A plant container or planter fabricated from a breathable, flexible, geo-textile, material such as recycled polyester needle-punched felt, which is self-supporting without an internal support structure. The geo-textile material is porous to both air and water, which allows air-born nutrients to pass to the roots and inhibit the ability of mold species to grow and harm the plant. The geo-textile material is configurable to various container designs that permit the non-conventional plant placement including the mounting of the plant containers on vertical surfaces, flat surfaces, and by suspension from ceilings and walls. The inclusion of a flexible, durable, impermeable, water-retaining recycled rubber, vinyl, or plastic bottom and/or backing liner in the construction of the plant containers/hangers allow the planters to be placed on indoor and outdoor surfaces such as wood, stucco, wallboard, carpet, and various other surfaces which might otherwise be damaged by moisture.

Plants are commonly grown in various types of containers including clay and plastic pots. Plant containers comprised of flexible materials that can be hung from vertical surfaces are also known. French patent application no. 2,680,626 discloses a vertical arrangement of plant containers with individual irrigation tubes wherein the containers are made of PVC sheeting. U.S. Pat. No. 4,149,339 discloses a hanging plant holder comprised of two superposed vinyl plastic sheets that are sealed together by welding along the side and lower edges to form an upper plant pocket and a lower water reservoir. United Kingdom patent application no. GB 2,070,403 discloses a hanging plant holder comprised of polyethylene sheets with plant pockets that each have an irrigation tube and a drainage hole. Unfortunately, the impermeability of plastic vinyl and polyethylene sheets to air, moisture and water make such containers damaging to long-term plant health, especially were the amount of soil held by the container is small.
Japanese Patent publication no. 2000-069854 discloses a hanging planter in the form of a bag which is comprised of a plastic sheet, a laminate or a woven or nonwoven fabric covered with a waterproofing agent, with air permeable and water retaining materials being preferred. The opposite sides of the planter bags may be sealed so as to create separate solid compartments and water channels with passages to allow water in the water channels to pass into soil in the soil compartment. Drain holes formed in the bottom of the bags permit excess water to drain from the bag.
US application publication no. 2005/0166451 to Stachnick discloses a hollow vessel having a wall comprised of a synthetic microporous sheet material selected from the group of flash-spun plexi-filamentary fabrics, spunbonded/meltdown/spunbonded ("SMS") fabrics and micro-porous film laminates, which are permeable to moisture while being substantially impermeable to water droplets. Hence, the micro-porous films transmit air, gas and vapor, but still act as a barrier to water.
In particular, the micro-porous material does not allow water to pass through it fast enough to drain. This means that when a plant is overwatered, the micro-porous material will retain water in, potentially overexposing the plant to moisture, which can cause rotting of the plant roots. However, over longer time periods, the lack of a water impermeable layer can eventually result in the microporous material allowing condensation to seep through the bottom and sidewalls of the container, since it is not absorbent enough to provide condensation protection. Accordingly, the microporous material is not desirable for indoor usage because water seepage on the bottom surface can damage the floors underneath.
As such, there is a need for a flexible plant container that does not leak water so that it can be used in both inside and outside spaces. There is a further need for a plant container that is made of a material that allows air and moisture to pass so that planting soil in the container can be maintained in an aerated condition that is beneficial to plant health. There is also a need for plant containers made of strong yet flexible materials that can be formed in a variety of shapes without specialized tools and the expenditure of significant energy.
The terms "plant container" and "planter," are used interchangeably. The terms "vertical plant hanger" and "vertically hanging planter" are also to be deemed equivalent in meaning as used in describing the invention.


An image displaying method of displaying an image selected from images stored in an image storing apparatus onto a display has the step of displaying the image selected from the images stored in the image storing apparatus into a partial area on the display based on a relative positional relation between the image storing apparatus and the display.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an image displaying method of arranging a plurality of images on a display, a program for executing the image displaying method, and a display which is used for displaying the images.
2. Related Background Art
Various methods of arranging a plurality of images photographed by a digital camera in a desired layout have been proposed. For example, a method whereby a layout according to the number of images to be displayed is selected from prepared layouts and image data, character data, and figure data are inserted and arranged has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H07-184032. Another method whereby a sheet describing a pattern which designates a layout and a sheet to designate image data to be arranged are read, thereby designating the layout, has also been disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-051576. However, according to those proposed methods, the layouts have been predetermined and the images cannot be freely arranged. Therefore, for example, in a layout including an overlap of the images, there is a case where important areas are overlapped depending on contents of the images to be displayed. There is, consequently, a case where those methods are not proper with the important areas hidden or the like. In the case where the user enjoys conversation according to the image contents while displaying such images onto a TV apparatus disposed in a living room or the like, there is needed a more interactive image layout in line with the image contents or the conversation that is taking place.
According to many user operating techniques regarding a figure layout for a personal computer, in the case of freely arranging image data, the operation to select the image and the operation to arrange the selected image are necessary. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a display for such operations. In the diagram, reference numeral 900 denotes a display of an application for freely arranging the image data and displaying; 901 an icon display section in which icons 902 of images serving as a plurality of candidates are displayed in order to select the image to be displayed; 903 a plurality of display images arranged on a display screen; and 904 a cursor indicator showing an operation target among the display images 903 or the icons 902.
When the user intends to select one of the images displayed in the icon display section 901 and arrange it in an arbitrary position on the display 900, first, in an icon selecting mode, he shifts a cursor to the icon display section 901 and moves the cursor onto the icon 902 of the image to be displayed among the icons 902. Subsequently, the deciding operation to select the icon 902 is executed, the operation mode is shifted to an icon moving mode, thereafter, the icon 902 with the cursor indicator 904 is moved to the arbitrary position, the layout deciding operation is executed, and a display state is decided. That is, the operation to move the cursor for two operations such as operation to select the image to be displayed and operation to decide the display position are, respectively, necessary.
Such an operating method can be relatively easily executed in the case of using an operating device such as a mouse pointer or executing the operation such as a pen-input which can directly designate an arbitrary position on a display screen and directly move the cursor as an operation target to the designated position.
In the case of a television receiver or an AV apparatus which is used in a living room at home, however, the apparatus is not in an environment with a space to operate the mouse pointer, pen input device, or the like in front of the display screen. Therefore, such operations are generally executed by operating a remote controller device which is held by a hand and operated with buttons.
If the user tries to execute the foregoing cursor moving operation by direction buttons provided on the remote controller, for example, in the case where the cursor indicator 904 shown in FIG. 12 is moved in the icon display section 901, it is moved by the distance corresponding to one icon by the single button operation. Therefore, many cursor moving operations are needed to select the icon 902 existing at a remote position in the icon display section 901. When the cursor is moved to an arbitrary position in the display 900, the button operation is necessary every moving step. Therefore, the operation to move the cursor to the remote position is troublesome and it is difficult to construct a preferable operating system in any of the above-mentioned cases.
As another known technique regarding the foregoing technique, there is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-051981.

Image displaying method, image displaying program, and display


A die having a semiconductor laser driven by a differential drive circuit is provided. The die provides a matched load to the drive circuit by also having a balancing load with an impedance, including both resistive and reactive components substantially identical to the load impedance of the semiconductor laser fabricated on the die. With the balancing load and semiconductor laser pair, the die prevents impedance-mismatch-induced drive problems that occur in high frequency operation, e.g., above about 1 GHz. The semiconductor laser may be a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL), for example, as are used in high bandwidth applications like Gigabit Ethernet and Fibre Channel Applications. Furthermore, the die can form an array of balancing and semiconductor laser pairs.

