Embodiments of the present invention provide a system for increasing an operational life of a VCSEL. The system can include control circuitry for reducing an amount of bias current at high temperatures and increasing a power of the laser at low temperatures. This control circuitry can further include at least one of a temperature sensor, a Field Programmable Gate Array, a read only memory module, and an electrically erasable programmable read only memory module (EEPROM). In alternate embodiments, the control circuitry can further include a lookup table that sets the bias current depending on a temperature of the laser. The laser can be part of an optoelectronic transceiver module which can include, by way of example and not limitation, SFP, XFP, X2, XAUI, XENPAK, XPAK, GBIC, 8G, 16G, and other optoelectronic modules.

1. The Field of the Invention
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) and, more specifically, to devices and methods to increase the reliability of VCSELs at higher temperatures.
2. The Relevant Technology
In the field of data transmission, one method of efficiently transporting data is through the use of fiber optics. Digital data is propagated through a fiber optic cable using light emitting diodes or lasers. Light signals allow for extremely high transmission rates and very high bandwidth capabilities. Also, light signals are resistant to electro-magnetic interferences that would otherwise interfere with electrical signals. Light signals are more secure because they do not allow portions of the signal to escape from the fiber optic cable as can occur with electrical signals in wire-based systems. Light also can be conducted over greater distances without the signal loss typically associated with electrical signals on copper wire.
Light signals are transmitted using a laser diode, a laser driver, and various other electrical circuitry. The transmitter receives electrical signals representing network or communication data and processes the electrical signals to achieve the result of modulating the network or communication data onto an optical signal generated by the laser driver and the associated laser.
To operate correctly, the laser diode of the transmitter is supplied with both a controlled direct current (DC) bias current and an alternating current (AC) modulation current. The DC bias current allows the laser diode to properly respond to the AC modulation. At a given temperature, a given DC bias current will produce a given optical power output for the laser. This bias current needs to provide an AC current that is at least above a threshold current level, which is the lowest excitation level at which laser output is dominated by stimulated emission rather than by spontaneous emission. However, for this given DC bias current, the optical power output will change as the temperature of the components changes.
Unfortunately, it is often necessary to compensate for these changes in optical power through some form of control network. A common method for doing this is to use a monitor photodiode that samples the optical output power as part of a control loop. The control loop can then adjust the DC bias current going to the laser to keep a constant amount of optical power output coming from the laser and going to the photodiode. This system is referred to as an average power control (APC) control loop. It compensates for both changes in the laser threshold current and slope efficiency.
As data speeds have increased to the 10 Gigabit/second standard, the requirement to operate the laser over an extended temperature range has also increased. These higher speeds produce additional problems. For a given laser design, the speed of the laser is proportional to the square root of the current above the threshold level. Thus, in order to get the most speed from the laser, it is desirable to drive the laser with a large amount of current. Unfortunately, the reliability of the laser decreases proportionally to the square of the current. Additionally, the reliability of the laser decreases exponentially as the temperature increases.
The above described relationships are shown graphically in FIG. 1, which is designated generally as reference numeral 10. Graph 10 includes a relative current scale 12 on the bottom. Relative current is defined as the current applied to the laser, I, minus the threshold current, Ith, divided by Ith. The right side of the graph shows the resonance frequency of the laser 14, which corresponds to the speed of the laser. The left hand side of the graph shows the Mean Time to Failure (MTTF) 16 in hours.
A first plot line 18 illustrates the relationship between current and laser speed. As the current increases, the speed of the laser increases as well. Lines 20, 22, and 24 represent the relationship between speed and reliability at temperatures of 0, 40 and 80° C., respectively. Note that, as the temperature and current increase, the reliability of the laser decreases significantly.
This relationship is somewhat more complicated for vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs). Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) represent a relatively new class of semiconductor lasers. While there are many VCSEL variations, a common characteristic is that VCSELs emit light perpendicular to a semiconductor wafer's surface. Advantageously, VCSELs can be formed from a wide range of material systems to produce specific characteristics.
VCSELs include, among other things, semiconductor active regions, distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) mirrors, current confinement structures, substrates, and contacts. Because of their complicated structure, and because of their specific material requirements, VCSELs are usually grown using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) or molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Specific details concerning the construction of a typical VCSEL are known to those of skill in the art. However, for the sake of clarity, a brief discussion of a typical VCSEL structure is provided below with reference to FIG. 2.
FIG. 2 illustrates a typical long-wavelength VCSEL 110. As shown, an n-doped Indium Phosphide (InP) substrate 112 has an n-type electrical contact 114. An n-doped lower mirror stack 116 (a Distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR)) is on the InP substrate 112, and an n-type graded-index InP lower spacer 118 is disposed over the lower mirror stack 116. An indium gallium arsenide phosphide (InGaAsP) or aluminum indium gallium arsenide (AlInGaAs) active region 120, usually having a number of quantum wells, is formed over the InP lower spacer 118. Over the active region 120 is an insulating region 140 that provides current confinement. The insulating region 140 is usually formed either by implanting protons or by forming an oxide layer. In any event, the insulating region 140 defines a conductive annular central opening 142 that forms an electrically conductive path though the insulating region 140. Over the insulating region is a tunnel junction 128. Over the tunnel junction 128 is an n-type graded-index InP top spacer 122 and an n-type InP top mirror stack 124 (another DBR), which is disposed over the InP top spacer 122. Over the top mirror stack 124 is an n-type conduction layer 109, an n-type cap layer 108, and an n-type electrical contact 126.
Still referring to FIG. 2, the lower spacer 118 and the top spacer 122 separate the lower mirror stack 116 from the top mirror stack 124 such that an optical cavity is formed. As the optical cavity is resonant at specific wavelengths, the mirror separation is controlled to resonate at a predetermined wavelength (or at a multiple thereof).
In operation, the external bias current discussed above causes an AC electrical current 121 to flow from the electrical contact 126 toward the electrical contact 114. The tunnel junction over the insulating region 140 converts incoming electrons into holes. The converted holes are injected into the insulating region 140 and the conductive central opening 142, both of which confine the current 121 such that the current flows through the conductive central opening 142 and into the active region 120. Some of the injected holes are converted into photons in the active region 120. Those photons bounce back and forth (resonate) between the lower mirror stack 116 and the top mirror stack 124. While the lower mirror stack 116 and the top mirror stack 124 are very good reflectors, some of the photons leak out as light 123 that travels along an optical path. The light 123 passes through the conduction layer 109, the cap layer 108, an aperture 130 in electrical contact 126, and out of the surface of the vertical cavity surface emitting laser 110.
It should be understood that FIG. 2 illustrates a typical long-wavelength VCSEL having a tunnel junction, and that numerous variations are possible. For example, the dopings can be changed (say, by providing a p-type substrate), different material systems can be used, operational details can be tuned for maximum performance, and additional structures and features can be added.
In a typical VCSEL, such as the one discussed above, the relationship between the applied bias current and the speed of the laser is more complex due to the multi-transverse mode nature of the device. Generally, one can observe differences in the modulation characteristics as a function of temperature, and more specifically, depending on which side of the "T-zero" (T0) point the laser is operated. The T0 point is the temperature at which the threshold current is a minimum over temperature. Also, the slope efficiency (amount of light output increase for a given increase in drive current) can affect the modulation performance.
FIG. 3 illustrates one example, designated generally as reference numeral 30, of the variation of threshold current 32 and slope efficiency 34 over temperature 36 in a typical VCSEL. A first plot line 38 represents the variation of threshold current as a function of temperature. A second plot line 40 represents the variation of slope efficiency over temperature. As can be seen from the plot line 40, in a VCSEL, the slope efficiency decreases with increasing temperature.
When operated in a constant optical power mode, the VCSEL 100 described here would have the operational characteristics shown in a graph 50 illustrated in FIG. 4. The graph 50 includes a temperature scale 52, a relative laser speed 54, and a measure of the bias current 56. A first curve 58 illustrates the relative speed of the laser as the temperature increases. A second curve 60 illustrates the bias current needed to maintain a constant power output as the temperature increases. As can be clearly seen in curve 58, as the temperature decreases, the optical performance is degraded due to a reduction in speed. Similarly, at high temperature, the reliability of the VCSEL is compromised due to the increase in the bias current, as shown in curve 60. As can be seen from the graph in FIG. 4, using an APC control loop for VCSEL 100 requires a very high bias current at higher speeds and higher temperatures. Unfortunately, at these higher temperatures, the reliability of the VCSEL is severely compromised due to the increase in the bias current.

High-temperature operation of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers


A puncture apparatus includes: a needle member having a tubular shape and comprising a flexible portion that is deformable; and a puncture assisting member that is movable or deformable in an axial direction of the needle member between: a restricting position in which the puncture assisting member is located outside the flexible portion of the needle member in a radial direction of the needle member, and thereby restricts deformation of the flexible portion, and a permissive position in which the puncture assisting member is not located outside the flexible portion in the radial direction, and thereby permits deformation of the flexible portion. The puncture assisting member is configured to move or deform from the restricting position to the permissive position in conjunction with an operation of inserting the flexible portion into a living body at a time of puncturing the living body with the needle member.

The present disclosure relates to a puncture apparatus.
A needle member that is punctured through a biological surface into a living body for various purposes, such as injection of a drug solution and collection of blood, is known in the related art. For example, JP-A-2015-164545 discloses a catheter as a needle member, the catheter including a rigid main body portion and a flexible body portion.


