Aspects of the present invention provide a “SuperTag” cache that manages cache at three granularities: (i) coarse grain, multi-block “super blocks,” (ii) single cache blocks and (iii) fine grain, fractional block “data segments.” Since contiguous blocks have the same tag address, by tracking multi-block super blocks, the SuperTag cache inherently increases per-block tag space, allowing higher compressibility without incurring high area overheads. To improve compression ratio, the SuperTag cache uses variable-packing compression allowing variable-size compressed blocks without requiring costly compactions. The SuperTag cache also stores data segments dynamically. In addition, the SuperTag cache is able to further improve the compression ratio by co-compressing contiguous blocks. As a result, the Super Tag cache improves energy and performance for memory intensive applications over conventional compressed caches.

The present invention relates to the field of computer systems, and in particular, to an energy optimized cache memory architecture exploiting spatial locality.
Improvements in technology scaling continue to bring new power and energy challenges in computer systems as the amount of power consumed per transistor does not scale down as quickly as the total density of transistors. In such systems, a significant amount of energy is consumed by the memory hierarchy which has long focused on improving memory latency and bandwidth by minimizing the gap between processor speeds and memory speeds.
Caches memories, or caches, play a critical role in reducing system energy. A typical cache memory is a fast access memory that stores data reflecting selected locations in a corresponding main memory of the computer system. Caches are usually comprised of Static Random Access Memory ("SRAM") cells. Typically, the data stored in caches is organized into data sets which are commonly referred to as cache lines or cache blocks. Caches usually include storage areas for a set of tags that correspond to each block. Such tags typically include address tags that identify an area of the main memory that maps to the corresponding block. In addition, such cache tags usually provide status information for the corresponding block.
Although caches consume significant power, they can also save system power by filtering, and thereby reducing, costly off-chip accesses to main memory. Consequently, effectively utilizing caches is not only important for system performance, but also for system energy.
Cache compression is a known technique for increasing the effective cache capacity by compressing and compacting data, which reduces cache misses. Cache compression can also improve cache power by reading and writing less data for each cache access. Cache compression techniques may include targeting limited data patterns, such as dynamic zero compression and significance compression, to alternatives targeting more complex patterns. The "C-PACK" (Cache Packer) algorithm, for example, as described in "C-pack: a high-performance microprocessor cache compression algorithm," IEEE Transactions on VLSI Systems, 2010 by X. Chen, L. Yang, R. Dick, L. Shang and H. Lekatsas, the contents of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference, applies a pattern-based partial dictionary match compression technique with fixed packing, and uses a pair matching technique to locate cache blocks with sufficient unused space for newly allocate blocks, thereby offering a compression technique with lower hardware overhead. In general, cache compression can improve system energy if its energy overheads due to compressing and packing cache blocks are lower than the energy it saves by reducing accesses to the next level of memory in the memory hierarchy, such as to main memory.
However, existing cache compression techniques limit the effectiveness in optimizing system energy by lowering compressibility and incurring high energy overheads. Conventional compressed caches typically have three main drawbacks. First, to fit more cache blocks, conventional compressed caches typically double the tag array size, and as such, can only typically double the effective cache capacity. Second, packing more cache blocks often results in higher energy overheads. Variable packing techniques, which compress cache blocks into variable, sizes, improve compressibility, but incur higher energy overheads. These techniques need to frequently compact invalid cache blocks to make contiguous free space, called compaction or repacking, and as such, they significantly increase the number of accessed cache blocks. Thus, they remove the potential energy benefits of the compression. Third, conventional compressed caches limit the compression ratio. Several proposals, including those targeting energy-efficiency, use fixed-packing techniques that at most fit two compressed cache blocks in the space of one uncompressed block. In addition, all of the existing cache compression proposals compress small blocks, for example, 64 Bytes, not allowing higher compression ratios made possible by compressing larger blocks of data.

Energy optimized cache memory architecture exploiting spatial locality


Embodiments of the invention provide an electromagnetic inductive touch panel for detecting a touch position of an electromagnetic stylus including a first resonant circuit and a second resonant circuit, the electromagnetic inductive touch panel including: a plurality of first coils extending in a first direction, wherein at least one of the first coils emits a first electromagnetic signal at a first frequency, and the first resonant circuit receives the first electromagnetic signal and then resonates to generate a first reflected signal at the first frequency; and a plurality of second coils extending in a second direction, wherein at least one of the second coils emits a second electromagnetic signal at a second frequency, and the second resonant circuit receives the second electromagnetic signal and then resonates to generate a second reflected signal at the second frequency.

In recent years, touch panels, and display panels and display devices with a touch function, have been increasingly popular as they become friendly, convenient and prompt to operate. The touch panels can be categorized by their different operation principles into, for example, a resistive-type touch panel, a capacitive-type touch panel, an electromagnetic inductive-type touch panel, etc. Particularly the resistive touch panel and the capacitive touch panel are advantageous in their possibility of being operated directly with a hand or finger. However it may be difficult to distinguish touching by the hand or finger from touching by a stylus while writing with the stylus because the hand or finger is generally placed on the touch panel. The electromagnetic inductive touch panel generally includes a plurality of electromagnetic inductive coils or antennas arranged in the X and Y direction and a positioning device (e.g., an electromagnetic stylus). The position of the electromagnetic stylus can be determined accurately by the electromagnetic inductive touch panel even if the hand or finger is placed on the touch panel.
FIG. 1a is a schematic diagram of an electromagnetic inductive touch panel structure in the prior art. As shown in FIG. 1a, the electromagnetic inductive touch panel includes first coils 11 (including 11-1, 11-2, 11-3 . . . 11-48) arranged in the X direction and extending in the Y direction and second coils 12 (including 12-1, 12-2, 12-3 . . . 12-48) arranged in the Y direction and extending in the X direction, where typically the first coils 11 intersect with and are insulated from the second coils 12, and both the first coils 11 and the second coils 12 are arranged on a substrate (not illustrated). A drive detection method of the touch panel in the prior art will be described with reference to FIG. 1b and FIG. 1c taking the first coils 11 as an example. A drive signal is applied to the respective coils among the first coils 11, and the respective coils emit an electromagnetic signal and then receive an electromagnetic signal (referred to as a reflected signal) reflected by an electromagnetic stylus and generate an inductive signal. Specifically a drive signal is applied to the first coil 11-1 so that the first coil 11-1 emits an electromagnetic signal, and the electromagnetic stylus receives the electromagnetic signal emitted from the first coil 11-1, and a resonant circuit (e.g., an LC resonant circuit) therein resonates to generate and emit an electromagnetic signal (i.e., a reflected signal) at the same frequency as the electromagnetic signal emitted by the first coil 11-1, and the first coil 11-1 receives the electromagnetic signal reflected by the electromagnetic stylus and then generates an inductive signal (which is typically embodied as an inductive voltage); and alike all the first coils 11-2, 11-3, . . . , 11-48 generate inductive signals, thus resulting in 48 inductive signals in total. Function fitting (e.g., quadratic function fitting) is performed on these 48 inductive signals, and the position (Xp) of the peak of fitted curve is determined as the coordinate of a touch position of the electromagnetic stylus in the X direction. The coordinate of a touch position of the electromagnetic stylus in the Y direction can be determined similarly.
Although the touch position of the electromagnetic stylus can be well determined in the touch panel and drive detection method thereof described above, it is desirable to improve the efficiency of drive detection thereof.

Electromagnetic inductive touch panel and drive detection method thereof and coordinate input apparatus

