The conventional fabrication processes of SOI substrate employed wet etching for removing a porous single-crystal Si region, but wet etching involved difficulties in management of concentration for fabricating SOI substrates in high volume, which caused reduction in productivity.. Therefore, provided is a fabrication process of SOI substrate comprises a step of forming a non-porous single-crystal Si region on a surface of a porous single-crystal Si region of a single-crystal Si substrate having at least the porous single-crystal Si region, a step of bonding a support substrate through an insulating region to a surface of the non-porous single-crystal Si region, and a step of removing the porous single-crystal Si region, wherein the step of removing the porous single-crystal Si region comprises a step of performing dry etching in which an etch rate of the porous single-crystal Si region is greater than that of the non-porous single-crystal Si region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fabrication process and fabrication apparatus of SOI substrate excellent in uniformity of film thickness and in suppression of vacancy of film (or voids) and interface states, and more particularly, to a fabrication process and fabrication apparatus of SOI substrate applied to high-functionality and high-performance electronic devices, highly integrated circuits, and so on, fabricated in a single-crystal semiconductor layer on a transparent insulator substrate of glass or the like or on a silicon substrate with an oxide film thereon.
2. Related Background Art
Formation of a single-crystal silicon semiconductor layer on an insulator is widely known as the Silicon on Insulator (SOI) technology, and many researches have been conducted because this substrate has a lot of advantages that cannot be achieved by bulk silicon substrates used for fabricating ordinary silicon integrated circuits.
SOS and SIMOX!
One of the conventional SOI technologies is the so-called SOS (Silicon-On-Sapphire), which is the technology for hetero-epitaxially growing a silicon layer on a sapphire crystal, but the quality of the hetero-epitaxially grown silicon crystal is poor. Also, SIMOX (Separation-by-IMplanted-OXygen) is under practical use as an SOI forming technology for implanting a lot of oxygen ions into silicon and thereafter subjecting the resultant to annealing, thereby forming an SiO.sub.2 layer with implanted oxygen being buried from the surface of silicon to the position of about 0.2 .mu.m. However, this implantation of many oxygen ions and annealing requires a lot of time, which is disadvantageous in respect of productivity and cost, and the ion implantation causes many crystal defects in the SOI silicon layer. Decreasing implantation of oxygen ions would make it difficult at present to maintain the film quality of the oxide layer, and it is also considered to be difficult to change the thickness of the implant SiO.sub.2 film layer.
Bonding SOI!
Among the SOI forming techniques reported recently, there is "bonding SOI," popularly called, particularly excellent in quality. This is the technology in which mirror surfaces of two wafers at least one of which has an insulating film formed by oxidation or the like are brought into close adhesion with each other, they are subjected to annealing so as to reinforce coupling of adhesion interface, and thereafter the substrate is polished or etched from either one side so as to leave a silicon single-crystal thin film having an arbitrary thickness on the insulator film. The most important point in this technology is a step for thinning the silicon substrate into a thin film. In more detail, normally, the silicon substrate as thick as several hundred .mu.m or so needs to be polished or etched uniformly down to the thickness of several .mu.m or even 1 .mu.m or less, which is technologically very difficult in respect of controllability and uniformity. There are roughly two ways for thinning silicon into a thin film. One of them is a method for carrying out thinning only by polishing (BPSOI: Bonding and Polishing SOI), and the other is a method for providing an etching stop layer immediately over a thin film to be left (actually, immediately under the thin film during fabrication of single substrate) and performing two stages of substrate etching and etching of the etching stop layer (BESOI: Bond and Etchback SOI). Since in the BESOI a silicon active layer is often epitaxially grown over the etching stop layer preliminarily formed, this BESOI is considered to be advantageous so far in order to secure uniformity of film thickness. However, since the etching stop layer often contains a high concentration of impurities, it will cause distortion of crystal lattice, which will result in the problem that the crystal defects propagate to the epitaxial layer. There is also a possibility that the impurities diffuse upon oxidation of the epitaxial layer or upon annealing after bonding, thereby changing etching characteristics.
In these bonding SOIs, if there are contaminations in the bonding surfaces or if there are asperities because of poor flatness of the bonding surfaces, many vacant spaces called "voids" will appear at the bonding interface. From this point the BESOI discussed above is disadvantageous in many cases. The reason is as follows. The etching stop layer is normally formed, for example, by hetero-epitaxial growth by CVD or by epitaxial growth with doping of a high concentration of impurities. In the case of CVD, especially in the case of the hetero-epitaxial growth, the flatness achieved is often inferior to that of flat surfaces obtained by polishing. The etching stop layer is sometimes formed by ion implantation, but the flatness is also degraded in this case.
New BESOI technology!
An example of the technology for achieving good flatness of the bonding surfaces, uniform film thickness of the active layer as in the BESOI, and selectivity of etchback several orders of magnitude higher than that in the conventional BESOI is the technology for making the surface of silicon substrate porous by anodization and epitaxially growing the silicon active layer thereon (Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 5-21338). In this case, the porous layer corresponds to the etching stop layer in the BESOI. However, since the etch rate of porous silicon is very high with a hydrofluoric acid based etchant as compared with single-crystal silicon, a high-selectivity etching characteristic is considered to be more important rather than the etching stop layer. Since this technology forms the porous silicon layer not by CVD, but by anodization of a flat single-crystal silicon substrate surface, the flatness of the epitaxially grown active layer becomes better than that in the BESOI in which the etching stop layer is formed by CVD or the like. The epitaxial layer growing on this surface has a property of achieving crystallinity nearly equal to that of an epitaxial layer grown on a non-porous single-crystal substrate. This enables us to use a single-crystal thin film equivalent to the epitaxial layer on the single-crystal silicon substrate with high reliability as an active layer, thus providing the SOI substrates with excellent crystallinity and with excellent uniformity of film thickness.
K. Sakaguchi et al. reported that a substrate obtained by anodizing the surface of silicon single-crystal substrate to make it porous and effecting epitaxial growth thereon was bonded to a silicon substrate with an oxidized surface, the non-porous single-crystal silicon substrate portion was ground by a grinder to expose the porous layer, and only the porous layer was selectively etched with solution of HF/H.sub.2 O.sub.2 mixture, thus achieving 507 nm .+-.15 nm (.+-.3%) or 96.8 nm .+-.4.5 nm (.+-.4.7%) as a film thickness distribution of SOI silicon layer for 5-inch wafers. It is described that in the etching with the solution of HF/H.sub.2 O.sub.2 mixture in this case the etch rate of the porous silicon layer is 10.sup.5 times greater than that of the non-porous silicon layer, and thus, the porous silicon layer functions well as an etching stop layer in the BESOI.
In addition to the method for bonding a single-crystal silicon substrate having a thermally oxidized surface or a transparent silica glass substrate to an epitaxial silicon film grown on this porous silicon, it is also possible to bond SiO.sub.2 surfaces of two substrates to each other. The interface state density of the interface between the epitaxial silicon film as an active layer and SiO.sub.2 (the thermally oxidized film of the epitaxial layer) is sufficiently low, and the thickness of the SiO.sub.2 layer can be controlled arbitrarily. Thus, the substrate can be fabricated as making full use of the characteristics of SOI. Then the surface of SiO.sub.2 at the bonding interface is activated by a plasma process, whereby the bonding strength can be enhanced fully and occurrence of voids can be suppressed.
The new BESOI technology described above permits us to obtain high-quality SOI substrates in which by the high selective etching of porous Si region the film thickness distribution preserves the flatness and film thickness distribution upon epitaxial growth. However, the above new BESOI technology has the following problem in removing the porous Si region.
Since wet etching is carried out using a hydrofluoric acid based etchant of wet type upon removing the porous Si region, liquid exchange upon processing of many substrates and controllability of etchant concentration management are not easy, so that productivity is so poor.
Therefore, formation and etching of porous silicon takes a lot of time.

