A new variety of hop plant (H87203-1) originating as the result of a controlled corss pollination between unpatented Galena female hop plant with unpatented John I. Haas, Inc. (Haas) male hop plant No. 833-53M, and unique particularly for its cones' unusually high percentage of beta acids when compared to its female parent variety Galena (unpatented) and otherwise as herein described.

Hops are grown commercially for use in flavoring beers, stouts and ales. Lupulin glands inside female hop cones provide the resins and essential oils which are the primary components of the hop flavor each variety imparts to beers, stouts, and ales. New hop varieties are evaluated for their growing characteristics, per acre hop cone yield (dried to approximately 8% moisture), the chemical composition of the resins and essential oils contained within the hop cone's lupulin glands, and the unique flavor each variety imparts to beers, stouts and ales. Only female hop plants produce cones containing lupulin glands, and thus only female hops have any commercial value. Male hop plants have no commercial value other than for use in breeding programs to create new varieties.
This invention relates to a new and distinct variety of hop and more particularly to as asexually reproduced hop variety selected from among hop plants resulting from a controlled cross pollination between an unpatented Galena female hop with unpatented John I. Haas, Inc. (Haas) male hop No. 833-53M.
Haas male hop No. 833-53M originated from a controlled cross pollination in 1982 between unpatented female hop USDA Accession No. 21055 and unpatented male hop USDA Accession No. 63015M.
The controlled cross pollination program resulting in the creation of the new hop variety, hereafter called "H87203-1", was performed in 1986 by Mr. Gene Probasco, a botanist employed by John I. Haas, Inc., in a Haas greenhouse located at 1112 North 16th Avenue, Yakima, Wash., 98902. Mr. Probasco discovered the H87203-1 variety in 1988, among the hop plants which were produced from the seeds resulting from the above described controlled cross pollination program.
The seeds from the cross between Galena female hop and Haas male hop No. 833-53M were planted in a Haas greenhouse in 1987. The most vigorous plants resulting from the cross were selected and planted in a Haas hop field located at Wada Farm, Yakima Golding Farms, Toppenish, Wash. This planting did not produce a crop during the planting year.
In 1988, as a result of chemical analysis and field observations of the hop plants resulting from the Galena female.times.Haas male 833-53M cross, Mr. Probasco was attracted to the H87203-1 hop plant for its unusually high percentage of beta acids, coupled with a relatively high percentage of alpha acids and a reasonable projected per acre cone yield. The per acre cone yield projections were based upon the cone production of the single H87203-1 hop plant observed in 1988. The H87203-1 plant was not asexually reproduced in 1988. The plant of this application has been repeatedly asexually reproduced by rooting cuttings at the address identified above. The clones of this plant have been observed to be identical to the original selection in every distinguishing characteristic and establish that the plant is genetically stable through successive generations by asexual propagation.
In 1988, brewing trials with hop cones from the new H87203-1 variety were conducted on a confidential and secret basis by a major brewery. For trade secret reasons, the identity of this brewery must remain confidential. The purpose of brewing trials is to ensure that beers, stouts, or ales produced using the new hop variety are indistinguishable in flavor, aroma and appearance from beers, stouts, or ales produced using the brewery's existing hop variety. This type of quality control is essential for a brewery to guarantee to its customers that a specific brand of beer, stout, or ale will consistently be the same when the new hop variety is used.
As a result of these 1988 brewing trials, the brewery decided to continue these tests of the new H87203-1 variety to determine the stability of its flavor, aroma and appearance characteristics over a period of years. Brewing trials with new varieties are usually conducted over a minimum of 3 years by major breweries before any decision is made as to whether or not the brewery will use the new variety in its brewing operation.
In 1989, the H87203-1 plant was not asexually reproduced. Further chemical analysis and field observations confirmed the new variety's unusually high percentage of beta acids, and its relatively high percentage of alpha acids and reasonable projected per acre cone yield. Brewing trials were again conducted by the same major brewery on a confidential basis, and resulted in the brewery deciding to continue trials with the new variety for a third year.
In 1990, second 2nd) generation rootstock from the H87203-1 variety was planted in a one acre test plot located at Wada Farm. This planting did not produce a crop during the planting year.
However, in 1990, chemical analysis and field observations of hop cones from the original H87203-1 variety again confirmed the new variety's unusually high percentage of beta acids, and its relatively high percentage of alpha acids and reasonable projected per acre cone yield. A third year of brewing trials by the same major brewery resulted in the brewery deciding to continue tests for a fourth year, with the fourth year tests to be conducted on hop cones from second generation plants.
In 1991, the first harvestable crop of the second (2nd) generation plants in the one-acre test plot provided additional information supporting the per acre cone yield projections made from the original H87203-1 plant identified in 1988 and confirmed the unusually high beta acids percentage characteristic of the new variety. The analytical data from chemical analysis of multiple random samples from bales of cones harvested from the one acre test plot showed an average beta acids percentage of 10.70% (ASBC spectrophotometric method). The first year per acre cone production for this one acre test plot was well within the average range of per acre cone production for a commercially viable hop variety. It is important to note that first year per acre cone yields in Washington state typically are lower than normal per acre yields for Washington state hop fields in subsequent years. Consequently, the per acre cone yield observations made from this first year one acre test plot were used to merely project anticipated normal yields for the new variety.
In 1991, the major brewery performed brewing trials of the first year crop of the second (2nd) generation plants in the one acre test plot. These tests were successful and the brewery decided to continue trials on beers brewed with hop cones from second (2nd) and third (3rd) generation plants in 1992.
Also,in 1991, John I. Haas, Inc., performed the first year trials of hexane extraction of the soft resins which include alpha acids and beta acids (hereafter "alpha acids extraction") on bales of the H87203-1 hop variety from the first crop produced from the one acre test plot. These initial extraction trials were successful because Haas was able to extract a minimum of 93% of the alpha acids present in the H87203-1 hop cones. John I. Haas, Inc. requires that a minimum of 93% of alpha acids be extractable from a new hop variety in order for the new variety to be considered potentially commercially viable.
In 1992, second (2nd) and third (3rd) generation rootstock from the H87203-1 variety was planted in a larger test plot of approximately 10 acres (large acreage test plot) at a John I. Haas, Inc. farm located at Toppenish, Wash. This planting did not yield a crop in 1992.
Also in 1992, the second (2nd) generation rootstock in the one acre test plot at Wada Farm was subjected to a second year of field observation and chemical analysis. In 1992, the second year per acre cone production from the one acre test plot was again well within the range of per acre cone production for a commercially viable hop variety.
The 1992 analytical data from chemical analysis of multiple random samples from bales of cones harvested from one acre test plot showed an average beta acids percentage of 11.10%. The second year hexane extraction trials confirmed again that Haas was able to consistently extract a minimum of 93% of the alpha acids present in second (2nd) generation H87203-1 hop cones. The 1992 brewing trials with this new variety have not yet been completed.
All of the testing and evaluation of the H87203-1 variety's growing characteristics, per acre hop cone yield, analytical data and soft resin (alpha acids) extraction tests were carried out on hop farms, laboratory facilities, and industrial extraction facilities which are wholly owned and controlled by John I. Haas, Inc. All of the brewing trials conducted by a major brewery on this new variety were conducted on a confidential and secret basis.
Based upon the field observations performed, and chemcial analytical data collected, during this testing and evaluation program from 1988 through 1992, it appears that second (2nd) and third (3rd) generation H87203-1 hop plants demonstrate genetic stability with respect to the new variety's novel characteristic of unusually high beta acids yields. Also, the new H87203-1 variety demonstrates genetic stability with respect to the production of commercially viable per acre hop cone yields.
This new hop variety has been carefully compared to its unpatented female parent Galena, and to its unpatented female grandparent USDA Accession No. 21055. (Please note that the hop industry does not make or rely upon any comparisons between new varieties and their male parents or male grandparents, because male hops have no commercial value). The primary difference between the new H87203-1 variety and its female parent and grandparent varieties is the unusually high beta acids percentages in bales of harvested hop cones.


An integrated circuit module with temperature compensation crystal oscillator (TCXO) applying to an electronic device comprises: one substrate having one top surface; one temperature compensation crystal oscillator (TCXO) disposed on the top surface; at least one chip disposed on the top surface; one encapsulating piece formed on the top surface for covering the TCXO and the chip. As above-described structure, TCXO is prevented from exchanging heat due to the temperature difference so that the stability of the TCXO is improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an integrated circuit module with temperature compensated crystal oscillator (TCXO). The invention in particular relates to a packaging structure of the integrated circuit module for covering the TCXO.
2. Description of Prior Art
A temperature compensated crystal oscillator (TCXO) is widely applied in the applications of cell phone and global positioning system (GPS). For example, TCXO is used in small-size GPS module for compensating for the temperature difference occurring during operation. For GPS devices it is important that the clock is precise in order to determine precisely the location. If the clock of the GPS device is not precise, the GPS device can not determine the location or will calculate a wrong result. Generally speaking, the compensation value of TCXO is controlled under 0.5 ppm.
However, a TCXO is sensitive to changes of the environmental temperature. In other words, the environmental temperature has a large effect on the operation of TCXO and further influences the stability of GPS devices.
Therefore, in view of this, the inventor proposes the present invention to overcome the above problems based on his expert experience and deliberate research.

