A novel color selection electrode assembly is utilized in screening a pattern of phosphor areas upon the faceplate of a color cathode ray tube. The faceplate, which is formed of a material having a predetermined temperature coefficient of expansion, has registration affording means. The aforesaid assembly comprises an auxiliary mount formed of a material having a temperature coefficient of expansion greater than that of the faceplate and has a central opening of such span as to enable the mount to surround the periphery of the faceplate. Index bosses, cooperable with the faceplate registration affording means, are detachably secured to the mount. A planar metal foil having a predetermined pattern of apertures and formed of a material having a temperature coefficient of expansion not greater than that of the mount is secured to the mount. The index bosses cooperate with the registration affording means on the envelope to permit repeated precise registrations between the foil and the faceplate to facilitate screening of the phosphor pattern as well as to facilitate mating of the electrode assembly to the faceplate. Finally, the invention contemplates a method of utilizing the electrode assembly for screening a phosphor pattern as well as methods of making a color cathode ray tube having such an electrode assembly.

This invention relates in general to color cathode ray tubes, and in particular to a color selection electrode assembly for use therein. Of equal significance, the invention is concerned with methods of manufacturing the electrode assembly as well as a cathode ray tube utilizing the assembly.
In general, a color selection electrode or "shadow mask" is a device which is disposed adjacent the luminescent phosphor screen that forms the target electrode of a color cathode ray tube, to control the landing pattern of one or more electron beams as they are swept across the screen. The shadow mask achieves color selection by partially shadowing the surface of the screen from scanning electron beams, permitting access to selected elemental phosphor areas by those beams. The choice of a color selection electrode for use in color television cathode ray tubes is, by and large, a choice between a non-tensed electrode and a tensed electrode. The most common type of color selection electrode used in color television receivers today is the non-tensed type.
In color picture tubes utilizing an untensed shadow m ask, there is a tendency on the part of the mask to "dome" (localized buckling) in those areas where a scene characterized by very high brightness is depicted. For example, in a scene where a high concentration of white is presented for an extended period of time, when the beams sweep that area of the screen the current in each beam peaks precipitously with an attendant localized heating of the mask. As a result of such a concentration of heat, that area of the mask expands and displaces itself from its original "cold" position to a position in which it does not effect proper masking of the writing electron beams. As a result, color purity is degraded. Moreover, because of its vulnerability to "doming", an untensed mask cannot accommodate the power density that a "doming-resistant" tensed mask can.
The general practice in cathode ray tubes manufactured for use in color television receivers is to position the untensed mask at an assigned location, relative to the phosphor screen, by suspending it from three preselected points disposed about the periphery of the tube's face panel. This suspension accommodates overall thermal expansion of the mask by causing the mask to be displaced toward the screen from its original position by provision of bi-metallic support springs; however, such provision can not resolve the above-described localized "doming" problem caused by concentrated heating in localized areas of the mask.
Insofar as the use of a tensioned color selection electrode is concerned, probably the most common use of such an electrode has been in connection with the cylindrical faceplate CRT produced by one color television manufacturer. In that tube, the color selection electrode comprises a grid formed of a multitude of parallel conductors tensed across a rigid frame. This grid serves to mask the writing beams to fall upon the desired light emitting phosphor.
The mask supporting frame is mechanically stressed, as by compressing it, prior to attaching the shadow mask thereto. Upon release of the compression force, restoration forces in the frame establish tension in the mask.
An advantage of utilizing a tensed mask resides in the fact that the mask, while under tension, will not readily submit to "doming". The mask retains its desired configuration until the heat generated by the scanning beams impinging thereon is sufficient to cause the area of the mask under bombardment to "relax" enough to negate the pre-established expansion of the mask.
Under extreme tube operating conditions, electron bombardment of a tensed mask can cause a series of grids of the mask to relax and cause color impurities. A cathode ray tube utilizing a tensed mask of the type adverted to above, the Sony Trinitron, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,638,063.
The color television cathode ray tube in most common usage today employs a faceplate which approximates a section of a large radius sphere. The shadow mask in such a tube, of course, is contoured to match the faceplate. A trend today is toward a flatter faceplate which, in turn, calls for a flatter shadow mask. One approach currently being pursued resorts to an untensed flat metal mask employed in conjunction with a substantially flat faceplate. However, a flat mask is inherently less mechanically stable than a curved mask. Accordingly, to acquire stability, resort is had to a thicker mask, for example, one having a thickness in the order of 10 to 12 mils. This is approximately twice the thickness of a conventional curved mask. However, when one goes to a flat 10 to 12 mil mask the aperture etching process is presented with horrendous problems. Specifically, in order to prevent aperture limiting of the beam at the outer reaches of the mask, as would be encountered in a 90 degree tube, the apertures have to be etched at an angle to the plane of the mask, rather then etched substantially perpendicular to that plane as is the case for a conventional curved mask. By way of resolving this aperture etching problem, applicant will teach the use of a color selection electrode assembly characterized by a thin, flat, tensed foil which, by virtue of its mounting, is mechanically stable and which is thin enough as to not be afflicted with the aggravated aperture etching problems posed by a thick mask.
Discussion of the Prior Art
An early example of a tensed shadow mask for use in a color television cathode ray tube is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,625,734. The tensed mask described therein was created by resort to a process called "hot-blocking". The practice was to insert a flat mask between a pair of frames which loosely received the mask. A series of tapped screws joining the two frames served to captivate the mask then the screws were subsequently drawn-down. The loosely assembled frame and mask was then subjected to a heat cycle by positioning heated platens adjacent the mask to heat and thereby expand it. The frame, however, was kept at room temperature. When the mask attained a desired expansion, the frame screws were tightened to captivate the mask in its expanded state. The heating platens were then removed. Upon cooling down to room temperature, the mask was maintained under tension by the frame. The resultant assembly was then mounted inside the tube adjacent the phosphor screen.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,284,655--Oess is concerned with a direct viewing storage cathode ray tube employing a mesh storage target which is supported in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the tube. The mesh target comprises a storage surface capable of retaining a charge pattern which, in turn, control the passage therethrough of a stream of electrons. From a structural standpoint, it is proposed that mesh storage screen be affixed (no details given) to a circumferential ring that is disposed across the open end of envelope member One end of the ring is in contact with the edge of the envelope member which has a coating of glass frit applied thereon. The end wall of another envelope member, also coated with frit, is placed in contact with the other side of the ring so that the end walls of the envelope members now abut both sides of the ring. Thereafter this assembly is frit sealed to secure the ring and mesh target within the tube.
It is of particular significance that the electrode spanning the inside of the tube envelope is a mesh screen that is not said to be subject to tension forces. Moreover, the mesh screen is not a color selection electrode that serves to direct a writing beam to selected elemental areas of color phosphors. Finally, there is no criticality, perceived or discussed, as respects mesh target registration with the phosphor layer on the faceplate.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,813,213 describes a cathode ray tube which employs a switching grid mounted adjacent the phosphor screen to provide a post deflection beam deflecting force. Basically, it is proposed to employ a taut wire grid that is sealed in the tube envelope wall and which, in one embodiment, proposes the use of an external frame to relieve the tension forces applied by the taut grid to the glass wall "of the tube. In another embodiment, which is not pictorally disclosed but simply textually referred to, an arrangement is proposed comprising a glass donut-shaped structure into which the grid wires are sealed. This donut assembly is then inserted between the faceplate of the tube and its conical section. Thereafter, the patent notes, after the tube is assembled, the phosphors may be deposited on the faceplate by conventional photographic processes. The application of elemental color phosphor areas to the faceplate of a tube is, in itself, a formidable task; how this could be achieved with a grid structure in situ across the faceplate is dismissed in rather cavalier fashion. As will be developed herein, the subject invention teaches, inter alia, how an initially untensed shadow mask can be utilized to screen color phosphors on the faceplate of a color television tube.
Other examples of the prior art practice of utilizing a tensioned grid-type structure in a cathode ray tube environment are described in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 2,842,696, 2,905,845, 3,489,966, and 3,719,848.
Finally, and by way of emphasizing the extent to which the invention to be described departs from the prior art, attention is directed to U.S. Pat. No. 3,898,508 which shows and describes a faceplate and shadow mask (untensed) assembly representative of current practice.
Objects of the Invention
Accordingly, it is a general object of the invention to provide an improved color selection electrode arrangement for use in a color cathode ray tube.
It is another general object of the invention to provide a method of making an improved color selection electrode.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a color television picture tube which, in utilizing the improved color selection electrode arrangement, offers significant economic advantages over prior art tubes.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a method of manufacturing a color television cathode ray tube which, in utilizing the improved color selection electrode, effects substantial economies over prior practice.
It is an object of the invention to provide a color selection electrode of the tensed type which has the anti-doming attribute of tension-type electrodes, but without the power handling limitations of prior art tension electrode systems.
It is still another object of the invention to provide an envelope-captivated tensed color selection electrode system having the advantages of such systems, yet which is readily adapted to conventional color tube photoscreening methods and apparatus.


The present disclosure provides an electronic apparatus including, an acquisition portion configured to acquire video data having a plurality of picture data constituting a moving picture for reproduction of a three-dimensional moving picture, an operation portion configured to give an instruction for thin-out reproduction of the plurality of picture data acquired for three-dimensional moving picture reproduction, and a selection portion configured to select in turns the picture data for thin-out reproduction of the three-dimensional moving picture from the plurality of picture data acquired for three-dimensional moving picture reproduction, based on the thin-out reproduction instruction, wherein the selection portion selects the picture data of which the display position relative to the last-selected picture is subject to a limited change in the direction of depth.

