A sensor probe for analysis of a fluid includes a base, and a pair of electrodes and a pair of shield members protruding from the base for insertion into the fluid. The electrodes have electrical oscillations generated therein for measurement of electromagnetic properties of the fluid, such as permittivity. The shield members are disposed outside the electrodes and have a dual purpose of electromagnetically shielding the electrodes and having vibrations generated therein for measurement of physical parameters of the fluid, such as density or viscosity. Thus, the single sensor probe can provide measurements of both electromagnetic properties and physical properties of the fluid.

Sensor probes may be used to analyse a range of fluids. Some non-limitative examples of fluids to which the invention relates are as follows.
In a case of particular interest, the fluid may be an oil-based drilling mud. Drilling muds typically consist of a mixture of oil (for example a synthetic base oil or diesel), brine (typically containing calcium chloride or sodium chloride), and solid materials such as clays and drilling rock, and so have a complex composition that is difficult to analyse. However, analysis may be performed by using an electromagnetic (EM) sensor probe to measure EM properties of the fluid such as permittivity. In the case of an oil-based drilling mud, the key feature as far as the electrical properties are concerned is that the oil forms the continuous matrix within which isolated brine droplets and isolated solid particles are dispersed. This type of mud exhibits a very low electrical conductivity at DC.
In another case, the fluid may be a water-based drilling mud where the brine forms the continuous matrix within which isolated oil droplets and isolated solid particles are dispersed. This type of mud exhibits a high electrical conductivity at DC, once electrode polarization effects are accounted for.
The complex electrical permittivity of an oil-based mud can be determined by passing an alternating current between an EM sensor probe comprising two electrodes immersed in the fluid and passing the same current through a reference resistor. The phase and amplitude of the voltage across the fluid are determined relative to the phase and amplitude of the voltage developed across the reference resistor. By analysing the change in phase and amplitude, it is possible to derive the capacitance and resistance of the sample and hence derive the real and imaginary parts of the complex permittivity of the fluid. This is a widely used technique which can be used to determine the permittivity over a wide range of frequencies, for example from 1 Hz to 100 MHz.
Analysis of other properties of a fluid, either oil-based or water-based, may also be performed. For example, density may be determined from measurements of the volume and mass of a sample. In another example, properties such as density and certain viscosity properties can be determined by immersing the tines of a tuning fork in the fluid, vibrating the tines and measuring parameters of the vibrations, for example the resonance frequency and/or the quality factor (Q factor). The resonance frequency decreases as the fluid density increases, and vice versa. By calibration of the tuning fork in a range of fluids with known densities, it is possible to determine the density of any fluid from the resonance frequency. In addition, the Q decreases as the fluid viscosity increases, and vice versa, so the Q factor of the tuning fork resonance can similarly be used to derive information on the viscosity of the fluid.
It is therefore possible to measure EM properties of a fluid using an EM sensor probe inserted into a sample of the fluid, and before or after that to measure the density of the same fluid, so that the results can be combined.
The present invention is concerned with improving such analysis of fluids.


Disclosed herein is an image processing apparatus including: a representative image creation block configured to create, as a representative image, a union image with images of screens making up a predetermined scene linked with each other; and a symbol drawing block configured, on the basis of a full-screen movement of each screen in the predetermined scene, to draw a symbol indicative of the full-screen movement on a rim of the representative image created by the representative image creation block, wherein the symbol drawing block draws the symbol indicative of the full-screen movement in accordance with a display size of the representative image to be displayed on an output device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image processing method and, more particularly, to an image processing apparatus and an image processing method that are configured to create an image of union as a representative image for each scene.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, a subject that cannot be entirely held in one screen of an imaging device (a camera) is taken as divided in two or more frames by use of pan or tilt technique. FIG. 36 shows an example in which a subject extending in the horizontal direction is taken with an imaging device (camera) by use of a pan technique.
Also, it has been practiced to process taken or created image signals to select a predetermined screen (a first screen for example) for each scene, providing the image of the selected screen as a representative image. In this case, a viewer or an editor, for example, cannot grasp the entire image of a subject that is not held in its entirety in one screen of an imaging device (a camera) taken therewith by use of a pan technique as described above.
In addition, a technique is known in which an image signal obtained by taking a subject by use of a pan technique as described above, for example, is processed to create an image of union (sum of sets) in which the images of two or more screens (frames) are linked with each other (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 07-298137 and Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 06-326965).

Image processing apparatus and image processing method


The present invention is an endpoint detector and a method for quickly and accurately measuring the change in thickness of a wafer in chemical-mechanical polishing processes. The endpoint detector has a reference platform, a measuring face, and a distance measuring device. The reference platform is positioned proximate to the wafer carrier, and the reference platform and measuring device are positioned apart from one another by a known, constant distance. The measuring face is fixedly positioned with respect to the wafer carrier at a location that allows the measuring device to engage the measuring face when the wafer is positioned on the reference platform. Each time the measuring device engages the measuring surface, it measures the displacement of the measuring face with respect to the measuring device. The displacement of the measuring face is proportional to the change in thickness of the wafer between measurements.

Chemical-mechanical polishing ("CMP") processes remove material from the surface of a wafer in the production of ultra-high density integrated circuits. In a typical CMP process, a wafer is pressed against a polishing pad in the presence of a slurry under controlled chemical, pressure, velocity, and temperature conditions. The slurry solution generally contains small, abrasive particles that abrade the surface of the wafer, and chemicals that etch and/or oxidize the surface of the wafer. The polishing pad is generally a planar pad made from a porous material such as blown polyurethane. Thus, when the pad and/or the wafer moves with respect to the other, material is removed from the surface of the wafer by the abrasive particles (mechanical removal) and by the chemicals in the slurry (chemical removal).
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a conventional CMP machine 10 with a platen 20, a wafer carrier 30, a polishing pad 40, and a slurry 44 on the polishing pad. The platen 20 has a surface 22 upon which the polishing pad 40 is positioned. A drive assembly 26 rotates the platen 20 as indicated by arrow "A". In another type of existing CMP machine, the drive assembly 26 reciprocates the platen back and forth as indicated by arrow "B". The motion of the platen 20 is imparted to the pad 40 because the polishing pad 40 frictionally engages the surface 22 of the platen 20. The wafer carrier 30 has a lower surface 32 to which a wafer 60 may be attached, or the wafer 60 may be attached to a resilient pad 34 positioned between the wafer 60 and the lower surface 32. The wafer carrier 30 may be a weighted, free-floating wafer carrier, or an actuator assembly 36 may be attached to the wafer carrier 30 to impart axial and rotational motion, as indicated by arrows "C" and "D", respectively.
In the operation of the conventional polisher 10, the wafer 60 is positioned face-downward against the polishing pad 40, and then the platen 20 and the wafer carrier 30 move relative to one another. As the face of the wafer 60 moves across the planarizing surface 42 of the polishing pad 40, the polishing pad 40 and the slurry 44 remove material from the wafer 60.
In the competitive semiconductor industry, it is highly desirable to maximize the throughput of CMP processes to produce accurate, planar surfaces as quickly as possible. The throughput of CMP processes is a function of several factors, one of which is the ability to accurately stop the CMP process at a desired endpoint. Accurately stopping the CMP process at a desired endpoint is important to maintaining a high throughput because the thickness of the dielectric layer must be within an acceptable range; if the thickness of the dielectric layer is not within an acceptable range, the wafer must be re-polished until it reaches the desired endpoint. Re-polishing a wafer, however, significantly reduces the throughput of CMP processes. Thus, it is highly desirable to stop the CMP process at the desired endpoint.
In one conventional method for determining the endpoint of the CMP process, the polishing period of one wafer in a run is estimated using the polishing rate of previous wafers in the run. The estimated polishing period for the wafer, however, may not be accurate because the polishing rate may change from one wafer to another. Thus, this method may not accurately polish the wafer to the desired endpoint.
In another method for determining the endpoint of the CMP process, the wafer is removed from the pad and wafer carrier, and then the thickness of the wafer is measured. Removing the wafer from the pad and wafer carrier, however, is time-consuming and may damage the wafer. Moreover, if the wafer is not at the desired endpoint, then even more time is required to remount the wafer to the wafer carrier for repolishing. Thus, this method generally reduces the throughput of the CMP process.
In still another method for determining the endpoint of the CMP process, a portion of the wafer is moved beyond the edge of the pad, and an interferometer directs a beam of light directly onto the exposed portion of the wafer. The wafer, however, may not be in the same reference position each time it overhangs the pad because the edge of the pad is compressible, the wafer may pivot when it overhangs the pad, and the exposed portion of the wafer may vary from one measurement to the next. Thus, this method may inaccurately measure the change in thickness of the wafer.
In light of the problems with conventional endpoint detection techniques, it would be desirable to develop an apparatus and a method for quickly and accurately measuring the change in thickness of a wafer during the CMP process.