Integrated circuit module with temperature compensation crystal oscillator


Provided is an organic light-emitting device capable of emitting light with high efficiency by incorporating a silyl compound in which a silyl group and an amino group are directly bonded to an anthracene ring particularly into its light-emitting layer. In the organic light-emitting device including: a pair of electrodes composed of an anode and a cathode; and an organic compound layer interposed between the pair of electrodes, wherein the organic compound layer contains the following silyl compound. A layer containing at least one kind of the silyl compound is a light-emitting layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic light-emitting device using a compound including an anthracene ring having at least a silyl group and an amino group directly bonded thereto as substituents.
2. Description of the Related Art
An organic light-emitting device is a device which includes a thin film containing a fluorescent organic compound between an anode and a cathode, which generates an exciton from the fluorescent compound by injection of an electron and a hole from each electrode, and which utilizes light to be radiated when the exciton returns to a ground state.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-284050 discloses a device containing an anthracene derivative with a specific structure, an electron-transporting compound, and another fluorescent compound in a light-emitting medium layer. Thereby it provides a red light-emitting device with improved reliability. However, the device has insufficient luminous efficiency for practical use.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H03-271296 discloses an anthracene compound having a diarylamino group and a silyl group as a charge transport material in an electrophotographic photosensitive member. However, it has no description concerning the application of the compound to an organic light-emitting device.


Apparatus and methods are provided. A fluid-ejection device connector has a body having a plurality of internal channels, a plurality of flexible first couplers protruding from an exterior portion of the body, and a plurality of second couplers protruding from another exterior portion of the body. The internal channels respectively fluidly couple the flexible first couplers and the second couplers.

Many fluid handling systems include a fluid delivery system that supplies fluid to a fluid-dispensing (or ejection) device using conduits connected between the fluid delivery system and the fluid-dispensing device. Such systems can be found in printers in the form of an ink reservoir or ink delivery system connected to a print head. Some printers include a stationary reservoir fixed to a body of the printer and a movable print head that moves across a print media, such as paper, during printing. For such applications, the conduits are usually flexible and threaded around a number of bends before they are connected to the movable print head.
The conduits are typically connected to the print head by fitting them over substantially rigid tubules or the like, which are attached to the print head and connected to ink delivery channels associated with ink-injecting orifices of the print head. For example, the conduits may fit over barbed ends of the connectors. Unfortunately, removing the conduits from the connectors and subsequently reattaching them may result in a leak between the connector and the conduit. Moreover, in certain systems fitting the conduits onto the connectors requires a special tool. Another concern is that, in the absence of coding the conduits to their respective connectors, it is possible to connect a conduit to the wrong connector for color printers, where each conduit supplies different colored ink to the print head.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An all terrain vehicle glove compartment provided below the seat of the vehicle to increase usable space includes an extension deck extending from the base of the compartment towards the rear or along the direction of the width of body of the vehicle to define a chamber for accommodating a battery; two positioning ribs extending from the bottom of the extension deck to secure the battery in position; and a lid fastened to the extension deck to fend off water and dust, and to serve as an access for replacing or providing service to the battery.

(a) Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to an all terrain vehicle glove compartment, and more particularly, to a glove compartment integrated with an extended chamber to increase the usable space in the glove compartment.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
As illustrated in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawing for a glove compartment provided to an all terrain vehicle 1, the vehicle 1 is essentially comprised of a frame 11, a steering mechanism 12, a front wheel 13, a seat 14, a rear wheel 15 and a motive power unit 16. The front of the frame 11 is pivoted with the steering mechanism 12; the front wheel is provided below the steering mechanism 12; the seat 14 is provided on top of the frame 11 for rider, and the motive power unit 16 is provided below the seat 14. Fresh air in the ambient is introduced to mix with the friel and the air-fuel mixture is injected into a cylinder inside the motive power unit 16 to be ignited and exploded to produce motive power to drive the rear wheel 15, thus driving the front wheel to move forward.
The operation of the all terrain vehicle 1 depends on multiple dynamo-electric and electronic parts and accessories. To maintain the normal function of those parts and accessories, a battery B is provided to supply consistent power to them. By placing the battery B in a glove compartment 17 allows the battery B to be protected by the glove compartment 17 to prevent contamination by water, dust or other foreign matters. Therefore, the glove compartment 17 is provided below the seat 14 to put in some personal belongings.
Referring to FIG. 2, the glove compartment 17 is fixed to the frame 11 and below the seat 4; therefore, any attempted extension of the glove compartment 17 is feasible to the space below the glove compartment 17. However the motive power unit 16 is located below the glove compartment 17. Accordingly, the space available for the glove compartment 17 is very limited for being restricted by the layout of the seat 14 and the motive power unit 16 as illustrated in FIG. 3, and there is not much room left for other objects after the installation of the battery B in the glove compartment 17.


An error reporting and correcting method applied to a peripheral. The peripheral can be connected to the user terminal via the network. In the error reporting and correcting method, an error record file is generated immediately after an error operation occurs to the peripheral. The error record file is uploaded via the network by the user host, and a correction program corresponding to the error file is downloaded to the user host via the network. After being downloaded, the correction program for automatically performing error correction is automatically installed in the user host.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to an error reporting and correcting method applied to a peripheral, and more particularly, to a method applicable to automatically report and correct errors occurring to peripherals, which then can be operated normally.
2. Related Art of the Invention
Peripherals, including scanners, printers, and CD-ROM's employed in the user hosts have become necessary appliances for offices. When errors occur to the peripherals, the users are normally unaware of the reasons causing such errors. Therefore, telephones inquiries or electronic mails are typically used for contacting the customer service of the providers. Very often the customer service cannot resolve the problem immediately and has to transfer such issues to other related people. This method is very restrictive.
Another more convenient method to resolve the above problems is to automatically inquire whether the user needs to update the application software or driver program. Or alternatively, the user may log on the website of the provider to download the updated software or program. However, the updated program is often designed as an overall correction instead of a revision designed for the specific errors occurring to the peripheral. Further, the downloading process is normally very time consuming and very often unavailable because of a network jam.

Error reporting and correcting method for peripheral


A stability control system (24) for an automotive vehicle as includes a plurality of sensors (28–37) sensing the dynamic conditions of the vehicle to determine imminent rollover. A controller (26) coupled to an active suspension (49) controls a restoring torque in response to the rollover signal by controlling the active suspension.

Dynamic control systems for automotive vehicles have recently begun to be offered on various products. Dynamic control systems typically control the yaw of the vehicle by controlling the braking effort at the various wheels of the vehicle. Yaw control systems typically compare the desired direction of the vehicle based upon the steering wheel angle and the direction of travel. By regulating the amount of braking at each corner of the vehicle, the desired direction of travel may be maintained. Typically, the dynamic control systems do not address rollover of the vehicle. For high profile vehicles in particular, it would be desirable to control the rollover characteristic of the vehicle to maintain the vehicle position with respect to the road. That is, it is desirable to maintain contact of each of the four tires of the vehicle on the road.
Vehicle rollover and tilt control (or body roll) are distinguishable dynamic characteristics. Tilt control maintains the vehicle body on a plane or nearly on a plane parallel to the road surface. Roll over control is maintaining the vehicle wheels on the road surface. One system of tilt control is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,066,041. The '041 patent uses control elements arranged between the vehicle wheel suspension members and the vehicle body to generate forces in a vertical direction. The control elements generate a rolling moment at the vehicle body counteracting the rolling motion caused by driving conditions. The rolling moment distribution is controlled between the front axle and the rear axle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,008 is a similar device to that described in the '041 patent. This device is also specifically directed to minimizing the roll angle of the vehicle body using adjustable spring struts.
During certain vehicle maneuvers, the vehicle may not be in a turning or yawing condition but may be in a rollover condition. This situation may occur during a trip event. A trip event may occur when the vehicle slides laterally into an object such as a curb. Such a system does not address preventing rollover in a vehicle.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a roll stability system that detects a potential rollover condition as well as to provide a system not dependent upon a yaw condition.

Roll over stability control for an automotive vehicle having an active suspension


A device is configured to obtain interference information indicating interference levels at frequencies. The device is configured to determine a frequency for a small cell to use to communicate with a client device based on the interference information. The small cell is capable of using the frequencies to communicate and the frequency is determined from among the frequencies. The device is further configured to provide frequency information to the small cell instructing the small cell to communicate with the client device using the frequency.

