A high-frequency module includes a switch IC and a matching circuit. The high-frequency module includes a multilayer body. The switch IC and an inductor of the matching circuit are mounted on a top surface of the multilayer body. A top-surface land electrode on which a common terminal of the switch IC is mounted is connected to one end of a wiring conductor through a via-conductor. The other end of the wiring conductor is connected to a top-surface land electrode on which a terminal electrode at one end of the inductor is mounted, through a via-conductor. An end portion of the inductor on the side connected to the common terminal of the switch IC is disposed near the common terminal. Thus, the length of the wiring conductor is shortened and a parasitic capacitance is decreased.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high-frequency module that includes a switch integrated circuit (IC) and that transmits and receives a plurality of communication signals in a switching manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, various high-frequency modules that transmit and receive a plurality of communication signals using a common antenna have been suggested. In such a high-frequency module, it is necessary to connect terminals to which a plurality of communication signals are input or from which a plurality of communication signals are output to an antenna in a switching manner. Thus, for example, the high-frequency module described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-271420 includes a switch IC. A common terminal of the switch IC is connected to an antenna connection terminal of the high-frequency module. A plurality of switch terminals which are connected to the common terminal of the switch IC in a switching manner are respectively connected to individual input/output terminals of the high-frequency module.
In such a high-frequency module including a switch IC, a matching circuit for achieving impedance matching between a common terminal of the switch IC and an antenna may be provided between the switch IC and an antenna connection terminal.
An example of such a matching circuit is a band-pass-filter-type matching circuit including an inductor which is connected in series between a common terminal of a switch IC and an antenna connection terminal of a high-frequency module in order to cancel the off capacitance of the switch IC. The band-pass-filter-type matching circuit is formed of a low pass filter and a high pass filter.
Also, a matching circuit is provided between each input/output terminal and a corresponding switch terminal.
However, with a trend of increased utilization of a multiband scheme for high-frequency modules, the frequency band of communication signals which are transmitted and received in a switching manner using a switch IC has become wider. Furthermore, with the decreasing size of communication terminals provided with high-frequency modules, there have been demands for further decreases in the size and height of high-frequency modules. Accordingly, there have been demands for further decreases in the size and height of individual elements included in high-frequency modules.
Therefore, a matching circuit according to the related art may be incapable of achieving sufficient impedance matching for all communication signals used in a high-frequency module. Accordingly, desired transmission characteristics are not always acquired between a common terminal and a specific input/output terminal. This is because a component such as a parasitic capacitance between a common terminal of a switch IC and an antenna connection terminal connected to the common terminal affects the impedance characteristics between the common terminal and the input/output terminal.
For example, in a case where impedance matching is performed with a band pass filter including a series-connected inductor as described above, cancelling of an off capacitance causes an inductance value to increase. Accordingly, in some cases, impedance matching is not achieved for a communication signal of a high-frequency band.
Also, in order to achieve matching in a specific frequency band, it is necessary to set a large capacitance of a capacitor which connects one end of an inductor providing the above-described band pass filter to a ground. However, a large capacitance may cause a decrease in cutoff frequency of a low pass filter providing the band pass filter. Accordingly, the insertion loss on the high-frequency side of the specific frequency band increases, and desired characteristics are not obtained in some cases.


A positive electrode material for a lithium ion secondary battery contains a first compound represented by Li3V2(PO4)3 and one or more second compounds selected from vanadium oxide and lithium vanadium phosphate.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a positive electrode material for a lithium ion secondary battery, a positive electrode for a lithium ion secondary battery, and a lithium ion secondary battery.
2. Related Art
In recent years, a polyanion-based positive electrode active material typified by lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) has been studied as a positive electrode active material having excellent crystal stability and thermal stability even at high temperatures. For instance, a nonaqueous electrolyte battery containing LiFePO4 as a positive electrode active material has already been put into practical use in electric tools. This battery has a high discharge capacity of approximately 160 mAh/g. This battery also has excellent high-rate performance due to a technique for allowing the surface of a positive electrode active material to carry an electronically conductive carbonaceous material.
However, the operating potential of LiFePO4 is 3.42 V relative to Li/Li+ reference, and is lower than the operating potential of a positive electrode active material used for a general battery. Therefore, LiFePO4 is insufficient in terms of energy density and output characteristic.
In view of this, Li3V2(PO4)3 has been suggested as the polyanion positive electrode active material which has higher operating potential than LiFePO4.
It is known that a nonaqueous electrolyte battery containing Li3V2(PO4)3 as a positive electrode active material exhibits a capacity as high as 130 mAh/g at low-rate discharge (see, for example, JP-T-2001-500665 and JP-T-2002-530835).

Positive electrode material for lithium ion secondary battery, positive electrode for lithium ion secondary battery, and lithium ion secondary battery


The invention proposes a high-voltage direct current cut-off device, comprising: in series, a cut-off device and a current limiter; an accumulation line in parallel with the current limiter, an oscillating circuit, in parallel with the cut-off apparatus, comprising an oscillation control switch and having an inductance wherein the accumulation line includes at least two accumulation capacitors, and in that the oscillation line extends from a branch connection point of the accumulation line situated between the two accumulation capacitors, determining a secondary segment of the accumulation line connected to the main conduction line between the current limiter and the main cut-off apparatus so as to form part of the oscillating circuit.

The invention relates to the field of transmission and/or high-voltage direct current distribution networks, generally designated with the acronym HVDC. The invention relates in particular to fault current cut-off devices intended for networks of this type.
HVDC networks are in particular considered as a solution to the interconnection of disparate or unsynchronized electricity production sites. HVDC networks are in particular considered for the transmission and the distribution of energy produced by offshore wind farms, rather than alternating current technologies, due to smaller line losses and the absence of the incidence of parasitic capacitances on the network over long distances. Networks of this type typically have voltage levels on the order of 50 kV and more.
In the present text for direct current, a device in which the nominal operating voltage is greater than 1500 V direct current is considered to be high-voltage. Such a high-voltage is, complementarily, also qualified as very high-voltage if it is greater than 75,000 V direct current.
For transmitting electricity from point to point, sectioning can be accomplished by means of an in-line end-to-end converter. On the other hand, sectioning can no longer be accomplished for a converter of this type in multipoint transmission. The cut-off of direct current in networks of this type is a crucial challenge directly conditioning the feasibility and the development of such networks.
Document EP-0.431.510 describes in particular a high-voltage direct current cut-off device.
Moreover, cut-off apparatus of the mechanical circuit breaker type are known for accomplishing current cut-off, i.e. the current cut-off is obtained solely by the opening of a mechanical switch element. A mechanical switch element of this type comprises two conductive parts making contact which are in electrical and mechanical contact when the switch element is closed, and which separate mechanically when the switch element is open. These mechanical circuit breakers have several disadvantages, in particular when large currents pass through them.
In the presence of a high current and/or voltage, mechanical cut-off can result in the establishment of an electrical arc between the two conductive parts, due to the considerable energy accumulated in the network that is protected by the apparatus. As long as the electrical arc remains established through the mechanical cut-off, the cut-off device is not accomplishing the electrical cut-off because a current continues to circulate through the apparatus due to the presence of the arc. The electrical cut-off, in the sense of an effective interruption of circulation of the electrical current, is sometimes particularly difficult to accomplish in a context of direct current and elevated voltage, these conditions tending to maintain the electrical arc. Moreover, this electrical arc degrades, on the one hand the two conductive parts making contact, by erosion, and on the other hand the surrounding medium, by ionization. Moreover, the current takes a certain time to be interrupted due to this ionization. This requires maintenance operations of the cut-off apparatus which are constraining and costly.
Fault currents in an HVDC network are particularly violent and destructive. When a fault generating a high current appears, it is necessary to cut it off rapidly, or possibly limit it while waiting for cut-off to be possible. Moreover, the cut-off of HVDC currents is more complex to accomplish than that of alternating currents (AC). In fact, during the cut-off of an alternating current, advantage is taken of the zero passage of the current to accomplish cut-off "Conventional" alternating current circuit breakers are therefore unsuitable for the cut-off of high-voltage direct currents, unless a passage through zero is generated via an adequate circuit surrounding the circuit breaker. Systems fulfilling this role of limitation and cut-off exist. Several solutions have been proposed for the cut-off of HVDC current: completely electronic, hybrid electronic/mechanical or mechanical cut-off apparatus, possibly assisted by passive components.


