Author: claimsbot

1. A method comprising:
providing a plurality of character sets, such that the character sets in the proper order spell a word in a given language, each character set being associated with a unique color relative to the other character sets in the plurality; and
providing a set of items representing character locations, such that each item is associated with an image representing the sound of one of the character sets and a color matching the color associated with the one of the character sets;
wherein the colors associated with the items representing the character locations indicate the order of the character sets to spell the word.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein each item includes a line.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein each item includes a box.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the image represents an thing recognizable by a person learning to read and write, and wherein the image begins with the sound of the character set associated with it.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of providing the word visibly to the reader while they are attempting to arrange the character sets in the proper order.
6. A device for assisting a person to learn to read and write, the device comprising:
a first medium for presenting a plurality of character sets, such that the character sets in the proper order spell a word in a given language, each character set being associated with a unique color relative to the other character sets in the plurality; and
a second medium for presenting a set of items representing character locations, such that each item is associated with an image representing the sound of one of the character sets and a color matching the color associated with the one of the character sets;
wherein the colors associated with the items representing the character locations indicate the order of the character sets to spell the word.
7. The device of claim 6, wherein the first and second mediums are on a single flashcard.
8. The device of claim 6, wherein the device is made for use with a dry erase marker.
9. The device of claim 6 wherein each item includes a line.
10. The device of claim 6, wherein each item includes a box.
11. The device of claim 6, wherein the image represents a thing recognizable by a person learning to read and write, and wherein the image begins with the sound of the character set associated with it.
12. The device of claim 6, further comprising a medium for presenting the word visibly to the reader while they are attempting to arrange the character sets in the proper order.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

We claim:

1. A cladding element having sound-absorbent properties for screening at least one of an engine and an exhaust system of a motor vehicle, comprising a substantially plate-shaped, self-supportingly stiff component of thermoplastic material, which is formed at least in part as a hollow body with a cavity therein, and a sound-absorbent filling of foamed thermoplastic material at least partially accommodated in said cavity.
2. The cladding element according to claim 1, which is produced by extrusion blow molding.
3. The cladding element according to claim 1, wherein the foamed thermoplastic material accommodated in the cavity of the hollow body is in the form of plastic beads introduced into the cavity under pressure with concomitant increase in volume subsequent to introduction thereof.
4. The cladding element according to claim 1, wherein the cavity in the hollow body is subdivided into a plurality of sub-volumes of substantially box-shaped configuration.
5. The cladding element according to claim 4, further comprising passages interconnecting the sub-volumes.
6. The cladding element according to claim 4, wherein at least some of the sub-volumes are bordered by stiffening cavities of small volume having a depth which is less than a depth of the sub-volumes.
7. The cladding element according to claim 6, further comprising stiffening ribs formed by welding of wall portions of the component between the stiffening cavities.
8. The cladding element according to claim 1, comprising a peripherally extending border region in which walls of the component are pressed flat against each other.
9. The cladding element according to claim 1, comprising a peripherally extending border region in which walls of the component are welded flat to each other.
10. The cladding element according to claim 1, which is in a form of an underbody cover panel for a motor vehicle.
11. The cladding element according to claim 10, which has first and second sides and at least on one side has a topography defined by a cavity arrangement and which at least approximately corresponds to an underbody profile of a motor vehicle.
12. The cladding element according to claim 1, further comprising at least one air passage passing through the cladding element.
13. A cladding element having sound-absorbent properties for use on a motor vehicle, comprising a component of thermoplastic material and of generally flat configuration adapted to fit to a surface of the motor vehicle to which the cladding element is to be applied, the component comprising first and second walls disposed at a spacing from each other at least in a region-wise manner to define cavities within the component, and a sound-absorbent filling of foamed thermoplastic material accommodated in the cavities in a form of plastic beads in a condition of pressing against each other and against the walls of the component.

