It is disclosed a method including receiving first address information relating to a terminal and a network traffic relay entity, obtaining second address information relating to the network traffic relay entity and a network traffic destination entity, and sending the first address information and the second address information to a controlling entity; and a method including receiving the first and second address information, generating policy information based on the received first and second address information, and monitoring network traffic based on the generated policy information.

In 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), there have been discussions related to policy control.
Namely, 3GPP has defined (e.g. from Release 6 onwards) an ALG (application level gateway) and NAT-GW (NAT gateway) based method for traversal of uncontrolled access network NATs, refer e.g. to 3GPP TS (technical specification) 23.228, Annex G, and TS 24.229.
In case a NAT device is interposed between a UE and an IMS core network, e.g. the AF/P-CSCF (application function/proxy call session control function) is configured to determine the existence of the NAT device e.g. by comparing the IP addresses in received SIP/SDP (session initiation protocol/session description protocol) messages. The SIP/SDP fields may contain the private domain IP address of the UE, while the data packets pass the NAT device and a sender may seem to have the public IP address allocated by the NAT device. Consequently, the ALG functionality in conjunction with the AF/P-CSCF may request public addresses from the NAT-GW and may modify the SIP/SDP accordingly before sending the message forward, and further, the ALG/AF/P-CSCF may initiate proper security measures (e.g. IP Sec tunneling) for the SIP signalling to be able to traverse the NAT device.
However, for example, the ALG and NAT-GW method imposes limitations:
The UE shall send a media data packet first (i.e. before the UE can receive media data packets) in order to have the NAT allocate an address and to let the NAT-GW get the address and use it as a destination address for downlink media data packets.
The NAT releases the allocated address, if there is no traffic. Applications may have to send keep-alive messages.
When the UE is using e.g. visited network's services, media path is looped via the home network, if/when the home network's P-CSCF is used.
Traversal of all types of NATs cannot be supported.
To overcome the above-mentioned limitations related to the ALG and NAT-GW method, 3GPP has enhanced the NAT traversal methodology e.g. in Release 7 specifications with IETF (internet engineering task force) originated STUN (simple traversal of UDP (user datagram protocol) through NATs) and STUN relay based mechanisms, refer e.g. to 3GPP TS 23.228, Annex G.
With these methods, the UE may be able to get an external/public IP address by an inquiry to a STUN server and to insert the external/public address in the SIP/SDP level, thus making the ALG and NAT-GW functionality redundant, in addition to removing e.g. NAT type related and incoming session invitation related limitations of the ALG and NAT-GW method.
For example, FIG. 1 shows a reference model for ICE (interactive connectivity establishment) and Outbound Methodology in order to provide a general overview and architecture of IMS access with a NAT.
As shown in FIG. 1, a communication system 100 comprises a UE 101, a remote UE 101′ and a network 102. The network 102 in turn comprises an optional NAT and FW (firewall) 1021, an optional remote NAT and FW 1021′, a P-CSCF 1022, a PCRF (policy and/or charging rules function) 1023, a PCEF (policy and/or charging enforcement function) 1024, a STUN relay 1025, a STUN server 1025a, an S-CSCF (serving CSCF) 1026 and an optional IMS access gateway 1027. The UE 101 and the remote UE 101′ comprise each ICE support by means of a STUN client/server. The UE 101 additionally comprises outbound support by means of a STUN client.
The STUN Function shown within the P-CSCF 1022 is a limited STUN Server for supporting so-called STUN keep-alive messages as described e.g. in TS 23.228, clause G.5.3.2.
For deployments where the IMS Access gateway 1027 (or other media manipulating functional entities, such as a MRFP (Multimedia Resource Function Processor)) is used, such functional entities shall be placed on the network side of the STUN server 1025a and STUN relay server 1025 (i.e. not between the UE 101 and the STUN server 1025a or STUN relay server 1025) as shown in FIG. 1. Otherwise, such functional entities will prevent STUN messages from reaching the STUN Relay 1025/Server 1025a e.g. outside of a session.
FIG. 2 shows an explanatory view of the so-called tuple terminology to be explained herein below (refer e.g. to IETF draft-ietf-behave-turn-04.txt). As shown in FIG. 2, a UE (or STUN Client) 201 may perform data communication (or network traffic) with a STUN Relay (or STUN Server) 2025 e.g. via an optional NAT 2021. An address relationship between the UE 201 (or NAT 2021, if present) and the STUN Relay 2025 may be referred to as "internal 5-tuple". The internal 5-tuple may comprise a source address and port of the UE 201 (in conjunction with the NAT 2021, if present), a destination address and port of the STUN Relay 2025 and a protocol to be used between the UE 201 and the STUN Relay 2025.
As further shown in FIG. 2, the STUN Relay (or Server) 2025 may relay the data communication from the UE 201 to an external client 203 or another optional external client 203′. An address relationship between the STUN Relay 2025 and the external client 203 (or 203′) may be referred to as "external 5-tuple". The external 5-tuple may comprise a source address and port of the STUN Relay 2025, a destination address and port of the external client 203 (or 203′) and a protocol to be used between STUN Relay 2025 and the external client 203 (or 203′).
In addition, the STUN Relay 2025 functionality may transfer media and STUN messages between the UE 201 (in conjunction with the related NAT 2021 device, if present) and the STUN Relay 2025 using the internal 5-Tuple as described above. The idea resides in using the same internal 5-tuple IP addresses and ports for all DP (data packet) transmissions to enable the traversal of all kinds of NATs. There are supported two ways for this purpose:
Media streams can be encapsulated e.g. within a STUN message in Send Indication or Data Indication between the UE 201 and the STUN Relay 2025 using the IP addresses and ports of the internal 5-Tuple, i.e. an "encapsulation protocol" is used. The encapsulation may contain the external IP address and port of the far end party (such as the external client 203 or 203′) communicating with the UE 201.
Another way resides in a so-called "set an active destination", i.e. the UE 201 requests a certain external address to be used by the STUN Server 2025 for all media transmission that is not encapsulated in Send Indication or Data Indication, (i.e. the UE 201 tells the external address and port to the STUN Relay 2025 beforehand and then sends/receives data using the IP addresses of the internal 5-Tuple without having the address information of the external party in the data packets). This can be used for one external address/port pair at a time. If the UE 201 is intended to send or receive to/from another IP address/port this way, the UE 201 may be configured to deactivate the current active destination and to request for activation of the new IP address/port pair.
According to the above, when e.g. PCC (policy and charging control) is applied in an IMS network to a session using the STUN Relay 2025, a PCEF (policy and charging enforcement point) is unable to recognize e.g. the media streams or service data flows on the user plane due to the encapsulation protocol between the UE 201 and the STUN Relay 2025, and especially, the PCEF 2024 does not know which media stream is possibly using the "active destination" method. (The UE 201 may be able to change the active destination during the session by sending a request to the STUN Relay 2025, e.g. in a multimedia session when the media stream benefiting from optimized transmission changes). Consequently, the PCEF is unable to correctly apply policy and charging control to media streams or service data flows.
Furthermore, according to the above, if e.g. port numbers of the Server Reflexive Address are used for separating media flows from each other, there resides a problem in that the UE 201 may circumvent the policy and charging control.
In consideration of the above, it is an object of the present invention to overcome one or more of the above drawbacks. In particular, the present invention provides methods, apparatuses, a system and a related computer program product for policy control.
According to the present invention, in a first aspect, this object is for example achieved by a method comprising:
receiving first address information relating to a terminal and a network traffic relay entity;
obtaining second address information relating to the network traffic relay entity and a network traffic destination entity; and
sending the first address information and the second address information to a controlling entity.
According to further refinements of the invention as defined under the above first aspect,
the receiving comprises receiving the first address information as at least a portion of a session initiation protocol invite message;
the obtaining comprises sending a session initiation protocol invite message relating to an intended network traffic destination entity, and receiving a session initiation response message relating to the network traffic destination entity responsive to the session initiation protocol invite.
According to the present invention, in a second aspect, this object is for example achieved by a method comprising:
receiving first address information relating to a terminal and a network traffic relay entity, and second address information relating to the network traffic relay entity and a network traffic destination entity;
generating policy information based on the received first and second address information; and
monitoring network traffic based on the generated policy information.
According to further refinements of the invention as defined under the above second aspect,
the generated policy information comprises a filter function for network traffic related to the first address information;
the generated policy information comprises at least one of a first filter function for network traffic related to network traffic in a direction from the terminal to the network traffic destination entity, and a second filter function for network traffic related to network traffic in a direction from the network traffic destination entity to the terminal;
the method further comprises detecting an intended change to another network traffic destination entity, and holding destination address information relating to the said other network traffic destination entity based on the detected change;
the method further comprises matching the address information against one of the first and second filter functions, and policy enforcement of the network traffic based on the result of matching;
the method further comprises first examining, if the result of matching is negative, whether a data packet is constituted by a simple traversal of user datagram protocol over network address translations request message comprising a source address of the terminal and indicating a network traffic destination entity, second examining, if the result of the first examining is affirmative, whether the indicated network traffic destination entity accords with at least one of the policy information and at least one of the first and second filter functions, and updating, if the result of the second examining is affirmative, the first and second filter functions with at least one of the source address and a port of the terminal;
the method further comprises examining, if the result of matching is negative, and if the data packet causes the network traffic relay entity to permit a new destination address, and, if the result of the examining indicates that the data packet causes the network traffic relay entity to permit a new destination address not matching at least one of the first and second filter functions, dropping the data packet;
the method further comprises examining, if the result of matching is negative, and if the data packet causes the network traffic relay entity to permit a new destination address, and, if the result of the examining indicates that the data packet causes the network traffic relay entity to permit a new destination address not matching at least one of the first and second filter functions, enforcing policy control measures to the data packet;
the method further comprises examining, if the result of matching is negative, and if the data packet is constituted by a simple traversal of user datagram protocol over network address translations message requesting a change of an active destination used by the network traffic relay entity for internet protocol data packets, and, if the result of the examining indicates that the data packet causes the change of the active destination and that the requested destination address does not match at least one of the first and second filter functions, dropping the data packet;