SHANGHAI TIANMA MICRO-ELECTRONICS CO., LTD


An electrical connector having a fusible element for mounting on a substrate includes an insulative housing and a contact terminal retained in the insulative housing. The contact terminal includes a resilient contacting arm extending beyond a mating face of the insulative housing and a soldering portion for mating with the fusible element. A gelatinous flux is deployed on the fusible element, and/or on the soldering portion, and/or between the fusible element and the soldering portion, and then flux is dried to immovably fix the fusible element with respect to the soldering portion. The dried flux will be re-juvenile to clean and remove an oxidized layer originally existed on the soldering portion so as to achieve robust welding quality. Besides, a method for trimming an electrical connector to have robust welding properties is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a socket connector, and more particularly to a socket connector incorporated with a contact terminal having a layer of solder affinity and oxidation retarding preparation adjacent to a tail portion of the contact terminal as well as a solder ball attached thereto so as to achieve perfect solder joint.
2. Description of the Related Art
Soldering between a solder tail of a contact terminal and a conductive pad on a printed circuit board is comparably reliable and commonly practiced in the electrical connector field. When conducting a soldering process, there is a dilemma. On one hand, it is requested that the solder tail expresses solderable property, i.e. the solder can be readily and easily attached thereto. If the solder joint is not properly formed between the solder tail and the printed circuit board, defective interconnection or so called cold-joint will be encounter. Rework process will always be needed to correct this problem. On the other hand, because of this solderable property, the solder tends to flow upward or wick along an external surface of the solder tail. Once the solder flows and wicks upwardly along the surface resulted from the capillary force, the overall characteristic of the contact terminal will be changed or negatively modified if the wicking reaches up to a middle portion of a contact terminal. For example, when the contact terminal is designed, intended normal force, deflection, etc. have been carefully calculated so as to meet the field requirements. Once the solder flows and wicks upwardly to cover the contact terminal, the characteristic of the contact terminal will be altered, and the normal force and other properties will be altered accordingly. In worse situation, a connector after soldering will be found failed resulted from this solder wicking. As a result, the contact terminal is requested to provide a mechanism to limit the wicking.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,803 (hereinafter US'803) issued to Schnell on Apr. 26, 1977 discloses a solder substrate clip having a contact arm. A mass of solder is secured to the arm on a side away from a contact surface and a solder globule integral with the mass of solder at an edge of the arm extending from the mass across the edge of the arm to the contact surface for engagement with a contact pad on the substrate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,734 issued to Lytle on Jul. 11, 1989 discloses a connector featuring that a connector adapted to be attached to a mother printed circuit board and to removably receive a daughter printed circuit board of the edge card type and adapted to mechanically and electrically couple the mother and daughter printed circuit boards. According to its disclosure, the invention may be incorporated into a method to make the contact terminal and which further includes the step of fabricating the contact of phosphor bronze. The method further includes the step of plating the contact with nickel to a thickness of about between 0.000050 and 0.000150 inches. The method further includes the step of plating the lower portion of the contact with solder of about 60 percent tin and 40 percent lead to a thickness of about between 0.000100 and 0.000500 inches. The method further includes the step of plating the contact portion of the contact with about 40 microinches thick or thicker of PdNi flashed with gold to a thickness of about 0.000004 inches nominally. It is known to the skilled in the art that tin-lead is solderable material, while nickel oxide is non-solderable. Because of that, a tin-lead coating is applied to the lower portion, which according to Lytle, it increases solderablility of the lower portion which is intended to be soldered into a via of a printed circuit board.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,453,017 issued to Belopolsky on Sep. 26, 1995 expressivebly take the advantage of the benefit disclosed in Lytle. In Belopolsky, it discloses an improved connector for an electronic module or the like and includes a housing having a socket opening that is sized and configured to accept an electronic module, and a plurality of terminals mounted to the housing. Each of the terminals has a foot portion having a layer of non-solderable material coated on one side of the foot portion to prevent solder from adhering to that side. An arched capillary nest is formed by a channel surface on the underside of the foot portion when the terminal is mounted on a conductor pad such that solder flows through the capillary nest under the influence of capillary forces from the side of the terminal having a non-solderable coating thereon to the other side for forming a solder joint on that other side. A ring of non-solderable material is coated around a middle portion of the terminal to prevent solder from flowing to the electrical contact surfaces located above the ring. As a result, the connector terminals can be soldered to a printed circuit board or the like in a simple and inexpensive manner and without the formation of known solder defects. As disclosed by Belopolsky, solderable material used in capillary nest is to promote solderability on the solder tail, while the non-solderable ring located at the middle portion limits the solder from wicking further upward. However, it is very difficult to fabricate the capillary nest especially when the dimension of the terminal becomes smaller and smaller.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,470 issued to Johary on Feb. 2, 1988 discloses another mechanism to overcome or control the solder wicking. According to Johary, a solder transfer member for applying discrete bodies of solder of predetermined size to the leads of a component for subsequent surface mounting to a substrate. The transfer member is a plate having a non-wetted surface, for example titanium, with an array of cavities matching the component lead pattern, each having a volume corresponding to the desired amount of solder to be applied to the corresponding lead. The method includes placing solder paste on the transfer member and filling the cavities by wiping the plate surface. The component is placed on the transfer member with the leads contacting the solder paste in the cavities. Reflow of the solder paste bonds to each lead a discrete body of solder having a precisely determined size. To limit wicking of solder on the leads, selective masking may be performed by applying a water soluble mask coating to the leads and removing the mask from selected areas by placing the component against a surface charged with water before placing the component on the transfer member.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,042,389 issued to Lemke on Mar. 28, 2000 disclosed another mechanism to limit the solder wicking issue. According to FIG. 6, along with description, "The opening 96 also can function as a thermal break to retard solder wicking, in the same manner as openings 89 in the FIG. 6 embodiment. The terminal 90 may also include passivation or anti-wicking coatings to prevent solder flow toward the contact sections. Aperture or opening 89 defined in the contact tail 76 is used to limit the wicking issue."
In addition, in the above described Schnell '803 patent, the specification makes another disclosure. According to its description, along with FIGS. 1 to 4, it looks like that Schnell uses energy to control the wicking issue. According to Schnell, the amount of energy supplied to the interface between the solder mass and the arm is sufficient to melt the entire mass, in that way assuring that a relatively large mass of molten solder does not coat the contact surface of the arm. While molten solder does not readily flow across the raw uncoated edges, a relatively large amount of molten solder could flow across the edges and coat the contact surface. This is undesirable because when a substrate is moved into the mouth the arms are bent further apart than intended due to the thickness of the solder coating and may be overstressed. During soldering of the clip to the substrate, the thick layer of solder would be melted freeing the arms for undesired movement during the soldering operation. Overstressed arms may not be strong enough to engage the substrate tightly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,120,558 issued to Seidler on Oct. 17, 1978 discloses another way, as compared to Lemke and Schnell, to attach the solder mass to the contact. Seidler uses spring fingers to mechanically hold the solder mass, such as shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, and 13 to 15. According to Seidler, each clip includes a flat body portion 15, a pair of spring fingers 16, bent to extend upwardly and laterally from the plane of the body portion distally of the clip and spaced apart by the width of a central spring finger 17 which extends laterally in a position spaced from and substantially parallel to the fingers 16, defining a gap 21 adapted to receive the edge of a substrate (not shown). The fingers 16 and 17 are formed from the blank shown in FIG. 4 by the parallel cuts 18 which terminate at end points 18′. An additional gripping finger 19 is provided by the U-shaped cut 20, the sides of which lie parallel to the cuts 18 and the closed end 20′ being below the line of the ends 18′, this finger thus being formed partially from the material in the central finger 17. The free end of the finger 17 is curved arcuately away from the finger 16, and the gripping finger 19 is curved arcuately toward the curved end of finger 17, in a position to grip securely the short cylindrical slug of solder 22, as clearly shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,969,286 issued to Mongold on Nov. 29, 2005 discloses another type of mechanism to attach the solder mass to the solder tail. According to Mongold, an electrical connector includes a connector body, a plurality of cores and a plurality of electrically conductive contacts disposed in the cores of the connector body. Each of the contacts includes a fusible member attached thereto. Each of the fusible members includes an intermediate portion and two support members disposed on opposite sides of the intermediate portion. The support members are arranged to hang down below a tail portion of the contacts. As illustrated in FIG. 1B, it looks like the solder mass 40a, 40b is attached to the contact terminal 22 in a manner of a landing gear of an airplane. According to Mongold, each fusible member 40 has two support portions 40a, 40b which are connected to each other by an intermediate portion 40c. The two support portions 40a, 40b are disposed opposite to each other and spaced from each other by a distance that is equal to a length of the intermediate portion 40c. The two support portions 40a, 40b may preferably have substantially flattened bottom surfaces as shown in FIG. 1B. However, the bottom surfaces of the support portions 40a, 40b may also have other shapes such as rounded, spherical, conical, square, rectangular, and other suitable shapes.
China Utility Model Patent No. CN2618319Y published on May 26, 2004 discloses an arrangement in which both the contact and housing is used to hold the solder mass thereto. This arrangement is similar to what illustrated by Seidler, and Schnell, while the housing of the connector body is also used.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,572,397 issued to Ju on Jun. 3, 2003 discloses another arrangement in which the solder mass is held by a cuverlinear portion of a solder tail.
US Pat. Pub. No. 20070293060 submitted by Ju discloses another arrangement in which a cradle-shaped portion is used to hold the solder mass.
China Utility Model Patent No. CN2718822Y published on Aug. 17, 2005 discloses an arrangement in which two contact terminals are arranged within a single passageway and a solder ball is held by two solder tails of the contact terminals.
On the other hand, the use of gold on electrical contacts, specially on the solder portion is also well established in the electronic industry. Gold's high reliability under repeated use, its resistance to corrosion, and low contact resistance, makes it an outstanding material for coating electrical contacts, especially those used in low voltage devices. Gold is traditionally applied to electrical contacts by electroplating the gold from aqueous solutions of gold complexes, usually cyanides or chlorides. The electronics industry in response to escalating gold prices and ever increasing economic pressures has developed sophisticated equipment for continuous and selective plating of gold in spots and stripes on strips of metal components. There are, however, a number of problems associated with electroplating gold, such as contamination of the baths accompanied by the codeposition of undesirable materials on the contacts; restriction of the range of current usable to obtain optimum plating thus limiting the speed at which components may be plated; waste due to excessive coverage; and hazards associated with the use of such poisonous compounds as potassium cyanide. Concomitant with these are the associated problems of the disposal of the hazardous industrial waste.
Mechanic Ball Attachment (MBA) is a technology different what disclosed on U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,584 issued to Lekme on Feb. 15, 2000 along with its patent family discloses how to resist solder wicking along the contact by means of nickel layer or other mechanical measurements or even chemicals. In the MBA-type socket connector, the solder ball is merely held by a mechanic force between the solder tail and housing. It is simple, and easy to make. Nevertheless, the down side is since the flux deployed onto the substrate has a limited capability to travel over the solder ball, and finally reaches to the area between the solder ball and the solder tail. Accordingly, cold joint, or poor soldering are frequently happened and encountered by the MBA socket connector. However, few attempts have been given, less to say successful result can be reached.
Ironically, it is believed that China Utility Model Patent No. CN2842814Y issued to Chen (Chen '814 patent) on Nov. 29, 2005 discloses a potential technology to resolve the above described issue by applying solder paste between solder balls and corresponding solder tails, see FIGS. 2, 3, 4, and 5. However, Chen does not detailedly and thoroughly disclose how those solder paste is applied between the solder ball and the cavity of the housing. In the above described Chen '814 patent, a lower portion of the contact terminal is almost completely located within the passageway, i.e. the passageway is completely blocked by the solder ball, rending it is difficulty or even impossible and inconvenient to apply the solder paste onto the lower portion located inside of the passageway. Practically assuming, it is impossible to apply the solder paste after the solder ball is attached. In addition, the solder paste is sticky, and if additional or excessive solder paste leaks out from the lower portion, their sticky property may create lots of mess during handling and delivery. If the solder paste extends or wicks way up into a middle portion of the contact terminal, then it would be very much likely that the geometry of the contact terminal will be altered and negate proper and intended function of the contact terminals.
It is desirable to provide an improved socket connector with a fusible element immovably connected to a soldering portion of a contact terminal and further with dried oxidation retarding and solder affinity matter deployed on the fusible element, and/or on the soldering portion, and/or between the fusible element and the soldering portion so as to achieve robust welding quality.