A pixel structure is provided. The pixel structure includes a scan line, a data line, an active device, a pixel electrode, and a common electrode. The active device is electrically connected to the scan line and the data line. The pixel electrode is electrically connected to the active device. The pixel electrode includes multiple first layer pixel electrode patterns and multiple second layer pixel electrode patterns. The common electrode includes a plurality of first layer common electrode patterns and a plurality of second layer common electrode patterns. A fringe electric field is between each first layer pixel electrode pattern and corresponding portion of second layer common electrode patterns, and between each first layer common electrode pattern and corresponding portion of second layer pixel electrode patterns. A horizontal electric field is between each second layer pixel electrode pattern and the adjacent portion of second layer common electrode patterns.

Field of Invention
The present invention relates to pixel structure. More particularly, the present invention relates to pixel structure, which is involved in a liquid crystal (LC) driving mode with a mix of horizontal electric field and fringe electric field.
Description of Related Art
As the display size of LC display panel is continuously increasing under development, the LC display panel is also developed to have the performance of high contract, fast response, wide viewing angle, and so on, due to request in the market. To overcome the issue of wide viewing angle for the LC display panel in large size, the wide viewing technology for the LC display panel is also necessarily to be continuously developed and breakthrough. The wide viewing technology currently known includes twisted nematic (TN) LC display panel with wide viewing film, in-plane switching (IPS) LC display panel, fringe field switching (FFS) LC display panel, and multi-domain vertical alignment (MVA) LC display panel.
The wide viewing technologies of FFS and IPS LC are even becoming the trend. The storage capacitance (Cst) in the FFS LC display panel is related to the overlapping area between two electrode layers. However. when the panel is developed in large size, the FFS LC display panel would have some issues, due to Cst being over large. For example, the resistance-capacitance (RC) loading on the data line would be over large, resulting in the issue of insufficient charging. In comparison, although the IPS LC display panel would not have the above issue, the LC efficiency of the IPS LC display panel is lower than the FFS LC display panel. In addition, the operation voltage of the IPS LC display panel is higher than that of the FFS LC display panel.


When the main power source is turned on, a storage system creates a revision table for storing the revision of main firmware installed in a resource management processor of the storage system. Next, the main firmware is loaded from a system drive into a cache memory. When the revision of the main firmware installed in the resource management processor is old, this main firmware is renewed to the main firmware loaded into the cache.

The present invention relates to a storage system and its automatic renewal method of firmware.
With a database system that handles enormous amounts of data such as in a data center, data is managed with a storage system configured separately from a host computer. This storage system, for example, is configured from a disk array device or the like. A disk array device is configured by arranging numerous storage devices in an array and, for instance, is created based on RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Inexpensive Disks). At least one or more logical volumes are formed on the physical storage area provided by a storage device group, and this logical volume is provided to the host system. The host system is able to perform write access and read access to the logical volume. Meanwhile, after this kind of storage system is placed on the market, it is necessary to renew the firmware when defects are discovered in such firmware installed in the components of the storage system.
Incidentally, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-71042 refers to the automatic download of firmware.

Storage system and automatic renewal method of firmware


A method of grinding a wafer, including: a wafer holding step for holding a wafer on a conical holding surface of a chuck table having the holding surface; a rough grinding step for performing rough grinding of the wafer held on the holding surface of the chuck table by positioning a grinding surface of a rough grinding wheel at a predetermined inclination angle relative to the holding surface of said chuck table, and rotating the rough grinding wheel; and a finish grinding step for performing finish grinding of the wafer by positioning a grinding surface of a finish grinding wheel in parallel to the holding surface of the chuck table, and rotating the finish grinding wheel in a grinding region of the grinding wheel in a direction toward the vertex of the contact angle between the grinding surface of the finish grinding wheel and the surface to be ground of the wafer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of grinding a wafer by which the back-side surface of a wafer such as a semiconductor wafer is ground.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the semiconductor device manufacturing process, a semiconductor wafer provided with a plurality of circuits such as ICs and LSIs is made to have a predetermined thickness by grinding the back-side surface thereof using a grinding apparatus, before being divided into individual chips. The grinding apparatus includes a chuck table for holding the wafer, and a grinding means for grinding the wafer held on the chuck table. In order to grind the back-side surface of the wafer efficiently, a grinding apparatus is generally used which includes a rough grinding means having a rough grinding wheel and a finish grinding means having a finish grinding wheel (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-1261).
In grinding a wafer by use of the just-mentioned grinding apparatus having a rough grinding means and a finish grinding means, the wafer held on the chuck table is subjected to rough grinding by the rough grinding means so as to leave a finishing margin, and the wafer having thus undergone the rough grinding is subjected to finish grinding by the finish grinding means so as to obtain a predetermined thickness.
When the wafer ground by the rough grinding means is ground by the finish grinding means, the minute grain diameter of the abrasive grains of the finish grinding stone constituting the finish grinding wheel of the finish grinding means may result in that the so-called bite into the wafer is weak so that surface burning occurs. Besides, the pressing force may be increased attendant on the grinding feed, leading to lowered quality of the wafer.


A dome assembly for use in a keyboard assembly of an electronic device is provided. The dome assembly includes a deflectable dome shaped element having a concave surface terminating at a periphery and a number of elevating members disposed on the element adjacent the periphery and protruding away from the concave surface. The elevating members serve to space the periphery from a mounting surface. The element is movable between an undeflected position and a deflected position.

1. Field
The disclosed and claimed concept relates generally to handheld electronic devices and, more particularly, to a key dome assembly for a handheld electronic device, wherein the dome assembly includes micro structures which elevate the dome shaped element from a supporting surface.
2. Description of the Related Art
Numerous types of handheld electronic devices are known. Examples of such handheld electronic devices include, for instance, personal data assistants (PDAs), handheld computers, two-way pagers, cellular telephones, and the like. Many handheld electronic devices also feature a wireless communication capability, although many such handheld electronic devices are stand-alone devices that are functional without communication with other devices.
Such handheld electronic devices are generally intended to be portable, with many of such devices being small enough to fit within, for example, a pocket, a belt holster, a briefcase, or a purse. As the form factor of such devices has shrunk for improved portability, so has the size of components such as keyboards or keypads. The keyboards or keypads include keys that act as switches for input entry when actuated. In furtherance of miniaturization of keyboard assemblies such as keyboards and keypads, one general approach implemented by several different manufacturers has involved the use of an electrical key in the form of a resilient dome shaped element that is electrically conductive and is disposed on a circuit board.
In simplest form, such a dome assembly is a smooth sector of a hollow sphere. When an actuation force is applied to the apex of the dome assembly, the dome assembly collapses, completing an electrical circuit or at least an open portion of an electrical circuit of the device. The collapsing dome assembly provides a tactile feedback to the user of the handheld electronic device. Such simple sphere segments have been generally effective for their intended purpose; however they have not been without limitation, as the tactile feedback is sometimes not noticeable by the user, particularly in miniaturized keyboard assemblies.
Accordingly, it is desirable to manufacture a dome assembly which produces a detectable tactile feedback when electrical contact is made.
Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the specification.

Key dome assembly with improved tactile feedback


A radio communication device wherein, by performing a channel reservation, an arbitrary radio communication with other surrounding radio communication devices may be carried out by setting up a receiving slot according to the amount of receiving data. Each radio communication device may only manage the number of its own receiving slots so as to secure the channel required for communication by its own determination, without needing a process that is accurately synchronous with other radio communication devices. The radio communication device on the data transmission side monitors, by receiving a beacon, an increase in the number of the receiving slots of the radio communication device on the reception side, so as to transmit the data immediately when the number of the receiving slots increases. The reception acknowledgement information from the reception side radio communication device is written in the beacon and returned.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a radio communication device and a radio communication method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional communication systems of a time division multiple access (TDMA) type, such as a portable phone, a network structure is generally used in which a base station is disposed in every predetermined area and a terminal unit is provided under the base station.
In this case, an access method is used in which the base station controls a transmission frame and a slot so that a channel by which each terminal unit can perform transmission or reception is strictly specified.
In a slot division type channel reservation communication system, a network structure is generally used in which a device of an access point is disposed in the center of the network and the terminal unit is provided thereunder.
In this case, also, an access method is used in which the access point consolidates the transmission frame and the slot so that the channel by which each terminal unit can perform transmission or reception is specified strictly.
As an example of such a conventional channel reservation control method, an access method is generally used in which, by means of a channel called a random access slot, the terminal unit sends a reservation request for a channel required for communication to the base station or the access point, so that the terminal unit may carry out communication in the channel specified by the base station or the access point.
On the other hand, as a radio network structure under the IEEE 802.11 standard, a method in which all terminal units perform access control asynchronously without providing a specific base station has been suggested.
As a radio access control method in the radio network under the IEEE 802.11 standard, a collision avoidance method by a carrier sense multiplex access (CSMA/CA) is widely known.