the method further comprises examining, if the result of matching is negative, and if the data packet is constituted by a simple traversal of user datagram protocol over network address translations message requesting a change of an active destination used by the network traffic relay entity for internet protocol data packets, and, if the result of the examining indicates that the data packet causes the change of the active destination and that the requested destination address does not match at least one of the first and second filter functions, enforcing policy control measures to the data packet;
the method further comprises, if the result of matching is affirmative, determining that the network traffic is non-encapsulated network traffic, and the policy enforcement is based on destinations of individual data packets within media streams, and routes the non-encapsulated network traffic based on the generated policy information and the held destination address information;
the method further comprises, if the result of matching is negative, determining that the network traffic is non-encapsulated network traffic, and the policy enforcement is based on destinations of individual data packets within media streams and restricts the non-encapsulated network traffic based on the generated policy information and the held destination address information;
the method further comprises determining whether the network traffic is encapsulated network traffic, and, if so, the policy enforcement is based on destinations of individual data packets on a data packet-by-data packet basis for enforcing policy on the encapsulated network traffic based on the generated policy information and the held destination address information.
According to further refinements of the invention as defined under the above first and second aspects,
the first address information comprises at least one of a source address of the terminal, a source port of the terminal, a destination address of the network traffic relay entity, a destination port of the network traffic relay entity, a protocol to be used between the terminal and the network traffic relay entity, and a channel number relating to a media stream;
at least one of the source address of the terminal and the source port of the terminal further comprises network address translation information;
the second address information comprises at least one of a source address of the network traffic relay entity, a source port of the network traffic relay entity, a destination address of the network traffic destination entity, a destination port of the network traffic destination entity, a protocol to be used between the network traffic relay entity and the network traffic destination entity and a channel number of a media stream.
According to the present invention, in a third aspect, this object is for example achieved by an apparatus comprising:
means for receiving first address information relating to a terminal and a network traffic relay entity;
means for obtaining second address information relating to the network traffic relay entity and a network traffic destination entity; and
means for sending the first address information and the second address information to a controlling entity.
According to further refinements of the invention as defined under the above third aspect,
the means for receiving is further configured to receive the first address information as at least a portion of a session initiation protocol invite message;
the means for obtaining further comprises means for sending a session initiation protocol invite message relating to an intended network traffic destination entity, and means for receiving a session initiation response message relating to the network traffic destination entity responsive to the session initiation protocol invite.
According to the present invention, in a fourth aspect, this object is for example achieved by an apparatus comprising:
means for receiving first address information relating to a terminal and a network traffic relay entity, and second address information relating to the network traffic relay entity and a network traffic destination entity;
means for generating policy information based on the first and second address information received by the means for receiving; and
means for monitoring network traffic based on the policy information generated by the means for generating.
According to further refinements of the invention as defined under the above fourth aspect,
the means for generating is further configured to generate a filter function for network traffic related to the first address information;
the means for generating is further configured to generate at least one of a first filter function for network traffic related to network traffic in a direction from the terminal to the network traffic destination entity, and a second filter function for network traffic related to network traffic in a direction from the network traffic destination entity to the terminal;
the apparatus further comprises means for detecting an intended change to another network traffic destination entity, and means for holding destination address information relating to the said other network traffic destination entity based on the change detected by the means for detecting;
the apparatus further comprises means for matching the address information against one of the first and second filter functions, and means for policy enforcement of the network traffic based on the result of matching;
the apparatus further comprises means for examining, if the result of matching is negative, whether a data packet is constituted by a simple traversal of user datagram protocol over network address translations request message comprising a source address of the terminal and indicating a network traffic destination entity, and for examining, if the result of the examining of the data packet is affirmative, whether the indicated network traffic destination entity accords with at least one of the policy information and at least one for the first and second filter functions, and means for updating, if the result of the means for examining is affirmative, at least one of the first and second filter functions with at least one of the source address and a port of the terminal;
the apparatus further comprises means for examining, if the result of matching is negative, and if the data packet causes the network traffic relay entity to permit a new destination address, and means for dropping the data packet, if the result by the means for examining indicates that the data packet causes the network traffic relay entity to permit a new destination address not matching at least one of the first and second filter functions;
the apparatus further comprises means for examining, if the result of matching is negative, and if the data packet causes the network traffic relay entity to permit a new destination address, and means for enforcing policy control measures to the data packet, if the result by the means for examining indicates that the data packet causes the network traffic relay entity to permit a new destination address not matching at least one of the first and second filter functions;
the apparatus further comprises means for examining, if the result of matching is negative, and if the data packet is constituted by a simple traversal of user datagram protocol over network address translations message requesting a change of an active destination used by the network traffic relay entity for internet protocol data packets, and means for dropping the data packet, if the result by the means for examining indicates that the data packet requests the change of the active destination and the requested destination address does not match at least one of the first and second filter functions;
the apparatus further comprises means for examining, if the result of matching is negative, and if the data packet is constituted by a simple traversal of user datagram protocol over network address translations message requesting a change of an active destination used by the network traffic relay entity for internet protocol data packets, and means for enforcing policy control measures to the data packet, if the result by the means for examining indicates that the data packet requests the change of the active destination and the requested destination address does not match at least one of the first and second filter functions;
the apparatus further comprises means for determining configured to determine, if the result of matching is affirmative, that the network traffic is non-encapsulated network traffic, and wherein the means for policy enforcement is further configured to route based on destinations of individual data packets within media streams and to route the non-encapsulated network traffic based on the policy information generated by the means for generating and the destination address information held by the means for holding;
the apparatus further comprises means for determining configured to determine, if the result of matching is negative, that the network traffic is non-encapsulated network traffic, and wherein the means for policy enforcement is further to configured to route based on destinations of individual data packets within media streams and to restrict the non-encapsulated network traffic based on the policy information generated by the means for generating and the destination address information;
the apparatus further comprises means for determining whether the network traffic is encapsulated network traffic, and, if so, the means for policy enforcement is further configured to enforce policy on destinations of individual data packets on a data packet-by-data packet basis for enforcing policy on the encapsulated network traffic based on the policy information generated by the means for generating and the destination address information held by the means for holding.
According to further refinements of the invention as defined under the above third and fourth aspects,
the first address information comprises at least one of a source address of the terminal, a source port of the terminal, a destination address of the network traffic relay entity, a destination port of the network traffic relay entity, a protocol to be used between the terminal and the network traffic relay entity and a channel number relating to a media stream;
at least one of the source address of the terminal and the source port of the terminal further comprises network address translation information;
the second address information comprises at least one of a source address of the network traffic relay entity, a source port of the network traffic relay entity, a destination address of the network traffic destination entity, a destination port of the network traffic destination entity, a protocol to be used between the network traffic relay entity and the network traffic destination entity and a channel number relating to a media stream;
the terminal is constituted by a user equipment;
the network traffic relay entity is constituted by a simple traversal of user datagram protocol through network address translations relay server;
the network traffic destination entity is constituted by an external client;
the apparatus according to the third aspect is constituted by at least one of an application function and a proxy call session control function;
the apparatus according to the fourth aspect is constituted by at least one of a gateway function, a policy and charging rules function and a policy and charging enforcement function;
the apparatus is implemented as a chipset or module.
According to the present invention, in a fifth aspect, this object is for example achieved by a system comprising:
a user equipment;
an apparatus according to the third aspect; and
an apparatus according to the fourth aspect.
According to the present invention, in a sixth aspect, this object is for example achieved by a computer program product comprising code means for performing methods steps of a method according to any one of the first and second aspects, when run on a computer.
In this connection, it has to be pointed out that the present invention enables one or more of the following:
Minimum addition of address and control information e.g. to the interface protocols between AF (application function)/P-CSCF and PCRF and between PCRF and PCEF.
Possibility of concentrated STUN message monitoring functionality in a PCEF/GW (gateway).
Possibility of concentrated implementation of PCC rule binding to the STUN encapsulation and encapsulated address and protocol information and to internal 5-tuple between UE and STUN Relay e.g. in the PCEF/GW.
Enabling appliance of service data flow and media stream level policy and charging control (including e.g. bit-rate control and gating), when the STUN Relay for NAT traversal is used e.g. in a policy and/or charging controlled network.
Prevention of access by the UE on the user plane to external destinations not agreed on the signalling/session plane.
Ability to apply policy and charging control in a network simultaneously with the STUN Relay based NAT traversal method known to apply to all kinds of NATs.