An LED multi-chip bonding die (1) comprises a packaging enclosure, a plurality of LED chips and a packaging cover, wherein the chips are arranged in one line from top to bottom on the emitting platform. Large area electrodes are equipped on the packaging enclosure and the packaging cover is made of transparent silicone gel so that the bonding die can emit larger light energy and higher luminance via the packaging cover while the heat produced by the chips can be quickly dissipated by the electrodes. A light strip (20) equipped with the bonding die comprises a plurality of bonding die sections and circuit board (2) and each bonding die section (1) comprises four LED multi-chip bonding dies (1) and a current-limiting resistor in series circuit. Each series circuit is connected in parallel and circuit board (2) is printed circuit board which can provide a optimal heat-dissipating structure for chips of bonding die.

Under the pressure from demands which exceed supplies and increasing price of energy resources, the lighting industry hopes to seek for some lighting fixtures ideal both for lighting and energy conservation. Therefore, LED lighting fixtures appear and begin to substitute incandescent lamps and compact fluorescent lamps. To ensure extensive application and popularization of LED lighting fixtures, many scientific and technical staffs in this field and relevant fields have researched and developed high power LED light sources and published massive research articles and laboratory reports. From these experiments and the current status of products produced or sold, people find that the major technical barriers still exist with high power LED design and application in terms of optical efficiency and heat dissipation.
Summing up the application of LED in lighting industry, what we realize is that we may not understand the nature of LED. What we pursue for is usually how to enlarge the digital value of an LED package lumen (luminous flux), but we often ignore how to deal with heat dissipation. How can an LED lighting fixture reach its ideal lumen and how can heat be dissipated? Further, how can the lumen be maintained? These are the directions of our study.
The applicant of this invention proposes to use all lamp bodies as light source in the previous inventions for light-reflecting plate with triangular section prisms and circular plate lamps. The lamp bodies include LED, which is used as the light engine of the area light source for the light-reflecting plate and circular plate lamps. To make LED light source to adapt to the requirements for the light-reflecting plate and the circular plate lamps, a plurality of LEDs are installed on a circuit board to make a lamp assembly. Although these preliminarily proposed LED light sources and lamp assemblies solve the problem of lighting efficiency and energy conservation in LED application, but some shortcomings still exist in the comprehensive performance such as luminous efficiency and heat dissipation. Therefore, improvement is required accordingly.

LED multi-chip bonding die and light strip using the same


This is a device for electromagnetic transient protection for integrated circuit boards in a convenient and easily customized package. The device comprises an array of transient protection devices (TPDs) made in the form of sleeves on hollow pins and installed in a fiberglass board. The board has a copper coating to conduct transients away from the pin of the IC. The array of TPDs on the fiberglass board corresponds to the leg spacing of the IC being protected. The device is soldered onto the circuit board and the IC is in turn plugged into it possibly using a friction fit or else it is soldered. An unwanted transient signal enters the device and the IC simultaneously from the circuit board land. The device sees the transient and changes from a high impedance "off" state to its low impedance"on" state and conducts the transient away from the IC. The other pins remain off unless transients are also present at these pins. The TPDs may comprise metal oxide varistors in tubular form, zener diodes or surgectors.

The present invention relates generally to a filter pin integrated circuit socket kit, and more particularly to a device for providing electromagnetic protection to integrated circuits in a convenient and easily customized package.
Electrical transients can cause "upset" of circuit operations or actually destroy the circuit components including integrated circuits (ICs). Systems are protected against this threat by using shielding, filters and electrical surge arrestors (ESAs) on the outside of circuit boxes, and metal oxide varistors transorbs, surgectors, zener diodes, and spark gaps on power and signal lines. These are all discrete circuit components which use up valuable circuit board space, must be specified at design time, and are expensive when applied individually. As a result, some circuits are designed and built without adequate transient protection. The discrete devices also add parasitic capacitance and inductance to the circuit which may affect circuit performance.
United States patents of interest include U.S. Pat. No. 3,555,374, to Usuda, which teaches a field effect transistor having a protective diode in its gate region to protect the gate electrode from dielectric breakdown. U.S. Pat. No. 4,409,471 to Aigo provides conductor strips wherein all conductor strips of each chip are connected together protecting the semiconductor chip from electrostatic breakdown.

Filter pin integrated circuit socket kit

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force


Disclosed herein is a nickel-based heat-resistant superalloy produced by a casting and forging method, the nickel-based heat-resistant superalloy comprising 2.0 mass % or more but 25 mass % or less of chromium, 0.2 mass % or more but 7.0 mass % or less of aluminum, 19.5 mass % or more but 55.0 mass % or less of cobalt, [0.17×(mass % of cobalt content−23)+3] mass % or more but [0.17×(mass % of cobalt content−20)+7] mass % or less and 5.1 mass % or more of titanium, and the balance being nickel and inevitable impurities, and being subjected to solution heat treatment at 93% or more but less than 100% of a γ′ solvus temperature.

For example, turbine disks, which are heat-resistant members of aircraft engines, power-generating gas turbines, etc., are rotary members that support turbine blades, and are subjected to much higher stress than turbine rotor blades. Therefore, turbine disks require a material excellent in mechanical characteristics, such as creep strength or tensile strength in a high-temperature and high-stress region and low-cycle fatigue characteristics, and forgeability. On the other hand, in order to improve fuel efficiency or performance, an increase in engine gas temperature and a reduction in the weight of turbine disks are required, and therefore the material is required to have higher heat resistance and higher strength.
In general, nickel-based forged alloys are used for turbine disks. For example, Inconel 718 (which is a registered trademark of The International Nickel Company, Inc.) using a γ″ (gamma double prime) phase as a strengthening phase and Waspaloy (which is a registered trademark of United Technoligies, Inc.) using, as a strengthening phase, about 25 vol % of a precipitated γ′ (gamma prime) phase stabler than a γ″ phase are frequently used. Further, Udimet 720 (which is a registered trademark of Special Metals, Inc.) has been introduced since 1986 from the viewpoint of dealing with higher temperatures. Udimet 720 has about 45 vol % of a precipitated γ′ phase and tungsten added for solid-solution strengthening of a γ phase, and is therefore excellent in heat-resistant characteristics.
On the other hand, the structural stability of Udimet 720 is not always sufficient, and a harmful TCP (Topologically close packed) phase is formed during use. Therefore, Udimit 720Li (U720Li/U720LI) has been developed by making improvements, such as a reduction in the amount of chromium, to Udimet 720. However, the formation of a TCP phase still occurs also in improved Udimit 720Li, and therefore the use of Udimit 720Li for a long time or at high temperature is limited.
Powder metallurgical alloys typified by AF115, N18, and Rene88DT are sometimes used for high-pressure turbine disks required to have high strength. The powder metallurgical alloys have a merit that homogeneous disks having no segregation can be obtained in spite of the fact that many strengthening elements are contained. On the other hand, the powder metallurgical alloys have a problem that their production process needs to be highly controlled, e.g., vacuum melting needs to be performed at a high cleaning level or a proper mesh size needs to be selected for powder classification, to suppress the mixing of inclusions and therefore their production cost is significantly increased.
In addition, many proposals have been made to improve the chemical compositions of conventional nickel-based heat-resistant superalloys. All of them contain cobalt, chromium, molybdenum or molybdenum and tungsten, aluminum, and titanium as their major constituent elements, and typical ones contain one or both of niobium and tantalum as their essential constituent element(s). The presence of niobium and/or tantalum is suitable for the above-described powder metallurgy, but is a factor making casting and forging difficult.
Titanium is added for its function of strengthening a γ′ phase and improving tensile strength or crack propagation resistance. However, the amount of titanium added is limited to up to about 5 mass %, because excess addition of only titanium results in an increase in γ′ solvus temperature and formation of a harmful phase, which makes it difficult to obtain a sound γ/γ′ two-phase structure.
Under the circumstances, the present inventors have made a study of optimization of the chemical composition of a nickel-based heat-resistant superalloy and have found that a harmful TCP phase can be suppressed by actively adding cobalt in an amount of up to 55 mass %. Further, the present inventors have found that a γ/γ′ two-phase structure can be stabilized by increasing both a cobalt content and a titanium content so that cobalt and titanium are contained in a predetermined ratio. Based on these findings, the present inventors have proposed a nickel-based heat-resistant superalloy that can withstand higher temperatures for a long time than conventional alloys and that has excellent workability (Patent Literature 1).
Further, some proposals focused on the microstructure of a nickel-based heat-resistant alloy have been made to improve the performance of the nickel-based heat-resistant superalloy (Patent Literatures 2, 3, and 4).
In a nickel-based heat-resistant superalloy produced by powder metallurgy, crystal grains are less likely to become too large even after solution heat treatment performed in a temperature region exceeding a γ′ solvus temperature (at a supersolvus temperature), and therefore crystal grain size and grain size distribution are generally controlled by performing aging heat treatment after solution heat treatment performed in a temperature region exceeding a solvus temperature (e.g., Patent Literature 7). However, while crystal grains are less likely to become too large, it is often the case that the control of crystal grains is poor. Therefore, in order to avoid harmful growth of crystal grains during solution heat treatment performed in a temperature region exceeding a solvus temperature, the importance of strain rate control during forging has also been proposed (e.g., Patent Literatures 5 and 6). Further, in order to promote proper growth of crystal grains, a method has also been proposed in which a nickel-based heat-resistant alloy having a high carbon content is forged at a high local strain rate (Patent Literature 8).
However, the alloys described in the above Patent Literatures are powder alloys whose production process is complicated and production cost is high. The powder alloys vary in optimum microstructure according to their chemical composition, and are therefore considered to be applicable only to some limited materials and production methods.
On the other hand, when a nickel-based heat-resistant superalloy produced by a casting and forging method is subjected to solution heat treatment in a temperature region exceeding a solvus temperature, crystal grains become too large and therefore heat-resistant characteristics are significantly impaired. Therefore, in general, solution heat treatment is performed at 90% or less of a solvus temperature, and then aging heat treatment is performed.
At present, however, no nickel-based heat-resistant superalloy has been found which is produced by a conventional casting and forging method and has heat-resistant characteristics significantly higher than those of nickel-based heat-resistant superalloys produced by powder metallurgy. Therefore, there is a strong demand for development of a nickel-based heat-resistant superalloy that is produced by a casting and forging method capable of significantly simplifying its production process and that is superior also in terms of heat-resistant characteristics and cost to nickel-based heat-resistant superalloys produced by powder metallurgy.
Patent Literature 1: WO 2006/059805
Patent Literature 2: Japanese Patent No. 2666911
Patent Literature 3: Japanese Patent No. 2667929
Patent Literature 4: JP 2003-89836 A
Patent Literature 5: U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,567
Patent Literature 6: U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,643
Patent Literature 7: JP 2011-12346 A
Patent Literature 8: JP 2009-7672 A

NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR MATERIALS SCIENCE


The embodiments provide a process and an apparatus for easily producing a transparent electrode of low resistance and of high transparency. The process comprises: coating a hydrophobic polymer film with a dispersion of metal nanowires, press-bonding an electroconductive substrate directly onto the metal nanowires on the polymer film, and peeling and transferring the metal nanowires from the polymer film onto the conductive substrate. The embodiments also relates to an apparatus for the process.

According to recent increasing of energy consumption, demand for alternative energy replacing fossil fuels has been rising as measures to cope with global warming. As a source of the alternative energy, solar cells have been attracted the attention and hence progressively developed. They are studied for various practical applications. From a practical viewpoint, it is particularly important to improve their flexibility and durability so that they can be installed on various places. However, single crystal silicon solar cells, which are the most basic solar cells, are expensive and it is difficult to produce flexible ones. On the other hand, organic solar cells and organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells, in which many researchers have been lately interested, have room for improvement in durability.
In addition to the above solar cells, other photoelectric conversion devices, such as organic EL devices and photosensors, have been also researched with the aim of improving their flexibility and durability. Those devices usually comprise indium-doped tin oxide (hereinafter, often referred to as "ITO") as transparent anodes. The ITO films are normally formed by sputtering or the like. In order that the ITO films can have high electroconductivity, it is necessary to carry out the sputtering procedure at a high temperature and to anneal thereafter the formed films at a high temperature. However, it is often the case that organic materials cannot be subjected to those procedures at a high temperature. In view of that, it is examined to replace ITO with silver nanowires, from which a film can be formed at a low temperature. Meanwhile, silver nanowires are normally dispersed in water or alcohol and then the dispersion is laid on a substrate to form a film. Accordingly, when the substrate is undesired to be in contact with the solvent, the film is often formed by a transfer method. However, in known processes, the transferring step is complicated. Specifically, it is often necessary to provide an adhesive layer for transferring the silver nanowire film, or otherwise if the adhesive layer is not provided, it is necessary to transfer the silver nanowire film twice.

Process and apparatus for producing transparent electrode

TOSHIBA ENERGY SYSTEMS & SOLUTIONS CORPORATION


The present invention comprises one or more microprocessors programmed to execute methods for improving the performance of an analyte monitoring device including prediction of glucose levels in a subject by utilizing a predicted slower-time constant (1/k2). In another aspect of the invention, pre-exponential terms (1/c2) can be used to provide a correction for signal decay (e.g., a Gain Factor). In other aspects, the present invention relates to one or more microprocessors comprising programming to control execution of (i) methods for conditional screening of data points to reduce skipped measurements, (ii) methods for qualifying interpolated/extrapolated analyte measurement values, (iii) various integration methods to obtain maximum integrals of analyte-related signals, as well as analyte monitoring devices comprising such microprocessors. Further, the present invention relates to algorithms for improved optimization of parameters for use in prediction models that require optimization of adjustable parameters.

Measurement and data-processing approaches related to enzyme reaction-based biosensors have historically been based on evaluation of current versus time profiles. Limitations of such analyses include adverse influences on measured values due to changes in experimental variables that influence (a) rates of chemical reactions and (b) physical processes that control the response.
Similar problems have been encountered in conventional kinetic-based methods when they are applied to enzymatic determinations of analytes in homogeneous solutions (Chen, W., et al., Analytica Chimica Acta 388:231-241, 1999). Results of such analyses generally have limited ranges of linearity and are influenced by experimental variables that affect enzyme activity. Data-analysis methods applied to enzyme reaction-based sensors are influenced by variables that affect rates of reaction and rates of mass transport. However, application of initial-rate methods using enzymes in homogenous solution (i.e., kinetic-based solution methods) tend to be influenced only by variables that affect rates of reactions.
A variety of measurement and data-processing approaches have been used in attempts to reduce or eliminate problems in homogenous solution measurement of analyte concentrations including, but not limited to, the following approaches. Engh, et al., (Anal. Chem. 60:545, 1988), used alternative applications of a rate-based approach and showed improvement in the ruggedness of enzymatic methods but also demonstrated that the methods did little to improve the sensitivity at high concentrations of substrate. For homogenous solution analyses, a two-rate method (Wentzell, P. D., et al, Anal. Chem. 58:2851, 1986) and pseudoequilibrium methods (Meiling, G. E., et al., Anal. Chem. 50:1611, 1978; Harris, R. C., Clin. Chem. 29:2079, 1983) have demonstrated the potential to reduce dependencies on experimental variables to a similar degree as has been seen with equilibrium methods.
Two-rate and pseudoequilibrium methods (based on homogenous system methods) have been applied to enzyme reaction-based biosensor methods to determine if these methods could be adapted to biosensors such that measurement improvements would be seen which were similar to those achieved in homogenous solution (Chen, et al., Analytica Chimica Acta 388:231-241, 1999; Wentzell, P. D., et al, Anal. Chem. 58:2851, 1986; Meiling, G. E., et al., Anal. Chem. 50:1611, 1978; Harris, R. C., Clin. Chem. 29:2079, 1983). The enzyme reaction-based biosensor typically used in such studies consisted of an enzyme and an electron mediator immobilized on the surface of a glassy-carbon electrode (e.g., Chen, et al., Analytica Chimica Acta 388:231-241, 1999). Although some improvements in performance characteristics of the enzyme reaction-based biosensor were observed, both methods were shown to have limitations when applied to enzyme reaction-based biosensor data.
Published U.S. Patent Application No. US/2002/0026110 and PCT International Patent Application No. WO 0188534 describe methods for improving performance and reliability of biosensors using a predictive-kinetic (PK) method for data processing of a sensor-generated signal. In these methods, data from a transient region of a signal is used with suitable models and curve-fitting methods to predict the signal that would be measured for the system at the completion of the reaction.
In analyte monitoring devices that employ an electrochemical sensor, signal decay over time can be a significant problem. One method of dealing with signal decay as been to use algorithms that provide signal processing that allow for compensation of signal decay. One such signal processing algorithm is called Mixtures of Experts (MOE) (see, e.g., Kurnik, R. T., Sensors and Actuators B 60, 1 (1999); and U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,180,416, and 6,326,160). However, even current MOE methods only compensate to some extent for signal decay. Typically, standard MOE compensation becomes insufficient, for example, towards the end of long monitoring periods.
The present invention offers methods of improving performance of analyte monitoring systems, for example, that supply a series of analyte-related signals over time. Although aspects of the present invention initially use a similar principle and processing techniques to fit a curve and model the transient data, the present invention employs the fitted variables in a different manner to extract the relevant information. Unlike previous methods employing Predictive Kinetics (PK), one aspect of the present invention employs information from the time constants of exponential functions and pre-exponential terms to provide signal-decay corrections and to predict analyte values. Further methods of improving the performance of analyte monitoring systems are also disclosed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Micropressors, devices and methods for use in analyte monitoring systems


Disclosed is a flexible display panel, comprising a flexible substrate; an organic light emitting diode layer, disposed on the flexible substrate, wherein the organic light emitting diode layer comprises a plurality of sub pixels arranged at intervals; a metal mesh, disposed on the organic light emitting diode layer, wherein metal traces of the metal mesh are correspondingly arranged in gaps among the plurality of sub pixels disposed at intervals, and the metal traces of the metal mesh surround to form a plurality of touch electrodes, and at least one of the touch electrodes comprises at least one first touch area, and the first touch area is correspondingly arranged with at least two of the sub pixels. The flexible display panel can improve the display effect of the flexible display panel by reducing the arrangement density of the metal traces of the metal mesh.

