A method for orienting a dual mouse optical scanner on an orthogonal grid pattern comprising the steps of (a) placing a dual mouse scanner on a grid pattern at a small angle to the vertical lines of the grid pattern and commencing motion detection with the two mice, (b) setting the coordinate position of each mouse at (0,0), (c) rotating the scanner in a predetermined manner while measuring the vertical distance on the grid pattern between the two mice for each new position of the scanner, (d) determining an average scanner position amongst all scanner positions having the same maximum vertical grid distance between the mice, and (e) establishing the coordinate position of one mouse at the average scanner position as the origin of a coordinate system in the memory of a computer in communication with the scanner and the vertical line closest to the origin and the coordinate position of the other mouse as the vertical axis of the coordinate system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method for detecting the relative orientation of a scanner on a grid pattern, and more particularly to a method for establishing a coordinate system in the memory of a computer which corresponds to the grid pattern through communication with a scanner comprised of two position sensors and a detector array.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Position sensors or cursor control devices which determine the relative position of a point on a grid and thereby determine the movement of a cursor on a visual display system, such as a computer screen, are known in the art. One such device is an electro-optical or electro-mechanical position sensor, commonly called a mouse. As used herein, the term "mouse," or its plural "mice," is used to describe any type of mechanical or optical device capable of detecting its relative motion and/or position over a surface and producing an output signal that can be used to determine the position of a cursor on a computer screen or an address in a computer's memory.
In the typical application, a single electro-optical or electro-mechanical mouse is used in combination with a computer terminal and a software program which allows the operator to enter instructions for a computer without need of a keyboard. Some prior art devices have combined a single mouse with a detector array, capable of detecting pixel data from a scanned surface to produce a type of scanning device. These types of scanning devices have typically been used to scan a single line of text at a time or other indicia located at some position on the scanned page. However, the usefulness of such scanners is limited because the mouse used in the scanner can only detect motion in one dimension and cannot relate its position on the scanned page to a cursor position.
Another type of prior art scanner, such as the "SkySCAN" Model SCN-101 Scanner by Skyworld Technology, Ltd. of Hong Kong, has been utilized to scan a three-to-four inch wide path of information from a scanned page. However, such scanners are limited because they are also constrained to detecting motion in only one dimension, and the recreated images produced by such scanner cannot be combined to form single screens of information, thereby making it impossible to reproduce a standard page of text.
A scanner utilizing two of the above described mice with a detector array is shown in U.S. application Ser. No. 889,130, filed July 23, 1986, which discloses an optical scanner for copying characters on a page and transferring them to the display screen or memory of a computer. Between the scanner and the page is a transparency containing indicia of position, or a grid pattern. The scanner is equipped with an array of photo-sensitive elements for detecting light reflected from the printed characters on the page, but not the transparency. In contrast, the scanner is equipped with two optical mice, which are sensitive to light reflected from the transparency and not the page, for determining the position and relative angle of the detector array with respect to the grid pattern.
Each mouse operates as a counter, detecting the number of vertical or horizontal lines crossed on the grid pattern, to determine the position of each mouse with respect to the grid pattern. Even though the mice may be able to count the number of lines crossed, it is not possible to determine the position of a mouse until a starting point from which to count has been determined and the lines which are being crossed have been designated as vertical or horizontal lines. Thus, mice are typically unable to determine their position with respect to the grid pattern unless they are first oriented (the process of determining the horizontal and vertical axis of a coordinate system which will correspond to the memory addresses of the computer) and initialized (the process of establishing a starting point from which to start counting lines).
A second type of dual mouse scanner is described in Ichinokawa et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,761, issued Apr. 8, 1986, which shows an image scanner which is randomly movable over the surface of a sheet of paper, which is in turn laying over a pad having magnetostrictive properties. The pad is operative to be subjected to pulses introduced at two adjacent ends of the pad (one end representing the vertical axis and the other end representing the horizontal axis) which cause the magnetostrictive material of the pad to produce wave like disturbances in the surface of the pad which travel in vertical and horizontal directions. The position sensors have the ability to detect the raised portion of the pad when a wave passes thereunder and the ability to determine the position of each sensor with respect to the pad by extrapolating the amount of time required for a wave to reach a position sensor from its starting point. Mice capable of determining their own position with respect to the grid or pad do not need to be oriented or initialized.

Method for orienting a dual mouse optical scanner


A user device includes a processing unit that executes a search application. Executing the search application causes the processing unit to receive a user search query, send the user search query to a plurality of target applications, and receive a set of search results from each of the target applications. Each search result includes application state access data configured to access an application state of the target application associated with the search result. Executing the search application causes the processing unit to rank the search results, display the ranked search results, and detect user selection of one of the displayed search results. Additionally, executing the search application causes the processing unit to send the application state access data associated with the selected search result to the target application associated with the selected search result and display the application state accessed using the application state access data.

Software developers can develop websites and applications that are accessed by users on a variety of different platforms, such as different computing devices and operating systems. Example websites/applications may include e-commerce applications, media streaming applications, business review applications, social media applications, and news applications. These websites/applications can provide users with a variety of content. For example, an e-commerce application can provide consumer products for sale to users. As another example, a media streaming application can play movies or songs for a user.
Website and application search engines can search websites/applications for a user. For example, a user can enter a search query into a search engine and receive website and application search results for the search query in a search engine results page (SERP). The search results can include links to web/application pages including products for sale, images, videos, articles, and other types of files.

Techniques for searching using target applications


A method of detecting interference noise at a radar altimeter. The method comprises periodically emitting a pulse from the pulsed radar altimeter, periodically detecting a noise level in a noise gate, and determining if the noise level detected during each noise-level-detection period exceeds a noise threshold. The period of emitting the pulse is a pulse repetition interval and the noise gate is offset from other gates in the altimeter. If the noise level detected during a noise-level-detection period is greater than the noise threshold, a counter value is incremented by a selected incremental value for that noise-level-detection period and it is determined if the counter value is greater than a count threshold.

A typical radio frequency receiver is not able to determine if detected noise is thermal white noise or if the noise is due to interference from another radio frequency source. If the noise is not thermal white noise, the operation of the radio frequency receiver can be degraded due to the interference changing the level of the background noise of the radio frequency receiver by an unknown amount.
If interference noise at the radio frequency receiver of a radar altimeter causes the altimeter to indicate an erroneous altitude to the user of airborne vehicle and if the pilot is not aware that the altimeter readings are incorrect, then the airborne vehicle is more prone to be in an accident.

Method and system of interference detection for radar altimeters


A method of image processing includes determining a supplement pixel and original pixels adjacent to the supplement pixel, deriving luminance data of the original pixels from input image data, calculating a difference value among the luminance data of the original pixels, selecting an original pixel of the original pixels as an effective pixel when the difference value of luminance data of the original pixel and a nearest original pixel to the supplement pixel is smaller than a predetermined threshold value, setting a weighted value of the effective pixel based on a distance between the supplement pixel and the effective pixel, and calculating luminance data of the supplement pixel based on luminance data of the effective pixel and the weighted value.

1. Technical Field
Exemplary embodiments of the inventive concept relate to display devices. More particularly, exemplary embodiments of the inventive concept relate to a method of image processing, an image processor that performs the method and a display device including the image processor.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the resolution of display devices becomes higher, it is desired to display a low-resolution image in high-resolution display devices. The high-resolution display device may display a low-resolution image using a scaler converting a low-resolution image data to a high-resolution image data. For example, the High Definition ("HD" 1,920×1,080) display device displays a Standard Definition ("SD", 720×480) image using an image processor having an HD scaler.
Generally, when the display device scales an image using the scaler, an image quality problem such as blurred edges, jagged edges, may occur. Accordingly, a variety of scaling algorithms have been developed to improve the blur or jaggy phenomenon. However, conventional scaling algorithms typically use a large amount of line memory.

Method of image processing, image processor performing the method and display device having the image processor


The present invention provides a substantially single crystal PGO film with optimal the ferroelectric properties. The PGO film and adjacent electrodes are epitaxially grown to minimize mismatch between the structures. MOCVD deposition methods and RTP annealing procedures permit a PGO film to be epitaxially grown in commercial fabrication processes. These epitaxial ferroelectric have application in FeRAM memory devices. The present invention deposition method epitaxially grows ferroelectric Pb.sub.5 Ge.sub.3 O.sub.11 thin films along with c-axis orientation.