The present invention relates generally to semiconductor laser dies and, more particularly, to a die having a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (xe2x80x9cVCSELxe2x80x9d) and providing a balanced output to a drive circuit for optimally driving a VCSEL.
Semiconductor lasers are employed in numerous applications such as pumping solid state lasers, forming laser arrays, serving as sources for optical pick-up in compact disc (CD) players, and coupling to optical fibers in optical communications applications. Traditionally, the most common form of semiconductor laser has been the side or edge-emitting laser, though more recently VCSELs have been used in the above applications and indeed have become the dominant laser source in numerous data communications applications.
In contrast to the edge-emitting laser, in which the active region is positioned within a resonance cavity defined by two reflective layers positioned at opposing sides of the active region, VCSELs, in one form, have a resonance cavity defined by two reflective layers positioned at the top and bottom of the active region to produce a vertical emission, i.e., an emission normal to the junction plane of the active region. The junction plane may be a plane defined by the intersection of an AlGaAs layer and a GaAs layer in a multi-quantum well VCSEL structure, for example. In sum, edge-emitting lasers have a resonance cavity parallel to the junction plane and an emission through the side of the laser, while VCSELs have a resonance cavity orthogonal to the junction plane and emit through a surface of the laser.
Biasing a VCSEL is achieved through contact layers in the form of thin metal layers, where the contact layers, being photo-opaque (i.e., photon absorbing, over the emission spectrum of VCSELs), are positioned at specific locations on the top and bottom of a layered semiconductor structure surrounding the active region. For example, designs include a first metal contact layer over the entire bottom surface of the semiconductor substrate (i.e., between the semiconductor laser and a mounting substrate) and a second metal contact layer that is disposed either over half of the upper surface of the semiconductor substrate, only at a corner of the upper surface, or over all but an emission window of the top surface of the semiconductor laser. Still other designs use the bottom surface of the semiconductor laser as an emission surface with the mounting substrate upon which the VCSEL is mounted being photo-transparent.
In another form known in the art, a vertically-emitting laser is created from an edge-emitting semiconductor laser with an external cleaved surface angled at 45 degrees to the junction plane in the active region. Using materials with a high reflectivity over the principal wavelength(s) emitting from the lasing region, the cleaved surface reflects vertically the horizontally emitted light from the edge of the lasing region. This forms a surface-emitting laser, but without a vertical cavity. More recently, tunable VCSELs that use MEMs (micro-electro-mechanical-structures) to mechanically move the upper reflective region with respect to the active region have been shown. By lengthening or contracting the resonance cavity, one can tune the resonating wavelength of the coherent photonic emission for such VCSELs.
VCSELs have become the dominant laser source in demanding optical data communications systems like the Gigabit Ethernet standard provided for in the IEEE 802.3z protocol and the Fibre Channel standard provided in the ANSI X3.T11 protocol. VCSELs are preferred because they have high modulation bandwidths and can produce high bit transmission rates.
The Gigabit Ethernet standard is designed to improve upon the Ethernet (10 Mbps) and Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps) standards by providing a way to transmit and receive large amounts of data at data rates of 1 Gbps. The Gigabit Ethernet standard is intended for use in such demanding applications as scientific modeling, data warehousing, data mining, internet/extranet access, backing-up networks, and high-quality video conferencing. The Gigabit Ethernet standard achieves higher bandwidth while maintaining the simplicity and the relatively low cost of implementation and maintenance associated with the now-entrenched Ethernet standard. Providing higher bandwidth using low-cost components has made the Gigabit Ethernet standard attractive. With a large percentage of the installed network connections being Ethernet based, the Gigabit Ethernet standard has the advantage of backward compatibility with existing Ethernet backbones, as well. For example, all three Ethernet standards (Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, and Gigabit Ethernet) use the same IEEE 802.3 frame format. An additional feature of the IEEE 802.3z protocol is that it allows for full and half-duplex operation.
Fibre Channel, the ANSI X3.T11 protocol, is used in data storage and access systems in lieu of Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) systems. SCSI systems use an individual SCSI controller for each storage device (e.g., a hard drive) connected to a network. The separate parallel connections that result consume space and, as more storage devices are connected, decrease the I/O processing efficiency of the system, with SCSI applications typically having throughput speeds of less than 100 Mbps. The Fibre Channel standard allows serial I/O connection of numerous devices to a single input of a data processor or server and can achieve throughput in excess of 1 Gbps, and the serial nature of the Fibre Channel standard allows hot-plug connection of storage devices xe2x80x9con the flyxe2x80x9d, e.g., without taking the system offline. The Fibre Channel standard also allows access to devices many meters from the processor or server because of the use of optical fiber in place of the copper cable used in SCSI applications.
VCSELs, serving as optical signal sources for these and other optical fiber-based data communication applications, are preferred over edge-emitting lasers for numerous reasons, one reason being the beam shape of the output. The beam shape of the output of the edge-emitting lasers looks approximately like the cross-sectional shape of the active region: the beam shape is elliptical. In contrast, the beam shape of the output of a VCSEL is approximately circular, matching the circular shape of the emission window defined by the upper contact layer and the active region, which produces a uniform photon emission across this window. The output of a VCSEL also has a low numerical aperture. Both of these properties make fiber coupling (in particular single-mode fiber coupling) easier with a VCSEL than with an edge-emitting laser. With a circular beam shape, the VCSEL output can be focused into a single mode optical fiber, using a known ball lens, for example, thus reducing undesirable multimode optical-fiber losses such as intermodal dispersion.
Furthermore, VCSELs are characterized by high power conversion efficiency, even in low input power ranges, and provide wide small-signal modulation bandwidths, with modulation bandwidths in excess of 1 GHz. Both of these advantages demonstrate the ability of VCSELs to be used in Gigabit Ethernet and Fibre Channel applications at a relatively low drive current and, thus, with less power usage and less thermal loss.
Moreover with the vertical emission, VCSELs can be relatively easily packaged, often with a photodetector disposed at the back surface of the VCSEL (or within the substrate upon which the VCSEL is mounted) for power monitoring and feedback control. More recently, VCSELs have been packaged in a transceiver for use in duplex communication.
VCSEL active region layers are deposited by known techniques and are doped to form PN junctions, PIN junctions with an intrinsic layer disposed between the p-type and n-type layers, or double heterostructures. Furthermore, VCSELs have relatively fast transition times, e.g., the VCSEL output can be driven from a binary xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d state to a binary xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d state in a relatively short period of time. Therefore, VCSELs are able to achieve wide modulation bandwidths, with transmission rates of between 1 and 10 Gbps achievable. Moreover, VCSELs have been designed to operate at wavelengths desirable for optical fiber transmission, such as 850 nm with multimode optical-fibers and 1270-1600 nm with single mode optical-fibers.
Though VCSELs are commonly used, the demands for increased bandwidth and better signal integrity in gigabit data communication environments like Gigabit Ethernet and Fibre Channel suggest a need for more efficient, cleaner, and non-interfering VCSEL operation. Part of these demands result from the increased functionality of the gigabit communication environment, where, for example, the challenge of making smaller components, particularly smaller PCBs (printed circuit boards) in optical transceivers, has resulted in smaller, more confined opto-electronic components. These smaller configurations, however, increase the potential for crosstalk between fibers. Furthermore, electromagnetic interference (EMI) is also increased due to the short distances between the closely spaced opto-electronic drive circuit components.
In addition to these considerations, current drive circuits do not provide clean input signals to the VCSEL at high frequencies. Analyzing the electrical characteristics of a VCSEL shows that the impedance of the VCSEL, which is essentially resistive at lower drive frequencies, varies greatly at higher drive frequencies, especially above 1 GHz, i.e., the driving frequencies in Gigabit Ethernet and Fibre Channel applications. In fact, when analyzing the impedance of a VCSEL die chip and the accompanying packaging or housing of the VCSEL, for example a known TO packaging arrangement, the electrical parasitic effects from the package and from the die result in an even more pronounced frequency dependence of the impedance seen by the drive circuit. That is, VCSEL packaging adds to the non-linearity of VCSEL operation at high frequencies. In short, as an active circuit element, the VCSEL has an impedance that varies substantially with frequency and which in turn results in a non-linear load for the VCSEL drive circuit, particularly over high frequency operation.
To achieve relatively low drive currents, and thereby provide relatively low power demands for use in Ethernet switches, routers, hubs, end-user connections, etc., drive circuits for VCSELs, or any semiconductor laser for that matter, typically have a differential amplifier configuration that includes at least two transistors in a common emitter or common collector configuration. In the Ethernet or Fibre Channel environment, differential signaling is commonly used to reduce EMI and maintain electrical signal integrity. This design philosophy is continued inside the laser drive, where the input digital differential signal is converted to an analog laser drive current.
The cleanest electrical signal is typically obtained with a pair of transistors in a differential mode, operating either as common collector or common emitter.
The VCSEL is connected to the drive circuit in one of two driving modes. First, the VCSEL may be operated in a single-ended mode in which the laser is connected between the output of one of the transistors and ground. In this configuration, the output of the second transistor of the differential amplifier pair is matched to the output of the VCSEL through the use of a resistive element connected to the output of the second transistor. The resistive element resides either on the differential amplifier circuit or the PCB and approximates the low frequency impedance of the VCSEL.
Second, the VCSEL laser may be operated in a differential drive mode in which the VCSEL laser is connected between the output of both transistors. This mode has the advantage of lower voltage swings in response to abrupt changes in the signal current. Compared to the single-ended drive mode, the differential drive mode produces faster rise times, e.g., transitions from a xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d state to a xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d state, with less overshoot. However, differentially driving the VCSEL can be problematic because of the potential asymmetry introduced by injecting carriers into both the N and P side of the junction. As the speed of operation increases, this asymmetry leads to reduced optical performance.
The single-ended drive mode suffers from an impedance-matching problem resulting from the reactive component of the impedance of the VCSEL. With the impedance seen by the differential amplifier depending on numerous factors, e.g., shape of the VCSEL, drive current, shape and size of wire bond pads and wire leads, it is difficult to ensure that the optimum waveform is provided to the VCSEL or that the output from the VCSEL will be at the highest bit rate possible.
This difficulty has presented a problem to manufacturers who have, thus far, used resistors as xe2x80x9cmatchingxe2x80x9d loads in single ended drives. Resistors provide a relatively acceptable matching of the low-frequency impedance of the VCSEL and, being non-reactive circuit elements, do not contribute to the electrical parasitics in the drive circuit. A number of problems result from using these resistors, however.
One problem is that, though VCSELs are batch manufactured from cutting out individual lasers from a semiconductor wafer, individual VCSELs vary in impedance characteristics, both within a wafer and in wafers manufactured at different times. Matching a load in the differential amplifier circuit with the load impedance of a VCSEL requires individual testing of the impedance characteristics of the particular VCSEL being driven, a time-consuming and expensive endeavor.
Another problem exists in that VCSELs have a frequency dependent impedance. The reactive component of the VCSEL impedance varies greatly with the frequency of the driving current, such that at high frequency, e.g., GHz frequencies, the mismatch between the impedance of the VCSEL and the resistor impedance is substantial. For example, the inductance of a VCSEL is on the order of 1 nH, and the capacitance is on the order of 1 pF. The current injection efficiency into this load at speeds varying from 1-10 GHz can be decreased by more than 50%, resulting in poor optical performance. Distortion of the waveform to the VCSEL results from the mismatch, as the output waveform may show overshoot on the rising edge of the output (the xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d to xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d state transition) and a slower trailing-off of the falling edge (the xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d to xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d state transition) when compared to the waveform input to the drive circuit.
Therefore, it is desirable to have a more closely matched load for use with differential drive circuitry used in VCSELs, or any semiconductor laser, and it is desirable to create such a more closely matched load in a convenient and economical manner.
The following summary of the invention is provided to facilitate an understanding of some of the innovative features unique to the present invention, and is not intended to be a full description. A full appreciation of the various aspects of the invention can be gained by taking the entire specification, claims, drawings, and abstract as a whole.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a die having a semiconductor laser disposed thereon and having a balancing load disposed thereon is provided. The balancing load has an impedance, including both resistive and reactive components, that is matched to a load impedance of the semiconductor laser.
In some embodiments, the semiconductor laser is a VCSEL, and in some of such embodiments the balancing load is a VCSEL, whereby the output of the balancing load VCSEL is blocked so as not to interfere with a signal output from the semiconductor laser VCSEL.
In some embodiments, the die has a plurality of semiconductor lasers and a plurality of balancing loads, where for each semiconductor laser there is at least one balancing load having an impedance, including both resistive and reactive components, matched to the load impedance of that semiconductor laser.
In some embodiments, the impedance of the balancing load is substantially identical to the impedance of the semiconductor laser for frequencies on the order of about 1 GHz.
In some embodiments, the die is used in a laser package, which includes a header base and a housing having a housing window.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus comprising a drive circuit, a VCSEL coupled to the drive circuit, and a balancing load coupled to the drive circuit is provided. The balancing load has an impedance matched to an impedance of the VCSEL at frequencies on the order of about 1 GHz.
In some embodiments, the impedance of the VCSEL is substantially identical to the impedance of the balancing load at frequencies on the order of about 1 GHz.
In some embodiments, the drive circuit comprises a differential amplifier, where a first output stage comprises a first transistor connected to the VCSEL and a second output stage comprises a second transistor connected to the balancing load. In further embodiments, the first output stage includes a first reactive circuit block connected to the first transistor and the second output stage includes a second reactive circuit block connected to the second transistor. In even further embodiments, the first reactive circuit block and the second reactive circuit block have substantially the same impedance at frequencies on the order of about 1 GHz.
In some embodiments, the apparatus has a plurality of VCSELs coupled to the drive circuit and a plurality of balancing loads coupled to the drive circuit, forming a laser array where for each VCSEL there is at least one balancing load having an impedance, including both resistive and reactive components, matched to the load impedance of that VCSEL.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method of using a first VCSEL with a balanced load drive circuit having a first differential amplifier and a second differential amplifier is provided. The method includes (1) forming the first VCSEL on a die substrate, (2) forming a second VCSEL of substantially identical shape and size as the first VCSEL on the die substrate, (3) masking the emission window of the second VCSEL, and (4) connecting the drive circuit to the first VCSEL via the first differential amplifier and connecting the drive circuit to the second VCSEL via the second differential amplifier, so that a selectively balanced load is present at the output stages of the amplifiers.
In some embodiments the forming of the second VCSEL further comprises forming the second VCSEL so that an impedance of the second VCSEL is substantially identical to an impedance of said first VCSEL at frequencies on the order of about 1 GHz.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method of forming a laser array having a plurality of VCSELs disposed thereon is provided. The method includes (1) selectively forming half of the plurality of VCSELs to each have an emission window exposed for vertical output; (2) selectively forming the other half of the plurality VCSELs such that the outputs from these VCSELs are masked; and (3) pairing each one of the first half of the plurality VCSELs to a corresponding one of each one of the second half of the plurality of VCSELs to form first and second VCSEL pairs and connecting a drive circuit to each pair so that the drive circuit sees a balanced load when driving the corresponding VCSEL pair.
The novel features of the present invention will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon examination of the following detailed description of the invention or can be learned by practice of the present invention. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description of the invention and the specific examples presented, while indicating certain embodiments of the present invention, are provided for illustration purposes only because various changes and modifications within the scope of the invention will become apparent to those of skill in the art from the detailed description of the invention and claims that follow.

