A circuit arrangement for driving a light source, in particular, a light-emitting diode, comprises a first adjustable current path (1), that connects a terminal (BAT_IN) for a battery to a terminal (CAP_IN) for a capacitor, a second current path (2) that connects the terminal (CAP_IN) for a capacitor to a terminal (LED_OUT) for a light source, and a third adjustable current path (3) that connects the terminal (BAT_IN) for a battery to the terminal (LED_OUT) for a light source. A control unit (CTRL) is provided that has a control input (IN) and is set up to adjust current intensities (I_CHRG, I_CAP, I_DIRECT) on the first, second and third control paths (1, 2, 3), respectively, as a function of control signals (I_in) that can be applied to the control input (IN). A method for operating a light source, in particular, a light-emitting diode, is also proposed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a circuit arrangement and a method for operating a light source, in particular, a light-emitting diode.
2. Background of the Invention
Mobile multimedia devices such as compact cameras, mobile telephones and smartphones are combining an ever-increasing variety of functions. Because of this, these devices also require a continuously increasing power consumption, which must be covered by modern energy suppliers. Electrochemical double-layer capacitors or supercapacitors offer a high energy density and capacity, which distinguishes them for mobile usage. With increasing miniaturization of the multimedia devices, however, ways must be found to be able to use small and compact components of this type.
It is difficult to imagine modern multimedia devices without camera functions. Flash light sources such as an LED flash are also used in this regard, and because of their high power requirements, they are a major load that must be met by means of supercapacitors. Special driver circuits are capable of storing sufficient energy from a battery in a supercapacitor and providing it quickly in order to initiate the flash. However, ordinary commercial circuits include only a few measures with which an energy-efficient management of energy would be possible. The result is that the installed supercapacitors must have unnecessarily large dimensions.

Circuit arrangement and method for operating a light source, in particular, a light-emitting diode


There are provided a focus adjusting apparatus and method in which a look of an image plane can be improved when an object area to be focused in the image plane is judged and focused prior to image-taking preparation operation. A first operation for determining the object area to be focused is performed prior to the image-taking preparation operation, and a second operation for performing the focus adjusting operation is performed at the time of the image-taking preparation operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to focus adjusting apparatuses and focus adjusting methods. Particularly, the present invention relates to automatic focus adjusting techniques.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in a case where automatic focusing (AF) is performed in electronic still cameras and video cameras, a method is used, in which a lens position at which a high frequency component of a luminance signal supplied from an image-pickup element, such as CCD (Charge Coupled Device), is maximum is treated as an in-focus position. The following scan method is known as such a method. In the scan method, an evaluation value (focus evaluation value) calculated based on the high frequency component of the luminance signal obtained from the image-pickup element is successively stored while the lens is driven over its entire move range, and the lens position at which the thus-stored evaluation value exhibits the maximum is treated as the in-focus position.
In another method, a lens continues to be moved in such a direction that the focus evaluation value increases. This method is known as the hill climbing method (also referred to as continuous AF hereinafter).
Further, Japanese Patent No. 4,106,485 discloses the following method. In this method, the continuous AF is executed prior to instructions for image-taking preparation operation to maintain an in-focus state, thereby restricting the move range of a focus lens to be moved by the AF scan method for performing the image-taking preparation operation subsequent to instructions therefor. Thus, the AF operation time is decreased.
In the continuous AF, in a case where the lens is to be moved in such a direction that the focus evaluation value increases, focusing cannot be executed on an object to be focused unless an area to be focused is identified in an image plane.
In the method of the above Japanese Patent, the above scan method is combined with the continuous AF to speedily perform the focusing operation. However, identification is not performed with respect to an object (principal object) to be focused in the image plane, on which a user wants to focus. Therefore, there is a possibility that focusing cannot be executed on an object to be focused, depending on the condition of a photo-taking scene.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Focus adjusting apparatus and focus adjusting method


A method and system of authenticating a computer resource such as an application or data on a mobile device uses a contactless token to provide user authentication. User credentials are stored on the token in the form of private keys, and encrypted data and passwords are stored on the device. When application user requires access to the resource an encrypted password is transmitted to and decrypted on the token using a stored private key. An unencrypted data encryption key or password is then transmitted back to the device under the protection of a cryptographic session key which is generated as a result of strong mutual authentication between the device and the token.

1. Introduction
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
Most mobile device security systems employ the use of a simple password or PIN to authenticate the user. Despite the ubiquity of password-based systems, it has many problems. An ideal password needs to be easily remembered by the user. However, in order for passwords to be secure, they should be long and hard to predict, contradictory to the former requirement. This is further exacerbated by the proliferation of passwords for the multitude of applications a user typically uses, for which security best practice recommends different passwords should be used.
In addition to application access, some mobile users wish to ensure a high level of security for data (including entire files and data contained within a file or a data structure) on their device, against a number of external threat scenarios. For example, a user may use an app on a tablet or other portable device that synchronizes files with their desktop PC via an online storage service (e.g. Dropbox, Box.com [trademarks]). Some of the downloaded files may contain confidential information such as business documents. The user wishes to safeguard himself against the possibility of a data breach in the event of theft of the device.
A practical way to achieve this today is to enable device encryption on the mobile operating system, which uses an encryption key derived from the device lock screen password. For maximum security, this password should be long and complex. However using a long and complex password as the password to unlock the lock screen is extremely inconvenient for the user. Because of this, most users are reluctant to use any password more complicated than a 4 digit code to unlock the lock screen. A skilled attacker will be able to decrypt any files stored on a stolen device with brute force attack methods. Moreover, the confidential data is decrypted whenever the device has been unlocked, even when the user is not using the data, which increases the risk of a data breach unnecessarily.
Another possible approach to data encryption is for the app to generate its own encryption key. The problem with this approach is that the key would either have to be protected by or derived from a password for security, or has to be stored within the app in plaintext form for usability. The former approach inherits the same password complexity issue as the device encryption method above, while the latter offers little security as the attacker who could compromise the plaintext data could just as easily read the plaintext key and decrypt the data.
In some existing systems an additional level of security has been provided by requiring that an NFC capable mobile phone be first authenticated to the mobile network prior to an application being executed. An NFC token then provides an asymmetric key to the phone which in turn authenticates to a third-party service by performing digital signature within the phone itself.
An example of such a system is shown in US-A-2011/0212707. This, however, displays a number of disadvantages. In particular changing of the application credential requires re-programming or replacement of the token; the number of user credentials secured by the system is limited by the (small) storage capacity of the token; and the loss of the token poses a direct risk of exposure of the user's credentials. In addition, applications running on the mobile device and the server are capable of making use of the described security system only if they have been specifically programmed to do so. The system described cannot be used with pre-existing applications.
Another approach to multi-factor identification is described in US-A-2008/0289030. Here, a contactless token is, upon validation, used to allow access to the authentication credentials secured on the mobile device itself.
This has a number of serious disadvantages, including the necessity of using secure storage on the device. This is normally not available to application developers as it is maintained and controlled by the manufacturer of the device (e.g. mobile phone) or the supplier of the underlying operating system or a mobile network operator. Also, making use solely of a token identifier as a means of validating the token is likely to be insecure. RFID tokens can typically be read by any compatible reader, and can easily be cloned.
Yet a further approach is described in WO-A-2011/089423. This describes a system where the presence of a contactless token is used to authorize execution of a secure function or application, and is aimed primarily at mobile wallet uses.
Again, the system described has a number of disadvantages, primarily that it uses a form of logical control that is relatively easy to circumvent.
More generally, in the enterprise environment there exists significant security risk from allowing users to connect mobile devices into the network due to increased likelihood of unauthorized data access (leading to loss of data confidentiality and/or integrity) resulting from:                Inadvertently disclosed passcodes such as PINS or alphanumeric codes, e.g. from shoulder surfing        Easily guessed passcodes        Lost or stolen devices that are inadequately protected        Unsupervized use of devices by a third party
The Hoverkey system aims to provide solutions for applications to counter these threats.
With the present invention, the user may store a master key of high cryptographic strength (128 bits or above presently) on the portable security token, and this key can be used to either directly protect an app's data encryption key or a long and complex password, from which a sufficiently long and secure encryption key can be derived. This allows the user to protect any data stored on the device with a very strong encryption key. If the device is stolen, it is then infeasible for any potential attacker to decrypt the encrypted data on it without the associated token.

Method and system of providing authentication of user access to a computer resource on a mobile device


A circular knitted fabric and a method for making such a fabric is disclosed. The fabric employs a multifilament elastomeric yarn as a ground yarn and a polyester yarn as a pile yarn. The fabric is comprised of a plurality of knitted regions arranged in a pre-defined ornamental pattern on the fabric. The fabric has at least a first non-pile region and a second region having a pile of a first height. Also, a third region provides a pile of a second height. The fabric is visibly translucent through at least the first region of the fabric, so that an object positioned on a first side of the fabric is visible from the second side of the fabric when the object is viewed through the non-pile first region of the fabric.