The present invention relates generally to the fabrication of ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM) memory devices and, more particularly, to a method of maximizing the ferroelectric properties of Lead Germanium Oxide (PGO) thin films by epitaxially growing a PGO film with a c-axis orientation on a conductive electrode.
In recent years, the interest in ferroelectric materials for nonvolatile random access memory application (NvRAMs) has intensified. To meet the requirements for these memory applications, ferroelectric capacitors should have small size, low coercive field, high remanent polarization, low fatigue rate, and low leakage current. Some of the candidate ferroelectric materials under investigation for these applications are perovskite ferroelectrics such as PbZr.sub.1-x Ti.sub.x O.sub.3 (PZT) or doped PZT, BaTiO.sub.3, SrTiO.sub.3, etc. These materials have a high Curie temperature and promising ferroelectrical properties such as large remanent polarization and low coercive field. However, these perovskite ferroelectrics are known to suffer from serious degradation problems such as fatigue (loss of switchable polarization with increasing reversal of polarization), aging, and leakage current, all of which affect the lifetime of the devices.
Many researchers are trying to improve the above-mentioned materials. An alternative approach is to find new ferroelectric materials. SrBi.sub.2 Ta.sub.2 O.sub.9 (SBT) is a one of the new materials, which has fatigue-free properties. However, SBT must be deposited or annealed at temperatures greater than 750.degree. C., which limits its applications.
Ferroelectric thin films for use in non-volatile memories have drawn much attention in recent years due to their bi-stable nature. Most of the studies on Ferroelectric Random Access Memories (FRAMs) have been concentrated on the memory structure with one transistor and one capacitor. The capacitor is made of a thin ferroelectric film sandwiched between two conductive electrodes (usually Pt). The circuit configuration and read/write sequence of this type memory are similar to that of DRAMs except no data refreshing is necessary in FRAMs. Therefore, the stored data are destroyed and must be restored after every reading. This reading process is named destructive read out (DRO). The fatigue problem observed in ferroelectric capacitor, therefore, becomes one of the major obstacles that limit the realization of these memories on a commercial scale. Fatigue is the decrease of switchable polarization (stored nonvolatile charge) with an increased number of switching cycles. The number of switching cycles is the summation of writing and reading pulses.
Another area of interest related to ferroelectric non-volatile memory study is the deposition ferroelectric thin film directly onto the gate area of FET, to form a ferroelectric-gate controlled FET. The ferroelectric-gate controlled device, such as metal-ferroelectric-silicon (MSF) FET, have been studied since the 1950s. Various modified MFSFET structures have been proposed, for example: Metal-Ferroelectric-Insulator-Silicon (MFIS) FET, Metal-Ferroelectric-Metal-Silicon (MFMS) FET, and Metal-Ferroelectric- Metal-Oxide-Silicon (MFMOS) FET. FRAMs with MFSFET structures have two major advantages over the 1T-1C configuration: (1) smaller memory cell territory in MFSFET, and (2) non-destructive read out (NDRO). The latter enables the MFSFET device to be read thousands of times without switching the ferroelectric polarization. Therefore, the fatigue is not the major issue in MFSFET devices.
Regardless the advantages in MFSFET devices over the 1T-1C FRAMs, little progress has been reported in the realization of practical MFSFET devices. This is due to the following reasons: (1) difficulty in depositing good crystalline ferroelectric thin film directly on silicon; (2) difficulty in cleaning; (3) strong retention problems; (4) single transistor arrays are not common; and (5) little theoretical work has been done on MFSFET devices.
From the analysis of MFMOS devices, it can be stated that lower ferroelectric capacitance results in higher memory window and lower programming voltage. Thicker film and lower .di-elect cons..sub.r material can result in lower ferroelectric capacitance. However, a thicker film could increase programming voltage with respect to the switching field. Common oxide ferroelectric materials exhibit higher .di-elect cons..sub.r and T.sub.c, while non-oxide ferroelectrics exhibit lower .di-elect cons..sub.r and T.sub.c. Oxide Pb.sub.5 Ge.sub.3 O.sub.11 thin film has very low .di-elect cons..sub.r and moderate T.sub.c (178.degree. C.). Table I compares the memory window of MFMOS devices with ferroelectric gate of Pb.sub.5 Ge.sub.3 O.sub.11, PZT and SrBi.sub.2 Ta.sub.2 O.sub.9 thin films. Even though the steady state polarization for Pb.sub.5 Ge.sub.3 O.sub.11 thin film is much lower than that for PZT and SrBi.sub.2 Ta.sub.2 O.sub.9 film films, the memory window for Pb.sub.5 Ge.sub.3 O.sub.11 gate controlled MFMOS device is larger than its counterparts due to its low .di-elect cons..sub.r. The properties of Pb.sub.5 Ge.sub.3 O.sub.11 thin film is listed in Table II.
TABLE I Memory Windows for MFMOS Devices with Various Ferroelectrics Ferroelectric Pb(Zr,Ti)O.sub.3 SrBi.sub.2 Ta.sub.2 O.sub.9 Pb.sub.5 Ge.sub.3 O.sub.11 P.sub.r (.mu.C/cm.sup.2) 15 7 3.5 .epsilon..sub.r 1000 280 35 d.sub.Ferro (.ANG.) 2000 2000 2000 V.sub.dep (V) 3.14 4.39 6.87 P.sub.r * (.mu.C/cm.sup.2) 2.4 0.8 0.25 when V.sub.dep = 0.5 V Memory Window 1.08 1.29 3.23 2P.sub.r */C.sub.F (V) Gate oxide (SiO.sub.2) thickness: 100 .ANG. Steady state V.sub.dep is assumed to be 0.5 V
TABLE II Comparison Various Ferroelectric Thin Films Material Pb(Zr.sub..chi. Ti.sub.1-.chi.)O.sub.3 SrBi.sub.2 (Ta.sub..chi. Nb.sub.1-.chi.)O.sub.9 Pb.sub.5 Ge.sub.3 O.sub.11 .epsilon..sub.r >800 <300 30-50 P.sub.r (.mu.C/cm.sup.2) 15-35 4-11 3.5 T.sub.C .about.350.degree. C. .about.300.degree. C. 178.degree. C. Melting Point >1200.degree. C. >1200.degree. C. 738.degree. C. d.sub.33 (CN.sup.-1) 2.1 .times. 10.sup.-10 in between 6.2 .times. 10.sup.-12 CVD Deposition 600-700.degree. C. 700-800.degree. C. 450-650.degree. C. Temperature Post Anneal no yes no Fatigue Pt: Yes no no RuO.sub.2 : No Structure Perovskite Layered Perovskite P3 Domain Walls 180.degree., 90.degree., 70.5.degree., 180.degree., 90.degree. 180.degree. 60.degree. Prefer MgO, SrTiO.sub.3, ?? c-axis prefer Orientation Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 orientation on oriented Ir and Pt
The above-mentioned comparison of films shows that PGO thin films have advantages in terms of low deposition temperatures, fatigue characteristics, and retention properties.
Ferroelectric thin films are usually oxide ceramics with high melting temperatures. Therefore, it is very difficult to reduce the deposition temperature lower than 600.degree. C. and still maintain the desired phases. This relationship holds regardless of deposition technique. For the most studied PZT thin films, for example, good electrical properties in conjunction with deposition temperatures below 600.degree. C. have not been reported. This problem could be due to metastable pyrochlore phases which tend to form in this temperature range. Although low temperature deposition are possible with improved precursors, or using plasma to enhance the dissociation of precursors, very research in this area has been reported. Recently, the fatigue-free bi-layered ferroelectrics, namely SrBi.sub.2 Ta.sub.2 O.sub.9 or SrBi.sub.2 Nb.sub.2 O.sub.9, have been produced by MOCVD, sol-gel and pulse laser deposition. However, the deposition temperatures are still greater than 700.degree. C. Further, CVD bi-layered ferroelectric thin films need post-annealing temperatures higher than 700.degree. C. for long time (>1 hr) in order to obtain ferroelectricity.
An alternate method of solving the deposition temperature problem is to use alternate ferroelectric materials. PGO is a natural candidate because of its very low melting temperature (738.degree. C.). At room temperature, the uniaxial ferroelectric PGO system with its polar direction parallel to the c-axis, belongs to the trigonal crystal class (point group: P3). This material transforms to the hexagonal (point group: P6) paraelectric phase above the Curie temperature (T.sub.C =178.degree. C.).
Thin films of PGO were made by thermal evaporation, flash-evaporation, and dc reactive sputtering methods. Polycrystalline films with partial c-axis orientation on n-type Si substrates have been reported. Due to the absence of saturated hysteresis loops, film quality is unpredictable. Recently, PGO thin films have been fabricated by pulsed laser ablation, sol-gel. PGO thin films (1-2 um) deposited by pulsed laser ablation on Pt coated Si substrates showed distorted hysteresis loops (P.sub.r =2.5 uC/cm.sup.2 and E.sub.c =55 kV/cm). Crack-free and fully c-axis oriented PGO thin films (1600 .ANG.) were successfully fabricated by Lee at low temperature (450.degree. C. for 15 minutes) by sol-gel processing route on Pt/Ti/Si.sub.2 /Si substrates. A well saturated square hysteresis loop with near single crystal value of the remanent polarization (P.sub.r =3.3 uC/cm.sup.2), but a relatively high coercive field (E.sub.c =135 kV/cm) was reported. However, sol-gel processing can not be used for high dense FeRAM applications or commercial fabrication processes.
The PGO film of the present invention was developed meet the requirements of one transistor (1T) and one transistor/one capacitor 1T/1C) FeRAM memory devices. In co-pending patent application Ser. No. 09/301,435, entitled "Multi-Phase Lead Germanate Film and Deposition Method", invented by Tingkai Li et al., filed on Apr. 28, 1999, a second phase of Pb.sub.3 GeO.sub.5 is added to the Pb.sub.5 Ge.sub.3 O.sub.11, increasing polycrystalline grain sizes, without C-axis orientation. The resultant film had increased Pr values and dielectric constants, and decreased Ec values. Such a film is useful in making microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), high speed multichip modules (MCMs), DRAMs, and FeRAMs.
In co-pending patent application Ser. No. 09/301,620, entitled "C-Axis Oriented Lead Germanate Film and Deposition Method", invented by Tingkai Li et al., filed on Apr. 28, 1999, a PGO film is disclosed. This film has primarily a c-axis orientation with a smaller Pr value, smaller dielectric constant, and larger Ec value. Such a film is useful in making 1T memories.
In co-pending patent application Ser. No. 09/301,634, entitled "Ferroelastic Lead Germanate Film and Deposition Method", invented by Tingkai Li et al., filed on Apr. 28, 1999, a CVD Pb.sub.3 GeO.sub.5 film is described having improved ferroelastic properties useful in making MEMS and MCMs. The above-mentioned co-pending patent applications are incorporated herein by reference.
It would be advantageous if the ferroelectric properties of a single phase PGO film could be enhanced by crystallographic alignment. Further, it would be advantageous if the crystalline PGO film could be aligned primarily along the c-axis.
It would be advantageous if a ferroelectric PGO film could be commercially fabricated having phase uniformity and microstructure.
It would be advantageous if a single phase PGO film could be developed with ferroelectric properties associated with a single crystal structure.
It would be advantageous if the lattice mismatch could be minimized between ferroelectric capacitor electrodes and the intervening ferroelectric material. Further, it would be advantageous if the ferroelectric could be epitaxially grown from the electrode material to minimize the lattice mismatch.
Accordingly, in a lead germanium oxide (PGO) film, a method has been provided for forming an epitaxial PGO film having a c-axis orientation on a semiconductor wafer. The method comprising the steps of:
a) mixing [Pb(thd).sub.2 ] and [Ge(ETO).sub.4 ] to form a PGO mixture having a molar ratio in the range of approximately 5:3; PA1 b) dissolving the mixture of Step a) with a solvent of tetrahydrofuran, isopropanol, and tetraglyme in a molar ratio of approximately 8:2:1, respectively, to form a precursor solution having a concentration of approximately 0.05 to 0.2 moles of PGO mixture per liter of sol vent; PA1 c) using a precursor vaporizer, heating the precursor solution to a temperature in the range of approximately 170 to 250 degrees C., creating a precursor gas; PA1 c.sub.1) mixing the precursor gas in a reactor with an argon gas shroud flow in the range of approximately 3000 to 5000 standard cubic centimeters per minute (sccm), preheated to a temperature in the range of approximately 170 to 250 degrees C.; PA1 c.sub.2) introducing an oxygen flow to the reactor in the range of approximately 2000 to 3000 sccm; PA1 d) heating the wafer to a temperature in the range of approximately 480 to 550 degrees C., to decompose the precursor gas formed in Step c) on the wafer; PA1 e) epitaxially growing a PGO film on a conductive electrode overlying the semiconductor wafer, the PGO film including a first phase of Pb.sub.5 Ge.sub.3 O.sub.11, whereby a homogeneous film with ferroelectric characteristics is formed. PA1 g) forming a conductive electrode overlying the PGO film having a (111) orientation; and PA1 h) annealing the PGO film formed in Step e) at a temperature in the range of approximately 500 to 550 degrees C. The atmosphere is selected from the group of oxygen or oxygen with Pb atmospheres, whereby the interface between the PGO film, formed in Step e), and the electrode formed in Step g), is improved. PA1 Steps f) and h) include using a rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process to anneal the PGO film. The RTA process has a thermal rate in the range of approximately 10 to 200 degrees C. per second, and a time duration of approximately 10 to 1800 seconds.
In some aspects of the invention, Step e) includes epitaxially growing more than 99% of the Pb.sub.5 Ge.sub.3 O.sub.11 phase to have a c-axis crystallographic orientation, whereby the ferroelectric properties of PGO film are improved.
In some aspects of the invention, further steps follow Step e). Step f) anneals the PGO film formed in Step e) at a temperature in the range of approximately 500 to 550 degrees C. The atmosphere is controlled and selected to be from the group of oxygen, or oxygen with Pb atmospheres, whereby the c-axis orientation of the PGO film is enhanced;
In some aspects of the invention, a ferroelectric device is formed with the PGO film of in Step e), and includes further steps, following Step f), of:
A PGO film having improved ferroelectric properties is also provided. The PGO film comprises a first phase of Pb.sub.5 Ge.sub.3 O.sub.11. The Pb.sub.5 Ge.sub.3 O.sub.11 phase has a c-axis crystallographic orientation of greater than 99%, whereby the c-axis orientation and homogeneous structure promote ferroelectric film properties. In some aspects of the invention, the PGO film further comprises a second phase of Pb.sub.3 GeO.sub.5. The phase range of the Pb.sub.3 GeO.sub.5 film is approximately 0.1 to 5%.
A capacitor having ferroelectric properties is also provided. The capacitor comprises a first conductive electrode, a PGO film including a Pb.sub.5 Ge.sub.3 O.sub.11 phase with a c-axis crystallographic orientation of greater than 99% overlying the first electrode, and a second conductive electrode overlying the PGO film. The capacitor has a 2Pr of approximately 6.11 microcoulombs per centimeter squared (uC/Cm.sup.2) and a 2Ec of approximately 108 kilovolts per centimeter (kV/cm) at an applied voltage of 5 volts.