Fabrication process and fabrication apparatus of SOI substrate


A display driving circuit and a liquid crystal display panel are provided. The display driving circuit includes: a control board used to provide a control signal; a plurality of display chips electrically connected to the control board and providing a driving signal according to the control signal; a plurality of equalizing resistors corresponding to the display chips, wherein an end of the equalizing resistors is connected to the control board, and other end of the equalizing resistors is connected to the display chips, and they are used to equalize an impedance the display driving circuit; a plurality of fan-out routes, wherein each of the fan-out routes is connected to the two adjacent display chips; and a pixel bus connected to the plurality of fan-out routes and used to transmit the driving signal to each of pixel units. The present disclosure effectively improves display effect by that mentioned above.

With development of science and technology, applications of liquid crystal display panels are increasingly wider in people's daily life, and dimensions of liquid crystal display panels are increasingly larger.
However, reasons such as route lengths, route lengths, route processes, etc. of a fan-out region of liquid crystal display panels cause in-plane impedance of the liquid crystal display panels is not matched, so that difference of darkness and brightness of the liquid crystal display panels may occur, this affects display quality and lowers user visual experience.

Display driving circuit and liquid crystal display panel

SHENZEN CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS SEMICONDUCTOR DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


An LED (light emitting diode) light source module includes a first optical lens, an LED light source received in a groove of the first optical lens and a second optical lens located at a light path of the LED light source and above the first optical lens. The first optical lens includes a first reflecting surface around the groove and a second reflecting surface. The second optical lens includes a reflecting surface facing the LED light source, and light which is incident to the reflecting surface of the second optical lens is reflected thereby to the first reflecting surface and the second reflecting surface of the first optical lens. A light diffusion plate is attached to the second optical lens at a position away from the reflecting surface of the second optical lens.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to light source modules, and more particularly to an LED (light emitting diode) light source module having a uniform distribution of light output, whereby the LED light source module is suitable for illuminating a planar display, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a sign box.
2. Description of Related Art
LEDs have been widely promoted as light sources of electronic devices owing to many advantages, such as high luminosity, low operational voltage and low power consumption. However, a traditional LED light source module commonly includes a plurality of LED light sources, a plurality of optical lenses and a diffusion plate positioned above the optical lenses. Each of the optical lenses covers the corresponding LED light source. However, to obtain a large and uniform light illumination area, a distance between the LED light sources and the diffusion plate needs to be not too small, thereby causing the LED light source module to be bulky, which is unfavorable in view of the requirement of compact design of electronic apparatus.
Therefore, an LED light source module which is capable of overcoming the above described shortcomings is desired.

Light emitting diode light source module having uniform illumination


An OFDM receiver operates in a high-throughput mode or an increased-range mode. The receiver includes FFT circuitry to generate frequency domain symbol-modulated subcarriers for a set of OFDM subcarriers. During the increased-range mode, data is received on a single subchannel and the FFT circuitry generates frequency domain symbol-modulated subcarriers for a set of OFDM subcarriers associated with the single subchannel. During the high-throughput mode, data is received on each subchannel of a plurality of subchannels and the FFT circuitry generates frequency domain symbol-modulated subcarriers for a different one of the subchannels. The OFDM receiver may operate in accordance with one of the IEEE 802.11 standards.

Many modern digital communication systems, including wireless local-area networks (WLANs), are using symbol-modulated orthogonal subcarriers as a modulation scheme to help signals survive in environments having multipath reflections and/or strong interference. Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is an example of a multi-carrier transmission technique that uses symbol-modulated orthogonal subcarriers to transmit information within an available spectrum.
One problem with many WLAN receivers, including OFDM receivers, is that they are limited by their hardware configuration as to the particular channels they can receive as well as the bandwidth of those channels. This leaves such receivers inflexible as to tradeoffs between throughput and range. WLAN receivers, including OFDM receivers, should be able to receive both legacy channels, such as channels in accordance with Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard 802.11(a), as well as wideband channels for high-throughput operations. These requirements make it difficult to make tradeoffs between throughput and range, especially when operating in high-throughput and/or wideband modes. Thus, there are general needs for transceivers, including receivers, and methods of communicating OFDM signals that provide flexibility between throughput and range in WLANs.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

OFDM receiver and methods for operating in high-throughput and increased range modes


An apparatus and method optimize a UNION-type query, where the query has common components on both sides of the UNION-type operator. The UNION-type expression is analyzed to determine if the expression can be optimized, and if so, common portions on both sides of the UNION-type expression are extracted and the expression is reformulated so the common portions on both sides of the union expression are only run one time.

1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to computer systems, and more specifically relates to apparatus and methods for improving access to data in a computer database.
2. Background Art
Database systems have been developed that allow a computer to store a large amount of information in a way that allows a user to search for and retrieve specific information in the database. For example, an insurance company may have a database that includes all of its policy holders and their current account information, including payment history, premium amount, policy number, policy type, exclusions to coverage, etc. A database system allows the insurance company to retrieve the account information for a single policy holder among the thousands and perhaps millions of policy holders in its database.
Retrieval of information from a database is typically done using queries. A database query typically includes one or more predicate expressions interconnected with logical operators. A predicate expression is a general term given to one of the following four kinds of expressions using one of the four kinds of operators (or their combinations): logical, relational, unary, and boolean, as shown in FIG. 2. A query usually specifies conditions that apply to one or more columns of the database, and may specify relatively complex logical operations on multiple columns. The database is searched for records that satisfy the query, and those records are returned as the query result.
In the prior art, a query containing a UNION statement would cause the database to run the query components on each side of the UNION operator and then combine the results. This can be very costly in computer time if there are common components on both sides of the UNION operator that are being executed twice. Without a way to reduce database query time to improve system performance, the computer industry will continue to suffer from excessive delays in database accesses.

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention relates to a device for simultaneously, qualitatively or quantitatively identifying a number of analytes in a liquid sample. The device comprises a membrane with: a charging zone for applying the liquid sample; at least two indicator zones, which can interact with the analytes, and at least one absorption area, which absorbs the liquid after passing the indicator zones, whereby the indicator zones are located between the charging zone and an absorption area. The invention is characterized in that the flowing directions from the charging zone through the respective indicator zones to an absorption area (flow paths) are essentially parallel, and at least two different flow paths exist. The invention also relates to a method for identifying a number of analytes or the derivatives thereof in a liquid sample. The method consists of applying the sample to the charging zone of the membrane of the device, whereby this sample is present in an amount sufficient for causing the sample liquid to flow through the indicator zones toward the absorption area, and for causing the analytes or the derivatives thereof in the sample liquid to form a complex in the indicator zones.

