A communication system easy to be operated upon as to the display method of images generated by image generating units of a plurality of communication terminals and as to the control of each image generating unit. The communication system has a reception unit for receiving images generated by image generating units of a plurality of communication terminals, an output unit for outputting a multi-image of images received by the reception unit to a display unit, a designation unit for designating an arbitrary image from the images constituting the multi-image, and a processing unit for controlling the output form of an image to be output to the display unit, the image being designated by the designation unit, if a designation operation by the designation unit is a first designation operation, and for setting the communication terminal as a control object, the communication terminal generating an image designated by the designation unit, if a designation operation by the designation unit is a second designation operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication system and method, and a storage medium storing programs in communication system.
2. Related Background Art
A remote monitor system using a plurality of video cameras and a synthesizer for synthesizing in an analog manner images taken with the cameras has been used in a building of a relatively small scale or the like and such as system is called a local monitor system. In contrast to such a local monitor system, a remote monitor system has been proposed in which a plurality of cameras are connected by a digital network such as LAN (local area network) and public digital line ISDN so that the more cameras at remoter sites can be controlled more flexibly.
Of remote monitor systems, some systems control the image display and system operations through graphical user interface (GUI) by using personal computers or work stations as monitor terminals. Use of GUI at a monitor terminal enables a computer device to operate the system easily. The operability of the system can be improved by displaying a camera control panel together with an image taken with the camera.
However, conventional methods of displaying images with such a system include various methods such as a glance display of images taken with a plurality of cameras. A conventional display operation and discrimination between system operations are not always good heretofore. Personal computers and work stations are directly, or via a synthesizer for image synthesis and a switcher for switching between cameras, connected to the network. The image synthesizer can select one of cameras connected thereto to display its image, or can display a plurality of images side by side at the same time. By using the switcher, any desired camera can be selected to be controlled.
However, the operability of the system which inputs images via the switcher/synthesizer is not so much satisfactory and there is still a room to be improved.

Communication system and method and storage medium for storing programs in communication system


Disclosed are system and methods for controlling access to content from a user application executing in an isolated environment on a user device. An exemplary method includes intercepting, by a security application, data relating to content in a graphical user interface of the user application using an accessibility application programming interface (API) exposed by an operating system of the user device, and generating a first template associated with the content based on the intercepted data. The template specifies a pattern of elements of the graphical user interface. The method further includes determining a category of the content based on a comparison of the first template with a plurality of previously generated templates; and controlling access to the content of the graphical user interface based on the determined category.

In some operating systems (OS), notably in mobile OSs such as Android, in order to ensure security when executing user applications, the operating system organizes an isolated execution environment code (hereinafter, isolated environment) known as a "sandbox". The isolated environment usually constitutes a controllable set of software and hardware resources accessible to the application for its execution, such as space on the disk or in the memory, the number of processor cores which can be used, and so forth. Moreover, the isolated environment usually either partly emulates the execution of system functions—for example, access to a network (local area or Internet), OS functions, or reading information from data entry devices—or greatly restricts the possibility of their execution—. Applications running in such an isolated environment are not able to read much less write into regions of the RAM of the computing device (e.g., mobile device) which are accessible to or allocated to other applications.
In order to call system functions, a third-party user application needs to request and receive additional authorization. Usually, such authorizations are granted by the user either when installing an application (e.g., in earlier versions of the Android OS) or during the launching or execution of the application (e.g., in later versions of the Android OS and in other OS). Example of such authorizations include: permission to work with text messages (e.g., SMS/MMS messages), permission to access a user's contacts, and permissions to access network services. The volume of actions which an application can perform outside the isolated environment with the help of authorizations is likewise limited. The authorizations themselves are usually of various kinds: those which can be granted to all applications and those which are granted only to a limited group of applications, for example, only the applications constituting the firmware of the computing device or only the applications considered first-party by the OS.
A security application can also be considered a third-party application in this sense and thus limited in its rights within the isolated environment and those additional authorizations granted to it by the user. Therefore, difficulties arise when the security application attempts to analyze data obtained by other foreign applications (for example, from the Internet), since this data cannot be obtained and analyzed by the security application. There are no authorizations for reading the data of other applications in the list of authorizations provided to third-party applications by the operating system, since such authorizations are contrary to the approach of using an isolated environment.
Despite the relative protection of mobile devices against malicious applications (due to the above-described closed nature achieved with the aid of the isolated environment), problems of filtering out unwanted data content obtained by applications on mobile devices are rather serious. For example, parents may want to guard their children against undesirable links, obscene language, and other undesirable information; users may want to guard themselves against phishing, intrusive advertising, and so on; and companies may want their workers to use mobile devices only for business purposes.
Known security system are ineffective because they do not have the ability to receive and process data and content obtained by applications working in isolated environments. Therefore, there is a need to improve a mechanism for a security application to control access to content by user applications executing in an isolated environment on a mobile device.

System and method of controlling access to content using an accessibility API


A drawing device includes a distinguish unit for distinguishing figure description information in scene data of each figure in a display screen, for tiles included in the display screen; an aggregation unit for aggregating a data size of the figure description information corresponding to the tiles; an address determination unit for determining a leading address in a memory area for storing the figure description information corresponding to each of the tiles, based on an aggregation result of each tile; and a memory write unit for sequentially writing, in the memory area, the figure description information distinguished as corresponding to the tiles, starting from the leading address determined for each corresponding tile, wherein the address determination unit determines the leading addresses so that the memory areas for storing the figure description information corresponding to the tiles are arranged in a physical address space in an order of drawing the tiles.

As one hardware configuration for drawing three-dimensional graphics, there is a tile style architecture. In the tile style architecture, a display screen is divided into plural tiles, and three-dimensional graphics are drawn for each tile (see patent document 1).
In a drawing device using the tile style architecture, buffers corresponding to the number of tile areas are provided inside the hardware. Scene data needed for internal drawing is loaded in the buffers in units of tiles, and drawing inside the tiles is performed based on this scene data. In such a drawing device using the tile style architecture, a cache for temporarily storing graphic data may be effectively used. The scene data corresponding to each tile includes a figure index indicating a figure that is at least partially drawn inside the tile and a setting parameter pertinent to drawing the figure. In the following, the figure index and a setting value for the setting parameter included in the scene data are collectively referred to as figure description information.
The scene data in units of tiles is generated by sorting, for each of the tiles, the scene data generated by focusing on the individual tiles. The scene data in units of tiles generated by the conventional sorting process is expressed with the use of a list structure indicating, with a pointer, the storage location of figure description information pertinent to the figure included in each tile.    Patent document 1: Japanese National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2003-529859
Incidentally, in the above conventional technology, the scene data in units of tiles has a list structure. Therefore, when the conventional scene data in units of tiles is stored in an external memory, the addresses of figure indices and setting value parameters indicated by the above list structure are discretely distributed in the memory space of the external memory. Thus, when performing a drawing process in each of the tiles, the drawing device reads the figure indices and setting value parameters from various storage locations in the external memory in accordance with this list structure. At this time, there is no continuity in the addresses in the external memory accessed by the drawing device, and therefore it has been difficult to efficiently access the memory, like burst access.


Aspects provide for systems, methods, apparatus and computer program products for selecting advertisements for presentation on wireless device applications based on the current device location and the current interests of the device user. The current interests of the device user are defined by the application currently being executed on the device and/or current user inputted requests for content. In this regard, present aspects provide for highly targeted advertising that serves to provide advertisements to users based on their current needs, which are defined in terms of their current interests and current location.

