A method for using a film formation apparatus includes performing a main cleaning process and a post cleaning process in this order inside a reaction chamber. The main cleaning process is arranged to supply a cleaning gas containing fluorine into the reaction chamber while exhausting gas from inside the reaction chamber, thereby etching a film formation by-product containing silicon. The post cleaning process is arranged to remove a silicon-containing fluoride generated by the main cleaning process and remaining inside the reaction chamber and to alternately repeat, a plurality of times, supplying an oxidizing gas into the reaction chamber to transform the silicon-containing fluoride into an intermediate product by oxidization, and supplying hydrogen fluoride gas into the reaction chamber while exhausting gas from inside the reaction chamber to remove the intermediate product by a reaction between the hydrogen fluoride gas and the intermediate product.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a film formation apparatus for a semiconductor process for forming a thin film containing silicon on a target substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer, and also to a method for using the apparatus. The term "semiconductor process" used herein includes various kinds of processes which are performed to manufacture a semiconductor device or a structure having wiring layers, electrodes, and the like to be connected to a semiconductor device, on a target substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate used for an FPD (Flat Panel Display), e.g., an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), by forming semiconductor layers, insulating layers, and conductive layers in predetermined patterns on the target substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
In manufacturing semiconductor devices, a process, such as CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition), is performed to form a thin film, such as a silicon nitride film or silicon oxide film, on a target substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer. In a film formation process of this kind, a film formation gas is supplied into the reaction tube (reaction chamber) of a heat-processing apparatus, so that the film formation gas causes a reaction and thereby produces a reaction product. The reaction product is deposited on the surface of each semiconductor wafer, and forms a thin film on the surface of the semiconductor wafer.
The reaction product generated during the film formation process is deposited (adhered) not only on the surface of the semiconductor wafer, but also on, e.g., the inner surface of the reaction tube and other members, the latter being as by-product films. If the film formation process is continued while by-product films are present on the inner surface of the reaction tube and so forth, a stress is generated and causes peeling of some of the by-product films and the quartz of the reaction tube and so forth due to a difference in coefficient of thermal expansion between the quartz and by-product films. Consequently, particles are generated, and may decrease the yield of semiconductor devices to be fabricated.
In order to solve this problem, cleaning of the interior of the reaction tube is performed after the film formation process is performed once or repeated several times. Where cleaning is performed for by-product films containing silicon, a halogen-containing acidic gas, such as hydrogen fluoride gas, is supplied as a cleaning gas into the reaction tube. The by-product films deposited on the inner surface of the reaction tube and so forth are thereby dry-etched and removed by the cleaning gas (for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 3-293726).
Where a gas containing fluorine, such as hydrogen fluoride gas, is used as a cleaning gas to remove by-product films containing silicon, various silicon-containing fluorides, such as fluorosilicate, are generated as by-products. Of the silicon-containing fluorides, molecules including six or more fluorine atoms, such as hexafluorosilicate (H2SiF6) and ammonium fluorosilicate ((NH4)2SiF6), can be more easily deposited on the inner surface of the reaction tube. Specifically, in order to vaporize and thereby remove these fluorides, it is necessary to form a vacuum and heated atmosphere of 133 Pa (1 Torr) or less and 100° C. or more. Accordingly, where a gas containing fluorine is used as a cleaning gas to remove by-product films containing silicon, the vacuum and heated atmosphere is formed inside the reaction tube during the cleaning to prevent such fluorides from being deposited, or the vacuum and heated atmosphere is formed inside the reaction tube after the cleaning to remove deposited fluorides.
However, as described later, the present inventors have found that conventional methods including a cleaning process for using a film formation apparatus of this kind have room for improvement in terms of some characteristics of the apparatus concerning the throughput and particle generation.

Film formation apparatus and method for using same


Black bars are determined by lines of pixels. Steps include: for each line (or subset), determining standard deviation (or product value) and a difference value, product value being proportional to M·σ, where M is pixel values mean for the line, σ standard deviation of pixel values for the line, and the difference value a difference between the standard deviation (or product) value for the line and the standard deviation (or product) value for one of the lines adjacent to the line, and determining whether any of the lines satisfies the criterion that the difference value for the line exceeds a threshold but the difference value for each other one of the lines to be displayed nearer to a first edge of the image than is the line does not exceed the threshold. Other aspects are a system or device configured (e.g., programmed) to perform any embodiment of the method.

1. Field of the Invention
Typical embodiments of the invention are systems and methods for identifying black bars in images (e.g., images determined by frames of video data).
2. Background of the Invention
Throughout this disclosure including in the claims, the expression "black bar" is used to denote a block of contiguous pixels of an image determined by video data (e.g., one or more contiguous rows of pixels, or one or more contiguous columns of pixels of a video frame) which are at least substantially identical (e.g., which have the same, or substantially the same, color and luminance). For example, the pixels in a "black bar" may all be identical black pixels (having zero, or minimal luminance) or they may all have identical (or substantially identical) nonzero (or greater than minimal) luminance and identical (or substantially identical) color. A black bar may comprise non-identical pixels due to image noise, or other causes.
Throughout this disclosure including in the claims, the expression performing an operation "on" signals or data (e.g., filtering the signals or data) is used in a broad sense to denote performing the operation directly on the signals or data, or on processed versions of the signals or data (e.g., on versions of the signals that have undergone preliminary filtering prior to performance of the operation thereon).
Throughout this disclosure including in the claims, the expression "system" is used in a broad sense to denote a device, system, or subsystem. For example, a subsystem that implements a filter may be referred to as a filter system, and a system including such a subsystem (e.g., a system that generates X output signals in response to multiple inputs, in which the subsystem generates M of the inputs and the other X-M inputs are received from an external source) may also be referred to as a filter system.
Throughout this disclosure including in the claims, the noun "display" and the expression "display device" are used as synonyms to denote any device or system operable to display an image or to display video in response to an input signal. Examples of displays are computer monitors, television sets, portable devices such as tablets and phones and home entertainment system monitors or projectors.
Throughout this disclosure including in the claims, the term "processor" is used in a broad sense to denote a system or device programmable or otherwise configurable (e.g., with software or firmware) to perform operations on data (e.g., video or other image data). Examples of processors include a field-programmable gate array (or other configurable integrated circuit or chip set), a digital signal processor (e.g., a GPU) programmed and/or otherwise configured to perform pipelined processing on video or other image data, a programmable general purpose processor or computer, and a programmable microprocessor chip or chip set.
Legacy video material often contains black bars on the top and bottom (or left and right) of the displayed image to adjust the image size from one aspect ratio to another (e.g. from 16:9 to 4:3). However, when applying image processing algorithms to images containing black bars, it is typically not desirable to include the pixel values of the black bars into statistical or spatial computations. Additionally, some consumers detest black bars displayed with content and may wish a mode on their display device that automatically crops and scales images to fill the screen.
Several methods have been proposed for identifying black bars (sometimes referred to as constant blocks or black blocks) in video frames. For example, it has been proposed to compute a running average of the values of the pixels in a selected line (e.g., column) of an image, and to identify the location of a sharp change in the running average as the location of an edge (e.g., a row) of a black bar. It has also been proposed (e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 7,538,821, issued May 26, 2009) to identify a black pixel that is contiguous to a black bar as belonging to the black bar, unless a dispersion value of a line of pixels (associated with the black pixel in question) exceeds a threshold value. If the dispersion value of the line of pixels exceeds the threshold value, the black pixel in question is assumed to belong to an image area (rather than to the black bar).
For another example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,400, issued May 9, 2000, describes a method in which the mean and standard deviation of the luminance values of each row of pixels of a frame are determined. If the standard deviation for a row is determined to be less than a threshold value (e.g., 5), the row is identified as a constant block. If two adjacent rows are identified as constant blocks, the difference between the mean values of the rows is calculated, and the rows are identified as belonging to the same constant block if the difference between the mean values is determined to be sufficiently small (e.g., less than 3% of the overall range of possible luminance values). U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,400 also proposes determining the strength of an identified edge of a constant block by summing the absolute differences between pairs of pixels on either side of the edge, and identifying the edge as a strong edge (rather than a weak edge) if the strength exceeds a predetermined threshold.
However, conventional methods for identifying black bars in video frames have not been robust against high levels of noise in the video data. The identification of black bars in well exposed and accurately processed digital images or video frames is relatively simple. However, when the image data (e.g., video data) indicative of these bars is degraded, conventional black bar identification methods do not reliably identify black bars in a manner that is both simple and accurate. For example, the conventional methods may incorrectly identify (as black bars) very low contrast rows and columns directly adjacent to black bars. Image data degradation can be caused by incorrect black levels, noise in the bars and blurred boundaries between image regions and the black bars.
In a class of embodiments, the invention is a method for detecting black bars in simple cases as well as under difficult conditions (e.g., in the presence of noise, blur and low contrast image margins). Typical embodiments are computationally efficient.

