An array substrate of a liquid crystal display being capable of increasing the electrostatic capacitance of a storage capacitor without decreasing the aperture ratio of the LCD. In the array substrate, the gate line is formed a disposed material of a first and a second metal layer. The first metal layer of the gate line is extended on the pixel area.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an array substrate of a liquid crystal display and a fabricating method thereof, and more particularly to an array substrate of a liquid crystal display and a fabricating method thereof that is capable of increasing the electrostatic capacitance of a storage capacitor without any decrease of an aperture ratio to reduce flickers and to lessen the number of required processes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a liquid crystal display LCD controls a light transmittance of a liquid crystal using an electric field to display a picture. To this end, the LCD includes a liquid crystal display panel having liquid crystal pixels arranged in a matrix type, and a driving circuit for driving the liquid crystal display panel.
In the liquid crystal display panel, there are provided a pixel electrode and a common electrode for applying an electric field to each of the liquid crystal pixels. The pixel electrode is formed on a lower substrate by liquid crystal pixels, whereas the common electrode is formed on the entire surface of an upper substrate. Each pixel electrode is connected to a thin film transistor TFT used as a switching device. The pixel electrode together with the common electrode drives the liquid crystal pixel in accordance with data signals supplied through the TFT.
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an array substrate of a conventional liquid crystal display, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the array substrate of the liquid crystal display taken along the line "A-A′" shown in FIG. 1.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a lower substrate 11 of a liquid crystal display includes a TFT 28 located at the intersection of a data line 24 and a gate line 15n, a pixel electrode 33 connected to a drain electrode 25 of the TFT 28, and a storage capacitor 26 located at the overlapping area of the pixel electrode 33 and a previous gate line 15n−1.
The TFT 28 includes a gate electrode 13 connected to the gate line 15n, a source electrode 23 connected to the data line 24, and the drain electrode 25 connected to the pixel electrode 33 through a first contact hole 30a. Also, the TFT 28 further includes a gate insulating film 17 for insulating the gate electrode 13 from the source and drain electrode 23 and 25, and semiconductor layers 19 and 21 for defining a channel between the source electrode 23 and the drain electrode 25 by a gate voltage applied to the gate electrode 13. The TFT 28 responds to a gate signal from the gate line 15 to selectively apply a data signal from the data line 24 to the pixel electrode 33.
The pixel electrode 33 is positioned at a cell area divided by the data line 24 and the gate line 15n, and is made of a transparent conductive material having a high light transmissivity, such as indium tin oxide ITO, etc. The pixel electrode 33 is formed on a second protective layer 31 spread on the entire surface of the lower substrate, is electrically connected to the drain electrode 25 through the first contact hole 30a passing through first and second protective layers 27 and 31. Such a pixel electrode 33 generates a potential difference from a common transparent electrode (not shown) provided at an upper substrate (not shown) by a data signal applied via the TFT. By this potential difference, a liquid crystal positioned between the lower substrate 11 and the upper substrate rotates due to its dielectric anisotropy. In other words, the liquid crystal display changes the molecular arrangement of the liquid crystal cells in accordance with the voltage applied by the pixels, to display images or the like.
FIGS. 3 to 8 are sectional views showing by steps a conventional fabricating method of the liquid crystal display shown in FIG. 2.
Referring to FIG. 3, there are formed the gate electrode 13 and the previous gate line 15n−1 on the lower substrate 11. Aluminum Al or Copper Cu is deposited on the entire surface of the substrate 11 by a known deposition method such as a sputtering method, etc. and is then patterned to form the gate electrode 13 and the previous gate line 15n−1.
Referring to FIG. 4, a gate insulating film 17 is formed over the gate electrode 13 and the previous gate line 15n−1. Then an active layer 19 and an ohmic contact layer 21 are formed on the gate insulating film 17. In this step, an insulating material is entirely deposited to cover the gate electrode 13 and the gate line 15n−1 by a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition PECVD method, to form the gate insulating film 17. The active layer 19 and the ohmic contact layer 21 are formed by depositing two semiconductor layers on the gate insulating film 17 and patterning them. Herein, the active layer 19 is formed of amorphous silicon that is not doped with impurities. The ohmic contact layer 21 is formed of amorphous silicon that is extensively doped with impurities of N type or P type.
