The invention relates to an impeller filling shoe for material feed to die bores of a rotary press, which is built-up modularly in order to enable a change in function between a 2-chamber filling shoe comprising a filling vaned wheel and a proportioning vaned wheel, and a 3-chamber filling shoe comprising a filling vaned wheel, a proportioning vaned wheel and a feeding vaned wheel, wherein the impeller filling shoe does not comprise a gearbox for driving the vaned wheels. Furthermore, the invention relates to a rotary press comprising the modular impeller filling shoe, whereby the gearbox for driving the vaned wheels is located outside the impeller filling shoe. The invention relates in addition to the use of the impeller filling shoe according to the invention in methods for converting the modular impeller filling shoe from a 2-chamber filling shoe to a 3-chamber filling shoe and vice versa. The functional conversion of the impeller filling shoe can take place both outside the tablet press as well as in the mounted state inside the tablet press.

The invention relates to the field of rotary presses, which are used in the pharmaceutical, technical or chemical industry or in the food industry to produce tablets or pellets in large quantities from powdery materials. Rotary presses are well known in the state of the art. These are characterized by a rotor comprising an upper and lower punch guide for receiving punches and a die plate with dies with bores for receiving the powdery material. After filling the die bores, the material can be pressed into a pellet or a tablet through the interaction of upper and lower punches.
Various state-of-the-art filling devices are used to fill the die bores. A so-called gravimetric chamber-filling shoe is characterized by an open frame in which baffles and barrages are located. With a gravimetric chamber-filling shoe, the introduced press material is driven by the friction to the die plate, by means of the baffles it is guided over the die bores and falls by gravity alone into the die bores that pass underneath the frame. Due to the gravimetric filling no simple and fast adaptation to different flow velocities of the powder can take place. This is one of the reasons why gravimetric chamber filling shoes are hardly used in the pharmaceutical sector today, but instead impeller filling shoes are used.
Impeller filling shoes are motor-driven filling devices in which the material is fed from above. For this purpose, a material container can be located above the filling shoe, on the head piece of the rotary press, which continuously fills the impeller filling shoe with powder via a material inlet. In the impeller filling shoe there are usually one, two or three vaned wheels which transport the powder material from the material inlet by a rotary movement to a filling opening in the filling shoe base plate above the pitch circle of the die bores through which the powder enters the bores. This allows a more uniform and precise filling of the die bores.
The initially developed impeller filling shoes were driven directly by the rotating rotor of the tablet press using a gear rim and gear drive. The filling result was already significantly better with difficult press compounds than with the use of a chamber filling shoe. However, the direct drive of the vaned wheels by the rotor turned out to be a disadvantage, as the filling wheels rotated correspondingly slower at a slower rotor speed and faster filling was only possible by increasing the rotor speed. An individual setting of different speeds for the rotor and the vaned wheels depending on the filling and flow behaviour of the press material was therefore not possible, which turned out to be a disadvantage.
A more significant improvement with regard to the filling of the die bores in rotary presses was only achieved when the direct drive of the impellers was carried out by an infinitely variable separate motor. Now it was possible to set the optimum speed of the vaned wheels to the rotor speed depending on the press material, the rotor speed and the tablet weight, so that excellent tablets with constant weight within the permissible tolerances could be produced with the smallest relative standard deviations.
In the state of the art it is known to design impeller filling shoes with one, two or three stirrer blades. Such impeller filling shoes are disclosed for instance in the patent application FR 1 334 257 A, EP 2551 099 A2 or DE 20 2007 002707 U1.
Filling devices with two vaned wheels—one filling vaned wheel and one proportioning vaned wheel—have become a widespread standard. These impeller filling shoes are also referred to as 2-chamber filling shoes.
2-chamber filling shoes are generally designed as follows: In a bottom part of the filling shoe there are circular cut-outs on the upper side for the filling vaned wheel, which is placed on the left, and a proportioning vaned wheel, which is placed on the right. The direction information is based on the mounted filling shoe, whereby a viewing direction directed towards the rotor centre is assumed. In the bottom part of the filling shoe, at the level of the pitch circle of the bores in the die plate, there is still an opening in the bottom area, which is referred to as the material outlet or filling opening. Usually an intermediate plate covers the upper side of the bottom part of the filling shoe. It contains the two openings for the drive shafts of the two vaned wheels and the opening for the material feed. A filling shoe cover rests on the intermediate plate and contains the material inlet, the gear for the drive of the two vaned wheels and the drive pin for the gear drive. In the state of the art, the vaned wheels are driven from both sides, from the upper side and from the lower side of the filling shoe housing. In 95% of all rotary presses, however, the impeller filling shoes are driven from the top, i.e. the drive motor is located in the head piece of the rotary press. The drive motor is connected to the gearbox of the impeller filling shoe via a corresponding drive shaft from above.
The filling vaned wheel usually rotates clockwise (looking at the rotary press from above), the proportioning vaned wheel counterclockwise. Thus, the filling vaned wheel rotates in the same direction as the pitch circle of the dies at the point of intersection. The pressing material is transferred by the filling vaned wheel from the left side into the filling opening of the filling shoe base plate and from there reaches the centre of the filling opening in the individual die bores. In this area, the exchangeable filling curve is located in the lower curve sequence, which withdraws the lower punch under the die surface, for example, in a range of 6-22 mm. The press material is thus sucked into the die bore over the withdrawal area of the filling curve. Usually, the selected filling curve always fills more press material into the die bore than would be necessary for the desired tablet weight. This is also referred to as the gross filling. The proportioning unit is located below the second, right half of the filling device in the lower curve sequence. It usually consists of a height-adjustable proportioning unit with the catch and withdrawal curves and a movable or rigid transfer rail arranged between the filling curve and the proportioning unit. If, for example, a 10 mm filling curve is used in the rotary press and a net filling of 6 mm is required for the tablet weight, the lower punches are raised by 4 mm by the proportioning unit after the filling process so that a filling volume of 6 mm remains in the die bores. This filling is respectively referred to as net filling. The 4 mm of press material proportioned out by the proportioning unit is pushed back by the lower punches via the second half of the filling device into the filling opening and thus into the right chamber of the impeller filling shoe. In this right chamber there is the so-called proportioning vaned wheel, which rotates counterclockwise and thus transports excess material in the direction of the left filling vaned wheel. The excess press material is returned via appropriate guide rails to the left filling chamber where it is used proportionally by the filling vaned wheel for a new filling.
With normal granulates and direct mixes, a good tableting result can already be achieved with a 2-chamber filling device. However, there are also compounds with extremely fast flow characteristics, so that the material pressure exerted by the material column from the material outlet of the feed container to the filling vaned wheel has a strong influence on the die filling. Depending on the position of the material container above the rotary press, which according to the state of the art is usually located at a height between 2.5-6 m, the tablet weight may vary considerably. This means that a high material column results in a higher tablet weight and a low material column results in a lower tablet weight. In order to eliminate this influence of the material column height on the end product, a state-of-the-art 3-chamber filling shoe was developed.
With a 3-chamber filling shoe, there is an additional third chamber above the filling and proportioning vaned wheels, in which a third vaned wheel is placed. The third vaned wheel is also referred to as feeding vaned wheel.
The direction of rotation of the feeding vaned wheel is of no decisive importance and is therefore used differently in the state of the art. However, it is important to note that the material inlet to the feeding vaned wheel is offset in a different position than the material outlet to the lower chamber of the filling shoe. Preferably, the material inlet is on an inner pitch circle and the outlet opening for the powdery material is on an outer pitch circle. This creates a further Z-stage for the transport of the powder into the filling shoe housing, which prevents extremely well flowing press masses from simply rushing through the filling device after opening the main valve.
In the case of a 3-chamber filling shoe, the press material is first fed into the feeding chamber, comprising the feeding vaned wheel. From there, by rotating the feeding vaned wheel, it is transported to the chamber of the filling vaned wheel in a plane that is located underneath, which is preferably located on an outer pitch circle. This causes the material to fall from the feeding chamber into the filling chamber, from where it is taken by the filling vaned wheel and brought to the die pitch circle, from where it falls through a filling opening in the bottom part of the filling shoe into the die bores. The feeding vaned wheel thus assumes the function of a cellular wheel sluice, which permanently transports the same amount of material into the filling chamber regardless of the pressure of the material column. By adding the third chamber, an excellent tableting result can be achieved regardless of the flow behaviour of the press material.
The basic design of the 3-chamber filling device corresponds to that of the 2-chamber filling device, only that above the filling and proportioning vaned wheel there is a further chamber for the feeding vaned wheel.
In order to be able to drive the vaned wheels in a defined direction of rotation with a motor even in the case of a 3-chamber filling shoe, the state of the art filling device usually has a corresponding gearbox with a drive shaft and the connections for the three vaned wheels on the housing cover of the filling device.
Excellent filling results can be achieved with a universal 3-chamber impeller filling shoe. In particular, the influence on the tablet weight by a different material column above the material inlet can be minimized by designs with two Z-stages from the material inlet to the filling vaned wheel and from the filling vaned wheel to the filling opening. This advantage, however, faces a considerable disadvantage in the state of the art. A 3-chamber impeller filling shoe made from V4A steel weighs more than 50 kg in the state of the art. The removal of a 3-chamber filling shoe is very difficult due to its high weight.
Furthermore, state-of-the-art technology may prefer to use a 2-chamber filling shoe for powder materials with a lower flow behaviour. In contrast to a 3-chamber filling shoe, this would reduce energy consumption. Due to the different material filling of tablet presses, it would therefore be desirable to provide a filling shoe which, on the one hand, has a particularly high adaptability to the different flow behaviour of the powder material and, on the other hand, is characterized by a low dead weight and easy removal, for example for cleaning.