Compared to the conventional display technologies such as liquid crystal display (LCD), the flexible displays possess many advantages, such as low power consumption, bendability, foldable property, thinness, portability and non-breakage. Particularly, a flexible active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) screen referred to as a next-generation display possesses advantages, such as wider viewing angle and thinner size and will be widely applied to smart phones, smart homes, wearable electronic devices and other electronic devices.
At present, the material of the touch electrode, which is one of the important components of the touch display screen, mainly is indium tin oxide (ITO). However, indium tin oxide is used as a brittle semiconductor material and is not suitable for application for a flexible display screen. Therefore, in the prior art, for a flexible display screen such as a flexible AMOLED screen, the touch electrodes are made of a metal mesh directly formed on the surface of a Thin Film Encapsulation (TFE). However, because the metal mesh is an opaque metal material, there is a certain degree of blockage, which affects the optical effect of the AMOLED screen.

Flexible display panel and flexible display device

WUHAN CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS SEMICONDUCTOR DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A method and apparatus for allowing memory, cache and/or a processor to remain powered down while repetitive transactions are carried out on an I/O bus and actions are taken in response to feedback received from I/O devices coupled to the I/O bus.

The present invention is related to hardware used to support the polling of devices on a bus.
Reducing power consumption by computer systems has become of increasing importance in recent years to satisfy increasing demands of users to reduce operating costs or to provide longer operating times in the case of portable computer systems. However, the goal of reducing power consumption has come into ever greater conflict with the goal of providing increasingly more flexible support for an ever greater array of I/O devices as more and more measures have been taken to reduce power consumption by xe2x80x9cpowering downxe2x80x9d more and more of the components that comprise a typical computer system.
Numerous measures have been taken to power down ever more of the circuitry comprising a computer system whenever various degrees of inactivity seem to provide opportunities to do so. However, where it is intended that a computer system is to remain responsive enough to a user or other stimuli such that components that have been powered down are able to be powered up again when needed, a need remains to have at least some portion of the circuitry remain active to enable such a response.
One measure to reduce power entails powering down at least a portion of the processor used in a computer system, especially where the processor is likely to consume a large proportion of the power consumed by the whole computer system. In support of allowing the processor to power down and remain powered down for longer periods of time, one or more I/O devices may be configured to operate under the control of controlling circuitry capable of operating independently of the processor to perform one or more minor tasks in support of the I/O devices.
Some of such minor tasks in support of I/O devices require the controlling circuitry to make accesses to memory shared between the controlling circuitry and the processor. Controlling circuitry capable of making such accesses to such memory are often referred to as xe2x80x9cbus masters,xe2x80x9d because making such an access to such memory usually requires gaining control of a memory bus that both the processor and the bus master share to obtain such access.
In some computer systems, the support of one or more I/O devices requires the repetitive polling of I/O devices to obtain status at frequent intervals by such an I/O bus master. This polling may further require repetitive accesses by the I/O bus master to the memory, and this prevents the memory from being powered down at times when it otherwise could be. Also, where a computer system also includes a cache maintained by the processor, such repetitive accesses by the I/O bus master to the memory may also prevent the processor from being powered down when it otherwise could be so that the processor may perform operations required to maintain cache coherency with the contents of the memory in response to the I/O bus master""s accesses.
A need exists to reduce the frequency of accesses by such an I/O bus master in support of polling I/O devices.


According to one embodiment, an electronic device includes a power supply, a port and a circuit. The port is configured to connect with an external device. The circuit is configured to control the power supply to supply a first voltage to the external device connected with the port if a system status of the electronic device is not a power-saving status, and to supply a second voltage different from the first voltage to the external device if the system status of the electronic device is the power-saving status.

Recently, capacity of a battery built in a portable electronic device such as a tablet, smartphone, etc., has been increased. Because of this, the portable electronic device can continuously work for a long time while the time to fully charge the battery is long. To solve this inconvenience, application of not only a standard charging system in this technical industry, but also an own charging system of a manufacturer manufacturing the portable electronic devices (for example, a charging system using a larger voltage than the standard charging system of this technical industry) is increased.
The time to fully charge the battery can be reduced by applying the manufacturer's own charging system, as mentioned above. By applying the manufacturer's own charging system, however, another inconvenience arises that charging cannot be executed in the standard charging system in this technical industry or the charging time becomes very long in the standard charging system in this technical industry.
Thus, implement of new technology of solving another inconvenience is required.


An endoscopic instrument includes a shank which is bendable in at least one section and an endoscope head forming the distal end of the shank and in which the distal-side interfaces of the instrument are arranged. The endoscope head is bendable and is designed as one piece from an electroactive polymer. Electrodes are arranged in the endoscope head in the polymer, which may be subjected to electrical voltage.

The invention relates to an endoscopic instrument having a shank which is bendable in at least one section and having an endoscope head which forms the distal end of the shank and in which the distal-side interfaces of the instrument are arranged.
Apart from endoscopic instruments with rigid shanks, instruments with flexible shanks are also known which may be deflected, for example via pull cables. The mechanics for deflecting or bending the shank, which are provided in these instruments, take up a certain cross-sectional area of the shank, so that the usable lumen in the inside of the shank is limited. Moreover, only limited degrees of freedom may be realized on deflection with such shanks.
Moreover, endoscopes are known which comprise electrically actuated actuators in the shank, in order to deflect the shank. Such an instrument is known, for example, from European patent application publication EP 1 884 185 A1. These instruments, however, are relatively complicated to assemble, since they require a multitude of individual parts and electrical connections in the inside.

Endoscopic instrument having a bendable shank


Disclosed is a method of authentication of data elements of the type that may be needed, for example, to authenticate a chip card before permitting a transaction instrument to deliver a service to the holder of this card. Should the authentication consist in ascertaining that an information content is truly present in the card at a determined address of a memory of the card, it is proposed to make the length of the block of information elements parametrizable and to include, in the algorithm for the encryption of this block, data relating to this length; the logic address of the file that contains the block and the position of the block in the file are also used. Furthermore, preferably a recursive algorithm is performed in N steps: the block to be authenticated is sliced into slices of fixed length and, at each step, the Exclusive-OR function of a slice considered and of the result of the preceding step is used as the data to be encrypted. FIG. 1.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the security of the processing of digitized information elements and, more specifically, it relates to a new method enabling the authentication of binary data elements contained in a file.
The expression "method of authentication" is understood herein as a signal-processing operation by which it is ascertained that a set of data sought at a certain place really is the expected set of data. If this is the case, an authorization is issued (for the execution of other operations). If it is not the case, a prohibition is issued.
Methods of electronic authentication are becoming ever more necessary with the increasing use of electronics in everyday life. Electronic authentication may be used to enable an authorized person to gain access to confidential information or to reserved premises, or to enable transactions directly having a fiduciary value, using a personal account etc.
In particular, electronic chip cards are being increasingly used to provide services. Authentication procedures are necessary to ascertain that the card is truly vested with the power to provide such and such a service and that the holder of the card is truly entitled to use this card. The invention shall be described here below with reference to a chip card so that it can be understood more easily, but the invention is not restricted to this example.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The exemplary methods of authentication that shall be given here below are described as examples to show the variety of possible situations in which the invention, which will be explained thereafter, can be applied.
In the case of a chip card, for example, the following authentication scheme is frequently used: in an internal non-volatile memory, the card contains a confidential code that is specific to the holder of the card and is known to him alone. The card is inserted into a reader that is coupled to a keyboard for the introduction of data elements. The holder of the card introduces his-confidential code through the keyboard. This code is transmitted to the card. A comparison is made in the card, and the subsequent operation is permitted only if the code introduced corresponds to the confidential code in memory.
This is a first level of authentication: the verification of the entitlement of the holder.
A second level may consist in ascertaining that the card is truly entitled to carry out the transaction which the reader will carry out with it. The card then contains, in another non-volatile memory zone, a secret key K1 of an encryption algorithm C(D, K) where C is a function of a piece of data D and of a key K. Unlike the personal confidential code which the holder needs to know, the key K is not known to the holder.
The card reader sends any piece of data D1 to the card. The card contains the encryption program C(D, K) in its memory. It encrypts the data D1 by means of the secret key K1, i.e. it performs the function C(D1, K1); and it sends the result R1 to the reader which, in the meantime, has encrypted the same data D1 with the same encryption algorithm C(D,K) and with a key K2 which it has in its memory and which should, in principle, correspond to K1. The results R1 and R2 of the encryption operations are compared. If there is correspondence, it means that the right key K1 is present in the chip card. If not, the operation is not authorized. The correspondence may be an identity of R1 and R2, but it may also be a predetermined relationship that is not an identity.
In another method of authentication, given by way of an example, the algorithm C(D, K) used in the card to obtain the result R1 is not the same as that used in the reader to obtain the result R2. For example, the algorithm of the card is an encryption algorithm C(D1,K1) leading to a result R1. The algorithm contained in the reader is a decryption algorithm that can be used to recover D1 from R1, referenced D(R,K). It is possible to use a known type of algorithm (RSA) that has the following property: a single key K2, different from K1, is capable of decrypting the result R1 encrypted with the key K1. This means that, for each key K1, a single key K2 is such that if C(D1, K1)=R1, then D(R1, K2)=D1. The electronic processing is then as follows: the reader sends a piece of data D1 to the card. The card encrypts this data with the algorithm C(D, K), using its internal key K1. It sends the result R1 to the reader. The reader carries out the decryption algorithm D(R1, K2) on this result. The result is compared with the data D1 initially sent by the reader. If there is no identity, it means that the key contained in the card was not the right one. In this case, what is verified therefore is not the identity of two encryption keys but the correspondence between an encryption key K1 and the only decryption key K2 that corresponds to it. High security is obtained with this system, especially in the case of the use of the algorithm RSA which is such that the knowledge of the encryption key cannot be used to compute the reverse decryption key and vice versa, so that it is possible for one of the two keys to be unprotected.
To increase the security attached to these methods, the data D1 sent by the reader is a random data element, so that it is not possible to draw conclusions from a succession of fruitless attempts at authentication.
The above paragraphs refer to the authentication of a card by the presence of a secret key that resides in the card. However, it is possible to envisage a case where a part of the contents of the memory of the card has to be authenticated without there being authorization for the contents to travel in clear form on the link between the card and the card reader. In this case, it is possible to envisage, for example, the execution of an encryption algorithm with secret key C(D,K) by using, as a secret key K, a key contained in the card and, as data D, a piece of information contained in the card rather than (or in addition to) a piece of data sent by the card reader.
In this case it is necessary, naturally, for the program that is contained in the card and that carries out the algorithm to know the location of the information to be authenticated. This location is designated either by a physical address or by a logic address in a file.
It has therefore been proposed to authenticate the information by means of an encryption algorithm using, as a key, a secret key contained in the card and, as data, several data elements which are notably the contents of the expected information, the physical or logic address at which it should be located and, as the case may be, the data (for example a random data element) sent by the card reader.
In a practical way, the information elements that are thus certified are data elements of constant length, for example one four-byte word for the information to be certified, one word for the address and one word for the random data element.


