A transmit diversity method applied to a transmitting system includes the steps of: receiving a serial stream, and transforming the serial stream into a plurality of parallel streams, wherein each parallel stream is carried by a corresponding sub-carrier; and in light of each sub-carrier, selecting a single transmission path from at least two transmission paths of the transmitting system so as to transmit the parallel stream carried by the sub-carrier. The transmit diversity method further includes the step of: dividing the plurality of parallel streams carried by the sub-carries into M groups, wherein the parallel streams belonging to the same group are transmitted via selecting the same transmission path.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transmit diversity method applied to a transmitting system and related transmitting system, and more particularly, to a method and a system for selecting a single transmission path from at least two transmission paths of the transmitting system in order to transmit parallel stream carried by each sub-carrier.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technology has been widely adopted in high-speed wireless LAN network. In order to improve the transceiving quality, a transmitting system currently on the market is usually equipped with multiple transmission paths to transmit a plurality of signals simultaneously. However, use of multiple transmission paths will cause the hardware cost of the transmitting system increased, and the device itself cannot improve the transceiving quality by the way of increasing the number of the transmission paths. For this reason, a transmit diversity technology can be adopted for improving the receiving quality of the receiving end.
The simplest approach of the transmit diversity is to directly use multiple transmission paths to transmit signals without any treatment. However, since the transmitting signals in the wireless channel will arrive the receiving end via different paths, the transmitting signals will produce constructive and destructive superposition effects at the receiving end. Another simple approach is to use a cyclic shift technology, which inserts a specific delay in each OFDM time-domain signal. But this technology cannot solve the possibility of producing destructive superposition effects by multiple transmitting signals, and it only lowers the possibility of producing destructive superposition effects by multiple frequencies, which has an insignificant impact. Another possible approach is to use Space Time Block Code (STBC) OFDM coding, so that the receiving end can separate the transmitting signals from different transmission paths. But a condition that the receiving end equipped with the STBC decoding ability is required when adopting this method. In addition, a beam-forming technology is to perform a signal pre-processing operation upon the transmitting signals in order to ensure that only constructive superposition effects are produced by the transmitting signals in the receiving end. But such approach needs accurate channel estimation at the receiving end, and the signal processing will cause a large burden in the hardware of the transmitting end.

Transmit diversity method applied to a transmitting system and transmitting system having multi-transmission paths thereof


Solutions are provided for configuration management for model-based systems engineering (MBSE). An example includes: partitioning a system project into a baseline portion and a working portion; generating, in the working portion, a change package; generating, for the change package, an impact analysis, wherein generating the impact analysis comprises: based at least on change information, determining directly impacted elements; and based at least on the directly impacted elements, determining indirectly impacted elements; importing, from a baseline model into the change package, the directly impacted elements and the indirectly impacted elements; modifying at least one imported directly impacted element to generate a modified element; and integrating the modified element into the baseline model. Some examples further include generating a relation map indicating relationships among the directly impacted elements and the indirectly impacted elements to assist the impact analysis.

Model-based systems engineering (MBSE) uses domain models (e.g., models that incorporate both behavior and data) for information exchange. Managing model configuration changes for large, complex projects may be time-consuming and also prone to errors when potentially conflicting changes are input into automated configuration management tools. Some configuration management tools update elements outside the scope of an approved change. One of the current solutions for performing configuration management in a system model is using branching and merging. Branching creates a distinct copy of a project, allowing users to edit the branch copy, and, upon completion of edits to the branch, the branch is integrated back into the project trunk by a merge process.
Branching and merging has significant drawbacks, including high demands placed on server bandwidth and computer hardware, weak capability for performing change-on-change (e.g., changes built on other changes that are still in-work, or changes that overlap), and a propensity for merge failures (e.g., merge conflicts). For example, if an element is changed in the project trunk, the updated element will not be reflected in existing open branches unless it is manually added or resynced, which typically fails. An alternative approach of locking impacted elements severely curtails change control by only allowing a single user to edit the elements. As such users have to coordinate, often without the aid of automation, to avoid a conflict that can undesirably impact the trunk. Limited (or no) change control capability can limit the number of users who can work on a project simultaneously.

Configuration management for model-based systems engineering


Articles and related methods, the article having an enclosed area at least partially surrounded by a visible light-transmissive protective film comprising a first visible light-transmissive flexible film, a second visible light-transmissive flexible film, and a visible light-transmissive patterned conductive layer interposed between the first visible light-transmissive flexible film and the second visible light-transmissive flexible film, the visible light-transmissive conductive layer comprising a dispersion of metal nanowires within a polymeric matrix having an average pore size among metal nanowires that is impenetrable by electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength greater than 1 mm.

As we rely more on electronic devices to store and transfer data, there is a desire to develop technologies that provide security to this data, especially improved security technologies compatible with improved electronic devices. Data security is important in both consumer and government electronics. In fact, all current and future government contracts relating to software and electronics have an implicit requirement for system security.
Electromagnetic interference (EMI) films may be developed to block the transmission of undesired electromagnetic energy into or out of electronic equipment. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,118,693 to Glatkowski et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,261,950 to Fleming et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,351,479 to Funkenbusch et al., and PCT International Publication No. WO 03/013199 to Eikos, Inc. EMI films may be in the form of conformal coatings. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,184 to Colla, U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,594 to Unruh, U.S. Pat. No. 8,493,749 to Myers et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0093766 to Wachtler, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0104434 to Lalli, and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0085316 to Myers et al.


A centerline injection system for a liquid-only reductant delivery. An aftertreatment system comprises an aftertreatment component structured to treat exhaust exiting an engine, a reactor pipe, and a liquid-only dosing unit. The reactor pipe is positioned upstream of the aftertreatment component and is structured to receive the exhaust from the engine. The liquid-only dosing unit is structured to inject diesel exhaust fluid into the exhaust received from an engine. The liquid-only dosing unit injects the diesel exhaust fluid at the centerline of the reactor pipe as to provide uniform dispersion of the diesel exhaust fluid across at least a part of the aftertreatment component.

Aftertreatment systems are an important technology for reducing harmful emissions from internal combustion engines. Aftertreatment systems generally include a source of storage for reductant (particularly diesel exhaust fluid) and a dosing unit that includes a pump unit for pressurizing the reductant. The aftertreatment systems may also include a metering unit for providing a controlled amount or rate of reductant into a stream of exhaust and an injector, which provides a reductant solution to a decomposition region of an exhaust flow path located upstream of an aftertreatment component (for example, a selective catalytic reduction catalyst).
Various aftertreatment systems utilize liquid-only (i.e., non-air-assisted) dosing units to inject a reductant such as diesel exhaust fluid into a stream of exhaust within an exhaust pipe. Such systems currently employ tangential and/or wall injection methods, which require hardware that enables recirculation zones and nucleation sites for urea deposits to grow. For example, a nucleation creator (i.e., a downstream mixing plate) is currently used to achieve uniformity of diesel exhaust fluid in the exhaust stream prior to reaching the aftertreatment component.

Centerline injection system for liquid-only reductant delivery


The switching network serves for the transmission of digital data signals within a broadband communication system. This switching network is thereby constructed of individual switching elements (KE) that form at least one multi-stage funnel due to a connection to one another. The section for the assemblies of the switching network is selected such that at least one complete funnel is accommodated on the respective assembly. The respective assembly thereby has its external data inputs provided with unidirectionally designed optical/electrical transducers (OML-E) and has its external data outputs provided with unidirectionally designed electrical/optical transducers (OML-S).