A musical sound analyzer and synthesizer uses a model that considers a sound to be composed of two types of elements: a deterministic component plus a stochastic component. The deterministic component is represented as a series of sinusoids, with an amplitude and a frequency function for each sinusoid. The stochastic component is represented as a series of magnitude spectral envelopes. From this representation, sounds can be synthesized that, in the absence of modifications, can behave as perceptual identities, that is, they are perceptually equal to the original sound. In addition, stored representations of sounds can be easily modified in a musical synthesizer to create a wide variety of new sounds.

A shortcoming of prior art musical synthesizers is that such synthesizers generally try to use a single model to represent all musical sounds. It is very difficult to get a single model to faithfully represent the wide range of musical sounds. It is also important to provide a model for representing sounds which makes it possible and practical to reproduce and transform the sounds generated by the synthesizer. The present invention uses a model with two very different types of elements to represent two different aspects of musical sounds.

Musical synthesizer combining deterministic and stochastic waveforms

Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University


A system for correlating and displaying dissimilar communication protocols is disclosed. In one embodiment, the system comprises user communication information that spans at least two dissimilar communication networks, a first communication protocol associated with a first communication network, a second communication protocol associated with a second communication network, and a software code segment configured to detect a first call identifier associated with the first communication protocol, the software code segment also configured to detect a second call identifier associated with the second communication protocol, where the first call identifier and the second call identifier are correlated to a particular call. The system displays the correlated call identifiers to a user in a real-time call flow record.

Existing telecommunications networks, such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN) are typically configured so that equipment (such as switches) in the transmission or bearer network, which carries user traffic (voice and data signals), is co-located with equipment (such as signaling points) in the associated signaling network, which carries control signals for coordinating the operation of the bearer network.
However, telecommunications networks are migrating to a distributed architecture in which the equipment that carries user traffic is separated from the equipment that provides signaling functionality. Furthermore, a modern communication network typically comprises dissimilar networks that are coupled together. Such dissimilar networks can include, for example, the PSTN coupled to a packet network. These dissimilar networks generally employ different bearer technologies and/or signaling protocols.
Dissimilar telecommunications networks are typically interconnected via a "gateway" which provides the necessary conversions or adaptations between the bearer traffic and signaling protocol in each of the networks. In such an architecture an adaptation device, such as a media gateway (MG) (sometimes referred to as a "trunk gateway") can be used to couple the dissimilar networks. A control device, such as a media gateway controller (MGC), provides control functionality over the media gateway, but need not be co-located with the media gateway. Generally, the media gateway passes voice and data information. A media gateway controller can communicate with one or more media gateways using a gateway control protocol, such as, for example, simple gateway control protocol (SGCP), media gateway control protocol (MGCP), Internet Protocol Device Control (IPDC), and H.218.
Typically, a media gateway and a media gateway controller are each coupled to both a PSTN and a packet network. The media gateway controller may communicate with other media gateway controllers over the PSTN using extensions of current call control protocols such as Signaling System No.7 ISDN User Part (SS7 ISUP), Session Initiation Protocol (SIP-IETF RFC 2543), ITU Recommendation H.323, or Bearer Independent Call Control (BICC). New protocols may be defined for this interface in the future.
A media gateway controller communicates with a media gateway using, for example, MGCP. Accordingly, the media gateway does receive signaling messages, but they are from the media gateway controller.
When user traffic, such as a telephone call occurring between a node located in the PSTN and a node located in the packet network, spans the dissimilar communication networks, the user traffic is identified differently by the two communication networks.
Protocol monitoring applications, such as tracing across a signaling network the protocol messages associated with a call, or building a call data record (CDR) to summarize the key parameters relating to user traffic (i.e., a telephone call) requires the ability to map call identifiers across different protocols, which may refer to a single entity in multiple different, inconsistent ways.
However, although the call identifiers that correspond to the different communication protocols may be mapped to each other so that a single call can be identified over dissimilar communication networks, there is no current manner in which to capture and display this information in real time to a user of the system.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a network analysis device that is capable of mapping two or more different communication protocols referring to the same user traffic in a communication network that comprises at least two dissimilar communication networks, and that displays this information in real time to a user of the network analysis device.

System and method for correlation and real-time display of mapped PSTN trunk identifiers and gateway control protocol endpoints


A defensive applique armor for protecting a substrate which may be exposed o attack by projectiles. The armor comprises one or more cast metal plates of predetermined thickness which have slotted holes of various sizes and designs. The slotted holes are cast at obliquity.. To the slotted, cast metal armor an optional thin, cast metal layer may be added. Said layer may be positioned either within or external to the cast armor plate.. The invention encompasses both the armor and the process of making the same.

The present invention relates to a defensive applique armor for protecting a substrate which may be exposed to attack by projectiles. Among the substrates to be protected by the use of the present invention are land vehicles (i.e. tanks, trucks, personnel transport vehicles), air crafts (i.e. airplanes, helicopters) and oceanic vehicles (i.e.boats, submarines).
More particularly, the present invention relates to cast single or multiple plate applique armor panels to be placed over a substrate to be protected from projectile attack. Said panels having holes therein which are set at obliquity.
Many classes and forms of armor exist. The class of armor in which this invention is concerned deals with a curtain of numerous applique armor panels which are suspended a certain distance in front of a substrate to be protected. The applique armor acts as a barrier between the projectile and the substrate; and, the spaced distance between the applique armor panel and the substrate itself (hereinafter referred to as "stand-off ") permits further amplification of the armor barrier effect. This type of applique armor enables the substrate to be better able to absorb any remaining destructive effect of a projectile without severe damage to the substrate.
A specific type of armor which is well-known in the art is referred to generically as P900 armor. The P900 armors refer to a class of applique armors which consist of two metal plates of a predetermined thickness which are in a stacked configuration and which are spaced apart from one another. (See FIG. 1 which illustrates the prior art P900 armor.) said two-plate armor is further spaced a predetermined distance away from the substrate to be protected. Both of said metal plates have holes of various designs. These holes have been punched out or drilled in a perpendicular fashion through the armor plates. The holes in the two armor plates are arranged such that when a projectile penetrates the P900 plates, the projectile is broken due to the asymmetrical load placed on the projectile. The spacing to the substrate further amplifies projectile breakup which consequently allows the projectile effect to be more easily absorbed and withstood by the substrate.
The well-known prior art P900 armor has previously been fabricated only from annealed, wrought steel plates. Said plates are mechanically punched or drilled to form the holes and subsequently straightened, heat treated and cut to the desired shape and size. This prior art process of making the P900 armor carries with it many disadvantages. For example, the use of punching or drilling techniques is limited by the thickness of the steel plate and the design of the holes to be punched or drilled. Moreover, the punching or drilling techniques produce excessive amounts of waste of steel plate (approximately 60%). The punching or drilling techniques further create sharp edges on the armor plates which make their handling difficult.
The use of cast metal broadly in the armor art is not a novel concept. Note, Liable, "Ballistic Materials and Penetration Mechanics, "Chapter 7, pp. 145-167 (1980). However, its use in fabricating a P900 type single plate armor of the present invention has neither been suggested nor done. The P900 type armor of the present invention further requires that its holes be set at obliquity. This limitation is further not suggested by Liable.
The use of the well-known "lost foam process " method of casting metals has not previously been used in the armor art. See. Metals Handbook, Volume 15 , pp. 230-234 ( 1988 ) . Hence, the method of making the armor of the present invention using said technique would be unobvious.
The use of a plurality of angled slots or louvers in applique armor constructions has been suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,299 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,036,104 (both issued to Pagano et al.). These patents teach a design commonly referred to in the art as a "ribbed applique." These patents, however, neither suggest the structure of the present invention nor the method of making the subject matter of the present invention.
The concept of applying an armor to a substrate wherein a stand-off distance is present between the two is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 2,380,393 (issued to Berg).
As one may note from the teachings in the prior art with regard to applique armors, the individual concepts of using cast metals, oblique angles and stand-off distances are not novel ones. Moreover, the general process of casting metals using the "lost foam method" is equally well known, although not in the armor art. The combination of these concepts are neither taught nor suggested in the prior art. The combination of these general concepts result in the armor of the present invention.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


Camera device includes an imaging unit, a communications unit, an identified area detection unit, and an image data processing unit. The imaging unit images an area in a shooting field to obtain image data. The communications unit communicates with a memory device that stores subject information, and obtains the subject information. The identified area detection unit dynamically detects an identified area corresponding to the subject. The image data processing unit specifies a protected area in the identified area based on the subject information, and applies protection only to the protected area when the subject is a protection target. This structure provides the camera device that generates image data in which a subject to be protected is obscured in an imaged subject.

