An automatic gain control (AGC) amplifier including a high gain transimpedance amplifier, a resistive feedback network and multiple transconductance stages coupled in the feedback path of the AGC amplifier. The feedback network receives an input signal and is coupled to the output of the high gain amplifier and has multiple intermediate nodes. Each transconductance stage has an input coupled to an intermediate node of the feedback network and an output coupled to the input of the high gain amplifier. Each transconductance stage is independently controllable to position a virtual ground within the feedback network to control closed loop gain. Each transconductance stage may have a bias current input coupled to a bias current control circuit. The control circuit controls each bias current to vary the gain of the AGC amplifier. The bias currents may be linearly controlled employing a ramp function to achieve a linear in dB gain response.

The present invention relates to gain control of amplifiers, and more particularly to a precision automatic gain control circuit.
Automatic Gain Control (AGC) circuits are used in many communication and signal processing applications. For example, in the receiver of a wired or wireless communication link, the intended signal to be processed may be a short distance away and therefore relatively strong while another signal may be a long distance away and much weaker. The receiver must process both the strong signals and the weak signals which implies a variable gain function. High gain is used to detect and amplify weak signals and low gain and/or attenuation is used to process strong signals.
The most simple gain stage that can implement an AGC function is the basic differential pair of transistors. An exemplary differential pair stage includes a pair of bipolar transistors Q1, Q2 having their emitters coupled together and to a bias current sink. A pair of load or bias resistors is each coupled between a respective collector of the differential pair and a voltage supply signal. A differential input is applied across the bases of the transistors, and a differential output is developed across the respective collectors. The gain of this stage is the transconductance of either transistor Q1 or Q2 multiplied by the load resistance. By simply varying the transconductance, the gain is changed. The transconductance can be varied by changing the bias current. A fundamental problem with this type of Automatic Gain Control (AGC) circuit is that it has limited input signal swing capability. Input differential voltages of approximately 50 millivolts (mV) peak to peak begin to cause significant nonlinearities, which are unacceptable in many applications. Such nonlinearities, for example, may result in a total harmonic distortion (THD) that is greater than 1%. In high performance systems, AGC functions may need to handle input differential voltages as large as two (2) volts peak to peak, making this AGC stage unacceptable.
The next most common gain stage used for AGC functions is the differential pair with emitter degeneration. This gain stage is similar to the simple gain stage just described and further includes a pair of emitter degeneration resistors to increase the input signal swing capability. In particular, the emitters of the differential pair of transistors Q1, Q2 are not connected to each other. Instead, each emitter is coupled to one end of a respective one of the emitter degeneration resistors. The other ends of the resistors are coupled together and to the bias current sink. The emitter degeneration resistors are ideally linear. The overall transconductance of this stage is decreased by the emitter resistors and their presence allows for more of the input signal to appear across these resistors than across the nonlinear base-emitter junctions of the transistors Q1 or Q2. This results in significantly improved linear handling of large input differential voltages. As the emitter resistors are increased, however, the overall transconductance of the stage becomes less and less dependent on the transistor""s transconductance and more dependent on the emitter resistors. A fundamental problem with this arrangement is that the ability to vary the gain by changing the bias current is severely limited as the emitter resistors are increased.
More advanced AGC circuits have been suggested. One idea is to provide an analog attenuator in front of a fixed gain operational amplifier (op-amp). There are several problems with this arrangement for certain applications. First, the analog attenuator circuit requires a stack (cascode) of at least three transistors and resistors, which reduce voltage swing capability. Next, placing an attenuator in front of a large fixed gain amplifier forces the resistors that make up part of the attenuator circuitry to be very low-valued in order to meet reasonable noise performance. These low valued resistors require significant supply current.
An automatic gain control (AGC) amplifier according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a high gain amplifier, a feedback network and multiple amplifier stages coupled in the feedback path of the AGC amplifier. The feedback network has a first end that receives an input signal of the AGC amplifier, a second end coupled to the output of the high gain amplifier and multiple intermediate nodes. Each amplifier stage has an input coupled to a corresponding intermediate node of the feedback network and an output coupled to the input of the high gain amplifier. Each amplifier stage is independently controllable to position a virtual ground within the feedback network to control the closed loop gain of the AGC amplifier.
In respective embodiments, the high gain amplifier may be a transimpedance amplifier. Also, each amplifier stage may be a transconductance stage. In this manner, a voltage at an intermediate node of the feedback network is converted to a current by a transconductance stage, which current is applied to the input of the transimpedance amplifier. The transimpedance amplifier converts currents from all of the transconductance stages into an output voltage, which is applied to an output end of the feedback network. Further, each transconductance stages may include a controllable bias current device, so that the gain of the AGC amplifier is controlled by a transconductance ratio, which is further controlled by the respective currents of the bias current devices. In particular, the bias current devices are controlled to change the transconductance of each transconductance stage, which varies the overall closed loop gain of the AGC amplifier.
The feedback network may include resistors coupled in series between the input signal and the output signal and having at least two intermediate junctions. The amplifier stages are controlled to position a virtual ground at or between the intermediate junctions, so that the gain of the AGC amplifier may be defined by a resistive ratio of resistors in the feedback network.
The AGC amplifier may be configured to operate with differential signals. In particular, the high gain amplifier may be a differential amplifier having a differential input and a differential output. The feedback network may have a differential input for receiving a differential input signal, a differential output coupled to the differential output of the high gain amplifier and two or more intermediate differential nodes. Each amplifier stage may have a differential input coupled to a respective intermediate differential node of the feedback network and a differential output coupled to the differential input of the high gain amplifier.
In a more particular differential embodiment, each amplifier stage includes a differential pair of bipolar transistors (e.g. NPN bipolar junction transistors) having a common-coupled pair of emitters, a pair of bases forming the differential input and a pair of collectors forming a differential output. Each amplifier stage further includes a controllable bias current device coupled to the common-coupled pair of emitters of the differential pair of bipolar transistors. Also, the feedback network may include first and second sets of resistors, each set coupled in series between corresponding polarities of the differential input signal and the differential output of the high gain amplifier. The dual series-coupled resistor sets form two or more intermediate differential nodes. Shunt resistors may be included, each coupled between first and second polarities of an intermediate differential node of the series-coupled resistor sets.
In one embodiment, each amplifier stage has a bias terminal. A control circuit is provided that develops a plurality of bias currents, each provided at a bias terminal of a corresponding amplifier stage. In this manner, the bias currents of the control circuit are used to vary the gain of the AGC amplifier. The control circuit may be implemented in any desired fashion to control the gain. In one embodiment, the control circuit is configured to vary gain of the AGC amplifier in an exponential fashion, such as linear in decibels (dB) or the like. Alternatively, the control circuit may be devised to change the gain in a linear fashion. Any useful gain relationship may be employed.
In more specific configurations, a collective sum of the bias currents of the control circuit is maintained at a constant level while varying the gain of the AGC amplifier. Also, the control circuit may be configured to assert up to two bias currents at any given time throughout a predetermined gain range. Further, the asserted pair of bias currents may be asserted in linear fashion, such as a first bias current being linearly increased between a minimum current level and a maximum current level while a second bias current is linearly decreased between the minimum and maximum current levels. The control circuit may receive a differential control input current and include several current summing and differencing circuits to develop the bias currents. Such summing and differencing circuits may be employed, for example, to develop a plurality of ramped or triangular shaped bias current waveforms based on the differential control input current for generating precise current ratios and turn-on and turn-off set points.
The predetermined gain range of the AGC amplifier may have multiple intermediate gain levels based on the bias currents. For example, the gain may be varied from a first gain level to a second gain level by linearly increasing a first bias current from a minimum current level to a maximum current level while linearly decreasing a second bias current from the maximum current level to the minimum current level. Also, the gain may be varied from the second gain level to a third gain level by linearly decreasing the second bias current from the maximum current level to the minimum current level while linearly increasing a third bias current from the minimum current level to the maximum current level, and so on. As many intermediate nodes, amplifier stages and bias currents may be employed to provide any level of gain control as desired. The gain range is only limited by the physical components employed to implement the AGC amplifier, such as the voltage limits of the high gain amplifier. It is noted, however, that individual AGC amplifiers may be implemented in a cascaded configuration. In this manner, the output of a first AGC stage is multiplied by the gain of a second stage, and the output of the second stage may be multiplied by the gain of a third stage, and so on.
An integrated circuit (IC) according to an embodiment of the present invention may include at least one input terminal for receiving an input signal, at least one output terminal for providing an output signal, at least one control terminal for receiving a gain adjust signal, and an automatic gain control (AGC) amplifier incorporated onto the IC. The AGC amplifier has an input and an output coupled in a processing path between the input and output terminals of the IC and has a control input that receives the gain adjust signal.
In one embodiment, the AGC amplifier includes a high gain amplifier, a feedback network, and multiple feedback amplifier stages. The feedback network has a first end forming the input of the AGC amplifier, a second end coupled to the output of the high gain amplifier and multiple intermediate nodes in a similar manner as previously described. Each feedback amplifier stage has an input coupled to a respective one of the intermediate nodes of the feedback network, an output coupled to the input of the high gain amplifier, and a control input. A gain control circuit is provided, which has an input for receiving the gain adjust signal and multiple bias control outputs. Each bias control output is coupled to a control input of a feedback amplifier stage. The gain control circuit asserts a bias signal at each control input of a feedback amplifier stage to position a virtual ground within the feedback network to control closed loop gain of the AGC amplifier based on the gain adjust signal.
The IC may be configured as a radio frequency (RF) communication chip, such as a zero-intermediate frequency (ZIF) transceiver or the like. In one embodiment, the IC includes an input amplifier circuit, an oscillator circuit, a mixer circuit and a filter circuit.
The input amplifier circuit has an input coupled to the IC input terminal for receiving an RF receive signal and an output that asserts an amplified RF signal. The oscillator circuit asserts a carrier signal to an input of the mixer circuit, which has a second input coupled to receive the amplified RF signal. The mixer circuit has an output for asserting a mixed channel signal. The filter circuit filters the mixed channel signal and asserts a corresponding baseband channel signal. The AGC amplifier receives and amplifies the baseband channel signal.
In another embodiment, the IC operates with in-phase and quadrature signals. For example, the oscillator circuit asserts an in-phase carrier signal and a quadrature carrier signal. The mixer circuit includes a first mixer that receives the in-phase carrier signal and that asserts an in-phase mixed channel signal, and a second mixer that receives the quadrature carrier signal and that asserts a quadrature mixed channel signal. The filter circuit includes a first low-pass filter that filters the in-phase mixed channel signal to develop an in-phase channel signal and a second low-pass filter that filters the quadrature mixed channel signal to develop a quadrature channel signal. The AGC amplifier includes a first and second AGC amplifiers. The first AGC amplifier receives and amplifies the in-phase channel signal and asserts a first amplified in-phase channel signal on a first output terminal of the IC. The second AGC amplifier receives and amplifies the quadrature channel signal and asserts a second amplified in-phase channel signal on a second output terminal of the IC. Each AGC amplifier has multiple control inputs coupled to the bias control outputs of the gain control circuit. In this manner, the gain control circuit simultaneously controls both AGC amplifiers.
The IC signals may be differential signals. For the differential configurations, the high gain amplifier may be a differential amplifier with a differential input and a differential output. The feedback network may have a differential input for receiving a differential input signal, a differential output coupled to the differential output of the high gain amplifier, and multiple intermediate differential nodes. Each amplifier stage may have a differential input coupled to a respective intermediate differential node of the feedback network and a differential output coupled to the differential input of the high gain amplifier. In a similar manner as described previously, the amplifier stages may be configured as transconductance stages, each having a bias current input. The gain control circuit develops a bias current for each transconductance stage to control the gain of both AGC amplifiers.
A gain control circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention controls the gain of an AGC amplifier having a high gain differential amplifier and a differential feedback network with multiple intermediate differential nodes coupled together in a similar manner as previously described. The gain control circuit includes multiple transconductance stages and a control circuit. Each transconductance stage has a differential input for coupling to a respective intermediate differential node of the feedback network, a differential output for coupling to the differential input of the high gain differential amplifier, and a bias control input. The control circuit has an input for receiving the gain adjust signal and multiple bias control outputs. Each bias control output is coupled to a control input of a corresponding transconductance stage. The control circuit asserts a bias signal at each control input to position a virtual ground within the feedback network to control closed loop gain of the AGC amplifier based on the gain adjust signal.
The control circuit may be configured in any desired fashion for controlling the transconductance stages to further control the gain of the AGC amplifier. For example, the control circuit may be configured so that a collective sum of asserted bias currents remains substantially constant while varying the gain of the AGC amplifier throughout a predetermined gain range. Also, the control circuit is configured so that only two bias currents are asserted at a time throughout the gain range, and where each asserted bias current is linearly varied between a predetermined minimum current level and a predetermined maximum current level. The control circuit may receive a differential gain adjust control current and include several current summing and current differencing circuits. In one embodiment, the control circuit includes several current differencing circuits, each including metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistors coupled together to form a pair of input terminals receiving the differential gain adjust control current and an output terminal asserting a difference current. The relative sizes of the MOS transistors are selected to achieve a desired differencing function.
In a specific MOS-based embodiment, each differencing circuit includes first, second, third fourth P-channel MOS (PMOS) transistors, each having sources coupled to a supply signal. The drain of the first PMOS transistor forms the output terminal. The gates of the first and second PMOS transistors are coupled together and to the drains of the second and third PMOS transistors to form a first input terminal. The gates of the third and fourth PMOS transistors are coupled together and to the drain of the fourth PMOS transistor to form a second input terminal. A summing circuit may be provided, which includes first and second PMOS transistors having their sources coupled to the supply signal. The gates of both transistors are coupled together and to the drain of the second PMOS transistor to form a summing junction. The drain of the first PMOS transistor forms an output terminal that sums currents applied at the summing junction.
It is appreciated that a gain circuit as described herein has a gain that is varied as the virtual ground is varied. The gain is determined by a resistor and/or transconductance ratio, which can change linearly, exponentially (e.g., linear in dB), or according to any other useful function. A gain control network is provided which is within and part of the closed loop amplifier gain circuit. The gain circuit may be DC or AC coupled, and may be cascaded with other similar gain circuits. A differential gain circuit is disclosed that does not require a common mode reference. The gain circuit has a low absolute gain tolerance and excellent gain matching across different gain circuits on the same silicon die of an IC. A control circuit is described that allows optimization of both noise and linearity performance in the gain circuit. This capability is allowed for by individually sequencing transconductance cells that make up the gain circuit so that only two are active at any given time. The control circuit may implement a ramp function which has precise current ratio capability and precise turn-on and turn-off set points. The control circuit may also be cascaded if desired.

