The present invention relates to a chromatography ligand, which comprises Domain C from Staphylococcus protein A (SpA), or a functional fragment or variant thereof. The chromatography ligand presents an advantageous capability of withstanding harsh cleaning in place (CIF) conditions, and is capable of binding Fab fragments of antibodies. The ligand may be provided with a terminal coupling group, such as arginine or cysteine, to facilitate its coupling to an insoluble carrier such as beads or a membrane. The invention also relates process of using the ligand in isolation of antibodies, and to a purification protocol which may include washing steps and/or regeneration with alkali.

The term chromatography embraces a family of closely related separation methods based on the contacting of two mutually immiscible phases, wherein one phase is stationary and the other phase is mobile. One area wherein chromatography is of great interest is in the biotechnological field, such as for large-scale economic production of drugs and diagnostics. Generally, proteins are produced by cell culture, either intracellularly or by secretion into the surrounding medium. Since the cell lines used are living organisms, they must be fed with a complex growth medium containing sugars, amino acids, growth factors, etc. Separation of the desired protein from the mixture of compounds fed to the cells and from other cellular components to a sufficient purity, e.g. for use as a human therapeutic, poses a formidable challenge.
In such separation, in a first step, cells and/or cell debris is usually removed by filtration. Once a clarified solution containing the protein of interest has been obtained, its separation from the other components of the solution is often performed using a combination of different chromatography steps, often based on different separation principles. Thus, such steps separate proteins from mixtures on the basis of charge, degree of hydrophobicity, affinity properties, size etc. Several different chromatography matrices, such as matrices for ion exchange, hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC), reverse phase chromatography (RPC), affinity chromatography and immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC), are available for each of these techniques, allowing tailoring of the purification scheme to the particular protein involved. An illustrative protein, which is of steadily growing interest in the medical field, is immunoglobulin proteins, also known as antibodies, such as immunoglobulin G (IgG).
As in all process technology, an important aim is to keep the production costs low. Consequently, improved chromatographic techniques are frequently presented, and the matrices are when possible reused. However, since each use of a chromatography matrix will leave certain traces of the operation just performed, many different cleaning protocols are available for cleaning and/or restoring the matrix into its original form. Commonly known materials that need to be removed are e.g. non-eluted proteins and protein aggregates as well as potentially hazardous materials, such as virus, endotoxins etc, which may originate from the cell culture. The most commonly used cleaning is a simple wash with buffer. For a more efficient cleaning of the matrix, treatments with acid and/or base are frequently used. In order to even more efficiently restore the matrix, an alkaline protocol known as Cleaning In Place (CIP) is commonly used. The standard CIP involves treatment of the matrix with 1M NaOH, pH 14. Such harsh treatment will efficiently remove undesired fouling of the above-discussed kind, but may in addition impair some chromatography matrix materials. For example, many affinity matrices, wherein the ligands are proteins or protein-based, cannot withstand standard CIP, at least not while maintaining their original properties. It is known that structural modification, such as deamidation and cleavage of the peptide backbone, of asparagine and glutamine residues in alkaline conditions is the main reason for loss of activity upon treatment of protein in alkaline solutions, and that asparagine is the most sensitive of the two. It is also known that the deamidation rate is highly specific and conformation dependent, and that the shortest deamidation half times in proteins have been associated with the sequences—asparagine-glycine- and -asparagine-serine. See e.g. Gülich, Linhult, Nygren, Uhlen and Hober (2000) Journal of Biotechnology 80, 169-178. Stability towards alkaline conditions can be engineered into a protein ligand.
Despite the documented alkaline sensitivity, protein A is widely used as a ligand in affinity chromatography matrices due to its ability to bind IgG without significantly, affecting the affinity of immunoglobulin for antigen. As is well known, Protein A is a constituent of the cell wall of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. Such Staphylococcus protein, known as SpA, is composed of five domains, designated in order from the N-terminus as E, D, A, B, and C, which are able to bind antibodies at the Fc region, and a C-terminal region (or "X" region) that does not bind any antibodies. Jansson et al (Jansson, Uhlen and Nygren (1998) FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology 20, 69-78:"All individual domains of staphylococcal protein A show Fab binding") have later shown that all the individual SpA domains also bind certain antibodies at the Fab region.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,350 (Repligen) relates to cloning and expression of the gene coding for a protein A and protein A-like material. The cloning of this gene with its nucleotide sequence characterization enabled in 1982 for the first time to obtain quantities of a protein A-like material and nucleotide sequence for cloning in various host-vector systems.
Since the production of protein A in a recombinant system was accomplished, further genetic manipulations thereof have been suggested. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,373 (Repligen) describes genetic manipulation of recombinant protein A in order to facilitate the attachment thereof to a support, and more specifically to the coupling thereof via arginine. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 6,399,750 (Pharmacia Biotech AB) describes another recombinant protein A ligand, which has been coupled to a support via cysteine.
However, in order to maintain selectivity and binding capacity, Protein A chromatography matrices of the above-discussed kind need to be cleaned under milder conditions than conventional CIP. In this context, it is understood that the cleaning is closely related to the lifetime of the chromatography matrix. For example, a sensitive matrix may be cleaned with standard CIP, if a reduced performance is acceptable. Thus, efforts have been made to provide chromatography matrices which present the outstanding properties, such as selectivity, of protein A, but which are more resistant to alkaline conditions used for CIP.
Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 6,831,161 (Uhlén et relates to methods of affinity separation using immobilized proteinaceous affinity ligands, wherein one or more asparagine (Asn) residues have been modified to increase alkaline stability. This patent also describes methods of making a stabilized combinatorial protein by modification of Asn residues within a protein molecule to increase stability of the protein in alkaline conditions, and randomization of a protein molecule to modify its binding characteristics, and combinatorial proteins wherein in a step separate from the randomization step, the stability of the protein in alkaline conditions has been increased by modifying one or more of its Asn residues.
Further, WO 03/080655 (Amersham Biosciences) relates to an immunoglobulin-binding protein, wherein at least one asparagine residue has been mutated to an amino acid other than glutamine or aspartic acid. According to this patent application, such more specific mutation confers an increased chemical stability at pH-values of up to about 13-14 compared to the parental molecule. The mutated protein can for example be derived from a protein capable of binding to other regions of the immunoglobulin molecule than the complementarily determining regions (CDR), such as protein A, and preferably from the B-domain of Staphylococcal protein A. The invention also relates to a matrix for affinity separation, which comprises the described mutated immunoglobulin-binding proteins as ligands.
Despite the above-described development t ore alkaline-stable protein A-based chromatography ligands, there is still a need in this field of improved ligands and chromatography matrices for highly specific isolation of antibodies, and of alternative wild type ligand constructions that allow easier manufacture.
One example of such an improved chromatography matrix is described in US 2006/0134805 (Berg et al), which relates to a separation matrix comprised of porous particles to which antibody-binding protein ligands have been immobilised. More specifically, the disclosed chromatography matrix has been optimised in terms of ligand density; gel phase distribution coefficient (Kay); and particle size to provide a matrix especially suitable for high capacity purification of antibodies. The ligands of the disclosed matrix may comprise antibody-binding protein such as Protein A, Protein G and/or Protein L.

