Using polarization modulation techniques to simultaneously transmit two different data streams (formatted according to two different protocols) over a single optical wavelength. A first data stream that is encapsulated for transport using a first transport protocol, and a second data stream that is encapsulated for transport using a second transport protocol are received. The first data stream is modulated on a wavelength with a first polarization mode of a polarization division modulation scheme to produce a first modulated data stream and the second data stream is modulated on the wavelength with a second polarization mode of the polarization division multiplex transmission scheme to produce a second modulated data stream having the second polarization mode. The second polarization mode is orthogonal to the first polarization mode. The first and second data streams are combined onto a single wavelength for transmission over a single optical fiber using a polarization beam combiner.

Time division multiplexing (TDM) networks have been used since the 1960's in telecommunications to digitally transmit voice. As such, TDM networks have been developed with a robust suite of tools, e.g., an Operations, Administration, and Management suite, which maintains a level of reliability that telecommunications operators have grown to expect. With the advent of optical networks, telecommunications operators have applied TDM to Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET) and Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) optical networks.
Over time, the telecommunications industry has experienced increasing economic pressure to integrate different services, e.g., by adding packet based services to TDM services. As demand for packet based services increases, e.g., Ethernet, there is a demand for convergence of the various services, such as, packet-over-TDM and TDM-over-Ethernet. However, packet based networks do not have the robust management tools available to TDM networks. Furthermore, integrating two or more types of networks and/or services require protocol convergence layers and common framing layers that add complexity to transporting the underlying data over the transport network.

Multiprotocol transport using polarization division multiplexing


A voltage sensing circuit includes a voltage to current converter, an integrator, a sample and hold amplifier, and a modulator. The voltage to current converter produces a modulated current corresponding to an input voltage. The integrator demodulates the modulated current and produces a voltage sum of the demodulated current. The sample and hold amplifier samples the voltage sum and provides an output voltage corresponding to the voltage sum. The modulator modulates the output voltage and provides the modulated voltage to the voltage to current converter as a feedback voltage.

Many electronic systems and applications measure voltage levels of electrical signals for various purposes. Various electronic circuits often measure the voltage levels of external electrical signals as inputs. In many cases the measured electrical signal is filtered, amplified, or otherwise modified to conform to the operational parameters of the electronic system measuring the signal. In one typical use, analog to digital converters generate a discrete digital encoding that corresponds to measured analog voltage. Once converted, the digital representation of the analog signal is available for use in a wide variety of microelectronic devices. In many cases, an intermediate voltage sensing circuit transforms the electrical signal to improve the accuracy of the analog to digital converter.
Practical implementations of voltage sensing circuits face several challenges to accurate measurement of electrical signals, particularly time varying signals. Some sources of error include offset errors, noise in the source signal and noise introduced by the voltage sensing circuit, aliasing, and gain errors. Some of these errors, such as offset and gain errors, may increase in magnitude over time.
One method of improving the accuracy of voltage sensing circuits is to modulate the electrical signal being measured, and then to demodulate the signal using a voltage to current converter. In particular, modulation and demodulation with "chopped" signals known to the art provides anti-aliasing, filtering, and sampling of the input signal. However, while this technique provides advantages, the voltage to current converter used in the demodulation process remains susceptible to gain drift over time. This drift may result in incremental errors in voltage sensing that have negative effects on circuits and electronic devices measuring electrical signals. Thus, voltage sensing circuits with improved accuracy are desirable.

Voltage sensing circuit with reduced susceptibility to gain drift


A dust retainer for a brake system comprising a retainer receptacle mounted integrally to one or more components of the brake assembly, wherein the retainer receptacle comprises a drum have first and second open ends, one open end being secured to a component of the brake system and the other open end being closed by a dust retainer cap, the drum defining a space within which a brake disk of the brake system is located, in use, wherein removal of the dust retainer cap allows the brake disk to be removed from the open end of the retainer drum, and a removable drawer integrated in the drum. A fastening means to removably secure brake components to each other is also disclosed.

Brake system such as found on vehicles and the like generally comprise a brake rotor disk that rotates with the wheel or component to be braked, and a brake caliper fixed relative to the rotor disk. To brake rotation of the wheel or the like, usually in response to actuation of a lever, the caliper presses or squeezes the brake disk to slow or prevent its further rotation. Such brake systems are also found in helicopters for braking rotation of the helicopter rotor.
Often, dust or debris is created and/or sparks are caused during the braking operation due, e.g. to friction between the brake system materials. The brake system components can also become damaged or contaminated by external influences e.g. rust.
In many cases, e.g. in helicopter rotor brakes, the brake assembly is mounted in close proximity to other parts, motors etc., in a confined space, and sparks can damage or set fire to these other parts. Problems can also arise if hot braking fluid contacts hot disks in the event of leakage. Also, if a disk shatters or breaks, debris from the disk can cause damage to the system.
A solution to these problems has been to provide a dust retaining cover or box around the brake system e.g. in the form of a shroud or case enclosing the brake disk, brake caliper and other brake system components. The dust and sparks generated by braking are thus retained and prevented from spreading. At appropriate maintenance intervals, the dust box can be removed, e.g. by unscrewing nuts/fasteners that secure the box around the brake system, the inside of the box can then be emptied/cleaned.
Removing the dust box can, however, be difficult and take a long time especially in constrained spaces where brakes are usually installed. It can be easy to drop a screw or the like into an inaccessible area or somewhere where the screw can cause damage to the brake system or other systems. It is also difficult to ensure that all fasteners have been secured when the dust box is reassembled. A further problem is that the presence of a dust box around the brake system makes it difficult to access the brake components for repair, maintenance, removal and the like.
These problems are particularly problematic in helicopter rotor brakes where the brake system is usually installed on the helicopter upper deck where many other systems are also installed, making the area crowded and difficult to access. This makes it difficult and time-intensive to access the dust box itself and also the brake components inside the dust box.
The present disclosure aims to provide an improved dust retaining assembly for a brake system, that overcomes or reduces the above problems, and also to provide an improved way of dismantling brake disks.


A pharmaceutical composition for oral administration comprising a core and a film coating on the core that exhibits enhanced disintegration characteristics is disclosed. The film coating comprises a film forming polymer, an organic solvent, a super-disintegrant and, optionally, an acid labile material.

Standard therapy in the treatment of many illnesses is the administration of a pharmaceutically active ingredient in tablet dosage form, which often requires the patient to swallow the tablet intact. In order to improve the swallowability of a tablet, it is known in the art to coat the surface of the tablet with a polymeric film, which provides several benefits to the patient. First, it reduces the adhesion of the tablet to the inner surface of the mouth, thereby increasing the patient's ability to swallow the tablet. Second, it aids in masking the unpleasant taste for certain drugs. It also can protect components from atmospheric degradation and improve appearance.
Polymeric films typically used in such film coating include, for example, (1) vinyl polymers such as polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyvinyl alcohol and acetate, (2) cellulosics such as methyl and ethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose and hydroxypropylcellulose, (3) acrylates and methacrylates, (4) copolymers such as vinyl-maleic acid and styrene-maleic acid, and (5) natural gums and resins such as zein, gelatin, shellac and acacia. See Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences, 15th Ed. Mack Publishers (1975) p. 1613.
While the film coating adds certain advantages to the tablet formulations, one disadvantage is that the film coating may reduce the onset of action of the drug by retarding disintegration of the tablet. In certain cases, this can retard the disintegration of the tablet within the first few minutes of contact with a liquid medium. This can affect the performance of certain medications such as antacids where a fast onset of action is desirable. There is thus a need for a film coating composition which exhibits enhanced disintegration characteristics in order to provide more rapid delivery of active and faster onset of action.
The use of disintegrating agents such as dried starch, sodium alginate, lactose, sodium bicarbonate, calcium carbonate, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, microcrystalline cellulose and the like in the tablet core or granulation mixture of a swallowable tablet formulation is known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,072 discloses the use of a mixture of magnesium sulphate heptahydrate and sodium hexametaphosphate to prepare a granulating composition with an active ingredient, which, when formulated into a swallowable tablet, exhibits rapid disintegration or dispersion.
In recent years, several newer agents have been developed known as "super-disintegrants". These newer substances are more effective at lower concentrations with greater disintegrating efficiency and mechanical strength. On contact with water the super-disintegrants swell, hydrate, change volume or form and produce a disruptive change in the tablet. Effective super-disintegrants provide improved compressibility, compatibility and have no negative impact on the mechanical strength of formulations containing high-dose drugs. However, the use of disintegrating agents and/or super-disintegrants in the tablet core in such a manner does not address the problem associated with the slow dissolution of the polymeric film in a film coated tablet.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,413,549 to R. P. Sheerer Corporation discloses a rapidly disintegrating, freeze-dried dosage form comprising coarse particles of active coated with a polymer or lipid material.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,125,562 to SmithKline Beecham Corporation discloses disintegrating methylcellulose tablets. The patent discloses that the tablets have a first phase and a second phase blended with the first phase and that each phase may contain a disintegrant and a polymer.
European Patent No. EP878189 B1 to Hercules Incorporated discloses the use of hydrophobically modified polysaccharides, including hydroxypropylcellulose, in personal care products.
U.S. Application No. 20050255054 to Philip et al. discloses a dissolvable tooth whitening strip that contains a dissolvable substance such as a freeze-dried hydrogel containing acemannan.
U.S. Application No. 20070077300 A1 to Wynn et al. discloses oral dosage forms that contain salivation inducing agents that may be in the core and/or the coating of the dosage form.
U.S. Application No. 20080292669 to SmithKline Beecham Corporation discloses foamed substrates for transmucosal and/or transdermal applications that comprise one or more polymers and one or more foaming agents, and that may comprise one or more plasticizers, hydrophobic barrier agents, tooth whitening agents, antioxidants, preservatives, super-disintegrants or absorbents, flavorants, deodorants, breath freshening agents, colorants, surfactants, film modifiers, cross-linking agents, antimicrobial agents, control release agents, other therapeutic agents, or any combinations thereof.
International Application No. WO2008079963 to Cambrex Charles City, Inc. discloses ionic complexes of anion-containing APIs that can be coated with a pharmaceutically acceptable coating.
U.S. Application No. 20090047330 A1 to Bangalore discloses water soluble polymer based edible films that are prepared using the formulation composition disclosed therein along with other ingredients including plasticizers, fillers, taste masking agents, disintegrants, and colorants.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,627,224 to Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. discloses a process for making a pharmaceutical composition that comprises entecavir, comprising forming a solution of entecavir and an adhesive in a solvent, depositing the solution on substrate particles, drying and mixing the coated substrate particles with other ingredients, including disintegrants.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,660,382 to Ethypharm discloses a process for preparing coated granules with masked taste and immediate release of active that comprises: dry-mixing the constituents of a powder comprising at least the active and a disintegrant; granulating the resultant powder in the presence of a binder to obtain granules; coating the granules formed by spraying a suspension comprising at least one coating agent and one disintegrant; and drying the resulting coated granules.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,807,580 to McNeil PPC, Inc. discloses pharmaceutical compositions comprising a film coated tablet exhibiting enhanced disintegration characteristics that comprises a hydrophilic film forming polymer and an alkaline agent such as an alkali metal, an alkali earth metal carbonate, or a bicarbonate such as sodium or potassium bicarbonate, wherein the alkaline agent reduces the disintegration time of the film coating by increasing the rate of removal of the film coating polymers.
There continues to be a need for pharmaceutical compositions and more particularly film coated tablet compositions having enhanced disintegration characteristics

