A process for recovering nickel and cobalt values from nickel- and cobalt-containing laterite ores as an enriched mixed nickel and cobalt sulphide intermediate and for producing nickel and cobalt metal from the nickel and cobalt sulphide intermediate. The laterite ore is leached as a slurry in a pressure acid leach containing an excess of aqueous sulphuric acid at high pressure and temperature, excess free acid in the leach slurry is partially neutralized to a range of 5 to 10 g/L residual free H2SO4 and washed to yield a nickel- and cobalt-containing product liquor, the product liquor is subjected to a reductant to reduce any Cr(VI) in solution to Cr(III), the reduced product liquor is neutralized to precipitate ferric iron and silicon at a pH of about 3.5 to 4.0, and the neutralized and reduced product liquor is contacted with hydrogen sulphide gas to precipitate nickel and cobalt sulphides. The precipitated nickel and cobalt sulphides can be leached in a water slurry in a pressure oxidation leach, the leach solution subjected to iron hydrolysis and precipitation, the iron-free solution contacted with zinc sulphide to precipitate copper, the iron- and copper-free solution subjected to zinc and cobalt extraction by solvent extraction to produce a nickel raffinate, the nickel raffinate contacted with hydrogen gas to produce nickel powder and the cobalt strip solution from the solvent extraction step contacted with hydrogen gas to produce cobalt powder.

(i) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for recovering nickel and cobalt from nickel- and cobalt-containing laterite ores and, more particularly, relates to a process for producing an enriched nickel and cobalt sulphide intermediate from nickel-and cobalt-containing laterite ores, and for producing nickel and cobalt metal from the nickel and cobalt sulphide intermediate.
(ii) Description of the Related Art
Sulphuric acid leaching of laterite in pressure vessels has been practiced commercially since 1959 at Moa Bay in Cuba, as described by Chalkey and Toirac in a paper entitled "The acid pressure leach process for nickel and cobalt laterite. Part I: Review of operations at Moa" presented January, 1997. The original process plant includes ore leaching, washing of the ore leach discharge slurry in a counter-current decantation wash circuit (CCD wash circuit), reduction of the wash circuit product solution by contact with hydrogen sulphide, neutralization of the acid in the reduced solution with limestone mud, washing of the thickened neutralization solids in the CCD wash circuit, and recovery of nickel and cobalt as mixed sulphide by contact of the neutralized solution with hydrogen sulphide.
Neutralization of the solution prior to sulphide precipitation is required so that high recoveries of nickel and cobalt may be obtained in sulphide precipitation. The neutralization circuit is operated at pH 2.1 to 2.3, which is sufficiently high that metals recoveries are high in sulphide precipitation. However, the neutralized solution contains significant concentrations of silicon and iron at this relatively low pH, resulting in contamination of the mixed sulphide with these elements. This in turn limits the options for downstream processing of the mixed sulphide.
Sulphide precipitation is carried out at relatively high temperature and pressure in this operation, which results in a large recirculating load of hydrogen sulphide, which is expensive to recover and reuse. The sulphide precipitation step, when operated at the relatively high temperature and pressure, is sensitive to the presence of copper, which results in mixed sulphide with poor liquid-solid separation characteristics. Hence the need to precipitate copper in the reduction step prior to neutralization. The presence of copper in the neutralization solids places restrictions on how these solids can be washed in the CCD wash circuit, since the copper redissolves in this circuit if the solids are combined with slurry containing sufficient acid and ferric iron. This dictates the point of entry of the neutralization solids to the multi-stage wash circuit and limits the recovery of nickel and cobalt from the solution entrained with the neutralization solids. The use of process water in the wash circuit increases the fresh water load on the process plant.
The second laterite processing plant constructed to produce mixed sulphide intermediate from pressure acid leach liquor is situated at Murrin Murrin in Australia. The operation of this plant is described in a paper entitled "Murrin Murrin Nickel-Cobalt Project"0 presented by Motteram et al. May 31, 1996 and described in a paper entitled "Murrin Murrin CCD1 rake mechanism modification: the decision and the result" by Hewitt et al. Improvements to the process incorporated into the Murrin Murrin plant include a preneutralization of a portion of the ore leach discharge slurry (slurry neutralization) before liquid/solid separation in a CCD wash circuit. This limits the concentration of free sulphuric acid in the wash circuit and decreases the quantity of solids produced in a raw liquor neutralization step, which in turn limits soluble losses in the wash circuit. Although the same quantity of gypsum solids are produced with or without the slurry neutralization step, the gypsum solids in the slurry neutralization step are produced at higher temperature and have better liquid-solid separation characteristics. Sulphide precipitation is also successfully carried out under milder conditions than at Moa. The pH in the raw liquor neutralization step is maintained at about pH 2.5, hence contamination of the mixed sulphide with iron and silicon remains an issue. The thickener underflow slurry in the raw liquor neutralization step contains 20% solids at best. A portion of the thickener underflow slurry, enriched in the fines fraction following treatment in a hydrocyclone, is recycled to the raw liquor neutralization circuit; the remainder is directed to the CCD wash circuit. This complicated means of dealing with the raw liquor neutralization thickener underflow solids is necessitated by the poor liquid-solids separation characteristics of the slurry produced in the circuit.
A third acid leach/sulphide precipitation process plant recently commissioned in the Philippines is disclosed in a paper by Tsuchida et al. in 2004 entitled "Development of Process Design for Coral Bay Nickel Project". Preneutralization of autoclave discharge slurry prior to liquid-solid separation, further neutralization of the solution in a second neutralization with limestone, washing of this second neutralization precipitate in a CCD wash circuit and recycle of barren liquor to the wash circuit are practiced, with sulphide precipitation carried out under relatively mild conditions. A zinc removal step is included, using hydrogen sulphide gas to selectively precipitate zinc sulphide, before precipitation of nickel and cobalt sulphides. This separate zinc removal step is included so that the product mixed sulphide is substantially free of zinc, a requirement of the subsequent refining step in Japan. The wash circuit product solution is neutralized to pH 3.2 in the raw liquor neutralization circuit. Silicon remains in solution at this pH. Barren liquor is returned to the wash circuit without prior neutralization.
The design of a fourth application of laterite processing including precipitation of mixed sulphide intermediate has also been reported in a paper presented by Faris et al. in 1997 entitled "The Calliope Project: Pressure acid leaching of nickel laterite ores from New Caledonia". In this process, which was never commercialized, the ore leach discharge slurry from a pressure acid leach is thickened and washed and the solution is subjected to a reduction, a portion of the reduced solution is subjected to an atmospheric acid leach with a portion of the fresh ore, and the atmospheric leach slurry is thickened prior to neutralization of the combined product liquor and precipitation of mixed sulphides. Recycle of a portion of the raw liquor neutralization thickener underflow slurry to the raw liquor neutralization circuit is applied to increase the solids content of the thickener underflow slurry. In so doing, less of the concentrated nickel and cobalt bearing solution is directed to the wash circuit, improving overall nickel and cobalt recovery. Barren liquor from sulphide precipitation is neutralized with limestone and used as wash liquor in the CCD circuit.
The refining of mixed sulphide to nickel and cobalt metals is described in the Motteram et al. paper discussed above. The mixed sulphide is first solubilized in an oxidizing pressure leach. Iron is removed from the leach solution by pH adjustment with ammonia. Copper and zinc are precipitated as their sulphides by contact with hydrogen sulphide gas. The purified solution proceeds to solvent extraction, where cobalt is separated from nickel and these metals are precipitated as metal powders by reduction with hydrogen. Following stripping of residual metals in the nickel and cobalt reduction end solutions with hydrogen sulphide, ammonium sulphate is recovered from the process liquor by evaporation and crystallization.

Recovery of nickel, cobalt, iron, silica, zinc and copper from laterite ore by sulfuric acid leaching


There is provided a method for accurately estimating a position and orientation of an object even if the object is more dispersive in shape than a three-dimensional geometric model with a standard shape. The statistic of deviation of a feature constituting a three-dimensional model representing a three-dimensional standard shape of an object is estimated to determine a reliability for each feature. The amount of deviation is calculated between the feature extracted from observation data obtained by an imaging apparatus and the feature in the three-dimensional model. The three-dimensional position and orientation of the object is estimated based on the amount of deviation and the reliability related to each feature extracted from the three-dimensional model.

