Author: claimsbot

1. A computer-implemented method for generating a body structure comprising:
defining a product design having a geometry for a plurality of body components, and a load set having multiple load cases;
assigning a spatial orientation within the product design, a material property and a mechanical property to each of the plurality of body components and generating a first body configuration;
performing a first topology optimization in a first processor using the first body configuration, a constraint set defining a boundary condition for the first body configuration and at least one of (i) the load set and (ii) a mass fraction set to compute a load path value for each of the plurality of body components and generating a second body configuration;
ranking each of the load path values and separating the second body configuration into a subset of critical body components and a subset of non-critical body components, wherein a critical body component has a load path value above a threshold value;
assigning a set of parametric design variables including a spatial location, a geometry, a gauge and a grade to each of the critical body components based on the load path values therefor;
performing a second optimization in a second processor using the subset of critical body components, a constraint set defining a boundary condition for the subset of critical body components and the load set to generate an optimized subset of critical body components, wherein the second optimization includes:
(a) performing a low fidelity optimization for the geometry, the gauge and the grade of the critical body components to define a cross-sectional profile, a thickness and a material type for each of the critical body components and for the spatial location of the critical body components to define an initial location for each of the critical body components for an initial optimized subset of critical body components, wherein the geometry, gauge, grade and initial location are simultaneously optimized for at least one performance variable;
(b) performing a high fidelity optimization for the mass of each of the critical body components while maintaining the at least one performance variable to define a final optimized subset of body components; and
(c) generating a first datafile including computer aided design data and a bill of materials for the final optimized subset of body components;
combining the final optimized subset of critical body components with the subset of non-critical body components and generating a final body configuration, wherein the subset of critical body components have been optimized for performance and weight; and
generating a second datafile including computer aided data and a bill of materials for the final body configuration.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising separating the first body configuration into a plurality of body subsystems, performing the first topology optimization on each of the plurality of body subsystems and generating the second body configuration therefrom.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising defining a manufacturing cost requirement, analyzing the optimized subset of critical body components to determine a manufacturing cost therefor, and modifying the optimized subset of critical body components to meet the manufacturing cost requirement.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the second optimization further comprises defining a set of manufacturing constraints, performing the high fidelity optimization of the subset of critical body components for each of the manufacturing constraints to determine a manufacturing cost associated with each manufacturing constraint, and selecting a manufacturing solution based on the manufacturing cost, wherein the subset of critical body components have been optimized for manufacturing cost.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the set of manufacturing constraints comprises a plurality of manufacturing processes.
6. The method for generating a body structure of claim 4 wherein the set of manufacturing constraints comprises a plurality of material costs.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the multiple load cases comprise at least one linear static load case and at least one dynamic load case.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the multiple load cases are selected from the group consisting of a bending load, a torsion load, a front crash load, a rear impact load, a side impact load, a pole impact load, and a roof crush load.
9. The method of claim 1 further comprising performing a third optimization in a third processor using the final body configuration, the constraint set defining a boundary condition for the final body configuration and the load set to generate an optimized final body configuration, wherein the third optimization includes:
(a) performing a low fidelity optimization for the gauge and the grade of the final body configuration to define a thickness and a material type for the final body configuration, wherein the gauge and grade are simultaneously optimized for at least one performance variable;
(b) performing a high fidelity optimization for the gauge and the grade of the final body configuration to define a thickness and a material type therefor, wherein the gauge and grade are simultaneously optimized for at least one performance variable; and
(c) generating a third datafile including computer aided design data and a bill of materials for the optimized final body configuration;
wherein the optimized final body configuration has been optimized for performance and weight.
10. The method of claim 1 further comprising fabricating a body structure from the final body configuration.
11. The method of claim 1 further comprising performing the first topology optimization and the second optimization on a computer aided engineering system having the first and second processor.
12. The method of claim 9 further comprising performing the first topology optimization, the second optimization and the third optimization on a computer aided engineering system having the first processor, the second processor and the third processor.