The present disclosure relates to an electronic apparatus, a reproduction system, a reproduction method, and a program for reproducing three-dimensional (3D) moving pictures.
There exist reproduction apparatuses for reproducing 3D moving pictures. One such reproduction apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 11-289555 (called the Patent Document 1 hereunder), another in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 10-327430 (called the Patent Document 2 hereunder), and another in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2010-130495 (called the Patent Document 3 hereunder).
The Patent Document 1 discloses a 3D video apparatus, describing position information about character information including display position information for three-dimensionally displaying the character information accompanying videos.
The Patent Document 2 discloses a telop display apparatus for use in a digital 3D broadcast, describing how a parallax is added to telop information.
The Patent Document 3 describes how right-eye display information and left-eye display information are created from menu display information based on a given degree of 3D effect.

Electronic apparatus, reproduction system, reproduction method, and program


Provided are an electrophotographic photoconductor that satisfies sufficient wear resistance as well as various characteristics as a photoconductor, and that is little affected by harmful gas or the temperature and humidity environment, and a method for producing such an electrophotographic photoconductor. The electrophotographic photoconductor has at least a photosensitive layer on a conductive substrate. The photosensitive layer contains a diadamantyl diester compound represented by Formula (I) (in Formula (I), R1, R2 and R3 each independently represent a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a substituted or unsubstituted C1-C6 alkyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted C1-C6 alkoxyl group, a C6-C20 aryl group or a heterocyclic group; l, m and n each represent an integer from 1 to 4; U and W represent a single bond or a substituted or unsubstituted C1-C6 alkylene group; and V represents an OCO group or a COO group).

The various functions that are required of electrophotographic photoconductors include, ordinarily, a function of holding surface charge, in the dark, a function of generating charge through reception of light, and a function of transporting charge likewise through reception of light. Such photoconductors include so-called single-layer-type photoconductors, having a single photosensitive layer, wherein these functions are combined in one layer, and so-called multilayer-type photoconductors having a photosensitive layer that is a stack of layers functionally separated into a layer that contributes mainly to charge generation, and a layer that contributes to holding surface charge, in the dark, and to charge transport during light reception.
For instance, the Carlson method is used in image formation by an electrophotographic method that utilizes such electrophotographic photoconductors. Image formation according to this scheme involves charging a photoconductor in the dark, forming an electrostatic image, such as text or pictures of an original, on the charged photoconductor surface, developing the formed electrostatic image by means of toner, and transferring and fixing the developed toner image onto a support such as paper. The photoconductor after toner image transfer has residual toner and charge removed therefrom and is re-used.
Materials used in the above-described electrophotographic photoconductor include inorganic photoconductive materials such as selenium, selenium alloys, zinc oxide, and cadmium sulfide, dispersed in a resin binder; organic photoconductive materials such as poly-N-vinyl carbazole, 9,10-anthracenediol polyester, pyrazoline, hydrazone, stilbene, butadiene, benzidine, phthalocyanine or bisazo compounds, dispersed in a resin binder, or materials resulting from vacuum vapor deposition or sublimation of the foregoing.
Electrophotographic printing devices are required to possess ever higher durability and sensitivity, and faster responses, to cope with, for instance, increases in the number of copies to be printed in a networked office, and with the rapid development of lightweight electrophotographic printing machines. These devices, moreover, are held to strict requirements in terms of exhibiting low impact from gases, such as ozone and NOx that are generated in the device, as well as little fluctuation in image characteristic arising from variations in the usage environment (room temperature, humidity).
At present, however, conventional photoconductors do not necessarily satisfy in full the characteristics that are required from them, and are still problematic as regards the points below.
For instance, wear resistance is bedeviled by the following problems. With the introduction of tandem development and other schemes, high-speed printing machines have gained popularity in recent years, both in printers and copiers for monochrome printing as well as in models for color printing. Color printing, in particular, requires high resolution, and the positional precision of images is thus a major concern among the required specifications. As the printed copies pile up, the surface of the photoconductor is abraded by friction against paper, rollers, blades and the like. When the degree of such wear is significant, it becomes difficult to print images that boast high resolution and high image positional precision. Various approaches have been adopted in order to enhance wear resistance, but cannot be said to be fully perfected yet.
Ozone is well known as one of the gases that are generated in these devices. Ozone is generated by chargers and roller chargers that elicit corona discharge. It is deemed that the organic substances that make up the photoconductor are oxidized, and the original structure of the substances breaks down when the photoconductor is exposed to the ozone that remains or is retained within the device, and the photoconductor characteristic are significantly impaired. Moreover, it is found that ozone oxidizes the nitrogen in air into NOx, and that this NOx alters the organic substances that make up the photoconductor.
It is deemed that characteristic deterioration elicited by such gases extends not only to the outermost layer of the photoconductor, but that adverse effects arise also when the gas flows into the interior of a photosensitive layer. It is found that the outermost layer itself of the photoconductor is scraped off, though the amount of scraping varies, on account of friction with the above-described various members. When a harmful gas flows into the interior of the photosensitive layer, the organic substances in the photosensitive layer may undergo structural breakdown. Suppressing the inflow of such harmful gas is thus an issue to be addressed. In tandem-type color electrophotographic devices that rely on a plurality of photoconductors, in particular, variation in color occur as a result of differences in the degree of influence of the gas, depending on, for instance, the position at which drums are disposed in the device. Such variations are deemed to constitute an impediment to forming adequate images. Therefore, it is found that characteristic deterioration caused by gas is a particularly important issue in tandem-type color electrophotographic devices.
For instance, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 disclose the feature of using an antioxidant compound, such as a hindered phenol compound, or a phosphorus-based compound, a sulfur-based compound, an amine-based compound, a hindered amine-based compound or the like. Patent Document 3 proposes a technology that involves using a carbonyl compound, and Patent Document 4 proposes a technology that involves using a benzoate-based or salicylate-based compound. Techniques proposed in order to enhance gas resistance include using an additive such as biphenyl or the like and using a specific polycarbonate resin, in Patent Document 5; combining a specific amine compound with a polyarylate resin, in Patent Document 6; and combining a polyarylate resin and a compound having a specific absorbance, in Patent Document 7. However, these techniques fail to afford a photoconductor that exhibits sufficient gas resistance. Even if the photoconductor did exhibit satisfactory gas resistance, the technologies do not address the issue of enhancing the wear resistance of the photoconductor. Moreover, satisfactory results are not yet forthcoming as regards other characteristics (for instance, image memory and potential stability in durability printing).
Patent Document 8 discloses the feature of prescribing the oxygen permeability coefficient of a surface layer to be no greater than a predetermined value, under a combined condition whereby a charge transport layer has a specific charge mobility, so that, as a result, it becomes possible to curb the influence exerted on a photoconductor by the gas that is generated around a charger. Patent Document 9 indicates that wear resistance and gas resistance can be enhanced by prescribing the water vapor permeability of a photosensitive layer to be no greater than a predetermined value. In this technology, however, the desired effect cannot be achieved unless a specific polymer charge transport substance is used. Thus, the mobility, structure and so forth of the charge transport substance are restricted, and hence the technology failed to meet in full various requirements as regards electrical characteristics.
Patent Document 10 indicates that a single-layer-type electrophotographic photoconductor having excellent gas resistance can be provided by using a specific diester compound, having a melting point not higher than 40° C., in a photosensitive layer. In this case, however, the substance of low melting point that is added into the layer is in contact, for a prolonged time, with parts of the device main body or cartridge in which the photoconductor, having the substance added thereinto, is used, and hence the compound may become smeared into the other part with which the compound is in contact, giving rise to so-called bleeding, which translates into defects on the image. A sufficient effect failed to be elicited here as well.
Characteristic variations in photoconductors depending on the usage environment include, firstly, impairment of image characteristics in low-temperature, low-humidity environments. Ordinarily, the sensitivity characteristic and the like of the photoconductors drop apparently in low-temperature, low-humidity environments. As a result, worsened image quality becomes manifest in terms of lower image density and poorer gradation in halftone images. Image memory accompanying the worsening of the sensitivity characteristic may become likewise conspicuous. Image memory is an instance of image impairment wherein the image that is recorded in the form of a latent image, in a first drum rotation, is affected by the variation in potential in second and subsequent drum rotations, such that unwanted portions are printed, particularly during printing of halftone images. In particular, negative memory, where shading of a printing image is reversed, becomes often conspicuously observable in low-temperature, low-humidity environments.
Image characteristic deterioration in high-temperature, high-humidity environments is a further issue. In high-temperature, high-humidity environments, the moving speed of charge in a photosensitive layer is ordinarily greater than that at normal temperature and humidity. This gives rise to an excessive increase in print density, and defects such as small black dots (fogging) or the like to appear on white solid images. An excessive increase in print density translates into greater toner consumption, while the increased one-dot diameter may upset fine gradation. As regards image memory, a frequently encountered occurrence is positive memory wherein shading in a printing image remains reflected without changes, contrary to what is the case in low-temperature, low-humidity environments.
The underlying causes for characteristic deterioration depending on temperature and humidity conditions include, in many instances, moisture absorption and moisture release by the resin binder in the surface layer of the photosensitive layer, and by the charge generation material. Against this background, various materials have been studied, as in Patent Document 11 and Patent Document 12, where a specific compound is added to a charge generation layer, and, as in Patent Document 13, where a specific polycarbonate-based polymeric charge transport substance is used in a surface layer. However, no materials have been found as yet that succeed in fully satisfying the various characteristics involved in curbing the influence that temperature and humidity conditions exerts on photoconductors.
The technology disclosed in Patent Document 14 managed to solve the problem of characteristic deterioration derived from the abovementioned temperature and humidity conditions, but was not necessarily adequate as regards wear resistance. Patent Document 15, which discloses diallyl adamantanedicarboxylate that is used as a starting material of a resin that can be used as an optical material or electric material, failed to fully assess compounds having an adamantane structure as additive materials for photoconductors. Patent Document 16 discloses a photoresist composition that contains a compound having an adamantane structure, and Patent Document 17 discloses a resist composition that contains at least one type of a compound that has two or more adamantyl skeletons in the molecule. Patent Document 18 discloses carboxylic acid derivatives having an adamantane structure, and Patent Document 19 discloses a novel adamantane carboxylate compound. However, these documents failed to sufficiently assess the use of such compounds as additive materials for photoconductors. Patent Document 20 discloses an electrophotographic photoconductor that contains a polymer compound having a specific adamantane structure in a photosensitive layer, and Patent Document 21 discloses an electrophotographic photoconductor provided with a photosensitive layer that contains a specific adamantane-based compound. However, these photoconductors were likewise insufficient.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. S57-122444    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. S63-18355    Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-268250    Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-287388    Patent Document 5: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H6-75394    Patent Document 6: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-199051    Patent Document 7: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-206109    Patent Document 8: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H08-272126    Patent Document 9: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H11-288113    Patent Document 10: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-226637    Patent Document 11: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H6-118678    Patent Document 12: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H7-168381    Patent Document 13: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-13708    Patent Document 14: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-279446    Patent Document 15: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. S60-100537    Patent Document 16: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H9-265177    Patent Document 17: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-55450    Patent Document 18: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-39928    Patent Document 19: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-306469    Patent Document 20: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H4-174859    Patent Document 21: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H6-161125
As described above, various conventional technologies have been proposed regarding improvement of photoconductors. However, the technologies disclosed in the patent documents above failed to sufficiently suppress adverse effects, on photoconductors, derived from harmful gas and the temperature and humidity environment, while satisfying sufficient wear resistance as well as various characteristics as a photoconductor. Further improvements were thus required.