Fast dissolving/disintegrating coating compositions


An operations center that performs a method that includes receiving a live content feed of a live event, inserting a time indication in the live content feed to generate a marked feed, the time indication indicative of a receive time that the live content feed is received at the operations center, encoding the marked feed to generate an Internet Protocol (IP) feed, the IP feed being exchanged through the operations center, determining a read time during a skip offset process corresponding to when the time indication is identified in the skip offset process, determining a propagation delay based on the read time and the receive time and generating a broadcast output that transitions, based on the propagation delay, from one of (i) the live event to recorded content or (ii) recorded content to the live event.

A content distribution system may show a live event as a television broadcast to an audience in a variety of different manners. A live event may include live content interspersed with non-live content (e.g., recorded content such as advertisements). In a first example, the content distribution system may generate a television program by internally utilizing uncompressed serial digital interface (SDI) technology as a video transport. In a second example, the content distribution system may generate a television program by internally utilizing compressed or uncompressed video transported over an Internet Protocol (IP) network. Because the progress of the live event is non-deterministic with an exact ending time of a particular segment being unknown, the transitions between the live content and the non-live content require a dynamic and ad hoc approach as instructed by a program director of the live event and executed by an operations staff.
In a conventional SDI broadcast facility, a signal associated with the television broadcast of the live event is received at an operations center (e.g., playout facility broadcasting the live event) and may be converted to SDI to be propagated through the operations center to a playout arrangement. This propagation results in a small and relatively consistent latency between when the live event signal is received at the operations center and when it is transmitted for broadcast. The program director may decide when the end of a segment of the live event is to occur and instruct the operations staff to prepare to switch from the live content to the non-live content. With the small and consistent latency, the operations staff and the operations center may perform the switch at a time indicated by the program director in a relatively seamless manner with little to no break between the live content and the non-live content.
When the content distribution system utilizes IP technology to generate a television broadcast of the live event, the data of the live content may propagate through the operations center before being transmitted for the broadcast. For example, the data may be the audio, visual and ancillary data components of the live content. However, the propagation of the data for the live content including any processing (e.g., formatting, encoding, etc.) introduces a non-negligible amount of latency (e.g., greater than the acceptable threshold for broadcast requirements). Specifically, the operations center may include one or more encoders that encode the data of the live content resulting in a relatively large latency being introduced. Furthermore, the latency may be inconsistent such that a first latency for a first switch may be different from a second latency for a second switch. Therefore, a switch between the live content and the non-live content may result in unacceptable delays or inadvertent cuts in the viewing content of the broadcast. Furthermore, a static propagation delay value may not be relied upon to perform the switches through the segments of the live event.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A drive circuit for driving a power device has a level shift circuit which level-shifts an ON signal and an OFF signal for controlling the power device in ON and OFF states, respectively, and which outputs the level-shifted ON and OFF signals, a mask circuit which stops transmission of the ON and OFF signals when both the ON and OFF signals are lower than a first threshold level, and a short circuit which is provided in a stage before the mask circuit, and which short-circuits a path for transmission of the ON signal and a path for transmission of the OFF signal when both the ON and OFF signals are lower than a second threshold level. The second threshold level is higher than the first threshold level.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates a drive circuit for driving a power device such as an IGBT or a MOSFET and, more particularly, to a power device drive circuit capable of preventing transmission of an erroneous signal due to negative noise or dv/dt in a high-potential-side reference potential.
2. Background Art
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a conventional power device drive circuit. This drive circuit includes a level shift circuit 10, a transmission circuit 11 and a driver circuit 12. The level shift circuit 10 has resistors R1 and R2 and high-withstand-voltage NMOS transistors T1 and T2. The transmission circuit 11 has an RS flip-flop 16 and a mask circuit 17. The mask circuit 17 has, as shown in FIG. 2, inverter gates 18 and 19, NAND gates 20 and 21, NOR gates 22 and 23, and an AND gate 24.
An ON signal and an OFF signal for controlling the on/off operations of a power device are input to the level shift circuit 10. The ON and OFF signals are signals in pulse form, which are output from a low-potential-side control circuit 32 and input to the high-withstand-voltage NMOS transistors T1 and T2 of the level shift circuit 10 to be level-shifted to a high potential. The level-shifted ON and OFF signals are transmitted to the power device (not shown) through the transmission circuit 11 and the driver circuit 12.
In ordinary cases, the load on a power device driven by a drive circuit is an inductance load such as a motor and a fluorescent lamp. There is a possibility of the potential of a ground 33 of the drive circuit (high-potential-side reference potential) being changed to the negative side with respect to the potential of a ground 14 at the time of switching due to negative noise or dv/dt in the high-potential-side reference potential under the influence of the inductance load and a parasitic inductance component due to wiring on the printed circuit board.
In such a case, currents flow through the resistors R1 and R2 connected to the ground 33 due to parasitic capacitances and parasitic diodes or the like of the high-withstand-voltage NMOS transistors T1 and T2 to cause voltage drops. The ON and OFF signals are thereby reduced abruptly to cause an erroneous signal, which is transmitted to cause the power device to malfunction.
In order to prevent this malfunction, the mask circuit 17 is provided. The mask circuit 17 stops transmission of the ON and OFF signals to the RS flip-flop 16 when both the ON and OFF signals are lower than a first threshold level (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open 2003-273715).
A situation where the outputs from the level shift circuit 10, i.e., the ON and OFF signals, are abruptly lowered due to the influence of dv/dt for example, as shown in (a) of FIG. 12, will be considered. In (a) of FIG. 12, the threshold level (first threshold level) of inverter gates 18 and 19 of the mask circuit 17 is indicated by broken line A. The output signals from the inverter gates 18 and 19 of the mask circuit 17 and the output signal from the AND gate 24 change as shown in (b) to (d), respectively, of FIG. 12.
If a potential difference occurs between the ON and OFF signals due to variation in the parasitic capacitances of the high-withstand-voltage NMOS transistors T1 and T2, the range in which the output signal from the AND gate is active (high) is narrower than the range in which the output signal from the inverter gate 18 or 19 is active (high). There is, therefore, a problem that an erroneous signal is transmitted from the NOR gate 22 on the On side to the RS flip-flop 16, as shown in (e) of FIG. 12.


A ride control system for insuring safe operation of articulated vehicles by monitoring, detecting and suppressing erratic jackknifing, comprises a mechanism for monitoring among several inputs the driver's intentions, road conditions, the vehicle behavior, a microprocessor, and a means for commanding an anti-lock brake system to apply brakes on selected trailer wheels to suppress erratic jackknifing and restore vehicle stability. The microprocessor is used primarily for computing the probability of trailer and tractor roll-over due in part to erratic jackknifing when the vehicle is expected to move straight ahead. The probability of roll-over is converted to a time varying voltage signal for use by an electronic control module to proportionally apply brakes to those wheels whose angular velocity is greater than the average in order to drag the trailer on the side until erratic jackknifing is suppressed.

