Facilitating powering up/down respective analog circuits of mixed-signal devices utilizing a reconfigurable power sequencer component and corresponding reconfigurable sequencer processing unit(s) is presented herein. A system can comprise a mixed-signal component comprising a group of analog circuits comprising respective inputs to facilitate a power-up and a power-down of respective portions of the analog circuits; and a reconfigurable power sequencer component that obtains, from a reconfigurable memory of the system, reprogrammable information representing respective timed sequences of digital outputs electronically coupled to the respective inputs of the group of analog circuits, and based on the reprogrammable information, generates the respective timed sequences of the digital outputs to facilitate the power-up and the power-down of the respective portions of the analog circuits.

Conventional integrated circuit (IC) technologies utilize custom, specialized, etc. analog circuitry to perform signal conversion and conditioning within sensing, mixed- signal, etc. devices. In turn, unique power sequencers, e.g., comprising finite state machines (FSMs), are designed to correctly power up/down such analog circuitry according to a distinct number of digital signals and corresponding transition times. As a consequence, additional design and verification resources are used to design unique power sequencer circuits to accommodate for corresponding sensor, mixed signal, etc. design changes. In this regard, conventional IC technologies have had some drawbacks, some of which may be noted with reference to the various embodiments described herein below.

Reconfigurable power sequencer for embedded sensors and mixed signal devices


A material placement device is configured for placement of a plurality of materials from the preceding process, and includes a slide rail assembly configured to be disposed on one side of an aisle of a place, a plurality of storage units slidably disposed on the slide rail assembly and movable toward or away from each other, and a plurality of fixing units each of which detachably fixes two adjacent ones of the storage units. Each storage unit includes a storage portion defining a plurality of storage spaces for receiving and storing the materials.

In a traditional manufacturing process, the completion of a product must undergo many processes, and the connection in the middle of each process often must rely on storage, transportation and other processes. Taking for example the production process of a screw and nut industry, a semi-finished product outputted from the production machine is usually placed in a carrying box. After a predetermined quantity is accumulated, it is transported by a transport unit to a predetermined location for stacking. Then, an operator will take them out for processing or inspection, sort them out according to their type, and put them into several different categories of carrying boxes. Finally, the carrying boxes loaded with the materials are stacked.
The weight of each carrying box loaded with the materials may reach several hundreds of kilograms depending on the type of material it carries, so that a stacking machine must be used for its transport operation. To prevent rocking due to, for example, improper operation, earthquake or accidental bumping or collision, which can cause the carrying boxes to topple and create a safety hazard, the height of stacking the carrying boxes is limited. Further, the stacking height of the carrying boxes is also restricted by the operating height of the stacking machine. If the stacking machine is stacked high with heavy products, such as screws, nuts, etc., the center of gravity after stacking is also high. The higher the gravity, the more it is likely to topple easily. Because the stacking height of the carrying boxes is restricted, the carrying boxes will occupy a substantial space in the factory or warehouse. Further, during storage of the materials, they are usually placed in a scattering manner, so that it is difficult to sort them out according to their respective types.
In order to solve the above problems, fixed-type material racks for placement of the materials are employed. The fixed-type material racks can facilitate sorting of the materials, and can permit the carrying boxes to stack in a high place so as to make an efficient use of the storage space. However, the fixed-type material racks must be spaced apart from each other to allow an aisle space for movement of the stacking machine during transport of the carrying boxes. When the number of the fixed-type material racks becomes large, the required number of aisle space is also correspondingly increased, thereby resulting in waste of space in the factory or warehouse. Further, the fixed-type material racks have poor stability problem, especially, because Taiwan is in a seismic zone, when earthquake comes, a single fixed-type material rack is prone to topple due to unstable center of gravity, resulting in accidental disaster for the personnel and products. Moreover, the flexibility of the fixed-type material racks is also not good. When a carrying box is stacked in a high place, the stacking machine must consume a longer transport time to move the carrying box to and fro the material rack, thereby resulting in inefficient transport.


A model airplane of the glider or sailplane type made of foamed plastics, comprising rigid stabilizing surfaces and wings and having the bottom side of the fuselage provided with a catapulting hook disposed in the vicinity of the center of gravity in a vertical plane extending through the longitudinal axis of the fuselage, and a sweptback wing profile with a large sweepback and decreasing in thickness and depth from the wing root at the fuselage to the tips of the wing, the connecting lines between the outermost points of the profile sections of the wings having an angle of wing setting .alpha. which increases, with regard to the longitudinal axis LA of the fuselage from wing roots to wing tips.

The invention relates to a model airplane of the glider or sailplane type made of foamed plastics, comprising rigid stabilizing surfaces and wings and having the bottom side of the fuselage provided with a hook disposed in the vicinity of the center of gravity in a vertical plane extending through the longitudinal axis of the fuselage, which hook is adapted for engaging an elastic band of the catapult.
Model planes are known to be more or less faithful reproductions of original or an altered scale--mostly of a scaled-down size--of very light materials (French Patent 2,374,929, German Utility Model 7,822,235, U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,690) or to be more or less imaginative aeroplane-like bodies (U.S. Pat. No. 3,619,937, U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,690) of optionally selectable materials.
In the case of air-worthy objects, the construction has to be stable in flight. The flight stability is achieved by the outer shape of the object. There also is a possibility of a limited control of the airplane by providing a construction stable in flight. Thus, one can also achieve certain aerobatic figures, in most cases, however, given a rather low technical expenditure, only during descent.
Climbing flights and aerobatic figures are mostly only possible at a rather high technical expenditure either as glider tugs or by providing the airplane with a remote-controlled engine. Such model airplanes are rather expensive and require a large free area of movement without any flight obstacles. Remote-controlled model airplanes can return to the launching site, but they may also get lost in adverse weather conditions, errors in operation or due to malfunctions, resulting in corresponding financial losses. Besides, motorized model airplanes generate disturbing noise and often must not be operated in residential areas or be operated only in zones open for such purposes.
Gliders for flinging or catapulting are known that are made by extrusion of very light and comparatively cheap materials, e.g. polyurethane (French Patent 2,374,929). Such model airplanes can be fit for flying without requiring much time-consuming assembling, but they cannot fly loopings safely. Due to an often unstable straight descent, they often have to be fetched from remote locations or get lost, e.g. in impassable terrains, high tree tops, in closed land areas or nearby bodies of water. In some cases, they also present a danger to the user, other players or persons not involved in the game, if the flinging or catapulting operation is maladroitly performed, or if the flight path is adversely influenced by winds.


An automatic part feeder includes a base, a rotatable disk covering the base, a part delivering devices, and a rotatable disk driving device received in the base. Each of the part delivering devices includes a ring-shaped receiving room opening toward a first end surface of the base, a first driving motor having a first rotatable shaft, and an ejector pole having one end extending through the ring-shaped receiving room and another end threadedly engaged with the first rotatable shaft. The rotatable disk driving device has a second driving motor having a second rotatable shaft. The rotatable disk includes receiving holes, and the second rotatable shaft engages with the rotatable disk and is configured for driving the rotatable disk to rotate to align the receiving holes with the respective ring-shaped receiving rooms to receive the parts ejected from the ring-shaped receiving rooms.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to automatic part feeders.
2. Description of Related Art
Automatic part feeders are widely used to feed parts in factory lines. The parts can be in many shapes according to need, for example, in a ring shape, in a C shape. Example workpieces for such ring-shaped or C-shaped parts are spacers, which are widely used in various products, such as lens modules. Such a spacer in a lens module can space two lenses, and can allow the light pass through the through hole of the spacer.
In mounting products, usually, the spacers are manually placed in a tray to be ready for the mounting of the product. However, manually feeding pars is inefficient.
What is needed, therefore, is an automatic part feeder, which can overcome the above shortcomings.


The invention provides methods for treating beta-Amyloid protein-induced disease, pharmaceutical compositions and compounds useful for the same, and the use of these compounds for the manufacture of a medicament for treating the same. More particularly, the invention relates to the use of natural product compounds isolated from turmeric, gingko biloba, and ginger, and synthetic chemical analogues thereof, for the treatment of a beta-Amyloid protein-induced disease.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the use of natural product compounds isolated from plants, and synthetic chemical analogues thereof, for the prevention and treatment of beta-Amyloid protein-induced disease. More particularly, the invention relates to pharmaceutical compositions that protect neuronal cells from beta-Amyloid insult for use in preventing and treating beta-Amyloid protein-induced disease.
2. Description of Related Technology
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of progressive cognitive dysfunction. AD affects approximately four million Americans and causes more than 100,000 deaths each year, with a total annual cost approaching $70 billion. It is estimated that by the year 2020, 14 million Americans will be affected by the disease. Furthermore, AD has a profound effect on the millions of family members and other loved ones who provide most of the care for people having this disease. Unfortunately, the cure for AD has not been discovered.
The principal pathological characteristics of AD are senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFT's). Senile plaques are extracellular deposits, principally composed of insoluble aggregates of beta-Amyloid protein (βA protein), that are infiltrated by reactive microglia and astrocytes. Plaques are diffusely distributed throughout the cerebral cortex of AD patients, and are the neuropathologic hallmark of the disease. These plaques or fibril deposits are believed to be responsible for the pathology of a number of neurodegenerative diseases including, but not limited to, Alzheimer's disease. NFT's are intraneuronal accumulations of paired helical filaments, composed mainly of an abnormal form of tau protein, a microtubule associated phosphoprotein which can promote microtubule formation. In the AD brain, the tau protein in NFT is hyperphosphorylated, a condition which has been suggested to contribute to the destabilization of the microtubule network, thereby impairing the axonal network, and eventually causing neuronal death. NFT's occur primarily in medial temporal lobe structures (hippocampus, eniorhinal cortex, and amygdala), and NFT density appears to correlate with dementia severity.
Senile plaques and NFT's appear to be involved in cerebral amyloid angiopathy, consequent neuronal loss, and cerebral atrophy leading to dementia. Although research findings suggest that both plaques and NFT's are involved in disrupting nerve cell functions, the mechanisms that lead to the pathology are not clearly understood.
β-Amyloid peptide has been suggested as one of the major causes of AD. βA peptide (25-35) was shown to exert direct toxic effects on neurons and to inhibit neurite growth in vitro in a dose dependent manner. See Meda et al., Nature 374,647 (1995) and Lamer, Neurosci. Res. Commun. 20, 147 (1997). Thus, therapeutic approaches that can modulate βA peptide toxicity have been hypothesized to represent important methods for controlling the onset of AD. It is envisioned that if neuronal cells can be protected from βA peptide/senile plaque-induced toxicity, the onset of AD may be delayed or prevented. Current pharmacological approaches related to AD preventive and neuroprotective interventions include nicotinic and muscarinic agonists, estrogen, calcium channel blockers, Zinc, sulfonated compounds, triaminopyridine nonopiate analgesic drugs, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen and aspirin. Of particular interest to the present invention is the observation that an anti-βA protein antibody was shown to clear senile plaques and protect mutant PDAPP mice from the onset of AD. See St. George-Hyslop et al., Nature 400, 116 (1999).
The generation of reactive oxygen intermediates through oxidative stress caused by βA peptide has been suggested to be the major pathway of βA peptide-induced cytotoxicity. Senile plaques have been shown to exert a cytotoxic effect on neurons by stimulating microglia to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS). The damaging effect of ROS can be prevented by the free radical scavenging enzyme superoxide dismutase.
Aging of synthetic βA peptide (1-42) for 7 to 14 days at 37° C. in modified Eagle's media was also demonstrated to cause neurotoxic free radical formation. However, aging βA peptide (1-42) in the presence of the media supplement B27, which contains antioxidants as well as other agents that provide protection against oxidative damage, has been shown to inhibit βA peptide-induced neuroloxicity. Nonetheless, while antioxidants such as propyl gallate, Trolox, Probucol, and Promethazine provide significant protection against oxidative insults, they do not protect against βA peptide insults. Furthermnore, it has been shown that βA peptide-induced lipid peroxidation does not contribute directly to cell death.
When the neuroprotective effect of lazaroids (U74389G and U83836E), 21-aminosteroids with antioxidant activity, were tested on cortical cells grown with or without fetal calf serum, U74389G did not protect the cells from βA peptide (25-35) insult in either condition, while low concentrations (15 nM) of U83836E protected the cells exposed to βA peptide in the presence of fetal calf serum. See Lucca et al., Brain Res., 764, 293 (1997). These data suggest that the primary mechanism by which these compounds protect cells from βA peptide-induced toxicity may not involve antioxidative pathways.
In addition to βA peptide-induced ROS mediated neurotoxicity, βA peptide has been shown to cause neuronal cell death by stimulating microglial expression of tumor necrosis factor a (TNFα). The accumulation of βA peptide as neuritic plaques is known to be both trophic and toxic to hippocampal neurons, causing apoptosis or necrosis of the neurons in a dose dependent manner. βA peptide was demonstrated to induce these cellular effects by binding with a receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) that was previously known as a central cellular receptor for advanced glycation endproducts. RAGE was suggested to mediate the interaction of βA peptide with neurons and with microglia, resulting in oxidative stress mediated cytotoxicity. Blocking RAGE with anti-RAGE F(αβ′)2 prevented the appearance of TNFα messenger RNA and diminished TNFα antigen to levels seen in untreated cells. Thus, it is postulated that RAGE mediates microglial activation by βA peptide by producing cytotoxic cytokines that cause neuronal damage in AD patients. In addition, RAGE was also demonstrated to specifically bind with βA peptide and mediate βA peptide-induced oxidative stress.
Cell receptors that bind to βA peptide have been identified. The low-affinity neurbtrophin receptor p75 (p75NTR) which belongs to the family of apoptotic receptors that generate cell-death signals on activation was found throughout the brains of AD patients. βA peptide was found to be a ligand for p75NTR, and to cause preferential apoplosis of neurons and normal neural crest-derived melanocytes that express p75NTR upon specifically binding to p75NTR.
Basal forebrain cholinergic neurons express the highest levels of p75NTR in the adult human brain and have been shown to be involved in AD. The expression of p75NTR by wild-type and mutant PC12 cells was shown to potentiate βA peptide-induced cell death. This interaction of βA peptide with p75NTR to mediate neuronal death in AD suggested a new target for therapeutic intervention.
Recently, ERAB which is overexpressed in neurons of the AD brain, was shown to bind with βA peptide to induce neuronal death in AD. Blocking ERAB with an antibody, anti-ERAB F(ab′)2, was found to reduce the βA peptide-induced cell death while ERAB overexpression increases βA peptide-induced cell death.
Nerve growth factor (NGF) is important for the survival and maintenance of central cholinergic neurons. Considerable evidence from animal studies suggests that NGF may be useful in reversing, halting, or at least slowing the progression of AD-related cholinergic basal forebrain atrophy. Administration of NGF was reported to attenuate degeneration of neurons and improve cognitive behavior in animals by stimulating central cholinergic neurons that are known to die during the development of AD. A clinical trial using intracranial infusion of NGF was reported to improve the patient's verbal episodic memory. Thus, attempting to counteract the degeneration of cholinergic neurons by NGF or compounds having neurotrophic properties may be a reasonable approach to treat AD. There are several different possible methods for stimulating NGF receptors, such as, NGF infusion, implantation of slow-release biodegradable pellets, using carrier-mediated transport across the blood-brain barrier, grafting NGF-producing cells, transferring genes directly to the brain, developing NGF receptor agonists, or controlling the endogenous NGF production.
In designing inhibitors of βA peptide toxicity, it was found that neither the alteration of the apparent secondary structure of βA peptide nor the prevention of βA peptide aggregation is required to abrogate the cytotoxicity of βA peptide. Nonetheless, inducing changes in aggregation kinetics and in higher order structural characteristics of βA peptide aggregates also proved to be effective in reducing βA peptide toxicity. See Sotoet al., Neuroreport 7, 721 (1996). Synthetic inhibitors that interact with βA peptide were shown to completely block βA peptide toxicity against PC12 cells, demonstrating that complete disruption of amyloid fibril formation is not necessary for abrogation of toxicity. It was also demonstrated that dipolar compounds such as phloretin and exifone that decrease the effective negative charge of membranes can prevent the association of βA peptide with negatively charged lipid vesicles and thereby prevent βA peptide-induced cytotoxicity. See Hertel et al., Proc. Nail. Acad. Sci. USA 94, 9412 (1997). These results suggest that βA peptide toxicity can be mediated through a physicochemical interaction with cell membranes.
There is strong interest in discovering potentially valuable natural products from natural sources for drug development. One reasonable source of such natural products involves medicinal plants that have been used throughout history for treating illness. Thus, the isolation of potentially valuable natural products from plants that can protect neurons from βA peptide insult is of interest. Although there are extensive reports that describe the extraction, fractionation, and chemical elucidation of natural products, plants have attracted relatively little attention as potentially valuable resources for drug discovery in the area of AD research. In order to achieve this goal, it is important to isolate and identify the chemical constituents in plants responsible for the biological activity.
Turmeric has been used as a curry spice and is used in traditional Indonesian medicine. Curcumin, a chemical constituent of turmeric, is an inhibitor of arachidonic acid metabolism and is a good anti-inflammatory agent. Curcumin is known to have antioxidative properties and has been shown to exhibit antitumor activity. Currently, curcumin is being evaluated as a chemopreventive agent by the National Cancer Institute.
G. biloba is a living fossil tree having undergone little evolutionary change over almost 200 million years. Extracts of the leaves have been used for 5,000 years in traditional Chinese medicine for various purposes. In 1994, a standardized dry extract of Ginkgo biloba leaves was approved by German health authorities for the treatment of primary degenerative dementia and vascular dementia. Currently, more than twenty four different brands of G. biloba extract are sold in the United States.
The use of complementary medications such as plant extracts in dementia therapy, varies according to different cultural traditions. In orthodox Western medicine, the pharmacological properties of traditional cognitive or memory enhancing plants have not been widely investigated in the context of current models of Alzheimer's disease. An exception is Ginkgo biloba L. in which the ginkgolides have been proposed to possess antioxidant, neuroprolective, and cholinergic activities relevant to Alzheimer's disease mechanisms. The leaves of G. biloba have been used as medicine for the treatment of peripheral or cerebral circulatory disorders, as well as for vascular and Alzheimer-type dementia. The therapeutic efficacy of G. biloba extracts in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease is reportedly similar to currently prescribed drugs such as tacrine or donepezil. See Maurer et al., J. Psychiatr. Res. 31, 645 (1997). In addition, the undesirable side effects of G. biloba are minimal. However, while there are more than two hundred articles published on the potential anti-AD effects of ginkgo products, the active constituents of the plant have not been isolated and identified.
Ginger is one of the world's favorite spices, and was probably discovered in the tropics of Southeast Asia. Ginger has benefitted humankind as a wonder drug since the beginning of recorded history.
It has been hypothesized that natural products capable of protecting neuronal cells from βA peptide insult can be discovered from plants, and specifically from turmeric, ginkgo biloba, and ginger. Although no anti-AD natural product derived drug that modulates βA peptide effect has been identified, historically, plants have been used for medicinal purposes that include alleviating the symptoms of AD. Among the medicinal plants suggested for the treatment of AD, ginkgo biloba and Huperzia serrata have been most extensively investigated. Huperzine A., a naturally occurring cholinesterase inhibitor from a moss Huperzia serrata is one natural product under development as a therapeutic agent to treat AD patients. See Skolnick, JAMA 277, 776 (1997). Further, a number of synthetic acetylcholinesterase inhibitors are under development as therapeutic agents against AD. However, while the published data indicate that the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor approach may be good for alleviating some of the symptoms of AD, such as improving memory, this approach does not cure or prevent the onset of the disease. Consequently, there remains a need to identify, isolate, and synthetically prepare new and improved anti-AD drugs which can provide chemotherapeutic and chemopreventive methods for the treatment of AD.

Pharmaceutical compositions useful in prevention and treatment of beta-amyloid protein-induced disease


A WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) communication device comprising a WLAN frequency synthesizer for generating a synthesizer signal suitable for modulating a transmission signal and/or demodulating a reception signal and corresponding methods and integrated circuit chips are provided. The WLAN frequency synthesizer comprises a reference oscillator for generating a first reference clock signal, a fractional-N PLL (Phase-Locked Loop) unit for receiving a second reference clock signal and converting the second reference clock signal into the synthesizer signal, and a frequency multiplier for receiving the first reference clock signal and converting the first reference clock signal into the second reference clock signal to be forwarded to the fractional-N PLL unit by multiplying the frequency of the first reference clock signal by a multiplication factor. Embodiments may provide shorter settling times and/or enhanced spurious suppression of the fractional-N PLL unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present application relates to WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) communication devices including a WLAN frequency synthesizer for generating a synthesizer signal and corresponding methods and integrated circuit chips, and in particular to the pre-processing of a reference clock signal provided to a fractional-N PLL (Phase-Locked Loop) unit within the frequency synthesizer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wireless local area network is a flexible data communication system implemented as an extension to or as an alternative for a wired LAN. Using radio frequency or infrared technology, WLAN systems transmit and receive data over the air minimizing the need for wired connections. Thus, WLAN systems combine data connectivity with user mobility.
Today most WLAN systems use spread spectrum technology, a wideband radio frequency technique developed for use in reliable and secure communication systems. The spread spectrum technology is designed to trade off bandwidth efficiency for reliability, integrity and security. Two types of spread spectrum radio systems are frequently used: frequency hopping and direct sequence systems.
For generating a carrier signal suitable for the up-conversion of transmission signals and/or the down-conversion of reception signals, WLAN communication devices, i.e. transmitters, receivers and transceivers, include a frequency synthesizer. The frequency synthesizer comprises a very stable reference oscillator providing a reference clock signal and translates the frequency of the reference clock signal to the desired radio or infrared frequency. The frequency translation is usually achieved by a PLL unit which requires only a few components and is easily integrated.
FIG. 1 shows the components of a typical PLL-based frequency synthesizer. A VCO (Voltage-Controlled Oscillator) oscillator 160 outputs the carrier signal at an output frequency fOUT. The output frequency fOUT can be varied by varying a control voltage supplied to the VCO oscillator 160.
Part of the carrier signal is split and provided to a frequency divider 170. The frequency divider 170 divides the output frequency fOUT of the carrier signal by a division factor which can be selected by the controller 180. The resulting divider signal at the frequency f′OUT is provided to a comparator.
A reference oscillator 110 generates a reference clock signal at a reference frequency fREF. Also the reference clock signal is provided to the comparator.
The comparator, typically a phase detector or a PFD (Phase/Frequency Detector) detector 130, compares the divider signal with the reference clock signal and outputs an error signal that quantitatively indicates the phase difference between the two signals. The error signal is provided to a charge pump 140 that converts the error signal into either positive or negative charge pulses depending on whether the reference clock signal phase leads or lags the divider signal phase. These charge pulses are integrated by a loop filter 150 to generate the control voltage applied to the VCO oscillator 160 for moving the output frequency fOUT up or down until the phases are synchronized.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the frequency synthesizer basically comprises the reference oscillator 110 and the PLL unit 120 comprising the PFD detector 130, the charge pump 140, the loop filter 150, the VCO oscillator 160, the frequency divider 170 and the controller 180.
The PLL unit 120 may be a fractional-N PLL unit. In a fractional-N PLL unit 120, the frequency divider 170 may be continually varied in a way that allows the average modulus to be specified with sub-integer ("fractional") precision. The increased frequency divider resolution allows the reference frequency fREF to be significantly larger than the desired output frequency step size. However, since WLAN frequency synthesizers usually use crystal oscillators as the reference oscillator 110, reference frequencies fREF of up to 40 MHz only are available.
Even when the fractional-N PLL unit 120 is locked, the charge pump 140 still outputs small charge pulses caused, e.g., by non-ideal phase/frequency detection in the PFD detector 130. These pulses create sidebands, or spurs, in the output spectrum of the VCO oscillator 160 at offset frequencies equal to the reference frequency fREF. For sufficiently suppressing those spurs, the loop filter 150 may need to have a loop filter bandwidth narrower than, e.g., 1% of the reference frequency fREF.
However, there is a tradeoff between spurious suppression and loop dynamics in the fractional-N PLL unit 120. While a narrow loop filter bandwidth is required for spurious suppression, a wide loop filter bandwidth is needed for short settling times.
The settling time of a fractional-N PLL unit 120 is the time required for re-achieving stable operation once the desired output frequency fOUT of the carrier signal has been changed. Particularly in frequency hopping WLAN systems, it is critical to quickly re-lock the fractional-N PLL unit 120 after hopping from one output frequency fOUT to another.
As indicated above, the loop filter bandwidth is for instance limited to 1% of the reference frequency fREF for achieving sufficient spurious suppression. Since in prior art techniques, usually crystal oscillators are used for the reference oscillator 110 which provide reference frequencies of up to 40 MHz only, many conventional WLAN communication devices suffer from long settling times. This often leads to problems in achieving efficient transmission data rates.
Other conventional approaches decrease the settling time by using wider loop filter bandwidths. However, such systems generally have the disadvantage of suppressing spurious emissions only insufficiently. In consequence, the transmission quality is significantly reduced.
The tradeoff between spurious suppression and loop dynamics could be eased by using reference oscillators 110 that provide a higher reference frequency fREF. This may allow for increasing the loop filter bandwidth, i.e. decreasing the settling time, while still remaining below 1% of the reference frequency fREF, i.e. maintaining or even enhancing the spurious suppression.
There are crystal oscillators obtainable providing reference frequencies fREF superior to 40 MHz. However, such high frequency crystal oscillators are considerably more expensive than regular crystal oscillators. Thus, prior art WLAN communication devices employing high frequency crystal oscillators produce higher manufacturing costs and are therefore less competitive.
Further, high frequency crystal oscillators consume significantly more power than standard crystal oscillators. In consequence, existing WLAN communication devices based on high frequency crystal oscillators often have the disadvantage of providing only short battery lifetimes. Alternatively, conventional WLAN communication devices may include improved but expensive storage batteries. This again leads to the problem of increased product costs.
In addition, high frequency crystal oscillators are less reliable than standard crystal oscillators because of providing less frequency stability. In particular, high frequency crystal oscillators often reveal an increased frequency drift. Thus, the output frequency fOUT of a fractional-N PLL unit 120 locked to a high frequency crystal oscillator also suffers from an increased frequency instability. This results in that many prior art WLAN communication devices fail to keep the specified frequency accuracy.

Frequency multiplier pre-stage for fractional-N phase-locked loops


Disclosed is an acoustic sensor system comprising an electrical connector, at least one transducer connected to the electrical connector, a fluid compensating piston connected to the electrical connector, a housing having the electrical connector, the at least one transducer, and the fluid compensating piston arranged in a linear arrangement, and a collar having the housing mounted along an interior surface of the collar.

The size and shape of conventional acoustic sensor coverings used in downhole environments rendered them inflexible and incapable of bending without presenting risk to the components. In addition, the conventional acoustic sensors were arranged in a manner such that they could not be housed in a conventional shell with a suitable radius. The conventional shell was too large and bulky and the components were often stacked upon one another. As a result, the conventional devices and associated components would suffer from fatigue, weaken, and break as a result of extreme forces on the devices that caused bending, buckling, and deforming of the devices.
It is with these issues in mind, among others, that various aspects of the disclosure were conceived.


A technique for on-demand power wake up for digital signage includes providing 400 a detector operable to detect an envelope of a digital signal, receiving 402 an extended length packet by the detector, wherein the packet consists of a same, repeated data symbol, detecting 404 the extended length packet in the detector to provide an output signal, comparing 406 the output signal against a reference threshold, and providing 410 a wake up signal if the output signal exceeds the reference threshold. This can then be followed by receiving 416 information to display on the sign.

At present, many different types of programmable, digital or electronic signs exist. The target markets for such signs can be in retail, manufacturing or healthcare environments, for example. Typically these signs are powered by a line voltage and can be programmable through a wired control connection to provide specific text or graphic images. Remote signage has also been developed where a sign can be programmed remotely using wireless signaling to a radio receiver in the sign. These remote signs may be line powered, or can be powered by a self-contained source such as a battery or even solar power. Of course it should be realized that a self-powered electronic sign that includes a radio receiver can experience power issues with not only powering a display device but also powering the radio receiver to receive programming instructions.
One solution to the power problem of a remote, self-powered sign is to place the digital sign in a sleep mode, where the radio receiver of the sign wakes-up at predetermined times to check if there is any updated programming for the sign. However, even if the radio is only on for twice a day, for fifteen seconds each, it turns out that the remote power supply for the sign is still unsustainable, and the battery will need recharging.
Accordingly, there is a need to power control for digital signs that allows a remote, self-powered digital sign to sustain its power. It would also be of benefit if the digital sign could be programmed at more than two specific times a day.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.

Digital signage with on-demand power wake up


A passive alternating current sensor for sensing a current-carrying conductor is disclosed. The passive alternating current sensor includes a substrate, a magnetic body, at least one coil and a first measuring circuit. The substrate has a flexible structure layer. The magnetic body is disposed correspondingly to the current-carrying conductor and located at one side of the substrate. The coil is disposed on the substrate and correspondingly winds around the magnetic body. The first measuring circuit is connected with the coil. When the magnetic body is subjected to the magnetic field generated by the current-carrying conductor and enabled a relative motion with the coil, the coil produces an induced electromotive force. The first measuring circuit measures the induced electromotive force and accordingly outputs a first induction signal.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a current sensor and, in particular, to a passive alternating current sensor.
2. Related Art
In industries, the current detection is usually applied to the applications of system over-current protection and current control, such as power decay detection, motor overload detection and protection, current mode control for power source, and control system diagnosis.
The conventional current sensors include contact or non-contact sensing methods. The contact sensing method is to configure a sensing circuit for measuring the resistance, inductance, capacitance, or voltage between two ends of the transistor, and then to calculate the sensing current. The non-contact sensing method is to sense the magnetic field around and generated by the current-carrying conductor by the current transformer method, Hall element method or magnetometric resistivity method. Otherwise, the non-contact sensing method may obtain the sensing current by measuring the variation of mechanical energy converted from magnetic energy. The above-mentioned contact and non-contact sensing methods have their respective advantages and disadvantages, and they may be suitable for different applications.
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional current sensor for detecting the mechanical energy converted from the magnetic energy includes a coil 11 for carrying current, a pressure-resistance element 12, and an MEMS structure layer 13. The coil 11 and the pressure-resistance element 12 are disposed on the MEMS structure layer 13. The coil 11 is located within the magnetic field generated by the current-carrying conductor CC, so that it is subjected to the Lorentz force and applying a force to the MEMS structure layer 13 as well as indirectly to the pressure-resistance element 12 through the MEMS structure layer 13. Accordingly, the impedance of the pressure-resistance element 12 is decreased so as to generate a voltage drop, so that the current value of the current-carrying conductor CC can be obtained. Since the conventional current sensor 1 is a non-contact current sensor, it can prevent the current-carrying conductor CC to be detected from influence and can avoid high power consumption under the detection of the system with large current and power.
However, as mentioned above, the conventional current sensor 1 is an active current sensor, so that the power must be applied to the current sensor 1 for operation. Besides, during the sensing process, once the current flows through the current-carrying conductor CC, the current sensor 1 is always on duty. Thus, the MEMS structure layer 13 must bear the most reciprocating force all the time, so that it is easily out of function due to fatigue and aging. In order to enhance the sensitivity of the current sensor 1, the coil 11 wound with a lot of rounds is configured on the MEMS structure layer 13. However, the power consumption of the coil 11 may cause the MEMS structure layer 13 to generate heat so as to increase the temperature and generate heat stress, which may affect the operation of the current sensor 1.
Therefore, it is an important subject of the present invention to provide a passive alternating current sensor that can perform desired sensing process without being applied by electricity. Besides, the structure layer thereof can resist the fatigue and aging problems, and can prevent from generating heat, which affects the sensing procedure, due to the configured coil with a lot of rounds.


A locking detection circuit for CDR circuits includes a first frequency divider, a second frequency divider, a first sampler, a second sampler, and a locking detector, with a data signal outputted by a CDR circuit being inputted to the first frequency divider and the first sampler respectively, the first frequency divider being connected with the first sampler, a clock pulse outputted by the CDR circuit being inputted to the second frequency divider and the second sampler respectively, output terminals of the first and second samplers being connected with the locking detector which is for detecting if rising edges of the data signal outputted and the clock pulse outputted are aligned, and then outputting a detection result. The circuit size and power consumption is reduced, and it is applicable to spread spectrum carrier with high data rate over 1 Gbps and with any protocol, whose application scope is broadened.

Conventional locking detection circuit for CDR (Clock Data Recovery) circuits has two types according to two implementation ways of CDR circuit.
One is for analog CDR circuits based on PLL (Phase Locked Loop), which determines a threshold by utilizing two reference voltages and two comparators, and considers the analog CDR circuit to be locked if a control voltage of a VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscillator) in the CDR circuit is within the threshold and is unvaried for a predetermined period, contrariwise, to be unlocked. Such a locking detection circuit has following restrictions however. First, it's necessary to use simulation comparators with high accuracy and high sensitivity, which may consume size and power of the locking detection circuit. Second, after the CDR circuit is locked, the control voltage of the VCO is an analog signal, but it's hard to determine a turn threshold of the control voltage due to manufacturing process variation. Third, in the event that data signals outputted by the CDR circuit include spread spectrum data, this locking detection will be failed if the control voltage of the VCO is drifted as the spread spectrum and beyond the thresholds of the comparator.
Another is for digital CDR circuits based on phase interpolation digital filter, which outputs phase detection results including up or dn by a bang-bang Phase detector, and then performs digital filtering and counting to the phase detection results. The digital CDR circuit will be considered to be locked (namely the rising edges of the clock pulses and the data signals are aligned) if the total amount of the result of up approaches or is the same with that of the total amount of the result of dn, contrariwise, to be unlocked. Such a locking detection circuit has the following restrictions however. First, when a data rate of the data signal outputted by the CDR circuit reaches to 1 Gbps or over, this locking detection circuit will appear tight time sequence, which desires a larger size and larger power accordingly. Second, in the event that data signals outputted by the CDR circuit include spread spectrum data, it's necessary to be informed in advance that if the outputted data signals pertain to upward spread spectrum or downward spread spectrum, and the spectral distribution of the data signals, so that parameters could be determined to perform locking detection for the CDR circuit; otherwise, this locking detection will be failed.
Both of the foresaid locking detection circuits for CDR circuit are based on a specific CDR circuit, and the implementations of locking detection for CDR circuits are depended on a specific CDR circuit, which limits its application scope. Therefore, there is a need for an improved locking detection circuit for CDR circuits to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks.

Locking detection circuit for CDR circuits

IPGOAL MICROELECTRONICS (SICHUAN) CO., LTD.


Semiconductor substrates with unitary vias and via terminals, and associated systems and methods are disclosed. A representative system in accordance with a particular embodiment includes a semiconductor substrate having an opening that includes a generally cylindrical portion with a generally smooth, uniform surface. The opening also includes a terminal portion extending transversely to the cylindrical portion and intersecting. A single, uniform, homogeneous volume of conductive material is disposed in both the cylindrical portion and the terminal portion of the opening, the conductive material forming a conductive path in the cylindrical portion and at least a portion of a conductive terminal in the terminal portion. The conductive terminal has a cross-section with generally flat walls aligned with crystal planes of the semiconductor substrate material. The conductive terminal projects away from the semiconductor substrate.

Packaged semiconductor dies, including memory chips, microprocessor chips, and imager chips, typically include a semiconductor die mounted to a substrate and encased in a plastic protective covering. The die includes functional features, such as memory cells, processor circuits, imager devices, and interconnecting circuitry. The die also typically includes bond pads electrically coupled to the functional features. The bond pads are electrically connected to pins or other types of terminals that extend outside the protective covering for connecting the die to busses, circuits, and/or other microelectronic assemblies.
Market pressures continually drive manufacturers to reduce the size of semiconductor die packages and to increase the functional capacity of such packages. One approach for achieving these results is to stack multiple semiconductor dies in a single package. The dies in such a package are typically interconnected by electrically coupling the bond pads of one die in the package with bond pads of other die(s) in the package.
A variety of approaches have been used to electrically interconnect the dies within a multi-die package. One existing approach is to use solder balls connected directly between the bond pads of neighboring dies. Another approach is to fuse "bumps" on the bond pads of neighboring dies. However, the foregoing processes can suffer from several drawbacks. For example, the foregoing structures typically require a multitude of steps to form the vias, the conductive material in the vias, and the bond pads or other connecting structures that form the connections between stacked dies. Each of the steps takes time and accordingly adds to the cost of manufacturing the packaged device. In addition, in at least some cases, each of the processes can elevate the temperature of the die, which can consume a significant portion of the total thermal budget allotted to the package for processing. As a result, there remains a need for improved techniques for interconnecting dies within a semiconductor package.


A method, components and a system are provided for implementing power control for wireless communication transmissions that provides, inter alia, a remedy for the mismatch of initial transmission power for NRT data by estimating a bias error based and adjusting the transmission power by a compensation amount for an averaged bias error estimation over all data set transmissions, such as sequential Temp-DCH allocations in a UMTS system. An alternative approach for a UMTS system estimates the bias error at a RNC based on an averaged transmit code power measurement by a base station and applies a bias error compensation to the initial DL transmit power at the RNC.

The terms base station, wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) and mobile unit are used in their general sense. As used herein, a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) includes, but is not limited to, a user equipment, mobile station fixed or mobile subscriber unit, pager, or any other type of device capable of operating in a wireless environment. WTRUs include personal communication devices, such as phones, video phones, and Internet ready phones that have network connections. In addition, WTRUs include portable personal computing devices, such as PDAs and notebook computers with wireless modems that have similar network capabilities. WTRUs that are portable or can otherwise change location are referred to as mobile units. When referred to hereafter, a base station is a WTRU that includes, but is not limited to, a base station, Node B, site controller, access point, or other interfacing device in a wireless environment.
Wireless telecommunication systems are well known in the art. In order to provide global connectivity for wireless systems, standards have been developed and are being implemented. One current standard in widespread use is known as Global System for Mobile Telecommunications (GSM). This is considered as a so-called Second Generation mobile radio system standard (2G) and was followed by its revision (2.5G). GPRS and EDGE are examples of 2.5G technologies that offer relatively high speed data service on top of (2G) GSM networks. Each one of these standards sought to improve upon the prior standard with additional features and enhancements. In January 1998, the European Telecommunications Standard Institute—Special Mobile Group (ETSI SMG) agreed on a radio access scheme for Third Generation Radio Systems called Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems (UMTS). To further implement the UMTS standard, the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) was formed in December 1998. 3GPP continues to work on a common third generational mobile radio standard.
A typical UMTS system architecture in accordance with current 3GPP specifications is depicted in FIG. 1. The UMTS network architecture includes a Core Network (CN) interconnected with a UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) via an interface known as Iu which is defined in detail in the current publicly available 3GPP specification documents. The UTRAN is configured to provide wireless telecommunication services to users through wireless transmit receive units (WTRUs), shown as user equipments (UEs) as in 3GPP, via a radio interface known as Uu. The UTRAN has one or more radio network controllers (RNCs) and base stations, shown as Node Bs as in 3GPP, which collectively provide for the geographic coverage for wireless communications with UEs. One or more Node Bs is connected to each RNC via an interface known as Iub in 3GPP. The UTRAN may have several groups of Node Bs connected to different RNCs; two are shown in the example depicted in FIG. 1. Where more than one RNC is provided in a UTRAN, inter-RNC communication is performed via an Iur interface.
Communications external to the network components are performed by the Node Bs on a user level via the Uu interface and the CN on a network level via various CN connections to external systems.
In general, the primary function of base stations, such as Node Bs, is to provide a radio connection between the base stations' network and the WTRUs. Typically a base station emits common channel signals allowing non-connected WTRUs to become synchronized with the base station's timing. In 3GPP, a Node B performs the physical radio connection with the UEs. The Node B receives signals over the Iub interface from the RNC that control the radio signals transmitted by the Node B over the Uu interface.
A CN is responsible for routing information to its correct destination. For example, the CN may route voice traffic from a UE that is received by the UMTS via one of the Node Bs to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) or packet data destined for the Internet.
The RNCs generally control internal functions of the UTRAN. The RNCs also provides intermediary services for communications having a local component via a Uu interface connection with a Node B and an external service component via a connection between the CN and an external system, for example overseas calls made from a cell phone in a domestic UMTS.
Typically an RNC oversees multiple base stations, manages radio resources within the geographic area of wireless radio service coverage serviced by the Node Bs and controls the physical radio resources for the Uu interface. In 3GPP, the Iu interface of an RNC provides two connections to the CN: one to a packet switched domain and the other to a circuit switched domain. Other important functions of the RNCs include confidentiality and integrity protection.
In many wireless communication systems, adaptive transmission power control algorithms are used. In such systems, many communications may share the same radio frequency spectrum. When receiving a specific communication, all the other communications using the same spectrum cause interference to the specific communication. As a result, increasing the transmission power level of one communication degrades the signal quality of all other communications within that spectrum. However, reducing the transmission power level too far results in undesirable received signal quality, such as measured by signal to interference ratios (SIRs) at the receivers. In 3GPP W-CDMA systems, power control is used as a link adaptation method. Dynamic power control is applied for dedicated physical channels (DPCH), such that the transmit power of the DPCHs is adjusted to achieve a quality of service (QoS) with a minimum transmit power level, thus limiting the interference level within the system.
One approach is to divide transmission power control into separate processes, referred to as outer loop power control (OLPC) and inner loop power control (ILPC). Basically, the power level of a specific transmitter is based on a target SIR value. In outer loop power control, as a receiver receives the transmissions, the quality of the received signal is measured. The transmitted information is sent in units of transport blocks (TBs), and the received signal quality can be monitored on a block error rate (BLER) basis. The BLER is estimated by the receiver, typically by a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the data. This estimated BLER is compared to a target quality requirement, such a target BLER, representative of QoS requirements for the various types of data services on the channel. Based on the measured received signal quality, a target SIR adjustment control signal is generated
In 3GPP wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA) systems utilizing time division duplex (TDD) mode, the UTRAN (SRNC-RRC) sets the initial target SIR to the WTRU at the call/session establishment and then subsequently continuously adjusts the target SIR of the WTRU during the life term of the call as dictated by the observation of the uplink (UL) BLER measurement.
In closed inner loop power control, the receiver compares a measurement of the received signal quality, such as SIR, to a threshold value. If the SIR exceeds the threshold, a transmit power control (TPC) command to decrease the power level is sent. If the SIR is below the threshold, a TPC command to increase the power level is sent. Typically, the TPC command is +1 or −1 bit multiplexed with data in a dedicated channel to the transmitter. In response to received TPC bits, the transmitter changes its transmission power level.
Also, a wireless channel can transmit a variety of services, such as video, voice, and data, each having different QoS requirements. The transmission rate unit is a transmission time interval (TTI). The smallest interval is one frame of data, typically defined as 10 ms for a 3GPP-like communication system. In a 3GPP-like system, TTIs are in lengths of 10, 20, 40, or 80 ms. For non-real time (NRT) data services, data is transmitted in many bursts or data sets of short duration. In a 3GPP system for example, one option is to map the data as a number of transport blocks onto a group of DPCHs which are temporarily assigned to a user by signaling an activation time and an end time with the DPCH allocation. The end time can be either explicitly signaled or can be implicitly signaled by the inclusion of a duration parameter. This temporary assignment can be called a temporary dedicated channel (Temp-DCH). This mapping is also referred to in terms of Temp-DCH allocations. One or more transport blocks are mapped onto the channel per TTI. Thus, each service is mapped across several TTIs, while target SIR adjustments are made on a TTI basis during OLPC for the Temp-DCH allocations.
During transmission of data services according to Temp-DCH allocations, a controlling RNC (CRNC) calculates initial downlink (DL) transmission power based on the target BLER, the primary common control physical channel (PCCPCH) received signal code power (RSCP), and the DL timeslot interference signal code power (ISCP) information received from the serving RNC (SRNC) and sends it to the base station. However, a mismatch typically exists between the initial transmission power and the required transmission power due to systematic and measurement bias errors. The systematic errors are related to the base station transmitter and WTRU receiver analog gain control. Measurement error occurs in the above-mentioned measured quantities. The mismatch will produce an excessive or insufficient transmission power in the beginning of each Temp-DCH allocation until the inner loop power control (ILPC) corrects these bias errors. System capacity is degraded by signal interference resulting from improper initial transmission power.

Bias error compensated initial transmission power control for data services


The present disclosure provides compounds represented by Formula (I): Formula (I) and the pharmaceutically acceptable salts and solvates thereof, wherein R1, R2a, R2b, R3a, R3b, R4, Y, ═, Ar, W, L, and B are as defined as set forth in the specification. The present disclosure also provides compounds of Formula (I)I for use to treat a condition or disorder responsive to inhibition and/or degradation of BET bromodomains such as cancer.

The genomes of eukaryotic organisms are highly organized within the nucleus of the cell. The long strands of duplex DNA are wrapped around an octamer of histone proteins (usually comprising two copies of histones H2A, H2B, H3, and H4) to form a nucleosome, which then is further compressed to form a highly condensed chromatin structure. A range of different condensation states are possible, and the tightness of this structure varies during the cell cycle. The chromatin structure plays a critical role in regulating gene transcription, which cannot occur efficiently from highly condensed chromatin. The chromatin structure is controlled by a series of post translational modifications to histone proteins, notably histones H3 and H4. These modifications include acetylation, methylation, phosphorylation, ubiquitinylation, and SUMOylation.
Histone acetylation usually is associated with the activation of gene transcription, as the modification loosens the interaction of the DNA and the histone octamer by changing the electrostatics. In addition to this physical change, specific proteins bind to acetylated lysine residues within histones to read the epigenetic code. Bromodomains are small (about 110 amino acid) distinct domains within proteins that bind to acetylated lysine resides commonly, but not exclusively, in the context of histones. There is a family of about 50 proteins known to contain bromodomains, which have a range of functions within the cell.
The BET family of bromodomain-containing proteins ("BET bromodomains" or "BET bromodomain proteins") includes four proteins, i.e., BRD2, BRD3, BRD4, and BRD-t, which contain tandem bromodomains capable of binding to two acetylated lysine residues in close proximity, thereby increasing the specificity of the interaction. BRD2 and BRD3 associate with histones along actively transcribed genes and may be involved in facilitating transcriptional elongation, while BRD4 may be involved in the recruitment of the pTEF-β complex to inducible genes, resulting in phosphorylation of RNA polymerase and increased transcriptional output. BRD4 or BRD3 also may fuse with NUT (nuclear protein in testis) forming novel fusion oncogenes, BRD4-NUT or BRD3-NUT, in a highly malignant form of epithelial neoplasia. Data suggests that BRD-NUT fusion proteins contribute to carcinogenesis. BRD-t is uniquely expressed in the testes and ovary. All family members have been reported to have some function in controlling or executing aspects of the cell cycle, and have been shown to remain in complex with chromosomes during cell division, which suggests a role in the maintenance of epigenetic memory. In addition, some viruses make use of these proteins to tether their genomes to the host cell chromatin as part of the process of viral replication.
A discussion of BET proteins can be found in WO 2012/075456, WO 2012/075383, and WO 2011/054864. A discussion of BET bromodomain inhibitors, e.g., I-BET-151 and I-BET-762, can be found in Delmore et al., Cell 146:904-917 (2011) and Seal et al., Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 22:2968-2972 (2012).
Small molecule inhibitors of BET bromodomains have therapeutic potential for the treatment of diseases and conditions in which BET bromodomains have a role, including cancer. BET bromodomain inhibitors are disclosed in the following U.S. patents: U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,044,042, 8,476,260, 8,114,995, 8,557,984, and 8,580,957; the following U.S. patent application publications: US 20120059002, US 20120208800, US 2012202799, US 2012252781, US 20130252331, US 20140011862, US 20130184264, US 2013079335, US 20140011862, US 20140005169, US 20130331382, US 20130281450, US 20130281399, US 20120157428, US 20100286127, US 20140256706, and US 2015/0246923; and the following international applications: WO 1998011111, WO 2006129623, WO 2008092231, WO 2009084693, WO 2009158404, WO 2010123975, WO 2011054843, WO 2011054844, WO 2011054845, WO 2011054846, WO 2011054848, WO 2011143651, WO 2011143660, WO 2011143669, WO 2011161031, WO 2012075383, WO 2012116170, WO 2012151512, WO 2012174487, WO 2013024104, WO 2013027168, WO 2013030150, WO 2013033268, WO 2013097601, and WO 2014164596.
Phthalimide-based drugs, e.g., thalidomide or lenalidomide, bind to protein-degradation machinery, e.g., cereblon (CRBN; part of an ubiquitin E3 ligase complex). This may promote the recruitment of two transcription factors (IKZF1 and IKZF3) that are essential to disease progression, resulting in drug-induced ubiquitylation and degradation by the proteasome. See, e.g., Ito et al., Science 327:1345-1350 (2010) and Winter et al., Science 348:1376-1381 (2015).
A high-affinity VHL ligand, see Bondeson et al., Nat. Chem. Biol. 11:611-617 (2015), may recruit a target protein to an E3 ubiquitin ligase, resulting in drug induced ubiquitination and degradation. See, e.g., van Hagen et al., Nucleic Acids Research 38: 1922-1931 (2010); Buckley et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 134:4465-4468 (2012); Buckley et al., Angew, Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 51:11463-11467 (2012); Lipkowitz and Weissman, Nat Rev Cancer 11:629-643 (2011); and Zengerle et al., ACS Chem. Biol. 10:1770-1777 (2015).
There is an ongoing need for new agents, e.g., small molecules, for treating and/or preventing cancer and other diseases responsive to deregulation, e.g., inhibition, of BET bromodomain activity and/or degradation of BET bromodomain proteins.

BET bromodomain protein degraders with cleavable linkers

THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN


An (Al, Ga, In)N light emitting device, such as a light emitting diode (LED), in which high light generation efficiency is realized by fabricating the device on non-polar or semi-polar III-Nitride crystal geometries. Because non-polar and semi-polar emitting devices have significantly lower piezoelectric effects than c-plane emitting devices, higher efficiency emitting devices at higher current densities can be realized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to high efficiency non-polar and semi-polar light emitting devices such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes (LDs).
2. Description of the Related Art
(Note: This application references a number of different publications as indicated throughout the specification. In addition, a list of a number of different publications can be found below in the section entitled "References." Each of these publications is incorporated by reference herein.)
Currently, most commercial gallium nitride (GaN) based light emitting devices are constructed on c-axis oriented crystals. As a result, strong piezo-electric fields control light emission efficiency. In the structure of conventional LEDs and LDs, the thickness of the quantum well (QW) is only around 2-5 nm. When the thickness of the QW layer becomes larger than 5 nm, the conduction energy band and valence energy band of the QW layer is bent due to a strong piezoelectric field, and then the radiative recombination efficiency becomes small, and then the emitting efficiency of the LED and LD becomes smaller.
However, in the case of non-polar or semi-polar GaN, the piezoelectric polarization is minimized. So, the energy band bending in the QW is small. It is expected that the thickness of the QW can be increased to improve the emitting efficiency of the LED and LD. Recently, the inventors of the present invention found that the thickness of the QW should be increased up to 10 nm in the case of non-polar and semi-polar LED and LD to increase the emitting efficiency.
In the case of conventional LEDs, in order to increase the light output power from the front side of the LED, the emitted light is reflected by a mirror placed on the backside of the substrate or is reflected by a mirror coating on the lead frame, even if there are no mirrors on the backside of the sapphire substrate, and if the bonding material is transparent on the emission wavelength. However, this reflected light is re-absorbed by the emitting layer (active layer), because the photon energy is almost same as the band-gap energy of the light emitting species, such as AlInGaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs). The efficiency or output power of the LEDs is decreased due to this re-absorption of the LED light by the emitting layer. See, for example, FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, which are described in more detail below. See also J. J. Appl. Phys. 34, L797-99 (1995) and J. J. Appl. Phys. 43, L180-82 (2004).
What is needed in the art are LED and LD structures that generate light more efficiently in the blue, green, amber, and red regions and that more effectively extract light. The present invention satisfies that need.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Non-polar and semi-polar light emitting devices

The Regents of the University of California


A memory device includes a memory cell array, a current detector and a controller. The memory cell array has a plurality of memory cell strings coupled to a common source line. The current detector detects a circulating current on the common source line or a power end of a page buffer. The controller is configured to: during a program operation, perform a first program operation on a plurality of first memory cells corresponding to logic 0 according to a first program verify voltage, and perform a second program operation on a plurality of second memory cells corresponding to logic 1 according to a second program verify voltage, where the first program verify voltage is different from the second program verify voltage; and provide a read voltage to the memory cell strings during a read operation, and sense the circulating current based on a read current reference value.

Nowadays, when artificial intelligence is advancing day by day, it is an important issue to provide chips with high-efficiency multiplication and addition capabilities in integrated circuits. In the existing technology, it has become a mainstream to set up a memory device to perform multiplication and addition.
In the conventional technical field, it is possible to perform digital summation for all page data in a memory to generate a computation result. Such method has relatively high accuracy, but requires relatively long computing time. In addition, the conventional technical field also provides an analog method to detect a current sum on a source line to obtain a computation result. However, although this method can reduce the calculation time, it cannot provide a highly accurate computation result.

Memory device and control method thereof


A magnet assembly is provided. The magnet assembly comprises a magnet configured to generate a magnetic field and an iron shield configured to shield the magnet. The magnet assembly further comprises one or more positive temperature coefficient heaters disposed on the iron shield and configured to stabilize temperature of the iron shield. An iron shield assembly and a method for temperature control of the magnet assembly are also presented.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates generally to magnet assemblies and methods for temperature control of the magnet assemblies. More particularly, this disclosure relates to magnet assemblies equipped with temperature control elements on iron shields thereof and methods for temperature control of the magnet assemblies.
2. Background of the Invention
Magnets, such as superconducting magnets, permanent magnets, and/or resistive magnets, have been used in various applications, for example, in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) applications. Generally, magnets are magnetically shielded to prevent the magnetic field created by such magnets from adversely interacting with electronic equipment located near the magnets. Some techniques for magnetically shielding such magnets include active and/or passive shielding.
Typically, passively shielded magnets, such as passively shielded superconducting magnets, are employed in some applications since passive shielding is more cost-effective than active shielding. Passive shielding generally employs iron shields (iron yokes) for shielding of magnets. However, magnetic properties of iron shields vary with variation of temperatures. As a result, magnetic fields generated by such magnets are unstable and fluctuate due to the variation of the temperatures of the iron shields, which is disadvantageous to the magnetic fields.
There have been attempts to provide temperature control for passively shielded magnets, such as active temperature control configurations. Such active configurations typically employ multiple temperature sensors that monitor the temperature of the iron shields and a controller that uses the data from the temperature sensors to control heaters to keep the system within a temperature range according to some control algorithm such as a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) control algorithm. Such active control adds complexity and cost to the temperature system.
There is a continued need for new and improved magnet assemblies and methods for temperature control of the magnet assemblies.

Magnet assemblies and methods for temperature control of the magnet assemblies


A wearable electronic device includes a body having a first battery and a port electrically connected to the first battery, a band having a connector and a set of first conductors electrically connected to the connector, and a belt having at least one second battery, a set of second conductors and an input port electrically connected to the second battery. The band is connected to the port via the connector so as to be electrically connected to the body. The belt may removably attach to an outer surface of the band, and the second battery may transmit power to the first battery by combining the two sets of conductors. When the belt is removed, the power consumed by the second battery is replenished by an external power source connected to the input port, mastering the information at any time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wearable electronic device, and more particularly to a wearable electronic device with a detachable power unit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the expansion of the application range of wearable electronic devices, the function is becoming more and more powerful, and the use time continues to grow, however, the acceptable size and weight of the battery in the wearable electronic device are often limited, thus limiting the capacity of the battery. As a result, the battery capacity of the wearable electronic device is often unable to meet the needs of large or long periods of use. In the face of this situation, the wearable electronic device must use external power source to replenish the electricity in order to continue to perform the function.
There are two kinds of external power sources: fixed (wired) power supply and mobile (portable) power pack. Fixed power supply includes wall outlet and electronic equipment with USB and Lightning™ port, such as, desktop computer, notebook computer, tablet computer and so on. Lightning™ is the exclusive transmission interface specification designed and manufactured by Apple Inc. Mobile power pack is usually a rechargeable secondary battery. The fixed power supply can be charged only when the wearable electronic device is removed from the user. As for the mobile power pack, although it can be carried with you, it can only be placed in handbags, backpacks, travel bags and other personal belongings. When needed, it can be taken out and connected to the wearable electronic device through a connecting line. It can not be directly attached to the user to transmit power to the wearable electronic device, so it is not convenient to carry and use the mobile power pack.
On the other hand, since the wearable electronic device is widely used for health management, such as, detecting heart rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen, sleep state, and so on, it is necessary to be worn for nearly 24 hours for continuous detection. However, for safety and other factors, the wearable electronic device must be removed when charging and cannot be detected during charging.
The present invention mitigates and/or obviates the aforementioned disadvantages.


Communication connection for peer-to-peer communication is established as follows. One personal computer, which wants to commence communication, transmits an electronic mail attached with an IP address of one personal computer to another personal computer, which is a desired destination. Another personal computer opens the transmitted electronic mail and obtains the IP address attached to the electronic mail, thereby establishing the communication connection. Information necessary for establishing the communication connection in peer-to-peer communication can be easily acquired.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, a recording medium product, and a program. More particularly, the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, a recording medium product, and a program, by which information necessary for establishing communication connection can be acquired with simple procedures.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been developed a communication system (called a peer-to-peer communication system) in which terminals interconnected via a network communicate with each other directly without intervention of a dedicated server.
In a conventional peer-to-peer communication system, however, it is required to acquire information (e.g., an IP address of the destination) from a dedicated server, for example, the information being registered in advance for establishing communication connection. As an alternative, one source terminal may ask an IP address of the other destination terminal by telephone. Anyway, information necessary for establishing communication connection must be acquired through troublesome procedures.

Information processing apparatus and method, recording medium product, and program


An isolated Lactobacillus paracasei strain GMNL-133 is disclosed, which was deposited in the China Center for Type Culture Collection (CCTCC) under the accession number of CCTCC M 2011331 is disclosed. The isolated Lactobacillus paracasei strain GMNL-133 is used for preparing a composition for use in the treatment of atopic dermatitis or other allergic diseases in an effective amount. And a composition for use in the treatment of atopic dermatitis or other allergic diseases comprises an effective amount of the Lactobacillus paracasei strain GMNL-133 is also disclosed.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a Lactobacillus sp. strain and the use thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to a Lactobacillus paracasei strain and an oral composition containing thereof for use in the treatment of allergic disease.
2. Description of Related Art
Allergy refers to an acquired potential to develop immunologically mediated adverse reaction to normally innocuous substances. Allergic reaction provokes symptoms such as itching, coughing, wheezing, sneezing, watery eyes, inflammation and fatigue. It is normally believed that allergic reaction includes an early specific immune response and a late inflammatory reaction. It is reported that allergens (e.g., pollens and mite dust) mediate the early allergic response by stimulating high affinity immunoglobulin E (IgE) receptors. For instance, mast cells and basophils stimulated by allergens will release histamine and cytokines. Then the cytokines released from mast cells and basophils mediate the late allergic response by recruiting inflammatory cells. It is also reported that the influx of eosinophils, macrophages, lymphocytes, neutrophils and platelets starts the late vicious inflammatory cycle. This late inflammatory cycle amplifies the early immune response and triggers more inflammatory cells release.
Various therapies have been used to treat the symptoms of allergies, such as anti-allergic and histamine H-receptor antagonists (anti-histamines). Anti-histamines can reduce the redness, itching and swelling caused by the histamine reacting on the target tissues and prevent and alleviate many symptoms resulting from the degranulation of mast cells. However, anti-histamines have also been associated with side effects such as diminished alertness, slowed reaction times and somnolence.
Atopic dermatitis is one of the most common allergic diseases in children. The conventional method for treating atopic dermatitis is topic steroid therapy. However, symptoms of atopic dermatitis are difficult to eradicate and recur frequently after stopping steroids administration. Furthermore, long-term use of steroid is prone to side effects such as skin atrophy and thinning, changes in skin pigmentation, hair growing, and acne. Therefore, less side effects and highly safety therapy is required.
In recent years, probiotics has been considered that help human health and no side effects by the medical community and the scientific community. According to the currently adopted definition by Food and Agriculture organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO), probiotics are: "Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host". Currently, there are many microorganisms can be used as probiotics such as Lactobacillus sp., Bifidobacterium sp., Lactococcus sp., Enterococcus sp., yeasts and Streptococcus sp.
Lactic acid bacteria is a group of gram-positive facultative anaerobic bacteria, which is commonly found in the human gastrointestinal tract and vagina, and can ferment sugar to lactic acid as major metabolites. There are many studies and clinical trials are gradually confirmed that an important correlation between lactic acid bacteria and human health. At present, the lactic acid bacteria have been found that has many effects such as improving the balance of intestinal microflora, diarrhea prevention, reducing colon cancer risk, stimulating the normal development and function of gastrointestinal epithelial mucosal system, producing several vitamins and nutrients, and prevention and treatment of vaginosis.


A laminate for making signs, the laminate comprising a readily-abraded layer and an abrasion-resistant layer. A method of making signs is also disclosed. The method includes providing a laminate comprising a first layer that is readily etched by abrasives and a second layer disposed beneath the first layer and substantially resistant to abrasive etching. A mask is applied to the top of the laminate; and abrasives are used to selectively remove a portion of the first layer, so as to form a relief image with a controlled and uniform relief depth.

Custom signage articles of all sizes are often made with relief surfaces. Such relief surfaces can have variable depths formed by abrasive etching, acid etching, machining, or other techniques. For example, it is possible to use photoresist layers and abrasives to make an etched surface for use in signs.
Existing methods of producing relief surfaces are often imprecise in terms of controlling surface relief. The equipment operator needs to show great care in controlling relief depth, typically by regulating abrasion rate (controlled by amount of abrasive, size of abrasive, and speed of abrasive particles) as well as duration of time at which an area is exposed to abrasion. These inexact controls can be adequate for some purposes, but are not sufficient for those requiring precise depths of the relief.
An example of a type of signage requiring relatively high depth precision are signs incorporating Braille characters. Braille is a system by which people with limited or no vision can use tactile senses to read letters written in an alphabet of raised dots. Regulations regarding Braille signage are provided by the United States Access Board in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Architectural Barriers Act Accessibility Guidelines (Jul. 23, 2004), Section 703. These guidelines state that all raised characters must be a minimum of 1/32″ in height above their background and Braille dots must be 0.025-0.037″ in height and have a domed or rounded surface. Existing abrasives etching techniques are not generally suitable for precisely producing Braille dots of such height.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved method of making-signage with precise and controlled feature heights, such as Braille characters.


Methods and systems involving the dynamic transmission of user information to trusted contacts are described herein. An example system may be configured to (a) receive, at a first computing device, a command to send message data to a second computing device, where the second computing device is associated with a contact; (b) determine that the contact associated with the second computing device is a trusted contact; (c) based on (i) receiving the command to send the message data and (ii) determining that the contact is a trusted contact, cause a multimedia-capture device to obtain multimedia data; and (d) transmit trusted-contact data to the second computing device associated with the trusted contact, where the trusted-contact data comprises (i) the message data, (ii) the multimedia data, and (iii) environmental data that corresponds to at least one environmental condition of the first computing device.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Computing devices such as personal computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, cellular phones, and countless types of Internet-capable devices are increasingly prevalent in numerous aspects of modern life. The manner in which these devices provide information to users is becoming more intelligent, efficient, intuitive, and/or less obtrusive.
Additionally, such devices can communicate with one another, either directly or indirectly, with increasing ease and in an increasing number of ways. As a result, users may readily share media and/or information or otherwise interact with each other via their devices. Such interaction may be in real time, or near-real time, as perceived by the user.
However, some techniques for sharing media and/or information may, at times, share too much media and/or information and may, at other times, share too little media and/or information.

Dynamic transmission of user information to trusted contacts


A detection system includes a first sensor configured to send a first ultrasonic pulse toward an object in a blowout prevention system. The first ultrasonic pulse has a first parameter. The detection system also includes a second sensor spaced from the first sensor and configured to send a second ultrasonic pulse toward the object. The second ultrasonic pulse has a second parameter that is different from the first parameter of the first ultrasonic pulse. The first parameter and the second parameter are one of an amplitude, a frequency, a duration, an emission time, and an excitation code. The second sensor is further configured to receive the first ultrasonic pulse after the first ultrasonic pulse interacts with the object. The detection system is configured to determine that the first ultrasonic pulse received by the second sensor was sent by the first sensor. The detection system further includes a controller coupled to the second sensor and configured to determine a characteristic of the object based on the first ultrasonic pulse.

The field of the disclosure relates generally to detection systems, and more particularly to a system including a plurality of sensors for detecting objects.
Many known detection systems include sensors that are configured to detect an object. For example, at least some known detection systems are configured to detect a pipe that extends through a wellbore. In at least some known detection systems, a first sensor sends a first pulse toward the pipe and receives the first pulse after the first pulse is reflected by the pipe. Subsequently, a second sensor sends a second pulse toward the pipe and receives the second pulse after the second pulse is reflected by the pipe. The data gathered from the sequential pulsing of the sensors is used to determine a position of the pipe. However, conditions in the wellbore change during the sequential pulsing of the sensors. For example, sometimes the position of the pipe changes during the sequential pulsing. Moreover, each sensor only detects objects that are at least a minimum distance from the sensor because the self-resonance, i.e., ringing, of the sensor obfuscates the pulse reflected by objects within the minimum distance.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a detection system including a plurality of sensors that more accurately and reliably detects objects.

Detection system including sensors and method of operating such


A dual band microstrip antenna (1) made by a method of the present invention includes a dielectric substrate (11), a ground plane layer (10) attached to a bottom surface (111) of the substrate, a first and second conductive patches (21, 22) separately elevated above and parallel to a top surface (110) of the substrate, a first and second conductive posts (23, 24) electrically connecting the first and second conductive patches respectively with the ground plane layer and a first and second coaxial feeder cables (25, 26). A method for making the dual band microstrip antenna includes adjusting the height of the first and second conductive posts to achieve a good performance of the dual band microstrip antenna.

The present invention relates to a method of making an antenna, and in particular to a method of making a dual band microstrip antenna.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional microstrip antenna comprises an insulative substrate 20xe2x80x2, a conductive patch 21xe2x80x2 attached to one surface of the substrate and a ground plane layer 22xe2x80x2 attached to another, opposite surface of the substrate. RF signals are fed to the antenna by a coaxial cable or a conductive strip 23xe2x80x2. Electrical and magnetic fields are formed between the patch and the ground plane layer and electromagnetic wave radiate from gaps between and around the patch and the ground plane layer.
Parameters of the elements of the microstrip antenna will affect operating performance of the microstrip antenna. To achieve desirable performance through selecting, calculating and testing parameters of the elements, a method for making a microstrip antenna generally comprises the following steps:
1. selecting the thickness t and the relative dielectric constant xcex5r of the insulative substrate;
2. selecting the width W of the conductive patch 21xe2x80x2 using the equation
W=(xcex/2)[2/(xcex5r+1)]1/2
where xcex=c/f, and where xcex and f are respectively the wavelength and frequency of the operating signals, and c is the speed of light in a vacuum;
3. calculating the effective length L and the effective dielectric constant xcexe of the conductive patch 21xe2x80x2 using the equation
xe2x80x83L=xcex/2xcex5e1/2xe2x88x922xcex94L, where
xcex94L=(0.412t)(xcex5e+0.3)(W/t+0.264)/(xcex5exe2x88x920.258)(W/t+0.8) and
xcex5e=(xcex5r+1)/2+[(xcex5rxe2x88x921)/2](1+12t/W)xe2x88x921/2, where
xe2x80x83xcex94L is the effective extending length of the conductive patch;
4. selecting a feed point location on the patch;
5. measuring the radiation pattern and Voltage Standing Wave Ratios (VSWR) of the microstrip antenna; and
6. if the measured results do not satisfy operating requirement, returning to the first step and repeating all steps until a satisfactory result is achieved.
A conventional dual band microstrip antenna is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,435. Referring to FIG. 2, the dual band microstrip antenna comprises a first, second and third superimposed dielectric layers 4xe2x80x2, 6xe2x80x2, 16xe2x80x2, a ground plane 2xe2x80x2 on one external surface, a conductive patch 18xe2x80x2 on an opposite external surface, and parallel conductive strips 12xe2x80x2, 14xe2x80x2 at the interface of the dielectric layers 6xe2x80x2, 16xe2x80x2, closer to the patch 18xe2x80x2 than to the ground plane 2xe2x80x2. The dielectric constant of the second layer 6xe2x80x2 is different from that of the first and third layers 4xe2x80x2, 16xe2x80x2. As disclosed above, the performance of the dual band microstrip antenna can be optimized by adjusting the thickness and the dielectric constants of the dielectric layers 4xe2x80x2, 6xe2x80x2, 16xe2x80x2.
However, the dielectric constant is related to the material of the layer, so adjusting the dielectric constant implies changing the material of the layer and it is difficult to get an exact value of dielectric constant in this way. Furthermore, a minimum value of the dielectric constant is close to but is no less than 1 (as is air), and the thickness t of the dielectric layer generally should be far less than xcex for considerations of size, so adjusting the performance of the microstrip antenna by varying thickness and dielectric constant is realistically very limited. Each value of thickness and dielectric constant of each of the dielectric layers 4xe2x80x2, 6xe2x80x2, 16xe2x80x2 will affect the whole performance of the antenna in two operating frequency bands at the same time.
Hence, an improved method of making a dual band microstrip antenna is desired to overcome the above-mentioned shortcomings of the existing method.
A primary object, therefore, of the present invention is to provide an improved method of making a dual band microstrip antenna which allows adjusting the performance of the antenna individually and conveniently in each operating frequency band.
Another object is to provide a method of making a dual band microstrip antenna, which allows adjusting the performance of the antenna in a wider range.
A dual band microstrip antenna made by a method in accordance with the present invention comprises a dielectric substrate, a ground plane layer attached to a bottom surface of the substrate, a first and second conductive patches separately elevated above and parallel to a top surface of the substrate, a first and second conductive posts respectively elevating the first and second radiating patches above the substrate and electrically connecting the first and second patches with the ground plane layer, and a first and second coaxial feeder cables. The method for making the dual band microstrip antenna comprises adjusting the height of the first and second conductive posts to achieve a good performance of the dual band microstrip antenna.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The copending application with the same applicant and the same assignee as the invention, titled xe2x80x9cDUAL BEND MICROSTRIP ANTENNAxe2x80x9d filed on the same date with the invention is referenced hereto.

Method of making dual band microstrip antenna


Converting a electronic files. An initial step involves determining whether an electronic file contains distinct data strings or simple text associated with marks. Where the electronic file contains distinct data strings, those distinct data strings are located, and, from each distinct data string, format data is obtained. The distinct data string is then converted to simple text and associated with a mark, the mark representing the format data. Where the electronic file contains simple text associated with marks, those marks are located, for each located mark, the simple text associated with that mark is identified. The simple text is then formatted according to the mark forming a distinct data string.

In today's computer networks, sharing data among devices has become desirable if not essential. Not only does the shared data need to be replicated on each device, but the set of replicated data must be synchronized so that changes made to one replica are reflected in all the others. Synchronization enables many users to work with their own local copy of shared data but have the shared data updated as if they were working on a single, centralized database. For shared data applications where users are geographically widely distributed, replication and synchronization are often the most efficient methods for effectively utilizing shared data.
In addition to desktop computers (including workstations and servers), modern computing environments often include lightweight mobile computing devices that fit into a pocket, purse, or day planner. The memory and processor speeds of mobile devices are limited in comparison with desktop computers. A mobile device may, for example, have a processor running at two hundred megahertz and contain sixty-four megabytes of combined operational and storage memory. The operational memory holds the instructions from an application that the processor executes and the data that those instructions work with. The storage memory holds applications and data not in use by the processor. A desktop computer on the other hand may have a processor operating at two gigahertz, have two hundred-fifty six megabytes of operational memory, and have thirty gigabytes of storage memory. These numbers are of course relative. As technology progresses, the numbers will improve. However, it is expected that the computing power of a desktop most always will be greater than that of a mobile device.
The processor and memory constraints of mobile devices prevent them from utilizing more sophisticated applications available to desktop computers. For example, a word processor designed for a mobile device will typically not have the number of features available to a word processor designed for a desktop computer. The desktop's word processor will likely have the ability to format different sections of a document differently. Multiple fonts may be used. Different margins may be applied to different sections. The document may include one or more bulleted lists. The possibilities go on. The word processor on a mobile device, however, may function more like a simple text editor lacking anything but basic formatting functions. Consequently, a document created using a desktop word processor cannot be accessed by a mobile word processor without being converted to a simpler format. The conversion however removes all formatting from the document not compatible with the mobile word processor. When the document is returned to the desktop word processor, it must be reformatted.
Sharing electronic mail between desktop and mobile devices can also pose difficulties. Electronic mail editors designed for desktop computers are capable of multiple functions. In addition to sending text messages to one or more intended recipients, they are capable of sending meeting notifications and invitations, interacting with calendaring applications to schedule meetings, and managing task lists. While mobile devices are capable of generating text messages, many cannot create electronic mail. If they can, many still cannot send specialized messages such as a meeting notification or invitation let alone interact with a calendaring application or manage a task list.
The limitations of mobile devices often prevent them from interacting effectively with more powerful computing devices such as desktop computers.