Epitaxially grown lead germanate film and deposition method


A method, a system and a controller for controlling the Quality of Service, QoS, of a wireless link, providing a service from a transmitting entity to a receiving entity is suggested. Once data, decisive of the QoS of the hops of the wireless link has been received, it is determined, based on the received data, that at least one QoS target-value of one of said hops is, or is predicted, not to be met. For each of the mentioned hops, one or more actions for achieving that said at least one QoS target-value is met, is initiated and based on the determining of one or more actions, instructions, instructing at least one of the mobile relay stations how to execute one or more of said determined actions are initiated.

The market for drones, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), is quickly expanding, both with respect to number of drones, types of drones and use cases, or applications, where drones can be used. UAVs are therefore rapidly becoming an everyday presence, and it is expected that they will play an important part in our future. However, already available or planned use cases include e.g. delivery services, aerial photography and film making, remote sensing for agriculture, city planning, civil engineering, public safety support and rescue services. There are many types of UAVs available on the market, that can be remotely controlled, using e.g. Wi-Fi or some proprietary radio access. Many UAVs are also not only capable of communicating different types of data, sensing data, and/or operating autonomously, but also of analysing data collected by sensors or captured by a camera. UAVs can also be used as mobile relay stations between ground-based nodes, such as e.g. radio base stations and ground based terminals, or serve as mobile radio base stations, thereby providing cellular or wireless coverage to users which are located within range of the UAVs.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,313,667B1 disclose a method for controlling a plurality of UAVs, providing a communication link, from a supervising UAV.
WO2016190793 disclose a method for adjusting movement of a wireless transceiver, such as e.g. a UAV.
There is, however, a desire to provide a more flexible way of controlling a plurality of UAVs, when setting up a wireless link.

Method and controller for controlling a wireless link


A hydraulic valve device has a fluid port arrangement (10) with various ports extending at least partially in the valve housing (14), and has a movable control device (18) for at least partially activating the ports. The control device (18) can be acted on at two opposite control sides with a control pressure (XA, XB) of an activation unit (46). A valve device of narrow construction and functionally reliable is created by a media-conducting duct (66) with a guide path extending at least partially as an open duct channel that can be closed off by a cover part or by other housing parts of the multi-part valve housing (14), to conduct the control pressure (XB) from the activation unit (46) to the assignable control side of the control device (18).

EP 1 370 773 B1 discloses a directional control valve for controlling the pressure and flow of hydraulic oil to and from useful ports of at least one consumer. The pressure and flow can be controlled by a sliding plunger as the control device which can be moved in a spool bore and which can be activated by at least one drive, and by ring channels which are dynamically connected to it as part of the fluid port arrangement. At the center point of symmetry on one axis of symmetry, a tank port ring channel R and other ring channels are symmetrically located on both sides and are components of the fluid port arrangement of the directional control valve. The sliding plunger as a component of this control device is activated by an activation unit which stipulates the respective control pressure on the opposite control sides of the sliding plunger. The activation unit includes a differential cylinder which is located on one side of the actual valve housing, which induces activation for both stroke directions of the optionally two-part sliding plunger, and which constitutes a separate component.
WO 2006/005496 A1 discloses a generic valve device, in particular in the form of a valve arrangement of a lifting mechanism. The known solution is used to activate a double-acting lifting mechanism or the attachment device of an agricultural vehicle with a continuously adjustable directional control valve which forms a metering throttle and to which an individual pressure compensator is assigned. Via the pressure compensator a volumetric flow of hydraulic fluid flows to a working port A, B. The hydraulic fluid flows back via another working port A, B flowing out via a directional control valve to a low pressure port or tank port T. A pressure limitation valve is located in a working line between the directional control valve and the working port A, B.
The pressure limitation valve is preferably proportionally adjustable so that the pressure in the working line can be limited to different maximum values depending on the different operating states. To trigger the control device in the form of the sliding plunger of the indicated directional control valve, a control or pilot valve is used whose fluid-carrying output ports are connected to two control lines which are each routed to the face-side control spaces of the directional control valve. One control line leading to the control chamber side of the directional control valve, which side is farther away, is designed, coming from the control or pilot valve, as a long connecting bore which is very thin in cross section, for which suitable drilling tools must be made available. A solution comparable thereto is also shown in DE 603 04 663 T2.


Methods of trapping a deformed portion of a double-stranded polynucleotide in a membrane nanopassage are provided. In an aspect, the membrane has a nanopassage that defines a confine region, wherein the membrane separates a first fluid compartment from a second fluid compartment, and the nanopassage is in fluid communication with the first and second compartments. A polynucleotide is provided to the first fluid compartment and optionally a threshold voltage for the membrane and the polynucleotide is determined. A driving voltage across the membrane that is greater than the threshold voltage is applied to force a portion of the polynucleotide sequence into the nanopassage confine region, and decreased to a holding voltage bias to trap the polynucleotide portion in the nanopassage confine region. In particular, at least one nucleotide base-pair is fixably positioned in the nanopassage confine volume. In further embodiments, any of the trapping methods are used to characterize or sequence double stranded DNA.