Apparatus and method providing a balancing load to a laser differential drive circuit


A hosted pre-compilation system is described herein that provides a way to enable ahead-of-time compilation for managed code running inside a host. The host triggers ahead-of-time compilation at application runtime, after any configuration settings are available. The host can choose which modules to compile, when to compile them, and where to persist the generated images. Upon detecting a module load, the host can trigger pre-compilation, provide the loader an existing pre-compiled image of the module, or do nothing. The runtime/platform validates the integrity of any host-supplied pre-compiled image and provides application programming interfaces (APIs) to inform the host when an image becomes invalid and fails to load. The platform also provides APIs to let the host trigger compilation of binaries at any time relevant to the host, and to generate the images either synchronously or in a background process.

Many applications and libraries are distributed in an intermediate format, such as MICROSOFT™ Intermediate Language (MSIL). These intermediate language binaries (also known as managed assemblies in the case of MICROSOFT™ .NET) are typically compiled dynamically at runtime in a virtual machine environment using a Just-in-Time (JIT) compiler. An alternative to dynamic compilation is pre-compilation via Native Generation (NGen). NGen generates machine code and runtime data structures from the intermediate language and persists them in files on disk. The images produced by NGen are called Native or NGen images. Unlike JIT-compiled code, code and data structures in NGen images can be shared across processes. For libraries and frameworks that are typically shared across multiple processes, NGen is extremely useful since it minimizes the working set of each managed process. NGen therefore reduces the overall memory utilization of the system. NGen is also very useful for minimizing start up time of client-side applications.
Several managed platforms/applications are using NGen. Unfortunately, however, it is quite difficult to use NGen in these current platforms. Since NGen images are created on the end-user machine, NGen commands are typically chained through the framework/application's installer. Typically, that involves writing a custom action (such as a MICROSOFT™ WINDOWS™ Installer action) that invokes a command-line tool (ngen.exe in the case of MICROSOFT™ .NET). Custom actions are not trivial to write. Moreover, NGen images may become invalidated for a variety of reasons (such as when the corresponding libraries/assemblies are serviced/updated), and need to be regenerated each time that happens by issuing explicit commands through the command line tool.
Contemporary browsers and other applications allow plug-ins, which in general comprise hosted software code that interacts with the hosting browser/application to provide additional functionality. One reason for using plug-ins is to increase security; the hosting browser limits the actions that the hosted code (which is generally untrusted) can perform. The Internet has become very dangerous, with malicious websites often attempting to cause a user to download and run harmful code that may damage the user's computer system or destroy the user's data. Thus, web browsers often include restrictions on the code that can run, and the plug-ins that can perform actions on the user's computer system. Plug-ins increase the size of the sandbox provided by the browser, because they allow more functionality on the web while decreasing the number of untrusted applications installed. One such plug-in is MICROSOFT™ SILVERLIGHT™, which provides a platform that allows application developers to create rich web applications hosted in the browser that typically include animation, vector graphics, and/or media (e.g., audio/video) content playback. Another example plug-in is ADOBE™ FLASH™.
Virtual execution environments typically make it possible for a host application (the host itself may be written in native or managed code) to customize various aspects of the environment in which the hosted managed code runs. For example, the host can specify settings related to security (to set up a sandbox), and loading dynamically linked libraries (DLLs) (e.g., to indicate where to load DLLs from). Ahead-of-time compilers like NGen typically do not have access to these settings since they are generated as part of running the host application. For example, these settings are not typically known at install time. Current solutions expect a developer to run the host application, record the settings, and then make that information available to the compiler. Often times, there is no supported way to provide this information, and even when there is, the process is manual and tedious. As a result, hosted managed code is typically not pre-compiled, causing performance and resource usage to suffer.