1. Field
The described aspects relate to wireless communication, and more particularly, to methods, systems and apparatus for selecting advertisements for wireless device applications based on current wireless device location and current user interests.
2. Background
Wireless communication networks have been designed to deliver media content to recipients. For example, wireless communication networks may comprise a broadcast or multicast system, which transmit information to multiple recipients at the same time. One such example of such as system is the MediaFLO™ media distribution system, available from QUALCOMM Incorporated of San Diego, Calif. In addition to delivering real-time broadcast programming, these types of media distribution systems are especially suited for the delivery and presentation of advertising media content, otherwise referred to as advertisements or ads, to wireless communication devices, such as cellular telephones and the like. In addition to multicast and broadcast media distribution systems, other wireless device applications may be configured to receive and present advertising media content.
Success in the online advertising market has resulted in heightened interest in wireless or mobile advertising. Online advertising has shown that advertisers are more willing to pay a premium for improved advertising effectiveness. In this regard, online advertising has resulted in a payment model in which advertisers only pay for quantifiable advertising results, such as a payment based on each occurrence of a user "clicking" an advertisement to redirect the browser to the advertiser's web site or a similar user-interface with the advertisement. In addition, the online advertising market has demonstrated that users are tolerant of unobtrusive advertisements placed in user-requested content. Unobtrusive advertisements may take the form of advertisement banners presented in the border regions of the content, scrolling text or the like. One example of such advertising in connection with user-requested content, is online search engine results which are typically displayed in conjunction with advertisements, such as prioritized list results, side banners or the like.
Location is key differentiator of a mobile wireless networked device relative to a fixed device, such as personal computer or the like. Thus, while the fixed device primarily remains at one location, the wireless device may be located anywhere at any given point in time. Many of the currently available wireless devices are equipped with some form of location determination, such that the device or device in combination with the network can determine the current location of the wireless device. Such location determination is readily used in mapping applications, as well as many other applications that may be implemented on the wireless device. In this regard, the wireless device may be equipped with Global Positioning System (GPS) location determination capability, another satellite-based location determination capability or a network-based location determination capability, such as AFLT (Advanced Forward. Link Trilateration) or the like.
Additionally, various applications that are implemented on wireless devices provide the capability to assess a user's current temporal interest. For example, real-time broadcast programming, such as the MediaFLO™ media distribution system provide for a user's current temporal interest to be defined by the programming the device is currently receiving and presenting. Another example is provided for by a gaming application or a shopping client that defines the user's current temporal interest in terms of the game being played or the product or service being browsed. In addition, other applications, such as network-search applications and the like, require user-inputted content requests and network interface to return content related to the user-inputted requests. In this regard, the user-inputted request defines the user's current temporal interest.
Therefore, a need exists for a system, method, apparatus and/or computer program product for providing targeted advertisements on wireless devices. Specifically, the desired aspects should provide for real-time targeting of advertisements, such that current temporal information is used to determine which advertisements should be selected for presentation on a specified wireless device.

Systems and methods for targeted advertising on wireless devices based on device location and current user interests


A nitride-based semiconductor device includes a patterned substrate having an etched surface that is formed with a plurality of protrusions, an aluminum nitride (AlN)-based film disposed on the etched surface, and a nitride-based semiconductor stacked structure disposed on the aluminum nitride-based film. Each of the protrusions has a side face. The AlN-based film includes a plurality of crystal defects formed on the side face of each protrusion. Each of the crystal defects has a width of smaller than 20 nm and/or the number of the crystal defects that are formed on the side face of each protrusion and that have a width of greater than 10 nm is less than 10. A method for preparing the semiconductor device is also disclosed.

Since gallium nitride (GaN)-based light-emitting diodes (LED) have high luminous efficiency, they have been widely applied in backlight, lightning, landscaping, etc. as a light source. Currently, the focus of LED industry is to further improve the luminous efficiency of LED chips. Generally, the luminous efficiency can be determined by the following factors: (1) electron-hole radiative recombination efficiency in an active region (also known as internal quantum efficiency); and (2) light extraction efficiency.
A blue LED material, such as gallium nitride (GaN)-based material, is conventionally formed on a sapphire substrate. However, the sapphire substrate and the GaN-based material have a great difference in the lattice, which may result in significant dislocation (i.e., crystallographic defect or irregularity) within the resultant epitaxial crystal structure, and the formation of non-radiative recombination centers, thereby reducing the internal quantum efficiency of the LED. In addition, since the GaN-based materials have a high refractive index, light emitted from the active region of LED would be totally internally reflected, thereby decreasing the light extraction efficiency.
A patterned sapphire substrate may ameliorate the abovementioned deficiencies not only by effectively controlling the density of nucleation islands to improve the quality of the gallium nitride (GaN) crystal, but also by effectively scattering light emitted from the active region to suppress total internal reflection.
The patterned sapphire substrate is usually obtained by dry etching or wet etching the sapphire substrate. Referring to FIG. 1, in the dry etching, a substrate 10 is etched using physical bombardment to form a plurality of protrusions 11 (i.e., pattern), and the side walls 12 of the protrusions 11 may be damaged to form surface defects 13 (i.e., rough surface), which may lead to formation of crystal defects 32 in a subsequent step of epitaxial growth of an epitaxial staked structure 30 (as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3). Thus, the density of the defective epitaxial material is increased, which reduces internal quantum efficiency. Furthermore, the crystal defects 32 absorb light, thereby reducing light extraction efficiency.
Chinese Invention Patent Application Publication No. CN 104246980 A discloses that formation of an aluminum nitride (AlN) buffer layer between a substrate and an undoped and/or doped gallium nitride layer by physical vapor deposition (PVD) can improve the quality of the GaN crystal and the luminous efficiency of the resultant GaN-based light device.
However, there is still a need to provide a semiconductor device with high-quality epitaxial growth (i.e., less crystal defects) on a patterned substrate.

Nitride-based semiconductor device and method for preparing the same


A metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) capacitor formed according to a process in which Fermi level enhanced oxidation is suppressed by the introduction of nitrogen impurities into an N-doped impurity region is formed to utilize the N-doped impurity region as a lower electrode and includes a capacitor dielectric having a reduced thickness with respect to other portions of the thermal oxide film formed over N-doped impurity regions. The capacitor is highly linear and includes a high capacitance density. The process used to form the capacitor includes thermally oxidizing a substrate such that an oxide film is formed to include multiple thicknesses including an enhanced oxide growth rate producing an oxide film of increased thickness in N-doped impurity regions and a section within nitrogen-doped impurity portions of the N-doped impurity region in which the enhanced oxidation growth is suppressed and the film formed in this region includes a desirably reduced thickness.

The present invention relates, most generally, to semiconductor devices and methods for forming the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to highly linear MOS capacitors and a method for forming the same which utilizes nitrogen implantation.
MOS (metal oxide semiconductor) capacitors are formed in silicon substrates and typically utilize a highly doped section of the silicon substrate as a lower capacitor electrode. In order to minimize fabrication time and costs, it is generally desirable to minimize the number of processing operations used in forming a particular semiconductor structure, as well as the completed, integrated circuit device. As such, the capacitor dielectric for MOS capacitors is commonly formed over the lower electrode during a thermal oxidation process used to simultaneously form gate oxides in transistor regions on the same substrate. When highly N-doped silicon substrate regions are used to form lower electrodes for MOS capacitors, however, Fermi level oxidation enhancement causes the thermal oxide thickness formed over the lower electrode to increase greatly with respect to the gate oxide being simultaneously formed on an undoped region of the same silicon substrate. This thermal oxide of increased thickness will serve as the capacitor dielectric and such a capacitor dielectric of increased thickness drastically and undesirably reduces capacitance density when measured per unit of silicon surface area.
What is needed, therefore, is a method which utilizes N-doped regions of silicon substrates to make linear MOS capacitors but which suppresses the undesirable enhanced oxide growth in the N-doped silicon regions.
To achieve these and other objects, and in view of its purposes, the present invention addresses the shortcomings of the metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) capacitor formation processes and structures known to the prior art and provides a method for utilizing highly N-doped regions of silicon substrates as lower electrodes of capacitors, while suppressing Fermi level oxidation enhancement of the N-doped regions. The present invention describes materials, processes, and structures used to produce linear MOS capacitors having high capacitance densities and which utilize portions of an N-doped silicon substrate as a lower capacitor electrode.
The present invention provides for introducing nitrogen into the highly N-doped silicon region which is to be used as the lower capacitor electrode. The semiconductor substrate is then thermally oxidized to form an oxide film on the semiconductor surface including within the N-doped region. The presence of nitrogen in the N-doped region suppresses the enhanced growth of the thermal oxide film formed to serve as the capacitor dielectric. The oxide film includes a thickness in the nitrogen region which is less than the thickness of the same oxide film simultaneously formed in other regions of the N-doped regions. The N-doped region in which nitrogen is introduced, serves as the lower electrode of the capacitor formed. The introduction of nitrogen also maintains the resistance of the highly N-doped silicon electrode at a low value, which reduces the effect of voltage on the capacitance and thereby produces a linear capacitor. The method and structure of the present invention is easily integrable into conventional processing sequences used to form semiconductor devices.

Method and structure for modular, highly linear MOS capacitors using nitrogen implantation


A method is provided for detecting multipath signals which includes the following steps: a total impulse response, composed essentially of multipath signals, is cross-correlated with a reference signal and a maximum of the result of the cross-correlation is determined and saved.

