The invention concerns a Near Field Communication method comprising a step (1) of generating, by an antenna of a transmitter, a magnetic field (H), a step (2) of receiving, by an antenna of a tag, power from the generated magnetic field (H), then causing a drop in the generated magnetic field (H), wherein the method further comprises a step (3) of estimating the drop by sensing a voltage swing across said transmitter antenna.

Near Field Communication is a wireless transmission technology that can transmit data at high speeds and over very short distances. The data exchange is performed by simply bringing close together two electronic devices, preferably a few centimeters; for example 10 centimeters or less. Near Field Communication is based on contactless Card and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology.
Near Field Communication has a short read range typically limited to a range approximately equal to one wavelength. Actually, The Near Field signal decays as the cube of distance from the transmitter antenna.
A transmitter is a device that can read tags and write to them. This transmitter is also called a reader, because it can communicate with a tag through transmitting power and data to this tag, as well as through receiving data from this tag. To be able to communicate with passive tags, it generates an electromagnetic field from which the passive tag gets its energy. In a passive system, the transmitter transmits an energy that wakes up the tag and powers its chip, enabling it to transmit or store data.
A tag is a data carrier that can be read and possibly written using radio technology. Tags can comprise a battery or they can be passive. When tags are passive, they do not have their own power supply and are powered by the electromagnetic field of the transmitter. During the reading, the tag modulates the magnetic field and transmits the data by modulating the magnetic field.
An antenna is a conductive structure specifically designed to couple or radiate electromagnetic energy. Antenna structures, often encountered in NFC systems, may be used to both transmit and receive electromagnetic energy, particularly data-modulated electromagnetic energy. This method of communicating data between tags and readers in which information is carried through changes in the magnetic field created by the transmitter antenna uses inductive coupling between a transmitter antenna and a tag antenna.
In a communication process, the transmitter antenna transmits the electromagnetic energy to activate or awaken the tag, realizes the data transfer and sends the instructions to the tag. Meanwhile, the reader antenna receives information from the tag. The tag ability to efficiently extract energy from the transmitter field is based on the electrical resonance effect. Tag antenna element is designed to resonate at transmitter antenna operating frequency.
A transmitter communicates with a passive tag and powers it using the same signal. The fact that the same signal is used to transmit power and communicate data implies that any modulation of the signal causes a reduction in the power transmitted to the tag.
The powering of passive tags and the communication with those passive tags with the same communication signal places restrictions on the functionality and transactions the tags are capable of First, very little power is available to the digital portion of the integrated circuit on the tag, thus limiting the functionality of the tag. Second, the length of transactions with the tag is limited to the time for which the tag is expected to be powered and within communication range.
Actually, a big amount of the magnetic field generated by the transmitter is consumed by the simple entrance of a tag in the transmitter antenna field area. There is a drop in the magnetic field generated.
In a first prior art, for example described in the patent application U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,171, it is proposed to drive the transmitter generation of magnetic in accordance with the level of the signal of a tag. This drive takes place once the communication has been established between the tag and the reader. Active participation from tag through signal sending is needed for management of transmitter emitting power.
In a second prior art, for example described in the patent application WO2011067102, it is also introduced a contactless system in which the transmitter adapts the electromagnetic power level to the needs of a tag. In this document, there is a current associated to a level of magnetic field which is measured. The power extension request and information data from the tag are coded in different ranges. Here also, the process takes place once the communication has been established between the tag and the transmitter. Active participation from tag through message sending is needed for management of transmitter emitting power.
The issue of the management of the drop caused by the tag in the transmitter magnetic field is not tackled. This issue is all the more important as it is a requirement of the NFC standards. For example, the ISO14443 standard requires for the resulting magnetic field by the transmitter to range from 1.5 A/m to 7.5 A/m.
The strength of the field generated by the transmitter is classified into two kinds The loaded field corresponds to the field when a tag is present in the transmitter field. The un-loaded field corresponds to the field when no tag is present in the transmitter field.
Managing the drop is all the more critical as both modes have to be taken into account.
In general, with smaller antennas, there is a lower radiation resistance and a lower efficiency. Managing the drop is all the more challenging as there is a need to use smaller antennas in NFC systems for saving space reasons. This will help to obtain a size for transmitters and tags which is smaller and smaller.

Detection of change in generated magnetic field due to tag-loading


A PNA temperature monitoring method comprises: Step 1, forming zero mark layer patterns on a tested silicon substrate; Step 2, forming a nitrogen-doped gate oxide by the following process: growing an oxide layer, doping the oxide layer with nitrogen, and carrying out PNA; Step 3, forming overlay layer patterns, and overlaying the overlay layer patterns and the corresponding zero mark layer patterns to form monitoring structures; and Step 4, measuring overlay values of the overlay layer patterns and the corresponding zero mark layer patterns of the monitoring structures, and regulating a PNA temperature according to the measured overlay values. By adoption of the method, the influence of the PNA temperature on a gate oxide in a two-dimensional plane can be monitored, and then the PNA temperature can be regulated to increase product yield.

A gate dielectric layer is generally adopted by the gate structure of MOSFET which serves as the basic device of a semiconductor device circuit, and in most cases, the gate dielectric layer is a gate oxide made from SiO2 and formed by oxidization of a silicon substrate. With the continuous development of the semiconductor integrated circuit manufacturing technology and the constant scaling-down of the characteristic dimension of devices, the thickness of the gate oxide of MOSFET decreases accordingly, which in turn increases the gate capacitance, thus increasing the drive current of MOSFET and improving device performance.
However, when the process node of the semiconductor technology is less than 90 nm, the thickness of the gate oxide will decrease to 20 Å or below, and once the gate oxide is too thin, the gate-drain current will be increased, and impurities of a polysilicon gate in the gate structure may penetrate through the gate oxide to permeate into the silicon substrate. Therefore, the thickness decrease of the gate oxide should not exceed a lower limit
In order to maintain the gate capacitance without decreasing the thickness of the gate dielectric layer, the dielectric coefficient (K) of the gate dielectric layer should be increased in general, wherein one method for increasing the dielectric coefficient (K) of the gate dielectric layer is to use a material which is different from the gate oxide, namely a high-K (HK) material such as HfSiON, as the gate dielectric layer. However, the formation process of the HK material is complex, the cost is high, and the development cycle is long.
In view of this, an existing common method is to dope the gate oxide with nitrogen to replace part of oxygen in SiO2 with N so as to turn SiO2 into SiON. Because the K value of the gate oxide will be increased after the gate oxide is doped with nitrogen, the device performance can be improved without decreasing the thickness of the gate oxide, and the situation that the gate-drain current is increased and the impurities of the polysilicon gate are diffused into the silicon substrate via the gate oxide due to the thickness decrease of the gate oxide is prevented.
An existing method for forming a nitrogen-doped gate oxide typically comprises the following steps:
First, a silicon substrate is oxidized by in-situ steam generation (ISSG) to form an oxide layer (namely SiO2 layer), wherein the ISSG process is generally implemented in such a manner: a small quantity of hydrogen is added to oxygen to serve as a catalyst, the oxygen reacts with the hydrogen to generate steam and free-radical oxygen atoms, and the free-radical oxygen atoms react with silicon to form SiO2.
Afterwards, the oxide layer is doped with nitrogen by a decoupled plasma nitridation (DPN) process, that is, plasma generated by oxygen is doped into SiO2.
Finally, post nitridation anneal (PNA) is carried out to stabilize nitrogen impurities (namely Si—N bonds) doped by the DPN process to repair the gate oxide damaged under the effect of the plasma.
Among the processes adopted in the above three steps, the process conditions of PNA have an influence on the distribution of stable Si—N bonds in the gate oxide, which in turn greatly influences the performance of the gate oxide, and thus, it is of great importance to regulate the process conditions of PNA such as the anneal temperature. Before the regulation of the process conditions of PNA, process fluctuations of PNA should be monitored first, and then the process conditions are regulated according to a monitoring result.
At present, fluctuations of the PNA temperature are monitored by observing changes of the thickness of the gate oxide in a Z direction of an optical substrate, namely a tested silicon substrate. Particularly, after a gate oxide is formed in the tested silicon substrate by ISSG, DPN and PNA, the thickness of the gate oxide is measured, and then the fluctuations of the PNA temperature are monitored according to changes of the thickness of the gate oxide; and because the thickness direction is perpendicular to the surface of the tested silicon substrate, the thickness is a value of the Z direction.
However, the fluctuations of the PNA temperature may also influence the gate oxide in a two-dimensional plane, while such influence cannot be monitored yet in the prior art.

Shanghai Huali Integrated Circuit Corporation


Electrowetting and electrofluidic devices and methods. The device includes a hydrophobic channel formed between first and second substrates and a polar fluid and a non-polar fluid contained in the channel. An electrode with a dielectric layer is electrically connected to a voltage source. A Laplace barrier within the hydrophobic channel defines a fluid pathway that is open to the movement of the polar fluid within the channel. The polar fluid moves to a first position when the voltage source is biased at a first voltage that is less than or equal to a threshold voltage. The polar fluid moves to a second position when the voltage source is biased with a second voltage that is greater than the first voltage.