Precision automatic gain control circuit


The present invention relates to a backlight unit with sag control patterns, comprising a light source formed in a side surface of a light guide plate; and a plurality of optical patterns formed on a lower surface of the light guide plate, sag of the plurality of optical patterns increasing as the optical patterns become more distant from the light source. By controlling sag of optical patterns formed in a light guide plate, efficiency of light emitted from a backlight unit can be improved and uniformity of the light can be maintained. Also, since sag of optical patterns can be controlled, by increasing the number of optical patterns (by improving fill factor), light efficiency and uniformity can be controlled easily. Also, compared with a conventional method for manufacturing white dot patterns, white dot patterns can be more efficiently manufactured in terms of development time and costs.

A backlight is a light emitting component installed behind an LCD. A backlight is used to improve legibility of a small-sized display. It is also used to emit light from a computer display or an LCD television as does a CRT.
A backlight has been regarded as a low-tech component for a while because manufacturing a backlight was relatively easy compared with other LCD components used for notebook computers or monitors. The significance of a backlight has been gradually increased, however; currently, it is one of key components affecting growth of LCD market. A backlight in good quality can dramatically improve image quality and color reproducibility. Therefore, it may be said that backlights hold the key to the advancement of LCD-TVs. Types of backlights include cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL), external electrode fluorescent lamp (EEFL), light emitting diode (LED), and flat fluorescent lamp (FFL).
FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of an edge-type backlight unit according to a prior art. In an edge-type backlight unit according to a prior art, light emitted from a light source 110 propagates through a light guide plate 140 making total reflection. The critical angle for total reflection is determined by the ratio of a refractive index of a propagation medium to that of air layer, which can be derived from Snell's law. A ray of light striking a medium boundary at an angle below the critical angle propagates with a minimal loss of energy unless the light hits a structure which makes the light reflect more than the critical angle. In case of a printed light guide plate, diffusion and transmission of light are made to occur through a white dot pattern 130.

Light guide plate having sag control patterns and back light unit using the same


The disclosure discloses a water blowing device which is composed of a wheel positioning rotating part and a wheel water blowing part. The water blowing requirement of the wheel can be met.

In the wheel processing industry, the spraying process is an important link of wheel processing, and the requirement on temperature and wheel surface cleanliness is very high in the spraying process, so that before the spraying process, the wheel needs to be cleaned in high-temperature clean water, and then the residual water in the wheel is removed.