Chromatography ligand comprising domain C from


A method and apparatus for determining the phase and amplitude accuracy of continuous-phase-modulated signals is described. A modulated RF signal generated by a transmitter is down converted to a relatively low intermediate frequency which is filtered and sampled by a high sampling rate analog-to-digital convertor. A digital signal processor processes the digital signals to produce a measured amplitude function and a measured phase function corresponding to the modulated RF signal. From the measured amplitude and phase functions, an ideal phase function corresponding to the modulated RF signal is calculated and synthesized. The ideal phase function is compared to the measured phase function to determine the phase function from which the modulated RF signal phase error and frequency error are computed.

The present invention relates generally to digital radios and, more specifically, to measuring the phase and amplitude errors in a continuous-phase-modulated signal.
Presently a number of manufacturers manufacture and market radios for use in communications, such as digital cellular radios and the like. Typically each manufacturer provides its own specifications for its products. Traditionally the accuracy of these specifications has been measured using many separate, possibly indirect methods. Phase accuracy of the transmitted signal, for example, typically is indirectly determined by measuring spurious signals, phase noise, the modulation index, frequency settling speed, carrier frequency and data clock frequency. Further, amplitude measurements present special problems because the amplitude versus time profile must be synchronized to the data typically utilizing external equipment.
It has been proposed that a standardized mobile digital radio system be implemented throughout Europe. Such a radio system would require that all components such as transmitters and receivers for example, be manufactured to standard specifications measured by a common method. A group known as the Group Speciale Mobile (GSM) has proposed a measurement technique to measure the accuracy of the modulation process of the transmitted signal. In the proposed measurement technique, a sampled measurement of the transmitted phase trajectory is obtained. This measurement is compared with the mathematically computed ideal phase trajectory to determine the phase difference between the transmitted signal and the ideal signal. The regression line of the phase difference thus determined provides an indication of the frequency error and the regression line is subtracted from the phase difference to give the phase error. Utilization of a standard method such as this would simplify the testing and manufacture of radios. An individual manufacturer would then only need to insure that the standardized overall phase error specifications were met rather than several interrelated specifications.

Method and apparatus for measuring phase accuracy and amplitude profile of a continuous-phase-modulated signal


A personal mobility device includes a frame, a plurality of wheels attached to the frame and one or more pneumatic motors. Each of the one or more pneumatic motors has a drive shaft in operative connection with at least one of the plurality of wheels. The personal mobility device further includes at least one tank (that is, a storage container) for storage of a pressurized gas in operative connection with the one or more pneumatic motors to supply pressurized gas to the one or more pneumatic motors and a control system in operative connection with the at least one tank and with the one or more pneumatic motors.

The following information is provided to assist the reader in understanding technologies disclosed below and the environment in which such technologies may typically be used. The terms used herein are not intended to be limited to any particularly narrow interpretation unless clearly stated otherwise in this document. References set forth herein may facilitate understanding of the technologies or the background thereof. The disclosure of all references cited herein are incorporated by reference.
Personal mobility devices such as wheelchairs and scooters are very beneficial to people with mobility impairments. As used herein, the term "mobility device" refers to a device to transport a person (typically a single person), thereby increasing the mobility of the person. Mobility device may be manually powered or at least partially powered via a non-manual power source. Currently available power mobility devices (PMD) tend to be inefficient, heavy, maintenance intensive, environmentally sensitive, environmentally disruptive, and difficult to transport (for example, in a motor-vehicle or on an airplane). Electric powered PMD rely on batteries (mostly lead-acid) that can be hazardous and are increasingly costly and difficult to recycle. Even though batteries are widely used in hybrid and electric powered cars and in PMD, battery technology remains expensive and presents many safety issues (for example, fire, electric shock, electromagnetic interference, burns from high temperature, out-gassing, and other electrical/power failure modes) for PMD usage. There is a need for new power sources, power management systems, and drive-trains for PMD.

University of Pittsburgh—Of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education

The United States Government as represented by the Department of Veterans Affairs

FRAUNHOFER-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FOERDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG E.V.


A spring clip for attaching articles to a support surface includes an elongated spring member having opposed end portions adapted to resiliently engage the support surface and to have its central body releasably attached to the support surface. An actuating lever has one end attached to the spring adjacent one end of the spring with the lever extending in spaced relation to the spring to a free end near the other end of the spring. Resilient spacer means between the spring and lever acts as a fulcrum whereby force applied to the free end of the lever in the direction of the support surface will raise the end of the spring from the surface to enable articles to be inserted thereunder.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to spring clips of the type employed for releasably supporting articles on a surface and more particularly to an improved spring clip which may be releasably mounted on a support surface and which may easily be operated to releasably attach articles on or release articles from the support surface.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Spring clips have long been used to mount articles on support surfaces such as mirrors, doors, automobile windshields, walls, refrigerators, store windows, pegboards and the like, and various means such as suction cups, magnets and the like have been used to releasably attach the spring clip to the surface to which the articles are to be mounted. Examples of such prior art devices may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 957,804; 993,989; 2,505,899 and 2,800,078, each of which disclose a suction cup molded of a resilient rubber or rubber-like material having a thickened central body portion and an elongated resilient spring element molded within and extending outwardly from the body portion. The elongated springs are shaped to have one end projecting outwardly past the suction cup in position to bear against and be deformed by the surface to which the suction cup is attached.
The prior art spring clips of this general type have not been entirely satisfactory in that it has generally been necessary to physically lift the resilient spring element from the surface to which the device is mounted, thereby applying a lifting force acting against the suction force of the cup. This frequently resulted in the partial vacuum created by the resiliency of the suction cup being partially or entirely relieved, with the result that the suction cup frequently fell off the surface. Further, manually lifting the spring element required physically grasping the spring or inserting something under the terminal end portion of the spring to pry it from contact with the support surface to enable an article to be inserted thereunder. Thus, lifting the spring element was frequently awkward or inconvenient, making the devices difficult to use.
The use of magnetic mounting structures for spring clips generally has been limited to an arrangement wherein a separately operable spring biased clamping arrangement is physically mounted upon a rigid support which in turn is attached to a body of magnetic material which may be magnetically attracted and held onto a metallic surface. The magnetic mounting structure generally has a dimension sufficiently great to permit a push action release of the spring biased clamp without dislodging the magnetic support to enable an article to be inserted into the open jaws of the clamp at a location spaced from the support surface. While such devices are widely used, their construction is relatively expensive and they are only useful for mounting articles onto a magnetic surface. The spring biased clamping structure conventionally used on such clamps generally are not adaptable to a resilient mounting structure such as a suction cup or on a resilient body or head attached to a fastener such as a screw or the like. Further, neither the spring biased magnetically supported clamping devices nor the suction cup mounted spring clips has generally been universally adaptable to many mounting surfaces such as unfinished or semi-finished wood, drywall, plaster, fabric or pegboard type surfaces. Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved, easy-to-use spring clip which overcomes the disadvantages of the known prior art spring clips.
Another object is to provide such an improved spring clip structure which is universally adaptable to be mounted on various types of surfaces and to use different, interchangeable mounting means for attaching the spring clip to different surfaces.
Another object is to provide such an improved spring clip which may be operated by a simple push action which does not apply undue stress to the mounting structure or tend to dislodge the mounting structure from the support surface.