Modern designs for office furniture often require specially designed fabrics. Office task chairs are known in which the seating material that supports the weight of the chair occupant is comprised of an elastomeric monofilament in a woven fabric. One popular chair of this type of the Aeron® chair sold by Herman Miller, Inc. of Zeeland, Mich., USA. This brand of office chair employs elastomeric monofilament yarn combined with solution dyed textured polyester in a woven open mesh design.
It has been found that the use of monofilament in furniture seating sometimes provides excess friction upon the clothing of a person sitting in the chair. That is, monofilament-containing fabrics are rugged and durable, but unfortunately they sometimes accelerate the degradation and wear upon clothing that contacts the monofilament-containing fabric. Excessive wear upon the user's clothing is considered undesirable.
A recent design trend with regard to office seating is that consumers are believed to be attracted to chairs that will easily articulate to multiple positions, affording greater mobility while seated. Furthermore, back and lumbar support frame structures are sometimes highly visible in modern office and task chairs. Consumers like to see the support structures, and a chair that provides such structures in a highly visible way is sometimes desirable. Thus, a recent design trend is to provide mechanical support features of the chair in a highly visible manner.
One high performance task chair made by Haworth, Inc. of Holland Mich. is the Zody® office chair. This chair features an occupant support surface that comprises a flat woven fabric that is made using a leno weave construction. One example of leno weave construction is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,435,221 to Waldrop et al.
Circular knitted fabrics are used in automotive upholstery. One property of knitted fabrics is that they tend to stretch significantly as compared to woven fabrics. Most unsupported automotive knits are not capable of making a full "recovery" after displacement. That is, most automotive knits are not capable of returning reliably to their original configuration after undergoing significant and numerous stretching events. This prevents the use of such knits in many applications.
Knit fabrics have proven to be desirable in other applications, such as clothing, in which the fabric is not subject to significant loading stress. But, to make a knitted fabric suitable for automobile seating applications, such a fabric usually must be laminated to a scrim or backing material for support. Then, this composite laminated structure may be adhesively bonded to a foam bun or the like for installation into an automotive seat. Such applications of knitted fabrics use scrims and/or backing materials to keep the knitted fabric from stretching too far and becoming wrinkled or unsightly on the seating surface, after years of use by an occupant. Without such backing support materials, typical knitted automotive fabrics would not function properly for their intended purpose.


An index selection mechanism allows for efficient generation of index recommendations for a given workload of a database system. The workload includes a set of queries that are used to access tables in a database system. The index recommendations are validated to verify improved performance, followed by application of the indexes. Graphical user interface screens are provided to receive user input as well as to present reports to the user.

A database is a collection of stored data that is logically related and that is accessible by one or more users. A popular type of database is the relational database management system (RDBMS), which includes relational tables made up of rows and columns (also referred to as tuples and attributes). Each row represents an occurrence of an entity defined by a table, with an entity being a person, place, thing, or other object about which the table contains information.
To extract data from, or to update, a relational table in an RDBMS, queries according to a standard database-query language (e.g., Structured Query Language or SQL) are used. Examples of SQL include INSERT, SELECT, UPDATE, and DELETE.
As applications become increasingly sophisticated, and data storage needs become greater, higher performance database systems are used. One example of such a database system is the TERADATA® database mangement system from NCR Corporation. The TERADATA® database systems are parallel processing systems capable of handling relatively large amounts of data. In some arrangements, a database system includes multiple nodes that manage access to multiple portions of data to enhance concurrent processing of data access and updates. In TERADATA® database management systems, concurrent data processing is further enhanced by the use of virtual processors, referred to as access module processors (AMPs), to further divide database tasks. Each AMP is responsible for a logical disk space. In response to a query, one or more of the AMPs are invoked to perform database access, updates, and other manipulations.
A physical storage structure that is provided by some database management systems is an index. An index is a structure that provides relatively rapid access to the rows of a table based on the values of one or more columns. An index stores data values and pointers to the rows where those data values occur. An index can be arranged in ascending or descending order, so that the database management system can quickly search the index to find a particular value. The database management system can then follow the pointer to locate the row containing the value.
The advantage of having an index is that it speeds the execution of SQL statements with search conditions that refer to an indexed column or columns. Generally, it is desired to create an index for columns that are used frequently in search conditions (such as in the Where clause of a SELECT statement).
In the TERADATA® database management system, a primary index is defined for each table, and one or more secondary indexes are optionally defined for each table. In a database system having multiple access modules, such as AMPs in a TERADATA® database management system, the primary index is used for assigning a data row to a particular one of plural AMPs. In effect, the primary index determines the distribution of rows of a table across multiple AMPs of the database system.
As noted above, one or more secondary indexes can also be specified for each table. Secondary indexes are stored in sub-tables of the database system. A "sub-table" is also a relational table. The secondary index does not affect distribution of a table across multiple AMPs. However, the secondary index does add to overhead, since the secondary index is stored in sub-tables. Despite the extra storage required, secondary indexes, if properly used, can enhance database performance.
Proper selection of indexes (such as the primary and secondary indexes of the TERADATA® database management systems) is important for optimal database performance. This is also referred to as the index selection problem, which can be a difficult problem when applied to a sophisticated parallel database system. Conventionally, many database designers rely mostly on their application experience and intuition to manually make index design decisions. With the increasing complexity of some database applications (e.g., data warehousing applications, which contain thousands of tables, indexes, and complex queries), the ability of a database designer to effectively perform tuning of indexes becomes increasingly difficult.


A damping device which provides superior damping stiffness K", has linear damping characteristics as a function of amplitude and for which the temperature sensitivities of stiffnesses K*, K", K' have been minimized. The device includes a first second fluid-filled chambers which are interconnected by a passageway. The length and diameter of the passageway, as well as the fluid viscosity, are chosen to give the optimum damping characteristics. Further, a plurality of spring loaded pressure relief valves are integrated into the assembly to allow more flow area to open when a threshold pressure is encountered, thereby reducing the internal pressures and dynamic stiffness K* at cold temperatures.

Flexible dampers for attachment between a rotor hub assembly and a rotor blade or cuff which exhibit a high degree of damping are desirable for damping lead-lag motions of rotor blades on helicopters. Typically, elastomers are used to provide this damping, such as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,738 to Byrnes et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,343 to Hahn et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,988 to Sato. The high degree of damping exhibited by these dampers is typically produced by bonding the dampers in a highly-damped elastomer such as silicone. However, these elastomeric dampers are inherently nonlinear as a function of amplitude and can produce a loss factor of only about 0.7. This is insufficient, under certain conditions, to control excessive motions of the helicopter rotor blade.
Additional damping can be added, over and above what is available in an elastomeric damper, by incorporating a fluid within the damper to provide damping at certain predetermined, or tuned, frequencies. The commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,919 to Jones, which is hereby incorporated by reference, describes the addition of fluid to an elastomeric mounting which is suitable for mounting an aircraft engine to a strut, and also describes the means for compensating for the fluid expansion due to temperature changes. U.S. Pat. No. 4,236,607 to Halwes et al. describes a vibration suppression system wherein the fluid passes through the inner member of the mounting to provide amplified counter inertial forces.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,566,677 to Le Pierres which is herein incorporated by reference describes a damped fluid-and-elastomeric, lead-lag damper for helicopter rotor blades, whereby the fluid is used to add additional damping over and above what is available from the elastomer alone. However, this damper is axially-acting and cannot carrying vertical loads due to flapping, which must be accommodated in bearingless rotor systems. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,215 to Aubry et al., which is also herein incorporated by reference, describes another axially acting strut-type damper with linear damping by incorporating a viscous fluid. Again, this device cannot carry vertical loads due to flapping motions of the rotor blade, a normally required feature of dampers which are to be used in bearingless rotor systems.
In rotor-damping systems, and in fluid devices in general, the requirements for high damping, which necessitates the use of damped elastomers and viscous fluids, tend to make the dampers undesirably stiff when exposed to low temperatures. The Aubry et al. '215 device describes a resilient return strut for use with helicopter rotors which uses reed-type valves for limiting the pressure which can build up within the fluid chambers. However, these types of pressure-limiting valves do not allow for free flow of fluid during normal operating conditions. U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,118 to Morita describes a fluid mounting suitable for connecting to an engine which incorporates a valve mechanism 450 to limit the pressure within the fluid chamber. Upon encountering a situation which requires pressure relief, a threshold pressure is exceeded, and more flow area is opened in fluid-parallel relation with the fluid orifice. This mechanism is complicated, non-linear, in that it has different properties in each direction, and requires a separate orifice and valve in parallel in order to get unimpeded or unblocked flow for normal operating conditions. Alternate embodiments in Morita allow for the valve and fluid-flow path to be in a fluid-series relationship. However, this arrangement does not allow for unblocked flow during normal operating conditions.