Provided are methods and devices for characterizing polynucleotides, such as determining nucleotide sequences in double stranded DNA.
DNA, the program for life, is encoded using four chemical bases called adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C) and thymine (T), which are paired together in a complementary fashion (A to T and C to G) and ordered in a species-specific sequence. The aim of genomic science is to predict biological behavior using the information stored in the DNA sequence within each cell. But when the first draft sequence of the human genome emerged in early 2001,6 despite its enormous value to genetics, it quickly became apparent that our understanding of the relationship between the genetic code and cellular function was deficient. For example, only 5% of the human genome is conserved, and of that, only 30% lies within the exons of known protein-encoding genes.7 The rest lies in the so-called "dark matter" of the human genome—leading to efforts such as the ENCyclopedia Of DNA Elements (ENCODE)8 that strive to identify regulatory components. Identifying genes and controlling regions, such as promoter sites turns out to be a major undertaking in itself.
To glean more information about how genetics informs cellular function, and therefore its affect on development and disease, it is essential that we learn to sequence rapidly and economically using a minute amount of material. The tasks can be categorized as follows. On one hand, in terms of de novo sequencing, not only are there many species with unsequenced genomes, but the human microbiome, the genome sequence of the many different species of bacteria living in or on humans, still remains a mystery. The microbiome of the flora of our gut alone is estimated to contain ˜300 billion base-pairs (Gbp), or ˜100× the human genome.9 On the other hand, the vast majority of the work ahead involves re-sequencing genomes with an already known base sequence. The first, obvious example is mutation sequencing where recent work has shown that the majority of human cancers do not always have mutations in the same locations, or even the same genes.10 Moreover, the mutations and genotype of the individual has been shown to be important for chemotherapeutic effectiveness: i.e. genomics can determine a drug's effectiveness on an individual.11
Sequencing can also provide clues to health and development beyond the actual genomic sequence itself. The proteins expressed by genes represent the machinery of the cell—they make things work. But an individual organism can express the same genes differently depending on the epigenetic profile. High-throughput sequencing aspires to determine this profile. For example, it can give information on DNA-binding protein interaction, using ChIP-seq to find the locations of occupied binding sites.12 With inexpensive, high-throughput sequencing, we will be able to determine the difference between these binding sites in different tissue and under different conditions. Moreover, using ChIP-seq we can also achieve single-base resolution of the genomic histone code, one of the epigenetic regulators of chromatin structure and gene expression.13 It can also be used to determine DNA methylation patterns, a reversible modification of cytosines (in mammals), which alters protein binding (see, e.g., U.S. Pat App. No. 61/139,056 hereby incorporated by ref.) Subsequent sequencing and alignment may be used to distinguish methylated from unmethylated cytosines, illuminating the methylation pattern.14 It may also be advantageous for gene expression studies to sequence the transcriptome; i.e. the sequence of the RNA extracted from cells or tissues. This can give detailed information about the levels of expression, the splicing variation, and even allow for the identification of new non-coding RNAs, which may be involved in the regulation and are parts of the "dark matter" of the genome.15
All of these "-omes" would be facilitated by technology that inexpensively and quickly determines sequence information from a genetic sample. For this reason, ultra-low cost sequencing technologies have been identified as a scientific priority and significant effort is being devoted to its study and development.
Since its development in 1977, the Sanger method of DNA sequencing has transformed biology—it is the standard to which all other methods of sequencing are compared. 16 The basis for Sanger sequencing is the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which is used in combination with dideoxy-terminated nucleotides triphosphates to prematurely terminate the elongation reaction. The classical chain-termination method requires a DNA template, a DNA primer, a DNA polymerase, nucleotides and fluorescently labeled nucleotides that terminate DNA strand elongation. By mixing fluorescently labeled dideoxynucleotides with deoxynucleotides, the PCR reaction is prematurely terminated, leading to fragmentary single stranded copies of the template that differ in length with the last base fluorescently labeled with a different fluorescent moiety, depending on the base. Separating these fragments by size through electrophoresis, the sequence can be determined from the color of fluorescence produced at a given length.
Though functional, this procedure is problematic for several reasons. The template read length using this method is limited to ˜800 bp. This introduces significant challenges, especially for de novo sequencing, requiring that either chromosome walking or shotgun sequencing be used, which are both time consuming and require re-assembly of the completed sequence. The chain termination reaction is also time consuming, as is electrophoretic separation, leading to the development of techniques for massively parallel methods for sequencing.17 But the overarching problems with Sanger sequencing method are the relatively large amounts of DNA required—amplification leads to errors—and the expense due to reagents for labeling and separation.
There are emerging technologies that have the potential to supersede conventional, Sanger sequencing and in some cases sequence the human genome for $1000 or less. Shendure et al have analyzed these technologies in detail.18 They can be loosely categorized as: bioMEMs, which is just an extension of conventional electrophoretic methods through miniaturization and integration; sequencing-by-hybridization, which uses the differential hybridization of oligonucleotide probes to decode the DNA sequence; massively parallel signature sequencing (MPSS), which is based on cycles of restriction digestion and ligation; and finally, non-enzymatic, real-time single-molecule sequencing.
BioMEMs has the advantage that it relies on the same tested principles as electrophoretic sequencing, which has already been used to sequence 10 11 nucleotides. Using variations of the Sanger process in conjunction with capillary array electrophoresis to separate deoxyribonucleotide triphosphate fragments, about 100 bp can be sequenced per minute at a cost of <$1 with an accuracy of about 99.99%, which is considered to be the gold standard, but it seems unlikely that a factor of 100,000× cost reduction will be achieved through scaling and integration alone. Hybridization sequencing has the advantage that the data collection method, i.e. scanning the florescence emitted by labeled DNA that has been hybridized to an array of probe sequences, is compatible with high-throughput, but probes have to be designed that avoid cross-hybridization to the wrong target. This renders 50% of the chromosome inaccessible. All methods like sequence-by-synthesis, cyclic-array sequencing on amplified molecules, and MPSS, which rely on some method of isolated clonal amplification are, first of all, costly and often problematic. For example, they may experience a low frequency of nucleotide misincorporation or non-incorporation, which manifests itself in signal decay through "dephasing". In contrast, cyclic-array sequencing on single molecules eliminates the costly PCR-amplification step, requires less starting material with no risk of de-phasing, but achieving the signal-to-noise required for single molecule detection is still a challenge.
According to Mardis,19 right now the Roche GS-FLX (454) sequencer uses emulsion PCR to produce 100 Mb of data in 7 h with a 250 bp read length (per bead) at a cost of $8439 or $84.40 per Mb. In contrast, a run in an Applied Biosystems SOLiD (sequencing by oligo ligation) sequencer requires 5 days and produces 3-4 Gb of sequence data with an average read length of 25-35 bp, costing $5.81 per Mb. Applied Biosystems estimates that their SOLiD sequencer will be able to sequence an entire human genome for only $10,000 in just 2 weeks. Following Shendure's analysis, 18 for re-sequencing, the error rate has to be less than the expected variation in the sequence. Since human chromosomes differ at approximately 1 in every 1000 bp, an error rate of 1/100 kbp would be needed to ensure confidence. If the accuracy of a raw read is 99.7% (current state-of-the-art), then ×3 coverage of each base will yield this error rate. To ensure a minimum ×3 cover of >95% of the diploid human genome, ×6.5 coverage, or about 40 billion raw bases at a cost per base of <$10000, or 4 million bases per $1. If an improvement over SOLiD performance is derived simply from an increase in the acquisition rate per device, we would therefore need to sequence at a rate of ˜330,000 bp/s to reach a $1,000 genome. No assembly is required in re-sequencing a genome; the read needs only be long enough to allow it to be matched to a unique location in an assembled reference genome, and how it differs from the reference. In the mammalian genome only ˜73% of 20-bp genomic reads SOLID uses can be assigned to a single unique location. Achieving >95% uniqueness will require reads >60 bp. Thus, a re-sequencing instrument that can deliver a $1,000 human genome with reasonable coverage and accuracy will need to achieve >60 bp reads with 99.7% raw-base accuracy, acquiring data at a rate of 330,000 bp/s or 1 bp/3 μs. A faster instrument with longer reads will be cheaper still.
Single molecule DNA sequencing represents the logical end-of-the-line in development of sequencing technology, which extracts the maximum amount of information from a minimum of material and pre-processing. When paired with a high-throughput and low cost instrument, it would change the genomic flow of data from a trickle to a deluge. Specifically, the low material requirement coupled with quick results would allow for easy sequencing of precious primary samples from human patients, e.g. allowing doctors to sequence a biopsy from a tumor to determine the best chemotherapy. Moreover, it would represent a leap forward in determining the epigenome, the non-genetic marks on DNA which affect gene expression.

Characterizing stretched polynucleotides in a synthetic nanopassage

The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois


A storage compartment for a vehicle includes a housing structure and a cover pivotably coupled on the housing structure. The cover is pivotably positionable from a first position completely closing a compartment of the housing structure into a second position partially revealing the compartment and into a third position completely revealing the compartment. The storage compartment further includes at least one structure-side magnet and at least one cover-side damping magnet arranged in a mutually repelling manner in the first and second position of the cover.

In almost every vehicle at least one storage compartment is provided in which an occupant of the vehicle can stow objects. Many of these storage compartments include a receiving housing and a cover for the receiving housing, which can be transferred from a closed position into an open position and back. It is known to provide magnets in operative communication on the housing and the cover in order to hold the cover magnetically closed in the closed position and in order to hold the cover magnetically open in the open position. For this purpose the magnets are arranged in the closed position so that they mutually attract and are arranged in the open position so that they mutually repel.
For example, DE 10 2013 014 155 A1 describes a container with a storage compartment and a non-hinged cover for closing the storage compartment. The container includes at least one pair of magnets of which one magnet is disposed on the storage compartment and the other magnet is disposed on the non-hinged cover. In the closed state of the container, the magnetic poles attract one another whereas in the open state of the container, they repel one another.