Electrophotographic photoconductor and method for producing same


A disc brake caliper is basically provided with a caliper housing, a brake pad and an intermediate member. The caliper housing defines a slot that is configured to receive a brake rotor. The brake pad is disposed in the slot. The intermediate member is disposed between the caliper housing and the brake pad.

Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a disc brake caliper, a brake pad assembly and a biasing member assembly.
Background Information
Generally, there are several types of bicycle brake devices currently available on the market. Examples of some types of common bicycle brake devices include rim brakes, and disc brakes. Hydraulic disc brake systems provide substantial braking power in relation to the amount of braking force applied to the brake lever. Moreover, hydraulic disc brake systems typically provide a high level of braking consistency in all types of weather and riding conditions. However, one problem with disc brakes is that its performance is influenced by heat caused by braking.

Disc brake caliper, brake pad assembly and biasing member assembly


An extended scene wavefront sensing apparatus and procedure that separates (deconvolves) scene effects from wavefront errors of an optical or similar system. The present wavefront sensing apparatus and procedure uses a point source wavefront slope sensor in scene scanning mode and estimates wavefront errors by using a cross-correlation or cross-coherence procedure that operates on the outputs of the point source wavefront slope sensor. A signal processing procedure employed by the point source wavefront slope sensor provides output signals corresponding to wavefront slopes at forward optics pupil locations geometrically projected to the location of the transmission and reflection measurement plane detector pairs. During the scanning process, each of the detector pairs (equivalent to a subaperture) measures the effects of the local unchanging wavefront error in the forward optical system and temporal variations due to the scanning scene. By cross correlating or cross-cohering each detector pair's temporal difference with differences from selected reference detector pairs, the scene induced variations in the measurement are eliminated, thereby leaving the stationary wavefront error component of the measurement. The lead/lag time in the temporal differences output between detector pairs and reference detector pairs are then used to estimate the wavefront slope differences between equivalent subapertures. The wavefront slope differences are used in a reconstructor to generate wavefront errors or wavefront slope errors, except for an unobservable global tilt.

The present invention generally relates to the alignment and control of active optical systems, and more particularly, to apparatus and methods for determining and correcting for optical system wavefront errors from observations of unknown extended scenes.
A wide variety of proposed large aperture, imaging optical systems utilize segmented and deformable optics technology in order to reduce optics fabrication costs and weight. Such systems require active sensing and control of segment alignment and surface profile errors to achieve diffraction-limited levels of image quality. Alignment and wavefront estimation concepts based directly upon optical system image quality are of interest to system designers to reduce the calibration accuracy and the long-term stability requirements of local sensing techniques.
To successfully provide high resolution imagery of distant extended scenes, relatively large aperture optical systems are required. The aperture diameters are on the order of several meters. In order to reduce fabrication costs and weight, as well as provide a means to package large optical systems into current space launch vehicles, for example, the optical elements, such as mirrors, may be fabricated as a number of segmented and deformable components. If the segments are perfectly aligned with each other and deformed to produce the correct segmented mirror surface, the total prescribed overall mirror surface is formed. Ideally, all of the mirror segments and surfaces should lie in a surface that satisfies the telescope's optical prescription. Each mirror segment is provided with actuators that are capable of controlling moving, and deforming the segment to align it with adjacent segments, and generate the corrected segmented mirror surfaces.
Large optical systems employing segmented and/or deformable optics require active sensing and control of alignment and surface figure errors to achieve diffraction limited image quality. While various approaches have been taken in the past to detect and correct alignment and surface figure errors, many do not involve direct full segment measurement of the optical system's performance, require optical element "dithering", or are highly sensitive to noise, or require apriori scene information.
The basic problem in determining segment alignment and mirror figure errors from observations of unknown extended scenes is the necessity to develop a measurement and processing procedure that separates the scene effects from the optical system's wavefront errors. One prior approach involves the active measurement of mirror errors by electro-mechanical measurement of the back surface distance variation. This approach has less than optimal performance since it provides for an indirect measurement of wavefront errors. Since the entire front surfaces of the segments (not the rear surfaces) provide the critical figure, electro-mechanical devices are subject to a variety of bias error sources.
Another approach that is quite common is the "multi-dither" technique, in which multiple images are recorded both before and after one or more adjustments ("dithers") to the various mirror actuators. The actual changes in the images resulting from the dithers are used to calculate the degree of wavefront error present. The implementation of "dithering" can produce complex opto-mechanical arrangements, increase the power and bandwidth required of the mirror's actuators, and may cause a time averaged degradation of image quality. Such a multi-dither technique is described in R. A. Muller and A. Buffington, J.O.S.A., Vol. 64, No. 4, 1974, page 1200, and B. L. Ellerbroek, The Optical Science Corporation, Report No. Tr. 645,650, 1985. Because of the impact of multi-dither techniques on opto-mechanical complexity, actuator power and bandwidth requirements, and sensitivity to noise, the application of these techniques to optical systems with many degrees of freedom is questionable.
Another approach involves placing error sensing devices directly on an optical surface to be controlled. These include devices such as buried gratings, corner cubes and holographic optical elements. These devices are positioned to reflect light back to a focal plane sensor, with the location of the reflected spot providing information on the relative error associated with the location from which it was reflected. This approach suffers from limitations similar to the active electro-mechanical measurement technique, discussed above. In particular, surface error sensing devices require complex fabrication techniques, and do not sample the entire surface to be controlled.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a procedure whereby wavefront errors present in an optical system are determined from observations of extended scenes. It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a full aperture measurement and processing procedure that separates (deconvolves) scene effects from an optical system's wavefront errors.

Wavefront error estimation derived from observation of arbitrary unknown extended scenes


A shaped charge liner formed of a solid metallic material having a fine grain size of the order of 25 microns or less. The material can be, for example, copper, uranium, tantalum or an alloy showing superplasticity and having a density greater than about 5 gm/cm.sup.3. The liner can be made by subjecting the material to repeated cycles of cold working, annealing at just above the recrystallization temperature, and quenching.

This invention concerns shaped charges, that is explosive devices of the kind comprising a mass of explosive having a shaped hollow formed in an end face, the hollow being lined with a metallic material. The metallic material is usually copper, but can be of other suitable metals or alloys which may or may not include copper. The shaped hollow is often of conical form, but other shapes can be used such as hemispheres, trumpet-shapes, or shapes comprising sections of two or more cones having different apex angles. Shaped charges in which the shaped hollow does not possess rotational symmetry are also within the scope of the invention--for example those having a hollow in the form of an annular or linear trough.
As is well known, the shaped charge is capable, by appropriate design, of producing a jet having enormous powers of penetration. However, the present state of development of armour for battle tanks is such that the best modern tanks can in practice be provided with armour just capable of defeating most shaped charge weapons. Any small improvement in the performance of the shaped charge is thus likely to be of decisive importance in an attack on a modern armoured fighting vehicle. Clearly also, in other fields, an improved penetrative performance is highly desirable.
Factors known to affect the performance of a shaped charge include careful control of the shape and dimensional tolerances of the liner, the explosive properties and the uniformity of the explosive material, and the design and proper functioning of the initiation devices. At the present time it is considered that these three factors have been largely optimised, and further substantial improvements in them is not foreseen at present.
A fourth major factor affecting performance is the composition of the liner material, and the present invention provides for a substantial improvement in this factor.