A display system comprises an elongate arm having a flange at one end and a holder at the other end for receiving and supporting an object to be displayed, and a display panel having a generally upright front face. At least one slot is located in said panel and is accessible from said front face. Each slot extends at least partially across the front face of the panel. Each of said slots are adapted to receive said flange through said front face in a compression fit to removably retain and support the holder in a spaced relationship from said front face. Lateral extensions of the flange on an arm may act as spacers for providing a minimum lateral spacing between adjacent arms in a slot. Where said object is an eyeglass frame, said holder includes a frame retaining means comprising a raised portion intermediate the ends of the holder to prevent the frame from sliding along the holder.

A variety of display systems are used in retail outlets and the like to display a broad range of goods. Large or heavy items (for example, T.V., microwave ovens, etc.) are commonly displayed stored on shelving or are stacked on floors for the efficient use of store space. However, for smaller and lighter items, such as jewelry, watches, glasses, toiletties, small electronic (for example, calculators) and hardware items, shoes and cloths, a display system which displays such items in multiple horizontal layers, say along a wall, is preferable for effective use of retail space.
In the case of display systems for eyeglasses, several different systems exist. Typically, eyeglass display systems comprise two main components: a series of long and slender brackets or rods, vertically mounted and laterally spaced on a wall or the like; and numerous carriers or arms mountable on the brackets for supporting and displaying the eyeglasses. The brackets have vertically spaced apertures at pre-set intervals for receiving a rear end, or hook end, of each arm. The front end of each arm has a holder or shelf for receiving the eyeglasses.
Such display systems suffer from several disadvantages. Mounting the hook end of the arm into the bracket apertures is cumbersome and difficult, especially if the apertures are obscured from view by some panelling or outer display surface. The arms can and often do slip out of the apertures if not properly secured. The hook ends also tend to break near the arm/bracket interface. The construction of the brackets restricts the versatility of the system by providing a limited and pre-set number of positions for the arms. The lateral spacing of the arms is unalterable once the brackets are set up, hence the lateral spacing can not be readily altered for different sized display objects to avoid interference between the objects, for example. This also severely limits the number of different displays which can be set up with a given number of brackets and arms.
One attempt in the prior art to overcome some of the above problems has been a display system comprising an upright backboard made of a relatively soft material, such as dense foam, and mountable arms. The rear end of each arm is in the form of a spike adapted to be driven into the backboard by the person setting up the display. Although this system has greater spacial flexibility for placing the arms on the display surface and provides a greater variety of display set-ups, the resulting displays tends to have an unorganized and "messy" look. The arms are difficult to align in any straight line or other symmetrical pattern, and the orientation of each arm to the board varies depending on how it was spiked into the backboard. Furthermore, any near-alignment which is achieved is quickly disturbed by users of the display as eyeglasses are repeatedly removed and returned to the arms. Eventually, these disturbances tend to dislodge the arm from the backboard.
Another variant of the above display system involves the substitution of the spike with a backplate on the rear end of each arm. The backplate and backboard are fitted with a fine hook and loop arrangement, one version of which is commonly known as VELCRO.TM.. This display system suffers most of the same disadvantages as the above system, including the dislodging of the arm from the backboard as the arm is repeatedly disturbed.
Yet another version of a display system, sometimes referred to as SLOT WALL.TM., comprises either vertical or horizontal slots or channels located in a backboard and mountable arms. The rear end of each arm employs two slightly spaced lugs. One of the lugs is adapted to be inserted into the channels through openings at the sides or edges of the backboard and is slid to a desired location in that slot. The other lug abuts the other side of the slot (i.e. the outer display surface of the backboard) and provides some resistance to movement of the arm along the slot. Some of the above discussed disadvantages for the other systems are also applicable to this display system. Another disadvantage is the impractical and restricted access to each slot, namely only from the sides of the backboard. Hence, the removal or replacement of an arm from the middle of a slot is cumbersome because all arms between the arm being removed and the end of the slot must also be removed from the slot.
Another problem common to all of the above-noted display systems is the propensity of eyeglasses to fall off of the holders at the front end of the arms. Although some of the better holders employ an inverted channel-type construction to help prevent the eyeglasses from falling off backward (i.e. toward the backboard) or forward, none employ a means to prevent the eyeglasses from sliding sideways off the holder or for centering the eyeglasses.
Lastly, none of the above arms provide a means to automatically provide a minimum spacing between adjacent arms to help avoid entanglement or interference between objects supported thereon.
What is therefore desired is a display system to overcome the disadvantages of these other display systems. Preferably it should have a means for quickly and easily mounting arms onto a display backboard in a secure manner. The system should provide guides for straight line or other symmetrical patterns, yet allow an ample spacial flexibility for arranging different display patterns. Preferably the arms have means to provide a minimum spacing between adjacent arms as well as means to help prevent the eyeglasses from slipping off the holders on the arms. The arms should be provided with alternate configurations to add further variations to the possible display patterns.


A system and method are provided for identifying exposure concentrations. The process of determining exposure concentrations may include organizing exposure data, defining parameters, determining elevated exposure concentrations, and providing output results. The exposure data may relate to at least geographical locations, policies, accounts, portfolios, treaties, and other exposure data. The parameters may be defined to include at least an area of analysis, a region of interest, a threshold amount, results parameters, and other parameters. The exposure concentration may include at least defining and locating exposure locations using various techniques. The results may be presented using textual, graphical, or other display schemes. The output may be configured to convey information such as positional accuracy of an identified area, exposure accumulation in a defined area, and other information.

It is known that models may be used in order to assess the potential liabilities of catastrophic events. These events may be either man-made or natural occurring disasters such as earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, terrorist attacks and other disasters.
Certain industries, such as insurance companies, may find information provided by these models useful. These models may generate large amounts of data that may facilitate the determination of potential liabilities (i.e., exposure) when catastrophic events occur. In order to fully appreciate the information provided by these models, the data may be further processed and analyzed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Systems and methods for determining concentrations of exposure


A drive assembly for a motor vehicle has a multi-step transmission and a differential drive. The multi-step transmission comprises a rotatingly drivable driveshaft and an intermediate shaft parallel to the driveshaft, and at least one first transmission stage and a second transmission stage for transmitting torque from the driveshaft to the intermediate shaft with different transmission ratios, as well as a shift unit, wherein the intermediate shaft comprises an output gear for transmitting torque to a differential carrier of the differential drive, wherein a rotational axis of the differential carrier extends parallel to the intermediate shaft, wherein the output gear and the shift unit are arranged axially between the at least two transmission stages, and wherein the driveshaft comprises bores for supplying lubricant.