This invention applies to articulated vehicles such as semi-trucks, railroad cars and other vehicles where different sections of the vehicle are attached to one another by means of an articulated linkage of the type of a hitch assembly, and the invention relates to a Ride Control System (RCS) for restoring stability to the trailed part(s) of the vehicle when unwanted erratic jackknifing occurs at cruising speed. Throughout the following description of the invention, an on-highway semi truck will be referred to as a typical application for RCS.
A semi truck is commonly configured in such a way that when the vehicle makes a turn, its trailer(s) must pivot around the hitch assembly that connects the trailer to the tractor in order for the vehicle, as a whole, to complete the turn. The trailer behavior, and in particular the angle that it forms with its tractor vehicle, is referred to as jackknifing. Jackknifing is inherent of the mechanical configuration that allows the trailer to be attached to the tractor in a less rigid way. Under some driving conditions where the vehicle is moving straight ahead and the driver is not engaged in a steering maneuver, erratic jackknifing can occur and cause the trailer to wander laterally with respect to the vehicle. If this type of vacillating movement persists long enough and achieves a critical frequency, the trailer could be thrown off the hitch assembly and roll over. The damage caused by a rolled over trailer can be significant and cost lives.
Being able to detect and to counteract such erratic jackknifing is a difficult skill to acquire for an average truck driver. In this invention an electronically controlled and mechanically operated RCS is presented to assist the drivers of semi-trucks (the preferred application) and other articulated vehicles by providing means for detecting and counteracting unwanted erratic jackknifing. The system continuously monitors several inputs, including the driver's intention, the road conditions, and the trailer position. It is the combination of these inputs that allows the RCS to determine the probability of a roll-over due to erratic jackknifing. In the event of high probability of a roll-over the system would apply brakes to selected trailer wheels in such a way that the trailer can be dragged on one side or another and be forced to line up with the tractor truck.

Ride control system for articulated vehicles


The disclosure discloses a wireless video conference system, which comprises: a conference control module and a wireless conference switching module which are located at a system side, and a wireless video conference terminal module located in a wireless terminal, wherein the conference control module is configured, when a new conference is started, to send data information of the new conference and data information of an original conference to the wireless conference switching module; the wireless conference switching module is configured, when the new conference is started, to send a conference start instruction to the wireless terminal in a member list of the new conference, and to switch the wireless terminal to the new conference or maintain the wireless terminal in the original conference according to a conference switching instruction from the wireless terminal; and the wireless video conference terminal module is configured to receive the conference start instruction from the wireless conference switching module, and to send the conference switching instruction to the wireless conference switching module according to a choice of a user. The disclosure further discloses a multi-conference switching method in a wireless video conference system. By the disclosure, the multi-conference switching of the wireless terminal in the wireless video conference system is implemented.

The wireless video conference system is a new video conference manner based on a wireless communication system and a fixed video conference system. The so-called fixed video conference system comprises a conference control module and video conferences, wherein the conference control module and the video conferences are connected by a network Internet Protocol (IP); each video conference has a fixed IP and is connected to a fixed local area network; and the conference control module controls the reception and transmission of the uploaded and downloaded data of each video conference and is used for the data display and transmission of the video conferences. The so-called wireless communication system is, for example, the existing Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) communication network, Time Division (TD) communication network, or Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) communication network. The so-called wireless video conference system, i.e., a wireless terminal, is connected to the conference control module in the fixed video conference system by a wireless communication network, and used for the connection of video conference and data exchange with other wireless or wired terminals by the conference control module.
In the wireless video conference system, each wireless terminal participating in a conference generally has only one user, who generally hopes to switch in one or more conferences. However, the wireless terminal cannot switch in each conference in the existing wireless video conference systems, so that the multi-conference switching requirement of a user cannot be met.

Wireless video conference system and multi-conference switching method thereof


A new and distinct plum variety is described. The variety results from a seedling of unknown parentage, the original plant was raised from seed and was planted at Havelock North, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. In 2003, ‘LRP40A’ was identified as having potential as a new variety and was propagated for further trials. ‘LRP40A’ was selected for its desirable tree and fruit characteristics (firm red flesh, balanced fruit flavour), and the timing of the harvest.

Seedlings obtained from collecting seed from open pollinated fruit (Seed parent: unknown. Pollen parent: unknown.). The original plant was raised from seed and was planted out at Lawn Road, Havelock North, Hawke's Bay. New Zealand in 2000. In March 2003, the seedling coded 'LRP40A' was identified as having potential as a new variety due to its attributes of firm red flesh, balanced fruit flavour (a pleasant combination of sweetness, acidity and flavoursome fruit volatiles). Later in 2003, 'LRP40A' was first asexually propagated by budding onto 'Golden Queen' (not patented) peach seedling rootstock. 'Golden Queen' seedlings are a standard plum rootstock in New Zealand. The plant was first asexually reproduced in Napier, New Zealand. The trees were planted out in Hawke's Bay during the southern hemisphere winter of 2004. The resulting plants propagated true to type, demonstrating that the characteristics of the new variety are stable and transmitted without change through succeeding generations.

The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited


An implantable sensor is proposed including a ring shaped element and a coil. The ring shaped element is made of a silicone and is electrically conductive. The coil may be formed by a wire with a number of windings, wherein at least the free ends of the wire are enclosed by the silicone of the ring shaped element, wherein an electrical resistance of the ring shaped element varies upon a deformation of the ring shaped element.

One aspect relates to a sensor. One aspect relates to an implantable sensor. In a human body, several situations may exist in which it is of interest to measure a pressure or a temperature for diagnostic purposes. One possibility suggested in the art is to provide a wireless sensor which is configured to be implanted. By way of such wireless sensors, for example a pressure within the brain, an eye or lungs can be measured.
EP 1 677 852 describes a method of monitoring the pressure within an aneurysm sac that has undergone repair by implantation of an endograft to be able to identify the potential presence of endoleaks, by placing a device capable of measuring pressure within the aneurysm sac at the time of endograft insertion. By utilizing an external device to display the pressure being measured by the sensor, the physician will obtain an immediate assessment of the success of the endograft at the time of the procedure, and patient follow-up visits will allow simple monitoring of the success of the endograft implantation. The implantable device utilizes coil-capacitor-circuit and changes in the resonance frequency of the same to measure a corporeal parameter such as pressure, temperature, or both. Specific target locations could include the interior of an abdominal aneurysm or a chamber of the heart.
That device is of relatively large size due to the high number of components including ceramic components, which in turn results in a complex and expensive manufacturing process. Further, a specific catheter is needed to implant the sensor.
Another device is available for measuring the pressure in an eye, which device includes a completely encapsulated micro-electronic chip and a coil by means of which electrical current can be induced into the chip and the chip can be read out.
However, such a micro-electronic chip is complex and expensive, and needs a substantial amount of current so that the coil must be large. A sensor with such a chip is not flexible and must be implanted together with an artificial eye lense.
Known sensors for measuring a pressure in a brain suffer from comparable problems.
It is noted that the illustration in the drawings is only schematically and not to scale. Throughout the drawings, the same reference numerals and characters, unless otherwise stated, are used to denote like features, elements, components, or portions of the illustrated embodiments. Moreover, while the present embodiments will now be described in detail with reference to the figures, it is done so in connection with the illustrative embodiments and is not limited by the particular embodiments illustrated in the figures, as defined by the appended claims.


According to an embodiment of the invention, a coating head of a mist coating film formation apparatus including a main body is provided. The main body includes a top plate in which a supply port capable of supplying one of a cleaning liquid or a mist of a source material solution is provided, a bottom plate provided below the top plate in a vertical direction, and a sidewall provided between the top plate and the bottom plate; and the sidewall includes an upper end and a lower end connected respectively to the top plate and the bottom plate and forms an interior space with the top plate and the bottom plate. The sidewall includes a slit spraying the mist externally from the interior space, and a recovery port capable of recovering the supplied cleaning liquid or a mist coalescing in the interior space. The bottom plate includes a slope having a height becoming lower from an inner perimeter of the sidewall toward the recovery port.