The present invention relates to electrofluidic and electrowetting devices and methods of operating electrofluidic and electrowetting devices.
Electrowetting is a highly attractive modulation scheme for a variety of optical applications. For example, electrowetting has been used to provide optical switches for fiber optics, optical shutters or filters for cameras and guidance systems, optical pickup devices, optical waveguide materials, and video display pixels. Electrowetting has also found application in lab-on-chip devices, primarily in the form of digital droplet-driven flow.
Despite the numerous commercial applications and a large body of on-going research, nearly all conventional electrowetting-based devices require a constant application of voltage to hold a polar fluid in a particular geometry. These devices are not 'bistable,' that is to say, when the voltage is removed, the fluid is free to return to a spherical geometry along all non-confined fluid surfaces.
What is needed is a technology that improves on conventional devices that operate through electrowetting and electrofluidic principles.

Electrowetting and electrofluidic devices with laplace barriers and related methods


A tape cassette capable of exhibiting satisfactory resistance to shock to prevent sagging of a tape. During non-use of a tape cassette, a lock member prevents a reel brake member urged by elastic force so as to be engaged with tape reels from being moved in a lock release direction due to shock. When the tape cassette is charged in a recording and reproducing apparatus, the lock member is actuated by a lock release element of the apparatus, to thereby release the reel brake member from engagement with the lock member.

This invention relates to a tape cassette used for a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus, such as, for example, a video tape recorder (VTR) or the like, and more particularly to a tape cassette such as a video tape cassette, an 8 mm video cassette, D-VCR cassette or the like which is provided therein with a reel brake member for regulating or preventing rotation of tape reels having a tape wound thereon in non-use of the tape cassette and a recording and reproducing apparatus charged therein with such a tape cassette.
In general, a tape cassette has a pair of tape reels received therein which have a tape-like medium wound thereon. Also, the tape cassette has a brake mechanism incorporated therein for keeping the tape reels from being rotated in non-use of the tape cassette. In the brake mechanism which has been used for this purpose, an elastic member such as a torsion coil spring or a leaf spring is used for urging a brake member against indentations of a teeth-like, shape provided on an outer periphery of a flange of each of the tape reels. When the tape cassette thus constructed is charged in a recording and reproducing apparatus, a brake release member of the apparatus is abutted against the brake member to move it against elastic force of the spring, to thereby release the tape reels from the brake member, resulting in the tape reels being rotated.
Unfortunately, when force of a level exceeding elastic force of the elastic member such as strong shock due to dropping of the tape cassette or the like is applied to the tape cassette, the conventional brake mechanism causes movement of the brake member, to thereby release the tape reels from the brake member, leading to rotation of the tape reels, resulting in sagging of the tape, because the brake member is merely forced against the tape reels by only elastic force of the elastic member. Thus, charging of the tape cassette in the recording and reproducing apparatus causes the tape to be caught by a rotation head of the apparatus, leading to problems such as damage to the tape, a failure in traveling of the tape and the like. In the worst case, this causes a failure in ejecting of the tape cassette from the recording and reproducing apparatus.
Another brake mechanism is known wherein a hub brake is provided in association with a pivotal lid, resulting in being locked by the lid. The brake mechanism is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 103725/1994. The brake mechanism requires to form a gap between a lock section of the hub brake and the lid. Unfortunately, this fails in effective and positive locking of the hub brake by the lid and cannot be applied to a tape cassette wherein a lower flange of tape reels is provided with an engagement, like a video cassette tape.
A further reel brake mechanism is proposed wherein a pair of reel brake members are urged independently from each other by means of a spring, to thereby provide the reel brake structure with resistance to impact. The reel brake mechanism is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 89528/1994. However, the mechanism requires to increase elastic force in order to ensure positive locking of the reel brake members. Also, such an increase in elastic force causes increased force to be required for releasing the locking.

Tape cassette and recording and reproducing apparatus


A removable, portable, carrier system for the transportation of a human powered vehicle on the exterior of a motorized vehicle, said carrier system comprises: a first independent means for releasably securing the handles of the human powered vehicle to the exterior of said motorized vehicle, and a second, independent means for releasably securing the seat of the human powered vehicle to the exterior of said motorized vehicle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bike carrying device, and more particularly to a portable bike carrying device for use with a wheeled or other motorized vehicle, such as a car, a van, a truck, a train, a boat, an ATV or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known to carry objects such as bicycles on the roof of vehicles such as cars by means of a roof rack. Roof racks come in many varieties; however, they usually include a rack and an attachment means for securely and releasably mounting the rack to the roof of the car. The roof rack attachment means may comprise a series of adjustable straps which secure the roof rack onto the roof rack of the car. These straps are usually provided with hooks and usually attach to the door jams of the car. In some types of roof racks, the attachment means comprises a series of suction cups which secure the roof rack member to the roof of the car by suction. The roof rack attachment means may also comprise a combination of suction cups and straps.
The geometry of the rack portion of the roof rack varies depending on the type of objects to be mounted, but typically the rack consists of several longitudinal beams arranged in parallel to extend transversely across the roof of the car. The beams may be provided with bumper pads on their underside which bear against the car roof to provide support. The bumper pads may be made of rubber or plastic and in some cases may comprise suction cups. The straps (where straps are used as the attachment means) usually comprise a long strap mounted to the end of each of the beams. The lengths of the straps are usually adjustable to tighten the beams onto the roof. When the rack is mounted in place on the vehicle roof, the ends of the beams are positioned at either side of the car. Elastic cords (such as bungee cords) or straps are usually used to secure the object to the beams. In some cases the beams have special projections for providing convenient attachment points for the bungee cords, while in other cases the beams are provided with clamps for securing specific objects such as skis.
Certain roof racks are designed and dedicated for carrying specific objects. Racks designed for carrying bicycles for instance often have a plurality of straps and beams for rigidly securing the frame of the bicycle so that it will not move during transport. The beams usually include special slots for receiving the wheels of the bicycle.
Thus, one of the major drawbacks associated with many of these prior art bike rack designs is that they are relatively difficult and inconvenient to assemble, thereby making the process of installation undesirably time-consuming and difficult. Consequently, once a conventional bicycle rack is installed, it is often left in place, which can leave the vehicle difficult to park, wash, or otherwise maintain. Moreover, the rack itself may be damaged.
An additional problem with prior art bicycle racks is that the size and weight of such devices requires that they be assembled and placed on a vehicle in anticipation of the need to transport a bicycle. Thus, a cyclist cannot carry a portable bike rack that can be used as needed to transport a bicycle. There is no solution for easily transporting a bicycle using a bike rack where the need of the bike rack was sudden, such as when a rider is injured or becomes ill or when a ride must be ended early due to inclement weather.
There is therefore a need for a new and improved roof rack assembly that overcomes the drawbacks of prior roof rack assemblies.

Portable bicycle carrier system for automobiles


A modular prosthesis for replacement of a joint articulating surface of a bone, where the modular prosthesis generally comprises a head with a recessed socket, an elongate stem, and a connecting member including a patrix member having a generally spherical surface and adapted to be attached to an end of the stem and to be received in the head, and a locking member adapted to lock the head to the stem in a desired orientation; a system for use in surgical repair of a joint including a selection of components for assembling the modular implant prosthesis, a selection of components for assembling a trial prosthesis, and a transfer device for arranging the components of the implant prosthesis in the same orientation as the components of the trial prosthesis; and methods of using the modular prosthesis and system of the invention.