An electric drive can serve as the only drive for the motor vehicle or it can be provided in addition to an internal combustion engine. In such a case, the electric drive and the internal combustion engine can each drive the motor vehicle on its own or, superimposed on one another, they can drive the motor vehicle jointly. Such drive concepts are referred to as hybrid drives.
Normally, an electric drive comprises an electric motor and, downstream thereto, a reduction gear unit which translates a rotational movement from a fast speed to a slow speed. From the reduction gear unit, the torque is transmitted to the driveline of the motor vehicle. For this, a differential drive arranged in the torque flow downstream the reduction gear unit divides the introduced torque to two output shafts for driving the motor vehicle wheels. The two output shafts of the differential drive have a differential effect relative to each other, i.e. if one of the two output shafts rotates more quickly, the other output shaft rotates correspondingly more slowly, and vice versa.
From FR 2 946 292 A3 a driving unit is known with two electric motors, two primary driveshafts, two intermediate shafts, two reduction gear units, and one differential drive. Each of the two reduction gear units is drivingly connected to differential drive, so that both reduction gear units are able to transmit torque to the differential drive. Between each driveshaft and the associated intermediate shaft there are provided two switchable sets of gears with different reduction ratios. A synchronising device is provided between the gear sets.
DE 10 2012 204 717 A1 proposes an drive assembly with an electric motor for a motor vehicle with a first electric machine and a first driveshaft, a second electric machine with a second driveshaft and a transmission with a planetary gear set, a spur gear unit and an output. The spur gear unit comprises a first set of gear with a first transmission ratio, a second set of gears with a second transmission ratio, and a shift unit. The shift unit can be switched into a first position in which the first gear of the first set of gears is connected to the first driveshaft and into a second position in which the first gear of the second set of gears is connected to the first driveshaft.
From FR 2 946 292 A3 a drive assembly is known with an electric motor, a reduction gear unit with two parallel shafts and a differential drive. The reduction gear unit comprises two set of gears for transmitting torque between the two parallel shafts. There is provided a double clutch which is able to transmit a torque introduced by the electric motor optionally to the respective drive gear of one of the two sets of gears.
WO 2012/087700 A1 proposes an electric drive module with an electric motor, a planetary drive, a synchronising unit, a reduction gear unit and a differential assembly. The sun gear of the planetary drive and the drive gear of the synchronising unit are connected to one another via a hollow shaft. The hollow shaft comprises radial bores.
Electric drives of the mentioned type with multi-step transmissions with clutch shift unit require a major constructional effort for the clutches and actuators. A multi-step transmission with a synchronising unit requires high switching forces, thus involving high demands to be met by the actuator.


A bus controller has a displacer, an arithmetic logic unit coupled to the displacer, and a replacer selectively coupled to the displacer and the arithmetic logic unit.

A flash memory device is a type of electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) and is used for nonvolatile storage of data. Flash memory is being increasingly used to store execution codes and data in portable electronic products, such as computer systems.
Flash memory devices are programmed and erased by sequences of operations (or algorithms). A program algorithm normally involves sequentially applying a programming pulse and a program-verify pulse to a set of memory cells of a flash memory device. This is repeated until the set of memory cells is programmed. An erase algorithm typically comprises a pre-programming cycle, an erase cycle, and a soft program cycle. The pre-programming cycle of the erase algorithm puts each memory cell in a programmed state by applying a program pulse to each row of memory cells. The soft program cycle or heal cycle corrects any over-erased memory cells after the erase cycle has been completed by applying a soft program pulse to the over-erased memory cells. This is often referred to as compaction.
A control circuit (or algorithm controller) is used to manage the various steps of program and erase algorithms. For one application, the algorithm controller executes a code stored on the controller and interacts with hardware devices of the flash memory device, such as memory cell address counters, pulse counters, pulse duration counters, or the like, that are external to the algorithm controller for causing the hardware devices to perform various functions. Moreover, the algorithm controller causes hardwired actuators of the memory device that are external to the algorithm controller to send actuator signals to analog voltage generators of the memory device for controlling the voltage generators during program, erase, or compaction operations. The actuator signals also configure switches and control program verify operations. One problem with hardware devices and hardwired actuators is that many of them are of a fixed design for a particular application and cannot be readily reconfigured or updated for other applications, thereby limiting versatility and reusability of the flash memory device design.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for alternative algorithm controllers for memory devices, such as flash memory devices.


An improved child car safety seat is provided having a restraining system consisting of two chest restraining straps and one lower restraining strap, which are independently adjustable. The two chest restraining straps preferably comprise an adjustable crisscross harness system in which the chest restraining straps are crossed in front of the child. The child car safety seat also has an adjustable restraining safety bar.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to child car safety seats, and in particular relates to a child car safety seat having a crisscross restraining harness and moveable safety bar.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many different types of child car seats are known in the art for seating a child in a car and designed to keep the child safe, particularly in the case of an accident. Typically such car seats include a back, a seat, means to hold the child in the car seat such as shoulder or chest restraining straps, and means to attach the car seat to the car such as by providing a means for the child car seat to be held with a vehicle seat belt. Often the means of holding the child in the car seat are complicated and difficult to adjust or fasten. In addition, prior child safety seats typically either do not restrain the child well or are very complicated and difficult to use.
Prior car seats' restraining straps usually use clips at the front to hold the two shoulder/chest straps together. These clips, typically made of plastic that can be subject to material breakdown as a result of age and over-exposure to heat and sun, can become brittle and break. The clips can also give way in an accident, and/or older children can undo the clip so that the child is no longer secured behind the clipped shoulder straps. The child is thus not held securely in the case of a sudden movement change of the vehicle, such as a swerve or sudden stop. In addition, the child can climb out of the car seat if the shoulder straps are not held together.
Most prior car seats have no secondary restraining mechanism that can function to hold a child in the seat if the shoulder straps become unclipped or are otherwise not functioning or fastened properly. For that minority of car seats that also have a bar across the front of the child, these bars are generally permanent, making it difficult to remove the child or position the child in the seat.
To adjust the shoulder strap lengths of prior car seats for different children or for when a child grows, the car seat must be removed from the car so that the adult can reach into the back of the seat back, where the seat belts come through the seat back, and can move the seat belt to a different position. This difficulty of adjustment can lead to adults not adjusting the shoulder strap length as often as is needed, with the possible result that the child is either not held sufficiently tightly within the car seat, or is held uncomfortably too tightly therein.
While U.S. Pat. No. 4,376,551 of Cone has a restraining apparatus that includes shoulder straps, a padded shield and an adjustable lower strap, the shield is not adjustable to fit the size of the child and straps are not independently adjustable.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a child car safety seat that has a restraining system consisting of two chest restraining straps and one lower restraining strap, which are independently adjustable.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a child car safety seat in which the two chest restraining straps comprise an adjustable crisscross harness system in which the chest restraining straps are crossed in front of the child.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a child car safety seat that has an adjustable restraining safety bar.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a child car safety seat having shoulder straps that may be adjusted without removing the child car safety seat completely from the vehicle seat.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a child car safety seat having a shoulder strap design that securely prevents the child from exiting the seat.
Other objects and advantages will be more fully apparent from the following disclosure and appended claims.