The Secretary of State for Defence in Her Britanic Majesty's Government of the United Kingdon of Great Britain and Northern Ireland


An enabling key block (EKB) used in an encrypted key distributing tree structure is generated by forming a simplified 2-branch or multi-branch type tree with a terminal node or leaf which is capable of decrypting on the basis of a key corresponding to a node or a leaf of the Simplified tree. Further, the EKB includes a tag for indicating a position of an encrypted key in the tree. The tag not only discriminates position but also stores data for judging the presence of encrypted key data within the EKB. As such, a considerable reduction in data quantity is realized, and the decrypting process in a device is also simplified.

The present invention relates to an information processing system, an information processing method, an information recording medium, and a program distributing medium, and particularly, to a system and a method for distributing an encryption processing key in a system involving encryption processing. Particularly, the invention relates to an information processing system, an information processing method, an information recording medium, and a program distributing medium, which uses a tree-structured hierarchical key distributing system, reconstructs a hierarchical key distributing tree according to a distributing device to reduce the amount of data contained in a distributing key block to thereby reduce distributing message size, relieve loads of a content key distribution or data distribution when various keys are renewed, and provide data safely.
Recently, various software data (which will be hereinafter called contents) such as game programs, voice data, image data, and so on have been actively circulated through a network such as an internet, or storage media capable of being circulated such as a DVD, CD, etc. These contents are reproducible by a PC (Personal Computer), or by mounting a memory medium, or are stored in a recording device within a recording and reproducing apparatus attached to a PC and the like.
Information apparatuses such as a video game apparatus, PC and the like, have an interface for receiving the contents from a network or for getting access to a DVD, CD and the like, and further have control means necessary for reproducing the contents, along with RAM, ROM and the like used as a memory region for programs and data.
A user can reproduce various contents such as music data, image data, or programs through the information apparatuses or a display, a speaker and the like connected thereto.
Contents, such as game programs, music data, image data and the like, are generally held in their distribution rights by owners and sales agents. Accordingly, in distribution of these contents, there is a predetermined use limitation, that is, the use of contents is granted only to proper users so that reproduction without permission is not allowed.
One procedure for limiting use to authorized users is through encryption processing. For example, various contents such as voice data, image data, game programs and the like are encrypted prior to distribution, and means for decrypting the encrypted contents, that is a decryption key, is given only to persons confirmed to be a proper user.
Data encryption and decryption using keys is well known.
There are a variety of data encrypting and decrypting methods using an encryption key and a decryption key, but there is, as one example therefor, a system called a "common key encryption system." In the common key encryption system, an encryption key and a decryption key are made to be common. The common key (content key) is given to a proper user so as to eliminate data access by an invalid user. An illustration of a common key system is DES (Data Encryption Standard).
The encryption key and the decryption key as described above can be obtained by applying a unidirectional function such as a hash function on the basis of a pass-word or the like, for example. As used herein, a unidirectional function is a function from which it is very difficult to obtain an input conversely from an output. For example, a pass-word (determined by a user) is used as an input to the unidirectional function, and the encryption key and the decryption key are produced on the basis of the output. It is nearly impossible, from the encryption key and the decryption key thus obtained, to conversely obtain the pass-word.
Another type of system is the "public key encryption system." The public key encryption system user, a public key for encryption. The document encrypted by the public key can be subjected to decrypting by a private key corresponding to the public key. The private key is owned by the individual who issued the public key, and the document encrypted by the public key can be decrypted by the individual having the private key (content key). A typical public key encryption system is RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) encryption. As such, it is possible to provide a system for enabling decryption of encrypted contents only by a proper user.
In the content distributing systems as described above, contents are encrypted to provide them to users, and a content key is provided for decrypting the encrypted contents for use by a proper user. There is proposed a variation in which a content key for preventing invalid copies of the content key itself is encrypted before being provided to the proper user, and the encrypted content key is decrypted using a decryption key owned only by the proper user.
The judgment whether or not a user is proper is generally carried out by executing authenticating processing before distribution of contents or content keys, for example, between a content provider who is a transmitter of contents and a user's device. In general authenticating processing, confirmation is made of a mating party, and a session key effective only for communication is produced. When authentication is established, data, for example, contents or a content key, is encrypted using the produced session key for communication. The authenticating system includes mutual authentication using a common key encryption system, and an authentication system using a public key system. In the authentication using a common key, the common key must be available system wide which is inconvenient at the time of renewal processing. Further, in the public key system, the computation load is large along with requiring larger amounts of memory. The provisioning of such a processing means on each device is not desirable.

Information processing system and method for managing encrypted data with tag information


Methods and systems for automatically updating data within a peer-to-peer enterprise information system. A change for a source data type is published over broadcast channel. The data change is received at a join engine peer and, in response to receiving the data change, the join engine peer consults a global attribute object model for identifying a dependent output entity (one that includes the same attribute as that of the data change) and for identifying additional attributes for forming a modified attribute set for the output entity. In response to discovering the output entity, a query is generated that is directed to a source system that includes the additional attributes for forming the modified attribute set. Upon receiving a response from the source system, the join engine peer automatically forms the modified attribute set and publishes it to an output source system associated with the output entity.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to updating attributes of entities stored in an enterprise information system. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate generally to fractional consolidation and synchronization of data among specific stored entities dependent upon updated information within a system of distributed enterprise information systems.
2. Related Art
Typically source systems, such as databases (DBs), web servers etc., of enterprise information systems (EIS) have been used for storing and maintaining information. This information may be stored and maintained in the source systems by associating the information with data types. For example, referring to FIG. 1, Human Resources (HR) user 122, email user 142, and employee record 132 are examples of data types for which information (values for 124, 126, 144, 134, 136, 138) is stored and maintained in source systems 110. More specifically, HR user 122 may be used for storing and maintaining the first name 124 and last name 126 of a person. Similarly, an email user 142 may be used for storing and maintaining the email address 144 of a person, while an employee record 132 may be used for storing and maintaining the first name 134, last name 136, and email address 138 for a person.
The data types may be stored and maintained in separate source systems 110. For example, the information associated with the HR user 122 may be stored and maintained in a database (HR DB) 120 while the information associated with the email user 142 may be stored and maintained in an email DB 140. Similarly, the information associated with employee record 132 may be stored and maintained in a payroll database (DB) 130.
The modification of information associated with particular data types may impact information associated with other data types, thus, the information in the different data types which may reside in different source systems 110 may need to be synchronized. For example, an instance of HR user 122 in HR DB 120, an instance of employee record 132 in payroll DB 130, and an instance of email user 142 in email DB 140 may all store information for a particular person. In this case, if the last name 126 of the HR user 122 is modified from "Jones" to "Smith," for example, the employee record 132 and the email user 142 for the particular person may also need to be modified to reflect the change in name (referred to hereinafter as "synchronization").
FIG. 1 depicts one prior art approach to synchronizing information associated with various data types using a centralized server 170. Novell Dir XML, SunONE Metadirectory 5, IBM Directory Integrator, WebMethods, SunONE Integration Server, and BEA Weblogic Integration are examples of products that provide synchronization and consolidation of information that is stored and maintained in different source systems using a centralized server architecture similar to that depicted in FIG. 1.
In a centralized server architecture, modified information is communicated from the source systems 110 that store and maintain information to the centralized server 170 using connector views 150, which are associated with the source systems 110, to the combiner 160. The combiner 160 determines what data types may be impacted by modified information. Centralized server 170 stores and maintains information for all of the data types from all of the source systems 110 associated with the enterprise information system 100; thus, centralized server 170 may be used for providing a "metaview," e.g., consolidated view, for all the information that is stored and maintained in the source systems 110.
Continuing the example, although HR DB 120 may have an instance of the HR user 122, payroll DB 130 may have an instance of employee record 132, and email DB 140 may have an instance of email user 142 for the particular person, the centralized server 170 may also have values for the union of attributes (e.g., first name, last name, email address) for the particular person. Assuming, that HR DB 120 only includes an instance of HR user 122, payroll DB 130 only includes an instance of employee record 132, and email DB 140 only includes an instance of email user 142 for the particular person, then the "metaview" may include the value (e.g., "Jane") of first name 172, the value (e.g., "Jones") of last name 174, and the value (e.g., "email@example.com") of the email address 176 for the particular person, thus, the "metaview" provides a way of seeing all the information that is stored and maintained in the source systems 110.
When modified information is communicated to the centralized server 170, the information is stored in the centralized server 170 and communicated back to the source systems 110, which may need to synchronize the information based on the modification. The information may be communicated from the centralized server 170 to the source systems 110 through the combiner 160 and the connector views 150.
Continuing the example of a particular person's last name being modified from "Jones" to "Smith," the last name 126, LN 136, and last name 174 may need to be updated for the particular person in the source systems 110 and the centralized server 170. Similarly, assuming that email address is formed, for example, as a concatenation of "first name," ".", "last name," and "@sun.com," the values of the email addresses (138, 144) associated with the email user 140 and employee record 132 may also need to be updated in the source systems 110 and the centralized server 170.
In this case, assume that the last name 126 of HR user 122, which is stored in HR DB 120, is first modified from "Jones" to "Smith." The new value (e.g., "Smith") for last name 126 may be communicated to the connector view CV1, which is associated with HR DB 120. CV 1 in turn communicates the new value to the combiner 160, which determines that the employee record 130 and the email user 140 may be impacted. The old value (e.g., "Wright") for the last name 174 in centralized server 170 is replaced with the new value (e.g., "Smith") for the last name 126 of HR user 122. Similarly, the value of email address 176 is also modified in the centralized server 170.
Although the centralized server 170's information (172, 176) has been synchronized, the source system 110's information (136, 138, 144) has not been synchronized yet. Thus, the modifications to last name 174 and email address 176 are communicated from the centralized server 170 to the combiner 160. The combiner 160 communicates the modifications to the last name 174 and email address 176 to the connector view CV2, which communicates the modifications to payroll DB 130. Payroll DB 130 updates the instance of employee record 132 based on the modifications it receives. Similarly, combiner 160 communicates the modifications of the email address 176 to the connector view CV3, which communicates the modifications to email DB 140. Email DB updates the instance of email user 142 based on the modifications it receives. After all of the synchronizations have been performed, last name 126, LN 136, and last name 179 are set to the value "Smith." Similarly, email address 138, email address 144, and email address 176 are set to the value "email@example.com."
The centralized server approach of the prior art may have numerous disadvantages. For example, the centralized server 170 becomes a performance bottle-neck as all modifications to information that is stored and maintained in source systems 110 must be communicated to the centralized server 170 in order to perform data synchronization and consolidation. Further, the centralized server architecture of FIG. 1 cannot be scaled horizontally e.g., by adding additional server systems. Instead, the centralized server architecture can only be scaled vertically e.g., by increasing the power of the server system that executes the centralized server 170.