A modular grip panel system for a firearm has a frame to support a pair of grip panels and a backstrap. The system includes a left and right grip panels having pockets, and a backstrap having a boss. The frame has a grip disposed at its rear end having a left and right side bosses to engage the pockets of the grip panels, and a rear surface pocket to receive the backstrap boss. The grip panels are disposed on the side surfaces of the pistol-style grip by insertion of the bosses into the pockets. The backstrap is disposed on the rear surface of grip by insertion of the backstrap boss into the rear surface pocket. When the backstrap is secured to the frame, the boss of grip panels are held in a forwardmost position. The backstrap prevents movement of the left and right grip panels towards the rear end of the frame.

This invention is directed to firearm grips. More particularly, this invention is directed to firearm handgun-style grips that are removable and replaceable.
Grips for firearms such as handguns and other pistols have been in use essentially since firearms were invented. Firearms having removable and therefore interchangeable grips have also likely been available for nearly as long. See, for example, the patent for the original 1911-style pistol (U.S. Pat. No. 984,519 (Browning) which shows the commonly seen screw-on style grips where separate grip panels are secured to the pistol frame by a pairs of screws visible on the outer surfaces of the grip panels.
However, in many circumstances, it would be desirable to eliminate the visible and often unsightly screw heads or other external fasteners used to secure the grip panels to the frame for handguns and other firearms. Such a design would offer improved aesthetics for firearms, and provide for interchangeability of grips to, for example, reduce or increase grip thickness and/or overall firearm width, allow a user to purchase alternative grip options either from the original handgun manufacturer, or the aftermarket, to obtain desired grip color, texture, profile, material, and the like.
All references cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.


A locking device for an auxiliary lock comprising a rotatable ring and a base. The ring is fitted around the auxiliary lock and combined with the base. Then they are mounted in the door to let a large part of the rotatable ring be exposed outside the door, and rotating the ring can cause the dead bolt of the auxiliary lock to extend out locking the lock.

A traditional auxiliary lock 1, as shown in FIG. 1, is mounted in a door from the inside, having a key hole (not drawn in the Figures) at the outside of the lock for a key to turn an actuating plate 11 to rotate a turning button for pushing out or pulling in a dead bolt to lock or unlock it. Said turning button is mounted at the inside of a door, also possible to be rotated from the inside of a door to turn the actuating plate 11 to push out or pull in the dead bolt. This kind of auxiliary lock needs a correct key if it is to be locked from the outside of the door.


A data processing apparatus-implemented method, according to one embodiment, includes selecting blocks of data in at least one solid state drive for garbage collection in a garbage collection process, and creating a bitmap indicating which blocks of data are in the garbage collection process. The bitmap has a two bit structure for each of the blocks, where the two bit structure includes a unique pair of bits associated with a logical block address (LBA) of the individual one of the blocks associated with the two bit structure. One bit indicates whether the block is in the garbage collection process. The other bit indicates whether rebuilding of the block has been completed.

The present invention relates to solid state drives, and more specifically, this invention relates to optimizing the rebuilding of solid state drives.
One distinction between Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) and Solid State Drives (SSDs) is implementation of a Flash Translation Layer (FTL), which is responsible for maintaining a mapping between physical/logical pages, balancing wear leveling, monitoring read count to prevent read disturbances, as well as garbage collection. Reading Logical Block Addresses (LBAs) that are undergoing garbage collection could cause a drop in parallelism, which may affect the performance.

Optimization of rebuilding in solid state drives

International Business Machines Corporation


A well tool device may include a first subsection and a second subsection connected to each other. The first subsection comprises a first connector having an outwardly facing first connection interface and the second subsection comprises a second connector having an inwardly facing second connection interface, where the second connector is provided radially outside of the first connector. The first connection interface is facing towards the second connection interface. The first connection interface comprises a first recess provided in the first connector. The second connection interface comprises a second recess provided in the second connector. The first and second recesses together are forming a bolt compartment. The well tool device further comprises a locking bolt provided in the bolt compartment formed by the first and second recesses in order to connect the first and second subsections to each other. The bolt compartment formed by the first and second recesses has an opening in the outer surface of the second connector.

Well tools, such as well barrier tools, packer tools, logging tools, perforation tools, pulling tools, retrieval tools etc. are commonly used in oil and/or gas wells to perform different types of operations. These well tools typically are cylindrical in their shape in order to be lowered into the well, and they comprise several parts or subsections that are assembled together. The common way of connecting these subsections to each other is by means of threaded connections.
Many such well tools are relatively long, which contributes to a higher material cost and a higher manufacturing cost (machining, milling etc). Moreover, it may be difficult or even impossible to run long well tools into narrow or curved wells. Hence, it is an object of the present invention to reduce the length of such well tools. A reduction of length will also make the handling of the tools easier, and possibly also the transportation costs may be reduced.
Well tools typically comprise many parts or subsections that are assembled into the well tools. The assembly operation is time consuming. Many such well tools are retrieved from the wells for future re-use. A full disassembly and re-assembly are required in order to achieve a reliable re-use. Hence, it is an object of the present invention to reduce the number of parts of such well tools and also to simplify the assembly and disassembly of such well tools.
In some tools, it may desired to achieve a small axial and/or relative rotation between subsections. In particular, relative rotation is difficult when using threaded connections, since the relative rotation may cause that the threaded connections becomes disconnected or partially disconnected. Hence, one object is to provide a well tool device where a small axial and/or relative rotation is possible without the risk of unintentional disconnection of the subsections from each other.


The present technology utilizes vehicles in a fleet of vehicles to record weather data samples at many locations in a service area. Each vehicle in the fleet becomes a weather station that can record weather data at many locations and frequently. The weather data can be used to make intelligent decisions regarding fleet management.

An autonomous vehicle is a motorized vehicle that can navigate without a human driver. An exemplary autonomous vehicle includes a plurality of sensor systems, such as, but not limited to, a camera sensor system, a lidar sensor system, a radar sensor system, amongst others, wherein the autonomous vehicle operates based upon sensor signals output by the sensor systems. Specifically, the sensor signals are provided to an internal computing system in communication with the plurality of sensor systems, wherein a processor executes instructions based upon the sensor signals to control a mechanical system of the autonomous vehicle, such as a vehicle propulsion system, a braking system, or a steering system.
Weather services typically make use of weather satellites or instruments fixed to a location on the ground. Most weather services provide predictions and measurements for a region. However, some weather services can predict or record weather readings for a town or even a neighborhood of a city.

Highly localized weather data recorded by vehicles in a fleet


A capacitive image sensor for detecting an input object includes a first substrate and a second substrate. A compressible region is defined between the first substrate and the second substrate. The first substrate is deflectable towards the second substrate. A transmitter electrode, receiver electrode, and bending effect electrode are disposed on the first substrate. The bending effect electrode is disposed between the transmitter electrode and receiver electrode and is configured to reduce a change in resulting signals detected from the receiver electrode caused by deflection of the first substrate towards the second substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a system and method for sensing an input object's position over a sensing region of a proximity sensing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Input devices including proximity sensor devices, also commonly called touchpads or touch sensor devices, are widely used in a variety of electronic systems. A proximity sensor device typically includes a sensing region, often demarked by a surface, in which the proximity sensor device determines the presence, location and/or motion of one or more input objects. Proximity sensor devices may be used to provide interfaces for the electronic system. For example, proximity sensor devices are often used as input devices for larger computing systems, such as opaque touchpads integrated in, or peripheral to, notebook or desktop computers. Proximity sensor devices are also often used in smaller computing systems, such as touch screens integrated in cellular phones.
Proximity sensor devices are typically used in combination with other supporting components, such as display or input devices found in the electronic or computing system. In some configurations, the proximity sensor devices are coupled to these supporting components to provide a desired combined function or to provide a desirable complete device package. Many commercially available proximity sensor devices utilize one or more electrical techniques to determine the presence, location and/or motion of an input object, such as a capacitive or a resistive sensing technique. Typically, the proximity sensor devices utilize an array of sensor electrodes to detect the presence, location and/or motion of an input object.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Reducing bending effects in touch sensor devices