A small cell may be a small or low-powered base station used to connect client devices (e.g., smart phones, computers, etc.) to an operator network. The small cell may be provided in a house, an office, or the like and connect to the operator network via a wired connection (e.g., cable, digital subscriber line (DSL), a T1 line, etc.). The small cell may communicate with the client devices wirelessly. Accordingly, client devices may connect to the operator network via the small cell rather than traditional macro base stations.

Selecting frequency for multi-band small cell


A flow rate controlling member, provided with a spiral passageway formed on its outer periphery, is inserted into a high pressure fluid introducing passageway formed in an end plate of a movable scroll for the introducing of fluid from a fluid feeding path into a thrust bearing.

For example, Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. (1993)312156 discloses, as an example of compressors which decrease the volume of refrigerant in a refrigeration cycle, a scroll type compressor. A typical scroll type compressor includes a compressing mechanism including within its casing a stationary scroll having a projectingly formed spiral wrap and a movable scroll having a projectingly-formed spiral wrap, wherein the wrap of the movable scroll is intermeshed with the wrap of the stationary scroll. The stationary scroll is firmly secured to the casing. On the other hand, the movable scroll is linked to an eccentric shaft part of a drive shaft.
The movable scroll does not rotate on its axis but executes only an orbital motion relative to the stationary scroll. With the orbital motion of the movable scroll, the volume of a compression chamber formed between the wraps decreases, so that the refrigerant in the compression chamber is compressed.
Incidentally, when refrigerant is compressed in such a scroll type compressor, this causes both a thrust load which is an axial force and a radial load which is a lateral force orthogonal to the thrust load to act on the movable scroll. More specifically, the thrust load acts on a thrust bearing located between an end plate of the stationary scroll and an end plate of the movable scroll and, as a result, the movable scroll is forced to be drawn apart from the stationary scroll. In order to resist the thrust load, there are provided a high pressure gas chamber divisionally formed on the end plate rear surface side of the movable scroll and a high pressure fluid operation space (fluid chamber) to which high pressure fluid is supplied from a high pressure fluid supplying means. A back pressure of the pressure of a high pressure fluid in the fluid chamber and the pressure of a high pressure gas acts as a pressing force that presses the movable scroll in the direction of the stationary scroll. Here, in some cases such a pressing force is small and the vector of a resultant force acting on the movable scroll may pass outside the outer peripheral surface of the thrust bearing. This gives rise to the problem that the movable scroll becomes inclined (overturned) by the action of a so-called upsetting moment and, as a result, there occurs a refrigerant leak, thereby causing a drop in efficiency.
In order to deal with such a problem, an increased back pressure more than a predetermined level is impressed on the movable scroll. Pressing force by the back pressure is determined by the dimensional constraint of a seal ring and the setting of overturn limitation, and however in some cases there may occur an excessive pressing force during the high speed operation. In order to cope with this problem, there has been proposed a construction in which high pressure fluid is introduced to the thrust bearing between the stationary scroll and the movable scroll, with a view to reducing the pressing force.

Scroll compressor having a flow rate controlling member inserted into a high pressure fluid introducing passageway


An integrated circuit package assembly that allows an integrated circuit package to be plugged into another integrated circuit package that is mounted to a printed circuit board. The assembly includes a first integrated circuit package assembly that is mounted to the printed circuit board. The first assembly includes a first integrated circuit package that contains a plurality of holes on the top surface of the package. The mating pins of a second integrated circuit package assembly can be plugged into the holes to couple the second assembly to the first assembly. The second integrated circuit package assembly can be added without occupying additional board space on the printed circuit board.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an integrated circuit package assembly.
2. Description of Related Art
Integrated circuits are typically housed within a package that is mounted to a printed circuit board. The integrated circuit (IC) package may have contacts that are soldered to the circuit board and electrically coupled to the integrated circuit by internal routing within the package.
It is sometimes desirable to upgrade a computer system by replacing the existing circuitry with a different chip. In some systems replacing the integrated circuit of a mounted IC package requires a solder reflow machine to remove the package. Most end users do not have access to a solder reflow machine. Consequently the entire printed circuit board assembly must be replaced to upgrade the system.
There have been developed integrated circuit packages which allow an end user to remove and plug in a new device. The packages typically have a socket that is soldered to the printed circuit board. The socket contains a plurality of individual sockets that receive the pins of an integrated circuit package. The socket electrically couples the integrated circuit package to the printed circuit board. The replaceable pin packages are commonly referred to as zero insertion force (ZIF) packages.
The integrated circuit package of a ZIF device is attached to a cover plate that is pivotally connected to the socket. The assembly has a cam lever that can be rotated by an end user to pull the pins of the package out of the socket. The end user can then remove the existing package and load a new integrated circuit package into the cover plate. The cover plate is rotated so that the pins of the new package are pressed into the socket to couple the integrated circuit to the printed circuit board.
Integrated circuit packages are typically mounted across the surface of a printed circuit board so that each package occupies a predetermined amount of board space. Adding another integrated circuit package requires additional space on the printed circuit board. It would be desirable to provide an integrated circuit package assembly that allows an additional package to be added to a printed circuit board without occupying additional space on the board.


A process for the synthesis of copolymer-1 composed of L-alanine, L-lysine, L-glutamic acid and L-tyrosine for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. The molecular weight of copolymer-1 is between 8-19 KDa. The process is initiated by supported dialkyl amine. The copolymer-1 of the invention has acid content of less than 1%.

Copolymer-1 is a synthetic peptide analog of myelin basic protein (MBP), which is a natural component of myelin sheath. It is a non-autoantigen, which suppresses experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) induced by various encephalitogens including mouse spinal cord homogenate, which includes all myelin antigens such as myelin basic protein. Copolymer-1 has been demonstrated to be active when injected subcutaneously, intra-peritoneally, intravenously or intramuscularly. It is known that Copolymer-1 is used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis.
Reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 3,849,550 wherein they claim a process wherein the N-carboxyanhydrides (NCA) of tyrosine, alanine, γ-benzyl glutamate and Nε-trifluoro-acetyl lysine are polymerized at ambient temperature in anhydrous dioxane with diethylamine as initiator.
Reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,800,808 wherein they claim a method of manufacturing copolymer-1, comprising reacting protected copolymer-1 with hydrobromic acid to form trifluoroacetyl copolymer-1, treating said trifluoroacetyl copolymer-1 with aqueous piperidine solution to form copolymer-1, and purifying said copolymer-1, to result in copolymer-1 having a molecular weight of about 5 to 9 kilodaltons.
Reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,589 wherein they claim a process for the manufacture of copolymer-I, comprising reacting protected copolymer-I with hydrobromic acid to form trifluoroacetyl copolymer-I, treating the said trifluoroacetyl copolymer-I with aqueous piperidine solution to form copolymer-I and purifying said copolymer-1, to result in copolymer-1 having a molecular weight of about 5 to 9 kilodaltons. The method involves use of non-supported diethylamine as initiator.
Reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 3,849,550 wherein they claim a process for the preparation of a polypeptide-I composed of the following amino acid units in the structure namely: L-alanine, L-glutamic acid, L-lysine and L-tyrosine randomly arranged in the polypeptide comprising polymerization of a mixture of the N-carboxyanhydrides of L-alanine, L-tyrosine, a protected L-glutamate and a protected L-lysine to obtain protected copolymer-6 or salts thereof.
But the prior art documents do not present a process for the synthesis of co-polymer-I with control over specific molecular weight range. Further, in the prior art processes it is observed that when polymers are isolated from amine-initiated polymerization reaction mixtures and carefully freed from unreacted anhydrides, they have residual levels of acid groups titratable by sodium methoxide in various anhydrous solvents, as cited in sela et al in J. Am. Chem. Soc. Apr. 5, 1955, volume 77, page 1893-1898. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 6,620,847 has shown in example 2 that when the % of high molecular weight of co-polymer-1 species is less than 2.5%, the % release of serotonin, indicative of toxicity is low, and vice-versa. Further in the same example the inventors have specified that the copolymer with average molecular weight of 22 KDa was designated toxic.
Thus there exists a need in the art to have a process for the synthesis of co-polymer 1 wherein the molecular weight of co-polymer is controlled below 22 KDa, preferably below 20 KDa to overcome toxicity related issues. Also, the process should result in the co-polymer 1 product without the residual levels of acids. Further the process should be simple and efficient, using commonly available chemicals and result in the product directly, with a high degree of purity, not requiring any more steps to for separation, purification, fractionation of various molecular weight ranges and such like.
Novelty of the present invention lies in the process of preparation of Copolymer-I using polymer bound catalyst as initiator. The Copolymer-I obtained in the present invention has acid content of less than 1%.

Process for the preparation of copolymer-1 using a polymer supported dialkylamine initiator

COUNCIL OF SCIENTIFIC & INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH


A portable golf practice game which provides an entertaining and competitive means to practice the game of golf is herein disclosed. The game comprises an inclined surface including an aperture, a chipping mat, and carrying bag. The inclined surface enables golf balls to be struck from a desired distance to provide a practicing for one's aim. The game also comprises an alternate embodiment which further comprises a plurality of divided sections attached to the inclined surface which enables golf balls to be struck from a desired distance to provide an alternate practicing means for one's aim. Each embodiment is envisioned to comprise separate scoring systems when each embodiment is used as a competitive game.