The invention is directed to a switching network for a broadband communication system serving for the transmission of digital data signals, whereby the switching network is fashioned such that this is constructed of individual switching elements, that these switching elements respectively comprise a plurality of inputs as well as a plurality of outputs lower in number compared thereto, and such that the switching elements at least form a multi-stage funnel as a result of their connection to one another. Such a switching network is already disclosed by EP-B1-0 086 434.
Fischer, W., et al., xe2x80x9cA Scalable ATM Switching System Architecturexe2x80x9d IEEE Journal on selected areas of communications, Vol. 9, No. 8, Jan. 10, 1991, pp. 1299-1307, discloses a switching network for a digital broadband communication system wherein the switching network is fashioned such that this is constructed of individual switch elements, that these switch elements respectively comprise a plurality of inputs as well as a plurality of outputs smaller in number compared thereto, that the switch elements form at least one multi-stage funnel due to their connection to one another, and that the section for the assemblies of the switching network is selected such that four complete funnels are accommodated on each of the assemblies.
The aim in the realization of such communication systems is to realize the individual system components, thus including switching networks, with optimally low outlay, which has encountered difficulties in the meantime in practice in the realization of broadband switching networks with the demand of an increasing throughput rate as well as an increasing plurality of input lines and output lines. Given an assumed funnel structure for the switching network, for example, and proceeding from a selected data throughput of the employed components and assemblies, the outlay can increase more than quadratically when one wishes to enlarge the switching network with the same components by corresponding interconnection.
With respect thereto, Yoshimitsu, Arai, et al., xe2x80x9cMultigigabit Multichannel Optical Interconnection Modules for Asynchronous Transfer Mode Switching Systemsxe2x80x9d, Proceedings of the Electronic Components and Technology Conference, No. Conf. 43, Jan. 6, 1993, IEEE, pp. 825-830, discloses that a plurality of assemblies are connected to one another with the assistance of optical fiber connections via which information are optically transmitted with high bandwidth, high signal density, low attenuation and uninfluenced by electromagnetic interference. The plurality of the external connections of an assembly can thereby be reduced by the additional use of multiplexers.
An object of the present invention is to disclose a way of how a switching network of the species initially cited can be realized with economically justifiable costs.
In general terms the present invention is a switching arrangement for a broadband communication system serving for the transmission of digital data signals. The switching arrangement is constructed of individual switching elements. These switching elements respectively have a plurality of inputs as well as a plurality of outputs lower in number compared thereto. The switching elements form at least one multi-stage funnel as a result of their connection to one another. The section for the assemblies of the switching network is selected such that at least one complete funnel is accommodated on the respective assembly. Respectively two funnels are connected electrically parallel in that one of the respectively two funnels is arranged at both sides of the printed circuit board of the respective assembly.
Advantageous developments of the present invention are as follows.
The respective assembly has its external data inputs provided with unidirectionally designed optical/electrical transducers and also has its external data outputs provided with unidirectionally designed electrical/optical transducers.
The at least two funnels are connected electrically parallel at the input side following the optical/electrical transducers.
The respective electrical/optical transducer is fashioned such that data signals or, respectively, clock signals appearing on a line group of differential data lines and a differential clock line allocated thereto are first combined to form an electrical, serial multiplex signal that is subsequently electro-optically converted. The respective optical/electrical transducer is fashioned such that an optical, serial multiplex signal is converted into a plurality of electrical data signals and a clock signal allocated thereto and these data signals as well as the clock signal are forwarded via a line group of differential data lines and a differential clock line, the line group corresponding to the afore-mentioned line group.
The individual, differential data lines as well as the allocated differential clock line on the printed circuit board of the respective assembly are respectively fashioned as differential line pairs of coupled lines.
The respective differential line pair on the printed circuit board is fashioned as coupled tri-plate lines.
All line pairs of a line group are of the same length.
The optical/electrical transducers and electrical/optical transducers are fashioned as transducer modules. The transducer modules are mounted in edge plug-in sockets standing on the longitudinal edge of the respective assembly.
The optical/electrical transducers and electrical/optical transducers are connected to multiplex/demultiplex devices via appertaining optical lines.
The invention thereby yields the advantage that the transmission of data and clock signals within the communication system ensues electrically only within the respective switching network. By contrast thereto, the external signal transmission to or, respectively, from the respective switching network ensues in multiplex mode via optical connecting lines. In this way, the plurality of physical plug interfaces for the transmission of data signals and clock signals can be greatly reduced on the assemblies. Given, for example, a funnel having the structure 64/8 with 64 input ports, 8 output ports and 10 lines per port employed in the switching network, 720 (640+80) electrical plugs for signal inputs and signal outputs would be required in a purely electrical version in view of the technology of the electrical components employed. This number is reduced to 72 optical plug locations (optical fiber junctions), by contrast, when the assumed 10 lines per port are optically multiplexed, i.e. a reduction of plug locations of 10:1 ensues given the assumed example.

Switching network for a broadband communication system


An objective lens for converging light emitted from a light source onto an optical recording medium to record and reproduce information consists of a single lens that has at least one aspheric surface. The following conditional expressions (1) and (2) are satisfied:−0.90<R1/R2<−0.45  (1)0.70<d/f<1.40  (2)where R1 denotes a radius of curvature (mm) of a light source side surface near an optical axis,                R2 denotes a radius of curvature (mm) of an optical recording medium side surface near the optical axis,        d denotes a thickness (mm) on an optical axis, and        f denotes a focal length (mm).

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to an objective lens, an optical pickup device, and an optical recording/reproducing apparatus. Specifically, the invention relates to an objective lens for use in an optical pickup apparatus for converging light emitted from a light source onto an optical recording medium to perform at least one of operations of recording and reproducing information, an optical pickup device having the objective lens, and an optical recording/reproducing apparatus equipped with the optical pickup device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, various optical recording media such as DVD (digital versatile disk) and CD (compact disk) have been used in order to record audio information, video information, or data information for computer. As an amount of information to be handled rapidly increases, an increase in storage capacity density of an optical recording medium has been strongly demanded. It has been known that a decrease in wavelength of used light and an increase in numerical aperture (hereinafter, it is referred to as an NA) of an objective lens for an optical pickup device are effective to increase the storage capacity density of an optical recording medium. Recently, for a BD (blu-ray disk), a semiconductor laser having an output wavelength of about 405 nm is used as a light source and an objective lens having an NA of 0.7 or more is used. Such a blu-ray disk (hereinafter, it is referred to as BD) having a capacity of 25 GB per one layer of one side has been widely used in practice. In the specifications of the BD, an NA and a thickness of a protection layer of an optical recording medium are set totally different from values of DVD and CD. In the current specification, an NA is 0.85, and a thickness of a protection layer is 0.1 mm.
However, in future, as might be expected, an increase in density will be demanded more and more, but it may be hard to satisfy this demand by promoting a decrease in wavelength. This is because optical transmittance of lens materials is rapidly reduced in the range of a wavelength less than 350 nm and thus, it is hard to obtain sufficient optical efficiency in practice. For this reason, the other way for achieving high storage capacity density is to further increase an NA of the objective lens.
When an objective lens with a high numerical aperture (hereinafter, it is referred to as a high NA) for an optical pickup device is designed, a single lens structure is effective to solve problems such as an increase in process number at the time of assembly, deterioration in production efficiency, and an increase in cost. For example, known objective lenses for an optical pickup device having a high-NA single lens are described in JP 2001-324673 A (corresponding to U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,411,442 and 6,512,640) and JP 2003-337281 A (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,922,289).
Meanwhile, in the high-NA objective lens for an optical pickup device, it is difficult to secure a working distance (WD) that can prevent collision between the lens and an optical recording medium while maintaining compactness of the lens system. In this point of view, the objective lens described in JP 2001-324673 A (corresponding to U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,411,442 and 6,512,640) has a room for improvement. Further, in the objective lens for an optical pickup device, it is strongly required to maintain a favorable off-axis performance enough to be compatible with three-beam type tracking control. Furthermore, in focusing and tracking controls, it is preferable to drive a lens at higher speed. For this reason, it is also required to reduce a weight of a lens.