A non-symmetric drive type piezoelectric ceramic transformer has been disclosed in the present invention. The non-symmetric drive type piezoelectric ceramic transformer has a rectangular piezoelectric ceramic conductor. Along the length of rectangular piezoelectric ceramic conductor, it is divided into three zones: the first zone is the oscillation node accommodate zone of the length adjusting, that the change of length can adjust the resonance frequency and the oscillation node of the piezoelectric ceramic transformer; the second zone is input drive zone, which upper of lower surface have been coated with electrodes and polarized in the direction of the thickness; the third zone is the output generation zone, which output terminals are coated with electrodes and polarized in the direction of the length of the conductor. The piezoelectric ceramic transformer having above structure has the advantages of smaller dimension, less input phase changes, less generating heat, higher efficiency, and the piezoelectric ceramic transformer has the adjustable resonance frequency and the oscillation node, simply formation process, lower cost of fabrication. The piezoelectric ceramic transformer can be used in high voltage power sources, and back-light sources of liquid crystal display to drive cold cathode florescent lamps.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a piezoelectric ceramic transformer, in particular, to a non-symmetric drive type piezoelectric ceramic transformer, which has simply formation process, high boosting ratio, high conversion efficiency, adjustable resonance frequency and oscillation node. The present invention belongs to the electronic technique.
2. Description of Related Art
At present, there are two kinds of common piezoelectric ceramic transformer, i.e. Rosen type piezoelectric ceramic transformer and Center type piezoelectric ceramic transformer.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, Rosen type piezoelectric ceramic transformer is a rectangular piezoelectric which is divided into two half-zones, the left zone 1 is called as input drive zone, the both surface of which are coated with electrodes 11 and is polarized along its thickness; the right zone 2 is called as output generation zone, the end of which is coated with electrode 21, and is polarized along its length. This structure of Rosen type piezoelectric ceramic transformer has mainly two oscillation modes, λ/2 and λ. In practical applications, the higher the resonance frequency of a transformer, the greater the loss is, so that the piezoelectric ceramic transformer is usually operated in oscillation mode λ/2. When it is operating on oscillation mode λ/2, the null displacement oscillation node is at the center of the transformer, the oscillation displacement of output head of the right zone 2 is equal to that of the left zone 1, the oscillating displacement diagram is a symmetric diagram. The advantage of Rosen type piezoelectric ceramic transformer is simple in manufacturing engineering. Its advantage is as follows: high manufacturing cost resulting from large electrode areas of input drive zone, large input capacitance, large phase, low boosting ratio, low conversion efficiency and unadjustable resonance frequency and oscillation node.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the Center type piezoelectric ceramic transformer is a rectangular piezoelectric, which is divided into three zones: the middle zone 3 is an input drive zone, the upper and lower surface of which is coated with electrode 31, and which is polarized along its thickness; the both side of which is output generation zone 4 and 5, each head is coated with electrode 41, 51, and which is polarized along their length, the both output generation zone is symmetrical and has the same phase. In practical application they are joining-up in parallel. The Center type piezoelectric ceramic transformer mainly has two oscillation modes, i.e., λ/2 and 3λ/2. When it is operated on oscillation mode λ/2, the null displacement oscillation node is at the center of the transformer, the oscillating displacement of both output head is equal, and the oscillating displacement diagram is the diagram of symmetry type. The advantage of Center type piezoelectric ceramic transformer is high boosting ratio, while the disadvantage is as follows: complex manufacturing engineering, high manufacturing cost, high requirements for balancing degree of the two generation zones, modulation phenomena resulting from the addition of waveforms when joining-up in parallel, and unadjustable resonance frequency and oscillation node.

Non-symmetric drive type piezoelectric ceramic transformer

Xi'an Kong Hong New Materials Sci-Tech Co., Ltd.


A station for loading plate elements (1, 1a), from an initial pile of the elements in a storage device (4) to an infeed station for a machine for processing the elements. An unloading device (7) unloads the elements (1a) from the initial pile (3). An intermediate storage device (16), stores the unloaded elements (1) in the form of an intermediate batch (19) and is positioned downstream of the unloading device (7), a conveyor device (18) for conveying the elements (1) from the storage device (16) to the infeed station, and a shingling device (21) for shingling the elements (1) and being positioned downstream of the storage device (16).

The present invention relates to a loading station for plate elements. The invention also relates to a machine for processing these elements incorporating such a loading station.
A processing machine, for example a printing machine, is used notably in the packaging industry, for example for making cardboard boxes from plate elements such as sheets of cardboard.
The processing machine usually comprises several stations or workstations, each intended to carry out a specific operation. The plate elements are fed at the inlet of the machine by the feeding station or infeed station or feeder installed upstream. These plate elements are recovered at the outlet of the machine in the delivery station downstream in the form of processed elements, blanks or boxes ready for use.
The feeder automatically introduces the elements into the machine one after another. The feeder first of all comprises a lower vacuum conveyor, which sends the elements into the machine successively one after the other. At this level, the elements are clearly separated and do not overlap in the form of a stream. The elements are then driven and processed one after the other in the machine.
Upstream of the conveyor, a batch of stacked vertical elements is placed in the feeder. The feeder also comprises a vertical gauge. The gauge is used for the frontal alignment of the elements. This gauge is also used for extracting the elements one after another from the bottom of the batch. The gauge can also move vertically, so as to adjust the gap beneath the nose of the gauge, depending on the thickness of the elements.
A first drawback is that the batch applies a considerable pressure force, mainly on the element at the bottom of the batch placed on the conveyor. This pressure is all the greater if the cardboard has a high grammage and the batch is high. This pressure tends to squash these bottom elements that follow one another and to apply a stress, disrupting the conveying of the element by the feeder, reducing the quality of the infeed and consequently the sending of the elements into the machine. In certain cases, the register of the fed elements is lost. In other cases, the feeder feeds in two elements at the same time instead of just one, which is undesirable.
Such a pressure also increases the friction between the element at the bottom of the pile and the element immediately above with which it is in contact, when the bottom element is sent. Since the surfaces may be preprinted or coated with a layer, for example of white color or of other colors, they will be damaged by marks.
In order to feed a machine, an operator continually places small batches of stacked elements in the infeed station. The operator picks up and carries these batches by hand. This makes the work of the operator particularly tiresome, for example when processing corrugated cardboard sheets of large dimensions. Moreover, such manual loading limits capacity in terms of processing speeds.

Loading station for plate elements and machine for processing such elements


Lateral control of a vehicle, based on surroundings sensor signals of a surroundings sensor system of a host vehicle and/or maps, combined with an instantaneous position determination, wherein the course of the instantaneously traveled roadway and the position of the host vehicle on the roadway are determined, based on the surroundings sensor signals and/or the position determination, autonomous steering interventions are made in the host vehicle, which as a result, approximate or correspond to actuations of a steering wheel of the host vehicle, or provide a driver with information concerning steering interventions, a horizon position on the instantaneously traveled roadway to which the host vehicle is to be oriented is repeatedly determined, in that, starting from an instantaneous position of the host motor vehicle, an inner tangent point situated ahead of the host vehicle on the instantaneously traveled roadway is determined, and, starting from a point on the host motor vehicle, a tangent through this inner tangent point to a point of intersection with a horizon point function is determined, and an angle is enclosed between the center longitudinal axis of the host vehicle and the tangent, and is used for determining an angle specification for the steering intervention.

A system for horizon-stabilized lateral control for a vehicle and a corresponding method are disclosed herein. This system and method are usable in particular in (partially) autonomously moving motor vehicles. However, in driver-steered motor vehicles as well, this lateral control of a vehicle may assist the driver in selecting the travel trajectory. Details in this regard are defined in the claims; in addition, the description and the drawings contain relevant information concerning the system and the operating principle, as well as variants of the system and the method.

Horizon-stabilized lateral control for a vehicle


A microlithographic projection exposure apparatus includes a primary illumination system producing projection light, a projection objective and a correction optical system. The correction optical system includes a secondary illumination system, which produces an intensity distribution of correction light in a reference surface, and a correction element which includes a heating material and is arranged in a plane that is at least substantially optically conjugate to the reference surface such that the correction light and the projection light pass through at least one lens contained in the projection objective before they impinge on the correction element. All lenses through which both the correction light and the projection light pass are made of a lens material which has a lower coefficient of absorption for the correction light than the heating material contained in the correction element.