1. A method, comprising:
receiving, at a subscriber event transmission interface, a server blackout event associated with a scheduled blackout of a first media service, wherein the server blackout event is received from a super headend office;
receiving, at the subscriber event transmission interface from a video headend office, at least one client blackout event from each of at least one set top box affected by the scheduled blackout, wherein each set top box receives the first media service from the super headend office via the video headend office, and wherein the scheduled blackout is to be implemented by each of the at least one set top box; and
generating, at the subscriber event transmission interface, a compliance report indicating whether each set top box complied with the scheduled blackout, wherein the compliance report is generated based on analysis of the server blackout event and of the at least one client blackout event.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the server blackout event comprises at least one of a server start event and a server end event, wherein the server start event includes data specifying a start of the scheduled blackout, and wherein the server end event includes data specifying an end of the scheduled blackout.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one client blackout event includes a client blackout start event, wherein the client blackout start event includes data indicating when the at least one set top box implemented the scheduled blackout by changing from a first data stream associated with the first media service to a second data stream associated with the first media service.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the at least one client blackout event includes a client blackout end event, wherein the client blackout end event includes data indicating when the at least one set top box ended implementation of the scheduled blackout by changing from the second data stream back to the first data stream.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, at the subscriber event transmission interface, based on the server blackout event and the at least one client blackout event whether the at least one set top box implemented the scheduled blackout.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein implementing the scheduled blackout comprises tuning from a first data stream associated with the first media service to a second data stream associated with the first media service.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one client blackout event is received from an event log of the video headend office that facilitates delivery of the first media service to the at least one set top box.
8. The method of claim 1,
wherein the server blackout event is generated at the super headend office in response to the super headend office receiving a scheduling request from a service delivery platform that is distinct from the super headend office;
wherein a substitution table associated with the scheduling request is generated at that super headend office; and
wherein the substitution table is sent from the super headend office to the at least one set top box via the video head end office, wherein the at least one set top box is to implement the scheduled blackout by utilizing the substitution table that identifies substitution data service based in part on geographic region.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, at an audit module associated with the subscriber event transmission interface, switching metrics of the at least one set top box with respect to the scheduled blackout.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing, at a data warehouse associated with the subscriber event transmission interface, the server blackout event and the at least one client blackout event.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the subscriber event transmission interface receives the server blackout event by accessing an event staging area associated with the subscriber event transmission interface; and wherein the method further comprises:
processing, at the subscriber event transmission interface, the server blackout event to form a flat file; and
converting, at the subscriber event transmission interface, the flat file into a load-ready file having a format compatible with the data warehouse.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the at least one client blackout event from each of the at least one set top box further comprises:
accessing, from the subscriber event transmission interface, a staging flat file at the video head end office that provides the at least one set top box with the first media service;
processing, at the subscriber event transmission interface, the staging flat file to identify the at least one client blackout event; and
generating, at the subscriber event transmission interface, a load-ready file including the at least one client blackout event, wherein the load ready file has a format compatible with the data warehouse.
13. A blackout monitoring system, comprising:
a subscriber event transmission interface comprising:
a receiver module to:
receive a server blackout event that is associated with a scheduled blackout of a first media service, wherein the server blackout event is received from a super headend office, and
receive, from a video headend office, at least one client blackout event from each of at least one set top box affected by the scheduled blackout, wherein each set top box receives the first media service from the super headend office via the video headend office, and wherein the scheduled blackout is to be implemented by each of the at least one set top box; and