Objective lens, optical pickup device, and optical recording/reproducing apparatus


The present invention relates to a curable composition comprising:. (A) at least one aminoplast resin; and PA1 (B) an amount effective to cure the composition of at least one catalyst which is a sulfo acid, or an anhydride, ester, ammonium salt or metal salt of the acid.. The sulfo acid can be exemplified by sulfonic acids, such as 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid, or a reaction product of the sulfonic acid and a phosphorus acid or salt, such as a dihydrocarbyl phosphorodithioic acid.. The catalyst allows curing of aminoplast resins to be accomplished at low temperatures, while imparting a high degree of water resistance to the cured coating.

Heat-convertible products attained by reacting amino-group containing compounds with aldehydes have been known for a number of years. Resins obtained by curing such reaction products possess an excellent combination of physical properties and are widely used in glues, in molding compounds, as finishes for paper and textiles and as surface coatings. The resins can be used per se or they can be further modified before curing by alkylation with an alcohol to provide for solubility and compatibility. The resins may also be modified before curing by mixing the resin with other materials capable of co-reacting with the resin, such compounds contain hydroxyl or carboxyl groups. This invention broadly is concerned with amino resins which are suitable for all conventional purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. Re. 30,142 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,026,812 both issued to LeSuer relate to additives for lubricating compositions prepared by the reaction of a phosphorus acid and a sulfur-containing compound with an ethylenically unsaturated double bond.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,757,152 issued to Solomon relates to water-repellent compositions prepared by a combination of a polysiloxane, and aminoplast resin and a curing agent wherein the curing agent is a metallic salt selected from a class consisting of inorganic or organometallic salts capable of effecting curing of the organopolysiloxane.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,451,968 issued to Akiyama relates to a faster cure of a urea-formaldehyde resin obtained by using a latent catalyst which is a mixture of a triester of phosphoric acid and an activator selected from the group consisting of trialkylphosphites.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,478 issued to Gallacher relates to amino resins which are catalyzed by the use of a high molecular weight polyalkylaromatic polysulfonic acid such as dinonylnaphthalene disulfonic acid or didodecylnaphthalene disulfonic acid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,083,830 issued to Gallacher relates to amino resins prepared by the catalyst of a high molecular weight polyalkylaromatic polysulfonic acid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,178,323 issued to Chattha relates to fast curing, high solids coating compositions consisting of a bifunctional polymer bearing hydroxy functionality together with a hydroxy functional acrylic organo phosphate reactive catalyst and optionally a hydroxy functional additive.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,126 issued to Quinn relates to aminoplast compositions and catalysts for curing the same. The catalyst is at least one organo substituted thiophosphoric, thiophosphonic or thiophosphinic acid or salt thereof.
A paper entitled "Effect of Catalyst Structure On The Properties of Coatings Crosslinked With Hexa(methoxymethyl)melamine", by Calbo, Journal of Coatings Technology, Volume 52, No. 660, January 1980, pages 75-83, relates to a study of the effects of dinonylnaphthalene disulfonic acid and para toluene sulfonic acid for controlling self condensation of hexa(methoxymethyl)melamine.
A paper entitled "Crosslinking Chemistry And Network Structure In Organic Coatings. II. Effect Of Catalysts On Cure Of Melamine Formaldehyde/Acrylic Copolymer Films", by D. R. Bauer and R. A. Dickie, Journal of Polymer Science: Polymer Physics Edition, Volume 18, pages 2015-2025 (1980), relates to the effects of four different acid catalysts on the curing of a melamine formaldehyde/acrylic copolymer film. The four acids investigated are p-toluene sulfonic acid, monobutyl maleate, butyl phosphate and a hydroxy phosphate ester.
Different catalysts affect cure rates as evidenced by the articles and studies performed in the art already. Minor changes in chemical structure can have effects on curing rates of resins which would lead to commercially significant effects.

Curable aminoplast compositions and catalysts for curing same


A display device including a plurality of pixels is provided, which includes: a signal controller for processing image data for the pixels from an external source; a plurality of pad areas, each pad area provided with a plurality of conductors for transmission of the image data, the conductors of adjacent two of the pad areas having a correspondence; and a plurality of interconnections connecting the corresponding conductors, wherein each conductor in each pad area transmits one of bits of the image data and the corresponding conductors are arranged in reversed order on the respective pad areas. The display device further includes a plurality of data driver units connected to the respective pad areas and sequentially activated to receive respective image data from the pad areas under control of the signal controller, the data driver units converting the received image data into analog voltages and provides the analog voltage for the pixels under control of the signal controller.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device and a circuit board therefor, and in particular, to a liquid crystal display and a circuit board including a plurality of interconnections for signal transmission.
(b) Description of Related Art
Flat panel displays such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs) have been developed and substituted for cathode ray tubes (CRTs) since they are suitable for recent personal computers and televisions, which become lighter and thinner.
An LCD representing the flat panel displays includes a liquid crystal panel assembly including two panels provided with two kinds of field generating electrodes such as pixel electrodes and a common electrode and a liquid crystal layer with dielectric anisotropy interposed therebetween. The variation of the voltage difference between the field generating electrodes, i.e., the variation in the strength of an electric field generated by the electrodes changes the transmittance of the light passing through the LCD, and thus desired images are obtained by controlling the voltage difference between the electrodes. A typical LCD includes thin film transistors (TFTs) as switching elements for controlling the voltages to be applied to the pixel electrodes, and a plurality of display signal lines for transmitting signals to be applied to the TFTs.
In addition, the LCD further includes a printed circuit board (PCB) provided with a plurality of circuit elements. In particular, a signal controller for processing image signals from an external source and generating control signals for controlling the image signals and a voltage generator for generating a plurality of source voltages used for generating various signals are mounted on the PCB in forms of integrated circuit (IC) chips.
The liquid crystal panel assembly and the PCB are connected via a plurality of tape carrier packages (TCPs) arranged in series. The TCPs are provided with a plurality of data driver ICs for converting the image signals into the analog voltages to be applied to the pixel electrodes under the control of the signal generator.
For electrical connection between the circuit elements on the PCB and the data driver ICs, a plurality of pad areas including a plurality of parallel conducting lines and a plurality of parallel interconnections connecting the conducting lines on the adjacent pad areas are provided on the PCB, and a plurality of conductive lines to be connected to the conducting lines of the PCB are provided on the TCPs.
In a typical LCD, the image signals from the signal controller are sequentially transmitted to the data driver ICs through the interconnections between the signal generator and one of the pad areas and then through the interconnections between the pad areas. For example, when first to tenth TCPs mounting the data driver ICs and corresponding pad areas are provided, the image signals from the signal controller required for the second data driver ICs pass through the interconnections between the first pad area and the second pad area and reach the second TCP, those required for the third data driver ICs pass through the interconnections between the second pad area and the third pad area as well as the interconnections between the first pad area and the second pad area, and so on.
In this case, there is a problem that the interconnections on the PCB are very long and curved many times and thus cause electromagnetic interference (EMI) and complexity of the wires of the PCB, which is especially severe for high resolution and large-sized LCDs. For example, the interconnections between the pad areas have four turning points since both the pad areas and the conducting lines on the pad areas are arranged in the same direction and thus the parallel interconnections are connected between an upper edge of one pad area and a lower edge of the adjacent pad area for preventing intersections of the interconnections. That is, the interconnections start upwards from the conducting lines of one pad area, turn right toward the other pad area, turn down between the pad areas, turn right toward the other pad area, and finally go upwards to the corresponding conducting lines of the other pad area.