In blood group serological diagnostics, parameters are generally tested which are of particular relevance in the context of transfusions or of morbus haemolyticus neonatorum (Mhn). This includes inter alia the detection of antigens on the surface of erythrocytes which are characteristic for the blood groups. Further important antigen systems are present also on thrombocytes, granulocytes, lymphocytes which likewise play a role in the context of transfusions and/or transplantations.
It is known that for determining blood group antigens the erythrocytes of the persons to be tested, (donors or recipients) are brought together with reagents which contain blood group specific antibodies. Generally these tests are performed in the liquid state, in which by mixing of an erythrocyte-containing sample with a sample containing antibodies directed against a specific blood group characteristic a testing batch is produced. The testing batch is then incubated over a defined period and under defined conditions and after conclusion of the incubation, either directly or after a centrifugation step, is tested visually or by optical methods for a possible agglutination or adsorption of the erythrocytes. The predominant end point measurement in blood group serology is still the hemaglutination test. For each blood group to be determined a separate batch must be pipetted, i.e. e.g. for the determination of the nine most important blood groups A, B, D, C, c, E, e, Cw and K, nine separate batches are needed, without counting any control.
Lateral flow tests nowadays are frequently applied as quick tests e.g. as pregnancy tests, for determining infection markers or for drug screening. A lateral flow test device in a known manner includes a rigid support on which an application zone for the sample to be tested is provided, a separating membrane, on which bonding elements, e.g. catcher antibodies or antigens are bound and on which the bonding reactions can be detected, and a suction generating absorption region which causes the sample to be tested to flow in a linear manner through the separating membrane.
Test membranes of conventional lateral flow tests are generally described involving a chromatography-like separation. The analyte in the sample bonds specifically to the bonding elements fixed in a membrane which as a rule are present in consecutive or superimposed bands serving as indicator zones. The bonding complex is rendered visible by indicator particles which as a rule are already present in the device in dehydrated form in a conjugate liberation pad. The conjugate liberation pad is typically provided between the application zone and the membrane. The pre-coated colored indicator particles are coated for example with an antibody directed against the analyte to be tested for.
The conventional lateral flow test format corresponds to a so-called "sandwich assay", in which both the indicator zone as well as the indicator particles are coated with a ligand aimed at the analyte tested for, normally an antibody. In that context the ligand (bonding element) is immobilized on the membrane. The detector reagent, normally an antibody bonded to a colored polystyrene particle or to colloidal metals, is deposited in the conjugate liberation pad in a leachable manner. This bonding complex serves as indicator particle. Once the sample to be tested has been applied it very rapidly wets the conjugate liberation pad, whereby the indicator particles are mobilized. The indicator particles migrate with the liquid front along the porous membrane. An analyte present in the sample becomes bonded by the antibody coupled to the indicator particle. As the sample passes the indicator zone, the analyte/indicator particle complex in the indicator zone is immobilized by reaction of the analyte with the antibody bonded in the indicator zone, resulting in a visible signal.
A further known test format for small analytes comprising but a single antigenic determinant, incapable of simultaneously bonding two antibodies, is the so-called "competition assay". The detector reagent bonded to the indicator particle is normally a molecule identical to or analogous with the analyte. The indicator particles are deposited in the conjugate liberation pad. The indicator particles migrate with the liquid front along the porous membrane. If the sample contains the analytes, and if the indicator particles (which effectively likewise contain analyte) pass the indicator zone, part of the analyte molecules in the sample bond to part of the indicator particles. The more analyte is present in the sample the more effective will it compete with the bonding of the indicator particle and the weaker will the signal become.
According to the prior art these indicator particles are predominantly composed of colloidal gold or of polystyrene, manufactured and coated according to methods known to the skilled person. In the typical lateral flow test formats the analytes are determined indirectly. In this context a direct determination of an analyte denotes that the analyte is already bonded naturally to the indicator particle (e.g. erythrocyte). In the more common situation of indirect determination of the analytes the sample to be tested as a rule contains a non-cellularly bonded, e.g. plasmatic component as the analyte and, besides the sample to be tested, two reagent components are required, i.e. indicator particles and a bonding element. In the indirect determination the analyte initially bonds to the indicator particle dissolved out of the conjugate liberation pad, before this complex becomes immobilized in the indicator zones with the bonding element by way of a second reaction.
When using conventional lateral flow tests with erythrocytes as indicator particles which have been bonded to the analytes to be determined, for example blood group specific antigens, it is at present usual for antibodies to be provided in the indicator zones against corresponding blood group antigens serving as bonding elements in successive or superimposed bands in but a single flow track such as for example anti-A, anti-B against the Rh blood group system. In this context conventional lateral flow tests suffer from the disadvantage that the erythrocytes bonded to the antibodies form a flow barrier against the analytes still to be tested for, for example further cell associated antigens, in a sample. Due to agglutination or adsorption of cells in a band of bonding elements arranged proximally to the application zone, additional analytes, in particular associated with cells or cell fragments in the sample to be tested, can no longer be separated unimpededly and visibly and can therefore not be tested for unambiguously or completely. For example in a person who is blood group AB Rh D positive this may result in a weakening or elimination of the B and the D bands, which may result in a faulty interpretation of being blood group A Rh negative. For that reason it was hitherto not possible, specifically in blood group serological diagnostics to employ a lateral flow test with more than one indicator zone. In order to determine a plurality of, in particular cellular and plasmatic blood group parameters, it is to date necessary to conduct single parameter tests separately.

Device and method for simultaneously identifying blood group antigens


A display panel with display and non-display regions has pixel units in the display region. The non-display region defines a bonding region in which there are traces and driving chips. The driving chips are bonded in a flexible printed circuit, and electrically connect with the pixel units. The traces include high-speed signal traces, power traces, and grounding traces. The grounding traces are adjacent to the power traces and so disposed as to shield against electromagnetic interference affecting the signal and power traces, the grounding traces serving as reference ground to the power traces, and form a shield against electromagnetic interference.

Display panels are widely used in electronic devices, such as notebooks, mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital cameras, and wearable devices, as user interfaces. The display panel defines a display region and a non-display region surrounding with the display region. In the non-display region, there are driving chips on an array substrate, such as a source driver, a gate driver, and a time controller. A flexible printed circuit (FPC) with several signal traces is used for transmitting signals between the driving chips and the array substrate. The FPC is bonded on the array substrate in a chip-on-flex (COF) manner. The signal traces can be different types, such as high-speed signal traces, low-speed signal traces, power traces, and so on. The adjacent high-speed signal trace may be seen as a reference trace by the power trace, which can cause fluctuations in the signals on the high-speed signal trace. Electromagnetic interference from external electronic devices can also affect the signals of the high-speed signal trace and the power trace, reducing display performance of the display panel.
There is room for improvement in the art.

Display panel with internal traces proofed against electromagentic interference


A vehicle drive device that includes a rotating electrical machine that serves as a drive power source for a first wheel and a second wheel; a differential gear device that distributes drive power from the rotating electrical machine to the first wheel and the second wheel; a reduction device that includes a planetary gear mechanism with a sun gear, a carrier, and a ring gear; and a case that accommodates the rotating electrical machine, the differential gear device, and the reduction device.

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle drive device including a rotating electrical machine serving as a drive power source for two wheels, a differential gear device that distributes drive power from the rotating electrical machine to the two wheels, and a reduction device.
A power transmission device for an electric car (10) disclosed in the following JP 2001-330111 A includes a motor (12) serving as a drive power source for wheels; two rotating shafts (20, 21) that are drive-coupled to two wheels, respectively; a differential mechanism part (19) that distributes drive power from the motor (12) to the rotating shafts (20, 21); a reduction mechanism part (18); and a case (11) that accommodates those components. The reduction mechanism part (18) includes a first-train ring gear (23) and a second-train ring gear (28), and the ring gears (23, 28) are directly supported by the case (11). Note that the reference signs shown in parentheses in description of BACKGROUND are those in JP 2001-330111 A.
However, in the power transmission device for an electric car (10) of JP 2001-330111 A, since the first-train ring gear (23) and the second-train ring gear (28) are directly supported by the case (11), vibration occurring due to meshing of the first-train ring gear (23) with a first-train pinion (24) and meshing of the second-train ring gear (28) with a second-train pinion (29) is directly transmitted to the case (11). As a result, there is a problem that large gear noise may be generated.


A system for classification of the emotional content of music is provided. An encoder receives a digital audio recording of a piece of music, and encodes it using musical notes and associated amplitudes. The artificial neural network is configured to take a plurality of encoded time slices and provide output indicative of the emotional content of the music.