Radio communication device, radio communication method, and computer program


An antenna device provided in a radio apparatus having a printed circuit board includes a first antenna element and a second antenna element. The first antenna element is configured to be fed and grounded at a first feed portion and at a first short-circuit portion both on the printed circuit board, respectively. The second antenna element is configured to be fed and grounded at a second feed portion and at a second short-circuit portion both on the printed circuit board, respectively. The second feed portion is located farther from the first feed portion than from the first short-circuit portion, farther than the first short-circuit portion is from the first feed portion, farther from the first short-circuit portion than from the second short-circuit portion, and farther than the second short-circuit portion is from the first short-circuit portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an antenna device, and in particular to an antenna device having no less than two antenna elements.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a trend that radio apparatus like mobile phones are equipped with not only so called a cellular-type mobile communication system but also various kinds of radio systems such as a wireless local area network (WLAN), the global positioning system (GPS), a radio identification system (RFID), a terrestrial digital television system and so on. It is anticipated that the above trend continues to grow, and that the radio apparatus will increasingly have multiple uses and multiple functions.
In response to advances in multiple uses and multiple functions of the radio apparatus, features of multiple resonance and broader frequency ranges are increasingly required of antenna devices provided in the radio apparatus. Meanwhile, downsizing and compactness are also required of the antenna devices from a viewpoint of improvement of designs and downsizing of the radio apparatus. In order to meet the above requirements conflicting to each other, the radio apparatus has to be equipped with an antenna device adapted for plural radio systems.
Configuration of such an antenna device may be divided broadly into two types of approaches. One of the approaches is a configuration where plural antenna elements (maybe including a parasitic element) having different resonant frequencies one another are combined, commonly fed by and distributed to plural systems via an antenna sharing device such as a switch or a duplexer.
Another one of the approaches is a configuration where plural antennas are arranged close to each other in a space-efficient manner, and each of the antennas is separately fed by an associated system.
In the configuration using the antenna sharing device, an isolation characteristic of the antenna sharing device dominates isolation among the systems different one another. In order to compensate for shortage of the isolation of the antenna sharing device, another device such as a band-pass filter may be needed. Consequently, increased insertion losses of the antenna sharing device and the filter may cause basic performance such as transmitter power or receiver sensitivity to be degraded.
The configuration where each of plural antennas is separately fed by an associated system is advantageous to basic performance of radio apparatus, as there is no need to think of insertion losses of antenna sharing devices and filters. Meanwhile, there is a problem that isolation may hardly be assured as the antennas are arranged spatially close one another.
For such a problem, conventional antenna devices have been proposed so that isolation may be assured, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication of Unexamined Application (Kokai), No. 2003-332840 and No. 2005-198245.
More specifically, the invention of the antenna device disclosed in JP 2003-332840 was applied by the applicant of this application so as to reduce a cross coupling between antennas of an antenna device arranged on a same grounded conductive plate and to reduce leakage of electromagnetic waves from a transmitting antenna to a receiving antenna. The antenna device is provided with a plate-like short-circuiting element on and almost perpendicular to the grounded conductive plate between feed portions of the antennas, and configured to block views between the feed portions for solving the above problems.
The antenna device disclosed in JP 2005-198245 is configured that one of two antenna elements is a half wavelength long with a grounded end so as to work equivalently to a loop antenna of a wavelength long and to suppress resonance occurring on a ground plane. It is mentioned that even if another one of the antenna elements is excited at a nearby frequency, a coupling between the antenna elements may be suppressed as antenna current distribution is small near a feed portion of the equivalent loop antenna.
The antenna device disclosed in JP 2003-332840 by the applicant of this application is configured to have the plate-like short-circuiting element perpendicular to the grounded conductive plate so as to isolate between the antennas. Such a configuration may not be very suitable for a small sized radio apparatus such as a mobile phone which is required to be small and thin.
The antenna device disclosed in JP 2005-198245 is on an assumption that frequency bands of use of the antenna elements are close to each other. It is thus restricted to apply such a configuration to broad multiple uses and multiple functions of radio apparatus.

Antenna device having no less than two antenna elements


In Public Key Infrastructure (xe2x80x9cPKIxe2x80x9d) applications, a key pair (public key and private key) is used to provide strong authentication and encryption services. The key pair is associated with the user by the use of a xe2x80x9ccertificate,xe2x80x9d which contains the user""s public key as well as attributes associated with that user. This invention relates to the use of these attributes to control the access to a protected resource given to authenticated users. The attributes within a user""s public key certificate are filtered by an attribute filter referenced by the proxy definition in order to control access to a protected resource. Further limitation of access to a protected resource is accomplished by association with server input and output addresses.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of controlling access to a protected resource based on user attributes contained within public key certificates and proxy definitions. This invention also relates to a program product bearing software, which controls access to a protected resource based on user attributes contained in public key certificates and proxy definitions. This invention further relates to a computer system that operates to control access to a protected resource based on user attributes contained in public key certificates and proxy definitions.
2. Related Art
Before the advent of Public Key Infrastructure (xe2x80x9cPKIxe2x80x9d) technology, several techniques evolved to control the access of users to protected computer resources, such as corporate servers executing transactional programs or hosting databases. One method of protection was to prevent unauthorized access to the protected computer system by physical means. The simplest of these methods was to limit access to terminals communicating with the protected computer system. Another method was to prevent unauthorized access by not permitted physical network connections to exist between the protected computer system and public computer networks. Another method of protection was to implement automated access control systems on each protected computer system or protected server. While effective, these techniques have serious shortcomings that inhibit the effective use of computer resources. In the case of physical security methods, the opportunity to capitalize on the use of public networks, such as the Internet, to access protected computer systems is lost. Similarly, automated access control systems implemented at the server level are applicable only for that particular server. Consequently, the administration of access control privileges may have to be duplicated amongst several servers, which in turn leads to errors, inconsistencies, and ultimately, increased costs.
To take advantage of public networks such as the Internet and corporate Intranets, industry has adopted the security server approach to implement security measures. A security server is interposed between the protected computer resource and the client station, acting as the sole link between the resource and the client. The client can be directly connected to the security server, or it may be linked to the security server via one or more communications routers. In addition, the security server may protect single or multiple resources. The security server will establish a communications link between the protected resource and the client station if and only if the user is properly authenticated. The term xe2x80x9csecurity server,xe2x80x9d in this sense, encompasses security servers, firewalls, proxy servers and authentication servers. In addition, the term xe2x80x9cprotected resourcexe2x80x9d includes but is not limited to database servers, applications servers and transactional servers.
Coupled with the security server approach is Public Key Infrastructure technology. In PKI applications, a key pair (public key and private key) is used to provide strong authentication and encryption services. The key pair is associated with the user by the use of a xe2x80x9ccertificatexe2x80x9d containing the user""s public key, as well as attributes associated with that user. The security server establishes a link between a client station (or a communications router) and a protected resource by establishing a proxy. This proxy is activated only if the client station is properly authenticated. Typically, this client station authentication is based on submission of the correct password in order for the client station to access its private key, and on possession of the actual private key.
This invention relates to a method of adding an access control function in the security server based on attributes stored in public key certificates. Any attribute stored in the public key certificate may be used to control access to a protected resource via a security server.
According to the invention, a novel approach of granting or denying access through the security server is based on the value of an attribute. The method of the invention is such that a condition based on the value of an attribute is associated directly with the proxy in the security server. The proxy between a client station and a protected resource is established if and only if the requestor is authenticated, and the attribute condition associated with that proxy is satisfied.
According to the invention, a novel approach of limiting access to a protected resource through a security server is based upon the input and output addresses associated with a proxy definition. The method of invention is such that a condition based on the addresses can limit access only to a specific resource.