Display device and circuit board therefor including interconnection for signal transmission


An LCD device according to an embodiment includes a liquid crystal display panel in which n gate lines are formed; a timing controller to generate first to sixth clock signals; a first gate driver to apply a high gate voltage to one ends of the (2k−1)th gate lines in response to the first, third and fifth clock signals; a second gate driver to apply the high gate voltage to one ends of the (2k)th gate lines in response to the second, fourth and sixth clock signals; left discharge circuits each to apply a low gate voltage to the other end of the (2k−1)th gate line according to a voltage level on (2k+1)th gate line; and right discharge circuits each to apply the low gate voltage to the other end of the (2k)th gate line according to the voltage level on (2k+2)th gate line.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present application relates to a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly to a liquid crystal display device adapted to improve the characteristics of gate drive voltages applied to gate lines.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an electrical information display device field, existing cathode ray tubes (CRTs) are being replaced with flat panel display devices. The flat panel display devices include liquid crystal display (LCD) devices, plasma display panels (PDPs), field emission display (FFD) devices, organic light-emitting display (OLED) devices and so on. Among the display devices, the LCD devices are being mainly used at present because of having features such as mass production technologies, an easy driver, high picture quality and a large-sized screen.
In the LCD devices, an active matrix LCD device using thin film transistors as switch elements is suitable to display moving images. In order to control the above-mentioned thin film transistor to be turned-on/off, an ordinary LCD device includes a gate driver configured to generate and apply scan signals. Also, the ordinary LCD device further includes a data driver configured to provide data signals which are used to display gray levels of an image.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of an LCD device according to the related art.
As shown in FIG. 1, the related art LCD device 10 includes an LCD panel 1 displaying images and drivers 4 and 5.
The LCD panel 1 includes a plurality of gate lines GL and a plurality of data lines DL which cross each other and are formed on a glass substrate. A plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix shape are defined by the gate lines GL and the data lines DL crossing each other. An image is displayed on the LCD panel 1 by data signals applied to the pixels. Such an LCD panel 1 is defined a display area A/A, in which the pixels used to display an image are formed, and a non-display area N/A surrounding the display area A/A.
The drivers 4 and 5 include a gate driver 4 and a data driver 5. The gate driver 4 replies to gate control signals GCS applied from a timing controller (not shown) and controls switch elements of the pixels arranged on the LCD panel 1 to be turned-on/off. In detail, the gate driver 4 applies gate drive voltages VG to the LCD panel 1 via the gate lines GL and enables the switch elements of the pixels to be sequentially turned-on in a single line. As such, the pixels receive data signals which are applied from the data driver 5 in every horizontal synchronous period.
The data driver 5 replies to data control signals DCS applied from the timing controller and converts digital image data into analog data signals. A single line of data signals are simultaneously applied from the data driver 5 to the LCD panel via the data lines DL in every horizontal synchronous period. In accordance therewith, the pixels display the gray levels of an image.
In such configuration of the LCD device 10, the gate driver 4 has a feature that its configuration is relatively simpler compared to the data driver 5. Also, the LCD device has been required to reduce weight, volume and manufacturing costs. In view of these points, a gate-in-panel (GIP) gate driver has been proposed. The GIP gate driver is formed on the non-display area of the LCD together with the thin film transistors on the display area A/A at the manufacture of an array substrate of the LCD panel, unlike an ordinary gate driver which is manufactured in a separate IC (Integrated Circuit) chip from the LCD panel and bonded to the LCD panel.
Meanwhile, the LCD device causes motion blur phenomena due to a critical response speed of liquid crystal. Due to this, image quality of the LCD device must deteriorate. To address this matter, an LCD device is proposed which is driven in a higher frequency mode of above 120 Hz compared to 60 Hz. If the LCD device is driven in a high frequency range of above 120 Hz, a single horizontal synchronous cycle (or period) must be shortened. As such, it is difficult to secure the turning-on time of a switch element within each pixel.
To this end, the recent LCD device enables not only a gate driver 4 to include first and second gate drivers 4a and 4b which are disposed on left and right edges of an LCD panel in a GIP mode, but also gate lines to be pre-charged by providing an overlap interval between gate drive voltages on the gate lines. As such, the switch element within each pixel can be stably turned-on.
However, although the overlay interval is provided between the gate drive voltages on the gate lines or the driving frequency becomes higher, it is difficult to increase a discharge speed of the gate drive voltage charged in each gate line is being

Liquid crystal display device for improving the characteristics of gate drive voltage


An organic light emitting diode display includes: a substrate; a gate line on the substrate; a data line crossing the gate line; a driving voltage line extending parallel with at least one of the gate line and the data line; a first thin film transistor coupled to the gate line and the data line and comprising a first semiconductor layer; a second thin film transistor coupled to the first thin film transistor and the driving voltage line and comprising a second semiconductor layer; and an organic light emitting element coupled to the second thin film transistor, wherein at least one of the gate line, the data line, and the driving voltage line comprise a plurality of layers, and the lowest layer of the plurality of layers comprises a first metal layer made of a reflective metal.

1. Field
Aspects of embodiments of the present invention relate to an organic light emitting diode display.
2. Description of the Related Art
Display devices include, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), an organic light emitting diode device (OLED device), a field effect display (FED), an electrophoretic display device, and the like.
OLED devices includes two electrodes and an organic emission layer positioned therebetween and emit light while an electron injected from one electrode and a hole injected from the other electrode are coupled with each other in the organic emission layer to form an exciton and the exciton discharges energy.
Because OLED devices have a self-luminance characteristic and do not require a separate light source, unlike LCDs, the thickness and a weight of OLED devices may be relatively lower compared to LCDs. Further, because OLED devices have high-grade characteristics such as low power consumption, high luminance, and a high response speed, OLED devices have received attention as a next-generation display device.
In OLED devices, however, the pixels may tend to deteriorate over time, and in order to improve or maintain image quality, OLED devices may correct or compensate for deterioration of the pixels. For example, light emitted from the pixels may be received in an optical sensor unit to be analyzed and corrected.
However, if the light emitted from the pixel is transferred to the optical sensor unit, the deteriorated pixel may not be corrected.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not constitute prior art.