Method and system for black bar identification

Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation


An anti-creep locking mechanism for a trailer suspension system is disclosed. The disclosed locking mechanism includes at least one column that may be swung into a first position in a gap formed between a trailer frame and a suspension component to keep a trailer at a predetermined height. The column is biased into the first position by a spring. An actuator, such as a contracting air bag or an air cylinder with a linkage assembly, is used to overcome the biasing force of the spring and retract the column into a second position, thereby deactivating the anti-creep locking mechanism. The anti-creep mechanism may further include an angle limiter to insure that column is fully retracted once the system is deactivated.

In a conventional leading or trailing arm trailer suspension, a leading or trailer arm, respectively, extends from the trailer frame for connection with the trailer axle. The arm is pivotally connected at one end to the trailer frame and is also connected at a second end to the trailer axle. The arm may extend over or under the trailer axle and supports an air spring thereon.
In one known trailer suspension, to lock the trailer at a predetermined positional height and to prevent the trailer from moving during loading and/or unloading, the trailer suspension includes a locking mechanism. In one embodiment, the locking mechanism utilizes the weight of the trailer to engage and lock the trailer to a predetermined height against the dock. After the trailer is loaded or unloaded, the air springs are activated such that the air springs are inflated to lift the trailer up and release the dock lock. However, even though the air springs may inflate to full pressure, the dock lock may stick such that the weight of the trailer may keep the dock lock engaged. Accordingly, as the trailer pulls away from the dock and goes over a bump, the trailer rises, taking the weight off the locking mechanism and disengaging it such that the locking mechanism slams down on travel limit stops, oftentimes causing damage to the trailer suspension.
In addition, welded connections on the trailer axles may be weakened and often fail due to the sudden weight crashing down. Further, the stress placed on the welded connections often extends to the axle itself, resulting in a weakening or failure of the axle.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved suspension system that will minimize or eliminate one or more of the above-mentioned deficiencies.


A system for maintaining an electrically operated folding wall comprising: (a) a maintenance detecting means; (b) a time measuring means; (c) a first time alarm means for detecting a preset time for a maintenance reminder; (d) a second time alarm means far detecting a preset time for maintenance; (e) a first maintenance schedule indicator for indicating that maintenance is soon required; f) a second maintenance schedule indicator for indicating that maintenance is required; (g) a preventing means for preventing the electrical operation circuit of the folding operable wall from functioning after the second time alarm detects that the time measuring means has reached the preset time for maintenance; (h) a resetting means for resetting the time measured by the time measuring means after the required maintenance has been performed; and (i) a restarting means for restarting the electrical operation circuit of the folding operable wall after the required service has been performed.

Portable folding partitions or walls having a plurality of vertically oriented panels have conventionally been used to provide temporary walls to, for example, divide off two or more areas of a given room. In particular, folding portable partitions provide a quick and efficient means to divide large open rooms, such as a school gymnasium, auditorium, cafeteria or classroom into smaller areas. The vertically oriented panels are suspended from a horizontal rail system along which the panels are movable. In order to facilitate movement of the portable folding partitions, casters or wheels may be used, which allow the portable partition to be easily positioned to the desired location, and then rolled back into its storage area for later use.
Portable folding partitions have been adapted to include mechanisms which open and close the moving partitions automatically by an electrical system. However, due to the large amount of force needed to move the weight of the folding partitions, electrically operated folding partitions can cause injury, or even death, to a person who accidentally becomes trapped between the partitions.
Electrically operated folding partitions, like any other mechanical apparatus, need to be maintained over time to function safely and efficiently. Indeed, recognizing the importance of routine and periodic maintenance for electrically operated folding partitions, many states have enacted laws requiring schools to maintain electrically operated folding partitions in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions, including the manufacturer's recommended service interval.
However, conventional electrically operated folding operable walls lack a means to indicate what maintenance is required on electrically operated folding operable walls, and when such maintenance is required. Indeed, conventional electrically operated folding operable walls fail to notify the individual(s) responsible for maintaining the same what maintenance is required, and when such maintenance is required, therefore creating the possibility that that routine and periodic maintenance will be easily overlooked. Furthermore, electrically operated folding partitions which have not been properly maintained, perhaps unbeknownst to the operator thereof, may nevertheless be operated, thereby creating a dangerous situation. Indeed, electrically operated folding partitions which have not been properly maintained may, for example, fail to detect an object, such as a person, in the path of the folding operable wall, and hence stop, thus increasing the likelihood that a person will accidentally become trapped between the partitions, even if the operator of electrically operated folding partition is attentive. It is important that only properly trained personnel be permitted access to the folding partition system for maintenance and operation.
Moreover, conventional electrically operated folding partitions do not provide any means to validate if a particular electrically operated folding partition has been maintained in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. Accordingly, electrically operated folding partitions which have not been properly maintained, perhaps unbeknownst to the user thereof, may nevertheless be operated, thereby creating an undue risk of accident. Conventional electrically operated folding partitions also fail to utilize a system for maintaining the electrically operated folding partition that ensures that the electrically operated folding partition is maintained in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions by providing a means which renders the electrically operated folding partition inoperable unless the electrically operated folding partition is maintained in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.
Therefore, it would be desirable if an electrically operated folding operable wall included a means to indicate what maintenance is required, and when. It would also be desirable if an electrically operated folding wall was prevented from functioning if it is determined that the electrically operated folding operable wall has not been maintained in accordance with the manufacturers instructions. It is also desirable that the system permits access only to personnel who have been designated as having the proper training for maintenance or operation of the system.

System for maintaining electrically operated folding partition systems


A signal collection and power connection assembly of a power battery module, a power battery module and a vehicle are provided. The assembly includes a substrate, a power connection member fixed on the substrate, a power connection line formed by a first sheet-like conductor disposed on the substrate, a signal collection line formed by a second sheet-like conductor disposed on the substrate, and a signal collection member disposed on the substrate and coupled with the signal collection line. A terminal of the power connection line is coupled with the power connection member, and a terminal of the signal collection line is coupled with the power connection member.

