A plastic-molded-type semiconductor device includes a plurality of semiconductor chips, metallic wires connected to the semiconductor chips, leads connected to the metallic wires, and an insulating member interposed between the semiconductor chips and sealed in a resin member. Circuit formed surfaces of the semiconductor chips are directed in the same direction, and one or more of the semiconductor chips serve as a base on which the other semiconductor chips are mounted through the insulating member. One ends of the leads are bonded to the insulating member, and electrodes pad of each semiconductor chip are not covered by the other semiconductor chips, the insulating member and the leads, and therefore are exposed to the surface of the insulating member. In this device, the provision of a tab is omitted, and the laminated chips can be contained in a package thinner than a conventional package. Since the circuit formation surfaces of all of the chips are directed in the same direction, all of the electrical connections can be made by wire bonding from one direction.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a semiconductor, and more particularly to a plastic-molded-type semiconductor device in which a plurality of semiconductor chips are sealed or molded in a single resin so as to achieve a compact construction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional plastic-molded-type (resin-sealed type) semiconductor devices each having a plurality of semiconductor chips sealed in a single resin are disclosed in the following publications:
Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 1-295454 discloses an example in which circuit formation surfaces of two semiconductor chips face each other, and electrode pads of the two chips are directly joined to each other.
Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2-2658 discloses an example in which semiconductor chips are bonded respectively to front and rear sides or surfaces of a lead frame, and the semiconductor chips and leads are wire-bonded together from opposite directions.
Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2-15660 discloses a construction which is generally similar to that disclosed in the above Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 1-295454 but differs therefrom in such a structure that a deformation-preventing resin is filled in between two semiconductor chips.
In Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Nos. 1-295454 and 2-15660 among the above prior art, the production step of directly joining the electrode pads of the two semiconductor chips to each other is required, and there is encountered a problem that the product yield in this production step is low.
As regards Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2-2658, after the bonding of the semiconductor chip to one side of the lead frame, or after the wire bonding, the lead frame is inverted so as to effect the bonding at the other side. Therefore, the production process is complicated, and also there is a risk that the wires on the reverse surface may be damaged when the bonding at the opposite side is to be effected.
Further, in any of the above prior art publications, the semiconductor chip is adapted to be mounted on a plate member (which is called a "tab") provided on the lead frame. Therefore, the thickness of the semiconductor device is increased. As a result, when the semiconductor device is mounted on a substrate, a space available in the direction of the height is reduced, which prevents a high-density design. On the other hand, in order to make the thickness of the semiconductor device uniform, if the thickness of the resin is reduced, the resin is damaged under a high-temperature condition as when soldering the semiconductor device to the substrate, so that the sealing function of the resin is lowered, which adversely affects the reliability.


According one embodiment, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, includes: a stacked body, and each of a plurality of electrode layers and each of a plurality of insulating layers being stacked alternately in the a stacked body; a first interlayer insulating film on the stacked body; a gate electrode on the first interlayer insulating film; a second interlayer insulating film on the gate electrode; a semiconductor layer extended from an upper end of the second interlayer insulating film to a lower end of the stacked body; a first insulating film between the semiconductor layer and each of the plurality of electrode layers; and a second insulating film between the semiconductor layer and the gate electrode, a thickness of the semiconductor layer provided above an upper end of the gate electrode being thicker than a thickness of the semiconductor layer provided below the upper end of the gate electrode.

There is a three-dimensional memory cell structure in which a memory hole is formed in a stacked body having a plurality of stacked electrode layers each functioning as a control gate, a memory film is formed on the side wall of the memory hole, and further a channel body layer is formed on the inside of the memory film. This type of three-dimensional memory cell structure has a memory string structure containing a channel body layer extending in the stacking direction of the stacked body.
In the formation process of the memory string structure, the channel body layer is formed on the side wall of a selection gate electrode via a gate insulating film, in addition to being formed on the side wall of the electrode layer via the memory film. Furthermore, the channel body layer is also formed above the selection gate electrode as a conductive path with a bit line or a source line.

Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device and method for manufacturing same


A monolithic integrated circuit (IC) including one or more compute circuitry, one or more non-volatile memory circuits, one or more communication channels and one or more communication interface. The one or more communication channels can communicatively couple the one or more compute circuitry, the one or more non-volatile memory circuits and the one or more communication interface together. The one or more communication interfaces can communicatively couple one or more circuits of the monolithic integrated circuit to one or more circuits external to the monolithic integrated circuit.

Referring to FIG. 1, a computing system according to the conventional art is shown. The compute system 100 can include a processor 110 and off-chip memory 120. The processor 110 can be a monolithic integrated circuit (IC) including one or more compute circuitry 130 and one or more volatile memory circuitry 140. One or more communication channels can couple the one or more compute circuitry 130 to the one or more volatile memory circuitry 140. The monolithic IC processor 110 can also include one or more communication interfaces 160 to couple the one or more volatile memory circuitry 140 to the off-chip memory 120.
In one implementation, the one or more volatile memory circuitry 140 can be static random-access memory (SRAM) commonly referred to in the conventional art as on-chip processor cache. In applications such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, neural networks and the like, the on-chip volatile memory circuitry 140 caches only a portion of weights, kernel functions or the like. Instead, the weights, kernel functions or the like are stored in the off-chip memory 120. Portions of the weights, kernel functions or the like are read in from the off-chip memory 120 to the volatile memory circuitry 140 that are currently being processed by the compute circuitry 130. The results of computations by the compute circuitry 130 are then written out to the off-chip memory 120. Reading and writing data such as weights, kernel functions or the like to the off-chip memory 120 consumes a lot of communication bandwidth between the volatile memory circuitry 140 and the off-chip memory. In addition, the transfer of data such as weights, kernel functions or the like between the volatile memory circuitry 140 and off-chip memory accounts for a substantial portion of power consumption by the compute system 100, and the transfer can cost a long latency. In addition, the volatile memory circuitry 140 consumes power even when data is not being written into and read from the volatile memory circuitry 140.
Accordingly, there is a continuing need for reducing bandwidth utilization between the monolithic IC processor 110 and off-chip memory 120. Likewise, there is a continuing need for reducing power consumption by the monolithic IC processor 110 and off-chip memory 120 in the compute system 100.

Non-volatile memory based processors and dataflow techniques


The invention relates to crystalline forms of 4-((R)-2-{[6-((S)-3-methoxy-pyrrolidin-1-yl)-2-phenyl-pyrimidine-4 carbonyl]-amino}-3-phosphono-propionyl)-piperazine-1-carboxylic acid butyl ester hydrochloride, processes for the preparation thereof, pharmaceutical compositions comprising said crystalline forms, pharmaceutical compositions prepared from such crystalline forms and their use as a medicament, especially as a P2Y12 receptor antagonist.