Socket connector with contact terminal having oxidation-retarding preparation adjacent to solder portion perfecting solder joint


A compound having an SSTR5 antagonist action and use of the compound as a medicament are provided. Specifically, a compound represented by the following formula:

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a disease that causes a pathologic elevation in blood glucose level (glucose concentration in blood) due to impaired insulin secretion or insulin resistance and is known to serve as a risk factor for various serious complications. Diabetes mellitus is reportedly developed by the involvement of various environmental factors (a lack of exercise, overeating, and obesity, etc.) on the basis of genetic factors. The number of diabetes mellitus patients is expected to increase in the future with increases in obese population. Diabetes mellitus is classified into insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) (type 1 diabetes mellitus) and non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (type 2 diabetes mellitus). The great part (about 90%) of diabetes mellitus patients is classified as type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.
Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a disease in which beta cells, which secrete insulin in the pancreatic islets of Langerhans, are killed due to various genetic factors and acquired factors. Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a disease that is caused by insufficient amounts of insulin secreted in response to glucose in beta cells and by reduction in insulin sensitivity in peripheral tissues (liver, muscle, and fat, etc.).
As for the treatment and prophylaxis of diabetes mellitus, diet therapy and exercise therapy as well as medication is practiced.
Examples of current typical medication include medication involving subcutaneously administering insulin, an insulin analog, or a GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) analog or the like, and medication using an orally administrable hypoglycemic drug. The orally administrable hypoglycemic drug includes sulfonylureas (SU drugs) such as glimepiride and the like; biguanides (BG drugs) such as metformin and the like; alpha-glucosidase inhibitors (alpha-GI drugs) such as voglibose, miglitol, and the like; thiazolidine derivatives (TZD drugs) such as pioglitazone and the like; DPP-IV (dipeptidyl peptidase-IV) inhibitors such as Sitagliptin, Alogliptin, and the like; etc.
Somatostatin is widely distributed in the central nervous system including the hypothalamus and the like, the pancreatic islets of Langerhans, and the intestinal mucosa, etc., and plays an important role in the control of gastrointestinal motility, digestive juice secretion, and glucose or lipid metabolism. Particularly, in living organisms, somatostatin is known to suppressively act on the production or secretion of various hormones, growth factors, and biologically active substances. The hormones on which somatostatin suppressively acts include growth hormone (GH), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), prolactin, insulin, glucagon, gastrin, secretin, peptide YY (PYY), gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP), GLP-1, GLP-2, cholecystokinin (CCK), vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), oxyntomodulin, and the like. In addition, somatostatin also acts as paracrine in the pancreatic islets of Langerhans or the mucosa of gastrointestinal tract where delta cells are in contact with alpha cells and beta cells. Somatostatin therefore has diverse biological functions in the endocrine system, the exocrine system, and the nervous system, etc.
Somatostatin receptor is a seven-transmembrane G protein-coupled receptor. Five subtypes have been found so far and respectively designated as SSTR1, SSTR2, SSTR3, SSTR4, and SSTR5 (Non Patent Literature 1). Among them, SSTR5 has been shown to participate in the regulation of insulin and incretin secretions (Non Patent Literature 2).
Meanwhile, Patent Literature 1 has reported that the following compound has an SSTR5 antagonist action:
wherein each Ra is independently selected from the group consisting of a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a C1-10 alkyl group, and a halogen atom-substituted C1-10 alkyl group; R1 is selected from the group consisting of a hydrogen atom, substituted phenyl, and a substituted heterocyclic ring; R2 is selected from the group consisting of substituted aryl and a substituted heterocyclic ring; and n and m are each independently selected from the group consisting of 1, 2, and 3.
Patent Literatures 2 and 3 disclose that the following compound has an AMPA receptor inhibitory action and the like and may be used in the treatment of demyelinating disease or neurodegenerative disease:
wherein Q represents NH, O, or S, R1, R2, R3, R4, and R5 each represent a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a C1-6 alkyl group, or a group represented by the formula —X-A (wherein X represents a single bond, substituted C1-6 alkylene, —O—, —S—, or the like); and A represents a C3-8 cycloalkyl group, a C3-8 cycloalkenyl group, a 5- to 14-membered nonaromatic heterocyclic ring, a C6-14 aromatic ring, or a 5- to 14-membered aromatic heterocyclic ring, provided that three of R1 to R5 are the same or different and each represent —X-A, and each of the remaining two is a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, or a C1-6 alkyl group.
Patent Literatures 2 and 3 also describe the following compound as one example of the above-mentioned compound in Example 379B:

Li et al. discloses the following compound as to the oxidative conversion of isoxazolidine to isoxazoline (Non Patent Literature 3):

In addition to those mentioned above, the following compounds are known under CAS Registration Nos. 1381469-87-9, 1214501-97-9, and 1214473-59-2:

Abstract: wherein each symbol is as defined herein,or a salt thereof, a medicament comprising the compound or a salt thereof, and use of the compound or a salt thereof as an agent the prophylaxis or treatment of diabetes mellitus are provided.


A multi-media communication apparatus for communicating with a communication partner by using various kinds of media including image, voice and data. The communication apparatus has a memory for storing information on a communication on each medium, and forms and outputs a report for communication management from information on each communication. The communication management report can be formed manually or automatically and contains communication history along with images for identification of communication partners.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a multi-media communication apparatus for performing communication by using a combination of various kinds of media such as image, speech (audio), data (code data) and, more particularly, to a multi-media communication apparatus capable of outputting a communication management report containing communication information on communication partners, media used for communication and the like.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, in facsimile apparatuses for image communication, information on the times when communications are performed, the names of communication partners and so on is stored in a memory and this information is output as a communication management report by an instruction from the operator.
Recently, a communication service using the Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN) has been put to practical use. Audio-visual services using a digital line such as that of the ISDN therefore attract attention and the use of multi-media communication apparatuses such as TV telephone sets and TV meeting systems capable of communication using multiple media including images, voice and code data is spreading.
In conventional multi-media communication apparatus of this kind, communication management is not performed and no communication management report is formed and output. It is therefore difficult to confirm the time when a communication is performed, the name of the communication partner and media used for the communication.


The present disclosure discloses a driving method and driving device of a display panel and a display device. Under the partial display mode, different gamma curves may be called for different display regions, to drive different regions of the same picture. In one embodiment, a first gamma curve with relatively low brightness may be called for a first display region provided with an under screen sensor, that is, the first display region is driven by the first gamma curve with the relatively low brightness. A second gamma curve with relatively high brightness may be called for a second display region in normal display, that is, the second display region is driven by the second gamma curve with the relatively high brightness.

With the development of display electronic products such as mobile phones, it is a product trend to increase a screen-to-body ratio of an organic light emitting diode display panel, and functional elements, such as a front camera, necessary for mobile phones are sure to become a major factor for restricting the increase of the screen-to-body ratio.
In view of this problem, a solution of an under screen camera has been provided. An application terminal such as a mobile phone includes two display regions, and parts such as the under screen camera and functions are set below one of the display regions. When the same current is loaded to the two display regions, the display region with an under screen sensor (including a camera) has relatively low brightness, so that when this type of display is applied to the application terminal such as the mobile phone, higher current may be provided to the display region with the under screen sensor, or the supplied driving voltage has a larger duty cycle, or the supplied driving voltage is higher in order to ensure that the display has relatively high brightness uniformity.

Driving method and driving device of display panel, and display device

WUHAN TIANMA MICRO-ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.


Compositions and methods are described which provide a protective coating to coils or springs via a polymerization process such as by covalent bonding that includes grafting to the metal surface.

Many types of metals are employed to produce articles of manufacture and other useful objects. Many of these metals are well known to degrade, i.e., oxidize, corrode, or rust, when exposed to air, corrosive gases or vapors, moisture, galvanic potential and/or from other such environmental causes. In particular, ferrous metals, such as carbon steel, are especially prone to rust unless protected from air and moisture. Often corrosion-prone metals are coated with a film or layer of oil, grease, water resistant paint, polymer film, or other barrier in order to prevent air and/or moisture from contacting the steel.
However, previously known compositions and methods of protection suffer from a number of drawbacks, including costs associated with materials and processing steps, interference by such protective coatings with subsequent manufacturing steps and/or the protective coating not remaining attached to protect the metal surface during use.
Some articles that are painted or coated to prevent rust during storage and transport are then subjected to cutting, welding, joining and further painting or coating processes. Application of welding or cutting torch temperatures to currently available coatings may release toxic fumes. Further, the protective coating and/or a burned coating residue can interfere with welding or other forms of joining of the heated sections, and interfere with the adhesion of further paints or coatings applied during manufacture for cosmetic or protective purposes.
Consequently, compositions and methods are sought to protect corrosion-prone metals with an easy to apply, protective coating composition that provides effective long-term corrosion protection, abrasion resistance and/or chemical resistance for metals throughout the useful life of any metal object or article of manufacture.
Therefore, a need exists for compositions and methods that overcomes one or more of the current disadvantages noted above for long term corrosion protective coatings, chemical resistant coatings and/or abrasion resistant coatings that are applied to metal articles, including carbon steels.