A mist coating film formation apparatus includes a coating liquid atomization mechanism, a mist coating mechanism, and a baking/drying mechanism. The coating liquid atomization mechanism obtains a coating liquid mist having a liquid droplet form by atomizing a coating liquid including a prescribed source material inside an atomizing container by utilizing an ultrasonic vibrator. The mist coating mechanism includes a placement portion where a substrate that is the film formation object is placed. The mist coating mechanism supplies the coating liquid mist generated by the coating liquid atomization mechanism to the substrate, and coats the coating liquid mist onto the surface of the substrate. The baking/drying mechanism forms a thin film including the prescribed source material on the surface of the substrate by baking/drying the coating liquid mist coated onto the surface of the substrate.
Such a mist coating film formation apparatus can uniformly form a thin film having a film thickness of 1 μm or less.
A spray coating apparatus (e.g., referring to Patent Literature 1), a spin coating apparatus, and the like are coating apparatuses that form liquid droplets of a coating liquid. The spin coating apparatus forms a thin film on the substrate surface by causing high-speed rotation of a liquid droplet of the coating liquid supplied to the surface central portion of the substrate. The spray coating apparatus forms a thin film on the substrate surface by spraying the coating liquid onto the substrate using a high-pressure air-gas.
The mist coating film formation apparatus differs from the spray coating apparatus or the like in that a thin and uniform thin film is formed by straightening the flow of the mist inside the coating head and coating the mist onto the surface of the substrate.
Because the mist coating film formation apparatus straightens the flow of the mist inside the coating head, the source material solution accumulates inside the coating head. If the source material solution is disposed as-is, the yield substantially decreases, which causes a cost increase.
Also, when different thin films are formed by changing the source material solution, it is necessary to remove the accumulated source material solution. To this end, the coating head must be dismantled and cleaned; the work man-hours increase; and the throughput of the manufacturing of the thin film decreases.

Coating head of mist coating film formation apparatus and maintenance method of same

TOSHIBA MITSUBISHI-ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION


A safety system, which stops the motion of a sail boat when a person falls off the boat, is comprised of a wireless transmitter carried by the person, a receiver-controller, an actuator, and a separable member which ordinarily holds a sail or a sail assembly in its working position. When the person falls off the boat and or the boat moves away, the diminution in wireless signal causes the actuator to separate the connecting member which holds sail in place, thus reducing the propulsive power and altering the motion of the boat. A preferred actuator stores manually input energy, to enable the use of a compact and low power solenoid type coil.

An obvious problem is how to protect the operator of a small boat or so-called personal water craft, when the person is alone, if the person falls overboard into the water while the boat engine is propelling the boat. The boat can continue to run on its course, leaving the operator alone in the water and in jeopardy, especially when the boat is distant from land or other boats.
A common means for protecting the operator in the prior art is as follows. A tether or lanyard runs from the operator's belt or other attachment to a plastic mechanical clip, familiarly called a "key", which slips onto the outside of a kill switch of the boat engine. The kill switch is typically located on the control or instrument panel of the boat. It has a movable spring-loaded part which has to be held in a certain position for the boat to run. As shown in FIG. 1, such key 40 which works with the spring loaded portion of the switch is distinguished from a metal turn key 34 which turns within the switch. Hereinafter, such key 40 is referred to as a latch key. When the operator falls overboard the lanyard tensions and pulls the latch key for the switch. The spring action within the kill switch breaks the electric circuit of the engine ignition system, turning off, or "killing" the engine. Taskahsima U.S. Pat. No. 6,352,045 describes a kill switch and engine control system of such type. The presumption is that the operator can swim back to stopped boat.
The disadvantage of such prevalent type of commercial system is that use of a lanyard, although simple, inhibits the normal movement of the operator and such other persons as may be on the watercraft. Other inventors have attacked the problem of providing protection in a less inconvenient way. See for example, Simms U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,143, Boe U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,914, Morgan U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,765, Guldbrand U.S. Pat. No. 5,945,912, Murray U.S. Pat. No. 5,838,227, and Ehlers U.S. Pat. No. 7,110,694. Generally, many of the prior inventions involve having a device carried by the operator, where that device communicates with components on the boat, most often by disabling a portion of the electric system, or sending some kind of message to those who remain on the boat.
While lanyard-free systems of the type mentioned above may serve the intended purpose, they have not found wide commercial use. From inquiry and observation, the reasons appear to include: that the prior art devices lack essential simplicity and low cost of the lanyard system; that they have to be either installed at the factory, or inconveniently in the field by a skilled electrician; and, that it is difficult to adapt hard-wired systems to the diversity of boat instrument panel and wiring configurations. Thus, there is a continuing need for improvement in addressing the problem. Analogous problems are presented by land vehicles, such as motorcycles, particularly those used in racing, and by snowmobiles, where is it bad for the vehicle to keep running when the operator falls off.
Problems analogous to those presented motor boats are presented by wind or sail powered craft, in that the operator or a passenger may fall overboard. Except when the vessel is under engine power as may be sometimes the case, solutions which are useful for engine powered boats, where the ignition system is disabled, are in general not suitable. A common mode of protecting sail boat occupants with respect to falling overboard is to tether the person to a portion of the boat. But such tethers are inconvenient to use and thus they are not always used. If the person on the boat is the sole occupant and falls overboard, and the boat continues on, it is a terrible problem, especially in the open sea. So, it is a problem how to slow or stop the motion of a sail boat when a person falls overboard and the boat is sailing away. Particularly, it is a problem of how to accomplish that in a way which is economic and adaptable to the great variety of designs of sail powered craft.

Sailboat safety system for a person falling overboard


An electrical card connector includes a housing defining a front insertion opening, one or a number of terminal sets, a tray insertable through the front insertion opening into the housing and having one or a number of card-carrying portions, a recess, a stop wall at one side of the recess, a pin hole and a pin guide formed between the recess and the insertion hole, an elastic member, and an elastic interference device mounted in the housing and extending to the accommodation chamber for interfering with the recess and stopping against the stop wall and having an actuation portion. The elastic interference device is forced away from the recess and the stop wall for enabling the tray to be ejected out of the housing by the elastic member upon insertion of an insertion pin into the pin hole to push the actuation portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to memory card connector technology and more particularly, to an electrical card connector, that uses a card-carrying tray ejectable by an insertion pin.
2. Description of the Related Art
Taiwan Patent Publication M376007 discloses an electrical card connector with a tray, wherein the tray is adapted for carrying an electronic memory card (for example, SIM card); when inserted the tray into the electrical card connector, a fastening member (referenced by 21) is fastened up to lock the tray in the inserted position.
According to the aforesaid prior art design, when going to take out the tray, it is necessary to apply an outward pressure to the tray sufficient to overcome the locking force of the fastening member so that the tray can be moved out of the electrical card connector for removal of the attached electronic memory card. This operation method is complicated and inconvenient.
Further, US 20080165508 discloses an electrical card connector using a tray, entitled "Ejectable component assemblies in electronic devices", which uses heads 49 A and 49 B of tray retainers 46 A and 46 B to lock tray 20 in the inserted position. When going to take the tray out of the housing of the electronic device, the operation procedure is also complicated.

Electrical card connector using a tray ejectable by an insertion pin


The present invention relates to a PAN composite and the process for preparation of the same, wherein an inorganic macroanionic insulator is employed as the host and an oxidizing polymerization of aniline is followed under an appropriate condition. The treatment and the encapsulation of the monomer in the preparation of layered organic-inorganic composite are also disclosed.