The present invention relates to a method for detecting multipath signals, in particular for operating a RAKE receiver and further relates to an associated RAKE receiver.
Signals generally propagate over two or more paths in one mobile radio channel (multipath propagation). Each individual received signal has a different propagation time, amplitude and Doppler shift, corresponding to its transmission path. The various received signals are superimposed at the antenna of a receiver either constructively or destructively, thus making it harder to detect the symbols transmitted via the signals.
In particular, the multipath propagation of a radio signal such as this results in channel impulse responses over an extended time, which lead to a delay spread and thus to a shifted time reference between the individual symbols in the transmission signal. In mobile radio systems which operate using the Wideband Code Division Multiplex (W-CDMA) method, this then requires that special receivers (RAKE receivers) be used for processing the multipath signals.
A RAKE receiver such as this allows a considerable gain as a result of the use of multipath signals which arrive with different propagation time delays at a receiving antenna of a mobile radio. This is done by the signal coming from the antenna being processed in the receiver in two or more paths, the so-called "fingers" of the RAKE receiver. Each of these fingers is set, in each case, with an optimized phase angle of the pseudo-noise sequences which have been used for the coding of a signal to be transmitted via the mobile radio channel, to one respective component of the received multipath signals.
In an IS-95 mobile radio system, a RAKE receiver in a mobile station has at least three such fingers, and a base station has at least four such fingers. Furthermore, both the mobile station and the base station each have at least one "search finger" which continuously looks for stronger multipath signals. As soon as the search finger finds a stronger multipath signal, the finger on the previously weakest multipath signal is optimally set to the new, stronger multipath signal. Typically, this makes it possible to demodulate up to three of the strongest multipath signals in the mobile station and up to four of the strongest multipath signals in the base station, with a time delay of at least 0.8 to 1 μs, and to combine them via maximum ratio combining.
In this case, it is particularly important to detect the time reference between the individual multipath signals exactly; that is, to define the optimum "finger position". A specially tuned filter, a so-called matched filter, thus uses a sequence or a pilot sequence which is known in the receiver to produce the overall impulse response or channel impulse response of a received signal, on the basis of which the position of the individual fingers can be determined. However, the overall impulse response does not always allow detection of all the relevant finger positions. Particularly when adjacent fingers differ, for example, only by a very short delay time of less than the chip duration, reliable detection of the position and of the number of the fingers is difficult.
Known methods for detection of the finger positions are, however, highly computation intensive since they have a complexity of O(N), where N is the length of the overall impulse response.
An object of the present invention is, therefore, to propose a method for detecting multipath signals and a corresponding RAKE receiver whose data processing is less complex than the known detection methods, thus allowing fundamentally shorter adjustment times and a reduced processor capacity requirement.


A method of controlling of an R-peak detection apparatus, which detects an R-peak from an ElectroCardioGram (ECG) signal, includes receiving the ECG signal, reading out a pre-stored ECG template, comparing the EG signal with the pre-stored ECG template to determine a similarity between the ECG signal and the pre-stored ECG template and determining whether the similarity is equal to or greater than a threshold value, and determining a corresponding interval as the R-peak when the similarity is equal to or greater than the threshold value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and control method for detecting an R-peak from an ElectroCardioGram (ECG), which is an electric signal output from the heart of a living body.
2. Description of the Related Art
A medical-electric convergence technique for electrically interpreting a health-related symptom from a living body has recently been developed in light of the increased interest in physical health. Particularly, since an intake of food with high fat or cholesterol content has increased, heart-related disease has rapidly increased. Thus, development of a technique for continually monitoring an abnormal symptom of cardio motility has become a priority.
Accordingly, a process for electrically interpreting an ECG output from a user has been developed. Detecting an R-peak interval included in the ECG is a required aspect of the ECG interpretation process.
Detecting an R-peak included in the ECG in the conventional art is largely divided into a method of using a differentiation and a method of using a wavelet. The method of using the differentiation employs a method of performing a differential operation on an input ECG signal and then applying an appropriate threshold value to a differential coefficient that is obtained by performing the differential operation, thereby detecting the R-peak. The R-peak has a steep gradient relative to time, compared with other intervals of the ECG signal, and accordingly, an interval having a gradient, i.e., a differential coefficient equal to or greater than a set level, is determined as the R-peak.
The method of using the wavelet involves performing wavelet transformation on the input ECG signal to use a modulus maxima line in a wavelet domain.
However, the conventional R-peak detection methods, including the two described above, have problem in that an input signal is greatly affect by noise and it is highly probable that an intense T-peak will be mistaken as the R-peak. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for the development of an R-peak detection technique that is robust against signal noise and the intense T-peak.

R-PEAK detection apparatus and control method thereof

Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation Yonsei University


Methods, systems, and computer program products for providing new pricing solutions to satisfy changes to a purchased ticket are described. A query for new travel includes information needed to determine a set of pricing solutions for issuing a new ticket that satisfies the new travel requirements using some value associated with an original, issued ticket. Valid fares corresponding to replacement itineraries are determined according to a determined reissue method that is valid for the replacement itineraries.

Travel planning systems are used to produce itineraries and prices by selecting suitable travel units from databases containing geographic, scheduling and pricing information. In the airline industry, fundamental travel units include "flights" (sequences of regularly scheduled takeoffs and landings assigned a common identifier) and "fares" (prices published by airlines for travel between two points). The term "itinerary" corresponds to a sequence of flights on particular dates and the term "pricing solution" corresponds to a combination of fares and itineraries that satisfies a travel request and which can be used to provide a ticket for transportation. Travel planning systems such as those offered by various web-sites and computer reservation systems enables individual consumers and travel agents, alike, to search for available faring solutions satisfying a travel query. One such system is the "QPX" travel planning system by ITA Software®. Aspects of the QPX travel planning system are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,275,808 and assigned to the assignee of the present application and incorporated herein by reference. The faring solutions that are returned to the user (i.e., an individual consumer or travel agent) include all of the information required to book and ticket the itinerary directly in a carrier's inventory system or in a computer reservation system (CRS). For booking a trip, QPX enables users to retrieve a wide range of prices and itineraries of available tickets.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A quartz crystal unit that includes a quartz crystal resonator with a quartz crystal blank on which a pair of excitation electrodes are formed, a frame body that surrounds an outer periphery of the blank, and a coupling member that couples the frame body to the blank. Moreover, a package member is joined to an entire periphery of the frame body on at least one side of the excitation electrodes; and an extension electrode is provided that is electrically connected to one of the excitation electrodes. A recess is formed in a junction region of at least one of the frame body and the package member. In the junction region, the extension electrode is disposed in the recess in such a way that the extension electrode has a thickness that does not exceed a depth of the recess.

Quartz crystal units, whose main vibration mode is thickness shear mode, are widely used as oscillation devices, bandpass filters, and the like. For example, an existing structure of a quartz crystal unit includes a quartz crystal resonator plate and a pair of sealing members that are disposed respectively on an upper surface and a lower surface of the quartz crystal resonator plate via a joining material (see Patent Document 1 identified below). The joining material is a brazing alloy or the like, and due to the presence of the joining material, a vibration portion of the quartz crystal resonator plate is hermetically sealed when the quartz crystal resonator plate is joined to the sealing members.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2015-165613.
However, for example, when the quartz crystal resonator plate and the sealing members are joined to each other via the joining material as described in Patent Document 1, a space having a thickness corresponding to the joining member is formed in the quartz crystal unit, and thereby wafer breakage may easily occur in the process of cutting out individual units from a wafer. On the other hand, if the quartz crystal resonator plate and the sealing members are directly joined to each other, due to the effect of a protrusion of an extension electrode formed in a junction region, the joining strength between the quartz crystal resonator plate and the sealing members may decrease.
Accordingly, with the existing structure, it is not possible to provide sufficient hermeticity for the quartz crystal resonator plate, and the reliability of the quartz crystal unit is not necessarily high.

Quartz crystal unit and method of manufacturing the same


The specification discloses a process for heating solid particulate materials. The process comprises entraining the solid particulate materials in a gas to form a stream of gas containing entrained particles and containing this stream with a stream of hot gases. The contact between the two streams is performed in such a manner that at least a portion of the solid particulate material is heated rapidly and the heated and unheated particles enter flow patterns in which contact between the particles and with interior surfaces of contact chamber is minimized. A heating and treatment chamber for applying the process to the treatment of solid particulate materials is disclosed. The specification also discloses a molten bath reactor combined with the chamber for heating and treating solid particulate materials. Hot off gases from the molten bath reactor can be passed through the chamber and treated particulate material from the chamber can be inserted in the molten bath reactor or partially recycled through the chamber.