Storage compartment for a vehicle and vehicle with a storage compartment


An array antenna apparatus includes: a wiring substrate having a plurality of fed patch antennas and a plurality of active element circuits electrically connected to the plurality of fed patch antennas, respectively; and a plurality of antenna substrates each having a parasitic patch antenna. The plurality of antenna substrates are joined onto one wiring substrate. Thereby, it becomes possible to provide an array antenna apparatus that can be reduced in size and has excellent antenna characteristics.

There is a known array antenna apparatus in which a plurality of antenna elements are arranged for performing at least one of transmission and reception of electromagnetic waves such as a microwave and a millimeter wave (see PTD 1 to PTD 3).
PTD 1 discloses an array antenna apparatus in which a plurality of antenna modules are mounted on a printed circuit board. Each of the plurality of antenna modules includes: a stacked substrate of multilayer ceramic provided with a patch antenna; and an electric element disposed in a cavity provided in the stacked substrate of multilayer ceramic.
PTD 2 discloses an array antenna apparatus configured by joining: one semi-insulating gallium arsenide substrate (semi-insulating GaAs substrate) having a plurality of antenna conductors and active element circuits; and one silicon substrate (Si substrate) including a plurality of signal processing circuits.
PTD 3 discloses an array antenna apparatus configured by stacking: one first dielectric substrate having a plurality of parasitic elements formed thereon; one second dielectric substrate having a plurality of radiation elements formed thereon; and one third dielectric substrate having a plurality of phase shifters formed thereon.

Array antenna apparatus and method of manufacturing the same


A hygienic pacifier includes an annular folding structure formed on a substantially spherical shield that joins a nipple to a faceplate and that is movable between a recoiled storage position in which the shield substantially surrounds the nipple and an extended use position in which at least a portion of the nipple projects through the nipple access opening and is exposed for use. The annular folding structure may be used to bias the shield to remain in the extended use position when the shield is placed in the extended use position. Further, in some instances, the annular folding structure may be configured to provide a bias that may be overcome by a moderate impact to the pacifier such as an impact associated with dropping the pacifier.

Pacifiers, also known by various alternative terms such as soothers or dummies, are commonly used to sooth young children. Most pacifiers include some form of nipple, or teat, affixed to a mouthguard or faceplate that is large enough to prevent a child from choking or swallowing. One common drawback to many pacifiers is that the nipple is uncovered such that whenever the pacifier is dropped, the nipple can contact the ground and pick up dirt and other contaminants. Some pacifier designs have therefore attempted to address this problem by recessing a nipple within an enclosure such that when the pacifier is dropped, the nipple is at least partially enclosed within the enclosure.

Hygienic pacifier with annular shield folding structure and method of manufacturing same


A method includes obtaining a first set of one or more parameters associated with a plurality of transmitters transmitting a plurality of intended streams and obtaining a second set of one or more parameters associated with an interference source. The first set of parameters includes a first MIMO mode associated with the plurality of transmitters and the second set of parameters includes a second MIMO mode associated with the interference source. The method also includes receiving a plurality of streams, including the plurality of intended streams and a plurality of interfering streams transmitted by the interference source, and selecting a pre-processing scheme based at least in part on the first MIMO mode and the second MIMO mode.

An ever-increasing number of relatively inexpensive, low power wireless data communication services, networks and devices have been made available over the past number of years, promising near wire speed transmission and reliability. Various wireless technology is described in detail in the 802 IEEE Standards, including for example, the IEEE Standard 802.11a (1999) and its updates and amendments, the IEEE Standard 802.11g (2003), and the IEEE Standard 802.11n now in the process of being adopted, all of which are collectively incorporated herein fully by reference. These standards have been or are in the process of being commercialized with the promise of 54 Mbps or higher data rate, making them a strong competitor to traditional wired Ethernet and the more common "802.11b" or "WiFi" 11 Mbps mobile wireless transmission standard.
Generally speaking, transmission systems compliant with the IEEE 802.11a and 802.11g or "802.11a/g" as well as the 802.11n standards achieve their high data transmission rates using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) encoded symbols mapped up to a 64 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) multi-carrier constellation. Generally speaking, the use of OFDM divides the overall system bandwidth into a number of frequency sub-bands or channels, with each frequency sub-band being associated with a respective sub-carrier upon which data may be modulated. Thus, each frequency sub-band of the OFDM system may be viewed as an independent transmission channel within which to send data, thereby increasing the overall throughput or transmission rate of the communication system.
Generally, transmitters used in the wireless communication systems that are compliant with the aforementioned 802.11a/802.11g/802.11n standards as well as other standards such as the 802.16 IEEE Standard, perform multi-carrier OFDM symbol encoding (which may include error correction encoding and interleaving), convert the encoded symbols into the time domain using Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) techniques, and perform digital to analog conversion and conventional radio frequency (RF) upconversion on the signals. These transmitters then transmit the modulated and upconverted signals after appropriate power amplification to one or more receivers, resulting in a relatively high-speed time domain signal with a large peak-to-average ratio (PAR).
Likewise, the receivers used in the wireless communication systems that are compliant with the aforementioned 802.11a/802.11g/802.11n and 802.16 IEEE standards generally include an RF receiving unit that performs RF downconversion and filtering of the received signals (which may be performed in one or more stages), and a baseband processor unit that processes the OFDM encoded symbols bearing the data of interest. Generally, the digital form of each OFDM symbol presented in the frequency domain is recovered after baseband downconversion, conventional analog to digital conversion and Fast Fourier Transformation of the received time domain analog signal. Thereafter, the baseband processor performs frequency domain equalization (FEQ) and demodulation to recover the transmitted symbols, and these symbols are then processed in a viterbi decoder to estimate or determine the most likely identity of the transmitted symbol. The recovered and recognized stream of symbols is then decoded, which may include deinterleaving and error correction using any of a number of known error correction techniques, to produce a set of recovered signals corresponding to the original signals transmitted by the transmitter.
In wireless communication systems, the RF modulated signals generated by the transmitter may reach a particular receiver via a number of different propagation paths, the characteristics of which typically change over time due to the phenomena of multi-path and fading. Moreover, the characteristics of a propagation channel differ or vary based on the frequency of propagation. To compensate for the time varying, frequency selective nature of the propagation effects, and generally to enhance effective encoding and modulation in a wireless communication system, each receiver of the wireless communication system may periodically develop or collect channel state information (CSI) for each of the frequency channels, such as the channels associated with each of the OFDM sub-bands discussed above. Generally speaking, CSI is information defining or describing one or more characteristics about each of the OFDM channels (for example, the gain, the phase and the SNR of each channel). Upon determining the CSI for one or more channels, the receiver may send this CSI back to the transmitter, which may use the CSI for each channel to precondition the signals transmitted using that channel so as to compensate for the varying propagation effects of each of the channels.
To further increase the number of signals which may be propagated in the communication system and/or to compensate for deleterious effects associated with the various propagation paths, and to thereby improve transmission performance, it is known to use multiple transmit and receive antennas within a wireless transmission system. Such a system is commonly referred to as a multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) wireless transmission system and is specifically provided for within the 802.11n IEEE Standard now being adopted. Further, the 802.16 standard, or WiMAX, applies to cell-based systems and supports MIMO techniques. Generally speaking, the use of MIMO technology produces significant increases in spectral efficiency and link reliability of 802.xx and other systems, and these benefits generally increase as the number of transmission and receive antennas within the MIMO system increases.
In addition to the frequency channels created by the use of OFDM, a MIMO channel formed by the various transmit and receive antennas between a particular transmitter and a particular receiver includes a number of independent spatial channels. As is known, a wireless MIMO communication system can provide improved performance (e.g., increased transmission capacity) by utilizing the additional dimensionalities created by these spatial channels for the transmission of additional data. Of course, the spatial channels of a wideband MIMO system may experience different channel conditions (e.g., different fading and multi-path effects) across the overall system bandwidth and may therefore achieve different SNRs at different frequencies (i.e., at the different OFDM frequency sub-bands) of the overall system bandwidth. Consequently, the number of information bits per modulation symbol (i.e., the data rate) that may be transmitted using the different frequency sub-bands of each spatial channel for a particular level of performance may differ from frequency sub-band to frequency sub-band.
However, instead of using the various different transmission and receive antennas to form separate spatial channels on which additional information is sent, better transmission and reception properties can be obtained in a MIMO system by using each of the various transmission antennas of the MIMO system to transmit the same signal while phasing (and amplifying) this signal as it is provided to the various transmission antennas to achieve beamforming or beamsteering. Generally speaking, beamforming or beamsteering creates a spatial gain pattern having one or more high gain lobes or beams (as compared to the gain obtained by an omni-directional antenna) in one or more particular directions, while reducing the gain over that obtained by an omni-directional antenna in other directions. If the gain pattern is configured to produce a high gain lobe in the direction of each of the receiver antennas, the MIMO system can obtain better transmission reliability between a particular transmitter and a particular receiver, over that obtained by single transmitter-antenna/receiver-antenna systems.
The transmitters and receivers in the wireless communication system may each be capable of using a variety of modulation schemes. For example, some modulations schemes may provide a higher bit rate than other schemes (e.g., 64-QAM vs. 16-QAM). Typically, modulation schemes that provide a higher bit rate may be more sensitive to channel impairments as compared to modulation schemes with a lower bit rate.
Thus, certain modern wireless communications occur over a number of channels in which multiple transmitters simultaneously transmit to multiple receivers. As is known, several factors affect the spectral efficiency of a wireless communication system, i.e., the ability of the system to optimally use the band of available frequencies. In one aspect, inter-symbol interference (ISI) arises when a signal from a transmitting antenna is reflected off various obstacles, thereby creating a multi-path propagation channel between the transmitting antenna and the intended receiver. Because multiple copies of a transmitted symbol may arrive at the receiving antenna with different propagation delays, the received signal may have blurry boundaries between sequentially transmitted symbols.
In another aspect, systems such as WiMAX include base stations defining areas of coverage, or cells, in which users (e.g., mobile stations, portable or stationary devices, etc.) communicate through the cellular network including the base stations. More specifically, base stations have one or several antennas to which users transmit "uplink" data and from which users receive "downlink" data. In these systems, proximate transmitters operating on the same carrier frequency create inter-channel interference (ICI), further reducing the quality and reliability of reception. As a result, cellular-type wireless systems in general, and those that utilize MIMO modulation in particular, typically do not use the same frequency in adjacent cells. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, a wireless system 10 in which the equally sized cells 12 cover the entire geographic area, has a frequency reuse of ⅓ because each of the frequencies 20-26 can be used in at most ⅓ of total number of cells 12. As a result, the efficiency of the wireless system 10 is significantly limited.