A method and electronic device for object detection. The electronic device includes at least a first antenna pair comprising a first transmitter antenna configured to transmit signals and a first receiver antenna configured to receive signals, a memory, and a processor. The processor is configured to control the first transmitter antenna to transmit a first signal, generate a channel impulse response (CIR) based on receiving, by the first receiver antenna, a reflection of the first signal, determine a location of at least one leakage peak in the CIR, compare a first segment of taps in the CIR prior to the at least one leakage peak with a second segment of taps in the CIR after the leakage peak, and determine an object is present based on symmetry between the first and second segments of taps.

Radar operates to localize targets in the radar field of view in terms of range and/or angle (azimuth and/or elevation) and/or velocity. For certain types of radars, the transmitter and the receiver can be installed closely together, resulting in signals that are transmitted by the transmitter being received directly by the receiver or bounced off some component or components of the device to reach the receiver. This signal is referred to as a leakage signal. Because the transmitter and the receiver can be installed so closely together, the leakage can be strong.
Due to the presence of sometimes strong leakage signals, detection or range estimation is challenging. In particular, detection or range estimation is challenging for close-range distances of comparable values to the separation between the transmitter and the receiver because the leakage masks the actual target object. Detection at a close range can be compromised due to strong leakage that can mask the target. Even assuming the detection is successful, range estimation can be inaccurate due to the leakage distorting the target response.

Methods and apparatuses for object presence detection and range estimation


A system includes a first beam splitter, a second beam splitter, and a mirror. The second beam splitter can produce two lines of light, which are received by at least one sensor. The two lines of light have different focal heights on the wafer. A distance between the second beam splitter and the mirror can be configured to change a focal height on the wafer. A height of an illuminated region on a surface of the wafer relative to a normal surface of the wafer can be determined using the two lines of light.

The semiconductor industry requires three-dimensional ("3D") inspection and/or metrology processes for silicon wafers. Structure or particle height inspection and metrology can be used to test, for example, pillar and bump structure in mid-end-of-line (MEOL) applications or the particle shape (e.g., size and height) on a backside of wafers for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithograph applications. Typical techniques for inspection or metrology include: (1) triangulation; (2) geometric shadow; (3) various confocal microscope techniques; and (4) white-light (or broadband light) interferometry. Existing triangulation and geometric shadow techniques typically do not provide required accuracy and precision for MEOL or back-end-of-line (BEOL) applications, especially as the characteristic size of the structures becomes smaller. For example, existing triangulation and geometric shadow techniques can lack the required accuracy and precision for 3D inspection when the target structure height shrinks below 10 μm. Confocal and interferometry methods often do not provide required throughput or are too expensive for 3D inspection in MEOL and BEOL. Therefore, what is needed is a more cost-effective inspection and metrology technique that can provide better accuracy for small structures.

Increasing dynamic range of a height sensor for inspection and metrology


A data recording head having at least two waveguides that are energy-coupled. The first waveguide is end fire coupled to a radiant energy source of a first spot size, and the second waveguide outputs radiant energy of a second spot size onto a recording medium. The width of the first waveguide is larger than the width of the second waveguide, or the first spot size is larger than the second spot size. The recording also includes a cladding layer and/or a diffraction grating for mode index matching between the first and second waveguides. The second waveguide includes a solid immersion optical element to focus the output radiant energy. In one embodiment, the data recording head includes a write element to effect magnetic data recording, and the first and second waveguides are configured relative to the write element and supported relative to the recording medium to effect heat assisted magnetic recording.

There are many different forms of data recording. For example, magnetic data recording is one of the prevailing forms of data recording. Magnetic data recording may be implemented using different types of magnetic recording media, including tapes, hard discs, floppy discs, etc. Over the years, significant developments have been made to increase the areal data recording density in magnetic data recording.
Superparamagnetism is a major limiting factor to increasing magnetic recording areal density. Superparamagnetism results from thermal excitations perturbing the magnetization of grains in a ferromagnetic material, making the magnetization unstable. As the magnetic media grain size is reduced for high areal density recording, superparamagnetic instabilities become more of an issue. The superparamagnetic effect is most evident when the grain volume V is sufficiently small that the inequality KuV/kBT>40 can no longer be maintained. Ku is the material's magnetic crystalline anisotropy energy density, kB is the Boltzmann's constant, and T is absolute temperature. When this inequality is not satisfied, thermal energy demagnetizes the individual grains and the stored data bits will not be stable. Therefore, as the grain size is decreased in order to increase the areal density, a threshold is reached for a given material Ku and temperature T such that stable data storage is no longer feasible.
The thermal stability can be improved by employing a recording medium formed of a material with a very high Ku. However, the available recording heads are not able to provide a sufficient or high enough magnetic writing field to write on such a medium. Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR), sometimes referred to as optical or thermal assisted recording, has been proposed to overcome at least some of the problems associated with the superparamagnetic effect. HAMR generally refers to the concept of locally heating a recording medium with a laser to reduce the coercivity of the recording medium, so that an applied magnetic writing field can more easily direct the magnetization of the recording medium during the temporary magnetic softening of the recording medium caused by the laser. By heating the medium, the Ku or the coercivity is reduced such that the magnetic write field is sufficient to write to the medium. Once the medium cools to ambient temperature, the medium has a sufficiently high value of coercivity to assure thermal stability of the recorded information.
Current proposed HAMR head designs, which integrate a waveguide for facilitating coupling the light from the laser onto the recording medium, have a number of shortcomings. Some of the current head designs inefficiently couple the light from the laser. In some instances, a waveguide configuration with a size that is suitable for HAMR head is not suitable for efficient coupling of light from the laser. Some HAMR head designs require that the slider, which supports the head, have a sufficiently large back surface area in order to accommodate coupling of the light from the laser, which competes for space with the bonding pads of the slider. In addition, some of these head designs are difficult to fabricate.
Accordingly, there is a need for a HAMR head design that allows for efficient coupling of radiant energy into a waveguide, and that does not require large surface area of the slider. In addition, there is a need for a HAMR head design having a coupling to radiant energy, which does not substantially compete with the bonding pads for the back surface area of the slider. Furthermore, there is a need for a HAMR head design that lends itself for ease in manufacturing.

Efficient waveguide coupler for data recording transducer


A spin transistor is a hybrid magnetic/semiconductor transistor in which a magnetically controllable barrier is provided between a semiconductor base and collector to control the diffusion of charge carriers to the collector. With the spin transistor, the charge carrier populations are distinguished by the direction of the spin or magnetic moment of the carriers instead of the electronic charge. A spin injector is used to spin polarize the charge carrier population so that the population has a selected magnetic moment which population may or may not be enabled to flow to the collector via the magnetic barrier. The spin transistor utilizes the electronic characteristics of a conventional semiconductor transistor in combination with a carrier flow controlled by magnetic moment to maximize gain.