Patients suffering from trauma or disorders causing severe joint pain often require surgical treatment involving complete or partial replacement of the affected joint. For instance, disorders of the gleno-humeral or shoulder joint may require the surgeon to replace the components of the patient's joint with prosthetic parts. During a shoulder replacement operation, at least a portion of the proximal section of the humeral shaft is replaced by a metal prosthesis. This prosthesis generally consists of two parts: a stem that is mounted into the medullary canal of the humerus, and a head retaining component connected in some manner to the stem. The head retaining component replaces the bearing surface of the humerus and articulates within the glenoid cavity of the scapula to allow movement of the shoulder.
In such operations, surgeons increasingly want to be able to custom fit prostheses to patients without having to choose a properly sized prosthesis from a large group of preformed one-piece, or "monobloc," implants. Use of monobloc implants requires the surgeon to maintain a large inventory of such implants and allows the surgeon to custom fit the implant only within pre-set parameters.
Modular prostheses are known where the stem and head retaining component may be supplied in "modular" form, that is, as separate connectable components. Different stem sizes and head sizes in modular implant design provide the surgeon with some degree of inter-operative flexibility. A range of stem and head sizes allows the surgeon to choose a particular combination to suit the anatomy of each individual patient without having to maintain a large inventory of integral or "monobloc" prostheses. However, while these prior modular prostheses accommodate variations in patients' bone structure that arise due to differences in bone size and shape, they do not address variations in the angles and orientation of the skeletal system among individual patients. For example, in the case of the proximal humerus, individual patients require differing resection angles, i.e., angles of inclination of the humeral head relative to the stem, differing angles of retroversion or anteversion of the head, and differing degrees of lateral and/or posterior offsets between the axis of the head and the axis of the stem.
Other modular humeral prostheses have accommodated such variability between patients by a variety of adjustable connectors for linking the head to the stem or by surgical kits containing a wide range of connectors from which to select that fix the appropriate offset, resection angle, and angle of anteversion/retroversion. However, these solutions have drawbacks in that either they require a large number of connectors for mixing and matching with the various sized stems and heads, or the adjustable connectors are limited to adjustment in specific increments or enable adjustment of only a single variable or along only one or two rotational axes.
Prior humeral prosthetic implants have used ball joints in place of the traditional taper lock, or "Morse taper," design for connecting the humeral stem and humeral head to provide a continuous range of possible arrangements of the head with respect to the stem. This type of joint makes it possible to define the most favorable resection angle, angle of anteversion and lateral offset of the humeral head. However, prior prostheses with ball joints secure the ball with various means requiring the use of small screws.
One prior art ball joint uses a set screw to engage a recess on the surface of the ball to hold the ball in place within a spherical cavity. This method of securing the ball is counter-productive because although the ball contains multiple recesses for engaging the screw, this arrangement limits the possible orientations of the ball in relation to the head and stem, thereby undermining the primary advantage of the ball joint—the capacity for continuous adjustment between the stem and head of the prosthesis.
Another example employs a slotted spherical ball and a screw plus a conical push rod designed to expand the ball to lock it within a spherical cavity in either the stem or the head. Such locking mechanisms have disadvantages in that the small blind hole required for the screws used in such mechanisms can collect debris which can fester and cause infection. Additionally, the small screws are difficult to handle during surgery and create a risk of becoming lost in the soft tissue of the patient. Furthermore, set screws concentrate the locking force on a small surface area rather than distributing it uniformly over a greater area. This concentrated stress can create more debris, thereby increasing the risk of infection.
Many prior prostheses incorporating a spherical ball joint have other drawbacks as well, such as difficulty creating a secure lock to prevent the components from slipping under pressure from high loads. This is most likely because prior ball joints house the ball in a generally spherical socket on either the humeral stem or humeral head. Such spherical sockets are designed to contour the geometry of the ball. This type of design has not demonstrated optimal torque to slip rates in laboratory studies designed to simulate the maximum expected torque loads on the joint during strenuous activities.
Thus, there is a need for a modular prostheses that allows continuous, three-dimensional variation of the orientation of the component parts, that reduces the number of standard component parts required to achieve optimal fixation, and that can be securely locked in a desired position without the use of small screws and with the ability to resist maximum expected loads without slippage. It would also be advantageous to have a basic prosthesis design that may be modified by using basic component parts that may be mixed and matched and then further adjusted relative to each other to allow reconstruction of the original anatomy of the patient. It would also be advantageous to provide a humeral prosthesis design made of modular parts which that may be independently selected to approximate the natural anatomy of the patient's proximal humerus for a shoulder replacement.

Modular prosthesis system with novel locking mechanism


Apparatus and method for correlating a received communication of a known sequence over a wireless channel through the use of a finite impulse response (FIR) filter having a small number of taps to reduce hardware requirement by as much as one-half that of conventional techniques while obtaining amplitude degradation which is no worse than experienced when employing conventional techniques.

The description of the invention focuses primarily on the frequency division duplex (FDD) version of a communication system. The invention, however, is applicable to almost all known sequence search in any communication system to search a known sent sequence in a received signal in the time domain.
There are several purposes why a sequence of symbols known to the receiver might be sent out from a transmitter such as channel estimation with respect to timing delay, amplitude and phase such as in a path search; signaling for (slotted) ALOHA multiple access collision detection and access granting such as with RACH preamble detection; and signaling of timing relations and even code group allocations, such as in a cell search.
Particularly in cases where lower level signaling is involved, there are usually several different known sequences that possibly can be sent out, and the signaling value is dependent on which one is found. Therefore, the search has to be performed over all available possible, or relevant, sequences. The present invention is applicable whether one sequence is searched for at a time or whether several different searches for different single sequences are performed in parallel or serially.
The exact receive timing of a known sequence is often not known. Unfortunately, this is exactly the parameter of interest, (e.g., for RACH preamble, if the distance and therefore the propagation latency between transmitter and receiver are not known). Additionally, the transmit timing could be completely unknown, such as in cell searching; or the reception of the known sequence could be in different replicas with respect to timing, amplitude and phase, but these parameters would then be of particular interest, such as in path searching.
In general, there is a certain time window when the sequence is expected to be received, which is constituted by some transmit timing relationship, (or simply the repetition rate if the sequence is repeatedly sent out on a regular basis). Therefore, on the receive side, a search for the sequence is made within the time window, typically by repeated correlation of the incoming received signal at consecutive instances in time followed by a search of maxima or threshold comparison in the output signal of this correlator. This operation of correlation at consecutive time instances can be viewed as finite impulse response (FIR) filtering of the incoming signal using the expected sequence as the coefficients for the FIR filter. This is in line with the idea of using a matched filter for detection.
In a 3GPP system, the known sequences of symbols are transmitted using a pulse shaping filter of the root-raised-cosine (RRC) type. On the receiver side, an RRC-type filter matched to this transmit pulse is used. The combination of both filters, (in time domain the convolution), is then of the raised-cosine (RC) type. FIG. 1 shows the impulse response of an RC filter in time domain, with a filter roll-off factor of 0.22 as used in 3GPP, and being normalized to 1.0 as the maximum amplitude. Amplitude magnitude in dB of the impulse response for the filter of FIG. 1, is shown in FIG. 2.
Obviously, if the transmit and receive timing for a symbol are fully aligned, the received signal amplitude is at maximum and for neighboring symbols spaced at integer multiples of the symbol duration Tc, the received signal is zero. This is one of the essential properties of these types of filters and is the reason why this type of filter is used in this application.
If the exact symbol timing is not known, and the reception is off by some timing offset, then the received signal amplitude is not at maximum any more. With the search of a known sequence with unknown timing, the exact symbol timing will typically not be met. Accordingly, this type of error almost always occurs.
If the search for a known sequence is performed spaced in time at Tc, then the maximum possible timing error is Tc/2, and the amplitude degradation resulting from this, as shown in FIG. 2, is about 4 dB, which is prohibitive for performance reasons. For a sequence search performed spaced at Tc/2, the maximum timing error is Tc/4, and the amplitude degradation 0.94 dB.
In view of the above, performing the full correlations at a rate of Tc/2 is the approach most widely seen in current approaches to the challenge of a known sequence search with unknown timing. However, this approach is not optimum with respect to the processing effort. The problem of performance degradation caused by timing mismatch has been solved in the prior art through the use of a simple over-sampling approach conducted at the start of the baseband processing chain. This approach requires a significant amount of additional hardware as compared with processing that does not employ over-sampling.
The present invention makes it possible to perform highly hardware demanding chip rate processing on a single-sample-per-chip rate as opposed to an over-sampled rate.
In order to cope with the possibility of a timing error, the present invention employs an FIR filter structure as an estimation filter which estimates those samples that have been skipped in the chip rate processing. Since the processing is performed on a symbol level and also since the FIR filter is very short with respect to its coefficient number, the additional hardware required is significantly lower than that required for performing over-sampling at the chip rate. The degradation of the detection performance is marginal to negligible even when employing FIR filter structures with a low number of taps, such filter structures being of simple design and are quite inexpensive to implement.
Thus, the present invention reduces the processing costs of the correlation process by close to 50% while at the same time achieving similar performance and at a reduced cost of the necessary hardware as compared with present day over-sampling techniques employed to deal with timing mismatch.

Apparatus and method of searching for known sequences


A texture projection is generated from a plurality of initial polygonal curved surfaces. Specifically, each of the initial polygonal curved surfaces are divided to form a plurality of second-generation polygonal curved surfaces. Each second-generation polygonal curved surface is then divided to form a third-generation polygonal curved surface. In one embodiment of the present invention, each polygonal curved surface of the same generation has the same area. The texture projection formed using polygonal curved surfaces is more efficient than conventional texture projection because each facet of the texture projection formed using polygonal curved surfaces maps to a spherical area.

