unlike the present invention, current products are made out of multiple pieces and dissimilar materials. Multiple piece printed circuit board card guides require a higher cost of manufacturing because each piece has to be installed prior to operation. Furthermore, an additional piece of material increases a chance of failure such as falling off after assembly or during shipping. This causes the problem of leaving no shielding at all. Therefore, there is a need for a solution to remove such problems.
Information relevant to addressing these problems can be found in existing products. However, each existing product suffers from one or more of the following disadvantages: higher manufacturing cost; lack of consistency due to multiple pieces and/or dissimilar materials in a guiding system; insecure connection between pieces; potential intermittent contact by using an many pieces.
The existing products mentioned above are not admitted to be prior art with respect to the present invention by their mention in this Background Section.

One piece card guide for a printed circuit board


A system includes: a door opening/closing switch which receives, from a user, a manipulation instruction for opening or closing the door; a door position sensor which detects a position of the door; a steering controller which measures a steering angle of the vehicle; a door controller which receives, from the door opening/closing switch, the manipulation signal for opening or closing the door, receives door position information from the door position sensor, receives steering angle information from the steering controller, and determines that the door and the wheel are in an interference state when the wheel is not in an aligned state in which the wheel is parallel to a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, when the user attempts to open the door; and a warning device which warns the user of a situation when the door controller determines that the door and the wheel are in the interference state.

Recently, in order to introduce autonomous vehicles and optimize conditions that allow occupants to get in or out of the vehicles in narrow spaces, there is a need for developing opposite sliding doors that may be applied to all front and rear doors of a vehicle so that the front and rear doors are opened in a sliding manner.
However, for the opposite sliding doors, the front door may be opened while the door is sliding toward a front side of the vehicle. As a result, if the front wheel is not in an aligned state where the wheel is parallel to a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, there is a risk that the wheel and the door may collide with each other when the door is being opened.
In this regard, Korean Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2011-0089753 in the related art (Device and Method for Controlling Vehicle Door) relates to a device and a method for controlling a vehicle door and provides the device and the method for preventing a collision between the vehicle door and a peripheral object as a vehicle door control system, which includes a sensor for measuring a distance between each of the doors and the peripheral object and a microcomputer for controlling an opening angle of the door, is provided on each of the doors.
However, the system and the method in the related art are applied to swing type front and rear doors, detect an obstacle spaced apart from the vehicle body, and control the opening angles of the doors, and as a result, the system and the method cannot be applied to sliding type doors that may collide with front wheels of the vehicle when the doors are being opened.

System and method for preventing interference between opposite sliding doors and wheel


A gasketless seal is formed between a flow tube in a venous reservoir and a rotatable connector telescoped into it, by forming on the connector one or more annular ribs of slightly larger diameter than the inner diameter. When the connector is inserted into the flow tube, the rib is partially crushed against the inner wall of the flow tube and forms a tight, rotatable seal with it.

Hardshell venous reservoirs are used in extracorporeal bypass circuits during cardiac surgery to store the extra volume of blood produced in the patient's circulatory system by the dilution of the patient's blood in preparation for open heart surgery. The reservoir also serves as a buffer to absorb variations between the volume of blood exiting the patient through a venous tap and cardiotomy suction, and the volume of blood drawn by the pump of the heart-lung machine for oxygenation and return to the patient.
Conventionally, venous blood is introduced into the reservoir through a venous inlet connector which is fitted into the cover of the top entry reservoir, and which can be rotated about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the cover. Blood from the venous inlet connector is discharged into a venous flow tube which fits over the bottom end of the connector and conveys the blood to an appropriate venous defoamer chamber in the reservoir.
In order to minimize foaming and risk of contamination of the venous blood, it is essential that air be prevented from entering the blood stream at the interface of the flow tube and the connector. Prior art constructions have addressed that problem by providing one or more 0-ring seals between the connector and the flow tube. The prior art construction was, however, not completely satisfactory because, firstly, biocompatible silicone 0-rings are not inexpensive; because, secondly, their relatively high friction coefficient makes it harder than necessary to rotate the connectors; and because, thirdly, the patient's blood should be exposed to as few different materials as possible during surgery.
A need consequently existed in the prior art for an inexpensive, airtight rotatable joint between the telescoping connector and flow tube.

Gasketless seal for rotatable blood reservoir connector


An expectant father system that includes a thermal insulated carrying container constructed of an insulating plastic foam material that has a transparent baby name and birth date card receiving compartment on an exterior surface thereof, a beverage can sized item receiving compartment formed into the center thereof and accessible through a circular insertion opening defined by a perimeter lip, and a hook and pile carrying container fastener strip secured to the exterior surface adjacent to the perimeter lip. A baby name and birth date card is provided that is sized to fit into the transparent baby name and birth date card receiving compartment. The carrying container is filled with a variety of useful items for an expectant father including a number of cigar-shaped baby arrival candy gift items; a tubular "It's A Boy" candy gift item sleeve for each of the first plurality of cigar-shaped candy baby arrival candy gift items, each sized to receive therein one of the first plurality of cigar-shaped candy baby arrival candy gift items; and a tubular "It's A Girl" candy gift item sleeve for each of the first plurality of cigar-shaped candy baby arrival candy gift items, each sized to receive therein one of the first plurality of cigar-shaped candy baby arrival candy gift items. The carrying case is used as a beverage can cooler/holder while waiting and as a keepsake cooler/holder long after the baby is born.

An expectant father must often drop everything to rush the mother of his child to the hospital. Because of the need to rapidly leave for the hospital, the expectant father can often forget to bring a variety of useful items that could make the waiting more pleasant. It would be a benefit, therefore, to have an expectant father system that included a number of items that could be of use to an expectant father while waiting for the delivery of the baby that includes a carrying case having a variety of useful items provided therein that can be kept in the expectant father's vehicle. In addition, it would be a further benefit to have an expectant father system that included at least one item that could be kept as a keepsake to remind the expectant father of the birth of the baby.