The circulation of blood from and to organs guarantees the supply of oxygen, nutrients, as well as the disposal of catabolic products. Therefore, the integrity of blood vessels is essential at all times. When the vascular integrity is compromised, a highly efficient repair mechanism is activated at the site of injury resulting in the formation of a repair seal to prevent further blood loss. This fundamental biological process is defined as hemostasis. Thrombosis is the result of a pathological deviation of one or several components involved in hemostasis leading to uncontrolled platelet thrombus formation and vessel occlusion. Platelets have been described to contribute to hemostasis and thrombosis since their discovery (Coller B S, Historical perspective and future directions in platelet research. J Thromb Haemost. 2011; 9 Suppl 1:374-395). More recently, atherosclerotic lesions in combination with occlusive platelet thrombi have been found in patients with ischemic cardiac death (Davies M J et al., Intramyocardial platelet aggregation in patients with unstable angina suffering sudden ischemic cardiac death. Circulation. 1986; 73:418-427).
Inhibition of platelet aggregation is recognized as an effective strategy for the prevention of thrombosis in patients with atherosclerotic disease in the coronary (Jneid H et al., 2012 accf/aha focused update of the guideline for the management of patients with unstable angina/non-st-elevation myocardial infarction (updating the 2007 guideline and replacing the 2011 focused update): A report of the american college of cardiology foundation/american heart association task force on practice guidelines. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2012; 60:645-681; O'Gara P T et al., 2013 accf/aha guideline for the management of st-elevation myocardial infarction: A report of the american college of cardiology foundation/american heart association task force on practice guidelines. Circulation. 2013; 127:e362-425), peripheral (Jagroop I A et al., The effect of clopidogrel, aspirin and both antiplatelet drugs on platelet function in patients with peripheral arterial disease. Platelets. 2004; 15:117-125; Matsagas M et al., The effect of a loading dose (300 mg) of clopidogrel on platelet function in patients with peripheral arterial disease. Clin Appl Thromb Hemost. 2003; 9:115-120), and cerebrovascular circulation (Liu F et al., P2Y12 receptor inhibitors for secondary prevention of ischemic stroke. Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2015; 16:1149-1165). Inhibition of P2Y12 as an antiplatelet approach was validated in multiple clinical studies. Several P2Y12 antagonists have been demonstrated to effectively reduce the risk of adverse cardiovascular events in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (Cattaneo M, The platelet P2Y12 receptor for adenosine diphosphate: Congenital and drug-induced defects. Blood. 2011; 117:2102-2112; Thomas M R et al., The future of P2Y12 receptor antagonists. Platelets. 2015; 26:392-398; Wiviott S D et al., Clinical evidence for oral antiplatelet therapy in acute coronary syndromes. Lancet. 2015; 386:292-302; Wallentin L, P2Y12 inhibitors: Differences in properties and mechanisms of action and potential consequences for clinical use. Eur Heart J. 2009; 30:1964-1977). In current treatment guidelines, P2Y12 antagonists define the cornerstone therapy for patients with ACS (Jneid H et al., 2012 accf/aha focused update of the guideline for the management of patients with unstable angina/non-st-elevation myocardial infarction (updating the 2007 guideline and replacing the 2011 focused update): A report of the american college of cardiology foundation/american heart association task force on practice guidelines. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2012; 60:645-681; O'Gara P T et al., 2013 accf/aha guideline for the management of st-elevation myocardial infarction: A report of the american college of cardiology foundation/american heart association task force on practice guidelines. Circulation. 2013; 127:e362-425).
Three indirect P2Y12 antagonists of the thienopyridine family, which block the ADP-induced platelet activation and aggregation, have reached the market: the orally active ticlopidine, clopidogrel and prasugrel. In addition, two direct P2Y12 antagonists, which do not require metabolic activation and therefore display faster on- and offset of action, have received market approval: the nucleotide analogues ticagrelor and cangrelor. 4-((R)-2-{[6-((S)-3-methoxy-pyrrolidin-1-yl)-2-phenyl-pyrimidine-4-carbonyl]-amino}-3-phosphono-propionyl)-piperazine-1-carboxylic acid butyl ester is a potent, reversible, and selective P2Y12 receptor antagonist (Caroff E et al., J. Med. Chem. 2015; 58:9133-9153; WO 2009/069100). Its hydrochloride salt was used as a powder in a first-in-man clinical trial (Baldoni et al., Clinical Drug Investigation 2014; 34:807-818).
Despite the fact that many attempts failed to crystallize COMPOUND.HCl from several solvents in a mono-phase solvent system, it surprisingly has been found that a crystallization took place in certain heterogeneous solvent systems. The obtained crystalline forms of COMPOUND.HCl may have advantageous properties in view of the potential use of COMPOUND.HCl or COMPOUND as active pharmaceutical ingredient. Such advantages may include higher purity; better storage stability; better flow properties; less hygroscopicity; better reproducibility in manufacturing (for example better filtration parameters, better reproducibility of formation, and/or better sedimentation); and/or defined morphology. Such crystalline forms of COMPOUND.HCl may be particularly suitable in a process of manufacturing certain pharmaceutical compositions.
In the gravimetric vapour sorption diagrams of FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 the relative humidity (% RH) is plotted on the horizontal axis and the mass change (% dm, dry basis) on the vertical axis.


The response time of safety-critical electrical components is improved during a safety cut-out. To this end, the outputs of two controllers used to control switches connected in series and pertaining to a switching device for the electrical components or machines to be switched are subjected to an AND operation. The transmission time from one controller to another is no longer relevant in terms of the safety cut-out, if one controller receives the cut-out signal from the input and the other controller is responsible for operating both switches in unison. The average response time during the safety cut-out increases accordingly.

Many safety applications require a very short reaction time for processing of an EMERGENCY-OFF demand. Although present-day modern safety appliances generally use microcontrollers and internal functions can therefore be processed very quickly, filter algorithms have to be used, because of burst and RF interference, in order to achieve the maximum availability. Further boundary effects such as compensation for the cable capacity and dynamic input testing in the end lead to relatively long evaluation times.
A drive apparatus which has two series-connected switches in order to satisfy the hardware redundancy requirement, with the switches each being electrically connected to their own microcontroller via a relay drive, is known from the report "Not-Aus-Schaltgeräte, Schutztürwächter [Emergency-off switching devices, guard door monitors] Announcement Pilz NSG-D-1-051-07/00, XX, XX, July 2000 (2000-07), pages 1 to 4, XP 000961973". One input of each of the microcontrollers is electrically connected to an emergency-off switch, and they are formed alongside one another, with equal authority. The switches can each be controlled via the associated microcontroller. The switches are controlled as a function of the need to switch off a safety-critical component.
Furthermore, a safety device in which a sensor apparatus is electrically connected to two evaluation devices is known from German Laid Open Specification DE 44 09 541 A1. One output of each evaluation unit is electrically connected to a switch which is in the form of an auxiliary contactor. A timer is arranged in the signal path between one evaluation unit and one auxiliary contactor, by which timer it is possible to switch off a downstream main circuit via the auxiliary contactor, with a delay.
A further problem is represented by the fact that, in safety appliances from Category SIL3 with respect to the European IEC Standard 615 08, two controllers must always be used for hardware redundancy and fault tolerance reasons.
The applicant has solved this problem, in the case of safety appliances, by using two controllers with identical hardware and identical firmware for safety appliances. A "master/slave principle" is used in order to make it possible to identify systematic faults. Thus, one of the controllers is in each case the master for a short time, while the other is the slave. The two controllers interchange this status after a defined time. One of the controllers is normally used to drive specific switches, for example in a load circuit on an electrical machine while, in contrast, the other controller is used to monitor the switching states of these switches, and itself drives other switches of other components.
That controller which is in the master mode reads all of the inputs and defines the output states of the switches to which it is connected or which are allocated to it. Important states such as demands are matched with the slave, and internal tests are carried out.
An EMERGENCY-OFF demand is first of all registered by the controller in the master mode. One disadvantage in this case is that those outputs which are driven by the controller in the slave mode cannot be switched off until the EMERGENCY-OFF demand has been transmitted from the master to the slave. Those outputs which are driven directly by the master can be switched off relatively quickly. The reaction time for switching off the driven components is thus dependent on which controller receives the demand first of all, and whether the desired output can also be switched off by this controller.
Demand times of less than 45 milliseconds have not been possible to achieve until now with the described circuit design. Correspondingly faster hardware would allow the demand time to be reduced down to 35 milliseconds. However, this is not sufficient for critical demands such as press controls.

Control device for safety-critical components and corresponding method


Substrate processing techniques are described in which an etch protection layer that is formed as part of an etch process forms in a self-limiting nature. Thus, over deposition effects are minimized, particularly in the corners of etched polygonal holes. In one embodiment, the layer being etched contains silicon and the protective layer comprises a silicon oxide (SixOy). The process may include the use of a cyclical series of etch and protective layer formation steps. In the case of a silicon oxide based protective layer, a thin protective layer of silicon oxide may be formed in a limiting and controllable manner due to the nature of the oxygen atom interaction with silicon and newly formed silicon oxide protective layers. In this manner, a polygonal hole may be formed without detrimental over deposition of a protective layer in corners of the hole.

The present disclosure relates to the formation of sidewall protection layers during substrate processing. More particularly, the present disclosure provides a method to form protection layers during the etching of holes, such as via holes and contact holes.
The use of protection layers during etch processes has long been known. For example, using fluorocarbon chemistries in a plasma system for the etching of substrates has widely been used to provide a carbon based protection layer to the sidewalls of a hole being etched so as to enable anisotropic etching. Such fluorocarbon plasma processing is well known, for example, for the processing of semiconductor wafers. In such fluorocarbon processing techniques, deposition of a carbon based sidewall protection layer generally continuously occurs during the etch process. In this regard, the sidewall deposition process is not self-limiting.
As geometries in substrate processing continue to shrink, the technical challenges to forming structures on substrates increase. With regard to the formation of protective layers, as geometries shrink, over deposition of protective layers during continuous sidewall deposition etch processes may significantly affect the size of the pattern being formed on the substrate. This issue is worsened when the pattern being generated has corners as the over deposition will build up even more in corner locations. Thus, for example, polygonal holes that are being etched with a chemistry that provides a fluorocarbon sidewall protective layer may exhibit an undesirable over deposition accumulation of the carbon based sidewall protective layer, particularly in the corners of the hole. Such over deposition may undesirably change the target geometries of the features being formed. Further, over deposition in corners can lead to etch shadowing effects which create footing remnants of the layer being etched in the corners of the contact hole or via hole being formed. Thus, such corner and footing issues may materially affect the shape of the hole being formed, particularly in corners and at the base of the hole. These problems will then impact the performance of the structures being created.
FIGS. 1A-1C illustrate a cross-sectional view of a substrate processing flow illustrating these problems. FIG. 1D illustrates a top view of the process flow at the process step of FIG. 1D. As shown in FIG. 1A, a substrate 100 having a silicon layer 105 and a masking layer 110 is provided. As shown in FIG. 1A, the masking layer 110 has been provided with an exemplary pattern which corresponds to a desired hole pattern which is to be formed in the silicon layer 105. As further shown in FIG. 1A, the substrate 100 may be exposed to a fluorocarbon plasma 104 to etch the silicon layer 105. As shown in FIG. 1B, a carbon based sidewall protective layer 106 may form during the etching of the silicon layer 105. FIG. 1C illustrates the effects that occur from the undesirable over deposition accumulation of the carbon based sidewall protective layer 106. In particular, as shown in FIG. 1C protective layer over deposition 106A of the carbon based sidewall protective layer 106 may form in the corners of the hole 108. Further, the protective layer over deposition 106A causes etch shadowing effects which create footing remnants 107 of the silicon layer 105 in the bottom corners of the hole 108 being formed. FIG. 1D illustrates a top view of the substrate 100 at the process step shown in the FIG. 1C cross-section, illustrating the impact on the hole 108 in which the original polygon shape of the masking layer has been impacted by the protective layer over deposition 106A in the corner regions.
It is desirable to form a protection layer not subject to over deposition effects to provide a more controllable hole profile and controllable hole etch process.