Fractional data synchronization and consolidation in an enterprise information system


An RF LDMOS device is disclosed, including: a substrate having a first conductivity type; a channel doped region having the first conductivity type and a drift region having a second conductivity type, each in an upper portion of the substrate, the channel doped region having a first end in lateral contact with a first end of the drift region; a first well having the first conductivity type in the substrate, the first well having a top portion in contact with both of a bottom of the first end of the channel doped region and a bottom of the first end of the drift region; and a second well having the first conductivity type in the substrate, the second well having a top portion in contact with a bottom of a second end of the drift region. A method of forming such an RF LDMOS device is also disclosed.

RF LDMOS devices are commonly used in high-power RF applications, such as RF base stations and RF broadcast stations. In general, RF LDMOS devices are used in plurality to form an array, in which each device is required to have substantial reliability in operation to avoid the whole array becoming useless upon unexpected failure (e.g., premature breakdown) of any susceptible RF LDMOS device.
FIG. 1 shows an existing RF LDMOS device, which can be either a P-channel or N-channel one. In the case of an N-channel RF LDMOS device, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the reference number 1 represents a heavily-doped P-type substrate whereon a lightly-doped P-type epitaxial layer 2 is formed. In the lightly-doped P-type epitaxial layer 2, there are sequentially formed a heavily-doped N-type source region 8, a P-type channel region 7 and an N-type drift region 3 in this order in a side-by-side manner, with a heavily-doped N-type drain region 9 formed in the N-type drift region 3. The P-type channel region 7 and the N-type drift region 3 are overlaid by a gate oxide layer 4 and a uniformly-doped polysilicon gate electrode 5 and stacked in the order from the bottom up. The polysilicon gate electrode 5 and a portion of the N-type drift region 3 are covered by a silicon oxide layer 10, and a portion of the silicon oxide layer 10 is further covered by a gate shield layer 11 which extends above at least a portion of the N-type drift region 3 while being isolated by the silicon oxide layer 10. A sinker region 12 extends downwards from a surface of the source region 8, through the source region 8 and the epitaxial layer 2, into the substrate 1.
With this design, in the event of a high voltage applied on the drain region 9, a snapback effect will be triggered, which is a predominant cause for burn-out of the RF LDMOS device. Accordingly, for the sake of reliability improvement, it is desirable to raise, as high as possible, the threshold of the drain voltage that can trigger the snapback effect. The threshold voltage can be increased by one or a combination of two or more of the following three measures: a) enhancing a breakdown voltage between the drain region 9 and the substrate 1; b) reducing the channel resistance of the device; and c) lowering a channel current upon the breakdown of the device. However, as for measure a), since the breakdown voltage is determined by dopant concentrations of the drain region 9 and the substrate 1, it is not adjustable as desired for a given design with predetermined dopant concentrations of the drain region 9 and the substrate 1.

RF LDMOS device and method of forming the same

SHANGHAI HUAHONG GRACE SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CORPORATION


A method for generating a codebook and a method and an apparatus for data transmission are provided. The method includes: receiving a label of a codeword sent by a User Equipment (UE); selecting the codeword identified by the label from the codebook for eight-antenna; and coding data to be sent by using the codeword. The codebook for eight-antenna includes at least one rank-8 codeword for eight-antenna. The rank-8 codeword for eight-antenna is generated by multiplying an inverse matrix of a rotation matrix for eight-antenna with an eight-dimensional matrix formed by rank-4 codewords for four-antenna; or generated by extending rank-4 codewords for eight-antenna, where the rank-4 codeword for eight-antenna is generated according to codewords for four-antenna. Therefore, the codeword in the codebook for eight-antenna is applicable to scenarios including dual-polarization strong correlation, dual-polarization weak correlation, single-polarization strong correlation, and single-polarization weak correlation, etc.

In order to satisfy the demand of peak spectrum efficiency, support for eight antennas at a base station side is added during formulation of a Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) standard for a new generation of wireless cellular mobile communication system.
A codebook for eight-antenna is designed by using a codebook for two-antenna and a codebook for four-antenna to produce a Kronecker product, and use the codebook for four-antenna and the codebook for two-antenna to produce a Kronecker product, so as to generate a full rank codebook CB8(8) for eight-antenna, which is specifically shown in Formula (1):CB8(8)⊂MCB8(8)={W(2)W(4)|W(n)εCBn(n)}∪{W(4)W(2)|W(n)εCBn(n)}  (1)
                    where                                                            w                      (            2            )                              ∈              CB        2                  (          2          )                      =          {                                    1                          2                                                      [                                                            1                                                  1                                                                              1                                                                      -                    1                                                                        ]                          ,                              1                          2                                                      [                                                            1                                                  1                                                                              j                                                                      -                    j                                                                        ]                              }        ,n is equal to 2 or 4, W(2) is a codeword in the codebook for two-antenna, W(4) is a codeword in the codebook for four-antenna, CB2(2) is a full rank codebook for two-antenna, and CB4(4) is a full rank codebook for four-antenna. The codeword for eight-antenna does not adapt to characteristics of a dual-polarization channel, and cannot be effectively applied to a dual-polarization antenna.

Method for generating codebook, method and apparatus for data transmission


In an air ducting system for cooling air in an air duct in the front end of a motor vehicle, which is positioned with the air outlet at the underside of the front end in front of a capsule surrounding the engine compartment of the motor vehicle, a plurality of aerodynamically shaped hollow guide vanes internally traversed by a cooling medium which divide the air duct into a plurality of subducts is arranged as far as the air outlet opening at the underside of the front end in order to improve the airflow in the air duct and to cool the cooling medium.

The invention relates to an air ducting system for cooling air in an air duct in a front end of a motor vehicle, which duct is arranged in front of a capsule surrounding an engine compartment in the direction of travel of the motor vehicle and has an essentially vertically positioned air inlet opening at a forward front end wall and an essentially horizontally positioned air outlet opening at an underside of the front end.
An air ducting system of this kind is known from AT-PS 385 245 B. In this known air ducting system, after flowing through a radiator the cooling air strikes the almost vertical rear wall, acting as deflection plate, of the air duct, with the result that it is forced to execute a sharp, almost right-angled deflection. These unfavorable flow conditions reduce the rate of flow of the cooling air and hence the possible cooling capacity.
An object on which the invention is based is to design an air ducting system of the type mentioned at the outset in such a way that higher cooling capacities are made possible by better flow conditions of the cooling air and by an increase in the cooling surface flowed over by the cooling air.
This object is achieved in an air ducting system of the type referred to above, wherein a plurality of aerodynamically shaped guide vanes divide the air duct into a plurality of subducts, said guide vanes being arranged in the air duct to extend as far as the air outlet opening at the underside of the front end, and wherein the guide vanes are of hollow design and are flowed through by a cooling medium transversely to the direction of flow of the cooling air.
In the air ducting system according to the invention, the cooling air is guided constantly by the guide vanes in a plurality of subducts without sharp deflection, with the result that, with other conditions the same, a lower-loss flow occurs which makes possible a higher rate of flow of cooling air and hence a greater cooling capacity. In addition, a considerable increase in the cooling surface flowed over by the cooling air and hence a further improvement of the cooling capacity is achieved, it furthermore being possible to save on the space for a separate radiator or without the need for additional space, to provide an additional radiator, such as a condenser or an oil cooler.
It is already known from MTZ October 1958, pages 347 and 348 to arrange air baffles in a pipe bend behind the radiator of a vehicle cooling system, said air baffles reducing the loss coefficients of the cooling air flow. An armored vehicle is furthermore known from U.S. Pat. No. 2,439,775, in which annular air guide vanes are arranged which serve to deflect cooling air between an air inlet and a fan and simultaneously represent heat exchangers for oil flowing through their interior.
The use of the lateral walls of the air duct as radiator tanks in accordance with certain preferred embodiments represents a considerable cost and space saving. In addition, as part of the capsule, they contribute to the sound insulation of the engine compartment.
In space-saving manner, the design of the air ducting system in certain preferred embodiments includes the capsule wall in the formation of the air duct with its advantages in terms of flow.
The air ducting system according to certain preferred embodiments improves the flow conditions over the entire path between the radiator, situated near to the air inlet opening, and the air outlet opening. There is the possibility, by appropriate design of the cooling ribs in the radiator, to direct the incoming cooling air onto the guide vanes already at this point.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Air ducting system for cooling air in the front end of a motor vehicle