A signal collection module in the related art usually performs signal collection and power connection via wires. This kind of signal collection module has poor universality. Once types of signals (such as pressure, concentration, humidity, etc.) required to be collected in the environment are increased, this kind of signal collection module cannot operate normally. If additional sensing units are added, the whole design of the signal collection module needs to be adjusted. Moreover, in this type of signal collection module, the battery connection sheet and the FPC needs to be connected with each other by welding or hot pressing, and then welded to an electrode terminal of the battery. In other words, two-step forming is required. The two-step forming causes an increase in the complexity of manufacture and use as well as a decrease of reliability of the signal collection module.

Signal collection and power connection assembly, power battery module and vehicle


A HDD including write components configured to operate within an operating voltage range, charging circuitry comprising a charging capacitor. The charging capacitor includes a higher voltage when charged than the operating voltage range. The HDD also includes pulse circuitry configured to pulse power from the charging circuitry to the write components within the operating voltage range during a controlled shut down of the write components such that remaining data-sector bits are written during the controlled shut down.

In a hard disk drive (HDD) data is written by a magnetic head on to a rotating magnetic disk. The user data is written on to the magnetic disk in units of individual sectors of 512 bytes. Typically, the HDD operates by being supplied with a power source voltage of 5V from a host device.
In some instances, the power supply voltage to the HDD may become disconnected. If there is a disconnection of the power supply voltage, then there is a limited amount of time to write the user data (or remaining user data). In particular, there may not be enough time to write the user data (or remaining user data) to the individual sector, before there is a hardware reset (due to insufficient voltage). Accordingly, user data can become lost or corrupted.
The drawings referred to in this description should be understood as not being drawn to scale except if specifically noted.

Pulse power during a shut down in a hard disk drive


A plug kit of sealing apertures. There is: a first plug, including: a first solid cylindrical flexible member, having: a first end with a first diameter; and a second end, opposite the first end, the second end having a second diameter smaller than the first diameter, wherein the diameter of the first solid cylindrical flexible member decreases step-wise along a length of the first solid cylindrical flexible member; and a second plug, including: a second solid cylindrical flexible member, having: a third end with a third diameter, wherein the third diameter is larger than the first diameter; and a fourth end, opposite the third end, the fourth end having a fourth diameter smaller than the third diameter, smaller than the first diameter, and larger than the second diameter, wherein the diameter of the second solid cylindrical flexible member decreases step-wise along a length of the second solid cylindrical flexible member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to plugs, specifically to plug kits for sealing apertures.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, it has been known to use plugs to seal apertures of connectors, such as pipes and hoses. Plugs are often used to seal apertures of connectors to prevent leaks, spills, and contamination. Many plugs form air-tight seals which prevent the escape of matter from the aperture, as well as prevent matter from entering the aperture.
In addition, it has been known to use plugs of various shapes and sizes to seal apertures. In particular, it has been known to use plugs with lips to seal apertures. Such plugs generally have a tubular body with disk-shaped lips on an outer peripheral surface of the body spaced at equal intervals. Diameters of plugs may vary according to diameters of the lips.
Also, many plugs seal apertures by frictional resistance. Sealing by frictional resistance requires that plugs be flexible for insertion and removal. It is also beneficial for plugs to be somewhat elastic, and have memory, for reuse. However, it is desirable for plugs to retain some structural integrity for holding up against large amounts of pressure. Advantageously, plugs with lips can be brought into close contact with an inner wall of an aperture without significant distortion. Further, plug sealings may be reinforced by locking mechanisms or gap-fillers.
Because heavy equipment has numerous apertures with a multiplicity of shapes and sizes, there is a need for plugs which correspond to, and seal, apertures of heavy equipment. In particular, there is a need for plugs which are easy to select, are easy to install, which have a variety of diameters, which have an excellent memory, and which hold up against fuel and oil spills. Some improvements have been made in the field. Examples include but are not limited to the references described below, which references are incorporated by reference herein:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,716,875, issued to Troncoso, Jr., discloses a safety plug device for fuel lines. The safety plug device is adapted to reasonably plug the fluid fuel line of an internal combustion engine. The device has an external multiple stepped cylindrical configuration and/or central cavity with a like configuration so that it can be used effectively with various diameter of fuel lines and can either be inserted in the central opening of the fuel line or can be disposed over the fuel line, to prevent loss of fuel after the fuel line is removed from, for example a carburetor. The device is preferably of resilient elastomeric material resistant to deterioration by fuel and can include metal inserts, or be all metal, ceramic, etc. Moreover, because the plug device physically reinforces the fuel line, clamping of the fuel line at the plug device does not damage the fuel line. In one embodiment, the plug device includes an outer protective resilient sheath which enables clamps of a single diameter to be effectively used.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No.: 2005/0274568, by Falco et al., discloses a high sound attenuating hearing protection device. A hearing protection device insertable into an earcanal is provided, the device generally including a stem portion, a sound attenuating portion affixed to and extending at least partially over the stem portion, and a volume of space disposed between and delimited by the sound attenuating portion and the stem portion, where at least a part of the sound attenuating portion is collapsible into the volume of space during insertion of the hearing protection device into the earcanal.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,033,215, issued to Kobayashi, discloses a sealing plug and a watertight connector provided therewith. A rubber plug is inserted into a cavity of a connector housing after and insulated wire is inserted through a wire insertion hole to provide a watertight seal between an inner wall of the cavity and the insulated wire. Frictional resistance between the inner wall of the cavity and the rubber plug is larger that the frictional resistance between the insulated wire and the rubber plug. The frictional resistance between the insulated wire and the rubber plug permits movement of the insulated wire relative to the rubber plug when the insulated wire is caused to expand in longitudinal direction by heat.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No.: 2006/0102418, by Magidson discloses an earplug. An earplug composed of an injected molded resilient polymeric material for insertion into an ear canal by a fingertip of a user, including an elongated member having a nose portion formed as a curved front end. An open cup shaped rearward extending flange located at the end of the elongated member opposite to the nose portion and with the open cup shaped rearward extending flange configured to receive the fingertip of the user. The elongated member including at least one flange element located intermediate the nose portion and the open cup shape flange. The nose portion and the flange element having a generally curved shape to extend into and conform the wall of the ear canal. The earplug composed of a resilient polymer material having a relatively low Shore A Durometer hardness value.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,820,717, issued to Fleming et. al., discloses a pressure regulating earplug. An earplug is provided for use by an airplane passenger, which more slowly increases the pressure of air in the passenger's ear canal than the rate of increase in cabin air pressure as the airplane descends near the end of a flight. The earplug has a cavity that is open to the front end of the earplug, and with a restrictor at the front end of the cavity that allows air to pass between the cavity and ear canal, and the cavity to collapse, only at a very slow rate. As the environmental air pressure increases near the end of a flight, the earplug is slowly compressed in diameter and compresses the cavity.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,791, issued to Visor, discloses an adjustable ear plug. A flexible ear plug has flanges thereon of gradually increasing size. The plug can be inserted into an auditory canal after which the diameter of the flanges can be increased by forcing an insert into a cavity in the plug. One size plug, due to the variation in diameters of the flanges and the fact that the diameters can be increased by use of the insert fits all sizes of auditory canals.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,541, issued to Koumatsu, discloses a rubber plug with lips. The rubber plug includes a tubular body having a cross-sectionally corrugated inner surface including a plurality of conically shaped surfaces, and a plurality of lips formed integrally on and projecting radially outwardly from an outer surface of the tubular body in planes perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the tubular body and including first, second and third lips, the plurality of lips being spaced along the longitudinal axis, wherein a distance between the first lip and the second lip in a direction of the longitudinal axis is different than a distance between the second and third lips in the direction of the longitudinal axis.
The inventions heretofore known suffer from a number of disadvantages, which include: having limited sealing surfaces, having limited sealing capacity, having limited memory, having an inability to hold up against fuel and oil spills, being difficult to select, being difficult to install, being limited in size, and/or having an inability to prevent contamination.
What is needed is a plug kit and/or device and/or system that solves one or more of the problems described herein and/or one or more problems that may come to the attention of one skilled in the art upon becoming familiar with this specification.