Golf is a sport that requires skill, precision, and discretion. Just as with all other sports, it demands practice even from the most seasoned player. The best form of practice is to supplant oneself in a real-life and real-time scenario so as to capture all of the environmental influences that may have an impact on one's game. A golf course is where golf is played, thus practicing on a golf course affords the best environment to hone the requisite skills for golf. Yet, attending a golf course to practice is not always convenient. Furthermore, although a real-life and real-time scenarios affords the best environment for practice, there are advantages to be exploited from practicing under stylized and controlled environments. Training aids provide such a stylized and controlled environment. A training aid can be tailored to force a practitioner to identify deficiencies and develop competencies. There are many aspects of golf but striking a golf ball is generally segmented into three (3) types of strikes: 1) driving; 2) chipping; and, 3) putting. While all are important, chipping tends to provide golf practitioners with a great deal of difficulty. Thus, chipping is an important skill to improve upon. Many avid golfers would benefit from having the ability to practice chipping in a controlled environment. The development of the present invention fulfills that need.
Prior art in this field consists of training aids that are elaborate systems or even requires attending driving ranges. Putting training aids exist and are quite comprehensive in scope. Yet, existing chipping aids either consist of elaborate systems or of golf club devices. These elaborate systems are costly and tend to require large space in order to be effective. Chipping golf club devices force a user to maintain correct posture and arm positioning. Furthermore, existing chipping training aids are solo aids, thus do not facilitate an engaging atmosphere. There is no golf training aid that adequately enables a user to effectively hone the skill of chipping, while, at the same time, engage others to join in. It is an object of this invention to provide a means to practice the art of chipping without having to attend a golf course. It is a further object of this invention for this means to be cost effective and portable. It is a further object of this invention to provide such a training aid that is exciting and engaging so that multiple users can employ the device simultaneously. It is a further object of this invention to provide a chipping training aid that facilitates reconfiguration of the system into alternative embodiments so that multiple games can be played while still honing the skill of chipping.


A method and apparatus for generating a codebook and the associated data in a network device are provided in the invention. The method comprises the steps of generating a first row sub-matrix corresponding to a first group of antennas respectively for the respective ranks of the codebook to be generated; generating a second row sub-matrix corresponding to a second group of antennas respectively for the respective ranks based on an amount of the phase adjustment of the second group of antennas with respect to the first group of antennas; and generating a second codebook in accordance with the first row sub-matrix and the second row sub-matrix. As some embodiments of the method of the invention comprise the implementation of adjustment of the phase offset and the amplitude difference between the first and the second groups of antennas, the phase offset and the relative amplitude difference among the cross-polarized linear antennas array is guaranteed when the network device uses the downlink data generated therefore for transmission, such that the receiving quality of the transmitted data may be improved, and the system performance may be improved effectively.

In practice, the cross-polarized linear array (CLA) is one kind of antenna configuration. The polarization of the antenna means the direction of intensity of the electrical field when the antenna is radiating. Such electrical wave is referred to as a vertical polarized wave when the direction of intensity of the electrical field is perpendicular to the ground; Such electrical wave is referred to as a horizontal polarized wave when the direction of intensity of the electrical field is parallel to the ground. The cross-polarized antenna is a bi-polarized antenna.
In frequency-division duplex (FDD) systems, the transmitter of a mobile network device obtains the channel information via quantization and limited feedback from each user. A codebook based on Channel Status Indicator (CSI) quantization is widely used in Long-term evolution(LTE) and Long-term evolution advanced (LTE-A) systems. In recent 3GPP RAN1 meetings, the cross-polarized linear array is determined to have the highest priority, and accordingly, the codebook of multiple antennas including the 4Tx codebook needs to be enhanced for performance improvement.

Method and apparatus for generating codebooks and associated data in a network device


The present invention provides a system and methods for notifying first responders of a security crisis or threat. The alarm system can be scaled to allow the alarm system to be used effectively in facilities of differing sizes and layouts. The system is also flexible, enabling the system to integrate with currently existing systems or to operate with new devices.

There are a number of events that can occur in public and private buildings that rise to the level of a crisis for which first responders, such as fire fighters and police officers, must be called on for assistance. These events can include fire, armed intruders, burglary, acts of terrorism, among others. Many times, the damage and harm from these events can be minimized or eliminated if individuals near the location of the crisis, first responders and others are notified quickly, provided related information and allowed to respond in accordance with their abilities. For example, individuals near the crisis may be allowed to exit the arena, a school for example, to avoid harm, while first responders may be notified of the existence of the crisis earlier and be able to take quick action to minimize the damage.
An example of a notification system is a building fire alarm notification system, which is capable of notifying first responders or fire fighters and building occupants of the existence of a fire. These systems are well known and have been employed for many years at public and private locations, such as schools, libraries, hospitals, shopping malls, etc. In general, fire alarm notification systems are utilized in large public or commercial buildings in which a significant number of individuals or occupants may be located at any given time. The typical fire alarm notification system provides for some or all of the following functions: detecting a fire (or providing individuals with the chance to notify others of the existence of a fire), notifying nearby occupants of the presence of a fire, notifying the fire department and other emergency personnel, and in some cases, operating certain fire safety functions, such as closing fire retardant doors, setting off the sprinkler system, etc.
Fire alarm notification systems often incorporate detection measures or devices to detect a fire, such as fire and smoke detectors. Additionally, manual fire alarm pull boxes may be placed at strategic locations around a building so that individuals can use the manual boxes, which may commence the notification process earlier than if the notification process was started using the automated fire and smoke detectors. The fire alarm notification systems are usually wired throughout a building so that whether a manual pull box is engaged, or a smoke detector detects smoke and sets off an alarm, occupants are quickly notified, fire safety functions can be initiated and the fire department can be automatically notified, usually through an approved central station dispatch or monitor.
To warn building occupants, for example, a siren or sound loud enough to indicate the presence of a fire hazard can be sounded along with instructions to direct emergency evacuation. Visual indicators of the fire emergency may be employed in combination with the sound producing fire warning devices. The most common devices employed include horns, bells, sirens, stroboscopic lights, and speakers.
Although private locations, such as homes and businesses incorporate fire alarm notification systems and security alarms, which likewise, attempt to prevent a security crisis, such as burglaries or other illegal activities; public locations need a security crisis notification system for notifying individuals located near the vicinity of the security crisis, especially for acts of terrorism or armed intruders, such as those that have occurred over the years at public schools and other public locations. A first responder security notification system used primarily for acts of terrorism would provide individuals near the security crisis an increased ability to quickly notify first responders of the crisis, while also quickly notifying those near the vicinity of the crisis. Over time, and because of the similarities to existing notification systems, building occupants and others would understand the function of the system and be able to utilize the notification devices as necessary to notify first responders and others of the crisis.
Further, since the response of individuals in the area is different from a fire crisis, a police emergency system is needed. As such, there currently exists a need for a first responder crisis notification system and methods that minimize the time from the inception of the crisis until providing of notification to the first responders and others, allowing faster reaction time and the reduction or elimination of damage and harm to those in the vicinity of the crisis. Quick notification and the transmission of information to the first responders and emergency authorities, along with notification and instructions to those in the vicinity of the crisis is vital for reducing injury and death during a security crisis event.

System and methods for providing notification in the event of a security crisis


A trolley for medical equipment includes a base mounted on a plurality of wheels. A brake device including at least one deformable brake pad is located beneath the trolley base. A release mechanism is provided to move the brake pad between a raised position in which it is spaced above a floor surface on which the trolley wheels rest, and a lowered position in which the brake pad is pressed against the floor surface under the weight of the brake device to a exert a braking force on the trolley.

Hospitals and medicals facilities frequently use equipment mounted on trolleys so that it can be easily moved to different locations as required. Examples include trolleys with patient monitoring or diagnostic equipment, trolleys with apparatus for intravenous delivery of medicaments and so on. Typically, such trolleys have a frame mounted on a number of castor wheels, so the direction of trolley movement can be altered easily. Each castor wheel is provided with a brake which may be foot operated by a user. However, engaging and disengaging the brake on each castor wheel is cumbersome and time consuming and in practice, users frequently will not bother to operate the brakes for each, or indeed any, wheel so that the trolley is at least partially mobile even when the equipment is in use. Therefore, there is a risk the trolley may move accidentally, causing injury to a patient or the user or damage to the equipment.

Keymed (Medical & Industrial Equipment) Ltd.