Methods, apparatuses, system, and related computer program product for policy control


An umpire chest protector for use in a baseball game is disclosed to include a body member, a sternum plate, first left and right side plates, second left and right side plates, two shoulder plates, a shoulder strap assembly and a rear padding system. The rear padding system has an air channel defined therein, saving material, reducing the weight and enhancing wearing comfort. The left and right paddings, upper padding, outer left padding and outer right padding of the rear padding system are detachable, easy on and off and washable, material-saving and capable of dispersing impact force. The sternum plate is attached to one side of each of the shoulder plates and affixed thereto with rivets, and side flaps and bottom flaps of the sternum plate are respectively affixed to the upper portions and lower portions of the first left and right side plates with rivets, providing warp around feel and making the protector still and strong.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to chest protection technology and more particularly, to an umpire chest protector for protecting the chest of an umpire in a baseball game.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional umpire chest protector for the game of baseball, as shown in FIG. 1, the sternum plate 81 is overlapped with the lower portion 821 of each of the two shoulder plates 82 and locked together, however, a transverse gap 80 is left between the sternum plate 81 the lower plate 83. When a ball hits a part of the umpire chest protector around the transverse gap 80, the lower plate 83 will be curved inwards, causing the umpire to get hurt. Further, this design of umpire chest protect has the disadvantages of poor ventilation, heavy weight and wearing uncomfortability.
Accordingly, there is a need for an umpire chest protector that eliminates the aforesaid problems.


A robotic device having in-mold electronics is provided. According to one or more aspects, a robotic device includes an electronic computing unit for controlling the robotic device and a molded part. The molded part includes a thermoformed first film, structural layer, electronic circuit, and a functional component. The molded structural layer is arranged under the first film. The thermoformed second film arranged under the structural layer. The electronic circuit arranged over the second film and adjacent the structural layer. The electronic circuit includes a functional component communicably coupled to the electronic computing unit. The first film is arranged to cover the structural layer, the second film, and the electronic circuit to define an exposed surface of the molded part.

Molded parts are used as for robotic devices. However, these molded parts often do not have any functionality. To impart functionality to the molded parts, a functional component may be affixed to a molded part. The molded part may require a rather complex structure for accommodating the functional component so as to conceal the functional component from view and protect it from impact. The complexity of the structures can be further exacerbated by environmental factors that the functional component is exposed to. The complex structure for affixing the functional component to the robotic device may include a number of components to that provide waterproofing for the functional component against moisture such as rain, fog, dew, etc. The complex structure may also protect the functional component from other aspects of the environment of the robotic device, such as the terrain. However, these structures may add weight and bulk to the robotic devices.

In-mold electronics within a robotic device


A packet processing method includes: obtaining, at a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, a first fragmented data frame included in a first data frame; buffering the first fragmented data frame into a first queue; obtaining, at the MAC layer, a second fragmented data frame included in a second data frame; buffering the second fragmented data frame into a second queue; sending the first fragmented data frame to a forwarding processing module; obtaining first forwarding information using the forwarding processing module; sending the second fragmented data frame to the forwarding processing module after sending the first fragmented data frame to the forwarding processing module; and obtaining second forwarding information.

With emergence of new types of 5G latency-sensitive services such as self-driving, telemedicine, virtual reality, tactile Internet, and an ultra-high definition video, a requirement that an end-to-end latency does not exceed 1 millisecond (ms) is proposed for an operator's network. For a single packet forwarding device, a requirement of a microsecond (μs) level ultra-low latency needs to be met. A conventional packet transport network cannot meet the requirement of the microsecond level ultra-low latency, and forwarding time of a data packet in a single packet forwarding device needs to be reduced.
A conventional packet forwarding device usually supports two forwarding manners: store-and-forward and cut-through switching. The store and forward manner requires that data is sent to a destination port only after a complete packet is received, and therefore, a forwarding rate is low, and a forwarding latency is long. However, the cut-through manner requires that data may be sent to a destination port after a destination address of a packet is obtained, and therefore, a forwarding rate is high, and a forwarding latency is short. Although the forwarding latency can be greatly reduced in the cut-through manner, forwarding is performed on a per-packet basis, like the store and forward manner. In a traffic convergence scenario, forwarding of a current packet cannot start until a previous packet is wholly sent. When a length of the previous packet is relatively great, forwarding waiting time of the current packet is increased. Therefore, for a latency-sensitive service, it is difficult for the foregoing two forwarding manners to meet a requirement of ultra-low latency forwarding. Further, to reduce a packet forwarding latency, an existing data transmission technology uses a complete data fragmenting and packaging method for sending. However, an existing data transmission technology is performing fragmenting transmission on a data packet at a network layer. Therefore, for a packet forwarded only at a layer 2 (for example, a data link layer), a forwarding latency of the packet cannot be reduced.

Packet processing based on latency sensitivity


A timing circuit is described for a single phase clocked memory. The output of a flip-flop is used to initiate the generation of a plurality of control signals through models of circuit elements of the memory such as the word line, bit line, etc. The output of these models are used to generate control signals both when the flip-flop is set and reset. The flip-flop is reset by a signal from one of the models.

1. Field of the Invention.
The invention relates to semiconductor memories and in particular to timing circuits for controlling reading and writing in such memories.
2. Prior Art.
In semiconductor memories, such as static and dynamic random-access memories (RAMs), a plurality of control or timing signals are typically used to access memory cells. Often, to access a cell for reading or writing, several control signals are needed, each occurring one after the other to, for example, precharge nodes, provide isolation, activate sense amplifiers, etc. The timing of these signals is critical and becomes more critical where the memory is operated at faster rates.
In early semiconductor RAMs, control signals were generated off-chip. In current memories, the control signals are generated on-chip; see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,778,784. In the metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) memory described in the U.S. Pat. No. '784, a timing cell is used in the timing circuits. This cell compensated for process variations which would otherwise substantially affect the timing of these timing signals.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,087,704, another on-chip control signal arrangement is described for a dynamic RAM where the output of one control signal generator is used to initiate or trigger the next control signal generator. This arrangement assures that a delay occurs between each of the signals and that the signals occur in a predetermined order.
It is also common in semiconductor memories to employ dummy cells. These cells, for example, provide loading or charge in an amount equal to that of a real cell in the array. The dummy cells are fabricated on the same die or substrate as the true memory cells, hence, their characteristics are effectively the same as the real cells (independent of process variations). An example of dummy cells is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,959,781.
As will be seen, the present invention employs models of actual circuit elements to provide delays in a timing circuit. The output of one model is used in some cases to activate another model, for example, a word line model initiates reading in a cell read model.