A fan/motor assembly having an integrated brush support and bearing retainer is disclosed. The fan/motor assembly includes a rotatable shaft, a working air fan coupled to the shaft, and a motor bracket and baffle assembly interposed between the working air fan and the motor assembly. The motor bracket and baffle assembly retains a bearing which rotatably receives the shaft and provides integral brush boxes for the motor assembly.

The present invention is directed generally to fan/motor assemblies having a rotatable shaft. In particular, the present invention is directed a fan/motor assembly which has a fan end bracket that carries a brush mechanism and also retains a bearing assembly.
It is well known that wet/dry vacuum cleaners such as those known as utility vacs and carpet extractors, operate in an environment in which the debris, which is extracted from the surface being cleaned, is laden in a mixture of air and water. In order to prevent the moisture laden air from entering the vacuum generating motor, bypass motors are typically used in these operations. As is known to those skilled in the art, a bypass motor/fan assembly is one which the working air, generated by a working air fan, never passes through the motor and is totally isolated from the motor. The motor itself may have a separate motor cooling air fan which draws cooling air over the motor armature and field. Accordingly, the working air and the motor cooling air take totally separate paths, and do not mixxe2x80x94except possibly in an exhaust area. While both the motor cooling fan and the working fan operate on the same motor shaft, in a bypass motor, the chambers for the working air and motor cooling air are separate and distinct from each other such that moisture laden air never enters the motor assembly.
Bypass motors have a working air fan at an end of the motor/fan shaft, with the fan rotating within an enclosure which is sometimes called a shroud. The shroud may be a separately manufactured part or it may be an integral part of the vacuum assembly. In any event, the enclosure, along with a fan end bracket, defines a chamber within which the fan operates. One portion of the fan enclosure is provided with an air intake, with a circumference or periphery of the enclosure defined by a single outlet tube or a plurality of spaced apart exhaust apertures. The intake aperture communicates with a vacuum chamber and the cleaning device, while the exhaust apertures communicate with the ambient air. Typically, the enclosure simply defines the chamber in which the fan rotates and accordingly, that chamber becomes pressurized such that the air therein eventually finds its way to an exhaust port.
Assembly of these fan motor assemblies includes many different parts. Typically, the motor housing includes a slot or section that holds a pair of motor brushes which are placed in contact with the commutator of the motor assembly. Each motor brush is slidably contained within a tube, wherein the tube is secured to the motor housing by a strap secured with fasteners. Known fan end bracket assemblies position and orient the motor shaft with an inserted press-fit motor bearing. Retaining the bearing in this manner is problematic in that the bearing may loosen from the end bracket and cause damage to the motor. Although it is known to provide integrated brush box support with the motor housing, it is not known to use a retainer with the brush boxes to retain the motor bearing.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a motor/fan assembly with an integrated brush support and bearing retainer which reduces the number of parts and thus the number of manufacturing operations.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a fan/motor assembly with integrated brush support and bearing retainer.
Another object of the present invention, which shall become apparent as the detailed description proceeds, is achieved by a fan motor assembly having an integrated brush support and bearing retainer comprising: a motor assembly having a rotatable shaft; a working air fan coupled to the shaft; and a motor bracket and baffle assembly interposed between the working air fan and the motor assembly, the motor bracket and baffle assembly retaining a bearing which rotatably receives the shaft.
Other aspects of the present invention are attained by a bottom motor bracket and baffle assembly interposed between a motor assembly having a shaft, and a fan assembly rotated by the shaft, the baffle assembly, comprising: a bracket for carrying the motor assembly; a bearing carried by the bracket, the bearing rotatably receiving the shaft; and a retainer secured to the bracket and holding the bearing in place.
These and other objects of the present invention, as well as the advantages thereof over existing prior art forms, which will become apparent from the description to follow, are accomplished by the improvements hereinafter described and claimed.

Brush and bearing holder for a fan/motor


A luminal stent, implanted and implanted and left in the blood vessel, is disclosed. By permitting a stent (1), formed of a biodegradable polymer material (2), to be swollen, and by impregnating the swollen stent (1) with a drug, a sufficient quantity of the drug is impregnated in the stent. This drug is continuously released into the blood vessel over a prolonged time. A biodegradable polymer layer is formed on the surface of the stent (1) impregnated with the drug, and the release rate of the drug impregnated in the stent is controlled.

In angioplasty, mechanical techniques such as balloon expansion or stent implantation is likely to damage the blood vessel. In a site of lesion of the blood vessel, acute closure, caused by thrombosis, or re-stenosis caused by intimal hyperplasia of the blood vessel, as a curative reaction of the blood vessel wall, occurs frequently.
The acute closure is correlated with thrombosis. For its prevention, an anti-thrombotic therapy is performed by systemic medication, usually through a vein.
On the other hand, re-stenosis is caused by excessive hyperplasia of cells. At present, researches into drugs suppressing this hyperplasia of cells are advancing rapidly, and several drugs have demonstrated satisfactory results.
However, deleterious side effects have been pointed out because systemic medication at a high concentration or in a large quantity is required in order to achieve the effect of these drugs.
For this reason, an LDDS (local drug delivery system) recently has been used as a safe and effective method for prevention of acute closure or re-stenosis. Several such LDDS-based methods have been proposed for implanting a catheter in the blood vessel to introduce the drug to a target site. With these methods, it is necessary to keep the catheter inserted continuously over a prolonged time in the blood vessel, therefore the blood flow is interrupted, so that sufficient effect of the drug is difficult to achieve and consequently none of the methods has been put to practical use.
For this reason, it is a stent that is now stirring up attention as an LDDS member for transporting the drug to a target side in the blood vessel. By impregnating the stent with the drug, and by implanting the drug-impregnated stent into the target site, the medication can be administered locally. Since the stent is implanted and left at the target site in the blood vessel over a prolonged time without obstructing the blood flow, it can be used as an LDDS which guarantees sufficient pharmaceutical effect over a prolonged time period.
Meanwhile, the stent clinically used at present is almost formed of metal without exception.
With metal, it is only possible to deposit a drug on its surface, while it is not possible to impregnate the metal itself with the drug. Among the methods for depositing a drug on a metal stent, there are, for example, a coating method, a bonding method and a method of covering the stent with a polymer sheet impregnated with the drug. In case the drug is deposited on the metal stent by coating or bonding, there is presented a problem that the drug itself becomes peeled off from the stent surface. It is also difficult to have a quantity of the drug sufficient to manifest its pharmaceutical effect deposited on the stent surface.
With the method of covering the stent with a polymer sheet, the polymer sheet impregnated with a drug needs to be prepared at a high temperature, thus possibly detracting from the pharmaceutical effect of the drug.
In LDDS, it is necessary to control the content of the drug, the amount of released drug per unit time and the releasing time. In order to prevent acute closure or re-stenosis by LDDS more effectively, such control is desirable that the effective concentration of the drug at the target site in the blood vessel be maintained and that the drug be released for a predetermined time to the blood vessel and into the blood.

Stent for blood vessel and material for stent for blood vessel


The present invention concerns an optical fiber acting as a slab-coupled waveguide. The optical fiber has a cross-section comprising a core (1), which is two dimensional and responsible for the horizontal confinement of the fiber's fundamental mode. A slab (2) is placed in the vicinity of the core (1). The slab (2) extends substantially in a plane, acts as a mode sink for the core, and is at least three times wider than the core (1). A cladding (3) surrounds the core (1) and the slab (2). The cladding (3) is made of one or several materials with refractive indices lower than the core and slab materials. The core (1), slab (2) and cladding (3) and any other protective or supportive structures attached to them form an overall structure that determines the mechanical properties of the fiber. The cross-section of the fiber is formed to make the fiber significantly more flexible in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the slab than in the plane of the slab.