Formulation and methods for coating metal surfaces


The present disclosure relates to a computer-based method and apparatus for determining datapath bit slices. A first two-way search is performed between an input vector and an output vector to identify gates in a datapath. A network flow is then constructed including the gates identified, and a min-cost max-flow algorithm is applied to the network flow to derive matching bit pairs between the input vector and the output vector. Next, the datapath bit slices are determined by performing a second two-way search between each of a starting bit in the input vector and an ending bit in the output vector of each of the matching bit pairs.

In deep sub-micro designs, more functions are integrated into one chip, and datapath has become a critical part of the design. A typical datapath comprises an array of bit slices. However, existing design methodologies may generate inferior datapath designs because the datapath regularity cannot be well understood by traditional design tools. For example, several techniques are proposed to preserve/re-identify datapath structures. However, such techniques either restrict the datapath optimization or have little tolerance on bit slice difference.

International Business Machines Corporation


A method of reducing adjacent satellite interference, the method comprising monitoring, by a processor, a power spectral density (PSD) of a signal transmitted by a remote transmitter, determining, by the processor, that the PSD of the signal transmitted by the remote transmitter is above a predetermined level, and reducing the PSD of the signal transmitted by the remote transmitter by adjusting at least one of a spread spectrum spreading factor, a power level, a modulation factor, and a forward error correction (FEC) rate using a modulator while maintaining a constant spectral allocation and center frequency of the signal.

1. Technical Field
Aspects of this document relate generally to telecommunication systems and techniques for transmitting data across a telecommunication channel.
2. Background Art
In all forms of communications, the objective is to develop smaller antennas that provide higher performance while occupying less space. The natural result of using a smaller antenna is that the beam patterns become wider as the antennas necessitate a less sharply focused signal transmission and the result is energy being received in undesirable locations. The options to mitigate the problem of off-axis emissions are as follows: 1) use a larger antenna, which may not be an option due to space requirements; 2) lower the transmitted power resulting in less overall power being used for the transmission link; or 3) using a combination of decreasing the power while using signal processing techniques such as Forward Error Correction (FEC) or spread spectrum to mitigate the effects of the reduced transmission power or smaller antenna. In the art, the amount of power per unit bandwidth (e.g. Watts/Hz or dBW/Hz) is known as the Power Spectral Density (PSD). For a given amount of power, a smaller antenna emits the power over a wider area, resulting in higher off axis emissions. Conversely, a larger antenna emits the same amount of power with lower off axis emissions.
For example, in satellite communications, as the size of the antenna is reduced, a resulting and negative aspect of the reduction to the size of the antenna aperture is that off-axis emissions increase, resulting in less energy being directed into the bore sight to the intended target receiver or satellite and more energy ending up in the off-axis (not into the bore sight).
Therefore, a need exists for a method and system that addresses communications on the move (COTM) or satellite on the move (SOTM) products in which the antennas are small (small aperture size), resulting in higher adjacent satellite interference (ASI) conditions being experienced due to the wider transmission beam from the antenna. The result is that the PSD may be higher than can be tolerated on the adjacent satellites (off axis emissions).
Development of a method and system that allow a transmission device to operate at an established transmission configuration, but keep the spectral allocation as a constant value (e.g. remaining within the 3 dB bandwidth) is advantageous. Many devices in the art suffer from problems when changing the transmission carrier signal characteristics that result in the symbol rate having to be adjusted. Therefore, a need exists for a method and system that allow a transmission carrier signal's spectral allocation to remain at or near a desired (e.g. 3 dB) bandwidth, but use spread spectrum techniques, namely Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) to effectively lower the PSD by while holding the spectral allocation as a constant value during operation.

Method and system for controlling a communications carrier's power spectral density (PSD) using spread spectrum for matched spectral allocation


A laser radar for scanning a target aperture having a predetermined array of locations comprising a laser means having a power source and a resonator cavity containing a lasing medium, the laser means providing a SINGLE FREQUENCY LIGHT SOURCE (FO); means for dividing the SINGLE FREQUENCY LIGHT SOURCE into FIRST and SECOND REFERENCE FREQUENCY BEAMS; frequency shifting means for frequency shifting the FIRST REFERENCE FREQUENCY BEAM to form a FREQUENCY SHIFTED BEAM; control means for providing APERTURE DIRECTION SIGNALS; scanner means responsive to the APERTURE DIRECTION SIGNALS for combining and directing the FIRST REFERENCE FREQUENCY BEAM and the FREQUENCY SHIFTED BEAM to each predetermined target aperture location and for receiving a combined REFLECTED REFERENCE FREQUENCY BEAM SIGNAL and a REFLECTED FREQUENCY SHIFTED BEAM SIGNAL from the target; detector means for combining and detecting a sample of the SECOND REFERENCE FREQUENCY BEAMS in combination with the REFLECTED REFERENCE FREQUENCY BEAM SIGNAL and the REFLECTED FREQUENCY SHIFTED BEAM SIGNAL to provide a RANGE CARRIER SIGNAL; monitor means for combining and detecting a sample of the SINGLE FREQUENCY LIGHT SOURCE, and a sample of the FREQUENCY SHIFTED BEAM to form a DEMODULATION REFERENCE SIGNAL; phase demodulation means referenced to the DEMODULATION REFERENCE SIGNAL and responsive to the RANGE CARRIER SIGNAL for demodulating the RANGE CARRIER SIGNAL to provide a RELATIVE AND ABSOLUTE RANGE SIGNAL; and signal processor and display means responsive to the RELATIVE AND ABSOLUTE RANGE SIGNAL and to the APERTURE DIRECTION SIGNALS for quantizing and storing the digital the digital value of the amplitude of the corresponding relative phase delay between the RELATIVE RANGE SIGNAL and the DEMODULATION REFERENCE SIGNAL for each respective location in the target aperture.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of Radar and more particularly to the field of radar transmitters and receivers.
2. Description of Prior Art
Laser transmitters for use in radar applications are known. The inventor, while working for the assignee, collaborated in the development and delivery of a related laser transmitter for a radar application that employed two separate laser sources. These laser sources were frequency-locked at different frequencies by a frequency modulation servo. The present laser invention RADAR LASER TRANSMITTER eliminates the need for the second laser source and the frequency locking-servo.
The invention transmitter uses a multiple frequency processing technique for the purpose of extracting information from the received signal. Some subject matter related to this technique for processing multiple frequency signals appears in a text titled Introduction to Radar Systems by author M. I. Skolnik; published by McGRAW HILL, 1962.


The drive method consists in setting in vibration a moving mass of a vibrating device for a portable object using a series of voltage pulses provided to the coil of the vibrating device, which is electro-magnetically coupled to the moving mass. In a phase of driving the oscillations of the moving mass after a start phase of the vibrating device, followed by a resonant frequency measurement phase, successive rectangular voltage pulses of alternating polarity are provided to the coil by a drive circuit. The width of the successive pulses is modulated in a substantially similar manner during each successive oscillation period which allows a substantially sinusoidal voltage wave (SF) of determined amplitude to be defined whose fundamental frequency is adapted to the resonant frequency of the moving mass. By modifying the oscillation period, it is thus possible to act on the amplitude of the moving mass oscillations which depends on the sinusoidal wave amplitude defined by the rectangular pulse width modulation.

This application claims priority from European Patent Application No. 04106436.1 filed Dec. 9, 2004, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference
The present invention concerns a method for driving a vibrating device for a portable object. The vibrating device comprises a moving mass and a coil of annular shape electro-magnetically coupled to the moving mass, in order to make it oscillate. The vibrating device can be used in particular as a silent alarm or to indicate a telephone call.
There exist several embodiments of vibrating devices capable of fulfilling the function in particular of a silent alarm in order to be fitted to small sized portable objects, such as portable telephones, traditional organizers, pagers or wristwatches. At least one coil of these vibrating devices can be electrically actuated to activate a mass in order to create a low frequency vibration which can be felt by the person wearing such an object.
Generally, the frequency of the electrical signals applied to the coil is adjusted to correspond to the natural mechanical oscillation frequency of the moving mass of the vibrating device. In this way, maximal vibration amplitude can be obtained for a minimum of supplied electrical energy. The vibration of the device can be controlled by specific programming of the portable object so as to warn its user of a specific event, for example an alarm time, a telephone call or suchlike.
Patent document WO 02/46847, which discloses a method for driving such a vibrating device, can be cited in this regard. The vibrating device comprises a moving mass having a permanent magnet and a coil electro-magnetically coupled to the moving mass to make it oscillate. In order to make the mass oscillate, a drive circuit has to supply the vibrating device coil with rectangular drive voltage pulses of alternating polarity and determined length after the vibrating device start phase. The amplitude of the drive pulses approximately corresponds to the battery voltage electrically powering the drive circuit.
Between each drive voltage pulse, the coil is disconnected, i.e. it is placed in a high impedance state. In this state, the coil supplies an induced voltage due to the movement of the permanent magnet of the oscillating mass. A resonant frequency measurement is carried out at each zero crossing of the induced voltage in the drive circuit in order to adjust the period of the rectangular drive pulses supplied to the coil.
One drawback of such a drive method is that at each disconnection of the coil placed in the high impedance state, overvoltages, whose time constant is dependent upon the features of the coil, can be observed. These overvoltages can damage the electronic drive or supply circuit. Moreover, with these overvoltages, before the frequency measurement, a significant idle period has to be observed, which can be of the order of several hundreds of microseconds so as not to detect inadvertent zero crossings. This idle period, which has to be observed, limits the oscillation frequency to a low value. It is therefore necessary to filter the overvoltages by suitable means, either at the input of an amplifier comparator of the circuit, or at the output of the comparator. This involves providing the drive circuit with additional electronic components with the function of driving the oscillations of the moving mass, which complicates the manufacture of said circuit.
Another drawback of the drive method of WO 02/46847 is that the drive voltage pulses are made up of a fundamental frequency f0 and harmonic frequencies f1, f2, which create power losses and stray forces, which oppose the active driving force of the oscillating mass. Consequently, higher electric consumption is observed. In the case of a determined battery voltage, the amplitude of the fundamental frequency signal relative to the rectangular drive pulses is at a voltage level that can be a third less than the battery voltage, and cannot thus be adapted to a higher value.