Digital still cameras for photographing still images; camera devices, such as digital video cameras, for taking moving images; and a range of electronic devices, in which a digital camera is installed, are now in wide use. This has led to a growing risk that images taken unintentionally or by chance will include subjects protected under copyright, portrait rights, or other rights to privacy (hereinafter collectively called "protection targets"); or that taken images or their image data will spread. Moreover, a function for imaging and recording moving images for a short period is now also provided in most digital cameras and some camera phones. Furthermore, images captured by digital cameras and camera phones, including subjects that require protection, can also be distributed instantaneously worldwide via the Internet.
On the other hand, the faces of people are frequently captured by monitor cameras installed on streets and at ATM terminals, convenience stores, public facilities, companies, factories, and so on with the aim of protecting public amenities, ensuring security, and preventing crime. These pieces of image data, created based on images captured by monitor cameras, are not always handled with consideration to privacy protection. A range of protection technologies have therefore been proposed to protect the images or image data of these subjects to be protected.
One known protection technology is to obscure a subject to be protected if it is included in a camera shooting field, by masking the subject to be protected. In other words, portrait rights are protected by hiding protected subjects. Likewise, a technology for making protected subjects unidentifiable, in spite of the protected subject having been captured, is proposed in Patent Literature 1, for example.
A conventional camera has a function to obscure an image, such as by applying a computer-generated mosaic. More specifically, the conventional camera is designed to apply a mosaic to a part of the image in the image data obtained by photography, immediately after pressing a button for a mosaic mode, unless an appropriate password is input. FIGS. 10A and 10B show an example of image 201 taken using this type of conventional camera. FIG. 10A is an example of image 201 taken using a normal mode without using the mosaic mode. FIG. 10B shows an example of image 201 taken using the mosaic mode. As shown in FIG. 10B, the user can set area 203 for obscuring subject 202 to be protected, which is a part of image 201, when the mosaic mode is selected.
Another technology for protecting images of subjects and their image data is the use of a digital watermark embedded in an image so as to clearly indicate that the subject requires protection and block photography of this image. This technology is disclosed in Patent Literature 2. Still another technology for blocking the photography of a protected subject is the use of a device that transmits information on the protected subject, such as an IC tag. This technology is disclosed in Patent Literature 3.
However, the structure of the conventional camera disclosed in Patent Literature 1 requires the user to manually designate the image area of a protected subject and set an area for applying protection before starting photography. This may result in a failure to designate it appropriately during video photography. The structure of the camera disclosed in Patent Literature 2 and Patent Literature 3 enable protection of the entire shooting field. However, even if a protected subject is just a part of the shooting field, it is not possible to apply protection to the protected subject only. In addition, these conventional technologies cannot automatically detect protected subjects. Accordingly, if a protected subject moves or changes, it cannot be automatically followed.
Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2003-87632
Patent Literature 2: Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2005-151124
Patent Literature 3: Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2005-223601

Camera device including privacy protection method


Provided is a technique capable of performing displaying or hiding a menu through an operation by a movement of the head of a user wearing a head-mounted display. A head-mounted display system according to an embodiment includes an inclination detector for detecting an inclination from an initial angle of the head-mounted display mounted on a user while an application is in progress, and a display controller for generating an application image in progress in the virtual space in accordance with the detected inclination and outputting the application image to the head-mounted display. When the detected inclination is larger than a first threshold value, the display controller generates an image in which a menu image is superimposed on the application image generated in accordance with the inclination and outputs the generated image to the head-mounted display.

Field
The present disclosure relates to displaying an image in a virtual space, and more particularly relates to a head-mounted display system to be mounted on the head of a user for displaying an image in a virtual space in a user's visual field in which displaying or hiding a menu on the image can be operated with a simple operation of moving the head, a method for presenting display on a head-mounted display, and a non-transitory computer-readable data recording medium storing a program.
Description of the Related Art
A head-mounted display (hereinafter referred to as HMD) to be mounted on the head of a user and capable of presenting an image in a virtual space to the user on a display or the like located before his/her eyes is known. Conventionally, switching between displaying and hiding a menu while an application is in progress in the HMD has been performed by a button operation by a controller connected to the HMD, for example.

Head-mounted display system and method for presenting display on head-mounted display


A silicon carbide semiconductor switching device having a planar metal oxide semiconductor insulated gate structure. The silicon carbide semiconductor switching device includes a silicon carbide semiconductor substrate having a bandgap wider than that of silicon, a drift layer formed on the silicon carbide semiconductor substrate, a base region selectively formed in the drift layer at a top surface thereof, a source contact region selectively formed in the base region at a top surface thereof, a trench formed in the drift layer at the top surface thereof, the trench having a depth that is shallower than a depth of the source contact region, a gate electrode embedded in the trench, a top surface of the gate electrode being substantially flush with a top surface of the source contact region, and an interlayer insulating film formed on the top surfaces of the source contact region and the gate electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to a single-crystal silicon carbide semiconductor switching device, and particularly relate to a silicon carbide semiconductor switching device of a surface structure of a planar metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) and a method of manufacturing the silicon carbide semiconductor switching device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Single-crystal silicon carbide (SiC) has a bandgap and breakdown field strength that well exceed those of single-crystal silicon (Si), and is expected to enable realization of ultra-high voltage semiconductor switching devices exceeding a breakdown voltage of 10 kV alone or SiC devices having lower loss are expected to replace Si devices.
Metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) gate structures of MOSFETs as a silicon carbide semiconductor device are roughly divided into planar structures in which ON current flows directly under a gate electrode in a horizontal direction and trench structures in which the gate electrode is embedded in a groove (trench) formed in a silicon carbide semiconductor substrate and ON current flows along a side of the gate electrode. The planar structure does not concentrate electric field near the gate electrode and therefore, enables the breakdown voltage to be increased easily. The planar structure is suitable for quicker practical implementation because of the relatively simple structure.
However, the planar structure forms, on a flat silicon carbide substrate, a gate electrode having a certain constant thickness (typically 100 to 500 nm) and therefore, due to the unavoidable occurrence of steps caused by the gate electrode height, a problem arises in that consequent to the side wall angle (angle, etc.) of the gate electrode pattern end and the like, when the interlayer insulating film is deposited, the covering shape of the step portions overhangs, making coverage at side wall portions of the steps of the surface electrode layer (e.g., aluminum-silicon (Al—Si) film) or barrier metal (e.g., titanium nitride (TiN)) poor.
There are techniques of employing a trench structure and completely embedding the gate electrode in a gate trench to avoid the problems caused by the physical shape (for example, refer to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Nos. 2011-91283 and 2012-199515, and Japanese Patent No. 5059989).
Further, as a method of resolving the overhanging of the interlayer insulating film with the planar structure as is, for example, there is a technique of using borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG) for the uppermost layer of the interlayer insulating film, performing heat treatment of several hundred degrees C. (reflow process) after formation of the film, and making the step portion a gradual incline (for example, refer to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-112824).

Silicon carbide semiconductor switching device and method of manufacturing silicon carbide semiconductor switching device


A method for monitoring transportation of bills ensures reliable control of the transportation processes. Each bill (BN) is routed through a light barrier that has a light-sensitive sensor (S) to detect at least one edge of the bill (BN). To suppress detection of windows (W) and to detect the rear edge (HK) of the bill (BN), the signal (S0) produced by the sensor (S) is debounced. The debounce time (dT) is set based on the length of the bill (BN), to a first period (dT1) that corresponds to the expected length of the bill (BN). The debounce time (dT) is set to the first period (dT1) as soon as the signal (S0) produced by the sensor (S) indicates the first appearance of an edge, particularly the front edge (VK), of the bill (BN). The debounce time can be set to a second shorter, period (dT2) after the first period (dT1) has elapsed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for monitoring transportation processes for conveying bills and to a self-service terminal having an apparatus carrying out the method. In particular, the invention relates to a method for monitoring the transportation processes for conveying banknotes and checks in a self-service terminal, particularly an automated teller machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an automated teller machine, but also in other self-service terminals, such as direct payment cash systems, the accepted or dispensable bills (banknotes, checks, vouchers, etc.) need to be transported safely and reliably, e.g. from the banknote store to the dispensing shaft of the automated machine. In particular, it is necessary to ensure that the bills are transported individually and do not overlap or overlie one another during transport. Each transported bill needs to be able to be sensed exactly in order to be able to ensure particularly that the different note values are counted and sorted. In order to sense the bills and in order to control the transport system, the bills are usually routed, according to their length, through at least one light barrier. Each light barrier has at least one light-sensitive sensor that reacts to optical state changes (light-dark or dark-light). Hence, particularly the start (front edge) and/or the end (rear edge) of the individual bill can be detected. An apparatus for handling and transporting bills is described in DE 10 2010 004580 A1, for example. The conventional optical scanning of bills can lead to problems when individual bills have viewing windows that are provided as additional security features. The reason is that the appearance of viewing windows during scanning of the bills leads to multiple state changes being reported in succession, as a result of which it may be difficult to detect the front and/or rear edge of the respective bill exactly.
WO 03/023 724 A2 describes a detection system for optical media in the form of banknotes and other bills. The system is conditioned to detect or to identify viewing windows, that is to say transparent areas, in the bills as well. To this end, a light barrier system is installed that has an optical transmitter and two light-sensitive sensors that are arranged at different positions. While the respective bill is passing through, one sensor identifies the light reflected by the bill; the other sensor identifies the light passing through as soon as a window appears. Hence, the appearance of the various edges, namely the front and rear edges, on the one hand, and any window edges, on the other hand, can be detected. However, this solution is reliant on the windows that appear having sufficiently good transparency, which is not always the case. The transparency of the windows may be very low on account of soiling of the bills or on account of windows that are consciously kept semipermeable or opaque and/or colored. Should windows with low transparency appear, reflections can even result in a window edge being incorrectly detected as a front or rear edge of a bill, and therefore in the control of the transport system operating erroneously.
Further prior art is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,455,659 A, EP 0 080 158 A2, EP 0 884 652 A2. In addition, the article "Prepunched Paper Feed" by D. R. Blankenship et al, which appeared in the IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 25, May 1983, on pages 6524-6526, describes a method for safe paper feed for prepunched copy paper.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for monitoring transportation processes for bills that ensures reliable control of the transportation processes even for such bills as have windows.