Access control using attributes contained within public key certificates


There are provided an image processing apparatus which corrects the curvature of a scanning line using image data in image formation, and a control method thereof. When reading out image data by burst transfer from a memory in the line direction of a scanning line on the basis of the read start address of the image data and the burst transfer length, the switching address in the line direction for switching a line of image data is set. The image processing apparatus generates, based on the switching address, the second read start address for reading out image data of the second line, so as to read out image data by burst transfer of at least the first line before line switching and the second line after line switching, in accordance with the set switching address. Image data is read out in accordance with an address generated by the address generator, to form an image in which the curvature of a scanning line is corrected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and control method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electrographic image forming apparatus has conventionally been known. The electrographic image forming apparatus includes a laser source for scanning (irradiating) a photosensitive drum with a laser beam corresponding to image data, a photosensitive drum irradiated with a laser beam emitted from the laser source, and a charging roller for electrically charging the photosensitive drum. The electrographic image forming apparatus also includes a developer for developing, with toner, an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum, which is formed by irradiating the charged photosensitive drum with a laser beam. The electrographic image forming apparatus further includes a transfer unit for transferring, onto a sheet (print paper), a toner image developed by the developer on the photosensitive drum.
In this image forming apparatus, when the photosensitive drum is scanned (irradiated) with a laser beam based on 1-line image data, the scanning line is ideally a straight line parallel to the axial direction of the photosensitive drum. However, the scanning line sometimes fails to form a straight line parallel to the scanning direction (i.e., the scanning line curves) owing to a mechanical error of the laser source or photosensitive drum attaching position or the like.
FIG. 26 depicts a view illustrating an example of the curvature (registration error) of a scanning line on a photosensitive drum.
In FIG. 26, a dotted line 2600 represents an ideal scanning line of a laser beam. A solid line 2601 represents an actual scanning line of a laser beam.
As a method for correcting the curvature of a scanning line, for example, the following techniques are proposed.
According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-241131, when assembling an exposure unit into an image forming apparatus main body, the inclination of a scanning line is measured using an optical sensor. The exposure unit is mechanically inclined in accordance with the inclination, adjusting the inclination of the scanning line.
According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-170755, the inclination and skew of a scanning line in an image forming apparatus are measured using an optical sensor. Bitmap image data is corrected to cancel the inclination and skew. An image is formed based on the corrected image data. The method in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-170755 requires neither mechanical adjustment nor an adjustment process in assembly because the inclination and skew of a scanning line are corrected by image data. Compared to the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-241131, the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-170755 can cancel the inclination and skew of a scanning line at lower cost.
However, the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-170755 requires a line buffer for storing bitmap image data of a plurality of scanning lines because blend processing is executed to blend data of a target scanning line and an upper or lower adjacent line at a skew of the scanning line, and print them. The number of line buffers depends on the skew width of the scanning line. For example, when the skew width of the scanning line corresponds to image data of N lines, line buffers capable of storing image data of N lines are needed. Since the skew width differs between image forming apparatuses, the number N of line buffers must be the number of lines exceeding the maximum value of the skew width. Ensuring many line buffers increases the memory capacity and a circuit scale for correcting bitmap image data, raising the cost.

Image processing apparatus and control method thereof


An apparatus for attaching either a gooseneck trailer hitch or a fifth wheel trailer hitch to a truck bed can include a single cross-member, a gooseneck ball receiver and a plurality of mounting pads. The single cross-member can be attached to first and second truck longitudinal frame rails. The gooseneck ball receiver can be coupled to the single cross-member and aligned with a gooseneck hitch opening in the truck bed. The plurality of mounting pads can be spaced apart from the single cross-member and can be attached to the frame rails independent of the single cross-member. The plurality of mounting pads can be aligned with a corresponding plurality of access openings in the truck bed. The single cross-member can be a suspension cross-member supporting at least first and second suspension members.

It is generally known in the towing industry to utilize a fifth wheel hitch or a gooseneck hitch to secure a trailer to a bed of a towing vehicle, such as a pickup truck. Underbed systems have been developed to accommodate either a fifth wheel hitch system or a gooseneck hitch system. Such systems, however, typically cannot accommodate both the fifth wheel hitch and the gooseneck hitch without requiring a labor intensive conversion process. These underbed systems can also require the addition of multiple cross-car structural support members, which can present packaging challenges with other competing vehicle driveline and suspension systems. Thus, there remains a need for improvement in the relevant art.

Underbed support assembly for fifth wheel and gooseneck hitch systems


A device tests a circuit that is a source of alternating current by measuring at least one electrical parameter of the circuit to determine whether the circuit is able to provide adequate energy for defibrillation by an external defibrillator. The device may test the circuit by applying a load to the circuit, and measuring one or more electrical parameters when the load is applied to the circuit. The device may be the external defibrillator itself, or a separate testing device. In some embodiments in which an external defibrillator tests a circuit, the defibrillator modifies a value of at least one therapy delivery parameter for a subsequent delivery of one or more defibrillation pulses based on the measured electrical parameter value measured. By modifying a therapy delivery parameter, the defibrillator may deliver defibrillation pulses at an energy level that is supportable by the circuit.

Early external defibrillators delivered alternating current from a mains circuit, e.g., a building alternating current (ac) power circuit, to a patient. These early defibrillators delivered the a long burst, e.g., one or two seconds, of current at the mains voltage, e.g., 120 volts in the United States. Because these early defibrillators relied on the presence of a mains circuit receptacle for power, they were not portable, and could not reach many patients that required defibrillation.
These early defibrillators were eventually replaced by the type of defibrillator that is currently commercially available, i.e., external defibrillators use a direct current (dc) power source, e.g., a battery, as the source of energy for defibrillation of a patient. The dc power sources used by commercially available defibrillators allow them to be self-contained and completely portable. Some commercially available defibrillators may be plugged into a receptacle to receive alternating current from a building circuit, but merely use the current to recharge the dc power source.
Commercially available external defibrillators typically include one or more capacitive elements that store a charge from the dc power source, which is then delivered to the patient in the form of a defibrillation pulse. These defibrillators may also include switches or other wave-shaping circuits in order to deliver the exponentially decaying monophasic pulse output by the capacitive elements as a truncated exponentially decaying monophasic, biphasic, or multiphasic pulse. The defibrillation pulses delivered by commercially available defibrillators have a significantly higher voltage and are significantly shorter than the mains voltage bursts delivered by the early defibrillators and, for that reason, are considered to be more therapeutically effective than the mains voltage bursts delivered by the early defibrillators.
However, because these commercially available external defibrillators include a battery, capacitive elements, and charging circuitry to quickly charge the capacitive elements to a high voltage from the battery, they may be significantly heavy and expensive. Further, defibrillators, such as automated external defibrillators (AEDs), are increasingly being provided at locations, such as homes and small offices, where having a self-contained power source for the sake of portability is not a necessity. Consequently, for such locations, it may be desirable to provide a defibrillator that is not self-contained, but which provides high voltage defibrillation pulses with similar efficacy to those provided by commercially external defibrillators, and may be lighter and less expensive than commercially available defibrillators.
U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2004/0143297 by Ramsey III describes a defibrillator that does not require a battery. Instead, the defibrillator described by Ramsey III charges an array of capacitors directly from a mains circuit, and delivers the energy stored by the capacitors to a patient as a defibrillation in much the same manner as commercially available defibrillators. The defibrillator described by Ramsey III charges the capacitors in parallel, then discharges the capacitors in series to provide a voltage that is significantly higher than that mains voltage for the defibrillation pulses.
Because the defibrillator described by Ramsey III would not include a battery, it might be lighter and less expensive than commercially available defibrillators. However, because the defibrillator described by Ramsey III requires several high value capacitors in order to achieve the high voltage desired for efficacious defibrillation, it would likely be more expensive than a defibrillator that delivered energy directly from a mains circuit to a patient, like the early defibrillators. Consequently, a defibrillator that delivers energy directly from a mains circuit to a patient, like the early defibrillators, but does so in the form of high voltage "pulses" with a desired efficacy, like commercially available defibrillators, might provide the most desirable option in terms of weight and cost for location and applications that do not require mobility.
However, even assuming that such a defibrillator were to become available, its use may be limited by the inability of ac mains circuits in homes, offices and other buildings to deliver adequate energy, e.g., power, voltage, current or charge, for defibrillation. For example, typically a peak current of approximately 10 amps to approximately 20 amps is required to be delivered to a patient for defibrillation. Patient impedances generally fall within the range from approximately 25 ohms to approximately 150 ohms, resulting in a peak power required for defibrillation of a patient that is within a range from approximately 2500 watts to 60,000 watts. Therefore, the peak current draw from a 120 volt ac mains circuit would be within a range from approximately 20 amps to approximately 500 amps.
The resistance of an ac mains circuit in a building may be too high to reliably provide peak current throughout this range. For example, according to the well-known relationship between voltage, current and resistance, a 120 volt ac mains circuit with a resistance of 1 ohm will only be capable of providing an instantaneous current of 120 amps. In some cases, a resistance of as little as 0.1 ohm may render a circuit unable to support delivery of defibrillation pulses to a particular patient, with a particular patient resistance, at a specified energy level.
The resistance of a building circuit may be too high to support defibrillation due to, for example, improper wiring or degradation of materials over time. Further, the fact that a circuit is unable to provide adequate energy for defibrillation, or at least unable do so reliably and for a full range of defibrillation pulse energy levels, will likely not be apparent to the purchaser, installer, or user of a defibrillator that is coupled to that circuit. Nonetheless, because defibrillators are critical, life-saving devices, it is imperative that they be capable of reliably delivering defibrillation pulses at any desired energy level.