A wellbore cement composition includes substantially unhydrated cement powder and additive powder for cement. The additive powder is formulated from ingredients including a liquid additive for cement and solid carrier particles. The liquid additive is absorbed by the solid carrier particles. A wellbore cementing method includes using a dry cement composition, adding water to the dry cement composition, forming a cement slurry, placing the slurry in a wellbore, and setting the placed slurry. The dry cement composition contains substantially unhydrated cement powder and retarder powder for cement. The retarder powder contains a retarder absorbed by solid carrier particles.

The process of preparing wells drilled in subterranean formations, such as hydrocarbon production wells, often includes cementing the well. Known techniques for well cementing protect and seal the wellbore. Cementing may be used to seal the annulus between the wellbore wall and casing in the wellbore. Cementing may also be used to plug portions of a well, including for the purpose of abandonment, to seal a lost circulation zone, etc.
Cement powder may be mixed with water on-site to provide cement slurry or, less preferably, mixed with water off-site and transported to the well site. Cement slurry pumped into a wellbore, such as into the annulus, displaces fluids in the wellbore and replaces them with cement. A wide variety of additives may be included in the cement slurry to provide desired time for setting the cement, density, viscosity, strength, etc. Additives may be liquid or solid. Liquid additives use additional personnel and equipment for storage, handling, and dosing into cement slurry and increase the complexity of a cementing job compared to solid additives. Unfortunately, some additives are only available in liquid form. Accordingly, additives suitable as solid replacements for known liquid additives are desirable. Solid additives may be mixed with cement powder before transport to a well site and do not use extra personnel or equipment at the site, resulting in economic savings.

Wellbore cement compositions and wellbore cementing methods


A tunable drum is provided, having drum body comprised of first and second parts adjustable relative to each other such that the first part may be moved either towards or outwardly away from the second part. The skin of the drum is fastened to the second part of the drum body and by adjusting the position of the first part relative to the second part, the tension of said skin across the body may be varied, and the pitch or the drum varied.. The first part of the body may comprise an upper rim of the body, with the rim being moveable either upwardly or radially outwardly relative to the second part of the body. In the latter case, the rim is provided with an expansion joint to permit the outward expansion of the rim. The rim is adjusted by means of an array of threaded rotatable bolts extending through the body to engage the rim and push it outwardly when the bolts are rotated.

Musical drums require often periodic tuning, both to compensate for expansion and contraction of the skin or head and to change to change the pitch of the drum to accommodate musical needs. The skin typically expands and contracts in response to climactic changes and aging of the skin. The use of natural hides in drums, for example goatskin, provides a desirable musical quality to a drum, but typically results in significant expansion and contraction of the skin, with attendant changes in pitch.
Means have been developed in the past to adjust the tension on the skins of various types of drums. Typically, these have comprised various arrangements of cords and turnbuckles or other tensioning devices mounted to the outside of the drum body, to pull the skin downwardly over the body of the drum. These solutions require the use of a relatively large number of tensioning devices, particularly if the drum has a large diameter, making tuning the drum time-consuming and complex. As well, where it is desired to provide a smooth exterior to the body of the drum, for example, in a hand-held drum, these solutions are not useable. A hand-held drum, such as a traditional Irish bodhran, is generally grasped by the body of the drum, and the presence of externally-mounted tensioning devices would hinder the musician's ability to handle the drum. As well, it may be desirable for sake of appearance to provide a smooth, clean exterior of the drum.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a drum wherein the tuning means for the skin is relatively simple in operation and is positioned within the body of the drum, so as to avoid the use of external tensioning devices.


Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for receiving and distributing user-generated video content. In one aspect, a method includes receiving video data from a client computing device, where the video data is captured using a camera connected to the client computing device in accordance with instructions executed on the client computing device to provide the video data in accordance with predetermined constraints. The video data is automatically transcoded into at least one different format based on user credentials associated with a user of the client computing device and/or attributes associated with the video data. At least one format of the transcoded video data defines a video file in a format appropriate for inclusion in a linear television programming transmission. The transcoded video data is uploaded to a server for distribution.

It has become relatively easy for individuals and groups of individuals to take digital photographs and to record video, and to distribute this content to others over the Internet or other data networks. Such content is referred to as being "user generated" content. Still and video cameras, which are now common features on mobile phones, can be used to take photographs and to record videos that are immediately available for sharing with others through a multi-media messaging service or email, video file sharing sites, social network and similar services on the Internet that publish (to selected individuals or groups, or to everyone) or otherwise make available the photographs and video over the Internet. Some dedicated cameras and storage cards now have wireless or network connectivity and video can be uploaded to remote servers for sharing. Individuals or "consumers" distribute their photos and videos by uploading them to web-based services that publish them for friends, family, social or business contacts or anyone with access to the Internet to view. When user-generated content is uploaded or shared for a specific purpose, such as for example, in response to a widely disseminated request for a certain type of content, it may be referred to as crowd-sourced content.
Most consumer equipment capable of capturing photos or video is now able to do so in high definition. Inexpensive computer application programs allow individuals to edit photographs, videos and other graphics into a single work with nearly professional results, and to render the resulting work or "content" in standard formats for playback on a wide range of devices. Services for sharing user-generated video, photographs, and music abound on the Internet. For example, a number of video sharing sites allow people to upload, encode and share videos on the web.
On the other hand, most people still view professionally produced television programs ("programs") and motion pictures ("movies") using traditional television services. Programs are typically distributed to traditional television service providers by so-called "television networks," who possess the legal rights necessary to distribute the programs, and who are sometimes also involved in producing the programming. Those who provide transmission services for television, and provide television service to viewers, are referred to as "carriers" or Multi-Service Operators ("MSO"). Most television networks "sell" short periods of time during the programming for transmission of advertising, known as "commercials," "advertisements," "ads" or "ad spots," that promote businesses or programming on the network. These time slots can also be used for transmission of public service announcements. These time slots may also be used for any other promotional purposes.
Television transmission or distribution systems used by traditional carriers of television programming include terrestrial broadcast stations, satellite television, and cable television systems, as well as telecom delivery network services such as VDSL and FiOS offered over broadcast telecommunication or data networks, whose operators provide television services similar to what are offered by cable and satellite television service providers. However, standards have been formulated, or are in the process of being formulated, for using Internet protocols and the public Internet to distribute television programming using "live" IP-multicast or IP unicast streams that can be received by anyone with any type of broadband data connection to the Internet.
Though some television programs are available over the Internet and traditional carriers on an on-demand basis, traditional television programming for a television network is linear, meaning that programs—an episode of a television series, a news program, or a movie, for example—are scheduled so that they are transmitted sequentially, according to a predefined schedule, to carriers for transmission over their systems for substantially contemporaneous receipt by their subscribers or, in the case of terrestrial broadcast stations, by those who receive their broadcast signal. In linear programming, the programs to be transmitted to the audience, and the schedule for transmitting of the programs, are usually planned in advance of the time of transmission to an audience. The programming schedule, usually expressed in the form of a programming grid, specifies what program and, if applicable, episode is to be transmitted on each day and at any given time during the periods in which the network is scheduled to transmit. Television programs can include, but are not limited to, television series, motion pictures, news programs, reality television programs, sporting events, and other audio/visual works. The programs are often pre-recorded. However, programs can be "live." Generally, such programs are professionally produced. The network either owns or licenses the legal rights to distribute them.
Traditional linear programming is commonly divided into thirty-minute or hour-long programming segments, though it can be divided into shorter or longer segments, depending on network preferences. Programs can occupy more than one segment. Within a typical thirty-minute program segment, for example, between twenty-two and twenty-six minutes are reserved for transmitting the program. The remaining time is divided among 2-5 segments for commercials and/or other promotional announcements. Those segments are typically subdivided into multiple time slots for sale to advertisers. The duration of the advertising segments and each of the time slots can be chosen to be any desired length. The network transmits, or arranges for transmission of, its signal so that the half-hour segments begin at the top and bottom of each hour. However, networks can, and do sometimes, adjust the start and end time of programs. A network may or may not transmit more than one signal, or "feed," to account for time zone differences or other considerations.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Content creation and distribution system


An arm, wrist, shoulder and chest exerciser which allows maximum movement for those areas being exercised. A hand-held tube has an inner, rotatable axle. This axle attaches to another tubular structure at the top of the hand-held tube and allows this structure to rotate with a repetitive movement of the hand or arm.