Creators of multimedia presentations have long recognized the dramatic impact of well-chosen music in their artistic works. Filmmakers, for example, have included musical scores that create emotions that complement and enrich what the actors are conveying as spoken words and what the cameras are conveying as visual images projected onto a screen. Few people can remember films like "Star Wars," "The Godfather," "Jaws," or "Rocky" without reliving the emotions created by their musical scores. Musical scores date back to the very creation of the movie industry, when early silent films starring Charlie Chaplin primarily relied on musical accompaniments to convey the emotions and messages of different movies. Musical scores have also been used to enhance documentaries. American composer Richard Rodgers created 13 hours of original music for the 1952 television series "Victory at Sea."
Over 38 years later, filmmaker Ken Burns used period music (along with innovative camera zooms and pans) to make 150 year old black and white photographs spring to life in the PBS TV series "The Civil War." Films like "The Civil War" series have probably inspired millions of amateur filmmakers to add music to their own photographic slide shows over the past 20 years. Amateurs are able to do that because of easy-to-use software created during that period. For example, an amateur using Apple's IPhoto® software can create a slide show accompanied by songs selected from his or her ITunes® library with a few clicks of a mouse. Software that allows users to create videos for dissemination on Youtube®, Google+® or Facebook® presents opportunities for users to enhance those videos by adding musical selections.
With the advent of compact disc technology, the widespread development and use of the Internet, and the availability of personal MP3 players like the IPod® device, a new industry has developed to create voice recordings of textual content (both fiction and nonfiction), which are widely marketed today as "audio books." Some audio books use limited amounts of music for introductions and conclusions or as transitions between chapters. Most audio books, however, contain only the recorded voice of the reader.
Electronic devices like Amazon's Kindle® reader or Barnes & Noble's Nook® reader, which allow one to download the textual content of books directly to the device, are rapidly transforming the way books are distributed and marketed to the public and then read by individual consumers. In a press release dated Dec. 26, 2009, Amazon reported that its sales of electronic books on December 25 of that year surpassed its sales of physical books for the first day in its history. Four months later, Apple's first IPad® tablet was sold to the public. Among other things, the IPad® tablet provides an alternative to the Kindle® reader in the market for downloading physical books to consumers. Both the Kindle® reader and the IPad® tablet provide an electronic visual display for textual content contained in existing physical books in a more convenient and efficient manner for users. The IPad® tablet and more recent multimedia devices such as Amazon's Kindle Fire® and Barnes & Noble's Nook Tablet® allow users to download multimedia content including audio books having enhanced video and audio features.
Recognizing the value of adding music to these multimedia works, there is a need for users, such as non-musicians, to have access to pre-recorded segments of music which are appropriate to the emotional impact which the user is attempting to convey. On the one hand, there is a need for users to be able to automatically classify known musical works, either acquired or composed by the user, with a representation of the emotional content, e.g., "fear," "suspense," "calm," or "majesty." In this way, music can be catalogued, e.g., stored in a database, along with one or more emotional attributes for later access. On the other hand, there is a need for users to access catalogs of music, either acquired or composed by the user, in which the emotional content of the music has been identified for easy selection, e.g., for adding to a multi-media work.
Artificial neural networks were first proposed in the 1940s. An artificial neural network comprises a series of interconnected artificial neurons that process information using a connectionist approach. Artificial neural networks are generally adaptive, being trainable based on sample data to elicit desired behaviors. Various training methods are available, e.g., backpropagation. Artificial neural networks are generally applicable to pattern classification problems.
Artificial neural networks were first simulated on computational machines in the mid 1950s. In 1958, Rossenblatt introduced the perceptron, a feedforward artificial neural network capable of performing linear classification. Backpropagation was applied as a training method to neural networks beginning in the 1970s and 1980s. Both the perceptron and the backpropagation algorithm are now well known in the art.
Various general purpose artificial neural network software are available. These software packages allow the user to specify the operating parameters of the network, including the number of neurons and their arrangement. Once a network is created, the user may train these networks through the use of training data selected by the user. The training data, applied to the neural network with the desired output values, allows the neural network to be adapted to provide desired behavior. As an example, the "Rumelhart" program provided by Michael Dawson and Vanessa Yaremchuk of the University of Alberta allows the user to configure and train a multilayer perceptron.
Although artificial neural networks provide a general purpose pattern classification tool, such networks are only capable of producing useful output when the input data is encoded. Thus, there remains a need in the art for an efficient encoding of digital audio suitable for the application of a neural network. There also remains a need for a system and method for classification of digital audio based on emotional content.

Artificial neural network based system for classification of the emotional content of digital music


A system and method to map a Quality of Service (QoS) of a traffic flow from a wireless network to a wired network is described herein. The method comprises the steps of receiving a packet of the traffic flow over the wireless network and determining a first Quality of Service associated with the traffic flow over the wireless network based on a first set of parameters associated with the packet. The method further comprises the step of determining a second parameter that identifies a second Quality of Service over the wired network, wherein the second Quality of Service is substantially equivalent to the first Quality of Service. The method also comprises inserting the second parameter in a field of the packet based on the determined second Quality of Service and transmitting the packet over the wired network.

1. Field of the Invention
This application generally relates to Quality of Service (QoS) over wireless and wired networks.
2. Background Art
Applications running on wireless devices such as iPhones™, wireless enabled laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs) or any device that communicates over a wireless network have differing Quality of Service (QoS) requirements depending upon the nature of the application. For example, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications such as Skype™ require specific parameters such as a controlled latency and jitter for desired operation. The destination for traffic flows generated by wireless devices may be across a wired network. For example, a VoIP call started on a wireless device may have to be routed over a wired network to, for example, a laptop. However, current systems are not able to map QoS over a wireless network to a corresponding QoS over a wired network. The lack of such a mapping may prevent an application running on a wireless device from functioning adequately because its QoS is not matched over the wired network.
Methods and systems are needed to overcome the above mentioned deficiency.
The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers may indicate identical or functionally similar elements. Additionally, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number may identify the drawing in which the reference number first appears.

Mapping quality of service (QOS) from a wireless network to a wired network


A data buffer control circuit provides a buffer clock signal to a data buffer of an integrated circuit memory device having a read cycle that is initiated by assertion of a read cycle control signal. A clock buffer circuit that receives an input clock signal and a clock buffer control signal, the clock buffer circuit operative to generate the buffer clock signal from the input clock signal when the clock buffer control signal is in a first state and to prevent generation of the buffer clock signal from the input clock signal when the clock buffer control signal is in a second state. A clock buffer control circuit is responsive to the read cycle control signal and to the clock signal and transitions the clock buffer control signal to the first state responsive to a first transition of the input clock signal following assertion of the read cycle control signal and that transitions the clock buffer control signal to the second state responsive to the end of the predetermined interval. A first half cycle of the input clock signal may commence with the first transition of the input clock signal, and the clock buffer control circuit may be operative to transition the clock buffer control signal to the first state following the first transition of the input clock signal and before the end of the first half cycle of the input clock signal.

This application claims priority from Korean Application No. 1999-53754, filed Nov. 30, 1999, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to integrated circuit devices and methods of operation thereof, and more particularly, to data buffer circuits, integrated circuit devices and methods of operation thereof.
Conventional integrated circuit memory devices typically provide a read path that includes a sense amplifier, a data multiplexer, data buffer, and data output driver. In response to a data output control signal which acts like an intermittently enabled clock signal, a data buffer typically outputs data received from a sense amplifier via a data multiplexer. In some conventional integrated circuit memory devices, such a data output control signal is generated under control of a clock buffer control signal that enables and disables generation of the clock-like data output control signal. However, when the speed at which such an integrated circuit memory device is increased, timing of such a clock buffer control signal can be corrupted such that the data output control signal is improperly timed with respect to the operation of other devices in the read path.
According to embodiments of the present invention, a data buffer control circuit provides a buffer clock signal to a data buffer of an integrated circuit memory device having a read cycle that is initiated by assertion of a read cycle control signal. The data buffer control circuit comprises a clock buffer circuit that receives an input clock signal and a clock buffer control signal, the clock buffer circuit operative to generate the buffer clock signal from the input clock signal when the clock buffer control signal is in a first state and to prevent generation of the buffer clock signal from the input clock signal when the clock buffer control signal is in a second state. The data buffer control circuit further comprises a clock buffer control circuit that is responsive to the read cycle control signal and to the clock signal and that transitions the clock buffer control signal to the first state responsive to a first transition of the input clock signal following assertion of the read cycle control signal and that transitions the clock buffer control signal to the second state responsive to the end of the predetermined interval. A first half cycle of the input clock signal may commence with the first transition of the input clock signal, and the clock buffer control circuit may be operative to transition the clock buffer control signal to the first state following the first transition of the input clock signal and before the end of the first half cycle of the input clock signal.
According to some embodiments of the present invention, the clock buffer control circuit comprises a read cycle start detection circuit that receives the read cycle control signal and that generates a transition in a read cycle start detection signal responsive to the first transition of the input clock signal following the transition of the read cycle control signal. The clock buffer control circuit further comprises a latch circuit that receives the read cycle start detection signal and generates the first state in the clock buffer control signal responsive to the transition of the read cycle start detection signal.