Most polymeric materials are not conductive. Over the past fifteen years, some organic polymers have been developed as conducting materials and termed synthetic metals. In general, they contain an extendable .pi.-electron resonance system, i.e. a conjugation through the polymer chain. Therefore, the relationship between the chemical structure and the conductivity in the repeating unit of the polymer is of significance.
Polyaniline (PAN), the first conducting polymer to be investigated, was obtained from a sulfuric acid solution via anodic oxidation of aniline by H. Letheby in 1862. However, it was polyacetylene that triggered the study of conducting polymers, which are now fully understood. In the past decade, conducting polymers have been used in many fields, such as batteries, displays, optics, the aeronautical industry, and defense industry. Nonetheless, the stability caused by the physical properties as well as certain processing problems have not been thoroughly solved.
Conductivity is mainly determined by the product of two factors: the number of the carriers, i.e. electrons or holes; and the mobility of the carriers. The conductivity of most conducting polymers is similar in range to that of inorganic semi-conductors which have very few carriers (10.sup.16 -10.sup.18 /cc) but high mobility (10.sup.2 -10.sup.5 cm.sup.2 /volt-sec) due to their high crystallinity, good purity, and few defects. Most conducting polymers are amorphous or partially crystalline, with carriers number of about 10.sup.21 -10.sup.23 /cc that are about 10.sup.4 -10.sup.5 times larger than that of the inorganic semi-conductors, and low mobilities in the range of 10.sup.-4 -10.sup.-5 cm/volt-sec [M.G. Kanatzidis, Chemical & Engineering News, 68(49), (1990) 36]. Therefore, improvement in mobility is an essential requirement for enhancing conductivity of the conducting polymers. A synthetic method for producing materials with high crystallinity, good alignment, and few defects has not been found so far. Methods for modifying the main chain alignment of conducting polymers include:
(1) Polymerizing in the liquid crystalline solution to obtain high orientation of the product; PA1 (2) Realigning polymers in a magnetic field; PA1 (3) Stretching polymer film or fiber; PA1 (4) Blending with precursors which are processable and soluble, and followed by heat treatment; and PA1 (5) Encapsulating organic monomers to the holes of the regular inorganic lattices and followed by polymerization.
Among the above methods, encapsulation is employed for versatile composite materials. The idea is to offer a regular reaction room for the polymer and force its main chain into better alignment, as opposed to the tangled polymers produced by conventional synthesis. A decrease in the number of defects in the polymers' main chains is obtained from such a restricted environment thereof.
For example, polypyrrole and polythiophene fibers are made respectively in the holes of commercialized Nucleopore and Anopore alumina filtration membranes [Z. Cai and C.R. Martin, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 111 (1989) 4138]. Electrochemical synthesis is also utilized in the production of whiskers of the above polymers [W. Cahalene and M. Mortimer, Synth. Met., 43 (1991) 3079]. Their conductivities fall in the range of 3,000-7,500 S/cm. FeOC1 can be encapsulated by either pyrrole or aniline, and polymers formed in the layers. These resulted inclusion compounds both display 1 S/cm conductivity [M.G. Kanatzidis, et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 109 (1987) 3797; C.G. Wu, et al., Abs. of Papers of the Am. chem. Soc., 199 (1990) 354] at room temperature as well as the thermotropic metal behavior of PAN/FeOC1 at 220.degree. K. Some conducting polymers can be encapsulated into the layers of V.sub.2 O.sub.5, allowing the composite to be processed into anisotropic film. By controling the polymer content, n-type conductors can be converted to p-type ones, in addition to displaying good weather-resistance [M.G. Kanatizidis, et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 111 (1989) 4139]. Zeolite is another host candidate for the inclusion compound [T. Bein and P. Enzel, Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst., 181 (1990) 315]. The hole size of zeolite is exactly the magnitude of one polymer main chain, thus making the polymer non-interactive with the others, as well as providing insulation properties. In the future, the individual conjugated polymers or oligomers produced by this method may possibly be used as molecular wires in molecular electronics.
PAN is generally made of at least 1,000 aniline monomers through electrochemical or chemical-oxidizing polymerization. There are four oxidation forms of PAN shown below: ##STR1## with conductivities of about 10.sup.-11 to 5 S/cm. PAN has different color and electricity depending upon their structures. Emeraldine salt (PAN-2S) is conductive [A.G. MacDiarmid, et al., in "Conducting Polymers Special Applications" (eds. L. Alcacer) D. Reidel Publishing Co. Holland, 1987, p. 105]. It becomes emeraldine base (PAN-2A) with no conductivity after base treatment. PAN-2A will be highly conductive without partial oxidation or reduction occured in the structure after simple protonation of the N-atoms on the main chain imine groups. The electron numbers of the polymer structure do not change after proton-blending. Therefore, the increased conductivity is related to the acidity of the solution. The effects of blending on the conductivity of PAN have been studied by several groups. Although the structure of PAN has not been fully determined so far, a linear model is generally recognized as follows: ##STR2## PAN is generally amorphous. But either PAN-2S or PAN-2A is considered as partially amorphous by Y. Cao, et al. [D. Vachon, et al., Synth. Met., 18 (1987) 297; S.D. Philips, et al., Phys. Rev. B. 39 ( 1989 ) 702 ].
Most conducting polymers are not dissolved in general organic solvents. This creates the problems with determining molecular weight. There are two number average molecular weight (M.sub.n) distributions for the insulating type PAN which is soluble in N-methylpyrrolidinone (NMP). The lower part of M.sub.n distribution is at about 4,800 and the higher part is in the range of 200,000-350,000 [X. Tang, et al., Rapid Commun., 9 (1988) 829; A.G. MacDiarmid, et al., Polymer Eng. and Sci., 31 (1991) 147]. These M.sub.n distributions result from a two-step polymerization. Pernigraniline is thus produced as an oxidated state of PAN by free radical/cation polymerization. The lower M.sub.n part is produced by oxidation between pernigraniline and aniline. The conducting form of PAN, i.e. PAN-2S, dissolves in concentrated sulfuric acid (97%) but not in NMP solution, which has molecular weight of about 40,000 estimated by its viscosity [A. Andreatta, et al., Synth. Met., 41 (1991) 2305].
The properties of PAN are deeply affected by the conditions of polymerization, such as oxidant, ratio of oxidant and monomer, acidic medium, reaction temperature, and protonation level.
The following drawings provide a brief introduction to the inclusion chemistry which is a background of the present invention.

Conducting pan-layered inorganic composite and preparation of the same


In an automatic paper feed device having a platen and a paper bail arranged to be brought into and out of contact with the platen, the paper bail is further constituted to be brought into contact during a paper is fed in an predetermined amount, and to be brought out of contact during the paper is further fed. The shift operation of the paper bail is controlled by a release mechanism including a driven gear arranged to be rotated with the platen and an intermittent gear arranged to be brought engagement in a predetermined range of angle.. Thus, it is possible to design the release mechanism freely since the paper is preliminarily fed without shifting the paper bail.

The present invention relates to a paper feed device employed in a printing apparatus for automatically feeding a printing paper, more particularly to a device for feeding a printing paper to a platen for a predetermined amount and for operating a release mechanism for releasing a paper bail having been brought into contact with the platen so that a paper is smoothly fed between the platen and the paper bail.
Conventionally, a printing apparatus such as a typewriter which is equipped with an automatic paper feed device in which a printing paper is fed to a platen by an operation of a paper insert key provided on the printing apparatus and by releasing operation of a paper bail which is usually pressed to the platen by a release mechanism which is provided with an intermittent gear, release cam, and so forth from the platen, whereby the printing paper is smoothly fed between the platen and the paper bail has been used.
Generally, in the automatic paper feed device, for example, when a diameter of the platen is approx. 36 mm, the paper feed length necessary for the automatic paper feed operation is approx. 75 mm. When the printing paper is fed for the paper feed length, the rotation angle of the driven gear disposed at the platen is approx. 220.degree., for example. In addition, the paper bail is arranged to be placed in a release position where the paper bail is released from the active position in which the paper bail and the platen are brought into contact with each other until the printing paper is fed for a predetermined length and a leading end of the printing paper arrives in a position higher than the paper bail just after the automatic paper feed operation is started so that the printing paper can be smoothly fed between the paper bail and the platen.
To do that, a release cam is provided for an intermittent gear which is arranged to be engaged with the driven gear as a release mechanism of the paper bail, thereby rocking a paper bail arm on which the paper bail is supported.
The driven gear is normally made with the nearly same diameter as that of the platen. The driven gear is rotatable driven by a line feed motor through an intermediate gear. There are needs for increasing the degree of freedom in designing the paper feed device by freely selecting the speed reduction ratios of the line feed motor, driven gear, and intermittent gear and the diameter of the intermittent gear, thereby reducing a size thereof.
When the size of the intermittent gear becomes small, the speed reduction ratio of the intermittent gear against the motor gear which drives the driven gear becomes small. Thereby, the rotation angle after the paper feed is started until it is ended becomes large. The timing on which the paper bail is moved from the release position to the contact position becomes much faster than that on which the automatic paper feed operation is ended and thereby the printing paper being fed tends to be disturbed by the paper bail.
On the other hand, it is possible to take a countermeasure for decreasing the diameter of the driven gear in accordance with the size of the intermittent gear, because the speed reduction ratios from the line feed motor to the driven gear increases. Therefore, the size of the line feed motor becomes large.
Accordingly, in the conventional automatic feed device described above, the although the speed reduction ratios from the line feed motor to the driven gear can be set to larger values, the release mechanism including the intermittent gear becomes large, resulting in decreasing the degree of freedom in designing the device.
To solve such problems, it may be considered that a release mechanism having a tailed release cam is employed, as shown in FIGS. 1(A) and 1(B). As shown in FIG. 1(B), even when the driven gear 61 is turned for approx. 217.degree. in the automatic paper feed state and the intermittent gear 62 is remarkably turned for approx. 335.degree., the tail portion 60a can securely delay the moving timing on which the paper bail 63 is moved to the contact position.
However, in the release mechanism having the tailed release cam as shown in FIGS. 1(A) and 1(B), a shape of the release cam becomes complicated and thereby an operability and an durability thereof decrease.