Method for driving a vibrating device for a portable object that comprises a coil and a moving mass


A chair includes a base to which a seat member is disposed, an L-shaped connecting plate extending from the base and a back member disposed to an upper end of the connecting plate. A mediate member is disposed to the base 10 and has two guides and each guide has a first slot defined longitudinally therethrough. The connecting plate has a transverse bar fixedly connected to a lower end thereof and the transverse bar is slidably received between the two first slots. An operation rod extends through the mediate member and an aperture defined in the lower end of the connecting plate so that the connecting plate is slidable and pivotable within the two first slots when removing the operation rod from the aperture of the connecting plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chair comprising a base on which a seat member is adjustably disposed and a connecting plate slidably and pivotally extending from the base to which a back member is movably disposed. The connecting plate is pivoted about the base so as to lower the back member.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Chairs, especially for chairs used in office, for example a swivel chair, includes a seat member rotatably supported on a base and a back member which is connected to a connecting plate extending from the base. The seat member can be adjusted its height from the ground and the connecting plate generally has a slight flexibility nature so that when a person sits in the chair, his/her weight can apply on the back member and the connecting plate will be pushed rearwardly. However, basically, such a chair has a fixed configuration, that is to say, the back member of the chair can only be adjusted within a limited range and the seat member cannot be adjusted. Furthermore, chairs especially designed for operating computers are presented in the market recently and most of the offices are equipped with various types of computers so that the computer chairs are widely needed in the future. That is to say, such computer chair has a higher seat member and a lower member, a user sits on the higher seat member and keens on the lower member so as to reduce pressure on the user's spine. Therefore, the conventional chairs cannot meet the requirements of a modern office should have.
The present invention provides an improved chair which has a base on which a seat member is disposed and a connecting plate slidably and pivotally extending from the base, a back member disposed to the connecting plate so that the back member can be lowered by pivoting the connecting

No. 908, Nan-Pin Rd., West Castle Village


A magnetic tool holder for a tape measure or similar tool is provided with a belt loop for mounting on a user's belt. The holder has a receptacle portion in which is mounted an annular flat magnet. A flat keeper member of magnetic material is mounted on the tape measure. The keeper member and a central index knob are sized to nest within the receptacle and hole of the annular magnet in tight magnetic engagement yet allow easy removal. Protective shields and/or a dovetailed bracket may be provided to prevent accidental dislodgement and a secure mechanical mounting in addition to the magnet.

This invention relates to a device for releasably holding tools in a convenient position, ready for use. More particularly, this invention relates to a magnetic holder for retention of tape measures.
As is well known, tape measures are formed by a narrow strip of flexible material, usually metal, that is marked with units of length. It is commonly housed in a generally rectangular container and when the user wishes to employ the tape measure to make a measurement, the end of the tape is withdrawn from the container and the measurement made. Once the measurement is completed, the end is returned to the container, usually under some form of spring retractor. It is common practice to lay the tape measure on the work area where it frequently becomes misplaced or covered and therefore, unavailable for the next time it is needed.
Various spring clips have been provided over the years on the outer casing of tape measures for clipping the tape measure to a belt or other garment part, allowing it to be readily removed for use when needed. Unfortunately, it has often been found necessary to use both hands to clip such a tape measure about a belt, pocket or other clothing part which has greatly limited the utility of this type of tape measure holder. Also, the frequent use of this type of spring clip tends to cause excessive wear to the belt or pocket, or other garment part to which the tape measure is attached.


According to one embodiment, there is provided a high voltage drive circuit comprising drive and sense electrodes formed substantially in a single plane. The device effects signal transfer between drive and receive circuits through the drive and sense electrodes by capacitive means, and permits high voltage devices, such as IGBTs, to be driven thereby without the use of high voltage transistors, thereby eliminating the need to use expensive fabrication processes such as SOI when manufacturing high voltage gate drive circuits and ICs. The device may be formed in a small package using, by way of example, using CMOS or other conventional low-cost semiconductor fabrication and packaging processes.

High voltage isolation communication devices known in the prior art include optical devices, magnetic devices and capacitive devices. Prior art optical devices typically achieve high voltage isolation by employing LEDs and corresponding photodiodes to transmit and receive light signals, usually require high power levels, and suffer from operational and design constraints when multiple communication channels are required. Prior art magnetic devices typically achieve high voltage isolation by employing opposing inductively-coupled coils, also usually require high power levels (especially when high data rates required), typically require the use of at least three separate integrated circuits or chips, and are susceptible to electromagnetic interference ("EMI"). Prior art capacitive devices typically achieve high voltage isolation by employing multiple pairs of transmitting and receiving electrodes, where for example a first pair of electrodes is employed to transmit and receive data, and a second pair of electrodes is employed to refresh or maintain the transmitted signals.
Some high voltage isolation communication devices, typically employed in power systems, are implemented in high voltage integrated circuits (HVICs) and are configured to provide level shifting and gate drives for high side insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs). Conventional HVIC gate drives require the use of high voltage transistors to implement high voltage level shift functionality. Such HVIC gate drives usually require the use of complex and expensive high voltage manufacturing processes, such as silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology, which substitutes a layered silicon-insulator-silicon substrate for a conventional silicon substrate in the semiconductor manufacturing process. The major disadvantages of SOI implementation are increased manufacturing complexity and a significant increase in substrate cost. Furthermore, the cost of using SOI technology scales with the level of high voltage stress between the low and high side of the gate drive, which further increases cost.
What is needed is a high voltage isolation communication device that is small, consumes reduced power, permits data to be communicated at relatively high data rates, has improved high voltage breakdown capabilities, maintains high voltage isolation characteristics during operation, may be built at lower cost, and that is susceptible to being manufactured using conventional CMOS processes.
Further details concerning various aspects of some prior art devices and methods are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,693,971 to Gonzales entitled "Combined trench and field isolation structure for semiconductor devices" dated Dec. 2, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,475 to Carr entitled "Data transfer method/engine for pipelining shared memory bus accesses" dated Dec. 26, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,215,377 to Douriet entitled "Low cost wideband RF port structure for microwave circuit packages using coplanar waveguide and BGA I/O format" dated Apr. 10, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,320,532 to Diede entitled "Low power radar level transmitter having reduced ground loop errors" dated Nov. 20, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,489,850 to Heineke et al. entitled "Crosstalk suppression in differential AC coupled multichannel IC amplifiers" dated Dec. 3, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,538,313 to Smith entitled "IC package with integral substrate capacitor" dated Mar. 25, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,574,091 to Heineke et al. entitled "Multi-plate capacitor structure" dated Jun. 3, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,661,079 to Bikulcius entitled "Semiconductor-based spiral capacitor" dated Dec. 9, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,944,009 to Nguyen et al. entitled "Ultra broadband capacitor assembly" dated Sep. 13, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 7,170,807 to Fazan et al. entitled "Data storage device and refreshing method for use with such device" dated Jan. 30, 2007; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/0133,933 to Hoon entitled "Enhanced coplanar waveguide and optical communication module using the same" dated Jun. 14, 2007; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/0162645 to Han entitled "Communication system for data transfer between on-chip circuits" dated Jul. 12, 2007, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/264,956 to Guenin et al. entitled "Structures and methods for proximity communication using bridge chips" dated Nov. 1, 2005, and WO/2005/001928 to Hester et al. entitled "Capacitor-related systems for addressing package/motherboard resonance" dated Jun. 1, 2005. The foregoing patents and patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference herein, each in its respective entirety.

High voltage drive circuit employing capacitive signal coupling and associated devices and methods

Avago Technologies ECBU IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


A solenoid valve has a main body defining a gas inlet passage, a gas outlet passage, and a cavity; a core tube forming a closure for said cavity so as to prevent an escape of gas; a cylindrical main piston slidably movable in said cavity of said main body, said main piston forming a front chamber and a back chamber in said main body, said main piston having a gas conduit for passing the gas from said gas inlet passage to said front chamber and an axial hole for passing the gas from said back chamber into said gas outlet passage with a bleed orifice at one end of said axial hole; said main piston being spring biased to a closed position; a spring biased pilot piston; and electrical coil means associated with said core tube to provide a magnetic field for movements of said pilot piston and said main piston, so that when said coil means is deenergized said pilot piston closes said outlet passage and causes a pressure equalization allowing said return spring to push said main piston to close the valve, while when said coil means is energized said pilot valve opens said outlet passage and lowers a pressure which causes pushing of said main piston to open the valve.