Apparatus and method for a clip-like device for attaching the head of a hammer or like tool to the belt which is being worn about the waist of a user. Various embodiments are shown wherein the clip may be attached to the head of the hammer in various ways.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to hammers and, more particularly, is concerned with an attachment means for attaching a hammer or other tool to a belt.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Tool clips/holders have been described in the prior art. However, none of the prior art devices disclose the unique features of the present invention.
In U.S. Pat. No. Des. 345,052 dated Mar. 15, 1994, Stokke, et al., disclosed an ornamental design for a tool clip, as shown and described. In U.S. Patent Pub. No. US 2002/0117521 A1, dated Aug. 29, 2002, Brandt disclosed a tool-toting device for connection to a belt to be worn about the waist of a tradesman for the purpose of carrying a tool. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,764, dated Dec. 4, 1990, Cantwell disclosed a belt clip for supporting a tool which comprises a generally U-shaped member including a curved central portion, a first and a second leg connected to the central portion and an end portion of the first leg being movably connected to the curved central portion and being directed towards the second leg. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,443,342 B1 dated Sep. 3, 2002, Kahn disclosed a tool belt tool tote device that is capable of carrying two tools independently, such as a cordless drill and a hammer The double tool tote device comprises a C-shaped clip, a terminal swivel element and two hook elements. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,679 dated Aug. 15, 1978, Hillinger disclosed a tool holder particularly suited for carrying a hammer or a hatchet from a wearer's waist belt which includes a tool suspension arrangement joined to a waist belt suspended pliant pad. The tool suspension arrangement comprises a pivot rod extending normally from and joined to the pad and a protruding support element. While these tool clips/holders may be suitable for the purposes for which they were designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention, as hereinafter described.


Each of pixels arranged in a matrix is divided into sub pixels. Horizontal scanning lines and vertical scanning lines are arranged corresponding to rows and columns of the sub pixels, so that each sub pixel can be independently on and off. Each pixel includes a sub pixel connection circuit arranged between the sub pixels. A sub pixel connection circuit connects the pixel electrodes of corresponding sub pixels in accordance with a sub pixel connection signal input from a data line in synchronization with activation of vertical scanning line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to liquid crystal display devices for displaying an image using a liquid crystal and, more specifically, to a liquid crystal display device implementing a gray scale.
2. Description of the Background Art
Recently, liquid crystal display devices have been used as display panels for personal computers television receivers, portable telephones and the like. The liquid crystal display device has an advantage over a conventional display device because of its low power consumption and compactness.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an overall structure of a conventional liquid crystal display device 500.
Referring to FIG. 8, liquid crystal display device 500 is provided with a liquid crystal display portion 1002 including a plurality of pixels 1001 arranged in a matrix. In a color liquid crystal display device, one pixel 1001 consists of pixels 1005 of R (Red), G (Green) and B (Blue). It is noted that, in the following description, the pixel corresponding to the above mentioned reference numeral 1005 is referred to as xe2x80x9cpixel.xe2x80x9d
Pixels 1005 are arranged in a matrix in liquid crystal display portion 1002. Liquid crystal display device 500 further includes vertical scanning lines 1010 and common lines 1012 arranged corresponding to rows of pixels and horizontal scanning lines 1011 arranged corresponding to columns of pixels.
FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram showing a structure of pixel 1005.
Referring to FIG. 9, pixel 1005 includes a liquid crystal display element 1102 having a pixel electrode and a common electrode arranged opposite to each other. Nodes respectively connected to the pixel electrode and common electrode of the liquid crystal display element are hereinafter referred to as a pixel electrode node Na and a common electrode node Nb.
The orientation of liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal display element changes in accordance with the potential difference between pixel electrode node Na and common electrode node Nb. The luminance of the liquid crystal display element thereby changes, enabling the luminance of each pixel to be controlled.
Pixel 1005 further includes: a storage capacitor 1103 arranged between pixel electrode node Na and common line 1012; and a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) element 1101 having its gate connected to vertical scanning line 1011 and electrically connected between signal line 1011 and pixel electrode node Na.
In pixel 1005, a positive voltage is applied to vertical scanning line 1010 (activation), so that TFT element 1101 is turned on and the potential level of horizontal scanning line 1011 is transmitted to pixel electrode node Na. Liquid crystal display element 1102 per se has a capacitance, and therefore liquid crystal display element 1102 and storage capacitor 1103 are charged with electricity by turning on TFT element 1101.
If vertical scanning line 1010 is inactivated and TFT element 1001 is turned off, on the other hand, the potential level of pixel electrode node Na is retained by storage capacitor 1103.
Returning to FIG. 8, liquid crystal display device 500 further includes a vertical scanning circuit 1003 for sequentially selecting the rows of pixels with a prescribed period, and a horizontal scanning circuit 1006 for supplying a display signal, which is a voltage signal corresponding to display data, to each column of pixels.
Vertical scanning circuit 1003 includes a shift register circuit 1004 and a buffer circuit 1005, and sequentially activates vertical scanning lines 1010 and applies a positive voltage thereto for sequentially selecting the rows of pixels with a prescribed period.
Horizontal scanning circuit 1006 includes a shift register circuit 1007 and a buffer circuit 1008 for sequentially selecting the columns of pixels with a prescribed period, as well as a switch 1009 arranged between display signal line 1013 and horizontal scanning line 1011. Switch 1009 is arranged corresponding to each row of pixels for connecting/disconnecting corresponding display signal line 1013 and horizontal scanning line 1011. Switches 1009 are sequentially turned on in accordance with a signal with a prescribed period. Display signal lines 1013 are respectively arranged for three pixels of R, G and B since liquid crystal display device 500 is a color display device.
Once display signals are written to pixels in one row of pixels by horizontal scanning circuit 1006, i.e., one row of pixels is scanned, vertical scanning circuit 1003 inactivates vertical scanning line 1010 that has been selected so far and applies a 0 or negative voltage thereto for selecting a next row of pixels, and activates the following vertical scanning line 1010 and applies a positive voltage thereto.
The next row of pixels is similarly scanned. When vertical scanning circuit 1003 scans all rows of pixels (this is also referred to as 1 frame), the leading vertical scanning line 1012 is again activated and a positive voltage is applied thereto. Thus, an image is displayed by sequentially writing display signals to all pixels in one frame.
As described above, in conventional liquid crystal display device 500, the luminance of each pixel corresponds to the potential level of pixel electrode node Na. Thus, an analog signal having a potential level corresponding to a gradation tone must be written from a horizontal scanning line to pixel electrode node Na to implement a gray scale of the pixels. Accordingly, digital/analog conversion is required if display data which is externally input to the liquid crystal display device is digital data.
A so-called area ratio gray scale method of dividing each pixel into a plurality of portions is known to provide a structure of implementing the gray scale in accordance with a display signal, which is a digital signal.
FIG. 10 is a diagram used for explaining the concept of the area ratio gray scale method.
Referring to FIG. 10, pixel 1005 is divided into a plurality of sub pixels SPX1 to SPXn (n: natural number) in the area ratio gray scale method. Each of sub pixels SPX1 to SPXn is independently turned on (maximum luminance) and off (minimum luminance) in accordance with a digital signal. Accordingly, if a sub pixel to be turned on is selected in accordance with the display signal of digital data in each pixel 1005, a gray scale is achieved in proportion to the area of the selected sub pixel.
However, the area ratio gray scale method suffers from a problem that the pixel must be divided into a larger number of sub pixels to increase the number of gradations. The increase in the number of sub pixels results in an increase in the size of each pixel whereby display resolution and quality are disadvantageously reduced.
An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display device capable of implementing a multiple-gray scale using digital data without impairing a display quality such as resolution.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a portable telephone and portable information assistance device provided with a liquid crystal display portion capable of implementing a multiple-gray scale by digital data without impairing display quality and continuously displaying the same image with low power consumption.
In short, the present invention is a liquid crystal display device including a plurality of vertical and horizontal scanning lines and a plurality of pixels.
The plurality of vertical and horizontal scanning lines are arranged in a matrix. The plurality of pixels are also arranged in a matrix. Each of the plurality of pixels includes M (M: natural number of at least 2) sub pixels. Each sub pixel corresponds to one of the plurality of vertical scanning lines and one of the plurality of horizontal scanning lines. Each sub pixel includes a liquid crystal display element as well as a common electrode and a pixel electrode arranged on either side of the liquid crystal display element. Each pixel further includes a sub pixel connection switch arranged between pixel electrodes of two of the M sub pixels. The sub pixel connection switch corresponds to one of the plurality of vertical scanning lines and one of the plurality of horizontal scanning lines and is turned on/off in accordance with the potential level of the corresponding vertical and horizontal scanning lines.
According to another aspect, the present invention is a portable telephone provided with a liquid crystal display portion. The liquid crystal display portion displays information in accordance with a digital signal.
The liquid crystal display portion includes: a plurality of vertical and horizontal scanning lines arranged in a matrix; a plurality of sub vertical scanning lines, a plurality of first reference potential lines, and a plurality of second reference potential lines, respectively arranged corresponding to the plurality of vertical scanning lines; and a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix. Each pixel has M (M: natural number of at least 2) sub pixels. Each sub pixel corresponds to one of the plurality of vertical scanning lines and one of the plurality of horizontal scanning lines. Each sub pixel includes: a liquid crystal display element; a common electrode and a pixel electrode arranged on either side of the liquid crystal display element; a first switch element connecting the corresponding horizontal scanning line and a first internal node in accordance with the potential of the corresponding vertical scanning line; a capacitor for control for retaining the potential level of the first internal node; a connection switching circuit connecting one of the first and second reference potential lines to a second internal node in accordance with the potential level of the first internal node; and a second switch element connecting the second internal node to the pixel electrode in accordance with the potential of the corresponding sub vertical scanning line. Each pixel further includes a sub pixel connection switch arranged between the pixel electrodes of two of the M sub pixels. The sub pixel connection switch corresponds to one of the plurality of vertical scanning lines and one of the plurality of horizontal scanning lines and is turned on/off in accordance with the potential levels of the corresponding vertical and horizontal scanning lines.
According to another aspect, the present invention is a portable digital assistance device provided with a liquid crystal display portion. The liquid crystal display portion includes: a plurality of vertical and horizontal scanning lines arranged in a matrix; a plurality of sub vertical scanning lines, a plurality of first reference potential lines, and a plurality of second reference potential lines, respectively arranged corresponding to the plurality of vertical scanning lines; and a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix. Each pixel has M (M: natural number of at least 2) sub pixels. Each sub pixel corresponds to one of the plurality of vertical scanning lines and one of the plurality of horizontal scanning lines. Each sub pixel includes: a liquid crystal display element; a common electrode and a pixel electrode arranged on either side of the liquid crystal display element; a first switch element connecting the corresponding horizontal scanning line and a first internal node in accordance with the potential of the corresponding vertical scanning line; a capacitor for control for retaining the potential level of the first internal node; a connection switching circuit connecting one of the first and second reference potential lines to a second internal node in accordance with the potential level of the first internal node; and a second switch element connecting the second internal node to the pixel electrode in accordance with the potential of the corresponding sub vertical scanning line. Each pixel further includes a sub pixel connection switch arranged between the pixel electrodes of two of the M sub pixels. The sub pixel connection switch corresponds to one of the plurality of vertical scanning lines and one of the plurality of horizontal scanning lines and the display portion of the corresponding vertical and horizontal portions display information in accordance with a digital signal.
Accordingly, a main advantage of the present invention is that the number of gradation tones can be increased by a switch connecting the pixel electrodes of the sub pixels when a gray scale is to be achieved in each pixel by turning on/off each sub pixel based on digital data.
Further, in the liquid crystal display portion, the number of gradations can be increased in accordance with a digital signal, and one of the first and second reference potential lines can be periodically connected to the pixel electrode of each sub pixel in accordance with the potential level retained at the internal node by the capacitor for control. Thus, when continuously displaying the same image, a writing operation at a high frequency for driving vertical and horizontal scanning lines needs not be performed. As a result, power consumption of the portable telephone and portable digital assistance device can be reduced.
The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Liquid crystal display device implementing gray scale based on digital data as well as portable telephone and portable digital assistance device provided with the same