Method for monitoring transportation processes for conveying banknotes in a self-service terminal


A mechanochromic coating composition is disclosed comprising a binder composition and a crystalline mechanophore. The mechanophore changes color upon application of a mechanical load to the coating composition.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to coating compositions comprising mechanochromic crystals that change color upon application of a load to the coating composition.
2. Description of Related Art
Polymeric materials are often used to coat various structural components in many industries, such as aerospace components, medical devices, turbines (as used in wind energy and generation and in manufacturing), and the like. These components may become damaged or stressed during use. Oftentimes, the damage or stress to an underlying structural component is not clearly visible. The structural components and the polymeric coating on these components are subjected to a variety of forces that impart elongation, compression, and shear stresses. These forces hasten the fatigue within the component and increase the risk of catastrophic failure of the component. Therefore, these components are routinely examined for structural integrity using visual and non-visual techniques, particularly when a sudden failure presents risk to equipment or human safety. This practice consumes valuable time and resources, and hidden dangers are often difficult or impossible to detect. Thus, catastrophic failures can occur within such components with little or no warning.
The ability to detect damage as it occurs and locate the area of damage would be helpful. In particular, materials that self-report the state of damage and stress applied thereto are helpful in eliminating or minimizing the failure of the underlying structural component.

Coating composition having mechanochromic crystals


A lightning protection system is disclosed for a seismic data acquisition system having single or multiple geophones positioned at predetermined ground locations over a large area. A surge suppressor is placed across the leads to which the geophones strings are connected. Such surge suppressor preferably comprises a gas discharge arc tube. The base or spike of each geophone is implanted in the ground, A ground lead is connected to the surge suppressor. Electrical energy from a lightning strike affecting the geophones, cables, data acquisition boxes, etc. is dissipated by the surge suppressors through the multiple spikes to the earth thereby to minimize damage resulting from lightning.

In seismic surveying, two types of acoustic detecting transducers are presently used: geophones on land and hydrophones in marine conditions and in mud-filled bore holes. Pressure sensitive phones are ideally suited for marine work as pressure changes above or below ambient water pressure are recorded. On land, pressure sensitive phones can not be used as it is generally impractical to bury the phones in such a way that they would have adequate fluid coupling with the surrounding material.
Acoustic energy generates signals and is normally created by explosives, mechanical wave generators provided by truck mounted vibrators, or rams engaging the ground surface. A geophone is designed to measure particle velocity by conversion to electrical energy. Although this specification will be described by reference to geophones as the preferred sensor for a land-based seismic data acquisition system, other sensors requiring protection against lightning strikes are part of the system to be protected of this invention.
It is important that good coupling be obtained between the ground surface and the geophones. The geophone case has a spike or other base attached to the geophone case for implantation within the earth's surface. The case encloses a magnet and surrounding coil. The coil may be fixed and the magnet suspended, or the coil may be suspended and the magnet fixed. Relative movement between the coil and the magnetic field of the magnet induces an electrical voltage which is transmitted and measured in a recording system. Geophones are usually deployed in groups at each detector location with series connected geophone groups connected in parallel to form a string. Each string is attached to a takeout in the main cable which feeds to a specific channel in the recording system. Frequently, several cables are deployed to adequately sample the signals from the earth. Thus, seismic signals are detected by arrays or single geophones, and field equipment is normally provided to record the reflected seismic signals. The field equipment typically includes remote acquisition electronics, telemetry and central control electronics for control, display and storage.
Three dimensional (3D) seismic data is collected by deploying multiple lines of sensors over a large area of the earth. The seismic reflections to points on the surface form a three dimensional array of data which enables a geophysicist or geologist to process such data to produce various displays of the sedimentary structures in the earth.
Large surface arrays to collect 3D seismic data may require many square miles of cables and geophones. The many miles of cables, such as, for example, fifty (50) miles of multi-conductor cable with geophone strings spread over ten (10) to fifteen (15) square miles, is quite vulnerable to lightning strikes. A direct lightning strike on a cable, a geophone string, or acquisition box will cause damage at the point of entry. The surge of electricity may travel along the cables to other parts of the array, damaging cables, sensors such as geophones and other equipment as it passes. Thus, it is desirable to minimize damage from any lightning strikes by limiting the propagation of current from a strike location to other parts of the system.

Lightning protection for seismic data acquisition system


In a game system, a player can displace direction of a view line disposed in a three-dimensional space coordinate system to change the corresponding perspective-projected image by changing the aim of the gun-type controller, by setting a specific region on a perspective projection plane; detecting a designated position with respect to a display plane, which is designated; determining whether or not the designated position is located in a specific region; displacing the view line direction or moving the view point position based on the positional relationship of the designated position and the specific region when the designated position is not positioned inside the specific region; and finding a two-dimensional image obtained by perspective projection in the new view line direction after the displacement of the view line direction or movement of the view point position and displaying two-dimensional images on the display device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display control method for display devices that display an image obtained by perspective-projecting an image model located in a virtual three-dimensional coordinate space onto a two-dimensional plane in the prescribed view line direction. More particularly, the present invention relates to an image display control method making it possible to control the displayed image following the displacement of the view line direction or the movement of the view point position by the player's operations in a shooting game.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are shooting games in which an image obtained by perspective-projecting a three-dimensional spatial image model comprising a character image, which is a target, in a virtual three-dimensional coordinate space onto a two-dimensional plane in the view line direction is displayed on a display device and the game is advanced by simulation shooting at the displayed character image with a simulation gun operated by a player.
As an example of such a shooting game, a technology was suggested (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-18128) in which the simulation gun (gun-type controller) was provided with an input key such as a cross-direction key and the selection operations such as the movement of the character operated by the player, changes in the disposition of the enemy character, and weapon used by the characters were facilitated.
On the other hand, it is expected that in the shooting game a feeling of virtual reality shooting be created for the player by changing the view line direction or view point position in the virtual three-dimensional coordinate space according to the intensions of the player himself so as to confront the enemy character.
However, in the conventional shooting games, the displayed images change according to the preset program and the player can change the observation point of the gun-type controller only within a range of prescribed displayed images that are displayed according to the program. Thus, the view line direction or view point position in the virtual three-dimensional coordinate space are not changed by the player's operations.
Therefore, the view line direction and view point position are fixed unless the displayed image on the screen is changed by the program, and the range for taking aim with the gun-type controller is fixed in advance by the program. Thus, the idea of timely changing the view line direction or view point position by the player's operations and changing the range for taking aim with the gun-type controller did not exist as prior art technology.
The aforementioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-18128, too, contained no description suggesting the technology of changing the view line direction or view point position by the player's operations.


There are disclosed systems and methods for reducing the number of computations performed by a computing device constructing a public key from an implicit certificate associated with a certificate authority in an implicit certificate scheme. In one embodiment, the device first operates on the implicit certificate to derive an integer e. The device then derives a pair of integers (e1, e2) from the integer e, such that each of the pair of integers (e1, e2) has a bit length less than the bit length of the integer e, and such that the ratio of the pair of integers (e1, e2) corresponds to the integer e. The device then computes the public key by combining the integers e1 and e2 with public key contribution data derived from the implicit certificate and a public key of the certificate authority.