The present invention relates generally to solenoid gas valves, and more particularly to a dual active pistons solenoid gas valve, in particular for alternative fuels vehicles.
In vehicles that run on gaseous alternative fuels, such as natural gas or hydrogen, the fuel is normally stored in a high-pressure tank, and a valve is utilized to open and close access to conduits, along which such high-pressure gaseous fluids flow from a storage tank to a vehicle engine. Typically such valves are of the solenoid type.
Solenoids of a reasonable size can typically produce a pulling force that is approximately only 1/100 of the force necessary to unseat a valve that is being forced shut by the high-pressure gasses. To overcome this, most of the gas valves adapt a two-stage process in which a small "bleed" orifice is first opened, allowing the high-pressure gas from the storage tank to flow through the "bleed" orifice and into a downstream outlet passage way that leads the engine. As the downstream outlet passage way fills up with gas, the pressure will increase, subsequently gradually reducing the force necessary to unseat the closed valve. Eventually, the differential pressure between the upstream and downstream passage ways becomes so small as to allow the valve to be open by the relatively weak pull of the solenoid valve, thus resulting in the flow of high-pressure gas from the storage tank to the vehicle engine.
One of the main problems with the above described system is the length of time required for the downstream chamber to fill with a sufficient volume of high-pressure gas, so that the solenoid can unseat the main valve. This problem is exasperated in large vehicles, such as buses where the gaseous fuel storage tank can be several meters away from the engine and therefore, it may take an unacceptable period of time for the passageway downstream of the valve to fill up to the point when the solenoid can unseat the main valve. These valves are also disadvantageous in vehicles that are bi-fueled by gasoline and natural gas or dual-fueled by diesel fuel and natural gas. When these vehicles switch over from liquid fuel to natural gas, there can be a conspicuous loss in power output over an unacceptable period of time, while the passage way downstream of the valve fills up with natural gas.


A vehicle wheel bearing apparatus has an outer member, an inner member double row rolling elements, and a constant velocity universal joint. A wheel hub of the inner member and an outer joint member of the constant velocity universal joint are axially separably connected. The outer joint member shoulder portion abuts against a caulked portion of the wheel hub. A cap is interposed between the caulked portion and the shoulder portion. The cap is press-formed from a steel plate and has a surface roughness of 0.63 Ra or less.

In a power transmitting apparatus that transmits power from an engine of a vehicle, such as an automobile, to its wheels, it is necessary not only to transmit the power from the engine to the wheels, but to allow radial and axial displacements as well as moment displacements from the wheels caused by bounds or turns of the vehicle during running on a rough road. Accordingly, the power transmitting apparatus is connected to the driving wheel via a wheel bearing apparatus that includes a constant velocity universal joint. One end of a drive shaft arranged, between an engine side and the driving wheel side, is connected to a differential gear unit via a constant velocity universal joint of a sliding type. The other end of the drive shaft is connected via a secured type constant velocity universal joint.
Various types of wheel bearing apparatus have been previously proposed, for example, as shown in FIG. 5. The wheel bearing apparatus 50 includes a wheel hub 51 that mounts a wheel (not shown). A double row rolling bearing 52 rotatably supports the wheel hub 51. A secured type constant velocity universal joint 53, for transmitting power of a drive shaft (not shown), is secured with the to the wheel hub 51.
The wheel hub 51 is integrally formed at one end with a wheel mounting flange 54 to mount a wheel. The wheel hub outer circumference includes one inner raceway surface 51a. A cylindrical portion 51b axially extends from the inner raceway surface 51a. The double row rolling bearing 52 includes an outer member 55 and an inner member 57. The outer member 55 is integrally formed with a body mounting flange 55b to be mounted on a suspension apparatus (not shown). The outer member inner circumference is formed with double row outer raceway surfaces 55a, 55a. The inner member 57 is inserted into the outer member 55, via double row balls 56, 56.
The inner member 57 includes the wheel hub 51. An inner ring 58 is inserted onto the cylindrical portion 51b of the wheel hub 51. The inner ring outer circumference includes the other inner raceway surface 58a. The inner ring 58 is axially secured relative to the wheel hub 51 by a caulked portion 51c. The caulked portion is formed by plastically radially outwardly deforming an end of the cylindrical portion 51b of the wheel hub 51.
The constant velocity universal joint 53 includes an outer joint member 62 including an integrally formed cup shaped mouth portion 59. A shoulder portion 60 forms a bottom of the mouth portion 59. A shaft portion 61 axially extends from the shoulder portion 60. The outer joint member 62 is inserted into the wheel hub 51 in a torque transmittable fashion. A female serration 63 is formed on the inner circumference of the wheel hub 51. A male serration 64 is formed on the outer circumference of a shaft portion 61 of the outer joint member 62. The female and male serrations 63, 64 are mated with each other. The shaft portion 61 is fit into the wheel hub 51 until the shoulder portion 60 abuts against the caulked portion 51c of the wheel hub 51. Finally, a securing nut 66 is fastened onto an outer thread 65, formed on an end of the shaft portion 61, by a predetermined fastening torque to axially separably connect the wheel hub 51 and the outer joint member 62.
It is known that a large torque is transmitted from an engine to a wheel, via a sliding type constant velocity universal joint (not shown), during a low engine speed range such as during starting of a vehicle. Thus, a torsional deformation is caused in the drive shaft. As a result, torsional deformation is also caused in the inner ring 57 of the double row rolling bearing 52 that supports the drive shaft. When a large torsional deformation is caused in the drive shaft, a so-called "stick-slip noise" is generated by a sudden slip between abutting surfaces of the outer joint member 62 and the inner member 57.
To cope with this problem in the prior art wheel bearing apparatus 50, the caulked portion 51c of the wheel hub 51, against which the shoulder portion 60 of the outer joint member 62 abuts, is formed as a flat surface. A circular recessed groove 67 is formed on the flat surface of the caulked portion 51c at a radially middle portion of the flat surface, as shown in FIG. 6. The groove 67 is filled with grease. This makes it possible to reduce the surface pressure applied to the caulked portion 51c by a fastening force of the securing nut 66. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent plastic deformation of the caulked portion 51c and loosening of the securing nut 66 and to reduce the coefficient of friction of the abutted surfaces owing to the grease. Thus, it is possible to reduce frictional energy at the abutted surfaces and to prevent the generation of the stick-slip noise that is caused by a sudden slip at the abutted surfaces between the shoulder portion 60 and the caulked portion 51c. Reference Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 136908/2003
However, in the prior art wheel bearing apparatus, an additional machining step is required to form the recessed groove 67 on the flat surface of the caulked portion 51c. Thus, it is believed that it would not only increase the manufacturing cost but reduce the strength of the caulked portion 51c. In addition, grease contained in the recessed groove 67 of the caulked portion 51c tends to leak out during running of the vehicle. Thus, it is difficult to prevent the generation of a stick-slip noise for a long term.


Current deblocking filters are using the same filters with the same filtering strength irrespective of the block size and the size of the transform used. However, in the new video coding standards such as emerging HEVC the PU sizes can vary from 4 to 64 and the TU sizes can vary from 4 to 32. Therefore, filtering the same amount of pixels (e.g. two or three) from the block boundary for the block of size 4 can be excessive, while for the block size 32 it may not be enough, with the result that the boundary between two blocks is still visible. Hence, there is a need for an efficient deblocking filter control that can be used to reduce blocking artifacts at block boundaries and that does not have the above mentioned drawbacks. It is a general objective to provide an efficient deblocking filter control. Thus, the objective is solved by applying different filters for different block sizes such as CU, PU or/and TU sizes. Accordingly, the deblocking filtering strength is adjusted based on the block size, which implies that the amount of modification applied to pixels by the deblocking filter is varied depending on the block size. The amount of modification that is being varied is in one embodiment the number of pixels to be modified.