From the prior art is known an optical fiber acting as a slab-coupled waveguide. The cross-section of such a fiber comprises a core, which is two-dimensional and responsible for the horizontal confinement of the fiber's fundamental mode. A slab is placed in the vicinity of the core for acting as a mode sink for the core. The width of the slab is at least three times of the width of the core. A cladding surrounds the core and the slab. The cladding is made of one or several materials with refractive indices lower than the core and slab materials. The core, the slab and the cladding and any other protective or supportive structure attached to them together form an overall structure which determines the mechanical properties of the fiber.
Such rib fibers, as well as slab-coupled waveguides in general, were invented already in the early 1970s as is described in the literature:
1) P. Kaiser et al., "A new optical fiber", The Bell System Technical Journal, 52, pp. 265-269, 1973,
2) E. A. J. Marcatili, "Slab-coupled waveguides", The Bell System Technical Journal, 53, pp. 645-674, 1974, and
3) J. A. Arnaud, "Transverse coupling in fiber optics Part II: Coupling to mode sinks", The Bell System Technical Journal, 53, pp. 675-696, 1974.
Their main advantages were identified already then, namely their insensitivity to wavelength and scaling of dimensions, as well as their ability to provide single-moded operation with high refractive index contrast and large core dimensions. The rib fibers were seen to avoid the problems that were then associated with alternative fiber technologies, especially the difficulty in providing fibers with small and accurate refractive index differences. The proposed and demonstrated rib fibers had a core and slab made of one homogeneous piece of glass, surrounded by an air cladding, and thus called "single-material fibers". Their sensitivity to bending in the direction of the slab (horizontally) was carefully studied and it was already then recognized that the rib fibers could have a shorter tolerable bending radius in the perpendicular (vertical) direction. However, no detailed analysis of vertical bending was carried out at that time.
During and after the 1970s, alternative fiber structures based on doped glass were developed further and they provided much better results than the "single-material fibers". The rib fibers were then forgotten, probably because they had higher scattering and bending losses and they were more fragile than the alternative fiber structures. Presently circular symmetric fibers with small refractive index differences based on glass doping clearly dominate the fiber optic market, while the "single-material fibers" and rib fibers are in practice totally forgotten.
Present fiber technology is quite mature, but the continuous increase of channels in wavelength division multiplexing (WDN) and growing interest on high-power fibre lasers has generated a need for fibers with large mode area (LMA) and, thus, reduced nonlinear effects, but only one or few propagating modes. These contradicting requirements are difficult to fulfill with conventional fibers. Coiling with a fixed radius of curvature can be used to eliminate the higher order modes without adding too much bending losses for the fundamental mode. However, it is not very convenient to have a fixed radius of curvature. Therefore, a novel solution is needed to provide fibers with large mode area (i.e. large core), small number of modes (preferably single-moded), small propagation loss for the fundamental mode, and insensitivity to bending.
On planar substrates, such as silicon and compound semiconductor wafers, the rib structure and slab-coupled waveguides in general, have become a very common solution. Their main advantage there is the ability to tailor the effective index difference, confinement and number of modes in a waveguide by the waveguide dimensions, instead of changing the refractive indices of the materials. For example, in silicon waveguides a core with reactangular cross-section should have a thickness and width well below 0.5 μm in order to have single-moded operation. A silicon rib waveguide can be single moded even with the thickness and width well above 10 μm. The waveguiding properties of the rib structure and slab-coupled waveguides in general, are discussed thoroughly in literature, e.g. in:
4) R. A. Soref, J. Schmidtchen, K. Petermann, "Large single-mode rib waveguides in GeSi—Si and Si-on-SiO2", IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 27, pp. 1971-1974, 1991,
5). Aalto et al., "Fabrication and characterization of waveguide structures on SOI", Proceedings of SPIE, 4944, pp. 183-194, 2003, and
6) T. Aalto et al., "Development of silicon-on-insulator waveguide technology", Accepted for publication in Proceedings of SPIE, 5355, 2004.
Based on the experimental work carried out with slab-coupled waveguides on planar substrates, the main disadvantage is their sensitivity to bending, which leads to the use of very long bending radii and poor miniaturization. The fundamental reason for this is the horizontal spreading of the modes into the slab, i.e. the same mechanism that enables the single-moded operation. The effect becomes stronger when the waveguide dimensions increase, thus limiting the waveguide size. In planar technology there is no way to take advantage of the smaller sensitivity to bending in the vertical direction.


A semiconductor device having a trench element separation region is disclosed. A pad oxide film (2), and a silicon nitride film (3) may be formed on a semiconductor substrate (1). A trench (4) may be formed by dry etching using the silicon nitride film (3) as a mask. The silicon substrate (1) may be thermally oxidized using the silicon nitride film (3) as an oxidation mask and a modified layer may be formed on the surface of the silicon nitride film (3). The modified layer may be removed by a neutral radical containing fluorine. The surface of the silicon nitride film (3) may be etched by a predetermined thickness. A filling insulation film may be deposited to completely fill the trench (4). The insulation film may then be chemical mechanical polished using the silicon nitride film (3a) as a polishing stopper to form a trench element separation insulation material (8).