The process for the production of a Portland-type cement from blast furnace slag in a molten bath reactor requires additions of calcium carbonate or calcium oxide to the slag.
An object of this invention is to minimise the requirement for additional energy for calcination by utilizing the energy of the hot off-gases that leave the molten bath reactor.
Calcination of, for example, limestone, is performed in a variety of furnaces: vertical shaft kilns, rotary kilns, rotary hearth kilns, twin and multiple shaft regenerative kilns, fluidised beds and entrained flow reactors.
Vertical shaft kilns produce a lower quality of lime compared with other types of kilns, and can only accept feed of no less than about 50 mm in size. Smaller sized feed results in a packed bed of insufficient porosity. Nevertheless, the vertical shaft kiln is a very energy efficient kiln.
Rotary kilns are generally able to accept almost any sized feed, down to about 1 mm in size. However, to obtain good energy efficiency it is necessary to incorporate preheaters in combination with the kilns. This combination suffers from twin disadvantages of having high capital and maintenance costs.
Twin and multiple shaft regenerative kilns offer good energy efficiency, since the waste gas from the calcining kiln is used to preheat other kilns. This sequence is continued around the kilns--successively preheating then calcining in each kiln. However, this type of kiln is not suitable for treating fine sized materials.
Fluidised bed calciners are generally able to treat finer sized materials than shaft furnaces. However, control of particle size distribution is important, and large quantities of hot pressurised gas are needed for the fluidisation.
Unfortunately, non of these processes can be adapted so that the hot off-gases from a molten bath reactor, which usually contain sticky and/or molten material, can be used as the energy source of calcination.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,022,989 (Union Commerce Bank) a process for manufacturing hydraulic cements is disclosed. In this process there is a fluidised bed of particles, in which gases are combusted. A certain amount of stickiness of particles results, but the degree of stickiness is controlled so as to be insufficient to cause large particles to become attached to one another, and agglomeration of the fluidised mass is thereby prevented.
Unfortunately this process requires a fuel to be combusted to provide the high temperatures. It is unlikely that hot off-gases from a molten bath reactor, which contain sticky grains and/or molten droplets could be used to provide the high temperatures. The process operates at a high solids loading, and as a consequence requires that there be a large pressure drop as gases flow through the bed. Furthermore, by virtue of the well-mixed nature of fluidised beds it is not possible to have very large differences between the temperatures of the hottest and coldest particles in the bed.
In patent application No. P251515 IVa/12g in the Federal Republic of Germany by Polysius GmbH, an apparatus is disclosed for the combustion, calcination and sintering of a pulverized or granulated product in suspension, and to the operating procedure for such an apparatus. The apparatus seems to be a modified cyclone with a flattened or `pancake` cross-section.
The drawings in the Polysius specification are confusing and seem to contradict the specification, since the paths of the treatment gas, the pulverized or granulated material to be treated and the carburant are drawn in a haphazard manner. The best conclusion seems to be that entrainment of the material to be treated is transitory only, the treated material being separated almost immediately from the treatment gas.
No attempt seems to be made to minimise contact of the particles with each other, with a consequent danger of agglomeration. In addition, the particles travel to the wall of the treatment chamber for removal, with a danger in this case of accretion to the wall.
Furthermore, the pulverized or granulated material seems to be injected counterflow to the air. In addition carburant is burned in the relatively small space where the particles and gas are travelling counterflow. This must lead to severe turbulence, with particles contacting each other and the wall of the treatment chamber.
Finally, the apparatus and process of Polysius do not make use of the sensible heat from off-gases, rather heat must be supplied by burning fuel.

Heating and treatment of particulate material


Systems and methods allow for floor plan generation for device visualization and use. For example, image data may be utilized to segment a building from non-building elements in an image, and the outline of the building may be utilized to generate a floor plan of the building. A user interface may be generated to present the floor plan and allow for placement of representations of walls, doors, windows, and electronic devices within the floor plan. Placement of these elements may be performed in response to input from a user and/or may be performed automatically utilizing naming indicators, device-affinity data, historical usage data, signal-strength data, etc. Once placed, the device representations may be utilized to operate the devices and display related information, such as alerts.

Use of electronic devices to perform actions has become common. Some environments, such as homes, may include multiple connected devices as well as one or more voice-enabled devices that may be utilized to control operation of the connected devices. Described herein are improvements in technology and solutions to technical problems that can be used to, among other things, assist in control of connected devices.

Floor plan generation for device visualization and use


The present invention relates to a packet data transmission method in an OFDMA system and an apparatus thereof. The present invention provides a user packet data transmission method including generating a RACH burst for channel information estimation, selecting a first antenna among a plurality of antennas, transmitting the RACH burst through the first antenna to a base station, receiving a data transmission acceptance signal from the base station, in response to the RACH burst, transmitting user packet data through the first antenna when receiving a signal indicating that the data transmission is allowed, and selecting a second antenna that is difference from the first antenna and transmitting a RACH burst through the second antenna when receiving a signal indicating that the data transmission is not allowed, and a transmitting apparatus of a mobile station having the plurality of antennas. According to the present invention, the RACH burst and user packet data are transmitted by using a mobile station having a plurality of antennas in an LTE-applied OFDMA system, and therefore data transmission can be performed with a wide bandwidth and high data rate and a deep fading period that may occur during the data transmission can be reduced, thereby preventing call dropping and improving data transmission performance.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a packet data transmission method in orthogonal frequency division multiplex access (OFDMA), and an apparatus thereof. More particularly, it relates to a packet data transmission method using transmit diversity in an uplink of a cellular system using a discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplex access (DFT-S-OFDMA) method, and a transmitting apparatus thereof.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Including a wireless local area network (WLAN), wireless broadcasting, or digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB), a fourth generation mobile communication system uses an orthogonal frequency division multiplex access (OFDMA) method for wideband high-speed data transmission.
The OFDMA method divides a frequency bandwidth of a channel into a plurality of frequency bandwidths and allocates a proper number of data bits to each bandwidth for transmission. Herein, each frequency bandwidth has a different gain and noise effect. The OFDMA method serially inputs a data stream into N parallel data rows and transmits the N parallel data rows respectively through separate subcarriers so as to increase the data rate. In this case, a discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplex access (DFT-S-OFDMA) method is used to discretely separate an OFDMA signal into a time axis and a frequency axis so as to analyze a complex signal.
A high data rate in a transmitting station and a receiving station of the OFDMA system can be realized by improving link throughputs and network capacity. In this case, the throughput can be significantly improved when the transmitting station and the receiving station respectively have multiple antennas, and thus each station transmits and receives data by using the multiple antennas. As described, a method for the transmitting station and the receiving station to transmit/receive data by using the multiple antennas is called multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO).
In an MIMO-applied OFDMA system, a transmitting station must distinguish a receiving station from other receiving stations when the corresponding receiving station attempts random access. Accordingly, a random access channel burst (RACH burst) is used to check channel estimation information including a frequency domain signature sequence or a time domain signature sequence, an identifier (ID) of a receiving station, and a resource request for call setting.
Recently, a transmitter of the OFDM system has included a transmit vector decision module and a transmit antenna decision module in order to select a specific antenna through which a RACH burst or a user packet data is transmitted among multiple antennas.
In addition, the transmit vector decision module calculates a transmit weight to be set for each antenna by using channel information calculated from a signal to noise ratio (SNR) or a code book, and the transmit antenna decision module selects an antenna unit through which the RACH burst or the user packet data is transmitting by using the transmit weight. Herein, the antenna unit includes an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) unit, a cyclic prefix (CP) adder, a parallel-to-serial (P/S) converter, an intermediate frequency/radio frequency (IF/RF) converter, and an antenna.
That is, the transmitter of the OFDM system includes a multiplexer, a transmit vector decision module, a transmit antenna decision module, a plurality of IFFTs, a CP adder, a P/S converter, an IF/RF converter, and an antenna. As described, the transmitter has drawbacks including having many constituent elements, a complicated composition, an increased size of a mobile station, and an increased manufacturing cost.
In addition, although the MIMO is applied to the mobile station, the RACH burst and the user packet data are transmitted only by an antenna selected by the transmit vector decision module and the transmit antenna decision module, and therefore frequency and phase may vary at random, causing a fading effect. Accordingly, the size of a transmit signal may become greater than or smaller than an average size.
A variation speed of the fading effect may vary depending on a moving speed of the mobile station. That is, the variation speed of the fading effect is increased as the moving speed of the mobile station is increased, and the variation speed of the fading effect is decreased as the moving speed of the mobile station is decreased.
Since the variation speed of the fading effect is slow when the moving speed of the mobile station is slow, a deep fading period where the size of a signal is less than an average size is increased. During the deep fading period, a transmitted RACH signal cannot be demodulated so system performance is deteriorated.
Therefore, the transmitting station and the receiving station use all antennas when transmitting/receiving a RACH burst or user packet data to thereby use another antenna for data transmission when the deep fading effect occurs, and hence, a transmission method is required to reduce the deep fading period, and improve system performance.
While using an OFDM method, a MIMO method, and a smart antenna method, a long term evolution (LTE) method has been disclosed to increase a bandwidth that has been limited to 5 Mhz to from this value to 1.25 Mhz to 20 Mhz. With the increase of the bandwidth, the LTE method can support a data rate of 100 Mbps in a moving state and a data rate of 1 Gbps in a stopped state, and the data upload speed becomes 60 Mbps. In addition, the LTE method has a characteristic of grouping an Internet protocol (IP) network and a data network into one group, and therefore a mobile station can be simplified in an OFDM-based wireless access network.
Such an LTE method uses an OFDMA method in a downlink, and uses a DFT-S-OFDMA method in an uplink. However, the RACH burst and the user packet data are transmitted by using one antenna since a method for transmitting DFT-S-OFMDA-based uplink data by using a plurality of antennas has not been realized in the LTE method, and accordingly the deep fading may occur.