Deblocking filters are used in the video coding standards in order to combat blocking artifacts. The blocking artifacts arise because the original video frames are split into blocks which are processed relatively independently. The blocking artifacts can, for instance, arise due to different intra predictions of the blocks, quantization effects and motion compensation. Two particular variants of deblocking are described below.
In state of the art video coding, such as H.264, there is a deblocking filter, also denoted loop filter, after prediction and residual reconstruction, but before storage of the reconstruction for later reference when encoding or decoding the subsequent frames. The deblocking filtering consists of several steps such as filter decisions, filtering operations, a clipping function and change of pixel values. The decision to filter the boundary or not is made based on evaluation of several conditions. Filter decisions depend on macroblock (MB) type, motion vector (MV) difference between neighboring blocks, whether neighboring blocks have coded residuals and on the local structure of the current and/or neighboring blocks.
Then the amount of filtering for a pixel depends, among others, on the position of that pixel relative to the block border or boundary and on the quantization parameter (QP) value used for residual coding.
The filter decision is based on comparing three pixel differences with three thresholds. The thresholds are adapted to the quantization parameter (QP). For instance, assume a vertical block boundary ofabcd|efgh where a, b c and d denote the pixel values of the pixels of a row of pixels in the current block with e, f, g and h denoting the corresponding pixel values of the pixels of a corresponding row of pixels in the neighboring block. If the following conditions are fulfilled the filter decision is positive, e.g. abs(d−e)<thr1, abs(c−d)<thr2, and abs(e−f)<thr2, where thr1 and thr2 are adapted based on QP.
There are two filtering modes in H.264. In the first filtering mode, referred to as normal filtering, filtering can be described with a delta value with which filtering changes the current value with. The filtering for the pixels closest to the block boundary is d′=d+delta and e′=e−delta, where delta has been clipped off to a threshold±thr3 to a value that is constrained by the QP. More filtering is thereby allowed for high QP than for low QP. Clipping can be described as delta_clipped=max(−thr3, min(thr3, delta)), where thr3 is controlling the filter strength. A larger value of thr3 means that the filtering is stronger which means that a stronger low-pass filtering effect will happen.
The filter strength can be increased if any of the following two conditions also holds, e.g. abs(b−d)<thr2 and abs(e−g)<thr2. The filter strength is adapted by clipping the delta less, e.g. allow for more variation.
The second filtering mode, referred to as strong filtering, is applied for intra macroblock boundaries only, when the following condition is fulfilled abs(d−e)<thr1/4.
For more information of deblocking filtering in H.264 reference is made to List et al., Adaptive Deblocking Filter, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, vol. 13, no. 7, July 2003.
In the draft HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) specification "Test Model under Consideration", ITU-T SG16 WP3 document, JCTVC-B205, Chapter 6.5 In-loop filter process, the deblocking filter works differently from H.264. The filtering is performed if at least one of the blocks on the side of the boundary is intra, or has non-zero coefficients, or the difference between the motion vector components of the blocks is greater or equal to one integer pixel. For example, when filtering the border between the blocks with a vertical block boundary ofp3ip2ip1ip0i|q0iq1iq2iq3i with pji denoting the pixel value of pixel number j of row number i in the current block and qji denoting the pixel value of pixel number j of row number i in the neighboring block, i=0 . . . 7, j=0 . . . 3, then the following condition should also be satisfied:d=|p22−2×p12+p02|+|q22−2×q12+q02|+|p25−2×p15+p05|+|q25−2×q15+q05|βwhere β depends on QP. In the above mentioned HEVC specification, there is a table of β, where β increases with QP.
If the conditions are fulfilled and filtering is done between the current block and the neighboring block, one of two types of filtering is performed, referred to as weak and strong filtering, respectively. The choice between the strong and the weak filtering is done separately for each line depending on the following conditions. For each line i=0 . . . 7, the strong filtering is performed if all the following conditions are true, otherwise, weak filtering is performed:d<(β>>2)(|p3i−p0i|+|q0i−q3i|)<(β>>3)|p0i−q0i|<((5×tC+1)>>1)where tC and β depend on QP and >> denotes a right shift operator.
Weak filtering is performed based on the above conditions. The actual filtering works by computing an offset (Δ), adding it to the original pixel value and clip the sum to a filtered output pixel value in the range of 0-255:Δ=Clip(−tC,tC,(13×(q0i−p0i)+4×(q1i−p1i)−5×(q2i−p2i)+16)>>5))p0i=Clip0-255(p0i+Δ)q0i=Clip0-255(q0i−Δ)p1i=Clip0-255(p1i+Δ/2)q1i=Clip0-255(q1i−Δ/2)where the clip function Clip(A, B, x) is defined as Clip(A, B, x)=A if x<A, Clip(A, B, x)=B if x>B and Clip(A, B, x)=x if A≦x≦B and Clip0-255(x) is defined as Clip(0, 255, x).
Strong filtering mode is performed by the following set of operations:p0i=Clip0-255((p2i+2×p1i+2×p0i+2×q0i+q1i+4)>>3)q0i=Clip0-255((p1i+2×p0i+2×q0i+2×q1i+q2i+4)>>3)p1i=Clip0-255((p2i+p1i+p0i+q0i+2>>2)q1i=Clip0-255((p0i+q0i+q1i+q2i+2>>2)p2i=Clip0-255((2×p3i+3×p2i+p1i+p0i+q0i+4)>>3)q2i=Clip0-255((p0i+q0i+q1i+3×q2i+2×q3i+4)>>3)
As video resolutions have increased, it has been noticed that large blocks can provide good video coding benefits. Traditional block sizes are in the order of 16×16 pixels or smaller (e.g. macroblocks in H.264), but it has been shown that block sizes of up to 128×128 pixels can provide improved coding efficiency.
To enable large blocks while keeping the coding performance of small detailed areas in the same image, hierarchical coding is used. This is the case for HEVC.
Large blocks, referred to as Largest Coding Units (LCU) in HEVC, are scanned left to right in the same way as normal macroblocks in H.264. Each LCU may be split into four smaller coding units (CU), and the may be split again hierarchically in a quad-tree fashion. There is also a smallest size for the Coding Unit defined, these blocks are called Smallest Coding Unit (SCU).
FIG. 1 shows how a picture is divided in to a number of LCU blocks and how an LCU can be split in a quad-tree fashion into smaller CUs according to prior art.
FIG. 2 shows how an LCU may be split into smaller CUs. It also shows the order in which the CUs are decoded. The current HEVC operates with an LCU of 64×64 and a SCU of 4×4, but this can be configured.
Each CU has a coding type assigned, e.g. Intra, P, skip. Each CU may also be quad-tree split further in three independent quad-tree structures.
The CU has its prediction type (e.g. intra prediction or inter-prediction). The CU is also a root of two structures called prediction units and transform units. Each prediction unit inside the CU can have its own prediction that is different from the predictions of the other PU (for example, a separate motion vector or intra prediction direction). A CU can contain one PU (which has then the same size as the CU) or can be split further into up to four PUs. Those PUs can have either square or rectangular form (in this case, the vertical and horizontal PU dimensions differ). As an example, there might be a CU of size 16×16 that is split once, creating 4 8×8 prediction unit blocks (PUs). If the coding type of the CU is Intra, the PUs may have different Intra prediction modes. If the coding type of the CU is Inter, the PUs may have different motion vectors.
Then there is a transform quad-tree that also has the CU as its root. The resulting blocks are called Transform Units (TU). As an example, there might be a CU of size 16×16 that is split into 8×8 TUs. Then, one of the 8×8 TU can be split into 4×4 TUs. Then each TU is transformed with an 8×8 or a 4×4 transform. If the root TU was not split, then a 16×16 transform would have been used. Transforms can also have a non-square (rectangular) shape.

Method for filter control and a filtering control device


A firearm magazine includes a housing defining a cavity. A resilient member is disposed in the cavity. A cartridge support member is movably supported on the resilient member and configured for moving downwardly into the cavity against increasing tension of the resilient member when the magazine is being loaded. The resilient member when under tension urges the cartridge support member and cartridges thereon to move upwardly during a feeding operation. An adapter converts a firearm magazine from multiple cartridge capacity to single cartridge capacity, and is configured to be removably coupled to the upper housing to cover the cartridge support member of the housing. The adapter includes an additional cartridge support member. The housing and the adapter cooperate to prevent the additional cartridge support member of the adapter from being moved downwardly into the cavity.

Firearm magazines typically are configured for holding several cartridges. However, there are situations where the user of a firearm might prefer to limit the capacity of a magazine to a single cartridge. For example, in situations such as target shooting or loading a rifle on a bench rest, the user may wish to open the bolt, simply and accurately load a single cartridge into the breech through the opened window defined on the upper side of the receiver, and close the bolt such that the cartridge stands chambered and ready to be fired.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need to easily and quickly convert a magazine with multiple cartridge capacity into a magazine with single cartridge capacity.


A remotely controlled gastric band system that is practically immune to external magnetic fields, such as from a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine, incorporates a bi-directional pump and fluid reservoir to adjust fluid volume in a gastric band. A piezoelectrically driven (e.g., rotary actuator, linear actuator) selectively compresses and expands a metal bellows hermetically sealed within a biocompatible and nonferromagnetic case such as titanium.

Since the early 1980s, adjustable gastric bands have provided an effective alternative to gastric bypass and other irreversible surgical weight loss treatments for the morbidly obese. The gastric band is wrapped around an upper portion of the patient's stomach, forming a stoma that restricts food passing from an upper portion to a lower portion of the stomach. When the stoma is of the appropriate size, food held in the upper portion of the stomach provides a feeling of fullness that discourages overeating. However, initial maladjustment or a change in the stomach over time may lead to a stoma of an inappropriate size, warranting an adjustment of the gastric band. Otherwise, the patient may suffer vomiting attacks and discomfort when the stoma is too small to reasonably pass food. At the other extreme, the stoma may be too large and thus fail to slow food moving from the upper portion of the stomach, defeating the purpose altogether for the gastric band.
In addition to a latched position to set the outer diameter of the gastric band, adjustability of gastric bands is generally achieved with an inwardly directed inflatable balloon, similar to a blood pressure cuff, into which fluid, such as saline, is injected through a fluid injection port to achieve a desired diameter. Since adjustable gastric bands may remain in the patient for long periods of time, the fluid injection port is typically installed subcutaneously to avoid infection, for instance in front of the sternum or over the fascia covering one of the oblique muscles. Adjusting the amount of fluid in the adjustable gastric band is achieved by inserting a Huber tip needle through the skin into a silicon septum of the injection port. Once the needle is removed, the septum seals against the hole by virtue of compressive load generated by the septum. A flexible catheter communicates between the injection port and the adjustable gastric band.
While the injection port has been successfully used to adjust gastric bands, it would be desirable to make adjustments noninvasively. Insertion of the Huber tip syringe is typically done by a surgeon, which may be inconvenient, painful, or expensive for the patient. In addition, a skin infection may occur at the site of the insertion of the syringe. Consequently, it would be desirable to remotely control an adjustable gastric band.
Infusers have been implanted in patients for controllable dispensing of a liquid drug, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,018. A cylindrical metal bellows has a movable end that is drawn toward its nonmoving end by a lead screw that passes through the bellows into a threaded hole of the case. Thus, the volume of the metal bellows accumulator was affirmatively controlled by the number of turns made by the lead screw, avoiding inadvertent overdoses in dispensing a liquid drug.
However, infuser pumps are intended to be driven in only one direction whereas adjusting constriction of the gastric band often requires that fluid be removed from the elastomeric balloon to reduce constriction as well as the reverse direction to increase constriction.
In addition, it is becoming increasingly important that implanted devices in general be operable and nonresponsive to a strong magnetic field as the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) becomes more common. An MRI machine produces a strong magnetic field, which may be up to 3.0 Teslas in flux density, that will impart a strong magnetic force upon any ferromagnetic material. Devices such as electrical motors may be damaged by such magnetic fields or the patient may feel discomfort. Moreover, ferromagnetic material may create artifacts in the radio frequency (RF) return that the MRI machine detects and processes by disturbing the magnetic field.
In an implanted peristaltic pump, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,678, a piezoelectric drive system is used to provide a rotary device that is lightweight, compact with very small axial volume and with the particular desirable feature of being practically unaffected by external magnetic influences. While a peristaltic pump differs substantially from a bi-directional metal bellows accumulator/pump, it would be desirable to incorporate similar features of MRI compatibility in a bi-directional infuser pump.
Consequently, a significant need exists for a reversible pump suitable for medical implantation to remotely adjust a gastric band.