Data buffer control circuits, integrated circuit memory devices and methods of operation thereof using read cycle initiated data buffer clock signals


Methods and systems relating to Weil-based spreading codes are described herein. In an embodiment, a method includes generating a set of Weil sequences, adapting a plurality of sequences of the set of Weil sequences to form a first plurality of codes, and selecting a second plurality of codes from the first plurality of codes. A code of the first plurality of codes is selected based at least on a correlation associated with the code. Each code of the first plurality of codes has a predetermined length.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to telecommunications, and more particularly to spread spectrum communications systems.
2. Background Art
Spread spectrum communications offer a number of advantages over other types of communications. In operation, spread spectrum signals are often designed to have advantageous correlation properties. Many different methods have been developed to improve the performance of spread spectrum signals.
Spreading codes have been developed which, when modulated with a baseband signal, often give the resulting modulated signal advantageous correlation properties. These correlation properties reduce the likelihood that the resulting modulated signal will interfere with other signals or be interfered with by other signals. Moreover, improved correlation properties also increase the likelihood that a signal will be properly received at an intended receiver. Although many different types of spreading code families have been developed, many of those families offer little freedom in terms of the length of the spreading code and the size of the family of spreading codes. Thus, what is needed is methods and systems that provide flexible spreading codes which, when modulated with a baseband signal, improve correlation properties of the resulting modulated signal.

Spreading code derived from weil sequences


A vacuum cleaner having a belt driven rotating agitator is provided with an indicia containing rotating dial, directly driven by one of these moving translating or rotating parts, to thereby indicate a problem or performance goal existent in one of them.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vacuum cleaners and, more specifically, to an indicator, directly driven by one of the moving or rotating parts of the cleaner.
2. Description of Prior Art
Vacuum cleaners with belt driven agitators are known in which some means of indication is provided to indicate, e.g., belt breakage or a stalled belt condition. These indicators include agitator mounted magnets which physically drive a separate magnet containing indicator disk to denote rotation or to electrically indicate to a magnetic pulse receiving network to indicate this same rotation. These indicators also include ones that, essentially, react with or against the belt. One of these structures used a cogged belt to insure arrest of it at the motor shaft under stall conditions, with the motor being fused and thereby becoming inoperative under this condition to indicate cleaner non-performance. Several other structures react against the belt. They depend on the displacement of the belt from its normal tracking at stall to move a linkage or abutment to thereby turn off an electric switch in a motor circuit. How much better and simpler to directly drive an indicating disk by the moving part of the vacuum cleaner being monitored.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to directly drive an indicating disk by a moving member of a vacuum cleaner.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a vacuum cleaner indicator by the use of a directly driven indicator disk.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a disk driven by a vacuum cleaner agitator belt which acts as a stalled or broken belt indicator.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a disk driven by the agitator to proven a worn brush indicator.
It is an even further object of the invention to provide an indicator with indicia thereon and to abuttingly, drivingly engage this indicator with a moving member of a vacuum cleaner to thereby directly indicate that the moving member is, in fact, moving.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide an improved indicator structure in a vacuum cleaner.


A camera provided with camera-shake compensation functionality that comprises a camera-shake detector, a photographing mode selector, an adjuster, and an anti-shake mechanism. The camera-shake detector detects a quantity of shake of the camera. The photographing mode selector is used to select a photographing mode. The adjuster adjusts output signals from the camera-shake detector, in accordance with the photographing mode selected by the photographing mode selector. The anti-shake mechanism compensates for a camera-shake to be counteracted, based on the output signals adjusted by the adjuster.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera-shake compensation device (anti-shake device) which is provide in an optical apparatus such as a camera, a binoculars, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, some optical devices, such as cameras and binoculars, are provided with camera-shake compensation functionality. In a conventional camera-shake compensation operation (or a blur compensation operation) of the camera-shake compensation device, a camera-shake (a direction and quantity of the camera-shake) of the optical apparatus, for example, is obtained by using a gyro-sensor. In the case of a digital camera, a solid-state imaging device (e.g., CCD) is moved to counteract the detected camera-shake. Further, in a sliver halide camera (or a film camera) and a binoculars, a compensation optical system (which is a part of an objective optical system) is moved to counteract the detected camera-shake. Thereby, the camera-shake that results from hand-held shake and the like is compensated, and a satisfactory image is obtained.

Camera provided with camera-shake compensation functionality


A magnetoresistive read head is capable of reading cross-track magnetizations in a magnetic recording disk drive that has the magnetized regions or magnetizations in the magnetic recording layer of the disk oriented in the cross-track direction. The magnetic recording disk has the magnetizations in the concentric data tracks oriented in the radial or cross-track direction. The read head has its free-layer magnetization direction perpendicular to the disk surface and its pinned-layer magnetization direction parallel to the disk surface and orthogonal to the free-layer magnetization direction. The read head may have magnetic side shields spaced from it in the cross-track direction to prevent magnetic flux from adjacent data tracks from reaching the read head.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to magnetic recording disk drives.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional magnetic recording disk drives the disks have concentric data tracks with regions in the data tracks magnetized in the circumferential or along-the-track direction. Data is recorded or written when these regions are magnetized by an inductive write head. The write head has write poles that generate a magnetic write field across a write gap in the along-the-track direction as the disk rotates past the write head. The written data "bits" are the transitions between successive magnetized regions in the data tracks. These transitions result in magnetic fields that are generally perpendicularly into or out of the disk. The written data bits are read back when these fields are detected by a magnetoresistive read head and processed by the disk drive's circuitry into data as the disk rotates past the read head.
The conventional magnetic recording disk drive has an inherent limitation in data recording density because the magnetized regions are magnetized along-the-track. Because the magnetized regions along a data track magnetically oppose each in the along-the-track direction, each magnetized region is exposed to demagnetizing fields from adjacent magnetized regions which affect the stability of the recorded data. The effect of these demagnetizing fields becomes more pronounced as the data bits become smaller in an attempt to increase the bit density in the data tracks.
What is needed is a magnetic recording disk drive that can have increased data recording density because it does not suffer from the problem associated with demagnetizing fields along the data tracks.

Disk drive read head for reading cross-track magnetizations

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


A method of choosing and authorising a transaction with a payment device used by a purchaser under the authority of an owner is described. An analytics engine receives an identifier for a good or service from the purchaser and uses the identifier to identify providers of the good or service and providing a set of provider recommendations for the good or service to the owner. An issuer server receives from the owner approval for one of the set of provider recommendations and determining purchase parameters for that provider recommendation and determines whether the purchase parameters for the transaction match the purchase parameters for the provider recommendation; whereby the transaction is not authorised if the purchase parameters do not match and will not be rejected by the payment control system if the parameters do match.

Payment cards such as credit cards and debit cards are very widely used for all forms of financial transaction. The use of payment cards has evolved significantly with technological developments over recent years. Many payments are made at retail locations, typically with a physical payment card interacting with a point of sale (POS) terminal to support a transaction authorization. These payment cards may interact with a POS by swiping through a magnetic stripe reader, or for a "chip card" or "smart card" by direct contact with a smart card reader (under standard ISO/IEC 7816) or by contactless interaction through local short range wireless communication (under standard ISO/IEC 14443).
Greater understanding and better measurement of user behaviour has allowed for more sophisticated fraud detection in payment device transactions. A further development has been for users to determine their own allowed or predicted behaviour, thus setting boundaries on the use of group cards or a single card guaranteed by a party other than the user, and allowing for stronger fraud detection when activity has been outside a user-set boundary. This can be achieved, for example, with the proprietor's "In Control" solution—a card issuer provides a web site or mobile app using "In Control" that enables a user to set a variety of different limits and permissions for cards under that user's control.
This approach is very useful to allow effective use of group cards or cards for which an owner has delegated limited authority to a purchaser—the owner can set purchase limits or other constraints on behaviour, and a transaction will only be authorised by an issuer if these limits or constraints are met. There are however many situations in which a more flexible solution would be desirable. The purchaser may operate within the allowed limits but still make purchasing decisions that the owner would not choose to approve, or the purchaser may wish to make purchases that the owner would readily approve but be unable to do so until the owner takes steps to modify existing limits and constraints. It would be desirable to handle delegated purchasing responsibility of this type in a more flexible way.