Method and apparatus for transmitting by using transmit diversity at DFT spread OFDMA

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


Raw water is made to pass through a raw water supply pipe by opening on-off valves, and by closing on-off valves. Oxygen is supplied to the raw water in the raw water supply pipe by opening an on-off valve of an oxygen supply pipe. The resulting raw water containing organic matter and oxygen passes through the raw water supply pipe and enters a catalyst-packed column, thereby contacting a platinum-group metal catalyst onto which hydrogen is adsorbed. This causes the organic matter in the raw water to contact the platinum-group metal catalyst under the presence of dissolved oxygen and hydrogen which is adsorbed onto the metal catalyst. Accordingly, the organic matter in the water to be treated can be easily removed at high efficiency and with low energy consumption.

A highly concentrated chemical or cleaning agent is used for washing and surface finishing of electronic components, and a large amount of pure water is used for rinsing of them. Then, development of a high-level water treatment technique is desired so as to improve water quality of pure water or recycling efficiency of drain water.
In a step of producing ultra-pure water, a biological treatment or physicochemical treatment is widely conducted as a method for removing a TOC (total organic carbon) component from water to be treated.
For example, there is a method in which a TOC component is removed by biologically treating organic-matter-containing drain water and then the biologically treated water is purified through a reverse osmosis membrane (RO membrane) (e.g., Patent Document 1).
In addition, for the physicochemical treatment, there are methods such as the following (1) to (3).
(1) A method for removing organic matter by passing organic-matter-containing drain water directly through an RO membrane separation device.
(2) A method for thermolysis of organic matter by adding an oxidizing agent to organic-matter-containing drain water.
(3) A method for degrading organic matter by irradiating organic-matter-containing drain water with ultraviolet (UV) light (e.g., Patent Document 2).
As Patent Document 1 indicates, for a method for passing water through an RO membrane separation device following biological treatment of organic-matter-containing drain water, there is a problem that the membrane flux decreases because biological metabolites generated in the removal of organic matter by microorganisms clog the membrane surface of a RO membrane. Additionally, the power consumption of a water-feeding pump of an RO membrane separation device is large.
There is a problem with the above methods (1) to (3) in that each of them has large energy consumption.
In method (1), the power for driving a pressure pump for supplying water to an RO membrane separation device is large. When organic-matter-containing drain water passes directly through the RO membrane separation device, this organic-matter-containing drain water having a high TOC concentration readily results in biofouling in the RO membrane separation device. In addition, when the organic matter in the organic-matter-containing drain water is persistent organic matter, an example of which being a low-molecular-weight nitrogen compound (e.g., urea), the removal efficiency is extremely low.
Method (2) requires a large amount of heat energy in a thermolysis device at the time of heating, by using steam, etc., the organic-matter-containing drain water to which an oxidizing agent has been added.
Method (3) requires a large amount of power for UV irradiation. Besides, even for this UV irradiation, the degradation efficiency is extremely low when the organic matter in the organic-matter-containing drain water is persistent organic matter.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-336886
Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-185587

Method and apparatus for treating organic matter-containing water


Disclosed herein are matrices, compositions and methods of making matrices. The matrix comprises a biomolecule and the matrix is a dried, cross-linked foam. The matrix is not lyophilized. The method comprises foaming the composition, crosslinking the composition and drying the composition. Matrices disclosed herein are useful as wound dressings and treating wounds.

Gelatin- and collagen-based materials have hemostatic ability and as such, gelatin and collagen sponges have been used as effective tools to control wound bleeds. Typically, gelatin-based materials are stabilized in some way so that they are durable when applied to human skin or tissue. Methods of stabilizing gelatin-based materials include chemical treatments, heat treatments and crosslinking methods.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,465,357 describes a liquid-permeable, water-insoluble, gelatin sponge having the general physical characteristics of a sponge but being absorbable by animal bodies.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,108 describes a process for preparing biodegradable collagen-based matrices in sponge or sheet form wherein a collagen-based material is freeze dried to form a collagen-based sponge which is contacted with a cross-linking agent to form an intermediate collagen-based matrix which is subsequently subjected to conditions of severe dehydration to form the collagen-based matrix in sponge or sheet form.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,361,501 describes a substantially non-adhesive elastic gelatin matrix. The matrix is both non-adhesive to wounds, tissues and organs and is also elastic such that it is flexible. The matrix is a lyophilized mixture of protein(s), polymer(s), cross-linking agent(s) and optional plasticizer(s). Methods for making the non-adhesive elastic gelatin matrix are also described.
There is a need for alternative matrices and compositions to overcome or mitigate at least some of the deficiencies of the prior art, or to provide a useful alternative.

Foam compositions, foam matrices and methods


An elliptic curve (EC) processor circuit (120) comprising a finite field arithmetic logic unit (122), operation registers (124) an EC control unit (123) and a register file (127). A storage element (250) is coupled to the finite field arithmetic logic unit (122). The EC control unit (123) controls the various components of the EC processor circuit (120) to decompress a compressed one-bit representation of a Y coordinate of an elliptic curve point (X, Y). The EC control unit (123) controls the use of the operation register (124), the storage element (250) and the finite field arithmetic logic unit (122) to recursively compute the decompressed version of the compressed Y coordinate based upon the X coordinate and the compressed one-bit representation of the Y coordinate. The circuit and method employ minimal additional hardware and processing in an EC processor circuit (120).

The use of secure communication of information provided by encryption techniques is desirable in wireless communication devices, such as pagers, cellular telephones, etc. In these environments, there is a constant struggle to minimize the amount of information transmitted to control costs and profitability of systems. When the data to be transmitted is encrypted, it is still desirable to minimize the overall amount of data actually transmitted.
Elliptic curve (EC) cryptography has become particularly useful in the field of wireless communication because it is more efficient both in terms of bandwidth and computation time than other industry public key encryption standards, such as RSA. It is desirable to provide a circuit and method for exploiting certain properties of EC cryptography to facilitate the use of this technology in wireless communication devices.