Method and apparatus for testing an alternating current power source for defibrillation compatibility


Embodiments of the present invention provide an alternative distributed airborne transportation system. In some embodiments, a method for distributed airborne transportation includes: providing an airborne vehicle with a wing and a wing span, having capacity to carry one or more of passengers or cargo; landing of the airborne vehicle near one or more of passengers or cargo and loading at least one of passengers or cargo; taking-off and determining a flight direction for the airborne vehicle; locating at least one other airborne vehicle, which has substantially the same flight direction; and joining at least one other airborne vehicle in flight formation and forming a fleet, in which airborne vehicles fly with the same speed and direction and in which adjacent airborne vehicles are separated by distance of less than 100 wing spans.

Modern airborne transportation is primarily based on relatively large size fixed-wing aircraft that can transport relatively large number of passengers and amount of cargo between a limited number of airports, which are areas specially created for take-off and landing of regular aircraft. As a result, such a transportation system is limited in its abilities to remain economical and provide adequate services under increasing demands for faster, better and more reliable performance. Airports represent one of the most apparent bottlenecks in this system. They are expensive to operate for owners and inconvenient to use for customers. Existing airports are being utilized at close to capacity and additional ones are not built fast enough.
Existing airborne transportation systems are in many ways similar to ground-based centralized systems for public and mass transportation, well-known examples of which are ones based on railroad and highway bus transport. Such systems lack the flexibility and convenience of a distributed transportation system.
Therefore, the inventors have provided an improved airborne transportation system, which provides one or more benefits of distributed transportation.

Methods and apparatus for distributed airborne transportation system


Disclosed is a device for removing a foreign object from the body of a human or animal patient, the device being formed from a single length of tubing, slit lengthwise at its distal end to define an envelope of a basket cavity, the envelope featuring a set of second strands, each formed by slitting one of the first strands over a distal portion of the first strand, which distal portion is less than the full length of the first strand.

The present applicant manufactures a device for catching, fixing and removing foreign objects form the body of a human patient. These foreign objects can include stones, fragments and concrements in the medical fields of urology and gastro-enterology. In the present device, both ends of a number of individual wires are held together by a ring. Normally, the wires have a circular cross-section. One of these rings forms the distal end of a shaft and the other ring is spaced distally axially from the first ring. When the individual wires are all bowed radially outwardly and are distributed at regular intervals around the circumference of the axis, then these wires form longitudinal strands of an envelope defining a cavity centered on the long axis of the shaft. The wires are resilient and are given an outwardly bowed symmetrically or helically twisted shape so as to define a basket cavity radially inwardly of the envelope defined by the wires. The number of wires is usually in a range of from two to six. The entire device is placed within a sheath. For catching the foreign object, the distal end of the shaft and basket assembly is advanced out of the distal end of the sheath, allowing the resilience of the wires to form the basket by outward bowing. Once the foreign object is fished into the basket, then the shaft can be withdrawn proximally, to a greater or lesser extent, in order that the distal end of the sheath should squeeze down the diameter of the basket so that the basket wires grip the foreign object in the reduced diameter basket cavity immediately adjacent the distal end of the sleeve. Then the shaft and sleeve can together be withdrawn in the proximal direction to carry the foreign object in the basket out of the body.
In endoscopic surgery, a small diameter of the sheath is desirable. Currently the devices on the market have a sheath diameter falling within a range of outside diameters from 0.63 to 1.83 mm, which corresponds to a range of 1.9 to 5.5 French (1 French=⅓ mm).
One disadvantage of the presently marketed devices is that soldered, welded or glued joints are used to fix the individual wires to the rings and to the shaft. These connections represent a potential failure risk and, in any event, their ultimate strength has to be ascertained by extensive examination and testing.
Apart from this, the jointing of the wires at the rings defines the greatest outer diameter of the shaft element of the device, which therefore determines the inner diameter of the sheath and therefore indirectly determines the outer diameter of the sheath, setting a limit on the minimization of the outer sheath diameter.
Furthermore, the envelope of wires determines a characteristic mesh size of the basket and this mesh size has to be suitable both for fishing an object into the basket and then for retaining it within the basket until it has been removed from the body. Whereas a small mesh helps retention and removal, it does not help in the process of fishing the foreign object into the basket. A compromise mesh size has to be adopted.
EP-A-818 180 discloses an endoscope accessory in the form of a tube with a slitted distal end portion. The slits can be deformed radially outwardly to define a plurality of openings, by pulling from the proximal end of the tube on a pull wire 13 connected at its distal end to the distal end of the slitted portion. The disclosure of EP-A-737 450 is, in these respects, similar and U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,627.
EP-A-512 729 discloses an endoscopic surgical instrument which includes a tube having a slitted portion at its distal end. In a relaxed disposition of the wall portions between the slits, they are spaced apart from one another to form a basket. The slitted tube is itself co-axially within an outer tube having a distal end, and the basket can be closed down by drawing the basket, beginning at its proximal end, proximally into the outer tube, past the distal end of the outer tube. The slitted tube is made of a polyurethane material and the basket is formed by the application of steam heating to the slitted end.
DE-A-197 22 429 discloses a Nitinol tube, slitted at its distal end, for use as a basket to gather stones from bodily cavities. It is said to differ from previous such baskets in that the strands of the basket are unitary with the tube.
WO 94/18888 is another disclosure of a stone-gathering basket made from a plurality of Nitinol wires. The wires are arranged around the circumference of the basket in pairs and given a helical twist, which is said to increase the number of points of contact between the basket and entrapped calculi and to require of the physician no more dexterity than the prior art baskets, having a smaller number of contact points, required.
WO 96/23446 discloses a stone-gathering basket in which a distal half of the basket envelope exhibits a greater number of basket strands than the proximal half of the basket envelope. Each lengthwise strand in the proximal half of the baskets splits at half distance over the basket envelope into a plurality of strands which help to define the proximal half of the basket envelope. At the distal end of the basket is a cap to which all of the filaments defining the basket envelope are welded.
WO 99/16365 discloses a stone-gathering basket defined by a plurality of legs and with discussion what cross-sectional shapes of the legs are useful, and what surface topography on the inward facing surface of each leg.
WO 99/48429 is another disclosure of a stone gathering basket made unitary from a tube with longitudinal slits at its distal end, the basket being relaxed in its expanded configuration and of a material which can be a nickel titanium shape memory alloy such as Nitinol.

