In a displacement machine for compressible media, having a delivery space (6) which is delimited by spiral-shaped peripheral walls (8, 9) extending perpendicularly from a side wall and leads from an inlet (2) outside the spiral to an outlet (3) inside the spiral, and having a spiral-shaped displacement body (5) which projects into the delivery space (6) and is mounted with respect to the delivery space so as to execute a rotary, twist-free movement, the center (10) of said displacement body is offset eccentrically relative to the center (11) of the peripheral walls (8, 9) in such a way that the displacement body (5) at all times almost touches both the outer and the inner peripheral wall (9 and 8 respectively) of the delivery space (6) at in each case at least one advancing sealing line. The sealing line at the inlet-side end of the outer peripheral wall (9) is advanced relative to the 0.degree./360.degree. position by an angle (.alpha.) between 5.degree. and 50.degree., the peripheral wall (9) forming a circular arc (9') in this angle region.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a rotary piston displacement machine for compressible media, having at least one delivery space which is delimited by spiral-shaped peripheral walls extending perpendicularly from a side wall of a fixed housing and leads from an inlet outside the spiral to an outlet inside the spiral, and having a spiral-shaped displacement body which projects into the delivery space and is mounted with respect to the delivery space so as to execute a rotary, twist-free movement and the center of which is offset eccentrically relative to the center of the peripheral walls in such a way that the displacement body at all times almost touches both the outer and the inner peripheral wall of the delivery space at in each case at least one advancing sealing line, and the spiral shape being selected so that the maximum theoretical inlet volume is achieved in the delivery space between displacement body and outer peripheral wall before the rotating rotor which carries the perpendicular displacement bodies assumes the 0.degree./360.degree. position relative to the delivery space, in which position the displacement body rests against the outer peripheral wall.
2. Discussion of Background
A rotary machine, the principle of which is known from DE-C3 26 03 462, is suitable for supercharging an internal combustion engine. It is distinguished by a virtually pulsation-free delivery of the working medium, which consists, for example of air or an air/fuel mixture. During the operation of a supercharger of this kind, a plurality of crescent-shaped working spaces are enclosed along the length of the delivery space between the displacer and the two peripheral walls of the delivery space, said working spaces moving through the delivery space from the inlet towards the outlet. In the process, their volume progressively decreases, with a corresponding increase in the pressure of the working medium.
A machine of the type mentioned at the outset is known from DE-A-3,138,585. The fact that the maximum theoretical inlet volume is greater than the actually achievable volume is a result of the fact that the spiral is composed of a plurality of mutually adjoining circular arc segments, each having a progressively smaller radius. A schematic diagram with regard to this behavior is illustrated in FIG. 2, which will be described later. In the known machine, the first time that the displacement body rests against the outer peripheral wall during the rotary movement of the rotor is in the so-called 0.degree./360.degree. position, at which point the intake procedure can be taken to be complete. However, tests using water models have shown that, given this configuration, a not inconsiderable part of the medium taken in flows back from the delivery space into the inlet during the closing procedure.

Spiral rotary piston displacement machine with advanced inlet sealing line


A multi-node communication system and method used to request, report and collect destination-node-based measurements and route-based measurements is disclosed. The communication system may be a mesh network including a plurality of mesh points (MPs). In one embodiment, a destination-node-based measurement request is sent to one or more destination nodes via destination-unicast, destination-multicast, or destination-broadcast, using routes specified via next-hop-unicast, next-hop-multicast, or next-hop-broadcast addressing. In another embodiment, a source node sends a measurement request message to a final destination node, whereby each node along the route individually sends a measurement report message to the source node. Alternatively, measurement results of each node are combined and appended to the measurement request message, and a measurement report message including the combined measurement results is sent to the source node.

Typical wireless system infrastructures consist in having a set of access points (APs), also referred to as Base Stations (BSs), each connected to a wired network through what is referred to as a backhaul link. In some scenarios, the cost of connecting a given AP directly to the wired network make it more desirable instead to connect the AP indirectly to the wired network by relaying the information to and from its neighboring APs.
This is referred to as a mesh architecture. In other scenarios, the advantages of using a mesh infrastructure are ease of use and speed of deployment since a radio network can be deployed without having to provision backhaul links and interconnection modules for each AP.
In the context of mesh systems, it is sometimes not sufficient for a node to request measurements from nodes it can directly communicate with. This implies that measurement request frames and measurement report frames will not only need to specify the node to which the frame is sent to but also the node to which the measurement request/report is destined. Also, in a mesh system, because the performance and quality perceived by the users is dependant as much on the conditions of the intermediate hops involved in forwarding the packet than in those of the destination node itself, there is value in collecting measurements from the nodes involved in connecting the source and destination, (i.e., the route), rather than limiting the measurement reporting to only the destination node.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Multi-node communication system and method of requesting, reporting and collecting destination-node-based measurements and route-based measurements


A process for preparing coated particles of a plant material includes: (a) combining plant material particles and a protein in a liquid medium, wherein the protein adsorbs onto at least a portion of a surface of the particles to form a first layer; and (b) mixing a polysaccharide including a pectin with the liquid medium, so that the polysaccharide adsorbs onto at least a portion of a surface of the first layer to form a second layer. In addition, a palatable product comprising at least one coated particle prepared by this process is described.

Some users of orally-enjoyed plant material including chewing tobacco and/or snuff compositions notice certain negative flavor characteristics associated with bitterness, astringency, acridness, and/or aftertaste; thus there is perceived a need to overcome these negative taste characteristics.
A related disclosure exists in the commonly-assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 12/155,227 filed on May 30, 2008, which published as U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0014018, on Jan. 15, 2009.

Coated tobacco particles suitable for usage in a smokeless tobacco product


It is disclosed a reciprocating compressor having a cylinder body that defines a cylinder; the cylinder may have a cylinder lateral wall and a cylinder axis A and inside it a piston is movable; at least one valve is provided to selectively open and close a valve opening formed in the cylinder lateral wall; cylinder heads at least partially protruding towards the piston inside the cylinder have a recessed surface at least partially facing the valve openings; an intersection between at least a plane containing the cylinder axis A and the recessed surface is a first curve having at least a convex part facing the valve opening.

In the field of "Oil & Gas", reciprocating compressors are widely used.
US2002/0141884-A1 describes an unloader system is provided for a reciprocating gas compressor. The system includes an unloader valve assembly including a valve member controlling flow between compressor cylinder and a clearance bottle. Opening and closing of the valve member is controlled by manipulating a control pressure acting through a manifold against the stem of the valve member by means of a pressure regulator connected in series with a pressure source. When the pressure in the compressor cylinder acting on the heads of the poppet valve members exceeds the control pressure acting on the stems, the poppet valve members open, partially unloading the compressor.
Each cylinder head of the reciprocating compressor described in the cited document has an annular chamfer with a concave surface partially facing the valve openings.
In different known designs, the cylinder head may a have plurality of slots, each facing a valve opening. Each slot have a concave surface, shaped as a part of a sphere (therefore with a constant radius).
The fluid, when aspired into the compression chamber and when leaving it, runs onto the concave surface of the chamfer or of the slots. This generates pressure losses that lower the efficiency of the compressor.


A system and a method for thermally processing a semiconductor substrate are disclosed which provide a heater chamber and a process chamber environmentally isolated from one another by a thermally-transparent plate. A heater assembly situated within the heater chamber comprises one or more quasi-continuous heater elements, and is operable to linearly translate with respect to the process chamber by a linear translation assembly. Thermal radiation is transmitted from the heater elements through the plate toward a substrate situated within the process chamber, wherein one or more temperature sensors measure a temperature associated with one or more respective locations on the substrate. A controller coupled to the one or more temperature sensors, heater assembly, and linear translation assembly controls the thermal radiation emitted by the heater assembly, as well as a distance between the heater assembly and the substrate, wherein the control is based on the one or more measured temperatures.

The present invention relates generally to semiconductor thermal processing systems, and more specifically to a system and method for rapid thermal processing using a linearly-moving heating assembly with a radially-tunable thermal radiation profile.
High temperature processing of semiconductor (e.g., silicon) wafers is important for manufacturing modern microelectronics devices. Such processes, including silicide formation, implant anneal, oxidation, nitridation, diffusion drive-in, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and atomic layer deposition (ALD), may be performed at high temperatures and in proper ambient gases or vacuum using conventional thermal processing techniques. Furthermore, many modern microelectronics circuits require feature sizes smaller than one micron and junction depths less than a few hundred angstroms. In order to limit both the lateral and downward diffusion of dopants, as well as to provide a greater degree of control during processing, it is desirable to minimize the duration of high temperature processing as well as vary the gaseous composition around the semiconductor wafers.
One approach for minimizing processing time utilizes a single-wafer rapid thermal processor (RTP). Single-wafer rapid thermal processing of semiconductor wafers provides a powerful and versatile technique for fabrication of ultra-large-scale-integrated (ULSI) electronic devices. Conventional systems and methods of wafer thermal processing may suffer from various shortcomings, however, as will be described hereafter.
One conventional RTP system combines low thermal mass photon-assisted rapid thermal heating with an inert or reactive gaseous ambient for semiconductor wafer processing. Such a single-wafer RTP system utilizes high intensity lamps, optical temperature sensors and sophisticated control algorithms to heat a semiconductor wafer at a high temperature ramp rate, thereby reducing problems associated with high thermal budget to device fabrication. In lamp-based processing, the wafer is generally heated to temperatures of between 450xc2x0 C. to 1400xc2x0 C. and may furthermore be rapidly cooled after processing. Problems may be encountered, however, with the use of high intensity lamps as a heat source, particularly for larger diameter wafers. Specifically, it may be difficult to maintain a uniform temperature across a wafer due to individual lamp spacing, as well as other factors.
Typically, not only do temperature differences arise during heating and cooling transients in lamp-based RTP systems, but non-uniformities may also persist during processing. As illustrated in prior art FIG. 1A, a conventional lamp-based RTP lamp assembly 10 is shown, wherein the lamp assembly comprises a plurality of individual incandescent lamps 20. The plurality of lamps 20 are distributed across a surface 15 of the lamp assembly 10, leaving physical spaces 30 between each individual lamp. FIG. 1B illustrates a partial cross-section of the lamp assembly 10, illustrating several individual lamps 20. Each lamp 20 comprises a filament 40, such as tungsten, whereby electrical current passing through the filament resistively heats the filament, thus emitting thermal radiation 50 outward from the lamp. However, a filament 40 only takes a very small portion of physical space in a lamp 20. The spaces 30 between lamps 20 as well as the largely empty spaces inside lamps 20, however, contribute to the non-uniformity of the received thermal radiation over the substrate 60. To obtain uniform heating, lamp based systems typically utilize some combination of optical guides, lenses, and/or reflectors (not shown), as well as wafer rotation, to more evenly distribute thermal radiation onto the substrate 60. Despite these measures, it may be necessary in some systems to actively switch individual lamps or groups of lamps on and off rapidly to control the wafer temperature and minimize the effects of the non-uniform thermal radiation from the lamps. Furthermore, additional problems may be encountered in lamp-based systems due to aging and degradation of lamps and other components. As a result, it may be difficult to maintain repeatable performance, and a frequent replacement of parts and system cleaning may be necessary. Similar problems also exist in linear-lamp based rapid thermal processing systems.
Furthermore, since effective cooling of lamps is essential to increase the life time of lamps, the interior walls of a typical lamp-based RTP system are usually much colder than the wafer under processing and are not uniform in temperature. Therefore, heat transfer between the wafer and the interior walls via conduction and convection has detrimental effects to the uniform heating of the wafer under processing. Furthermore, ambient gases and gas-surface reaction products may deposit and condense onto the cold chamber walls of lamp-based RTP systems, blocking thermal radiation from lamps to the wafer and interfering with pyrometric temperature measurement.
A more advanced hot-wall rapid thermal processing (RTP) furnace (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,689 and No. 6,183,127) can yield superior results over the lamp-based RTP systems in terms of temperature uniformity, process reproducibility and cost while still possessing comparable performance in terms of thermal budget and process throughput. In such hot-wall RTP systems, a stable monotonic temperature and thermal radiation gradient is maintained along the axis of the RTP furnace by constantly heating the upper section of the process chamber and actively cooling the lower section of the process chamber. This steady-state temperature profile is also axially symmetric, with a radial component optimized to ensure the uniform heating of a wafer.
The temperature of a wafer under processing is controlled by varying the position of the wafer along the temperature gradient. Since a thermal steady-state is maintained throughout the entire furnace, and between the furnace and the gas ambient, wafer heating is dominated by the thermal equilibration between the wafer and its furnace environment. Ambient gases flow through the hot wall chamber to interact with the wafer under processing. A hot-wall RTP furnace has a much larger total thermal radiation area than the total filament area of a lamp-based RTP system. A shortcoming associated with the hot-wall RTP systems is the relatively large internal volume of the process chamber, particularly when fast ambient gas switching is required during rapid thermal processing. However, fast ambient gas switching has been successfully realized by placing a wafer inside a small volume quartz reactor that linearly moves along the temperature gradient inside the process chamber.
Yet another rapid thermal processing system utilizes a heated block, or receptor, for thermally processing a wafer within a single chamber. The receptor resides in the chamber, and is heated by one or more resistive heaters. The wafer is inserted into the chamber and is placed on pins protruding through the receptor, and is subsequently lowered via the pins onto the receptor, such that heat transfer occurs from the receptor to the wafer via conduction, convection and radiation. The use of a receptor within a single chamber, however, may introduce various problems. For instance, in rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition (RTCVD) and low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) applications, the receptor can be coated by the material being deposited on the wafer (e.g., doped or undoped polysilicon, silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, etc.). The unwanted depositions on the receptor can result in particulate generation, cross contamination, process uniformity drifts, as well as problems associated with temperature measurement and process control.
Therefore, for at least the above mentioned reasons, an improved rapid thermal processing system and method is needed to alleviate many of the problems associated with the prior art.
The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of the invention nor delineate the scope of the invention. Its purpose is to present some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
The present invention is directed to a semiconductor thermal processing system and a method for thermally processing a semiconductor wafer or substrate. The thermal processing system is operable to heat a substrate in vacuum or various gases to achieve desired physical and chemical changes for semiconductor device fabrication in an innovative manner to ensure improved thermal processing performance of a substrate.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a semiconductor thermal processing system and associated method is disclosed which provides a heater chamber and a process chamber, wherein the heater chamber and process chamber are environmentally isolated from one another by a thermally-transparent plate. The thermally transparent plate is generally transmissive to thermal radiation. A heater assembly comprising one or more quasi-continuous heater elements is situated in the heater chamber, whereby a linear translation assembly is operable to linearly move the heater assembly in a direction generally perpendicular to the wafer in the process chamber. A power supply is operable to provide heating current to the one or more heater elements, thereby emitting thermal radiation through the thermally-transparent plate toward a substrate situated within the process chamber.
According to another exemplary aspect of the present invention, one or more temperature sensors are operable to measure one or more temperatures associated with one or more respective locations on the substrate. A controller operably coupled to the heater assembly, linear translation assembly, and the one or more temperature sensors is operable to control the thermal radiation emitted by the one or more heater elements, as well as a distance between the heater assembly and the substrate. The control is based, at least in part, on the one or more measured temperatures.
According to yet another exemplary aspect of the present invention, the one or more heater elements comprise one or more heater rings, wherein the thermal radiation emitted by each of the one or more heater rings is individually adjustable, thereby making the heater assembly radially-tunable. A distance between each of the one or more heater rings and the substrate is furthermore adjustable, wherein the one or more heater rings can be situated in a common plane, or at varying distances from the substrate.
According to still another aspect of the invention, the linear motion of the heater assembly is primarily used to control the overall heating level, namely the temperature of a substrate (e.g., a silicon wafer) in the process chamber. The temperatures of the one or more heater rings are adjusted or tuned independently to control the thermal radiation power emitted by the one of more heater rings in order to tune the radial thermal radiation profile of the heater assembly and achieve the uniform heating across the substrate. One or a plurality of the heater rings can tilt independently with respect to the normal direction of the substrate for further tuning of thermal radiation profile of the heater assembly.
According to still another exemplary aspect of the invention, the thermal processing system can be operated under the control of an automation network comprising (1) sensors for temperature, position and pressure monitoring, (2) signal processing electronic circuitry and computer with proper algorithm or modeling software, and (3) electrical, mechanical and pneumatic driving units or controllers for the linear motion of the heater assembly and the heating powers to the one or more heater rings. The control network is operable to control the thermal radiation emitted by the heater assembly based on both the desired processing temperature and duration and the one or more measured temperatures from the substrate. The thermal radiation power of the heater assembly is controlled by varying the voltage or current delivered to the one or more heater rings from the power supplies. The total amount of thermal radiation received by the substrate under processing is controlled by adjusting the distance between the heater assembly and the substrate through the linear motion of the heater assembly. The control network is operable to control the composition, pressure, duration and switching of the ambient gas around the substrate in synchronization with the temperature versus time profile of the substrate.
To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention. These embodiments are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed. Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the drawings.

Advanced rapid thermal processing (RTP) using a linearly-moving heating assembly with an axisymmetric and radially-tunable thermal radiation profile


An easy to use, inexpensive jack plate stop device for insertion into the guide slot of a jack plate to immobilize an outboard motor in raised position is disclosed. An outboard motor is fully raised using the jack plate by way of a hydraulic cylinder; the jack plate stop device is then inserted into the open portion of the guide slot so as to rest on the guide bolt at the bottom of the guide slot. The motor component of the jack plate is lowered slightly in order to fully engage the stop device in the guide slot, thus preventing the motor from dropping further if hydraulic pressure is released. The device may include a handle for ease of insertion and removal from the guide slot. The device may be made of any rigid material having a load-bearing capacity adequate to support the weight of an outboard motor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a jack plate fastened to the stern of a boat to mount an outboard marine motor. Specifically, the present invention is directed to a rigid bar insert placed in a slot style jack plate in order to restrict vertical movement of an outboard motor when it is in an elevated position, thus securing the motor in position if hydraulic pressure is released.
2. Description of the Related Art
Well known in the prior art are devices designed to assist in vertical movement of a marine outboard motor using a hydraulic jack plate. These designs involve methods of mounting an outboard motor to a boat transom so that the motor can be raised and lowered with a hydraulic cylinder. This movement allows the position of the outboard motor to vary according to boat speed and water depth. Various methods for adjusting the motor height include telescoping tubes, brackets, and sliding plates. Problems inherent in these designs include hydraulic leaks and other instances of lost hydraulic pressure that would cause the motor to drop from the desired height, thus causing motor damage and safety hazards. Unfortunately, such jack plate devices do not typically provide any safety stops to restrict the motor's movement when the motor is in an elevated position. Little effort has been made to provide devices to immobilize these outboard motors. Those devices that are used to restrict the movement of a raised outboard motor are complex in design and of limited functionality.
There are several problems inherent in not having a device to restrict the motion of an outboard motor when it is in an elevated position. The motor can drop unexpectedly, causing injury to the user or to mechanical equipment. For example, the hydraulic pressure in the hydraulic cylinder(s) of a jack plate may decrease, resulting in the motor falling. In addition to safety issues, an outboard motor can be severely damaged during loading, unloading, or traveling if the hydraulic cylinder(s) lose pressure, resulting in expensive motor and/or propeller repair or replacement costs. It would be advantageous to have an inexpensive device which could immobilize an elevated motor during transit or servicing, thus greatly reducing the likelihood of injury and costly repairs.
Thus, there is a need for an inexpensive jack plate stop device to secure a marine outboard motor. Such a device would ideally be simple to use and simple in design, without movable parts to break, thus eliminating the need for repairs. The device should be inexpensive to manufacture and easily replaceable. In comparison to the significant expenses involved in costly motor repairs and replacements, such an inexpensive device would be especially desirable to boat owners. Existing products have been unable to deliver a device which provides all of these benefits.


The present invention presents a method to enhance polarization conversion reflection from an anisotropic thin film. The total reflection effect or the high reflection at the interface of an anisotropic thin film leads to enhanced polarization conversion. Polarization conversion is an interesting phenomenon by which a fraction of p(s)-polarized light incident on an anisotropic thin film may be reflected as s(p)-polarized light.

The conventional technology applies interference effects in thin films to adjust the intensity and phase for different wavelengths, angles of incidence, and polarization states to meet the demands of various optical components, such as anti-reflection coatings, high-reflection coatings, beam splitters and band-pass filters. However, the components are limited by the fact that the polarization states of incident light and reflected light are the same. The present invention proposes a method that uses an anisotropic thin film system to generate strong polarization conversion. Polarization conversion from an anisotropic thin film was only discussed by Ian Hodgkingson et al. on the computational results of the air/anisotropic thin film/substrate system, but the reflectance was too small (less than 10−3), thus could be hardly measured and applied. Therefore, using thin film interference on polarization conversion and application was not proposed otherwise.
F. Yang and J. R. Sambles suggested using the boundary of an anisotropic optical medium to have polarization conversion reflectance, but it achieved low intensity of polarization conversion. Using anisotropic thin film here not only could enhance the polarization conversion ratio but also could design and fabricate multilayered system to have polarization conversion for specific wavelength range or incident angle range.
In measurement, the measurement of anisotropic optical constants (including the index of refraction, orientations of principal axes, and thickness) usually uses an ellipsometer as the main method. However, since ellipsometers are based on both intensity and phase measurements, its cost is very high. The optical-constants of the anisotropic film can be determined to have the anisotropic thin film in the module proposed in the present invention and measure polarization conversion reflectance versus angle of incidence and wavelength. This technology could enhance the detection sensitivity significantly, and save cost because it only measures intensity.

Optical configuration for generating polarization conversion


An exemplary method for translating non-comparable values into comparable values for use in heuristics may include: 1) identifying a data object, 2) identifying a non-comparable value associated with the data object, 3) translating the non-comparable value into a comparable value, and then 4) processing the comparable value in a heuristic. In some examples, the heuristic may include a malware-detection heuristic, such as a decision tree.

Decision trees and other heuristics are commonly used as predictive models to map observations about an item with conclusions about the item's target value. For example, a security-software vendor may use decision trees as predictive models for identifying or detecting malicious computer files ("malware") based on attributes, characteristics, and/or behaviors of the files.
Decision trees and other heuristics typically classify a sample by determining whether the sample satisfies various comparable criteria (such as sizes and counts). For example, a malware-detection decision tree may determine that a file represents a malicious file if the file, among other behaviors or characteristics: 1) instantiates less than two visible processes, 2) has a file size that is greater than 7740 KB, 3) generates less than three icons, and/or 4) has a folder depth of greater than four.
However, decision trees and other heuristics are typically unable to interpret non-comparable values, such as discrete, non-related numeric values, associated with samples. For example, a malware-detection decision tree is typically unable to draw conclusions about the legitimacy of a file simply by comparing a hash of the file with a predetermined hash value since these hash values are generally unrelated and non-comparable. For example, a decision-tree branch having the statement "file hash ≦6967CF" generally has no meaning or significance since any given file may have a hash value that is less than or equal to "6967CF" and this fact typically has no bearing on whether the file is malicious.
As such, the instant disclosure identifies a need for systems and methods for translating non-comparable values (such as file hashes) into comparable values for consumption by decision trees and other heuristics.

Systems and methods for translating non-comparable values into comparable values for use in heuristics


Provided is a display system (1) capable of further reducing electric power consumption. The display system (1) includes: a host device (2) including transceivers (Tx1, Tx2); a display device (3) including receivers (Rx1, Rx2); a plurality of interfaces (IF1, IF2) for transmitting image data from the transceivers (Tx1, Tx2) to the receivers (Rx1, Rx2); changing means for changing the number of transmission lanes to be used by each of the plurality of interfaces (IF1, IF2); and a display panel (5) provided in the display device (3). Each of the interfaces (IF1, IF2) transmits the image data at an identical transmission rate irrespective of the number of the transmission lanes to be used. The display panel (5) displays an image indicated by the image data, at a frame rate corresponding to the total number of the transmission lanes to be used by the each of the interfaces (IF1, IF2).

In recent years, display devices have been widely used which are thin, lightweight, and low in electric power consumption, and are typified by liquid crystal display devices. Such display devices are particularly provided to, for example, a mobile phone, a smart phone, and a laptop PC (Personal Computer). Further, electronic paper, which is a thinner display device, is expected to be rapidly developed and widespread in the future. Under such circumstances, a reduction in electric power consumption in various kinds of display devices is a common object at present.
Patent Literature 1 discloses an interface which is low in electric power consumption and which includes an operation switching means for (i) switching a given processing mode of a channel to a low-speed processing mode in a case where an amount of an image signal to be subject to a given process is equal to or less than a given amount and more than 0(zero) and (ii) switching the given processing mode of the channel to a stop mode in a case where the amount of the image signal to be subject to the given process is 0(zero), the given processing mode being a mode in a case where the amount of the image signal to be subjected to the given process is more than the given amount.

Display system, host device, and display device


An internal combustion engine having an integrally connected pressure swing adsorption (PSA) system to provide oxygen-enriched air or oxygen-deficient air, in situ, to the mixing chamber of a spark-ignition or compression-ignition engine.

This invention relates to an internal combustion engine having an integrally connected pressure-swing adsorption (PSA)system to provide oxygen-enriched air or oxygen-deficient air, in situ, to the mixing chamber of the engine.
The use of conventional internal combustion engines for use in the transportation of passengers and/or cargo has been part of our modern industrial society. The exhaust gas quality and fuel consumption efficiency are important features of the operation of internal combustion engine. These exhaust gas emission features have become increasingly more stringent and by-products of the exhaust gas could be harmful to the environment and human health. Ambient air supplied to the mixing chamber along with conventional fuel of an internal combustion engines produces nitrogen oxides, NOx, that are undesirable components of the exhaust emissions.
It has been understood for several years that the use of oxygen-enriched air in an internal combustion engine produces desirable operating results (i.e. increased power due to more complete fuel combustion and reduced emissions). This has become particularly important for large diesel-type engines such as those used in locomotives, but is also important for standard gasoline automobile engines since laws mandating lower pollutant emissions have been enacted.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,777 discloses a novel method of operating an internal combustion engine employing a selectively gas permeable membrane to provide either oxygen or nitrogen enriched air feed to beneficially affect engine performance. By feeding enriched air from a membrane unit such performance parameters as reduced NOx emissions, lean burn limit, engine power, and reduced cold start emissions can be enhanced relative to feeding ambient air. The selectively gas permeable membrane unit further includes a nonporous membrane (i) having an oxygen/nitrogen selectivity of at least 1.4 and a permeability to oxygen of at least 50 barrers; (ii) formed from an amorphous copolymer of perfluoro-2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxile; and (iii) being at a temperature below the glass transition temperature of the amorphous copolymer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,526 discloses an internal combustion engine that has a system, including diagnostics, for providing oxygen enriched air so as to control emissions of unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide. The system includes the capability of determining whether the oxygen enrichment system is providing suitable mass flow to the engine and whether oxygen enrichment is available according to the specifications of the enrichment device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,517 discloses an air supply control system for selectively supplying ambient air, oxygen enriched air and nitrogen enriched air to an intake of an internal combustion engine includes an air mixing chamber that is in fluid communication with the air intake. At least a portion of the ambient air flowing to the mixing chamber is selectively diverted through a secondary path that includes a selectively permeable air separating membrane device due a differential pressure established across the air separating membrane. The permeable membrane device separates a portion of the nitrogen in the ambient air so that oxygen enriched air (permeate) and nitrogen enriched air (retentate) are produced. The oxygen enriched air and the nitrogen enriched air can be selectively supplied to the mixing chamber or expelled to atmosphere. Alternatively, a portion of the nitrogen enriched air can be supplied through another control valve to a monatomic-nitrogen plasma generator device so that atomic nitrogen produced from the nitrogen enriched air can be then injected into the exhaust of the engine. The oxygen enriched air or the nitrogen enriched air becomes mixed with the ambient air in the mixing chamber and then the mixed air is supplied to the intake of the engine. As a result, the air being supplied to the intake of the engine can be regulated with respect to the concentration of oxygen and/or nitrogen.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,302 discloses an apparatus for reduction of pollutant emissions by internal combustion engines that includes a tapered, coaxial multiconical structure used as a gas separator. The gas separator is used to provide oxygen enriched air to an engine, thus providing a reduction in the amount of nitrogen provided thereto. The resulting exhaust gas includes fewer oxides of nitrogen, reduced quantities of hydrocarbons, and decreased percentages of carbon monoxide. Air is directed through the structure, entering at a wide mouth throve. A fan may be provided for directing the air through the structure. The air exiting at the central portion of the narrow end of the structure, which has an increased ratio of oxygen to nitrogen, is directed by a conduit to the engine inlet. The structure is inexpensive, and easily mounted on existing engines, thus providing a retrofitting device for conforming older cars to current pollution standards.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,176,897 discloses a pressure swing adsorption separation of a feed gas mixture, to obtain a purified product gas of the less strongly adsorbed fraction of the feed gas mixture, and in a plurality of preferably an even number of adsorbent beds are used, with each adsorbent bed communicating at its product end directly to a variable volume expansion chamber, and at its feed end by directional valves to a feed compressor and an exhaust vacuum pump. For high frequency operation of the pressure swing adsorption cycle, a high surface area layered support is used for the adsorbent. The compressor and vacuum pump pistons may be integrated with the cycle, reciprocating at twice the cycle frequency.
Delivery of oxygen-enriched air to the intake of an internal combustion engine has been shown to reduce the emissions of air pollutants from the engine exhaust and increase the power output by driving the combustion of the fuel closer to completion. Some of the fundamental considerations of these phenomena were studies and presented in a technical paper by Lahiri, et al. (Lahiri, D. Mehta, P. S., Poola, R. B., and Sekar, R. R.; xe2x80x9cUtilization of Oxygen-Enriched Air in Diesel Engines: Fundamental Considerationsxe2x80x9d, International Combustion Engine, 1997 Fall Conference, Madison, Wis., September/October 1997). The computed properties, such as adiabatic flame temperature and exhaust gas composition as well as differences in thermodynamic and transport properties when oxygen-enriched air was used in place of normal atmospheric air in internal combustion engines were recited in this reference. The effects on parameters impacting engine performance such as fuel evaporation rate and ignition delay were also studied. This paper explains why oxygen-enriched air has beneficial effects when used in internal combustion engines.
A paper providing useful background information was presented by Ng and Sekar (Ng, M. K. and Sekar, R. R.; xe2x80x9cPotential Benefits of Oxygen-Enriched Intake air in a Vehicle Powered by a Spark-Ignition Enginexe2x80x9d, DOE Periodical 94013452, April 1994). Oxygen-enriched air (25%, 28%, and 30% by volume) was tested in a gasoline engine (3.1 L Chevy Lumina, 1990), and its effects on emissions were studies. The amounts of CO, hydrocarbons, and ozone were shown to decrease and the NOx was shown to increase at the outlets of the catalytic converter as well as the engine itself.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a means to generate oxygen-enriched or oxygen-deficient air, in situ, for apparatus in which the desired gas is produced from a pressure swing adsorption system that forms an integral part of the apparatus.
Another objective of the present invention is an internal combustion engine having a pressure swing adsorption system, as an integral part of the engine, to provide oxygen-enriched or oxygen-deficient gas for the mixing chamber of the engine.
Another objective of the present invention is a spark-ignition engine having a pressure swing adsorption system as an integral part of the engine and wherein the crank shaft and cam shaft of the engine also preforms the pressure and evacuation means for the pressure swing adsorption system.
Another objective of the present invention is a compression-ignition (diesel) engine having a separate pressure swing adsorption system assembled as an integral part of the engine.
With these and other objects in mind, the present invention is hereinafter described in several embodiments of the invention, and the novel features thereof being particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
The invention relates to an internal combustion engine having a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) system as an integral part of the engine comprising:
an internal combustion engine having a mixing chamber with an air inlet for the engine; and
at least one PSA bed containing an adsorbent material adapted for adsorbing oxygen or nitrogen from an ambient air and having a PSA bed air intake adapted for receiving ambient air and a PSA bed outlet adapted for discharging an oxygen-enriched air or an oxygen-deficient air product after the air is passed through the absorbent material, and said PSA bed outlet coupled to the inlet of the mixing chamber and operable such that the oxygen-enriched air or oxygen-deficient air from the integrally assembled pressure swing adsorption system of the engine can be fed into the mixing chamber for operating the engine. This internal combustion engine can have the adsorbent material selectively adsorb nitrogen so that an oxygen-enriched air can be fed into the mixing chamber of the engine intake or the adsorbent material can selectively adsorb oxygen so that an oxygen-deficient air can be fed into the mixing chamber of the engine intake.
Another embodiment of this invention relates to a spark-ignition internal combustion engine having an integrally assembled pressure swing adsorption (PSA bed) system wherein the engine contains an inlet, a crank shaft and a cam shaft; an intake of the PSA bed coupled to at least two cylinders having intakes and outlets with pistons operable in out of phase cycles for generating pressure differentials within the bed containing an adsorbent material for producing oxygen-enriched air or oxygen-deficient air for the engine inlet with said crank shaft and said cam shaft being coupled to and sequentially operating the pistons and cylinder intakes and outlets to produce oxygen-enriched or oxygen-deficient gas for the mixing chamber of the engine.
Another embodiment of this invention relates to a compression-ignition (diesel) internal combustion engine having a separate integrally assembled pressure swing adsorption system and wherein a turbo compressor of the engine has a turbo air inlet for receiving air and a turbo outlet coupled to an inlet of the PSA bed and operable such that the turbo compressor generates pressure differentials within the PSA bed containing an adsorbent material for producing oxygen-enriched air or oxygen-deficient air to be discharged from an outlet of the PSA bed and fed into a mixing chamber coupled to an inlet of the engine.
In summary, there are benefits for using oxygen-enriched air (or to a lesser degree, nitrogen-enriched air) as the oxidizer in internal combustion engines. There have been different methods proposed to supply the enriched air with the majority of the prior art utilizing semi-permeable membranes. The present invention proposes the use of a small PSA, preferably incorporated into the engine block as an integral part of the block, to supply desirable and selective air to the engine. One of the novel main features of the engine is the use of the drivers (i.e. crankshaft and cam shaft) to drive the PSA. Using the PSA as an integral part of the engine provides advantages in terms of energy usage and overall space requirements.
Prior art systems generally utilize semi-permeable membranes to enrich atmospheric air in oxygen or nitrogen for use in internal combustion engines. Ranges of concentration cited are from 23-40% by volume of oxygen (oxygen-enriched) and 80-98% by volume of nitrogen (nitrogen-enriched). The present invention uses a small PSA system requiring approximately 10 to 1000 lbs. of adsorbent material depending on engine displacement. Conventional automobiles should require about 25 lbs. to accomplish air enrichment and produce equivalent or superior results with regard to power output and emissions reduction using prior art membranes. Additionally, the PSA system is generally less sensitive than a membrane with regards to the presence of solid particles, and temperature fluctuations in the feed leading to a longer effective lifetime and less maintenance. There is also considerable flexibility in the quality of the oxygen that can be generated by the PSA so the unit can supply the optimum concentration of oxygen in air depending on the specific system requirement. The simplest apparatus can produce low to medium-grade oxygen between 22% and 30% oxygen, while other embodiments can produce high-quality oxygen above 80% of oxygen by volume.
Oxygen quality can be defined as follows:
Advantages of using the PSA as an integral part of the engine are that it provides efficient energy usage and overall minimal space requirements.
For spark- and compression-ignition systems using oxygen-enriched air, the adsorption material for the PSA bed can be zeolites containing one or more cations selected from the group comprising sodium, lithium, calcium, potassium, strontium ions and the like and preferably the adsorption material should be suitable for high temperature operations. For engines using oxygen-deficient air, the adsorption material for the PSA bed can be a porous framework comprising one or more transition element complexes (TECs) as disclosed in European application EP 1106245A.

Pressure-swing adsorption system for internal combustion engines


An organic light emitting diode (OLED) display includes: a substrate including a first area and a second area; a first electrode at the first area of the substrate, and a first electrode at the second area of the substrate; a reflective electrode on the first electrode at the first area; a barrier rib on the substrate, the barrier rib having openings exposing the reflective electrode and the first electrode at the second area; an organic emission layer on the reflective electrode and the first electrode at the second area; a second electrode on the organic emission layer; and a reflective layer on the second electrode at the second area.

1. Field
Embodiments relate to an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display.
2. Description of the Related Art
An organic light emitting diode (OLED) display includes two electrodes and an organic emission layer disposed between the two electrodes. Electrons injected from one electrode and holes injected from the other electrode are combined in the organic emission layer, such that excitons are formed. Light is emitted by energy generated from the excitons.
The organic light emitting diode (OLED) display is classified as a top emission, bottom emission, and double-sided emission depending on the light emission direction from an organic emission layer. Different materials of pixel electrodes or common electrodes of the organic light emitting diode (OLED) display are used, according to light emission type. Since the dual-side light emitting OLED display simultaneously emits light from top and bottom surfaces of one display panel, the dual-side light emitting OLED display may increase luminance while realizing different images on the top and bottom surfaces.
The above disclosed information in the Background is only for enhancing an understanding of the described technology. Therefore, the background may contain information that does not form the prior art already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art in this country.

Organic light emitting diode display having a reflective electrode and a reflective layer


A new Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) Enhanced Authentication Option is described. An administrator configures sending and receiving devices to maintain lists of authentication elements for each protected TCP connection. Each authentication element includes an authentication element identifier, a key, a hash algorithm, and a start time. A sending device calculates a security portion, updates the new TCP option to include the security portion, calculates a checksum, and forwards the TCP segment to the receiving device. Having received the authenticated TCP segment, the receiving device scans its list of authentication elements, searching for an authentication element whose identifier matches that of the incoming TCP option. If the receiving device finds such an authentication element, the receiving device uses a key from the authentication element to calculate a security portion. If the calculated security portion matches the security portion received in the incoming TCP segment, the receiving device accepts the segment.

Mechanisms that secure border gateway protocol (BGP) sessions using message-digest algorithm 5 (MD5) authentication have been proposed. Specifically, a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) MD5 Signature Option has been proposed that can be appended to each Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) header. The MD5 Signature Option contains a 16-byte MD5 digest, i.e., a security portion, that serves as authentication data for the TCP segment. The MD5 digest is calculated over the following fields: the TCP pseudo-header; the TCP header, excluding options, and assuming a checksum of zero; the TCP segment data (if any); and an independently-specified key or password, known to both communicating TCP modules.
To spoof a connection using the scheme described above, an attacker would not only have to guess TCP sequence numbers, but would also have had to obtain the password included in the MD5 digest. This password never appears in the connection stream, and the actual form of the password is determined by the application.
However, synchronization of the keys at both ends of the TCP connection is often challenging, and updating keys associated with active TCP sessions typically requires dismantling those TCP sessions active between the sending and receiving device. These limitations have proven to be significant deterrents to the deployment of the TCP MD5 Signature Option for BGP.

Authentication for TCP-based routing and management protocols


A circuit for establishing the input impedance of an amplifier includes an amplifier, a circuit component, a first feedback resistor, and a second feedback resistor. The amplifier has an input impedance and is coupled to a load having a load impedance. The circuit component is coupled to the load and shares at least a portion of a bias current with the amplifier. The first feedback resistor is coupled the amplifier and the load, and has a first impedance. The second feedback resistor is coupled to the amplifier and has a second impedance. The input impedance of the amplifier is established based at least in part upon the first impedance and the second impedance.

This invention relates to circuits and more particularly to a system for establishing the input impedance of an amplifier in a stacked configuration.
Prior attempts to match the input impedance of an amplifier to the impedance associated with a load, such as a load resistor, include adding a resistor to the amplifier in either shunt or series configuration. A drawback to this approach is that it adds a 3 dB noise figure in the circuit. A further drawback to this approach is that it is difficult to always set the input impedance of the amplifier and the gain of amplifier independently of each other.
Prior attempts to stack a mixer and an amplifier so that they could share a bias current involved the use of a current source in the circuit. A drawback to this approach is that the voltage used to operate the transistor associated with the current source consumes a valuable portion (e.g., 1.0 to 1.5 volts) of the overall voltage headroom available in the circuit.
In accordance with the present invention, the disadvantages and problems associated with prior circuits have been substantially reduced or eliminated.
In one embodiment, a circuit for establishing the input impedance of an amplifier includes an amplifier, a circuit component, a first feedback resistor, and a second feedback resistor. The amplifier has an input impedance and is coupled to a load having a load impedance. The circuit component is coupled to the load and shares at least a portion of a bias current with the amplifier. The first feedback resistor is coupled to the amplifier and the load, and has a first impedance. The second feedback resistor is coupled to the amplifier and has a second impedance. The input impedance of the amplifier is established based at least in part upon the first impedance and the second impedance.
In another embodiment, a circuit for establishing a bias current includes a mixer, an amplifier, a bias resistor, a comparator, and a drive circuit. The mixer receives a drive voltage and at least a portion of a bias current. The amplifier is coupled to the mixer and receives at least a portion of the bias current. A bias resistor is coupled to the amplifier at a node and a bias voltage exists at the node. The comparator is coupled to the node and compares the bias voltage with a reference voltage. The comparator further generates an output signal based at least in part upon the comparison. The drive circuit generates the drive voltage in response to the output signal such that the bias voltage substantially equals the reference voltage thereby establishing the bias current.

System and method for establishing the input impedance of an amplifier in a stacked configuration


A method of manufacturing nano-fiber non-woven fabrics is provided. The method comprises preparing a polyurethane solution by dissolving polyurethane in an organic solvent, producing an electrospinning solution by adding far infrared ray emitting particles, antibacterial inorganic particles, and deodorization inorganic particles to the polyurethane solution, and electrospinning the electrospinning solution to form the nano-fiber non-woven fabric. The far infrared ray emitting particles may be obtained by adding a metal oxide to ceramics and sintering the metal oxide-added ceramics. The antibacterial inorganic particles may be obtained by impregnating a zirconium-based carrier with silver ions. The deodorization inorganic particles may be obtained by impregnating a zirconium-based or a silica oxide-based carrier with an amine-based compound.

(a) Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to a method of manufacturing nano-fiber non-woven fabrics, and more specifically to a method of manufacturing nono-fiber non-woven fabrics mixed with inorganic particles. Such fabrics are particularly useful as an interior material of a vehicle.
(b) Background Art
As vehicles become a primary means of transportation, people spend an increasing amount of time in their cars. In fact, vehicles are often considered more of a living space than a transportation means. Accordingly, there has been a growing interest in improving the air quality for passengers within vehicles. Since major causes of air pollution within vehicles are due to the presence of molds, bacteria, and odorous gases, many car makers have been attempting to use functional interior materials with antibacterial or deodorization functions as interior materials of a vehicle.
Korean Patent No. 10-0073862 describes a method for manufacturing an antibacterial resin, wherein an antibacterial organic compound is mixed while processing the resin. This method, however, is undesirable because the antibacterial organic material is poisonous, has an effect only on certain bacteria, and the antibacterial effects generally do not last long due to elution.
In attempt to resolve these problems, an antibacterial resin has been manufactured wherein an inorganic antibacterial agent containing a metal component with antibacterial activity is mixed during the resin processing. Examples of metals showing antibacterial activity include silver, copper, zinc, etc. An inorganic material for supporting the metal includes zeolite, talc, hydroxyapatite, silica gel, or activated charcoal. Silver or a mixture of silver and other antibacterial metals exhibit excellent antibacterial activity, but are disadvantageous in terms of discoloration of the resin and processing stability. Thus, there is a trade-off between color stability and antibacterial activity. In particular, while an antibacterial agent having a poor antibacterial activity rarely discolors the resin, an antibacterial agent with excellent antibacterial activity will generally cause a serious color change of the resin.
In an attempt to solve such problems, Korean Patent No. 10-0048670 describes the use of zeolite substituted with ammonium ions and an anti-discoloration agent. However, this method is not sufficient to prevent discoloration. Further, this resin is foamed due to emission of ammonia by heat, which is problematic.
Korean Patent No. 10-0086520 suggests a method of coating liquid paraffin on a surface of an inorganic antibacterial agent to overcome such problems. However, this method requires additional processes, which lead to increase in costs. Further, it is difficult to form coating layers having a uniform thickness or degree.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H4-275370 describes a method using a phosphate-based inorganic antibacterial agent having a strong bond with an antibacterial metal component and a supporting material to prevent discoloration. However, while stability of the antibacterial agent itself is increased, oxidation/reduction of the antibacterial agent is increased due to interaction with the additive used for enhancing physical properties.

Method of manufacturing nano-fiber non-woven fabrics

Soongsil University Research Consortium techno-Park


A system for providing virtual AV service includes a local device middleware (LDM) media server which stores AV contents and a resource cooperation server (RCS) which separates the AV contents from the LDM media server into video contents and audio contents. The video contents and the audio contents are reproduced by an LDM video renderer and an LDM audio renderer, respectively. An LDM control point (LDMCP) controls the LDM media server and the LDM media renderers using the LDM protocol and a virtual device ensembler (VDE) controls the RCS and the LDMCP.

Currently, various methods have been proposed that couple several media processing devices and configure a single virtual media device to provide AV services. A typical example of local device middleware for configuring such a virtual media device is universal plug and play (UPnP).
However, conventional virtual media devices have restriction that they simply couples several media servers to provide a single virtual media server, provide a method for accessing contents of a media server that does not support local device middleware, or need to select only a single reproducing device in selecting a device for reproducing original AV contents.
Thus, with the foregoing conventional techniques, a device for reproducing video contents and a device for reproducing audio contents cannot be differently set in reproducing AV contents, and thus users cannot experience various types of AV contents reproduction services.

System and method for providing virtual AV service

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A method of treating a target site within a vascular channel of the body uses a catheter assembly having proximal and distal occluders which are positioned in occluding states at positions proximal and distal of a target site to define an occluded region therebetween. An agent is injected into the region. An intervention is performed at the target site while the vessel is occluded and the agent is in the region. The catheter assembly is removed from the channel. Intervention may include expanding a balloon within a temporary stent structure against the channel, collapsing balloon and then removing the collapsed balloon and stent structure from the channel. A balloon stent assembly comprises a catheter assembly, a temporary stent surrounding a balloon, the temporary stent placeable in a contracted state by the catheter assembly and in an expanded state by inflation of the balloon.

Balloon angioplasty has been a popular method of treating vascular occlusions since 1976. With plain old balloon angioplasty (POBA), there exists a significant subset of patients who have immediate suboptimal results related to the trauma to the vessel including dissection of the vessel, incomplete plaque compression, poor lumen gain, and acute elastic recoil of the vessel, amongst others. Because of these suboptimal immediate results, other means to treat vascular stenosis were developed. Intravascular stents are widely utilized, addressing the acute problems of angioplasty and reducing the restenosis rates from 50-60% for POBA to 30-35% for these bare metal stents (BMS).
Because the restenosis rates of BMS are usually unacceptable, drug eluting stents (DES) are used to inhibit restenosis. These devices reduce the restenosis rate to around 20% and lower in the coronary circulation. However, DES are extremely expensive and can lead to thrombosis, which can prove fatal. In addition, DES are not particularly effective in the peripheral circulation. The expense of drug eluting stents at over $3000 each dramatically increases the overall cost of healthcare in the U.S. Finally, not only are the stents are costly, but expensive and potentially harmful drugs are routinely used for at least a year after stent implantation.
It is apparent that restenosis is the Achilles heel of all vascular intervention, from angioplasty to stenting and even surgery. However, it is clear than drugs can prevent restenosis. The primary question is how best to deliver the drugs in the most cost effective manner available while producing good patient outcomes and preventing complications.
Because of the variable plaque morphology and composition, stresses provided by conventional POBA are unpredictable, and frequently high pressure balloon inflations are needed to successfully provide enough stress to crack the plaque. When the plaque does compress at high pressures, the balloon will very rapidly expand to its full dimension in a noticeable pop (tenths of a second), very rapidly expanding the vessel wall often rupturing the smooth muscle cells. Dissection frequently occurs, as does irreparable injury to the smooth muscle cells which do not have the chance to gradually stretch and deform to maintain their integrity.
Therefore, methods and devices that lower the pressure at which the plaque will fracture will produce a slower and more gradual stretching of the arterial wall. This slower stretching will diminish the degree of trauma to the vessel.
A wire or wires along the outside of an angioplasty balloon, sometimes called buddy wires, produces focal areas of stresses along the wires that were approximately 120 times that of a conventional balloon surface, and the stress patterns from the external wire extends into the plaque rather than being concentrated on the surface as with a conventional balloon. The stress patterns are less dependent on the morphology and composition of the plaque than with conventional balloons. In other words, the stresses are more predictable, concentrated, and required lower balloon pressures to compress the plaque. Clinical studies confirmed that when compared to conventional POBA catheters, the buddy wire technique compressed the plaque at lower balloon pressures, caused fewer dissections, had less elastic recoil, and had more lumen gain, as well as a trend toward lower restenosis rate.
More recently, cutting and scoring balloons have been introduced extending these concepts. One such balloon uses several razor type blades along the balloon margins. Scoring balloons utilize several 0.005 to 0.007 inch struts placed over a balloon. Both balloon types are commercially successful. They are typically used in treating complex lesions or in plaque modification. The scoring balloon has been shown to achieve 50% more lumen gain than POBA when utilized as predilatation before stent implantation. This procedure significantly reduces the number of dissections when compared to POBA. The scoring balloon also has been shown to not slip off of the lesion, which is a problem with POBA. The scoring balloon is also more effective in soft, fibrous, and calcified plaques than POBA and has been recommended as a strategy of plaque modification in treating complex lesions. The use of the scoring balloon has thus resulted in very low incidences of inadvertent or unplanned stenting, commonly referred to as bail out stenting.
Prolonged inflation times improve the immediate results of POBA with fewer dissections, fewer further interventions such as stenting, and less restenosis. On the other hand other studies did not show improvement in long term results with prolonged inflation times, possibly because their prolonged inflations were the result of treating dissections. Applicant is unaware of any studies that evaluate both plaque modification and prolonged inflation times.
While these mechanical strategies have resulted in measurable improvement in the acute complications of POBA, the most promising advancement in POBA has been the advent of drug eluting balloons (DEB's). A DEB is a POBA balloon coated with an antiproliferative drug, such as paclitaxel. The drug is delivered during the rather short balloon inflation and is present in smooth muscle cells up to six days later. The drug from a DEB covers essentially 100% of the plaque/vessel wall vs. only 15-20% with drug eluting stents. Compared to DES in treating coronary in-stent restenosis, a DEB seems preferable. In the THUNDER trial (sponsored by University Hospital Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany, reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, volume 358:689-699, Feb. 14, 2008, Number 7), a DEB was compared to POBA in the peripheral vasculature. DEB was very effective, and at 2 years the target lesion revascularization rate was only 15% with the DEB vs. 59% with POBA. Most experts in the field expect the general usage results of DEB's in coronary circulation to be in the range of drug eluting stents, i.e., a restenosis rate of around 20% or so. This rate leaves considerable room for improvement.
Therefore, both mechanical and pharmacological strategies have shown advantages in treating vascular lesions with balloon angioplasty. The mechanical strategies effectively address the acute or immediate problems by causing less injury to the vessel and the pharmacological strategy of drug eluting balloons significantly diminish restenosis.
Moreover, recent experiments have demonstrated that infusion of paclitaxel, an antiproliferative drug, directly into the artery may be just as effective as drug eluting balloons or drug eluting stents. This is usually done by employing a catheter specifically designed for infusion of a drug over the site of the angioplasty or stent placement after the angioplasty and/or stent placement. This type of catheter usually has two balloons, one proximal and one distal. The drug or other agent is infused between the two in a closed system, drug infusion performed after the angioplasty, stent placement or other therapeutic procedure. This requires removal of the angioplasty balloon or stent delivery catheter, which is utilized prior to the drug delivery, and subsequent placement of a separate device to deliver the drug. This is problematic not only because of the cost of the extra device, but also platelets adhere over the fissures in the plaque and about the small areas of injury in the arterial wall while the exchange is taking place, preventing some of the drug from being delivered to the wall where it is needed. Additionally, by just infusing a drug into a space that has been previously dilated, there is very little pressure forcing the drug into the wall. Subsequent to the therapeutic procedure and the drug delivery steps, the drug is then released downstream.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,178, Ya et al. describe a device with a downstream balloon catheter blocking element and an upstream suction catheter with a balloon blocking element for the removal of thrombus from a blood vessel. The device is utilized to dissolve the thrombus by injecting a dissolving agent into the space between the two balloons and then withdraw the dissolved thrombus from the body through upstream suction catheter. Any subsequent intervention or therapy (angioplasty, stent placement, and the like) are performed after the removal of the dissolved thrombus.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,022,366, Zadno-Azizi et al. describe another double balloon device similar to one described by Ya above but is directed toward embolic containment. This device is actually a three catheter irrigation/aspiration system and also has an innermost downstream balloon blocking or occluding element and an outermost upstream balloon occlusion catheter with an intermediate catheter between the two. The irrigation/aspiration of debris and emboli occurs by use of the outer pathway between the upstream balloon occlusion catheter and the intermediate catheter, and by the use of the inner pathway between the intermediate catheter and the innermost downstream balloon blocking element. The use of three catheters tends to reduce the cross-sectional size of the pathway available for aspiration of material.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,372, Schmalz et al. describe a temporary stent that can be used for support after dilatation of the lesion.

Method for treating a target site in a vascular body channel


Methods and apparatuses for predicting candidates for cell reselection are presented. In some embodiments, such a method may include determining, by a mobile device, a current direction of motion of the mobile device; determining, by the mobile device, based on network topology information, that at least two cells of a plurality of cells are located in the current direction of motion of the mobile device; prioritizing, by the mobile device, the at least two cells of the plurality of cells for reselection; measuring, by the mobile device, signal properties of the at least two prioritized cells based on the prioritizing; and selecting, by the mobile device, a first cell of the at least two prioritized cells for reselection, based on: a location of the first cell and the signal properties of the first cell.

Modern mobile devices provide wireless network connectivity to one or more networks. Due to the limitation in range of network base stations, as the user moves the mobile device changes between various serving base stations. In some situations, a mobile device may be used in an environment in which it is traveling at a high speed, such as when the user is traveling on a high-speed train or in a fast-moving car. As a result of the movement cell reselections and handoffs may occur frequently, and the signal strength measurements that are performed by the mobile device before each of the reselections and handoffs may result in spotty coverage or otherwise degraded performance. Thus, there is a need for predictive cell reselection.

Method of predicting suitable candidates for user equipment cell reselection in mobile networks based on the direction of movement


An apparatus is disclosed having a receiver configured to communicate, by a first apparatus, with a second apparatus in a first mode; determine side information by the first apparatus based on the communication during the first mode; and store the side information by the first apparatus for communication in a second mode with the second apparatus, wherein the first and second modes of communication have different date rates. A method for wireless communications is also disclosed.

I. Field
The following description relates generally to communication systems, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for establishing communications in low signal to noise ratio environments.
II. Background
In certain wireless systems, before two devices can communicate, they must be paired. The pairing process typically includes an acquisition process. In most cases, the acquisition process for wireless communications under low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) environments is a difficult problem as there are several hurdles. Two issues to consider include the presence of clock drift and the possible existence of interference.
During the communication process between two devices, there may exist clock drift from the difference between the two clocks of two different devices. The presence of clock drift reduces the effectiveness of the transmissions between devices as the timing for signals often need to be managed within a small tolerance, especially in high speed communications. Clock drift exists because of hardware manufacturing tolerances and, to some extent, environmental factors. However, compensation for clock drift by another device may be achieved more efficiently if the other device is able to have an estimate of the clock drift before the compensation process.
Preamble sequences for wireless communications are used as part of the acquisition process. One purpose for the use of the preamble is to allow time for the receiver in each node to achieve lock of the receiver's Digital Phase Lock Loop, which is used to synchronize the receive data clock to the transmit data clock. At the point when the first bit of the preamble is received, each receiver may be in an arbitrary state. During the course of detecting the preamble, it learns the correct phase, but in doing so it may need to acquire a number of samples. The number of samples that need to be captured and analyzed for proper acquisition is dependent on the received signal quality, which is affected, among others, by the amount of clock drift.
Consequently, it would be desirable to address one or more of the deficiencies described above.

Method and apparatus for establishing communications in low signal to noise ratio environments