Sidewall protection layer formation for substrate processing


An optical measurement apparatus, to which a base end portion of a measurement probe introduced into a subject is connected so that scattering light from the subject through the measurement probe can be measured, includes: calibration member serving as an irradiation target of illumination light when a calibration process is performed for the measurement probe using the illumination light from the measurement probe; an insertion portion where a leading end of the measurement probe can be inserted; a housing portion that communicates with the insertion portion and accommodates the calibration member movably along a penetration direction of the insertion portion; a detection unit that detects insertion of the measurement probe when the calibration member reaches a predetermined position in the housing portion by the insertion of the measurement probe through the insertion portion; and a control unit that performs control for initiating the calibration process when the detection unit detects the insertion of the measurement probe.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical measurement apparatus and an optical measurement system for irradiating illumination light onto body tissue and estimating properties of the body tissue based on a measurement value of detection light reflected or scattered from body tissue.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, there is known a living body optical measurement system for irradiating illumination light onto body tissue and estimating properties of body tissue based on a measurement value of detection light reflected or scattered from the body tissue. Such a living body optical measurement system is used in combination with an endoscope for observing internal organs such as digestive organs.
Incidentally, in the living body optical measurement system described above, it is necessary to perform a calibration process for adjusting white balance before starting the measurement of body tissue in order to guarantee analysis accuracy of the analysis result. In this regard, there is known a technique of irradiating illumination light onto an optical member that reflects light, receiving the reflected light using a photo detector, computing a measurement value, and performing a calibration process based on the computed measurement value and a predetermined reference value before starting the measurement (for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-94992).

Optical measurement apparatus and optical measurement system


A system for determining a distance to an object including a solid-state light source, a detector having a plurality of picture elements, and a processor to calculate the distance to the object as a function of exposure values generated by picture elements in response to the detected light. The picture elements generate exposure values by accumulating a first amount of electrical charge representative of reflected light during a first time window and a second electrical charge representative of reflected light during a second predetermined time window. The detecting occurs at the two charge storage wells; and the system interleaves the predetermined time windows with time windows during which the picture elements are used in a function different from the detecting and/or the picture elements include at least one further charge storage well to perform the function different from the detecting of the first and second amount of light.