Texture mapping is typically used to add realism to graphic images. Generally, texture mapping involves mapping a two dimensional image, typically referred to as the texture map, onto an object. The texture map contains color information for the object. The texture map is divided into a plurality of texture elements or texels. Texels typically provide color information for the object. The object is divided into a plurality of facets. Each facet is typically a polygon having one or more picture elements ("pixels"). The vertex of each facet is assigned a pair of texture coordinates which index the texture map to choose a texel (i.e., a color) from the texture map. The color of the facet is derived by interpolating between the colors and the vertices of the facet. Thus, the image of the texture map is reproduced onto the object.
At one time, the processing requirements of texture mapping limited texture mapping to professional graphic systems. However, as the processing power of microprocessors has increased, texture mapping software has become useable on consumer level computer systems. Furthermore, special graphics processing hardware capable of texture mapping has also become available for consumer level computer systems. Because texture mapping techniques have become feasible on consumer level computer systems, texture mapping techniques have been adapted for many different applications.
One use of texture mapping is environment mapping. Environment mapping uses computer graphics to display the surroundings or environment of a theoretical viewer. Ideally, a user of the environment mapping system can view the environment at any angle or elevation. FIG. 1 illustrates the construct used in conventional environment mapping systems. A viewer 105 (represented by an angle with a curve across the angle) is centered at the origin of a three dimensional space having x, y, and z coordinates. The environment of viewer 105 (i.e., what the viewer can see) is ideally represented by a sphere 110, which surrounds viewer 105. Generally, for ease of calculation, sphere 110 is defined with a radius of 1 and is centered at the origin of the three dimensional space. More specifically, the environment of viewer 105 is projected onto the inner surface of sphere 110. Viewer 105 has a view window 130 which defines the amount of sphere 110 viewer 105 can see at any given moment. View window 130 is typically displayed on a display unit for the user of the environment mapping system.
Conventional environment mapping systems include an environment capture system and an environment display system. The environment capture system creates an environment map which contains the necessary data to recreate the environment of viewer 105. The environment display system uses the environment map to display view window 130 (FIG. 1) to the user of the environment mapping system. Typically, the environment capture system and the environment display system are located in different places and used at different times. Thus, the environment map must be transported to the environment display system typically using a computer network, or stored in on a computer readable medium, such as a CD-ROM or DVD.
Computer graphic systems are generally not designed to process and display spherical surfaces. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 2, texture mapping is used to create a texture projection of the inner surface of sphere 110 onto polygonal surfaces of a regular solid (i.e., a platonic solid) having sides that are tangent to sphere 110. Typically, as illustrated in FIG. 2, a texture projection in the shape of a cube 220 surrounds sphere 110. Specifically, the environment image on the inner surface of sphere 110 serves as a texture map which is texture mapped onto the inner surfaces of cube 220. A cube is typically used because most graphics systems are optimized to use rectangular displays and a cube provides six rectangular faces. Other regular solids (i.e., tetrahedrons, octahedrons, dodecahedrons, and icosahedrons) have non-rectangular faces. The faces of the cube can be concatenated together to form the environment map. During viewing, the portions of the environment map that correspond to view window 130 (FIG. 1 and FIG. 2) are displayed for viewer 105. Because, the environment map is linear, texture coordinates can be interpolated across the face of each cube based on the vertex coordinates of the faces during display.
An extension to environment mapping is generating and displaying immersive videos. Immersive video involves creating multiple environment maps, ideally at a rate of 30 frames a second, and displaying appropriate sections of the multiple environment maps for viewer 105, also ideally at a rate of 30 frames a second. Immersive videos are used to provide a dynamic environment rather than a single static environment as provided by a single environment map. Alternatively, immersive video techniques allow the location of viewer 105 to be moved. For example, an immersive video can be made to capture a flight in the Grand Canyon. The user of an immersive video display system would be able to take the flight and look out at the Grand Canyon at any angle.
Difficulties with immersive video are typically caused by the vast amount of data required to create a high resolution environment map and the large number of environment maps required for immersive video. Specifically, transmission and storage of the environment maps for high resolution flicker-free display may be beyond the processing capabilities of most computer systems.
Conventional data compression techniques have been used to compress the environment maps and reduce the amount of data transmitted or stored for immersive video. However, the additional processing time required to decompress a compressed environment map may impair the ability of the environment display system to process an adequate number of environment maps to provide a flicker-free display. Thus, there is a need for a compression and decompression method for immersive videos that minimizes the processing time required for decompressing the environment map.
The excessive data problem for immersive video is compounded by the inefficiencies of the conventional texture projections used to form environment maps. Specifically, although a cubic texture projection can provide realistic environment views, the cubic texture projection is not very efficient, i.e., the average amount of environment information per area is relatively low. The inefficiency of the cubic projection is caused by the lack of symmetry between the amount of spherical area on sphere 110 mapped onto cube 220. For example, if each surface of cube 220 is subdivided into equal square areas as illustrated in FIG. 3., the square areas do not map to equal areas of sphere 110. For conciseness and clarity, only cube face 220_1 of cube 220 is discussed in detail because each cube face of cube 220 is typically processed in the same manner. Specifically, in FIG. 3, cube face 220_1 is divided into N2 squares of equal area. More spherical area is mapped onto the squares near the center of a cube face than the squares near the edge of a cube face.
The inefficiency of the cubic texture projection is illustrated in FIG. 4. FIG. 4 uses a two dimensional mapping of a circle 410 onto a square 420. Specifically, a quarter of circle 410 is mapped onto each side of square 420. Arc segments 411-418 of circle 410 are mapped onto line segments 421-428 of square 420, respectively. Circle 410 is equivalent to sphere 110, square 420 is equivalent to cube 220, a side of square 420 is equivalent to a cube face of cube 220, each line segment of square 420 is equivalent to one of the square areas (FIG. 3) of cube 220, and each arc length of circle 410 is equivalent to the area of sphere 110 mapped on an area of cube 220. Like sphere 110, circle 410 has a radius of 1. Therefore, the arc length of an arc segment is equal to the angle of the arc segment in radians. Specifically, arc segment 414 has an arc length equal to angle A414 in radians. Angle A414 is equal to the inverse tangent of the length of facet 424 divided by the radius of circle 410. Thus, angle A414 and the arc length of arc segment 414 is equal to the inverse tangent of 0.25, which equals approximately 0.245. Angle A411 and the arc length of arc segment 411 are equal to the inverse tangent of 1 minus the inverse tangent of 0.75, which equals approximately 0.142. Thus, the mapping of circle 410 to square 420 results in inefficiencies due to the non-uniformity of the mapping.
Similarly, the mapping of sphere 110 onto cube 220 would result in mapping different amounts of spherical area of sphere 110 onto the equal areas of cube 220. For example, if a cube face is divided into 64 squares areas, a corner area would be mapped by only 0.0156 steradians (a measure of surface area) of sphere 120. However, a square area at the center of a cube face would be mapped by 0.0589 steradians of sphere 110. Thus, for the cubic texture projection, the area near the center of each face of cube 220 actually provides lower resolution than the square areas at the corners of each face. To provide the entire environment of viewer 105 in a consistent resolution, a display system using the cubic texture projection must typically conform to the lowest resolution area of the projection. Thus, the higher resolution areas are not used optimally, leading to inefficiencies.
In general, the ideal texture projection for environmental mapping would use facets that represent identically sized areas of the sphere, as well as identically shaped areas of the sphere. Furthermore, an equal sized areas in each facet should map to equal sized areas of the sphere. Moreover, the facets of the ideal texture projection would collectively cover the entire environment of viewer 105. However, no practical texture projection can satisfy all these criteria. As explained above, a low number of facets results in very low resolution display of the environment map. Hence, there is a need for an efficient texture projection for use with environment mapping and immersive videos.

Polygonal curvature mapping to increase texture efficiency


This is a device, which will allow a gate to be closed or open or set in a position to provide a means of ingress and egress to a particular facility. This would include warehouses, maintenance yards, farms and any sort of delivery facilities and other industrial sites.

A. Field of the Invention
This device allows a gate to lock in a certain position. It will eliminate the need for a tie device or post to maintain the position of the gate.
B. Prior Art
At times it is important in terms of safety to be able to open a gate and keep it open in one position. This idea may also be important in warehouses or similar facilities when deliveries are being made. This concept can also be used in mechanisms to keep car hoods open as well.
A representative example of the prior art in this area is Winsor, U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,516. This comprises a latch bracket and a base bracket and is typically used in the automotive industry. The present application has much more utility in terms of multiple applications such as maintenance yards, warehouse facilities, or farms.
Other examples of the prior art include Baker, U.S. Pat. No. 5,173,993 and Jegers, U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,695. Unlike the current device none of the prior art solves the problem of being able to maintain the "open" position of the gate.


An e-mail sender client accesses an e-mail message and sets an associated “eyes-only” indicator indicating that functions that limit the opportunity to disseminate e-mail messages are to be applied to the e-mail message. The e-mail sender client then encrypts the e-mail message, and dispatches the e-mail message to the e-mail reader client in encrypted form. Upon receipt, the e-mail server determines that the e-mail message has the eyes-only indicator set. In response, the e-mail server verifies that the e-mail reader client is capable of implementing the “eyes-only” functions and authenticates the user of the e-mail reader client as being an intended recipient. The e-mail server then transmits the encrypted e-mail message to the e-mail reader client. Upon receipt, the e-mail reader client determines that the e-mail message has an associated “eyes-only” indicator set, and then applies the appropriate “eyes-only” functions to the e-mail message.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of electronic mail communications. In particular, the present invention relates to the limiting of what an electronic mail recipient may do with an electronic mail message so as to limit the ability to disseminate the electronic mail.
2. Background and Related Art
Electronic mail or "e-mail" has revolutionized the way people communicate. E-mail involves the transmission of messages over networks. The wide proliferation of the Internet allows individuals to communicate via e-mail over vast areas of the globe in a matter of hours, minutes or even seconds depending on the network traffic and server capabilities corresponding to the route the e-mail traverses. Thus, e-mail is characteristically much faster than traditional postal mail. E-mail also does not demand the immediate attention of the recipient as might a telephone call and is considered a polite option where immediate attention is not required. E-mail also allows an electronic record of a chain or "thread" of conversations to be easily maintained thus allowing the reader to review the context of a conversation with relative ease. E-mails also may be event driven, in which case an event triggers the transmission of e-mail rather than having a human sender order each e-mail be sent. For these and many other reasons, e-mail has become a major means for communication in the modern world.
Often, even sensitive information is communicated via e-mail. Conventional security methods designed to protect sensitive information include transmitting e-mail in encrypted form, and matching clients and authenticating users before decrypting and delivering the e-mail to an authorized recipient. Unfortunately, however, conventional e-mail technology still allows an authorized recipient to manipulate the e-mail so that unauthorized individuals may view the sensitive information. For example, the e-mail might be copied and pasted into another application, forwarded to unauthorized readers, or printed and distributed to unauthorized readers. Although there are methods for detecting when someone has forwarded a sensitive e-mail, these methods only detect those that have leaked the information, rather than preventing the undesired dissemination of the information in the first place. Therefore, what are desired are ways of preventing the undesired dissemination of e-mail as when the e-mail contains sensitive information that might be harmful if disseminated to unintended readers.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods, systems, computer program products, and data structures for limiting the dissemination of electronic email