A complicated task which has been performed until now by a human such as an assembly of manufactured products is being performed by a robot instead along with the development of a robotic technique in recent years. Such a robot grasps a component with an end effector such as a hand and performs assembly. In order that the robot grasps the component, it is necessary to accurately estimate a relative position and orientation between the component to be grasped and the robot (a hand). Such an estimation of position and orientation is variously used for the robot not only to grasp the component, but to estimate its own position to autonomously move and to register a real space in augmented reality with a virtual object.
A method for estimating the position and orientation includes the one using a two-dimensional image captured by a camera or a range image acquired from a distance sensor. Among other things, an estimation using a model fitting in which a three-dimensional geometric model of an object is fitted to an image feature extracted from a captured image or point cloud data acquired from a range image is generally used. For example, there is a method for estimating the position and orientation of an object so that a projection image of a wire frame model of an object is fitted to an edge detected on a gray-scale image. Furthermore, there is another method for estimating the position and orientation of an object by fitting a three-dimensional geometric model such as a mesh model to point cloud data acquired from a range image.
In general, a shape and size of a mass-produced industrial component disperses due to a problem of machining accuracy and cost. It is unrealistic to produce a three-dimensional geometric model for each individual of such a component, so that the position and orientation are generally estimated by using one three-dimensional geometric model representing a standard shape of a component. In other words, the three-dimensional geometric model does not always agree with an actual component in shape. If the position and orientation of the component are estimated by using the model fitting, a problem is caused in that an accurate estimation cannot be made in a case where a difference between the model and the actual component is large.
Patent Literature 1 discusses a method for absorbing a dispersion of shape of an object in recognizing the position of the object using the model. In this method, the position of the object is realized based on a standard model representing the object and an image (measurement data), and the measurement data is statistically processed to sequentially update the standard model.
Non Patent Literature 1 discusses a method for absorbing a difference between an individual and a three-dimensional model of a face in estimating the position and orientation of the face. In this method, a deviation of a feature point for each individual is acquired from the distribution of a previously acquired deviation and actual measurement data, and the feature point provided with the deviation is subjected to the model fitting. A model is produced for each individual to allow estimating the position and orientation independently of the dispersion of a shape.
In Patent Literature 1, the dispersion of shape of the object is absorbed to improve the recognition rate of the object. The method updates the standard model so as to absorb the dispersion of an actual object, so that the method is suited for recognizing the object and roughly estimating the position and orientation but not suited for accurately estimating the position and orientation.
The method discussed in Non Patent Literature 1 is the one for explicitly calculating a deviation and may contain errors in the acquired deviation itself due to a false detection of a feature from the measurement data, so that the method is not suited for accurately estimating the position and orientation.

Position and orientation estimation method and apparatus therefor


An electrical switching and control device, particularly for motor vehicles has a housing a printed circuit board, a plurality of electronic power components arranged in the housing and having leads soldered with the printed circuit board, another component element carried by the printed circuit board and connected with the latter, a heat sink carrying the power components and mechanically connected with the printed circuit board and also receiving heat generated in the power components and guiding it outwards, a plug-in strip arranged at the front side of the housing and soldered at its rear end with the printed circuit board, the plug-in strip being lockable at the printed circuit board, a frame formed so that the heat sink grasps the plug-in strip by the frame and is securely connected with the printed circuit board, a front panel placed on the plug-in strip with interposition of a seal and screwed together with the frame of the heat sink, the housing and having a front housing opening which is tightly closed by the front panel with a sealing ring.

The present invention relates to an electrical switching and control device, in particular for motor vehicles.
An electrical switching device is known from WO 78/01007 in which power components are connected with a heat sink so as to conduct heat and so as to be electrically insulated and the leads of the power components are contacted by a printed circuit board which is in turn contacted by a plug-in strip at the front side of the switching device. The heat sink is fastened to the printed circuit board by screws and the heat which it absorbs from the power components is guided out via the front panel or via the housing in a heat conducting and electrically insulated manner. Moreover, it is known from DE-OS 33 10 477 to fasten the plug-in strip with a sealing ring at a front panel of the housing by screws to seal the housing so as to be tight against moisture and then to fasten the latter on the front housing opening of the switching and control device via another sealing ring.
A disadvantage in such solutions consists in that the solder connections of the connector tongues with the conductor paths of the printed circuit board are mechanically loaded during and after the final assembly by manufacturing and assembly tolerances. Moreover, the length of the heat sink is determined in this case by the width of the plug-in strip so that only a limited number of power components can be accommodated in the switching and control device. For additional power components, additional heat sinks or cooling plates must be arranged in the region of the housing base or the side walls and must be screwed and riveted individually with the printed circuit board, which likewise results in tolerance problems.

Electrical switching and control device, in particular for motor vehicles


Embodiments of the claimed subject matter provide a method and apparatus for performing pipelined operations on input data with feedback. One embodiment of the apparatus includes a first logic circuit for determining a value of a first function based on input data for a first clock cycle. The first logic circuit includes pipeline stages that perform subsets of calculations of the value of the first function in one clock cycle. The apparatus also includes a second logic circuit for determining a value of a second function for the first clock cycle based on a value of a third function for a second clock cycle prior to the first clock cycle. The apparatus further includes a third logic circuit for determining a value of the third function for the first clock cycle by combining the values of the first and second functions for the first clock cycle.

This application relates generally to packet-based networks, and, more particularly, to processing parallel input data using feedback in packet-based networks.
Processor-based systems from personal computers to mainframes may include a wide variety of components that are interconnected using cabling, buses, bridges, or other networking elements such as routers, repeaters, or switches. The interconnections may be used to form packet-based networks of processor-based systems such as wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), and the like. For example, processor-based systems or logic circuits within the systems may exchange packets of data over an Ethernet, which is a family of computer networking technologies for LANs. Ethernet was commercially introduced in 1980 and standardized in 1985 as IEEE 802.3. The Ethernet standards support several wiring and signaling variants of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) physical layer. The original 10BASE5 Ethernet used coaxial cable as a shared medium. Later versions of Ethernet use twisted pair and fiber optic links in conjunction with hubs or switches as the shared medium. Data packets transmitted on an Ethernet may be called Ethernet frames. Each packet or frame includes source and destination addresses and error-checking data so that damaged data can be detected and re-transmitted.
Packet-based networks may also transmit packets or frames according to other protocols. For example, packet-based networks may exchange packets or frames using the Generic Framing Procedure (GFP) defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) G.7041. For another example, packet-based networks may exchange packets or frames using the 10 Gbit/s Ethernet Passive Optical Network (10G-EPON) standard that supports data transmission in two configurations: a symmetric configuration that operates at a data rate of 10 Gbit/s in the upstream (customer-to-provider) and downstream (provider-to-customer) directions and an asymmetric configuration that operates at 10 Gbit/s in the downstream direction and 1 Gbit/s in the upstream direction. The 10G-EPON standard was ratified as IEEE 802.3av standard in 2009.
Data transmission rates have steadily increased and are expected to continue to increase. For example, early versions of Ethernet transmitted data at a maximum rate of approximately 10 Mbps and subsequent versions increased the data transmission rate from 100 Mbps to the current maximum data rate of 100 Gbps. Limitations on the clock frequency used for the data transfer result in a corresponding increase in the width of the parallel data paths used to carry the transmitted data. For example, a parallel input data path to an FPGA circuit that uses a 125 MHz clock frequency needs to be eight bits wide to support a data transfer rate of 1 Gbps=8×125 MHz. Further increases in the data transfer rate would require increases in either the clock frequency or the width of the parallel data path. In cases where the maximum clock frequency is limited, such as FPGA circuits, the only way to increase the data transfer rate is to increase the width of the parallel data path.
Logic functions along the data path may compute output values using input data values and feedback from entities further along the data path. The logic function may be required to process the input values and the feedback in a single clock cycle. For example, error checking or correction can be performed using a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) calculation that is performed using input data for the current clock cycle and previous values of the CRC calculation. The previous CRC values may be stored in a register that is downstream from the logic that calculates the CRC value. Consequently, the CRC logic should perform the CRC calculation and store the output value in a register in a single cycle so that the output value of the CRC can be fed back and used to compute the CRC value for the next clock cycle. For another example, frames that use the GFP standard may include a frame check sequence (FCS) that includes extra checksum characters for error detection. For yet another example, the 10G-EPON standard employs a stream-based forward error correction (FEC) mechanism based on Reed-Solomon coding for upstream and downstream channels in the symmetric configuration and downstream channels in the asymmetric configuration. Upstream channels in the asymmetric EPON may use an optional frame-based FEC using Reed-Solomon coding.

Method and apparatus for performing pipelined operations on parallel input data with feedback


This invention discloses methods of polymerization in the field of PVC dispersion resins, in particular, dispersion PVC, made by the emulsion or microsuspension process with or without monomer metering. The invention achieves improved initial plastisol color without destroying blush resistance by employing techniques which entail at least two air evacuation steps. In the preferred embodiment a specified amount of a metabisulfite reducing agent is incorporated into the polymerization medium and/or monomer mixture followed by polymerization initiaton and further processing. Another disclosure of the invention is a simple method for reducing the haze of dispersion resin plastisol films thereby improving their clarity by the addition of a small amount of non-copolymerizable polybasic carboxylic acid to the dispersion resin or monomer dispersion prior to isolating the resin. The preferred poly basic acids are non-ethylenic unsaturated, di- or tri-carboxylic acids like citric acid and tartaric acid.

PVC compounds are susceptible to discoloration absent proper stabilization. Also, while good stabilization features may be obtained by proper compounding, there still may be inherent deficiencies in the clarity, color and heat stability of the resin polymer which present limitations for commercial applications. With regard to dispersion PVC, these resins may be more specifically referred to as emulsion type or micro-suspension type dispersion PVC. These terms correspond to different methods of polymerization. Dispersion PVC is typically used in plastisol and organosol formulations, and there are limitations in inherent initial color after fusion, and color stability evidenced by premature yellowing of films either for unsupported films or film coatings on articles. Initial color is particularly noticeable when a clear film is applied to a light colored, opaque substrate like white flooring sheets. One important aspect not dependent on the resistance to discoloration after heat aging, is the initial color obtained only after sufficient heat for fusion. This color is also referred to the water-whiteness initially obtained. In addition to yellowing tendencies, in many applications, an article containing a plastisol coating can be susceptible to blushing on contact with water. Compounding formulation may limit to some extent the blushing of film or coatings, however it has been observed that the dispersion resin preparation method plays the most important part in determining the initial color and the blushing characteristics of the fused compound.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,920 discloses a method of preparing dispersion PVC which yields dispersion resins having improved heat stability, color and resistance to blushing on contact with water. These resins are made by polymerization using a colloidal dispersant system free of alkali metal soaps, and including the use of ammonium salt of a fatty acid and a long chain alcohol, with polymerization in basic medium which reduces polymer coagulum. The resins, when formulated into plastisols, fused into finished films, and subjected to elevated humidity showed improved blush resistance characterized by rapid recovery of film clarity. There are however limitations in the initial color of this type of resin when formulated as clear layers over white or light colored substrates.
Studies with other dispersion resins of the current state of the art, as clear plastisol films, still evidence some haze and coloration limitations. It would be desirable therefore to improve the initial color while also, preferably not sacrificing blush resistance in a dispersion PVC resin adaptable to plastisol applications. It would also be desirable to provide an effective method for improvement in clarity or haze of the articles derived from dispersion resins.
A method has been devised for manufacturing a dispersion PVC polymer which exhibits improved retention of water-white color, good resistance to blushing and improved clarity.