MIMO decoding in the presence of various interfering sources


An air filter medium includes a first porous PTFE membrane and a second porous PTFE membrane. An average fiber diameter of fibers included in the first porous PTFE membrane is 0.24 to 0.45 μm, an average fiber diameter of fibers included in the second porous PTFE membrane is 0.04 to 0.23 μm, the air filter medium has a first main surface and a second main surface, and the first porous PTFE membrane and the second porous PTFE membrane are arranged so that an air flow moving from the first main surface to the second main surface passes through the first porous PTFE membrane and subsequently through the second porous PTFE membrane.

Porous PTFE membranes have been conventionally used as air filter media in a variety of fields. Porous PTFE membranes, which have high dust collection performance, are very suitable for use in a place with a little amount of dust (such as use in a clean room). However, when a porous PTFE membrane is used in an intake air filter for an outdoor air conditioner or turbine to filter out air dust, the porous PTFE membrane may collect air-borne dust only in its surface portion and be consequently clogged, causing an increase in pressure drop. An attempt has thus been made to prevent clogging of a porous PTFE membrane and increase the service life of an air filter medium by disposing an air-permeable member such as a non-woven fabric as a prefilter layer on the upstream side in the air flow direction to collect large particles of dust in advance (Patent Literature 1). However, the air filter medium described in Patent Literature 1 has a problem in that the achievement of the preventive effect on clogging of the porous PTFE membrane requires thickening of the prefilter layer, which leads to a high manufacturing cost. There is also a problem in that thickening of the prefilter layer makes pleating (folding into a series of W-shapes) of the air filter medium difficult.
As a product designed to prevent clogging of porous PTFE membranes with dust, there has been proposed an air filter medium in which a first porous PTFE membrane and a second porous PTFE membrane are stacked, the average pore diameter of the second porous PTFE membrane is larger than the average pore diameter of the first porous PTFE membrane, and the second porous PTFE membrane is disposed upstream of the first porous PTFE membrane in an air flow direction (Patent Literature 2). Patent Literature 2 states that the second porous PTFE membrane functions as a prefilter to collect large-diameter particles of dust, thus reducing the increase in the pressure drop across the air filter medium ([0006]). In the air filter medium of Patent Literature 2, the average pore diameters of the porous PTFE membranes are controlled to reduce the increase in pressure drop, as is evident from the fact that the collection efficiency of the air filter medium is measured using polydisperse dioctyl phthalate (DOP) with a particle diameter of 0.1 to 0.2 μm.

Air filter medium, air filter pack, and air filter unit


A system and method for steering a rotating downhole drilling tool is provided. The downhole tool includes an inclinometer having directional accelerometers capable of measuring drilling parameters, such as angular position and centripetal acceleration, of the downhole tool. An offset accelerometer is further included for determining centripetal acceleration of the downhole tool. Collar rotation rate and the toolface may be determined from the drilling parameters. Filters, analog to digital converters and processor devices may be used to process the signals and send commands in response thereto for steering the tool.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control system and method utilizing servo-accelerometers to determine the rotation rate and angular position information of a rotating downhole drilling tool. However, the system may be useful in any other similar apparatus where the sensors are mounted on a rotating housing and rotation rate and/or angular position information is needed.
2. Description of the Related Art
An oil or gas well often has a subsurface section that is drilled directionally towards a desired target. To reach that target, the well follows a trajectory inclined at an angle with respect to the vertical, the inclination, and oriented towards a particular compass heading, the azimuth. Although wells having deviated sections may be drilled at any desired location, a significant number of deviated wells are drilled in the marine environment. In such case, a number of deviated wells are drilled from a single offshore production platform in a manner such that the bottoms of the boreholes are distributed over a large area of a producing horizon over which the platform is typically centrally located. Wellheads for each of the wells are located on the platform structure. Directional wells may be drilled from any type of wellbore, platform or non-platform type.
A rotary steerable drilling system steers the drill bit while the drill bit is being rotated by the collar of the tool. This enables drilling personnel to readily navigate the wellbore from one subsurface oil reservoir to another. The rotary steerable drilling tool enables steering of the wellbore both from the standpoint of inclination and from the standpoint of azimuth so that two or more subsurface zones of interest can be controllably intersected by the wellbore being drilled. Rotary steerables were developed to reduce friction for extended reach situations, but also improve downhole control. Examples of rotary steerable tools are disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,092,610 and 6,158,529, the entirety of which are incorporated herein by reference.
A non-rotary steerable tool has structure that provides a bend angle such that the axis below the bend point, which corresponds to the rotation axis of the bit, has a bit angle with respect to a reference, as viewed from above the tool. The bit""s angular position establishes the azimuth or compass heading at which the deviated borehole section will be drilled as the mud motor is operated. Furthermore, the bit""s angular position controls the tendency for the well to build or drop in inclination. After the bit angle has been established by slowly rotating the drill string and observing the output of various orientation devices, the mud motor and drill bit are lowered, with the drill string non-rotatable to maintain the selected bit angle, and the drilling fluid pumps, xe2x80x9cmud pumpsxe2x80x9d, are energized to develop fluid flow through the drill string and mud motor, thereby imparting rotary motion to the mud motor output shaft and the drill bit that is fixed thereto. The presence of the bend angle causes the bit to drill on a curve until a desired borehole inclination has been established. To drill a borehole section along the desired inclination and azimuth, the drill string is then rotated so that its rotation is superimposed over that of the mud motor output shaft, which causes the bend section to merely orbit around the axis of the borehole so that the drill bit drills straight ahead at whatever inclination and azimuth have been established. Measurement-while-drilling xe2x80x9cMWDxe2x80x9d systems commonly are included in the drill string above the mud motor to orient the angular position of the bent angle and monitor the progress of the borehole being drilled so that corrective measures can be instituted if the various borehole parameters indicate variance from the projected plan.
Various rotary steerable downhole drilling tools make use of a non-rotating section that contains sensors that determine the direction to apply a force or point the drill bit. In the type of these tool having a non-rotating section that houses the sensors, some of these prevent the non-rotating section from rotating by contact with the well bore. Others stabilize the non-rotating section using control from a rotating rate sensor. Accelerometer data can be filtered to remove noise from shock and vibration, and used directly to determine the direction to apply a steering force. In the type of tool where the section containing the sensors rotates with the collar, rotation rate is measured by either a gyroscope or magnetometers. Control is applied to the steering section to counteract the rotation rate to make it geostationary.
Tri-axial magnetometers (3 magnetometers mounted orthogonal to each other, 1 axial and 2 radial) are commonly used to determine rotation rate and position of the tool. The rotation rate, or angular velocity, relates to the speed of rotation of the tool during drilling. The position of the tool, often referred to as the xe2x80x9ctoolfacexe2x80x9d, relates to the steering direction of the tool with respect to vertical (the direction opposite the earth""s gravity). By manipulating the rotation rate and/or toolface, the tool may be steered in the desired direction. However, when drilling in the same direction as the earth""s magnetic field, the radial component of tri-axial magnetometers becomes too small to be used to determine rotation rate and/or tool face for steering. Gyroscopes work in any magnetic field and can measure rotation rate, but currently available gyroscopes are too inaccurate to generate position information, and do not work well at high temperatures, or during extreme shock and vibration, common to downhole environments.
There remains a need for improved steering control, particularly when drilling into the earth""s magnetic field. The present invention utilizes rotational and offset accelerometers to obtain rotation rate and toolface to meet one or more of these needs.
Briefly, a system and method are provided for determining rotation rate and angular position information of a rotating downhole drilling tool. First, second and third accelerometers are mounted to a collar that is controlled to rotate in the downhole drilling tool. Each of the first, second and third accelerometers are positioned so that their respective measurement points are centered on an axis of rotation and aligned with a corresponding x, y and z Cartesian coordinate axis of the collar, wherein the x-axis is the axis of rotation of the collar. A fourth accelerometer is mounted to the collar and positioned offset from the axis of rotation of the collar by an offset distance and aligned with the second accelerometer. The fourth accelerometer generates a signal representing centripetal acceleration of the collar as a function of the offset distance. The signals output by the accelerometers are processed to generate therefrom one or both of collar rotation rate and toolface position of a bit shaft coupled to the collar through a geostationary offset mandrel. In an alternate embodiment, the directional accelerometers may be offset with respect to the x, y and z axes.
An embodiment of the invention relates to a system for determining rotation rate and position information of a rotating downhole drilling tool. The system includes an inclinometer, an offset accelerometer, an analog to digital converter and a processor. The inclinometer is mounted to a collar in the drilling tool. The inclinometer comprising multiple accelerometers positioned so that their respective measurement points are centered on the axis of rotation and aligned with a corresponding x, y and z Cartesian coordinate axis of the collar. The inclinometer generates output signals representing position of the collar with respect to gravity. The offset accelerometer mounted to said collar and positioned offset from the axis of rotation of the collar by an offset distance and aligned with one of the accelerometers in the inclinometer. The offset accelerometer generates a signal representing centripetal acceleration of the collar as a function of the offset distance. The analog to digital converter is coupled to the inclinometer and to the offset accelerometer to convert the output signals thereof into digital signals. The processor device is coupled to the analog to digital converter to process the digital signals and generate therefrom one or both of collar rotation rate and position of a toolface of a bit shaft coupled to the collar through a geostationary offset mandrel.
Another embodiment relates to a steerable rotating downhole drilling tool. The tool includes an inclinometer mounted to a collar in the drilling tool and an offset accelerometer. The inclinometer is provided with directional accelerometer capable of taking collar measurements for determining desired drilling parameters. The offset accelerometer is mounted to said collar offset a distance from the inclinometer. The offset accelerometer capable of measuring centripetal acceleration of the collar for adjusting one or more of the collar measurements whereby more accurate desired drilling parameters may be determined.
Another embodiment relates to a method for generating rotation rate and/or toolface position information of a rotating downhole drilling tool. The method includes the steps of detecting an inclination of a rotating collar in a downhole drilling tool that drives a bit shaft to form a borehole in an earth formation using accelerometers mounted to said collar, detecting centripetal acceleration of the collar using an offset accelerometer mounted to said collar offset by a distance from the axis of rotation of the collar, and generating one or both of collar rotation rate and toolface position of a bit shaft coupled to the collar through a geostationary offset mandrel from the detected inclination of the collar and the centripetal acceleration of the collar.
Another embodiment relates to a method for steering a rotating downhole drilling tool having a drill collar. The steps include detecting acceleration of the collar using at least one directional accelerometer mounted to said collar, detecting acceleration of the collar using an offset accelerometer mounted to said collar, the offset accelerometer positioned parallel to at least one directional accelerometer a distance therefrom, measuring the resolver angle of the collar, generating collar rotation rate of a bit shaft and a toolface position, and adjusting the counter rotation speed of the offset mandrel whereby the tool is steered in the desired direction.
Other aspects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the appended claims.