In the field of remote sensing technology, mainly in the usage of making high-resolution maps of the surroundings, to be used in many control and navigation applications such as but not limited to the automotive and industrial environment, gaming applications, and mapping applications, it is known to use time-of-flight based sensing to determine the distance of objects from a sensor. Time-of-flight based techniques include the use of RF modulated sources, range gated imagers, or direct time-of-flight (DToF) imagers. For the use of RF modulated sources and range gated imagers, it is necessary to illuminate the entire scene of interest with a modulated or pulsed source. Direct time-of-flight systems, such as most LIDARs, mechanically scan the area of interest with a pulsed beam, the reflection of which is sensed with a pulse detector.
In order to be able to correlate an emitted RF modulated signal with the detected reflected signal, the emitted signal must meet a number of constraints. In practice, these constraints turn out to make the RF modulated systems highly impractical for use in vehicular systems: the attainable range of detection is very limited for signal intensities that are within conventional safety limits and within the power budget of regular vehicles.
A direct TOF (DToF) imager, as used in most LIDAR systems, comprises a powerful pulsed laser (operating in a nanosecond pulse regime), a mechanical scanning system to acquire from the 1D point measurement a 3D map, and a pulse detector. Systems of this type are presently available from vendors including Velodyne Lidar of Morgan Hill, Calif. The Velodyne HDL-64E, as an example of state-of-the-art systems, uses 64 high-power lasers and 64 detectors (avalanche diodes) in a mechanically rotating structure at 5 to 15 rotations per second. The optical power required by these DToF LIDAR systems is too high to be obtained with semiconductor lasers, whose power is in the range of five to six orders of magnitude lower. In addition, the use of mechanically rotating elements for scanning purposes limits the prospects for miniaturization, reliability, and cost reduction of this type of system.
United States Patent application publication no. 2015/0063387 in the name of Trilumina discloses a VCSEL delivering a total energy of 50 mW in a pulse having a pulse width of 20 ns. The commercially available Optek OPV310 VCSEL delivers a total energy of 60 mW in a pulse having a duration of 10 ns and it can be estimated by extrapolation to have a maximum optical output power of 100 mW. This value is only realized under very stringent operating conditions, meaning optimal duty cycle and short pulse width so as to avoid instability due to thermal problems. Both the Trilumina disclosure and the Optek system illustrate that continuous-wave VCSEL systems are reaching their physical limits with respect to optical peak power output, due to thermal constraints inherently linked to the VCSEL design. At these pulse energy levels, and using ns pulses as presently used in DToF applications, the mere number of photons that can be expected to be usefully reflected by an object at a distance of 200 m is so low that it defeats detection by means of conventional semiconductor sensors such as CMOS or CCD or SPAD array. Thus, increasing the VCSEL power outputs by 5 or 6 orders of magnitude, as would be required to extend the range of the known DToF systems, is physically impossible.
Even the use of avalanche diodes (AD or SPAD), which are theoretically sufficiently sensitive to capture the few returning photons, cannot be usefully deployed in the known LIDAR system architectures. A solid state implementation of an array of SPADs must be read out serially. A high number of SPADs is required to achieve the desired accuracy. The serial read-out constraints of the solid state implementation limits the bandwidth of the system turning it inappropriate for the desired accuracy. For accuracies such as that of the Velodyne system (0.02 m to 0.04 m, independent of distance), the required read-out data rate exceeds the practically achievable bandwidth in case of today's IC implementation. For operation at 120 m, a SPAD array of 500×500 pixels is required, which, in an IC-based implementation, must be read-out serially. For the same precision as the aforementioned Velodyne system, it would require 1000 pulses per millisecond and hence 1000 frames per millisecond, translating into a readout rate of 250 Gigapixels per second. This is believed to be technically unfeasible in the context of current SPAD IC technology.
The paper by Neil E. Newman et al., "High Peak Power VCSELs in Short Range LIDAR Applications", Journal of Undergraduate Research in Physics, 2013, http://www.jurp.org/2013/12017EXR.pdf, describes a VCSEL-based LIDAR application. The paper states that the maximum output power of the described prototype system was not great enough to do wide-field LIDAR at a range greater than 0.75 m. With a relatively focused beam (0.02 m spot size at 1 m distance), the authors were able to range a target object at a distance of up to 1 m.
The above examples clearly indicate that the optical power emitted by present semiconductor lasers cannot meet the power requirements necessary for operations in the known LIDAR systems to be of practical use in automotive applications (e.g. for ranges up to 200 m).
U.S. Pat. No. 7,544,945 in the name of Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., discloses vehicle-based LIDAR systems and methods using multiple lasers to provide more compact and cost-effective LIDAR functionality. Each laser in an array of lasers can be sequentially activated so that a corresponding optical element mounted with respect to the array of lasers produces respective interrogation beams in substantially different directions. Light from these beams is reflected by objects in a vehicle's environment, and detected so as to provide information about the objects to vehicle operators and/or passengers. The patent provides a solid state projector in which the individual lasers are consecutively activated in order to replace the known mechanical scanning in the known DToF LIDAR systems.
A high-accuracy medium-range surround sensing system for vehicles that does not use time-of-flight detection, is known from international patent application publication WO 2015/004213 A1 in the name of the present applicant. In that publication, the localization of objects is based on the projection of pulsed radiation spots and the analysis of the displacement of detected spots with reference to predetermined reference spot positions. More in particular, the system of the cited publication uses triangulation. However, the accuracy that can be achieved correlates with the triangulation base, which limits the further miniaturization that can be achieved.
U.S. patent application publication no. US 2012/0038903 A1 discloses methods and systems for adaptively controlling the illumination of a scene. In particular, a scene is illuminated, and light reflected from the scene is detected. Information regarding levels of light intensity received by different pixels of a multiple pixel detector, corresponding to different areas within a scene, and/or information regarding a range to an area within a scene, is received. That information is then used as a feedback signal to control levels of illumination within the scene. More particularly, different areas of the scene can be provided with different levels of illumination in response to the feedback signal. U.S. 2012/0038903 A1 does not disclose that the picture elements are configured to generate exposure values by accumulating a first amount of electrical charge representative of a first amount of light reflected by the object during a first predetermined time window and a second electrical charge representative of a second amount of light reflected by the object during a second predetermined time window, the second predetermined time window occurring after the first predetermined time window.
European patent application publication no. EP 2 322 953 A1 discloses a distance image sensor capable of enlarging the distance measurement range without reducing the distance resolution. A radiation source provides first to fifth pulse trains which are irradiated to the object as radiation pulses in the first to fifth frames arranged in order on a time axis. In each of the frames, imaging times are prescribed at points of predetermined time from the start point of each frame, also the pulses are shifted respectively by shift amounts different from each other from the start point of the first to fifth frames. A pixel array generates element image signals each of which has distance information of an object in distance ranges different from each other using imaging windows A and B in each of five frames. A processing unit generates an image signal by combining the element image signals. Since five times-of-flight measurement are used, the width of the radiation pulse does not have to be increased to obtain distance information of the object in a wide distance range, and the distance resolution is not reduced. The solution presented by EP 2 322 953 A1 consists of measuring charges representative of the respective parts of the reflection of a single pulse received in two consecutive time windows. As soon as a single reflected pulse has been received in the time windows A and B, the charges are transferred to the corresponding floating semiconductor areas for conversion into a "pixel image signal".
European patent application publication no. EP 2 290 402 A1 discloses a range image sensor which is provided on a semiconductor substrate with an imaging region composed of a plurality of two-dimensionally arranged units, thereby obtaining a range image on the basis of charge quantities output from the units. One of the units is provided with a charge generating region (region outside a transfer electrode) where charges are generated in response to incident light, at least two semiconductor regions which are arranged spatially apart to collect charges from the charge generating region, and a transfer electrode which is installed at each periphery of the semiconductor region, given a charge transfer signal different in phase, and surrounding the semiconductor region. EP 2 290 402 A1 is not intended to work with a pattern of spots of laser light. Moreover, the solution presented by EP 2 290 402 A1 does not disclose using a periodically repeated sequence of pulses.
The article by Shoji Kawahito et al., "A CMOS Time-of-Flight Range Image Sensor With Gates-on-Field-Oxide Structure", IEEE Sensors Journal, Vol. 7, no. 12, p. 1578-1586, discloses a type of CMOS time-of-flight (TOS) range image sensor using single-layer gates on field oxide structure for photo conversion and charge transfer. This structure allows the realization of a dense TOF range imaging array with 15×15 μm2 pixels in a standard CMOS process. Only an additional process step to create an n-type buried layer which is necessary for high-speed charge transfer is added to the fabrication process. The sensor operates based on time-delay dependent modulation of photocharge induced by back reflected infrared light pulses from an active illumination light source. To reduce the influence of background light, a small duty cycle light pulse is used and charge draining structures are included in the pixel. The TOF sensor chip fabricated measures a range resolution of 2.35 cm at 30 frames per second an improvement to 0.74 cm at three frames per second with a pulsewidth of 100 ns.
United States patent application publication no. US 2007/158770 A1 to Shoji Kawahito, discloses a range-finding image sensor based upon measurement of reflection time of light with reduced fabrication processes compared to standard CMOS manufacturing procedures. An oxide film is formed on a silicon substrate, and two photo-gate electrodes for charge-transfer are provided on the oxide film. Floating diffusion layers are used to convert charges to electronic potential, a mechanism traditionally inherited from the legacy technology of Charged Coupled Devices (CCD). Extra transistors are provided for resetting and a diffusion layer to provide a given reset voltage.
It is a disadvantage of the pixel disclosed in US 2007/158770 A1 that it uses non-standard technology and that the pixel design does not allow the addition of additional wells without sacrificing active surface area of the pixel. This is suboptimal for usage in sensor systems with ultra-low power lasers requiring large operational range. The used process is not commonly available in standard CMOS processes, which reduces this concept's applicability and its ability to be produced at an affordable cost in large volumes.
The range of a sensor based on such a design is also limited at the near end by saturation of the pixels by the strong reflections of projected light.
The saturation of pixels when sensing short-range reflections, or highly reflective objects such as traffic signs, license plates, etc., is especially problematic when the pixels are used in sensors for automotive applications, as is the purpose of the pixel according to the present invention, because Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and self-driving cars require high accuracy at short range. Moreover, in this application domain, accuracy at longer ranges, the ability to operate in bright ambient light conditions, and the requirement of compactness (requiring the use of solid-state semiconductor components) must not be sacrificed for the requirement of short-range accuracy.
United States patent application publication no. U.S. 2013/0148102 A1 aims to address erroneous measurements caused by multiple reflections in the scene, which are due to the parallel illumination and acquisition for all the pixels in today's state-of-the-art time-of-flight (TOF) range cameras. U.S. 2013/0148102 A1 proposes to compensate for the multi-path fusing the results obtained by applying two spatially different illumination schemes, typically one to achieve highest possible lateral resolution and for the second one structuring the emitted light and by doing so lowering the lateral resolution but limiting the impact of multiple reflections. However, the system described in U.S. 2013/0148102 A1 is a continuous-mode time-of-flight based sensor with global illumination, and the problems addressed in that document are inherent to global illumination. It is a disadvantage of global illumination schemes that they cannot realize the performance requirements of a semiconductor LIDAR when operating in range gating mode.
There is a continuing need to obtain extreme miniaturization and/or longer-range in complex vehicular surround sensing applications, such as ADAS (autonomous driving assistance system) applications and autonomous driving applications, and this at a reasonable cost and in a compact, semiconductor-integrated form factor, using technology apt for mass production.

System and method for determining a distance to an object


A method of measuring a gas turbine engine operating parameter is provided. The method includes providing at least one engine component and a plurality of sensors, positioning each of the plurality of sensors relative to an index location, defining a periodic gas flow operating parameter distribution profile to extend across an engine component or between engine components, obtaining a gas flow operating parameter reading from each of the plurality of sensors, and determining at least one operating parameter for defining a periodic gas flow operating parameter distribution.

This invention relates generally to gas turbine engines, and more particularly, to methods for detecting and compensating for faulty sensors in gas turbine engines.
Optimal sensor placement facilitates accurately determining the average value of an operating parameter, such as the temperature of a gas path airflow. Generally, there are two known methods used to determine the optimal circumferential location of sensors positioned downstream of a gas turbine engine combustor. A first known method randomly distributes sensors circumferentially as widely as possible based on the clear space available on the engine. A second known method uses burner rig tests to simulate gas turbine engine combustor performance. A very large number of data points throughout the operating regime are recorded and analyzed to determine a set of sensor locations that optimize temperature measurements. The empirical data is used to determine an acceptable measure of the average bulk temperature of the gas flow path. However, performing the burner rig tests, and recording and analyzing the data may be an expensive and time consuming process.
These sensors are generally used together to measure an operating parameter, such as exhaust temperature, by calculating an average value, a maximum value, a minimum value, or other characteristic of the given operating parameter. Should one or more of the sensors fail, the average value of the parameter calculated using the remaining sensors may be corrupted. Generally, when a faulty sensor is detected, it is removed from the average calculation and is replaced at the next opportunity.
Removing a faulty sensor from the average calculation reduces the accuracy of the average calculation of the remaining sensors. Consequently, at least some known engines include supplemental sensors so that the average measurement is minimally impacted when a sensor fails. The degree to which the system measurement is impacted is proportional to the number of remaining functional sensors, i.e., the more functional sensors remaining, the less impact to the system. Moreover, removing a faulty sensor from the average calculation increases costs and sensor system complexity, inherently increases the failure rate of sensors, and may lead to increased measurement error.
Other known detection methods do not compensate for a faulty sensor, but rather compute the average using n−1 sensors. Alternately, other known detection methods may replace the sensor value with a recent historical value. Failing sensors introduce a more complex compensation process because of the difficulty in determining whether a sensor has started failing, or is drifting. As the sensor begins to drift, the averaging process attenuates its impact.

Method and apparatus for sensor fault detection and compensation


A compression test apparatus for geomaterial, such as rock or concrete, samples that is designed to provide measurements of a stress displacement characteristics of the failure zone. A geomaterial formed into a specimen comprising a right rectangular prism is supported by walls along two parallel faces and a back face. An axial load is kinematically applied by a plate that is suitably guided for movement against the specimen which is supported on bottom support plate. All of the surfaces in contact with the specimen are lined with hardened and polished steel plates and lubricated to minimize friction. The assembly of the specimen and its supports is in a conventional loading frame so that an axial load can be applied to one end of the specimen and reacted against the bottom plate. Displacement transducers monitor the lateral displacement of an unrestrained side surface of the specimen.

The present invention relates to a surface instability detection apparatus which permits testing samples of geomaterials under axial loads, and in particular, it relates to a surface instability detection apparatus which tests prismatic geomaterial specimens which are restrained and confined on all sides but one.
Surface instability testing of geomaterial, which, for purposes of this application is defined as including, but not limited to, rock and concrete, has been recognized as important in determination of geomaterial characteristics. Geological sample testing apparatus is known wherein what may be termed a selfsupporting geological sample, such as a core of a rock or compacted sand, is subjected to external forces by what is known as a tri-axial testing cell. Normally, hydraulic fluid is introduced in the annular space of a chamber surrounding the sample to apply a hydraulic pressure to the exterior cylindrical surface of the sample. An impermeable membrane usually surrounds the sample being arranged such that the membrane encloses the sample and seals the upper and lower platens to prevent hydraulic fluid gaining access to the ends of the sample.
Geological sample testing has been carried out in the prior art on substantially unrestrained cylindrical core samples in Bishop et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,505,860. The Bishop patent describes a geological sample testing apparatus which includes a chamber with a sample placed between a ram and a platen. A space is left around the sample into which hydraulic fluid is introduced to apply pressure to the sample.


Provided is a photosensitive resin composition that is developable with an aqueous alkaline solution and is suitable for the production of a color filter for an image sensor. The composition comprises an alkali-soluble resin, a photopolymerizable monomer, a photopolymerization initiator, colorants and a solvent. As the colorants, a pigment and a dye are used in combination. The use of the composition enables the formation of fine pixels that exhibit excellent color reproduction and contrast. Therefore, the composition can be used to produce a high-resolution color filter for an image sensor.

Image sensors are devices that consist of several million photovoltaic devices. Image sensors convert light to electrical signals corresponding to the intensity of the light. Such image sensors are used to enable digital input devices to record images prior to digitization into digital images. With recent rapid developments in technologies, there has been an exponentially increased demand for image sensors for use in various security systems and digital cameras.
Image sensors comprise an array of pixels, that is, a plurality of pixels arrayed in a two-dimensional matrix form, each of which includes a photodetector and transmission/signal output devices. Image sensors are broadly classified into two types, i.e. charge coupled device (CCD) image sensors and complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors, depending on transmission/signal output devices employed in the image sensors.
The structure of a CMOS image sensor is schematically shown in FIG. 1. A color filter of the image sensor functions to separate incident light into red (R), green (G) and blue (B) light components and transmit the separated components to corresponding photodiodes of each pixel.
Research and development have been focused on photosensitive resin compositions, which are compatible with aqueous alkaline developer, for producing color filters only for liquid crystal displays, not for image sensors.
A recent approach to achieve improved image quality of image processing devices, particularly, digital cameras, is to decrease the length of one side of pixels from 3-5 μm down to 1 μm. These conditions require significantly improved pixel materials.
Among patent publications disclosing compositions for producing color filters for image sensors, Korean Patent Publication No. 2006-0052171 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-341121 are directed to methods for forming a fine pattern of about 2.0 μm×2.0 μm. These methods are characterized by the use of dyes as colorants, instead of pigments, to form high-density pixels. However, the fine pixels formed by the compositions suffer from poor long-term reliability since the dyes are highly susceptible to light and heat. (The data show the reliability for one hour to 20 hours maximum.) Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 7-172032 is directed to a method for the formation of fine R, G and B pixels using a black matrix to prevent color mixing between the pixels and dislocation of the pixels. However, the process requires an additional step to form the black matrix, and it is substantially impossible to elaborately form the black matrix. Further, the black matrix results in a low opening ratio.
At present, there is an increasing need for compositions with excellent color characteristics to fabricate image sensors that have high-quality images with high color reproducibility and contrast ratio. More specifically, it is required to lower the transmittance at a cross point where transmittance curves of green and blue light meet to 40% or less, and at the same time, to minimize the transmittance values of RGB compositions in the respective wavelength regions (cross talks), i.e. the transmittance of a red composition in a wavelength range of 400-550 nm, the transmittance of a green composition in wavelength ranges of 400-460 nm and 620-700 nm and the transmittance of a blue composition in a wavelength range of 520-700 nm.

Photosensitive resin composition for producing color filter and color filter for image sensor produced using the composition


A car theft proofing system includes a sensor attached to a door lock mechanism for detecting insertion into the door lock mechanism of a door key or other article, an alarm device for giving an alarm, an alarm drive device for driving the alarm device, a control unit for causing the alarm device to give the alarm in response to signals received from the sensor and the alarm drive device, and a radio transmitter for transmitting a radio wave upon insertion of the article. The alarm drive device includes a portable remote control transmitter and a receiver disposed on a car body. The remote control transmitter includes an abnormally alarm for transmitting a theft signal in response to the radio wave transmitted from the radio transmitter.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to car theft proofing systems, and more particularly to a car theft proofing system acting as a safeguard against a car theft in which a thief unlocks a car door.
(2) Cross-Reference to Related Applications
This application contains further improvements in the general subject matter disclosed in application Ser. No. 240,670 filed Sept. 6, 1988 and No. 368,723 filed June 21, 1989.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, when leaving a car, the car owner (driver), to avoid theft, stops the engine, pulls out the engine key, then shuts the windows and locks the door with a door key, or interlocks the door and shut it with the outside door grip turned up to lock the door.
However, thieves often unlock the doors of parked cars by inserting a wire, imitation key or other article into the cylinder door lock, or directly manipulate a door lock mechanism by inserting a thin plate through a space between the window pane and the door body. In this way, equipment such as car stereos and air-conditioners are stolen by thieves.


An assembly allowing a user to adjust a relative positioning of an imaging portal of a lens attached to an electronic device relative to the viewing portal of a lens of an optical device. The assembly is made up of a planar adjustment unit having multiple plates that frictionally interface with one another such that they allow movement by a user. The components of the planar adjustment unit are held together by at least one elastically deformable element that passes through the channels in the sliding plates of the planar adjustment unit. The at least one elastically deformable element holds the planar adjustment unit together in tension such that the assembled plates may still slide with respect to one another, but remain in place by static friction when not moved by a user. The planar adjustment unit may be further combined with components allowing for three-dimensional adjustment of an imaging portal of a lens attached to an electronic device relative to a viewing portal of a lens of an optical device.

Optical devices including, but not limited to, ophthalmoscopes, rifle scopes, binoculars, rangefinders, microscopes, and telescopes have eyepieces that allow users to look through them, using one or both eyes at a time. These optical devices can be used to view objects that are far away or very small by providing additional viewing information, by enlarging the objects, or by overlaying the viewing field with additional information so that a user may see the objects with greater detail. Some microscopes and telescopes have functionalities to allow integration with computer software that has image- or video-capture capability; however, such devices can be expensive, may require manufacturer support for compatibility with the optical device, and may require the use of a desktop or laptop computer. Furthermore, such computers do not facilitate quick and easy transmission of the captured images and typically require additional proprietary software as well as an internet connection and email capabilities, unlike electronic devices, such as smartphones or tablets, which can operate independently over cellular signals.

Adjustable smartphone assembly for an optical device eyepiece


Methods for highlighting tappable web page elements in response to a touch detect a touch to a touchscreen display, determine that a touched element displayed at the touch location, and determine whether and how the touched element is to be highlighted. Highlighting can be based on various touched element properties. In one embodiment, if a touched element is not tappable, the element is not highlighted. If the touched element is editable, the element is highlighted. A region around the touch location is highlighted if the touched element is an image map or SVG element and a portion of the element at the touch location is tappable. A touched element is also highlighted if the element has an inline display style or is a highlight element type. The touched element is not highlighted if its size and complexity exceed size and complexity thresholds.

Web pages contain web page elements, which come in an array of types and allow a broad range of content to be displayed in a web browser in wide variety of styles and formats. Web page elements can be associated with actions that are taken when certain events occur on the web page, such as when a user taps on a displayed element with his or her finger or clicks on an element with a mouse. In some devices with touchscreen displays, if a user touches an element that has action assigned to it, the device highlights the touched element before the action is taken to provide the user with visual feedback on his or her element selection.

Highlighting of tappable web page elements


A tool 10, 60, or 100 used to hold a bagel 22 upright while being sliced from edge to edge with a blade 28 of a knife 30. Each tool 10, 60, and 100 includes a base 12 having a top surface 12a adapted to support the bagel 22 by an edge of the bagel 22. An upright support plate 14 is removably mounted to the base 12 and has opposed lateral sides and opposed faces 14a ad 14b. A pair of knife blade guides 16 and 18 are attached to the base 12 opposite each other, each guide being positioned near one of the opposed sides of the upright support plate 14 and spaced apart to provide therebetween a cutting zone 24. A positioning structure regulates the thickness of the sliced segments of the bagel 22, and includes the upright support plate 14. By removal of the support plate and reversing the position of the support plate by remounting in a reverse orientation, the positions of the faces 14a and 14b are reversed, with the one face that was initially next to the cutting zone 24 changing its position and the other face being moved to the cutting zone 24.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a tool used to hold safely a bagel while it is being sliced, and particularly, one which allows the user by simple manual manipulation of a support plate, to slice the bagel either into half segments, quarter segments, or one-third segments, depending upon the position of the support plate.
2. Background Discussion
Bagels are usually sliced from edge-to-edge to cut them, typically, into half, quarter, or third segments. It is difficult, however, to accomplish this in a safe and convenient manner. There have been various tools proposed to assist a user in accomplishing this task. The following patents illustrate such tools: U.S. Pat. No. 3,338,282; U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,603; U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,989; U.S. Pat. No. 4,523,505; U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,686; U.S. Pat. No. 4,677,888; U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,331; U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,252; U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,505; U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,862; U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,106; U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,547; U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,419; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,193.


The disclosure is directed to a tender car for a consist. The tender car may have a frame, a truck configured to support the frame, and a wheel rotatably connected to the truck. The tender car may also have a motor operatively connected to the wheel and configured to generate electric power when the wheel is rotated. The tender car may further have a tank mounted to the frame and configured to hold a liquefied gaseous fuel, and a fuel pump mounted to the frame and configured to pump the liquefied gaseous fuel from the tank. The fuel pump may be driven by electric power generated by the motor.

Natural gas has been used as fuel for internal combustion engines in consist locomotives. Because natural gas has a lower volumetric energy density than traditional fuels, such as diesel and gasoline, the natural gas used by the locomotives is generally only practical to store in a liquefied state ("LNG"). At atmospheric pressures, the natural gas must be chilled to below about −160° C. to remain in liquid form. Consists having LNG-fueled locomotives store the LNG in insulated tank cars (a.k.a., tender cars) that are towed by the locomotive.
In order to be utilized as an effective engine fuel, liquefied natural gas requires more energy than a liquid counterpart to be stored, compressed, vaporized and transported within a train consist. This relatively greater amount of energy required to power ancillary equipment is typically drawn from the power output of the consist's main engine. The additional consumption of power results in undesirable consequences with regards to fuel efficiency and engine power availability.
One method of improving fuel and engine power efficiencies is described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010/0186619 ("the '619 publication") of Kumar that published on Jul. 29, 2010. The '619 publication describes locomotives and rail cars that have the capacity to generate electrical power from dynamic braking, to store the power, and to use the power at a later time during motoring. In particular, the '619 publication describes storing electrical power generated from dynamic braking in an energy capture and storage system. The energy capture and storage system effectively utilizes electrical energy that, in previous consist designs, was dissipated away on resistive grids. The energy is used to power traction motor/propulsion systems, for as long as the energy lasts.
Although the system of the '619 publication may be capable of making use of previously wasted electrical energy, it does not present solutions for alleviating the load on a consist's main engine that is related to the storage, processing and distribution of liquefied natural gas.
The system of the present disclosure solves one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems with existing technologies.


A transfer device permits different moving sequences of holding devices for the sheet metal parts which are to be moved through the metal-forming machine. The holding devices are fastened to carriages. The carriages are cam-guided, in which case a first carriage carries out a transfer movement from a working stage to an idle stage while taking along a sheet metal part. The return movement is interrupted in an intermediate position during the deforming operation of the sheet metal parts. A second Carriage carries out a transfer movement from the idle stage to a working stage and a return movement which is temporarily interrupted in an intermediate stage. The vertically extending motional parts of curves are used for the picking-up and depositing of sheet metal parts in working stages; the extended lowering movement is used for the depositing of the holding devices on sliding tables which can be moved into the press. As a result of the low-mass construction by means of carriages, high accelerations are possible in the movements. The transfer movements are shortened significantly by the use of intermediate depositing devices in the idle stages.

The invention relates to a transfer device in a transfer press or similar metal-forming machine.
Reference is made to the below listed related U.S. patent applications:
(i) U.S. application Ser. No. 07/413,607, filed Sept. 28, 1989, based on German Application No. P 39 05 073.4 filed in Germany on Feb. 18, 1989 33985; and
(ii) U.S. application Ser. No. 07/428,587, filed Oct. 30, 1989 based on German Application No. P 39 05 069.6 filed in Germany on Feb. 18, 1989 33987.
Transfer presses, bulky-part transfer presses, press installations are metal-forming machines, in which sheet metal parts are deformed by process steps, such as drawing and punching. For this purpose, the presses have at least one slide, at which a tool or a tool set (upper tool) is fastened which cooperates with a tool or tool set (lower tool) in the press bed or on a sliding table. The slides can be moved up and down by means of driving devices of the press. Intermediate depositing devices are mounted in areas between the frames leading to presses arranged behind them, these areas being known as idle stages. The changing of the tools or tool sets takes place utilizing of sliding tables which, for this purpose, can be moved into and out of the press.
In U.S. Patent Specification (US-PS) 4,625,540, a press is disclosed having a device for transferring sheet metal parts between working stages. This transfer device has two moving rails on both sides of the slide and tools and extending in conveying direction of the sheet metal parts. The moving rails are supported on the press bed by supports. In addition, a plate is provided for each moving rail, having rollers for placement on the moving rails. Both plates are connected with one another by a strut. Two transfer rods are disposed at the strut which extend in parallel with respect to the moving rails. The transfer rods are connected with a cam follower lever which receives a swinging motion from a control cam. On the side of the drive, the control cam is operatively connected with the main drive of the press. The transfer rods are rigidly connected with one another by traverses.
In guides of the transfer rods, cross bars are arranged which by means of an additional drive can be moved relative to the transfer rods. Vacuum suction devices are mounted at the cross bars which, by means of the movement of the cross bars, can be adjusted to the length of the sheet-metal parts. For the deforming stage, the cross bars with the vacuum suction devices can be adjusted into areas outside the slides and the tools. The transfer rods can be lifted and lowered by means of lifting devices which are not shown or explained in detail. The setting-up of the vacuum suction device with respect to the changed size of new sheet metal parts during the retrofitting of the press must take place manually without the possibilities of prior setting-up during the operating of the press
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a transfer device which permits a changing operation of the holding devices to accommodate sheet metal parts of different sizes. In particular, the changing operation of the holding devices takes place automatically and at the same time with the change of the tools via a sliding table arrangement. The changing position of the holding devices or the devices carrying these holding devices is achieved independently of the drive for the transfer movements of the sheet metal parts.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention have a low-mass construction which is advantageous. The driving devices and the devices of the transfer device which transfer and deflect the movements are assigned to the area (head area) of the press or presses, in which the driving devices for the slide or the slides are also housed. The transfer device can be retrofitted in press trains as well as in compact presses. Other advantages of preferred embodiments of the present invention are the short transfer movements of the carriages and their temporary waiting position outside the working stages during the deforming phases.
In a particularly advantageous manner, the transfer device according to preferred embodiments of the present invention can be used in a new type of hybrid press installation with intermediate depositing devices set up between two working stages (idle stages) because the carriages, in pairs, can carry out different movements if the drive is designed correspondingly. The sandwich construction particularly of the carriages and the traverses not only permits the fastest possible adaptation to new sheet metal sizes and other sheet metal shapes, it also allows the simple removal and replacement of components and subassemblies.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Transfer device in a transfer press or similar metal-forming machine


The system has a demodulator for duplex data transmission with quadrature amplitude modulation via two conductors with two oppositely transporting channels. The channels include an xe2x80x9cupperxe2x80x9d channel with a higher frequency band foxc2x1Bo/2 and a xe2x80x9clowerxe2x80x9d channel with a lower frequency band fuxc2x1Bu/2. The two frequency bands do not overlap each other. Each of the channels transmits two digital signals at a respective symbol frequency fT, and the received modulated carrier signal is so sampled at a sampling frequency fAo in the case of the upper channel and fAu in the case of the lower channel, respectively. The frequencies are chosen in such a way that fo/fu is a rational number K and fAo=2fo.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for duplex data transmission with quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) via two conductors using the time division multiplex and frequency division multiplex method of two oppositely transporting channels. The transmission is in a first direction via an xe2x80x9cupperxe2x80x9d channel with a higher frequency band foxc2x1Bo/2 and, in a second direction, via a xe2x80x9clowerxe2x80x9d channel with a lower frequency band fuxc2x1Bu/2, which does not overlap the higher frequency band. Each of the channels transports two digital signals, namely a normal and a quadrature data signal, at a respective symbol frequency fT, which may be identical or different for the two channels. The system further performs at both ends modulation of a carrier signal with the two digital data signals for the purpose of transmission, and sampling of the received modulated carrier signal at a sampling frequency fAo in the case of the upper channel and fAu in the case of the lower channel, respectively. The pulse train resulting from the sampling is subsequently demodulated, which is followed by low-pass filtering and sampling at the symbol frequency of the data signal for the purpose of recovering the two digital data signals used for modulation at the other end. The following frequencies are defined:
fo=center frequency of the two upper channels;
Bo=bandwidth of the upper channels;
fu=center frequency of the lower channels;
Bu=bandwidth of the lower channels;
fT=symbol frequency of the digital data signal;
fAo=sampling frequency of the receiver-end sampling of the upper channel prior to demodulation;
fAu=sampling frequency of the receiver-end sampling of the lower channel prior to demodulation;
and the following inequalities hold true:
fo greater than fu; fAo greater than fT; and fAu greater than fT.
The invention furthermore relates to a demodulator for use in a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, having a respective demodulation path for the normal signal and the quadrature signal. The demodulator has a first sampler for sampling at a sampling frequency, a multiplier for multiplication by a cyclic signal, a low-pass filter, and a second sampler for sampling at the symbol frequency.
In the case of duplex data transmission via two-wire lines, the transmission is interfered with to an increasing extent by near-end crosstalk as the speed increases. This is due to the fact that near-end crosstalk attenuation decreases with increasing frequency. In the case of the time division multiplex method with echo compensation, which utilizes the channel bandwidth optimally, from a certain speed the range is limited by the near-end crosstalk. The range can then be increased only by compensating for the near-end crosstalk, which requires considerable technical sophistication that cannot yet be realized. If the time division multiplex method is combined with the frequency division multiplex method, in which the transmission in the two directions takes place in different frequency bands, then although the required bandwidth is increased, the near-end cross-talk can be eliminated by suitable selective filtering. A precondition in this case is that all the signals transmitted in the same direction are transmitted in a multi-pair cable in the same frequency band. From speeds of a few Mbits and above, a greater range can be achieved with the frequency division multiplex method than with the time division multiplex method with echo compensation.
As the transmission method, the quadrature amplitude modulation method is taken as a basis. This enables a plurality of bits to be transmitted per symbol by means, for example, of quaternary or even higher encryption (cf. the textbook by K. D. Kammeyer xe2x80x9cNachrichtenubertragungxe2x80x9d [Tele-communications], Stuttgart 1996, p. 372, FIGS. 11.1.2). According to the frequency division multiplex method, transmission in one direction takes place in a different frequency band from transmission in the other direction, in which case, in order to be able to eliminate the near-end crosstalk by selective filtering, the carrier frequencies for the two transmission directions are chosen in such a way that the two bands do not overlap.
At the receiver end, the received modulated signal has to be filtered out of the composite signal on the line and sampled at a suitable sampling frequency. The choice of sampling frequency has a very great influence on the realization complexity. The lower it can be chosen to be, the lower the complexity is with regard to processing speed and number of coefficients in the case of the digital filtering. The sampling frequency must be a multiple of the symbol rate. In addition, the known sampling theorem states that the sampling frequency must be at least twice as high as the maximum frequency of the sampled signal.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a duplex data transmission method with QAM and a corresponding demodulator, which overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices and methods of this general type and which has a further reduced complexity in the case of demodulation and which achieves a reduction in the sampling frequency.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a method for duplex data transmission with quadrature amplitude modulation via two conductors using time division multiplex and frequency division multiplex methods of two oppositely transporting channels, which comprises:
modulating a carrier signal with two digital data signals;
transmitting the modulated signal in a first direction in an upper channel having a relatively higher frequency band foxc2x1Bo/2 and in a second direction in a lower channel having a relatively lower frequency band fuxc2x1Bu/2, whereby the lower frequency band does not overlap the higher frequency band, and whereby each of the channels transports two digital signals, including a normal data signal and a quadrature data signal, at a respective symbol frequency fT;
sampling the modulated carrier signal received via the upper channel at a sampling frequency fAo and sampling the modulated carrier signal received via the lower channel at a sampling frequency fAu;
subsequently demodulating a pulse train resulting from the sampling step; and
subsequently low-pass filtering and sampling at the symbol frequency of the data signal for recovering the two digital data signals used for modulation at the respectively other end;
wherein the following frequencies are defined:
fo=center frequency of the upper channel;
Bo=bandwidth of the upper channel;
fu=center frequency of the lower channel;
Bu=bandwidth of the lower channel;
fT=symbol frequency of the digital data signal;
fAo=sampling frequency of a receiver-end sampling of the upper channel prior to demodulation;
fAu=sampling frequency of the receiver-end sampling of the lower channel prior to demodulation;
and wherein:
fo greater than fu, fAo greater than fT, fAu greater than fT;
fo/fu is a rational number K; and
fAo=2fo.
These relationships may be partly combined to require the ratio fo/fu to be a rational number K greater than 1.
By definition a rational number is a number which can be expressed as the quotient of two integers with a non-zero denominator.
In accordance with an added feature of the invention, a delay is introduced at the receiver end in the demodulation path of a respective one of the two data signals of at least one of the channels for phase-shifting the respective data signal with respect to a cyclic multiplier used for demodulation.
In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, the normal data signal and the quadrature data signal are brought into phase after demodulation by low-pass filtering with a do low-pass filter having a signal propagation time longer than a signal propagation time of a low-pass filter of another demodulation path by the same delay in the other of the two data signals.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the rational number is an integer, and the delay may be set to 1/4fo.
In accordance with a combined feature of the invention, fAo=2xc2x7fo, the delay in the quadrature path of the upper channel amounts to 1/4fo, and the rational number is an integer.
In accordance with a further feature of the invention, during a demodulation of the upper channel, the sampling is split between two locations by sampling, prior to introducing the delay, at a sampling frequency (2fAo) twice the regular sampling frequency and, after introducing the delay, sampling each of the demodulation paths again at the regular sampling frequency fAo.
In accordance with again a further feature of the invention, the rational number is set to K=2.
In accordance with again another feature of the invention, the rational number (K) is set to be an odd integer, and during the demodulation of the lower channel, the sampling is split between two locations. This is done by sampling, prior to introducing the delay, at the doubled sampling frequency 2fAo and, after introducing the delay, sampling each of the demodulation paths again at the regular sampling frequency fAo.
In accordance with a concomitant feature of the invention, the delay is introduced in the quadrature demodulation path in the lower channel in an amount of K/4fo.
With the above and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a demodulator for use in the above outlined method for use in the upper channel or the lower channel, having a respective demodulation path for the normal signal and the quadrature signal. The demodulator comprises a first sampler for sampling at a sampling frequency, a multiplier connected to the first sampler for multiplying by a cyclic signal, a low-pass filter connected to the multiplier, a second sampler for sampling at the symbol frequency, and a delay element connected to an input of the first sampler.
In other words, the demodulator may be specially equipped for specific method implementations in that the delay element is placed upstream of the input of the first sampler.
By virtue of the fact that a rational ratio exists between the upper and lower carrier frequencies, an only finite number of values are obtained for the cosine and sine values of the lower carrier oscillations, and they can be stored in a read-only memory. The sampling frequency can be reduced to twice the center frequency of the respective upper channel, even though the sampling theorem is apparently violated in this case. This is possible because the spectral components of the upper channel which are superimposed on one another during sampling have fully symmetrical signal components with respect to the upper center carrier frequency owing to the modulation.
In the case of specific configurations, the situation might arise whereby during demodulation by multiplication by cyclic values, these values regularly correspond to the zero crossing. The sampled value would then be regularly multiplied by zero and the relevant data signal could not be recovered in this way. This problem is solved in that a delay by a time tv is introduced at the receiver end in the demodulation path of in each case one of the two data signals of at least one of the components, that is to say normal or quadrature components, for the purpose of phase-shifting it with respect to the cyclic multiplier used for demodulation. The multiplications are then carried out with values that are not equal to zero. The additionally introduced delay can be compensated for again in that the normal and quadrature data signals are brought in phase again after demodulation in that a low-pass filter whose signal propagation time is longer than the signal propagation time of the low-pass filter of the other demodulation path by the delay that has been introduced is used for that demodulation path of the channel which has not been allocated the delay.
Specific preferred configurations are produced if the rational number K is chosen to be an integer, where it is necessary in turn to decide whether the integer is even or odd; preferred values are K=2 or K=3. The delay that is to be introduced and is dependent on the frequencies chosen amounts for example to K times a quarter period of the carrier signal. There may be cases in which it is advantageous if during the demodulation of the upper or lower channel, the sampling is split between two locations in that, prior to the introduction of the delay, sampling is effected at a sampling frequency twice that of the regular sampling and, after the introduction of the delay, each of the demodulation paths is sampled again at the regular sampling frequency fAo.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a method for duplex data transmission with QAM and demodulator for use in this method, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.