Referring to FIG. 5, the data line 24 and the source and drain electrodes 23 and 25 are formed on the gate insulating film 17. In this step, a metal is entirely deposited by a CVD technique or sputtering technique and then patterned to form the data line 24 and the source and drain electrodes 23 and 25. The source and drain electrodes 23 and 25 are patterned, and then the area of the ohmic contact layer 21 corresponding to the gate electrode 13 is patterned to expose the active layer 19. The area corresponding to the gate electrode 13 between the source and drain electrodes 23 and 25 in the active layer 19 becomes a channel. The data line 24 and the source and drain electrodes 23 and 25 are formed of chromium Cr or molybdenum Mo.
Referring to FIG. 6, the first protective layer 27 and a storage electrode 29 are formed on the gate insulating film 17. In this step, the first protective layer 27 are formed by depositing an insulating material on the gate insulating layer 17 with the thickness of 1˜2 μm to cover the source and drain electrodes 23 and 25. The first protective layer 27 is formed of an organic insulating material with a small dielectric constant such as acrylic organic compound, Teflon, benzocyclobutene BCB, Cytop, or perfluorocyclobutane PFCB.
The storage electrode 29 is formed by depositing a transparent conductive material on the first protective layer 27, and then patterning it. The storage electrode 29 is formed of indium-tin-oxide (ITO), indium-zinc-oxide (IZO), or indium-tin-zinc-oxide (ITZO).
Referring to FIG. 7, the second protective layer 31 is formed on the first protective layer 27 and the storage electrode 29. The first to third contact holes 30a, 30b and 30c are provided through the first and/or second protective layers 27 and 31. In this step, the second protective layer 31 is formed by depositing an inorganic insulating material such as silicon nitride (SiNx) or silicon oxide (SiOx) with the thickness of around 2000˜4000 Å. After that, the first to third contact holes 30a, 30b and 30c are formed by selecting removing the first and/or second protective layers 27 and 31 and the gate insulating film 17.
Referring to FIG. 8, the pixel electrode 33 and a transparent electrode 35 are formed on the second protective layer 31 and in the contact holes 30a, 30b and 30c. In this step, the pixel electrode 33 is formed by depositing a transparent conductive material on the second protective layer 31 and the first contact hole 30a, and then patterning it. The pixel electrode 33 is electrically in contact with the drain electrode 25 through the first contact hole 30a. The pixel electrode is formed of any one of ITO, IZO, or ITZO.
The transparent electrode 35 is formed by depositing a transparent conductive material on the second protective layer 31 and the second and third contact holes 30b and 30c, and then patterning it. The transparent electrode 35 is electrically in contact with the storage electrode 29 and the previous gate line 15n−1 through the second and the third contact holes 30b and 30c.
In the foregoing liquid crystal display, if the TFT turns on, electric charge is accumulated at a storage capacitor and a liquid crystal is driven. The flicker occurring during the operation of the liquid crystal display decreases if the difference (ΔVp) of a descending voltage upon driving in relation to the accumulated voltage at the storage capacitor is smaller. The fluctuating voltage ΔVp is decided by the capacitance Cst of the storage capacitor, the capacitance Clc of the liquid crystal, a parasitic capacitance Cgs between the gate electrode 13 and the source electrode 23 of the TFT, and a voltage difference ΔVg of the pulse applied to the gate electrode 13. The fluctuating voltage ΔVp is defined as follows according to FORMULA (1).ΔVp=(Cgs/Cst+Clc+Cgs)*ΔVg  (1)
Herein, Cst represents a capacitance of the storage capacitor, Clc represents a capacitance of the liquid crystal, Cgs represents a parasitic capacitance between corresponding gate and source electrodes, and ΔVg represents a difference in the gate voltage.
According to the FORMULA (1) above, to decrease the fluctuating voltage ΔVp for reducing flickers, the capacitance Cst of the storage capacitor should be increased, or the capacitor Clc of the liquid crystal or the parasitic capacitance Cgs or the voltage difference ΔVg of the gate voltage should be decreased. If the capacitance Clc of the liquid crystal, the parasitic capacitance Cgs, and the gate voltage difference ΔVg are invariable, then at least the capacitance Cst should be increased. And to increase the capacitance Cst of the storage capacitor, the area of the storage electrode needs to be increased. However, an increase of the area of the storage electrode decreases the aperture ratio of the LCD. Particularly, the aperture ratio drops significantly in a ferroelectric LCD that requires a high capacitance Cst of the storage capacitor or in an LCD that requires high precision.
Therefore, there is a need to provide an LCD and its fabrication method that overcome these problems of the related art. Further, there is a need to reduce costs associated with the LCD and its fabrication method by eliminating or reducing the use of expensive masks in fabricating processes of the LCD.