In order to decrease costs and/or improve performance it is desirable to provide semiconductor devices with more densely spaced structures. State of the art semiconductor elements can be formed with dimensions of about 0.15 μm. Such a minimum design rule is typical for state of the art semiconductor devices, such as memory devices and logic devices that are currently in research and development.
Miniaturization is an effective means of achieving a semiconductor device having improved high performance and multiple functions. Through a high level of integration, the speed of semiconductor devices may be improved and more components may be placed on a semiconductor device, thus improving functional capabilities. Thus, increasing the level of integration is essential for future semiconductor device manufacturing. In order to increase the level of integration, a trench filled with an insulating material can be used to electrically separate semiconductor elements. The use of a trench filled with an insulating material was proposed more than 20 years ago and was first applied to bipolar transistors although currently it has been applied to semiconductor devices having metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistors.
When a trench filled with an insulating material is used to separate MOS transistors, a hump phenomenon can occur in the sub-threshold current characteristics. This will now be explained with reference to FIG. 9. Referring to FIG. 9, a graph illustrating the relationship between the source-drain current and the gate voltage of a MOS transistor is set forth. The current characteristics of a MOS transistor operating in an intended manner is illustrated by solid line B. The dashed line A illustrates an abnormal current in the sub-threshold region that can occur in a MOS transistor that is isolated with a trench filled with an insulating layer. The dashed line A becomes the same as the intended operation (solid line B) when the MOS transistor is fully turned on. The sub-threshold current bulge illustrated by the dashed line A, which appears in the source-drain current—gate voltage characteristics illustrated in FIG. 9, is called a hump.
When the hump phenomenon occurs, the threshold value of the MOS transistor can become smaller than the designed value. Also, the reliability of the gate insulation film of the MOS transistor may be reduced, so that more semiconductor devices become defective and yield decreases. The hump can be caused by the top section of the trench developing sharp corners and a deep cavity occurring in the insulating material filling the trench.
Various methods have been proposed to solve the above-mentioned hump characteristic. One example is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication no. 2000-049222 (JPA-049222). The conventional approach described in JPA-049222 will now be described with reference to FIG. 10(a)-(d).
Referring now to FIG. 10(a)-(d), cross sectional views of a conventional trench element separation region after various processing steps is set forth. The reference numerals used may not be the same as the reference numerals used in JPA-049222.
As illustrated in FIG. 10(a), a trench 104 is formed in a predetermined region of a silicon substrate 101. The trench 104 is formed by dry etching while using a pad oxide film 102 and a silicon nitride film 103, which are patterned, as an etching mask. Then, the exposed sections of the pad oxide film 102 are etched to form recessed sections 105.
Next, as illustrated in FIG. 10(b), the surface of trench 104 exposed is isotropically etched to round off the corners of the trench top section, thus producing rounded corners 106. Then, thermal oxidation is performed to form a liner oxide film 107 on the inner surface of trench 104. In this case, the liner oxide film 107 is integrated with the pad oxide film 102. Then, a filling insulation film 108 is deposited all over by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method such that silicon nitride film 103 is covered and trench 104 is filled.
Next, the filling insulation film 108 is polished by a standard chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) method using the silicon nitride film 103 as a polishing stopper. The result, as illustrated in illustrated in FIG. 10(c), is that a trench element separation insulating material 109 fills the trench 104.
Next, as illustrated in FIG. 10(d), silicon nitride film 103 and pad oxide film 102 are removed by etching. In this way, the sharp corners on the top section of the trench 104 are rounded. A trench element separation region, which is filled with liner oxide film 107 and trench element separation insulating material 109, is formed in the trench 104 in a predetermined region of the silicon substrate 101. Referring back to FIG. 10(c), silicon nitride film 103 can have an overhang occupying space at the edges of the trench 104. The trench element separation insulating material 109 can not fill the trench 104 at the space occupied by the overhang in the formed silicon nitride film 103. Thus as illustrated in FIG. 10(d), cavities (110 and 110a) are easily formed at the edges of trench element separation insulating material 109.
Through subsequent processes (not shown), a gate insulating film is formed. A gate electrode is then formed over the gate insulating film. In this manner, a MOS transistor is formed and isolated by using the trench element separation region.
A number of techniques have been disclosed to prevent cavities from occurring at the edges of the trench element separation insulation material. One technique is a method described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,356 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,356) where, in the formation of the trench element insulation material, a pullback process for slightly etching the surface of the silicon nitride is added after the liner oxide film formation process and before the filling insulation film is formed.
The conventional technique disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,356 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 11(a)-(c) and FIGS. 12(a)-(c).
Referring now to FIGS. 11(a)-(c) and FIGS. 12(a)-(c), cross-sectional views of a conventional trench element separation region after various processing steps is set forth. The reference numerals used may not be the same as the reference numerals used in U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,356.
As illustrated in FIG. 11(a), a pad oxide film 202 and a silicon nitride film 203 are patterned in a predetermined region of a silicon substrate 201 and used as an etching mask. In this way, a trench 204 is formed by dry etching. Then a liner oxide film 205 is formed on the inner surface of the trench 204. In this case, the liner oxide film 205 is integrated with the pad oxide film 202 by thermal oxidation.
As illustrated in FIG. 11(b), the semiconductor device is immersed in a phosphoric acid solution thereby etching the surface of the silicon nitride film 203 and a silicon nitride film 203a is formed. The step of etching the silicon nitride film 203 is called a pullback process. Edges 206 of the silicon nitride film 203a move backward from the top sections of the trench and leave the formation region of the liner oxide film 205.
Next, as illustrated in FIG. 11(c), the filling insulation film 207 is deposited all over such that the silicon nitride film 203a is covered and the trench 204 is filled.
Then, as illustrated in FIG. 12(a), the filling insulation film 207 is polished by the CMP method using the silicon nitride film 203 as a polishing stopper so that a trench element separation insulating material 208 fills the trench.
Next, as illustrated in FIG. 12(b), the silicon nitride film 203a is removed by etching. Then, the surface of trench element separation insulating material 208 is reshaped by argon sputtering or the like to form a smooth trench element separation insulating material 208a. The thickness of the pad oxide film 202 is thinned by the abovementioned process to form a pad oxide film 202a. In this case, the liner oxide film 205 is protected by the trench element separation insulating material 208a, so that it is not etched by the abovementioned process. In the conventional example illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,356, the trench element separation insulating material 208c extends beyond the top section of the trench 204 because the edges 206 of the silicon nitride film 203a were moved backward from the top section of the trench in the pullback process. The extension of the trench element separation insulating material 208c beyond the top section of the trench 204 is illustrated in FIG. 12(c). This extension can be referred to as an edge section of the trench element separation insulating material 208c.
While not described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,356, a diffusion layer 209 (illustrated in FIG. 12(c)) is formed as a channel doped layer of a MOS transistor during the manufacturing of MOS transistors in succeeding processes. However, the diffusion layer 209 can become non-uniform in depth from the surface of the silicon substrate 201. This is due to the difference in the thickness of the pad oxide film 202a and the edge section of the trench element separation insulating material 208c. This difference in thickness causes a non-uniformity of the depth of impurity ions below the surface of the silicon substrate 201 after an ion implantation step is performed.
In this manner, a trench element separation region is formed in the trench 204 in a predetermined region of the silicon substrate 201 by filling the trench 204 with a liner oxide film 205 and a trench element separation insulating material 208c.
In subsequent processes (not shown in the figure), a gate insulating film is formed. A gate electrode is then formed over the gate insulating film. In this manner, a MOS transistor is formed and isolated by used the trench element separation region.
As mentioned above, when using the conventional technique disclosed in JPA-049222, cavities can readily occur at the edges of the trench element separation insulating material. In a manufacturing process of semiconductor devices having trench element separation regions, it is extremely difficult to control the abovementioned cavities using this technique. As previously mentioned, this is because the silicon nitride film 103 can readily form an overhanging shape at the top section of the trench 104. It can be difficult to control this overhanging shape.
Furthermore, in the conventional technique disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,356, the depth of the diffusion layer can become non-uniform, so that the impurity concentration of the channel doped layer of the MOS transistor becomes non-uniform. Thus, the dispersion of the threshold of the MOS transistor can become large. This dispersion becomes significant when the channel width of the MOS transistor becomes small.
In the conventional technique disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,356, the occurance of the above-mentioned cavities may be theoretically avoided. However, if this technique is applied to a high volume semiconductor device production process, the above-mentioned cavities can occur and the depth of the diffusion layers can widely vary. This is due to the above-mentioned pullback process. Furthermore, the distance that the edge section 206 of the silicon nitride film is moved back from the top section of the trench 204 may not be controlled.
In light of the above discussion, it would be desirable to provide a semiconductor device which may have a trench element separation structure that can be precisely formed and a manufacturing method therefore.

Method for forming a trench element separation region in a semiconductor substrate


Method and apparatus for certifying servo sectors on recording surfaces of a disc stack of a data storage device to promote servo sector alignment among the various recording surfaces. A reference servo sector pattern is written to a first recording surface, the reference pattern comprising a plurality of angularly spaced apart servo sectors. Multiple interleaved sets of servo sector patterns are written to each of the remaining recording surfaces, each interleaved pattern respectively comprising a plurality of angularly spaced apart servo sectors. A selected interleaved pattern is identified from each of the remaining surfaces that provides a desired alignment with the reference servo sector pattern, and the non-selected servo sector patterns are overwritten. The servo patterns can be written to the discs prior to installation using a multiple disc writing (MDW) station, or after installation of the discs into the data storage device using a servo track writing (STW) station.

Disc drives are data storage devices used to store and retrieve digital user data in a fast and efficient manner. A typical disc drive stores such data on a number of magnetic recording discs which are rotated at a constant high speed. An actuator controllably moves a corresponding number of data transducing heads to access data stored in tracks defined on the disc surfaces.
Servo data are written to the discs during disc drive manufacturing to define the tracks and to provide head positional information to a closed loop servo control circuit. The servo data are used by the servo control circuit during both seeking and track following operations. In a typical embedded servo scheme, the servo data are arranged in servo sector patterns. The servo sectors are angularly spaced apart and interspersed with user data sectors to which user data are stored.
The servo data include index data used to identify an index reference position on the disc surfaces. The index reference position corresponds to a "once-around" (i.e., zero degrees) angular reference for the discs. A typical servo control circuit tracks the angular position of the head by counting the number of servo fields encountered after each occurrence of the index reference position.
When multiple recording surfaces are used, it is often desirable to provide a selected angular alignment of the servo sectors on the various surfaces. In this way, a single servo burst counter can be used to track the angular position of the discs with respect to the heads (i.e., the number of servo sectors since the most recent index reference position) as different heads are selected in turn.
With the continued demand for disc drives that provide ever higher data storage capacities and transfer rate performance levels at lower costs, designers continue to provide successive generations of products with ever higher areal data storage densities. It will be recognized that for a given area on the recording surface of a disc, more data can be stored by increasing the number of bits per linear distance along the tracks (e.g., bits per inch, BPI) as well as by increasing the number of the tracks per distance across the radius of the disc (e.g., tracks per inch, TPI). Achieving a higher track density generally requires making the physical width of each track narrower. This in turn requires higher levels of precision in the writing of the servo data.
Historically, the servo data have typically been written to the discs in-situ, that is, after the discs have been installed into the drive. In such a system a fully or partially assembled drive is provided to a servo track writer (STW) station. The station employs a precisely controlled positioning arm or other mechanism to advance the actuator across the discs at selected increments to allow the disc drive heads to write the servo data.
More recently, some manufacturers have moved to the use of multiple disc writer (MDW) stations. An MDW station prerecords the servo data onto multiple discs at a time using specially configured, low vibration disc motors and actuators. After the servo data have been prerecorded to the discs, the discs are removed from the MDW station and installed into the drives.
While MDW stations have been found to provide significant improvements in the writing of servo data, excessive angular misalignments in the servo data can sometimes arise when the prerecorded discs are subsequently installed onto a disc drive spindle motor. However, drives of the present generation can use around 200 servo sectors per revolution, meaning that each servo frame window (i.e., the distance between adjacent servo sectors) is a little less than two degrees around the disc circumference. It is difficult using existing manufacturing processes to ensure that all of the servo sectors on multiple disc surfaces will be aligned within the required timing tolerances when prerecorded discs are stacked onto a spindle motor hub. Head-to-head skew (misalignments) within the actuator can further reduce the margin available to achieve the desired servo sector alignment.
Even if the servo data are written using an STW station so that the same heads that write the servo data are also subsequently used to transduce the servo data during operation, excessive misalignment of the servo sectors can still arise. In order to achieve the desired amount of precision in the writing of the data, the positioning arm in a typical STW station typically clamps and holds the actuator in a rigid fashion. It has been found that once the positioning arm releases the actuator, the heads can move to different positions (i.e., head skew is introduced). Thus, even if the servo data are perfectly aligned during the STW operation, the resulting head skew after the STW operation is completed can result in excessive misalignment with respect to the final relative positions of the heads.
Accordingly, with continued demands for ever higher precision in the writing of servo data, there remains a continued need to promote improved angular alignment of servo sectors on different disc recording surfaces in a disc drive. It is to such improvements that the claimed invention is directed.