A drug delivery and monitoring device comprising a nerve stimulating element configured to deliver an electric stimulus, a recording element configured to detect a compound action potential, and a drug-delivery element.

The use of regional anesthesia in pediatrics (pRA) has dramatically increased over the past 30 years, as it provides localized pain relief, diminishes opioid use, and facilitates earlier mobilization, enteral feeding and hospital discharge1. The technique is also used increasingly due to concerns about the effect of general anesthesia on brain development.
For several reasons, local anesthetic toxicity will become a major safety risk as pRA gains greater acceptance. First, dosing guidelines for children are mostly unknown and are based on expert conjecture3-6. Second, systemic toxic reactions present vastly differently in children than in adults, as they will not show early signs of toxicity because pRAs are mostly performed under deep sedation or general anesthesia. Finally, no tools are available to determine local anesthetic toxicity, other than observation of significant hemodynamic changes.
Improved devices and methods for delivery of pediatric anesthesia are needed.

Computer controlled pediatric regional anesthesia


A method and apparatus are provided that uses the feedback information from an ARQ signal that is received to control the transmit diversity of a transmitter. The method provides for improved performance over some existing ARQ plus open loop transmit diversity schemes in terms of bit-error rate for a given Eb/No. Furthermore, the method does not require extra signaling used by closed loop TD schemes.

Improving system throughput and capacity is one of the main goals for high-speed wireless systems, such as those proposed for the High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and 1xEV-DV which are part of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and 3GPP2 standards bodies, respectively. Technologies, such as adaptive modulation and coding schemes, Hybrid-ARQ, code combining, smart antennas, etc., are being investigated and proposed for these new standards to achieve this goal.
ARQ is an implicit adaptation technique in which receiver acknowledgments regarding the transmitted packets are used for re-transmission decisions. Hybrid-ARQ (H-ARQ) is one form of ARQ schemes in which one of code combing methods is usually used. Time diversity offered by Hybrid ARQ has been shown to have the capability of improving system throughput. In the 1xEV-DV and HSDPA proposals, for example, Chase combining (i.e. symbol combining, also referred to as H-ARQ-type-III with one redundancy version) and Incremental Redundancy (IR), are used together with ARQ to achieve higher throughput on the forward link by exploring this time diversity. Transmit Diversity (TD) has been proposed for wireless standards such as the IS-2000 and Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA). In IS-2000, for example, two open loop transmit diversity schemes have been adopted, i.e. Orthogonal Transmit Diversity (OTD) and Space Time Spreading (STS). In WCDMA, both open loop TD, i.e. Space Time Transmit Diversity (STTD), and closed loop TD schemes have been adopted. In the HSDPA and the 1xEV-DV proposals, different open loop and closed loop transmit diversity schemes are under consideration.
Closed loop transmit diversity requires feedback information from the receiver to achieve better performance compared to open loop transmit diversity. However, the quantized feedback information with reasonable degradation introduces unwanted overhead. Open loop TD can be considered as special case of closed loop TD in which feedback is a constant value. Many open and closed loop transmit diversity schemes have been studied. For example, a four transmit antenna system of the double-STTD or (DSTTD) scheme has been proposed where two distinct streams of data are encoded using two STTD encoders and transmitted by 4 antennas. A closed loop TD scheme with a four transmit antenna system of the DSTTD has also been proposed where an estimation of the co-variance matrix is required in order to find the best basis and the feedback is required to signal to the transmitter which basis would be used. A discussion of a prior art DSTTD system can be found in an article entitled, "Increasing data rate over wireless channels", by A. Naguib, N. Seshadri and A. R. Calderbank, IEEE Signal Processing, pp. 76-92, May 2000.

Method and apparatus for providing transmit diversity with adaptive basis


This invention provides for progressive processing of biometric samples to facilitate user verification. A security token performs initial processing. Due to storage and processing limitations, false rejections may occur. To overcome this, the biometric sample is routed to a stateless server with greater processing power and data enhancement capabilities. The stateless server processes and returns an enhanced biometric sample to the security token for another attempt at verification. In another embodiment, the security token may have a second failure when verifying the enhanced biometric sample. It can then send the enhanced or raw biometric sample to a stateful server. The stateful server processes the biometric sample and performs a one to many search of a biometric database having a master set of enrolled authorized user biometric templates. The security token uses signals from the stateful server to grant or deny access. In both embodiments, heuristics remain with the security token.

In the relevant art, biometry is accomplished using conventional client/server models in which a biometric sample is obtained using a biometric scanner attached to a local client, initially extracted and pre-processed by the local client and the processed result sent to a server for additional processing and verification. An example of a biometric authentication system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,256,737, to Bianco, et al. The initial sample extraction performed by the client typically converts a grayscale or color image into a smaller digital output file. The digital output file is then processed using a biometric template by obtaining data points from one or more predefined regions of the digital output file which is then compared against a stored reference.
The biometric template is divided into a public portion and a private portion. The public portion of the template is generally used to determine the quality of the biometric sample, correct variations in sampling geometry and to extract data points for comparison against the data points contained in the private portion of the template. The reference data points included in the private portion of the biometric template are obtained during an initial enrollment session using equivalent biometric templates and processing algorithms.
The private template portion requires security measures equivalent to or greater than those used to protect a personal identification number (PIN.) As such, a user's biometric template is generally stored in a biometric database associated with a remote authentication server rather than storing a user's biometric template locally. Use of the client for storage of biometric templates or performing verifications is strongly disfavored since a surreptitiously installed rogue application could be used to track data points that result in successful verifications eventually leading to determination of the data points comprising the private template.
In the relevant art, to access a system or resource, an enrolled user provides a biometric sample which is sent to the remote authentication server, processed and used to query the biometric database using a one-to-many relationship. Biometric identifications systems deploying architectures of this type are processing intensive and could become a bottleneck to authentication as the sophisticated processing requirements for biometric authentication may result in access delays when the authentication server receives a large number of access requests in a short period of time, such as would occur at the start of a work day or shift change.
To overcome some of these limitations, a recent innovation stores the biometric template within the secure domain of a security token such as a smart card. An example of which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,311,272 to Gressel. The security token securely maintains the biometric template and attempts an initial one-to-one match using the received digitized sample data from the client. This innovation provides more of a distributed processing approach, which alleviates to some extent the processing requirements of a server-based biometric authentication system.
However, due to limitations in available storage space and processing power, the use of a security token alone could result in higher false rejection rates than would be obtained using the greater processing capabilities available on a client/server based biometric authentication system. In addition, the limited processing capabilities makes the security token alone more susceptible to distortions introduced into the biometric sample from a new scar, cut, burn, dirt, skewed sample image, degraded scanner membrane, etc. Furthermore, many security tokens include a maximum number of attempts before a lockout occurs as an additional security feature. Repeated verification failures may be counted toward the lockout, increasing administrative overhead and negatively impacting work productivity.
Thus, it would be highly desirable to have a biometric verification system, which incorporates the robust security features inherent in security tokens and the additional processing capabilities available using a server but is not reliant on a vulnerable client to perform sensitive verification transactions, retains the heuristics of the security token and avoids to the extent possible repeated biometric sampling attempts by the user.