Timing circuit for memory employing reset function


An embodiment provides a traffic information generating method for generating traffic information about a road on which a vehicle travels. A vehicle speed is detected by a vehicle speed sensor at predetermined distance or time intervals. By referring to a prescribed speed, a prescribed distance, and a link determination distance, a congestion degree associated with the vehicle speed is detected.

Vehicle information communication systems (VICS) and probe car information systems are known in which information about vehicle speeds, time and the like is gathered and traffic information is generated. In a probe car information system, information about speeds at which a vehicle has actually run on a road and its position is collected to generate traffic information indicating congestions or the like (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2003-281674, for example; hereafter referred to as Patent Document 1).
In the probe car information system discussed in Patent Document 1, an average speed and chronological changes in the position of a vehicle is calculated based on vehicle information relating to the position of the vehicle and the corresponding time, thereby generating congestion information. Further, the vehicle information is divided at predetermined time intervals into transport groups that are partially overlapped. When the average speed in a particular transport group is within a predetermined speed range, the length of the transport group is calculated in terms of a congestion length or average speed.
The above publication states that in this way, factors unrelated to a congestion, such as turns or lane changes made by a vehicle running ahead of a vehicle of interest, temporary vehicle stops necessitated by jaywalking pedestrians, or a temporary acceleration following such temporary stops, can be removed, so that an accurate congestion length can be determined.
However, in the probe car information system of Patent Document 1, the traffic signal waiting time is not subtracted from the transit time between predetermined points, such as intersections. As a result, the average speed is influenced by the stops required by the traffic signals, thus making it difficult to generate highly accurate congestion information.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a traffic information generating method, a traffic information generating apparatus, a display, a navigation system, and an electronic control unit, whereby accurate traffic information can be generated by removing the influence or speed drops due to factors other than a congestion, such as the stops made at the traffic signals.

Traffic information generating method, traffic information generating apparatus, display, navigation system, and electronic control unit


The presently-disclosed subject matter relates to compositions of dual layer encapsulated cells, dual layer encapsulated stem cells. The presently-disclosed subject matter further relates to methods for improving retention of cells in vivo at a site of injury.

Ischemic heart disease, often caused by acute myocardial infarction (AMI), is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the developed world [1]. While modern cardiology has achieved significant strides in revascularization and medical management, a significant portion of AMI patients progress to develop ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) and heart failure (HF) [2]. Bone marrow derived stem cells (BMSCs) are an attractive therapeutic target for cardiac regeneration and have been extensively investigated in animal experiments and human translational studies. However, low cell engraftment after transplantation has limited the cardiac function recovery for BMSC therapy [3]. Indeed, only a small fraction of transplanted cells remain at the injury site 24 h after injection into the heart wall [4]. Recent clinical studies [5] and meta-analyses [6] indicate the benefit of BMSC therapy is directly correlated with the quantity of cells injected, where the injection of more cells provides greater functional recovery. Clinically, the number of harvested BMSCs is limited, and larger harvest procedures are hazardous given the high-risk population in question. Additionally, ex vivo expansion to expand stem cells for further clinical use carries the risk of infection of cell phenotype changes. Therefore, efforts directed towards enhanced cell retention after transplantation are desperately needed.
Biomaterial based cardiac tissue engineering has been widely used in animal and human studies [7-9]. These studies have addressed two major limitations of current cardiac regenerative therapies, namely cytokine release to enhance the therapeutic potential of stem cells and providing mechanical support (scaffolding) to the damaged muscle through biocompatible grafts. Strategies aimed at the local sustained delivery of recombinant SDF-1 (rSDF-1) through its integration in cross-linked hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogels resulted in enhanced bone marrow cell engraftment in the heart [10]. Furthermore, the effect of HA impregnated with an engineered SDF-1 mimetic led to significant reduction in cardiac remodeling and fibrosis at 4 weeks after AMI [11]. Other studies have focused on the delivery of other cytokines such as VEGF in cell based coatings including encapsulated mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) using collagen and alginate polyelectrolytes [12]. Additionally, the use of biocompatible scaffolds to mitigate post-AMI adverse cardiac remodeling has demonstrated safety and therapeutic success in animal and early pre-clinical studies. Scaffolding material are either natural or synthetic [13], and in early studies natural materials appear to be more biodegradable, biocompatible, and have an advantage in recreating the native cardiac microenvironment [14]. In a previous study, Russell et al showed an increased cell binding to bone fragments (in vitro), when the cell membranes were modified with a bisphosphonate-containing polymer [15]. While these strategies have achieved success in proof of concept studies, they do not address the poor retention of stem cells after transplantation.
In the present invention, an adhesive biocompatible coating was used on the exterior of BM cells (BMCs) to improve the retention of BMCs in the heart. These efforts build upon earlier successes in generating biosynthetic polymer coating on living cells. These coatings were designed using polyethylene glycol (PEG) based polymers to completely coat cells for purification purposes [16]. PEG based coatings allow essential nutrient transport thus preserving cell viability [17]. Gelatin based cell coatings are demonstrated that are safe, biodegradable, and enhances cell retention in the ischemic myocardium without significantly impairing cell metabolism or survival.

Increased cell retention in diseased site when cells encapsulated in gelatin methacrylate and polyethylene glycol diacrylate hydrogels

University of Kentucky Research Foundation


A centrifugal-pendulum vibration absorbing device, including a member attached coaxially with a rotary element; and mass bodies swingably coupled to the support member and disposed adjacent to each other in a circumferential direction. The mass bodies are configured such that when a first mass body, which is one of two mass bodies disposed adjacent to each other, and a second mass body, which is the other of the two mass bodies, move with respect to the support member so as to approach each other, the first mass body and the second mass body overlap each other as seen from an axial direction of the rotary element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a centrifugal-pendulum vibration absorbing device including a support member attached coaxially with a rotary element and a plurality of mass bodies swingably coupled to the support member and disposed adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, there has been known a centrifugal-pendulum vibration absorbing device including a support member attached coaxially with a turbine runner of a fluid transmission device and a plurality of pendulum masses (mass bodies) each coupled to the support member via a support roller so as to be swingable with respect to the support member (see German Patent Application Publication No. 102006028556, for example). In the centrifugal-pendulum vibration absorbing device, the plurality of pendulum masses swing in the same direction with respect to the support member along with rotation of the support member to damp vibration transferred to the support member. The pendulum masses of the centrifugal-pendulum vibration absorbing device are each formed by coupling weights disposed on the front side and the back side of the flange-like support member to each other using the support roller. There also has been known a centrifugal-pendulum vibration absorbing device including pendulum masses each formed by weights swingably coupled to a flange-like support member via a plurality of arm members (see International Patent Application Publication No. 2010/066665, for example).