Microlithography (also called photolithography or simply lithography) is a technology for the fabrication of integrated circuits, liquid crystal displays and other microstructured devices. The process of microlithography, in conjunction with the process of etching, is used to pattern features in thin film stacks that have been formed on a substrate, for example a silicon wafer. In general, at each layer of the fabrication, the wafer is first coated with a photoresist which is a material that is sensitive to radiation, such as deep ultraviolet (DUV) light. Next, the wafer with the photoresist on top is exposed to projection light through a mask in a projection exposure apparatus. The mask contains a circuit pattern to be projected onto the photoresist. After exposure the photoresist is developed to produce an image corresponding to the circuit pattern contained in the mask. Then an etch process transfers the circuit pattern into the thin film stacks on the wafer. Finally, the photoresist is removed. Repetition of this process with different masks results in a multi-layered microstructured component.
A projection exposure apparatus typically includes an illumination system, a mask alignment stage for aligning the mask, a projection lens and a wafer alignment stage for aligning the wafer coated with the photoresist. The illumination system illuminates a field on the mask that may have the shape of a rectangular slit or a narrow ring segment, for example.
In current projection exposure apparatus a distinction can be made between two different types of apparatus. In one type each target portion on the wafer is irradiated by exposing the entire mask pattern onto the target portion in one go; such an apparatus is commonly referred to as a wafer stepper. In the other type of apparatus, which is commonly referred to as a step-and-scan apparatus or simply scanner, each target portion is irradiated by progressively scanning the mask pattern under the projection light beam in a given reference direction while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti-parallel to this direction. The ratio of the velocity of the wafer and the velocity of the mask is equal to the magnification β of the projection lens, which is usually smaller than 1, for example β=¼ or β= 1/100.
It is to be understood that the term "mask" (or reticle) is to be interpreted broadly as a patterning device. Commonly used masks contain transmissive or reflective patterns and may be of the binary, alternating phase-shift, attenuated phase-shift or various hybrid mask type, for example. However, there are also active masks, e.g. masks realized as a programmable mirror array. An example of such a device is a matrix-addressable surface having a viscoelastic control layer and a reflective surface. More information on such mirror arrays can be gleaned, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 5,296,891 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,523,193. Also programmable LCD arrays may be used as active masks, as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,872. For the sake of simplicity, the rest of this text may specifically relate to apparatus including a mask and a mask stage; however, the general principles discussed in such apparatus should be seen in the broader context of the patterning device as hereabove set forth.
One of the aims in the development of projection exposure apparatus is to be able to lithographically generate structures with smaller and smaller dimensions on the wafer. Small structures lead to high integration densities, which generally has a favorable effect on the performance of the microstructured components produced with the aid of such apparatus.
The size of the structures which can be generated often depends primarily on the resolution of the projection objective being used. Since the resolution of projection objectives is inversely proportional to the wavelength of the projection light, one way of increasing the resolution is to use projection light with shorter and shorter wavelengths. The shortest wavelengths currently used are 248 nm, 193 nm or 157 nm and thus lie in the (deep) ultraviolet spectral range.
Another way of increasing the resolution is based on the idea of introducing an immersion liquid with a high refractive index into an immersion interspace, which remains between a last lens on the image side of the projection objective and the photoresist or another photosensitive layer to be exposed. Projection objectives which are designed for immersed operation, and which are therefore also referred to as immersion objectives, can achieve numerical apertures of more than 1, for example 1.4 or even higher.
The correction of image errors (i.e. aberrations) is becoming increasingly important for projection objectives with very high resolution. Different types of image errors usually involve different correction measures.
The correction of rotationally symmetric image errors is comparatively straightforward. An image error is referred to as being rotationally symmetric if the wavefront deformation in the exit pupil is rotationally symmetric. The term wavefront deformation refers to the deviation of a wave from the ideal aberration-free wave. Rotationally symmetric image errors can often be corrected, for example, at least partially by moving individual optical elements along the optical axis.
Correction of those image errors which are not rotationally symmetric can be more difficult. Such image errors occur, for example, because lenses and other optical elements heat up rotationally asymmetrically. One image error of this type is astigmatism, which may also be encountered for the field point lying on the optical axis.
A major cause for rotationally asymmetric image errors is a rotationally asymmetric, in particular slit-shaped and/or off-axis, illumination of the mask, as is typically encountered in projection exposure apparatus of the scanner type. The slit-shaped illuminated field causes a non-uniform heating of those optical elements that are arranged in the vicinity of field planes. This heating results in deformations of the optical elements and, in the case of lenses and other elements of the refractive type, in changes of their index of refraction. If the materials of refractive optical elements are repeatedly exposed to the high energetic projection light, also permanent material changes are observed. For example, a compaction of the materials exposed to the projection light sometimes occurs, and this compaction results in local and permanent changes of the index of refraction.
The heat induced deformations and index changes alter the optical properties of the optical elements and thus cause image errors. Heat induced image errors often have a twofold symmetry. However, image errors with other symmetries, for example threefold or fivefold, or image errors characterized by completely asymmetric wavefront deformations are also frequently observed in projection objectives. Completely asymmetric image errors are often caused by material defects which are statistically distributed over the optical elements contained in the projection objective.
Another major cause for rotationally asymmetric image errors are certain asymmetric illumination settings in which the pupil plane of the illumination system is illuminated in a rotationally asymmetric manner. Important examples for such settings are dipole settings in which only two poles are illuminated in the pupil plane. With such a dipole setting, also the pupil planes in the projection objective contain only two illuminated regions. Consequently, the lenses arranged in or in the vicinity of such an objective pupil plane are exposed to a rotationally asymmetric intensity distribution which gives rise to rotationally asymmetric image errors. Also quadrupol settings often produce rotationally asymmetric image errors, although to a lesser extent than dipole settings.

Microlithographic projection exposure apparatus with correction optical system that heats projection objective element


A virtual database administrator (VDBA) is implemented in a database server network to monitor back-up write events from the database servers on the network to a network back-up server and correct failed back-up attempts. The VDBA regularly polls the database servers for copies of event logs that include information about back-up attempts. The VDBA parses each of the event logs, searching for the back-up log entries indicating successful or failed back-up writes for particular databases. For failed back-up writes, the VDBA instructs the specific database server to retry the back-up write for the particular database. The back-up retry instructions are specific to the database server and cause a back-up retry limited to the particular database on the server that experienced the failure.

1. Technical Field
The subject matter discussed herein relates to back-up processes and controls for a computer network of database servers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some organizations employ large networks of databases in order to store, manage, and process significant amounts of information. For example, utility companies may have incredibly large amounts of information pertaining to customers, utility usage by customer, utility rates, billing information, collection information, etc. Similarly, credit card issuers and other financial companies may collect and store significant amounts of information regarding their customers including transactions, investments, portfolio holdings, trades, billing information, statement information, payment information, etc. All of this information may be distributed in databases on separate computers located throughout the organization. For example, accounts payable may be stored in a database on a computer associated with the accounts payable department while utility usage information is stored in a database on multiple computers geographically located within different regional services areas. In some organizations there may be hundreds of separate computers hosting thousands of databases for storing critical information.
All of this information needs to periodically be backed-up in order to avoid a catastrophe should one of the individual computers managing a particular database fail. In large organizations, the distributed databases are often located on data servers that are connected within the organization via a network. Common relational database networks of this type often operate using structured query language (SQL) and the computers in the network are called SQL ("sequel") servers. The network often also includes a network back-up server that provides back-up data storage for all of the database servers on the network. The back-up server is often in the form of a large tape library with robotic arms that select and install back-up tapes from the library specific to each database server when a scheduled back-up for that database occurs.
Sometimes, however, these scheduled back-up attempts fail for a variety of reasons, for example, a faulty network connection, lack of sufficient bandwidth, a tape failure, a software bug, a power failure, or any of a number of other reasons. When dealing with extremely large database networks, these failures may be regular occurrences, but may be ultimately corrected when the next scheduled back-up occurs without error. However, it is difficult to determine whether a back-up failure is an isolated or one-time error or whether there is a more significant problem that needs addressing.
Current network back-up systems have the ability to provide some forms of error notification to a live administrator, often in the form of an electronic mail ("e-mail") message. However, this information is generally limited and merely indicates a failure occurrence without an indication of why, what kind of back-up operation was attempted, or whether a later scheduled back-up attempt is successful. In the case of database servers hosting multiple databases, there is also no ability to implement a corrective back-up restricted to only the database that failed; current solutions require back-up of all databases on a particular server. A non-scheduled, fall back-up all databases on a database server could be incredibly time consuming and waste network resources. Furthermore, in very large database networks, the number of failure messages that may be generated can reach into the hundreds on a daily basis. This is an overwhelming number of potential errors for a live administrator to effectively review and investigate.
The information included in this Background section of the specification, including any references cited herein and any description or discussion thereof, is included for technical reference purposes only and is not to be regarded subject matter by which the scope of the invention is to be bound.


Embodiments of the present invention relate to a computer-implemented method and system for performing interest calculations on account balances. The calculations may be based on time intervals of less than a day, and using time parameters defined in terms of seconds.