Process for making PVC resin having improved initial color and clarity


A projection type image display apparatus has a light source unit (11) that includes an arc tube (110) enclosed by a reflector (111) for reflecting the light emitted from the arc tube in one direction through its opening (111a). The opening (111a) of the reflector (111) of the light source unit (11) is covered with a transparent member (112). Formed in one side of the reflector (111), adjacent the opening is an air inlet port (113), while the side facing the air inlet port (113) is closed (i.e. has no port). Formed in the remaining two sides of the reflector (111), and adjacent the opening (111a), are air outlet ports (114) one for each side. This arrangement causes the cooling air to be uniformly circulated in the entire reflector (111) of the light source unit (11) without stagnation to regulate the temperature of the arc tube (110) in an easy and costless manner, and enables installation of the light source unit (11) at any angular position, free of angular limitation.

Projection type image display apparatuses such as a liquid crystal projector use a light source unit which includes a high-intensity arc tube operable at a high temperature, such as a high-pressure mercury lamp or a metal halide lamp, enclosed by a reflector having a parabolic or ellipsoidal reflecting surface for reflecting the light from the arc tube in one direction through a front opening of the reflector. Under a normal operating condition, i.e. when the projector is installed on the level, there will be a temperature gradient inside the reflector such that the temperature is higher in the upper section of the reflector than in the lower section. Therefore, the arc tube is normally designed in such a way that its upper section is cooled harder than the lower section.
However, such projector type image display apparatus is often installed at different angular positions. For example, it may be installed upside down or upwardly (or downward) inclined to project images in the upward (downward) oblique direction. In that event, the "lower section" is not desirably cooled. Moreover, it is necessary to regulate the temperature of the arc tube within an appropriate temperature range, since the full performance of the arc tube cannot be elicited if its temperature is too high or too low.
Thus, conventional reflectors are mostly provided in one side thereof (with respect to the front opening of the arc tube arranged at a normal level position) with an air inlet port for taking in cooling air, and with an air outlet port in the opposite side facing the air inlet port, thereby ensuring uniform circulation of the cooling air in the upper section as well as in the lower section of the arc tube so as to minimize the temperature gradient even when the light source unit is installed upside down.
The Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. H5-135746 discloses a technique for preventing temperature rise of the lowest temperature section (or the bulb-shaped light emitting section) of an arc tube caused by stagnation of the cooling air, in which the arc tube is provided with three air outlet ports one for each of the three sides other than the side having an air inlet port, and with an air blast nozzle at one end of the lowest temperature section.
However, in the conventional (i.e. commonly used) arrangements, cooling air fails to circulate round the entire arc tube, so that when the light source unit is installed at an arbitrary angular position, cooling air fails to adjust itself to cool the lowest temperature section that has shifted, that is, cooling air cannot fully regulate the temperature of such arc tube. Consequently, the arc tube is permitted to have only limited angular positions on account of the poor temperature controllability.
Moreover, the prior art light source unit as disclosed in the cited literature not only requires a blast nozzle, which in turn requires an extra cost therefor, but also complicates the configuration of the light source unit. In addition, since the blast nozzle is normally designed to blow air only to the upper section of the light source unit, it limits the range of the allowable angular positions of the arc tube


A user registers a user public key PKU as a pseudonym at a trustee or issuer and obtains an signature for the pseudonym as a license. The sends the pseudonym, PKU identification information IdU and the amount of withdrawal x to the issuer institution. The issuer increments a balance counter of the pseudonym by x, then generates an issuer signature SKI(PKU, x) with a secret key SKI, and sends the issuer signature as an electronic cash to the user. The user verifies the validity of the issuer signature with a public key SKI, and if valid, increments an electronic cash balance counter Balance by x. At the time of payment, user sends the public key PKU and the license to a shop, and the shop verifies the validity of the license, and if valid, sends a challenge to the user. The user attaches a signature to the challenge with user secret key SKU, then sends it to the shop together with the amount due y, and decrements the electronic cash balance counter by y.

The present invention relates to a method and equipment for implementing electronic cash through utilization of an electrical communication system, or a smart card or the like which records information.
Conventional electronic cash techniques or schemes are disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication 7-052460 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Implementing Electronic Cash," Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 4-367070 entitled "Electronic Cash Implementing Method," 5-20344 entitled "Electronic Cash Implementing Method," 7-302288 entitled "Electronic Cash System," 8-87559 entitled "Electronic Cash Implementing Method and Electronic Cash System," and 9-128465 entitled "Electronic Cash Implementing Method with A Trustee."
In these electronic cash schemes proposed so far, electronic cash is attached with a signature of an electronic cash issuing institution (hereinafter referred to also as an issuer) for information which specifies the user of the electronic cash and the amount of money issued. The user stores the issued electronic cash in user equipment, and for each purchase, sends the electronic cash to a shop in a required amount. The shop makes a check to see if the electronic cash sent thereto is affixed with a valid signature, and if so, receives the electronic cash. The receiver, that is, the shop returns electronic cash information to the issuer for conversion. The issuer verifies the electronic cash information returned thereto to check for an improper use.
With the conventional electronic cash schemes mentioned above, the issuer manages information for each issuance of electronic cash, and the issued electronic cash returns via the user and the shop to the issuer, which checks the electronic cash for improper use. This method has such disadvantages as listed below.
The user is required to have a storage device for holding electronic cash issued to him.
The receiver, a bank and the electronic cash issuer are each required to have a device and time for verifying electronic cash.
The issuer is required to have a particularly large-capacity storage for storing information corresponding to electronic cash issued.
Since the user specifying information (pseudonym) is determined at the time of issuance of electronic cash, it cannot be changed to a different pseudonym when the user makes a payment by electronic cash.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Electronic cash implementing method and equipment using user signature and recording medium recorded thereon a program for the method

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation


An X-ray collimator has a collimation plate, and a shielding box made of a tungsten plastic composite, the shielding box having an opening on the top and the bottom thereof respectively, and a support part for supporting the shielding box. The collimation plate is disposed on the shielding box or the support part. Compared to the use of the shielding box alone, the collimator reduces the volume of the collimator without reducing its shielding performance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present utility model relates to the technical field of the collimation of X-rays, and in particular to a collimator and to CT (X-ray computed tomography) equipment comprising the collimator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In CT equipment, when the X-rays are emitted from an X-ray tube, they need to be collimated via a collimator before being radiated onto a subject to be examined, and then they are received by a detector. The main function of the collimator is to limit the X-rays to be a fan beam in the Z direction and in a ψ plane, and to shield the X-rays in other directions. The collimator is critical in protecting the patients and operators from receiving excessive doses of radiation.
FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic diagrams of part of the structure of CT equipment, in which FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a cross section of the CT equipment in the YZ plane, and FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a cross section of the CT equipment in the XY plane. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the CT equipment has an X-ray tube 100, a collimator 200, a patient bed 300 and a detector 400. An X-ray beam 500 emitted from the X-ray tube 100, after being collimated by the collimator 200, passes through a patient 600 lying on the patient bed 300, and then arrives at the detector 400. After receiving the X-rays, the detector 400 converts the X-ray intensity into electrical signals and transmits them to an image reconstruction device for reconstructing a CT image. Since the present application mainly relates to the collimator 200, other components of the CT equipment are not shown in the figures.
In the currently available collimators, lead is mainly used as the shielding material. However, lead is toxic which may cause damage to human bodies or the environment. The currently available collimators have been provided with sufficient protecting measures, and will cause no harm to a human body or the environment during their practical operation. Nevertheless, there is a strong desire to reduce and even eliminate the use of lead in collimators.
Currently, the shielding materials complying with the safety standards (for example, "the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment" (RoHS) of European Union) are rather expensive. Moreover, since a collimator is disposed on a narrow rotational part of the CT equipment, it is very difficult to replace lead with a large amount of light metal (such as steel), because it is necessary to use a large amount of light metal to achieve the same shielding performance but there is no space to accommodate so much light metal on the small rotational part.
Published German patent application DE102007028231A1 by Siemens discloses a collimator, in which a tungsten plastic composite is used as the shielding material of the collimator.