A wireless device that indicates multiple power classes to a network node, a network node that uses the indicated multiple power classes, and related methods of operation for the wireless device and the network node are disclosed. The disclosed embodiments aim at an increase flexibility in setting different power classes in different communication scenarios while reducing signalling overhead for capability signalling for the wireless device. This is achieved by using at least one set of power classes defining at least two power classes of the wireless device. Each set of power classes applies to a transmission band (A, B, C) supported by the wireless device and each power class in each set of power classes applies to a specific operative condition of the wireless device.

Generally a power class is used in relation to the operation of a wireless device of any type, e.g., user equipment used in wireless networks. A power class PC defines the maximum output power of the wireless device within a given channel bandwidth. The maximum output power is measured or estimated over a measurement period. The measurement period comprises one or more time resources. Examples of time resources are sub frame (1 ms), time slot, TTI, shortened TTI (sTTI), mini-slot, mini-subframe etc.
Further, the output power of the wireless device can be estimated or measured at the antenna connector of the wireless device, e.g., conducted output power, or it can be estimated or measured over the air, e.g., as over the air OTA output power. The OTA maximum output power can therefore be expressed in terms of total radiated power (TRP) and Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP).
Further, the maximum output power is interchangeably also called as maximum transmit power, nominal maximum output power, peak output power etc. While the maximum output power is associated with certain tolerance or accuracy level the power class of a wireless device is the maximum power of the wireless device specified without taking into account the tolerance.
Further, a wireless device may indicate the power class for each band and each band combination used by the wireless device during wireless communication.
Here, the wireless device capabilities may be different depending on the used band combination and hence there are some capability parameters for the wireless which need to be indicated per band combination to a radio access network of a wireless network.
Thus, depending on which band combination the wireless device is currently using the power class may be different for per band and per band combination used by the wireless device. For example, if the wireless device uses a band combination with contains multiple carriers the power class may be lower compared to the case in which a single carrier is used.
However, to indicate the power class per band per band combination may consume a lot of signaling overhead if the number of band combinations is high. As a result the upper limit of the size of the capability signaling may be exceeded and the wireless device may not send information about all the supported band combinations.
Further, when the power class depends on what features are enabled at the wireless device—e.g. depends on whether MIMO is enabled or not—the amount of signaling overhead may increase even more.


The present invention relates to the area of improved anti-IgE antibodies and antigen binding agents, and compositions thereof, which target IgE, for instance: for use in treating disorders caused by IgE (such as allergic responses, or certain autoimmune responses); and, in particular, disorders caused by the interaction of IgE with the FcεRI receptor. In particular, this invention relates to improved anti-IgE antibodies and antigen binding agents related to novel mutants of omalizumab (Xolair®). The improved anti-IgE antibodies and antigen binding agents of the invention may have improved affinity for IgE and/or an improved interaction with the Cε2 domain of IgE and/or an improved modified epitope on IgE (for instance further involving the Cε2 domain of IgE) and/or the ability to disassociate IgE from the FcεRI receptor for instance at pharmaceutically-relevant concentrations. In one aspect, improved or novel treatments for IgE mediated disorders are disclosed in which IgE is targeted (for instance free IgE and/or IgE complexed with the FcεRI receptor).

IgE is a member of the immunoglobulin family that mediates allergic responses such as asthma, food allergies, type 1 hypersensitivity and the familiar sinus inflammation suffered on a widespread basis. IgE is secreted by, and expressed on the surface of, B-cells. IgE synthesized by B-cells is anchored in the B-cell membrane by a transmembrane domain linked to the mature IgE sequence by a short membrane binding region. IgE also is bound to B-cells (and monocytes, eosinophils and platelets) through its Fc region to a low affinity IgE receptor (FcεRII). Upon exposure of a mammal to an allergen, B-cells are clonally amplified which synthesize IgE that binds the allergen. This IgE in turn is released into the circulation by the B-cells where it is bound by B-cells (through FcεRII) and by mast cells and basophils through the so-called high affinity receptor (FcεRI) found on the surface of the mast cells ad basophils. Such mast cells and basophils are thereby sensitized for allergen. The next exposure to the allergen cross-links the FcεRI on these cells and thus activate their release of histamine and other factors which are responsible for clinical hypersensitivity and anaphylaxis.
Omalizumab (Xolair®) is a recombinant DNA-derived humanized IgG1κ monoclonal antibody that selectively binds to human immunoglobulin E (IgE) [the Cε3 domain]. The antibody hamster ovary cell suspension culture in a nutrient medium containing the antibiotic gentamicin. Xolair® is a sterile, white, preservative-free, lyophilized powder contained in a single-use vial that is reconstituted with Sterile Water for Injection (SWFI), USP, (or, alternatively, as a liquid formulation in a sterile syringe) and administered as a subcutaneous (SC) injection [see EP602126 (and SPC/GB06/005 based thereon); WO93/04173; U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,958 (and the Xolair® PTE based on this patent); WO97/04807; WO97/04801; Presta et al. (1993) J. Immunol. 151:2623-2632].
Omalizumab is presently indicated for the treatment of moderate to severe persistent asthma in patients with a positive skin test or in vitro reactivity to a perennial aeroallergen and symptoms that are inadequately controlled by inhaled corticosteroids (from Xolair® Prescribing Information).
Problems exist with omalizumab in that: 1) it targets free IgE but does not (or does not efficiently) target the pathogenic species of the IgE/FcεRI complex at pharmaceutically-relevant doses; 2) possibly due to the pathogenic species of the IgE/FcεRI complex not being targeted, it takes "at least 12-16 weeks for Xolair treatment to show effectiveness" (Xolair® 150 mg solution—Summary of Product Characteristics 2014)—or indeed to establish whether Xolair® will work for a particular patient or whether a different treatment is necessitated; 3) it should not be for patients with high levels of IgE (for instance because the pathogenic species of the IgE/FcεRI complex is not targeted and does not dissipate with time given the high levels of free IgE in the patient); 4) "Type I local or systemic reactions, including anaphylaxis and anaphylactic shock, may occur when taking omalizumab" (Xolair® 150 mg solution—Summary of Product Characteristics 2014); 5) its affinity for IgE is not particular good (approximately 2 nM).
It is an object of the present invention to identify novel antibodies to ameliorate one or more of these problems.
A further object is to identify antibodies against novel epitopes (with an increased IgE Cε2 interaction compared with omalizumab), and/or antibodies based on novel mutants of omalizumab with improved affinity and/or improved ability to disassociate the IgE/FcεRI complex.
A still further object of the invention to identify new compounds, methods, and compositions for the treatment of disorders associated with IgE, in particular disorders associated with the complex of IgE/FcεRI, for instance allergic disorders.


The present invention discloses STI CMP polishing compositions, methods and systems that significantly reduce oxide trench dishing and improve over-polishing window stability in addition to provide high and tunable silicon oxide removal rates, low silicon nitride removal rates, and tunable high selectivity of SiO2:SiN through the use of an unique combination of ceria inorganic oxide particles, such as ceria coated silica particles as abrasives, and an oxide trench dishing reducing additive of poly(methacrylic acids), its derivatives, its salts, or combinations thereof.