System and method for sequentially processing a biometric sample


A digital system is provided with a several processors, a private level one (L1) cache associated with each processor, a shared level two (L2) cache having several segments per entry, and a level three (L3) physical memory. The shared L2 cache architecture is embodied with 4-way associativity, four segments per entry and four valid and dirty bits. When the L2-cache misses, the penalty to access to data within the L3 memory is high. The system supports miss under miss to let a second miss interrupt a segment prefetch being done in response to a first miss. Thus, an interruptible SDRAM to L2-cache prefetch system with miss under miss support is provided. A shared translation look-aside buffer (TLB) is provided for L2 accesses, while a private TLB is associated with each processor. A micro TLB (xcexcTLB) is associated with each resource that can initiate a memory transfer. The L2 cache, along with all of the TLBs and xcexcTLBs have resource ID fields and task ID fields associated with each entry to allow flushing and cleaning based on resource or task. Configuration circuitry is provided to allow the digital system to be configured on a task by task basis in order to reduce power consumption.

This application claims priority to European Application Serial No. 00402331.3, filed Aug. 21, 2000.
This invention generally relates to microprocessors, and more specifically to improvements in cache memory and access circuits, systems, and methods of making.
Microprocessors are general-purpose processors that provide high instruction throughputs in order to execute software running thereon, and can have a wide range of processing requirements depending on the particular software applications involved. A cache architecture is often used to increase the speed of retrieving information from a main memory. A cache memory is a high speed memory that is situated between the processing core of a processing device and the main memory. The main memory is generally much larger than the cache, but also significantly slower. Each time the processing core requests information from the main memory, the cache controller checks the cache memory to determine whether the address being accessed is currently in the cache memory. If so, the information is retrieved from the faster cache memory instead of the slower main memory to service the request. If the information is not in the cache, the main memory is accessed, and the cache memory is updated with the information.
Many different types of processors are known, of which microprocessors are but one example. For example, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) are widely used, in particular for specific applications, such as mobile processing applications. DSPs are typically configured to optimize the performance of the applications concerned and to achieve this they employ more specialized execution units and instruction sets. Particularly in applications such as mobile telecommunications, but not exclusively, it is desirable to provide ever increasing DSP performance while keeping power consumption as low as possible.
To further improve performance of a digital system, two or more processors can be interconnected. For example, a DSP may be interconnected with a general purpose processor in a digital system. The DSP performs numeric intensive signal processing algorithms while the general purpose processor manages overall control flow. The two processors communicate and transfer data for signal processing via shared memory. A direct memory access (DMA) controller is often associated with a processor in order to take over the burden of transferring blocks of data from one memory or peripheral resource to another and to thereby improve the performance of the processor.
Particular and preferred aspects of the invention are set out in the accompanying independent and dependent claims. In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a digital system having several processors, a private level one (L1) cache associated with each processor, a shared level two (L2) cache having several segments per entry, and a level three (L3) physical memory. The shared L2 cache architecture is embodied with 4-way associativity, four segments per entry and four valid and dirty bits. When the L2-cache misses, the penalty to access to data within the L3 memory is high. The system supports miss under miss to let a second miss interrupt a segment prefetch being done in response to a first miss.
In another embodiment, a shared translation lookaside buffer (TLB) is provided for L2 accesses, while a private TLB is associated with each processor. A micro TLB (xcexcTLB) is associated with each resource that can initiate a memory transfer. The L2 cache, along with all of the TLBs and xcexcTLBs have resource ID fields and task ID fields associated with each entry to allow flushing and cleaning based on resource or task.
In another embodiment, configuration circuitry is provided to allow the digital system to be configured on a task by task basis in order to reduce power consumption.

Multiple microprocessors with a shared cache


A method of texturing a synthetic material, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), to resemble a natural material is provided. The method can include texturing a PVC profile after extrusion in order to achieve a surface roughness of about 70 to about 300 micro inches roughness average. The method can include producing a line pattern surface roughness to make the textured PVC resemble a wood finish, particularly when the method includes applying a paint or stain to the textured PVC. The method can include producing a radial pattern surface roughness to make the textured PVC resemble a brushed metal finish. The method of the present invention can be applied to existing PVC elements, such as extruded elements, either at the manufacturing level or at the consumer level. A kit can also be provided including a texturing means, a paint or stain, and instructions.

As will be understood by a worker skilled in the art, the word extrusion can refer to the process of squeezing a material through a shaped orifice to produce a linear element with a desired cross section. The word extrusion can also refer to an element or part produced by this process.
The use of synthetic materials such as, for example, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is well known in the field of residential and industrial constructions. In particular, extrusions of such synthetic materials are often used in the fabrication of doors and windows because they are easy to maintain, relatively inexpensive, light, durable and energy efficient, which has been traditionally used for hundreds of years. However, despite all its advantages, synthetic materials do not offer the traditional finish that wood does.
There have been efforts in the past to enhance the visual appeal of PVC extrusions by attempting to modify them to look like wood. For example, painting PVC extrusions is known and does produce a modified appearance of the extrusions; however, even when painted, they generally do not resemble wood or any other natural material.
In another known approach, cellular PVC is embossed to imitate a wood finish. However, such embossing is performed during the extrusion process per se, before the extrusions are allowed to cool, which means that modifying the appearance of installed extrusions is not an option. Moreover, this embossing method cannot be easily applied to hollow, rigid PVC extrusions, since such hollow profiles generally cannot accept the applied pressure stemming from the embossing process without suffering structural damage.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide a method of texturing PVC, and synthetic material extrusions (SMEs) in general, that can be performed after the manufacturing of the extrusions, i.e., after the extrusion and cooling processes. It is also desirable to provide a method of texturing SMEs that is applicable to hollow SMEs without causing any structural damage thereto.

Method of texturing synthetic material extrusions


A current switch (30) includes a switching transistor (Q1) having a collector electrode for coupling to a first voltage source (Vcc), an emitter electrode, and a base electrode for receiving a control signal (V.sub.IN1). Switching transistor (Q1) is responsive to the control signal (V.sub.IN1) to turn on to produce a collector current (I.sub.CQ1). A bias circuit (26) is coupled to the emitter electrode of the switching transistor (Q1) for causing the collector current (I.sub.CQ1) of the switching transistor (Q1) to have a predetermined value. The bias circuit includes first and second transistors (Q3 and Q4) having base electrodes coupled in common. The first transistor (Q3) has a collector electrode coupled to the emitter electrode of the switching transistor (Q1) and an emitter electrode for coupling to a second voltage source (Vss). The second transistor has a collector electrode for coupling to a current source (24) and an emitter electrode for coupling to the second voltage source (Vss). A third transistor (Q6) has a collector electrode coupled to the emitter electrode of the switching transistor (Q1), a emitter electrode coupled to the base electrode of the first transistor (Q3), and a control electrode coupled to the collector electrode of the second transistor (Q4). The third transistor (Q6) reduces the dependance of the collector current (I.sub.CQ1) on the .beta. of the switching transistor (Q1) to make the collector current (I.sub.CQ1) less sensitive to process variations.