A method and system are disclosed for more effectively restoring cells in a radio communications network taking into account current traffic conditions. The disclosed method can be implemented in a number of ways. For example, if a network operator desires to prioritize recovery on a cell-by-cell basis, the order of prioritization can be overlaid on the present method (e.g., for all "priority 1" cells, the present method will be used to select a cell recovery order). Alternatively, the present method can be overlaid on an operator's order of prioritization (e.g., for all cells that are classified most urgent according to the present method, the operator's priorities will be used to select the cell recovery order). As another example, if a hierarchical cell structure is used, the underlaid cells can be selected for recovery during the initial recovery operation (e.g., for a speedier recovery). Also, a recovery order sequence can be used to select certain cells from within the group of underlaid cells. The radio network's recovery is thus optimized by taking into account the actual traffic requirements in the network, node and/or cells involved.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the mobile radio communications field and, in particular, to a method and system for recovering from cell outages in a mobile radio communications network.
2. Description of Related Art
From time to time, the radio coverage for one or more cells in a cellular network has to be restored. For example, a cell can be made inoperative because of a software or hardware failure in a base station or transceiver unit that creates and defines that cell. As such, in order to minimize the negative impact on network traffic due to these inoperative cells, it is an important network objective to restore service in these cells in an optimum manner.
Typical network switching systems where such cell outages occur are in mobile services switching centers (MSCs) or radio network controllers (RNCs). Currently, only a relatively small number of these switching systems can control up to a few hundred cells at a time, which essentially has limited the negative impact of the inoperative cells, and thus, the extent of the recovery required. However, as vendors are now producing much higher-capacity switches (e.g., capable of controlling several hundred cells/transceivers), the problem of how to optimally restore service for the potentially much larger numbers of inoperative cells poses a more difficult design challenge.
A number of existing and planned network cell recovery techniques are optimized for greater coverage. In other words, during the initial recovery phase, only one or a few channels are brought into service in each cell. During the next phase, more channels are restored in each cell, and so on, until the cell recovery operation is complete. As such, this gradual recovery approach works adequately during low traffic periods (e.g., at night). However, this gradual recovery technique is much less effective during periods of high traffic, or when a number of the cells differ in terms of traffic demand and/or general importance.
Other existing and planned network cell recovery techniques are based on prioritization of the cells. In other words, some (e.g., higher priority) cells are restored more or less completely, and then the lower priority cells are restored. This priority recovery technique is less effective during low traffic periods (typically when most cell recovery operations are scheduled). For example, there is little point in restoring 40 channels per cell during the night (low traffic period). This shortcoming of the priority recovery technique becomes more evident, if for example, an emergency call cannot be processed in a lower priority cell which has not yet been restored. Essentially, the existing and planned network cell recovery techniques afford less network availability than operators require. However, as described in detail below, the present invention successfully resolves these problems.

Optimized cell recovery in a mobile radio communications network


A method of retrofitting a trailer having a crank jack with a jack housing and a jack leg into a hydraulic jack includes removing mechanical components from within the jack housing, the mechanical components comprising gearing of the crank jack, placing a hydraulic cylinder within the jack housing, wherein the hydraulic cylinder comprises a main cylinder and a ram piston extending outwardly therefrom as the main cylinder is filled with pressurized fluid, securing the hydraulic cylinder by fastening a top portion of the hydraulic cylinder to the jack housing using a fastener inserted through a hole in a platform positioned within the jack housing, and further securing the hydraulic cylinder by fastening the ram piston to the jack leg using a bolt extending through a pre-existing hole in the jack leg.

Trailers come with jacks such as a crank style drop leg jacks. However, this type of manually operated jack is often disfavored because of the amount of time and effort it takes to raise and lower the trailer. Some trailer owners choose to install an electric assist trailer jack. However, often times this is still problematic because of the substantial time it may take to lift and lower a trailer.
Trailer owners may remove the original manufacturer jack and replace it with a hydraulic jack. However, there are problems with doing so. For example, the time and expense of the install and rework necessary to install a hydraulic jack and the possibility of weakening the tongue or frame of the trailer as a result of the install are problematic. Such a retrofit involves cutting into the trailer, damaging the powder coating, paint or other finish of the trailer. Thus, this solution is particularly disfavored when the trailer is new or in good condition.
Trailer manufacturers may sell trailers with the crank style drop leg jacks and provide an option of hydraulic jacks. However, this can create problems for dealers who may need to maintain an inventory of a selection of different trailers some with the factory installed option and others without it.
Moreover, many trailer owners may not be sufficiently skilled or equipped to retrofit a trailer with a hydraulic jack, such that any solution for a hydraulic jack retrofit needs to be simple and straightforward and require as little time, effort, and skill level as possible.
The present inventor previously disclosed the invention described in U.S. Pat. No. 10,000,189 to Zimmerman, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Despite the advantages discussed therein, what is needed are improved methods for retrofitting a crank style jack to a hydraulic jack, including methods which reduce or eliminate the need for cutting and otherwise simplify the process.
Therefore, what is needed is a hydraulic jack and installation method which is acceptable to trailer owners and addresses the problems with current electric and hydraulic jacks.