The present disclosure provides a multifunctional collapsible stool including a collapsible stool body. An upper end and a lower end of the collapsible stool body include an upper seat and a lower seat respectively, the collapsible stool body includes a cavity, and an upper cover capable of opening and closing the cavity is mounted on the upper seat. A rear end of the upper seat is rotatably connected to a backup ring located between the upper seat and the upper cover. A rear end of the upper cover is rotatably connected to the rear end of the upper seat. The multifunctional collapsible stool designed this way can be utilized as a closestool or a garbage bin with the upper cover opened in addition to being utilized as a stool. Further, the multifunctional collapsible stool may also be utilized for storage. With these functions, the use requirements of more consumers can be satisfied.

Conventionally, a collapsible stool or a telescoping stool typically includes a collapsible stool body, and the collapsible stool body includes a lower seat, an upper seat, and a plurality of cylinders sleeved up and down in sequence between the lower seat and the upper seat. The cylinder is provided with a plurality of locking mechanisms such that the collapsible stool can be adjusted in height for use. As disclosed by Chinese patents CN210383300U, CN213605383U and CN210383292U and the like, the telescoping stools are seldom utilized for purposes other than as a stool and cannot satisfy use requirements of different consumers. Therefore, the telescoping stools need to be further improved.


Described embodiments provide systems and methods for data encryption. A server communicating data with a client can determine a level of data encryption on the data that the server is capable of handling according to resources available to the server. A level of data encryption can include a type of encryption and a strength of the type of data encryption. The server can receive a level of data encryption on the data that the client is capable of handling according to resources available to the client. The server can identify a level of data encryption with which the server and the client agree to proceed, according to the determined level of data encryption and the received level of data encryption. The server, following a predefined interval, can identify an updated level of data encryption with which the server and the client agree to proceed.

A server streaming a video to a device can increase or degrade the quality of the video based on network bandwidth resources available between the server and the device. The resulting video as displayed or rendered at the device may reflect varying quality levels ranging from low to high definition, and may also be indicative of dropped or delayed packets or frames.

Method for encrypting data streams with negotiable and adaptable encryption levels


Semiconductor devices having interconnects incorporating negative expansion (NTE) materials are disclosed herein. In one embodiment a semiconductor device includes a substrate having an opening that extends at least partially through the substrate. A conductive material having a positive coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) partially fills the opening. A negative thermal expansion (NTE) having a negative CTE also partially fills the opening. In one embodiment, the conductive material includes copper and the NTE material includes zirconium tungstate.

Forming semiconductor devices typically includes subjecting a semiconductor substrate or assembly to a series of processing steps for adding, removing, and/or altering material. Cumulatively, these processing steps can precisely form very high densities of electrical components, e.g., transistors, capacitors, and diodes. The electrical components can be connected by complex network connections that typically extend over and through multiple layers. Such network connections from one layer to another layer can be vias formed by selectively etching holes through semiconductor materials in desired patterns and filling the holes with a conductive material. A through-silicon via (TSV) is one type of via that extends through the entirety of a semiconductor substrate. The TSV is isolated from the substrate by a dielectric spacer and electrically intercouples contacts or other conductive features at opposite sides of the substrate.

Conductive interconnect structures incorporating negative thermal expansion materials and associated systems, devices, and methods


A nuclear magnetic flowmeter is disclosed. The nuclear magnetic flowmeter includes a magnetization device located around a straight measuring tube for producing a magnetic field in a medium. The flowmeter also includes a gradient coil that produces a gradient in the field. The flowmeter further includes a signal coil that excites the medium and that detects the result of the excitation. Additionally, the flowmeter includes a coil insulating frame and a sealed housing. The housing is along a longitudinal axis of the tube and has a first face side and a second face side having openings through which the tube is routed. The magnetization device is provided in the interior of the housing. The gradient coil and the signal coil are located in a space between the tube and magnetization device that is penetrated by the field. The gradient coil and/or the signal coil are located on the frame.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nuclear magnetic flowmeter. More specifically, the present invention relates to a nuclear magnetic flowmeter with a straight measuring tube through which a multiphase medium can flow. In embodiments, the nuclear magnetic flowmeter includes a magnetization device that is located around the measuring tube for producing a magnetic field in the medium flowing though the measuring tube. The nuclear magnetic flowmeter also includes at least one gradient coil for producing a gradient in the magnetic field and/or at least one signal coil that excites the medium, and/or detects a result of the excitation. Additionally, the nuclear magnetic flowmeter includes a first coil insulating frame and a housing. The housing has a first face side and a second face side along a longitudinal axis of the measuring tube. In the first face side, there is a first housing opening, and in the second face side there is a second housing opening through which the measuring tube is routed. The magnetization device is provided in the interior of the housing. The housing, aside from the two housing openings, is tightly sealed. The gradient coil and the signal coil are located in a space between the measuring tube and magnetization device, wherein the space is penetrated by the magnetic field. The at least one gradient coil and/or the signal coil or at least one signal coil are located on the first coil insulating frame.
Description of Related Art
The atomic nuclei of the elements which have a nuclear spin also have a magnetic moment which is caused by the nuclear spin. The nuclear spin can be construed as angular momentum which can be described by a vector. Accordingly, the magnetic moment can also be described by a vector which is aligned parallel to the vector of the angular momentum. The vector of the magnetic moment of an atomic nucleus in the presence of a macroscopic magnetic field is aligned parallel to the vector of the macroscopic magnetic field at the location of the atomic nucleus. The vector of the magnetic moment of the atomic nucleus precesses around the vector of the macroscopic magnetic field at the location of the atomic nucleus. The frequency of the precession is called the Larmor frequency ωL and is proportional to the value of the magnetic field strength B. The Larmor frequency is computed according to ωL=γB, in which γ is the gyromagnetic ratio which is maximum for hydrogen nuclei. The precession of the magnetic moment of an atomic nucleus is an alternating magnetic field with the Larmor frequency which can induce an electrical signal with the same frequency into a coil.
Nuclear magnetic resonance measurement methods are measurement methods that influence the precession of atomic nuclei of a medium in the presence of a macroscopic magnetic field through excitation by means of a controlled magnetic field and that evaluate a result of the excitation. The prerequisite for the measurement of a multiphase medium is that the individual phases of the medium can be excited to distinguishable nuclear magnetic resonances.
Nuclear magnetic flowmeters are measurement devices that implement nuclear magnetic resonance methods. They can measure flow velocities of the individual phases of the medium in a measuring tube and relative proportions of the individual phases in the multiphase medium. Nuclear magnetic flowmeters can be used, for example, for measuring the flow rate of a multiphase medium which has been conveyed from oil sources. This medium consists essentially of the liquid phases of crude oil and salt water, and the gaseous phase natural gas. All these phases contain hydrogen nuclei, which are necessary for nuclear magnetic resonances and are excitable to different nuclear magnetic resonances.
The measurement of the multiphase medium which has been conveyed from oil sources can also take place with test separators. The conveyed medium is introduced into a test separator over a time interval, wherein the test separator separates the individual phases of the medium from one another and determines the proportions of the individual phases in the medium. However test separators, in contrast to nuclear magnetic flowmeters, cannot reliably measure proportions of crude oil smaller than 5%. Since the proportion of crude oil of any oil source continuously decreases, and because the proportion of crude oil of a host of oil sources can already be less than 5%, it is not currently possible to economically exploit these oil sources using test separators. Further, in order to exploit such sources having very small proportions of oil, flowmeters that are accurate for mediums consisting of several phases are necessary. In particular nuclear magnetic flowmeters are suitable for this purpose.
In nuclear magnetic flowmeters, a magnetization device and a gradient coil produce a magnetic field along which the magnetic moments of the atomic nuclei of the multiphase medium are first aligned. The magnetic field produced by the magnetization device is homogeneous in the medium that is flowing through the measuring tube. The magnetic field is usually produced by permanent magnets that are located in the magnetization device, such as a Halbach array. Different measurement methods dictate a gradient in the magnetic field that penetrates the medium. This gradient is produced by superposition of the homogenous magnetic field with an inhomogeneous field produced by the gradient coil.
A controlled magnetic field that excites the precessing atomic nuclei can be produced by at least one signal coil. This signal coil, or other signal coils, can also be used as a sensor for an alternating magnetic field produced by the precessing atomic nuclei. Conventionally, the coils, (i.e. the gradient coils) and the signal coils are located in a space between the magnetization device and the measuring tube that is penetrated by the magnetic field.
In the interior of the nuclear magnetic flowmeter, a housing accommodates the magnetization device and tightly seals the interior relative to the exterior environment. The meaning of "tightly" depends on the purpose of the nuclear magnetic flowmeter. In embodiments, tightness can be specified for touching and foreign bodies. In other embodiments, tightness depends on moisture and water on the other according to "Degrees of protection provided by enclosures" (Standard EN 60529, published Jan. 1, 1992). Tightness for touching and foreign bodies is defined via the size of the foreign bodies and in the International Protection Code extends to dust-tightness (Ingress Protection Rating IP 6x). Tightness with respect to moisture and water can be given for example for temporary immersion (Ingress Protection Rating IPx7). The tightness can also be specified with respect to explosion protection, specifically by the type of explosion protection. Thus, the tightness can be specified by a pressure-tight encapsulation according to "Explosive atmospheres. Equipment protection by flameproof enclosures 'd'" (Standard EN 60079-1, published Aug. 31, 2007) or by increased safety according to "Explosive atmospheres. Equipment protection by increased safety 'e'" (Standard EN 60079-7, published Jan. 31, 2007).
Nuclear magnetic flowmeters conventionally have housings whose manufacture is complex due to the demands for tightness. In particular, the construction and production of the housing in the region between the measuring tube and the magnetization device is complex and expensive.