Centrifugal-pendulum vibration absorbing device


A DC/DC converter in which the DC output set voltage can be raised includes a switching transistor arranged to input an external power supply voltage, a smoothing circuit, a switching control circuit to which the internal power supply voltage is supplied and arranged to control the switching transistor, a comparison circuit arranged to compare the DC output voltage with a first reference voltage and to output a selecting signal, first and second linear transistors arranged to input the external power supply voltage or DC output voltage in accordance with the selecting signal, and to output the voltage according to the internal power supply control voltage as the internal power supply voltage, and an error amplification circuit arranged to input the internal power supply voltage, compare the internal power supply voltage with the second reference voltage, amplify the error thereof, and output the internal power supply control voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a DC/DC converter for dropping an external power supply voltage to be input by turning a switching transistor ON/OFF so as to acquire a predetermined DC output voltage.
2. Description of the Related Art
One type of a DC/DC converter uses a method of installing a switching transistor and dropping an external power supply voltage by turning the switching transistor ON/OFF so as to output a predetermined DC voltage. This switching type DC/DC converter has been widely used since it is compact and is highly efficient (e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H7-336999, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-332222). Generally, for a switching type DC/DC converter, a linear regulator for outputting an internal power supply voltage, with which normal operation of a switching control circuit for controlling the switching transistor is guaranteed, is used (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,132).
FIG. 2 shows an example of a conventional DC/DC converter. In this DC/DC converter 101, the switching transistor 111 turns ON/OFF according to the switching control signal which is output by the switching control circuit 113, so that the external power supply voltage VIN to be input is dropped through the subsequent smoothing circuit 112, and DC output voltage VOUT is output from the DC output terminal OUT. The switching control circuit 113 feeds back and inputs the DC output voltage VOUT, and controls the switching transistor 111 based on this input. The external power supply voltage VIN is input to the linear regulator 116, and in the ON status (unless the later mentioned comparison circuit 114 changes the status to OFF), the linear regulator 116 supplies a constant DC voltage to the switching control circuit 113 as the internal power supply voltage VDD. The comparison circuit 114 compares the DC output voltage VOUT with the reference voltage VREF, and turns the switch 115 OFF and turns the linear regulator 1160N if the DC output voltage VOUT is lower than the reference voltage VREF. If the DC output voltage VOUT is higher than the reference voltage VREF, the comparison circuit 114 turns the switch 1150N and turns the linear regulator 116 OFF.
When this DC/DC converter 101 is started up at the rise of the external power supply voltage VIN, the internal power supply voltage VDD is supplied from the linear regulator 116 since the linear regulator 116 is ON. When the DC output voltage VOUT rises and becomes higher than the reference voltage VREF, the switch 115 turns ON and the linear regulator 116 turns OFF by the output of the comparison circuit 114. Then the DC output voltage VOUT is supplied as the internal power supply voltage VDD. Also, the DC output voltage VOUT rises up to the DC output set voltage and stabilizes, that is, it enters normal operation status.
If the total current flowing through the switching control circuit 113 is Is (e.g., about 10 mA), and if the linear regulator 116 is in ON status (at startup), the power consumed by the linear regulator 116 and the switching control circuit 113 is VIN×Is (e.g., about 200 mW if VIN is about 20V). If the linear regulator 116 is in OFF status (during normal operation), the power consumed by the linear regulator 116 is 0, and the power consumed by the switching control circuit 113 is VOUT×Is (e.g., about 55 mW if VOUT is about 5.5V). The DC output voltage VOUT is lower than the external power supply voltage VIN, so the power consumption during normal operation is decreased.
However in this DC/DC converter 101, where the DC output set voltage is relatively high (e.g., about 7V), this voltage is applied to the switching control circuit 113 as the internal power supply voltage VDD during normal operation. If the switching control circuit 113 is integrated in a semiconductor integrated circuit, and if the semiconductor integrated circuit is manufactured in an ordinary fabrication process, that is a fabrication process with a low voltage-resistance, the power supply voltage that can be applied thereto is low (e.g., about 5.5V), which is even lower if a fine process is used. Therefore, the DC output set voltage must be low to fabricate a semiconductor integrated circuit using an ordinary fabrication process. In order to set the DC output set voltage relatively high, a semiconductor integrated circuit integrating a switching control circuit 113 with many elements must be fabricated using a process with a high voltage-resistance, but manufacturing cost increases since the chip size and process cost increase.

DC/DC converter having an internal power supply


A cover for an ironing board has a sheet and a stretchable pad. The sheet has a front nose, a back and an underside and is shaped to cover the ironing board. This sheet has a marginal draw string for marginally securing the sheet to the ironing board. The stretchable pad has a shape complimenting the sheet. This pad is tacked to the underside of the sheet at a pair of spaced locations at the front nose and the back to partially allow the pad to slide relative to the sheet. Thus the pad can settle wrinkle-free on the ironing board with a degree of independence from the cover, and without a full barrier between the sheet and the pad.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to ironing board covers, and in particular, to covers having a pad underlying a sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97-1.99.
Known ironing board covers employ a heat resistant fabric matching the shape of the ironing board. The sheet is sufficiently oversized to allow its margins to fold around and under the board. A draw string on the margin of the cover can be drawn to secure the cover to the board. In some embodiments, the cover has a foam pad underneath the sheet.
When a garment is being ironed it is desirable to have steam pass freely through the garment and the cover on the ironing board and into the underlying pad. This free passage promotes generous circulation of steam, which facilitates ironing.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,603 a foam pad is adhesively secured to the underside of a fabric cover for an ironing board. The foam is glued essentially along the entire interface between the cover sheet and the pad. A disadvantage with this cover is the fact that a glue barrier exists between the pad and the top sheet, which impedes the circulation of steam.
Another disadvantage with this known ironing board cover is the fact that the joint between the top sheet and the foam pad must be set precisely so that wrinkles are not fixed in either the pad or the upper sheet. Also, the extensive adhesive layer makes the cover stiff. Consequently, if the product is folded for shipment, creases form that are not easily removed when the product is unfolded and installed on an ironing board.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved ironing board cover that lies wrinkle-free and does not have a barrier to prevent steam circulation through the garment and into the cover.

Pad and sheet tacking in ironing board cover


The present disclosure relates generally to bacterial delivery vehicles for use in efficient transfer of a desired payload into a target bacterial cell. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to bacterial delivery vehicles with desired host ranges based on the presence of a chimeric receptor binding protein (RBP) composed of a fusion between the N-terminal region of a RBP derived from a lambda-like bacteriophage and the C-terminal region of a different RBP.

Bacteriophages are parasites that infect and multiply in bacteria. In general, the infection process can be divided in several stages: (i) adsorption corresponding to recognition and binding to the bacterial cell; (ii) injection of the DNA genome into the bacterial cell cytoplasm; (iii) production of a set of viral proteins that can lead to insertion in the host target genome (lysogenic phages) or to the production of infective particles (lytic phages) and (iv) release of mature virions from the infected cell, usually by controlled lysis [1].
Being the first step necessary for a successful infection, recognition and binding to the target cell is an essential process in the bacteriophage life cycle. Bacteriophages can in some cases recognize several strains of the same species, having a "broad host range", but very commonly are able to recognize a specific antigen present only on some strains of the same species [2]. It is thus not surprising that this step of the infection process is central in the competition between bacteriophage and bacteria for successful infection.
As a general mechanism, a bacteriophage encodes two main sets of proteins that are involved in the recognition process. The first set is able to attach to the bacteriophage's primary receptor on the cell surface, an event that triggers DNA ejection into the cytoplasm and is usually viewed as an "irreversible" binding process [3]. Different bacteriophage genera differ in the organization of this set of proteins, and hence the naming can be different. In some Siphovirus, for example, they are called the "central tail fiber" or "tail tip", which binds irreversibly to the LamB receptor in Escherichia coli. In the siphoviridae lambda, the "central tail fiber" or "tail tip" is composed of the protein gpJ [4]. In some other Siphovirus, like T5, a protein located at the very tip of the tail mediates this process. In the case of T5, a protein called pb5 recognizes the FhuA receptor [5]. This type of protein can be found in many other bacteriophages. In Myoviruses, like T4, the irreversible binding to the primary receptor or to the cell surface in general is mediated by the "short tail fibers", which are also located at the end of the tail tube [5].
The second set of proteins in the bacteriophage (herein referred to as "receptor binding proteins") encodes recognition and binding activities to the so-called "secondary receptor" on the bacterium. This secondary receptor allows for transient binding of the phage particle on the cell surface in order to scan the surface and position the first set of proteins in contact with the primary receptor. Since this binding is reversible, it allows the phage to "walk" on the cell surface until a primary receptor is found and the infection process starts. These protein complexes are sometimes referred to as "L-shape fibers", such as in T5, "side tail fibers" such as in lambda, "long tail fibers" as in T4, or tail spikes such as in phage P22 [5]-[8]. For some phages, the presence of this second set of proteins is necessary for the infection process to occur, such as T4 [5]. In some other phages, like lambda, this second set of proteins is not strictly necessary for the infection process to happen, but it may allow for a more efficient binding to the target cell [7].
Since the adsorption process is strictly necessary for a successful infection to happen, bacteria can develop multiple ways to avoid being recognized by a bacteriophage. For example, they can mutate the primary or secondary receptor to which the bacteriophage binds; they can mask this receptor by attaching proteins to it (receptor masking); or they can grow physical barriers around them in the form of bacterial capsules, thus blocking any access to the cell surface [9]. Bacteria can produce many different types of extracellular polymeric capsules [10]. In turn, bacteriophages have evolved different strategies to bypass these defense mechanisms. For instance, mutating the tail tip proteins allows them to use a different receptor [11]. However, the presence of a polymeric capsule around the bacterium requires a different approach, as it blocks all contact to any receptors on the cell surface. In these cases, bacteriophages have evolved specific proteins that can enzymatically degrade this capsule to gain access to the cells. These depolymerase activities are encoded in protein complexes that are distinct to the primary receptor recognition machinery, in the form of side tail fibers, long tail fibers or tailspikes [12], [13], [14].
The concept of a bacteriophage's host range needs to be redefined when only the adsorption and injection processes are taken into account. Since all incompatibilities or defense mechanisms related to the phage replication cycle are left out of the picture, the "adsorption host range" of a given phage is usually larger than the "classical host range" in which the infectious cycle leads to newly produced mature virions. The concept of host range becomes even more different to the classical definition when packaged phagemids based on a given bacteriophage capsid is used. Packaged phagemids do not contain the information necessary to replicate the viral particles, because they do not package their cognate viral genome. Thus, the host range of a packaged phagemid tends to be larger than that of the parental bacteriophage it derives from. Therefore, for development of novel bacterial delivery vehicles, designed for the efficient delivery of exogenous DNA payload into target strains, it is of utmost importance to be able to engineer delivery vehicles with desired host ranges as well as the ability to bypass bacterial mechanisms that can lead to unsuccessful binding of the packaged phagemid to the bacterial cell surface.