This invention relates to Shallow Trench Isolation (STI) chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP) polishing compositions.
More specifically, the STI chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP) polishing compositions use ceria-coated composite particles, such as ceria-coated silica particles as abrasives and poly (methacrylic acid) (PMAA), its derivatives, or its salts with molecular weight ranged from 1,000 to 1,000,000; or combinations thereof as chemical additive for achieving low oxide trenching dishing for Shallow Trench Isolation (STI) process.
In the fabrication of microelectronics devices, an important step involved is polishing, especially surfaces for chemical-mechanical polishing for recovering a selected material and/or planarizing the structure.
For example, a SiN layer is deposited under a SiO2 layer to serve as a polish stop. The role of such polish stop is particularly important in Shallow Trench Isolation (STI) structures. Selectivity is characteristically expressed as the ratio of the oxide polish rate to the nitride polish rate. An example is an increased polishing selectivity rate of silicon dioxide (SiO2) as compared to silicon nitride (SiN).
In the global planarization of patterned STI structures, reducing oxide trench dishing is a key factor to be considered. The lower trench oxide loss will prevent electrical current leaking between adjacent transistors. Non-uniform trench oxide loss across die (within Die) will affect transistor performance and device fabrication yields. Severe trench oxide loss (high oxide trench dishing) will cause poor isolation of transistor resulting in device failure. Therefore, it is important to reduce trench oxide loss by reducing oxide trench dishing in STI CMP polishing compositions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,876,490 discloses the polishing compositions containing abrasive particles and exhibiting normal stress effects. The slurry further contains non-polishing particles resulting in reduced polishing rate at recesses, while the abrasive particles maintain high polish rates at elevations. This leads to improved planarization. More specifically, the slurry comprises cerium oxide particles and polymeric electrolyte, and can be used for Shallow Trench Isolation (STI) polishing applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,964,923 teaches the polishing compositions containing cerium oxide particles and polymeric electrolyte for Shallow Trench Isolation (STI) polishing applications. Polymeric electrolyte being used includes the salts of polyacrylic acid, similar as those in U.S. Pat. No. 5,876,490. Ceria, alumina, silica & zirconia are used as abrasives. Molecular weight for such listed polyelectrolyte is from 300 to 20,000, but in overall, <100,000.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,616,514 discloses a chemical mechanical polishing slurry for use in removing a first substance from a surface of an article in preference to silicon nitride by chemical mechanical polishing. The chemical mechanical polishing slurry according to the invention includes an abrasive, an aqueous medium, and an organic polyol that does not dissociate protons, said organic polyol including a compound having at least three hydroxyl groups that are not dissociable in the aqueous medium, or a polymer formed from at least one monomer having at least three hydroxyl groups that are not dissociable in the aqueous medium.
However, those prior disclosed Shallow Trench Isolation (STI) polishing compositions did not address the importance of oxide trench dishing reducing.
It should be readily apparent from the foregoing that there remains a need within the art for compositions, methods and systems of chemical mechanical polishing that can afford the reduced oxide trench dishing and improved over polishing window stability in a STI chemical and mechanical polishing (CMP) process, in addition to high removal rate of silicon dioxide as well as high selectivity for silicon dioxide to silicon nitride.

Low oxide trench dishing shallow trench isolation chemical mechanical planarization polishing


A method and system for padding an array of data on-the-fly in a direct memory access (DMA) controller. The method includes receiving the array of data in the DMA controller. The method also includes identifying edge groups of pixels at edges of the array of data and creating a padded region of data words along a periphery of the array of data. Each data word includes pixels of a corresponding edge group. The data words are then stored in a memory along with received array of data. Further, the method includes sending a request for padded data at a location in the memory, the padded data defining the array of data and the padded region of data words. Further, the method also includes translating the location of the padded data to addresses of one of, the data words and the array of data in the memory and retrieving the padded data at the addresses in the memory.

In video processing systems, padding is a process of extrapolating or extending pixel values around edges of a video frame. This helps in processing of a video frame beyond its picture boundary. Padded frame is required at the time of motion estimation (ME) and motion compensation (MC). Different video processing systems adopt different data flows to create padded frame and make them available for motion estimation or motion compensation. Typically a processor performs the horizontal padding before writing out frame into external memory and does vertical padding by memory copy of top line of the frame into external memory. This method is costly in terms of memory as well as performance. In few advanced systems, hardware accelerators that require extended pixels, perform padding locally on currently processed part of the video frame. Padding operation can also be applicable for frame filling, so that received frame width becomes multiple of width of processing unit of block, for example a macro block. In such cases, padding logic units would have to be instantiated in more than one place, resulting in more area. Such a method could also impact the processing cycles of the particular hardware accelerator. There is no flexibility to experiment with data flow without performance loss inside video processor. Hence, there is a need for a common padding unit that performs padding on the fly in a video processing system with reduced memory bandwidth, with reduced processing cycles and with minimal area. It is also desirable that the padding process be generic and flexible enough to allow experimentation with data flow to create padded frame and support feature similar to padding. It should also be extendible to support padding along with other data processing such as compression and decimation.

Method and system for padding in a video processing system


A hydraulic damper for use in a vehicle capable of adjusting a damping force in accordance with road conditions. The hydraulic damper includes a cylinder chamber divided into two chambers by a piston, a bypass passage formed in the piston for communicating the two chambers, a plurality of damping force generation valves adaped to generate the damping forces in the extension side and the contraction side strokes, and a shutter for controlling the flow passage area of the bypass passage. Rotation of the shutter permits selective switching of the damping force generation valves to provide various kinds of damping force characteristics as suitable for the road condition.

Various types of hydraulic dampers for use in automobiles or the like have been proposed, such as dampers capable of adjusting the damping force to match the condition of the road surface over which the automobile is running, in order to enhance the level of comfort and maneuverability of the automobile.
An example of this hydraulic damper of adjustable damping force type is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. SHO-62-27726.
According to this hydraulic damper, the cylinder is divided into two chambers by a piston, and the differential pressure generated by movement of the piston in the cylinder by extension and contraction of the piston rod causes a first damping force generation valve to be opened or closed so as to generate the damping forces in the extension and contraction strokes.
While a bypass passage in communication with the two chambers is provided in the piston rod and is branched through a pipe into two passage routes internally and externally of the pipe, a second damping force generation valve is provided in the passage route on the exterior of the pipe so as to generate the damping forces in the extension and contraction strokes. This passage route is designed to be selectively opened or closed by a shutter which can be operated from the outside to allow the damping force to be changed.
In the other passage route running through the pipe, orifices disposed in two stages and in communication with the two cylinder chambers are provided, and a desired orifice may be selected by operating the shutter. A check valve is provided between the orifices in the two stages, and the check valve causes the orifice of the lower stage only to communicate with the two chambers in the extension stroke so as to control the flow passage area of this passage route.
Opening and closing of the first mentioned one passage route and control of the flow passage area of the other passage route allows the damping force to be adjusted to different levels.
There are, however, two problems with regard to the hydraulic dampers of the type described above, as summarized below.
Firstly, since the check valve is inserted in the shutter, assembly of the check valve is not easy, resulting in an inefficient assembly operation in the manufacturing process.
Further, since adjustment of the damping force is executed only through the orifice, this adjustment can only be executed in the low speed range of the piston rod operating speed, so that the damping force cannot be changed in the high speed range of the piston rod. Consequently, it is difficult to adequately adjust the damping force to match the condition of the road surface over which the vehicle is running.
Another type of conventional adjustable damping force type hydraulic damper is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Public Disclosure No. SHO-61-190048.
In this hydraulic damper, a piston rod extends into the cylinder in coaxial relation with a piston slidably disposed in the cylinder and partitioning the interior of the cylinder into upper and lower chambers. On the end that is inserted into the cylinder is mounted a tubular member provided with a plurality of orifices which have different opening areas. A bypass passage is defined by a through bore formed in the piston rod and adapted to allow insertion of an operating rod for operating the shutter to selectively open and close the orifices. By operating this rod, the orifices can be selected as required to control the flow of the oil flowing through the bypass passage, thereby adjusting the damping force to be generated.
In the conventional hydraulic damper mentioned above, the bypass passage for adjustment of the damping force is defined between the inner circumference of the through bore of the piston rod and the outer circumference of the operating rod, resulting in the passage having a small area. Especially in a hydraulic damper with a piston rod having a relatively small diameter, it is impossible to make the area of the passage sufficiently large without sacrificing the strength of the piston rod to an unacceptable extent.
In these circumstances, the narrow passage causes the resistance to the oil flow to generate a large damping force. Hence, even if orifices are made relatively large in order to obtain a low damping force characteristic, the damping force cannot be suitable reduced because of the resistance of the passage, thereby making the desired adjustment of the damping force impossible. Especially in the case where a valve mechanism is provided in the bypass passage, it is desirable for the bypass passage to have a large area for oil flow in order that the valve mechanism may create no disturbance to the flow control.
The present invention has been proposed in consideration of the problems explained above with reference to the prior art and has as its object the provision of a hydraulic damper of the adjustable damping force type which offers a simpler assembly operation and is capable of adjusting damping forces not only in the low speed range of a piston rod but also in the high speed range thereof.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a hydraulic damper in which the oil passage for adjusting the damping force has a large area so that suitable adjustment of the damping force can be consistently accomplished.