A patient apparatus is configured to receive and analyze information regarding patient compliance with anticoagulation medication and self-test coagulation regimens related to anticoagulation therapy. In addition, a patient apparatus is configured to receive data from a patient, including physiological data, pathophysiological data, biological data, psychological data, neuropsychological data, and/or behavioral data. Utilizing the received patient data, a patient apparatus can modify a warfarin regimen using an algorithm contained within the apparatus. The apparatus can communicate the modified warfarin regimen to the patient and to third parties, such as remotely located healthcare providers. In addition, the apparatus can prompt a patient when to perform a self-test and can prompt a patient to seek immediate medical attention, or to directly contact medical help, when so warranted.

Chronic disease management conventionally involves routinely monitoring patients who suffer from chronic disease to identify disease-related health problems before they become medically severe. Routine monitoring is also required in patients undergoing various forms of rehabilitation or primary prevention such as programs designed to promote healthy diet and exercise behavior. Disease management and prevention may also involve monitoring exercise and diet patterns of patients, as well as adherence to and adjustments of prescribed medicine. The management of chronic disease also often involves continuous treatment of a disease process with one or more medicines. Many of these medications have a relatively narrow therapeutic window; that is, there is a narrow range of medication dosages that provide optimal therapeutic effect without producing undesirable and potentially dangerous side effects. Other, often behavioral, factors such as illness, or changes in sleep, vitamins, diet, exercise, stress, menstrual cycles, etc. can impact the efficacy, absorption, dissipation, bioavailability and hence optimal dosing requirements of medication. Additionally, due to comorbid or co-occurring diseases or intercurrent illness, there are risks related to potential medication interactions that can also affect the efficacy dosing requirements of one or more of the medications used in treatment. Ideally, the effects of medication should be continuously monitored in order to insure that the patient is deriving maximal therapeutic benefit without suffering the effects of overmedication or from potentially dangerous interactions.
Most patient assessment of the efficacy of self-administered treatment programs such as medication regimens, rehabilitative recovery or primary prevention occurs in the offices of healthcare professionals. Unfortunately this is both time-consuming and expensive, and can only partially deal with issues related to timeliness and compliance. To overcome the disadvantages of requiring patients to visit a physician's office for assessment of their disease or condition, various health care organizations have implemented programs where case managers (i.e., persons with some level of medical training) telephone patients periodically to obtain patient data and to coordinate care. Unfortunately, with often hundreds of patients per case manager, personal contact with individual patients on a daily or even regular basis may be difficult. In addition, personal contact with individual patients on a regular basis may be somewhat expensive. Accordingly, case managers using conventional management techniques may not be able to monitor, adjust or promote a patient's medication dosage or other treatment regimen as often as desirable or necessary.
Another approach used in chronic disease management involves automated voice messaging (AVM) services, wherein patients receive regular telephone calls providing various educational and motivational messages from case managers. Exemplary messages may include reminding a patient of a scheduled physician visit. Some AVM services involve one-way communication, wherein a recorded message is delivered to a patient, but no information is obtained from the patient. As a result, the medical condition of a patient may not be available unless the patient is examined in-person by a physician.
AVM services involving two-way communications may allow patients to respond to AVM telephone queries via a touch tone telephone. Information received from patients may be reviewed by a case manager (CM). The CM then may identify which patients require callbacks for gathering more detailed information, discussing problems, or providing further information. Unfortunately, AVM services involving two-way communications may require some level of human intervention to identify patients with medically severe conditions that require immediate medical attention, such as a change in warfarin or insulin dosage. Chronic disease management via AVM has another drawback in that delays may occur between the identification of a patient with a medically severe condition and actual treatment of the condition.
In order to assist the physician and CM in following a patient with chronic disease, home monitoring devices have been developed and marketed that can collect physiologic data and report this data back to the physician. Examples of such devices include home blood glucose monitors, home blood pressure monitors, home peek-flow monitors for asthma, and home coagulation time monitors for patients undergoing anticoagulation therapy. While these systems can collect physiologic data at home, they do not provide direct guidance to the patient on need changes in chronic medication dosing. They also do not provide a convenient way for physicians to use the data generated to cost-effectively manage patients.
In addition to case managers, AVMs, and home diagnostic devices, several systems have been devised that collect disease-related data at home and transmit them to a central location where the data can be analyzed by a physician or other healthcare professionals. Such systems include DIABCARE (Roche Diagnostics), THE BUDDY SYSTEM, HEALTH HERO, and LIFECHART. Some of these systems directly interface with home physiologic monitors (e.g., DIABCARE and LIFECHART) as described above. However, all of these systems simply collect data from remotely-located patients and present the data in summary form. They do not attempt to help the physician or health care provider prioritize patients in need of attention, recommend actions to ameliorate the patient's condition, or give information back to the patient about what he or she should do in the event the a change in the therapy regimen in indicated.
One system that has attempted to automate disease management for insulin therapy in diabetes mellitus is the DIACARE® System, described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,726. Unfortunately, the DIACARE® System is narrowly focused on treating diabetic patients using insulin, and lacks many of the important features of a system that would be necessary for delivering a wide variety of interventions in a number of medical diseases or conditions such as anticoagulation therapy.
Warfarin and other anticoagulant therapies are indicated for conditions involving the increased likelihood of fibrin clot (thrombosis). These thromboses may increase the likelihood of stroke, myocardial infarctions or other cardiovascular events. Anticoagulant therapies interfere with or decrease the ability of the body to form a fibrin clot (thrombosis). Since under-medication can result in a thrombosis, and overmedication can result in potentially disastrous hemorrhagic complications, all of these therapies need to be very closely monitored. Examples of these therapies and the types of tests used to monitor them are shown in Table 1 below:
TABLE 1Anticoagulation Therapies & TestsTHERAPYTESTWarfarin and other vitaminProthrombin (PT)K antagonistsHeparin and similarPartial ThromboplastinglucosaminoglycansTime (PTT)Activated Clotting Time(ACT)Specific heparin or lowlow molecular weightheparin assaysDirect thrombin inhibitorsEcarin clotting time (ECT)(e.g., hirutin,Thrombin clotting timemelagatgran)PT or PTT
PT or other coagulation tests (listed in Table 1) and regular visits to the physician or clinic are needed to monitor anticoagulation therapy. Anticoagulation therapy is a highly individualized matter that should be monitored closely. Numerous factors, alone or in combination, including travel, changes in diet, environment, physical state and medication may influence response of a patient to anticoagulants. As such, anticoagulant dosage should be controlled by periodic determinations of prothrombin time (PT)/International Normalized Ratio (INR) or other suitable coagulation tests.
Coagulation tests and regular visits to the physician or clinic are typically required to effectively monitor anticoagulation therapy. Unfortunately, regular visits to a physician or clinic can be expensive and inconvenient. In addition, patients may be required to attend training prior to being allowed to self-administer medication and testing regimens. Such training may be too complex and/or cost-prohibitive for many patients.

Apparatus and methods for monitoring and modifying anticoagulation therapy of remotely located patients


An optical contour detector (11) having a source of electromagnetic radiation (12) aimed at a contoured surface is provided. A first detector (13) and a second detector (14) are positioned near the contoured surface for detecting electromagnetic radiation reflected from a first portion of the surface. Outputs of the first detector (13) and the second detector (14) are differentially amplified to produce an output signal indicting when a change in contour or discontinuity in the surface is illuminated by the source of electromagnetic radiation (12).