Easy hydraulic jack retrofit for a trailer


A modular optical router/switch construction system and method are described. In one aspect of the present invention, the modules provided are basic 1xc3x97N optical components and/or pass-through 1xc3x97N optical components, both of which have input/output (I/O) ports which are capable of detachably interconnecting. Pass-through 1xc3x97N optical components are like the basic 1xc3x97N optical components but include extra ports so that input light may xe2x80x9cpass throughxe2x80x9d the component. In another aspect of the present invention, a bi-directional optical component capable of modular construction is provided. The bi-directional optical component has the same I/O ports as the basic 1xc3x97N optical component, but the bi-directional I/O ports are built to engage a duplex optical link (i.e., a link comprised of two optical fibers with signals going in two opposite directions).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical switches and, more particularly, to a method of constructing any arbitrary size scalable Mxc3x97N optical router/switch using modular components, and to a bi-directional optical component capable of being used in such a system.
2. Description of the Related Art
The past twenty years has witnessed an optical revolution in telecommunications. The widespread deployment of optical fibers in order to carry light signals over long distances has vastly increased the communication capabilities of present telecommunications systems. However, although the communication pathways have been changed to an optical core, rather than an electrical one, the elements used for routing or switching the optical signals have mostly remained electrical. In practice, this means the optical light signal must be converted to an electrical signal, and this electrical signal is routed and/or switched by an electrical router/switch; then the electrical signal is converted back into an optical signal for transmission over an optical fiber. These optical-to-electrical and electrical-to-optical conversion steps are wasteful of both time and resources.
To solve this problem, many companies have offered optical routers which perform routing/switching completely in the optical domain, without converting the communication signals from optical to electrical, and vice-versa. Many technologies have been developed to provide such optical routing/switching. The first commercially available optical routing technology was mechanically based and limited to 1xc3x972 and 2xc3x972 port sizes. These are based on beam expanding collimators and/or electromagnetically (e.g., stepper motor or solenoid) actuated mirrors, prisms, or collimators. Waveguide routing technologies are also becoming available now: silica-on-silicon waveguide or photonic lightwave circuit (PLC) technology (based on thermally induced changes in the refractive index of silica), lithium niobate technology (based on electrically induced changes in the refractive index). But these technologies suffer from limited scalability, high insertion loss, and high crosstalk. Liquid crystal optical switches (based on changing the polarization of incident light and then using polarization analyzers to route the polarized light) are also being developed, but they are complex and only low port count switches (1xc3x972 and 2xc3x972) are currently available. Other optical routing technologies being developed include III-V semiconductor-based waveguide switches, polymer-based thermo-optic digital waveguide switches, and semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA)-based gate switches.
Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) are rapidly establishing itself as the most attractive technology for optical switching since it allows low-loss large-port-count optical switching solutions at the lowest cost per port. Basically, a MEMS device is a mechanical integrated circuit where the actuation forces required to move the parts may be electrostatic, electromagnetic, or thermal. The basic technology is based on establishing semiconductor processes for manufacturing highly accurate miniaturized parts and uses material with excellent mechanical and electrical properties (Si, SiOx, and SiNx). Silicon-based MEMS devices can be produced with different process technologies, including bulk micromachining, in which mechanical structures are etched in single crystal silicon, and surface micromachining, in which epitaxial layers of polysilicon, silicon nitride, and silicon oxide are deposited, patterned, and selectively removed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,259,835 to Jing (which is hereby incorporated by reference) describes a 1xc3x97N MEMS optical switch with one primary port, a plurality of secondary ports, and a plurality of optical reflectors. Any one of the optical reflectors, which may comprise mirrors or prisms, can be moved by an actuator into position to reflect an input light beam out through a corresponding secondary port, i.e. to direct or route the signal to a destination. For example, FIG. 1 shows a switch with Input Fiber 101 engaged in Input Port 105, and a plurality of mirrors (e.g., Mirror 110) placed adjacent to a plurality of output ports (e.g., Output Port 120) in which output fibers are engaged. Input light beam 150 (indicated by the dotted line) comes from Input Port 105, reflects off of Mirror 110, and exits through Output Port 120. Since each output port has a corresponding mirror and actuator, the input light beam can be routed to any of the N output ports. If none of the mirrors is put in the path of the beam, the beam will reflect off of the last mirror (which is set in place) and exit out of the last output port.
Bubble technology can be used to route light signals instead of mirrors or prisms in optical routers. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,320,994 to Donald et al. (which is hereby incorporated by reference), at least three waveguides (an input waveguide, and two output waveguides) intersect at a gap having a predetermined width. The gap is either filled with a fluid (whereby input light will exit through one output) or a bubble (whereby input light will exit through the other output) formed by heating the fluid. U.S. Pat. No. 6,324,316 to Fouquet et al. (which is hereby incorporated by reference) shows a 4xc3x974 optical switch which uses bubble technology to route any of the four inputs to any of the four outputs. One shortcoming of Fouquet et al. is that, in most situations, if there are four input beams, at least one of these beams will cross at least one of the others after being reflected by a bubble. Although the interference caused by such interaction may be minimal, it is not non-existent (especially considering the beams are not orthogonal to each other), and such interference may become more problematic when technologies such as dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) are used in combination with this switch.
Another problem with current optical routing technology is the lack of scalability, i.e., the inability for the technology to increase in size without becoming unduly complex. As examples, consider the two-dimensional MEMS cross-connect switch in FIG. 2A and the three-dimensional (3D) MEMS cross-connect switch in FIG. 2B. Both of these switches use mirrors. Mirror control for the 2D switch is binary and straightforward, but the trade-off for this simplicity is optical loss. Although the length of the light path only grows linearly with the number of input/output ports, the optical loss also grows rapidly due to the Gaussian nature of light. Because of this, 2D architectures are found to be impractical beyond 32 input and 32 output ports. Even though multiple stages of 32xc3x9732 2D switches could be put together to form a 1000-port 2D switch, the cumulative high optical losses make such an implementation impractical. By contrast, the 3D architecture of FIG. 2B greatly reduces the optical loss by making use of 3D space. In FIG. 2B, there are two banks of reflective mirrors which guide each light beam from any input port to any output port. Thus, there is a corresponding mirror for each of the input and output ports. Using this 3D architecture, switches with ports numbering in the thousands are possible. However, 3D architecture is complex, and becomes increasingly complex as the number of ports increases. Furthermore, such 3D optical switches are not modular in the sense that modular components can be added together to form larger routers. It makes more sense to simply built a larger 3D optical switch. But in such a large 3D optical switch, if only one mirror is out of alignment, or there is a problem with just a few mirrors, the entire switch must be taken out of service in order to fix it.
Even when conventional optical systems use modular components to construct an optical router, the resulting optical router is limited by other practical considerations. As an example, consider U.S. Pat. No. 5,771,320 to Stone (which is hereby incorporated by reference) which describes a modular system for building an optical routers. FIG. 3 shows two Stone modules 310 and 350 connected together to form an 8xc3x978 optical router. Each module is a MUX/DEMUX, meaning that it can operate as a stacked demultiplexer (one input routed to one of many outputs) or a stacked multiplexer (one of many inputs to one output). Module 310 in FIG. 3 is operating as a stacked DEMUX, where each level of the stack has one input, such as light beam 300 entering the top level of the stack, and eight outputs. Within each layer, a series of switchable diffractive grating stages 320A-C routes an input beam to one of the eight output ports. The grating stages 320A-C are separated by distances varying by powers of two; thus, the distance between the input port (which is also the first grating stage 320A) and the second grating stage 320B is twice the distance between the second grating stage 320B and the third grating stage 320C. The number of stages is n, where the number of outputs is 2xcfx80. FIG. 3 shows all the possible lightpaths of incoming light beam 300 on the top level of DEMUX module 310; however, in practice, only one route would be taken through the level (leading to only one out of the eight outputs).
The complete stacked first (DEMUX) module 310 has 8 input ports and 64 output ports and its 64 output ports are attached to the input ports of the second module 350, which is a MUX with 64 input ports and 8 output ports. The second module, MUX 350, is the same as the first module, DEMUX 310, except that the second module is turned around (so that the output becomes the input) and rotated 90 degrees (so that the stacked vertical layers become horizontal slices). The resulting combination allows any of the eight input beams to exit through any of the eight output ports without any blocking.
Stone""s optical router has limitations. First, because of the use of diffraction grating stages, the size of each layer increases exponentially as the number of outputs increase. Second, the number of inputs in each cubic module must be a power of 2 (i.e., 2xcfx80), and the number of outputs in each module must be 22n, limiting the possible sizes of modules. Third, to route one input beam, all n diffractive grating stages of each level must be activated. Fourth, Stone""s system is modular in only a limited sense, i.e., because each module can only be connected with modules of the same size and modules can not be put together to form larger modules (e.g., a 8xc3x9764 routing assembly can not be added to another 8xc3x9764 routing assembly to form a 16xc3x97128 routing assembly).
Therefore, there is a need for a system and method of building optical routers using modular components that are capable of constructing an optical router with any arbitrary number of input ports and output ports. Further, these modular components must be truly modular, i.e., they must be capable of interconnecting with other modules of any size. Further still, the modular components should be truly scalable, i.e., the size, complexity, and cost of the constructed optical router should not increase disproportionately as the number of I/O ports increase.
One object of the present invention is to provide a method of constructing an optical router with any arbitrary number of input ports and output ports from a plurality of optical components.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a modular optical router in which the router components can come in standard sizes, thereby reducing costs in the manufacturing of components and the building of modular optical routers.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a modular optical router construction method in which, if a portion of a modular optical router malfunctions or becomes defective, only the malfunctioning/defective optical component(s) will need to be replaced (instead of the entire router).
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a modular optical router construction method which is truly scalable, i.e., the size, complexity, and cost of the constructed optical router should not increase disproportionately as the number of I/O ports increase.
These and other objects are achieved by the present invention which provides a modular optical router construction method in which the basic modules are a plurality of basic 1xc3x97N optical components which have input/output (I/O) ports which are capable of detachably interconnecting. In one aspect of the present invention, each of the basic 1xc3x97N optical components has a primary I/O port, N secondary I/O ports with a corresponding plurality of reflecting means, and a tertiary I/O port. Each reflecting means is either in an ON state or an OFF state. When in the ON state, the reflecting means either reflects a light beam to its corresponding secondary I/O port from the primary I/O port or reflects a light beam to the primary I/O port from its corresponding secondary I/O port. The tertiary I/O port is positioned so that any light beam input through the primary I/O port will be output through the tertiary I/O port if none of the reflecting means is in the ON state. The system and method may also use pass-through 1xc3x97N optical components, which are like the basic 1xc3x97N optical components but also include N quaternary I/O ports. Each quaternary I/O port has a corresponding secondary I/O port and is positioned such that any light beam input through the corresponding secondary I/O port will be output through the quaternary I/O port if none of the reflecting means is in the ON state.
In another aspect of the present invention, a bi-directional optical component capable of modular construction is provided. The bidirectional optical component has the same I/O ports as the basic 1xc3x97N optical component, but the bidirectional I/O ports are built to engage a duplex optical link (i.e., a link comprised of two optical fibers with signals going in two opposite directions). Furthermore, each secondary I/O port has a corresponding set of two reflecting means (one for each of the two directions of optical signal traffic).
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of the disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages, and specific objects attained by its use, reference should be had to the drawing and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the invention.

Scalable optical router/switch and method of constructing thereof


Provided herein is a non-destructive testing method capable of diagnosing a condition of an object to be tested using a single-pulse ultrasonic wave signal. An attenuation waveform of the single-pulse ultrasonic wave signal received by a receiving section 3 is wavelet transformed by a wavelet transform section 6 to obtain an envelope line A(t) and a phase φ(t) of the attenuation waveform. A temporal change computing section 7 approximates the attenuation waveform by an approximation equation available for computation, using the envelope line A(t) and the phase φ(t) of the attenuation waveform inputted from the wavelet transform section 6, and obtains the temporal change of instantaneous frequency of the attenuation waveform. A diagnosing section 8 diagnoses a condition of the object to be tested, based on the temporal change of the instantaneous frequency computed by the temporal change computing section 7.

Japanese Patent No. 3705960 (Patent Document 1) shows conventional ultrasonic testing. In conventional ultrasonic testing methods for diagnosis of abnormality or abnormal conditions, an ultrasonic wave, which has been entered into an object to be tested and reflected on a discontinuous or discrete interface, namely an abnormal portion, is measured in terms of a pulse (see FIG. 1A).
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-340807 (JP 2004-340807A) (Patent Document 2) discloses an ultrasonic testing method for detecting minute abnormality such as defects due to insufficient weld by entering an ultrasonic wave into the surface of contact and evaluating waveform distortion of a transmitted wave with respect to the incident wave. In this disclosure, the waveform of the transmitted wave is frequency analyzed with respect to the incident wave to obtain the fundamental and harmonic waves; the ratio of amplitudes between the fundamental wave and the harmonic wave is calculated; and the presence of minute abnormality such as defects due to insufficient weld is determined based on the calculated ratio of amplitudes.
It is difficult by the conventional methods to detect obscure closed cracks as shown in FIG. 1B since the ultrasonic wave transmits such cracks. In contrast therewith, the harmonic and sub-harmonic components as well as fundamental component of the ultrasonic wave are conditionally observed by entering a series of ultrasonic wave pulse signals as shown in FIG. 2 and letting the signals transmit the obscure cracks or closed cracks as shown in FIG. 1B. The series of ultrasonic pulse signals as shown in FIG. 2 are, for example, continuous or successive pulse signals including ½ (half) sub-harmonic components. Phenomena called "acoustic nonlinearity" occur when such continuous-pulse ultrasonic wave signals are used. Some attempts have been made to detect cracks and exfoliations, which could not be found by ordinary methods, by observing such phenomena.

Method and system for non-destructive testing

Kyushu University, National University Corporation


A vehicle engine control device stopping fuel injection if a predetermined fuel cut condition is satisfied, is provided, during running with the fuel injection stopped, when inertia of a power transmission system rotating with the engine has a smaller rate of inertia of the power transmission system acting on rotation of an output shaft of the engine, the fuel injection being started at a lower engine rotation speed as compared to the case of a larger rate of inertia of the power transmission system acting on rotation of the output shaft of the engine, a clutch capable of connecting and interrupting power transmission between the engine and the power transmission system being interposed between the engine and the power transmission system, a rate of inertia of the power transmission system acting on rotation of the output shaft of the engine being configured to decrease as a clutch stroke of the clutch that is an operation amount of a clutch pedal increases, and an engine rotation speed for starting the fuel injection being set to a lower value as the clutch stroke increases.