A cryptographic system is a computer system that uses cryptography, typically to secure or authenticate data communication between a pair of computing devices connected to one another through a data communication link in the system. Each computing device has a cryptographic unit with the processing capacity to implement one or more cryptographic protocols used to secure or authenticate the data communication. The cryptographic protocols typically perform arithmetic operations on the bit strings representing parameters, messages, or data in the protocols to produce a bit string representing the output from the protocol.
In cryptographic systems, Certification Authorities (CAs) are trusted 3rd parties responsible for vouching for the authenticity of public keys. For example, if correspondent A wishes to distribute its public key WA, correspondent A may request that a CA issue a certificate for public key WA.
Depending upon the application, the CA may issue an implicit certificate for public key WA. Implicit certificates are known in the art. Unlike conventional "explicit" certificates, implicit certificates require no explicit verification of the CA's signature. Therefore, implicit certificates are generally smaller in size and can offer bandwidth savings over conventional explicit certificates. A public key distributed via such an implicit certificate is implicitly authenticated by successfully using the public key in an operation that requires the use of the corresponding private key.
A well-known implicit certificate scheme is Elliptic Curve Qu-Vanstone (ECQV). This scheme provides implicit authentication when the implicit certificate is used in conjunction with an operation requiring the sender to use the corresponding private key, such, as in ECDH, ECMQV, or ECDSA operations. A summary of ECQV is as follows.
A correspondent, A, wishing to establish a private/public key pair (wA, WA) and distribute public key WA via an implicit certificate, first uses its random number generator to generate a random integer to be used as an ephemeral private key dA. The cryptographic unit then generates a corresponding ephemeral public key QA=dAG, where G is the base point on the underlying elliptic curve and a generator of the subgroup of the elliptic curve group. Correspondent A then sends QA, as well as any identity information, to the CA. The CA receives QA and the identity information and performs the following steps:                1. Verify the received ephemeral public key QA and identity information. Verification can be done a number of ways. For example, the CA may verify that QA is a proper public key that satisfies specific criteria, such as being a point on the underlying, elliptic curve, and/or satisfies defined statistical criteria. In another example, the CA verifies whether the identity information is correct. If verification fails, abort operation. If verification succeeds, proceed.        2. Generate an ephemeral private and public key pair (dCA, QCA), where QCA=dCAG.        3. Compute public key contribution data BA=QA+QCA.        4. Construct certificate data IA.        5. Construct an implicit certificate ICA containing BA and IA.        6. Compute e=Hash(ICA).        7. Compute private key contribution data s=edCA+wCA (mod n), where n is the order of base point. G, and wCA is the static private key of the CA.        8. Send ICA and s to correspondent A.
Upon receiving ICA and s, correspondent A performs the following steps to calculate its key pair (wA, WA):                1. Operate on ICA to obtain BA and IA.        2. Verify the contents of ICA according to the application rules. For example, this may include verifying the information is properly formatted, verifying content of IA matches information sent by correspondent A to the CA, and/or verifying BA is a valid point on the underlying curve.        3. Compute e=Hash(ICA) and verify e≠0.        4. Compute its private key wA=edA+s (mod n).        5. Compute its public key WA=eBA+WCA, where WCA is the static public key of the CA corresponding to the static private key wCA.
The CA distributes the implicit certificate ICA to the other correspondents. A particular correspondent, say correspondent B, receives ICA and derives the public key WA of correspondent A as follows:                1. Operate on ICA to compute BA and IA;        2. Verify the contents of ICA according to the application rules;        3. Compute e=Hash(ICA) and verify e≠0; and        4. Compute public key WA=eBA+WCA.
Correspondent B is therefore able to use the static public key WCA of the CA to derive WA from the implicit certificate ICA. However, correspondent B has no way of knowing whether correspondent A possesses the corresponding private key wA. This is also the case with ordinary explicit certificates (e.g. ECDSA and RSA certificates), unless the CA first wants proof of possession before issuing a certificate. Therefore, authentication of correspondent A and its public key WA is not complete until an operation involving both WA and wA is successfully performed. For example, correspondent A and correspondent B may subsequently engage in an ECMQV key agreement or ECDSA signature protocol, both of which require the use of WA and wA. If the key agreement or signature operations fail, then WA might not have been authentic or valid. On the other hand, if the key agreement or signature operations are successful; then correspondent A must possess wA, and the authenticity and validity of WA is implicitly verified.
The ECQV implicit certificate scheme above is an example of an implicit certificate scheme. It is generally desired to reduce the number of computations performed in an implicit certificate scheme.

System and method for reducing computations in an implicit certificate scheme


A method of protecting earrings or jewelry.

The present invention relates generally to covers and, more specifically, to a protective earring cover which may be attached to a piece of jewelry by a user.
Earrings and general pieces of jewelry are often regarded as highly valuable items, representing large financial investments as well as nostalgic importance. Conventionally, an earring or piece of jewelry may draw unwanted attention when adorned in an inappropriate setting. For example, a user may be walking from a vehicle to a ceremony or party, and the display of such highly valued items can draw unwanted attention. Additionally, the use of highly-valued earrings and jewelry can present them to the risk of dirt, damage, and overall wear-and-tear during times when they are worn between functions.
It may be advantageous to provide a cover which: may attach to an existing decorative, non-adjustable earring or piece of jewelry; may fully enclose the earring or jewelry; partially encloses the earring or jewelry; can seal off the jewelry from adverse elements, including dirt, water, and debris; may provide a protective casing for the finish; can conceal the appearance of the earring or piece of jewelry, such that the appearance of the earring or jewelry is not readily presented; may allow for quick and efficient use; can be easily manufactured; is preferably efficient to manufacture; and/or protects and treats a finish of or otherwise conditions the earring or jewelry.

Jewelry cover and method of protecting jewelry


A first signal generated from a signal generator may be synchronized with a local clock of a first device at a first time, and sent to a second device, the first signal having a first frequency. A second signal generated from the signal generator may be further synchronized with the local clock of the first device at a second time, the second signal having a second frequency different from the first frequency, and a difference between the second time and the first time being within a predetermined range of a predetermined time difference. The second signal may then be sent to the second device to enable the second device to determine a distance between the first device and the second device based at least in part on a phase difference between the first signal and the second signal.

A positioning system involves estimating a location of a device using specialized equipment and sophisticated technologies. An example of the positioning system includes an outdoor positioning system, such as a GPS (Global Positioning System) system, which may be associated with a device and configured to determine a location of the device in conjunction with a satellite system. Depending on the complexity of the GPS system and conditions of the environment around the GPS system, the strength of radio signals received by the GPS system from the satellite system may vary, and thus the accuracy of estimating the location of the device may vary from a range of uncertainty of a fraction of a meter to a range of uncertainty of a few meters. In some circumstances, the GPS system may receive no or poor radio signals from the satellite system, and thus may fail to accurately estimate the location of the device. For example, when the device is located in an indoor environment or located in an environment having quite a number of obstacles (such as airports, parking garages, alleys, and underground locations, etc.), the GPS system may fail to pick up radio signals from the satellite system, and thus may be unable to estimate the location of the device accurately.
In this respect, the positioning system may further include an indoor positioning system, which makes use of a network of devices to locate a device where GPS and other satellite technologies lack precision or fail entirely. Existing indoor positioning systems employ different technologies. In one example, an indoor positioning system may involve measuring distances between a device and nearby anchor nodes (i.e., nodes with fixed and known positions, such as WiFi access points, Bluetooth beacons or ultra-wideband beacons, etc.), and calculating a location of the device based on the strength of signals received from the nearby anchor nodes and a location estimation method (e.g., a trilateration method or a triangulation method), for example. The accuracy of the existing indoor positioning systems relies heavily on the accuracy of a measured distance between each anchor node and a device of which a location is to be determined. However, given the extremely high speed of radio signals (i.e., 3×108 meters per second) and normally a short distance between the device and the anchor node, the time taken for a radio signal to travel between the device and the anchor node is extremely small. This undoubtedly impose a high standard or requirement for a precision of time measurement on the device or time measurement component associated with the device, and requires sophisticated or advanced hardware for such time measurement. A large error or a poor precision in the time measurement will be translated into a large error or a poor precision in measurement of the distance between the device and the anchor device, and lead to a large error or a poor precision in estimating a location of the device. Furthermore, such distance measurement may require installation or presence of specialized hardware such as Bluetooth device for generating or detecting signals that are communicated with the anchor devices.

Distance estimation using signals of different frequencies


A battery with a high battery voltage at charging and improved energy density is provided. A cathode (12) and an anode (14) are laminated with a separator (15) sandwiched therebetween which is impregnated with an electrolyte. The cathode (12) has a cathode active material including a lithium composite oxide which contains lithium, at least either cobalt or nickel, and oxygen. The battery voltage at charging is 4.25 V or more. The total amount of lithium carbonate and lithium sulphate in the cathode (12) to the cathode active material is 1.0 wt % or less, a concentration of protic impurities in the electrolyte, which is converted to a mass ratio of protons to the electrolyte, is 20 ppm or less, or moisture content in the electrolyte is 20 ppm mass ratio or less to the electrolyte. This inhibits metal eluting from the lithium composite oxide even at high voltages.

The present invention relates to a battery comprising a cathode, an anode and an electrolyte, and more particularly to a battery which provides motive power using a lithium composite oxide as a cathode and lithium (Li) as a reacting species of the battery.
In recent years, many portable electric devices, such as camera-incorporated VTRs (Videotape Recorder), cellular phones, and laptop computers, become widespread, and miniaturization and weight saving thereof are developed. Concurrently, research and development has actively been advanced in order to improve an energy density of batteries and especially of secondary batteries, which are used as a portable power supply for these electric devices. Specifically, lithium secondary batteries and lithium ion secondary battery are promising, because they provide an energy density higher than ones of conventional lead batteries and conventional nickel-cadmium batteries.
As a cathode active material of the lithium secondary batteries and the lithium ion secondary batteries, lithium cobalt composite oxides containing lithium and cobalt (Co) and lithium nickel composite oxides containing lithium and nickel (Ni) are used, because these materials have various excellent properties such as a discharge capacity. However, in the lithium secondary batteries and the lithium ion secondary batteries using these lithium composite oxides, when a battery voltage is 4.25 V or more, the lithium composite oxide is degraded, and many properties such as storage stability and a charge and discharge cycle characteristic become low.
Thus, the battery voltage at charging these secondary batteries is set to 4.2 V or less.
However, developments of anodes progress every moment every day, the capacity thereof is improved, materials having a new charge and discharge profile are found, and simultaneously the voltage higher than 4.2 V has been desired. Moreover, generally, the energy densities of the lithium secondary battery and the lithium ion secondary battery depend on the battery voltage, so that the secondary batteries with the battery voltage of 4.2 V or less hardly satisfy ever-increasing demands to the energy density, which is a problem. Therefore, increasing the battery voltage is an important subject for the lithium secondary batteries and the lithium ion secondary batteries.
The present invention has been achieved to solve the above problems. It is an object of the invention to provide a battery with a high battery voltage at charging and an improved energy density.