Hydraulic damper of adjustable damping force type


A computer controlled electric motor with a driving shaft having a resilient cup type safe knob gripper fixedly attached to the distal end thereof for rotation therewith. A key pad for programing the computer memory with a plurality of different rotational sequences. Each sequence is associated with a combination of a different combination lock. Any of the lock opening rotational sequences stored in the computer memory can be addressed by the key pad. A storage battery provides operating and stand by power for the computer, memory and motor.

This invention is directed to a mechanical device for the opening of electromechanical rotating combination locks such as those commonly found on safes and locks, and particularly to a device of this nature which includes an electric motor that is controlled by a computer with a memory having a plurality of different selected rotational motor sequences are stored therein and addressed via a key pad for rotating the locking mechanism of a selected combination safe or lock for opening.
In a large number of government offices and private industries there is a requirement to lock up a plurality of classified documents and other items for national and private security purposes. The documents and items are generally stored in special file cabinets designed especially for that purpose which are secured with one or more rotational knob type combination locks. These documents and items must be kept in a locked cabinet or safe when not in actual use and those items that are being used must again be locked in a file cabinet or safe at the end of the users work shift.
It can be appreciated that it is a tremendous task for security personnel to open the required combination locks for use on a specific work shift for establishments which may have hundreds of such locks that require opening at least once or more daily. Many man hours are lost in this task.
Until the emergence of this invention there has not been a satisfactory apparatus for opening such combination locks other than manual manipulation of the combination sequence on each lock in turn. A semi-automatic mechanism for opening such combination locks would be widely accepted for use by establishments having a large number of combination locks which are opened at least once a day.

Mechanical rotating combination lock opening device


The present disclosure provides an item recommendation method and system based on a user intention in a conversation session. In this method, a current conversation session is encoded by use of items of prior time sequence and the last item so as to generate an accurate conversation session representation which is then used to perform initial item prediction as a user intention. Afterwards, an intention-guided neighbor detector is used to locate an accurate neighbor conversation session. Finally, the current conversation session and the neighbor conversation session representations are combined adaptively by a gated mixed layer to generate the final item recommendation, so as to effectively improve the accuracy of item recommendation.

The current item recommendations based on conversation session contents mainly refer to item recommendations made based on anonymous user conversation sessions. In order to improve the accuracy of performing item recommendations based on anonymous conversation sessions, the researches already perform item recommendations using collaborative information from a neighbor conversation session of the current conversation session.
However, in the prior art, researches usually directly select some conversation sessions closer to the current conversation session as candidate neighbor conversation sessions. In this selection process, the neighbor conversation sessions are collected and identified according to only a cosine similarity without considering the user intention of the conversation sessions. Thus, the most relevant neighbor cannot be identified to obtain the effective neighbor representation, thereby affecting the accuracy of item recommendation. In addition, in the existing item recommendation model, no modeling is performed for time sequence signals and latest interests of the current conversation session at the same time, that is, item recommendation is not performed according to a long-term preference and a current interest of the user in the current conversation session, resulting in low recommendation accuracy. Further, the existing recommendation method cannot perform modeling for the time sequence signals and the latest interests in the current conversation session at the same time, which is not helpful to the accuracy of item recommendation.

Item recommendation method based on user intention in a conversation session

National University of Defense Technology


In an example, a tool organizer module includes a base including an opening formed at a first side of the base and a feature formed at a second side of the base, to receive a portion of a tool and a magnet disposed in the opening of the base, wherein the feature includes a recession in the second side of the base, and wherein the magnet is disposed to impart, on the second side of the base, a magnetic retention force at least substantially centered about the feature to retain the tool to the second side of the base in the feature for any orientation of the portable tool organizer module and to impart, on the first side of the base, a magnetic retention force to retain the base to a selected surface.

Tools are typically housed in a toolbox drawer or tray which may include partitions to define subsections in which tools such as screwdrivers, socket wrenches, sockets and the like may be arranged. When selected tools are required for a task, the entire toolbox is typically moved to the worksite.
The figures are not to scale. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying written description to refer to the same or like parts. As used in this patent, stating that any part is in any way positioned on (e.g., positioned on, located on, disposed on, etc.) another part, indicates that the referenced part is either in contact with the other part, or that the referenced part is above the other part with one or more intermediate part(s) located therebetween. Stating that any part is in contact with another part means that there is no intermediate part between the two parts.

Tool organizer and tool organizer module


A high manganese content deformed reinforcing bar having an austenite single phase microstructure has excellent bending workability. A deformed reinforcing bar includes a chemical composition containing, in mass %, C: 0.7% or more and 1.2% or less, Si: 1.0% or less, Mn: 9% or more and 15% or less, Cr: 1.0% or less, P: 0.03% or less, and S: 0.05% or less, the balance consisting of Fe and inevitable impurities; and a microstructure comprising an austenite single phase. The ratio of the difference between the maximum and minimum hardness at a periphery of a cross-section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction with respect to a central average hardness is 15% or less. Two or more ribs extend in the longitudinal direction at equal intervals in a cross-sectional circumferential direction. The ratio of the difference between the maximum and minimum width of the ribs to the minimum width is 50% or less.

Since the magnetic permeability of high manganese content deformed reinforcing bars that have an austenite microstructure is low, such deformed reinforcing bars are used in locations where the magnetic field due to current cannot be disturbed, such as in reinforced structural members in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) room of a hospital. Deformed reinforcing bars are used after being bent into a predetermined shape, such as a hoop, during work at a construction site. FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate examples of the shape, as seen from the side, of a deformed reinforcing bar bent into an approximately square hoop shape. No problem is posed if the reinforcing bar fits within substantially the same plane, as in FIG. 1B, but if out-of-plane deformation occurs, as in FIG. 1A, the reinforcing bar cannot be disposed on a plane surface. Therefore, deformed reinforcing bars are required not to exhibit out-of-plane deformation.
Considering adhesion to concrete, a deformed reinforcing bar is formed as a round bar material having ribs extending in the longitudinal direction around the bar and having predetermined joints. FIG. 2 illustrates an example shape. The diameter of the portion excluding the joints and the ribs, the height of the joints, the distance between joints, the total width of the ribs, and the angle between the joints and axis are determined by JIS standards.
To improve the bending workability of a deformed reinforcing bar, JP H06-288038 A (PTL 1), for example, proposes a reinforcing bar that has joints skewed relative to the axis of the reinforcing bar, with the amount of uplift during bending being improved by controlling the shape and placement of the joints.
JP 2011-208257 A (PTL 2) discloses a high-strength reinforcing bar that has four ribs continuous in the longitudinal direction, arranged at 90° intervals in the circumferential direction of the reinforcing bar, and that has joints connecting ribs adjacent in the circumferential direction. In this reinforcing bar, the bending workability and concrete adhesion are improved by controlling the shape of the ribs and the joints.


A built-off test (BOT) device includes a signal processing block, an output selection block and a signal control block. The signal processing block duplicates a test signal to apply a plurality of duplicated test signals to each of a plurality of devices under test (DUTs) through each of corresponding channels, and the signal processing block provides a plurality of decision signals based upon a plurality of test result signals received from each of the DUTs. The output selection block merges the decision signals as a final decision signal or sequentially outputs the decision signals as the final decision signal, in response to an output mode selection signal. The signal control block provides the test signal to the signal processing block or provides the final decision signal externally, in response to a first switching control signal.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to semiconductor devices, and, more particularly, to a test device of semiconductor memory devices.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Automatic test equipment (ATE) is used for testing semiconductor devices, and ATEs are required to have performance suitable for testing the semiconductor devices. As the performance expectations of the semiconductor devices become more and more enhanced and the operating speed of the semiconductor devices becomes faster and faster, a built-off test (BOT), where the test functionality is brought to the closest possible proximity of the device-under-test (DUT), e.g., to a load board, has been employed. However, the conventional BOT can have various problems, such as extended test times, particularly when the number of DUTs being tested increases.