Multimodal polyolefin polymers may be prepared in series-connected polymerization reactors where a prior reactor is a slurry reactor employing light solvent as the slurry medium and hydrogen to limit polymer molecular weight, the polymer product from the prior reactor being substantially freed of hydrogen prior to entry into a subsequent polymerization reactor operating at low hydrogen pressure to produce a high molecular weight olefin. The economics and operating performance of such a series slurry reactor polyethylene process can be significantly improved through the use of an intermediate slurry transfer system and hydrogen removal apparatus that employs flash drums in series in conjunction with a warm recycle solvent slurry diluent.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the field of olefin polymerization in slurry reactors. More particularly, the present invention pertains to a process for transferring a polyolefin/hydrocarbon solvent slurry from a first, hydrogen rich slurry reactor to a second reactor operated with a low and carefully controlled hydrogen concentration with concomitant removal of hydrogen from the first reactor discharge slurry stream. Within the context of the present invention, hydrogen refers to diatomic hydrogen.
2. Background Art
Polyolefins, particularly polyethylene and polypropylene, are produced in large amounts worldwide by polymerization of olefin monomers. The polyolefin products are employed in numerous products produced by a variety of fabrication processes, including, inter alia, extrusion, injection molding, resin transfer molding, blow molding, roto molding, and the like. Both the ultimate product physico-chemical requirements as well as the various fabrication processes dictate that numerous types of polyolefin resins exist. Thus, homo-, co-, and terpolyolefins are common, in various molecular weight grades. In addition, these polyolefins are frequently compounded, not only with other polyolefins having different physicochemical properties, but also additives such as plasticizers, impact modifiers, antioxidants, flame retardants, UV stabilizers, dyes, pigments, fillers and the like.
Three major types of polyolefin polymerization are known: solution, slurry, and gas phase. Each type has numerous variants. Gas phase and slurry processes are well suited for preparation polyethylene polymers of a wide range of densities, and provide a high percentage of polyethylene currently produced. Slurry reactors, as described in greater detail hereafter, employ a hydrocarbon "solvent" as a slurry medium in which the polyolefin product is substantially insoluble. While solution processes may utilize soluble catalysts, gas phase and slurry reactors generally require supported catalysts where the catalyst is present, at times in the presence of supported cocatalysts or "activators," on an inert support such as finely divided silica.
Conventional polyolefin polymerization generally produces polyolefins with a substantially monomodal molecular weight distribution, which may be narrow, intermediate, or broad. The molecular weight distribution for monomodal polymer populations is generally reported as the polydispersity, Mw/Mn, where Mw is the weight average molecular weight and Mn is the number average molecular weight. The polydispersity of polyolefin polymers ranges upwards from above the theoretical minimum of 2.0 for catalytic synthyses processes to as much as 100 or more.
Multimodal resins have more than one significant population of molecular weights. The molecular weight distribution can best be visualized by viewing a gel permeation chromatography plot of the resin. Multimodal populations of molecules will exhibit two or more rather well defined peaks. The terms "bimodal" and "multimodal" are well known to those skilled in the art. The term "multimodal" as used herein includes bimodal resins. Polyolefins with a multimodal molecular weight distribution, preferably an essentially bimodal molecular weight distribution, have great value for certain products and processes.
Multimodal resins may be prepared by physical blending two or more resins having different molecular weight distributions. One disadvantage of such blended resins is that blending constitutes an additional process step. Moreover, the blending must be performed in such a way that a homogenous product is obtained. The blending operation not only adds additional cost to the resin, but moreover, the multimodal resins produced by blending have generally inferior physicochemical properties as compared to multimodal resins having been produced by "in situ" routes.
Preparation of polymer blends in situ avoids physical blending and its disadvantages. Four types of in situ multimodal polymer production may be conceptualized. In a first process, a single reactor is employed with two distinctly different catalysts, each catalyst prepared separately on its respective support. One catalyst is selected to provide a higher molecular weight product than the other catalyst. In such a process, two distinctly different polymers are created, and the product is distinctly heterogenous. Such products are generally inferior in their processing properties, especially for applications such as film production.
In a second process, a single reactor is again used, but two different catalysts are contained on the same support, i.e., so-called "dual site" catalysts. As a result, two different polymers grow from the same catalyst particle. The resultant polymer may be described as "interstitially mixed." A much greater degree of homogeneity in the polymer product is thus obtained at the expense of more complex catalyst preparation. Although this process offers advantages in capial and installed costs relative to multi-reactor processes, the design and synthesis of dual site catalysts is difficult. An additional process disadvantage is that use of a single reactor reduces the number of process parameters that can be manipulated to control polymer properties.
In a third process, cascaded reactors are employed, and additional catalyst is added to the second reactor. The polymer particles from the first reactor continue growth in the second reactor, although at a slower rate. However, new polymer growth begins on the newly added catalyst. Hence, as with the first process described, a heterogenous polymer product is obtained, with the same deficiencies as described previously for such products.
In a fourth process, cascaded reactors are again employed, but catalyst is added only to the first reactor. The supported catalyst associated with the first reactor polymer contain further active sites which initiate polymerization in the second reactor. The second reactor polymerization parameters are adjusted to establish a different polymerization rate and/or molecular weight range as compared to the first reactor. As a result, an interstitially mixed polymer is obtained.
EP-A-0057420 represents an example of a cascaded slurry process wherein catalyst is introduced only into the first reactor. However, molecular weight is regulated by the presence of hydrogen in both reactors, with the second reactor having higher hydrogen concentration than the first reactor, thus limiting the types of interstitially mixed polymers which may be produced. Polymerization at lower hydrogen pressure in the second reactor is not possible. In addition, the polymer formed in each reactor is limited to a specific weight percentage range relative to the weight of the final product.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,834 (WO 95/11930) and WO 95/10548 disclose use of cascaded slurry reactors in which the catalyst feed is also limited to the first reactor. In both references, the first reactor polymerization is conducted at very low hydrogen concentration, and all olefin comonomer is incorporated therein. The second polymerization is conducted at high hydrogen concentration with no comonomer feed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,834 additionally requires that the takeoff from the first reactor be by way of a settling leg. Continuous takeoff is said to produce inferior products. These processes do not allow operation of the second reactor at lower hydrogen concentration than the first reactor. Moreover, limiting olefin comonomer incorporation to only the first reactor limits the types of polymers which may be produced.
WO 98/58001 discloses that significant advantages in polymer properties are achievable by conducting a two-stage polymerization, the first stage at high hydrogen concentration and low comonomer concentration and the second stage at low hydrogen concentration and high comonomer incorporation. The reactor may be a single reactor or a cascaded reactor system, the latter being preferred. A single catalyst, introduced into the first reactor, may be used. Lower hydrogen concentration in the second stage is achieved by limiting the choice of catalysts to those which rapidly consume hydrogen. Cessation of hydrogen feed thus causes the hydrogen concentration to fall rapidly between stages. The inability to add significant comonomer to the second stage or to limit comonomer incorporation in the first stage detracts from the ability to produce a wide variety of polymers. Moreover, the catalyst choice is limited to those which consume hydrogen when a single catalyst is used.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,221,982 B1 and 6,291,601 B1 disclose cascaded slurry polymerizations where at least two distinct catalysts are employed. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,221,982, a Ziegler-Natta catalyst is employed in the first reactor with high hydrogen concentration and no or low comonomer incorporation. A hydrogen-consuming catalyst with low olefin polymerization efficiency is introduced downstream into the first reactor product stream. As a result, hydrogen is consumed prior to reaching the second reactor, wherein the polymerization is conducted at substantially zero hydrogen concentration. The second stage employs significant olefin comonomer. U.S. Pat. No. 6,291,601 is similar, but employs a metallocene catalyst in the first reactor.
Both the U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,221,982 and 6,291,601 processes as well as the process of WO 98/58001 are inefficient in both monomer usage and thermal loading, since the hydrogenation reaction consumes ethylene, producing ethane by hydrogenation. In addition to the increased thermal loading created by this reaction, the ethane produced is an inert gas which must be purged from the system. Moreover, in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,221,982 and 6,291,601 processes, an additional relatively expensive hydrogenation catalyst which contributes little to polymer production must be added. Finally, all three processes require substantially homopolymerization in at least the first reactor, thus limiting the types of polymers which may be produced.
It would be desirable to use series-configured slurry reactors wherein hydrogen is introduced into a first slurry reactor to produce a low molecular weight first polymer, following which this first polymer then introduced into a second reactor operated at lower hydrogen concentration, without the requirement of employing a catalyst which specifically encourages hydrogenation. The higher molecular weight polymer produced in the second reactor will be interstitially mixed with previously produced low molecular weight polymer particles which still contain active catalyst. In general, the mass flow of hydrogen contained in the slurry polymer entering the second reactor must be lower by a factor of at least 50, preferably at least 100, from the mass flow of fresh hydrogen to the second reactor, otherwise control of polymer product melt flow index becomes difficult. To effectuate such a process, therefore, hydrogen introduced in the first slurry reactor must be efficiently removed from the first reactor product stream, as the hydrogen concentration in the second reactor will be far lower. In the case of high boiling solvent slurry media such as hexane, removal of hydrogen is relatively straightforward, typically being accomplished with a single stage flash. However, in the case of low boiling solvents such as propane, butane, and isobutane, efficient separation of hydrogen is difficult.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,225,421 B1 discloses use of cascaded reactors wherein ethylene is homopolymerized in the presence of hydrogen in a first reactor, hydrogen is physically separated from the first reactor product stream, and the product is copolymerized with 1-hexene and additional ethylene at reduced hydrogen concentration in the second reactor. However, the patent contains no disclosure of any apparatus suitable for removing hydrogen from the first reactor product stream. Moreover, the necessity to restrict the first polymerization to homopolymerization is limiting.
It would be desirable to provide a cost-effective apparatus suitable for removing hydrogen from the product stream of a first reactor operating at higher hydrogen concentration than a second reactor in series with the first. Use of such an apparatus in a cascaded slurry polymerization process would enable employing a light solvent, hydrogen-mediated slurry reactor in series with a second slurry reactor to produce a multimodal polyolefin polymer without reacting away hydrogen through the use of hydrogen-consuming polymerization catalysts or separate hydrogenation catalysts. It would further be desirable to provide a hydrogen removal process which can accommodate comonomer incorporation in any reactor of the reactor battery.