Tool for removing object from the body of a patient


A flexible cascade unit for cascading electrical elements and device thereof are provided. The cascade unit includes a first series connection portion, a second series connection portion and a flexible structure. The flexible structure is integrally formed between the first and second series connection portions, and has a first flexible rib and a second flexible rib. Each of the first and second flexible ribs respectively clads a conducting wire. Each conducting wire has two conducting ends respectively extended to the first and second series connection portions. As such, a flexible strip-like object can be formed, and be attached at an arm, waist or wrist of a person to be readily portable and wearable.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic accessory, and more particularly, to a flexible cascade unit for cascading electrical elements and device thereof.
Description of the Prior Art
To connect conventional electrical elements such as batteries into serial or parallel connection, flexibility in an overall structure cannot be provided due to contacts of conductive elements. For example, a battery needs to be placed to be in contact with conductive plates in a battery container in order to achieve serial or parallel electrical connection. Thus, restricted by the above concept, the conventional arrangement of batteries cannot be effectively expanded, and thus is not readily portable and wearable.
In a common watch, a battery is disposed inside a watch head, whose two ends are then connected by a strap to allow a user to wear the watch. With a limited space for disposing a battery within the watch head, the battery disposed frequently has specifications of a smaller capacity and a smaller volume, or even a lower electrical capacity and a shorter life cycle again due to the small space available. Further, a battery applied for military uses need to take portability and durability into considerations. However, conventional batteries for military uses do not possess such characteristics.
In view of the above, to improve the above and overcome the above drawbacks, the Applicant, with dedicated researches combined with theoretical knowledge, finally provides the present invention that has a reasonable design and effectively overcomes the above drawbacks.

Flexible cascade unit for cascading electrical elements and device thereof


Bandwidth control over users accommodated under ONU in PON is achieved. BAS sets user bandwidth information obtained during user authorization in OLT. The OLT achieves bandwidth control on a user basis, using bandwidth information set from the BAS. The present invention enables bandwidth control over users under the ONUs.

In recent years, faster access networks have been developing rapidly, and FTTH (Fiber To The Home) using optical fibers has been coming into widespread use. Optical fiber installation configurations for achieving FTTH fall into three broad categories: (1) SS (Single Star) type networks in which the station of a common carrier and users are connected by an optical fiber with a one-to-one correspondence; (2) ADS (Active Double Star) type networks in which an active element RT (Remote Terminal) for multiplexing and separating signals and transforming signals electrically and optically is installed between a common carrier and users so that the common carrier and the RT are connected by an optical fiber, and the RT and users are connected by a metal cable with a one-to-one correspondence; and (3) PDS (Passive Double Star) type networks (global standard name PON: Passive Optical Network) in which a light splitter SC (Star Coupler) is installed between a common carrier and users, a light signal from the station is branched in the SC, and optical fibers are installed between the SC and the users.
The PON type networks are lower in fiber installation cost than the SS type networks in which all users and the station are connected with each other by an optical fiber with a one-to-one correspondence. Also, the SC for branching light is a highly reliable passive element and requires no electrical supply, therefore not requiring a power facility and provision for power failure. For these reasons, the PON type networks are very promising technology for achieving FTTH.
Referring to FIG. 1, a description is made of BPON (Broadband optical access systems based on Passive Optical Network), which is PON using ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode). The BPON comprises an optical line termination (OLT) 10, optical network units (ONU) 12, and an optical star coupler (SC) 11 (hereinafter, a PON configuration including OLT, SC, and ONU will be referred to as a PON system). The OLT 10, which is primarily installed in a building or the like of a common carrier, makes authorization and bandwidth management for the ONUs 12 in the PON system. The ONUs 12 terminating a user network transform user packets received from users to ATM cells and output as many ATM cells as specified time slots at a timing specified by the OLT 10. The SC 11, which is a passive element constructed of an optical fiber, branches an optical fiber 16 of the OLT side to plural optical fibers 17-1, 17-2, . . . , and 17-n of the ONU side. User data sent from the OLT 10 are sent to all ONUs via the SC 11. The SC 11 multiplexes upstream user packets delivered from the ONUs 12 and outputs the multiplexed packets to the OLT 10. Time slot assignment to the ONUs is made by an OpS (Operation System) 14 connected to the OLT 10. The interface between the OpS 14 and the OLT 10 is defined by ITU-TQ.834.1. Here, the direction from the OLT to the ONUs is defined as downstream. The direction from the ONUs to the OLT is defined as upstream.
FIG. 4 shows a frame format in BPON. FIG. 4 shows, beginning at the top, a downstream frame format, an upstream frame format, and an enlarged portion of the upstream frame format. The OLT 10 sends 224 downstream ATM cells to the ONUs in one cycle, and sends a PLOAM (physical layer OAM) cell 241 to the ONUs 12 every 27 cells for the purpose of system control and the setting of upstream bandwidths. The ONUs 12 monitor connection identifiers VPI/VCI contained in cell headers of ATM cells 252 received from the OLT 10, get only cells directed to the pertinent ONUs 12, and send user data to physical lines 18 of the user side. The ONUs 12 transform user packets received from users 13 to ATM cells, append a header PON-OH (PON-OverHead) 251 to the leading portion of the ATM cells, and output the ATM cells to the OLT 10. The timing in which the ONUs 12 output the cells and the number of time slots are set in the system control cell PLOAM 241 sent from the OLT 10 and thereby specified to the ONUs by the OLT. Upstream cells sent to the OLT from the ONUs are multiplexed (e.g., time division multiplexing) on an identical optical fiber of the OLT side in the SC. To prevent cells sent from the ONUs from conflicting with each other in the SC, the OLT uses the PLOAM cell to make output timing adjustment called ranging and set timing in the ONUs. The OLT assigns time slots to the ONUs. In other words, time slot assignment in consideration of users under the ONUs is not performed.
A transfer method of a BPON system is defined by ITU-T G.983.1 and G.983.2. For EPON (Ethernet-PON) systems that perform a transfer between OLT and ONUs over Ethernet, IEEE 802.3ah is pushing ahead with standardization of transfer methods.
FIG. 6 shows a network configuration that allows users to connect to the Internet 30 in FTTH. This network comprises a broadband access server BAS 28 that performs aggregation of user accesses, user management, and service allocation; an OLT 10 that receives user data from the BAS and sends it to a PON system, and manages the PON system; SC 11 that branches a single optical fiber to plural optical fibers; and ONUs 12 that terminate user access and send user data to the PON system (OLT) according to the OLT. Users 13 are authorized in the BAS via the ONUs 12 and the OLT 10 before being connected to the Internet. In this configuration, the PON system is used as a communication path for connecting the ONUs installed within user premises and the BAS, wherein a bandwidth has been allocated to the communication path.
In BPON and EPON systems, a path between ONUs and OLT is used as a data path to which a bandwidth has been allocated, and bandwidth control between OLT and ONUs is performed in an ONU unit. As more and more users introduce FTTH, a PON system suffers from the problem of the number of branches of SC. Since one ONU is normally installed for each user, an optical fiber of one branch is required for one user. To accommodate more users in an identical PON system, the SC must be adapted to have more branches. The number of branches of the SC is limited by physical constraints attributed to laser output installed in both the OLT and ONU. Multiple branches are achieved only by use of very expensive and high-output lasers. Accordingly, one method for avoiding the limitation on the number of branches is to accommodate plural users in an ONU and share the ONU among the users. However, since the OLT and the BAS operate independently, in the prior art, the OLT has not performed bandwidth control for each of users under the ONUs.