Endpoint detector and method for measuring a change in wafer thickness in chemical-mechanical polishing of semiconductor wafers


In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for debugging an assertion. These mechanisms and methods for debugging an assertion can enable improved interpretation and analysis of data validation results, more efficient development associated with data validation, etc.

The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.
Data validation is a common practice of conventional systems. For example, a first login service may desire to validate a user login with a second login service (e.g., in a single sign-on environment, etc.). Unfortunately, conventional validation techniques have been associated with various limitations.
Just by way of example, traditional methods of validating a user login with a login service may require a specific format that may prove difficult to follow. Additionally, any errors encountered during the validation may result in cryptic error codes that may prove difficult and time-consuming to manually interpret and address. Further, errors encountered during the validation may stop the validation process from continuing. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide techniques that improve the interpretation and analysis of conventional validation techniques.

System, method and computer program product for debugging an assertion


The invention provides a biological process for reduction of chemical and biological oxygen demand of pulp and paper industrial effluent using a mixed bacterial consortium comprising of bacterial strains isolated from natural sources which is capable of reducing chemical and biological oxygen demand of pulp and paper industrial effluent to standard discharge limits.

The wastewater from an industry may be organic or inorganic in nature or a combination of both. In most cases, it contains toxic ingredients. The direct effect of wastewater pollution is to deplete, through the excessive organic load, the dissolved oxygen (D.O.) content of receiving waters to the point that the stream becomes incapable of exercising the self-purification processes. The deoxygenation may be high enough to destroy practically all fish and other aquatic life. Such polluted water may also cause sporadic outbreaks of water-borne diseases (Nandan and Raisuddin, 1996). The problem is compounded by the fact that solubility of oxygen in water is very low, less than 12 mg/l. This oxygen comes from two sources, viz. diffusion from the atmosphere at the air/water interface and as a by-product of photosynthesis. Photosynthetic organisms, such as plants and algae, produce oxygen when there is a sufficient light source. During times of insufficient light, these same organisms consume oxygen, resulting in the depletion of DO levels.
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) are indices of the biologically degradable and chemically oxidizable fractions of the wastewater, respectively. These parameters are frequently used to define influent and effluent characteristics as also ensure the wastewater treatment efficiency. These are monitored regularly to give clearance to the discharge of the above wastewaters. Recalcitrant organic matter (ROM), which is presumed by some to be partly responsible for long-term sub-lethal toxicity in receiving waters (Labunska et al, 2001); is sometimes represented in terms of a lumped parameter, the COD. COD of the treated effluent is representative of the effectiveness of a treatment technique in its ability to remove the total organic material present in the influent.
BOD is the most widely used measure of the biodegradable organic content (Chee et al, 2000) and is usually expressed as the 5-day BOD at 20° C. (BOD5) (APHA, 1998). The determination involves the measurement of dissolved oxygen during the biochemical oxidation of organic mater by the microorganisms at a standard duration and temperature. Microbes oxidize organic matter to provide themselves with sufficient energy to enable them to synthesize the complex molecules such as proteins and polysaccharides, which are needed to build new cells (Sessa, 1979).
Pulp and paper industry is one of the most important point sources for BOD elevation in the receiving waters; more so because most pulp mills are situated near rivers. The treated effluent is representative of the effectiveness of a treatment technique in its ability to remove the total organic material present in the influent. The contributors to COD in biotreated effluents are not only the non-biodegradable recalcitrant organic matter, but also a certain amount of degradable organic matter, which has resisted biodegradation due to its existence in a state where it was not bioavailable (Konduru et al, 2001).
A recent internal survey within the pulp and paper industry has reported that the COD values of the wastewaters can be as high as 11000 mg/l (Thompson and Forster, 2003). Typical loadings of BOD, COD and solids in the pulp mill effluents depend significantly on:                nature and cleanliness of the stock        whether the pulp and paper mill is equipped with a chemical recovery facility        the bleaching sequences applied and        the efficiency of the chemical recovery plant, as much as 96% of the COD load can be removed from the pulp cooking liquor.
The pollution load in terms of biological oxygen demand (BOD) from small paper mills is 2-5 times the pollution load from large paper mills equipped with soda recovery. Mills producing paperboard generate relatively lower volumes of wastewater (68-90 l/kg of product) with high BOD (72-82 kg/ton of product) and suspended solids (224-290 kg/ton) as compared to paper mills. Table 1 shows the mean range of concentrations of BOD, COD and SS normally measure in untreated pulp and paper mills.
TABLE 1Mean/Range of concentrations (mg/l) of BOD, COD and Suspended Solidsnormally measured in untreated pulp and paper mills.Mill SourceBODCODSSIntegrated pulp and paper mills160550230Paper mills160–1150310–1100015–3230Source: Murtedza Mohammed, 1995
Biological treatment gives the ideal solution to treatment of wastewaters as less sludge is produced as compared to chemical treatments. Lower daily running costs are also incurred. Conventional treatment technologies essentially involve aerobic biological treatment methods.
Researchers across the globe have tried to devise innovative methods for achieving maximum reduction in the BOD and COD loadings of pulp and paper mill wastes.
Although numerous studies have looked at ways to degrade or remove COD and BOD of the pulp and paper effluents, the problem remains (Arcand and Archibald, 1993). COD removal of up to 80% by Leptothrix ochracea, Pseudomonas multistreata and Flavobacterium ochracea, isolated from activated sludge (Srivastava et al, 1995) has been reported. Tarlan et al, 2002, reported the use of algae for removal of COD in the range of 55-60%, however, only after a period of 20 days of retention.
Belsare and Prasad, 1988 reported that the effluent from bagasse based pulp and paper mills, when treated with the white rot fungus, S. commune, was able to reduce the BOD and COD of the effluent. However, an additional C-source like sucrose was required for the same with a 2-day incubation period and a pH of 4-5. Many other workers have also reported the use of white rot fungi for reduction of BOD and COD load of such wastewaters, in addition to decolorization (Kirk et al, 1976; Eaton et al, 1980; Prasad and Joyce, 1991; Nagarathanamma et al, 1999).
Sharma and Bandopadyaya, 1991, reported that lignin is not easily biodegradable and hence counts for high COD/BOD ratio. They used an anaerobic filter for the treatment of pulp and paper mill waste and achieve a maximum COD removal of 84.38% for an influent concentration of 4182.5 mg/l. Anaerobic processes are often prescribed as the first pretreatment step for pulp and paper mill wastewaters with increased COD concentrations, in order to meet the corresponding effluent requirements (Babuna et al, 1998). According to them, the magnitude of inert fractions in treatment of effluents is more important than the kinetics of the biodegradable part of the influent COD. They described an anaerobic application basis of a newly developed method that identifies separately the soluble and particulate initial inert and residual products. It was concluded that with the mentioned wastewater sample, having a total COD of 13000 mg/l, it is not possible to achieve a lower COD value than 2230 mg/l, which is the sum of the initially inert soluble COD and the soluble residual microbial products under anaerobic conditions. Grover et al, 1999, reported the use of an anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) and effect of different pH, temperatures, hydraulic retention times and organs loading rates on continuous anaerobic digestion of black liquor from pulp and paper mills. A maximum COD reduction of about 60% at an organic loading rate of 5 kg m−3d−1 at a hydraulic retention time of 2 days was recorded.
Ali and Sreekrishnan 2000, reported reduction of COD and AOX of black liquor and bleach plant effluent from an agroresidue based pulp and paper mill by anaerobic treatment. Addition of 1% w/v glucose however was a necessity as in its absence only about 31% of COD reduction could be achieved. Wagner and Nicell, 2001, reported the treatment of a foul condensate from kraft pulping with Horse Radish Peroxidase and hydrogen peroxide. Although, a total phenol reduction occurred, the overall COD removal was marginal.
Modifications in the bleaching sequence can lead to reducing the pollutant loading to levels lower than those normally found in the effluents of mills using the conventional bleaching sequence, CEHDED. E.g., when the chlorine delignification stage is preceded by oxygen treatment, the resulting color, BOD and COD levels were found to be 87%, 77% and 76% less than the levels recorded for CEDED (Muhammed, 1995). Certain studies seem to indicate that the residual color in pulp mill effluents may be linked with the recalcitrant COD. Kemeny and Banerjee, 1997 observed a correlation between the end-of-pipe COD and color, thereby suggesting that the residual color might be related to the organic component that is not removed during treatment.
Till date, the are almost no reports regarding the utilization of pure bacterial cultures for bringing down the COD and BOD of pulping effluent. The novelty of the present invention is the application of pure cultures of bacteria in the form of a specifically designed synergistic mixture; isolated from natural habitat, for removing COD and BOD of the pulp and paper wastewaters in an industrially and economically viable fashion.