This invention generally relates to exercising devices for hands, arms, wrists, shoulders and back and chest muscles. This exerciser requires the use of only one arm. This is its advantage over the prior art.
In today's fast-moving world, tight schedules sometimes come into conflict with time normally allotted for exercise. Therefore, a need exists for the ability to exercise and attend to other duties at the same time.
The prior art that exercises arms, wrists, shoulders and chests, and relates to hand-held apparatus all require two hands to operate. Three patents illustrate this point. U.S. Pat. No. 4,203,591 issued to Gibson shows an apparatus that is to be grabbed with both hands, each on a respective hand grip. The device is actuated by twisting the wrists either forward or backward to cause the apparatus to twist in a similar direction. The feat is made harder by knobs which tighten friction in the hand grips. Anderson U.S. Pat. No. 3,029,076 requires manipulating two handles against spring pressure until a cap snaps into a bore. U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,370 issued to Finch shows two parallel hand grips transversed by a bar. Grabbing the grips with one's hand, the grips are rotated in a clockwise or counterclockwise manner with respect to the bar for therapeutic or exercising use. As stated above, all require the use of two hands to utilize the invention.
U.S. Pat. Nos. East 3,550,312, Kanbar 3,533,185 and Mack 3,672,093 have whirling weights on the ends of handles. However, none is made of a simple-to-operate, rugged construction, which encourages repeated use for muscle conditioning.
The present invention requires only one hand and a simple motion with one hand, thus leaving a free hand and mind for other tasks which need attending to.


In order to determine a signal offset (OFS_SIG) of a roll rate sensor in a vehicle (10), a roll rate sensor signal (OMEGA_ROLL_SIG) is detected. A transversal acceleration (AC) of the vehicle (10) is determined. A temporal derivative (DRV_AC) of the transversal acceleration (AC) is determined. Verification is made as to whether a value of the temporal derivative (DRV_AC) of the transversal acceleration (AC) is smaller than a predefined first threshold value (THD—1). The signal offset (OFS_SIG) of the roll rate sensor is determined in accordance with the roll rate sensor signal (OMEGA_ROLL_SIG) if the value of the temporal derivative (DRV_AC) of the transversal acceleration (AC) is smaller than the predefined first threshold value (THD—1).

The signal of the roll sensor is representative of a roll rate of the motor vehicle. The roll rate describes a rotation of the motor vehicle about a longitudinal axis of the motor vehicle, which extends through a center of gravity of the motor vehicle. If the motor vehicle is not rotating about the longitudinal axis of the motor vehicle, the roll rate sensor should generate a signal which is representative of the roll rate equating to zero. However roll rate sensors generally have a signal offset. The signal offset can also be referred to as offset. The signal offset causes the roll rate sensor to signal a roll rate which does not equate to zero even in an absolute rest position of the sensor. If the signal offset is known, this can be accounted for when the roll rate is determined. The roll rate can thus be determined particularly precisely by knowing the signal offset.

Method and device for determining a signal offset of a roll rate sensor


In a fluorescent display tube, a metal spacer is used as a height sustaining member and a fixing member of linear member so that the fixing strength of the linear member in the lengthwise direction is increased. In the fluorescent display tube, both ends of filament and Al wires are bonded onto a cathode electrode formed on a substrate by ultrasonic bonding. The ends of the filament are embedded in a part in the Al wires in the shape of being bent into a letter Z or an inverted letter Z to form fixing portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electron tube having a linear member, such as a cathode filament, a linear grid, a linear damper for the cathode filament or for the linear grid, and a linear spacer for the cathode filament or for the linear grid. More particularly, the present invention relates to a fixing structure of the linear member in a fluorescent luminous tube, such as a fluorescent display tube in which the linear member is mounted under tension.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A fluorescent display tube, as a kind of a conventional electron tube shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-245925, will be described with reference to FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b). FIG. 8(a) is a cross-sectional view illustrating a fluorescent display tube taken along the line X2-X2 in FIG. 8(b) looking in the directions of the arrow. FIG. 8(b) is a cross-sectional view illustrating the fluorescent display tube taken along the line X1-X1 in FIG. 8(a) looking in the direction of the arrow.
The fluorescent display tube has a hermetic container formed of substrates 111 and 112 to be opposite to each other, and side plates 121 to 124. The hermetic container contains filaments 23, a grid 33, and an anode electrode 31 therein. Electrons emitted from the filaments 23 are controlled by the grid 33 to reach the anode electrode 31, and the reached electrons excite fluorescent material on the anode electrode 31 to make the fluorescent material emit light.
A pair of aluminum (Al) thin films 211 and 212 for use as a cathode electrode is formed on the substrate 111. The ends of the filament 23 are held between the Al thin film 211 and an Al wire 251, and the Al thin film 212 and the Al wire 252, and bonded to the Al thin films 211 and 212 and the Al wires 251 and 252 by ultrasonic bonding. Spacers 261 and 262 made of an Al wire sustain the filament 23 at a predetermined elevated height.
The conventional fluorescent display tube shown in FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b) requires to dispose therein the filament 23 having both side ends thereof fixed between the Al thin film 211 and the Al wire 251 and the Al thin film 212 and the Al wire 252 respectively, as well as the spacers 261 and 262 for sustaining the filament 23 at the predetermined elevated height. This results in increasing dead space in the fluorescent display tube, and is obstructive to reduce the size of the fluorescent display tube.
Moreover, the filament 23 merely touches the spacers 261 and 262 and are not fixed to the spacers 261 and 262. Thus, the filament 23 is liable to sideslip in the lengthwise directions of the spacers 261 and 262 while the fluorescent display tube is being assembled or being used. The sideslip changes the light emission of the fluorescent material on the anode electrodes 31 and deteriorates the display quality of the fluorescent display tube.
The conventional fluorescent display tube separately arranges the Al wires 251 and 252 for fixing the filaments 23, and the spacers 261 and 262 for sustaining the filaments 23 at the predetermined elevated height. In other words, the conventional fluorescent display tube requires the Al wires 251 and 252 for fixing the filaments 23, and the Al spacer wires 261 and 262.

Electron tube with stepped fixing portion


This disclosure is directed to an image sensor. The image sensor includes a two-dimensional pixel array divided into a plurality of blocks, each of the plurality of blocks comprising pixels arranged in at least two different rows and two different columns, and a shutter mechanism that exposes the plurality of blocks sequentially, with all pixels in each block being exposed synchronously.