Collimator and CT equipment comprising the same


Methods and systems for presenting time series for analysis. A method includes presenting a first visualization of summary information for an initial data set of a plurality of batches, presenting a filtered data set of the initial data set having a first batch identifier associated with a first batch and the second batch identifier associated with a second batch, executing a time series connector including transmitting a request to a time series application, the request comprising the first batch identifier, the second batch identifier, and the time series configuration data. The method further includes causing presentation of a user interface comprising a chart including a first plot for first time series data for the first batch identifier and a second plot for second time series data for the second batch identifier, the chart configured to the time series configuration data, and the first plot is aligned to the second plot.

Sensor systems monitoring processes or operations of a system can collect time series data, which may include numerous sensed data samples and a corresponding time indication of when each data sample was collected. Time series data may be related to a number of characteristics and properties, for example, including temperature, pressure, pH, light, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), acceleration, dissolved oxygen, optical clarity, CO2, motion, rotational motion, vibration, sound, voltage, current, capacitance, electromagnetic radiation, altitude, fluid flow, radiation, optical, and moisture, proximity and the like. In different contexts, the collection of the time series data from a plurality of sensors can correspond a discrete grouping of events (or a batch) such as a trip or segment of a trip (e.g., sensors on a vehicle during a trip), a chemical reaction in a plant or factory, or a product assembly in a factory.
From the perspective of sensors gathering time series data, there may not be a concept of a discrete grouping of events in the time series data but rather a large stored data set that has the all of the time series data from a sensor lumped together. Furthermore, time series data set can be large, unwieldy to analyze and difficult to compare.

Object time series system and investigation graphical user interface


The personal communication system of the present invention includes one or more mobile stations which operate in conjunction with a Private/Residential Base Station and a Mobile Station Emulator to provide seamless rerouting of existing telephone connections between the Private/Residential Base Station and a cellular telephone system. The Mobile Station Emulator associated with the Private/Residential Base Station communicates with either a cellular network or a personal communications service (PCS) over a digital channel to enable hand-in and hand-out, control the emissions of the Private/Residential Base Station, and provide control and monitoring functions to other devices connected to the Private/Residential Base Station. Calls directed to a mobile station may be coupled to the Private/Residential Base Station via a landline connection to the public-switched telephone network or via a radio-frequency link between the mobile station and a cellular network, either directly or via the Mobile Station Emulator. Devices that are controlled and/or monitored from the cellular network may be connected to the Private/Residential Base Station via a radio frequency link or via a wired connection to either the Private/Residential Base Station or the Mobile Station Emulator.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to telephone communication systems and, in particular, to personal telephone communication systems permitting telephone connections via a local radio network and via an external radio network. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system which permits seamless rerouting of existing telephone connections between the local radio network and the extended radio network, direct control of the emissions of the local radio network by the external radio network, and remote control and monitoring of devices within the local radio network from the external radio network.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cordless telephone systems are well-known in the prior art. A cordless telephone system generally includes a portable cordless handset and a cordless base station which is connected to a telephone company phone system by a landline. The cordless base station has an assigned landline telephone number which allows the user to place and receive calls utilizing the cordless portable handset within a limited range of the cordless portable base station, such as within a home or office. However, due to the limited range present within such systems, a cordless portable handset provides the user with only relatively local radio-telephone communication.
Radio-telephone communication outside the range of a cordless telephone system may also be provided to the user via a cellular telephone system. A cellular telephone system typically includes cellular subscriber units which may be mobile or portable and cellular base stations which are connected to the public telephone company via one or more cellular switching networks. Each cellular subscriber has an assigned cellular telephone number which allows the user to place and receive calls within a widespread range of the cellular base stations, such as throughout a metropolitan area. However, the cost of utilizing a cellular telephone is generally much greater than the cost of utilizing a cordless telephone service.
Recently, in an effort to reduce this problem, a radio telephone has been introduced which may access both a wide-area cellular telephone system and one or more lower-cost cordless base stations at the user's home or office, such as a so-called "microcellular" telephone system within a home or office which may be utilized to provide wireless communications within a limited range. Such a system may use either the landline telephone number or the assigned cellular telephone number to place and receive calls.
A radio telephone which transmits and receives calls in both a cellular and a cordless system typically has the capability of selecting the system within which to operate; however, no provision currently exists for the seamless handoff of an existing telephone connection between a private microcellular or cordless system and the wide-area cellular network.
It should therefore be apparent that a need exists for a method and system which would provide seamless rerouting of existing telephone connections between local radio networks and an extended radio network, direct control of the emissions of the local radio network by the external radio network, and remote control and monitoring of devices within the local radio network from the external radio network.

Private radiotelephone system with enhanced telephone system interface

Southwestern Bell Technology Resources, Inc.


A system may include a PWM (Pulse Width Modulator) configured to generate a PWM signal, a signal modifier configured to generate a modified PWM signal that includes a sampling activation signal having a different frequency than the PWM signal, fan drive circuitry configured to provide power to a fan in response to the modified PWM signal; and a sampling unit configured to sample a fan tachometer signal in response to an indication that the fan is currently powered.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fans, and more particularly, to measuring the rotational speed of a fan.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fans are often used to evacuate warm air from enclosures in which electronic systems are contained. For example, most computer systems include at least one fan to aid in system cooling. The increased airflow provided by fans aids in eliminating waste heat that may otherwise build up and adversely affect system operation.
Control of fans in a system typically involves a fan control unit executing a fan control algorithm. A fan control algorithm may determine the method for controlling one or more fans that are configured to evacuate warm air from a system enclosure. For example, the fan control algorithm may specify that a fan's speed should be increased or decreased dependent upon a detected temperature. Such control algorithms may also involve turning off a fan if the temperature is deemed cool enough to do so.
Fans often include a tachometer output that provides a signal indicative of the current speed of the fan. The tachometer signal may be used to determine whether the fan is operating properly. Often, fans used for CPU and/or computer system cooling have a three-wire interface with wires for power, ground, and the tachometer signal. Fan drive systems often use a PWM (pulse width modulator) to drive an external circuit that controls the voltage between the power and ground interfaces of the fan, which in turn controls the speed of the fan. PWMs are useful because they provide a digital control for the pulse width of a signal. The fan is turned on for the duration of the pulse and turned off between pulses. The duty cycle of the pulse train currently being provided to the fan determines the fan's speed.
One problem that results from using PWMs to drive fan circuits is that the fan is not powered for a fixed amount of time between each pulse. During this time, the tachometer circuitry associated with the fan does not receive power. As a result, the tachometer signal output by the fan may not accurately represent the current fan speed during the time between pulses. Similarly, when the fan is turned off, the tachometer signal does not indicate the speed of the fan as the fan spins down. One technique that is currently used to measure fan speed in these situations involves using an analog filtering system to measure the back EMF (Electromotive Force) inserted into the fan tachometer signal by the rotating fan. However, it is desirable to be able to accurately detect fan speed using a digital technique.

Method and apparatus for measuring the rotational speed of a fan


A centroiding method is provided for an optical tracking system including a laser used for countermeasuring purposes in which a pencil thin laser beam is accurately positioned onto a target through the use of centroiding techniques for ascertaining the position not only of the target but also the laser beam, with the centroiding techniques resulting in a sub-pixel level resolution. The sub-pixel resolution permits utilization of smaller cost-effective focal plane arrays by giving the small focal plane array a resolution associated with much larger focal plane arrays.

COUNTERMANPAD Applications abound in which countermeasures are used to deflect or defeat an incoming shoulder-fired missile. In order to divert or defeat the incoming missile, infrared laser radiation is projected towards the target with a so-called jam code which confuses the seeker in the missile and causes the missile to be diverted away from its intended target.
Countermeasuring incoming missiles can be accomplished utilizing flares, and if the incoming missile is a heat-seeking missile, then the heat-seeking missile will follow all the flares as opposed to the original target.
However, if the target is large, meaning it has large bright engines which produce a significant IR signature, then the incoming missile will home in on the rather large thermal signature from the aircraft, such as a 747. If an IR countermeasure laser is used to countermeasure the missile and if its beam is too wide, there will not be enough energy on the missile's seeker and the missile will still home in on the bright engine. Thus, there is a requirement for a pencil thin laser beam to concentrate sufficiently high energy onto the missile's seeker.
If one had an infinitely high-power laser, one could tolerate a wide beam. However, this is not practical and in order to minimize laser power as well as size, it is more appropriate to generate a pencil-thin laser beam which concentrates its energy in a very small but intense spot. The intensity of this laser beam is such that it completely drowns out the thermal signature of a large target.
However, when generating a pencil-thin laser beam, pointing accuracy is of utmost importance. For instance, for such a pencil-thin laser beam there is a requirement that the pointing accuracy be less than a detector's Instantaneous-Field-of-View (IFOV), which at 8 miles is of less than 4 feet.
Ascertaining where the target is to this pointing accuracy is extremely difficult because the IR image of the target is blurred out on the focal plane array normally used and overlaps numbers of pixels. Normally, the resolution is limited to the IFOV of a pixel. For a Focal Plane Array (FPA), the angular error is associated with the size of a pixel, whereas the requirement is on the order of ¼ of a pixel's IFOV.
While auto boresighting techniques are utilized to establish the exact position of the laser beam in space, the center of energy of the blur is difficult to ascertain, especially when utilizing a focal point of array having a resolution limited by the pixel IFOV.
It is therefore important to be able to ascertain laser pointing direction and the IR image center to an accuracy better than that associated with the IFOV of a pixel.
As will be appreciated with a very tight pencil-thin laser beam used for concentrating energy in a very small cross-section, it is exceedingly important to be able to take the blurred out IR missile plume image which can overlap a number of pixels on the focal plane array and determine the exact point at which the laser beam is to be aimed to accuracies greater than the pixel level resolution of the array.
More particularly, detector arrays used in countermeasure systems employ a focal plane array onto which energy is imaged. The resolution of the focal plane array is determined by the size of the array and the pixel size. For very large arrays, such as 1028×1028 arrays, pixel size is very small and resolution is only limited by this small pixel size. In some cases pixel size can be under 10 microns and with improved optics the images can be focused down to such a small spot.
However, these large arrays are costly and exceed weight constraints. More importantly, the read out of so many pixels simultaneously or in rapid succession is difficult and requires a considerable amount of processing. There is therefore a need to provide the same resolution as a large array in a small affordable 128×128 array. To do this one needs sub-pixel resolution.
All things being equal, the size of the pixels determine the effective pixel IFOV and up until the present time, the resolution that determines the location of the target has been limited by the inability of small arrays to resolve focal plane array images below pixel level.
To put it another way, depending on how much jam energy one wants to put on the target, the efficiency of the jamming is related to how large the aircraft is, because the larger the aircraft, the brighter the engine. The brighter the engine, the more energy that must be focused onto the target to sufficiently increase the jam-to-signal ratio or J to S. Depending on the platform one uses, one has to generate a considerable J to S for bright engines.
One can either spread energy out into the environment like a big flashlight beam, but it is very weak compared to the bright engine. Thus, in order to project sufficient energy onto the target, one has to shrink the beam to pencil thinness, thus to concentrate the energy into a small spot. This means that track accuracy is very tight or the spot will miss the target.