Designs for cylindrical-wave controlling, generating and guiding devices are disclosed, which include multi-cylindrical-layer reflector and anti-reflection for unguided cylindrical waves, and concentric-circle-grating waveguide reflector, directional coupler and distributed feedback structures for guided cylindrical waves. A multi-cylindrical-layer structure takes the form of cylindrical layers wrapped concentrically around a central rod. A grating waveguide structure takes the form of a slab waveguide in which one of the slabs has circular ridge-groove grating. Layer and ridge-groove spacings are critical to the functionality of these structures. Design rules are outlined. These structures are important components for cylindrical wave controls. Designs of narrow-linewidth and high-power surface-emitting semiconductor lasers using the grating reflectors and 90-degree couplers are also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for controlling, generating and guiding waves. The waves can be electromagnetic waves, acoustic waves, and the like. Such a device comprises at least two adjacent media with a cylindrical interface or a disk-like thin-film waveguide with at least one ridge and one groove on one of the thin films. One of the media can be air or vacuum. The device may take the form of a multi-cylindrical-layer wrapped rod, or a disk-like slab-waveguide (thin film) structure with circular ridge-groove grating in one of the slabs. The cylindrical-layer and grating-step spacings are critical in designing the devices.
2. Description of the Prior Art
About a hundred years ago, it was observed that a periodic crystal lattice structure can reflect X rays. W. L. Bragg was the first to propose a reasonable explanation for this phenomenon. Since then, plane (one-dimensional) periodic structures, constructed by alternating plane dielectric layers (sheets), have been used as high-reflection coatings for optical components and devices and as mirrors for optical waves in narrow-bandwidth filters, vertical-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor lasers (VCSELs) and many other applications. Such structures are often called distributed-Bragg reflectors (DBRs) or multi-stack dielectric mirrors and are among the most important building blocks for wave generation and control devices.
Altered forms of such structures, taking the form of corrugated gratings in waveguides, are applied to guided optical waves. They are used in semiconductor DBR lasers, quarter-wavelength-shifted distributed-feedback (DFB) lasers, waveguide filters and other guided-wave devices. The ridges and grooves of the gratings induce periodic changes in the effective index of the waveguides, and thus function as distributed reflectors to the guided waves.
The layer spacings of DBRs are usually odd-integer multiple of a quarter of the designated wavelength. Multi-layer structures, with spacings of odd and even multiples of a quarter wavelength, have found other uses, for example anti-reflection coatings for optical components and devices. The guided wave versions of such structures, with gratings to create the alternating changes in effective index, have been found to function as directional couplers that couple optical waves out of waveguides.
Another use of the periodic grating structures, mostly used in DFB lasers, takes advantage of the guided wave modes that experience equal forward and backward reflectivities from the gratings. DFB lasers (with or without quarter-wavelength shifting) and DBR lasers are the most important semiconductor lasers that can achieve narrow linewidths, or high spectral purity in other words.
DBR and DFB lasers are used widely in telecommunication and cable TV distribution systems. VCSELs are important for optical interconnect applications. High-reflection and anti-reflection coatings are usually used in optical components and devices which contain media interfaces.
There have been many efforts to construct cylindrical (two-dimensional) versions of DBR, anti-reflective, directional coupler and DFB structures for cylindrical wave devices. Most of these efforts are direct extensions of the one-directional versions. The following typical references represent the large body of the prior art.
[1.] U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,083 to R. M. Shimpe, "Cylindrical diffraction grating couplers and distributed feedback resonators for guided wave devices," May 10, 1988.
[2.] T. Erdogan and D. G. Hall, "Circularly symmetric operation of a concentric-circle-grating, surface-emitting, AlGaAs/GaAs quantum-well semiconductor laser," Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 60, pp. 1921-1923, 1992.
[3.] T. Erdogan, Circular symmetric, distributed feedback structures for surface emitting semiconductor lasers, PhD thesis, 1992.
[4.] M. Fallahi, F. Chatenoud, I. M. Templeton, M. Dion, C. M. Wu, A. Delage, and R. Barber, "Electrically pumped circular-grating surface-emitting DBR laser on InGaAs strained single-quantum-well structure," IEEE Photon Tech. Lett., vol. 9, pp. 1087-1089, 1992.
[5.] M. Toda, "Single-mode behavior of a circular grating for potential disk-like DFB lasers," IEEE J. Quantum. Electron., vol. 26, pp. 473-481, 1990.
[6.] U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,362 to P. K. Tien, "Forming focusing diffraction gratings for integrated optics," 1976.
[7.] U.S. Pat. No. 3,970,959 to S. Wang, "Two dimensional distributed feedback devices and lasers," 1976.
8.] H. Kogelnik and C. V. Shank, "Double-heterostructure GaAs distributed-feedback laser," Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 25, pp. 200-201, 1974.
9.] W. L. Bragg, Proc. Cambridge Phil. Soc., vol. 17, p. 43, 1913.
10.] M. Born and E. Wolf, Principles of Optics, 3rd Ed. (Pergamon, N.Y. 1965).
11.] M. J. Adams, An Introduction to Optical Waveguides, (John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, 1981), Ch. 7.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,083 to R. M. Shimpe discloses designs of cylindrical diffraction grating couplers and distributed reflectors for guided wave devices. These designs use periodic concentric gratings to control cylindrical waves, in much the same way as one-dimensional gratings to plane waves. A major part of our inventions--distributed reflectors and couplers--improves on Shimpe's designs in using non-periodic structures spaced according to specific rules.
T. Erdogan et al. achieved the first optically-pumped surface-emitting semiconductor laser using a periodical grating design. Ref. [2] and [3] show their best results in detail. Ref. [4] demonstrated one of the first electrically-pumped surface-emitting laser using periodic gratings. These references describe in detail how these lasers are constructed. They also discuss the potential use of these devices for high-power laser sources.
Ref. [5] proposes a design that places the grating steps at their roots of Bessel/functions, the nodes of the standing waves. However, it does not take into account of the waves' phase changes at the ridge-groove-step interlaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,362 to P. K. Tien discloses techniques for producing periodically spaced curved gratings to couple and focus optical waves from waveguides.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,970,959 to S. Wang et al. describes the use of two series of straight line (one-dimensional) gratings to reflect guided light waves and to couple light into and out of waveguides.
Kogelnik et al. describe how one-dimensional DFB lasers can achieve narrow linewidth. The paper by W. L. Bragg explains how periodic structures reflect X rays.
The book by Born et al. teaches how multi-stack DBRs and anti-reflective layers can be constructed and used. It and the book by Adams are excellent textbooks for analyzing optical wave devices.
However, all prior designs of cylindrical wave controls fail to perform well because their grating spacings do not match well with the phases of the cylindrical waves. For instance, surface-emitting semiconductor lasers with periodic grating cylindrical DBR and DFB structures, demonstrated in Refs. [2] and [3], have yielded spectra tar from pure; and the optical-power distributions in the structures are far from what are desired for practical uses.
For these structures, the grating-step spacing design is critical. The spacings affect the phases of the transmitted, reflected and diffracted waves at medium interfaces, and control the amounts of these waves. The behavior of cylindrical waves are more complex than that of plane waves. Most of the prior designs simply adopt the argument that is used for plane: waves and assume that phases of cylindrical waves change 90 degrees at every quarter wavelength; but in fact cylindrical waves are not periodic in the radial direction.
Only one prior design (Ref. [5]) improves on the periodic design and argues that phases of cylindrical waves change at the roots of Bessel functions; however, cylindrical-wave phase changes at media inter/aces are not counted in this argument.
Our invention takes into account both the wave-propagation phase change and the phase change at media interfaces. With this accurate method for controlling the wave phases, we design cylindrical-wave controlling devices and elements for wave-controlling, generating and guiding devices. Our invention improves on the designs in U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,083 and other prior designs. We outline specific design rules for determinating the grating-step spacings. In addition, our invention extends the underlying principles to the design of other wave-control devices and to the design of semiconductor lasers of narrow linewidth and high power. The principles apply to both guided cylindrical waves and unguided (conventional) waves.