Built-off test device and test system including the same


A method for the radio coverage of a mobile terminal of a mobile radio network in the catchment area of an intermediate station which is used as a converter, wherein: in the case of an existing connection between the mobile radio network and the mobile terminal, a connection is first set up on an internal frequency and the connection is then handled via the intermediate station; in the case of an existent connection from a mobile terminal via an intermediate station to the mobile radio network, the intermediate station will hand over the connection to the mobile terminal again directly to the mobile radio network when the mobile terminal is removed from the internal area of reception; and in the case of a new setting-up of a connection from the mobile terminal to the mobile radio network, for setting up the connection, the mobile terminal first, or after an unsuccessful connection set-up attempt with a mobile radio frequency, attempts to establish connection to an intermediate station on an internal frequency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for the radio coverage of a mobile terminal of a mobile radio network in the catchment area of an intermediate station which is used as a adverter.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The subscribers of such a modern mobile radio network can be currently reached at almost any location in the world. However, the general problem is that the connection to the mobile radio network is broken for subscribers entering a relatively large building, due to shielding by metal constructions or window frontages with metallized windows. This problem has hitherto been solved by installing base stations of the mobile radio network operator inside correspondingly large and mostly public buildings so that this area, too, is covered by the mobile radio network itself.
This procedure has the disadvantage that the officially issued frequencies of the mobile radio network must be used and the base stations must also must be connected to the normal landline network of the mobile radio network operator.
On the other hand, there is also the possibility of using subsystems which communicate on frequencies not belonging to the public mobile radio network with mobile terminals in the in-house area. In these systems, however, the communication is such that an early decision is made, by choosing either a corresponding mobile terminal for the corresponding frequency or, in the case of mobile terminals having combined frequency systems, by selecting a certain frequency or a certain mode, whether connection is established with the public mobile radio network or with an in-house cordless telecommunication network. In any case, this does not solve the problem of the transition from a public mobile radio network to an in-house mobile radio network.
From DE 195 32 635, a digital telephone system for wireless communication with a fixed station, a mobile handset and a regenerator/converter device is known in which the mobile handset can be assigned both first frequencies of a first frequency band and second frequencies of a second frequency band which is disjoint from the first frequency band and the regenerator/converter device is provided with a first and a second radio interface, in which arrangement first frequencies can be assigned to the first radio interface and second frequencies can be assigned to the second radio interface and in which the first radio interface has the functionality of a mobile handset and the second radio interface has the functionality of a fixed station.
It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to specify a method which describes the problem of transition from a public mobile radio network to an in-house mobile radio network, a case distinction having to be made with respect to the entry and the exit into the in-house area of reception, and the new setting-up of a connection in the in-house area to the mobile radio network.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a method for the radio coverage of a mobile terminal of a mobile radio network wherein, in the case of an existing connection between the mobile radio network and a mobile terminal which approaches the internal area of reception of an intermediate station, a connection is first set up between this mobile terminal and this intermediate station on the internal frequency, via which connection the individual features of the mobile terminal are handed over to the intermediate station and then a handover of the connection takes place between mobile terminal and mobile radio network due to which a connection from the mobile radio network via the intermediate station to the mobile station is produced. These method steps thus take into consideration the situation of a mobile terminal which is already communicating with the mobile radio network on entry into the internal area of reception of an intermediate station.
In another embodiment, the method of the present invention also takes into consideration the situation when a mobile terminal has set up a connection to the mobile radio network via an intermediate station and is now leaving the internal area of reception of the intermediate station. Accordingly, in the case of an existing connection from a mobile terminal via an intermediate station to the mobile radio network, the intermediate station detects a removal of the mobile terminal from the internal area of reception of the intermediate station, forwards the frequency and the connection information to the mobile radio network to the mobile terminal and then a handover of the mobile radio network-intermediate station-mobile terminal connection to the mobile radio network-mobile terminal connection takes place.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the method is improved to the extent that, in the case when a new connection is set up from the mobile terminal to the mobile radio network, for setting up the connection, the mobile terminal first, or after an unsuccessful connection set-up attempt with a mobile radio frequency, attempts to establish a connection to an intermediate station on an internal frequency.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, it is also possible that a combination of the characterizing features of each of the above there embodiment can occur depending on the situation of the movement of the mobile terminal.
According to a further embodiment of the present invention, the connections can operate, for example, in accordance with the TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) method and/or the FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access) method and/or the CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) method.
According to yet another embodiment of the method described above, it is proposed that the intermediate station converts an incoming signal according to the FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) method to an outgoing signal according to the TDD (Time Division Duplex) method and, on the other hand, converts an incoming signal according to the TDD method to an outgoing signal according to the FDD method. As a rule, the incoming signal according to the FDD method will be a signal of the mobile radio network whereas the signal according to the TDD method will be associated with the in-house radio network.
A further advantageous embodiment of the method according of the present invention consists in that, before a connection is taken over by the intermediate station, an exchange of a PIN (Personal Identification Number) takes place between the mobile terminal and the intermediate station and that the handover procedure is only initiated if the mobile terminal is authorized on the basis of the PIN. The prerequisite for this is, naturally, that the intermediate station has a data memory in which the PINs of the authorized subscribers are stored.
To detect an approaching mobile terminal, it can be advantageous if the intermediate station periodically monitors the at least one internal frequency for a message sent by an approaching mobile terminal. Naturally, the mobile terminal must also periodically send out corresponding messages to carry out this method.
In the reverse case, it also can be advantageous if, to detect the penetration of a mobile terminal into the internal area of reception of the intermediate station, the mobile terminal itself monitors the internal frequency periodically for messages sent by an intermediate station. For this purpose, it is necessary, in turn, that the corresponding intermediate station sends out such messages periodically via its internal frequency.
Another advantageous embodiment of the method of the present invention contemplates, that the intermediate station, to detect the migration of the mobile terminal out of the internal area of reception, evaluates the bit error rate occurring during the communication between intermediate station and mobile terminal and, when a predetermined value is exceeded, assumes that the mobile terminal is migrating away.
Another advantageous embodiment of the method with respect to the detection of the emigration of the mobile terminal from the internal area of reception of an intermediate station, contemplates that the intermediate station measures the transmit and receive power of the mobile terminal at regular intervals or continuously and, when the power drops below a certain level, assumes that the mobile terminal is migrating out of the internal area of reception.
Other advantageous embodiments of the method consider, for example, that the intermediate station also communicates with a landline network in addition to its connection with the mobile radio network. This can be, for example, an ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) or a PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network).
It is also advantageous in a communication between the intermediate station and a landline network and a radio network if the intermediate station can either independently switch between both networks or switches on request by the mobile terminal.
The mobile radio network currently to be considered is, for example, a GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) network or a UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) network. To actually implement the method of the present invention, for example in a GSM network, it is necessary to provide some still available GSM frequencies for the in-house area. In the case of a UMTS network, it can be assumed that some frequencies will be provided for the in-house area from the start. The advantage resulting from the provision of such in-house frequencies lies in the fact that the frequency planning for the external area is in no way influenced. A further advantage of the method represented lies in the fact that the intermediate station is only connected to the GSM/UMTS base stations via an air interface and only simulates a mobile terminal with respect to this base station. In this manner, the remaining network infrastructure remains completely free of reactions as a result of which a corresponding method also can be integrated without extra cost to the operators of the mobile radio networks.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention are described in, and will be apparent from, the following Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments and the Drawings.

Method for the radio coverage of a mobile terminal of a mobile radio network


A method of allowing egress network frames to bypass the buffer requirement of a checkpoint system. In one embodiment, the method includes the steps of examining a frame, or its attributes, to determine if it is a “candidate frame” and if the frame is a candidate frame, allowing it to be released to the external network without an intervening checkpoint. In another embodiment, the candidate frame is one of a group comprising: any frame targeting a designated network interface; any frame of a designated protocol type; any frame sourced or destined from/to a designated address. In still another embodiment, the method includes the designation of scheduling follow-up checkpoints according to frame disposition to limit or reduce the effects of a fail-over (roll-back) disturbance.