The present invention relates to a spin transistor which is a transistor which relies upon two separate populations of charge carriers distinguished by the direction of the spin or magnetic moments of the carriers in the same way that in a conventional semiconductor transistor the carrier families are distinguished by their having different effective electrical charges.
The original spin transistor, or magnetic transistor as it is also known, is described in Science, 260, 320 Apr. 16, 1993, Bipolar Spin Switch by M Johnson. The spin transistor described in this journal report was derived from a metallic, giant magnetoresistance (GMR) magnetic trilayer with contacts to each of three layers. The transistor is biased so as to pump a spin polarized current from one of the magnetic layers into a base layer; the latter suffers a consequent divergence in the chemical potentials of the up and down spin channels and this in turn induces magnetically dependent current flow in a collector (the second magnetic layer). This spin transistor design has a significant problem with its practical implementation in that the transistor offers no power gain. Also, the voltages involved are of the order of nanovolts.
More recent developments in the spin transistor are described in Phys. Rev. Lett., 74, 26, 5260, (1995), D J Monsma et al. The spin transistor described in this journal paper is a metal-semiconductor hybrid in which the rectifying properties of semiconductor junctions are exploited. The transistor consists of two layers of silicon which sandwich a metal GMR multilayer. The transistor is biased to pass current from one silicon layer to the metal multilayer stack and the latter's magnetic configuration then governs what proportion of the current eventually penetrates to the second silicon layer. In this respect, the multilayer stack operates as a normal magnetic multilayer which has a large resistance in a low magnetic field and a small resistance in a high magnetic field. The current gain of the transistor is magnetically controllable by a factor of around 2, with the GMR of the multilayer on its own being only about 3%. Even with this design, however, while the collector/base current gain .beta. varies by a large factor, its actual value is very small and, in fact, is less than unity, whereas for a commercial silicon transistor .beta. is generally 200 or more.


A gas inlet valve assembly for inflatable boats includes valve structure having at least one inlet opening and at least one outlet opening. A valve member is positionable between the inlet opening and the outlet opening to control the flow of gas through the valve. A gas dispersion member, preferably made of a porous material, is provided with the valve and is substantially adjacent to the valve outlet opening, such that gas emanating from the valve outlet opening will be thrust into contact with the gas dispersion member. The expanding, cold gas jet is dispersed by the porous material of the gas dispersion member. Direct contact between the cold gas jet and raft surfaces, together with freezing and cracking associated therewith, will thereby be substantially prevented. In a preferred embodiment, a pluraity of radially-disposed outlet valve openings are provided, and the gas dispersion member is substantially annular. The valve outlet openings are disposed substantially adjacent to the open interior of the annular gas dispersion member, such that the cold gas jets emanating from the valve outlet openings will be thrust into contact with the interior annular surface of the gas dispersion member.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to inflatable boats, and more particularly to gas inlet valve apparatus for inflatable boats.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Inflatable boats, and particularly life rafts, are most commonly stored in the deflated, folded configuration. Compressed inflation gas, often carbon dioxide, is provided in bottles associated with the life rafts, and is released into inflation chambers of the life raft by manipulation of a pull-cord or other device. The compressed gas flows through a suitable conduit into one or more of the inflation chambers. Check valves at the point of entry into the inflation chambers keep the gas sealed within the inflation chambers. These check valves typically have a valve body with at least one inlet opening, one or more outlet openings, and a check valve member disposed between the inlet opening and the outlet openings. The compressed gas is typically under great pressure so as to rapidly inflate the inflation chamber. These pressures can be in excess of 9,000 psi. The compressed gas expands upon entering the inflation chamber, and undergoes a very great pressure change which cools the gas to very cold temperatures. Gas jets emanating from the outlet openings impact directly on adjacent wall portions of the inflation chamber, and the very cold temperatures can cause freezing and cracking of these areas. Also, rapid inflation will cause icing of the carbon dioxide, and ice formation in the inflation chamber and on the inlet check valve. These are especially significant problems where the life raft is to be used in very cold climates, and air temperatures can be -60 degrees F., or less.
Apparatus have been provided to alleviate the problem caused when cold inflation gases impact inflation chamber surfaces. One such apparatus is an elongated, porous sleeve having a longitudinal passage and a side opening. The sleeve is positioned over the gas inlet valve with the outlet openings within the side opening of the sleeve. Gas emanating from the outlet openings passes axially through the longitudinal passage toward either end of the sleeve, and is dispersed through the sleeve material into the inflation chamber. The sleeve must be of a relatively large dimension, usually more than two feet in length, is expensive to manufacture, and is difficult to store within a compact, folded, and deflated life raft construction.

Gas inlet valve assembly for inflatable boats


A steam condenser system for a turbine, which system includes: a condenser having an outlet for conveying uncondensed products out of the condenser; an exhauster having a housing, an inlet connected between the housing and the condenser outlet, and exhaust outlet connected to the housing, and a rotatable member, disposed in the housing and rotatable about an axis for propelling uncondensed products from the exhauster inlet to the exhauster outlet; and an electric motor having an output shaft connected for rotating the rotatable member. The motor is disposed relative to the exhauster such that the motor shaft forms an angle with the horizontal and extends in a downward direction from the motor to the exhauster. Preferably, the motor shaft and the axis of rotation of the rotatable member have a substantially vertical orientation and the motor is positioned above the rotatable member.

The present invention relates to condenser systems for steam turbines, and particularly the condenser system components for exhausting uncondensed products.
Fossil and nuclear steam turbine installations include gland steam condenser systems, composed of shell and tube heat exchangers, which serve to prevent the escape, to the atmosphere, of sealing steam from the turbine element shaft ends. Such a condenser system also functions to prevent escape to the atmosphere of high pressure leakage steam flowing along turbine inlet valve stems. Gland steam is piped from a zone between the air seal and outermost steam seal of each steam gland of the turbine elements to the condenser system. Similarly, high pressure valve stem leakage is conducted from a zone between the air seal and the outermost stem steam seal to the condenser system.
The mixture of gland steam and valve stem sealing leakage steam is condensed by heat exchange with condensate pumped from the main condenser hotwell through tubes in the gland steam condenser system. After almost all of the steam has condensed, non-condensible vapors, air, and any non-condensed water vapor are removed by a motor driven exhauster. The exhauster further establishes a vacuum in the gland condenser, as well as at the turbine element glands and valve leakoff zones.
A drain pipe at the bottom of the condenser shell conducts condensate from the condenser to a main condenser or to a drain tank.
FIG. 1 illustrates the basic components of a known system of this type. The system includes a condenser 2 having couplings for receiving steam to be condensed and a liquid coolant, which may be condensate pumped from the main condenser hotwell, and serves as the site of a heat exchange which produces the desired condensation. Condensate formed in condenser 2 is removed via a drain 4. Uncondensed products, including non-condensible vapors, air and any non-condensed water vapor, flow out of condenser 2 via an outlet pipe 6 and an exhauster inlet pipe 8 to an exhauster 10. From exhauster 10, the uncondensed products are vented via an exhauster outlet 12.
Within outlet pipe 6 there is mounted a valve 14, which may be a manually operated butterfly valve, and between pipe 6 and exhauster inlet pipe 8 there is disposed a check valve 16 serving to assure unidirectional flow of the uncondensed products. when two exhausters are used with one as a standby.
Exhauster 10 contains a rotatable member 10', typically an impeller, which is connected to the shaft 18 of an electric motor 20. Rotation of the impeller within exhauster 10 creates a low pressure within exhaust inlet pipe 8, so that uncondensed products are withdrawn from condenser 2 via outlet pipe 6 and exhauster inlet pipe 8. Butterfly valve 14 may be adjusted to provide the desired sub-atmospheric pressure level at the outlet of condenser 2 which is connected to pipe 6. Motor 20 is mounted on a stand 24. Exhauster 10 has a circular form in a plane perpendicular to that of FIG. 1 and rotation of impeller 10' within exhauster 10 produces a radial flow of uncondensed products from a central region communicating with inlet pipe 8 to a peripheral region in communication with exhauster outlet 12. Any condensate collecting in exhauster 10 may be removed via a drain fitting 26.
Frequently, a system of the type illustrated in FIG. 1 will include two exhausters, each coupled to a respective outlet pipe 6 and driven by a respective motor 20, primarily so that a back-up unit is available.
Despite the provision of drain fitting 26, there have been numerous occurrences of water collecting in the housing of exhauster 10, resulting in severe damage to rotating components within exhauster 10. In some instances, flooding has been so extensive that the water has reached the centerline of shaft 18 and has caused electrical shorting of motor 20. Such flooding has resulted from various causes, including failure to open the drain line connected to fitting 26, improperly designed drain lines, and clogging of the drain lines.
When an exhauster fails, the result is loss of vacuum at the shaft steam seals and the valve stems. Consequently, gross steam leakage can occur through the seals and into the turbine hall. The escaping seal steam can also travel along the turbine shaft and enter the oil seals, thereby contaminating the lubricating oil system

System for removing uncondensed products from a steam turbine condenser


An illuminated identification system comprises a light chamber, a lighting means, an opaque identification stencil, a flashing means, a power on/off switch for the lighting means, and an on/off switch for the flashing means. The light chamber is environmentally sealed, and has one surface which is non-opaque. The lighting means is in series with a power source, and is located in the light chamber. The opaque identification stencil is placed over the non-opaque light chamber surface. When the power switch and the flashing means are both on, the flashing means causes the lighting means to flash on and off. Further, the power switch, and/or the on/off switch for the flashing means, may be operated by remote control.

The present invention is in the field of home and business identification systems. More specifically this invention relates to illuminated address systems, and associated safety features.
Identifying a home or business when it is dark can be difficult, especially in rural areas where the streets are not lit. An address on a building or a mailbox can be difficult to spot while driving, even when there is some illumination. Several patents have dealt with illuminating an address so as to be more visible at night. For instance U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,210 by Taylor et al discloses a device for illuminating residence information which is a housing with a light source which is mountable on a lamppost. U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,524 by Wilton discloses an automated, illuminated address display and entrance light that includes a lighted address and a separate light for general illumination around the address area. U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,540 by Surman discloses a solar powered illuminated address number device and mailbox structure. U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,499 by Hunte discloses a photosensitive illuminated house sign.
Even illuminated however, a home or business identification can be difficult to see under lighting conditions such as dusk, or a semi-lit street. It can also be the case where an address is visible, but it is not noticeable for a variety of reasons such as its location, surroundings or even the inattentiveness of the person trying to locate it. A system for illuminating home or business identification is desired which would make the identification more easily noticeable. Further, it is desired to have an illumination system which could be remotely activated.