A method for monitoring performance of a program. A periodically occurring event is detected and a stack associated with the program is identified in response to a detection of the periodically occurring event, which may be a timer interrupt. The stack is examined to identify each routine (and specific invocation point, or offset) that is currently executing in association with the program. Each routine (and offset) is represented as a node in a tree structure.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to improved data processing system, and in particular to an improved method and apparatus for monitoring performance of a data processing system. Still more particularly, present invention provides an improved method and apparatus for structured profiling of the data processing system and applications executing within the data processing system.
2. Description of Related Art
In analyzing and enhancing performance of a data processing system and the applications executing within the data processing system, it is helpful to know which software modules within a data processing system are using system resources. Effective management and enhancement of data processing systems requires knowing how and when various system resources are being used. Performance tools are used to monitor and examine a data processing system to determine resource consumption as various software applications are executing within the data processing system. For example, a performance tool may identify the most frequently executed modules and instructions in a data processing system, or may identify those modules which allocate the largest amount of memory or perform the most I/O requests. Hardware performance tools may be built into the system or added at a later point in time. Software performance tools also are useful in data processing systems, such as personal computer systems, which typically do not contain many, if any, built-in hardware performance tools.
One known software performance tool is a trace tool, which keeps track of particular sequences of instructions by logging certain events as they occur. For example, a trace tool may log every entry into and every exit from a module, subroutine, method, function, or system component. Alternately, a trace tool may log the requester and the amounts of memory allocated for each memory allocation request. Typically, a time stamped record is produced for each such event. Pairs of records similar to entry-exit records also are used to trace execution of arbitrary code segments, to record requesting and releasing locks, starting and completing I/O or data transmission, and for many other events of interest.
Another tool used involves program sampling to identify events, such as program hot spots. This technique is based on the idea of interrupting the application or data processing system execution at regular intervals. At each interruption, the program counter of the currently executing thread, a process that is part of a larger process or program, is recorded. Typically, at post processing time, these tools capture values that are resolved against a load map and symbol table information for the data processing system and a profile of where the time is being spent is obtained from this analysis.
Event based profiling has drawbacks. For example, event based profiling is expensive in terms of performance (an event per entry, per exit), which can and often does perturb the resulting view of performance. Additionally, this technique is not always available because it requires the static or dynamic insertion of entry/exit events into the code. This insertion of events is sometimes not possible or is at least, difficult. For example, if source code is unavailable for the to-be-instrumented code, event based profiling may not be feasible.
On the other hand, sample based profiling provides a view of system performance (a "flat view"), but does provide the benefits of reduced cost and reduced dependence on hooking-capability.
Further, sample-based techniques do not identify where the time is spent in many small and seemingly unrelated functions, or in situations where no clear hot spot is apparent. Without an understanding of the program structure, it is not clear with such a "flat" profile how to determine where the performance improvements can be obtained.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved method and apparatus for profiling data processing systems and the applications executing within the data processing systems.

Method and apparatus for structured profiling of data processing systems and applications


The present invention relates to a wireless mobile communication system, and more particularly, to a method of transmitting data to mobile terminals in the wireless mobile communication system capable of transmitting multicast data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless mobile communication system, and more particularly, to a method of transmitting data to mobile terminals in the wireless mobile communication system capable of transmitting multicast data.
2. Description of the Related Art
The present invention is directed to a communication method applicable to a mobile communication system capable of transmitting multicast data. Hereinafter, a communication system using a wireless local area network (LAN) interface will be described as an example of the mobile communication system capable of transmitting multicast data.
FIG. 1 is a view showing the structure of a frame used in a wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11).
FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of a management frame used in a wireless LAN. As shown in the figure, an example of the management frame can be a beacon, a probe request, and a probe response.
FIG. 3 is a view showing management frame body components used in the IEEE 802.11. As shown in the figure, the management frame body comprises a fixed field area and an information element area.
FIG. 4 is a view showing the structure of the Internet group management protocol (IGMP) (version 2) necessary for a multicast service. The IGMP is an Internet protocol that provides a means for allowing an Internet computer to inform neighboring routers of a multicast group. The multicast service is performed in an upper layer (e.g., an IP layer), and a wireless LAN interface relays the multicast service.
Hereinafter, a general configuration of a wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11) system will be described.
The wireless LAN is a network environment for providing LAN services to wireless terminals equipped with wireless LAN cards, such as a personal data assistant (PDA) or a notebook personal computer (PC), through an access point (AP) corresponding to a hub of a wired LAN. In other words, it can be considered as a system in which a wireless section between the AP and a network interface card (NIC) such as a wireless LAN card is substituted for a wired section between a hub and a user terminal in an existing Ethernet system. The wireless LAN has advantages in that a wireless terminal can be easily relocated and a network can be easily constructed and expanded since no wiring is required. It is also possible to communicate while moving. However, there are disadvantages in that the transmission speed is relatively low compared with a wired LAN, and signal quality is unstable and signal interference can occur due to characteristics of a wireless channel.
FIG. 5 is a view showing the configuration of a network based on a wireless LAN interface. As shown in the figure, wireless LAN networks are classified into two types according to whether a network includes an AP. A network which includes an AP is called an infrastructure network, and a network which does not include an AP is called an ad-hoc network. A service area provided by a single AP is called a basic service area (BSA), and an AP and wireless terminals connected thereto are called a basic service set (BSS). A service which a wireless terminal connected to the AP receives in such a manner is called a station service (SS). The SS also includes services exchanged between wireless terminals in the ad-hoc network. As shown in FIG. 5, the BSAs may overlap one another. Two or more APs can be interconnected with one another so that a wireless terminal connected to one AP can communicate with other wireless terminals connected to the other APs. In this case, the connection between the APs is called a distribution system (DS), and a service provided through the DS is called a distribution system service (DSS). In addition, an area where the DSS can be provided is called an extended service area (ESA), and all wireless terminals and APs that receive the DSS within the ESA are called an extended service set (ESS).
There are nine service items defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard as shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1a)Authenticationb)Associationc)Deauthenticationd)Deassociatione)Distributionf)Integrationg)Privacyh)Reassociationi)MSDU delivery
Authentication and deauthentication are related to the user authentication; and association, deassociation, and reassociation are related to the connection of a wireless terminal to an AP. Reassociation is used when a wireless terminal changes the BSS within the ESS or when a current connection state is changed. A distribution service is a conceptual service by which a wireless terminal connected to an AP through the DS can communicate with a wireless terminal connected to another AP. Integration is used for connecting an IEEE 802.11 LAN to an external general LAN that may be a wired or wireless LAN.
These items can be modified through DS settings. Privacy is related to security and uses the wired equivalent privacy (WEP) protocol. MAC service data unit (MSDU) delivery is used to transmit user data. These service items are grouped and divided into two service categories described above, which are shown in Table 2.
TABLE 2SS (Station Service)DSS (Distribution System Service)a) Authenticationa) Associationb) Deauthenticationb) Deassociationc) Privacyc) Distributiond) MSDU deliveryd) Integratione) Reassociation
A wireless LAN AP performs a variety of functions similar to functions of a hub of a wired LAN, including a bridge function, home gateway function, automatic fallback function, roaming function and the like. The bridge function enables communications between two buildings spaced apart from each other using a directional high-gain external antenna. The home gateway function allows home information communication equipment to be connected to an external network through the wireless LAN AP. The automatic fallback function is a function of lowering the transmission speed of the AP from 11 Mbps to 5.5 Mbps, 2 Mbps or 1 Mbps when a distance between the AP and a wireless terminal is increased and thus the channel state becomes worse. If a high speed transmission of 11 Mbps is maintained even though the channel state is not good, losses due to retransmission or the like are greatly increased, and thus, the transmission speed is properly lowered. The basic roaming function is permitted between the BSSs.
Hereinafter, the operation of receiving a multicast service in a conventional wireless network is described. When a mobile terminal (STA: station) receives a multicast service from a network through a wireless network based on a wireless LAN interface, a procedure shown in FIG. 6 will be performed.
As shown in FIG. 6, a multicast router informs all the connected APs of information on the multicast service through an IGMP query (S601). The AP transmits the IGMP query through a broadcast message again, and thus, the mobile terminals can receive the relevant message (S602). If each of the mobile terminals wishes to receive the multicast service, it joins the relevant multicast service by transmitting an IGMP report (S603). As shown in the figure, the IGMP report is transferred to the AP which in turn transfers the IGMP report to the multicast router.
The multicast router transmits multicast data to the locations where relevant terminals are placed (S604). That is, the AP transmits the multicast data received from the multicast router to each terminal, so that the multicast service can be performed (S605).
The multicast data may be transmitted at specific intervals. If there are no multicast data to receive according to the multicast service interval, a mobile terminal can enter a power saving (PS) mode (S606).
All the mobile terminals should be ready to receive the IGMP query that is periodically transmitted by the multicast router. To this end, all the terminals should wake up at a specific time point (S607). The multicast router transmits an IGMP query to all the connected APs at a specific interval, e.g. every query interval (S608). The AP transmits the IGMP query to the terminals in the same manner as step S602 (S609). The IGMP report is periodically transmitted if a terminal desires to continue receiving the relevant multicast service (S610). In FIG. 6, a first terminal STA#1, a third terminal STA#3, and a fourth terminal STA#4 can know that a second terminal STA#2 transmits an IGMP report to the AP. Accordingly, the first, third and fourth terminals STA#1, STA#3, and STA#4 do not transmits an IGMP report (S611 and S612). All the terminals can enter the PS mode again according to the multicast service interval (S613).
At the end of each multicast service interval, the relevant terminals should wake up to receive the multicast service again (S614).
The multicast router transmits multicast data to the AP where the relevant terminals are connected (S615). The AP transmits the multicast data received from the multicast router to each terminal, so that the multicast service can be performed (S616).
Hereinafter, a case where a mobile terminal which has received a multicast service from a specific first AP moves into a second AP will be explained.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the operation that is performed when a mobile terminal moves from a specific network into another network while receiving a multicast service.
In FIG. 7, the multicast router informs all the connected APs AP1 and AP2 of information on the multicast service for the terminals using an IGMP query (S701). The APs AP1 and the AP2 transmit the IGMP query through a broadcast message, and the mobile terminals can receive the relevant message (S702). If each of the mobile terminals wishes to receive the multicast service, it joins the relevant multicast service by transmitting an IGMP report (S703, S704 and S705).
The multicast router receives the IGMP reports and transmits multicast data to the locations where the relevant terminals are placed (S706). The APs AP1 and the AP2 transmit the multicast data received from the multicast router to the respective terminals, so that the multicast service can be provided (S707).
Until step S707, the first terminal STA#1 is connected to the AP AP1 and the second and third terminals STA#2 and STA#3 are connected to the AP AP2. Hereinafter, a case where the first terminal moves into an area of the AP AP2 is described. The first terminal STA#1 belonging to the AP1 moves into the area of the AP AP2 (S708).
New multicast data are transmitted to all the APs (S709). The APs AP1 and the AP2 transmit the received multicast data to the respective terminals. That is, although there is no mobile terminal belonging to the AP AP1, the AP AP1 allocates wireless resources and transmits the multicast data (S710). The AP AP2 transmits the multicast data to relevant terminals within the network (S711).
Hereinafter, problems of the prior art will be explained.
When an IGMP query is transmitted to each of terminals according to the prior art, all of mobile terminals that wish to receive the multicast service should be ready to receive the IGMP query. That is, all the mobile terminals should be kept at a state where data can be received. However, a series of procedures for maintaining an activation state to receive the IGMP report query are performed regardless of a series of procedures for saving power of a terminal.
Due to the characteristics of the prior art, there is a certain limitation in maximizing the effect of saving electric power.
Further, due to the above characteristics, in the worst case, there may be an occasion where all the terminals enter the PS mode and no terminal transmits an IGMP report. That is, there may be a problem in that all the terminals cannot receive the multicast service.
When multicast data are transmitted according to the prior art and a terminal that wishes to receive a multicast service moves into an area of a new AP, information about the movement of the terminal is not transferred to the previous AP, and thus, the previous AP should continue distributing the multicast data over the network. Due to the above characteristics, there is another problem in that wireless resources cannot be efficiently used.
In addition, when multicast data are transmitted according to the prior art, a method of transmitting the data is fixed to a point-to-point bearer mode or a point-to-multipoint bearer mode. Therefore, there is a further problem in that an AP cannot receive a sufficient amount of feedback information while freely transmitting data without regard to the number of terminals.