Rotary control of rotary steerables using servo-accelerometers


Electronic devices may include displays. A display may include backlight structures that generate light and display layers that generate images using the generated light. An electronic device may include an opaque flexible printed circuit that is wrapped around one or more edges of the backlight structures. The opaque flexible printed circuit may prevent light from the backlight structures from reaching other electronic components or escaping from the device. The opaque flexible printed circuit may include signal lines that communicate signals between a printed circuit board and the display. The opaque flexible printed circuit may be a layer of the printed circuit board that extends from an edge of the printed circuit board. The printed circuit board may include an additional flexible extended printed circuit layer that wraps around a surface of the printed circuit board and forms a portion of a conductive shield over that surface.

This relates generally to electronic devices, and more particularly, to electronic devices with displays.
Electronic devices often include displays. For example, cellular telephones and portable computers often include displays for presenting information to a user. An electronic device may have a housing such as a housing formed from plastic or metal. Components for the electronic device such as display components may be mounted in the housing.
It can be challenging to incorporate a display into the housing of an electronic device. Size, weight, electrical grounding, robustness, ease of assembly, and light-tightness are often important considerations in designing electronic devices. If care is not taken, displays may be bulky, may exhibit undesired light reflections, or it may be difficult to replace components of the display.
It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide improved displays for electronic devices.

Electronic devices with flexible circuit light shields


The frame transmission method in the wireless local area network includes: generating, by an access point, a physical layer protocol data unit PPDU of a target type, where the PPDU includes a target media access control MAC frame structure that is generated in a target encapsulation format and that carries a trigger frame, and whether the target MAC frame structure includes a packet extension field is determined based on the target type and the target encapsulation format; and sending, by the access point, the PPDU.

An uplink multiple-input multiple-output (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output, MIMO) technology and an uplink orthogonal frequency division multiple access (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access, OFDMA) technology have been widely applied to wireless communication, and are used as key technologies for improving a capacity and a user quantity. When the technologies are applied to the 802.11 family of standards, an access point (Access Point, AP) needs to send a trigger frame (Trigger Frame) to instruct receiving stations (Station, STA) to synchronously send uplink data frames of the receiving stations after a particular time.
According to the 802.11 standards, the particular time described above is generally defined as a short interframe space (Short Interframe Space, SIFS). Within the SIFS, a receiving station needs to first parse trigger information carried in the trigger frame, and then transmits data based on the trigger information by using an uplink transmission resource. However, the receiving station cannot complete the foregoing steps within the SIFS time.
Some solutions are proposed to resolve the problem. One solution is to extend the SIFS time, so that the time is enough for the receiving station to complete the foregoing procedures. However, in the method, a wait time between adjacent frames is increased, and therefore there is a hidden transmission conflict risk. Another solution is that the information carried in the trigger frame is placed in physical layer signaling (PHY Signaling) for transmission, so that processing of the information by a receive end can be accelerated, and it is ensured that the receive end can complete processing within the SIFS time. However, the method requires that the receiving station has a special receiving state machine for the signaling, and consequently complexity of a receiver is increased. In addition, because of a limit of a quantity of bits, the physical layer signaling may not be enough to accommodate an information amount in this scale.
A more acceptable solution is a padding (padding) design at a media access control (Media Access Control, MAC) layer. That is, unwanted signals are added after wanted signaling. The unwanted signals are a packet extension field in a MAC frame structure. The AP sends the unwanted signals, so that the receiving station has enough time to parse the trigger information carried in the trigger frame and then transmit the data based on the trigger information by using the uplink transmission resource, and it is ensured that the wait time between the adjacent frames is still the SIFS. However, the design is applicable to only a physical layer protocol data unit (physical layer protocol data unit, PPDU) of a legacy (legacy) type, but is not applicable to a later version.

Frame transmission method and apparatus in wireless local area network


A semiconductor integrated circuit device (10) which has a layered structure is composed of a plurality of semiconductor layers (L1, L2, L3) in which an integrated circuit is formed on a substrate. Each of the semiconductor layers (L1, L2, L3) has a semiconductor integrated circuit portion (16) that includes the abovementioned integrated circuit on a substrate (11). Each of the semiconductor layers (L1, L2, L3) also has on a substrate at least one unit of through-wiring (17a) for electrically connecting the integrated circuit included in the semiconductor integrated circuit portion (16) to an integrated circuit of another semiconductor layer, and a surrounding insulation portion (18) for surrounding and insulating the through-wiring from the semiconductor integrated circuit portion. A structure formed by the surrounding insulation portion (18) and the through-wiring portion (17) composed of a plurality of units of through-wiring (17a) reduces the resistance of the through-wiring portion and increases the degree of integration of a circuit.

Conventional three-dimensional semiconductor integrated circuit devices are known in which, two or more wafers are layered vertically, and the wafers are electrically connected to each other in the vertical direction by through-wiring (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 11-261000).
According to the method for manufacturing a three-dimensional semiconductor integrated circuit device described in the 11-261000 publication, an upper LSI wafer layer and a lower LSI wafer layer are prepared, and a trench (deep groove) is formed in the upper LSI wafer layer, after which a vertical interconnector (through-wiring) used for wiring is embedded in the trench. A bump is then formed at an end of the vertical interconnector, and the upper LSI wafer layer is affixed to the lower LSI wafer layer via the bump. An insulating adhesive is finally injected between the upper and lower LSI wafers affixed to each other only by the bump.
Following is a description of drawbacks relating to the "sequence of steps" in the conventional method for manufacturing a three-dimensional semiconductor integrated circuit device.
In the case of the method for manufacturing a three-dimensional semiconductor integrated circuit device disclosed in the abovementioned reference, the sidewalls of each trench are first oxidized to provide an insulation film, and then a metal is deposited into the trenches to complete the through-wiring. A semiconductor integrated circuit that includes a transistor and other elements is then formed.
However, when through-wiring and a semiconductor integrated circuit are formed according to a sequence of steps such as the one described above, high temperatures of about 800 to 1000° C. occur in the process of manufacturing the transistor and other elements. Therefore, the metal constituting the through-wiring formed in the previous stage is scattered into the transistor region by this high-temperature process, possibly resulting in metal contamination of the transistor region. This metal contamination causes fluctuation of the electrical characteristics of elements in regions other than that of the through-wiring.
Drawbacks also occur when the through-wiring formed out of metal is completed before or during formation of the transistor, in that only an extremely limited range of materials such as titanium, nickel, cobalt, tungsten, and the like can be used as the metal, for the through-wiring without adversely affecting the transistor characteristics.
In order to avoid the abovementioned drawbacks caused by the through-wiring being composed of a metal, the through-wiring may be formed by embedding, a polysilicon or other nonmetal conductive substance in the trenches instead of a metal.
However, polysilicon and other nonmetal conductive substances have higher resistance than metals. Using a substance with higher resistance than metal to form the through-wiring in this manner leads to drawbacks of increased power consumption and reduced operating speed in a device in which the semiconductor integrated circuit is used.
A method may also be used in which the sequence of steps is fundamentally changed in order to overcome all of the drawbacks described above. For example, an insulation film may be formed by high-temperature oxidation of the sidewalls of the trench after the semiconductor integrated circuit is formed, and the through-wiring may be completed by embedding a metal into the trench.
In this type of method, however, since the step for forming the insulation film on the trench sidewalls involves processing at high temperatures of approximately 800° C. or higher, ion implantation and other processes induce re-diffusion of the impurity (dopant) region formed in the transistor region of the semiconductor integrated circuit. This phenomenon also causes the transistor characteristics to fluctuate.
For a trench having a low aspect ratio, it is possible to form an insulation film on the sidewall without performing high-temperature, oxidation treatment. However, the formation of through-wiring that utilizes a low-aspect-ratio trench severely reduces the degree of integration of the semiconductor integrated circuit device, and thus introduces drawbacks from another perspective.
A combination in which the steps are arranged in the following sequence is considered in order to overcome all of the abovementioned drawbacks at once: "trench formation"→"sidewall oxidation"→"transistor formation"→"formation of through-wiring by metal filling." In this case, however, lithography processing, washing that accompanies resist removal, and other types of processing are performed while the trench is still in an open state. Therefore, the photoresist, developing solution, and other substances used in these processes are left behind in the trench.
It may be possible to provide a step for forming a film cap of an oxide such as SiO2 on the open portion of each trench, and a step for subsequently removing the cap in order to prevent the photoresist and other substances from remaining in the trenches. However, these steps are extremely difficult to provide technologically, and providing these steps significantly alters the conditions for flattening the top of the semiconductor substrate, thereby creating new drawbacks.
The drawbacks of the prior art relating to "alignment tolerance" will next be described. Wiring is patterned by exposure treatment in a method for manufacturing a semiconductor integrated circuit device. Since misalignment occurs during patterning, devices are generally designed to maintain an "alignment tolerance (margin)" in the portions connected by wiring.
In the manufacturing method described in the previously mentioned Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 11-261000, an insulating layer made of SiO2 or the like must be formed around the ends of each of a plurality of units of through-wiring arranged at high density while maintaining alignment tolerance. This method therefore has drawbacks in that a technique of high-precision alignment is required in order to maintain the alignment tolerance. Furthermore, maintaining alignment tolerance around the ends of the through-wiring creates drawbacks in that the substantial surface area of the open portion of the through-wiring is decreased. This leads to the further drawback of increased resistance in the through-wiring portion.