Circuit and method for decompressing compressed elliptic curve points


The gyroscope is formed by a driving system including a driving mass having an open concave shape; an accelerometer including a sensing mass and comprising mobile sensing electrodes; a linkage connecting the driving mass to the sensing mass. The sensing mass is surrounded on three sides by the driving mass and has a peripheral portion not facing the sensing mass. The mobile sensing electrodes extend integral with the sensing mass from the peripheral portion not facing the driving mass and are interleaved with fixed sensing electrodes. Thereby, there are no passing electrical connections extending below the sensing mass. Moreover the linkage includes springs placed equidistant from the center of gravity of the accelerometer, and the gyroscope is anchored to the substrate with anchoring springs placed equidistant from the center of gravity of the assembly formed by the driving system and by the accelerometer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an integrated gyroscope of semiconductor material.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is known, integrated gyroscopes of semiconductor material, made with MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) technology, operate according to the theorem of relative accelerations, exploiting the acceleration of Coriolis. In particular, when a linear velocity is applied to a mobile mass rotating with a constant angular velocity, the mobile mass xe2x80x9cfeelsxe2x80x9d an apparent force, called Coriolis force, which determines its movement in a direction perpendicular to the linear velocity and to the axis of rotation. The apparent force can therefore be detected by supporting the mobile mass with springs which allow it to move in the direction of the apparent force. According to Hooke""s law, this movement is proportional to the apparent force and so detecting the movement of the mobile mass allows detecting the Coriolis force and therefore the angular velocity.
In gyroscopes of the considered type, the movement of the mobile mass is detected capacitively, measuring the capacitance variations caused by the movement of mobile sensing electrodes integral with the moving mass and interfaced or interleaved with fixed sensing electrodes.
Embodiments of integrated gyroscopes in MEMS technology are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,604,312, 5,275,047 and WO 97/15066 assigned to Robert Bosch GmbH and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,955,668, WO 99/19734 and WO00/29855 assigned to IRVINE SENSORS CORPORATION. However, these gyroscopes have some drawbacks.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,312 describes a gyroscope formed by an oscillating mass and an accelerometer mounted on the driving mass. This known gyroscope requires a complicated manufacturing process which uses two different structural layers, with consequent high manufacturing costs, poor reliability, complication in aligning the accelerometers and the oscillating masses and complication in the connections.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,955,668, WO 99/19734 disclose an external oscillating mass connected to an internal sensing mass, and therefore two independent mechanical parts which may be suitably calibrated. However, for the circular gyroscope (U.S. Pat. No. 5,955,668), the structure is sensitive to stress due to the manufacturing steps and to thermal drift, since the suspension springs of the sensing mass inside the external oscillating mass are very stiff in the direction of the axis of the angular velocity and it is not possible to anchor the sensing mass in the center because the gyroscope would feel the velocity of several axes at the same time and would become unusable. Vice-versa, for the rectangular gyroscope (WO patent 99/19734), the system is not optimized because it uses suspension springs which involve undesired rotational contributions; moreover the described gyroscope does not allow the rejection of linear accelerations. Moreover, in both cases, but particularly in the case of the translational gyroscope, numerous interconnections extend under the mass, and the interconnections are rather long, with the risk of capacitive couplings with the sensing structures and therefore of distortion or imprecision of reading.
An embodiment of the invention provides a gyroscope in MEMS technology which solves the problems presented by prior art gyroscopes, and in particular is not affected by undesired capacitive couplings. Conveniently, the gyroscope according to the invention must be as far as possible insensitive to process spreads, to residual stress due to manufacturing steps and to thermal drift.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, an integrated gyroscope is provided.
In practice, the gyroscope is formed by a driving system including a driving mass having an open concave shape; an accelerometer including a sensing mass and mobile sensing electrodes; a mechanical connection (linkage) which connects the driving mass to the sensing mass. The sensing mass is surrounded on three sides by the driving mass and has a peripheral portion not facing this mass. The mobile sensing electrodes are integral with the sensing mass from the peripheral portion not facing the driving mass and are interleaved with fixed sensing electrodes. In this way, no electrical connections extend below the sensing mass. According to another aspect of the invention, the linkage includes springs placed equidistant from the center of gravity of the accelerometer, and according to yet another aspect, the gyroscope is anchored to the substrate through anchoring springs equidistant from the center of gravity of the assembly formed by the driving system and by the accelerometer.
A method of operation of the device is also provided, according to an embodiment of the invention.

Integrated gyroscope of semiconductor material


A wheel assembly for moving an object, such as load carrying vehicles, and similar types of machines. The assembly enables unique motion possibilities, such as changing the direction of the object's motion perpendicularly to a preceding direction of motion. The assembly includes a wheel, which can be either driven or freely rotatable, for propelling the vehicle. The rolling point of the wheel rests upon a support surface, which is positioned at a radial distance from a drive shaft. To change the direction of motion, the wheel is rotated around the drive shaft, along a circle having the aforementioned radius.

This invention relates to means for moving an object on a surface. More specifically, the invention is directed to a wheel assembly for use, for example, with a vehicle, a load carrier, or other type of similar apparatus used for moving objects. The wheel assembly comprises at least one wheel arranged on the object.


An optoelectronic camera comprises an objective system formed by a number of optical active structures (L), particularly refractive structures in the form of microlenses or lenslets provided in an array. A detector device (D) is assigned to the lens array and comprises detectors (Dn) formed by sensor elements (E) which define pixels in the optical image. Each detector (Dn) defines a sample of the optical image and optimally all samples are used to generate a digital image. The optoelectronic camera may be realized as a color image camera, particularly for recording images in an RGB system. In a method for digital electronic formatting of an image recorded with the optoelectronic camera, zoom and pan functions are implemented in the camera.