A mechanism for identifying a low performing radio branch at a radio transceiver device. A method is performed by the radio transceiver device that comprises transmitting a reference signal for at least some of the N radio branches in a respective test period. The reference signal in each test period is transmitted according to a test configuration that specifies that during each test period the reference signal is mapped to only one of the N radio branches such that in test period k, where k=1, . . . , N, the reference signal is only transmitted from radio branch k. The method comprises receiving at least one report from another radio transceiver device relating to measurements made by this so-called another radio transceiver device on the reference signal transmitted for these at least some of the N radio branches to identify which of the N radio branches is the low performing one.

In communications networks, there may be a challenge to obtain good performance and capacity for a given communications protocol, its parameters and the physical environment in which the communications network is deployed.
For example, one parameter in providing good performance and capacity for a given communications protocol in a communications network is the ability to detect and handle faulty equipment. Compared to a traditional radio unit (RU) deployment with few antenna branches, this issue becomes more difficult to handle for Advanced Antenna Systems (AAS) with large antenna arrays.
In general terms, AAS has the potential to significantly increase the network capacity and enhance end-user perception compared to traditional RUs by facilitating efficient use of advanced spatial-processing techniques such as multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) and beamforming. AAS can be defined in many ways, but can, in general, be said to facilitate efficient alternatives to map communication resources into space according to dynamic needs. The performance of an AAS depends on many characteristics, such as the antenna array design, implementation aspects, configured software features and deployment scenarios. One attribute of an AAS is the number of supported antenna ports, or radio chains. This describes, among other, the degree of digitally beamforming, i.e. essentially how many different signals that can be fed to the antenna system with individual complex weighting.
One challenge for mobile network operators is to maintain a certain quality of service for the traffic in the network, for example to provide network access without service interruption. The mobile network operators might therefore monitor certain Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in the network. The mobile network operators might therefore monitor network interfaces such as the air interface and the core network interface, check the KPIs and perform necessary configurations and re-configurations in the network in order to maintain the certain quality of service. Mobile network operators seek to utilize available radio resources as efficiently as possible and therefore try to, if possible, avoid switching off radio branches since this might cause services to be rendered unavailable, thus resulting in network interruptions. However, if some component of the radio circuitry in the network equipment is faulty, it could be beneficial to switch off the radio branch associated with this component, instead of switching off the complete radio circuitry, since switching off the complete radio circuitry would negatively affect the network KPIs. Switching off the radio branch associated with the faulty component might only impact the network KPIs minimally.
Similarly, if a radio branch experience a radio propagation channel suffering from deep fading, it might not be efficient to transmit a signal over this radio branch. For a communications network where users are moving it might be unlikely that a radio branch is in a state of deep fading for a substantial amount of time. But for static applications such as fixed wireless access (FWA) and for back/front-haul application it is not unlikely that the fading is fairly constant during a substantial amount of time.
Radio transceiver devices for so-called massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO) systems generally comprise a large amount of radio branches. One issue with radio transceiver devices for massive MIMO systems is that it might be difficult to detect if one radio branch is faulty or experiences deep fading. In more detail, since many radio branches are simultaneously active to generate the transmitted signal, each radio branch is only contributing with a small part of the total signal. It might, however, be a significant saving in e.g. power consumption, if radio branches not contributing to the overall performance could be switched off. It could also be beneficial if a broken radio chain could be reported to a management system. By judging the amount of broken components, appropriate alarms could be set and actions might be taken, depending on what and how the broken components impact the network KPIs.
One possible way to detect a faulty radio branch in a radio transceiver device would be to have sensors monitoring the performance of the different parts of the transmit radio chains and/or the receive radio chains. This would, however, increase the hardware cost needed for radio performance supervision, and also make the design more difficult since there must be enough space for the sensors in the radio transceiver device. Further, having such sensors might still not allow a radio branch suffering from deep fading to be identified.
Hence, there is still a need for an improved detection and identification of low performing radio branches at a radio transceiver device.

Identification of low performing radio branch


A composition comprising, in a physiologically acceptable medium, a crosslinked hyaluronic acid (HA), having a degree of modification less than 1.9 mole %; a HA with a molecular weight of about 50 kDa or less; and/or an agent stimulating endogenous HA synthesis. Also disclosed is a cosmetic use of such composition in skin care and/or anti-ageing treatment.