Transistors are often used in switching circuits to perform a current switching function in order to selectively supply current to loads in response to control signals. In such switching circuits, the switching transistors typically having a current path coupled between a load and a bias network that includes a constant current source. The control electrode of each switching transistor receives a control signal to selectively turn that switching transistor on to switch a current determined by the bias network to the associated load.
In presently available current switches in which the switching transistors are bipolar transistors, the current switched to a load is dependent upon the switching transistor's current gain .beta.. Since .beta. varies significantly as a result of process variations, the value of the current switched to the load is also subject to process variations. The complete elimination of all process variations is extremely difficult. As a result, .beta. can typically be guaranteed only to be within a fairly broad range thus making it impossible to predict with a high degree of accuracy what the value of the switched current will actually be.
This inability to switch a known, very accurate current is undesirable in a wide variety of devices, such as oscillators using current ramping techniques, accurate clock duty cycle control circuits, and transconductance amplifiers, that require accurate current switching capability.
Accordingly, a need exists for a current switch having bipolar switching transistors that has reduced sensitivity to process variations and can switch a predetermined current with a high degree of accuracy.

Current switch with bipolar switching transistor and .beta. compensating circuit


4,6-Dinitroresorcinol is prepared by reacting resorcinol with concentrated nitric acid that is substantially free of suboxides of nitric acid. It has been found that greater than 60 percent yields of the desired product can be obtained when the concentration of aqueous nitric acid used is between about 80 and about 93 weight percent, and the concentration of suboxides is less than about 2 weight percent based on the weight of nitric acid.

This invention relates to a process for preparing 4,6-dinitroresorcinol in one step from resorcinol.
4,6-Dinitroresorcinol is used to prepare 4,6-diaminoresorcinol, which is a precursor to polybenzoxazoles (PBOs), polymers which are useful as insulators, solar arrays, and cut-resistant gloves. PBOs can be prepared by reacting 4,6-diaminoresorcinol with bisacids, bisacid halides, bisesters, bisamides, or bisnitriles. See Wolfe in Mark et al., The Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Engineering, Volume 11, pp. 601-635, Wiley-InterScience Publication, New York, 1988.
Efforts to prepare 4,6-dinitroresorcinol in one step from resorcinol and nitric acid in yields exceeding 30 percent have been unsuccessful due to the formation of high levels of undesirable by-products, such as 2,4-dinitroresorcinol and 2,4,6-trinitroresorcinol (styphnic acid). Improved yields of the desired 4,6-isomer have been obtained by introducing bulky protecting groups at the 1- and 3-positions of resorcinol, thereby inhibiting nitration at the 2-position. For example, Lysenko et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,001, herein incorporated by reference) describes the preparation of 4,6-dinitroresorcinol from resorcinol through a 1,3-bis(methylcarbonato)benzene intermediate. Similarly, Schmitt et al. (J. Org. Chem. 1988, 53, 5568, herein incorporated by reference) describes the preparation of 4,6-dinitroresorcinol in 44 to 66 percent yield from resorcinol diacetate. The steric hindrance of these intermediates causes nitration to take place mostly at the 4- and 6-positions, so that the desired 4,6-diaminoresorcinol can be prepared upon hydrolysis and hydrogenation. Unfortunately, a significant degree of undesirable nitration still occurs at the 2-position of the intermediate, and there is the danger of forming the potentially explosive styphnic acid.
It would be desirable to prepare 4,6-dinitroresorcinol in high yields and at high concentrations in one step from resorcinol without requiring any intermediate protected species.

One-step preparation of 4,6-dinitroresorcinol from resorcinol


Low latency transmission systems and methods for long distances in SOUNDWIRE systems are disclosed. In an exemplary aspect, a SOUNDWIRE sub-system is coupled to a long cable through a bridge. The bridge converts SOUNDWIRE signals to signals for transmission over the long cable and converts the signals from the long cable to the SOUNDWIRE signals for transmission in the SOUNDWIRE sub-system. Conversion between signal types may include concatenating signals of a similar type into a group that is serially transmitted over the long cable. Concatenation of bit slots in this manner consumes minimal overhead in bus turnaround, thereby reducing latency. In further aspects, the functionality of the bridge may be incorporated into a headset or a mobile terminal.

I. Field of the Disclosure
The technology of the disclosure relates generally to the SOUNDWIRE specification and particularly to handling relatively long communication buses therewith.
II. Background
Mobile terminals have become increasingly common in modern society. These devices have evolved from large, clunky, relatively simple telephonic devices to small, full range, multimedia devices with vastly improved processing power. The early mobile terminals generally provided poor sound quality and little, if any, visual image capacity. As the processing power for these mobile terminals has increased and the range of multimedia options has increased, the quality of the possible audio experience has likewise increased. In particular, contemporaneous mobile terminals may include multiple speakers, multiple microphones and, optionally, may communicate with remote audio devices such as headsets.
The MIPI® Alliance introduced the Serial Low Power Inter-chip Media Bus (SLIMbus®) protocol to help standardize communication between audio elements of a mobile terminal. While effective at providing communication between the audio elements of the mobile terminal, SLIMbus has not seen widespread acceptance by the industry. Accordingly, the MIPI Alliance has introduced the SOUNDWIRE specification to replace the SLIMbus protocol.
The SOUNDWIRE specification provides for a two-wire communication bus that may not exceed fifty centimeters (50 cm) in length. While such distances are readily satisfied for the audio elements within the mobile terminal, such distances may be too short for some regularly used ancillary devices such as a headset. Accordingly, there remains a need for improvements to the SOUNDWIRE specification to allow distances greater than 50 cm.

Low latency transmission systems and methods for long distances in soundwire systems


Systems and methods are provided for calculating authenticity of a human user. One method comprises receiving, via a network, an electronic request from a user device, instantiating a video connection with the user device; generating, using a database of questions, a first question; providing, via the network, the generated question to the user device; analyzing video and audio data received via the connection to extract facial expressions, calculating, using convolutional neural networks, first data and second data corresponding predetermined emotions based on facial expressions and audio data; generating candidate emotion data using the first and second data; determining whether the candidate emotion data predicts a predetermined emotion, and generating a second question to collect additional data for aggregating with the first and second data or determining the authenticity of the user and using the determined authenticity to decide on the user request.

As the Internet has become more wide-spread, electronic transactions have displaced face-to-face transactions. Types of electronic transactions can vary, including purchasing items and borrowing money. Because it is hard to determine authenticity of a transaction partner without face-to-face interaction, there exist various ways to detect fraud.
The existing methods to determine authenticity, however, are perfunctory in nature. They evaluate credibility of an applicant using transaction or credit history, and are thus limited to a small set of data that relates to the applicant. Moreover, transaction or credit history can be fabricated; therefore, the determination may not be accurate. Because of this reason, the existing methods often require face to face interaction or phone conversation with the person engaging the transaction. By doing this, however, the cost of the transactions increases, and the process gets delayed. Therefore, there is a need for improved systems and methods for accurately determining authenticity in an electronic manner.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Computerized systems and methods for determining authenticity using micro expressions


A bicycle mounting device for storing and transporting a bicycle in a horizontal or vertical orientation. The mounting device includes a frame formed by a pair of longitudinal members and a first and second lateral member each affixed at opposing ends thereof. A sliding bicycle support is operably connected to the pair of longitudinal members and can receive the bicycle in a horizontal orientation. In some embodiments, the first end of the frame is raised relative to the second end thereof. In use, the device is placed in a trunk of a vehicle and the horizontally oriented bicycle is placed on the sliding support. The bicycle can then be pushed into the trunk by the sliding support moving from the first to the second end of the frame. The pair of longitudinal members form a gap to receive a tire of the bicycle when stored in the vertical orientation.