Method for centroiding and tracking a distorted optical image

BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc.


A welded joint of duplex stainless steel, which can suppress precipitation σ phase under high heat input welding, is excellent in SCC resistance under high-temperature chloride environments. A weld metal of the welded joint contains, in mass percent, C: at most 0.030%, Si: 0.20 to 1.00%, Mn: at most 8.00%, P: at most 0.040%, S: at most 0.0100%, Cu: at most 2.00%, Ni: 7.00 to 12.00%, Cr: 20.0 to 30.0%, Mo: 1 to 4%, N: 0.100 to 0.350%, sol. Al: at most 0.040%, and O: at most 0.035%, the balance being Fe and impurities. The weld metal satisfies Expressions (1) and (3):2.2Cr+7Mo+3Cu>66  (1)Cr+11Mo+10Ni−12(Cu+30N)<100  (3)where a content (mass percent) of each element in one of the base metal and weld metal is used for each element in Expressions (1) and (3).

Oil and natural gas produced from oil fields and gas fields contain associated gas. The associated gas contains corrosive gas such as carbon dioxide gas (CO2) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Line pipes transport the associated gas together with the oil and the natural gas. Hence, the line pipes suffer from problems of stress corrosion cracking (SCC), sulfide stress cracking (SSC), and general corrosion that causes a decrease in wall thickness.
The propagation speeds of SCC and SSC are high. Hence, SCC and SSC penetrate through the line pipes in a short time from the occurrence thereof. Moreover, SCC and SSC locally occur. Hence, steel materials for line pipes are required to have an excellent corrosion resistance (a SCC resistance, a SSC resistance, and a general corrosion resistance), and are required to have, particularly, a SCC resistance and a SSC resistance.
WO 96/18751 and JP 2003-171743A each propose a duplex stainless steel excellent in corrosion resistance. The duplex stainless steel according to WO 96/18751 contains 1 to 3% of Cu. WO 96/18751 describes that this increases the corrosion resistance of the duplex stainless steel under chloride and sulfide environments.
A method of producing the duplex stainless steel according to JP 2003-171743A involves properly adjusting the contents of Cr, Ni, Cu, Mo, N, and W and controlling the area fraction of a ferrite phase in the duplex stainless steel to 40 to 70%. JP 2003-171743A describes that this increases the strength, toughness, and seawater corrosion resistance of the duplex stainless steel.

NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION


Lipid compositions enriched in unsaturated fatty acid-containing triacylglycerols are made from menhaden oil (MO) and partially hydrogenated menhaden oil (PHMO) to provide a lipid composition containing enriched monounsaturated fatty acid esters (MUFAs) and polyunsaturated fatty acid esters (PUFAs).