Process for removal of intermediate hydrogen from cascaded polyolefin slurry reactors


Optical adhesives that also diffuse visible light include a blend of an adhesive matrix which is an optical adhesive and a block copolymer. The adhesive may be a pressure sensitive adhesive and contains either acid or basic functionality. The block copolymer, which may be a diblock copolymer, contains a high Tg block and a functional block, the functionality of the functional block is complimentary to the functionality of the adhesive matrix to form an acid-base interaction. The adhesive may also contain a crosslinking agent.

Information displays, such as liquid crystal displays and rear projection screens, often rely on light-diffusing optical constructions for efficient operation and enhanced readability. Such light-diffusing constructions assume critical roles in these displays by forward scattering the light from a source without a significant loss in the intensity of the forward scattered light. This scattered, yet high transmittance, resultant light gives such displays a desirable background brightness by reducing the amount of incident light which is scattered or reflected back toward the light source. Elimination or restriction of such "backscattered" light is a key factor in designing these light-diffusing constructions. Diffusers can be incorporated into optical systems by adding an additional diffuser component to the system, or, in some cases, by incorporating diffusive properties into an existing component.
Adding additional components to an optical system has the disadvantage of introducing additional absorption and creating additional interfaces that can reflect light, thereby causing loss of illumination and other forms of image degradation. Additionally, in some multilayer systems it may be difficult or impossible to add additional components.
Incorporating diffusive properties into an existing optical component may be achieved by, for example, etching or sandblasting a surface of an existing optical component or by filling or embedding the optical component, such as an adhesive layer, with diffusive particles. However, incorporating a diffusing layer into an existing component in the system complicates component design, adds manufacturing steps, and can have an adverse effect on performance and on product yield during manufacturing. In particular, the use of particles can detract from the overall brightness or transmittance of the incident light through backscatter.

Optical adhesive with diffusive properties


A neonatal syringe retention device provides a means to retain a syringe in an elevated location inside of an incubator. The device comprises a suction cup removably attached to an interior wall surface of an incubator. The device also comprises a strap having a distal end comprising an aperture to hold the syringe body, and a proximal end having a plurality of apertures which adjust the overall length of the strap held from the suction cup.

The invention described herein pertains to a securing strap, and more specifically to a neonatal syringe retention device. Often new born children experience unfortunate complications and require air vent or open-ended feeding syringe treatments while inside an incubator. Due to the configuration of an open syringe, the contents can easily spill out when tipped or left on their side. Additionally, any syringe relying on gravity for operation must be suspended in an elevated position. A stable, re-useable device for securing a syringe to a wall of an incubator is needed.
U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2006/0089077 to Joyce F. Wittschen discloses a syringe cover shaped like a teddy bear. The cover secures a syringe and also hides the syringe from a child's view. A syringe is held in an upright position while the cover is in an upright position. However, the cover is not secured to anything else which makes it easy to knock over and also provides no way to secure a syringe in an elevated position.
Another attempt at providing a securing device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,393 to Norman D. Levin. This patent provides a strap for holding a heavy bag having a suction cup, two (2) "S" hooks and an elongated strap. The elongated strap has a first end and a second end, both ends having apertures for receiving an "S" hook. The first end is connected to the suction cup via an "S" hook, while the second end is connected to the heavy bag via an "S" hook. While this device attaches to a surface using a suction cup and has an elongated strap for securing an item, the "S" hooks are easy to separate from the straps and may cause unintended disconnection of the device. Additionally, the "S" hooks alone cannot be used to secure a syringe in an upright position.
Yet another attempt at providing a securing device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,816 to Harold L. Hull et al. This patent provides a plurality of suction cups with flexible straps attached thereto. The straps are intertwined and the suction cups pulled tightly in opposing directions. The suction cups are secured to a surface, retaining an object against a surface and under the flexible straps. The securing device disclosed in this patent does not provide a reliable method for securing a syringe and involves the use of multiple suction cups.
Although the various devices observed may fulfill their individual, particular objectives, each device suffers from one (1) or more disadvantage or deficiency related to design or function. Whether taken singly, or in combination, none of the observed devices disclose the specific arrangement and construction of the instant invention.


A fiber includes M primary cores and N redundant cores, where M an integer is greater than two and N is an integer greater than one. Interferometric circuitry detects interferometric pattern data associated with the M primary cores and the N redundant cores when the optical fiber is placed into a sensing position. Data processing circuitry calculates a primary core fiber bend value for the M primary cores and a redundant core fiber bend value for the N redundant cores based on a predetermined geometry of the M primary cores and the N redundant cores in the fiber and detected interferometric pattern data associated with the M primary cores and the N redundant cores. The primary core fiber bend value and the redundant core fiber bend value are compared in a comparison. The detected data for the M primary cores is determined reliable or unreliable based on the comparison. A signal is generated in response to an unreliable determination.

Multi-core optical fiber may be used to determine the bend angles of an optical fiber. A multi-core fiber having three cores can be used to separate the deformation of the fiber into two bend angles (pitch and yaw) and fiber elongation (strain).
In fiber optic based sensing of bend angles, a multi-channel distributed strain sensing system may be used to detect the change in strain for each of several cores within a multi-core optical bend sensing fiber as described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 8,773,650, incorporated herein by reference. Multiple distributed strain measurements may be combined through a system of equations to produce a set of physical measurements including curvature and axial strain a described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,531,655, incorporated herein by reference. These physical measurements may be used to determine distributed bend angles of the optical fiber.
Some applications for bend sensing fiber require a high degree of confidence or safety in terms of the accuracy and reliability of the bend sensing output. An example application is robotic arms used in surgical or other environments. One way of improving the confidence and safety in the operation of these robotic arms is to use redundancy. For example, rather than using just one position encoder to determine a current angular position of a robotic arm joint, two position encoders may be used and the outputs compared to determine if both encoders generating the same position or the same position with an allowed margin. If the outputs do not agree within the allowed margin, then a safety or fault signal may be generated to alert an operator of the error situation.
A redundant fiber may be an option for some bend sensing applications to ensure safe and reliable bend sensing output information. But in other situations, a redundant fiber may not be possible or desirable, e.g., due to space constraints, cost constraints, etc. For example, in surgical robotic arms, the conduit space that contains the bend sensing fiber may be too tight to accommodate two fibers. What is needed is another technological solution that ensures safe and reliable bend sensing output information but that does not require a redundant fiber.