Biological process for reducing chemical and biochemical oxygen demand of pulp and paper industrial effluent

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research


A surface-treated steel sheet for a container, comprising: a steel sheet, and a Zr compound film disposed on the steel sheet, wherein the Zr compound film being formed by a dipping or electrolytic treatment in a solution containing Zr ion, F ion, ammonium ion and nitrate ion; and the coating weight of the Zr compound film is 1 to 100 mg/m2 in terms of the amount of metallic Zr, and 0.1 mg/m2 or less in terms of the F amount. There is provided a steel sheet for container, which has an excellent processability in the can manufacturing, and at the same time, is excellent in drawing and ironing processability, weldability, corrosion resistance, adherence thereof to a coating material and adherence thereof to a film, and a process for producing such a steel sheet for container.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a steel sheet for container, which is usable as a raw material for manufacturing cans, and which is in particular excellent in the processability (or workability) in a drawing and ironing procedure, weldability, corrosion resistance, adherence thereof to a coating material, and adherence thereof to a film. The present invention also relates to a process for producing such a steel sheet for container.
2. Related Background Art
Containers made of metals to be used for containing therein beverages or foods can be classified into two-piece cans and three-piece cans. In the manufacture of the two-piece cans represented by DI cans, after the drawing and ironing process for a raw material for the can, a coating material is applied to the inner surface side of the resultant can, and a coating material and printing are applied to the outer surface side of the can. In the manufacture of the three-piece cans, a coating material is applied to the surface of corresponding to the inner surface of the can, printing is applied to the surface corresponding to the outer surface side of the can, and thereafter the barrel portion of the can is subjected to welding.
In either case of the above types of cans, a coating step to be conducted before or after the can manufacturing step is an indispensable step. In the coating step, a solvent-based or water-based coating material is used, and thereafter, a baking step is performed. In this coating step, a waste matter (such as waste solvent) attributable to the coating material is discharged as industrial wastes, and the exhaust gas (mainly comprising carbon dioxide gas) is released into the atmosphere. In recent years, various attempts or approaches to reduce such industrial wastes and exhaust gases are being made. Among these, a technique of laminating a film has been attracting attention as an alternative to the above coating technique, and such a laminating technique has rapidly been spread.
With respect to the two-piece cans, a large number of can manufacturing processes including a step of laminating a film so as to manufacture a can, and a large number of inventions relating to such processes have heretofore been provided and reported. Examples the invention may include: "Process for manufacturing draw-ironed can (Patent Document 1)", "Draw-ironed can (Patent Document 2)", "Process for manufacturing a thin-walled deep-drawn can (Patent Document 3)" and "Coated steel sheet for draw-ironed can (Patent Document 4)".
Further, with respect to the three-piece cans, examples of the such an invention may include "Film-laminated steel band (or strip) for three-piece can and process for producing the same (Patent Document 5)", "Three-piece can having multilayer organic film on outer surface of can (Patent Document 6)", "Steel sheet for three-piece can having striped multilayer organic film (Patent Document 7)" and "Process for producing striped laminated steel sheet for three-piece can (Patent Document 8)".
On the other hand, with respect to the steel sheet to be used as an underlying layer of the laminate film, chromate films which have been subjected to an electrolytic chromate treatment have been used in many cases. The chromate film has a two-layer structure, where a hydrated Cr oxide layer is present on a metal Cr layer. Accordingly, the laminate film (in the case of a film with an adhesive, the adhesive layer) may ensure the adherence to the steel sheet through the medium of the hydrated Cr oxide layer of the chromate film. The details of the mechanism of developing such an adherence have not clearly been reported yet, but it has been supposed that the hydrogen bonding between the hydroxyl group of the hydrated Cr oxide and the functional group such as carbonyl group or ester group of the laminate film is attributable to the above adherence.

Steel sheet for container having excellent organic film performance and process for producing the same

NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION


An active matrix organic light-emitting diode display panel is provided and includes a first metal layer, an interlayer dielectric layer, a second metal layer, a planarization layer and a transparent conductive layer sequentially located on a substrate. Second via holes are defined in the planarization layer. The transparent conductive layer is connected to the second metal layer through the second via holes. A contact surface of the second metal layer and the transparent conductive layer is a waved surface.

The present invention relates to a field of display technology, and especially to an active matrix organic light-emitting diode display panel.
In an active matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display panel, an anode is usually made of a structure of three layers of indium tin oxide (ITO), Ag and ITO. Because ITO includes excellent conductivity and light transmittance and characteristics of high work function, adding ITO with high work function between Ag and highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of an OLED improves efficiency of hole mobility.
Furthermore, characteristics of high work function of ITO can also mitigate contact impedance between source/drain metal and IC/FPC contacts. ITO, in addition to characteristics of high work, also has better chemical stability. An ITO film, after the acid and alkali resistance tests, is proved to be able to endure water corrosion.
With respect to an AMOLED display panel, in addition to anodes in a displaying region, integrated circuit (IC) pads, flexible printed circuit (FPC) pads, array full contact testing pads, cell testing pads in a non-displaying region also need to be covered with ITO to prevent the display panel from corrosion by the high temperature and high humidity process and environmental acid/alkali during later OLED and module forming processes, after completion of an array source/drain metal forming process. As shown in FIG. 1, a soldering region (pad) in the above mentioned non-displaying region includes a substrate 11, a buffer layer 12, a first insulating layer 13, a first metal layer 14, a second insulating layer 15, an interlayer dielectric layer 16, a second metal layer 17, a planarization layer 18, a transparent conductive layer 19 and a pixel definition layer 20.
However, the ITO on the pad in the non-displaying region is easily to be peeled to be separated therefrom, thereby causing contact failure between the IC/FPC or COF and the panel. A conventional design is to omit the design of the ITO in the pad region; that is to omit the transparent conductive layer 19 shown in FIG. 1. Such a practice causes the metal layer to be corroded easily and lowers connection stability of the pad and lifespan of the display panel.
Therefore, it is necessary to provide an active matrix organic light-emitting diode display panel, to solve the issue of the conventional technology.

Active matrix organic light-emitting diode display panel

Wuhan China Star Optoelectronics Semiconductor Display Technology Co., Ltd.


The present disclosure relates to dimming circuit and method for LEDs. The dimming circuit obtains a DC voltage from an external AC power supply by using a TRIAC, an electronic transformer, and a rectifier bridge sequentially. The dimming circuit comprises a first power stage circuit, a second power stage, a first control circuit, and a second control circuit. The first power stage circuit has an input terminal configured to receive the DC voltage. The second power stage has an input terminal coupled to an output terminal of the first power stage and an output terminal coupled to an LED load. The first control circuit is configured to generate a first control signal in accordance with a first output voltage generated at the output terminal of the first power stage circuit, a first reference voltage and an upper threshold voltage to maintain an average value of the first output voltage to be consistent with the first reference voltage. The second control circuit is configured to generate a dimming signal in accordance with a first current and the first output voltage to control an operation of the second power stage circuit to maintain an output current of the second power stage circuit to be consistent with an expected driving current represented by the dimming signal. The first current is no less than a holding current of the electronic transformer. An input current of the first power stage circuit is maintained to be consistent with the first current by the first control signal when the first output voltage is in a continuously increasing state and is lower than the upper threshold voltage. The first output voltage decreases continuously and the input current is maintained to be consistent with a second current after the first output voltage reaches the upper threshold voltage.

In the lighting field, the phase-controlled (chopping) dimming method using Triode for Alternating Current (TRIAC) is a dimming method most widely nowadays, and is widely used in the fields such as stage lighting and surrounding illumination, since it has the advantages of the small size, the reasonable price and the wide dimming power range. By applying the TRIAC phase-controlled operating principle, the supply voltage of the lamp circuit is controlled by controlling the conduction angle of the TRIAC element to chop out a part of the sine wave voltage input from the AC power network, to decrease the average value of the output voltage, so as to achieve the dimming function for LEDs.
FIG. 1A illustrates a principle block diagram of a dimming circuit adopting the existing TRIAC phase-controlled dimming method, which comprises an AC input power supply 101, a TRIAC 106, a trigger circuit 113, a rectifier bridge 107, a holding resistor 108, and a filter circuit consisting of a diode 109 and a filter capacitor 110. Wherein, the trigger circuit 113 may consist of a few parts, such as a DIAC 105, an adjustable resistor 102, a resistor 103 and a capacitor 104. The anode of the TRIAC 106 is coupled to one end of the AC input power supply 101, and the cathode thereof is coupled to the rectifier bridge 107; the point A in the trigger circuit consisting of the adjustable resistor 102, the resistor 103 and the capacitor 104 connected in series in turn is coupled to the control electrode of the TRIAC 106.
During the operation, by adjusting the resistance value of the adjustable resistor 102, the voltage of the control electrode of the TRIAC 106 is changed, and the TRIAC element 106 is turned on when the voltage of the control electrode is greater than a certain voltage, so as to control the phase of the conduction angle of the TRIAC element 106 with respect to the AC input power supply 101. It can be seen, from the schematic diagram of the operating waveform of the TRIAC phase-controlled dimming with leading edge triggered, as shown in FIG. 1B, that at a certain time point t1 (or a certain phase wt1) after the zero crossing point of the voltage of the sine AC input power supply 101, a positive triggering pulse Vtrg1 is applied to the control electrode of the TRIAC element 106, so that the TRIAC element 106 is turned on, which will maintain until the positive half-sinusoidal wave period ends according to the switching characteristics of the TRIAC element. Therefore, in the positive half-sinusoidal wave period (i.e., the section of 0˜π), the TRIAC element 106 is turned off within the range of 0˜wt1, i.e., the control angle α, while the TRIAC is turned on in the phase section of wt1˜π, i.e., the conduction angle φ. In the same way, in the negative half-sinusoidal wave period of the AC power, a triggering pulse Vtrg2 is applied at the time point t2 (i.e., the phase angle wt2) so that it is turned on. It goes round and round, and it is controlled to be turned on in each half-sinusoidal wave period to get the same conduction angle. The magnitude of the conduction angle φ (or the control angle α) of the TRIAC can be changed by changing the triggering time (or phase) of the triggering pulse, so as to generate an AC voltage Vacin with phase loss, which is rectified by the rectifier bridge 107 to generate the DC voltage Vdcin, and it can be seen that the greater the conduction angle φ, the higher the output voltage Vdc of the circuit, and the light from the load 112 becomes brighter by controlling the load 112 through the SMPS (Switching Mode Power Supply) driver 111.
However, the filter capacitor 110 needs to be arranged in the dimming circuit for LEDs adopting the prior art as shown in FIG. 1A. Because the capacitance of the filter capacitor 110 is high, the LC resonance in the circuit causes that the current through the TRIAC is uncontrollable, and the TRIAC cannot maintain the turned-on state, and therefore flicker occurs in the LED. In addition, the electronic transformer in the traditional circuit is originally designed for a halogen lamp rather than LED lamp, and it requires a minimum holding current to operate normally during the operation thereof. Therefore, in the LED driving circuit with the electronic transformer, the problems of the uncontrollable current and the turning off of the electronic transfer are resolved by a method for adding a dummy load (for example, the holding resistor 108); however, the power consumption of the added dummy load causes a lower operating efficiency.
Therefore, in the LED driving circuit with electronic transformer, it is a challenge how to both satisfy the requirement of the minimum current of the electronic transformer, to dim the LED load accurately so that no flicker occurs in LED load, and to keep the operating efficiency of the whole system high.

Silergy Semiconductor Technology (Hangzhou) Ltd.


A computer system and method for transferring a file from a device in proximity, including start downloading a file from a message addressed to a recipient, checking the message for one or more common recipients of the message; downloading the file from a remote server in response to no common recipient devices being in proximity to the recipient device, downloading the file from a remote server in response to the file not being available for transfer from any common recipient devices being in proximity to the recipient device, automatically applying file transfer permissions to the downloaded file for each of the common recipients of the message, checking if a common recipient device in proximity has requested to download the file, and transferring the file to the requesting common recipient device in proximity in response to the common recipient device in proximity being a mapped trusted device of the recipient device.

This disclosure is directed to method and system for downloading a file from common recipient devices in proximity.
If a user receives an email with an attachment file on the user's device, the user needs to download the file on the device to view its content. In many situations, there are people in close proximity that might have received the same content for various reasons, including, they are part of the same group, such as a social group or a family group, or they work in same office. Another example may be a high interest level on the same content/topic, for example if two people are passionate about music and are always keen to stay up to-date with the latest hits or news on their favorite artists.
In these situations, the nearby device users each must using data bandwidth to download the content thus spending time, money and data usage. Each user receives the file to download as part of the group communication and every recipient downloads the attachment and stores in locations only accessible to the same user.
There are existing applications which allows users to share and receive data from devices without using any data bandwidth and which are quite fast. However, the major drawback of these existing systems is that they require user intervention of both the sender and receiver.
Although this system recognizes the available devices in the network based on some criteria for sharing content, these systems require a push from the sender and then choosing a receiver.
In P2P, there is central indexing server which tracks all its users, connected devices and files stored that are ready for share. Once a user connects to the server, the server points to the connected device and the file is downloaded. In this model, the server does not store the file but just stores the address of the connected devices and the stored file.
In downloading a file using torrent, the user searches about the file or someone sends the torrent file to the user. The user adds the torrent file to the torrent client. Reading the file, the torrent client connects to the torrent server and finds the address of the device which contains that particular file and the download happens from that device to the user device.
Typically, a user creates an attachment file as part of email and creates metadata for that attachment and the attachment is stored at an email server. The attachment metadata is sent to the email recipients. The email recipients referring to the attachment metadata connect to the email server to be authenticated and to download the email file. The email server also tracks who all have downloaded the file and then others can download from that device. Drawing a parallel analogy to torrent here, the email server is torrent indexing server, the attachment metadata is a torrent file and the devices that have downloaded the file are peer devices. When another user tries to download the file from server, server replies that the file can be downloaded from a peer.

System and method to download file from common recipient devices in proximity

International Business Machines Corporation


The use of omega-acceptor and omega-donor polypeptides (comprising about two-thirds and one-third of the .beta.-galactosidase molecule amino and carboxyl termini, respectively), prepared by recombinant DNA techniques, DNA synthesis, or chemical polypeptide synthesis techniques, which are capable of interacting to form an active enzyme complex having catalytic activity characteristic of .beta.-galactosidase, is described along with improved methods and novel compositions for enzyme complementation assays for qualitative and quantitative determination of a suspected analyte in a sample.

The enzyme .beta.-galactosidase has for a long time found wide use in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) (Engvall and Perimann, 1971, Immunochemistry 8:871) and homogeneous substrate labeled assays (Burd et al., 1977, Clin. Chem. 23:1402). In addition, .beta.-galactosidase forms the basis of a widespread genetic system for DNA cloning and DNA sequencing (Messing, 1983, Methods of Enzymology 101:20).
.beta.-Galactosidase is a tetrameric protein having a molecular weight (MW) of about 540,000 daltons. The four identical monomers consist of 1023 amino acids, each with a MW of 116,000 daltons. The monomeric protein, as shown in FIG. 1, is divided into three regions: (1) the N-terminus proximal segment (the .alpha.-region), (2) a middle region, and (3) a C-terminus distal segment (the .omega.-region).
Mutant polypeptides derived from .beta.-galactosidase are known which can complement or spontaneously restore enzyme activity when added to extracts of appropriate .beta.-galactosidase negative mutants. This phenomenon is known as intracistronic complementation. When complementation involves a deletion or chain interruption in the .alpha.-region, the process is referred to as .alpha.-complementation. An example of .alpha.-complementation is provided by the M15/CNBr2 complementation system. The M15 mutant polypeptide lacks amino acids 11-41 of .beta.-galactosidase and exists in solution as an enzymatically inactive dimer. A polypeptide derived from .beta.-galactosidase by cyanogen bromide cleavage, denoted the CNBr2 peptide (CNBr2), consists of amino acids 3-92. CNBr2, when mixed with the dimer M15, promotes spontaneous reconstruction of the .beta.-galactosidase tetramer with full enzymatic activity (Langley and Zabin, 1976, Biochemistry 15:4866). The M15 peptide is therefore known as an .beta.-acceptor and CNBr2 as an .beta.-donor.
While this represents a well-studied complementing system, CNBr2 can also serve as an .alpha.-donor for the M112 dimer, a deletion of amino acids 23-31 within .beta.-galactosidase (Lin, Villarejo and Zabin, 1970, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Common. 40:249; Celeda and Zabin, 1979, Biochem. 18:404; Welply, Fowler and Zabin, 1981, J. Biol. Chem. 256:6804; Langley et al., 1975, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 72:1254). In the example of complementation of M15 by CNBr2, amino acid sequences 3-10 and 42-96 are both present in duplicate in the enzymatically inactive complex.
Intracistronic complementation also occurs at the C-terminus of .beta.-galactosidase (the .omega.-region). An early publication that describes structural studies related to complementation of .beta.-galactosidase in the carboxy-terminal region is M. E. Goldberg, The Lactose Operon, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1970. The most widely studied example is the X90-acceptor peptide that deletes that last 10 amino acids, 1013-1023. The X90 peptide exists as a monomer and can be complemented by CNBr24, a cyanogen bromide digestion product of .beta.-galactosidase consisting of amino acids 990-1023, to reform enzymatically active tetramer (Welphy et al., 1980, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Common. 93:223).
A number of patent applications and patents relating to complementation assays have arisen out of the laboratories of the present inventors. Those applications that are directed to .beta.-galactosidase enzyme donors and acceptors are U.S. application Ser. No. 666,080, filed Oct. 29, 1984, now abandoned; U.S. application Ser. No. 721,267, filed Apr. 8, 1985, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,929; U.S. application Ser. No. 788,370, filed Oct. 22, 1985, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,653; U.S. application Ser. No. 347,679, filed May 5, 1989, now abandoned; U.S. application Ser. No. 410,996, filed Sep. 22, 1989, now abandoned; and PCT application PCT/US90/02491, filed May 4, 1990, now pending as an international PCT application designating the US. All of these patents and patent applications are herein incorporated by reference. In particular, several of these earlier patents and applications disclose the complete genetic and amino acid sequence of the beta-galactosidase enzyme.

Methods and compositions for enzyme complementation assays using the omega region of .beta.-galactosidase


As a beam converger, one having reflective surfaces including partial cylindrical curved surfaces and partial plain surfaces, which surround laser rod and pump lamp plane-parallelly and substantially uniformly in the axial direction thereof, is adopted, so as to make a high beam converging property in the case of adoption of an elliptic cylinder moderate. The axes of the pump lamp and/or the laser rod are shifted to positions closer to the partial cylindrical curved surfaces than the center lines of the partial cylindrical curved surfaces, so as to increase energy of light exciting the laser rod by the pump lamp, thus improving the efficiency. A laser system obtained by combining a resonant type laser device comprising two laser rods and one or two pump lamps with a prism having a regular equilateral triangle shape in cross section, highly contributes to the compactness and simplification of the laser system.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to laser devices, a laser system including the laser devices and an output mirror for the laser system. The invention is particularly concerned with improvements in laser devices each comprising: one or more axially symmetrical columnar laser media; one or more axially symmetrical columnar pump light sources arranged parallelly to each other and adjoining the laser media; and a beam converger having a reflective surface including two or more partially cylindrical curved surfaces and two or more partial plain surfaces arranged plane-parallelly, said curved surfaces and said plain surfaces plane-parallelly and substantially uniformly surrounding the laser media and the pump light sources in the axial direction thereof. Further, the invention relates to a laser system including the improved laser devices. The invention is concerned with an output mirror capable of being used in the common laser systems, in which a necessary optical component out of incident rays are transmitted and the transmitted light is reflected in a direction opposite of the incident rays.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The laser beams, differing from the common naturally emitted lights, have various characteristics such as the coherence and excellent monochromaticity. Because of these characteristics, the laser beams have been widely used of measuring with high accuracy and high sensitiveness, meteorology, study of nonlinear optics, optical communication and so forth.
FIG. 30 is an explanatory view showing the conventional structure of a laser system using the above-described laser beams. In this drawing, the laser oscillator is comprised of a laser device (a lamp house for the oscillator) 3, a total reflection mirror 5, and a half mirror 9 with a half-transmittable film 2. The laser beams emanated from the laser oscillator are successively reflected rectangularly by prisms 6a, 6b, 6c and 6d and led to a laser device (a lamp house for the amplifier) 4. Upon being amplified by the laser amplifier 4, the laser beams are reflected rectangularly by a prism 6e and thrown to a body to be measured, not shown, and the like. In place of the prisms 6a -6e, total reflection mirrors may be used. In this case, similarly to the prisms 6a -6e, the total reflection mirrors are arranged at positions where the beams are reflected rectangularly.
As the above-described laser devices 3 and 4, as disclosed in Walter Koechner: Solid-State Laser Engineering, pp301-306 (Springer Verlag, 1976) and Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 51-40894 for example, these have been most widely used a device of the type in which a laser rod 12 and a pump lamp 11 are placed at two foci 41 and 42 of a beam converger 10 of an elliptic cylinder as shown in FIG. 31. In this arrangement, being based on the geometrical theorem, the beam converging property is high. In this type, the highest efficiency can be obtained when the laser rod 12 is placed with the pump lamp 11 in close proximity. Furthermore, in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 50-85291, there is disclosed one in which two pump lamps 11 and 13 are placed on both sides of the laser rod 12 as shown in FIG. 32, and another in which laser rods 12 and 14 are placed on both sides of the pump lamp 11 as shown in FIG. 33.
However, any way, the pump lamps 11, 13 and the laser rods 12, 14 are placed at the foci 41, 42, 43 and 44 of the ellipse, whereby the intensity of the light from the pump lamps becomes extremely high in the vicinity of the axes of the laser rods, thus presenting a problem that optical elements reach the limit of destruction when laser beams are oscillated or amplified and a high output energy cannot be obtained as the whole of beam. Further, there has been another problem that there occur portions of the laser rod to which the light of the pump lamp fails to reach, whereby the output as the whole of beam is decreased.
In order to solve the above mentioned two problems, in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 62-183193, there is disclosed a laser device in which the axis of the laser rod is shifted from the focal point of the elliptic cylinder. As shown in FIG. 34, in this laser device, the axis 31 of the pump lamp 11 is placed at one focus 41 of the beam converger 10 consisting of the elliptic cylinder and a point within the laser rod is placed at the other focus 42 and axis 32 of the laser rod 12 is shifted between the two foci 41 and 42.
According to this laser device, the distribution of light intensity from the laser rod is improved, however, the degree of uniformity of the distribution is not satisfactory, thus presenting a problem that merely the position of the highest intensity is shifted from the axis of the laser rod.
Furthermore, in the above-described literature by W. Koechner, there are disclosed laser devices of the type having beam convergers which do not form a focus such as a cross-section of a circle, arcs and straight-lines or an oval shape.
Out of the laser devices of this type, one in which the laser rod is placed to the pump lamp in close proximity provides easy fabrication and the distribution of the intensity of the laser is improved. However, it has a problem that the efficiency is low as compared with the laser device of the elliptic cylinder type. Further, the distribution of laser intensity is improved as compared with the elliptic cylinder type, however, it has a problem that the improvement is not satisfactory.
Further, in the above-described literature U.S. Pat. No. 4751716, there is disclosed a laser device of a multiple connection in which a plurality of pump lamps are provided. In the multiple connection type mentioned above is improved in the uniformity of laser intensity in the cross-section of the laser rod as compared with the case of the single pump lamp. However, it leads to a problem that the construction is complicated and large-sized, so that it is not suitable for some application.
The laser system as shown in FIG. 30 has further problems as follows.
Even if the outer dimension of the half mirror 9 in the laser system shown in FIG. 30 is 20 mm for example, the outer dimension of a mirror holder holding the half mirror 9 becomes as much as about 40-.dbd.mm. Because of this, in the case where the distance between an optical axis 7 of the laser oscillator 3 and an optical axis 8 of the laser amplifier 4 is as close as about 20-25 mm, there have been necessary the four prisms 6a -6d to pass the oscillated laser beams through the laser amplifier 4 as shown in FIG. 30.
Even when the distance between the optical axis 7 of the laser oscillator 3 and the optical axis 8 of the laser amplifier 4 is more than 25 mm, it has been necessary to provide the half mirror 9 and at least two total reflection mirrors (or one or two prisms).
Consequently, when the optical axes 7 and 8 are close to each other in particular, the number of optical elements such as the prisms 6a -6d is increased as shown in FIG. 30, thus presenting a problem that adjustment of optical axes of the respective optical elements becomes such complicated. In addition, when the number of optical elements is increased, a large space is needed to set and arrange these optical elements, thus presenting a problem that it is difficult to render the laser system compact in size.

Laser devices, laser system including the laser devices and output mirror for the laser system


In one embodiment, a wheel angle sensor calibration method, comprising, while a vehicle is moving, automatically causing movement of the vehicle to a first full steering position followed by automatic movement to a second full steering position; recording wheel angle sensor values at the first and second full steering positions, respectively; determining an average of the wheel angle sensor values, the average corresponding to a target center wheel position; automatically causing movement of the vehicle to the target center wheel position; and responsive to the wheel angle sensor having a value equal to the average, recording the wheel angle sensor value as the target center wheel position.

Vehicle technology has advanced tremendously over the past several years, thanks in part to vehicle guidance systems. Vehicle guidance systems automate or semi-automate driver tasks that previously consumed more of the driver's time and/or attention. For instance, some automobiles come equipped with parking assist features that park an automobile without user interaction, or assist the driver in finding a travel destination without requiring the driver to pull the vehicle over and review a map. In agricultural environments, guidance systems may assist a driver (e.g., operator) of, say, a combine harvester or other agricultural vehicle in maintaining a consistent travel direction, such as along a row of crops to be harvested or treated.
By entrusting certain human tasks to the vehicle guidance system, it is important to ensure accuracy to avoid erroneous travel and/or harm to the environment or personnel.

Guidance system automatic wheel angle sensor calibration


A microscope for inspecting each optical fiber endface in a multi-fiber connector is disclosed. The microscope includes a tip for interfacing with the multi-fiber connector, a slider assembly connected to the tip, a slider chassis capable of constraining the movement of the slider assembly along an axis of motion, and a cam assembly which forces the slider assembly to move along its constrained axis of motion. The cam assembly is rotated preferably by means of a remotely located adjustment knob. This rotational motion of the cam assembly results in a force against the slider assembly which causes it to move along its constrained axis of motion and, hence, causes the translation of the optical imaging axis of the microscope along the same axis such that each optical fiber endface may be inspected.

The present invention relates generally to fiber-optic inspection systems, and more specifically to a microscope for inspecting fiber-optic endfaces in multi-fiber connectors.
The proliferation of fiber-optic communications has lead to its wide spread implementation and use in industry. As a result, fiber-based communication systems have progressed toward utilizing multi-fiber connectors, such as fiber-optic ribbon connectors, for high density interconnects, rather than using electrical copper connectors as in the past. The increased use of these multi-fiber connectors, particularly in backplanes or in other situations in which the connectors are recessed and difficult to access, has created a need for a system that can adequately inspect the optical fibers while the connectors are still mounted.
It is well known in the industry that the endfaces of optical fibers must be kept clean and undamaged within fiber-optic communication systems. A fiber-optic endface is the cross-sectional surface that is created when an optical fiber is cut for termination. Failure to keep such endfaces clean and undamaged results in signal loss because of scattering effects at the endface of the optical fiber. As bandwidths increase, particularly with the rise of wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology, the need for cleanliness at the fiber-optic endface is even more important. Further, since fiber-optic communication systems handle heavy bandwidth traffic, the cleanliness at the fiber-optic endface is particularly important because the laser power driving the fiber-optic communication signals is typically higher. When a high-powered laser strikes a small piece of debris on the fiber-optic endface, the debris burns leaving a film of soot on the fiber-optic endface that degrades communication signals. As a result, the xe2x80x9cdirtyxe2x80x9d fiber-optic endface at the interconnect point must be taken out of service and repaired.
However, backplane interconnects that accept fiber-optic arrays and communication system devices are notoriously difficult to access for maintenance, cleaning and repair. When a particular multi-fiber connector in a backplane needs service, a technician typically removes a module from a slot in a rack-mount system. A module is typically a printed circuit board, or xe2x80x9cdaughter card,xe2x80x9d that interfaces with a backplane in the rack-mount system when xe2x80x9cplugged in.xe2x80x9d The technician then needs to inspect and clean the multi-fiber connectors located at the back of the empty slot from where the module was removed. A typical slot is 1.5 inches wide and 12 inches deep and rather difficult to access for service. Other than removing the multi-fiber connector from the backplane altogether, another way to view and clean the fiber-optic endfaces in the connector is to use a video microscope. Obviously, because of the narrow and deep nature of the empty slot, most microscopes are not manufactured to be used in this situation.
Some microscope manufacturers have designed xe2x80x9clong reachxe2x80x9d video microscopes to reach back into this cavity for visual rendering and cleaning purposes. However, these microscopes are unable to precisely locate and focus upon each fiber-optic endface situated within the multi-fiber connector. Because each and every fiber-optic endface needs to be inspected, it is essential to have a microscope capable of focusing upon each individual fiber-optic endface in the ribbon connector. Current long reach microscopes tend to xe2x80x9cjumpxe2x80x9d quickly across the multi-fiber connector which holds the fiber-optic endfaces in a linear array. Consequently, these microscopes tend to skip over some fiber-optic endfaces. Furthermore, at high magnification it is very difficult to control the speed at which these microscopes pan across the multi-fiber connector. Thus, it cannot be assured that each and every fiber-optic endface has been focused upon and inspected properly.
Therefore, a need exists for a microscope capable of focusing upon each fiber-optic endface situated within a recessed multi-fiber connector.
In accordance with this invention a microscope for inspecting the endfaces of each optical fiber in a multi-fiber connector is provided.
The microscope comprises a tip, a slider assembly, a slider chassis and a cam assembly. The tip is designed to interface with a multi-fiber connector and is connected to the slider assembly. The slider assembly is in turn engaged with the slider chassis which constrains the movement of the slider assembly along an axis of motion. The cam assembly interfaces with the slider assembly and is capable of translating the slider assembly along its constrained axis of motion. By providing a means for controlling motion of the slider assembly back and forth, each fiber-optic endface in a multi-fiber connector can be located and inspected more precisely.
In accordance with further aspects of the present invention, the cam assembly includes a cam, a cam shaft and a cam tip. The cam tip is designed to interface with a groove in the backend of the slider assembly. The cam assembly is capable of being rotated by remote means, such as by a fine adjustment knob. The rotation of cam assembly and specifically the cam tip causes the translation of the slide assembly along its constrained axis of motion. In particular, when rotated the cam tip applies force to the groove of the slider assembly which in turn causes the translation of the slider assembly.
In accordance with yet further aspects of the present invention, in another embodiment, the microscope includes an optical imaging axis and a tip through which this optical imaging axis extends. As in the embodiments described above, the tip is designed to interface with a recessed multi-fiber connector. The tip of this embodiment also includes a set of surfaces for re-directing the optical imaging axis such that it is orthogonal to each of the fiber-optic endfaces of a multi-fiber connector. These surfaces preferably consist of two reflecting surfaces.

Microscope for backplane ribbon fiber analysis


A method of generating system level power information for an embedded application configured to execute on a multi-core system-on-chip (SoC), which includes configuring a simulation model of hardware of the SoC that executes the embedded application; loading one or more software components of the embedded application into the simulation model of the SoC hardware; executing the one or more software components of the embedded application on the simulation model, and extracting state information about both the software components of the embedded application and hardware components of the SoC; determining, from the hardware state information, per-cycle energy values for the hardware components of the SoC; and creating a power profile from the software state information by accumulating the per-cycle energy values and assigning the per-cycle energy values to corresponding software components.

The present invention relates generally to power profiling in electronic devices and, more particularly, to system level power profiling of embedded applications executing on virtual multi-core system-on-chip (SoC) platforms.
With the proliferation of portable electronic and computing devices in modern society, power consumption has become a major constraint in the design of embedded applications. Of key concern to hardware and software engineers designing such applications is the accurate and efficient gathering of performance and power statistics early on in the design cycle, but with minimal performance overhead and without compromising on accuracy. Existing approaches to gathering such information may generally be classified into two major categories (hardware based and instrumentation based), both of which have their own set of drawbacks.
Hardware based profiling can be very expensive, although it has advantages, such as high frequency profiling and the ability to collect data with little or no impact on normal execution of the target system. However, with hardware based profiling, data may only be obtained from observable points in the system, and thus there is no access to other points of the system. On the other hand, instrumentation based profiling brings in additional overhead on the system. The overhead and effect of measurements on the system being measured must be controlled very carefully, which is often a very difficult task. Without careful control of overhead the power statistics may become skewed as the process of measurement directly alters the system's behavior. Moreover, the additional code added in the embedded application can introduce some spurious transactions, which in turn will affect the accuracy of system level power statistics.

System level power profiling of embedded applications executing on virtual multicore system-on-chip platforms


A reproducing apparatus wherein luminance signals are converted by a first conversion process into converted luminance signals, while color information signals are converted by a second conversion process into converted color information signals, both signals then being multiplexed to form color video signals which are recorded on a record bearing medium. The color video signals are reproduced from the record bearing medium, and the converted luminance signals and the converted color information signals are separated from the reproduced video signals. A first inverse-conversion process inverse to the first conversion process is applied to the separated converted luminance signals to form luminance signals, while a second inverse-conversion process inverse to the second conversion process is applied to the separated converted color information signals to form color information signals, and the signals are separately output to other external devices. This construction allows the color video signals reproduced from the record bearing medium to be supplied to external devices without deterioration.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a reproducing apparatus which excels in dubbing characteristics.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Still picture video recording systems (hereinafter will be called SV systems) are known which record still picture video signals on a magnetic disc or the like. The magnetic disc, which is employed as the information recording medium for the SV system, has, for example, a luminance signal recorded within a high zone and a color signal recorded within a low zone in a color-difference line sequence, as shown in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings, in a frequency spectrum either in the form of field recording covering just one field or in the form of frame recording covering two fields.
In a reproducing apparatus, therefore, the color signal must be interpolated to have line sequential color difference signals converted into concurrent color difference signals. Further, in the case of field recording, the signal must be converted into a frame signal for the purpose of having an interlace display at a monitor. For the conversion, interpolation is generally carried out by averaging horizontal line signals. This method is highly advantageous as it gives an improved resolution at the monitor.
In case of dubbing, however, the above-stated interpolating method degrades the resolution, because: in the format of a standard SV system, the line sequential color difference signals (B-Y and R-Y) are allowed to have an arbitrary phase in the odd- and even-number fields; further, in the case of field recording, the signal is allowed to be recorded in either an odd-number field or an even-number field. This shortcoming of the prior art is further described with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B as follows:
In FIGS. 2A and 2B, the illustrations include 0.5 H delay (DL) circuits 1 and 4, with reference symbol H denoting a horizontal line period; switch circuits SW1 to SW4; and 1 H delay circuits 2, 5 and 6. These circuits are disposed within an output circuit of a reproducing apparatus which will be described later herein.
FIG. 2A shows a luminance (Y) signal interpolation circuit. The switches SW1 and SW2 are arranged to be switched over every field. Accordingly, the input Y signal is produced in a state of having been delayed by 1 H (horizontal period) for a first field. For a next field, the Y signal is skew compensated by the 0.5 H delay circuit 1 and is then averaged with the input and output signals of the next 1 H delay circuit 2 used. As a result, an interpolation signal which is delayed by 1.5 H is produced from the luminace (Y) signal interpolation circuit.
FIG. 2B shows a color (C) signal interpolation circuit. In this circuit, the switch SW3 and the 0.5 H delay circuit 4 are provided for the purpose of skew compensation. The 1 H delay circuits 5 and 6 and the switch SW4 are provided for changing the line sequential color difference signals into concurrent signals. More specifically, the incoming line sequential signals include R-Y and B-Y signals for every H period. Therefore, another color difference signal which does not include them is made into concurrent signals by averaging (interpolating) 0 H and 2 H signals. Therefore, the concurrent color difference signals become: EQU R-Y: 1 H, 1/2 (0 H+2 H), 1 H EQU B-Y: 1/2 (0 H+2 H), 1 H, 1/2 (0 H+2 H)
Thus, one of the color difference signals is always produced as an interpolated concurrent signal. Therefore, during the process of dubbing the luminance signal, the interpolated signal might be dubbed in reproducing the information which has been field recorded while, for the color signal, the interpolated color difference signal will be always dubbed. With the dubbing repeated, therefore, the vertical resolution degrades in proportion to the number of repeating times of dubbing. In the event of horizontal interpolation, the horizontal resolution is likewise degraded.
Further, in having information recorded on a magnetic disc dubbed to another disc, there arises the following problem of time base variations: A time base variation caused by a motor and a time base variation caused by variations in loads on the disc and a magnetic head result in a small picture distortion in the horizontal direction of a reproduced picture. At present, this is corrected by the AFC characteristic of the display. However, if the time base variations become excessive according as the dubbing is repeated, the correction becomes no longer possible.
Another problem of the prior art resides in that in the magnetic conversion system of the reproducing apparatus, the S/N ratio of a reproduced modulated signal is deteriorated by an AM noise resulting from a slight difference in touch between the magnetic disc and the magnetic head, a sliding noise, the thermal noise of the magnetic head, a modulation noise, etc.
It is a further problem of the prior art that there takes place deterioration of a high frequency characteristic mainly in the recording and reproducing system including the magnetic disc and the magnetic head.


An optical module using a linear sensor for identifying images includes a circuit board, a linear sensor installed on the circuit board, a light source set installed on the circuit board, and an optical element. The optical element includes a first plane, a second plane paralleling the first plane, wherein a distance between the second plane and the circuit board is shorter than a distance between the first plane and the circuit board, a first total reflection plane between the first plane and the second plane, for totally reflecting light provided by the light source set, and a second total reflection plane between the first plane and the second plane, for totally reflecting reflected light of the first total reflection plane to the linear sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention provides an optical module, and more particularly, an optical module using a linear sensor for identifying images.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Fingerprint identification systems have been widely used in fields of personal identification, safe deposits, vehicles, entrance systems, automatic teller machines, network security systems, etc. A prior art identification system checks a user's status based on an card, while the fingerprint identification systems is based on fingerprints, so that the fingerprint identification systems can increase security of personal identification.
Please refer to FIG. 1, which illustrates a schematic diagram of a prior art optical module 1 of a fingerprint identification system. The optical module 1 includes a light source 12, a sensor 14, a reflector 18, a prism 16, and a circuit board 10. The light source 12 and the sensor 14 are installed on the circuit board 10.
When a user puts a fingerprint on a position shown in FIG. 1, the light source 12 emits light through the prism 16 to the fingerprint. Then, the prism 16 totally reflects reflection of the fingerprint to the reflector 18 for reflecting the reflection of the fingerprint to the sensor 14, so as to sense the fingerprint.
The optical module 1 must use two optical elements, one is reflector 18, and the other is the prism 16. Owing to placement of the optical elements, the optical module 1 cannot be utilized in small electronic devices, such as mobile phones, and is not facile to be fabricated.

Optical module using a linear sensor for identifying images


Methods, systems, and apparatuses for obtaining data from radio frequency identification (RFID) tags are described. A read of data stored in a RFID tag is initiated. It is determined that the read failed. A machine readable symbol of the RFID tag is scanned to identify the RFID tag. The read and scan can be performed by a multi-mode reader device or by separate devices. In an aspect, a portion of the scanning operation can be performed before it is determined that the read failed. In a further aspect, a reversible obscuration partially or entirely prevents decoding of the machine readable symbol. The obscuration is reversed to expose the machine readable symbol prior to scanning the machine readable symbol. An indication can be provided on the RFID tag to indicate to an operator that the machine readable symbol is present.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the obtaining of data from radio frequency identification (RFID) tag devices.
2. Background Art
Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags are electronic devices that may be affixed to items whose presence is to be detected and/or monitored. The presence of an RFID tag, and therefore the presence of the item to which the tag is affixed, may be checked and monitored by devices known as "readers." Readers typically transmit radio frequency signals to which the tags respond. Each tag can store a unique identification number. The tags respond to the reader transmitted read signals by providing their identification number, bit-by-bit, so that they can be identified.
Tags sometimes fail to respond to read requests for various reasons, including defects or damage to the tags. In such situations, it may be necessary for a human operator to hand-enter data printed on the failed tag into a system so that the tag can be identified. However, such a backup system for failed reads of tags is inefficient. For example, the full serialized identifier provided by EPC RFID tags requires at least 30 digits to be represented in human-readable form. Entering in such long strings of data by hand is error prone and time consuming. Thus, the hand-entering in of printed data from a tag is not necessarily a reliable or cost-effective backup system for read failures.
Some tags have barcodes associated with them for backup to failed tag reads. For such a tag, the barcode is scanned while the tag is read. If the tag fails to respond to a read request, the scanned barcode information can be used to identify the tag. However, such an implementation has inefficiencies. For example, a large amount of power is required to both read a tag and scan a barcode each time a tag is desired to be identified. An increase in data transmission traffic occurs when duplicate data resulting from a successful tag read and barcode scan is decoded. Furthermore, mismatched information can result when a tag that responds to a read signal is different from the tag having its barcode scanned.
Thus, what is needed is a more efficient, reliable, and cost-effective backup identification system for failed tags.

System and method for machine readable symbol backup for radio frequency identification tags


An improved container and container system for adhesive tape reduces the part count necessary for protecting various widths of adhesive tape and provides adhesive tape container elements of low cost. The adhesive tape containers are comprised of two halves with circular side walls and outer walls intended to surround a portion, or all, of the roll of tape (i.e. regular or irregular tape patterns and tape widths), and inner wall segments intended to engage the inside of a core of a roll of tape holding the ensemble together.