Method of transmitting and receiving multicast data

Abstract: In order to solve the aforementioned problems in the prior art, a method of transmitting data to mobile terminals in a mobile terminal communicating with a network through which multicast data are transmitted. The method of the present invention comprises the steps of transmitting a requesting frame to the network for requesting the multicast data when the start of a multicast service is recognized through an upper layer of the mobile terminal; receiving a response frame from the network in response to the request frame; and receiving the multicast data from the network.


Devices, methods and systems for controlling an electronic device using force-based gestures are described. Force data from one or more force sensors, representing a force input to the electronic device, is monitored to determine any force data exceeding a defined first magnitude threshold. In response to determining force data from at least one force sensor exceeding the first magnitude threshold, an edge location or a corner location of the force input is determined. The force input is processed as a force gesture in accordance with the determined edge location or the determined corner location. Haptic feedback is generated concurrently with processing the force gesture.

Electronic reader devices (also referred to as e-readers or e-books) are commonly used to enable users to read a book in a digital or electronic format. With current display technology, electronic reader devices are able to provide a viewing experience that mimics non-electronic reading (e.g., using an e-ink display that better mimics paper).
However, actions that a user may commonly use when reading a physical (i.e., non-electronic) book, such as page folding or page flipping, are typically translated to button pressing when using an electronic reader device. Further, when a user provides input (e.g., presses a button) to perform such actions, there is a degradation of the reading experience on the electronic reader device, compared to reading physical books.
Some existing electronic devices with flexible or foldable displays may allow for user interactions that are better able to simulate the way a user typically interacts with a physical book (e.g., folding, bending or stacking actions). However, flexible or foldable displays are typically limited to specialized devices and are not found in most common electronic devices currently on the market.
Further, other applications (e.g., video playback applications, browser applications, etc.) on an electronic device also do not support user interactions that mimic physical interactions.
Accordingly, it would be useful to provide methods and systems that enable user interactions with an electronic device that better mimic physical interactions, without necessarily requiring the electronic device to have a flexible or foldable display.

Devices, methods and systems for control of an electronic device using force-based gestures


A wireless communication device includes an antenna for wireless communication with a remote interrogator. Several embodiments are disclosed to increase the options available to designers of wireless communication devices. In some embodiments, the antenna is a quarter wavelength long with one end of the antenna being grounded to provide desired impedance matching characteristics. The position of the ground plane relative to the antenna is also varied between embodiments. The connection from a wireless communication chip to the antenna is also varied between embodiments to provide alternate structures.

It is often desired to track and identify items, such as packages, containers, etc., and to communicate information concerning such items wirelessly. One method of tracking and providing information concerning packages is to attach a wireless communication device, such as a radio frequency identification (RFID) transponder or other identification device, to packages. The information communicated concerning the packages may include expiration dates, "born on" dates, lot numbers, manufacturing information, and the like. A wireless communication device may be attached to an individual package or to a container containing multiple packages.
A problem exists when a wireless communication device is attached to packaging or containers constructed out of a conductive material such as foil. A pole antenna connected to the wireless communication device will not radiate properly if the wireless communication device is attached on the outside of the package. The pole antenna will be shielded if the wireless communication device is placed inside the package.
It may be advantageous for such a wireless communication device to communicate on different frequencies so that one device can be used for various applications. For instance, an operating frequency of 2.45 GHz is used frequently outside the United States, but an operating frequency of 915 MHz is frequently used in the United States. Many companies manufacture wireless communication devices that are capable of operating at both 915 MHz and 2.45 GHz frequencies so that either frequency can be chosen for operation. However, wireless communications device applications, such as attaching wireless communication devices to packages for informative and tracking purposes, configure the device to communicate on only one frequency—either a frequency for the United States or a frequency for use abroad. It would be advantageous to construct a wireless communication device with an antenna structure that is capable of communicating at more than one frequency. This would allow one wireless communication device to be applicable for uses in both the United States and abroad.
In addition to conductive materials, wireless communication devices are also used with many other substrates. Each substrate has its own dielectric characteristics, which typically affect the impedance matching between the wireless communication device and its antenna. Impedance matching ensures the most efficient energy transfer between an antenna and the wireless communication device.
Further, there are occasions when it may be desirable to change the impedance of the antenna to achieve better impedance matching between the antenna and the wireless communication electronics. While many techniques are known, other techniques, such as those in the present invention, are not and have not been applied to a wireless communication device. Thus, there is a need to provide a variety of techniques to achieve the desired impedance matching so that there are more opportunities available to a designer, such as choice of geometry, size, or the like, to achieve the desired operating frequency without compromising the performance of the wireless communication device.

Grounded antenna for a wireless communication device and method