Calculation of redundant bend in multi-core fiber for safety


A wheelchair lift (10) for a vehicle is disclosed. The wheelchair lift includes a lift platform assembly (13) coupled to a frame (18). The wheelchair lift also includes a reciprocating assembly (12) in communication with the lift platform to reciprocate the lift platform between a raised position and a lowered position. A locking mechanism (47) is coupled to the frame and lockingly engages a portion of the reciprocating assembly (34) to maintain communication between the reciprocating assembly and the lift platform if a portion of the reciprocating assembly fails.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires the removal of physical obstacles to those who are physically challenged. Included within the scope of the ADA are motor vehicles, such as trains and buses. Specifically, new, used, or remanufactured buses sold are required to comply with the applicable provisions of the statute. One such provision requires that deployed lift platforms, when occupied, shall have devices for preventing the lift platform from dropping an occupant in the event of a single failure of any load-carrying component. Therefore, to comply with the ADA, redundant support systems need to be included on passenger lifts.
Currently, there are a wide variety of passenger lifts available for motor vehicles. One such lift is adapted to be mounted within an entryway of a motor vehicle. Such a lift includes a vertical reciprocating lift platform assembly mounted within the vehicle, the lift platform selectively actuatable between at least a raised and a lowered position. The lift platform assembly consists of an inboard platform and an outboard platform. The outboard platform is hingedly attached to the outboard edge of the inboard platform by two sets of horizontally oriented pin assemblies. The pin assemblies are located on opposite sides of the lift platform assembly. The inboard edge of the inboard platform is hingedly attached to two vertical support members located in the entrance of the passenger vehicle by a second set of two horizontally oriented pin assemblies. The vertical members can be selectively raised and lowered to convey the attached lift platform assembly between the raised and lowered positions.
The pin assemblies allow the lift platform assembly to be rotatably transfigured from a stowed position to an extended position. In the extended position, the upper planar surface of the inboard platform is oriented parallel with and above the ground. The outboard platform is rotated on the pin assemblies outward from the inboard platform until the upper planar surface of the outboard platform is coplanar with the inboard platform. Once in the extended position as described, the lift platform assembly is lowered to the ground or sidewalk so that a mobility impaired individual may board the lift platform assembly. Two drive chains, one attached to the left vertical member, the other attached to the right vertical member, of a reciprocating assembly are actuated to raise the vertical support members and the attached lift platform assembly. Once in the raised position, the lift platform assembly is level with the floor of the motor vehicle. The mobility impaired person is then free to deboard the lift platform assembly into the passenger compartment of the vehicle.
The lift platform assembly is then rotatably transfigured into the stowed position. This is done by rotating the folding platform until the upper surface of the folding platform is parallel with and opposing the upper surface of the inboard platform. The inboard platform and outboard platform are further rotated as a unit into a vertical stowed position, nested between and parallel with the vertical support members. Although such a lift is effective at providing mobility impaired persons, such as those in a wheelchair, access into and out of a motor vehicle, it is not without its problems.
For instance, the drive chains of the reciprocating assembly are coupled to the frame of the lift platform by a single securing device. More specifically, in the above-described lift, each of the drive chains is attached to one of the vertical support members by a clevis. The devises are then adjustably attached to mounting brackets on the vertical support members. The devises have a threaded portion that mates with the mounting bracket through a set of adjusting nuts. By selectively engaging the adjusting nuts associated with either the left or right drive chain, a user can level the lift platform assembly. Although the described apparatus of attaching the drive chains to the vertical support members is advantageous since it allows the leveling of the lift platform assembly, it is not without problems. Specifically, if a catastrophic failure occurs in the clevis, or the lower portion of the mounting bracket, or if the threads of a clevis disengage from the mounting bracket adjusting nuts, or other such failure, the lift platform assembly could canter to one side, or drop, injuring the lift user or others in proximity to the lift.
Such a passenger lift is not only dangerous, it also fails to comply with the ADA regarding single point failure of any load carrying component. Further, such passenger lifts are also not in compliance with proposed rules recently submitted to the Department of Transportation (DOT) by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for possible inclusion in the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) that if enacted, will establish even more stringent requirements with at least regard to the single point of failure provision.
For at least the foregoing reasons, there exists a need for a passenger lift that includes a redundant support in the event of a failure of a portion of the lift, wherein the redundant support complies with the ADA requirements and the proposed FMVSS changes, is economical to install and maintain, and may be easily retrofitted into existing passenger lifts.


In the continuous rolling mills, the strip crown and the strip flatness of a strip can be controlled to any desired value. In the strip crown measuring method, the strip crown of the first stage rolling mill can be obtained by adding the set target strip crown value and a value obtained by multiplying the deviation in mechanical strip crown between the predicted value and the actually measured value by a imprinting ratio. Further, the strip crowns of the second and after rolling mills can be obtained by adding the set target strip crown, a value obtained by multiplying the deviation in mechanical strip crown between the predicted value and the actually measured value by a imprinting ratio, and a value obtained by multiplying the deviation in entry strip crown between the target value and the calculated measurement value by an inheritance coefficient, for each rolling mill. Further, in the control method of the continuous rolling mills, the rolling mill is controlled in correspondence to the deviation in strip crown between the value actually measured by the profile gauge and the previously calculated value, in such a way that the manipulated variables of the actuators of the rolling mills arranged on the upstream side of the rolling mill having the profile gauge are equal to each other or determined to a predetermined proportion by use of imprinting ratios and inheritance coefficients.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to continuous rolling mills for rolling a strip (e.g., metal strip), and more specifically to a method of measuring strip crown in order to control both the strip thickness distribution (i.e., strip crown) in the strip lateral direction and the strip wave (i.e., flatness) of the strip longitudinal direction to desired values, respectively and a method of controlling the continuous rolling mills on the basis of the measuring method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A hot finish rolling mill for controlling strip crown and flatness is disclosed by Hot rolling technology for improvement of dimensional accuracy! by Yasuyuki NISHIYAMA, on pages 81 to 90, Rolling Theory Committee Journal of Memorial Symposium of 100th Meeting of The Iron and Steel Institute of Japan, June 1994, for instance. In particular, on page 87, there are disclosed a crown and/or shape control system of a hot strip mill which composes of six stands, a profile gauge and a strip flatness sensor at the exit of the last stand. This system controls bendings on the bases of outputs of those sensors.
In this rolling mill, the work roll bendings are installed for only the last three stands, so that the rest are not feedback controlled. As a result, it is impossible to control both the strip crown and the flatness to desired values, respectively and satisfactorily. In addition, since nothing is explained of the practical operation of the work roll bendings, it is difficult to realize the control method in practice.
Further, the relationship among the virtual strip crown (referred to as mechanical strip crown, hereinafter) obtained when the rolling force distribution is uniform in the width direction of the rolled strip, the imprinting ratio, the inheritance coefficient from the entry strip crown to the delivery strip crown, etc. are explained in detail in Development in Shape and Crown Control Theory for Thin Sheet rolling! by Hiromi MATSUMOTO, on pages 155 to 176, Rolling Theory Committee Journal of Memorial Symposium of 30th Meeting of The Iron and Steel Institute of Japan, March 1985, for instance.
In this case, however, nothing is explained of the method of controlling the strip crown and the flatness to desired values, respectively, so that it is difficult to realize the control method in practice.

Strip crown measuring method and control method for continuous rolling machines