A document printing appliance with a paper feed device (E1, E2) processing strip-like recording media (A) of preselectable configuration and having a downstream electrographic printing device (DRU) which can print the strip-like recording media (A) on one side and on both sides, and with a paper post-processing device coupled to the electrographic printing device (DRU) on the output side. Said paper post-processing device has a print-page separating device (V), a buffer store (ZS) for the job-related reception of the separated print pages, and a job finishing device (JF) coupled to the buffer store, for the document-related compilation of print pages extracted from the buffer store (ZS).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for producing documents composed of single sheets by means of an electrographic printing device which prints strip-like recording media.
2. Description of the Related Art
Documents, such as brochures, insurance certificates, etc., which are produced by means of electrographic, magnetographic or other non-impact printing devices, are preferably compiled from single sheets of differently colored or differently preprinted papers or of different basis weights (for example, paper weights).
Single-sheet printers having various (for example, 4) input compartments are employed for these instances of use. The documents can therefore be printed in the correct sequence by an appropriate choice of the input compartments.
Single-sheet printers necessitate an increased technical outlay for paper handling and printing. Moreover, the transport of single sheets is susceptible to faults. Furthermore, only paper weights and formats within a narrow range can be used.
Although it is known to couple electrographic printers for processing continuous paper to a separating device (such as a cutting device) and thereby to separate the printed-on print pages according to jobs, nevertheless only one format or one specific paper weight can ever be used in this case. Furthermore, in general, the increasing sequence during the printing operation with continuous paper is difficult to verify. Different paper weights and formats must subsequently be additionally fed into the printer in a separate work process.
European Patent Document EP-A1-0,553,870 discloses a document printing appliance which contains, as a central printing unit, an electrographic single-sheet printing device capable of operating in simplex and duplex mode. The single-sheet printing device is preceded by a paper feed device having an integrated cutting device, via which web paper is cut to format and fed to the printing unit. For the separate feed of precut single sheets, the paper feed device can additionally contain a single-sheet feed. In a paper post-processing unit, the printed single sheets are combined to. form a document.


A compound having the structure Red-R-M, wherein: Red is a redox center; R is a bridging group; and M is a monomer giving rise to an electronically conductive polymer, is provided. Also provides are polymers obtained by polymerization of such compounds and uses in electronic devices of such polymers, for example uses in batteries.

Rechargeable (secondary) batteries are of increasing importance both in the consumer electronics field (as components of e.g. mobile telephones and laptop computers) as well as in vehicle and aerospace applications. An example of a rechargeable battery is the lithium-ion battery in which lithium ions in the electrolyte move from the negative electrode to the positive electrode during discharge (and move in the reverse direction during charging). FIG. 2 shows an example of an electrochemical device used to store energy (a battery) containing a positive electrode material and a negative electrode material separated by separator containing a liquid, gel, polymeric or solid electrolyte, with a current collector used on both sides of the battery to carry the electrical energy.
Organic materials can be used effectively to store charge. Thus, US 2010/0009256 and US 2008/0038636 relate to the use of a polyradical material, a polymer with pendant nitroxyl radical groups, as an electrode active material. US 2003/0096165 discloses materials containing polyradicals of various structures for use in secondary batteries, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,045,248 focuses on boron or sulfur radicals. Such "Organic Radical Batteries" (ORBs) show good performance in that they offer high power density. However, the materials are not electronically conductive, hence to obtain such performance it is needed to add up to 50% of carbon in the electrode formulation. This causes a sharp decrease of both volumetric and gravimetric energy density.
Another example of organic material used for energy storage was presented by researchers in Amiens (Chem Sus Chem DOI: 10.1002/cssc.200700161). These materials provide excellent charge storage (very high capacity) but fall short of the rate capability needed to provide high power density.
Organosulfur compounds (3 Electrochem Soc 2007 154 A844-A848) have been proposed as other organic active materials for energy storage, but their performance is seriously hampered by their solubility in the electrolyte.

Organic active materials for electrochemical energy storage


In one aspect, a method of reducing power consumption in a circuit by adaptive bias current generation of a bias current configured to bias, at least in part, at least one amplifier of the circuit is provided. The method comprises establishing the bias current based, at least in part, on a reference frequency of a reference clock providing a clock signal to at least one component of the circuit, and changing the bias current in response to a change in the reference frequency of the at least one reference clock, the bias current being change non-linearly with respect to the change in the reference frequency of the at least one reference clock. In another aspect, the method comprises establishing the bias current based, at least in part, on a capacitance of a reference capacitor, and changing the bias current in response to a change in the capacitance of the reference capacitor such that the bias current is changed non-linearly with respect to changes in the capacitance of the reference capacitor.

Many electronic devices rely on analog-to-digital (A/D) converters to convert an analog signal into a digital signal. Some applications may require different conversion speeds for the same A/D converter. For example, an A/D converter integrated in a digital camera may be required to operate at different speeds depending on the mode of the camera. When the digital camera is operating in high resolution mode, the A/D converter may be required to operate at a higher sample rate than when the digital camera is operating in a low resolution mode. In conventional implementations, the A/D converter is typically designed to operate adequately at the highest required operating speed. In particular, the A/D converter is designed to dissipate enough power to operate correctly at the maximum operating speed.
However, the conventional A/D converter will use the same amount of power when operating at sample rates that are less than the maximum. As a result, the A/D converter dissipates more power than required whenever it operates at less than the maximum operating speed. As a result, the electronic device will dissipate excess power under such conditions. Such is the case for many other circuits, for example, power amplifiers in cellular telephones that operate at different speeds under certain conditions. For example, the cellular phone may operate at a relatively slow speed when in a sleep mode, and operate at a relatively high speed when in an active mode (e.g., when the phone is receiving or initiating a phone call). Accordingly, such circuits will have sub-optimal power consumption when implemented with constant bias currents.
Designing a circuit may require consideration of a number of things that can vary. For example, when a circuit or device is manufactured, there will be some variation in the process. Manufacture of electronic components and/or fabrication of a circuit or device will often cause the operating parameters of the electronic components to deviate from their nominal value, and also deviate from fabrication to fabrication. In addition, the operating parameters of electronic components may vary according to processing conditions of the device. During the design of the circuit, each of the electronic components may be characterized and simulated. To avoid circuit malfunction, the power consumption of the circuit must be sufficient to operate under worst case conditions. Accordingly, the circuit will dissipate the maximum power required under worst case conditions even when conditions require substantially less power.

Adaptive bias current generator methods and apparatus


A battery rack includes: a plurality of battery packs; a plurality of slave battery management systems, each of the slave battery management systems being coupled to a corresponding one of the battery packs, being powered by an operating power, and being configured to use the corresponding one of the battery packs for the operating power in response to receiving a corresponding one of a plurality of operating power changing signals; and a master battery management system coupled to the slave battery management systems and configured to transmit the operating power changing signals to the slave battery management systems.

1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a battery management system and a method of driving the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
As environmental destruction and resource depletion become more significant, an interest in a system for storing power and efficiently using the stored power has increased.
A power storage system may store generated power of new and renewable energy in a battery or may store power of a commercial system in a battery with relation to the commercial system. The power storage system may supply power stored in the battery to the commercial system or to a load.
A rechargeable secondary battery may be used for the power storage system in order to store power. However, due to limitations on a capacity of the secondary battery, a number of secondary batteries may be coupled in parallel or may be serially coupled to form a battery pack. There exists a variation in capacities of battery cells that form the battery pack due to various causes in manufacturing processes.
Therefore, in the battery pack, a variation is generated in charge and discharge voltages of the battery cells in a charge and discharge cycle. Therefore, in the battery pack, a specific battery cell may be overcharged during charge and a specific battery cell may be over-discharged during discharge. As described above, when a specific battery cell is overcharged or over-discharged in the battery pack, a capacity of the battery pack is reduced, the battery pack is deteriorated, and a lifespan of the battery pack is reduced.
Therefore, a cell balancing operation that keeps uniformity of voltages of the battery cells may be performed. However, the cell balancing operation is performed based on a voltage of a battery cell having a lowest cell voltage so that energy of battery cells having relatively high voltages may be lost.
Hereinafter, a battery management system for reducing (or preventing) energy from being lost by the cell balancing operation is suggested.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of embodiments of the present invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Battery management system and method of driving the same


A radio-frequency (RF) transmitter power amplifier circuit provides for practically linear performance by predistorting the amplifier input signals to compensate for amplifier distortion at high power levels, and provides a fine degree of control of amplifier power needed to handle complex modulation schemes with widely and rapidly varying power requirements. A predistortion database (20) contains gain and phase corrections for various transmission types and a separate automatic gain control database (38) contains fine amplifier gain corrections. A real-time processor (26) combines the two types of corrections and applies them to the amplifier input signals, and a background processor (16) continually updates both databases in accordance with a programmable priority scheme. Integration of predistortion and amplifier power control is achieved in a manner that minimizes adverse effects of one type of control on the other. One feature of the invention provides for rapid convergence of the predistortion correction.