Adhesive tape frequently comprises a long narrow backing of uniform width with pressure sensitive adhesive coated on one side. The backing is sometimes plastic. The backing is sometimes paper. Various adhesives are coated onto the backing. The adhesive coated backing is frequently rolled upon a cylindrical tape core. The tape core is frequently the same width as the tape it carries and is often cardboard or plastic. The tape core often has a relatively smooth cylindrical inner surface appropriate for mounting on a dispenser or for easy manipulation as is.
Adhesive tape products address many needs and are used in various environments. For instance, adhesive tape is used in the home or office in wrapping packages. Adhesive tape of a different construction is used in medical offices, blood donation centers and hospitals to fix absorbent materials, blood donation ports, medical intravenous appliances and the like to the human body. Adhesive tapes are also used in painting and otherwise modifying surfaces of automobiles, homes, offices, and other items. Some painting uses include protecting and/or creating unique designs and patterns on walls, ceilings, floors, et. al.
Some of the tapes used in the above-described environments and applications need protection from the environment for various reasons. Adhesive tapes which are used in some surgical and medical procedures need to be maintained in a sterile state. Adhesive tapes using particular classes of adhesives or additives to the tape need to be separated from the environment either to protect environmental surfaces or to prevent degradation of the adhesive or the additive to the adhesive in the tape. For instance, at least one commercially available masking tape includes materials which gel upon exposure to latex paints. It is important to protect these tapes from exposure to moisture prior to use as moisture may cause gelling of the tape prematurely. This can occur to more than just the outside layer of a roll of tape as the edges of the tape can be contaminated, negatively impacting the performance of the tape. Such tape is often sold in closed plastic containers to protect the edges of the roll of tape from moisture which may be encountered in the form of water or in the form of high humidity in the air. The plastic container is not merely for containing the tape in shipment and in presentation at retail, but also for use by the end user in maintaining the isolation of the tape before application of the tape to the intended work piece. Thus, should an end user use a portion of the roll of tape only on a given day, he may return the roll of tape to the container, close the container and thereby maintain the integrity of the tape and its constituents for use on an another day.
Other tapes used in the above-described environments and applications can include non-uniform widths, and/or irregular or treated edges. Non-uniform widths, along with irregular or treated edges of adhesive tape will need particular protection due to the fragility of the terminal side edges that are not completely supported by (i.e. non-coincidental with) all of the underlying layers nor the underlying tape core when the tape is placed onto a roll.
One conventional container or rolls of tape consists of a tub and lid. The tub has a circular flat bottom and a cylindrical side wall. The lid has a circular top and a cylindrical side wall sized to engage by overlapping the side wall of the tub. Thus, two separate pieces having different dimensions are required to contain a roll of tape. The tape under discussion is offered in various widths. Currently, three widths, 24 mm, 36 mm, and 48 mm are available. This requires a different tub for each size, resulting in four different product pieces for the containers of the tape.
Adhesive tape products are often sold in extremely large quantities in a very competitive environment. The costs of all components of adhesive tape products are therefore important.
The present disclosure contemplates a new package for adhesive tape and a method of packing adhesive tape which is inexpensive to manufacture and versatile in use.
In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, a method of packaging a roll of adhesive tape is provided having two sides and a core. The method comprises: providing several container halves, each container half having a first side wall having a first circular periphery, a first outer wall extending from the first side wall outer periphery, the first outer wall having a substantially uniform height selected from a set of several heights generally perpendicular to the first side wall, the first outer wall adapted to surround at least a portion of the width of a roll of adhesive tape; at least one first inner wall segment extending from the first side wall inside the first outer periphery, the at least one first inner wall segment adapted to engage at least a portion of the core inner surface; selecting two container halves from the several container halves, the two container halves selected to have first outer wall heights which, together, approximately equal the width of the roll of tape to be packaged; and, applying the selected two container halves to the sides of the roll of tape to be packaged with the inner wall segments engaging the core of the roll of tape.
In accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, a container for a roll of adhesive tape comprises two members, each member having a circular side wall, a cylindrical outer wall extending from the periphery of the side wall and at least one inner wall segment extending from the side wall in the same direction as the outer wall. The heights of the outer walls of the two container members are selected to approximately match the width of the roll of tape to be contained. The inner wall segments are positioned on the side wall to engage the core of the roll of tape. The two members are adapted to engage the two ends of the core of the roll of tape forming a package enclosing the roll of tape and protecting the sides and periphery of the roll of tape.
In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a container is provided for a roll of adhesive tape wound upon a core. The roll of adhesive tape having a first side edge and a second side edge and an outer diameter defined by circumferential wraps of tape. The core includes an inner surface and an inner surface diameter. A first member of the container comprises a first side wall having a first circular periphery, a first outer wall extending from the first side wall outer periphery, the first outer wall having a substantially uniform first selected outer wall height generally perpendicular to the first side wall, the first outer wall adapted to surround at least a portion of the width of the roll of adhesive tape. A first inner wall segment extends from the first side wall inside the first outer periphery, wherein the first inner wall segment is conical and adapted to engage at least a portion of the core inner surface. A second member of the container comprises a second side wall having a second circular periphery, wherein a second outer wall extends from the second side wall outer periphery. The second outer wall having a substantially uniform second selected wall height generally perpendicular to the second side wall, wherein the second outer wall adapted to surround at least a portion of the width of the roll of adhesive tape. A second inner wall segment extending from the second side wall inside the second outer periphery, wherein the second inner wall segment is conical and adapted to engage at least a portion of the core inner surface. The first member and the second member adapted to engage the first side and the second side of the roll of tape by engagement of the conical first inner wall segment and the conical second inner wall segment with the core inner surface. The first side edge, the second side edge, and the circumferential wraps of tape are suspended between and separated from the side walls and the outer walls of the respective first member and the second member.
Further in accordance with the disclosure, the inner wall segment can be one continuous cylindrical or conical inner wall or can be several segments of a cylinder or cone spaced from one another. In either case, the inner wall segment is adapted to engage the inner surface of a core of a roll of tape holding the member to the core of the roll of tape.
Yet further in accordance with the disclosure, ribs are provided on the outwardly facing surfaces of the inner wall segments to engage the inner surface of the tape core.
Further still in accordance with the disclosure, the inner wall segment can be a tapered or conical hub or can be several segments of a tapered or conical hub spaced from one another. In either case, the inner wall segment is adapted to engage the inner surface of a core of a roll of tape so that the sides, edges, and outer circumference of the roll of tape are suspended within and/or separated from the container and prevented from touching the sidewalls and outer walls of the container.
Yet further in accordance with the disclosure, the ribs are circumferential, that is, following a circular pattern with the ribs being spaced from the side wall of the container member.
Yet further in accordance with the disclosure, container members are provided with outer walls of several heights so that tapes of several widths can be accommodated in containers economically.
Yet further in accordance with the disclosure, the outwardly facing side wall surfaces of the container members are provided with grooves and ribs which will engage one another when two container members are brought together back to back and aligned.
Still further in accordance with the disclosure, the container member side walls are provided with a foot extending beyond the circular periphery, the foot terminating in a flat edge allowing a contained roll of tape to be stood on the feet.
Yet further in accordance with the disclosure, a method of packaging adhesive tape is disclosed using container halves with a side wall, an outer wall and an inner wall segment. Container halves having various outer wall heights are provided so that two container halves accommodating a selected width of tape may be selected to package the roll of tape.
It is a principal object of the disclosure to provide a container for a roll of tape which will protect the roll of tape from ambient conditions and surroundings which is versatile in application, inexpensive to manufacture, and easy to use.
It is another object of the present disclosure to provide adhesive tape containers which may be fabricated by injection molding using molds without slides.
It is a still further object of the present disclosure to provide adhesive tape containers which can be interlocked with one another whereby multiple rolls of adhesive tape may be sold together and/or stored together conveniently.
It is still another object of the present disclosure to provide an adhesive tape dispenser which can be stably stood on edge for compact storage and also merchandising with the side wall of the container displayed in an easily read vertical position.
It is still another object of the present disclosure to provide an adhesive tape container which is easily understood, disassembled and assembled by the consumer and intuitive in its operation.
It is yet another object of the present disclosure to provide an adhesive tape container consisting of two unitary molded plastic parts which is easily recyclable.
It is yet still another object of the disclosure to provide a container for a regular roll of tape with treated edges and/or an irregular roll of tape, with or without treated edges, which will protect the non-uniform side edges from ambient conditions and from contact with the container itself.
Further objects and advantages of the disclosure will occur from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof and from the accompany drawings in which:


Shirred casing is packaged in pockets on a belt to assist in the stuffing of the shirred casing by an automated stuffing machine. The package is made up of a belt with pockets for the shirred casings. The pockets provide structural integrity to the shirred casings and are spaced evenly for automated handling. The automated stuffing machine has a strand drum with indentations to receive the pocket of the package. The strand drum acts as an indexing mechanism to position each successive pocket so that the shirred casings within may be stuffed. A stuffing horn moves between a stuffing position and an indexing position that is clear of the strand drum. A method for automating the stuffing of shirred casings is disclosed as well.

One problem preventing the automation of loading moisturized shirred fibrous casing strands into a stuffing machine is that such strands lack structural rigidity. Automation methods used for more rigid shirred casing strands have not worked with moisturized shirred fibrous casing strands because of this lack of rigidity.
Currently, the following multi-step process loads stuffing machines using moisturized shirred fibrous casing strands:                Stop meat pump and stuffing machinery;        Manually move stuffing horn from stuffing position to loading position;        If horn ring is used, remove horn ring;        Slide wrapped strand of moisturized shirred fibrous casing onto horn;        If horn ring was removed, replace horn ring;        Manually move stuffing horn from loading position to stuffing position;        Manually locate the first end of the shirred casing and manually place first end through clippers;        Manually activate clippers to secure a clip on the first end of the shirred casing;        Manually remove overwrap from shirred casing (this step may be done anytime after placement on the horn and before restarting.);        Restart meat pump and stuffing machinery.
This manual process requires about 15 to 20 seconds, if done well, and must be performed approximately every two minutes, depending on stuffing rate and the length of shirred casing. In part because of this operation, each stuffing machine is typically run by its own operator. By automating this part of the stuffing process an operator may run more than one stuffing machine, thus increasing efficiency and reducing costs.