The present invention pertains to enriched unsaturated fatty acid-containing triacylglycerols and a method of making them employing menhaden oil (MO) or partially hydrogenated menhaden oil (PHMO). In particular, the method involves the solvent fractionation of MO or PHMO to provide a lipid composition containing enriched amounts of unsaturated fatty acid esters (UFA or UFAs) including monounsaturated fatty acid esters (MUFA or MUFAs) and polyunsaturated fatty acid esters (PUFA or PUFAs).
One established approach to reducing plasma cholesterol levels is to consume a large proportion of dietary triglycerides as polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) derivatives. The most widely occurring dietary PUFA is linoleic acid (C18:2n-6, or 9,12-octadecadienoic acid), which constitutes more than half of the fatty acid triglycerides of corn, soy, and safflower vegetable oils. The cholesterol lowering ability of PUFAs is believed to result from increased LDL receptor activity. See Spady and Dietschy, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA, Vol. 82 (1985), pp.4526-4530. This well established lowering of plasma LDL cholesterol concentration when PUFAs are substituted for dietary saturated fatty acids (hereinafter SFA or SFAs) provides the rationale for the widespread substitution of a variety of vegetable oils for animal fats in cooking and food formulations. The American Heart Association in its Phase I and Phase II Recommended Diets has approved the use of PUFAs as part of a large scale dietary modification for the purpose of lowering cholesterol levels in the general population. See, e.g., S. M. Grundy, Disorders of Lipids and Lipoprotein, in Internal Medicine, Stein, ed., (2nd ed. 1987), pp. 2035-2046.
However, PUFAs have significant deleterious health consequences as well as beneficial ones. Several negative effects of PUFAs may be ascribed to their increased rate of reaction via free-radical mechanisms. See, e.g., B. Halliwell and J. Gutteridge, xe2x80x9cLipid Peroxidation,xe2x80x9d Ch. 4 in Free Radicals in Biology and Medicine (2d ed. 1989). PUFAs usually have two vinylic groups separated by a methylene carbon, as is exemplified by the 9,12 diene structure of linoleic acid. Their susceptibility to peroxidation and cross-linking reactions implicates PUFAs in several undesirable processes such as tissue aging, tumorigenesis and lowering the level of beneficial HDL cholesterol as well as the level of harmful LDL cholesterol.
Monounsaturated fatty acids, such as oleic acid (C18:1n-9) or (cis-9-octadecenoic acid), are known to reduce blood cholesterol levels in non-hypertriglyceridemic individuals (F. H. Mattson and S. M. Grundy, J. Lipid Res., 26, 1985, pp. 94-202). Among vegetable oils, those of olive, peanut, rapeseed and canola have been identified as being rich sources of MUFA, with the latter type fatty acids constituting from 50% to 80% of their fatty acid composition. Because of the importance placed on dietary MUFA, it has been recommended that MUFA intake be as high as half of the total recommended dietary intake of calories from fat (30%) as a means for reducing the risk of coronary artery disease (R. J. Nicolosi, A. F. Stucchi and J. Loscalzo,Chapter 7 in Health Effects of Dietary Fatty Acids, G. J. Nelson, ed., AOCS Press, Champaign, Ill., 1991, pp. 77-82; M. Bockisch in Fats and Oils Handbook, AOCS Press, Champaign, Ill. 1998; K.-T. Lee and C. C. Akoh, Food Rev. Int., 14, 1998, pp. 17-34).
Although scientifically based claims of health benefits derived from dietary MUFAs previously have been asserted for oleic acid, other monounsaturated fatty acids also occur naturally. The most common are 11-eicosenoic acid (C20:1n-9) and 13-docosenoic acid (C22:1n-9), both of which are found in high levels in some oilseed plants such as jojoba and rapeseed. The shorter chain MUFA 9-palmitoleic acid (C16:1n-7) occurs as a minor component (ca. 2%) in olive and cottonseed oils and in trace amounts in a few other commercially available vegetable oils. Palmitoleic acid occurs in somewhat high amounts in animal fat triglycerides such as lard and tallow (up to 5%) and in still higher levels in some fish oils such as sardine oil. The next lower homologue, myristoleic (9-tetradecenoic) acid (C14:1n-5), occurs in minor amounts in animal fat and in butter. The even lower homologue, lauroleic (9-dodecenoic) acid (C12:1n-3), occurs rarely and in small amounts in natural sources.
Several animal fats contain short chain MUFAs in sufficiently high proportions to make them good starting materials for formulating desirable compositions. Chicken and turkey fats, beef tallow, and foot bone oil triglycerides contain C16:1n-7 in amounts of about 4-6% by weight. Some fish oils such as sardine and menhaden may contain as much as 10-16% C16:1n-7. Whale oil is reported to contain above 13% C16:1n-7, and the now unavailable sperm whale oil contained up to 26%. However, these fats and oils as rendered from the natural sources contain undesirably large relative proportions of the long chain fatty acids of the series C20:x and above. The more saturated and higher melting members C20:0, C20:1 and C22:0 have been reported to contribute to the high atherogenicity of peanut oil, a phenomenon comprehensible in light of the teachings of this patent. See F. Manganaro, et al., Lipids, 16, 1981, pp. 508-517. The polyunsaturated and lower melting members C20:2, C20:3, C20:4, C20:5, C22:2, C22:3, C22:4, C22:5, and C22:6 are non-atherogenic or even cardioprotective, but are highly sensitive to free radical oxidation and cross linking reactions because of their polyunsaturation.
The principal source of a dietary vegetable oil which contains appreciable amounts of C16:1n-7 is macadamia nuts. The two species, integrifolia and tetrafolia, contain C16:1n-7 in amounts ranging from 16 to 25% (w/w) of the fatty acids in the oil. However, both also contain about 2% to 4% C20 fatty acids. In addition, the other fatty acids of macadamia nut oil are closely similar in both identity and quantity to those present in olive oil.
Similarly, some natural fats and oils are acceptable starting materials from which to manufacture desirable compositions, that is , an oil enriched in the other selected short chain MUFAs. For example, tallow contains about 0.5% C14:1n-5. It also contains about 1% or more C20 to C22 fatty acids. Butterfat contains very large proportions, up to 3%, of C14:1n-5. However, butterfat has other lipid components, including a large fraction of C4 to C10 fatty acids. The latter are metabolized by a quite different pathway from the C12 and longer fatty acids. Butterfat also contains greater than 2% C20 fatty acids.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,198,250, food and pharmaceutical compositions containing short chain monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) and methods of using them are disclosed. In particular, as set forth in detail in that patent, MUFA compositions were formulated to produce beneficial improvements in the metabolic processing of lipids or glucose in animals to which the compositions of matter are regularly administered. Beneficial improvements in the metabolic processing of lipids are evidenced by different effects in various tissues. Generally, the metabolic processing of lipids may include any or all steps in the metabolic pathways which include, in part, lipid uptake from dietary sources, hydrolysis, esterification of fatty acids to produce other lipid species, packaging of lipids into lipoproteins, lipid transport, lipid storage in tissues, lipid or lipoprotein cellular uptake, lipid synthesis, enzymatic modification and catabolism, and pathological lipid deposition in arteries, liver, heart and in adipose tissue. As set forth in the disclosure of that patent in detail, regular or systematic administration of the formulated MUFA compositions provide beneficial improvements in metabolic processing.
In 1998, chicken was the most produced and consumed meat in the United States (USDA 1999, publication #LDP-M-55, Economic Research Service, Washington, D.C.). Despite its production and ready availability as a coproduct of chicken production, chicken fat, unlike beef tallow, is usually not used separately in other food or non-food uses. However, animal fats, in general, are of dietary concern because of their relatively high long-chain (C16 and C18 carbon atoms) saturated fatty acid (SFA) content. Chicken fat can be considered a source of MUFA since they constitute 45-50% of chicken fat fatty acids, while tallow contains only 30-40% MUFA (H. Brockerhoff, R. J. Hoyle and N. Wolmark, Biochem. Biophys. Acta, 116, 1966, pp. 67-72; M. Bockisch, in Fats and Oils Handbook, AOCS Press, Champaign, Ill. 1998).
In brief, MUFAs selected from the group composed of palmitoleic acid (C16:1) and its positional isomers, myristoleic (tetradecenoic) acid (C14:1) and its positional isomers and lauroleic (dodecenoic) acid (C12:1), or their mixtures, whether as free acids, salts or esters thereof, are known to provide improvements in the metabolic processing of lipids. The beneficial health effects of the n-3 class of PUFAs, such as 5,8,11,14,17-eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 4,7,10,13,16,19-docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are well documented. However, natural sources for such MUFAs, such as macadamia nut oil, are in limited supply. Also, natural compositions containing enriched n-3 PUFAs are needed. In order to satisfy the demands for MUFAs and PUFAs, improved methods are needed. Furthermore, new lipid compositions of UFAs containing PUFAs and MUFAs are needed.
This invention is directed to a method of making a lipid composition enriched in unsaturated fatty acid esters from menhaden oil (MO) and partially hydrogenated menhaden oil (PHMO). According to the method, MO or PHMO is solvent fractionated to produce lipid fractions that are enriched in unsaturated fatty acid-containing triacylglycerols. The fractionated lipid composition has an increased amount of unsaturated fatty acid esters and a decreased amount of saturated fatty acid esters compared to their original amounts in the MO or PHMO.
According to one preferred method of the invention, PHMO is solvent fractionated with a solvent, such as acetone, and the fractionation is conducted at a low temperature, preferably below ambient or room temperature, or below the range of 0xc2x0 C. to xe2x88x9215xc2x0 C., and, more preferably, in a range of about xe2x88x9218xc2x0 C. to about xe2x88x9240xc2x0 C. In another form of the method, the oil is liquified and then dry-fractionated over a temperature range of about xe2x88x9210xc2x0 C. to about 35xc2x0 C. during which time liquid and solid phases are formed. In the case of MO, dry fractionation is conducted at about xe2x88x9210xc2x0 C., whereas with PHMO, the dry fractionation temperature is about 30xc2x0 C. The separated liquid phase is then solvent fractionated with a suitable solvent, such as acetone, at low temperatures on the order of about 0xc2x0 C. to about xe2x88x9240xc2x0 C.
The unsaturated fatty acid-containing triacylglycerols enriched fractions produced by the method have significantly increased amounts of PUFAs and MUFAs. For instance, solvent fractionations at about xe2x88x9218xc2x0 to about xe2x88x9238xc2x0 C. produced lipid compositions having about 18% to about 32% by weight more UFAs compared to the original amounts of UFAs in the MO or PHMO. In contrast, saturated fatty acids (SFAs) in the solvent fractionated lipids decreased to about 7% to about 31% by weight of the original SFAs present in the MO or PHMO. In general, the UFAs increased about 5% to about 32% by weight and SFAs decreased about 7% to about 31% by weight for liquid and solid fractions for MO and PHMO. Correspondingly, the MUFAs in the fractionated lipid compositions increased about 0.5% to about 24% by weight of their original amounts; whereas the PUFAs increased about 3% to about 40% by weight for both MO and PHMO, and the SFAs decreased about 5% to about 50% by weight of their original amounts, and the eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) classes increased about 5% to about 18% by weight of their original amounts.
When the two-step process is used, separation of a liquid phase of the MO or PHMO is required by dry fractionation at ambient temperatures, preferably a range of about xe2x88x9210xc2x0 C. to 35xc2x0 C., prior to solvent fractionation. The two-step process employs less solvent in the solvent fractionation step. MO did not give an isolatable ( less than 2%) solid fraction above 0xc2x0 C. or a liquid fraction below xe2x88x9210xc2x0 C. Similarly PHMO remained mostly liquid above 31xc2x0 C. and solid below 18xc2x0 C.
In summary, novel lipid compositions are produced by the method of this invention. These compositions provide a number of advantages. For example, the content of the PUFAs, MUFAs and EPA and DHA classes in the lipid compositions are increased with a significant decrease of SFAs. An increase of the ratio of the unsaturated to the saturated fatty acids is also provided. The method offers an overall natural product for human consumption to facilitate the metabolic processing of lipids and avoid unwanted lipid deposits.
Other benefits and advantages of this invention will be further understood with reference to the following detailed description and examples.

Solvent fractionation of menhaden oil and partially hydrogenated menhaden oil for making lipid compositions enriched in unsaturated fatty acid-containing triacylglycerols

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture


A toy is hung and is movable on a cord between an upper limit position and a lower limit position. The toy includes a frame unit, a driving device, a planetary gearing, and a cord winding gearing assembly. The driving device has a power source installed on the frame unit, and a first output shaft journalled on the frame unit and driven by the power source. The sun gear of the planetary gearing is sleeved fixedly on the first output shaft so that, when driven by the driving device, the planetary gear of the planetary gearing rotates about the first output shaft. A return spring interconnects the frame unit and the cord winding gearing assembly so as to bias the driving gear of the cord winding gearing assembly to engage the planetary gear of the planetary gearing. The cord winding gearing assembly includes a reel connected to the cord winding gearing assembly so as to be driven by the power source to rotate in a direction, thereby winding the cord thereon. The driving gear and the planetary gear winds the cord on the reel so as to cause the toy to ascend along the cord to the upper limit position. The disengagement of the driving gear from the planetary gear causes the cord to unwind from the reel so as to enable the toy to descend along the cord to the lower limit position.

1. Field of The Invention
This invention relates to a toy, more particularly to a toy which is hung on the lower end portion of a cord and which is capable of reciprocating movement on the cord.
2. Description of the Related Art
Owing to the scientific change with each passing day, various toys that are movable in different manners are required to satisfy the needs of the consumer.


A method and a server are described for supporting handover by a network node in a mobile communication system. A message related to a handover, including a first parameter indicating a cause for the handover, is received. A handover command message is transmitted to a first base station for a terminal to perform a handover to a second base station, when the network node determines that handover is needed based on the cause. A status report message including a second parameter indicating whether or not the cause for handover is solved is received. A reverse handover request message is transmitted to the second base station for the terminal to perform reverse handover to a target base station, when the network node determines that a reverse handover is needed. The network node determines whether the handover or the reverse handover is needed.