This invention relates generally to radio-frequency (RF) power amplifiers and, more particularly, to techniques for combining power control and predistortion in RF power amplifiers used in communication systems. RF power amplifiers are typically the most expensive single components of transmit sub-systems. The cost of the amplifier is proportional to the amount of power that it is required to produce. For this reason, and to improve amplifier efficiency, it is often a design goal to operate each power amplifier as close as possible to its maximum power level. Unfortunately, power amplifiers do not behave in a perfectly linear fashion all the way up to their maximum power levels. That is to say, the amplifier power output is not exactly proportional to the amplifier input for all power levels. Typically, the relationship between output and input power is linear over a range of relatively low power levels but becomes nonlinear at higher power levels. One solution to this problem is to select an amplifier of larger maximum power and to "back off" the amplifier such that it always operates in the linear range. This approach obviously imposes a significant cost penalty.
Predistortion of the amplifier input is a better solution for compensating for nonlinearity of a power amplifier. Basically, predistortion involves applying a nonlinear correction to the amplifier input signals, such that the predistortion correction exactly compensates for the nonlinearity of the amplifier, and the amplifier output is linearly related to the input all the way up to the amplifier's maximum power level. Predistortion is sometimes referred to as "linearization." Because amplifier nonlinearity affects the phase of the output signal as well as the amplitude, predistortion involves phase correction as well as amplitude correction of the input signal. In other words, predistortion requires a complex multiplication of the input signal by a complex correction factor.
One reason that predistortion or linearization is so important is that power amplifiers used in modern communication systems do not operate at constant power levels. Many of today's complex modulation schemes result in communication waveforms that do not have a constant power envelope. Typically, the signal power varies across a significant dynamic range of several decibels (dB) or more. As a result, the power amplifier must not only be able to transmit a specific amount of power at any instant of time, but it must reproduce the signal with very little nonlinear distortion in order to pass stringent governmental guidelines. Nonlinearity results in unwanted intermodulation products that interfere with adjacent channels. In the United States, for example, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has imposed guidelines regarding signal fidelity and adjacent channel power.
A related requirement for transmitter power amplifiers is that a transmitter must typically also control its output power to a very fine degree, even down to tenths of a deciBel (dB). This requirement exists independently of the requirement for linearity. Yet, because predistortion inherently involves amplitude and phase correction, the dual requirements of nonlinearity compensation and fine power control are closely related. A necessary attribute of fine power control is that it must simultaneously co-exist with the predistortion control.
There are numerous methods of predistortion. By way of example, one method of the prior art is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,236,837 B1, issued to Pallab Midya. The Midya technique is typical of those in which one has access to a "reference waveform" (i.e., the originally generated baseband waveform before upconversion and amplification). The technique involves detecting the power amplifier output, downconverting the output signal to baseband, and comparing this "transmit waveform" to the reference waveform. The resulting amplitude and phase errors are inverted and fed back to subsequently transmitted signals.
The requirement to have both power control and predistortion successfully co-exist presents several challenges and problems. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary adaptive digital predistortion system that represents the current state of the art in predistortion approaches for communication systems. An RF power amplifier 10 generates an output on line 12, a sample of which is obtained through a coupler 13 and fed to a demodulator 14 that separates provides in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) components of the demodulated output signal, referred to as a transmit burst. These signal components are input to a background processor 16, which also receives corresponding components of a reference burst from a waveform generator 18. The principal task of the background processor 16 is to continually update a predistortion database 20, which contains correction factors to be applied to the input signals. The waveform generator 18 supplies input signals to a complex multiplier 22, the outputs of which are supplied to a transmit chain 24, and from there are input to the power amplifier 10. When the amplifier 10 is operating in its linear range, the complex multiplier 22 has an insignificant effect on the input signals, which are passed through the transmit chain 24 to the power amplifier 10. A real-time processor 26 uses information from the predistortion database 20 to compute an appropriate complex multiplier to be applied to the input signals from the waveform generator 18. The predistortion correction is applied in the complex multiplier 22. Depending on the initial conditions and on the specific control algorithm employed in the real-time processor 26, linearization of the amplifier 10 may take multiple iterations of the control loop described. The amplifier 10 is an analog device but, for reasons of convenience and economy, predistortion is best implemented with digital components. The necessary digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital conversions are omitted from FIG. 1 for simplicity.
Not shown in FIG. 1 is any method of controlling the transmit output power. In a typical multi-channel operating environment, not only must the predistortion system be able to apply the correct amount of nonlinear compensation, but the amplifier must also have some means for linear gain compensation for each channel. Fundamental considerations in the design of a power control sub-system include the ability to compensate for the small signal gain variation across the frequency operating band (from channel to channel) and the ability to ensure stability in the combination of gain correction with predistortion.
Approaches for combining adaptive power control with adaptive digital predistortion have focused on autonomous power control. In autonomous power control, a traditional approach to controlling transmit output power is used in a system employing predistortion. Typically, the power amplifier output is coupled to a calibrated power detector, which feeds a compensation circuit, including such components as RF attenuators, a variable gain amplifier, and/or a digital baseband gain block. One drawback of this approach is that it requires additional hardware, which increases the product cost and complexity. A more subtle complication is the potential for system instability due to the predistortion nonlinear gain correction. A momentary improper power control setting can result in a significantly erroneous error array used for the predistortion update, which in turn can result in an incorrect nonlinear gain setting, which would improperly affect the output power. Another difficulty can arise if, for example, the system temperature changes during a period of system inactivity. Both the power control and predistortion settings would initially be incorrect and would have to independently converge. This convergence at best would require many adaptive iterations, resulting in a period of poor performance, and at worst the system could settle to an improper operating state.
It will be appreciated there is a significant need for an RF power amplifier circuit that effectively integrates amplifier predistortion with fine amplifier gain control. The present invention is directed to this end.

Efficient method and means for integration of power control and predistortion in a transmitter


A method of forming an polymer composites is disclosed herein that includes infiltrating CNT sponges with a polymer or metal to form a composite. The method uses a relatively easy, scalable, and low-cost synthesis process that makes the composites attractive as TIM. CNTs in the sponge structure are covalently bonded, resulting in a low Young's modulus while at the same time maintaining a good thermal conductivity. This strategy makes it possible to obtain both high deformability and high thermal conductivity, which are difficult to have simultaneously due to their adverse correlation.