The present invention relates to a bicycle mounting device. The present invention further provides a bicycle mounting device for storing and transporting a bicycle in a horizontal and vertical orientation.
Existing support racks for transporting bicycles are typically connected to a vehicle such that the bicycle is stored exterior to the vehicle. The bicycle is either stored upright on the roof of the vehicle or an extension of the vehicle rear. This manner of storage leaves the bicycle exposed to environment factors such as rain, dirt, and other vehicles, which can lead to bicycle damage.
An alternative storage method is placing a bicycle in the trunk of a vehicle by laying it flat or horizontally. A person is required to maneuver the bicycle until it is fully positioned within the vehicle and the trunk door can shut, which is cumbersome and causes the bicycle to easily entangle with other objects stored in the trunk. Further, the bicycle can shift during transportation causing further entanglement or damage to other objects within the vehicle.
These existing devices and methods fail to disclose a frame with a sliding bicycle support adapted to support the bicycle in a horizontal orientation. Moreover, no device includes a longitudinal member that comprises a gap sized to receive a wheel of the bicycle such that the frame supports the bicycle in a vertical orientation, as well.
In light of the devices disclosed in the known art, it is submitted that the present invention substantially diverges in design elements and methods from the known art and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement for a bicycle mounting device. In this regard the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.


A remote phosphor package according to the present invention includes a green emitting quantum dot material and a Mn4+ doped phosphor of formula I, dispersed in a host matrix

Energy efficiency is a critical feature in the field of consumer electronics, and displays consume a large portion of device power. Display power consumption highly affects many features of electronic display devices, including battery requirements in mobile display applications, as well as device operating temperature and panel lifetime, especially in large display applications. In conventional display devices, a majority of the energy consumed by the device is dedicated to the display, particularly the display backlight unit. Conventional phosphors exhibit broad emission spectra, so a large amount of the light produced is filtered out by color filters to produce sharper color components. This broad spectrum filtering results in wasted light energy, decreased brightness, and higher display operating temperatures. Therefore, improvements in color gamut and brightness are desirable.

Devices containing a remote phosphor package with red line emitting phosphors and green emitting quantum dots

Abstract: wherein                    A is Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, or combinations thereof;            M is Si, Ge, Sn, Ti, Zr, Al, Ga, In, Sc, Y, La, Nb, Ta, Bi, Gd, or combinations thereof;            x is an absolute value of a charge of the [MFy] ion; and            y is 5, 6 or 7.


Chemical bath deposition (CBD) apparatuses and fabrication methods for compound thin films are presented. A chemical bath deposition apparatus includes a chemical bath reaction container, a substrate chuck for fixing a substrate arranged face-down toward the bottom of the chemical bath reaction container, multiple solution containers connecting to a reaction solution mixer and further connection to the chemical bath reaction container, and a temperature control system including a first heater controlling the temperature of the chemical bath reaction container, a second heater controlling the temperature of the substrate chuck, and a third heater controlling the temperature of the multiple solution containers.

Chemical bath deposition (CBD) method has bend developed as a well-known thin film technique, which was first announced by the Boeing Company in 1982. Advantages of the chemical bath deposition technique include easy implementation, low equipment cost, and high quality coating, etc. Conventionally, when implementing the chemical bath deposition process to prepare a thin film, the working piece will be vertically placed in the plating container where the chemical solution is heated. It should be understood, however, that thermal field and flow field deposition in the chemical bath container may directly affect uniformity of the coating layers. Therefore, the thermal field of the chemical bath container and the flow field of the reaction solution must be precisely controlled.
Generally, there are two main nucleation mechanisms during the chemical bath deposition process: homogeneous nucleation and heterogeneous nucleation. Heterogeneous nucleation occurs when anions and cations in the solution react to formations of nuclei in a heterogeneous interface. After proceeding subsequent chemical ion reactions, the nuclei continue to stack and grow and transforms into a thin film on the heterogeneous interface, wherein the heterogeneous interface can be a solid-liquid interface or a gas-liquid interface. On the other hand, homogeneous nucleation occurs when anions and cations directly react into nuclei in solution. After proceeding subsequent chemical ion reactions, the nuclei continue to stack and grow and transforms into suspended particles in the solution.
For conventional chemical bath deposition process, the presence of suspended particles is an important problem to overcome. The main problem is that the suspended particles may attach to the thin film during plating process, undermining the uniformity of film thickness. For example, when a large area thin film is prepared using vertical chemical bath deposition, a higher amount of suspended particles may occur at the bottom of the chemical bath container, affecting uniformity and surface smoothness of the coating layer in the bottom of the chemical bath container.
According to the abovementioned discuss, the conventional chemical bath deposition process has two major problems which must be overcome, namely; uniformity of thermal field distribution and deposition of suspended particles. Particularly, during deposition of large area thin films, these two effects may become more apparent.
In order to address the issue of thermal field distribution, U.S. Pat. No. 7,541,067 and U.S. Pat. Publication Nos.: 2009/0246908, 2009/0255461, 2009/0223444, the entirety of which are incorporated herein by reference, disclose a chemical bath deposition (CBD) method with the face-up placement of the substrate which directly heats the substrate instead of the solution to address the issue of the thermal field distribution. FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a conventional chemical bath deposition apparatus. In FIG. 1, a chemical bath deposition apparatus 10 includes a chemical bath deposition section 11 where the reaction solution flows from an inlet port 13 to an outlet port 14. A substrate 18 is disposed at the bottom of the chemical bath deposition section 11. The surface 18A of the substrate 18 is arranged faced upward. The reaction solution in the chemical bath deposition section 11 was maintained at temperature within a range between 55-80° C. The substrate 18 is heated up by a heater 19. A cooling device 29A is disposed on the top of the chemical bath deposition section 11 constructed as a cold-wall reactor. Chemical compound thin film deposited on the top surface 11A of the chemical bath deposition section 11 can thus be prevented.
The deposition method implemented by the chemical bath deposition apparatus 10 is advantageous in that less reactive solution can be consumed to achieve the same thin film quality. Although the abovementioned method can successfully address the thermal field distribution and flow field distribution issues, deposition of the suspended particles in the solution cannot be effectively avoided. Large quantities of suspended particles may be deposited on the substrate surface, affecting the coated thin film quality.
There are some prior techniques which reduce the solution temperature to avoid occurrence of the suspended particles and polishing and flattening the surface of the coating layer after completion of thin film deposition. Reducing the solution temperature, however, would result in increased deposition time. Accordingly, a chemical bath deposition apparatus is eagerly needed to effectively address the issue of thermal field distribution and to effectively reduce and prevent the suspended particles deposited on the substrate surface.

Fabrication methods for chemical compound thin films

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A car alarm apparatus includes a first horn; a second horn; an electrical source; a theft detection section; a horn switch; a first relay closed when the horn switch is operated; a first fuse connected to the electrical source in series with the first relay and the first horn; a second fuse connected to the electrical source separately from the first fuse; and a second relay connected to the electrical source in series with the second fuse and the second horn, wherein the second relay includes a first contact that connects the second horn to an electrical source through the first fuse and the first relay in parallel with the first horn and a second contact that connects the second horn to the electrical source through the second fuse, and closes the second contact when the occurrence of the theft is detected.