An image sensor (or imager) generally refers to the part of an image-capturing device (e.g., a camera) that can detect and convey the information required to form an image. In a digital camera, the image sensor can typically be a silicon semiconductor on which images are captured. Structurally, the sensor can be composed of an array of photosensitive diodes (i.e., photosites) that capture photons and converts them to electrons. The buildup of electrons in each photosite can be converted to an electronic signal (e.g., a voltage), which can in turn be converted to digital data representing a picture element or pixel. These elements or pixels can then be used for assembling the final image. The final image can be stored in the camera's memory and retrieved to be viewed on a display and/or further manipulated.
Ideally, a well-designed image sensor allows the camera to have a relatively high-speed frame rate that enables the camera to capture a larger number of images within a short period of time and, at the same time, uphold image quality by minimizing the amount of undesirable effects such as motion artifacts in the result images.


Provide is a processor that can maintain a dependency relationship between a plurality of instructions and one read instruction. The processor comprises: a setting unit configured to set, when an instruction that exists at a location ensuring that writing into a memory area has been completed is executed, usage information indicating whether writing into the memory area has been completed such that the usage information indicates that writing into a memory area during execution of one thread has been completed; and a control unit configured to (i) perform execution of a read instruction to read data stored in the memory area when the usage information indicates that writing into the memory area during execution of the one thread has been completed, and (ii) suppress execution of the read instruction when the usage information indicates that writing into the memory area during execution of the one thread has not been completed.

Media processing that, for example, compresses and decompresses digitalized video data, audio data and the like, has a large amount of operation. Therefore, special-purpose hardware, a high-performance digital signal processor (DSP) and the like for media processing have become popular.
Among some kinds of media processing as above, a great variety of standards such as moving picture experts group 2 (MPEG-2), MPEG-4, H.263, and H.264 have been put into practical use. Accordingly, digital audio-visual (AV) equipment is required to support media processing of a plurality of standards. In addition, complexity of each of media processing applications is increasing, and the size of an image, the number of channels of audio and the like are also increasing. Accordingly, the amount of operation continues increasing.
Therefore, an attempt is made to improve performance by using a high-performance multi-thread processor (for example, see Non-Patent Literature 1). Such a processor executes a plurality of programs at the same time, and accordingly operating efficiency thereof has been greatly improved.
When a multi-thread processor executes a plurality of threads (programs) at the same time, one thread and at least one other thread often have a dependency relationship, and for example, after a predetermined write instruction to write data is executed during execution of the one thread, a read instruction to read the data written by the predetermined write instruction is executed during execution of the another thread.
Such a case is implemented by a technology disclosed in Patent Literature 1.
According to Patent Literature 1, the dependency relationship between one thread and at least one other thread is implemented by managing an address in a memory area. To be specific, according to the technology disclosed in Patent Literature 1, when a write instruction is executed during execution of the one thread with respect to the managed address, the other thread can access an area indicated by the address, i.e., reading can be performed in the area during execution of the other thread.

Processor that executes a plurality of threads by promoting efficiency of transfer of data that is shared with the plurality of threads


Metal interconnects are formed with larger grain size and improved uniformity. Embodiments include patterning metal layers into metal interconnects and vias prior to depositing a dielectric layer. An embodiment includes forming metal layers on a substrate, patterning the metal layers to form metal interconnect lines and vias, and forming a dielectric layer on the substrate, metal interconnect lines, and vias, thereby filling gaps between the metal interconnect lines and between the vias. The metal layers may be annealed prior to patterning. A liner may be formed on the sidewalls of the metal interconnect lines and vias prior to forming the dielectric layer. The dielectric layer may be formed of a porous material with a dielectric constant less than 2.4.

Conventional methods of fabricating back-end-of-line (BEOL) metal interconnect layers employ a copper or copper alloy (Cu) inlay or damascene process, because of difficulties in patterning blanket Cu metal films into interconnect traces. As reductions in device scaling continue, front-end-of-line (FEOL) transistor size becomes smaller, and the number of transistors per unit area increases. Correspondingly, BEOL metal interconnect line pitch decreases. As the metal trench width is reduced, the trench aspect ratio increases, making it increasingly more difficult to deposit barrier/seed layers with good uniformity and integrity, and without creating voids, which cause reliability and yield problems and high line resistance. Grain growth in small features is also limited, which degrades electromigration (EM). In addition, with the dual damascene approach the low-k dielectric in which the trenches are etched becomes damaged by the etch processes, thereby degrading capacitance and time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB).
Reactive ion etching (RIE) or short RIE has also been used for aluminum (Al), as it has the advantage of producing an anisotropic or directional etch pattern. This allows for approximately rectangular interconnect cross sections, which in turn allows for high interconnect densities, as required for modern microchips. However, RIE is difficult to apply to Cu, because Cu does not readily form volatile compounds for a dry etching process, except with high temperatures that are destructive to the semiconductor features. Furthermore, chloride used for dry etching poisons Cu.
Conventional subtractive Al RIE processes also involve a large number of steps. Specifically, blanket Al is patterned to form metal lines, a dielectric layer is formed, vias are etched in the dielectric, and the vias are filled with tungsten (W). In addition, similar to the dual damascene process, the dielectric becomes damaged during the etching of the vias, thereby diminishing the benefits of using a low-k dielectric. Further, W vias have a higher electrical resistance than Al.
A need therefore exists for improved methodology with fewer steps enabling the formation of metal interconnects and vias with improved uniformity and electromigration, without degrading the low-k dielectric, particularly for 100 nm pitch devices and smaller.

Dual damascene-like subtractive metal etch scheme


A method acquires compressed videos. Intra-, or inter-frames of each compressed video are acquired at a fixed sampling rate. Joint analysis is applied concurrently and in parallel to the compressed videos to determine a variable and non-uniform temporal sampling rate for each compressed video so that a combined distortion is minimized and a combined frame rate constraint is satisfied. Each compressed video is then sampled at the associated variable and non-uniform temporal sampling rate to produce output compressed videos having variable temporal resolutions.