The present invention relates, in general, to solid state sensors, and more particularly, to solid state sensors for detecting contours in a traveling surface using reflected electromagnetic radiation.
Optical sensors, including combinations of light emitting diodes (LEDs) and photodiode detectors are used to monitor motion of moving objects. Currently available systems use a single LED aimed at a portion of a surface of an object being monitored, and usually use a single detector to detect a change in reflected light from the surface. The detector diode is positioned in the reflection path of the light reflected from the surface of the object being monitored. An example of such a system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,712 issued to James B. Abshire on Jul. 25, 1989.
Since the single detector only responds to a change in reflectivity of the surface, the surface must be treated or marked to provide a clear change in reflectivity. For example, rotation of a wheel can be optically monitored by placing one or more "dark" or low reflectivity marks on a normally reflective surface of the wheel. As the wheel turns, the quantity of light reflected from the surface varies. This variation is then detected by the single photodiode in the reflection path.
One problem with current surface monitors is that it is that the reflectivity of common machine parts varies significantly as a result of surface roughness, cleanliness, and wear over time. Moreover, surface texture and finish must be carefully controlled for the surface monitor to work. This natural variation in reflectivity decreases the signal to noise ratio of the surface monitor, making it difficult to reliably detect the low reflectivity marks placed on the surface to be monitored.
What is needed is a surface monitor that is less sensitive to surface finish and texture, and can detect small changes in surface contour.

Optical contour detector and methods for making and using


A differential apparatus comprises: a differential gear (1) rotatably housed in a left end within a carrier case (3); a speed increasing mechanism and reducing mechanism (31) housed within the carrier case (3) in such a manner as to be adjacent to the rear differential apparatus (1), having a speed increasing mechanism (37) for increasing a rotational speed and a speed reducing mechanism (39) for reducing the rotational speed of the input gear (33) connected to a differential case (11) in a parallel manner; a speed increasing and reducing clutches (53) mounted to the carrier case (3) and for connecting and disconnecting the rotation from the input gear (33) which are arranged in a plane crossing to axes of output shafts (21,23) in parallel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a differential apparatus for a vehicle, particularly to a control mechanism for distributing a driving force thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
A differential apparatus in the related art is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 8-40103, for example.
In a rear differential apparatus of a four wheel drive vehicle in accordance with the above related art, a driving force from an engine is input to a ring gear fixed to a differential case via a drive pinion. Right and left side gears of a bevel gear differential mechanism are respectively connected to right and left output shafts, an input gear of a control mechanism is connected to the differential case and the input gear is meshed with a first pinion gear. The first pinion gear is integrally formed with adjacent second and third pinion gears, which are respectively meshed with a first and second sun gears. The first sun gear at a speed increasing end and the second sun gear at a speed reducing end are respectively input to torque capacity variable couplings and are transmitted to a right output shaft via the respective couplings integrally formed. At this time, a friction torque due to an operation of the coupling is reversely transmitted to the differential case through the first sun gear, the second pinion gear, the first pinion gear and the input gear, or via the second sun gear, the third pinion gear, the first pinion gear and the input gear. Thus the distribution of the driving force between the right and left output shafts is controlled by the fact that any one of the increased or reduced couplings becomes in a driving force transmitting state.
On the other hand, a differential apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 8-21492 as another related art is a front differential apparatus of a front wheel drive vehicle for controlling a distribution of a driving force between right and left output shafts, as in a similar manner as the above. In this front differential apparatus, a driving force from an engine is input to a ring gear of a planetary gear front differential apparatus of a double pinion meshed with an input gear. Then the driving force is output to a right output shaft via two rows of pinion gears meshed with a second gear fixed to a left output shaft, a first sun gear and a pinion carrier.
The second sun gear and a ring gear of a planetary gear mechanism of a double pinion disposed leftward are fixed to the left output shaft connected to a sun gear of a differential mechanism. A speed reducing clutch for directly reducing a rotational speed of a carrier member is disposed in the carrier member supporting the pinion gear meshed with the second sun gear, and a speed increasing clutch for increasing speed through the planetary gear mechanism is disposed.
However, there is a problem that a axial space becomes large since the former rear differential apparatus is provided with three rows of pinion gears in the control mechanism and the latter front differential apparatus is provided with three rows of gears comprising the first and second sun gears and the planetary gear mechanism.

Differential apparatus with additional speed increasing gear and speed decreasing gear selectively engageable with a single output shaft


A fixed support member includes upper and lower horizontal plates, and a movable support member is coupled to the fixed support member for vertical movement. A drive screw extending between the fixed support member upper and lower horizontal plates and coupled to the movable support member for adjusting the position of the movable support member relative to the fixed support member by rotation of the drive screw. A locking plate fixed to a lower surface of the fixed support member lower horizontal plate having an opening receiving a lower end of the drive screw. A drive coupling connected to the lower end of the drive screw has a portion that can be coupled to a torque input device so that a torque applied to the drive coupling can cause rotation of the drive screw. The drive coupling has an upper portion shaped to be received in the locking plate opening to prevent rotation of the drive coupling and drive screw. A spring coupled between the drive coupling and the drive screw biases the drive coupling toward engagement with the locking plate opening.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to basketball goals that are vertically adjustable in position, and to a lock for locking the goal at any selected vertical height. The present invention more particularly relates to such goals that are vertically adjustable in position by means of a threaded drive screw and a lock for preventing any undesired rotation of the drive screw.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Basketball goals that are present in multi-use gymnasiums are generally movable from a use position to a storage position so that activities other than basketball can proceed without the interference of the basketball goal. Even the use position of a given basketball goal can vary depending upon the age of the basketball game participants. Thus for many years, basketball goals have been vertically positioned by a variety of mechanisms. One such mechanism, shown in Chervenka U.S. Pat. No. 2,916,288, involves two legs that are coupled to the ceiling structure of a gymnasium to define a fixed support that includes parallel tubular sleeves coupled to the two legs. A cross frame is fixed between the tubular sleeves holding a threaded nut. Legs of a movable support are telescopically received in the tubular sleeves. A basketball goal is coupled to the movable support. A transverse brace bar is fixed to the legs below the cross frame of the fixed support. A threaded drive screw extends between the transverse brace bar and the fixed support cross frame. An eye is fixed to the lower end of the drive screw that can receive a crank for rotating the drive screw to adjust the height of the basketball goal in relation to the fixed support. Locking bolts are received in the tubular sleeves and can be tightened against the legs of the movable support to secure the basketball goal at any desired height. The locking bolts are not automatically engaged. Rather, the locking bolts are manipulated by means of C-shaped handles secured to the bolts that can be turned by the same crank used for rotating the drive screw. Through use the C-shaped handles can become deformed or even break so that the locking function of the locking bolts can be lost.
Another mechanism shown in Schroeder et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,269 involves a backboard assembly that is vertically adjustable by rotation of a drive screw having a polygonal drive head on a lower end of the drive screw. A lock structure is provided which is biased to automatically lock onto the drive screw head and is unlocked upon engagement of the drive screw head by a suitable driver. The locking structure is responsive to the attaching and detaching of a driver such that the detaching of the driver from an input of the screw drive allows the biasing element to force the engagement of the lock and the screw drive. The lock can be disengaged by attaching the driver with an upward force sufficient to overcome the biasing element of the lock. The unlocking action requires an upward force which not only is sufficient to overcome the biasing element, the force must also be sufficient to overcome the weight of the driver itself. While the application of the necessary upward force for sufficient time to make a minor adjustment in backboard position is not difficult, some people have found this upward force requirement to be difficult to sustain during the entire length of time sufficient to completely raise or lower the backboard assembly.
There is therefore an unsatisfied need for a backboard assembly that is vertically adjustable having a lock structure that automatically is engaged when the assembly is not being adjusted, yet can easily be unlocked when necessary by the application of only a minor amount of force.


A method, system and computer program product for optimizing EPN to RPN translation when a data miss occurs. The method, system and computer program product take advantage of the high-likelihood of finding the matching PTE in the first half of the PTEG and utilize early data-coming signals from the L2 cache to prime the data-flow pipe to the D-ERAT arrays and requesting a joint steal cycle for executing the write into the D-ERAT and a restart request for re-dispatching the next-to-complete instruction.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to a method for effective page number (EPN) to real page number (RPN) translation in processors. Specifically, the present invention relates to a method for optimizing EPN to RPN translation when a data miss occurs.
2. Description of Related Art
Processor-generated memory accesses require address translation before they go out to the memory subsystem. In present day computing, it is common to have a process executing only in main, or "physical," memory, while the user perceives a much larger "virtual" memory which is allocated on an external disk. To address the virtual memory, many processors contain a translator to translate virtual addresses, or effective page numbers (EPN), in virtual memory to physical addresses, or real page numbers (RPN), in physical memory, and a translation look-aside buffer (TLB), which caches recently generated virtual-physical address pairs, or page table entries (PTE). A group of eight PTEs is called a page table entry group (PTEG).
Most processors have a load store unit (LSU). There are usually one or more arrays in the LSU that serve as a data effective to real address translation (D-ERAT) location. These locations hold pairs of linked EPNs and RPNs. When the instruction decoding unit (IDU) issues an instruction, the real address is looked up in the D-ERAT. Usually, if the RPN is missing from the D-ERAT, the TLB will check the recently accessed PTEGs and find the missing address. Therefore, the PTEs must be checked to find the missing RPN. The PTEs are checked to see if the abbreviated virtual page number (AVPN) and page attributes matches the AVPN and page attributes of the EPN associated with the missing RPN. Once a match is found, the RPN from the matching PTE is installed in the D-ERAT.
However, not all processors have TLBs. For example, the International Business Machines p-series p6 processor chip design does not have a TLB. Therefore, when a D-ERAT miss occurs, the PTEG must be reloaded from the level two cache memory (L2). This has negative impact on performance and overhead as the current instruction is paused until the missing RPN is found. In a best-case scenario, the 128 bit PTEG reload, at a 32 byte data width, from the core to the L2 would take four nest clocks, which is equivalent to eight processor clocks, during which the eight PTEs are analyzed for a match. Once a match is found, the PTE's RPN data is then installed in the D-ERAT, and the next-to-complete instruction is restarted.
Even for processors with TLBs, the TLBs can miss as well. In such a case, the usual process is to reload all of the PTEGs first into the TLB and then look up the missing address from the TLB. In some instances, this can take more than 100 processor cycles and can cause code to run as much as thirty times slower than normal.
Therefore, in order to mitigate the impact on performance, it would be advantageous to have an improved method for EPN to RPN translation and resumption of the execution stream.