When interest is calculated on money in a bank account, the way the calculation is performed is typically based at least partly on the contractual terms applicable to the account. For example, in typical personal bank accounts, interest calculations by contract are based on the account balance at the end of a business day. More specifically, for example, to accrue or charge interest to an account and produce a monthly account statement, the daily recorded end-of-day balances of the account over a period of, say, thirty days may be used to calculate interest. Because the only relevant time interval in such a calculation is the business day, typically only the date (as opposed to more precise time information) of a transaction which alters the account balance is recorded and used in the interest calculation.
However, developments in the business world have led to an increasing demand for greater precision in the calculation of interest. For example, because data processing technology is currently able to transfer large amounts of money between accounts in "real time"—that is, in practical terms, almost instantaneously—often the balance in an account can fluctuate dramatically within the course of a single business day. When interest is only calculated based on a net account balance at the end of the business day, such fluctuations may not be accurately registered in terms of potential corresponding interest charges, which may mean that banks offering such real-time transfer services lose out on large interest revenues.
For example, suppose 10,000 currency units are withdrawn from a bank account at 8:00 A.M., the beginning of the bank's business day, leaving a negative balance for the account of −10,000 currency units. Then, suppose the 10,000 currency units are re-deposited in the account at 4:00 P.M., the end of the bank's business day, leaving a net balance on the account for the day of 0 (zero) currency units. If an interest calculation is only performed based on the net account balance at the end of the day, i.e., on an account balance of zero, the bank has, in effect, lent the withdrawer the 10,000 currency units for the day free of interest.
Banks may offer real-time services, for example, in connection with a known "continuous linked settlement" (CLS) system. The CLS system links member banks internationally and enables real-time transactions. In particular, the CLS system is favored because it reduces settlement risk associated with large foreign currency transactions. Banks that are members of the CLS system may offer real-time transaction services to non-member banks. Such member banks have recognized that these real-time services should have corresponding interest calculation that reflects their possibly rapidly fluctuating nature, and may form contracts with non-member banks accordingly. That is, as a condition of providing real-time transaction services, banks providing the services may contract with banks receiving the services that the banks receiving the services will pay interest based on more precise calculations than the traditional calculations based on end-of-day balances.
In view of the foregoing considerations, there is a need for a method and system to provide more precise interest calculation than has heretofore been available.


A method of manufacture of an integrated circuit packaging system includes: providing a substrate; mounting a bottom integrated circuit over the substrate; connecting a bottom interconnect between the bottom integrated circuit and the substrate; and mounting a bottom shield-spacer above the bottom integrated circuit and the bottom shield-spacer includes a bottom shield plate above the bottom integrated circuit, a bottom shield pillar extending from a bottom shield foot and connected to the bottom shield plate, and a protuberance extending vertically above the bottom shield pillar and directly above the bottom shield foot.

The rapidly growing market for portable electronic devices, e.g. cellular phones, laptop computers, and personal digital assistants (PDAs), is an integral facet of modern life. The multitude of portable devices represents one of the largest potential market opportunities for next generation packaging. These devices have unique attributes that have significant impacts on manufacturing integration, in that they must be generally small, lightweight, and rich in functionality and they must be produced in high volumes at relatively low cost.
Packaging, materials engineering, and development are at the very core of these next generation electronics insertion strategies outlined in road maps for development of next generation products. Future electronic systems can be more intelligent, have higher density, use less power, operate at higher speed, and can include mixed technology devices and assembly structures at lower cost than today.
There have been many approaches to addressing the advanced packaging requirements of microprocessors and portable electronics with successive generations of semiconductors. Many industry road maps have identified significant gaps between the current semiconductor capability and the available supporting electronic packaging technologies. The limitations and issues with current technologies include increasing clock rates, electromagnetic interference, thermal loads, second level assembly reliability stresses and cost.
In view of the ever-increasing commercial competitive pressures, along with growing consumer expectations and the diminishing opportunities for meaningful product differentiation in the marketplace, it is critical that answers be found for these problems. Additionally, the need to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and performance, and meet competitive pressures adds an even greater urgency to the critical necessity for finding answers to these problems.
Thus, a need remains for smaller footprints and more robust packages and methods for manufacture. Solutions to these problems have been long sought but prior developments have not taught or suggested any solutions and, thus, solutions to these problems have long eluded those skilled in the art.

Integrated circuit packaging system with shielding spacer and method of manufacture thereof


A newly identified gene, DIS1 is disrupted by a (1;11)(q42.1;q14.3) translocation which segregates with schizophrenia. We have examined the genomic structure of DIS1 and found that the gene consists of 13 exons estimated to extend across at least 300 kb of DNA. Exon 11 contains an alternative splice site which removes 66 nucleotides from the open reading frame. The final intron of DIS1 belongs to the rare AT-AC class of introns. 8 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) located within introns 3, 7, 9 and 10 of DIS1 have also been identified. These ESTs have not yet been assigned to DIS1 and may therefore represent further novel genes in the region.

Family, twin and adoption studies have convincingly demonstrated a significant genetic contribution to schizophrenia (1995, Lancet 346: 678-682, and references therein) and have driven studies directed at identification of this genetic component. Schizophrenia is a complex disease and the multifactorial and probable genetic heterogeneity of the condition complicates the application and interpretation of conventional linkage and association studies. At present, however, no specific genes have been described which could play a role in schizophrenia.
Previously, a balanced t(1;11)(q42.1;q14.3) translocation was reported which is linked to schizophrenia and other related mental illness in a large Scottish family (1990, Lancet 336: 13-16) with a maximum LOD of 6.0 (Douglas Blackwood, in preparation). Mapping of the translocation breakpoint on chromosome 11, and the accompanying search for neighbouring genes has already been reported (1997, Am. J. Med. Genet. 74: 82-90, 1998, Pyschiatr. Genet. 8: 175-181). No evidence for the presence of any part of a gene closer than 250 kb to the breakpoint has been found.
It will be clear that there is a great need for the elucidation of genes related to schizophrenia in order to unravel the various roles these genes may play in the disease process. A better knowledge of the genes involved in schizophrenia and the mechanism of action of their encoded proteins might help to create a better insight into the etiology of this psychiatric disorder and its underlying molecular mechanisms. This could eventually lead to improved therapy and better diagnostic procedures.


Devices and methods are disclosed that allow for selective acoustic near-field nulls for microphone arrays. One embodiment may take the form of an electronic device including a speaker and a microphone array. The microphone array may include a first microphone positioned a first distance from the speaker and a second microphone positioned a second distance from the speaker. The first and second microphones are configured to receive an acoustic signal. The microphone array further includes a complex vector filter coupled to the second microphone. The complex vector filter is applied to an output signal of the second microphone to generate an acoustic sensitivity pattern for the array that provides an acoustic null at the location of the speaker.

Portable electronic devices continue to trend smaller while providing increased and improved functionality. Because of the limited space on the smaller devices, creative and sometimes less than ideal positioning of components occurs. For example, a microphone and a speaker may be positioned in close proximity of each other. This leads to a high degree of coupling from the speaker radiated signal to the microphone capsule. While this is not a big problem when the microphone is not being used to pick up a local talker, it is challenging for acoustic echo cancellers to spectrally subtract the speaker playback signal from the microphone signal that includes both the local talker and the speaker signal.
Also, because of the proximity of the speaker(s) to the microphones, the sound pressure level of the radiated signal from the speaker is often greater than that of the talker. This typically leads to a poor signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and presents a formidable challenge for echo cancellers that can be exacerbated if the speaker to microphone path is non-linear.


A test-tube for clinical chemistry analysis made up of a plurality of cells, each one of the cells comprising a lower portion for the collection of the reagent and a side intermediate portion provided with an edge for the storage of the sample to be tested upon the mixing thereof with the reagent. The cells are disposed in a straight configuration. The operations of the mixing of the samples with the reagents and the simultaneous stirring inside all cells, may be carried out by imparting the test-tube with an angular motion about a longitudinal axis.

In the clinical chemistry analysis of, for example, cholesterol, triglycerides, glycemia, transaminase, it is important that readouts can be carried out on different samples treated as homogeneously as possible especially as far as the times of mixing the sample with the reagents and the temperatures of the sample under test and those of the reagent are concerned. It is also desirable to carry out surveys, that is, detections like photometric readouts in very short and closely spaced time intervals, to ensure in particular the homogeneity of the data taken from a number of sequentially tested samples.

Multitest-tube for clinical chemistry analysis for several simultaneous tests


In an embodiment, an apparatus comprises one or more processors and a computer-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by the processors, cause the processors to perform generating relationship information based on relationships between one or more events that are generated by one or more managed systems. The computer-readable storage medium further comprises instructions which, when executed, cause sending the relationship information to the managed systems, wherein the relationship information allows the managed systems to determine whether reporting of the events, by the managed systems, should be suppressed; and receiving, from one or more managed systems, a report about an event when reporting of the event cannot be suppressed.