Encoding of multiple videos has been considered in two major areas: transmission and recording. Transmission of multiple videos is mainly applied in broadcasting and delivery applications, while recording of multiple videos is usually applied to surveillance applications. Although video recording is common in many consumer electronics products, such video recorders deal typically with the encoding of a single video, rather than multiple concurrent videos.
In television broadcasting applications, it is common practice to encode multiple videos, such that the encoded video bitstreams can be transmitted together over a single channel having a fixed bandwidth. For instance, given N programs and a total channel bandwidth of 45 Mbps, which is common for satellite links, the problem is to encode the N programs with an overall maximum quality, and multiplex them onto the single channel. Because the bandwidth is fixed and the complexity of each program varies, each of the programs is encoded at a variable bit-rate (VBR). In this way, a near-constant distortion can be maintained across all programs. Thus, more complex portions of one videos can be allocated more bits, by decreasing the bits allocated for less complex portions of other videos that are concurrently encoded.
The encoding process described above is referred to as statistical multiplexing. Techniques associated with this process are described by Haskell in "Multiplexing of Variable Rate Encoded Streams," IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, 1994, Wang et al, "Joint Rate Control For Multi-Program Video Coding," IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, Vol. 42, No. 3, August 1996, U.S. Pat. No. 6,091,455, "Statistical Multiplexer for Recording Video," issued to Yang on Jul. 18, 2000, U.S. Pat. No. 6,195,388, "Apparatus and Method for Encoding Multiple Video Programs," issued to Choi et al. on Feb. 27, 2001, and references included therein.
Along similar lines, Sun and Vetro have described the encoding of multiple objects in a scene subject to a fixed bandwidth constraint in U.S. Pat. No. 5,969,764, issued on Oct. 19, 1999. That method allocates bits to each object. In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/579,889, "Method for encoding and transcoding multiple video objects with variable temporal resolution," filed by Vetro et al. on May 26, 2000, a method to satisfy a total bandwidth constraint with each object in a scene having a different temporal rate is described. There, the method minimizes composition artifacts that occur when multiple objects in a scene are encoded at different temporal rates.
The above prior art methods encode multiple videos or objects subject to a total bandwidth constraint of a single transmission channel.
In the prior art, resource constraints other than bandwidth have been considered in the processing of multiple videos, see for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,384, "Using a Receiver Model to Multiplex Variable Bit-Rate Streams Having Timing Constraints," issued to Huang et al. on Apr. 18, 2000, which describes techniques to determine the output bit rates of each stream so that neither the queue for the bitstream in the multiplexer nor the buffer in a decoder overflows or underflows. The rates are determined using timing information that is read from the bitstream, and a receiver model that considers the operation of the decoder buffer.
Transcoding multiple videos considering timing, both delay and processing, constraints are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,275,536, "Implementation architectures of a multi-channel MPEG video transcoder using multiple programmable processors," issued to Chen et al. on Aug. 14, 2001. Input bitstreams are first partitioned into processing units. In one architecture, the processing units are split into different substreams; each substream with its own queue, then each substream is processed in a corresponding branch. In a second architecture, the processing units are assigned to any available processor from a common queue. Independent processing units are processed concurrently according to a queuing system model to minimize an averaging processing time. In contrast to the first architecture that is a parallel process of multiple branches, the second architecture is a single branch to multi-processing.
Similar to Chen et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,008,848, "Video Compression Using Multiple Computing Agents," issued to Tiwari et al., on Dec. 28, 2001 also describes a system and method that uses multiple processors. In contrast, Tiwari applies to encoding of a video and describes techniques to achieve the encoding using coarse grain parallelism effected by multiple processors or compressing agents.
FIG. 1 shows a general system model for encoding multiple videos for a surveillance application. Cameras 101 acquire videos 102 for a video recorder 110. Typically, the recorder 110 compresses the videos. The compressed videos are then stored in a memory 120. Later, a video player 130 can play the stored videos.
FIG. 2 shows the details of the recorder 200. The acquired videos 102 are sent to a high-speed switch 210. The switch samples the analog video signals in time. The samples are fed to a decoder 220, and the digitized images are encoded by a still-image-encoder 230 to yield compressed images. A memory controller 240 writes the compressed images to allocated space in the memory 120. The stored video can be played back later.
The main problem with the recorder of FIG. 2 is that still images are encoded. That does not exploit any temporal redundancy in the videos. As a result, the memory 120 needs to be very large if weeks and months of surveillance videos are stored. It should be noted that a huge amount of surveillance videos, particularly those taken at night, are of totally static scenes. Significant events are rare.
FIG. 3 shows an obvious solution to the above problem. In this scheme, there is one encoding channel for each video. In the encoding channel, the video is first NTSC decoded 220. Due to the predictive encoding used in video coders, such as MPEG, a frame memory 310 is maintained for each video encoder 320 to store reference pictures. The input frames from the different camera 101 are then encoded separately and the results are written to the memory 120 using the memory controller 240. The temporal rate of the input frames can be controlled by uniformly sampling with fixed period T 301. This sampling makes better utilization of the memory 120. The main drawbacks of that scheme are that the video encoders 320 are not fully utilized considering that they are typically designed to handle full-rate video. Also, the many decoders and encoders increase the cost of the system.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,314,137, "Video data compression system, video recording/playback system, and video data compression encoding method," issued to Ono et al. on Nov. 6, 2001, a system and method that overcomes the above drawbacks is described, as shown in FIG. 4. There, a single video encoder 420 is used to encode all of the videos. The digitized video frames from each camera input 101 are sub-sampled with period T and buffered in the respective frame memories 210. In order to achieve the predictive encoding with the single encoder 420, a series of input video frames corresponding to one camera input are fed into the video encoder so that predictive coding from frames of the same camera input can be made successively. The Group of Pictures (GOP) structure in MPEG coding allows independent units of such to be formed. In that way, the memory controller 240 becomes a GOP-select, and the GOP's from each camera input are time-multiplexed into the encoder according to the controller 410. With that scheme, a single bitstream for all camera inputs is produced. To identify the portions of the videos that correspond to a given camera, a camera identifier 401 is multiplexed into the encoded bitstream.
With the above solution, one GOP's worth of data is required to be stored in each of the frame memories, which is a much larger requirement than the system of FIG. 2 that only requires 1 or 2 reference pictures, at most. Therefore, although there is a significant savings in encoding hardware, memory requirements are still large and expensive. This drawback cannot be overcome by simply sampling the input video more aggressively. Although this will reduce the temporal resolution of the video, the same data for a GOP still needs to be buffered. Only a shorter GOP period would reduce the memory requirements, but this would imply more frequent intra frame coding, which means less coding efficiency. In the most extreme case, a GOP period of 1 would degenerate to the still image coding system shown in FIG. 2.
High memory requirements are just one drawback of the system in FIG. 4. The problem becomes proportionately worse when the system is scaled to higher number of videos.
In large-scale systems, compressed videos are often used to reduce bandwidth and storage. Therefore, it is desired to provide a system and method for concurrently sub-sampling multiple compressed videos.

Resource-constrained sampling of multiple compressed videos

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.


A toothbrush with a toothpaste reservoir and a simple control delivering mechanism which is associated with an elastomeric valve system for dispensing an amount of oral hygienic paste onto bristles on the toothbrush.

Current toothbrushes are commonly one of two different types. The first type requires the user to dispense a quantity of toothpaste from a tube or container onto the bristles of the toothbrush. Such an arrangement requires the provision of separate containers and toothbrushes, and the step of charging the toothbrush with toothpaste from the container prior to use, which can be a messy and time-consuming operation.
The second type of toothbrush incorporates its own container of toothpaste, usually in or as the handle of the toothbrush. The container, once empty, can either be refilled or replaced. However, such arrangements suffer from a number of disadvantages, not the least of which is that the overall toothbrush is of relatively complex construction and is therefore expensive to manufacture, operation of the toothbrush usually requiring the actuation and/or manipulation of several different elements within the system.
For example it is known to provide a toothbrush provided with a head having one or more openings therein feeding to the bristles, and a flow control mechanism for the toothpaste including a slide member movable longitudinally within the brush relative to the head to open and close the or each opening whereby paste from a container connected to the head can be pumped from the container through the or each opening, when open, onto the bristles.
However, the provision of the slide member within the neck and head of the toothbrush imposes severe restrictions on the configuration of the toothbrush, and in particular prevents the provision of an angled, flexible neck as is currently considered desirable for optimum handling purposes. Furthermore, the presence of the slide member necessitates the neck and head of the toothbrush being of a thickness greater than would otherwise be desirable.
Furthermore, the openings in the head through which the paste flows to the bristles tend to retain paste therein even after use, and/or are such as to cause water ingress to the head of the toothbrush. Such water ingress can result in bacterial growth within the toothbrush resulting in an unhygienic product.