Writing multiple servo sector patterns to improve servo sector alignment on multiple surfaces


A fork-lift truck supported by two front wheels and a rear wheel carried by a dolly assembly. The dolly assembly is pivoted for movement about a vertical axis and a rack and pinion unit is provided to control the pivoting for steering with the rear dolly wheel. Hub units are provided in each wheel that include a hydraulic motor and an axially aligned torque hub to obtain the desired traction for each wheel.

Fork-lift trucks have been provided in the prior art with a pair of driven wheels and a driven, steerable third wheel which not only facilitates steering but also gives considerably more traction when needed such as in mud, soft soil or the like. These wheels are of the same size and are driven by hydraulic motors associated with the respective wheels. The steerable wheel is mounted for pivoting movement about a vertical axis and a rack and pinion arrangement has been used in the prior art for controlling the pivoting of the wheel support about the vertical axis. With tractors having the driven three wheel arrangement all of the wheels are driven at the same time but the drive for the third wheel is not always needed when conditions of the terrain are good which results in an unnecessary expenditure of fuel.

Fork-lift truck having three drive wheels with third wheel steerable


An area light source device according to the present invention includes a plate-shaped light guide plate that has one surface that serves as a transmissive surface and another surface that is on the opposite side from the transmissive surface and in which a plurality of recessed portions are provided. The area light source device also includes at least two light-emitting diodes that are accommodated in each of the recessed portions, that emit light in a direction in which the light guide plate extends, and that are disposed such that they emit light in different directions. In this configuration, directing a light-emitting face of any one of the light-emitting diodes such that it faces a given light-emitting area makes it possible to cause light to be emitted uniformly within the light-emitting area and also makes it possible to cause light to be emitted only within the specific light-emitting area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an area light source and a display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Technologies are known by which light-emitting diodes are provided in recessed portions that are provided in a light guide plate in a backlight device of a liquid crystal display device, such that light is emitted from the light guide plate, as described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-8-136917 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2006-227423, for example.
Technologies are also known by which a display screen is divided into a plurality of blocks and the backlight brightness of each of the blocks is varied according to an input image signal, as described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2005-17324 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-11-109317, for example.

Area light source device and display device


A projectile launcher is provided. One aspect provides a device for launching projectiles comprising a slide, a barrel, and a pivoting element configured so that a delivery element contacts the barrel and delivers a catalyst or reactant to a projectile to be launched.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure is generally directed to systems and methods for delivering projectiles, in particular to devices for launching incendiary projectiles.
2. Related Art
In 2003 wildland fires in the United States burned 4,918,088 acres. The cost to fight these fires is estimated at $1,326,138,000. Accordingly, methods for fighting fires as well as preventing fires can conserve financial resources as well as preserve life and natural resources. One such method includes a technique known as spot-firing.
During the early 1960s, Australian foresters developed a spot-firing technique using ignition devices dropped from aircraft onto 5,000- to 10,000-acre blocks of eucalyptus forests to ignite fires to consume the litter and reduce the fire hazard. This early system consisted of a small plastic capsule containing potassium permanganate. A syringe was used to inject ethylene glycol into the plastic capsule, and then the charged device was dropped from an aircraft. The exothermic reaction resulted in spot fires where the device landed.
The pharmaceutical vials used by the Australians to contain the potassium permanganate were satisfactory for manual dispensers, but their irregular shape caused malfunctions when used in faster machines. The Alberta Department of Land Management and Forest, Equipment Development Section, introduced a spherical container.
Commercially available aerial ignition systems use a plastic sphere dispenser. In these systems, balls containing potassium permanganate are placed into the machine and injected with glycol. The ensuing chemical reaction causes the balls to ignite in 20 to 30 seconds. As the balls are dropped, they create a burn line. With an operator sitting in the back seat with the dispenser, and a pilot and "burn boss" up front, the helicopter loiters along the fire while the burn boss signals when to drop the balls. Although aerial ignition systems are useful for generating spot fires, they suffer from certain limitations. For example, aerial ignitions systems are typically motorized and mounted to a helicopter. These systems are not adaptable for ground ignition because of their large size, lack of mobility, and power requirements.


A data processing method and device, and a computer readable storage medium, the data processing method, applied to a node in an Information-Centric Network (ICN), includes: acquiring a first offset address corresponding to a first ICN packet; querying a record pointed to by the first offset address and performing data processing according to a query result; the record pointed to by the first offset address is used to store a storage address of a second ICN packet or forwarding information of the second ICN packet in response to the second ICN packet corresponding to the first ICN packet being stored locally.

Information-Centric Networking (ICN) is a brand-new Internet communication architecture. As a new Internet communication model with data content as the core and user demand as the guide, ICN has completely broken the limitation of the existing network architecture based on TCP/IP technology. This Internet communication architecture establishes a communication model on the basis of identification data, and fundamentally changes the encapsulation structure and addressing mode of IP packets by adopting the communication mode driven by content requester, which is beneficial to the cross-regional handover of mobile communication devices, thus reducing communication delay, and solving the problems such as inability to cope with high-speed mobile communications, exhaustion of IP address space, low network transmission efficiency, and poor security, etc., under the traditional Internet architecture.
A forwarding plane of ICN processes many kinds of data, including an Interest packet and a Data packet. The forwarding plane of ICN needs to retrieve whether there is a Data packet requested by an Interest packet, or whether there is an Interest packet requesting a Data packet.
Currently, the query efficiency of ICN packets in the ICN network is low.

Data processing method and device, and computer readable storage medium


A transmission power control device is provided that includes: a transmission loss calculator that calculates a transmission loss in the electric wave transmission path between a mobile station and each base station; and a transmission power control information determiner that determines which transmission power control information is to be used in a transmission power control operation at the mobile station, based on transmission power control information transmitted from each base station to the mobile station and the transmission loss in the transmission path between the mobile station and each base station calculated by the transmission loss calculator. This transmission power control device may further include an autonomous controller that increases transmission power from a current value in accordance with predetermined characteristics, regardless of transmission power control information from another communication device, when reception signal quality has become lower than a predetermined quality level. With this structure, after synchronization with a signal from the base station is established at the mobile station, the transmission power is controlled to increase from the initial value in accordance with the predetermined characteristics, regardless of the transmission power control information transmitted from the base station.

Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 9-312609 discloses a method of controlling transmission power in a soft handover process of a mobile station that performs radio communication with a plurality of base stations in a CDMA mobile communication system.
In accordance with this transmission power control method, each of the two base stations that are to receive signals from the mobile station measures the signal-to-interference plus noise power ratio (hereinafter referred to as the "reception SINR", and generates transmission power control bits (each of which represents a power increase or a power decrease) so that the reception SINR approaches a target SINR. The transmission power control bits are then transmitted from each base station to the mobile station. The mobile station measures the reception SINR with respect to each signal transmitted from the two base stations. Regarding the reception SINR of each base station as the reliability level of each transmission power control bit transmitted from the corresponding base station, the mobile station performs a transmission power control operation (a power increasing operation, a power decreasing operation, or a power maintenance operation) based on the transmission power control bits transmitted from each base station.
More specifically, if the reception SINR of one of the base stations is equal to or lower than a predetermined reference level, the transmission power control bits transmitted from the base station are regarded as unreliable and therefore are ignored. Instead, a transmission power control operation (a power increasing operation or a power decreasing operation) is performed based on the transmission power control bits transmitted from the other base station. If the reception SINRs of both base stations are equal to or lower than the predetermined reference level, the transmission power control bits from both base stations are regarded as unreliable, and the current transmission power is maintained regardless of those transmission power control bits. If the reception SINRs of both base stations are higher than the predetermined reference level, a transmission power control operation is performed based on such transmission power control bits as to decrease the transmission power.
By the above transmission power control method, a transmission power control operation is performed at the mobile station in such a manner that the transmission power is reduced based on the transmission power control bits having the higher reliabilities among the transmission power control bits transmitted from each base station. Thus, efficient transmission power control can be performed while a reasonable communication quality level is maintained.
The mobile station performs maximum-rate combining on the reception SINRs measured with respect to the base stations to obtain a composite SINR. Based on the composite SINR, the mobile station generates and transmits transmission power control bits to each base station. Based on the transmission power control bits transmitted from the mobile station, each base station performs a transmission power control operation.
In the above transmission power control operation at a mobile station in a mobile communication system, the reception SINR of each base station is regarded as reliable, based on the transmission power control bits transmitted from the corresponding base station. However, the reception SINR is measured at the mobile station based on a signal transmitted from each base station also performing such a transmission power control operation as to maintain the signal reception quality (the composite SINR) at a certain level at the mobile station. Because of this, the reception SINR does not necessarily reflect the true conditions (such as the fading condition and the distance) of the electric wave transmission path between the mobile station and each base station. Particularly, in a soft handover process, the conditions of the electric wave transmission path between the moving mobile station and each base station constantly vary with time. Therefore, it is preferable to take into consideration the true conditions of the electric wave transmission path in a transmission power control operation at the mobile station. In this manner, the transmission power at the mobile station can be reduced, while the predetermined communication quality is maintained.
Conventionally, a mobile station and a base station that perform radio transmission and reception of signals with each other in a CDMA mobile communication system each control the transmission power in the following manner.
The mobile station measures the signal-to-interference plus noise power ratio (hereinafter referred to as the "reception SINR") with respect to each reception signal from the base station, and regards the reception SINR as the reception signal quality. Based on the difference between the reception SINR and a target SINR, the mobile station generates transmission power control bits (each of which represents a power increase or a power decrease). The mobile station then transmits the transmission power control bits (transmission power control information) to the base station.
The base station controls the transmission power based on the transmission power control bits transmitted from the mobile station, while measuring the reception SINR with respect to each reception signal from the mobile station. Based on the difference between the reception SINR and a target SINR, the base station generates transmission power control bits, and transmits the transmission power control bits to the mobile station.
The mobile station generates the transmission power control bits to be transmitted to the base station, as described above, while controlling the transmission power at the mobile station based on the transmission power control bits transmitted from the base station.
By the above transmission power control operations at the mobile station and the base station, the transmission power at the mobile station is controlled so that the reception SINR at the base station approaches the target SINR. Also, the transmission power at the base station is controlled so that the reception SINR at the mobile station approaches the target SINR. Even if there are changes in the conditions (such as the distance and the fading condition) of the electric wave transmission path between the mobile station and the base station, the mobile station and the base station can perform signal transmission and reception with a stable reception signal quality, but without unnecessary transmission power consumption, by the above transmission power control operations.
When the above transmission power control operations are properly performed at the mobile station and the base station, each reception SINR at the mobile station and the base station fluctuates within a relatively narrow range, with the target SINR being in the middle, which is shown as the "NORMAL" region in FIG. 20. However, even when the above transmission power control operations are properly performed, the reception SINR might continuously decrease and move away from the target SINR, as shown in the "ABNORMAL" region of FIG. 20. The reasons of the continuous decrease of reception SINR are considered as follows.
In a case where the reception SINR at the mobile station keeps decreasing, the transmission power control operation based on the transmission power control bits generated from the mobile station is not properly performed at the base station. One of the reasons of this is that the reception quality of the transmission power control bits transmitted from the mobile station through the uplink is not adequate at the base station, and, as a result, a transmission power control operation based on different values from the values represented by the transmission power control bits generated from the mobile station is performed at the base station. The cause of this problem resides in that the transmission power control operation at the mobile station transmitting transmission power control bits is not necessarily performed in such a manner as to maintain the reception quality of the transmission power control bits at a predetermined quality level at the base station.
In the above situation, the reception quality of the transmission power control bits transmitted from the base station deteriorates at the mobile station due to the decrease of the reception SINR at the mobile station. As a result, an improper transmission power control operation is performed at the mobile station. Due to the improper transmission power control operation, the reception quality of the transmission power control bits transmitted from the mobile station deteriorates at the base station. Furthermore, due to the deterioration of the reception quality of the transmission power control bits at the base station, a transmission power control operation is not properly performed at the base station, resulting in a further decrease of the reception SINR at the mobile station. If this situation continues, the communication between the mobile station and the base station might be terminated.
Also in a conventional CDMA mobile communication system, a base station and a mobile station perform transmission and reception of various types of information (such as the information as to inherent spread codes to be used, and the information as to the signal format of each individual channel) through a common control channel, before a start of information data transmission between the base station and the mobile station. Transmission and reception of signals in a predetermined format are then performed through individual channels determined based on the above various types of information, so as to establish signal synchronization between the two stations. The process of establishing synchronization may be carried out through the procedures shown in FIG. 21.
As shown in FIG. 21, a base station 200 starts transmission of signals in a predetermined format (downlink transmission) ({circle around (1)}). The signals in the downlink transmission contain transmission power control bits (transmission power control information representing a power increase or a power decrease) that exhibit a predetermine pattern. A mobile station 100 performs synchronization initiation for the signals from the base station 200 ({circle around (2)}). Through the synchronization initiation, synchronization is established (downlink synchronization establishment) ({circle around (3)}). After confirming the establishment of synchronization, the mobile station 100 starts transmission of signals in a predetermined format (uplink transmission) ({circle around (4)}), while performing a transmission power control operation based on the transmission power control bits that exhibit the predetermined pattern.
The base station 200 performs synchronization initiation for signals transmitted from the mobile station 100 ({circle around (5)}). Through the synchronization initiation, synchronization is established at the base station 200 (uplink synchronization establishment) ({circle around (6)}). A certain period of time is required from the start of signal transmission ({circle around (1)}) from the base station 200 till the establishment of uplink synchronization ({circle around (6)}) at the base station 200.
In the above process of establishing synchronization, the transmission power control operation at the mobile station 100 may be performed as shown in FIG. 22.
Initially, the base station 200 needs to start downlink transmission while not receiving signals from the mobile station 100 (see {circle around (1)} of FIG. 21). Therefore, the base station 200 transmits transmission power control bits that represent a pattern of a constant power increase (a pattern only consisting of bits of "1") as well as the signals. After confirming the establishment of downlink synchronization ({circle around (3)}) of FIG. 21), the mobile station 100 starts increasing the transmission power at time t1 for the uplink transmission start (equivalent to {circle around (4)} of FIG. 21). The mobile station 100 then gradually increases the transmission power from an initial value P0 determined from a transmission loss or the like, in accordance with the transmission power control bits (1, 1, 1, 1, . . . ).
The transmission power control cycle in accordance with the above transmission power control bits is much shorter than a time required for establishing synchronization between the mobile station 100 and the base station 200. Therefore, once the transmission power control value reaches the maximum value Pmax in the transmission power control operation in accordance with the above transmission power control bits, the transmission power is maintained at the maximum value Pmax.
In this manner, the mobile station 100 performs such a transmission power control operation as to increase the transmission power to the maximum value Pmax, while transmitting signals. After uplink synchronization is established at the base station 200 through the synchronization initiation of the signals (at time t2), the base station 200 measures the signal-to-interference plus noise power ratio (hereinafter referred to as the "reception SINR) with respect to each signal from the base station 100, regarding the reception SINR as the reception signal quality. Based on the difference between the reception SINR and a target SINR that is set independently of the reception SINR, the base station 200 generates transmission power control bits (each of which represents a power increase or a power decrease). The base station 200 then transmits the transmission power control bits to the mobile station 100 (downlink transmission).
At the time when uplink synchronization is established at the base station 200 (at time t2), the mobile station 100 is performing such a transmission power control operation as to increase the transmission power to the maximum value Pmax. Because of this, the reception SINR from the mobile station 100 is much higher than the target SINR (excessive quality). Immediately after the uplink synchronization is established, transmission power control bits "0" representing a continuous power decrease are normally generated.
After the uplink synchronization is established at the base station 200 (after time t2), the mobile station 100 transmits signals (uplink transmission) while performing a transmission power control operation based on the transmission power control bits generated from the base station 200 in the above manner (closed-loop control). As a result, the transmission power at the mobile station 100 is controlled so that the reception SINR at the base station 200 can be maintained at the target SINR. In this situation, the mobile station 100 starts transmitting signals including information data in a predetermined timing.
In the above transmission power control operation at the mobile station 100 before information data transmission is started between the base station 200 and the mobile station 100, the mobile station 100 transmits signals while controlling the transmission power to increase rapidly in accordance with the transmission power control bits (1, 1, 1, 1, . . . ) representing a continuous power increase transmitted from the base station 200, after downlink synchronization with each signal from the base station 200 is established at the mobile station 100 (after time t1 in FIG. 22). By this transmission power control operation, the reception quality of signals from the mobile station 100 is rapidly improved at the base station 200. Thus, the downlink synchronization at the base station 200 can be established in an earlier stage.
In the signal transmission and reception process between the base station 200 and the mobile station 100, however, the transmission power at the mobile station 100 should only be maintained at such a transmission power value that the reception signal quality (the reception SINR, for example) can be maintained at the target quality (the target SINR, for example) (see the transmission power value after time t2 in FIG. 22). If the transmission power value at the mobile station 100 is increased to the maximum value Pmax or increased to a value close to the maximum value Pmax despite the transmission power at the mobile station 100 being controlled in such a manner as to only maintain the reception signal quality at the target quality at the base station 200, the transmission power at the mobile station 100 temporarily becomes excessive at the time immediately before information data transmission is started between the base station 200 and the mobile station 100. This results in unnecessary power consumption through the uplink, and unnecessary radio resource consumption at the base station 200.