A system and method that enables an application to retrieve application update from the software vendor using one or more network connection. The application checks for updates when it is invoked by the user. The checking of updates is done by sending a request to the vendor server via one or multiple network connections. The network connection can be wired or wireless. By using multiple network connections, the update process can send and receive update data faster than using one network connections. Another aspect of the invention is if the checking for update request failed via the default or 1st network connection, the application will check for the next available network connection to send the update request. By checking for update from the vendor, the application will always have the most up to date patches, fixes, and/or new features.

Application updating over a network is an effective way to keep an installed application on a network capable device up to date with a new release and/or fixes. A networked capable device can be a personal computer, a laptop, a net book, a mobile device, a music player, an electronic book enabled device and any device including a processor and memory that can receive and/or transmit data over a network. It would be beneficial for the application updating process to be able to send and receive update information to and from more than one wired or wireless network connections, in order to selectively and/or dynamically determine which network to use in case of network routing failure. When a user invokes an application on his/her network capable device with wired and wireless network connections, on a separated thread, an Update Process checks for new updates by connecting and sending a request to the vendor's server.
Once the Update Process connected to the Vendor's server, it sends the application's data to the server for validating and comparing with the data on the server. The application data can include the version number, the installed date and time, the application identifier, the networked capable device information like device id or hardware id, and any other data that can be used to validate and check for the newer version of application on the Vendor's server. The server sends a response back to the Application's Update Process to let it know whether an update is available to download. If an update is available, the Update Process asks the user for permission to download by notifying the user, either through a pop-up dialog window or on the application window. The notification can be right after the Update Process, received the response from the server, or until the user exits from the application. If there is not any update, the Update Process will terminate by itself.
If the user allows new update, the Update Process sends another request to the server to retrieve the new data. If the request to retrieve the new update failed to connect to the Vendor's server on the 1st network connection, the Update Process will send the request to the second network connection. If the user chooses not to update his/her application, then the Update Process terminates by itself until next time when the user invokes the application.