Disclosed herein is a signal processing apparatus including a processing block configured to perform a carrier shift amount detection process for detecting a carrier shift amount constituting a carrier error used for demodulating an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing signal known as the OFDM signal; and a correction block configured to correct the OFDM signal in accordance with the carrier shift amount. The OFDM signal includes a first preamble signal including subcarriers, and a second preamble signal including subcarriers of which the spacing is narrower than the spacing of the subcarriers included in the first preamble signal. The second preamble signal includes pilot signals which are known signals located at intervals of a predetermined number of subcarriers. The processing block detects the carrier shift amount using a correlation of the subcarriers included in one such second preamble signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a signal processing apparatus, a signal processing method, and a reception system. More particularly, the invention relates to a signal processing apparatus, a signal processing method, and a reception system for estimating, rapidly and with required precision, errors of the carrier used illustratively to demodulate the OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Terrestrial digital broadcasts and like broadcasting schemes adopt OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) as their data (i.e., signal) modulation method.
Under OFDM, numerous orthogonal subcarriers are provided within the transmission band, each subcarrier being assigned data in its amplitude and phase for digital modulation such as PSK (Phase Shift Keying) and QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation).
According to OFDM, the transmission band is divided into a large number of subcarriers. It means that for each subcarrier, the bandwidth is narrow and the modulation rate is low. However, the total transmission speed (of all subcarriers) is the same as that of ordinary modulation methods.
Since data is allocated to a plurality of subcarriers under OFDM as mentioned above, data modulation may be carried out by IFFT (Inverse Fast Fourier Transform) computation. The OFDM signal resulting from the modulation may be demodulated by FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) computation.
It follows that the transmission apparatus for transmitting the OFDM signal may be constituted using circuits performing IFFT computations and that the reception apparatus for receiving the OFDM signal may be formed using circuits effecting FFT computations.
Under OFDM, signal segments called guard intervals are provided to improve resistance to multipath interference. Also according to OFDM, pilot signals (i.e., signals known to the reception apparatus) are inserted discretely in the direction of time as well as in the direction of frequency. These pilot signals are used by the reception apparatus for synchronization and for estimating transmission channel characteristics.
Because of its high resistance to multipath interference, OFDM is adopted notably by terrestrial digital broadcasts that are vulnerable to the effects of such multipath interference. The terrestrial digital broadcasting standards adopting OFDM illustratively include DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial) and ISDB-T (Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting-Terrestrial).
Under OFDM, data is transmitted in units called OFDM symbols.
Generally, the OFDM symbol is formed by effective symbols that constitute a signal period in which IFFT is performed in modulation, and by a guard interval made by a partial waveform of the latter half of the effective symbols being copied unmodified to the beginning of the effective symbols.
The guard interval attached to the beginning of the OFDM symbol helps enhance resistance to multipath interference.
The terrestrial digital broadcasting standards adopting OFDM define the unit called a frame (OFDM transmission frame) made up of a plurality of OFDM symbols. Data is then transmitted in units of frames.
The reception apparatus for receiving the above-described OFDM signal uses an OFDM signal carrier to effect digital orthogonal demodulation of the OFDM signal.
Generally, however, the OFDM signal carrier used by the reception apparatus for digital orthogonal demodulation does not coincide with the OFDM signal carrier employed by the transmission apparatus transmitting the OFDM signal; the carrier contains errors. That is, the frequency of the OFDM signal used for digital orthogonal demodulation is shifted from the center frequency of the OFDM signal (i.e., its IF (Intermediate Frequency) signal) received by the reception apparatus.
For that reason, the reception apparatus is arranged to perform two processes: a carrier shift amount detection process for detecting a carrier shift amount which is the error of the OFDM signal carrier used for digital orthogonal demodulation, and a correction process (i.e., offset correction) for correcting the OFDM signal in such a manner as to eliminate the carrier shift amount.
Meanwhile, DVB-T2 (Digital Video Broadcasting-Second Generation Terrestrial in Europe) is being worked out as a terrestrial digital broadcasting standard that adopts OFDM.
The so-called BlueBook (DVB BlueBook A122) describes DVB-T2 ("Frame structure channel coding and modulation for a second generation digital terrestrial television broadcasting system (DVB-T2)," DVB Document A122, June 2008; called Non-Patent Document 1 hereunder).
Under DVB-T2 (as set forth in BlueBook), a frame called the T2 frame is defined. Data is transmitted in units of T2 frames.
A T2 frame (representing the OFDM signal) includes two preamble signals called P1 and P2 that contain information necessary for processes such as OFDM signal demodulation.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the format of a T2 frame. The T2 frame contains P1 symbols, P2 symbols, and data symbols, in that order.
The P1 symbols are symbols for transmitting P1 signaling including a transmission type and basic transmission parameters.
More specifically, the P1 signaling (P1) symbols include parameters S1 and S2 indicating whether P2 symbols are transmitted by the SISO (Single Input Single Output (meaning one transmitting and one receiving antenna)) method or by the MISO (Multiple Input, Single Output (meaning multiple transmitting antennas but one receiving antenna)) method. The parameters also indicate the FFT size (i.e., number of samples (symbols) subject to a single FFT computation) for performing FFT computation of P2.
It follows that to demodulate P2 may require demodulating P1 beforehand.
The P2 symbols are symbols for transmitting L1 pre-signaling and L1 post-signaling.
The L1 pre-signaling includes information for allowing the reception apparatus receiving T2 frames to receive and decode the L1 post-signaling. The L1 post-signaling includes parameters required by the reception apparatus in gaining access to the physical layer (i.e., to the physical layer pipes).
One T2 frame may have P2 of 1 to 16 OFDM symbols disposed therein.
The P1 and P2 symbols include known pilot signals. Specifically, pilot signals of P1 are disposed on the subcarriers that are not periodically located, whereas pilot signals of P2 are disposed on the subcarriers that are periodically located. Of the pilot signals, those located periodically at intervals of a predetermined number of subcarriers (symbols) are called SP (Scattered Pilot) signals; the pilot signals disposed on the subcarriers of the same frequency are called CP (Continual Pilot) signals.
Also, the reception apparatus performs FFT computation of the OFDM signal per OFDM symbol. DVB-T2 defines six FFT sizes, 1 K, 2 K, 4 K, 8 K, 16 K, and 32 K, each FFT size being the number of symbols (subcarriers) making up one OFDM symbol.
The spacing between the subcarriers of OFDM symbols (i.e., subcarrier spacing) is inversely proportional to the FFT size of the OFDM symbol. Thus under DVB-T2, defining the FFT size is equivalent to stipulating the subcarrier spacing.
DVB-T2 also stipulates that, of the six above-mentioned FFT sizes, 1 K should be used for the OFDM symbols of P1. It is further stipulated that for P2 and other OFDM symbols other than P1, any one of the six FFT sizes above may be used.
It follows that regarding the OFDM symbols of P1, solely the subcarriers having the widest subcarrier spacing (corresponding to the FFT size of 1 K) defined by DVB-T2 are used.
With regard to P2 and other OFDM symbols other than P1, that is, OFDM symbol of P2 and OFDM symbol of data (Normal), it is possible to use not only the subcarriers having the widest subcarrier spacing defined by DVB-T2, but also the subcarriers having a subcarrier spacing other than the widest subcarrier spacing (i.e., any one of the spacings corresponding to the FFT sizes of 2 K, 4 K, 8 K, 16 K, and 32 K).
FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an OFDM signal of P1.
The OFDM signal of P1 has 1 K (=1024) symbols as its effective symbols.
This signal has a cyclic structure in which a starting part A1 of the effective symbols A is frequency-shifted to a signal C copied ahead of the effective symbols and the remaining part A2 of the effective symbols A is frequency-shifted to a signal B copied behind the effective symbols.
The OFDM signal of P1 has 853 subcarriers as its effective subcarriers. Under DVB-T2, information is located on 384 subcarriers out of the 853 subcarriers.
The implementation guidelines of DVB-T2 (ETSI TR 102 831: IG) say that if the transmission band for transmitting the OFDM signal is illustratively 8 MHz, then the correlation of information location on the above-mentioned 384 subcarriers regarding the OFDM signal of P1 may be used to estimate a "coarse" carrier frequency offset with accuracy of up to ±500 kHz.
The implementation guidelines also say that in the case of P1, the cyclic structure explained above in reference to FIG. 2 may be used to estimate a "fine" carrier frequency offset with accuracy of up to ±0.5 multiplied by the subcarrier spacing.
DVB-T2 stipulates that the FFT size of P1 should be 1 K samples (symbols) as mentioned above.
DVB-T2 also stipulates that if the transmission band is illustratively 8 MHz, then the sampling period for P1 with the FFT size of 1 K samples should be 7/64 μs.
Thus when the transmission band is illustratively 8 MHz, the effective symbol length Tu of P1 is 1024×7/64 μs.
Meanwhile, there exists the relation defined by the expression D=1/Tu, where Tu (in seconds) denotes the length of the effective symbols out of the OFDM symbols (i.e., effective symbol length excluding guard intervals), and D (in Hz) represents the subcarrier spacing of the subcarriers of the OFDM signal.
Thus if the transmission band is 8 MHz, the subcarrier spacing D of the subcarriers of P1 is approximately 8,929 Hz, which is the inverse of the effective symbol length Tu=1024×7/64 μs.
As described, because the subcarrier spacing D of P1 is about 8,929 Hz, the "fine" carrier shift amount can be estimated using P1 with an accuracy of ±8,929/2 Hz.
In this case, the capture range of P1, i.e., the range into which the carrier of the OFDM signal used for digital orthogonal demodulation may be captured by correcting the OFDM signal in keeping with the "fine" carrier shift amount obtained from P1, is within ±8,929/2 Hz (between −8929/2 Hz and +8929/2 Hz) in reference to the true value of the OFDM signal carrier.
Given the carrier shift amount estimated using P1 with the FFT size of 1 K, it is possible to capture the carrier of the OFDM symbols having the FFT size of 1 K into the range of ±0.5×subcarrier spacing D, whereby the OFDM symbols are demodulated.