The present invention concerns an optoelectronic camera comprising an optical objective system for imaging a scene recorded by the camera as an optical image substantially in an image plane of the objective system, an optoelectronic detector device substantially provided in the image plane for detecting the optical image and on basis of the detection outputting output signals, a processor device connected with the detector device for converting and processing the output signals of the detector device in order to reproduce the detected image in digital form and possibly for displaying this in real time on a display device optionally provided in the camera and connected with the processor device, and a memory device connected with the processor device for storing the digital image for displaying on the optional display device which also may be connected with the memory device, or for storing, displaying or possible additional processing on external devices adapted for these purposes and whereto the camera temporarily or permanently is connected.
The present invention also concerns an optoelectronic camera, particularly for recording colour images and even more particularly for recording colour images in an RGB system, comprising an optical objective system for imaging a scene recorded by the camera as an optical image substantially in an image plane of the objective system, an optoelectronic detector device substantially provided in the image plane for detecting the optical image and on basis of the detection outputting output signals, a processor device connected with the detector device for converting and processing the output signals of the detector device in order to reproduce the detected image in digital form and possibly for displaying this in real time on a display device optionally provided in the camera and connected with the processor device, and a memory device connected with the processor device for storing the digital image for displaying on the optional display device which also may be connected with the memory device, or for storing, displaying or possible additional processing on external devices adapted for these purposes and whereto the camera temporarily or permanently is connected. Finally, the present invention concerns a method for digital electronic formatting of a recorded full-format optical image in an optoelectronic camera according to any of the claims 1-32 or any of the claims 33-37, wherein the recorded optical image is stored as a digital image in a memory in a processor device provided in the camera and may be displayed on a display device connected to the processor device.
Very generally the invention concerns optoelectronic cameras which are suited for recording of still images as well as cinematographic images. including video images. The optoelectronic cameras according to the invention are realized such that they can be made as cheap miniature cameras with an extremely flat form factor.
After the launch of charge-coupled components (CCD), electronic photography is being applied in almost all fields in the imaging technology from the most demanding scientific applications such as in astronomical photography with recording of still images under extremely low light intensities and to applications for mass markets such as home video and area surveillance. Up to recently optoelectronic camera devices almost without exception have been based on the use of charge-coupled components (CCD), while other types, for instance charge-injected components (CID) have gained a certain use in particular applications, mostly of scientific nature. The basis for use of CCD for detection and implementation of optoelectronic cameras is extensively discussed in scientific and commercial literature and shall in the following hence be regarded as well-known to persons skilled in the art.
Even if it has been a great success, the CCD technology in optoelectronic cameras causes a number of disadvantages which has a negative effect on the possible use of CCD and miniaturized cheap battery-driven optoelectronic cameras. The silicon-based CCD chip is relatively costly to fabricate, it requires several different drive voltages and consumes relatively much current. In the course of the last years a new class of components called active pixel sensors (APS) has appeared to be strong competitors to the CCD technology, particularly in applications which do not require the absolute maximum image quality. The APS-based optoelectronic detectors can be made with low cost by means of standard CMOS technology and permits integration of a number of functions such as light detection, signal conditioning, power supply and interfacing on the same chip. In addition to the possibility of a very low cost, low power consumption and compact physical realization, the APS detectors may be realized such that processing of the image information is obtained directly on the detector chip, including for instance thresholding, contour determination etc. For certain types of applications APS detectors may give fast random access to the selected pixels or groups of pixels, in contrast with CCD-based detectors which require serial readout of whole rows of pixels at one time.
Commercial applications of APS-based miniature device have emerged within a number of areas, either supplanting other technologies or generating wholly new products. An instance of the first is the use in surveillance cameras, an instance of the latter is the use in toys. Due to the particular properties of the APS detectors recent development has led to optoelectronic cameras with very small dimensions. Such so-called xe2x80x9con chipxe2x80x9d-cameras may be obtained commercially from a number of companies, for instance VLSI Vision, Scotland, firms in Sweden and Photobit, U.S.A. A camera which may be accomodated in fountain pen format was recently demonstrated by CSEM, Switzerland.
A common denominator for all optoelectronic camera types is an optical system which creates an acceptable optical image on the light-sensitive detector surface. This poses a problem when it is desired to miniaturize optoelectronic cameras regardless of the type of optoelectronic sensor (CCD, CID, APS, diode array . . . ) to be used. The problem becomes particularly accentuated if the available axial length (the distance along the optical axis from the front of the camera lens and therethrough to the back of the detector chip) of the camera is restricted, i.e. when it is desirable to manufacture a flat camera, as the contribution from the imaging system to this distance is the sum of the lens thickness and the back focal length (BFL), something which indicates that a lenslet or microlens with a very short axial dimension and very short focal length might be used to provide a flat camera solution. However, up to now really flat miniaturized optoelectronic cameras based on this principle have not emerged.
As is to be discussed in the following, the main reason for this substantially is not to be found in the optics used and which generates the optical image. Even if the resolution in the last instance is limited by diffraction, there is another delimiting factor which to a much larger extent finds expression in the present context, namely the restricted spatial resolution which may be obtained in the image plane, particularly with optoelectronic detector arrays. In order to better illuminate the logical step in the development which has led to the present invention, there shall in the following be given a simple basic analysis of the drawbacks of the prior art.
The quality of the optical image will depend on the lens construction and is, as mentioned, in the last instance, limited by diffraction. In order to simplify the analysis it shall be supposed that light is monochromatic green, for instance with a wavelength of 555 nm, and that the lens is very thin and diffraction-limited. The spatial resolution in the image plane is then given by
w=0.61xcex/NAxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1)
wherein xcex is the light""s wavelength and the numerical aperture NA defined as
NA=n sinxcex1.xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(2)
Here n is the refraction index in the image space and xcex1 the half angle of the edge rays in the image space.
The resolution is in principle independent of the physical size of the lens. With realistic values for the numerical aperture NA, the resolution, however, is typically comparable to the light""s wavelength. This implies that an image which shall contain M resolved elements (M=nxny, where nx and ny is the number of resolved elements along respectively the x and y axis) must cover an area in the image plane which cannot be less than
A=M w2=nx,ny, w2.xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(3)
Here w is the resolution as defined in equation (1) above.
The field of view of the lenses in combination with the linear dimensions nx, w and ny, w for the image defines the focal length of the lens and hence the physical size of the latter. The field of view is defined by the half angle xcex8 of arrays striking the extreme edge of the optical image, at which location the linear distance to the optical axis is given by
d/2=(nx2+ny2)1/2, w/2xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(4)
Denoting the image distance by sxe2x80x2, one has
sxe2x80x2=d/(2tgxcex8)=(nx2+ny2)1/2w/(2tgxcex8)xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(5)
For typical imaging cases the focal length for the lens is only slightly less than the image distance sxe2x80x2, i.e.
xe2x80x83f≅sxe2x80x2xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(6)
If numerical values are inserted for instance w=0.5 xcexcm, nx=ny=103, i.e. M=106, xcex8=19.3xc2x0, one obtains f≅sxe2x80x2=1.01 mm.
A microlens with this focal length has typically comparable linear dimensions and it will be realized that a truly miniaturized flat camera may be within reach, and offering a resolution of 1 million pixels.
Unfortunately the requirement that the resolution w shall be 0.5 xcexcm such as defined above for the recording medium in the image plane, is very difficult to realize and far beyond what may be implemented with pixelated optoelectronic image sensors, CCD and APS detectors according to prior art has a pixel pitch at least ten times the resolution w assumed above, something which implies that the focal length and the linear dimensions of the lens shall lie in the range from 10 mm and upwards. Evidently the linear size of the camera depends explicitly of the desired image quality, i.e. on the detail of resolution in the image and of whether it is desirable with a monochromatic image or a full colour image. Hence optoelectronic cameras with dimensions along the optical axis in the range of 1 cm may be implemented. This cannot, however, be regarded as being particularly flat. Smaller dimensions are possible, but entails an impaired image quality. For instances of xe2x80x9con-chip-cameraxe2x80x9d concepts which exploit CMOS processors to manufacture optoelectronic camera devices with low costs and/or for particular purposes, reference shall be made to literature from e.g. Photobit. U.S.A; IVP, Sweden; VLSI Vision, Great Britain; CSEM, Switzerland; and IMEC, Belgium. For a review of imaging techniques with the use of CMOS-technology, reference may for instance be made to J. Zarnowski and M. Pace, xe2x80x9cImaging options expand with CMOS technologyxe2x80x9d, Laser Focus World, pp. 125-130 (June 1997).
The main purpose of the present invention is to provide an optoelectronic camera which may be used for recording still images, cinematographic images or video images with high image quality and beyond all with high spatial resolution, while the total profile of the camera appears as very flat and the drawbacks which are linked with the above-mentioned prior art are avoided, and then particularly that the image resolution scales with the physical size, particularly the axial length of the optical imaging system.
It is also the object of the invention to provide an optoelectronic camera which may be realized as a relatively thin layer, typically in the size range of 1-3 mm thickness on flat or curved surfaces.
Further it is an object of the invention to provide an optoelectronic camera with a number of specific spatial and spectral imaging characteristics, including controlled resolution of the optical image in one or more areas in the image or along one or more axes in the image plane, an extremely large field of view, including up to a global field (4xcfx80 steradians), spatially resolved chromatic or spectral analysis, full-colour images or imaging in one or more wavelength bands from ultraviolet to infrared and parallaxis-based imaging with the possibility of spatial detection and analysis.
Yet further it is also an object of the invention to provide an optoelectronic camera with imaging solutions which exploit light-detecting elements and circuits realized in optoelectronic technology on large surfaces. Such technology will allow an optoelectronic camera according to the invention to be manufactured with particular low cost. Finally it is a special object of the invention that the optoelectronic camera shall be realized with the use of thin devices based on amorphous or polycrystalline inorganic semiconductors or organic semiconductors based on polymers or oligomers. An example of the application of such material shall be components in the form of flexible plastic sheets, realized as thin cards which may be attached to flat and curved surfaces.
It is also a special object of the present invention to be able to realize ultraminiaturized optoelectronic cameras by using arrays of quasi-monochromatic microlenses as the optical active structures in the camera.
The above objects are realized according to the invention with an optoelectronic camera which is characterized in that the camera objective system is formed by an array of two or more optical active structures (L), that each optical active structure is adapted for generating optical images of the recorded scene on areas of the objective system image plane uniquely assigned to the respective optical active structure, that at least one optoelectronic detector is provided for each optical active structure in its respective assigned area or image plane, all detectors being included in the detector device of the camera, that each detector comprises at least one sensor element uniquely defining a pixel of the optical image, the area of the pixel substantially being determined by the area of the separate defining sensor element, and that each detector is adapted for defining a sample of the optical image with a number of pixels in each sample determined by a number of sensor elements in the defining detector, the digital image optimally being generated by all samples and with a spatial resolution determined by the number of pixels in distinct positions in the optical image defined by the sensor elements.
Advantageously the optical active structures in this connection are refractive structures or diffractive structures or reflective structures or combinations of such structures.
Particular it is advantageous that the refractive or diffractive structures are realized as lenslets with a diameter of at most 3 mm.
It is also advantageous when the total number of distinctly defined pixels in the optical image is equal to the total number of sensor elements in the detector device, such that a one-to-one relation between a given pixel and its defining sensor element in this case is present, whereby the digital image may be generated by a full sampling of the optical image or that the total number of distinctly defined pixels in the optical image is smaller than the total number of sensor elements in the detector device, such that a one-to-many relation between a given pixel and its defining sensor element or sensor elements in this case is present, whereby the digital image may be generated by an oversampling of the optical image. It is advantageous that the optoelectronic camera comprises one or more spatial filters provided in front of the objective system and/or between the objective system and the detector device, said spatial filter perferably being a spatial light-modulator and particular in that connection a controllable electrooptical light-modulator.
It is also advantageous when the optoelectronic camera according to the invention comprises one or more optical filter means provided in front of the objective system and/or between the objective system and the detector device. Preferably the optical filter means then may comprise separate, spectral-selective filters which separately are assigned to either each optical active structure or groups of optical active structures, or to the detector or detectors of the detector device assigned to each optical active structure.
Particularly the optical filter means may be adapted for transmitting in two or more separate wavelength bands by each spectral-selective filter transmitting in a separate wavelength band, the number of filters which transmits in each of the separate wavelength bands substantially being identical. The separate wavelength bands may then preferably be selected such that the optical filter means forms a primary colour filter means or an RGB filter means or such that the optical filter means forms a complementary colour filter means.
In some embodiments the spectral-selective filter advantageously may be realized as a strip filter which is adapted for transmitting in two or more separate wavelength bands by each strip transmitting in a given wavelength band. Preferably each strip in a strip filter may then be assigned to a respective row or column of sensor elements in the detector or detectors and each strip filter may further be realized as a primary colour filter or an RGB filter.
It may according to the invention also be advantageous that the spectral-selective filter is a mosaic filter which is adapted for transmitting in two or more separate wavelength bands by each filter segment in the mosaic filter transmitting in a given wavelength band, the number of filter segments which transmits in each of the wavelength bands substantially being identical, and preferably each filter segments in a mosaic filter then assigned to a respective sensor element or respective sensor elements in the detector or detectors. Particularly may then each mosaic filter preferably be a complementary colour filter.
It is according to the invention advantageous that the detector device comprises detectors realized in one of the following technologies, viz. CCD (charge-coupled device) technology, CID (charge-injected device) technology, APS (active pixel sensor) technology or PMSA (sensor array in passive matrix) technology. Wherein the detector is realized in PMSA technology it is according to the invention advantageous that the detector is realized as a thin-film component or a hybrid component, and that the detector is adapted for parallel read-out of the output signals from the sensor elements over a passive electrode array for unique addressing of each separate sensor element, as the detector in this case preferably may be made wholly or partly of organic semiconducting or electrical isolating materials, including plastic materials and semiconducting oligomers or polymers.
It is according to the invention advantageous that the optical active structures are realized with a determined chromatic aberration or dispersion, such that each optical active structure for two or more separate wavelength bands spectral-selectively generates the optical image in each wavelength band substantially on corresponding substantially congruent image planes superpositioned spaced apart in the ray direction, and that for each optical active structure in each of these image planes a detector for spectral selective detection of the optical image is provided such that for each optical active structure on each image plane a sample in the spatial domain and a sample in the frequency domain are defined, the resolution in the frequency domain substantially being determined by the number of separate wavelength bands with a respective assigned detector, whereby the optical image detected by the detector device may be generated as a multispectral digital colour image with the use of a selected suitable colour system. In that connection it may for each optical active structure preferably be provided three separate superpositioned detectors, respectively in the image plane for three separate wavelength bands assigned to a three-colour system.
Further the above-mentioned objects are realized according to the present invention with an optoelectronic camera which is characterized in that that the camera objective system is formed by an array of two or more optical active structures, that each optical active structure has a determined chromatic aberration or dispersion such that the location of its focal point depends on the wavelength of the light, that each optical structure is adapted for generating spectral-selectively optical images of the recorded scene on areas of three separate superpositioned image planes of the objective system, said areas being uniquely assigned to respective optical active structures, a first image plane forming a first optical image in a wavelength band in the blue portion of the spectrum, and a second image plane a second optical image in a wavelength band in the green portion of the spectrum and a third image plane a third optical image in a wavelength band in the red portion of the spectrum, that for each optical active structure an optoelectronic detector is provided in each of the respective assigned image planes for detection of the optical image generated by the optical active structure in each of the wavelength bands blue, green and red, that each detector comprises at least one sensor element, such that at least one sensor element uniquely defines a pixel of the optical image, the area of the pixel being substantially determined by the area of the separate defining sensor element, that each detector in one of the image planes is adapted for defining a sample of the optical image in the wavelength band corresponding to this image plane and with a number of pixels in each sample determined by the number of sensor elements in the defining detector, the digital image optimally being generated as an RGB colour image with a spatial resolution determined by the number of pixels in distinct, by the sensor elements defined positions in the optical image.
Preferably according to the invention the optical active structures in this case are refractive structures with a determined chromatic aberration or diffractive structures with a determined dispersion or combinations of such structures, and particularly it is then preferred that the refractive or diffractive structures are realized as lenslets with a diameter of at most 3 mm.
Further it is in that connection according to the invention preferred that the total number of distinctly defined pixels in the optical image in one of the wavelength bands is equal to the total number of sensor elements in the detectors for this wavelength band provided in the detector device such that in this case a one-to-one relation between a given pixel and its defining sensor element is present, whereby the digital RGB colour image can be generated with a full sampling of the optical image in each wavelength band and with three times oversampling of the whole optical image in colours.
Finally, a method for digital electronic formatting of a recorded full-format image according to the invention characterized by generating a section or field of the full-format digital image by substantially continuous or stepwise radial or axial contraction of the image towards respectively a convergence point or a convergence axis in the image, the contraction of the image taking place digitally in a data processor provided in the processor device and according to one or more determined pixel-subtracting protocols and being effected by an in-camera or externally provided operating device which is manoeuvred manually by a camera operator and automatically according to predetermined criteria, and by once again expanding formatted field radially or axially in this way stepwise or continuously from respectively the convergence point or from the convergence axis towards a full-format image.
Preferably, according to the invention the formatting may be visualised on the display device, the section or field caused by the formatting at any instant being displayed as a synthetic full-format image on the display device, but with a real spatial resolution given by the corresponding pixel subtraction value of the formatting.
Further, according to the invention a digital electronic zoom function may advantageously be implemented in the camera by the radial contraction or expansion, the field format being determined as respectively a telephoto, wide angle or macro format depending on the distance between the scene and the image plane in the camera, and by a digital electronic pan function being implemented in the camera by the axial contraction or expansion.
Further features and advantages of the present invention are disclosed by the remaining appended dependent claims.