Semiconductor integrated circuit device having insulated through wires


An apparatus for separating objects of the same kind, in particular electronic components such as integrated circuits (IC's), that are delivered in succession in a sloping delivery passage, the apparatus having a stop member arranged in the region of the delivery passage that is displaced substantially transverse to the direction of delivery so that it holds back or holds fast the respective foremost object, and having a control circuit (P) that cyclically controls the displacing movement of the stop member, is to be designed so that while ensuring a relatively long service life it is suitable for use for different components, in particular with regard to their length. This is achieved by arranging a sensor in the region of the delivery passage after the stop member, in the delivery direction, which responds to the arrival of a released object and which is connected to the control circuit (P), and by arranging the control circuit (P) so that the cycle frequency and/or the ratio between the pressure applying and lifting off periods of the stop member is changed depending on the frequency of arrival or the frequency of removal of the released objects at the sensor.

In the manufacture of electronic components it is in many cases necessary, for various reasons, to separate the components which, for rational performance of the manufacture, run immediately one after the other through a guide or delivery passage. The need for separation arises, for example, in the testing of electronic components.
German Offenlegungsschrift No. 32 17 531 describes and illustrates an apparatus for separating electronic components comprising an elastic belt that circulates in the direction of flow through the component delivery passage and replaces a section of the wall of the delivery passage, and that is in contact with the leading components of a series of components in the delivery passage. By controlled forward movement and stopping of the conveyor belt as determined by a sensor, arranged after the conveyor belt in the direction of flow, which detects the progress of the respective first component leaving the delivery belt, a separation of the components can be effected in which the apparatus is independent of the respective lengths of the components, since the different lengths of the components can be taken into account by running the conveyor belt for different periods of time. In this known arrangement a relatively large amount of wear of the elastic conveyor belt has to be reckoned with, so that it has to be exchanged fairly often, with a substantial outlay in labour and time. In addition such a separating device takes up a relatively large amount of space, so that it is difficult to integrate when there are a plurality of delivery passages side by side forming a magazine.
In another apparatus for separating electronic components, described in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 35 31 120, two stop members are provided for separating them, these members being displaceable transverse to the delivery passage and respectively cooperating with two components lying one behind the other, the first stop member forming a stop for the respective first component while the second stop member presses on the component lying immediately behind it. The two stop members are operated so that only one stop member dips into the delivery passage at one time. When the respective second stop member dips in, the respective first component is released so that it slides further on, and is separated owing to the slope of the delivery passage. With this arrangement the separating device is dependent on the length of the components.
In German Offenlegungsschrift No. 36 38 430 an apparatus for separating electronic components has also already been disclosed in which separation occurs in that the respective foremost component of the delivery row, lying in front of a stop, is removed with the aid of a gripping device transverse to the delivery row and supplied to a testing head. In practice it has become evident that even in the case of such a removal of the components from the delivery row it is advantageous to separate the components so that the gripping device always grips a separated component. When the components are not separated and the components are pulled out transverse to the delivery row detachment problems can occur owing to the formation of flashes (injection molding flashes) on the ends of the components facing one another, which lead to functional problems, in particular with suction gripping devices.

Apparatus for separating objects of the same kind, in particular electronic components such as integrated circuits


The present invention provides a pharmaceutical composition comprising an aqueous solution of arginine and ibuprofen, wherein the molar ratio of arginine to ibuprofen is less than 1:1, as well as a method of making the same. The present invention also provides a method of treating a condition chosen from pain, inflammation, fever, and/or other conditions alleviated by ibuprofen comprising administering a pharmaceutical composition comprising an aqueous solution of arginine and ibuprofen, wherein the molar ratio of arginine to ibuprofen is less than 1:1.

The present invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition for oral or injectable (parenteral) use containing 2-(4-isobutylphenyl) propionic acid and a basic amino acid, and more particularly, where the amino acid is arginine.
2-(4-isobutylphenyl) propionic acid, whose International Nonproprietary Name is ibuprofen, is a well-known anti-inflammatory drug having a molecular weight of 206.28 and the following chemical structure:
(Merck Index 12th ed., n4925, page 839). Originally patented in the 1960""s, ibuprofen is now marketed generically, as well as under the tradenames of Motrin(copyright), Advil(copyright), and Nuprin(copyright) for the treatment of pain, inflammation, and fever.
Ibuprofen is readily available as the racemic mixture ((RS)-Ibuprofen) of the two enantiomers, (R)-Ibuprofen and (S)-Ibuprofen. Even though the (S) enantiomer is the biologically active form, most preparations contain the racemic mixture since the (R) enantiomer is converted to the active (S) form in-vivo. For simplicity, hereinafter the term xe2x80x9cibuprofenxe2x80x9d will be used to indicate any one of the (R) enantiomer, the (S) enantiomer, or the racemate.
Many amino acids, including arginine, are available as both the D and L forms. For simplicity, hereinafter the term xe2x80x9cargininexe2x80x9d will indicate the D or L form of arginine or a mixture of (D)-arginine and (L)-arginine. Arginine has a molecular weight of 174.20.
Although ibuprofen has many advantages over other analgesics such as aspirin and acetaminophen, it is very poorly soluble in water. Thus, certain dosage forms of ibuprofen, especially oral or injectable liquids, have been difficult to develop. Several U.S. patents have addressed this problem.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,309,421 appears to describe water-soluble complexes of ibuprofen and phospholipids suitable for parenteral administration. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,859,704 and 4,861,797 appear to describe the synthesis of alkali metal salts of ibuprofen for preparing a liquid ibuprofen formulation.
Other U.S. patents appear to address this problem by preparing an ibuprofen salt with a basic amino acid as the active pharmaceutical ingredient and then solubilizing the salt to produce a liquid dosage form.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,558 appears to describe enhanced analgesic effects of S (+) ibuprofen as salts of L and D amino acids, including arginine, in various dosage forms, including as an injectable solution. U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,926 appears to describe the use of basic amino acid salts of propionic acids for relieving pain and treating inflammatory conditions. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,117 appears to describe the preparation of salts of ibuprofen with basic amino acids. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 6,005,005 appears to describe a liquid composition for oral use containing ibuprofen and arginine.
However, the approaches described in the patents discussed above have, among others, the disadvantage of requiring the formation of a salt before solubilization, where the salt must be isolated and tested prior to producing the dosage form. Additionally, the ibuprofen formulations resulting from those processes have at least a 1:1 molar ratio of amino acid to ibuprofen. It is beneficial from both a cost and development point to not have to form a salt and isolate and test it prior to producing the dosage form. It is also beneficial in most cases to minimize the amount of non-active components, including salts, used in therapeutic products in order to minimize potential side effects. Furthermore, for injectable products it is beneficial to produce a liquid dosage form of ibuprofen having a pH similar to that of blood (pH 7.4). Finally, it is beneficial for an injectable and oral product to have similar pharmacokinetics to minimize the need for dosage adjustments.
The present invention utilizes arginine to solubilize ibuprofen during the manufacture of the pharmaceutical product instead of using a salt form of ibuprofen. Thus, an embodiment of the present invention is a pharmaceutical composition comprising an aqueous solution of arginine and ibuprofen, wherein the molar ratio of arginine to ibuprofen is less than 1:1. Another embodiment of the present invention is a method of making a pharmaceutical composition comprising an aqueous solution of arginine and ibuprofen, wherein the molar ratio of arginine to ibuprofen is less than 1:1. Still other embodiments of the present invention are directed to methods of treating pain, inflammation, fever, and/or other conditions alleviated by ibuprofen comprising administering a pharmaceutical composition comprising an aqueous solution of arginine and ibuprofen, wherein the molar ratio of arginine to ibuprofen is less than 1:1.

Pharmaceutical composition of 2-(4-isobutylphenyl) propionic acid