an auditing module, associated with the subscriber event transmission interface, to generate a compliance report indicating whether each set top box complied with the scheduled blackout, wherein the compliance report is generated based on analysis of the server blackout event and of the at least one client blackout event.
14. The system of claim 13, further comprising a data warehouse, associated with the subscriber event transmission interface, to store the server blackout event and the at least one client blackout event.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein the subscriber event transmission interface further comprises a processing module to process a media system log file to identify the server blackout event and to store the server blackout event at the data warehouse.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein the receiver module receives the at least one client blackout event in a staging flat file from the video headend office.
17. The system of claim 16, wherein an event logger module of the video headend office receives the at least one client blackout event from each of the at least one set top box affected by the scheduled blackout.
18. The system of claim 13, wherein the server blackout event associated with the scheduling request is generated at the super headend office in response to the super headend office receiving a scheduling request from a service delivery platform that is distinct from the super headend office, wherein a substitution table associated with the scheduling request is generated at the super headend office, wherein the substitution table is sent from the super headend office to the at least one set top box via the video headend office, wherein the at least one set top box implements the scheduled blackout by utilizing the substitution table that identifies substitution data service based in part on geographic region.
19. The system of claim 13, further comprising a performance module, associated with the subscriber event transmission interface, to determine switching metrics of the at least one set top box with respect to the scheduled blackout.
20. The system of claim 13, wherein the auditing module determines auditing metrics based on the analysis of the server blackout event and the at least one client blackout event.
21. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising operational instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to implement a method comprising:
receiving, at a subscriber event transmission interface, a server start event and a server end event associated with a scheduled blackout of a first media service, wherein the server start event and the server end event are received from a super headend office in response to the super headend office receiving a scheduling request from a service delivery platform that is distinct from the super headend office;
receiving, at the subscriber event transmission interface from a video headend office, a plurality of client blackout events from a plurality of set top boxes associated with a geographic area affected by the scheduled blackout, wherein each of the plurality of set top boxes receives the first media service from the super headend office via the video headend office, and wherein the scheduled blackout is to be implemented by each of the plurality of set top boxes; and
generating, at the subscriber event transmission interface, a compliance report indicating whether each of the plurality of set top boxes complied with the scheduled blackout, wherein the compliance report is generated based on analysis of the server start event, the server end event, and the plurality of client blackout events.
22. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21, wherein receiving the server start event and the server end event from the super headend office further comprises requesting, at the subscriber event transmission interface, a data file from a data staging area, wherein the data file includes the server start event and the server end event, wherein the data staging area is associated with the subscriber event transmission interface.
23. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 22, further comprising operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to modify, at the subscriber event transmission interface, the data file to faun a load-ready file having a format compatible with a data warehouse and to store the load-ready file at the data warehouse, wherein the data warehouse is associated with the subscriber event transmission interface.
24. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21, wherein the plurality of client blackout events comprise at least one client blackout start event, wherein the at least one client blackout start event indicates whether, at a start time of the scheduled blackout, a particular set top box of the plurality of set top boxes was tuned to a first data stream associated with the first media service and was retuned to a second data stream associated with the first media service to implement the scheduled blackout.
25. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21, wherein the plurality of client blackout events comprise at least one client blackout end event, wherein the at least one client blackout end event indicates whether, at an end time of the scheduled blackout, a particular set top box of the plurality of set top boxes was tuned to a second data stream associated with the first media service and was retuned to a first data stream associated with the first media service to end the scheduled blackout.
26. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21, wherein generating the compliance report further comprises:
determining when one or more of the plurality of set top boxes switched from a first data stream associated with the first media service to a second data stream associated with the first media service; and
determining a location of the one or more of the plurality of set top boxes.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A displacement sensor comprising a coil and a movable magnetic core movable with displacement of an object to be measured, an output signal of said displacement sensor varying with the movement of said movable magnetic core;
said displacement sensor further comprising:
polyphase signal generating means for forming a plurality of polyphase component signals having different phases from said output signal;
a plurality of rectifying means for rectifying respective ones of said polyphase component signals; and
combining means for combining rectification outputs of said rectifying means.
2. The displacement sensor according to claim 1, wherein said polyphase signal generating means comprises:
a path through which said output signal is outputted as it is; and
one or more phase shifting means supplied with said output signal;
said phase shifting means phase-shifting in such a manner that a rectification output waveform of an output signal of said phase shifting means can be located between rectified output signal version of said output signal.
3. The displacement sensor according to claim 2, wherein said rectifying means are half-wave rectifying means, the number of said phase shifting means is n (where n is a positive integer equal to or greater than unity), the amount of phase shift provided by said n phase shifting means is such as to provide a phase difference of 1(n+1) of one cycle of said output signal between respective ones of said polyphase component signals.
4. The displacement sensor according to claim 2, wherein said rectifying means are full-wave rectifying means, the number of said phase shifting means is n (where n is a positive integer equal to or greater than unity), the amount of phase shift provided by said n phase shifting means is such as to provide a phase difference of 12(n+1) of one cycle of said output signal between respective ones of said polyphase component signals.