Signal processing apparatus, signal processing method, and reception system


The present application is directed to a functional signal anchor that localizes a fusion protein to the apoplast of vascular elements in plants. The signal anchor is useful for engineering secretory proteins to the cell wall and or/apoplast of plant cells. The signal anchor is also useful for producing secretory proteins in transgenic plant cells in a bioreactor.

The present invention is directed to a functional signal anchor that localizes a fusion protein to the apoplast of vascular elements in plants. The signal anchor is useful for engineering secretory proteins to the cell wall and/or apoplast of plant cells. The signal anchor is also useful for producing secretory proteins in transgenic plant cells in a bioreactor.
The publications and other materials used herein to illuminate the background of the invention, and in particular, cases to provide additional details respecting the practice, are incorporated by reference, and for convenience are referenced in the following text by author and date and are listed alphabetically by author in the appended bibliography.
Xylem and phloem of plant vascular system are major conduits for transportation of water and solutes through the plant (Canny, 1986; Kim and Guerinot, 2007). Xylem and phloem are targets of various kinds of plant pathogens, such as bacteria, fungi and insects. A number of phloem-feeding insects, such as aphids and planthoppers, are highly destructive agricultural pests worldwide (Backus et al 2004, Moran et al, 2001). These pests mainly feed on the stems and suck in the phloem sieve elements, thus, causing direct feeding damage to the crop (e.g. hopper bum) (Moran et al, 2001). These pests also transmit viral diseases that cause additional damages (Noda et al, 1991). Though spraying poisonous chemicals is the usual means used in pest control, which is laborious, expensive and more over not environment-friendly, therefore, use of other safe and economic alternatives of pest control are needed. A number of plant or bacterium derived toxin proteins having insecticidal properties are available and used in transgenic crops (Carlini and Grossi-de-Sa, 2002, Chattopadhyay et al., 2004). The adoption of insect-resistant transgenic crops has been increasing annually ever since the commercial release of the first-generation maize and cotton expressing a single modified Bacillus thuringiensis toxin (Bt) (Christou et al., 2006).
These toxin proteins act differentially against different classes of insects and the toxicity of most of plant derived toxins and Bt to aphids and planthoppers are either unknown or with no effect (Carlini and Grossi-de-Sa, 2002). This is partially due to the fact that the two kinds of insect are phloem-feeding insects, whereas the toxin proteins localize to cytoplasm of plant cell. Similarly, the engineered proteins need to be secreted to plant culture media when transgenic plant cells are used as a natural bioreactor (James and Lee, 2001). In either of the cases, efficient secretion of the engineered proteins to apoplast of plant cells should be considered.
Plants do allow the cost-effective production of recombinant proteins on an agricultural scale, while eliminating risks of product contamination with endotoxins or human pathogens (Fischer and Emans, 2000; Giddings et al., 2000; Ma et al., 2003; Twyman et al., 2003). Plant suspension cells can be employed as host cells for the production of foreign proteins. The main advantages of using transgenic plant cells are due to the fact that the plant culture media is inexpensive and simple. The mammalian proteins produced from plant cells were found to be correctly glycosylated and secreted into the medium (James and Lee, 2001).
Plant disease resistance (R) genes confer race-specific resistance to pathogens that have cognate avirulence (avr) genes (Flor, 1971). The R protein presumably functions as part of a receptor complex that recognizes an elicitor, which is directly or indirectly encoded by the cognate avr gene in the pathogen, and subsequently initiates defense responses (Hammond-Kosack and Jones, 1997; Martin et al., 2003). In recent years, extensive molecular and genetic analyses have been performed in a number of R-Avr systems. The majority of R proteins fall into five classes based primarily upon their combination of a limited number of structural motifs while a few other R proteins have novel structures or confers resistance to plant pathogens in a non-race-specific way (Dangl and Jones, 2001; Martin et al., 2003).
One of the interesting aspects of R protein function is its localization. R proteins have been found in a variety of cellular locations. The available information suggests that R proteins in general colocalize with pathogen effectors, indicating a clear display of spatial interdependency of both components (Martin et al., 2003). The direct physical interactions of R and Avr proteins have been demonstrated in several R-Avr pairs (Jia et al., 2000; Kim et al., 2002; Leister and Katagiri, 2000; Scofield et al., 1996; Tang et al., 1996). Viral effectors are present inside the plant cell, and the predicted structures of all known R proteins against viruses indicate that they are also intracellular (Burch-Smith et al, 2007). The tomato Cf proteins, which recognize extra-cellular Cladosporium fulvum Avr proteins (Lauge and De Wit, 1998), are localized to the plasma membrane (Rivas and Thomas, 2005). Fungal pathogen-directed R proteins can also be intracellular as fungal Avr proteins are delivered to and function inside plant cells (Jia et al., 2000).
All bacteria-directed R proteins are predicted to be intracellular, except XA21. This prediction is based on the fact that most of the bacterial Avr gene products are effector proteins, which are secreted to host cells through the bacterial type III secretion system (TTSS) (He et al., 2004). In fact, many R proteins do not carry recognizable subcellular targeting signatures and their localization needs to be determined experimentally. For instance, Arabidopsis RPM1 and RPS2 are associated with cellular membranes although they do not possess any canonical membrane targeting domains (Axtell and Staskawicz, 2003; Boyes et al., 1998). This subcellular localization is consistent with the membrane localization of their corresponding Avr elicitors, AvrRpm1 and AvrRpt2, respectively (Axtell and Staskawicz, 2003; Nimchuk et al., 2000). Apart from the plasma membrane, Arabidopsis RRS1-R and its cognate Avr protein PopP2 colocalize in the nucleus and the nuclear localization of RRS1-R is dependent on the presence of PopP2 (Deslandes et al., 2003). Recently, both tobacco N and barley MLA10 were found to localize to cytoplasm and nucleus, and nuclear retention of either R protein is indispensable for downstream signaling and defense (Burch-Smith et al., 2007; Shen et al., 2007). In these three cases, translocation of the R proteins during signaling might take place as well upon activation of the R proteins by the cognate Avr proteins (Burch-Smith et al., 2007; Deslandes et al., 2003; Shen et al., 2007). Rice XA21 is a transmembrane receptor kinase that presumably recognizes elicitor localized to apoplast of rice cells with its extracellular LRR portion (Song et al., 1995). The AvrXa21 molecule(s) corresponding to Xa21 has not yet been identified, although it appears that it might be a sulphated protein secreted to the apoplast through a type II secretion system and involved in quorum sensing (Lee et al., 2006).
The apoplast is the extraprotoplastic matrix of plant cells, consisting of all compartments from the external face of the plasmalemma to the cell wall (Dietz, 1997). The apoplast is important for all the plant's communication to its environment and plays an important role in signaling and defense upon pathogen attack (Dietz, 1997; Huckelhoven, 2007). Many extracellular enzymes and proteins located in apoplast or associated with cell wall are involved in signaling for defense or have antimicrobial function (Edreva, 2005; Huckelhoven, 2007). For example, the apoplast contains several low-molecular-weight and protein antioxidants, which control levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) (Noctor et al., 2002; Pignocchi and Foyer 2003). Apoplastic levels and redox status of ascorbate and glutathione change during compatible and incompatible interactions of barley with B. graminis and several extracellular antioxidative enzyme activities also increase upon B. graminis attack (Noctor et al., 2002; Vanacker et al., 1998, 2000). The increase of peroxidase activity in extracellular space and accumulation of cationic peroxidase in xylem vessels was also detected during interaction of rice with X. oryzae pv oryzae, especially with incompatible interaction (Hilaire et al., 2001; Reimers et al., 1992. Young et al., 1995). Another group of proteins that are secreted to cell wall are pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins. The PR proteins include PR-1, chitinase, glucanases, proteases, thionins, osmotins, defensins, and some of them are only small peptides (Edreva, 2005; Huckelhoven, 2007). These PR proteins induced in resistant or systemic acquired resistance (SAR)-expressing plants, as well as from transgenic resistant plants exhibit high antimicrobial activity (Edreva, 2005). Most of the PR proteins are also induced by many environmental and developmental stimuli (Edreva, 2005).
Bacterial blight of rice, caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, is one of the most destructive bacterial diseases of rice (Mew 1987). We previously reported isolation of resistance gene Xa27 from rice (Gu et al., 2005). Unlike other cloned R genes, Xa27-mediated resistance specificity to bacterial blight is determined by its promoter rather than by its gene product. Xa27-dependent resistance is associated with the specific induction of the R gene by incompatible pathogens harboring avrXa27. Ectopic expression of Xa27 coding region under rice PR1 promoter resulted in non-specific resistance to both incompatible and compatible strains. The Xa27 protein (XA27) has no sequence similarity with any previously characterized R-gene products.
There is a need to identify elements that are useful for localizing fusion proteins to specific locations within a plant or plant cell.