Application update using multiple disparate networks


A method and apparatus for controlling the milling of an ablatable material and the like from substrate is disclosed. Embodiments for controlling the milling of ablatable materials and the like by pulses of high intensity radiant energy are described. The control process is accomplished by generating an electronic signal representative of the substrate surface topology through use of a structured light or other three dimensional mapping system and feeding the signal to a system control unit. By applying pre-programmed criteria regarding the final desired surface to the generated electronic signal, an electronic reference signal indicative of the dimensional coordinates of the final desired surface may be generated. An ablatable coating is then applied to a height sufficiently above the final desired surface to permit a milling off of the excess coating to produce the desired final surface topology. In the milling process the mapping system is used as a real-time feedback control mechanism for directing a laser. By scanning the surface ahead of the laser, the mapping system generates a new electronic signal representative of the coated surface topology, and this signal is compared to the desired-topology reference signal. At each spot where the comparison indicates the coated surface is above the final desired surface, the controller will order the laser to fire upon that spot, and this is reiterated until the surface features fall within the prescribed limits.

The invention relates to the use of radiant energy for the selective and controlled removal of ablatable material from a substrate without removing or damaging the substrate, and more specifically to an improved method and apparatus for smoothing or shaping a surface to preselected limits.
Many industrial procedures require the removal of a material or materials from a substrate or from adjacent materials in order to achieve a smooth surface. The wide variety of techniques used to perform this task include mechanical grinding, scraping, and blasting with sand or other abrasives. All of these methods have the disadvantages of being labor intensive and imprecise.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,588,885, there is disclosed an automatic laser paint removal system for removing paint and other coatings from metallic or other substrates through an electronic control process. The control is accomplished by illuminating the area of the paint and the like which is to be stripped and subjecting the light reflected therefrom to spatial spectral dispersion. The spatial spectral dispersion is sensed and an electronic signal representative thereof is generated. The generated electronic signal is compared to a pre-recorded electronic signal representative of the spatial spectral dispersion of the paint or other coating(s) which are to be removed. This comparison is made before each pulse of high intensity radiant energy, and the pulse is applied only upon such comparison resulting in a substantial match.
The paint removal system described has some relation to the present invention, in that a surface condition is monitored and a decision is made whether to fire a scanning laser beam at each small unit of area covered, based on information just obtained by the monitoring for that unit of area.
The sensor system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,588,885 provides information for control of the firing of the laser only via the material at the surface of the area being stripped. The patented system does not provide or utilize a contour sensing subsystem and it is unable to accomplish the objective of the present invention, i.e. to achieve a desired contour.

System and process for controlled removal of material to produce a desired surface contour


A method for base station handover includes: receiving a Handover Request message sent by a mobility management entity (MME), to which a destination base station is connected, via an S1 interface, wherein the Handover Request message carries indication information for establishing a data radio bearer (DRB) of a UAV; sending a Handover Request Acknowledge message to the MME via the S1 interface, so that the MME sends a Handover Command message to a source base station of the UAV; establishing a signaling radio bearer (SRB) for the UAV after receiving a random-access request sent by the UAV; and establishing the DRB for the UAV based on the indication information.

With the development of computer technology, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) becomes increasingly lower in cost, and is very popular among people. People may use the UAV to capture images, transport goods, etc. at high altitude.
In the prior art, there is only provided a method for transmitting data using a proprietary protocol by the UAV, and no method for transmitting the data using a cellular network by the UAV is provided. As a result, how to perform base station handover when the UAV uses the cellular network is not available.

Method and system for base station handover

BEIJING XIAOMI MOBILE SOFTWARE CO., LTD.


A MAC device guarantees QoS in a VoIP wireless LAN by giving higher priority to voice data than to non-voice data. Transmission data generated by an application program is provided to a modem according to the priority assigned to the data. A kernel classifies the transmission data into voice and non-voice data. A MAC driver stores the voice and non-voice data in two queues, and transmits a MAC header to a MAC transmitter to notify it of generation of the transmission data, and transmits the stored voice or non-voice data to the MAC transmitter according to the type of a transmission interrupt received from the MAC transmitter in response to the notification. The MAC transmitter combines the voice or non-voice data, received from the MAC driver in response to the transmission interrupt, with a corresponding header, and outputs it to the modem.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a media access control device guaranteeing Quality of Service (QoS) in a wireless LAN for Voice over IP (VoIP) that can guarantee communication quality of VoIP services provided in wireless LAN areas.
2. Description of the Related Art
Voice over IP (VoIP) is a technology for transferring voice information using an Internet Protocol (IP). This technology provides voice information services in digital form through discrete packets, rather than using a circuit-based protocol as in a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). Attempts have been made to provide the VoIP service not only in wired networks but also in wireless networks. The key to implementation of the VoIP service is to guarantee Quality of Service (QoS) above a certain level with packets that are discretely transferred as described above.
Of various data such as voice, video and Internet data, real-time data including voice data must be processed earlier than other data (i.e., non-real-time data) in order to guarantee QoS in providing the VoIP service in a wireless LAN environment in which a plurality of stations 11 to 13 are connected to a single Access Point (AP) as shown in FIG. 1.
IEEE 802.11 standard uses Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA) in the environment as shown in FIG. 1. A station is given an opportunity to access the medium according to Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) timing rules after waiting until the medium becomes idle. A backoff algorithm used in this technique employs a collision avoidance scheme to prevent transmission data from colliding with each other on a channel. A station having data to transmit monitors the channel. If the channel is busy or if it is busy after waiting a time interval corresponding to a DCF Inter-Frame Space (DIFS), the data is transmitted after performing backoff count for a time interval corresponding to a random Contention Window (CW) value generated by a random generator. The random CW value is randomly drawn from the range [0, CWrange] (i.e., the range of 0 to CWrange). The initial random CW value is drawn from the range [0, CWmin]. Each time transmission fails, CWrange is increased to "2(CWrange+1)−1" until it reaches the maximum CW "CWmax" stored in a CWmax register, in which the random CW value is drawn from the increased range.
If each station 11 to 13 fails to transmit a frame, it performs backoff in the above manner to retransmit the frame until the maximum number of times of retransmission is reached. If the next data to transmit is real-time data, transmission delay occurs since the next data cannot be transmitted until the previous data transmission is completed, which makes it difficult to guarantee QoS.
According to the IEEE 802.11e standard, which has been proposed for wireless LAN environments, data is classified into 8 types as shown in FIG. 2. 0th to 2nd priority is assigned to best effort data, 3rd priority is assigned to video probe data, 4th and 5th priority is assigned to video data, and 6th and 7th priority is assigned to voice data. The 8 data types are classified into four Access Categories (AC0 to AC3). As shown in FIG. 3, a Media Access Control (MAC) 30 according to the IEEE 802.11e standard includes four AC processors 31 to 34 for individually processing the four access categories (AC0 to AC3), and four backoff processors 35 to 38 connected respectively with the four AC processors 31 to 34. Each of the four AC processors 31 to 34 includes a single queue to transmit voice, video, or general data according to Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) rules. As the priority of data increases, the range of CW values decreases, shortening its backoff time, so that the station more quickly gets the opportunity to transmit the data. Different Arbitration Inter-Frame Space Numbers (AIFSN) are assigned to the access categories, so that the access categories AC3, AC2, AC1 and AC0 are sequentially allocated slot times for starting transmission.
However, in the IEEE 802.11e standard, the processor load is increased to guarantee QoS for each data type, and memory or functional block size is also increased to implement the media access control unit. Although the above method can guarantee QoS for both the real-time and non-real-time data to achieve high quality communication, it is difficult to apply the method to portable devices such as VoIP phones that require small size and low power design, saving hardware resources.