In recent years, cars and the like have been equipped with a car alarm apparatus having a function of sounding an alarm to the surroundings when the possibility of the car being stolen is detected, in addition to a function of sounding a horn (alarm) in the case of providing a warning to peripheral cars or pedestrians at the time of the ordinary use of cars which are moving or the like.
As disclosed in the following Patent Document 1, in this type of car alarm apparatus, it is important that an alarm reliably operates at the time of a theft. FIG. 6 shows a configuration illustrating an electrical circuit in a conventional car alarm apparatus.
This conventional car alarm apparatus has two ordinary horns 81a and 81b, and one exclusive horn 82 operating at the time of a theft. The ordinary horns 81a and 81b are connected to one terminal of a switch 131a included in a first relay circuit 131. The other terminal of the switch 131a is connected to a positive terminal of an electrical source 110 through a first fuse 121. In addition, one terminal of a coil 131b included in the first relay circuit 131 is connected to a first fuse 121 similarly to the switch 131a. The other terminal of the coil 131b is connected to one terminal of a diode 150 and a horn switch 160.
On the other hand, the exclusive horn 82 operating at the time of a theft is connected to one terminal of a switch 132a included in a second relay circuit 132. The other terminal of the switch 132a is connected to a positive terminal of the electrical source 110 through a second fuse 122. In addition, one terminal of a coil 132b included in the second relay circuit 132 is connected to the second fuse 122 similarly to the switch 132a. The other terminal of the coil 132b is connected to one terminal of the diode 150 and a security control unit 170. Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 6, a system constituted by the first fuse 121, the first relay circuit 131 and the ordinary horns 81a and 81b, and a system constituted by the second fuse 122, the second relay circuit 132 and the exclusive horn 82 operating at the time of a theft are formed in parallel to (separately from) the electrical source 110.
Here, the diode 150 provided between the first relay circuit 131 and the second relay circuit 132 has a connection configuration in which the direction thereof is set so that a current flows from the first relay circuit 131 to the security control unit 170. Thereby, when the electrical conduction is made by an operation of the horn switch 160 (that is, at the time of ordinary use), a current flows to the electrical source 110 through the first fuse 121 and the coil 131b of the first relay circuit 131 to the horn switch 160. A current flows to the coil 131b, whereby the switch 131a of the first relay circuit 131 is closed, and thus a current flows to the ordinary horns 81a and 81b. As a result, the ordinary horns 81a and 81b operate, and an alarm sound is given as an alarm.
In addition, when a theft is detected by a sensor (not shown) or the like, the security control unit 170 is controlled so that the electrical potential of the input end thereof (B point in FIG. 6) becomes equal to the ground potential. Then, a current flows from the electrical source 110 through the first fuse 121, the coil 131b of the first relay circuit 131 and the diode 150 to the security control unit 170, and flows from the electrical source 110 through the second fuse 122 and the coil 132b of the second relay circuit 132 to the security control unit 170. Thereby, the switch 131a of the first relay circuit 131 and the switch 132a of the second relay circuit 132 are simultaneously closed, all the horns of the ordinary horns 81a and 81b and the exclusive horn 82 operate at the time of a theft, and an alarm regarding the theft is issued.
Incidentally, it is often the case that the ordinary horns 81a and 81b are disposed at the front end portion of a car in order to satisfy a sound pressure as an alarm stipulated by law. When a person committing a theft performs machining from the outside of the car on the ordinary horn disposed on this area and grounds an A point in FIG. 6, an excessive current flows in a path that connects the electrical source 110, the first fuse 121, the switch 131a and the A point by the electrical conduction of the switch 131a of the first relay circuit 131 through the control of the security control unit 170, and thus the first fuse 121 is blown. As a result, the ordinary horns 81a and 81b become inoperable. However, when the exclusive horn 82 operating at the time of a theft is disposed at a location that is out of reach from the outside, for example, the engine compartment, the ordinary horn and the exclusive horn operating at the time of a theft become separate from each other. For this reason, even when the above-mentioned A point is grounded, the second fuse 122 is not blown, and the exclusive horn 82 operating at the time of a theft can continue to sound an alarm.


An acoustic treatment for an indoor HVAC component is provided having an inner liner and at least one aperture formed through the inner liner. An acoustic absorber is positioned adjacent the inner liner. A gap, including a width dimension, is formed between the inner liner and the acoustic absorber.

Fan coil units are now being constructed with axial fan technology rather than a forward curved blower system. Axial fan systems require a mounting deck with a means to slide the deck into the fan coil unit for support. A sheet metal inner liner provides the mounting structure for the axial fan. However, if this inner liner is composed entirely of sheet metal, there is potential that the sound and vibration from the fan system is not absorbed or dampened. Thus, there is a need to devise an "inner liner" that is more conducive to mitigation of sound from the fan coil unit.
Typically, forward curved blower systems are used within residential air handlers and furnaces. Over time, axial fan technology has been introduced to residential air handlers. Typically, axial fan system require a mounting deck that slidably engages with a support within the air handler. Typically, an inner liner provides the mounting structure for the axial fan system. When the inner liner is composed of sheet metal, sound and vibration produced by the axial fan system provide undesirable results. There is therefore a need to reduce the sound and vibration within the HVAC component using an axial fan system.

Acoustic treatment for an indoor HVAC component


A system assists a worker in performing manufacturing tasks involving one or more objects. The system comprises an augmented-reality display system, a task-state sensing system that determines a state of a manufacturing task, a physiological-state-sensing system that detects a physiological state of the worker, and an electronic processing system. The electronic processing system determines a guidance setting for the worker from their detected physiological state and determines assistance information to display to the worker based on the state of the manufacturing task and the determined guidance setting for the worker. The augmented-reality display system displays the determined assistance information to the worker in a controlled spatial relationship to the object(s).

This invention relates to a system for assisting a worker in performing manufacturing tasks using an augmented-reality display system.
Manufacturing tasks, such as may be performed by one or more workers in a factory, often require high levels of concentration and precision in order to avoid mistakes. They may also require a worker to have a high degree of knowledge about how the tasks should be performed. These requirements can place significant physical and/or cognitive stress on the worker. This can, over time, lead to reduced productivity or to a higher risk of mistakes being made.
The present invention seeks to provide a technological approach that may help to reduce these problems.


Systems and methods are provided for morphological components analysis (MCA) techniques for efficient maritime target detection. Embodiments of the present disclosure provide systems, methods, and devices for determining the free parameter λ for MCA analysis. Embodiments of the present disclosure using MCA utilize effective pre-processing step(s) that separate target signals from clutter, thereby improving the overall performance of subsequent target detection processing. Systems and methods in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure can optimize the value of the parameter λ, significantly affecting MCA performance.

Radar systems use radio waves to detect objects. For example, a transmitter of a radar system can send radio waves to an object, and the reflected waves return to the receiver of the radar system. Based on the reflected wave, the radar system can determine positional information about the object (e.g., range, angle, velocity, etc.)
Radar-based detection of vessels and other floating targets on the sea surface is an enduring challenge for the Navy as well as for civilian agencies involved in coastal management. The transient nature of the backscatter generated by the dynamic sea surface itself makes detection of targets floating on it difficult, and despite many decades of research, the search for new approaches to this challenge is ongoing. For example a signal (e.g., the backscatter produced by floating surface targets) can be difficult to detect due to clutter (e.g., undesired backscatter produced by the sea surface itself) on the sea surface, interfering with signal detection.
Features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which like reference characters identify corresponding elements throughout. In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the corresponding reference number.

Morphological components analysis for maritime target detection

The Government of the United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy