An ergonomic duty belt and ergonomic holster and belt loop assembly are disclosed which cooperate to provide a stable platform for a handgun in a holster and other accessories as well while providing superior comfort for the wearer. The ergonomic belt effectively has two widths, a narrow 1xc2xd vertical effective width, which is against the wearer""s body, and a traditional 2xc2xc inch exterior vertical width, which is sized to support the wearer""s gear, such as a holster and a weapon. That portion of the ergonomic belt, which is against the wearer, is also padded for additional comfort. The ergonomic holster includes a belt loop assembly which is tapered and padded on its inner surface in the area where the assembly touches the wearer""s body when worn as intended to better conform to the body of the wearer and minimize wearer discomfort.

Almost all uniformed law enforcement officers wear a duty belt. Duty belts or the like are also frequently worn by military personnel. A duty belt is that platform primarily used for carrying gear, such as a handgun holster, baton, and handcuffs, which the wearer must have within an arms length reach at all times. In recent years, the number of items normally carried on duty belts has increased. Correspondingly, the weight carried by the average duty belt has also increased.
Holsters are one of the items which law enforcement officers or military personnel normally hang from a duty belt. The holster is generally connected to the duty belt by way of a holster belt loop assembly. It is well known in the art that duty belts have a certain minimum width, i.e., vertical dimension when worn; otherwise, they are a less effective platform for supporting gear. Further, tradition and style have also dictated duty belt width. For these reasons, duty belts have traditionally been in the order of 2xc2xc inches wide. This width of a relatively stiff material provides a solid support for all carried items, particularly the holster and its handgun, usually the heaviest item carried on the duty belt.
It has been suggested that duty belts having a more narrow width might be more comfortable to the wearer because a narrower belt may reduce the likelihood of the edges of the belt digging into the wearer""s rib section and/or thigh area. Consequently, for comfort, many individuals might prefer a duty belt having a width less than 2xc2xc inches.
It has been thought that it was almost impossible to design a single duty belt having the aforementioned desired characteristics of holster stability and comfort. Therefore, a choice had to be made between a narrower belt, which might be more comfortable but less effective, in properly supporting the wearers gear, and a wider belt, which may be less comfortable, but a more effective platform for supporting gear. It was believed that any comfort benefit obtained by reducing the width of the duty belt was outweighed by the weakening of the platform supporting the wearer""s gear. Thus, the traditional duty belt has remained 2xc2xc inches wide, and little has been done in recent years to improve the ergonomic comfort and other factors of the traditional duty belt.
Duty holsters are normally hung from belt by a belt loop assembly, which is typically 2 to 3 inches wide (horizontal dimension when worn). Many holster belt loop assemblies are S-shaped so as to extend the holster and thus weapon slightly away from the wearer""s body to make the weapon more easily accessible, provide a space for the wearer""s coat or jacket, and position the holster where it is less likely to rub against the wearer""s leg. The S-shaped design also conforms to some degree to the hip of the wearer. Holster belt loop assemblies, more recently, are almost always made of a rigid, relatively inflexible plastic material, so the holster will remain fixedly positioned at all times.
The S-shaped design incorporates a ridge at its centermost region for strength and rigidity. Because the ridge is made from rigid materials, it can be a source of discomfort, if the ridge of the S-shape design puts pressure on the hip or thigh of the wearer.
It would be a great advantage to all individuals whose job necessitates that they wear a duty belt or duty belt with holster to have a duty belt and holster which, together, reduce, if not eliminate, the likelihood of the wearer experiencing discomfort, while simultaneously providing the wearer with a duty belt and holster which provides the reliability and stability of the traditional duty belt for their intended purpose.
Applicants have invented a single duty belt which effectively has two different widths, a more comfortable narrow interior width, which is against the wearer""s body, and a wider exterior width, which is wide enough to support all of the wearer""s gear with the same efficiency as a traditional width duty belt.
The applicants have modified the traditional 2xc2xc-inch duty belt to include a raised foam padded inner belt liner. The inner foam pad, ideally, is the only contact with the wearer through his clothing. The top and bottom portions of the inner foam belt liner are gently beveled, so as to reduce the amount of actual belt area which comes into contact with the body of the wearer. Thus, the effective width of the inventive belt is less than the actual belt width due to the presence of the raised, padded, inner belt liner. For example, the interior portion of the inventive duty belt may have an effective width of, for example, 1xc2xd inches or 1xc2xe inches, while the width of the exterior portion of the same duty belt is 2xc2xc inches. At these widths, the duty belt is more comfortable than the traditional 2xc2xc-inch duty belt, but just as supportive and stable for the gear carried. The foam inner belt liner also includes padding for additional comfort to the wearer. In effect, the ergonomic belt of this invention acts like two different belts, a comfortable, narrow, padded belt in contact with the wearer""s torso, and a wide, stable belt for carrying duty equipment.
The duty belt of this invention allows the wearer to experience both the comfort of wearing a more narrow belt and the piece of mind in knowing that the necessary gear is hung from a stable and supportive platform. Thus, when the wearer reaches for gear, the gear will be easily retrieved because it was properly supported by the duty belt.
Faced with the objections of holsters rubbing against the wearer""s body, applicants have also invented a mating holster, including an improved belt loop assembly, which complements the aforementioned duty belt and which substantially reduces or eliminates the ridge found in the traditional S-shaped holster belt loop assembly.
Reducing the ridge of the S-shaped holster belt loop assembly aids in reducing, if not eliminating, discomfort caused by the ridge exerting pressure upon the wearer""s hip or thigh. The belt loop assembly of the holster also includes soft padding on the surface facing the wearer. The location of the padded surface is in that area where the holster belt loop assembly is most likely to come into contact with the wearer""s hip and/or thigh. The modification to the belt loop assembly""s design, as well as the addition of padding, provides wearer""s of a duty belt worn holster with a holster which is more comfortable to wear during all phases of duty, from everyday wear to foot pursuit.
Together, the applicants"" duty belt and holster, with its improved belt loop assembly, provide the wearer with comfort in knowing that his/her gear will remain stable on the duty belt, while also providing the wearer with additional physical comfort, heretofore unknown with traditional duty belts and S-shaped holster belt loop assemblies. The belt loop assembly of this invention may be adapted to most belt-worn holsters.

Ergonomic duty belt and holster belt loop assembly


In an approach for monitoring data usage in an IoT network, a processor identifies a set of IoT devices. A processor collects a set of baseline readings for the set of IoT devices. A processor collects a set of IoT data from the set of IoT devices as a user answers a survey question. A processor compares the set of baseline readings to the set of IoT data. A processor derives an emotional state of the user while answering the survey question. A processor builds a CART model using the set of baseline readings, the set of IoT data, and a set of survey data. A processor applies the emotional state as a weight to the CART model. A processor outputs the weighted CART model.

The present invention relates generally to the field of prediction models, and more particularly to generating classification and regression trees using Internet of Things (IoT) device data.
Surveys are used to research human subjects using a list of questions aimed at extracting specific data from a particular group of people. Surveys may be conducted by phone, mail, via the Internet, or face-to-face. Survey research is often used to assess thoughts, opinions, and feelings. Surveys can be specific and limited, or can have more global, widespread goals. Psychologists and sociologists often use surveys to analyze behavior. More pragmatically, surveys are used by public health officials, professional organizations, advertising and marketing directors, and the media in evaluating political candidates.
Classification and regression trees (CARTs) are machine-learning methods for constructing prediction models from data. The models are obtained by recursively partitioning the data space and fitting a simple prediction model within each partition. As a result, the partitioning can be represented graphically as a decision tree. Classification trees are designed for dependent variables that take a finite number of unordered values, with prediction error measured in terms of misclassification cost. Regression trees are for dependent variables that take continuous or ordered discrete values, with prediction error typically measured by the squared difference between the observed and predicted values.
Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the concept of extending internet connectivity beyond conventional computing platforms such as personal computers and mobile devices, and into any range of traditionally non-internet-enabled physical devices and everyday objects. Embedded with electronics, internet connectivity, and other forms of hardware (such as sensors), these devices and objects can communicate and interact with others over the Internet, and the devices and objects can be remotely monitored and controlled.

Generating classification and regression tree from IoT data

International Business Machines Corporation


The benzene concentration in the gasoline pool of a petroleum refinery is decreased by alkylation of the benzene in a catalytic dewaxing reactor using the olefinic by-products from the dewaxing reaction as alkylating agents. The catalytic dewaxing is preferably carried out in the presence of an intermediate pore size zeolite such as ZSM-5 using a distillate or lube boiling range dewaxing feed. The benzene rich feed preferably contains less than about 2% C.sub.7+ aromatics in order to reduce alkylation of non-objectionable species in the reformate.

The demand for gasoline as a motor fuel is one of the major factors which dictates the design and mode of operation of a modern petroleum refinery. The gasoline product from a refinery is derived from several sources within the refinery including, for example, gasoline from the catalytic cracking unit, straight run gasoline, reformate and gasoline obtained as a low boiling by-product from various refinery operations, especially catalytic processes such as catalytic dewaxing. The octane number of the gasoline from these different sources varies according to the nature of the processing and the octane rating of the final gasoline pool will depend upon the octane ratings of the individual components in the pool as well as the proportions of these components. The increasing use of unleaded gasoline coupled with increasing engine efficiencies in road vehicles has led to a demand for increased gasoline pool octane which, in turn, makes it desirable to increase the octane values of the individual components of the pool. Although there are various ways of achieving this objective, some necessarily involve compromises which may render them less attractive in commercial refinery operation. For example, the octane rating of FCC gasoline may be improved by operating the cracker at a higher temperature (conventionally measured at the top of the riser); similarly, reformate octane may be increased by operating the reformer at higher severity but in both cases, a yield loss will ensure. In the case of by-product gasoline from catalytic dewaxing processes it may be possible to improve octane during the start-up by increasing the temperature rapidly to a value higher than normal, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,446,007 (Smith), However, the use of higher temperatures in dewaxing processes will also tend to decrease the yield of dewaxed products. Alternative measures for increasing pool octane are therefore still desirable.
Another trend which is perceptible in the petroleum refining industry is towards the reduction of benzene is the gasoline pool. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency is considering regulation of the gasoline content and similar measures are being considered in the European Community. Benzene is particularly prevalent in reformer gasoline, being a distinctive product of the reforming process, produced by the dehydrogenation of C.sub.6 cycloparaffins, the dehydrocyclization of straight chain paraffins of appropriate chain length (C.sub.6) and dealkylation of other aromatics. It is produced in particularly high concentration in the continuous catalytic reforming process which is currently replacing the conventional cyclic reforming process in the industry. It would be possible to reduce the benzene content of the reformate by a simple fractionation process but because the boiling point of benzene is close to that of other desirable and unobjectionable components of the reformate, this too would lead to a considerable loss in yield.
Fortunately, the alkyl benzenes such as toluene are considered less objectionable than benzene itself and, in addition, posses good octane ratings so that they may be readily incorporated into the refinery gasoline pool. Alkylation of the undesired benzene component therefore represents an attractive means for dealing with the benzene problem while, at the same time, providing a potential for improvement in the octane rating of the gasoline pool.


Embedder compositions effective for detecting or killing cells in acidic areas of tumors are described. Each composition includes an embedder peptide which at pH 7.2 and above is poly-anionic and so repels from cells in normal tissues, but at lower pH in hypoxic areas of tumors the embedder peptide converts to a non-ionic lipophilic form effective to embed into membranes of cells. Each composition also includes a cargo component which cannot be pulled across cell membranes by the embedder peptide and which is effective for detecting or killing cells in whose membranes the embedder peptide has embedded.

Tumors larger than microscopic size have inadequate and abnormal vasculature. As a consequence, areas of tumors that are more than a few tens of microns from a capillary are generally hypoxic. Cells in such hypoxic areas of tumors either die or convert to anaerobic metabolism which results in their excreting lactic acid. Because of the poor circulation in tumors, that excreted lactic acid builds up in the interstitial space in hypoxic areas of tumors.
There are two important consequences of this process.
1) While the pH in the interstitial space in normal tissues ranges from about 7.2 to 7.5, the interstitial space in hypoxic areas of tumors is acidic, with pH ranging from as low as about 6.0 in areas most distant from capillaries, up to about 7.0 closer to capillaries.2) While tumor cells in close proximity to capillaries are characterized by high metabolic rates and fast cell division, the tumor cells in acidic areas more distant from capillaries have lower metabolic rates and are slower-dividing or non-dividing. The slow-dividing and non-dividing tumor cells are referred to as quiescent.
Conventional cancer therapies, including chemotherapy and radiation, are generally fairly effective in killing fast-dividing cells, but because conventional cancer therapies are explicitly selected on the basis of their ability to spare slow-dividing and non-dividing cells typical of most normal tissues, said cancer therapies are also relatively ineffective against slow-dividing and non-dividing quiescent tumor cells. As a consequence, cancer treatments typically kill predominantly the fast-dividing cells of a tumor, while sparing the quiescent cells of the tumor. The initial killing of the fast-dividing tumor cells causes the tumor to go into remission. After those killed cells have been disposed of by the body's normal cleanup processes, all too often the treatment-resistant quiescent cancer cells in the hypoxic areas of the tumor slowly regain access to adequate oxygen, nutrients, and waste disposal, thus allowing them to revert to high metabolic rate and fast cell division. Reversion of the previously-quiescent cancer cells manifests as the dreaded relapse that so often kills cancer patients.
To achieve more effective treatment of tumors it is desirable to have a means for sensitive detection of quiescent cancer cells in virtually all tumors. Also desired is to have a broadly effective means for selectively killing those treatment-resistant quiescent cancer cells without concomitant killing of cells in normal tissues.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Embedder compositions and methods for detecting and killing cells in acidic areas of tumors


A Cloud federator may be used to allow seamless and transparent access by a Cloud Client to Cloud services. Federation may be provided on various terms, including as a subscription based real-time online service to Cloud Clients. The Cloud federator may automatically and transparently effect communication between the Cloud Client and Clouds and desired services of the Clouds, and automatically perform identity federation. A Service Abstraction Layer (SAL) may be implemented to simplify Client communication, and Clouds/Cloud services may elect to support the SAL to facilitate federation of their services.

The phrase "cloud computing" is one of many references to the concept of seeking to provide a diverse set of Internet based "services" to a broad variety of clients. Often the term "cloud" is used to refer to accessing resources on the Internet; cloud computing generally refers to an abstraction of resources and the network infrastructure needed to access resources of the cloud. Cloud computing is an "on-demand" environment including characteristics previously associated with many utility and grid computing models. Cloud computing generally tries to harness ever increasing computing power and sophistication in computing technologies. The terms "service" or "services" are used to refer to such abstracted resources. Various services, such as ones provided by Amazon.Com, Inc. (e.g., Simple Storage Service (S3)), Google Inc. (e.g., Google File System (GFS)), or Microsoft Corporation (e.g., Microsoft Office Online) represent well known cloud computing resources typically accessed from a web browser or other light weight client through the cloud. Unlike a traditional application program, where the application and its data are typically stored on a local storage, with cloud services, this information is typically stored on remote (corporate) servers. Generally speaking, cloud computing encompasses any subscription based or hosted service accessible over the Internet.
Cloud applications are generally broadly divided into categories, such as:
(1) Web Services, e.g., software designed to be interoperable machine-to-machine using a well defined software interface such as Web Services Description Language (WSDL), Application Programming Interface (API), or other standardized communication protocol;
(2) Software as a Service (SaaS), which is essentially just delivery/on demand utilization of application software, e.g., an email application program simultaneously accessed through a browser by thousands of customers;
(3) Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), in which clients are provided with virtual servers and/or on-demand resources, such as storage, that are paid for as needed akin to consuming a utility resource; and
(4) Platform as a Service (PaaS), for allowing developers to deploy applications hosted on cloud-based infrastructure.
In cloud computing, a client device, software, etc. often needs to connect to different clouds to receive different services. Unfortunately, each cloud provider does not own the user's business and there is no standardized or seamless inter-connection among services to which a user or client may subscribe.


A semiconductor device includes: a first active region surrounded with an isolation region of a semiconductor substrate; a first gate electrode formed over the first active region and having a protrusion protruding on the isolation region; a first side-wall insulating film; an auxiliary pattern formed to be spaced apart in the gate width direction from the protrusion of the first gate electrode; a second side-wall insulating film; and a stress-containing insulating film containing internal stress and formed to cover the first gate electrode, the first side-wall insulating film, the auxiliary pattern, and the second side-wall insulating film. In this device, the distance between the first gate electrode and the auxiliary pattern is smaller than the sum total of: the sum of the thicknesses of the first and second side-wall insulating films; and the double of the thickness of the stress-containing insulating film.

(a) Fields of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor devices and their fabrication methods. In particular, the present invention relates to a semiconductor device having a structure in which an insulating film with internal stress covering a gate electrode of a field effect transistor produces stress in a channel region.
(b) Description of Related Art
In recent years, in order to enhance the speed of a semiconductor device, a structure and a method for improving the carrier mobility of the device have been proposed. In these structure and method, a film with internal stress is used to produce stress on a region where carriers flow (a channel region) from the outside, thereby improving the carrier mobility.
FIGS. 17, 18A, and 18B show a conventional semiconductor device having a structure in which an insulating film with internal stress produces stress on a channel region (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-57301). FIG. 17 is a plan view corresponding to the line XVII-XVII in FIGS. 18A and 18B. FIG. 18A is a sectional view corresponding to the line XVIIIa-XVIIIa in FIG. 17, and FIG. 18B is a sectional view corresponding to the line XVIIIb-XVIIIb in FIG. 17.
As shown in FIGS. 17, 18A, and 18B, a semiconductor substrate 100 is formed with an isolation region 101 which defines an active region 100a. Above the active region 100a surrounded with the isolation region 101, a gate electrode 103 having a silicide layer 103a is formed with a gate insulating film 102 interposed therebetween. The side surfaces of the gate electrode 103 and the silicide layer 103a are formed with a side-wall insulating film 113 which is composed of a first sidewall 105 having an L-shaped cross section and a second sidewall 106. Regions of the active region 100a located outside the side-wall insulating film 113 are formed with a source region 107s having a silicide layer 107sa in its top-layer portion and a drain region 108d having a silicide layer 108da in its top-layer portion, respectively. Over the semiconductor substrate 100, a liner film 109 of a silicon nitride film having internal stress is formed to cover the gate electrode 103 and the side-wall insulating film 113. The top of the liner film 109 is formed with an interlayer insulating film 110. The interlayer insulating film 110 is formed with contact plugs 111 penetrating both of the interlayer insulating film 110 and the liner film 109 to reach the silicide layers 107sa and 108da, respectively. The top of the interlayer insulating film 110 is formed with interconnects 112 whose bottom surfaces are connected to the top ends of the contact plugs 111, respectively.
In the conventional semiconductor device thus constructed, as is apparent from FIG. 17, the liner film 109 having internal stress is formed to enclose the gate electrode 103 in the state in which the side-wall insulating film 113 on the side surface of the gate electrode 103 is interposed therebetween.
In this structure, the direction of the channel length in which carriers flow (the channel length direction) is set to the direction in which the source region 107 and the drain region 108 are connected to each other. Then, if the liner film 109 has tensile internal stress, it tends to shrink in its entirety. This applies stress onto the active region 100a, which results in application of tensile stress S1 in the channel length direction of the channel region. For an n-type field effect transistor (an n-type MIS transistor), application of such stress enhances the carrier mobility to increase the current therein, and therefore the semiconductor device can operate at high speed.
For the structure as shown above in which the insulating film with internal stress is formed to enclose the gate electrode, for example, as shown in FIGS. 17 and 18B, the liner film 109 with internal stress also covers an end of a protruding portion of the gate electrode 103 located on the isolation region 101 (referred hereinafter to as "a protrusion of a gate electrode"). Thus, if the liner film 109 with internal stress has tensile internal stress, it tends to shrink in its entirety. In response to this tendency, the protrusion of the gate electrode 103 is compressed in the direction of the channel width that is perpendicular to the channel length direction. This in turn gives compressive stress S2 in the channel width direction of the channel region connected through the gate insulating film 102 to the gate electrode 103.
For a semiconductor element using a (001) substrate and passing carriers in the <110> direction, the channel width direction is the <1-10> direction. Therefore, regardless of whether an n-type MIS transistor using an electron as a carrier or a p-type MIS transistor using a hole as a carrier is employed as the semiconductor element, application of the compressive stress S2 to the channel width direction of the channel region decreases the carrier mobility. As a result, even though the insulating film with internal stress applies tensile stress S1 in the channel length direction of the channel region, the effect of enhancing the carrier mobility provided by the tensile stress S1 is counteracted. Even for a semiconductor element using a (001) substrate and passing carriers in the <100> direction, the effect of enhancing the carrier mobility is counteracted in the same way.
Moreover, as the channel width is smaller, the influence of compressive stress in the channel width direction exerted on the channel region by the protrusion of the gate electrode becomes more significant. As the protrusion of the gate electrode is shorter, the distance from the tip of the protrusion of the gate electrode to the channel region becomes shorter to increase the influence of the compressive stress in the channel width direction exerted on the channel region by the protrusion. These disadvantages are expected to cause problems to future miniaturization of the semiconductor element.

Semiconductor device and method for fabricating the same


A medical observation apparatus includes: a display unit that displays thereon an observation image corresponding to a result of examination on a subject; a first camera that performs imaging of plural persons surrounding the subject, and outputs a surrounding image; a selecting unit that selects, based on the surrounding image, an indicator from the plural persons; a line of sight detecting unit that detects a line of sight of the indicator; and a display control unit that causes the display unit to display thereon a superimposed image having a pointer superimposed on the observation image, the pointer being at a position according to a destination of the line of sight of the indicator.

The present disclosure relates to a medical observation apparatus.
In the medical field, medical observation apparatuses, which are for observation of the inside of subjects, such as humans, and surfaces of the subjects, have been known (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2015-134039).
A medical observation apparatus (endoscope apparatus) described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2015-134039 includes: an insertion portion that is inserted in a subject, and takes in a subject image inside the subject from a distal end thereof; a camera head that captures the subject image and outputs an image signal; a control device that processes the image signal and generates a video signal for display; and a display device that displays thereon an observation image based on the video signal.
When a surgery is performed by use of this medical observation apparatus, operators, such as a surgeon and an assistant, perform the surgery inside the subject with a surgical instrument, such as forceps, while checking the observation image in the subject displayed on the display device.


An electrical connector has a body, two fasteners and multiple terminals. The body has two lugs formed on two upper ends of the body and two holes defined in two lower ends of the body. Each fastener has two hooks formed on two lower ends of the fastener and engaging the holes of the body, and two notches defined in two upper ends of the fastener and engaging the lugs of the body. Hence, the fasteners respectively engage the body securely. Furthermore, the fasteners are easily mounted onto the body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector which can transfer communication signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional electrical connector has a body and multiple terminals. The body has an open end defined in the body and two holes defined in two opposite sides of the body. Two fasteners respectively engage the holes in the body. Each fastener has a lug to engage the holes in the body. In assembly, the terminals are mounted respectively in the open end of the body and are provided securely in the body via the fasteners.
However, the engagement of the holes of the body and the lugs of the fasteners are not stable such that the fasteners are easily detached from the body.
Therefore, the invention provides an electrical connector to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.


A relay station for being operative in a mobile communication system, comprising a receiver for receiving a radio signal from a source, the radio signal comprising symbols representing an encoded information, the encoded information being based on an encoding rule and comprising payload information and redundancy information. The relay station comprising a soft detector for detecting a symbol from the radio signal to obtain soft information, the soft information comprising information on the symbol and reliability information on the information on the symbol. The relay station further comprising a quantizer for quantizing the soft information to obtain quantized soft information and a transmitter for transmitting an information on the quantized soft information to a destination.

The present invention is in the field of wireless communication in a mobile communication system using relay stations.
Conventional relaying concepts comprise, for example, standard relaying methods as amplify-and-forward relaying, decode-and-forward relaying, respectively. While amplify-and-forward relaying has low delay on the expense of noise amplification, decode-and-forward relaying causes a processing delay at the relay station, due to decoding. Moreover, decoding errors at the relay station may have detrimental effects on decoding at the destination.
The designated purpose of a relay station in wireless networks is to facilitate the transmission of other users within the same cell, where one important benefit is provision of cooperative diversity as shown by A. Sendonaris, E. Erkip, and B. Aazhang, "Increasing uplink capacity via user cooperation diversity," in Proc. IEEE Int. Symp. on Information Theory, 1998. While the concept of network coding as shown by R. Ahlswede, N. Cai, S. R. Li, and R. W. Yeung, "Network information flow," IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory, vol. 46, no. 4, pp. 1204-1216, April 2000 was originally developed to increase throughput in wireline networks, the application of network coding to wireless networks has been shown to effectively combat the effects of the fading channels shown by X. Bao and J. Li, "Matching code-on-graph with network-on-graph: Adaptive network coding for wireless relay networks," in Proc. 43rd Ann. Allerton Conf. on Communications, Control, and Computing, 2005, C. Hausl, F. Schreckenbach, I. Oikonomidis, G. Bauch, "Iterative network and channel decoding on a tanner graph," in Proc. 43rd Ann. Allerton Conf. on Communications, Control, and Computing, 2005 and Y. Chen, S. Kishore, and J. Li, "Wireless diversity through network coding," in Proc. IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conf., 2006 and L. Xiao, T. E. Fuja, J. Kliewer, and D. J. Costello, Jr., "Nested codes with multiple interpretations," in Proc. 40th Ann. Conf. on Information Sciences and Systems, 2006, thereby providing cooperative diversity.
A common assumption is that the relay node or relay station can recover the source messages perfectly, thus restricting the investigation to relaying protocols based on the decode-and-forward (DF) as shown by the strategy of T. M. Cover and A. A. El Gamal, "Capacity theorems for the relay channel," IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory, vol. IT-25, no. 5, pp. 572-584, September 1979, G. Kramer, M. Gastpar, and P. Gupta, "Cooperative strategies and capacity theorems for relay networks," IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory, vol. 51, no. 9, pp. 3037-3063, September 2005, and L. Sankaranarayanan, G. Kramer, and N. B. Mandayam, "Hierarchical sensor networks: Capacity bounds and cooperative strategies using the multiple-access relay network," in IEEE Conf. on Sensor Networks, 2004, or to the strategy that the relay does not transmit at all if residual errors remain after decoding, provided there exists an error detection scheme at the relay node.
FIG. 13 illustrates a scenario and a radio network which utilizes multi-hop relaying. FIG. 13 shows a source s1 transmitting a symbol or a transmit word x1, which is received by a relay station r and a destination d. FIG. 13 shows a second source s2 transmitting a second symbol or a transmit word x2, which is also received by the relay station r and a destination d. Moreover, the relay station r transmits a symbol xr, which is also received by the destination.
Throughout, the multiple-access relay channel (MARC=Multiple Access Relay Channel) shown in FIG. 13 with two sources s1, s2, one relay r and the destination d will be considered. The network geometry is assumed to be such that the relay is closer to the destination than to the sources, so that the source-relay channel quality is too low to permit reliable decoding at the relay. The relay-destination link, however, can support a higher rate due to its proximity to the destination. For such a scenario, the relay can make use of ideas from network coding as described by R. Ahlswede, N. Cai, S. R. Li, and R. W. Yeung, "Network information flow," IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory, vol. 46, no. 4, pp. 1204-1216, April 2000 to form the log-likelihood ratios (LLRs) of the network coded message x1⊕x2 and transmit these LLRs in an analog manner to the destination to significantly increase the receiver performance, as shown in S. Yang and R. Koetter, "Network coding over a noisy relay: a belief propagation approach," in Proc. IEEE Int. Symp. on Information Theory, 2007.
Other approaches with respect to relaying can be found in A. D. Wyner and J. Ziv, "The rate-distortion function for source coding with side information at the decoder," IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory, vol. IT-22, no. 1, pp. 1-10, January 1976, A. Chakrabarti, A. de Baynast, A. Sabharwal, and B. Aazhang, "Half-duplex estimate-and-forward relaying: Bounds and code design," in Proc. IEEE Int. Symp. on Information Theory, 2006, pp. 1239-1243, N. Tishby, F. C. Pereira, and W. Bialek, "The information bottleneck method," in Proc. 37th Ann. Allerton Conf. on Communications, Control, and Computing, 1999, and G. Zeitler, R. Koetter, G. Bauch, and J. Widmer, "Design of network coding functions in multihop relay networks," in Proc. 5th symposium Turbo Codes and Related Topics, 2008.
In E. Ayanoglu, et. al. "Diversity Coding of Transparent Self-Healing and Fault Tolerant Communication Networks", IEEE Transactions on Communications, Vol. 41, No. 11, November 1993, the authors disclose the concept of network coding, which is illustrated in FIG. 14. FIG. 14 shows a first encoder 1410 coding an information word u1 to a first symbol or transmit word x1, which is transmitted to a relay station 1450 and a destination 1470. Furthermore, FIG. 14 shows a second encoder 1420, which encodes a second information word u2 to a second symbol or transmit word x2, which is also transmitted to the relay station 1450 and the destination 1470. As indicated in FIG. 14 at the relay station 1450, two symbols are received, superimposed by additive white Gaussian noise nr (AWGN=Additive White Gaussian Noise). Two decoders are operative at the relay station 1450, which are labeled "decoder 1" 1451 and "decoder 2" 1452 in FIG. 14.
Ideally, the two decoders 1451 and 1452 decode the information words u1 and u2. The two decoded information words are then combined as indicated by addition 1453 in FIG. 14 and the combination is encoded by the encoder 1454 shown in FIG. 14. The encoded combined symbol xR is then transmitted from the relay station 1450 to the destination 1470, where it is superimposed by AWGN nB. Three symbols or receive words are received at the destination 1470, namely y1 from "encoder 1" 1410, y2 from "encoder 2" 1420, and yR from the relay station 1450. At the destination 1470 joint decoding may be utilized in order to decode the information words u1 and u2. One disadvantage of the concept illustrated in FIG. 14 is the delay, which is associated with decoding the received signal at the relay station 1450 in order to derive the information words and with encoding the combination of said information words again at the relay station 1450.
Another conventional approach is illustrated in FIG. 15. FIG. 15 shows similar components as have been described with respect to FIG. 14, however, at the relay station 1450, instead of combining the decoded information words u1 and u2, a joint encoder 1455 is utilized. The joint encoder 1455 may have the advantage that an increased block length can be used, which may particularly be beneficial for iterative decoding. The joint encoder 1455 may enable increased diversity which may be exploited at the joint decoder at the destination 1470. However, high delays are still involved with decoding the received signals at the relay station and jointly encoding the decoded signals again, especially when increased block lengths are used. Another problem arises from decoding errors at the relay station 1450, which are re-encoded, and therewith extended or forwarded to the destination 1470.
Yet another conventional approach is illustrated in FIG. 16, which shows similar components as have already been introduced with respect to FIGS. 14 and 15. FIG. 16 illustrates the approach of analog transmission from the relay station 1450 to the destination 1470, which may, for example, be implemented at a base station or a NodeB. The main difference with respect to the above explained concepts is that the decoders 1451 and 1452 at the relay station 1450 provide soft information in terms of log likelihood ratios (LLR=Log Likelihood Ratio) of the information words u1 and u2. An equation is shown at the top of FIG. 16, which provides insight into a LLR of a general information word u. In a general case, the information word u may comprise only a single bit, which can take two values, namely +1 or −1. The so-called soft information can be determined by considering the quotient of the probability that the bit equals +1 and the probability that the bit equals −1, which is shown in the equation at the top of FIG. 16.
Taking the logarithm of the quotient linearizes the soft information and maps the quotient from the range of positive real number to the full range of the real numbers. Consequently, taking the sign of the LLR corresponds to a hard decision detector. The magnitude of the LLR corresponds to reliability information.
At the relay station 1450 in FIG. 16, the decoders 1451 and 1452 determine the LLRs of the corresponding information words u1 and u2. Moreover, FIG. 16 shows that the relay station 1450, the LLRs at the output of the second decoder 1452 are provided to an interleaver 1456, which interleaves the LLRs. The interleaved LLRs from the second decoder are then combined by the combiner 1457 before analog transmission is used to transmit information on the combination to the destination 1470. Reliability information, in terms of the LLRs is therewith provided to the joint decoder at the destination 1470. However, long delays still occur at the relay station 1450 in order to determine the soft information by the two decoders 1451 and 1452.
FIG. 17 illustrates the same scenario as FIG. 16, however, the details on the destination or NodeB are provided. As can be seen from FIG. 17, LLRs are determined at the destination 1470 for the three receive signals y1, y2, and yR by the three detectors 1471, 1472, and 1473. FIG. 17 illustrates the concept of joint iterative decoding. The log likelihood ratio provided by the detector 1471 is, in a first step, provided to a first decoder 1475, in order to determine LLRs on the information word u1. The LLRs provided at the input of the decoder 1475 correspond to a-posteriori knowledge of the transmitted code words. At the output of the decoder 1475, a-priori knowledge on the information word u1 is determined by evaluating the difference of the a-posteriori knowledge and the output of the decoder 1475. The a-priori knowledge is still available in terms of LLRs which can then be combined by the combiner 1476 with the LLRs determined by detector 1473 from the received signal yR on the combination determined at the relay station 1450.
The combination can, for example, be determined by determining a combined LLR for an XOR-combination of the information words u1 and u2. Subsequently, a derivation of the exact combination will be provided which is indicated by . From the a-priori knowledge on the first information word and the LLR on the combination, a-posteriori knowledge on the second information word can be determined, which is de-interleaved by de-interleaver 1477. The de-interleaver 1477 corresponds to the interleaver 1456 at the relay station 1450. The de-interleaved LLR at the output of the de-interleaver 1477 can then be combined with the LLRs detected by detector 1472 from the second receive signal y2, and provided as an input to the second decoder 1478. The second decoder 1478 then provides LLRs on the second information word u2 at its output, from which the a-posteriori knowledge from the detector 1472 and the interleaver 1477 can be deducted for determining a-priori information, which may also be called extrinsic information.
After interleaving 1479, the interleaved LLRs can again be combined with the output of the detector 1473 by combiner 1480. A-posteriori information on the first information word u1 is available at the output of the combiner 1480, which can again be combined with the a-posteriori knowledge at the output of the detector 1471. The above description corresponds to a first iteration loop of the joint iterative decoder, which is similar to the principle of turbo decoding. Multiple iteration loops may be carried out along the lines of the above description in order to determine more reliable information on the information words u1 and u2.
FIG. 18 illustrates the case, where at a relay station 1450 bad or weak radio channels are experienced and accordingly, LLRs are determined, which are equal or close to zero. Consequently, at the destination 1470, the LLRs determined by the detector 1473 equal zero, i.e. only very unreliable information is available. Consequently, the combinations carried out by combiners 1476 and 1480 also yield LLRs, which are zero. Therefore, within the decoder, the LLRs of detector 1473 do not influence the LLRs determined by the detectors 1471 and 1472. In other words, if decoding at the relay station 1450 is very unreliable, decoding at the destination is solely based on the outputs of the detectors 1471 and 1472. The iterative process does not provide any benefits in this case.
FIG. 19 illustrates simulation results on the bit error rate (BER=Bit Error Rate) for the scenario, which is depicted on the left-hand side of FIG. 19. In this scenario two sources 1901 and 1902 transmit signals to a relay station 1903 and a destination 1904. Moreover, on all links signal-to-noise ratios (SNR=Signal-to-Noise Ratio) are given, namely, SNRsr on the links between the sources 1901 and 1902 and the relay station 1903, SNRsd on the links between the sources 1901 and 1902 and the destination 1904, and SNRrd for the link between the relay station 1903 and the destination 1904. On the right-hand side of the FIG. 19, a view chart depicts BER vs. SNR on the links between the sources 1901 and 1902 and the destination 1904. For the simulations, it was assumed that the links are symmetric, i.e. similar SNRs occur on the links of both sources 1901 and 1902 to the relay station 1903. Moreover, for the results depicted on the right-hand side of FIG. 19, it was assumed that SNRsr=5 dB and results are shown for different SNRrd between the relay station 1903 and the destination 1904. The results illustrate that significant benefits can be obtained in BER if the signal quality on the link between the relay station 1903 and the destination 1904 increases.
FIG. 20 illustrates similar simulation results. However, for the results in FIG. 20, it was assumed that the SNR on the links between the sources 1901 and 1903, and the relay station 1903 was 0 dB, i.e. more errors occur at the relay station 1903 than for the case considered in FIG. 19. It can still, however, be observed that gains in BER can be obtained with increasing signal quality on the link between the relay station 1903 and the destination 1904.
FIG. 21 shows a similar scenario using analog transmission from the relay station 1450 as explained with the assistance of FIG. 16. At the bottom of FIG. 21 the combined LLR L(uR) is illustrated. It can be seen from the view chart at the bottom of FIG. 21 that the combined LLR is approximately Gaussian distributed. Since analog transmission is used, large transmit powers need to be utilized, in order to transmit the combined LLR reliably, considering that they are superimposed by AWGN as well.
FIG. 22 illustrates an option for at least partly overcoming the problem of having to utilize large transmission powers. At the relay station 1450, the combined LLRs are processed by signal processor 1458, in which the hyperbolic tangent of the combined LLR is determined and used for analog transmission, also referred to as soft bit transmission in the following. A similar option is illustrated in FIG. 23 in which a quantizer 1459 is used for quantizing the LLRs at the relay station 1450, 1903 respectively. FIG. 23 shows at the top on the right-hand side the scenario as it was discussed above, involving the two sources 1901 and 1902, the relay station 1903, and the destination 1904. For the simulation results depicted on the left-hand side of FIG. 23, it was assumed that the SNR, of the links between the sources 1901 and 1902 and the relay station 1903 is 3 dB. At the bottom right-hand side of FIG. 23, the details of the relay station 1450 or 1903 are depicted, in which the quantizer 1459 is shown.
In the view chart on the left-hand side the probability density of the LLR LR is shown assuming two quantizer regions separated by the dotted line. The two squares represent the quantizer values to be transmitted to the destination 1904. Having only two quantizer regions corresponds to transmitting only one bit per quantized value from the relay station 1903 to the destination 1904. In this scenario it can be observed that almost no degradation due to the quantization occurs with respect to the trans- or mutual information, i.e. almost no information is lost due to quatization.
FIG. 24 shows simulation results on the BER vs. the SNRsd on the link between the sources 1901 or 1902 and the destination 1904. For the simulations, it was assumed that the SNRsr between the sources 1901 and 1902 and the relay station 1903, is 3 dB, for the SNRrd between the relay station 1903 and the destination 1904 0 dB was assumed. The view chart on the left-hand side of FIG. 24 shows BER simulation results for analog transmission indicated by the square markers, soft bit analog transmission indicated by the triangular markers, and quantizer transmission using two quantizer regions, i.e. only one bit per quantizer value by the circular markers. It can be observed that the degradation, when using the quantized values, occurs only for high SNRs between the sources and the destination, whereas for rather low SNRs between the sources and the destination, transmitting the quantized value provides improvements in the BER, which is due to the AWGN taking higher effect on the analog transmission for low SNRs.
FIG. 25 illustrates another simulation scenario, in which five quantizer regions were assumed for a scenario, in which the SNRsr=0 dB, i.e. it is lower than in the above discussed scenario. Since five quantizer regions were assumed, an average of 2.3 bits have to be transmitted per quantized value after source coding. The view chart on the left-hand side of FIG. 25 shows the probability density of the LLRs at the input of the quantizer 1459, the quantizer regions are separated by the dotted lines, and the representative values are indicated by square markers.
FIG. 26 shows simulation results on the BER when SNRsr=3 dB is assumed for the links between the sources 1901 and 1902, and the relay station 1903, and an SNR of 0.44 dB is assumed for the link between the relay station 1903 and the destination 1904. The view graph on the left-hand side of FIG. 26 shows simulation results for analog transmission indicated by square markers, for soft bit transmission indicated by triangular markers and quantized transmission by circular markers. The simulation results indicate that no degradation at all can be observed when quantization is used.
FIG. 27 illustrates another soft relay and network coding concept wherein quantized transmission from the relay station 1450 to the destination 1470 is used. An equation is illustrated at the top of FIG. 27, which details the combination of the LLRs by the combiner 1457. The output of the combiner 1457 corresponds to the LLR, which can be obtained by an XOR combination of the information words u1 and u2, and which is indicated in the equation at the top of FIG. 27 by an arrow operator pointing to the left. Moreover, FIG. 27 illustrates, within the relay station 1450, the quantizer 1459 for quantizing the combined LLRs to Z, the source coder 1460 for source coding the quantized combined LLRs and an encoder 1461 for channel encoding the source coded combined LLRs before transmission to the destination 1470.
In the example depicted in FIG. 27, it is the task of the quantizer 1459 to compress Lr as much as possible while preserving the relevant information about uR=u1⊕u2 in the quantized signal Z. This is expressed by the equation at the bottom of FIG. 27 which indicates that the distribution of the quantizer region Z for a given LLR should be chosen, so as to minimize the difference between trans-information I(Lr,Z) between the LLR Lr and the chosen quantizer Z, and the trans-information I(Ur,Z) between the combined information words Ur and the chosen quantizer Z, which is expressed in the equation in terms of a Lagrangian problem based on factor β.
FIG. 28 illustrates a similar scenario, but shows that if one of the links between the encoders 1410; 1420 and the relay station 1450 degrades, which is exemplified as the link between encoder 1410 and the relay station 1450 in FIG. 28, the combined LLR becomes zero. Therefore, the SNR on the first hop, on the link between the sources and the relay station can be taken into account in the design of the quantizer.
FIG. 29 shows another relay station 1450 in which the LLRs are jointly quantized by quantizer 1459 in order to take the signal quality into account, for which FIG. 30 illustrates the details of the quantizer. On the left-hand side of FIG. 30, a quantizer for symmetric links is shown for which the mutual information after decoding equals 1.98 bits. The relevant mutual information or trans-information after quantization equals 1.93 bits, and since only two quantizer regions are utilized, only 1-bit is required for encoding the source encoded bits on the link between the relay station 1450 and the base station, or destination 1470. The quantizer regions are illustrated in the diagram at the top of FIG. 30 on the left hand side.
On the right-hand of FIG. 30, a quantizer for asymmetric links is shown, for which the mutual information after decoding equals 1.16 bits. The relevant mutual information after quantization equals 1.08 bits, and since five quantizer regions are utilized, an average of 2.1 bits per source coded bit is required.

Relay station for a mobile communication system


An applanation tonometer and its operation involve an actuator pressing a prism with a variable and determinable force against a cornea of an eye while a source directs light to reflect from an applanation surface of the prism to a detector producing a detected light signal received by a microprocessor. Such a tonometer produces a diastolic phase signal and a systolic phase signal representing the complete intra ocular pressure experience of the eye being examined. The signal information allows combined diastolic and systolic IOP to be determined in several corroborating ways and also yields measures of ocular blood flow and tonography.

Our previous U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,875, entitled "Applanation Tonometer Using Light Reflection To Determine Applanation Area Size", and U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,779, entitled "Replaceable Prism System For Applanation Tonometer" U.S. Pat. No. 6,474,647, entitled "Method of Operating Tonometer", and U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,778, entitled "Replaceable Prism For Applanation Tonometer" suggest tonometers, tonometer operating methods, and tonometer prisms for measuring intra ocular pressure (IOP) of an eye. Our type of applanation tonometer has an actuator that presses a prism with a variable and determinable force against a cornea of an eye being examined while a source directs light to reflect from an applanation surface of the prism to a detector producing a detected light signal received by a microprocessor.
Our experiments and experiences with working prototypes improving upon the disclosures of our issued patents and pending applications have led to several related discoveries. We have found that by changing and adding to the eye examining procedures that are possible with instruments such as ours we can obtain considerably more diagnostic information than has previously been clinically available. These discoveries involve not only eye examining methods but also structuring and programming a tonometer to perform such methods to obtain new measurements and new information of value to A clinician concerning the health and functioning of an eye being examined. Such improvements are the subject of this application.

Method and apparatus for examining an eye


An exercise mat can include a knit spacer fabric having a first ground fabric spaced apart from a second ground fabric in an uncompressed state. The exercise mat can be configured to be rolled up and compressed for storage and to expand into a planar spaced apart arrangement between the first and second ground fabrics for use. The knit spacer fabric can be formed from a plurality of knit polymeric threads and can include a first wall fabric extending between the first ground fabric and the second ground fabric. The first wall fabric can support the first ground fabric and the second ground fabric in a compressible spaced-apart configuration. The spacer fabric can include a traction-enhancing coating at an outer surface.

Conventional exercise mats are mats or pads designed to provide cushioning for the user during a variety of physical exercise activities. For example, exercise mats are often used at health clubs during group activities like aerobics classes and yoga sessions, as well as during individual workout routines like stretching and doing situps. These conventional mats are generally thick and heavy foam pads that are difficult to transport easily. As such, they are maintained at the facility near the point of use or, for personal use, typically stored at home or other location close to the point of use. They quickly gather dirt through frequent use by many different users and via exposure to sweat and other contaminants. As such, they require cleaning on a regular basis, such as a daily basis, and would often benefit from cleaning between gym uses. Further, the foam used in conventional exercise mats breaks down relatively quickly that necessitates frequent replacement of mats.
Some facilities provide paper towels and spray bottles for the users to clean mats and other gym equipment as needed and between uses, but not all facilities provide such materials and it can be inconvenient for a user to clean a mat immediately prior to use. Further, some facilities require industrial washers to wash their mats and only wash them about once per month or longer due to the need for industrial washers, and many facilities simply spray wash their mats about once per month or so because they do not have industrial washers or want to incur the expense of sending them out for industrial cleaning. It would be desirable for users to have the option of maintaining an exercise mat as a personal accessory or at the gym. However, it would be difficult for a user to transport and store and clean a conventional foam exercise mat of the large, bulky foam type. This type of conventional mat is also heavy and awkward to carry and transport.
Less-bulky personal exercise mats have been proposed that have been designed for user portability and personal use. However, these conventional personal mats provide much less cushioning than the larger foam pads kept at exercise facilities, and they are generally difficult or inconvenient to clean on a regular basis. They also rely primarily on additional foam padding as a cushioning mechanism. As such, they provide less cushioning than the conventional foam pads in order to allow for their easy portability and use as a personal accessory while suffering from some of the same disadvantages, such as relatively quick degradation.
One type of conventional personal exercise mat employs a foam core surrounded by a woven fabric case that a user can remove for cleaning. Although such a configuration can be easier to clean for the user, the removability of the outer covering from the inner core provides a construction having a less secure interface between the layers. As such, it can allow for slippage during intense use and can degrade more rapidly than a rigidly fixed construction due to greater movement between the layers during use. Further, these conventional mats can fail to provide adequate grip between the mat and the floor or the user. This is because the woven outer material provides less contact grip than foam materials provided at the outer layer of other constructions.


A water remover for an air compressor system has a housing and at least one baffle mounted in the housing to define a tortuous air-flowing channel in the housing. Accordingly, the moisture in the high-pressured air will condense on the surface of the housing and the baffle when the air flows through the tortuous channel. Only little power is needed for the operation of the water remover, and the structure of the water remover is simple.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water remover, and more particularly to a water remover for an air compressor system and that can remove water from the high-pressured air efficiently.
2. Description of Related Art
With reference to FIG. 9, a conventional air compressor system comprises an air compressor (50), an air tank (51), a filter (52), a water remover (90) and a pipe (60) connecting the aforementioned devices to a terminal machine (53). The air is compressed to a high pressure by the air compressor (50) and is stored in the air tank (51) at the high pressure. The filter (52) is used to remove the impurities such as dust or oil, and the water remover (90) is used to remove the moisture in the air, such that the terminal machine (53) can be kept from being damaged by the impurities and moisture contained in the air.
However, the conventional water remover (90) needs power for operation, and the use of the conventional water remover (90) is inefficiently. In addition, the structure of the conventional water remover (90) is complex, such that the cost for manufacturing the conventional water remover (90) is high. To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide a water remover to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
The main objective of the invention is to provide a water remover for an air compressor system and the water remover has a simplified structure. The water remover has a housing and at least one baffle mounted in the housing to defined a tortuous air-flowing channel in the housing. Accordingly, the moisture in the high-pressured air will condense on the surface of the housing and the baffle when the air flows through the tortuous channel. Only little power is needed for the operation of the water remover.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Water remover for an air compressor system


A matrix-array detector and to a method for implementing the detector are provided. The detector includes an array of pixels that are sensitive to a physical effect and arranged in a matrix along rows and down columns, each pixel generating a signal according to the physical effect; row conductors, each allowing the pixels of one row to be driven; a first group of driver modules each delivering selection signals to one row conductor of a first group of row conductors; a second group of driver modules each delivering selection signals to one row conductor of a first group of row conductors; the first and second groups of row conductors being interlaced.

In a matrix-array detector, a pixel represents the basic sensitive element of the detector. Each pixel converts a physical effect to which it is subjected into an electrical signal. The electrical signals from the various pixels are collected in a matrix-array read phase then digitized so as to be able to be processed and stored to form an image. The pixels are formed by a zone sensitive to the physical effect and deliver a current of electric charges, for example. The physical effect may be electromagnetic radiation delivering a stream of photons and, consequently, the invention will be explained by means of this type of radiation and the charge current is dependent on the stream of photons received by the sensitive zone. Generalizing to any matrix-array detector is straightforward.
A matrix-array image detector comprises row conductors, each connecting the pixels of one and the same row, and column conductors, each connecting the pixels of one and the same column. The column conductors are connected to converter circuits that are generally arranged at an edge of the matrix array, which may be referred to as the "foot of the column".
Each pixel generally comprises a photosensitive element, or photodetector, which may for example be a photodiode, a photoresistor or a phototransistor. There are photosensitive matrix arrays of large size which may have several millions of pixels arranged in rows and columns. Each pixel further consists of an electronic circuit consisting, for example, of switches, capacitors and resistors, downstream of which there is an actuator. The assembly consisting of the photosensitive element and the electronic circuit allows electric charges to be generated and collected. The electronic circuit generally allows the charge collected in each pixel to be reset after a charge transfer. The role of the actuator is to transfer or copy the charges collected by the circuit into a column conductor. This transfer is performed when the actuator receives the instruction to do so from a row conductor. The output of the actuator corresponds to the output of the pixel. The terms "row conductor" and "column conductor" are completely arbitrary. It is of course possible to switch these terms.
In this type of detector, a pixel operates in two phases: an image capture phase, in which the electronic circuit of the pixel accumulates the electric charges generated by the photosensitive element, and a read phase, in which the collected charges are transferred or copied into the column conductor by the actuator.
In the read phase, a read instruction is transmitted to all of the actuators of one and the same row of the matrix array by a row conductor. Each of the pixels in this row is read by transferring its electrical information, e.g. charge, voltage, current, frequency, etc. to the column conductor with which it is associated.
For one image frame, the rows of pixels may be selected sequentially, one after the other, in a direction of scanning the rows of the matrix array over a row selection time corresponding to a fraction of the frame duration, allowing appropriate signals, for example voltages, to be applied to the pixels of the row in question. Thus, selecting a row corresponds to applying, for a corresponding row selection time, a high-level signal controlling the on state of the switching devices of the corresponding row of pixels. Outside of the row selection time, the switching devices are kept in an off state by applying a suitable low-level signal. For example, when the switching devices are transistors, and the signals to be applied are then voltages, it is common practice to use VGon to denote the voltage corresponding to the high level and therefore to the on state of the switching transistor, and VGoff to denote the voltage corresponding to the low level and to the off state of the switching transistor.
The rows can be controlled by control circuits comprising one or more shift registers in series, each of the shift registers comprising a plurality of cascaded stages, each stage being suitable for switching the high and low levels of the signal applied to the actuators for the pixels of a corresponding row of the matrix array according to the sequencing of the row selection operation, for example vertical scanning. The control circuits may be implemented in integrated circuits, one and the same integrated circuit being able, for example, to have a plurality of control circuits for a plurality of rows in the matrix array. The integrated circuits may, for example, be external to the matrix array, and be connected thereto by wired means, for example by flexible ribbon cables. The control circuits may also be installed on the plate bearing the pixels as described in patent application WO 2012/152836 A1 filed in the name of the applicant.
This makes it possible to decrease the number of signals applied to the plate and hence the size and number of flexible connectors used to connect the plate to its surrounding electronics. This integrated control circuit architecture constitutes an appreciable simplification of the detector architecture by decreasing the number of components and simplifying the manufacturing process.
However, this architecture dictates the order in which the matrix rows are driven. This order is dictated by the connections of the control circuits and of the matrix rows. In some cases, it may be desirable to vary the order in which the matrix rows are controlled. More specifically, it may be desirable to group together a plurality of pixels in order to read them out collectively. This grouping together, known in the literature as "binning", allows the signal-to-noise ratio of each element read out to be improved. Another advantage of grouping together pixels is improved detector sensitivity. However, grouping together negatively affects spatial resolution.
In the case in which the information from each pixel is an electric charge, the grouping together of pixels can be achieved by redistributing the charges from the pixels to be grouped together over a common capacitor, for example arranged in the converter circuit at the foot of the column. This can be achieved in a detector such as described in patent application WO 2012/152836 A1 by reading out each row of pixels successively. However, in such a detector, the grouping together of pixels of consecutive rows does not make it possible to improve the detector readout speed and therefore to increase the frequency of the images produced by the detector.