In order to cope with various forums and new technologies related to the 4th generation mobile communications, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) who enacts the technical standards of 3G mobile communication systems has proceeded with studies on the Long Term Evolution/System Architecture Evolution (LTE/SAE) technologies since the end of 2004 as a part of the effort to optimize and enhance the performance of 3GPP technologies.
The SAE led by 3GPP SA WG2 is a study on network technologies for the purpose of determining a network structure together with the LTE work of 3GPP TSG RAN and supporting mobility between heterogeneous networks. In recent years, the SAE has been considered one of the latest important standard issues in 3GPP. It is a work to develop a system supporting various radio access technologies on the basis of 3GPP IP systems, and has been progressed to aim at an optimized packet based system that minimizes a transmission delay with enhanced transmission capability.
A high-level reference model defined by 3GPP SA WG2 includes a non-roaming case and roaming cases having various scenarios, and the detailed description thereof is given in 3GPP standard documents TS 23.401 and TS 23.402. In FIG. 1, there is illustrated a structural diagram of a network in which the model is schematically reconfigured.
FIG. 1 is a structural diagram illustrating an evolved mobile communication network.
One of the distinctive characteristics of the network structure of FIG. 1 is that it is based on a 2-tier model having an eNode B of the Evolved UTRAN and a gateway of the core network. The eNode B has a similar function, although not exactly the same, to the eNode B and RNC of the existing UMTS system, and the gateway has a function similar to the SGSN/GGSN of the existing system.
Another distinctive characteristic is that the control plane and the user plane between the access system and the core network are exchanged with different interfaces. While one Iu interface exists between the RNC and the SGSN in the existing UMTS system, two separate interfaces, i.e., S1-MME and S1-U, are used in the Evolved Packet Core (SAE) system since the Mobility Management Entity (MME) 51 taking charge of the processing of a control signal is structured to be separated from the gateway (GW). For the GW, there are two types of gateways, a serving gateway (hereinafter, 'S-GW') 52 and a packet data network gateway (hereinafter, 'PDN-GW' or 'P-GW') 53.
FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a relation between an (e)NodeB and a Home (e)NodeB.
In the 3rd or 4th generation mobile communication systems, attempts continue to increase their cell capacity in order to support high-capacity and bi-directional services such as multimedia contents, streaming, and the like.
In other words, with the development of communication and widespread multimedia technologies, various high-capacity transmission technologies are required, and accordingly, a method of allocating more frequency resources is used to increase radio capacity, but there is a limit to allocate more frequency resources to a plurality of users with restricted frequency resources.
In order to increase cell capacity, there has been an approach in which high frequency bandwidth is used and the cell diameter is reduced. If a cell having a small cell radius such as a pico cell is applied, it is possible to use a higher bandwidth than the frequency that has been used in the existing cellular system, thereby providing an advantage capable of transmitting more information. However, more base stations should be installed in the same area, thereby having a disadvantage of high investment cost.
In recent years, a femto base station such as Home (e)NodeB 30 has been proposed among the approaches for increasing cell capacity using such a small cell.
Studies on the Home (e)NodeB 30 have been started by 3GPP Home (e)NodeB WG3, and also in recent years, actively proceeded by SA WG.
An (e)NodeB 20 illustrated in FIG. 2 corresponds to a macro base station, and a Home (e)NodeB 30 illustrated FIG. 2 may be a femto base station. This specification will be described based on the terms of 3GPP, and the term (e)NodeB is used when referring to both NodeB and eNodeB. Also, the term Home (e)NodeB is used when referring to both Home NodeB and Home eNodeB.
The (e)NodeB 20 transmits and receives a signal of the MME 51 and control plane, and transmits or receives a signal of the S-GW 52 and user plane. Similarly, the Home (e)NodeB 30 also transmits or receives a signal of the MME 51 and control plane, and transmits and receives data of the S-GW 52 and user plane. The PDN-GW 53 performs a role of transmitting and/or receiving data from the S-GW 52 to and/or from an IP service network of the mobile communication service provider.
The interface illustrated in a dotted line denotes a control signal transmission between an (e)NodeB 20 and a Home (e)NodeB 30 and MME 510. Also, the interface illustrated in a solid line denotes a data transmission of the user plane.
FIG. 3 is an exemplary view illustrating a network structure including a Home Node and a Home (e)NodeB.
As illustrated in FIG. 3(a), a core network 50 may include a MME 51, a serving gateway (S-GW) 52, a SGSN 56, and a packet data network gateway or PDN gateway (P-GW) 53. In addition, the core network 50 may further include a PCRF 54, and HSS 55.
In FIG. 3(a), there are illustrated a Home NodeB 31 by the UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) and a Home eNodeB 32 by the evolved-UTRAN (E-UTRAN) 32. The Home NodeB 31 by the UTRAN is connected to the SGSN 56 through a gateway 35. The Home eNodeB 32 by the E-UTRAN is connected to the MME 51 and the S-GW 52. Here, a control signal is transmitted to the MME 51, and a user data signal is transmitted to the S-GW 52. Furthermore, there may exist a gateway 35 between the Home eNodeB 32 by the E-UTRAN and the MME 51.
On the other hand, referring to FIG. 3(b), there is illustrated an interface of the Home eNodeB 32 by the E-UTRAN. The Home eNodeB 32 by the E-UTRAN and the gateway 35 are referred to as a Home eNodeB subsystem. The Home eNodeB 32 by the E-UTRAN is connected to the UE 10 through an LTE-Uu interface. The Home eNodeB 32 by the E-UTRAN is connected to the MME 51 through a S1-MME interface. Also, the Home eNodeB 32 by the E-UTRAN is connected to the S-GW 52 through a S1-U interface. Here, the S1-MME interface and the S1-U interface may pass through the gateway 35. The MME 51 and the S-GW 52 are connected to each other through a S11 interface. Furthermore, the MME 51 and the HSS 55 are connected to each other through a S6a interface.
FIG. 4 is an exemplary view illustrating an interface between a Home (e)NodeB 32 and a MME 51 illustrated in FIG. 3 using a protocol stack.
As illustrated in FIG. 4, the Home eNodeB 32 and the MME 51 may include a first layer (physical layer), a second layer (medium access control layer), a third layer (Internet protocol (IP) layer), a signaling control transmission protocol (SCTP), and a S1 application protocol (S1-AP), respectively.
The S1-AP is an application layer protocol between the Home eNodeB 32 and the MME 51. The SCTP guarantees the transmission of a signaling message between the Home eNodeB 32 and the MME 51.


An abrasive tool is provided that may include a body, which may include abrasive particles contained within a bond material. The abrasive particles may be a super abrasive material. The body may further include at least one of a ratio of tungsten to cast iron (W/CI) of not greater than about 1, a ratio of copper-containing compositions to cast iron (CCC/CI) of not greater than about 1, a ratio of titanium-containing compositions to cast-iron (TiCC/CI) of not greater than about 1, a ratio of tungsten carbide to cast iron (WC/CI) of not greater than about 1, a ratio of tungsten carbide to copper-containing compositions (WC/CCC) of not greater than about 1, a ratio of copper-containing compositions and titanium-containing compositions to cast iron ((CCC+TiC)/CI) of not greater than about 1.5 or a combination thereof.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The following is directed to an abrasive tool, and more particularly, an abrasive tool including abrasive particles and a bond material.
2. Description of the Related Art
Abrasive tools used in machining applications typically include bonded abrasive articles and coated abrasive articles. Coated abrasive articles are generally layered articles having a backing and an adhesive coat to fix abrasive particles to the backing, the most common example of which is sandpaper. Bonded abrasive articles consist of rigid, and typically monolithic, three-dimensional, abrasive composites in the form of wheels, discs, segments, mounted points, hones and other article shapes, which can be mounted onto a machining apparatus, such as a grinding, polishing or cutting apparatus. Some bonded abrasive articles may be particularly useful in grinding, shaping or cutting certain types of workpieces, including for example, glass materials.
Accordingly, the industry continues to demand improved bonded abrasive articles and methods for their use.

Abrasive tools and methods of forming the same


A clamp for rotating the adjustable mechanism of a hand tool to open and close it. The clamp including spring biased arms forcing upper jaws toward each other to engage the hand tool and a lower shaft engageable with a drive socket of a power tool. The clamp comprising two clamp arms that are spring biased to force the jaws toward each other for gripping the adjustable mechanism of a hand tool. The clamp capable of rotating the hand tool to tighten or loosen it depending upon the rotation of the drive socket.

The invention in general is directed to providing an aid to operate to close or to open hand tools, and the like, that would otherwise require repetitive turning motions by hand. Specifically, the invention is directed toward an accessory clamp that may be rotated by a cordless drive device for opening and closing hand tools such as C-clamps, vises, vise grips and the like.
Various hand tools require tightening by means of turning a helical threaded shaft for closing jaws or other gripping portions, such as C-clamp or vise grips. It is necessary to rotate these threaded portions by hand to the closed or open position. This activity is required for the amateur hobbyist, homeowner/do-it-yourself worker, as well as professional craftsmen and skilled artisans. The task of opening and closing these clamping-type devices is time consuming and requires repetitive rotating motions which often require two hands and can be the source of tendinitis or other musculoskeletal debilitations.
Accordingly, it is a primary goal of the invention to provide a clamp for releasably attaching to the locking portions of a hand tool and having the capability of being drivingly attached to a powered driver for rotation of the tool's adjustable mechanism of the type that is normally turned by hand.
It is a further goal of the invention to provide an accessory clamp which resiliently grips a rotatable portion of a hand tool for closing and opening it and includes a driveable shaft engageable with the drive socket of a power source, such as an electric screwdriver or drill.
It is also a goal of the invention to provide a clamp engageable with a drive socket of a cordless electric power tool, such as a cordless drill or screwdriver operating at low RPM's and relatively high torque for operably rotating the threaded adjustment member of a hand tool.
It is another object of the invention to provide a drive socket-engageable portion of an accessory clamp that includes an overload release to prevent the motor of the power source from operating against a jammed or locked tool held by the tool gripping portion of the accessory clamp.
It is yet another allied goal of the invention to provide for an accessory clamp for gripping, at one end, the rotatable portion of a tightenable hand tool at opposing gripping jaws capable of engaging a variety of configurations for the hand-adjustable tightening portions of various hand tools, and at the other end being capable of attachment to a cordless power tool for the driving rotation thereof.
It is further an auxiliary objective of the invention to provide for an accessory clamp that includes opposing jaw-like members that float loosely relative to each other to compensate for and grippingly accommodate variously shaped hand tools.