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 distributed medical diagnostic imaging system, comprising:
a system manager generating, based on a system configuration file, function commands for at least one function from a set of functions including at least one of system boot, system reset, system shutdown, power failure, and error handling, said system configuration file including information regarding a number of subsystems in said system and levels within each of said at least one function which each of said subsystems participate;
a subsystem capable of performing at least one function from said set of functions, said subsystem including at least one task operator capable of executing at least one task associated with each function performed by said subsystem; and
a subsystem manager receiving said function commands and in response thereto providing, based on a subsystem configuration file, task instructions to said task operator concerning said at least one function, said task operator supplying task results regarding completion or failure of each of said task instructions to said subsystem manager, said subsystem manager transmitting function results regarding completion or failure of each of said function commands to said system manager based on said task results, said subsystem configuration file including a number of task operators in said subsystem and levels of operation within each of said at least one function in which said subsystem and said task operators participate.
2. The distributed medical diagnostic imaging system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of subsystems and an equal plurality of subsystem managers.
3. The distributed medical diagnostic imaging system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of subsystems connected to said system manager through a common communications channel.
4. The distributed medical diagnostic imaging system of claim 1, wherein said set of functions include at least one level.
5. The distributed medical diagnostic imaging system of claim 1, wherein said set of functions include at least one phase.
6. The distributed medical diagnostic imaging system of claim 1, wherein said system manager and said subsystem manager constitute state machines.
7. The distributed medical diagnostic imaging system of claim 1, wherein, when a failure occurs in a subsystem, said task operator generates data indicative of a level in a function at which said failure occurred.
8. The distributed medical diagnostic imaging system of claim 1, wherein, when a failure occurs in a subsystem, said task operator generates data indicative of a phase in a function at which said failure occurred.
9. The distributed medical diagnostic imaging system of claim 1, wherein, when a failure occurs in a subsystem, said subsystem manager generates data indicative of the subsystem at which said failure occurred.
10. The distributed medical diagnostic imaging system of claim 1, wherein, when a failure occurs in a task operator, said subsystem manager generates data indicative of the task operator at which said failure occurred.
11. A method for managing a distributed medical diagnostic imaging system, said method comprising:
transmitting, based on a configuration file including information regarding a number of subsystems in said system and levels within at least one function in which each of said subsystems participate, a function command from a system manager to a subsystem manager for a subsystem; and
relaying, based on said configuration file, said function command from said subsystem manager for said subsystem to a task operator for said subsystem, wherein said configuration file specifies levels within each of said at least one function in which said task operator participate.
12. The method of claim 11, further comprising receiving notification of completion of said function command from said task operator at said subsystem manager.
13. The method of claim 11, further comprising receiving notification of completion of said function command from said subsystem manager at said system manager.
14. The method of claim 11, further comprising receiving an error message from said task operator at said subsystem manager.
15. The method of claim 11, further comprising receiving an error message from said subsystem manager at said system manager.
16. The method of claim 11, further comprising a plurality of subsystems and an equal plurality of subsystem managers.
17. The method of claim 11, further comprising a plurality of task operators.
18. The method of claim 11, wherein said function command comprises at least one of booting, resetting, shutdown, power failure, and error handling.
19. The method of claim 11, wherein said task operator executes at least one task, including at least one of booting, resetting, error handling, and shutting down said subsystem.
20. A method for locating errors in a medical diagnostic imaging system, said method comprising:
distributing control of said medical diagnostic imaging system among a plurality of hierarchical levels based on at least one configuration file, said plurality of hierarchical levels including a top level and a plurality of secondary levels;
transmitting system commands from said top level to said plurality of secondary levels based on said at least one configuration file, said at least one configuration file including information regarding a number of secondary levels in said plurality of hierarchical levels and levels for execution of said system commands;
flagging an error at at least one of said plurality of secondary levels; and
receiving notification at said top level from said plurality of secondary levels, said notification comprising status of said plurality of secondary levels including said error at said at least one of said plurality of secondary levels.

What is claimed is:

1. An image reading apparatus for forming light from an original into an image on a solid-state image sensing element by using an imaging optical system, and reading image information of the original, characterized by comprising:
a first light source for emitting light of a visible region;
a second light source for emitting light of an invisible region;
a light guide plate which has said first and second light sources at an end face, guides incident light from the end face along a surface, and emits the incident light from the surface;
image information reading means for reading the image information recorded on the original on the basis of an image signal obtained by guiding, to the solid-state image sensing element, light from the original illuminated with light from said first light source that is guided by said light guide plate;
information reading means for reading second information present on an optical path extending from said light guide plate to the solid-state image sensing element on the basis of an image signal obtained by guiding, to the solid-state image sensing element, light from the original illuminated with light from said second light source that is guided by said light guide plate; and
correction means for removing the second information read by said information reading means from the image information read by said image information reading means.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the second information includes information generated when dirt or a scratch present on the original itself shields light from said second light source that is guided by said light guide plate.
3. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said first and second light sources are parallel-arranged in a vertical direction along at least one side of said light guide plate.
4. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said first and second light sources are arranged along different sides of said light guide plate so as to be perpendicular to each other.
5. An image reading apparatus characterized by comprising:
a first light source for mainly emitting light of a visible region;
a second light source for mainly emitting light of an invisible region;
a light guide plate for guiding light emitted by said first and second light sources along a surface and illuminating an original; and
reading means for converting, into an image signal, transmitted light of the transparent original illuminated with light from said first or second light source that is guided by said light guide plate.
6. The apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that defect information present on an optical path extending from said light guide plate to a solid-state image sensing element is read on the basis of an image signal obtained by guiding, to said reading means, the transmitted light of the transparent original illuminated with light from said second light source that is guided by said light guide plate.
7. The apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that the defect information includes information generated when dirt or a scratch present on the transparent original itself shields light from said second light source that is guided by said light guide plate.
8. The apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that said first and second light sources are parallel-arranged along at least one side of said light guide plate.
9. The apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that said first and second light sources are arranged along different sides of said light guide plate.
10. The apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that said second light source mainly emits light of an infrared region.
11. An illumination apparatus used in an image reading apparatus for forming light from an original into an image on a solid-state image sensing element by using an imaging optical system, and reading image information of the original, characterized by comprising:
a first light source for emitting light of a visible region;
a second light source for emitting light of an invisible region; and
a light guide plate which has said first and second light sources at an end face, guides incident light from the end face along a surface, and uniformly emits the light.
12. The apparatus according to claim 11, characterized in that said first light source is arranged at an end face of a long side of said light guide plate, and said second light source is arranged along a short side.
13. The apparatus according to claim 11, characterized in that said first light source includes a fluorescent tube, and said second light source includes an LED.
14. The apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that the long and short sides are perpendicular to each other.
15. The apparatus according to claim 11, characterized in that a distance between a center of said first light source and a center of thickness of said light guide plate is shorter than a distance between a center of said second light source and the center of thickness of said light guide plate.
16. The apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that said first light source is arranged nearer a center of thickness of said light guide plate than said second light source.
17. The apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that said first light source is arranged nearer a center of thickness of said light guide plate than said second light source.
18. The apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that said first light source is arranged along a long side of said light guide plate, and said second light source is arranged along a short side.
19. The apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that said first light source is arranged along a long side of said light guide plate, and said second light source is arranged along a short side.