Chimeric receptor binding proteins for use in bacterial delivery vehicles


An electrically-erasable, programmable ROM cell, or an EEPROM cell, is constructed using an enhancement transistor merged with a floating-gate transistor, where the floating-gate transistor has a small tunnel window, in a contact-free cell layout, enhancing the ease of manufacture and reducing cell size. The bitlines and source/drain regions are buried beneath relatively thick silicon oxide, which allows a favorable ratio of control gate to floating gate capacitance. Programming and erasing are provided by the tunnel window are near or above the channel side of the source. The window has a thinner dielectric than the remainder of the floating gate, to allow Fowler-Nordheim tunneling. By using dedicated drain or ground lines, rather than a virtual-ground layout, and by using thick oxide for isolation between bitlines, the floating gate can extend onto adjacent bitlines and isolation area, resulting in a favorable coupling ratio. Isolation between wordlines is also by thick thermal oxide in a preferred embodiment, further improving the coupling ratio. Bitline and wordline spacing may be selected for optimum pitch or aspect ratio. Bitline to substrate capacitance is minimized.

This invention relates to semiconductor memory devices, and more particularly to an electrically-erasable, electrically-programmable ROM (read-only memory) of the floating-gate type, and to a method for making such a device.
EPROMs, or electrically-programmable ROMs, are field-effect devices with a floating-gate structure. An EPROM floating gate is programmed by applying proper voltage to the source, drain and control gate of each cell, causing high current through the source-drain path and charging of the floating gate by hot electrons. The EPROM type of device is erased by ultraviolet light, which requires a device package having a quartz window above the semiconductor chip. Packages of this type are expensive in comparison with the plastic packages ordinarily used for other memory devices such as DRAMs (dynamic-random-access-memories). For this reason, EPROMs are generally more expensive than plastic-packaged devices. EPROM devices of this type, and methods of manufacture, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,984,822; 4,142,926; 4,258,466; 4,376,947; 4,326,331; 4,313,362; or 4,373,248; for example. Of particular interest to this invention is U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,024, issued June 7, 1988 and filed Feb. 18, 1986 by John F. Schreck and assigned to Texas Instruments Incorporated, where an EPROM is shown made by a method similar to that of U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,466; but with an offset floating gate.
EEPROMs, or electrically-erasable, electrically-programmable ROMs, have been manufactured by various field-effect-type processes, usually requiring a much larger cell size than standard EPROMs and requiring more complex manufacturing processes. EEPROMs can be mounted in opaque plastic packages that reduce the packaging cost. Nevertheless, EEPROMs have been more expensive on a per-bit basis, in comparison with EPROMs, due to larger cell size and to more complex manufacturing processes.
Flash EEPROMS have the advantage of smaller cell size in comparison with standard EEPROMs because the cells are not erased individually. Instead, the array of cells is erased in bulk.
Currently available flash EEPROMs require two power supplies, one for programming and erasing and another for reading. Typically, a 12-volt power supply is used for programming and erasing and a 5-volt power supply is used during read operations. It is desirable, however, to employ a single relatively low-voltage supply for all of the programming, erasing and reading operations.
It is the object of this invention to provide an electrically programmable memory, or an electrically-erasable and electrically-programmable memory, that uses a single, relatively low voltage, external supply for both programming and erasing, allowing the memory device to be compatible with on-board or in-circuit programming where systems have a single external power supply. It is also an object to provide a non-volatile memory that can be packaged in a less expensive opaque plastic package. An additional object is to provide an electrically-programmable memory that does not require high current for programming. A further object is to provide an improved method of making an EEPROM or a flash EEPROM, as well as an improved cell for an EEPROM or a flash EEPROM, the manufactured cell using thick oxide insulation between wordlines and bitlines and providing improved coupling between control gate and floating gate for programming and erasing operations.

Electrically-erasable, electrically-programmable read-only memory


A frictionally reduced hull is provided for a marine vessel, the hull having a water line, a bow end and an aft end. The hull has a first opening below the water line and a second opening below the water line. The first opening is closer than the second opening to the bow end. A first conduit extends from the first opening to the second opening, whereby water flows into the conduit through the first opening and passes through the conduit from the first opening towards the second opening, exiting at the second opening. A second conduit extends into the first conduit between the first opening and the second opening, fluid being drawn into the first conduit via the second conduit and exiting at the second opening.

This invention relates to frictionally reduced hulls for marine craft as well as to hulls with decreased wave making resistance.
It has long been recognized that the performance of marine craft can be significantly improved by reducing the friction between the hull of the craft and the water. The prior art shows various ways of trying to introduce air at the interface between the hull and the body of water. For example, United States Patent Application Publication No. U.S. 2001/0022152 discloses the reduction of frictional resistance by drawing air through a conduit into a negative pressure region on the hull. However the system has certain disadvantages. It requires that the conduit project below the hull of the marine craft, thereby increasing friction. Also the air conduit must extend vertically upwards for a significant distance to a position above the water line. A mechanism must be provided to raise and lower the conduit. For example, the conduit may have to be 30 ft. long for a tanker and requires seals to prevent flooding.
The engine power or wind power required to drive a vessel through water is used approximately equally to overcome wave making resistance (50% being at the bow of the vessel) and viscous drag (50% being at the submerged hull/water interface). By comparison, superstructure resistance is minimal.
One recent method for reducing wave making resistance has been attaching a bulbous bow which increases the length of the water line, increasing buoyancy and altering the amplitude of the bow wave of the vessel.


A new cultivar of Polemonium plant, ‘Touch of Class’, characterized by its mound of white and green variegated leaves and its abundance of light violet flowers emerging in late spring to early summer.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Polemonium plant, botanically known as Polemonium reptans 'Touch of Class' and will be referred to hereinafter by its cultivar name, 'Touch of Class'. The new cultivar of Polemonium is a hardy herbaceous perennial grown for landscape use.
'Touch of Class' was discovered in April of 2005 as a naturally occurring branch mutation of Polemonium reptans 'Stairway to Heaven' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 15,187) in a container in his nursery in Kensington, Conn.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by in vitro propagation in June of 2005 in Kensington, Conn. Propagation by division and tissue culture has determined the characteristics to be stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


A frame memory of an image recording apparatus includes a first frame memory for storing image data having a large number of pixels per unit area and a small number of gradations per pixel and a second frame memory for storing image data having a small number of pixels per unit area and a large number of gradations per pixel. Image data representing a character, a graphic figure or similar items requiring a high resolution is stored in the first frame memory, while image data inputted through a scanner or similar device and having a large number of gradations is stored in the second frame memory. In recording an image, the image data stored in the first frame memory is converted to image data having a large number of gradations, and the image data stored in the second frame memory is converted to image data having a high resolution, and recording is effected on the basis of these image data. As a result, images are recorded with high image quality by using a small-capacity frame memory.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image recording method and an image recording apparatus for recording images by using the image recording method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image recording apparatus such as page printers are provided with a frame memory of a storage capacity capable of storing image data corresponding to a one-page portion, and record one page of an image at a time after temporarily storing in the frame memory image data inputted through a scanner or the like or image data transferred thereto from a host computer or the like. In recent years, there has been a demand for image recording apparatus such as page printers capable of recording high-quality images, and in the case of electrophotographic-type laser beam printers, for instance, printers capable of recording images with a high resolution of 400 dpi (dots per inch) or thereabouts are becoming a mainstay. In addition, there has been a growing demand for printers capable of recording color images and images having a large number of gradations (colors), and color page printers of a relatively small number of colors adopting a fusion-type heat transfer system have become available. Thus, there has been a demand for image recording apparatus capable of recording images with high image quality, i.e., with a high resolution and a large number of gradations.
However, in order to realize a page printer for recording images having a large number of gradations (colors) and a higher resolution, as in the case of silver halide photography or a sublimation-type heat transfer method, it is necessary to record images by using image data having a large number of gradations and a high resolution, so that the amount of image data becomes huge. As a result, it is necessary to mount on a printer body a large-capacity frame memory capable of storing the huge amount of image data, which entails the problem that the cost of the page printer becomes high. For instance, in order to store image data having full colors (16,770,000 colors) in terms of the number of gradations and a resolution of 400 dpi, the number of pixels required is 4583.times.3215 and the number of bits per pixel required is 24 (8 bits for cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y), respectively), so that a frame memory having a storage capacity of 44.2M bytes in total is required.
In addition, in a case where images are recorded by using image data transferred from a host computer, the host computer must also handle a huge amount of image data, so that a situation disadvantageously arises in that a major portion of the storage area of a storage device is occupied by the image data, or a high load is applied to the host computer to transfer the image data. With respect to binary image data such as characters and graphic figures, it is possible to overcome the above-mentioned problem by compressing the amount of data through compression processing by converting such binary image data to vector data. With respect to the raster data of a large number of gradations inputted through a scanner or the like, however, it is impossible to effectively compress the image data according to the present compression technique. In addition, it is also conceivable that a large load is applied to the host computer and the printer for compressing and restoring the image data.