Polymer composites are very popular choices when particular functionalities are necessary in the polymers. In general the purpose of using the additive is to either increase or decrease a particular property value of the composites rather than make the property widely tunable. The key shortcomings of the current state-of-the-art in manufacturing of polymer composites typically require long-term curing/cooling processes in ovens low thermal conductivity through the thickness, which has a large amount of wasted heat emission to the environment. In order to assure that the part cures uniformly, it must be heated from the outside at a slow rate to assure that cure reaction is uniform at a safe, slow rate throughout the structure. The slow process is even more important for lightweight porous composites due to low and non-uniform thermal conductivity. Even after the part is fully cured, energy and time are required to slowly cool the material uniformly throughout the structure to avoid high residual stress.
An exemplary application of the polymer composites is a thermal interface material (TIM), which is widely used to effectively transfer thermal energy from power consuming devices to heat sinks. Therefore a high thermal conductivity is necessary. On the other hand, a very low thermal conductivity close to that of ambient air can be achieved using polymer composites. This type of material is often called aerogel.
The key material is carbon nanotube which is formed into three dimensional structures while they are growing. When polymers are combined, this material can have thermal conductivity much higher or much lower than that of typical polymers. The composites can be fabricated using a facile microwave assisted manufacturing method, which can greatly reduce manufacturing time and cost as well as thermal stress.
As for TIM, when two rigid materials are in contact, voids created by surface asperity cause poor heat transfer. Such inefficient heat transfer from heat sources to heat sinks has been a well-known crucial issue in thermal management, which now becomes much more important due to highly integrated modern devices. Recent performance improvements in the thermal conductivity of TIM have made it possible to increase the effectiveness of popular commercial TIMs, which have thermal conductivities of about 0.4 W/m-K. In comparison, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can have thermal conductivities of around 10 W/m-K. The exceptional thermal conductivity of individual CNTs have rarely materialized in bulk materials mainly due to the large thermal contact resistance between carbon nanotubes. This can be attributed to weak van der Waals bonding at the CNT junctions where the outstanding phonon transport along the strong covalent bonding on the graphitic layer is largely impeded. In bulk materials, however, it has been extremely difficult to achieve covalently bonded junctions between CNTs.
A common strategy to make TIM is to add tillers of high thermal conductivity to a polymer matrix. CNTs are a popular filler material owing to their high thermal conductivity of around 10 W/m-K for "individual" CNTs. Nevertheless, CNT-polymer composites often have thermal conductivities lower than 1 W/m-K. Even with high CNT concentrations, thermal conductivity remains relatively low because the macroscopic thermal conduction in CNT-filled polymer composites is governed by the thermal contact resistance of interfaces at CNT-CNT junctions rather than the intrinsic thermal conductivity of individual CNTs. This poor thermal conduction can be ascribed to weak van der Waals interactions at CNT-CNT junctions. Covalently-bonded junctions in CNT networks are expected to improve heat transport at the CNT-CNT junction. However, this has been only feasible theoretically or experimentally for a single junction at a time using electron beams, which is hard to be utilized in practically viable bulk composites.
Due to the difficulty of strengthening the bonding at CNT junctions, there have been efforts to make vertically aligned CNTs to increase the thermal conductivity of CNT-polymer composites along the axial direction of CNTs. For instance, an aligned CNT-epoxy composite having a thermal conductivity of 1.4 W/m-K at room temperature has been prepared using a microwave-assisted method. Higher thermal conductivity up to 4.9 W/m-K was reported for CNT-polymer composites with densely-packed, aligned CNTs. However, these aligned CNTs often suffer from low deformability, making poor thermal contacts with heat sinks/sources. The alignment of CNTs also requires significant efforts, which may not be suitable for a scale-up process. Other fillers such as graphene, ceramics, and metals have also been studied, but heat flow in these materials is still limited by the thermal contact resistance between the fillers. High concentrations of inorganic fillers make composites unmalleable and brittle. The thermal conductivity of graphene is preferentially high along the in-plane direction, so significant efforts are required to orient the graphene plane along the thickness direction of TIM. Graphene also requires long processing time for dispersion and purification/centrifugation. To date, elastomeric TIMs with scalability and decent thermal conductivity are not practically available.
Aerogel is a three-dimensional highly porous material whose extraordinary properties are extremely low thermal conductivity, large surface areas, high porosity, and low density, so potential applications are numerous including thermal insulation, the electrodes of electrochemical cells, sensors/actuators, and biotechnology. The most outstanding characteristic of traditional aerogels made of silica is the low thermal conductivity, ˜0.03 W/m-K, which is close to that of ambient air. However, silica-based aerogels easily collapse when they are under even light mechanical pressure or environments with hydrophilic liquids (e.g., water) or high humidity.
Recently, various aerogels have been synthesized using metal oxides, polymers, and carbonaceous materials rather than silica due to the demand for more functionalities such as electrical conduction, compressibility, and resilience under mechanical stress. In particular, aerogels made of CNTs or/and graphene have extended their usage to electrochemical cells such as supercapacitors, batteries, and fuel cells owing to the good electrical conductivity and high surface areas and porosity. Nevertheless, like typical aerogels, the drawbacks in mechanical properties such as fragility and poor resilience have largely restricted the wide utilization of aerogels.
The poor mechanical properties mainly come from weak bonding between CNTs or/and graphene despite the extraordinary mechanical strength of individual CNTs. Therefore, many attempts to strengthen the connection have been made. For example, uncured polymers such as poly(vinyl alcohol), epoxy, and cellulose, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) were infiltrated into porous CNT or/and graphene structure, and then polymers were cured, this type of methods make the bonding at the connection stronger, but the pores of the aerogels are also filled up with the polymer, negating the benefit of aerogels.

Polymer composites with highly tunable thermal and mechanical properties and methods of manufacture


Apparatus and associated methods relate to providing an optical display apparatus that can be used to make a light source display variable apparent sizes in response to light intensities emitted by the light source. In an illustrative example, the optical display apparatus may have a first baffle arranged on the top of a light source. The optical display apparatus may also include a second baffle, the first baffle may be nested in the second baffle such that a first intensity of a first beam of light guided within the first baffle is stronger than a second intensity of the second beam of light guided between the first baffle and the second baffle. By adjusting the light intensities, different display regions of a translucent diffuser may be lit, which may provide controllable apparent sizes of a light structure.

Using light emitting diodes (LEDs) for lighting displays, such as holiday lighting, decorative displays, signage, or architectural accents, has become common. By combining primary colored LED lights of red, green and blue, most any common color is easily generated by these lights. Decorative lights are used on buildings for many reasons, the most common of which is probably to celebrate the Christmas season. The decorative lights are typically fixed in color and celebratory purpose. For example, some light strings may include a number of lights that all have the same color (e.g., all white, all red, etc.). Some light Strings may include a number of lights that are multicolored (e.g., red, green, blue, yellow, white). Further, some of these light strings may be designed to all be lit at the same time, while others may be designed to turn on and off intermittently (e.g., flashing or blinking). Many of these lights are suitably colored for a particular holiday, e.g., Christmas, where the lights may be solid red and green.
Lighting controllers are designed to control white light (or monochromatic light) in a theatrical or high-end business setting. A light producing monochromatic light, such as white, blue, or red, can be changed primarily along a single dimension brightness—from off to a maximum brightness. Different controllers permit a user to specify a brightness for each light over time.