Matrix-array detector with a plurality of groups of driver modules are interlaced according to the order of the rows of pixels and method for implementing the detector


In various implementations, a network device receives a packet from a content producer. The packet includes data and further includes a signature generated by the content producer, based on the data, using a private key of the content producer. The network device modifies the packet without affecting the signature and forwards the modified packet toward a user device. The network device also sends the user device a manifest specifying how the packet was modified. The user device receives the packet and manifest, restores the packet's original data based on the manifest, and verifies the original data using the signature and a public key corresponding to the private key of the content producer. In response to verification of the original data, an application on the user device is allowed to use the data.

Digital signatures may be used to ensure end-to-end integrity for data communications. For example, a content producer uses a private key to generate a signature for a packet, based on the data in the packet. The signature may be added to the packet, which is transmitted to a user device. The user device verifies the data in the packet using the signature and a public key that corresponds to the private key of the content producer. If the data has been modified during transmission of the packet, the verification will fail. Such a technique is used, for example, in Information-Centric Networking (ICN) and hybrid ICN (hICN). This technique, however, prevents both untrusted and trusted intermediate entities from modifying the data. It may desirable in some circumstances for trusted intermediate entities (e.g., proxy servers, firewalls, network-address translators, etc.) to be able to modify the data.
In accordance with common practice the various features illustrated in the drawings may not be drawn to scale. Accordingly, the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity. In addition, some of the drawings may not depict all of the components of a given system, method or device. Finally, like reference numerals may be used to denote like features throughout the specification and figures.


A shaded pole electric motor has a stator and a rotor interacting through an air gap. This stator has a salient pole with a narrow neck and wide pole shoe. A shading coil slot extends into the salient pole from the air gap and defines a shaded portion of the pole. The exposed side of the shaded portion is relatively smooth, as established by the shading coil having one side in the shading coil slot and another side in a shading pole aperture close to but spaced from the exposed side. This establishes ease of insulating the surface of the salient pole to receive a stator winding. The foregoing abstract is merely a resume of one general application, is not a complete discussion of all principles of operation or applications, and is not to be construed as a limitation on the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Shaded pole motors have been used for starting of small single-phase, alternating current motors, generally of the induction start, and whether induction-run or synchronous-run. The usual shaded pole motor has concentrated windings rather than distributed windings, so that there is a definite pole face which may be provided with a shaded portion. A slot leads in from the air gap between the stator and rotor to define the boundary between the shaded and unshaded sections, and a short circuiting ring surrounds the shaded section, having one coil side in the slot and one coil side on the exposed side of the pole piece, where it is present in the winding space for the stator coil. This construction is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,697,842; 3,959,678; and 4,234,810.
For safety, the exposed side of the short circuiting coil must be insulated in order to avoid a potential short on the stator coil, with its usual enamel insulation on the wire of the stator coil. This stator coil-to-ground insulation can be a preformed bobbin, as in U.S. Pat. No. 1,935,606, or it can be an insulation which is applied electrostatically or by heat and insulative powder to coat the exposed surface of the stator core, as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,234,810. Since the shading coil exposed side normally protrudes into the winding space, it is often difficult to make certain that the insulative powder, whether applied by heat or by electrostatic means, properly covers all surfaces, especially the sharp corners. It has been suggested that the shading coil be recessed into the exposed side, as in U.S. Pat. No. 2,355,175, so that the insulative bobbin has a relatively smooth surface on which to be mounted. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,697,842 and 3,959,678 show the difficulty of properly insulating all exposed surfaces of the short circuiting shading coil and the difficulty of providing a winding behind that coil. U.S. Pat. No. 1,935,606 suggests that the shading coil be provided not in slots, but in apertures in a magnetically permeable ring for the purpose of being able to rotate the ring so that the motor is able to be started in either of the two rotational directions.


The purpose of the present invention is to provide an actuator which can realize a further reduction in height. Provided is an actuator which performs shake correction by tilting a driven member using the drive force of a voice coil motor, wherein a support part tiltably supports a movable body with respect to a fixed body in which one from between a magnet part and a coil part is disposed on a base member, the movable body being configured so that the other from between the magnet part and the coil part is disposed on a frame-shaped retaining member on which the driven member is mounted. The retaining member has steps, and these steps enable a mounting site of the driven member to be closer to the base member than the disposition site of the one from between the coil part and the magnet part.

In general, a small-sized camera module is mounted in mobile terminals such as smartphones. Such a module often has an auto-focusing function for automatically focusing at the time of capturing a subject and a hand-shake correction function (OIS: Optical Image Stabilization) for reducing irregularities of an image by correcting hand shake (vibration) caused at the time of capturing an image.
As a hand-shake correction method, a module tilt method is known in which an imaging module is integrally tilted (for example PTL 1). The imaging module is a module having a lens part and an imaging device (for example, a charge coupled device (CCD)), which may be provided with an auto-focusing actuator.
In the following descriptions, the auto-focusing actuator is referred to as "AF actuator," and the hand-shake correction actuator is referred to as "OIS actuator."
FIG. 1 is an external view illustrating an exemplary camera module of a traditional module tilt type. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the exemplary camera module of a traditional module tilt type.
As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, camera module 2 of a traditional module tilt type includes fixing part 21, movable part 22, elastic supporting part 23, imaging module 24, and shake detection part 25. An OIS actuator is composed of fixing part 21, movable part 22, and elastic supporting part 23.
Fixing part 21 includes base member 211, coil part 212, and OIS print wiring board 213. Coil part 212 is disposed on base member 211. OIS print wiring board 213 feeds power to coil part 212, and outputs a detection signal of shake detection part 25 to a control part.
Movable part 22 includes yoke 221, magnet part 222, top plate 223, and module guide 224. Yoke 221 and magnet part 222 are disposed in respective housing sections formed in top plate 223. Module guide 224 is fixed to top plate 223. Imaging module 24 is fixedly disposed in a space sandwiched between a pair of module guides 224.
Elastic supporting part 23 has a biaxial gimbal mechanism, and movable part 22 (top plate 223) is fixed to an outer gimbal. Elastic supporting part 23 is disposed at an approximate center of base member 211 in a floating fashion, and fixed by stopper 231. Elastic supporting part 23 supports movable part 22 such that movable part 22 can rotationally sway around the X axis and the Y axis orthogonal to the optical axis (Z axis), that is, elastic supporting part 23 supports movable part 22 such that movable part 22 can be tilted.
Shake detection part 25 is composed of a gyro sensor that detects the angular velocity of imaging module 24, for example. Shake detection part 25 is fixed to a side surface of module guide 224 of movable part 22. The detection signal of shake detection part 25 is output to the control part through OIS print wiring board 213 that constitutes fixing part 21.
An OIS voice coil motor (VCM) is composed of coil part 212 and magnet part 222. That is, when a current flows through coil part 212, a Lorentz force is generated at coil part 212 by interaction between the magnetic field of magnet part 222 and a current flowing through coil part 212 (Fleming's left hand rule). Since coil part 212 is fixed, a reactive force is exerted on magnet part 222. This reactive force is the driving force of the OIS voice coil motor. Movable part 22 rotationally sways until the driving force of the OIS voice coil motor and the restoration force (returning force) of elastic supporting part 23 become equivalent to each other. In this manner, shift of the optical axis due to hand shake is corrected, and the orientation of the light axis is kept at an orientation.

Actuator, camera module, and camera mounting device


The scan path circuit includes N number of flip-flops connected in cascade to form a shift register. A first selector and a second selector are connected to each flip-flop to supply the data signal and the clock signal, respectively, to the flip-flop. The first selectors switch the individual data in the normal operation to the scan path test signal and the Q output signals during the test. During the test, the Nth second selector switches the clock signal in the normal operation to the scan path test signal and the second selectors up to the (N-1)th selector switch the clock signals in the normal operation to the clock signals from the output terminals of the next selectors. Thus, clock signals applied to the flip-flops are delayed with respect to those applied to the succeeding flip-flops by a time delay caused by the second selectors, so that the shift register operates reliably irrespective of any clock skew.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the art of testing a semiconductor integrated logic circuit and, more particularly, to a scan path circuit for use in a function test of a sequential circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
As constant efforts are made to achieve higher integration of semiconductor integrated logic circuits, more difficulty is experienced in testing the functions of these circuits. Generally, integrated logic circuits are sequential circuits and, one known method employed to facilitate the test of such a sequential circuit, is the Scan Path method in which the sequential circuit to be tested is first divided into storage elements such as flip-flops and latches, and a combinational circuit to form a scan path circuit. The storage elements are then rearranged to operate as a shift register with the combinational circuit.
FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings shows a conventional scan path circuit. Data input signals and clocks signals to be supplied to flip-flops 1 through 4 are selected respectively by first selectors 5 through 8 and second selectors 9 through 12. More specifically, during normal operation, signals from a combinational circuit 13 are supplied as data input signals and clock signals to the flip-flops 1 through 4. In the scan path test, a scan switching signal 14 is applied to the first selectors 5 through 8 to switch from the signals from the combinational circuit 13 to a signal from the scan-in terminal 15 and signals from Q output terminals of the preceding flip-flops. At the same time, a clock switching signal 17 is applied to the second selectors 9 through 12 to supply a common clock signal 16 to the flip-flops 1 through 4, which now operate as a shift register.
A test pattern signal is applied from the scanning terminal 15, and the clock signal 16 is applied to establish values stored in the flip-flops 1 through 4. The values stored in the flip-flops 1 through 4 are successively output from a scan-out terminal 18. The output values from the scan-out terminal 18 are compared with a pattern of expected values. In this manner, the sequential circuit is tested.
In the conventional scan path circuit, the clock signal may be applied to the flip-flops at different times because of the uneven layout of clock signal lines for each flip-flop of the shift register, buffers inserted to compensate for the insufficient driving capability of the clock signal, and so on. Thus, in the scan path test, the flip-flops read the data input signals at different times, resulting in the failure to operate properly as a shift register. It has been quite difficult to design clock signal timing for the purpose of avoiding the above problems.

Scan path circuit with clock signal feedback, for skew avoidance


A fabric-based item may be provide with a stretchable band. The stretchable band may be formed from a ring-shaped strip of stretchable fabric having an opening configured to fit around a body part of a user. Circuitry may be coupled to strands of material in the stretchable band. The circuitry may include sensor circuitry for making measurements on the body part such as electrocardiogram measurements, blood pressure measurements, and respiration rate measurements. Wireless communications circuitry in the fabric-based item may be used to communicate wirelessly with external electronic equipment. A wireless power transmitting device may transmit wireless power. A coil formed from conductive strands in the fabric-based item may be used by wireless power receiving circuitry in the fabric-based item to receive the wireless power. The coil may have one or more turns that run around the ring-shaped strip of stretchable fabric.

It may be desirable to form items using materials such as fabric. For example, wearable items may be formed from fabric. Some wearable items may include sensing circuitry. Control circuitry in the item may use the sensing circuitry to gather information on a user's health and other data. Output devices in a wearable item may provide output to a user.
If care is not taken, fabric-based items such as these may not offer desired features. For example, a fabric-based item with sensing circuitry may not be able to gather measurements accurately, may not be able to interact with external equipment effectively, or may be difficult for a user to keep clean.

Fabric-based items with stretchable bands


According to one embodiment, an IC chip includes a plurality of fuse elements including a plurality of fuse portions each of which is to be cut off by a stress, and a plurality of actuator portions provided for the plurality of fuse portions, respectively, and each of which applies a stress to corresponding one of fuse portions, and a control circuit supplying a control signal for cutting off desired one of the fuse portions to corresponding one of the actuator portions.

In IC cards and mobile devices, there are some devices configured in such a manner as to receive supply of electric power by wireless power based on magnetic resonance without incorporating batteries in them. Such a device includes an LC oscillator circuit for magnetic resonance. However, when a value of inductance L or capacitance C deviates from a normal value due to production variation or the like, the LC resonance frequency deviates from the normal value. As a result, there is a possibility of sufficient electric power becoming unable to be received.
In order to prevent the above-mentioned problem from occurring, a procedure in which a plurality of impedance elements for trimming configured to tune the values of inductance L and capacitance C are provided and, in the stage of pre-shipment inspection, trimming of inductance L or capacitance C is carried out is effective.
However, heretofore, it could have hardly been said that a device and method making it possible to carry out a trimming operation at low cost and in a simple way have been proposed.

IC chip and method of determining a fuse to be cut off


A air bag module for use in an automobile supplemental passenger restraint system. The air bag module includes a housing serving as a reaction device that contains an inflator, an air bag retainer engaging the inflator, and a folded air bag cushion connected to the air bag retainer. The housing is closed by a cover that serves as a deployment door for the air bag cushion.

This invention relates to a supplemental occupant restraint system for an automobile of the air bag type. More particularly, the invention is directed to an air bag module including a retainer for holding the air bag cushion in position relative to the module, wherein the retainer is secured to the module by engaging an inflator.
Air bags are well known supplemental restraint systems in widespread use for the safety of automobile occupants. Air bags systems have been developed that typically comprise three basic subsystem groups. These groups include impact sensors and associated wiring, diagnostic devices and air bag modules. The third group, the air bag module, is the subject of the present invention.
The air bag module has been developed for assembly in a modular form and is primarily a complete packaged unit for installation in the automobile interior and connection to the other subsystems during assembly of the vehicle. The air bag module typically comprises a container that serves as both a housing and a reaction device, an inflator that includes a gas generation mechanism, and a cushion that is folded, inserted into the container and attached to the container. When necessary, a means for directing a deploying cushion from the container into the passenger compartment of the automobile is included, generally in the form of a chute that may be integral with the housing. The air bag module is typically covered with a deployment door or doors on the automotive interior side of the module to provide a complete enclosure for the folded cushion and through which the cushion is deployed. The container is normally made of sheet metal with the cushion carried near the opening and the inflator mounted near the back of the container thereby forcing the cushion to deploy through the door when the inflator releases gas during discharge. The air bag module is typically connected to the automobile structure via the reaction container.
An alternate type of air bag module eliminates the container by utilizing the supporting structure of the automobile's instrument panel to house the cushion and inflator. With this type of module the assembly includes an inflator, a skeletal inflator support and the cushion which is positioned atop the inflator and is held in place by a cover. This type of module is attached to the integral instrument panel housing.
The housing is the element of the air bag module to which all of the other module components generally attach. In either of the above described modules the cushion must be connected to the housing in a manner allowing it to receive the discharged gas from the inflator, and when deployed to be spatially positioned in an appropriate location within the automobile's passenger compartment. Several fastening means have been used to hold the cushion in location. A partial list includes: bolts, rivets, rings, clips, rods and hooks. These fasteners are used to attach the perimeter of an opening in the cushion to the perimeter of an opening in the housing. This attachment method allows the gas generated by the inflator to pass through the opening in the cushion. Inflator discharge causes the cushion to unfold and inflate while forcing its way through the cover and to present itself in an inflated state within the passenger compartment of a vehicle.
The cushion is generally fabricated from a material that is suitable for sewn construction and typically includes a sewn hem forming the opening through which gas discharged from the inflator is directed. This opening forms a gas inlet or throat of the inflatable cushion. The hem may be sewn to engage a ring or a rod for fastening to the housing or the cushion may be connected directly to the housing with fasteners such as bolts, rivets or similar devices.
The inflator generates the gas used to deploy and inflate the cushion. The inflator is a weighty device. The effort needed to manipulate the module is increased after it is included in the assembly. Therefore, it is preferable to assemble the remaining components of the air bag module and add the inflator in a final operation of the assembly or possibly at a later time prior to installation in the automobile. In either case the remaining module components must be designed to attach together prior to the addition of the inflator.
It is desirable to reduce the number of fasteners used between the cushion and the housing. It is also desirable to more directly fasten the cushion to the inflator. Such a simplified construction can facilitate assembly of the module. However, as noted above the inflator may be the last component added to the module thereby limiting flexibility in the assembly process, thus complicating a solution to the present problem.


A subsea well having inner and outer tubular housings has features to reduce bending movement of the inner housing within the outer housing. The inner and outer housings have mating wedging surface axially spaced apart from each other. These tapered surfaces are spaced so as to cause the inner housing to wedge within the outer housing as it is lowered into place. A latch latches the inner housing to the outer housing once lowered into place. A sleeve of elastomeric material locates on the exterior of the lower extension of the inner housing. This sleeve extends downward a selected distance to prevent bonding of cement to the inner housing in this area. Part of the latch is mounted to a ring clamp that releasably mounts to the outer housing.

1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relates in general to subsea wells, and in particular to a means for stabilizing within an outer housing an inner housing that secures to a riser leading to the surface.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
In a subsea well of the type concerned herein, a guide base will be placed on the sea floor. An outer housing will be inserted into the guide base. The outer housing has large diameter conduit, typically 30 inch, that extends into the earth a selected distance. The 30 inch conduit will be cemented in place.
Then, an inner housing will be lowered into the outer housing. The inner housing will be secured to lesser diameter casing, normally about 20 inch. The 20 inch casing will be cemented in place. Typically, there will be a clearance between the outer housing interior and the inner housing exterior. A riser will extend from the inner housing to the drilling vessel.
The drilling vessel will be floating, and thus is subject to wave and wind action. The riser will bend as the drilling vessel moves relative to the subsea well. This causes a bending action on the inner housing. There is a possibility that the repetitive movement could cause fatigue of the inner housing. This could cause the inner housing to part.
Cement located between the inner and outer housing helps to prevent relative movement. Also, long tapered sections extend downward from the inner housing to the casing to reduce the bending stress. While this is successful, these long tapered sections are expensive to manufacture. Also, if the cement does not extend high enough in the clearance between the inner and outer housings, support for bending movement would be lacking.
There have been proposals in the past to stabilize the inner housing within the outer housing by means of slips and slip rings, such as shown in U. S. Pat. No. 4,499,950, Bruce J. Watkins, issued Feb. 19, 1985, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,968, Thomas J. Ames, et al, issued June 21, 1988. Improvements are desirable.
Also, if the well is to be abandoned subsequently it is desirable to remove and retrieve the inner housing. The operator can cut the casing below the inner housing. However, pulling the inner housing from the outer housing can be difficult.