Optoelectronic camera and method for image formatting in the same

c/oK. Gudesen. Hans Petters vei 7, N-1639


Described are methods for therapeutically treating the spine that involve the implantation of a medical device, such as a fusion cage, disc nucleus implant, or artificial disc, that transmits loads to a volume of bone tissue of the spine, and the reinforcement of that volume of bone tissue to decrease the risk of fracture or other injury resultant of the transmitted loads.

The present invention resides generally in the field of medical devices and methods, and particularly to methods that can be used in the implantation of medical devices in the spine to treat a variety of conditions.
As further background, much of the population will experience back pain at some point. There are many causes for back pain, and many treatments for alleviating the pain. Seven cervical, twelve thoracic, and five lumbar vertebrae are included in the normal human spine. Intervertebral discs reside between adjacent vertebrae except for in the first articulation between the first two cervical vertebrae. A disc also lies between the last lumbar vertebrae and the sacrum. Diseases or disorders in any of these or other areas of the spine can cause debilitating pain as well as limited mobility in a patient.
In one field of therapy, medical devices are implanted in the spine at one or more locations to treat the spinal condition. A variety of medical devices are utilized, serving a variety of purposes. Illustratively, fusion cages and other interbody fusion devices are positioned between vertebrae to facilitate their fusion. Such devices are commonly employed in conjunction with rods, screws, hooks, or plates that are also connected to elements of the spine. Systems are also connected to the spine in the absence of fusion devices, so as to support or realign elements such as vertebrae.
Disc nucleus implants are also known, for receipt within the interior space of a damaged or otherwise ineffectual intervertebral disc. Many such devices that have been proposed are formed of hydrogels or elastomeric polymers, for absorbing impact and other forces occurring between the vertebrae.
While there is a wide variety of spinal implant devices, most have in common the feature of transferring or imparting forces to bony tissue occurring within vertebrae of the spine. These forces may at times be deleterious to those bony tissues, particularly for example in the case of patients having diseased or damaged bony tissue in critical areas of the spine.
In light of this background, there exist needs for methods for implanting medical devices in the spine in which measures are undertaken to minimize the risk that loads imparted to bony tissue by the medical devices will cause fracture or other injury to the bony tissue. The present invention is addressed to these needs.