Media access control device guaranteeing communication quality in wireless LAN for VoIP

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A wire, preferably a bonding wire for bonding in microelectronics, contains a copper core with a surface and coating layer containing aluminum superimposed over the surface of the copper core. The ratio of the thickness of the coating layer to the diameter of the copper core is from 0.05 to 0.2 μm. The wire has a diameter in the range of from 100 μm to 600 μm and specified standard deviations of the diameter of the copper core and of the thickness of the coating layer. The invention further relates to a process for making a wire, to a wire obtained by the process, to an electric device containing at least two elements and the wire, to a propelled device containing the electric device, and to a process of connecting two elements through the wire by wedge bonding.

The invention relates to a wire, preferably for bonding in microelectronics, comprising a copper core with a surface and a coating layer comprising aluminum superimposed over the surface of the copper core. The ratio of the thickness of the coating layer to the diameter of the copper core is in the range of from 0.05 to 0.2 and the ratio of the standard deviation of the diameter of the copper core to the diameter of the copper core is in the range of from 0.005 to 0.05. The ratio of the standard deviation of the thickness of the coating layer to the thickness of the coating layer is in the range of from 0.05 to 0.4 and the wire has a diameter in the range of from 100 μm to 600 μm. The invention further relates to a process for making a wire, to a wire obtainable by the process, to an electric device comprising at least two elements and at least the wire, to a propelled device comprising the electric device, and to a process of connecting two elements through the wire by wedge-bonding.
Bonding wires are used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices for electrically interconnecting an integrated circuit and a printed circuit board during semiconductor device fabrication. Further, bonding wires are used in power electronic applications to electrically connect transistors, diodes and the like with pads or pins of the housing. While bonding wires were made from gold in the beginning, nowadays less expensive materials, such as copper or aluminum, are used. While copper wire provides very good electric and thermal conductivity, wedge-bonding of copper wire has its challenges compared to wires made of aluminum. Moreover, copper wires are susceptible to oxidation of the wire.
With respect to wire geometry, most common are bonding wires of circular cross-section and bonding ribbons, which have a more or less rectangular cross-section. Both types of wire geometries have their advantages, making them useful for specific applications. Thus, both types of geometry have their share in the market. For example, bonding ribbons have a larger contact area for a given cross-sectional area. However, bending of the ribbons is limited and orientation of the ribbon must be observed when bonding in order to arrive at acceptable electrical contact between the ribbon and the element to which it is bonded. Turning to bonding wires, these are more flexible to bending. However, bonding involves either soldering or larger deformation of the wire in the bonding process, which may cause harm or even destroy the bonding pad and underlying electric structures of the element which is bonded thereto.
Some recent developments were directed to bonding wires having a core and a shell, which is, for example, a coating layer. As core material, copper or gold may be chosen because of high electric conductivity. With regard to the coating layer, aluminum is one of the more common choices. These core-shell bonding wires combine some of the advantages of the copper wire and some of the aluminum wire. Recent achievements make using standard wedge-bonding processes for such aluminum coated copper wires possible. Nevertheless, there is an ongoing need for further improving bonding wire technology with regard to the bonding wire itself and the bonding processes.

Aluminum coated copper bond wire and method of making the same


An apparatus and method for extending a bed of a truck is provided. The apparatus can include a load platform extending substantially outwards from a bed of the truck when the load platform is in position, the load platform having a proximal end and a distal end; and a hitch assembly having a connection arm for insertion into a hitch receiver on the truck and a support arm extending upwards to support at least some of the weight of the load platform. To install the bed extender, a tailgate of the truck can be removed, the hitch assembly inserted into a hitch receiver on the truck the load platform connected to the hitch assembly and positioned to extend from the bed of the truck.

A modern pickup truck typically has either a six foot or an eight foot bed. In some cases, it is desirable to have a longer bed length to transport certain loads that do not fit within the bed length. There are a number of truck bed extenders known that allow a user to extend the capacity of his or her truck bed. Typically, these truck bed extenders operate by having the user fold down the tailgate on his or her truck and then providing some sort of structure that surrounds the tailgate so that the tailgate of the truck to becomes part of the cargo bed.
However, a truck tailgate is not very strong and is not designed to handle as much weight as the bed of the truck. The tailgate is typically hinged on the bottom so that it can pivot between an open position, where the tailgate lies flat so that the bed of the truck can be loaded, and a closed position, where it closes the back of the bed of the truck. When the tailgate is in the closed position, it is secured in an upright position by the hinges and latches that mate with the sides of the bed. However, when the tailgate is lying flat in the open position, it is only secured in place by the two hinges and typically a relatively thin steel cord to keep it from pivoting any further around the hinges. Because of the configuration of the tailgate, the tailgate is substantially weaker than the bed of the truck. When a load is placed on a tailgate that is in the open position, the cord and hinges are all that is supporting the load. This can create problems with bed extending structures that use the tailgate to extend the bed length.
Additionally, it has become common to carry all terrain vehicles (ATVs) and other personal recreational vehicles in the bed of trucks. These personal recreational vehicles can be quite heavy. Not only can they place substantial weight on the tailgate of a truck when the tailgate is left in an open position to support a portion of the recreational vehicle, but they can also place substantial weight on the tailgate when a ramp is used to load the vehicle into the bed of a truck. Often, a ramp is used to load these vehicles or other loads into the bed of the truck, with the ramp being positioned with one end on the lowered tailgate and the other end of the ramp on the ground. As the recreational vehicle is being driven up the ramp, the weight of the vehicle forces the ends of the ramp against the open tailgate transferring the weight of the load to the tailgate, which in turn is only supported by a thin steel cord.


Leaderboards that aggregate data from across different wagering games (e.g., online wagering games and casino based wagering games) can create a game independent spirit of competition and recognition. Wagering game data of a plurality of players across different wagering games can be aggregated together. The plurality of players are ranked based, at least in part, on the wagering game data aggregated across the different wagering games. A leaderboard is updated based, at least in part, on the ranking of the plurality of players.

Leaderboards are used as scoreboards for players to keep track of their scores or winnings in a wagering game. A leaderboard can encourage a spirit of competition among players by comparing and ranking a top set of players based on scores—starting with a highest scoring player to a lowest scoring player. Additionally, the leaderboard is updated at regular intervals to reflect a latest top set of players and player scores.