The approaches described in this section could be pursued, but are not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
An aggregate system may include one or more external management systems and one or more managed systems. Managed systems monitor the operations performed by components of the managed systems, while external management systems oversee the operations performed by the managed systems. Managed systems may also generate status and statistical information about the operations performed by the managed systems, and communicate the information to external management systems for control and monitoring.
Event data can represent status information communicated from a managed system to an external management system including managed system status, status of components, and performance data for the managed system or components. Often, event data is voluminous, and collecting and communicating a large amount of event data by managed systems may impede performance. Vast event data amassed and transmitted within the aggregate system may inhibit system functionality, stall access to system resources, and hamper operations that rely on availability of system resources.
A managed system could select and report only the most important events. However, this approach requires the managed system to decide which events are important. Some managed systems may not have enough resources to perform both system primary tasks and to determine which events are important. Inconsistency in event reporting also may occur if managed systems use different criteria in determining which events are important. This approach also precludes the external management system from deciding which events should be reported. If a managed system evaluates importance of the events independently from the external management system, the external management system may receive event information that is either incomplete or unnecessary. For example, the external management systems may receive incomplete information about the events that are important, but unnecessary information about the events that are unimportant.

Controlling emission of events from managed systems to external management systems


A plurality of stacked polyethylene film bags comprising about 40-48 wt. % high density, high molecular weight polyethylene, 12-20 wt. % high density, medium molecular weight polyethylene, 20-30 wt. % linear low density polyethylene, 0-8 wt. % color concentrate, are releasably adhered together in substantial registration. Each of the bags includes front and rear polyethylene film walls and each of the front and rear walls have first and second side edges, a top edge and a bottom edge. The front and rear walls are integrally joined at their first and second side edges and secured together at their bottom edges. An open mouth portion is defined adjacent the top edges of the bag. At least an upper portion of the outer surface of the front and rear walls of each of the bags has been corona treated. T-shirt style bags using the above formulation are also described.

Film bags are commonly used in supermarkets, department stores and similar applications. These bags have advantages in that they are relatively inexpensive to produce, provide substantial carrying capacity and may include easily used handles. In order to make these bags easier to handle and easier to fill, they are usually used in combination with a dispensing rack or hook. Dispensing racks typically include a pair of horizontally oriented arms from which the bags are suspended by means of holes in upper portions of the bags. If the bags can be made to open as they are pulled from the dispensing rack or hook, they become substantially easier to use. Various techniques have been developed for causing film bags to open as they are removed from dispensing racks or hooks.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2005/0087542, issued to Bazbaz is directed to a tabless, self-opening T-shirt-styled film bag is provided having a handle, stress relief notch, and mounting tab structure for providing a wide-opening bag mouth and a bag having high weight carrying capacity. Handles have a narrow upper portion, a wide middle portion and a narrow lower portion. Handle mounting apertures are provided in the wide middle portion, which projects inwardly above the mouth of the bag. The handle mounting apertures are formed by a blade having an elongate section that is bent to form an obtuse angle.
The handle mounting aperture has a sufficient width for accommodating arms of a dispensing rack and a height about three times as great as the width. The bag has a central mounting tab extending above the mouth of the bag and between the handles. A stress relief notch having a reasonably tight radius of curvature is provided between each handle and the mounting tab. The mounting tab has a mounting aperture formed by two blades meeting at a sharp corner, the corner having essentially no radius of curvature. A severable region is provided between the corner and an outer edge of the mounting tab, which can tear as the bag is removed from a mounting hook on a dispensing rack. Multiple bags are aligned and bonded together to provide a unitary pack, where pulling one bag off a dispensing rack pulls an adjacent bag open.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,378 issued to Baxley et al., discloses a bag pack comprising a stack of film shopping bags that are bound together and mounted on a rack in such a manner that as one is removed from the rack, the next is opened and remains on the rack to receive material therein.
The rack that is used in this invention for the bag pack comprises a flat base with a pair of laterally spaced support arms to accommodate fully expanded bags with handles engaged with the support arms. A transverse member extends between the support arms to support a tab receiving hook element for engagement through the tab apertures. When the bag pack is produced, and either prior to or simultaneously with the forming of a cut line through the stacked bag handles, the flaps are bonded together throughout the full stack. This is done by use of a heated pin or rod extended centrally through the flaps to directly heat seal the flaps together.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,780, issued to Nguyen describes a bag and dispensing system wherein the thermoplastic bag to be dispensed may be retained in an open position, to allow for the loading thereof with contents for carrying, such as purchased goods or the like. The system is further configured such that the loaded bag, when dispensed, draws the next bag in the stack forward into an open loading position such that it is ready to be loaded with goods without further manipulation by the attendant. The preferred embodiment of the present invention teaches the utilization multi-edged punch applied to the handle area of the bags to hold said handles together for handling of the bag pack, and for facilitating opening of the next bag in the stack on the rack, when a loaded bag is removed.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention utilizes co-extruded film, wherein there is provided a high density film having bonded thereto a lower density film of lesser density than said high density film, such that said lower density film forms the exterior side of said co-extruded film. The co-extruded film is then corona treated at a higher energy level than that recommended for facilitating a printing surface on said film. The film is then die-cut to form bag packs, and simultaneously punched with the multi-faceted punch in the area of the handles. This punch impacts the film forming the bag walls, melding the adjacent walls together in a releasable fashion, allowing self opening of said bags.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,328, issued to Huang et al. is directed to a pack of self-opening bags with a front, rear, and co-joined side walls, with front and rear tabs extending from top edges of the front and rear walls. The tabs have a curved aperture slits therein, and the tabs are frangibly adhered together with contact adhesive. The slit has a main cut section, a first curved end section at one end, and a second curved end section at the opposite end. The first curved section has a curve that extends upwardly and inwardly from the main cut section. The second curved section has a substantially semi-circular curve that extends from the main cut section in a direction towards the bottom edge of the tab and has an end that is substantially perpendicular to and adjacent the main cut section. In one embodiment, the first curved section is dashed.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2002/0108882 issued to DeMatteis is directed to a tab for mounting a bag bundle on a retaining hook of the type having an upwardly bent hook is shown configured in a bundle of bags. The bundle of bags has at least a leading bag and a plurality of trailing bags. There is at least one tab attached to one bag wall of each bag. This tab is in alignment with like tabs from like bag walls. The tab includes a flanged aperture including at least one peak, with this peak protruding inwardly toward and to the aperture for contact with the upwardly bent hook whereby the tabs are bent out of alignment with the upwardly shaped hook.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,636,191 issued to Piggott discloses a bag making machine for producing bags from an elongate strip of plastic web material. The disclosure relates to various improvements in the bag making machine such as the apparatus for cutting the bag handle aperture. The apparatus includes at least one circular cutting blade having a plunger movable relative thereto within its cutting periphery. The plunger includes a web piercing member on its leading face which member positively holds the web material relative to the cutting blade and plunger.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2004/0074364, issued to Prudhomme describes a multiple variable punch assembly is configurable for punching holes and slits in a plastic film material. The assembly has frame is positioned below the plane of film with one or more transverse carriages positioned to slide on the sides of the frame. Each of the carriages has side plate members, and upper and lower rails extending across the frame in the transverse direction. The upper rail is positioned above the plane of the film and the lower rail is positioned directly below the upper rail and below the film web plane. The positions of the carriages can be adjusted along the frame in the machine direction. The punch head assemblies are adjustably mounted the carriages, with an upper plate fitted onto the upper carriage rail and a lower backing plate situated beneath it on the lower carriage rail. An alignment pin can be inserted into aligned holes for positioning the upper plate and the lower backing plate. An auxiliary carriage can be mounted on one of the main carriages, and provides a pair of auxiliary rails for mounting an additional punch head.
While other variations exist, the above-described designs for self-opening bag packs are typical of those encountered in the prior art. It is an objective of the present invention to provide for a film bag pack that is suitable for use with standardized dispensing racks and includes a self-opening feature. It is a further objective to provide this capability in a bag pack that includes bags that are durable, break-resistant and easily produced. It is a still further objective of the invention to provide the above-described bag packs without the need for localized compressed areas in the bag pack. Finally, it is an objective of the invention to provide bags that open with uniform force from the first bags of the pack to the last.
While some of the objectives of the present invention are disclosed in the prior art, none of the inventions found include all of the requirements identified.