Cordless drive power driven accessory clamp


Systems and method for idle loop detection and control are disclosed. A processor operates in operating modes including an active mode and a disabled mode, and an interconnect bus is coupled between the processor and one or more additional electronic circuits. Logic within the processor is coupled to snoop the interconnect bus, and the logic is programmed to detect a new idle loop based upon repeated instructions on the interconnect bus and to place the processor in the disabled mode based upon execution of the new idle loop, which represents a previously unknown idle loop for the processor. Further, the logic can be programmed to store state data for the processor when the new idle loop is detected, and the logic can also be programmed to place the processor in the active mode based upon detection of a wakeup event for the new idle loop on the interconnect bus.

Multicore system-on-a-chip (SoC) computer systems include software instructions executing on one or more processors, and these processors communicate with other electronic circuits such as hardware accelerators, hardware peripherals, software instructions executing on other processors, and/or other electronic circuits. In such systems, there are occasions where the instructions executing on a processor awaits occurrence of certain events from a hardware peripheral, a hardware accelerator, or from software instructions executing on another processor. Examples of such situations include but are not limited to, software polling for a specific status update from hardware, software thread execution on one processor communicating with another software thread running on another processor, software executing in a branch-to-self loop awaiting interrupt for further processing, and/or other processes where a processor waits for a response from another electronic circuit. In such wait conditions, the software instructions executed by the processor are not doing useful work while waiting for occurrence of the event, thereby wasting underlying system resources. Such a code fragment of wasted software instructions is known as an "idle loop" to signify that the processor is not making tangible forward progress while performing these wasted software instructions. Code fragments known a priori to be idle loops can be detected during system operation, and a power-down command can be issued to the processor until the event for ending the idle loop has occurred.
FIG. 1 (Prior Art) is a block diagram of an example embodiment 100 for a prior solution where a processor, implemented as central processing unit (CPU), is placed in a disabled mode upon detection of executing code fragment a priori known to be an idle loop. In block 102, the CPU starts execution. In block 104, a determination is made whether the CPU is already disabled by an idle loop optimization with respect to known idle loop code fragments. If the determination is "NO," then flow passes to block 110 where the code is executed. If the determination is "YES," then flow passes to block 106 where a determination is made whether an a priori wake event is pending for the CPU. If "NO," then the flow loops back to block 106. If "YES," then flow passes to block 108. In block 108, a wakeup is executed for the CPU, and the CPU then prepares for code execution. Block 110 is then reached where code is executed. After code is executed in block 110, block 112 is reached where a determination is made whether the CPU is executing a code fragment known a priori to be an idle loop. If "NO," then flow passes to block 110 where code is executed. This continues until the determination in block 112 is "YES" and block 114 is reached. In block 114, preparation is made for the CPU to enter a disabled mode. Block 116 is then reached where the CPU is disabled. Flow then passes back to block 104.
Thus, although mechanisms provided in prior solutions improve performance by disabling the CPU under the condition where software is executing an idle loop rely, these mechanism require prior knowledge of what software code fragments cause the idle-loops. This requirement for a priori knowledge (i.e., known before operation of the CPU rather than from observation or experience during operation of the CPU) for potential code fragments causing idle loops means that code fragments that cause idle loops, but are not known a priori to cause idle loops, are missed. As such, prior solutions are not effective for such idle loops that are unknown prior to operation of the CPU.

Idle loop detection and control for processors


A method of determining the rate of change of optical thickness of a thin-film during deposition comprising the steps of illuminating the thin-film (5) with electromagnetic radiation (3) having a range of wavelengths, measuring the transmission spectrum (6,7) of the thin-film (5) at least twice during the deposition process to determine the wavelength λt or turning points in the transmission spectrum, and using the measurements to determine the rate to change of optical thickness of the thin-film as a function of time. The method further comprises the steps of predicting a time T in the growth process at which the wavelength λt of the turning point in the transmission spectrum of the thin-film will be substantially equal to the wavelength λd of the turning point in the transmission spectrum of thin-film at its optical design thickness, and interrupting the growth process such that growth ceases at time T.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the growth of thin films, in particular to a method and apparatus for measuring and controlling accurately the optical thickness of a thin film during growth and to devices produced thereby.
2. Description of the Art
Thin film technology is increasingly relevant to a wide range of scientific and industrial fields including semiconductors, optics and telecommunications. One particular application of thin-film technology is in the field of fibre-optic telecommunications, where multi-layer thin-film optical filters are routinely used for wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) employs multiple optical signal channels simultaneously within a single optical fibre, each optical signal channel using light of a different wavelength. In wavelength division multiplexing, the thin-film optical filters are used to separate out (demultiplex) signals at the receiver.
The above filters effectively govern how much information can be passed down an optical fibre and there is an ever-present requirement to improve the data capacity of such WDM telecommunications systems by reducing the spacing between adjacent signal channels, thereby increasing the number of channels available. Conventional dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) communications systems typically employ over one hundred optical signal channels, evenly spaced at 100 GHz intervals, in the range 186700 GHz to 197100 GHz according to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) set of standardised frequencies [EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering Inc, Quebec City, Canada, Guide to WDM technology and testing, 2000, pp 15].
In an attempt to increase data capacity, the telecommunications industry is now proposing that the channel spacing be further reduced from 100 GHz to 50 GHz. However, such a proposal is not without attendant disadvantages and the reduced channel spacing of 50 GHz places onerous tolerance requirements on the multi-layer thin-film optical filters that are used to demultiplex the signals at the optical-fibre receiver. Consequently, the optical thickness of the individual thin films layers that comprise such a multi-layer filter have to be measured and controlled as precisely as possible during the growth process.
A conventional method for measuring and controlling the optical thickness of a thin-film during growth is to use a quartz-crystal monitor inserted into the growth chamber along with the optical filter substrate [Macleod, H. A. Thin-film optical filters. Bristol: Institute of Physics Publishing (IoP), 2001, chapter 11.3.2]
A quartz-crystal monitor is a quartz crystal that is induced to oscillate at a given frequency. The quartz-crystal monitor is placed in the growth chamber so that it is exposed to the same thin film growth as the substrate. In this way, the mass and hence natural frequency of oscillation of the quartz-crystal changes as material is deposited onto the crystal. The change in mass can be translated to physical thickness if the density of the material being deposited is known. However, in order for the optical quarter-wave thickness to be calculated, the refractive index of the thin film at the design wavelength must also be known. These material parameters may depend on the growth process parameters, so may not be known to sufficient accuracy prior to the growth. At present, there is no satisfactory way of measuring the refractive index of the thin-film during deposition.
Optical monitoring systems may also be used to measure and subsequently control the thin-film thickness during growth. Optical monitoring systems typically consist of some sort of light source illuminating a test substrate which may or may not be one of the filters in the production batch, and a detector analysing the reflected or transmitted light [Macleod, H. A. Thin-film optical filters. Bristol: Institute of Physics Publishing (IoP), 2001, chapter 11.3.2]
For example, when a DWDM filter is being grown, a laser, whose wavelength is set to be at the design wavelength of the filter, is transmitted through the substrate. The variation in laser light intensity is then measured as the filter grows and the position of the first peak (or trough) in the transmission characteristic is looked for. Growth must be stopped before the first peak (or trough) is passed. This method is sometimes referred to as a laser turning point method. This method is an improvement over the quartz-crystal monitor since no physical parameters of the thin film material are required. However, laser turning point methods suffer several disadvantages. Firstly, terminating the growth process at the first peak (or trough) is difficult to achieve accurately since the intensity of the transmitted laser light can only normally be measured to an accuracy of +/−5% and the rate of change in intensity is very low.
Also, there is no possibility with this method of checking that the true turning point has been reached.
The accuracy of such an optical monitoring system may be improved by simulating the desired optical filter characteristic prior to growth. Typically, a broadband source is used to illuminate the filter and the broadband transmission characteristic is monitored as the filter grows. Deposition is terminated when the difference between the measured transmission characteristic and the simulated transmission characteristic satisfies a pre-determined error criterion.
A hybrid monitoring system utilising a quartz crystal monitor and an optical turning point technique in combination may also improve the accuracy with which the thickness of the individual thin-films layers may be monitored.
Despite any improvements that may be derived from combining the above monitoring techniques, all of the aforementioned methods have another inherent drawback; namely the methods are real-time monitoring techniques which only provide an indication of when the design characteristic of the thin-film has been achieved. Furthermore, any latency between the monitoring system providing an indication that the desired thin-film thickness has been achieved and the cessation of the growth process may lead to unacceptable inaccuracies in the thin-film thickness, leading to a degradation in the performance of the thin-film. Alternatively, the above methods will have to stop the growth process early if there is a significant time to termination of growth after any stop command is given.

Optical method measuring thin film growth