Piezo electrically driven bellows infuser for hydraulically controlling an adjustable gastric band


A semiconductor light emitting device comprises: a compound semiconductor substrate; an n-type cladding layer on the compound semiconductor substrate; an active layer on the n-type cladding layer; a p-type cladding layer on the active layer: and a p-type contact layer on the p-type cladding layer, the n-type cladding layer, the active layer, the p-type cladding layer and the p-type contact layer being made of II-VI compound semiconductors containing at least one of group II elements selected from the group consisting of Zn, Cd, Mg, Hg and Be and at least one of group VI elements selected from the group consisting of S, Se, Te and O, characterized in that at least the active layer has undulations and at least the p-type layer is flat. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor light emitting device having: a compound semiconductor substrate; an n-type cladding layer on the compound semiconductor substrate; an active layer on the n-type cladding layer; and a p-type cladding layer on the active layer, the n-type cladding layer, the active layer and the p-type cladding layer being made of II-VI compound semiconductors containing at least one of group II elements selected from the group consisting of Zn, Cd, Mg, Hg and Be and at least one of group VI elements selected from the group consisting of S, Se, Te and O, characterized in that the n-type cladding layer, the active layer and said p-type cladding layer are grown by varying, for the respective layers, the ratio of the molecular beam intensity of the group VI element relative to the molecular beam intensity of the group II element.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a semiconductor light emitting device, its manufacturing method, and an optical recording and/or reproducing apparatus. More particularly, the invention relates to a semiconductor light emitting device using II-VI compound semiconductors, and a manufacturing method thereof, and an optical recording and/or reproducing apparatus using the semiconductor light emitting device as its light emitting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
For purposes of realizing higher densities and higher resolutions of optical discs and magneto-optical discs, there is a progressively strong demand for semiconductor light emitting devices such as semiconductor lasers, light emitting diodes, etc. for emitting blue to green light, and studies are being made for realization of such devices.
Most hopeful materials for manufacturing semiconductor light emitting devices for emitting blue to green light are II-VI compound semiconductors using group II elements, such as Zn, Cd, Mg, Hg and Be, and group VI elements, such as S, Se, Te and O. Especially, a quaternary mixed crystal, ZnMgSSe, is known as a material which can be crystallographically grown on a GaAs substrate excellent in crystalline property and readily available and is therefore suitable for forming cladding layers, optical guide layers upon manufacturing semiconductor lasers for emission of blue light, for example, using the GaAs substrate (for example, Electronics Letters 28(1992) p.1798).
A typical conventional method for manufacturing semiconductor light emitting devices using II-VI compound semiconductors, in particular, semiconductor light emitting devices using ZnMgSSe layers as cladding layers, was to sequentially grow an n-type MgSSe cladding layer, active layer, p-type ZnMGSSe cladding layer, active layer, p-type ZnMgSSe cladding layer, p-type ZnSe contact layer on an n-type GaAs substrate via a buffer layer by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), thereafter form a p-side electrode on the p-type ZnSe contact layer, and form an n-side electrode on the bottom surface of the n-type GaAs substrate. In these semiconductor light emitting devices, however, it was difficult to bring the p-side electrode into ohmic contact with the p-type ZnSe contact layer because of a difficulty in increasing the carrier concentration of the p-type ZnSe contact layer.
To overcome the problem, another technology was proposed, which grows a p-type ZnSe/ZnTe multiquantum well(MQW) layer on a p-type ZnSe contact layer, additionally grows thereon a p-type ZnTe contact layer readily made with a high carrier concentration, and further grows thereon a p-side electrode, in particular, a Pd/Pt/Au p-side electrode, so as to improve the ohmic contact characteristics. Actually, continuous oscillation at a room temperature has been realized with a semiconductor laser which employs the above-mentioned contact structure of the p-side electrode in a ZnSe/ZnSSe/ZnMgSSe SCH structure (Separate Confinement Heterostructure) using a ZnCdSe layer as the active layer, ZnSSe layer as the optical guide layer, ZnMgSSe layer as the cladding layer (for example, JPN. J. Appl. Phys. 33(1994) p.L938).

Semiconductor light emitting device, its manufacturing method and optical recording and/or reproducing apparatus


A server apparatus and a transit control method allow a noise countermeasure to be determined efficiently and conveniently in designing electronic circuits. A registered noise countermeasure information storing unit stores noise countermeasure list information requested for registration by a registration terminal in the registration terminal connected via a network. A circuit information acquiring unit acquires circuit information from a user terminal connected via the network, which can use the registered noise countermeasure information. A noise countermeasure list information generating unit generates noise countermeasure list information based on the registered noise countermeasure information and the circuit information, and transmits the generated noise countermeasure list information to the user terminal. A noise countermeasure information determining unit determines noise countermeasure information based on an item selected by the user from the noise countermeasure list information, and transmits the determined noise countermeasure information to the user terminal. A charging control unit performs a charging control process with respect to the noise countermeasure information that has been provided.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a server apparatus, a method of determining a noise countermeasure, and a computer-readable recording medium storing a program for determining a noise countermeasure, and more particularly to a server apparatus for controlling the transit of information regarding a noise countermeasure, a method of controlling the transit of information regarding a noise countermeasure, and a computer-readable recording medium storing a transit control program for controlling a computer to control the transit of information regarding a noise countermeasure.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, noise analyzing tools are used in designing electronic circuits. A noise analyzing tool uses a circuit simulator to perform a noise analysis and a noise check on an electronic circuit after its mounting has been designed, and determines a noise countermeasure to reduce any possible noise based on the results of the noise analysis and the noise check.
Based on the determined noise countermeasure, the designed electronic circuit is modified if necessary. After the design modifications, a noise analysis and a noise check are performed again on the electronic circuit. Such a process is repeated until the noise is reduced to an allowable range. In this manner, it is possible to design electric circuits with suppressed noise.
However, according to the above conventional noise suppression design practice, it is necessary to use a noise countermeasure process that has been incorporated in the noise analyzing tool. The conventional noise reduction design practice is unable to immediately reflect a latest noise countermeasure process that the designer may have found.
Even if a plurality of noise countermeasure processes are available for a certain noise problem, the designer is not allowed to flexibly select any desired one of those available noise countermeasure processes because the noise analyzing tool automatically determines one of the noise countermeasure processes.
Another problem is that when a noise countermeasure found by one designer is used by another designer, the payment of a compensation by the other designer has not been smoothly carried out.

Server apparatus, transit control method, and computer-readable recording medium storing transit control program


A system includes a memory having instructions therein and at least one processor in communication with the memory. The at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to communicate, into a user device, a deep neural network comprising a predictive audio spectral mask. The at least one processor is also configured to execute the instructions to: generate data corresponding to ambient sound via a multi-microphone device; separate amplitude data and/or phase data from the data via the deep neural network comprising the predictive audio spectral mask; and determine, via the user device and based on the amplitude data and/or phase data, a location of origin of target speech relative to the user device. The at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to display, via the user device, the location of origin of the target speech relative to the user device.

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of audio signal processing and, more particularly, to isolating and identifying voice data from an ambient sound field.
One or more parents may wish to find one or more children who become lost in a crowded place. One or more persons may wish to find and join one or more other persons at a cocktail party, outdoor concert, or other crowded event. In any event, there may be various reasons why one or more persons may wish to find one or more other persons in a crowd.
Meanwhile, various abilities of machines to acquire and apply knowledge and skills have been categorized as artificial intelligence ("AI"). Machine learning has been considered to be a form of AI. Machine learning has employed algorithms and statistical models that have enabled computer systems to perform tasks based primarily on data patterns and associated inferences rather than explicit instructions. Some machine learning systems have comprised deep neural networks. Some deep neural networks can provide predictive audio spectral masks that may facilitate separation of individual voices from crowd noise or other ambient sound.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


Apparatus for detecting the presence of a pseudorandom number (PRN) sequence used in a television receiver for reducing multipath interference such as image ghosts includes a multiplier responsive to a video signal containing the PRN sequence test signal component, and to a delayed version of such video signal. The amount of the delay is related to the duration of a PRN sequence, and one of the multiplier inputs is substantially devoid of average and DC components. A multiplier output representing correlation of the input signals indicates the presence of the test signal component, which is then passed to a network for processing to develop coefficients for a deghosting filter.

Many systems have been developed for removing multipath distortion from video signals. In the context of television signal processing, such systems are commonly referred to as deghosting systems. In general these systems employ techniques at a receiver for comparing a received test signal with an ideal version of the test signal in order to configure an adaptive filter to remove multipath components from the received signal.
One deghoster system, described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,242-Dieterich et al., advantageously incorporates a repetitive pseudorandom number sequence in a transmitted televison signal. Specifically, a pseudorandom sequence training signal is incorporated in a horizontal line within a vertical blanking interval of a broadcast television signal. A received training signal, after initial processing, is transformed via fast Fourier transform (FFT) apparatus, deconvolved with an FFT of a non-corrupted locally provided version of the training signal, and processed for generating coefficients for a multipath correction filter.

Television deghosting apparatus using pseudorandom sequence detector