There are a variety of ways to achieve fault tolerant computing. Specifically hardware and software are typically used either alone or together. As an example, it is possible to connect two (or more) computers, such that one computer, the active computer or host, actively makes calculations while the other computer (or computers) is idle or on standby in case the active computer or hardware or software component thereon experiences some type of failure. In these systems the information about the state of the active computer must be saved periodically to the standby computer so that the standby computer can substantially take over at the point in the calculations where active computer experienced a failure. This example can be extended to the modern day practice of using a virtualized environment as part of a cloud or other computing system.
Virtualization is used in many fields to reduce the number of servers or other resources needed for a particular project or organization. Present day virtual machine computer systems utilize virtual machines (VM) operating as guests within a physical host computer. Each virtual machine includes its own virtual operating system and operates under the control of a managing operating system or hypervisor executing on the host physical machine. Each virtual machine executes one or more applications and accesses physical data storage and computer networks as required by the applications. In addition, each virtual machine may in turn act as the host computer system for another virtual machine.
Multiple virtual machines may be configured as a group to execute one or more of the same programs. Typically, one virtual machine in the group is the primary or active virtual machine and the remaining virtual machines are the secondary or standby virtual machines. If something goes wrong with the primary virtual machine, one of the secondary virtual machines can take over and assume its role in the fault tolerant computing system. This redundancy allows the group of virtual machines to operate as a fault tolerant computing system. The primary virtual machine executes applications, receives and sends network data, and reads and writes to data storage while performing automated or user initiated tasks or interactions. The secondary virtual machines have the same capabilities as the primary virtual machine, but do not take over the relevant tasks and activities until the primary virtual machine fails or is affected by an error.
For such a collection of virtual machines to function as a fault tolerant system, the operating state, memory and data storage contents of a secondary virtual machine should be equivalent to the operating state, memory and data storage contents of the primary virtual machine. If this condition is met, the secondary virtual machine may take over for the primary virtual machine without a loss of any data. To assure that the state of the secondary machine and its memory is equivalent to the state of the primary machine and its memory, it is necessary for the primary virtual machine periodically to transfer its state and memory contents to the secondary virtual machine. It is also necessary to coordinate the release of primary virtual machine egress network traffic with this periodic update of the secondary.
The periodic exchange of data to maintain synchrony between the states of the virtual machines is termed checkpointing. A checkpoint cycle is executed involving steps to identify, acquire, transfer, acknowledge, and commit. These cycles repeat with each one defining a potential starting point for the secondary virtual machine, in the event of a failure of the primary virtual machine.
In the event of a primary VM failure, the secondary VM is 'rolled back' to the most recently committed checkpoint and all pending (buffered) network egress frames from the failed primary are discarded. This allows the secondary to safely roll back and restart its processing without creating conflicting results to network clients. Any new network egress traffic is again buffered until the next checkpoint cycle 'commit' allows them to be released.
The buffering of egress network traffic is thus an integral part of a checkpointing system. Unfortunately, this buffering adds substantial latency which can only be reduced by increasing the rate of checkpointing, which in turn increases system load. Even at the highest checkpointing rate possible, though, network latency continues to be substantially higher than with a non-checkpointing system due to the fundamental steps of checkpoint cycle processing.
A need therefore exists for ways to selectively eliminate this buffering-induced latency and corresponding checkpoint cycle overhead for applications capable of correctly handling a roll back.

Method of selective network buffering in checkpoint systems


An ink composition having excellent storage stability and curing properties after an image formation and an image forming method using the ink composition are provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink composition and an image forming method using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
As one of causes of air and environmental pollution, a volatile organic compound (VOC) has been recently viewed as a problem. VOC has been widely used industrially, as various kinds of solvents and fuels, and the suppression of the amount of emission thereof and the antiscattering measure have been demanded. From such a background, also in an ink for printing, an aqueous ink which uses a hydrophilic substance such as water and alcohol as a medium is gathering attention.
As a method of fixing an image which is formed by using an aqueous ink, for example, a method of fixing by making an aqueous ink include a thermoplastic latex and heating the formed image, a method of curing and fixing an image by forming an image by an active energy ray-curable type aqueous ink including a polymerizable compound and a polymerization initiator and irradiating with an active energy ray such as an ultraviolet ray, and the like are known. In the latter of an active energy ray-curable type ink, an improvement of curing properties is a problem and an improvement of a polymerizable compound and a polymerization initiator which are combined has been conducted.
Such an active energy ray-curable type aqueous ink is also applied to an ink jet recording method. In an ink jet recording method, an image is formed by ejecting an ink from a nozzle tip as a fine droplet and adhering onto a medium to be recorded. For an ink which is used, characteristics such as being able to fix as a film by curing an image (curing properties) and not generating the changes in the physical properties, a sediment, or the like when storing (the storage stability) are required. For example, an active energy ray-curable type aqueous ink using a polyfunctional (meth)acrylamide compound as a water-soluble polymerizable substance is described in JP2005-307198A.

Ink composition and image forming method

Abstract: An ink composition including (A) a polymerizable compound represented by the following general formula (1) and (B) a polymerization initiator and an image forming method using the ink composition.

Abstract: In the general formula (1), R1 represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl group. R2 represents a liner or branched alkylene group having 2 to 4 carbon atoms. However, in R2, it is not possible to have a structure in which an oxygen atom and a nitrogen atom which are bonded to both ends of R2 are bonded to the same carbon atom of R2. R3 represents a divalent linking group. k represents 2 or 3. x, y and z each independently represent an integer of 0 to 6 and x+y+z satisfies 0 to 18.


An information processing apparatus that has a touch panel that is able to detect a plurality of touch input positions concurrently extracts a combination consisting of a predetermined number of touch input positions from a plurality of touch input positions that concurrently exist on the touch panel, and based on a positional relationship of the touch input positions constituting the combination that is extracted, determines whether or not the combination is an area designation operation of a single user. When it is determined that the combination is an area designation operation, the information processing apparatus specifies a designated area based on touch input positions of the combination, and acquires a selected object based on a relationship between the specified area and a display position of the object.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that provides a user interface utilizing a touch panel, and a control method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
User interfaces that utilize a touch panel that accepts an operation from a user on a screen that is presented to the user are in widespread general use. In recent years, a touch panel (hereafter, referred to as a "multi-touch panel") that can detect touch positions at multiple points has also been proposed and has started to be utilized. By utilizing a multi-touch panel, it is possible to recognize a gesture made by multiple fingers of a user, and a relationship between multiple fingers can be made to serve a new purpose. For example, it is possible to give an instruction such as enlargement, reduction, or rotation of an object by using multiple fingers (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-290585). It is also possible to give an instruction that selects an object by surrounding the object at multiple points (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-163444, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-256142, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 01-142969, and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-272904). Since a selection operation that surrounds an object at multiple points, particularly a selection operation performed by surrounding an object with fingers of one hand, is close to an action performed with respect to a real entity, this kind of user interface is easy for users to intuitively understand.
However, conventionally, in a case in which multiple users concurrently perform operations on a multi-touch panel, there is the problem that the apparatus cannot distinguish between operations of individual users, and misrecognizes a selection operation of a region based on designated points of multiple users. Although this is not a problem with a device that is based on the premise of utilization by an individual user, for example, in the case of a comparatively large panel that is utilized in a meeting by multiple people, if the panel misrecognizes a fact that the panel has been touched concurrently by multiple people as being a region selection, concurrent operations by multiple people are not possible. Further, even in the case of an operation by a single user, when separate operations are performed by the user's two hands, there is the problem that the apparatus misrecognizes the separate operations as a single region selection.

Information processing apparatus and control method thereof


The invention relates to textile machine control. The run of spinning units is controlled by two busses, a two-way bus, and a reserve one-way bus, the latter being activated, as a rule, by a central electronic system, and possibly, though less often, by the operator. A suitable arrangement of the circuits on the criterion of whether they belong to the two-way bus or to the one-way one, facilitates troubleshooting and permits shorter repair time on vast systems comprising a plurality of work stations of the textile machine.. The invention can be used on various types of spinning machines where a predetermined length of wound yarn is required.

Devices for measuring the length of yarn spun on each spinning unit are known. When a predetermined length of yarn wound is reached the device sets the spinning unit out of operation by interrupting the sliver supply and, consequently, the spinning process of the spinning unit whose bobbin has been fully wound and is to be replaced by an empty tube. Also known are devices registering the time of an uninterrupted run of each spinning station and cutting off the drive of them after the preselected run interval has elapsed. Then follows the rotor cleaning and afterwards the re-measuring of the preselected run interval, required to keep the quality of produced yarn that depends on the length of the spinning interval. In each of these two cases, the input signal for the electronic control system is represented by a signal indicating that the spinning station in question is running, while the output signal controls, via the electronic control system, an electronic clutch responsible for the supply of the material. In view of the analogy both in function and in use, of these devices, the further description will concern only the version based upon the measuring of the yarn length. The signal indicating the run of a given spinning station arrives from this spinning station at the central electronic system via a two-way bus. The signal controlling the run of the spinning station comes from the central electronic system, passes through the two-way bus, and controls by means of a controlled switch, inserted in the circuit of the electromagnetic clutch, the run of the spinning station in question.
A drawback of such a device consists in the fact that even a temporary failure either of the central system or of the two-way bus can generate a false signal in the circuit of the controlled switches related to the spinning stations and, consequently, yarn ruptures on them resulting in production losses due to the necessity to stop such a spinning station, and also resulting in damage to the yarn quality due to an extra spinning-in spot.

Method of, and device for, a secured control of spinning units of a spinning machine, especially of an open-end spinning machine