Collaborative light show authoring for tessellated geometries


Data units are prefetched into a cache memory by executing a first prefetch task to prefetch a first prefetch series of data units from off-cache. A first prefetch operation is executed to prefetch and store a first selected set of data units. Decisions are made about the first prefetch task, subsequent prefetch operations and prefetch tasks based on in-cache data units associated with the first prefetch task and on other data units that are read from off-cache but that are not associated with the first prefetch task. A determination is made whether an additional data unit that is read from an off-cache logical location is a first prefetch series member. If so, it is associated with the first prefetch task, and, for decision making, is treated as having been prefetched into cache in accordance with the first prefetch task.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to data management, and more particularly to the management of data in a computer system by a data storage system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Host processor systems may store and retrieve data using one or more data storage systems containing a plurality of host interface units (host adapters), disk data storage devices, and disk interface units (disk adapters), as well as a cache memory. Such data storage systems are provided, for example, by EMC Corporation of Hopkinton, Mass. and disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,206,939 to Yanai et al., 5,778,394 to Galtzur et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,147 to Vishlitzky et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,208 to Ofek. The host systems access the data storage systems through a plurality of channels provided therewith. Host systems provide data and access control information through the channels of the data storage systems and the data storage systems provides data to the host systems also through the channels. The host systems do not address the disk data storage devices of the data storage system directly, but rather, access what appears to the host systems as a plurality of logical volumes. These logical locations are mapped into physical locations on the disk data storage devices, but the logical volumes may be larger or smaller than the corresponding disk data storage devices, and may span multiple drives. A single logical location may also be mapped to multiple physical locations, when, for example, data mirroring is desired.
Cache memory may be used to store frequently accessed data for rapid access. Typically, it is time-consuming to read or compute data stored in the disk data storage devices. However, once data is stored in the cache memory, future use can be made by accessing the cached copy rather than reading it from the disk data storage device, so that average access time to data may be made lower.
One technique for expediting read requests involves prefetching data units so that more data units will available from cache memory rather than from disk storage. Typically, prefetching is implemented by reading data units in blocks in response to one or more requests to read a data unit. Since a request to read a specific data unit increases the likelihood that access to other, related data units will soon be required, the read request for the data unit may trigger a prefetch request to read related data units as well, particularly when a read request results in reading a data unit off-cache rather than from the cache memory.
Rules may be developed to govern the triggering of a prefetch operation. For example, a prefetch operation may be executed upon issuance of a single request to read a data unit off-cache. Alternatively, a prefetch operation may not be triggered by a selected number of read requests for an off-cache data unit.
When, in the course of executing a read request, the requested data unit is found in-cache, the operation constitutes a "Hit." If the requested data unit is not found in-cache, the operation constitutes a "Miss."
Sequential prefetching, which involves reading blocks of adjacent data units, assumes that data units that are adjacent to a requested data unit are also likely to be accessed. In fact, access requests often involve data units that are sequential. Recognizing that the physical devices, such as disks, upon which data is stored off-cache, are organized and segmented into one or more logical volumes (LVs), the addresses of the adjacent data units may not be physically sequential on the disk, but they will be sequential on the logical volume to which the data on the disk is mapped.
As an example, consider a series of six adjacent data units, namely (a, b, c, d, e, f). If requests to read the data units a, b and then c are issued by a host processor for use in an I/O operation, a sequential access of data units (a, b, c) may be recognized, leading to the assumption that data units d, e and f will also be needed. In response, a prefetch task for prefetching the sequential stream of data units may be opened. A first prefetch operation is initiated under the prefetch task to prefetch data units d and e. When the first prefetch operation is completed, a second prefetch operation is initiated under the prefetch task to prefetch data units f and g. More than one prefetch task may be opened at the same time, executing prefetch operations for different sequential streams of data units.
Prefetching requires a significant number of cache-slots to be available in the cache memory. When long sequences of data units are prefetched into the cache memory, other data units typically have to be removed in the cache memory in order to make room for the newly prefetched data units.
One problem with prefetching is that the data units that are prefetched are not necessarily going to be accessed, for example by a host processor. A possibility arises that the host processor will access them because they are adjacent to a data unit that it had required, but it is not a certainty that the host processor will require the prefetched data units. Prefetching involves retrieving data units that the host may or may not need. On the other hand, prefetching involves removing in-cache data units that still have some probability of being accessed. Therefore, prefetching raises the possibility that data units for which the host processor requires access may be replaced by data units for which the host processor does not and never will require access. It is therefore, important to remove cache data that is not likely to be still required by the data storage system. Cache Pollution is defined to be the population of the cache memory with data units that are not required for re-accessing, for example, by a host processor.
One data caching process for determining which data units in a cache memory to overwrite is the Least Recently Used (LRU) process, which discards the least recently used data units first, operating under the assumption that the data unit that was the earliest accessed (for example, by a host processor), is the data unit that is likeliest not to be required by a host processor again. Therefore, in the LRU process, the data unit to remove in a cache memory is the least recently used data unit. The cache-slot that holds the least recently used data unit may be known as the "LRU cache-slot".
Other data caching processes decide which data units to remove based on the Tagged Based Cache (TBC) or the LRU time stamp (LRUTS) rather than the LRU data unit. Despite the data caching process used, it is necessary to keep track of which data units were accessed or used and when, which may be expensive in time and resources.
In a long sequential stream, the data units that had been prefetched into the cache memory and accessed by the host processor are not likely to be re-accessed by the host processor, and thus constitute cache pollution.
A feature known as "tail cutting" or simply "cutting" may be used to reduce this form of cache pollution. In tail cutting, a maximum number of data units may be stored in the cache memory pursuant to a prefetch task. Once the maximum number has been prefetched into cache memory, certain data units will be removed from the cache memory to make room for data units prefetched pursuant to the prefetch task or pursuant to another prefetch task.
For example, if thirty five is chosen as the maximum number of data units to be stored in cache memory pursuant to a first prefetch task, after thirty five data units are prefetched and stored in the cache memory, if one more data unit is prefetched to store in cache memory, a data unit earlier prefetched pursuant to the first prefetch task and already read by the host will be removed from cache memory to make room for the newly prefetched data unit.
A data storage system featuring sequential prefetching operations with tail cutting is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,568, entitled System For Dynamically Controlling Cache Manager Maintaining Cache Index And Controlling Sequential Data Access, Yanai, et al., which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Tail cutting can limit cache pollution due to sequential prefetching so long as the prefetch operation executes quickly enough that data units are prefetched and stored in the cache memory faster than they are required in a read request. Returning to the example provided above, when a prefetch operation is issued in response to a request to read a data unit d, it should be noted that the next read request is likely to be for a data unit e that is adjacent to the data unit d. The adjacent data unit e will be in the block of data units being prefetched pursuant to the first prefetch operation.
When the prefetch operation executes faster than a host processor can request a read of its next data unit, storage of the adjacent data unit e in the cache memory will have been completed before issuance of the next read command. A read request for the data unit e will result in a Hit (data unit e being found in-cache), and the data unit e will be read from its cache-slot. However, when the prefetch operation executes more slowly than the host processor can request a read of its next data unit through the host adapter, the adjacent data unit e may not yet be stored in the cache memory and the read request will result in a Miss (data unit e not being found in-cache). The data unit e will be read from its location off-cache.
As noted before, a read request for data units that are out-of-cache will take longer to execute than a request for data units that are in-cache. Therefore, it is not preferable to retrieve the data unit e from its location off-cache if it can be read from an in-cache location. In addition, procedurally, a disk adapter will execute a read request before it completes a prefetch operation. Therefore, the disk adapter will execute the read request for the data unit e before it completes the prefetch operation in which the data unit e would have been retrieved.
Finally, a Miss operation may result in not updating the count of the number of prefetched data units in the sequence being prefetched pursuant to the prefetch task. The prefetched data unit count was being made in anticipation of making a tail cut on the original prefetch operation. This will impact future prefetches and future tail cuts.
The problem is further exacerbated when a host adapter then issues a read request for the data unit f, which is adjacent to data unit e, and which would have been prefetched pursuant to the second prefetch operation, which had not been initiated yet. The second prefetch operation would not have had an opportunity to prefetch data unit f into the cache memory. Therefore, the read request for data unit f will result in a Miss operation and will proceed to read data unit f from its off-cache logical location. As previously indicated, the physical devices which store data off-cache are organized and segmented into logical volumes, and in sending a read request off-cache, the logical address requested will be mapped to the corresponding physical location. Off-cache logical location means the physical location in the data storage devices, e.g. disk data storage devices, of this part (IN THIS CASE, DATA UNIT F) of the logical volume. Once again, the prefetch operation is disrupted and the prefetched data unit count is not updated.
Three kinds of Miss operations may be defined. A Short Miss (SM) operation occurs when prefetching of a data unit had started but not been completed before the issuance of a read request for the data unit. The new input/output (I/O) request was received from the host processor to read a data unit that is currently in the middle of prefetch operation. A Long Miss (LM) operation occurs when the command to start a prefetch operation had issued, but had not been sent to the disk before the issuance of a read request for a data unit. The new I/O instruction was received from the host processor to read a data unit that was going to be prefetched next. A Read Miss operation occurs when a new I/O request is issued for a data unit for which no plans to prefetch were yet made. In all three cases the data is not in-cache when a read request issues.
Using the example of the prefetches above, in which a sequential access is detected upon reading of data units a, b, c, and a first prefetch task is opened to prefetch the new sequential stream started by data units a, b, c, the first prefetch task issues a first prefetch operation for prefetching data units d, e, followed by a second prefetch operation for prefetching data units f, g. It can be seen in the example that sequential prefetching tasks are opened after three Miss operations.
Consider the situation in which the timing of prefetch operations relative to the timing of read requests is such that, after prefetching five data units, the data units required for reading by the host processor will not have yet been prefetched into the cache memory. Returning to the example, when a prefetch task opens in response to a read request for data unit c, the data storage system is able to complete the prefetching of data units d, e, f, g, h, but will not have stored data unit i before a read request for data unit i is issued. Read requests for data units i, j, and k result in Miss operations and in a recognition of a new sequence (i, j, k, . . . ). In response thereto, a new prefetch task may be opened to fill the cache memory with the new sequence (i, j, k . . . ).
The data units i, j, k are not identified as related to the prefetch task with which the data units d, e, f were prefetched. Therefore, they will not be used as part of a prefetched data unit count to determine when tail cutting is appropriate for the prefetch task in which data units d, e, f were prefetched. In addition, the data units i, j, k will remain in storage in cache memory longer than had they been identified as related to the prefetch task with which the data units d, e, f were prefetched. Because they are not recognized as stored pursuant to the prefetch task, they will not be recycled (i.e., removed from the cache memory) pursuant to the tail cut of the prefetch task. For recycling purposes, they will be treated as general data units stored in cache memory, therefore remaining in cache memory longer than they would have remained had they been identified as related to the prefetch task with which the data units d, e, f were prefetched. Further, the data units d, e, f in the prefetch task will also remain in cache memory longer than they would have had the data units i, j, k been recognized as part of the prefetch task. Even though the sequential activity continues, there are no new data units retrieved pursuant to the prefetch task to which the data units d, e, f are associated. Therefore, the data units d, e, f will not be recycled. Such prefetch tasks are known as orphan prefetches, and sequences of data units associated with them are known as orphan prefetch sequences.
A second prefetch sequence may be recognized, and a second prefetch task may be opened in response. The second prefetch task issues prefetch operations to prefetch data units into the cache memory. As a new sequence, starting with data unit i, begins to be prefetched into the cache memory, the data unit i constitutes the start of a new sequence count. Recalling that the data system is not capable of prefetching faster than the issuance of a sixth read request, the data units (i, j, k, l, m) are prefetched, but read requests for data units n, o, p also result in Miss operations. The data units n, o, p will not be identified as related to the second prefetch task with which the data units i, j, k were prefetched. Therefore, they will not be used as part of the prefetched data unit count to determine when tail cutting is appropriate for the second prefetch task in which data units i, j, k were prefetched. In addition, the data units n, o, p will be treated as general data units and remain in storage in cache memory longer than had they been identified as related to the prefetch task with which the data units i, j, k were prefetched. Further, the second prefetch task also constitutes an orphan prefetch, and the data units i, j, k associated with it constitute another orphan prefetch sequence that will not be recycled. The second prefetch task may also be terminated before completion and a third prefetch task may be opened to fill the cache memory.
Starting and stopping prefetch operations and tasks have administrative overhead associated with them. Therefore, it is not preferable to stop a prefetch operation or task and start others for the same series of data units. It can be seen then that prefetching with a tail cut, as it is conventionally implemented in data storage system, will only execute to completion when a data storage system is able to prefetch and store data units in the cache memory faster than the data units are required for read requests. It would be advantageous to provide a prefetch implementation in which the data storage system prefetches and stores data units in the cache memory and make decisions on the execution of prefetch operations and data unit storage, including tail cutting, even when read requests issue for data units before a prefetch operation is completed or even issued.

Methods and systems for incorporating sequential stream read requests into prefetch management for data storage having a cache memory