Cylindrical-wave controlling, generating and guiding devices


The present invention relates to an andrographolide derivative of the formula (I), wherein R1, R2 and R3 are same or different substituents selected from hydrogen, substituted or unsubstituted organic acid radicals, inorganic acid radicals, alkyl, aryl or heteroaryl, and at least one of R1, R2 and R3 is R-lipoic acid, S-lipoic acid or a mixture thereof, or corresponding dihydrolipoic acids thereof, or N-acetylcysteine radical. The derivative has good antitumor effect, can induce apoptosis of tumor cells, can directly kill Gram-positive bacteria (staphylococcus aureus) and drug resistance bacteria (MRSA5676 and MRSA5677), can inhibit the QS-system of Gram-negative bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa), can inhibit and destroy the formation of biofilm of Pseudomonas aeruginosa; and exhibits significant hypoglycemic effect, so that it can be used in manufacture of medicaments for treatment of cancers, inflammation, diabetes, and bacterial and viral infections.

Andrographolide (Andro) is the main active component of the herb Andrographis (Chinese name: "Chuanxinlian" or  Latin name: Herba Andrographitis Paniculatae). Andrographis Herb is widely used in many Asia countries including China, India, Japan, Korea, etc. for the treatment of inflammatory diseases including rheumatic arthritis, pharyngolaryngitis, diarrhea, and bacterial and viral infections (Zhao and Fang, Chin. Med. J. (Engl) 1991, 104, 770-775; Puri et al., J. Nat. Prod. 1993, 56, 995-999; Zhang and Tan, Clin. Exp. Pharmacol. Physiol. 1996, 23, 675-678; Zhang and Tan, Clin. Exp. Pharmacol. Physiol. 2000, 27, 358-363; Shen et al., Br. J. Pharmacol. 2002, 35, 399-406). A recent report indicated that andrographolide inhibited a broad-spectrum of cancers and exhibited good therapeutic effects (Rajagopal et al., J. Exp. Ther. Oncol. 2003, 3, 147-158; Satyanarayana et al. Science 2003, 299, 363-370). In Malaysia, Andrographis is widely used for the treatment of diabetes. During the last 30 years, andrographolide and its 3 derivatives, potassium dehydroandrograpolide succinate ("Chuanhuning" or ), potassium sodium dehydroandrographolide succinate ("Yanhuning" or ) and andrographolide sodium bisulfite ("Lianbizhi" or ) have been widely used in the clinic in China. The structure formulas of andrographolide (Andro) and its derivatives, Chuanhuning, Yanhuning and Lianbizhi are as follows:

These drugs can alleviate clinical symptoms of inflammation, fever, and bacterial and viral infection diseases (Hendrickson et al., J. Bacteriol. 2001, 183, 7126-7134; Zhang and Tan, Clin. Exp. Pharmacol. Physiol. 1996, 23, 675-678; Zhang et al., Clin. Exp. Pharmacol. Physiol. 2000, 2358-368; Shen et al., Br. J. Pharmacol. 2002, 35, 399-406; Gabrielian et al., Phytomedicine 2002, 9, 589-597).

Andrographolide derivatives and use thereof in manufacture of medicaments


A semiconductor device and a method of fabricating the same, includes vertically stacked layers on an insulator. Each of the layers includes a first dielectric insulator portion, a first metal conductor embedded within the first dielectric insulator portion, a first nitride cap covering the first metal conductor, a second dielectric insulator portion, a second metal conductor embedded within the second dielectric insulator portion, and a second nitride cap covering the second metal conductor. The first and second metal conductors form first vertically stacked conductor layers and second vertically stacked conductor layers. The first vertically stacked conductor layers are proximate the second vertically stacked conductor layers, and at least one air gap is positioned between the first vertically stacked conductor layers and the second vertically stacked conductor layers. An upper semiconductor layer covers the first vertically stacked conductor layers, the air gap and the second plurality of vertically stacked conductor layers.

The embodiments herein relate to a structure and a method to reduce vertical dielectric film crack propagation in semiconductor devices, and more specifically, to an internal crack stop design that utilizes an air gap, a series of air gaps and/or metal dummy fill shapes positioned between conductive metal wire stacks to prevent crack propagation in dielectric film between adjacent metal wire stacks.

Structure and method for reducing vertical crack propagation

International Business Machines Corporation


[Problem] To predict a remaining time during which a fluorescence image is observable.

For example, Patent Literature 1 described below discloses a conventional imaging device imaging a plurality of wavelength bands, in which the imaging device includes a first imaging unit that captures a light image in a near-infrared light band, a second imaging unit that captures a light image in a visible light band, an image processing unit that performs necessary information extraction processing on a near-infrared image acquired by the first imaging unit, and a composite image generation unit that adds a visible light image acquired by the second imaging unit to an image obtained by the image processing unit, in a predetermined ratio, and generates a composite image.

Information processing device, information processing method, and fluorescence image capturing system

Abstract: [Solution] An information processing device according to the present disclosure includes a remaining time estimation unit that estimates, on the basis of a luminance limit value for observation of a fluorescence image and a change in luminance of a fluorescence image, a remaining time until the luminance of the fluorescence image reaches the luminance limit value. This configuration enables the time at which the luminance of a fluorescence image reaches the luminance limit value to be estimated according to a change in luminance of the fluorescence image, and it is possible to predict a remaining time during which a fluorescence image is observable.


An apparatus wherein a plurality of generally "U" shaped clips are securable to opposed, elongated lateral edges of a ceiling fan blade, and the brackets are securable together by spaced parallel coil springs to maintain the brackets to the ceiling fan blade, and an air freshener packet including a plurality of tubes are spaced apart a predetermined distance equal to a distance spaced apart by the springs received through respective ones of the tubes to secure the tubes and the packet to the ceiling fan blade. A modification of the instant invention includes the "U" shaped brackets securable together by opposed pairs of flexible straps including hook and loop fasteners mounted at terminal ends thereof, and a modified deodorizing packet includes a plurality of polymeric springs securable to spaced apertures of an underside of the packet to position the packet above an upper fan blade surface during securement by the straps of the device.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to an air freshening device, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved air fragrance device for ceiling fans to attach the device to a ceiling fan blade and thereby direct a fragrance throughout an associated area.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of filtration devices and fragrance devices and the like are known in the prior art. The prior art has heretofore provided various attachments for ceiling fan blades to enhance use of the fan blade during its circulatory motion in a particular room. Examples of the prior art include U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,721 to Hardee wherein a sock-like member is mounted overlying a fan blade of a ceiling fan to reduce dust and airborne debris from a room.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,114 to Ward sets forth an air filter construction provided with a fragrant scented material therewithin for utilization within conventional air delivery systems within a building.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,333 to Frigon sets forth a deodorizing fittting for use as an air filter for effective deodorizing of circulating air directed therethrough, wherein the device is mounted to a forward face of a conventional air filter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,824 to Eisenhardt sets forth a fan blade construction of a ceiling fan formed with a central hollow cavity including filtration pads formed therethrough, as well as an ultra-violet germicidal light to destroy micro-organisms and bacteria contained within passing air.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,573 to McKnight sets forth an air filter for securement to a top or bottom surface of a fan blade of a circulating ceiling fan, wherein the filter includes an adhesive strip for securement of an edge of the filtration member to the fan blade.
As such, it may be appreciated that there is a continuing need for a new and improved air fragrance device for ceiling fans which addresses both the problems of effectiveness in construction and ease of use in providing a fragrance dispensing unit in cooperation with a ceiling fan.


A method for defining and producing a power grid structure of an IC that minimizes the area of the power grid structure area and the diagonal wiring blockage caused by the power grid structure while still meeting design constraints. A power grid planner is used to determine dimensions and locations of power grid components for each IC layer using a power grid formula, an objective for the power grid formula, a set of constraints, and a set of parameters. The method also includes processes of a power grid router, power grid verifier, and global signal router that are used iteratively with processes of the power grid planner to continually refine the dimensions and locations of the power grid components until the power grid structure meets design constraints and until global signal routing is successful on each layer of the IC.