Ageing process occurs in every tissue in the human body, including skin, which is the most obvious indicator of age.
There are two distinct types of ageing. Ageing caused by the genes we inherit and depending on the passage of time is called chronological or intrinsic ageing. The other type of ageing is known as extrinsic ageing and is caused by environmental factors such as sun exposure (UV radiations), chemicals, microorganisms, food or environmental pollutants that can accelerate the ageing process. Age is not the determining factor in the condition of mature skin. Environmental factors that influence ageing of the skin play a central role. Tone, elasticity and epidermal regeneration capacity do not decline until advanced age in areas not exposed to light, whereas they do so prematurely in areas exposed to light. Young people who are exposed to a great amount of UV rays appear prematurely aged.
Intrinsic ageing, also known as the natural ageing process, is a continuous process that normally begins in the mid-twenties. Within the skin, collagen production slows down and elastin has a bit less spring. Dead skin cells do not shed as quickly and turnover of new skin cells may decrease slightly. While these changes usually begin in the twenties, the signs of intrinsic ageing are typically not visible for decades. The signs of intrinsic ageing are fine wrinkles, thin and transparent skin, loss of underlying fat, loss of density and firmness, which causes sagging skin, dry skin, and more dark spots.
With ageing, the loss of extracellular matrix and its major component hyaluronic acid (HA), which stabilizes the intracellular structures by forming viscoelastic network in which collagen and elastin fibers are embedded, induces loss of the skin mechanical functions. HA provides a cushion effect to the skin structures including the epidermis. Solidity of the skin is provided by the extracellular matrix and the loss of HA and consequently of the viscoelastic buffering system would contribute to easy tearing resulting in skin disruptions and skin dehydration leading to visible wrinkles on stratum corneum.
Viable epidermis and dermis are the essence of the skin. Structural destruction and loss of dermal collagen fiber bundles lead to wrinkling and increased appearance of muscular attachments. Irregular melanization leads to the apparition of lentigines, dark spots and melasma.
Most premature ageing is caused by sun exposure. Unlike chronological ageing, which depends on the passage of time, photoageing is directly correlated to the quantity of UV rays received during the course of lifetime. The effects of photodamage are often evident many years before intrinsic ageing is apparent. Individuals who have outdoor lifestyles, live in sunny climates and are lightly pigmented will experience the greatest degree of photoageing. All this factors influence extrinsic skin ageing process and can be distinguished from chronological ageing.
Ageing leads to a progressive decline in many biological functions in skin, eventually hindering cell division and growth. The biological signs of ageing involve both the epidermis and dermis layers characterized by decrease of epidermal thickness (that correlates with the reduced keratinocyte proliferation), reduction and disorganization of major key components, such as HA, collagens and other elastic fibers (proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans), simultaneous increase in matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) production and flattening of the dermal-epidermal junction (DEJ). Collagens I and III, are the most abundant proteins in the dermis. They polymerize to form extended mechanically stiff fibrils, which confer tensile strength to the tissue. In addition to the fibrillar collagens, collagen VII is localized to perpendicularly oriented anchoring fibrils, which play a key role in securing the dermis to the DEJ. Skin ageing is associated to structural and compositional remodeling of dermal extracellular matrix (ECM) and basement membrane proteins. Histologic changes in skin associated with ageing are a reduced epidermal thickness and a flattened DEJ.
With age, skin homeostasis is disrupted, metabolic activities are slowed, and endogenous production and accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) leading to oxidative cellular stress and secretion of inflammatory mediators leading to more reactive and sensitive skin.
Many contributions have been published focusing on the role of HA during epidermal homeostasis, in fibroblast physiology and ageing, during tumorigenesis and tumor progression and reflecting the impact of HA in cosmetics or regenerative medicine.
More particularly, an important function of HA is to hold water in the intercellular matrix of the connective tissue. This water-binding capacity significantly contributes to the elasticity of the skin, serving as a water reservoir. With ageing and UV-B damage, the quantity and quality of HA in the skin decreases, which leads a loss of elasticity and the increase of wrinkles. HA is then a skin hydrating agent that can help restore water to dehydrated skin.
HA is naturally found in the human body.
In the epidermis, HA content is especially high in proliferating basal regions. Histological findings suggest that basal layer keratinocytes contain intracellular HA, whereas extracellular HA prevails in upper epidermal layers. Extracellular HA is thought to maintain diffusion and to open up spaces to facilitate cell migration.
The main source of HA in the dermis is fibroblasts with higher HA synthesis activity in the papillary dermis. The high flexibility of HA strands and their hydrophilicity enable these molecules to fill in any gaps within the extracellular matrix. The large hydrodynamic volume of HA is mainly explained by multiple hydrogen bonds between adjacent disaccharides but may also rely on the close interaction of HA with highly glycosylated proteoglycans. The resulting viscoelastic properties of HA in the dermis account for its support of tissue architecture and possibly function as a kind of 'hydraulic shock absorber' in the dermis.
Endogenous HA in skin exhibits a high cellular turnover rate and its amount is regulated and balanced by synthesis and degradation process. In dermis, HA has a half-life of less than one day and the turnover in epidermis is reported to be more rapid with a half time of two to three hours. Production of HA quantities as high as 12-60 pg/cell/24 h has been reported in dermal fibroblasts, whereas keratinocytes produce about 10-fold less. Moreover, cutaneous HA concentration varies at different anatomical sites, for example, forearm skin contains twice as much HA as back skin.
Synthesis of HA in the skin is accomplished by three HA synthases (HAS1, HAS2, HAS3) that incorporate uridine diphosphate (UDP) sugars into the non-reducing end of the growing sugar chains. They produce different sizes of polysaccharide chains. HAS2 is considered as the main HA synthase in fibroblasts while HAS2 and HAS3 show comparable degrees of activity in keratinocytes. HAS activity depends on post-translational modifications such as precise ubiquitination, phosphorylation or N-glycosylation. HA degradation is achieved either enzymatically by hyaluronidases (HYAL) or non-enzymatically by mechanisms such as free-radical-related depolymerization occurring in the presence of reactive oxygen species. HYAL1 and HYAL2 are considered to be the main active HYALs in tissues. In skin, HA catabolism/degradation is thought to differ in epidermis and dermis. Extracellular HA degradation is thought to be initiated through liberation from the ECM network by non-enzymatic mechanisms.
Human cells do not always produce HA efficiently lifelong. By age and following menopause, HA production declines in skin resulting in joint pain, mycofacial rigidity, loss of elasticity, ageing, dryness and development of wrinkles. Topically applied, HA can complement the deficiencies in endogenous HA and can contribute to reduce signs of skin ageing.
Furthermore, the residence time of HA in tissues is only slightly dependent on molecular weight (i.e. exogenous HA of 100 000 Da has a half-life time of 10 h; exogenous HA of 6 000 000 Da has a half-life time of 13 h. Endogenous and exogenous hyaluronic acid generally has a molecular weight ranging from 1 to 10 million Da. Then, the most common way of prolonging the residence time of HA in tissue is by crosslinking. Crosslinked HA products can be chemically modified up to 50%.
We already know many compositions comprising HA alone or in combination with one or more other active ingredients for skin care, notably as anti-ageing and anti-wrinkle treatment.
For example, HA5™ (from SKIN MEDICA) cream or lotion is a mix of five types of HA that smoothes the skin, thereby decreasing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. It comprises a time release HA for sustained release of HA, a sodium hyaluronate for immediate hydration, an uncrosslinked or "not crosslinked" HA for smoothness and hydration, a nano HA to soothe the skin and a crosslinked HA to provide long-lasting hydration for up to 8 hours. It further comprises VITISENSCE™ Technology that harnesses potent antioxidants found in Vitis flower stem cells extract, peptide complex to support rejuvenation and hydration, polysaccharides from French Polynesia, and plankton extract for healthy skin, all working to support skin's ability to replenish its own HA for overall skin health.
HA5™ delivers both immediate and long-term benefits, instantly smoothes the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, immediate hydration and improves the appearance of skin texture and roughness.
However, the degree of modification reflecting deviation from natural HA, traditional crosslinking relates to extensive modification, with high degree of synthetic (chemical) crosslinks that exceeds 10% and often reaches even 50% (10-50 crosslinker molecules per 100 HA-disaccharides). In doing so, the material is changed from being natural with physiological routes of degradation, to unnatural with limited ways of being eliminated from the body. The highly praised biocompatibility of natural HA will thus be substantially reduced in the highly crosslinked material so that the residence time in tissues is in fact shortened rather than prolonged due to inflammatory counter reactions. Then, such a degree of modification minimizes the strength, duration and biocompatibility of the crosslinked HA notably formulated as a gel.
We also know other skin care compositions (from TEOXANE LABORATORIES) comprising RHA resilient hyaluronic Acid™ (gel consisting of HA long chains stabilized by natural and mobile interactions supported by a lower crosslinker rate (1.9-4.0%)) and NOVHYAL™ (N-Acetyl Glucosamine-6-Phosphate) which reactivates the synthesis of HA in skin, thereby replumping the skin, in combination with a Dermo-Reconstructing Complex of antioxidants, amino acids, minerals and vitamin B6 which helps to reactivate the natural mechanisms of deep skin regeneration.
However, such compositions mainly promote long-lasting effect of HA without an instantly effective action.
In view of the above, there is a need to develop stabilized composition comprising an improved combination of cosmetic active ingredients on the basis of HA, by increasing the strength, duration and biocompatibility of the crosslinked HA and improving both immediate and long-lasting hydration of the skin.

Composition comprising a crosslinked hyaluronic acid (HA) in combination with a low-molecular HA and/or an agent stimulating endogenous HA synthesis


A method for redistributing bin load units in an automated Surface Mount Device (SMD) warehouse, where said automated SMD warehouse is configured to obtain information related to upcoming SMT jobs from an SMT database, the method is comprising automatically redistributing stored bins or bin load units in said automated Surface Mount Device (SMD) warehouse based on at least one of SMT job related information received or retrieved from said SMT database and predetermined rules for optimizing presentation of bin load units at a port of said automated Surface Mount Device (SMD) warehouse.

Surface Mount Technology is the preferred method of automated production of electronic printed circuit boards. Machines for pick-and-place mounting of electronic components on a substrate, such as a Printed Circuit Board (PCB), or a substrate for a System in Package (SiP) component are subject to different, often contradictory demands, such as mounting speed, mounting precision, size, prize, etc. The expression "pick and place" is understood by the person skilled in the art as describing the very mounting operation where a mounting head is moved to a component feeder area, where the mounting head picks one or more electronic components from one or more pick-up positions of component feeders or tape guides, and then is moved to a mounting area where the mounting head places the component or components on the substrate.
Supplies of a certain type of component, e.g. a certain specified type of capacitor, resistor, diode or IC are supplied on trays carrying one type of component or on sticks or, as has become most common today, on tapes in reels with a series of pockets of appropriate depth in the tape, holding one component in each pocket. The reels have varying widths between 8 mm and 44 mm. A row of component tape reels, each reel representing a certain type of component, are typically placed in a certain slot/position (among a predefined number of compartments or slots adapted to receive one reel each) in a trolley having a driving/feeding mechanism, or a certain compartment/slot/position in a non-motorized bin which in turn is placed in a magazine, or pick-and-place machine, having a driving/feeding mechanism such as a motor.
When preparing an upcoming SMT job, the component tape reels are typically pre-loaded into their respective component feeders, or tape guides, before they are placed in a motorized trolley, or non-motorized bin. The component feeders, or tape guides, may or may not therefore have their own built-in tape advancing/driving mechanism, e.g. a motor, and are adapted to guide and/or feed components of the component tape reels to their respective feeder positions, or pick-ip positions of the pick-and-place machine, as the mounting head of the pick-and-place machine rapidly picks components out of their pockets and place them on the board. Component manufacturers deliver the components in standard reels of pocket-tape with a thin cover tape closing the pockets. This pocket cover tape must be removed by some method before the component can be picked out of its pocket.
As mentioned above, the tape guides or feeders are used to feed and/or guide the component tape to the pick-and-place machine as the components are picked out of the pockets. One such tape guide or feeder is described in various patents by the applicant, e.g. EP 1 381 265 B1, incorporated herein by reference. This type of component tape guide or feeder has no built-in tape advancing mechanism. Rather, the tape guide or feeder is mounted for use in the pick-and-place machine so that a feeding mechanism, e.g. a feeding wheel in the tape magazine or pick-and-place machine protrudes through the tape guide or feeder into contact with the pre-threaded tape. Another type of component tape guide has a built-in tape advancing mechanism. The tape guide or feeder is mounted for use in the pick-and-place machine so that an in-feeder built-in feeding mechanism or tape advancing mechanism advances the tape, e.g. a feeding wheel in the feeder into contact with the pre-threaded tape.
In state of the art solutions provided by the applicant, each tape guide or feeder has a specific identity in relation to the pick-and-place machine and in whatever sequential position the reel with its pre-threaded tape guide or feeder is placed in the machine, and the mounting head of the pick-and-place machine will, based on the identity of the tape guide and the feeder position it is feeding components to the pick-and-place machine from, properly find and pick-up the proper components from the tape pockets. A method of associating the identity of the tape guide or feeder used to the specifics of the components in the tape threaded into the guide or feeder is described in various patents by the applicant, e.g. EP 1 147 697 B1, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Bins are in state of the art systems provided by the applicant used to house a row of reels in a magazine as the pick-and-place machine picks components out of the pockets of the pocket-tape. A bin has a predefined number of slots adapted to receive reels. One such bin is shown in WO03024181 A1, incorporated herein by reference.
Therefore, there is a need to improve handling of components in an SMT system, in particular storage and retrieval of components in an automated Surface Mount Device (SMD) warehouse.

Method, system and device for redistribution of components and bins in SMD warehouse