N-terminal XA27 signal anchor and its use for localization of fusion proteins

Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory Limited


Disclosed is an ISFET comprising a H+-sensing membrane consisting of RF-sputtering a-WO3. The a-WO3/SiO2-gate ISFET of the present invention is very sensitive in aqueous solution, and particularly in acidic aqueous solution. The sensitivity of the present ISFET ranges from 50 to 58 mV/pH. In addition, the disclosed ISFET has high linearity. Accordingly, the disclosed ISFET can be used to detect effluent.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an ion sensitive field effect transistor (ISFET), and in particular relates to an a-WO3-gate ISFET fabricated by RF-sputtering for detecting the hydrogen ions in aqueous solution. In addition, this invention relates to a method for making the a-WO3-gate ISFET.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The ISFET was first disclosed by P. Bergveld in 1970. The device is a product of applied electrochemistry and microelectronics, and has the function of ion selection and the properties of the FET. This ion sensitive device is strictly different from the traditional ion selection electrode. P. Bergveld disclosed a FET, wherein the metal film set in the gate of traditional FET was removed. Moreover, the device was dipped in electrolyte, wherein no reference electrode was present. However, it was found that a reference electrode must be added to determine the relative voltage between the electrolyte and the semiconductor substrate during detecting so that the ISFET can be operated correctly.
Currently, a large amount of researches on ISFETs are underway. One interesting filed of the research is the use of the membrane for detection. When single gate detecting membrane consists of silicon dioxide, the sensitivity and stability of the device are poor. However, when the detecting membrane of the ISFET consists of double dielectric layers, such as Si3N4/SiO2, Al2O5/SiO2, Ta2O5/SiO2, SnO2/SiO2 and a-WO3/SiO2, the properties are superior to the ISFET with a detecting membrane comprising a single SiO2 gate. Regarding a H+-ISFET, it has been noted that a greater range of ions can be detected when a corresponding detecting membrane is covered on the SiO2 or Si3N4 detecting membrane.
Today, the sorts of the FET based on ISFET process used to detect ions and chemicals have reached more than 30. Moreover, the shrinking, integration, and multi-functionization of the ISFET devices have greatly progressed.
The advantages of the ISFET can be summarized as follows:
1. Shrinkage size and micro-solution detectable;
2. High input resistance;
3. Low output resistance;
4. Fast reaction time;
5. Low price;
6. MOSFET processes compatible; and
7. Biosensor applicable.
Current ISFET researches can be classified into six categories:
1. Preparation of sensing membrane by CVD, thermal oxidation, xcexa3-gun evaporation, thermal evaporation and sputtering;
2. Shrinkage of the device and the reference electrode;
3. Basic theory, such as site binding model;
4. Packing technique, such as packing material, for example Si-rubber and epoxy;
5. Integration of the devices and circuits; and
6. Simulation of the ISFETs.
A number of patents relating to ISFETs have been obtained, as summarized hereinafter. U.S. Pat. No. 4,358, 274 discloses a method and device for compensating temperature-dependent characteristics change in ion-sensitive FET transducer, which is characterized by using a differential system consisting of ISFETs and a circuits-readout module. U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,932 discloses a nonplanar ion-sensitive field-effect transistor device, which is characterized by forming a 3-D ISFET device by laser drilling and solid-state diffusion. U.S. Pat. No. 4,657,658 discloses a semiconductor integrated circuit for sensing a physico-chemical property of an ambient and includes a pair of semiconductor devices having a similar geometric and physical structure, one device being sensitive to the property, the other being insensitive to the property, together with a differential amplifier having feedback connection to one of the pair of semiconductor devices. U.S. Pat. No. 4,812,220 discloses an enzyme sensor for determining a concentration of glutamate, comprising an immobilize enzyme acting specifically to a substrate and a transducer for converting the quantitive change of a substance or heat which is produced or consumed during an enzyme reaction to an electrical signal, wherein the enzyme is glutamine synthetase and the transducer is the pH glass electrode or ion-sensitive field-effect transistor (ISFET). The enzyme sensor can be miniaturized and can accurately determine a concentration of glutamate even when it is low. U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,000 discloses buffer compensation in enzyme-modified ion sensitive devices, which is characterized by using enzyme-modified ion sensitive field transistors to control the compensation of the ions in solution. U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,226 discloses a method of fabricating an ion sensitive field effect transistor with a Ta2O5 hydrogen ion sensing membrane, wherein a Ta2O5/Si3N4/SiO2 dielectric layer, used as the sensor-device, is formed over the gate region of the ion sensitive field effect transistor by RF-sputtering. U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,701 discloses a process for producing a surface gate of an integrated electro-chemical sensor, and the integrated chemical sensor thus produced, wherein the surface gate is particularly sensitive to alkaline-earth species, and more particularly, sensitive to the calcium ion. U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,328 discloses a bio-sensor using ion sensitive field effect transistor with platinum, wherein an immobilize enzyme membrane is immobilized on the ion-sensing film to determine the concentration of glucose. Moreover, a Pt reference electrode is introduced to shrink the size of the bio-sensor. U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,854 disclose the ESD protection of ISFET sensors, which is characterized by providing a method for providing electrostatic discharge protection to ion sensitive field effect transistor.
There has been interest in the material of the sensing membrane of ISFET, wherein a-WO3 is a potential for use as the gate of the ISFET. The a-WO3 is a N-type semiconductor compound, and has both wide energy gap (Eg=2.1xcx9c3.8 eV) and high dielectric constant (∈=260 ∈0). Moreover, a-WO3 is redox reversible, electrochromic and photochromic. Because the range of the resistivity of a-WO3 is large (ranging from 10xe2x88x923 to 1011 xcexa9xc2x7cm), the a-WO3 has potential to be a sensor, such as a gas sensor for detecting the CO2, NO2, H2S, and so on.
Currently, a WO3 layer can be formed by E-bean evaporation, DC or AC sputtering, thermal evaporation, vacuum evaporation, and CVD. The composition of the WO3 layer and its properties vary with the selected method and condition during preparing the WO3 layer. Most of the WO3 layers are amorphous, polycrystalline or crystalline. The composition and structure of the WO3 layer will directly affect its resistivity and electrochromic property; thereby the properties of the devices are determined by the composition and structure of the WO3 layer.
In general, the composition of the WO3 layer is hard to control regardless of which method is used in its formation. For example, the composition of the WO3 layer made by vacuum evaporation is hard to control and the surface of the WO3 layer is not uniform.
Some patents about the usage of ISFET have been disclosed using a H+-FET sensing film including SiO2, Si3N4, Al2O3, and Ta2O5. However, a FET used to detect the industrial effluent is seldom mentioned, and especially a FET used to detect the effluent of low pH. Moreover, the gate of the conventional ISFET consists of a single SiO2 layer; thereby the sensitivity and linearity cannot meet the practical requirements.
One feature of the invention discloses an ISFET comprising a H+-sensing material consisting of a-WO3. The present ISFET is very sensitive in solution, and particularly in acidic solution. The sensitivity of the ISFET of the present invention ranges from 50 to 58 mV/pH. In addition, the disclosed ISFET has high linearity. Accordingly, the ISFET of the present invention is suitable applied to detect effluent.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned feature, the present invention discloses a RF-sputtering a-WO3 gate ISFET and the making thereof. This invention is characterized by forming the a-WO3 layer as the sensing membrane of the ISFET by RF-sputtering, wherein the reactant consists of Ar and O2. That is, the gate of the detecting device consists of a-WO3 layer/SiO2 layer. Comparing the sensitivity of the sensing membrane in aqueous solution with various pH values, the results indicate the device made according to this invention is sensitive to the acidic aqueous solution and has good linearity. Accordingly, the detecting device according to this invention is superior to the traditional detecting device containing a gate consisting of a single SiO2 layer.
Other feature and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, and from the claims.

xcex1-WO3-gate ISFET devices and method of making the same

National Yunlin University of Science and Technology