So-called fuel cut has conventionally been executed that achieves improvement of fuel efficiency by temporarily stopping fuel injection to an engine during deceleration running of a vehicle. For example, one example is an engine fuel supply control device of Patent Document 1. In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, if a condition for stopping fuel injection is satisfied in a vehicle including a manual transmission (manual transmission) at the time of shift of the manual transmission, the fuel injection is not immediately stopped after the satisfaction of the condition, and a predetermined delay time is set so as to stop the fuel injection after waiting for the delay time to pass and, particularly, the delay time is set shorter at the time of upshift as compared to the time of downshift. If the delay time is set as described above, since the fuel injection is promptly stopped at the time of upshift and an engine rotation speed is quickly reduced, the engine rotation speed is rapidly adjusted at the time of upshift and a shift can promptly be achieved. Since the fuel injection is continued at the time of downshift as compared to the time of upshift, a reduction of the engine rotation speed is suppressed and, therefore, the engine rotation speed is rapidly adjusted at the time of downshift and a shift can promptly be achieved.


A digital time base with differential period delay uses the difference in period between a master oscillator and a voltage controlled oscillator phase-locked to the master oscillator to achieve small time delay increments. The oscillators are used to drive respective delay generator trigger channels that have programmable counters and state machines. A first programmable counter is a clock counter to generate a lock signal to initiate a delay sequence, the lock signals from the respective channels being input to a phase detector to generate an error signal to keep the VCO phase-locked with the master oscillator. A second programmable counter is a delay counter that is controlled by a delay state machine to generate a delay signal. The delay signal is input to respective trigger state machines to generate the desired trigger signals, the duration of the trigger signals being a function of a third programmable counter. By programming the proper values for each counter, the amount of delay for each trigger signal may be controlled with respect to the other.

The present invention relates to timing circuits, and more particularly to a digital time base circuit for a time domain reflectometer that uses the difference in period between two phase-locked oscillators to achieve small time delay increments.
The purpose of a time base circuit is to provide timing signals needed to control various aspects of an instrument, such as excitation and data acquisition systems for a time domain reflectometer. The timing signals for the time domain reflectometer provide a clock signal to drive a mask generator that is phase-locked to an excitation pulse, and a clock signal that is phase-locked to a sample trigger used to control the acquisition and processing of multiple samples for each excitation pulse. It is necessary to provide small time delay increments to delay the excitation pulse relative to the samples. This has been achieved by using either analog or a combination of digital and analog techniques.
One such example of a prior art time base circuit is disclosed in the OF235 Fiber Optic Time Domain Reflectometer manufactured by Tektronix, Inc. of Beaverton, Oreg. A master clock is divided to provide the necessary clock signals for the time base circuit. An analog ramp signal is generated from an excitation pulse trigger and compared with a reference level derived from a digital value provided by a processor to generate a sample trigger. U.S. Pat. No. 4,841,497 issued on June 20, 1989 to Glenn Bateman and Donald L. Brand entitled "Digital Time Base with Corrected Analog Interpolation" also describes such a time base circuit, specifically indicating how the generated ramp signal may be calibrated to provide more precise delay times.
However these traditional methods cannot be used where there is a requirement for providing clock signals for use in other parts of the measurement system. Therefore what is desired is a digital time base system for providing small delay increments while providing clock signals to other parts of a measurement system.

Digital time base with differential period delay


A semiconductor device comprises a semiconductor die, first and second electrically-conductive leads and first and second thermal elements. The die comprises first and second surfaces. The first lead is held in contact with the first surface of the die by a compressive force. The first thermal element is held in contact with a portion of the first lead by a compressive force such that the first thermal element is capable of removing heat from the first lead and from the die. The second lead is held in contact with the second surface of the die by a compressive force. The second thermal element is held in contact with a portion of the second lead by a compressive force such that the second thermal element is capable of removing heat from the second lead and from the die.

Any semiconductor die that produces a large amount of heat, such as a power semiconductor die, a data processor die, a memory die, etc., is limited by the rate at which heat can be dissipated from it.
When a die processes more power and/or data, the die produces more heat. To keep the temperature of a die under the failure value, heat has to be dissipated from the die at the fastest possible rate. Therefore, the density of power and/or data processing is limited by the rate at which heat can be dissipated from these dies. Conversely, more power and/or data can be processed by a die if the rate of heat dissipation from the die can be increased.
The amount of power and/or data that a die processes is limited by the amount of heat that can be dissipated from the die using the conventional heat-dissipation techniques. One known technique for dissipating heat from a power semiconductor is to bond the semiconductor die to a thermally-conductive, electrically-insulative substrate, such as a ceramic substrate. The ceramic layer is typically mounted on a metallic substrate, which may be mounted on an actively cooled device, such as a cold plate. Heat from the semiconductor is transferred to the ceramic substrate and then to the cold plate. One limitation of this known technique for dissipating heat is that heat is only removed from one side of the semiconductor, i.e., the side bonded to the thermally-conductive, electrically-insulative substrate.
The bonding of the semiconductor die to the thermally-conductive, electrically-insulative substrate may cause heat-related problems. Unless the thermally-conductive, electrically-insulative substrate and the semiconductor die are made of materials with identical expansion coefficients, the heat generated in the semiconductor device will cause the substrate and the semiconductor die to expand at differing amounts and at differing rates. This differing expansion may cause physical stresses that may eventually damage the semiconductor assembly.
Another heat and bonding related problem may result where the electrical leads, such as the gate and source wires, are connected to the semiconductor die. The leads and the die are typically connected using an inelastic bonding method, such as welding. The electrical leads are typically thin wires that are vibration welded to the metallized surface of the semiconductor die. Because the lead wires are thin, the area where the lead wires are welded to the semiconductor die (i.e., the bonding point) is small. As a large amount of current would typically flow through the small bonding point (this may be termed current crowding at a singularity point), the temperature excursion that occurs at the bonding point is greater than the temperature excursion that occurs in the other areas of the semiconductor die. As a result, greater expansion occurs at the bonding point, increasing the physical stress and increasing the likelihood of failure of the weld, the lead, and/or the die.
As such, there is a need for a semiconductor device and cooling apparatus that enables greater heat dissipation to enable increased power/data flow and which eliminates inelastic bonding to thereby decrease the likelihood of failure due to physical stress caused by the expansion of dissimilar materials.

Method for cooling a semiconductor device


A wireless network apparatus capable of illumination includes a casing, a motherboard, a prompting unit, and a light emitting unit. The casing has a light permeable portion. The motherboard is disposed in the casing for serving a networking function. The prompting unit is disposed at the motherboard and electrically connected thereto for generating a prompting signal in accordance with a status of the networking function being performed by the motherboard. The light emitting unit is disposed on the motherboard or in the casing and corresponds in position to the light permeable portion. The light emitting unit is powered by the motherboard and configured to emit light passing through the light permeable portion, thereby serving a lighting function. Accordingly, the wireless network apparatus provides home illumination, increases the value-added, and boosts consumers' willingness to buy and install the wireless network apparatus.

Wireless networking facilities nowadays, such as 3G wireless base stations, are of several types, namely macrocells, microcells, picocells, and femtocells (also known as femtocell cellular base stations or home node bases). Microcells and picocells are used mostly in areas which are densely populated and have a high mobile phone penetration rate, such as train stations, bus stations, and shopping malls, and are configured to increase the networking capacity therein. Femtocells provide a relatively small coverage, and are configured to serve any areas which are not covered by other base stations and increase data transmission speed. In general, femtocells are applicable to residential areas or small commercial districts. Femtocells use broad bands (such as DSL or cables) for connection with the Internet and communication service providers; hence, femtocells are conducive to reduction in the costs incurred by the communication service providers in creating wireless base stations.
However, a femtocell nowadays essentially comprises a casing and a circuit board disposed in the casing and configured for connection with a home user's modem, without serving any other additional functions. Hence, as with modems, femtocells always operate at home unnoticed. Femtocells manufactures anticipate that consumers take the initiative in purchasing femtocells to enhance the quality of indoor coverage of wireless communication. Nonetheless, although doubts about the adverse effective of wireless base stations on the human body was proved unwarranted, consumers remain reluctant to purchase femtocells in the absence of other favorable incentives. As a result, incursion of femtocells into people's living room will be unlikely to happen, unless femtocell manufactures solve the aforesaid problem, that is, inadequate indoor wireless communication coverage.
Accordingly, it is imperative to invent a wireless network apparatus capable of illumination and effective in increasing the value-added of wireless network apparatuses and equipping the wireless network apparatuses with other functions required for human beings in daily life, so as to boost consumers' willingness to buy wireless network apparatuses (such as femtocell cellular base stations).

Wireless network apparatus capable of illumination