Abstract: A surface generation device includes: a profile curve setting unit 2 configured to set a profile curve fitted to a part of shape data, a profile curve movement unit 3 configured to move the profile curve so as to satisfy a predetermined condition, and a surface generation unit 4 configured to generate a surface defined by a locus obtained by moving the profile curve satisfying the predetermined conditions. The predetermined conditions include a condition in which a locus of one point (for example, midpoint) on the profile curve becomes a line of curvature of the surface to be generated. Using such a condition, it is possible to efficiently obtain the high quality surface by setting the line of curvature indicating a flow of the surface as a guide line of a sweep method without repeating trial and error many times.

Abstract: In a design support system which can refer to figure element data contained in another design file, when an element ID of figure element data targeted for reference is changed or lost, a CPU retrieves a name allotted to the figure element data by a designer, the figure element data itself, one to which work instruction data matches or one having a high degree of similarity, to specify figure element data targeted for reference in order to provide a design support system which can easily specify a subject to be referenced, improve designing efficiency and enhance overall benefit and convenience.

Abstract: Method of generating tool movement path data 9 includes determining a tool constraining surface (12) which is offset from a three-dimensional surface (22) to be generated, by a distance equal to a radial dimension of rotary machining tool (20), in a direction normal to the three-dimensional surface, determining tool path constraining surfaces (32) for constraining the tool according to the geometry of the three-dimensional surface, and obtaining three-dimensional curved line equations representing intersection lines (34) between the constraining surfaces (12, 32). Since desired curved surfaces may be used as the tool path constraining surfaces (32), the tool movement path can be suitably determined with high freedom depending upon the geometry of the three-dimensional surface (22) to be generated.

Abstract: An authentication method adopting simple steps, in which it is difficult for a third person, who steals authentication data, to reuse (to replay, for attacking purpose) the stolen authentication data. First inspection data (value=D.sub.n-1), used for inspecting client's authentication data, is stored in a server in advance, while the client also stores first seed data (value=D.sub.n-1) for generating authentication data. The client first sends an authentication request to the server, and receives an authentication data request from the server. Then the client generates authentication data (value=D.sub.n) by enciphering the first seed data (value=D.sub.n-1) using a client's secret key (K.sub.s), and sends the enciphered data to the server. The server deciphers the received authentication data (value=D.sub.n) by using a public key (K.sub.p) of the client to generate second inspection data (value=D.sub.n-1), compares the second inspection data with the first inspection data (value=D.sub.

Abstract: The number of openable file handles is limited by an OS. Simultaneously communicating partners are limited to, e.g., 64 systems. To solve this problem, a controller (202) of a communication control unit (201) assigns a virtual handle (Vj) in response to a request from a program (Pi) and manages a correspondence between a real handle (Rk) and the virtual handle (Vj) which is prepared by the OS. A program (Pn) of a group (H1) communicates with a program (P1') of a group (H2) using a real handle (R1) corresponding to a virtual handle (Vn). The controller 202 changes the correspondence between the real handle (Rk) and the virtual handle (Vj) to solve the shortage of the real handles (Rk).

Abstract: A system for rendering visual images that combines sophisticated anti-aliasing and pixel blending techniques with control pipelining in hardware embodiment. A highly-parallel rendering pipeline performs sophisticated polygon edge interpolation, pixel blending and anti-aliasing rendering operations in hardware. Primitive polygons are transformed to subpixel coordinates and then sliced and diced to create "pixlink" elements mapped to each pixel. An oversized frame buffer memory allows the storage of many pixlinks for each pixel. Z-sorting is avoided through the use of a linked-list data object for each pixlink vector in a pixel stack. Because all image data values for X, Y, Z, R, G, B and pixel coverage A are maintained in the pixlink data object, sophisticated blending operations are possible for anti-aliasing and transparency. Data parallelism in the rendering pipeline overcomes the processor efficiency problem arising from the computation-intensive rendering algorithms used in the system of this invention.