An integrated circuit ("IC") is a device (e.g., a semiconductor device) that includes many electronic components, such as transistors, resistors, diodes, etc. These components are often interconnected to form multiple circuit components, such as gates, cells, memory units, arithmetic units, controllers, decoders, etc. An IC includes multiple layers of signal wiring that interconnect its electronic and circuit components. Traditionally, IC's use preferred direction ("PD") wiring models, which specify a preferred wiring direction for each of their wiring layers. In preferred direction wiring models, the preferred direction typically alternates between successive wiring layers.
One example of a PD wiring model is the PD Manhattan wiring model, which specifies alternating layers of preferred-direction horizontal and vertical wiring. Another example of a PD wiring model is the PD diagonal wiring model, which specifies alternating layers of preferred-direction diagonal wiring. The PD diagonal wiring model can allow for shorter wiring distances than the PD Manhattan wiring model and can decrease the total wirelength needed to interconnect the electronic and circuit components of an IC. The PD diagonal wiring model is described in detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/334,690, filed Dec. 31, 2002, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Routing," incorporated herein by reference and in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/013,819, filed Dec. 7, 2001, entitled "Routing Method and Apparatus That Use Diagonal Routes," incorporated herein by reference
Design engineers design IC's by transforming logical or circuit descriptions of the IC's into geometric descriptions, called layouts. IC layouts typically include (1) circuit modules (i.e., geometric representations of electronic or circuit IC components) with signal pins, and (2) interconnect lines (i.e., geometric representations of signal wiring) that connect the signal pins of the circuit modules. A signal net is typically defined as a collection of signal pins that need to be connected.
To create layouts, design engineers typically use electronic design automation ("EDA") applications. These applications provide sets of computer-based tools for creating, editing, and analyzing IC design layouts. One EDA tool is a signal wire router that defines routes for interconnect lines that connect the signal pins of signal nets. Signal wire routing is generally divided into two phases: global signal routing and detailed signal routing. For each signal net, global signal routing generates a "loose" route for the interconnect lines that are to connect the signal pins of the signal net. The "looseness" of a global signal route depends on the particular global signal router used. After global signal routes have been created, the detailed signal routing creates specific individual routes for each signal net. A signal wire router that consistently explores diagonal routing directions (referred to herein as a diagonal wire router) is described in the aforementioned patent application titled "Method and Apparatus for Routing."
Each IC also contains a power grid structure that provides power and ground to each electronic and circuit component of an IC. Each electronic or circuit IC component has a power pin and a ground pin that is connected to the power grid structure. A power net is typically defined as a collection of power pins that need to be connected and a ground net is typically defined as a collection of ground pins that need to be connected.
Power grid structure components include stripes, rails, and vias which must be of a certain strength (i.e., size) to meet design constraints (i.e., minimum specifications that the power grid structure must meet in order to be acceptable for use in the IC). Power grid components, however, compete with signal wiring for area on an IC layer since they take up area on the IC layer that signal wiring could otherwise occupy. Also, power grid structure components can cause substantial blockage of signal wiring paths, especially on layers with the PD diagonal wiring model.
FIG. 1 illustrates a top view of a region of an IC layout having a conventional power grid structure 100. The power grid structure 100 includes stripes 105, rails 110, and vias 115. Stripes 105 are typically positioned vertically (i.e., parallel to the layout's y-coordinate axis) across an upper layer of the IC and provide power and ground to the IC. A stripe 105 that carries power is referred to as a power stripe 105 and a stripe 105 that carries ground is referred to as a ground stripe 105.
Rails 110 are typically positioned horizontally (i.e., parallel to the layout's x-coordinate axis) across at least one lower layer of the IC. Each rail 110 is connected to a stripe 105 through vias 115. A rail 110 connected to a power stripe 105 is referred to as a power rail 110 and a rail 110 connected to a ground stripe 105 is referred to as a ground rail 110.
Vias 115 are positioned perpendicular to the IC's layers (i.e., parallel to the layout's z-coordinate axis) and distribute power or ground from the stripes 105 to the rails 110. Multiple vias 115 are arranged in a via array which is used to connect a stripe 105 to a rail 110. For illustrative purposes, FIG. 1 shows a top view of a via array as enclosed by a rectangular bounding box, the via array being comprised of multiple vias 115. A via array has an area that is typically determined by an intersection area of a stripe 105 and rail 110 (i.e., locations where stripes 105 and rails 110 cross in terms of the layout's x and y-coordinate axes). The area of a via array is typically the same on each layer.
A via 115 (or via array) that connects a power stripe 105 to a power rail 110 is referred to as a power via 115 (or power via array) and a via 115 that connects a ground stripe 105 to a ground rail 110 is referred to as a ground via 115 (or ground via array). A power via 115 is typically located at every intersection of a power stripe 105 and power rail 110 and a ground via 115 is typically located at every intersection of a ground stripe 105 and ground rail 110.
Since the vias 115 of the power grid structure are positioned upright through the IC, they can cause blocking of the signal wiring needed to interconnect the electronic and circuit components of the IC. The amount of wiring blockage varies from layer to layer depending on the PD wiring model of the layer. As shown in FIG. 1, diagonal direction arrows 130 illustrate how diagonal wiring paths are blocked by vias 115 of the conventional power grid structure 100.
Conventionally, design engineers manually define the power grid structure by methods of trial and error. For example, designer engineers typically estimate stripe width and stripe spacing values (the distance from one stripe to the next) based on prior experience. The stripe width effects the area of a via array since the area of a via array is typically determined by an intersection area of a stripe and rail. The estimated stripe width (and resulting via array area) is typically larger than needed to meet design constraints for the power grid structure so that the stripes and vias of the power grid structure take up more area than necessary on an IC layer. Also, the estimated stripe spacing values effect the locations of the via arrays since a via array is placed at stripe and rail intersections. The estimated stripe spacing values typically place the via arrays in a position that causes a substantial amount of diagonal wiring blockage on layers with the PD diagonal wiring model.
Therefore, conventional power grid structures typically occupy more area on IC layers than necessary and cause substantial diagonal wiring blockage on layers with the PD diagonal wiring model. This is due to the fact that, conventionally, power grid components are not defined in a systematic way to minimize the area of the power grid structure or to minimize diagonal wiring blockage. Therefore, there is a need for an automated method and apparatus for defining a power grid structure that minimizes the area of the power grid structure and minimizes the diagonal wiring blockage caused by the power grid structure while still meeting the design constraints for the power grid structure.

Methods and apparatus for defining Manhattan power grid structures beneficial to diagonal signal wiring


The invention relates to a digital low frequency correction circuit and a corresponding method for correction of low frequency disturbances within a digital signal, in particular to a reduction of distortions caused by analog circuitry, such as analog signal amplifiers. The low frequency correction circuit comprises a main signal path adapted to delay a digital input signal received by a signal input terminal and at least one correction signal path including a digital correction filter adapted to filter the received digital input signal. Furthermore, an adder of the circuit is adapted to add the digital signal delayed by the main signal path and the digital signal corrected by said correction signal path to generate a digital output signal output by a signal output terminal of the circuit.

Measurement equipment typically comprises analog circuitry as well as digital circuitry. A test setup can comprise a measurement apparatus such as an oscilloscope receiving measurement signals provided by a probe connected to a device under test DUT. The device under test DUT may also be stimulated by a signal generation apparatus generating test signals applied to the device under test DUT. A measurement apparatus such as an oscilloscope can comprise an analog frontend including a variable gain frontend amplifier receiving analog measurement signals from a probe connected to the device under test DUT. The probe itself can comprise an active probe having a signal amplifier. Accordingly, the analog measurement signal provided by the device under test can be amplified by a preamplifier of the probe and/or by a frontend amplifier forming part of the measurement apparatus. The analog circuits, in particular the analog amplifiers can distort the low frequency, LF, signal path of the received input signal. These distortions result in undesired LF transients in the acquired signal waveform. When analyzing these distortions in the frequency domain they are at a range of e.g. 1/10 dB. Accordingly, the distortion in the frequency domain caused by the analog circuitry is relative small for most use cases. However, if the distorted signal is analyzed and/or displayed by the measurement apparatus in the time domain, the distortions are quite significant. Low frequency effects caused by the distortions can comprise signal droop. Since the optimization of the analog circuitry has physical limits, in particular due to analog component tolerances, conventional measurement apparatuses can use FIR filters in their digital backend. However, this does also reach physical limits because of the implementable length of the required FIR filters. Conventional oscilloscopes can comprise de-embedding equalizers or filters which are however not able to equalize low frequency effects like droop since these low frequency effects are too long in time to be filtered by these de-embedding equalizers. Low frequency effects are in the time domain considerably lower than the employed sampling rate of an analog to digital converter used by the respective measurement apparatus.

Digital low frequency correction circuit and method for reducing low frequency disturbances within a digital signal


A data services handler comprises an interface between a data store and applications that supply and consume data, and a real time information director (RTID) that transforms data under direction of polymorphic metadata that defines a security model and data integrity rules for application to the data.

Enterprises today are driven to improve responsiveness to customers and events, an objective commonly sought through usage of a computing infrastructure that attains access to integrated, real-time information. One aspect of real-time enterprises is a capability to materialize data from disjointed databases into an integrated data model. Many problems, such as synchronization of master data, cannot be solved effectively by a federated database approach alone. Data elements are deduplicated and merged into a common data model to create a semantic bridge between systems. Existing tools and methods operate in batch mode to support business intelligence applications, but little is available to support real-time information integration.
Latency, an inability to react immediately to business stimuli, can contribute to basically any deficiency in business performance, for example poor customer service, missed selling opportunities, failure to address consumer fraud, insufficiency in monitoring enterprise finances, and the like. A zero latency enterprise (ZLE) performance has been sought to enable enterprises to eliminate latency from operations so that business events that occur anywhere in an organization can immediately trigger appropriate actions across other parts of the enterprise and beyond. Elimination of operational inconsistency is sought to enable users to gain real-time consolidated performance and enable the enterprise to become more responsive and competitive.
The challenge is attaining a zero latency performance so that a business can integrate, synchronize, and route data a cross the enterprise, all in real time.
One technique that has been attempted to attain a low latency performance relies on standard applications to supply data services using a standard data model. Another technique attempts to customize a data model without recoding applications through usage of table-driven code. Table-driven code is deficient in capability to handle new data cases well if the new cases have attributes unlike previous cases. Another attempted solution is usage of user-exits to evade limitations of table-driven approaches. User-exits are difficult to integrate into the application, as data and functions available to user-exits are typically very limited.
While many industry participants have sought real-time performance, few have attained more than simple asynchronous message passing middleware. Similarly, an adaptive computing capability has been discussed but not progressed beyond simple system level concepts such as computing on demand.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.