Transmission power control apparatus and method in a mobile communication system, mobile station, and communication apparatus


An open-close member control apparatus has a function to release a foreign matter pinched to an open-close member. The open-close member is either (i) driven only while a manipulation switch is manipulated or (ii) driven continuously once the manipulation switch is manipulated to a specified position regardless of whether the manipulation is then released. When trapping of a foreign matter is detected under an open movement of the open-close member to an open direction based on an open command signal from the manipulation switch, an electric power supply to a motor is restricted to stop a progress of the trapping. When receiving a close command signal from the manipulation switch after restricting the electric power supply, the electric power is supplied to the motor to drive the open-close member to a close direction under a restricted state of a predetermined operation.

Patent Literature 1: JP 2007-9573 A
Patent Literature 2: JP 2011-122369 A
There are conventionally known in-vehicle power window apparatuses which have a function to prevent a foreign matter being pinched when a widow glass is closed (or window glass ascends) (for example, refer to Patent Literature 1). Such a pinching prevention function of the power window apparatus detects a foreign matter, which is pinched when the window glass is driven to a close direction, and then drives a motor reversely to drive the window glass reversely.
In Patent Literature 1, in contrast, the power window apparatus does not have a function to prevent a foregoing matter that is trapped when the window glass is driven to an open direction. For instance, when the belt molding itself is trapped by the window glass, a load larger than usual is added to the motor. In this case, if the motor is operated continuously as it is, the motor may suffer a damage to produce unusual sound and lower the operating speed. In addition, if a foreign matter is trapped in between the belt molding and the window glass, the foreign matter may be damaged.
In contrast, when a trapping occurs in between the window glass and the belt molding, the window glass may be driven to ascend simply. However, in such a case, a usual pinching may occur in between the window glass and the upper portion of the window frame. To solve such a state, when a trapping is detected, the driving of the motor may be stopped or the motor may be operated to close the window glass (refer to Patent Literature 2).
While the technology in Patent Literature 2 may be effective in preventing trapping, another requirement or desire is presented which permits an occupant to release the trapping while confirming the situation. In addition, a system having a pinching prevention function but not a trapping prevention function may pose the following situation. That is, when a trapping of an arm arises, an occupant may operate the window glass to be closed or be moved up. Such a case may change a load to the trapped member to activate the pinching prevention function erroneously, thereby causing a reverse movement to open or lower the window glass and then causing a trapping again.

Opening and closing member control apparatus and method for controlling opening and closing member


A seating apparatus for supporting a portion of a user, the seating apparatus comprising a reorientable seat portion including a seat platform and a cutout, wherein the seat selectively underlies a first ischial tuberosity of the user but not the second ischial tuberosity, the selection of which is determined by the orientation of the reorientable seat portion.

Well-designed sitting devices that account for ergonomic factors should promote good posture to minimize strain in the neck and back and should allow for periodic adjustments in the user's position to redistribute stresses, relieve pressure points, and allow blood flow through areas where blood flow has been constricted.
Good posture can be generally defined as posture in which the spine maintains neutral curvature, with normal lordotic ("inward") curvature of the cervical and lumbar spine and normal kyphotic ("outward") curvature of the thoracic spine. Deviation from neutral curvature, as occurs when one is slumping, creates an aesthetically unappealing appearance and causes shear stresses between vertebra. Shear stresses are increased as deviation is increased, or as load is increased. Shear stresses can trigger pain in people sensitive to such stresses, especially in those who have had previous spinal injuries. Lower back pain, for example, is a common cause of missed workdays in the United States.
Maintaining a neutral lumbar spine requires the least effort in the core muscles when a thigh is at an angle close to 180 degrees relative to the back (e.g. when standing). For this reason, posture is often better when a person is standing than when he or she is sitting. However, standing requires muscular effort to keep the leg extended and to balance the body (since bipedal standing is not inherently stable). To reduce the effort required when stationary, numerous devices are used, such as chairs. But chairs put the thighs at an angle less than 180 degrees (often approximately 90 degrees) in relation to the back, causing a flexion force in the lumbar spine, the flexion force increasing with decreasing back-thigh angle. Unwanted flexion can be counteracted by using the core muscles to maintain normal lordosis of the lumbar spine; such use of core muscles is present when one is, for example, "sitting up straight". However, prolonged exertion of core muscles can cause fatigue, which hinders the person's ability to continue maintaining good posture.
Many devices are available that attempt to improve sitting posture or to reduce time spent sitting.
Lumbar-support devices apply an external force to the lumbar spine to counteract the flexion force caused by sitting.
Reclining chairs increase back-thigh angle by reclining the back while maintaining the thighs in a horizontal position. They are often accompanied by lumbar-support devices.
Saddle chairs, kneeling chairs, and perching stools increase back-thigh angle by positioning the thighs at a downward angle while allowing the upper body and back to remain vertical, reducing the core-muscle effort required to maintain a neutral spine. They are usually not accompanied by lumbar-support devices.
Leaning chairs create a nearly or fully 180-degree back-thigh angle, reducing or virtually eliminating flexion forces in the lumbar spine.
Sit/stand desks allow the user to alternate between sitting and unsupported standing, allowing for periodic relief of the legs and lower back, respectively.
Each of these devices has disadvantages that the present disclosure does not.
Lumbar-support devices often do not apply enough pressure to the lumbar spine to maintain neutral curvature. They are often used ineffectually, such as when the user does not sit far enough back in the seat pan or when inadequate pressure is applied by the device to the lumbar spine.
Lumbar-support devices, saddle chairs, and kneeling chairs place the user in a fixed position and thus are not conducive to repositioning, which is necessary to redistribute stresses and pressure points, or to promote blood flow.
Saddle chairs put significant pressure on the ischial tuberosities ("sit bones") and the soft tissue near the sit bones, which can cause discomfort over time.
Kneeling chairs put significant pressure on the knees, which can cause discomfort over time.
Perching stools sometimes require stiff cushions to maintain grip between the user's butt and the seat, to prevent the user from sliding down the seat.
Saddle chairs, kneeling chairs, and perching stools require some core exertion to maintain neutral lumbar lordosis, though less exertion than required by a chair that places the thighs at 90 degrees in relation to the back. Kneeling chairs and perching stools also require leg-muscle exertion to prevent the butt from sliding down the seat.
Reclining chairs require flexion of the upper back or neck to maintain a horizontal head when viewing a screen. Reclining chairs also position the user farther from items on a desk, such as a keyboard, requiring him or her to reach when using such items. Reclining chairs also require a headrest to prevent the head from falling backward. Reclining chairs also make it difficult to read or write on a desk, activities that usually warrant an upright or forward lean of the upper body. Lastly, reclining chairs put the sitter in a more rested position, which can cause drowsiness and reduce attentiveness.
Perching stools and leaning chairs direct a high proportion of the body weight through the legs, stressing the musculature and joints in the legs.
Sit/stand desks require raising and lowering the desk platform, a function that can be expensive to implement and interrupts the user's activity every time the desk platform is translated.
Most methods of sitting, perching, and leaning keep the body symmetrical between the right and left halves. In particular, the back-thigh angle of the right leg is the same as that of the left. However, this need not be the case. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,220,872 describes a sitting device in which one leg is in a standing position (i.e. with a 180-degree femur-spine angle) and the other leg in a sitting position (i.e. with a 90-degree femur-spine angle), or in which both legs are in a sitting position. The device has a separate seat pad for each the left and right side which robotically changes angle such that the user can switch standing legs without repositioning the upper body. A disadvantage of this design is that it is complex and potentially expensive to manufacture.
An improved apparatus for sitting/standing satisfies several needs: It enables a 180-degree back-thigh angle; it does not cause extension or flexion of the cervical spine; it eliminates fatigue caused by continuous balancing; it allows periodic rest of leg extensor muscles and relief of pressure points; it allows for positional adjustment with minimal effort; and it is simple in construction.

Half-sitting stool with supported sit bone