Image recording apparatus having a small-capacity frame memory and an image recording method


The present invention is related to adhesive compositions and their applications. In particular, the adhesive compositions described herein comprise a two or more propylene-based copolymers with varying comonomer content.

Hot melt adhesives are thermoplastic materials that can be heated to a melt and then applied to various substrates. A bond is formed upon cooling and resolidification. Among the most widely used thermoplastic polymers in hot melt adhesives is ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer ("EVA") which is combined with a variety of plasticizers, tackifiers, antioxidants, waxes, and extenders for purposes of improving and/or controlling the viscosity, adhesive properties, shelf-life, stability and cost. Plasticizers have typically included such compounds as polybutenes and phthalates, tackifiers have typically included such compositions as rosin esters and hydrocarbon resins, antioxidants are frequently based upon the known hindered phenol compounds, and wax helps to reduce the melt viscosity in addition to reducing costs.
These hot melt adhesives have the drawback of often becoming brittle below the glass-transition temperature. Historically, ethylene based semi-crystalline polymers like polyethylene and ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) have been used in various adhesive applications; however, such polymers have many problems in their end use applications. For example, semi-crystalline linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) can be used in hot melt adhesive applications where the crystalline network formed on cooling makes a good adhesive free of tack, but the high level of crystallinity causes the material to be brittle. For this reason other monomers, such as vinyl acetate (VA), or alpha-olefins are often co-polymerized with ethylene to break up some of the crystallinity and soften the adhesive. Thus the use of hot melt adhesives based upon EVA is limited when low temperature conditions of use are desired.
Styrene block copolymers ("SBC") are independently known as an important class of base polymers for adhesive compositions, particularly for such uses as in hot melt pressure sensitive adhesives in tapes, label stock, diaper assembly and the like. However, because of higher melt viscosities than EVA based compositions, SBC based adhesive compositions are not typically used for packaging where high-speed application is economically desirable.
Certain adhesive composition blends of SBC and EVA are known, even though the base polymers are largely incompatible, in the sense of not being able to form stable blends largely free of separation or stratification and resulting nonuniformity of properties. U.S. Pat. No. 4,345,349 describes book-binding hot melt adhesive compositions prepared from 15-30 wt % SBC, 5-10 wt % EVA, 25-40 wt % rosin ester tackifier, 25-35 wt % wax diluent and 0.5-3 wt % of a stabilizer, e.g., hindered phenol compound. The weight ratio of SBC to the ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer is from 1.75/1 to 6/1. The low-temperature flexibility improves by increasing the amount of SBC in the composition and using a high softening point tackifier or high melting point wax shortens setting speed. Setting time, in order to be useful in the described bookbinding process, is to be within 30 seconds, and times within 26 seconds are exemplified. U.S. Pat. No. 4,394,915 describes a hot melt adhesive particularly suitable for poly(ethylene-terephthalate) (PET) bottle assemblies comprising typically 20-40 wt % SBC, 5-20 wt % EVA, 30-60 wt % tackifying resin, 10-30 wt % wax or oil, and 0.1-4 wt % stabilizer. The tackifying resin can be any of a number of available rosins or resins, including the aliphatic petroleum resins, but is preferably a polymerized tall oil rosin.
PCT/US97/04161 teaches the use of ethylene based copolymers as hot melt adhesive and these materials are useful in some applications, but suffer in that they have higher melt viscosity, poorer processing and poorer adhesion to some types of surfaces than propylene based copolymers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,762 addresses the industrial need for hot melt adhesives that have a low melt viscosity and high temperature resistance to shear. The solution in this document is the use of a predominantly branched styrene-isoprene-styrene (SIS) triblock copolymer with a tackifying resin that is compatible with the elastomeric isoprene block, e.g., diene-olefin copolymer resins, rosin esters or saturated petroleum resins, e.g., hydrogenated dicyclopentadiene resins such as ESCOREZ® 5000 series resins of the ExxonMobil Chemical Company.
The present invention is directed in general to providing improved adhesive compositions, and processes or methods for making such compositions.


This invention relates to a cable drive unit (1) for use with a free stall cleaning system (101). The cable drive unit (1) includes a base frame (3), a support frame (5) being displaceable with respect to the base frame (3) via a corresponding displacement assembly (7), and a drum (9) pivotably mountable about the support frame (5) and displaceable therewith for receiving a cable (11) to be wound about said drum (9). Also described is a kit for assembling a cable drive unit (1) and a free stall cleaning system (101). The invention further includes a method of winding a cable (11) of a free stall cleaning system (101) about a drum (9) via the present cable drive unit (1).

Free stall cleaner systems and corresponding cable drive units used therewith are well known in the art.
For example, free stall cleaners are typically used to clean the alleys of a free stall barn.
Indeed, taking cows as way of one possible example, as shown in FIG. 1, they are typically free to walk in the barn and manure originating from the cows settles in the alleys.
The main components of a conventional free stall cleaner are typically as follows:
a) scraper(s) (exemplified in FIG. 1);
b) at least one cable drive unit (exemplified in FIG. 2);
c) wheel(s) and/or pulley(s) (exemplified in FIG. 3); and
d) nylon rope(s) or steel cable(s) (exemplified in FIG. 4).
As can be understood from FIGS. 1-8, and FIG. 5 in particular, typically, the cable drive unit wraps a cable around the drum on one side and pulls one of the scrapers. At the same time, the cable on the other side of the drum unrolls. Thus, a scraper is typically going to the gutter to discharge manure while the other scraper returns to the drive unit to get back into position.
It is also known that cable alignment during operation of a drive unit is very important during winding of the cable about the drum. One does not want the cable wrapping over itself (i.e. one row or segment cable wrapping over another such row or segment) because the friction between cable segments causes wear prematurely to the cable.
A conventional system known in the art and intended to ensure proper alignment is a "cable guide", as exemplified in FIG. 6. Typically, the cable passes between two guides which are mounted on a worm shaft driven by a chain and sprockets. The pitch or feed rate is calculated carefully to ensure a good winding in order to avoid each cable wrap rubbing against each other.
Also known in the art are some of the disadvantages associated with such conventional cable drive units and/or chain guides. Namely, and unfortunately, the cable wears down when the cable guide applies pressure for alignment (that is, there is a considerable amount of rubbing between the chain guide and the cable when the chain guide is pushing against the cable to ensure that it is being wound about the drum at a desired location/row for each rotation of the drum, which could be several rotations in a given day, given that most cable drive units are operated 24/7, practically during the entire year, etc.).
In particular, the pressure between chain guide and cable is considerably increased when the scraper is at the end of its stroke (i.e. when there is a lot of tension in the cable, about 2500-3000 lbs, and when the cable is at a considerable "angle" with respect to the drum), as exemplified in FIG. 8. This friction between chain guide and cable results in the premature wear of the cable, along with corresponding drawbacks (considerable time and costs associated with inspection and/or replacement, loss of production due to the downtime of the barn when replacement is required, etc.). In some cases/barns, the cable needs to be replaced every four months, which is very undesirable, for the obvious reasons briefly discussed hereinabove.
As can be easily understood from FIG. 5, another substantial drawback associated with conventional cable drive units is that, when there is a long alley to be cleaned, a longer cable is required to be wound about the drum, which results in significant (i.e. large, wide, etc.) angles occurring at the end of the stroke due to the fact the presence of the corner wheel and the fact that a conventional cable drive unit has a fixed support frame and the cable must move forcefully with a cable guide along the entire and very long traversal span of the drum for winding thereabout. These significant angles that are required for ensuring normal operation of the cable drive unit, thus in turn require having to respect a certain minimal clearance (ex. 6 feet) in front of each side of the cable drive unit (i.e. between cable drive unit and corner wheel, as shown in FIG. 5), to prevent an overly exaggerated or harsh angle of the cable, which in turn prevents farmers for using conventional cable drive units in other various different free-stall-cleaning layouts, especially in areas with restricted space, etc.
Another substantial drawback associated with conventional cable drive units is that the chain guide is meant to be very close to the ground, as shown in FIG. 6, make it prone for accumulating unwanted debris and substances, such as manure from the barn for example, which is also undesirable for obvious reasons.
Hence, in light of the aforementioned, there is a need for an improved cable drive unit which would be able to overcome and/or remedy some of the aforementioned prior art problems. More particularly, it would be particularly useful to provide a cable drive unit that enables to eliminate friction with the cable while making sure to keep proper alignment of the cable during operation (ex. winding, pulling, etc.).