Self opening bag pack, apparatus and method of making same


A cell phone protection cover structure includes a battery cover, a support plate, a leather cover, and a protection plate. The battery cover is mounted to the back of the cell phone. The battery cover has a thick portion and a thin portion. The thick portion is directly adhered to the leather cover. The support plate corresponds to the thin portion of the battery cover and is adhered to the leather cover. The leather cover has a connecting section to connect with the protection plate. The support plate can be coupled to the thin portion of the battery cover to form the same plane with the thick portion. The support plate can be opened at an angle, so that the battery cover, the support plate and the protection plate form a triangle support for the cell phone to be placed obliquely.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a cell phone protection cover structure, and more particularly to a cell phone protection cover structure by using a battery cover having a thick portion and a thin portion. The thin portion is adapted to connect with a support plate to form the same plane with the thick portion. The support plate can be opened at an angle to form a support. There is no need to provide an additional plastic protection cover for supporting the cell phone placed obliquely. The whole protection cover is lighter and thinner.
2. Description of Related Arts
These days, hand-held electronic devices become more and more popular, such as a smart phone. The smart phone has a touch screen and provides multiple functions, such as surfing, taking a photograph, playing movies and music and so on. Except telephone functions, the cell phone can be used to play movies. When watching a movie, it is necessary to adjust the screen of the cell phone at a proper angle for the user to watch the movie conveniently. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a conventional cell phone protection cover comprises a plastic cover 11 and a leather cover 13. The plastic cover 11 has an accommodation room 12 to accommodate a cell phone 10. The leather cover 13 has an attachment portion 14, a folding line 15, a support portion 16, a connecting portion 17, and a protection portion 18. The attachment portion 14 is adhered to one side of the back of the plastic cover 11. The folding line 15 is disposed between the attachment portion 14 and the support portion 16 for the support portion 16 to be bent outward or to approach the plastic cover 11. The connecting portion 17 and the protection portion 18 extend from another side edge of the support portion 16. The leather cover 13 can be bent to form a triangle for supporting the plastic cover 11, so that the cell phone 10 can be placed obliquely for watching a movie. The cell phone 10 is protected by the plastic cover 11 and the leather cover 13 so the entire protection cover is thick. This is not convenient to carry. In addition, the plastic cover 11 covers the cell phone 10. It may cover the original shape of the cell phone 10. FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show another conventional protection cover. The protection cover comprises a battery cover 23 of a cell phone 20, a connecting section 25, and a protection plate 26 which are integrally formed. The cell phone 20 has a battery 22 and hook recesses 21. The battery cover 23 has hooks 24 corresponding to the hook recesses 21. The hooks 24 are inserted in the hook recesses 21 when the cell phone 20 is coupled to the protection cover. The connecting section 25 is for bending the protection plate 26 to cover the screen of the cell phone 20. It is not necessary to provide an additional plastic cover for covering the cell phone 20, such that the cell phone protection cover is thinner. However, the battery cover 23 is integrally formed with the protection plate 26. The protection plate 26 cannot be bent to support the cell phone 20 to be placed obliquely for watching a movie.
Accordingly, the inventor of the present invention has devoted himself based on his many years of practical experiences to solve this problem.


A plasma processor chamber includes a bottom electrode and a top electrode assembly having a center electrode surrounded by a grounded electrode. RF excited plasma between the electrodes induces a DC bias on them. A measure of the bottom electrode DC bias controls the capacitance of a first series resonant circuit connected between the center electrode and ground. A measure of the center electrode DC bias controls the capacitance of a second series resonant circuit connected between the bottom electrode and ground.

It is known to apply AC plasma excitation fields to a region of a vacuum chamber for plasma processing a workpiece, wherein the region is coupled to a gas that the fields convert into the processing plasma. The workpiece is usually a semiconductor wafer, or dielectric plate and the plasma is involved in forming integrated circuit features on the workpiece. The excited plasma typically dry etches the workpiece, but in some instances results in materials being deposited on the workpiece. Typically, the AC plasma excitation fields are supplied to the region by a pair of spaced electrodes in the chamber or one electrode in the chamber and a coil, located outside the chamber. (It is to be understood that the term "reactance" when used in the present document in connection with a vacuum plasma processing chamber refers to an electrode or a coil for supplying AC plasma excitation fields to a plasma in the chamber.)
As the size of the features continues to decrease, there are increased requirements for precise control of various parameters of the plasma processing a workpiece. These parameters include characteristics of the AC fields that the reactance couples to the plasma. In particular, the intensity and shape of the AC fields that the reactance couples to the plasma have a substantial effect on the nature of the workpiece features.

Vacuum plasma processor including control in response to DC bias voltage


Provided is a method of producing spherical nanophosphor particles having a uniform size distribution. When nanophosphor obtained using the method is used in a flat panel display, the flat panel display has higher screen brightness and a higher resolution.

1. Field
This disclosure relates to a method of producing nanophosphor particles in which phosphor precursors are treated with an inorganic salt.
2. Description of the Related Art
Phosphors are a substance that emits light after exposure to energy. In general, phosphors are used in a light source such as a mercury fluorescent lamp or a non-mercury fluorescent lamp, or various other devices such as a field emission device or a plasma display panel. In the future, phosphors are expected to be used in a wider range of application as various multimedia devices are developed.
A nanophosphor is a nano-sized phosphor, and can reduce a light scattering effect compared to a conventional bulky phosphor.
Properties of a nanophosphor include small sizes, inter-particle separation, and excellent emission efficiency. In general, however, small and highly distributed phosphors have low emission efficiency, and also, when the heat treating temperature or time is increased to obtain high emission efficiency, particles of phosphor can agglomerate together, resulting in the size of phosphor being greater than nano sizes. To overcome this, a spray-pyrolysis technique, a hydrothermal synthesis technique, a solvothermal synthesis technique, a sol-gel synthesis technique, or a laser crystallization technique can be used. These methods secure excellent properties, but are expensive and unsuitable for mass production.

Method of producing nanophosphor particles


A method for consolidating and comparing recommendations in selecting TV content for viewing by compiling and displaying recommendation and rating values for the same TV content from Sony and a number of other recommendation and ratings providers. Presenting all recommendation values on a single visual display and providing the preferred Sony recommendation in the most prominent display position and font, and allowing the viewer to select the Sony recommendation value to select that content for viewing.

The internet has experienced an exponential growth of users due to the arrival of web 2.0. Web 2.0 is different from web 1.0 in many ways. One of the most distinctive difference is that web 2.0, for the first time, gives control to the users. This control enables user to generate and participate in the content creation and development of the internet. The users not only have control, but also ownership of their work.
As we move forward into an era of IPTV (Internet Protocol Television), this explosive growth of television viewers who are internet users are attempting to apply their internet experience to television viewing. As such, more users are coming to demand the experience in television viewing that they are used to on the internet, such as access to an ocean of digital media content.
The Sony recommendation service is one aspect of Sony's ability to assist users in navigating the ocean of digital media content. The recommendation service presents rating values for digital media content and presents options for users in their selection of digital media for preferred viewing. Users may access the Sony recommendation service and be presented with digital media content that may be trusted to be to their liking.


A gear holding fixture is provided so that the appropriate position upon a gear tooth may be placed in line with an indenting device on testing equipment. The fixture includes a base that supports a movable rack, the rack including a plurality of teeth. The gear being tested is supported upon the movable rack in a way wherein the teeth on the gear intermesh with the teeth on the rack. The fixture also includes a gear axle restraint that is selectively movable depending on whether the gear is being tested or being replaced. The gear axle restraint in a gear testing position abuts an axle that supports the gear and extends along the gear's axis of rotation. This reduces the gear to only rotational movement. Thus, as the rack is moved incrementally along the base, the teeth on the rack drive the teeth of the gear, causing the gear to rotate.

Gears are used in many mechanical applications including motor vehicles. The gear's teeth are critical areas, subject to the most wear as well as having the greatest propensity to fracture or otherwise fail. It is important that gears are designed to appropriate specifications to avoid such failure, including material size and material quality specifications.
One specific material quality important to wear and strength of the gear teeth is hardness. Each gear material has a usual hardness factor, but this may be changed by additional treatment of the material, either locally (i.e. to wear surfaces) or throughout the gear. The usual hardness or the amended hardness of the gear is often tested for accuracy and consistency. A number of hardness tests and apparatus have been developed, most involving the concept of applying multiple loads at a common position using a device that creates a small depression on the material surface. The difference in indentation depth between a minor load applied and a major load applied is reflective of material hardness.
The gear or other workpiece must be placed in a stable position that allows the indenting portion of a testing device to access the desired area, and to apply the load repeatedly. The gear or other workpiece must be held so as not to be moved by the application of the minor or major load. U.S. Pat. No. 2,712,754 illustrates a typical fixture used to hold a gear or gear-like object in a position for access by a hardness testing device. Specifically, two wedges engage teeth on generally opposite sides of the gear for support. However, fine adjustments are made using a slidable supporting foot and the degree of adjustment is limited.
What is desired is a gear holding fixture that allows for easy adjustment of the position of the gear, thus, allowing hardness testing to be carried out.