Method for duplex data transmission with QAM and demodulator for use in the method


A process for producing hydrogen sulfide from hydrogen and elemental sulfur, comprising:                bringing the sulfur into contact with a solid catalyst comprising at least one metal, chosen from metals from groups VIB and VIII of the Periodic Table of the Elements, in metal sulfide form, at a temperature ranging from 120° C. to 160° C.;        circulating the mixture of sulfur and catalyst resulting from step (a) in a reaction zone, in which said mixture is brought into contact with hydrogen, the reaction zone having a temperature at the inlet point of the catalyst of greater than or equal to 150° C. and a temperature at the outlet point of the catalyst of less than or equal to 300° C., and a pressure of less than or equal to 3 bar;        separating the catalyst and the gaseous effluents containing hydrogen sulfide; and        recycling the catalyst to the step of bringing.

The subject of the present invention is the preparation of hydrogen sulfide from elemental sulfur and hydrogen, by a continuous process using a catalyst in a moving bed (or circulating bed).
Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a chemical intermediate used in many industrial processes, for example for the preparation of organosulfur compounds, or in sulfurizing treatment such as (and non-limitingly) for sulfurizing catalysts that are used in hydrotreating reactions in the refining and petrochemical fields.
Hydrogen sulfide may be prepared in a manner known per se, by reacting elemental sulfur in liquid or gaseous form, and hydrogen, optionally in the presence of a catalyst based on hydrogenating metals. Industrial processes are often carried out at high temperatures, especially as the reaction is known to be highly exothermic.
In order to obtain a satisfactory yield of hydrogen sulfide, it is often necessary to perform the reaction at high pressure and/or to use a stoichiometric excess of sulfur.
The applicant has now developed an innovative process for producing hydrogen sulfide from hydrogen and sulfur, which makes it possible to resolve certain drawbacks of the prior art processes.

Process for producing hydrogen sulfide in a circulating catalytic bed reactor


An immunogenic composition comprising a fusion protein-polysaccharide conjugate consisting of a polysaccharide (PS) or pneumococcal bacterial cell wall polysaccharide (CWPS) conjugated to X:PdT where PdT represents the nonhemolytic variant of pneumolysin and X represents an antigenic peptide or protein of interest is provided. The immunity to X is synergistically enhanced by the fusion conjugate. Methods of protecting a subject from pneumococcal colonization or disease by administering an immunogenic composition including a fusion protein (PsaA:PdT) containing truncated PsaA and the nonhemolytic variant of pneumolysin (PdT) conjugated with CWPS (PsaA:PdT-CWPS) is also provided.

Globally, infectious diseases cause over 13 million deaths each year, and cancers cause over 12 million deaths each year. For example, infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and can lead to pneumonia, meningitis and bacteraemia, and some less severe infections such as otitis media. Almost one million children in the developing world die of infections due to S. pneumoniae (more commonly known as pneumococcus) each year. Antibiotics offer effective treatment for many cases of pneumococcal disease. The rapid emergence of multiple-drug-resistant strains of S. pneumoniae, however, has limited the effectiveness of antibiotics and stimulated renewed interest in the prevention of pneumococcal infections with vaccines.
The success of passive immunization and polysaccharide-based vaccines for the prevention of colonization and/or disease has demonstrated the importance of capsular antibodies in controlling pneumococcal disease and colonization. Furthermore, studies in both animals and humans demonstrate that these antibodies can protect against nasopharyngeal (NP) pneumococcal colonization, which precedes pneumococcal disease. The importance of this effect has become clear and has paralleled what was learned after universal immunization with Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine: in the U.S., the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine has prevented more than twice as many cases of invasive pneumococcal disease through indirect effects on pneumococcal transmission (i.e., herd immunity) as through its direct effect of protecting vaccinated children.
Protection by anticapsular antibody is limited by its serotype specificity: The 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) has significantly reduced the incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease due to vaccine-type (VT) strains. Recent studies have shown, however, that non-VT serotypes in PCV7 are gradually replacing VT, potentially limiting the usefulness of the vaccine. This has led to the evaluation of whether pneumococcal colonization can be prevented by immunization with conserved antigens. In particular, several pneumococcal proteins have been evaluated as vaccine candidates in animal models of pneumococcal colonization. Mucosal immunization with some of these proteins has been shown to elicit systemic and mucosal antibodies and to confer protection against pneumococcal disease and colonization. There remains a need for an immunogenic composition, including pneumococcal polysaccharides and proteins, that raises antibodies and a robust cellular and humoral immune response to all serotypes.
The innate immune response provides rapid and usually effective defense against microbial pathogens. This response involves recognition of pathogen-associated molecules, triggering production and release of inflammatory mediators, recruitment of leukocytes, and activation of antimicrobial effectors. The Toll-like receptors (TLRs), of which at least eleven have been described for mammals, are capable of discriminating among a wide variety of pathogen-associated molecules and eliciting protective responses. TLR4 recognizes microbial products from organisms including gram-negative bacteria, the F protein of respiratory syncytial virus, and cholesterol-dependent cytolysins (CDC) of gram-positive bacteria. Hence, there remains a need to harness the TLR4 mechanism in eliciting an immune response against infections such as pneumococcal colonization and disease.

Synergistic immunogenic fusion protein-polysaccharide conjugate


In a method for manufacturing an energy ray detection device including a first semiconductor region disposed below a first area on a surface of a semiconductor substrate, a second semiconductor region disposed below a second area on the surface and connected to a contact portion, and a third semiconductor region disposed below a third area on the surface between the first area and the second area, the first semiconductor region and the third semiconductor region are formed on the semiconductor substrate by performing ion implantation through a buffer film that covers the first area and the third area, a portion of the buffer film that covers the third area having a thickness smaller than a portion of the buffer film that covers the first area.

1. Field of the Invention
One disclosed aspect of the embodiments relates to a method for manufacturing an energy ray detection device.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is known in the art, an energy ray detection device is manufactured as a semiconductor device using a widely used semiconductor process.
The energy ray detection device includes an active part having a charge generation element that generates signal charge, and a conductive contact portion connected to the active part, and detects the signal charge via the contact portion. Specifically, the contact portion is electrically connected to, for example, a gate of an amplifier transistor of an amplifier circuit, thus obtaining an amplified signal in accordance with the amount of signal charge. In order to accurately detect energy rays, it is effective to efficiently collect signal charge in a portion of the active part in the vicinity of the contact portion.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-312024 discloses that a plurality of regions (a second semiconductor region and an inner region) having different impurity concentrations are formed in a semiconductor region and therefore a potential gradient which enables charge to move towards an electrode region is formed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-81083 discloses a line sensor in which a second impurity region includes a first portion and a second portion arranged so as to surround the first portion, and the first portion has a higher impurity concentration than the second portion.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-312024, the second semiconductor region and the inner region are formed by forming a photoresist pattern twice and performing ion implantation using each photoresist pattern as a mask. This method may make it difficult to form a desired potential gradient, and sufficient signal charge may not necessarily be collected in the electrode region.

Method for manufacturing energy ray detection device


A ribbon for accessing an application user interface may be provided. The ribbon may be displayed on a computer in association with the application user interface. The ribbon may include a horizontal scrolling gallery. The horizontal scrolling gallery may display a subset of available options which may be utilized to perform one or more actions with respect to content displayed in the application user interface. An input may be received by the computer to navigate through the available options in the horizontal scrolling gallery.

Many computer software applications utilize user interface (UI) ribbons and/or toolbars for selecting commands and options associated with a particular application program. For example, a word processing application may provide a ribbon UI which displays an option to select a particular font from a drop-down list for entering text into a document and which further displays a styles gallery for selecting thumbnails representing style sets for use in creating documents. One drawback associated with current ribbon UIs however, is that the selection of options often results in so many choices that their presentation obscures content which a user may have displayed in the associated application thereby detracting from the user experience. For example, the selection of a font list may result in a drop-down list which obscures more than fifty percent of a document a user is currently viewing in the application. Similarly, the selection of a style set gallery may result in the display of a grid of available style set options which obscures a portion of a currently viewed document. It is with respect to these considerations and others that the various embodiments of the present invention have been made.

Utilizing a ribbon to access an application user interface