Methods are disclosed for fabricating transistor gate structures in which high-k dielectric layer roughness is reduced by formation of a nucleation promotion layer over the substrate or any intentional interface layers, and a high-k gate dielectric is formed over the nucleation promotion layer. The nucleation promotion layer has a thickness of 10 xc3x85 or less, such as a monolayer or a sub-monolayer, comprising a metal, a metal silicide, or a metal silicate, which promotes uniform chemical vapor deposition of high-k gate dielectric materials by increasing the density of nucleation sites on the substrate or intentional interface layer.

This invention relates generally to semiconductor devices and more particularly to methods for fabricating transistor gate structures and for reducing roughness in high-k gate dielectric layers in the manufacture of semiconductor devices.
Field effect transistors (FETs) are widely used in the electronics industry for switching, amplification, filtering, and other tasks related to both analog and digital electrical signals. Most common among these are metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs), wherein a metal or polysilicon gate contact is energized to create an electric field in a channel region of a semiconductor body, by which current is allowed to conduct between a source region and a drain region of the semiconductor body. The source and drain regions are typically formed by adding dopants to targeted regions on either side of the channel region in a semiconductor substrate. A gate dielectric or gate oxide, such as silicon dioxide (SiO2), is formed over the channel region, typically by thermal oxidation. A gate electrode or gate contact (e.g., metal or doped polysilicon) is then formed over the gate dielectric, and the gate dielectric and gate contact materials are patterned to form a gate structure overlying the channel region of the substrate.
The gate dielectric is an insulator material, which prevents large currents from flowing from the gate into the channel when a voltage is applied to the gate contact, while allowing such an applied gate voltage to set up an electric field in the channel region in a controllable manner. Continuing trends in semiconductor product manufacturing include reduction in electrical device feature sizes (scaling), as well as improvements in device performance in terms of device switching speed and power consumption. MOS transistor performance may be improved by reducing the distance between the source and the drain regions under the gate electrode of the device, known as the gate or channel length, and by reducing the thickness of the layer of gate oxide that is formed over the semiconductor surface.
However, there are electrical and physical limitations on the extent to which thickness of gate dielectrics formed of SiO2 can be reduced. For example, very thin SiO2 gate dielectrics are prone to large gate tunneling leakage currents resulting from direct tunneling through the thin gate oxide when a gate voltage is applied. In addition, there are conventional limitations on the ability to form such thin oxide films with uniform thickness. Furthermore, thin SiO2 gate dielectric layers provide a poor diffusion barrier to impurities, for example, and may allow high boron dopant penetration into the underlying channel region of the silicon during fabrication of the source/drain regions.
To address these shortcomings and limitations, recent efforts directed to MOS device scaling have focused on alternative dielectric materials which can be formed in a thicker layer than scaled SiO2, and yet which produce equivalent field effect performance. These materials generally have a dielectric constant xe2x80x9ckxe2x80x9d greater than that of SiO2, and are commonly referred to as high-k materials or high-k dielectrics. The relative performance of these high-k materials is often expressed as equivalent oxide thickness (EOT), because the alternative material layer may be thicker, while still providing the equivalent electrical effect of a much thinner layer of SiO2. Because the dielectric constant is higher, a thicker high-k dielectric layer can be deposited to avoid or mitigate tunneling leakage currents, while still achieving the required value of EOT that is comparable to the EOT value of a thinner layer of thermally grown SiO2. The reduction in transistor gate equivalent oxide thickness is sometimes referred to as EOT scaling.
High-k dielectrics are typically deposited directly over a silicon substrate to form a gate dielectric layer using chemical vapor deposition (CVD), atomic layer CVD(AL-CVD), plasma enhanced CVD (PECVD) or physical vapor deposition (PVD) processes such as sputtering. One shortcoming in forming high-k gate dielectric films using conventional CVD processes is rough surface morphology, leading to limitations of the ability to implement EOT scaling and degradation of device performance. In particular, roughness in the upper surface of the high-k dielectric layer in a transistor gate impedes EOT scaling efforts because the film appears electrically thicker in some locations and thinner in others. In this regard, thin portions of the resulting gate dielectric suffer from higher leakage currents than thicker portions, while the thicker portions have higher EOT than the thinner portions. As the high-k film thickness is scaled down, the upper surface roughness becomes more significant, whereby effective limitations arise in the ability to further scale the dielectric. Therefore, there is a need for improved gate fabrication techniques by which roughness in CVD deposited high-k dielectrics films may be reduced.
The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of one or more aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention, and is neither intended to identify key or critical elements of the invention, nor to delineate the scope thereof. Rather, the primary purpose of the summary is to present some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later. The invention relates to methods for fabricating transistor gate structures and high-k dielectric layers therefor using CVD deposition processes, while reducing or avoiding the undesirable effects of high-k dielectric roughness, by which improved device performance and scalability may be achieved.
In one aspect of the invention, methods are provided for fabricating transistor gate structures, in which a nucleation promotion layer is formed over a substrate or other semiconductor body. The nucleation promotion layer comprises a metal, metal silicide, or a metal silicate, which increases the density of nucleation sites on the substrate surface. During subsequent CVD deposition of high-k gate dielectric material, the high density of nucleation sites promotes uniform formation of high-k dielectric material on the substrate with reduced roughness at the top surface of the high-k layer. The nucleation promotion layer thus facilitates EOT scaling, gate leakage current reduction, and increased device reliability through improved uniformity in electrical and material properties.
The nucleation promotion layer may be formed using CVD, PVD or other deposition processes. In one possible implementation, the nucleation promotion layer and the high-k dielectric layer are both formed in-situ in a single chemical vapor deposition process chamber. The nucleation promotion layer, moreover, may be a very thin film, such as about 10 xc3x85 or less in thickness, preferably a monolayer or sub-monolayer. In addition, where the high-k dielectric layer is a compound material comprising a metal such as hafnium, the nucleation promotion layer may advantageously comprises the same metal, a silicide of the metal, or a silicate of the metal, so as to facilitate nucleation in the initial stages of high-k CVD deposition.
Another aspect of the invention provides methods for fabricating a transistor gate structure, which comprises forming an intentional interface layer over the semiconductor body, and forming a nucleation promotion layer over the intentional interface layer. Thereafter, a high-k dielectric layer is formed over the nucleation promotion layer using a chemical vapor deposition process. The nucleation promotion layer overlying the intentional interface layer provides an increased number of nucleation sites for deposition of high-k material on the intentional interface, thereby promoting uniform formation of high-k dielectric material without the degree of upper surface roughness found in conventional CVD processes. Yet another aspect of the invention provides methods for reducing high-k gate dielectric roughness in the fabrication of a transistor gate structure, comprising forming a nucleation promotion layer over a semiconductor body or an intentional interface layer, where the nucleation promotion layer comprising a metal, a metal silicide, or a metal silicate. The method further comprises forming a high-k dielectric layer over the nucleation promotion layer using a chemical vapor deposition process.
To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the following description and annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative aspects and implementations of the invention. These are indicative of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed. Other aspects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the drawings.

Methods for transistor gate fabrication and for reducing high-k gate dielectric roughness