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 memory system comprising:
memory cells including at least a first memory cell, a second memory cell, a third memory cell, and a fourth memory cell;
a first controller shifting threshold levels of the memory cells to four voltage levels (first voltage level<second voltage level<third voltage level<fourth voltage level) based on first and second data;
the first controller comprising (i) a first write mode for shifting a threshold level of the second memory cell to the second voltage level and a threshold level of the third memory cell to the third voltage level after shifting a threshold level of the fourth memory cell to the fourth voltage level based on the second data and (ii) a second write mode for shifting a threshold level of the third memory cell to the second voltage level after shifting a threshold level of the third memory cell to the third voltage level and a threshold level of the fourth memory cell to the fourth voltage level; and
a second controller configured to issue at least one of first and second commands to be supplied to the first controller in order to select at least one of the first and second write modes.
2. The system according to claim 1, wherein
when a third command which designates writing of the first data from a host device is received, the second controller issues the second command which designates the second write mode to the first controller; issues a fourth command for writing a part of the first data to the first controller; issues the first command which designates the first write mode to the first controller after completion of the writing; and issues a fifth command for writing a rest of the first data to the first controller.
3. The system according to claim 1, wherein
the second controller issues the second command which designates the second write mode and supplies the command to the first controller when a sixth command which designates a reliable write from a host device is received.
4. The system according to claim 1, wherein
the second controller issues the first command which designates the first write mode and supplies the command to the first controller when a seventh command which designates copy or move of data stored in the memory unit from a host device is received.
5. The system according to claim 1, wherein
the memory unit comprises a plurality of partitions having different attributes; and
the second controller issues at least one of the first command which designates the first write mode and the second command which designates the second write mode and supplies at least one of the first command and the second command to the first controller when an eighth command which is supplied from a host device and designates writing to one of the partitions is received.
6. The system according to claim 5, wherein
one of the partitions is a cache region; and
the second controller issues the first command which designates the first write mode and supplies the command to the first controller when a ninth command which designates writing into the cache region from the host device is received.
7. The system according to claim 6, wherein
one of the partitions is a reliable region having high reliability; and
the second controller issues the first command which designates the first write mode and supplies the command to the first controller when a tenth command which designates writing into the reliable region from the host device is received.
8. The system according to claim 1, wherein
the second controller stores an access pattern of a host device as history information; and
when an eleventh command from the host device is issued, the second controller issues at least one of the first command which designates the first write mode and the second command which designates the second write mode based on the history information and supplies the command to the first controller.
9. The system according to claim 8, wherein
the second controller issues the second command which designates the second write mode when it is determined that a write request supplied from the host device is for a small size write based on the history information and supplies the command to the first controller.
10. The system according to claim 8, wherein
the second controller issues the second command which designates the second write mode when it is determined that a write request supplied from the host device is for a large size write based on the history information and issues the first command which designates the first write mode when a response which indicates completion of writing a second page corresponding to a first page from the first controller is received.
11. A memory system comprising:
a first memory cell for storing a first bit and a second bit;
a second memory cell for storing a third bit and a fourth bit;
a third memory cell for storing a fifth bit and a sixth bit;
a fourth memory cell for storing a seventh bit and an eighth bit;
a first controller configured to write the first to eighth bits to the first to the fourth memory cells in a selected one of a first mode and a second mode; and
a second controller configured to issue at least one of first and second commands in order to select one of the first and second write modes and to supply the command to the first controller,
wherein the first controller executes a first write operation to write a first value to the first memory cell as the first bit, write the first value to the second memory cell as the third bit, write a second value which differs from the first value to the third memory cell as the fifth bit, and write the second value to the fourth memory cell as the seventh bit;
wherein when the first mode is selected, the first controller
executes a second write operation, after completion of the first write operation, to write the first value to the first memory cell as the second bit, and
executes a third write operation, after completion of the second write operation, to write the second value to the second memory cell as the fourth bit and a fourth write operation, after completion of the second write operation, to write the first value to the third memory cell as the sixth bit, and the third operation and the fourth operation are executed; and

wherein when the second mode has been selected, the first controller
executes the second write operation and the third write operation, after completion of the first write operation, and
executes the fourth write operation, after completion of the second write operation and the third write operation;

wherein the first bit, the third bit, the fifth bit, and the seventh bit belong to a first page; and
wherein the second bit, the fourth bit, the sixth bit, and the eighth bit belong to a second page.
12. The system according to claim 11, wherein
the second controller issues the second command which designates the second write mode to the first controller when a third command which designates to write first data from a host device is received; issues a fourth command for writing a part of the first data to the first controller after completion of the writing; issues the first command which designates the first write mode to the first controller; and issues a fifth command for writing a rest of the data to the first controller.
13. The system according to claim 11, wherein
the second controller issues the first command which designates the first write mode and supplies the command to the first controller when a sixth command which designates copy or move of data stored in a memory unit from a host device is received.
14. The system according to claim 13, wherein
the memory unit comprises a plurality of partitions having different attributes; and
the second controller issues at least one of the first command which designates the first write mode and the second command which designates the second write mode and supplies at least one of the first command and the second command to the first controller when a seventh command which is supplied from the host device and designates writing to one of the partitions is received.
15. The system according to claim 14, wherein
one of the partitions is a cache region; and
the second controller issues the first command which designates the first write mode and supplies the command to the first controller when an eighth command which designates writing into the cache region from the host device is received.
16. The system according to claim 15, wherein
one of the partitions is a reliable region having high reliability; and
the second controller issues the first command which designates the first write mode and supplies the command to the first controller when a ninth command which designates writing into the reliable region from the host device is received.
17. The system according to claim 11, wherein
the second controller stores an access pattern of a host device as history information; and
when an tenth command from the host device is issued, the second controller issues at least one of the first command which designates the first write mode and the second command which designates the second write mode based on the history information and supplies the command to the first controller.
18. The system according to claim 17, wherein
the second controller issues the second command which designates the second write mode when it is determined that a write request supplied from the host device is for a small size write based on the history information and supplies the command to the first controller.
19. The system according to claim 17, wherein
the second controller issues the second command which designates the second write mode when it is determined that a write request supplied from the host device is for a large size write based on the history information and issues the first command which designates the first write mode when a response which indicates completion of writing a second page corresponding to a first page from the first controller is received.
20. The system according to claim 11, wherein the first value is 0 data, and the second value is 1 data.