Method to optimize effective page number to real page number translation path from page table entries match resumption of execution stream

International Business Machines Corporation


A hydraulic system includes first and second pumps, first and second motors, and three valves for selectively creating combined and basic hydraulic flow. The arrangement of valves permits combined flow to be provided to both motors in series to cause high speed operation of the motors, and permits combined flow to be provided to one motor and basic flow to the other motor. When applied to a vehicle, the arrangement provides a steerable high speed series arrangement of the vehicle's drive motors.

The present invention relates to a steerable series two speed motor configuration in which two motors may be operated in series with both motors operating at high speed or with one motor operating at high speed and the other operating at low speed to provide, for example steering capabilities for a vehicle.

Steerable series two speed motor configuration


A musical potty seat is provided including a potty for containing waste fluid from a child situated thereover. Next provided is a sound mechanism having a heat sensing mechanism in communication with the potty when in use for generating an activation signal upon the detection of a temperature greater than a predetermined amount and a sound device adapted to generate music upon the receipt of the activation signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to talking potty seats and more particularly pertains to a new musical potty trainer for producing a musical tune when heat from waste is detected in a potty.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of talking potty seats is known in the prior art. More specifically, talking potty seats heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art talking potty seats include U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,964; U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,542; U.S. Pat. Des. 356,633; U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,956; U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,749; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,559.
In these respects, the musical potty trainer according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of producing a musical tune when heat from waste is detected in a potty.


A center console structure includes a columnar part erected on a vehicle interior floor surface between a driver seat and a passenger seat and extends upward to the vicinity of the cushion surfaces of the seats and an upper body that is disposed above the columnar part, extends in a front-rear direction, has an upper surface part forming a center console surface, and accommodates a shift operation mechanism, in which the upper body extends forward of the columnar part that is cantilevered and has an extension part that is bent and then rises forward and obliquely upward in the front part thereof, a surface part of the extension part close to a sitting occupant forms an outer surface continuous with the center console surface and a portion of the extension part close to the front of the vehicle is locked to a rear projecting part of an instrument panel.

Generally, a transmission operation mechanism is provided on the upper surface of a center console and this transmission operation mechanism is coupled to a transmission via a link member and the like.
In recent years, a transmission operation mechanism or shift operation mechanism and a parking brake have been electronically achieved. When the transmission operation mechanism and the parking brake are electronically achieved, because a transmission operation and braking are performed by electronic signals instead of a conventional mechanical coupling structure using a link member and the like, the link member becomes unnecessary.
Accordingly, the space below the center console in which the link member has been conventionally disposed can be used as a storage or a design element.
Patent document 1 discloses a center console structure that has a space for an operation panel in a position above the center console and behind an instrument panel provided in a vehicle interior and has a display device on the rising surface of the operation panel.
In addition, patent document 2 discloses a center console structure in which a rear console member is provided behind a console member extending along a floor surface in a front-rear direction of a vehicle, an arm rest member is provided above this rear console member, the instrument panel is coupled to the preceding part of the arm rest member by a bridge-shaped shift panel, and a shift knob of a shift operation part is disposed on the shift panel.
However, patent documents 1 and 2 do not disclose the addition of visual floating feeling to the upper body of the center console.


The present invention is a chuck having a vacuum groove that is capable of holding a wafer as the chuck rotates on a spindle. As the chuck rotates the air pressure above the center of the wafer is reduced. In order to reduce the bowing of the wafer that can result from this low pressure area above the wafer, the present invention introduces venturi holes in the chuck which reduces the air pressure in the area below the wafer. In order to prevent the air pressure in the area below the wafer from decreasing too far, the present invention uses air inlet holes to balance the affect of the venturi holes in order to substantially balance the air pressure above and below the wafer which results in significantly less bowing of the wafer when compared to conventional systems. The present invention accomplishes this without requiring sensors or other active measuring devices to help reduce the bowing of the wafer.

Wafer inspection machines typically permit a wafer to be placed on top of a rotating chuck with rotation speeds that exceed 4000 revolutions per minute being common. In some conventional systems the wafer lies flat upon a receiving surface in the wafer inspection machine which contacts substantially the entire wafer on one side. When the wafer spins the wafer remains flat. One problem with this system is that by contacting substantially the entire wafer on one side there is an increased likelihood of contaminants being introduced to the wafer on the contacting side. In addition, any contaminant caught between the two contacting surfaces will cause a deformation of the wafer surface, jeopardizing the accuracy of the defect inspection, especially for optical inspection systems.
In another conventional system, a chuck includes a vacuum corridor whose ends receive the wafer. The wafer contacts the chuck near the wafer's outer edge. The wafer is held in place at high rotational speeds (in excess of 3000 rpm) by supplying vacuum to this corridor. A problem with this system is that at high rotation speeds the air pressure above the wafer is less than the air pressure below the wafer which results in the wafer bowing upwards. Such bowing can prevent the wafer inspection machine from properly inspecting the wafer because, for example, the bowing may result in the wafer being out of focus in some areas which may prevent defects from being detected in these areas.
One conventional solution involves using a sensor on the chuck to actively measure the distance the chuck to the center of the wafer as the chuck rotates. Using this information a pressure regulator modifies the pressure beneath the wafer to reduce the bowing of the wafer. The problem with this solution is that it adds cost and complexity to the system.
What is needed is a system and method for modifying the vacuum chuck to automatically reduce the bow of an object placed thereupon without requiring any feedback mechanism.

System and method for optimizing wafer flatness at high rotational speeds


An apparatus and a method for analysis of a particle by irradiation of the particle in a fluid with an intense laser pulse to cause laser breakdown and to detect sonic waves or plasma emission which are generated by the laser breakdown. The size of the particle is measured by using at least two kinds of information from the following: intensity of plasma emission or sonic wave generated by the laser breakdown, location of the laser breakdown plasma, and plasma emission waveform. Also, a laser pulse having flattened distribution of intensity for the irradiation is used in order to eliminate the dependence of the measured value on the particle location.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for analysis of particulate material in fluid, especially, to the apparatus and the method for analysis of the particulate material, which are preferable for measurement of particle size of the particulate material existing in pure liquid such as ultra pure water used in a manufacturing process of semiconductor or in production of pure gas.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
As a method for measurement of particle size of ultra fine particles, which is the particulate material, a laser breakdown method which utilizes plasma formation by irradiates a particle with an intense laser pulse is effective. As for such methods, prior art are disclosed in JP-A-62-38345 (1987) and JP-A-1-116433 (1989). In JP-A-62-38345 (1987), the number of particles is counted by detecting sonic waves which are generated by a laser breakdown which is caused only when the particle is existing in a sensitive region where energy is larger than the laser breakdown threshold value) by collecting pulsed laser beam, and setting energy density of the laser beam higher than the laser breakdown threshold value of the particle and lower than the laser breakdown threshold value of the medium Further, the particle size is measured by using a tendency that generated intensity of the sonic wave is proportional to the particle size
On the other hand, in JP-A-1-116433 (1989), the particle size is measured by detecting only intensity of emission line spectrum of elements which is included in generated plasma emission at the breakdown.
The prior art described above has a problem that precision of the particle size measurement is not necessarily high because of neglecting the fluctuation in intensity of the sonic wave and intensity of the plasma emission which are caused by difference of absorbed quantity of light by plasma depending on the position (the position of the particle in the sensitive portion) where the breakdown occurred Especially, the prior art has a problem that ultra fine particle having a particle diameter less than 0.1 .mu.m is not detectable with preferable reproducibility.
Further, as the prior art disclosed in JP-A-1-116433 (1989) uses bright line spectrum which is only a part of plasma emission, sensitivity is not necessarily high, and detection of ultrafine particle having a particle diameter of 0.1 .mu.m at largest was impossible.

Apparatus for analysis of particulate material, analytical method for same, apparatus for production of ultrapure water, apparatus for manufacturing of semiconductor, and apparatus for production of pure gas