Array substrate of liquid crystal display and fabricating method thereof


In a vehicle having a power shift transmission engageable in a plurality of forward gear ratios by engaging and disengaging first and second fluid clutches with a fluid from a fluid supply, a manifold apparatus for measuring a pressure of the fluid and simultaneously filling the first and second clutches with the fluid supply having a first clutch fill valve fluidly coupled to the first clutch to control the flow of the fluid to the first clutch; a second clutch fill valve fluidly coupled to the second clutch to control the flow of the fluid to the second clutch; a manifold fluidly coupled to the first and second clutch valves to conduct the fluid from the fluid supply to the first and second clutch valves; a first flow restrictor disposed between the manifold and the fluid supply to restrict the flow of the fluid from the fluid supply to the manifold; and a pressure transducer fluidly communicating with the manifold to generate a signal representative of the pressure of the fluid within the manifold, where the first and second clutches are not simultaneously engaged to provide any of the plurality of forward gear ratios.

The present invention relates generally to control of a power transmission in a work vehicle such as an agricultural tractor. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved technique for calibrating clutch fill rates for clutches incorporated in such transmissions.
In the field of transmission systems for work vehicles, such as agricultural tractors, a number of transmission configurations and control schemes have been proposed and are presently in use. Such transmissions typically include a collection of intermeshing gears either fixed to transmission shafts or rotating freely on the shafts. Clutches associated with the freely rotating gears may be selectively engaged to establish a series of speed ratios between an engine output shaft and a transmission output shaft to transmit engine torque at a desired speed to driven wheels of the vehicle. Control systems for commanding engagement of the clutches typically include electronic circuitry that responds to operator controls, such as an upshift/downshift lever, a forward/reverse lever and the like in the vehicle cab. The control system sends electric signals to hydraulic valves that channel pressurized fluid to the clutches. The control systems thus cause the clutches to engage and disengage in predetermined combinations to accelerate, decelerate and drive the vehicle as desired by the operator. Transmissions and control systems of this type are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,620, issued on Jan. 10, 1984 and assigned to Steiger Tractor, Inc., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,385, issued on Oct. 30, 1990 and assigned to J.I. Case Company.
Direct shifting between gears is often provided for in transmissions such as those described above. This process, called "power shifting" involves disengaging a first set of one or more clutches (the "off-going clutches") while substantially simultaneously engaging a second set of one or more clutches (the "on-coming clutches"). This is especially valuable when a work vehicle is in forward motion, attached to an implement. Both first and second sets of clutches cannot be engaged at the same time (called "lockup") with the engine rotating the transmission input shaft without causing serious wear and possible damage. On the other hand, if the off-going clutches are disengaged long before the on-coming clutches are engaged, the tractor will be disengaged entirely for a period of time, and will decelerate. This phenomenon is called a "torque-hole" in industry parlance. The optimum situation is to begin engaging the oncoming clutches while the off-going clutches are being disengaged. Thus, as torque applied by the off-going clutches decreases, torque applied by the oncoming clutches increases. This overlap of torques eliminates the torque hole and provides a smoother transition between gears.
It is difficult to properly overlap the torques due to inherent and changeable time delays during clutch engagement and disengagement. Hydraulic clutches must be filled with hydraulic fluid for an initial period ("fill time") before they begin engaging and transmitting torque. Furthermore, clutch valves have a built-in lag from the time they are energized to the time they open and permit fluid to flow. The result is an inherent delay between the time the on-coming clutch valves are signaled to operate, and the time torque begins to be transmitted by the on-coming clutch. One solution to this problem is to monitor the pressure in each clutch as the clutch fills in order to determine the point of incipient engagement, which appears as a sudden pressure spike in the clutch. Measuring the pressure in each clutch requires a pressure transducer for each clutch, however. This adds to the complexity of the system and the likelihood of component failure.
There is a need, therefore, for an improved apparatus for calibrating clutch fill times, especially for clutches in power shift transmissions. In particular, there is a need for an apparatus adapted to determine the fill times of a plurality of clutches using fewer than one pressure transducer per each clutch calibrated. More particularly, there is a need for an apparatus that can determine clutch fill times while a vehicle is being operated.

Manifold apparatus for calibrating clutch fill times


Circuit arrangement having a free-running half-bridge inverter for operation of gas discharge lamps. A stop device is used to enable the drive to the half-bridge switches only during an on time. The oscillation frequency of the half-bridge inverter can be adjusted by the duration of the on time. This allows control of the lamp operating variables.

The document Fengfeng Tao, et al., "Self-Oscillating Electronic Ballast with Dimming Control", Power Electronics Specialists Conference, 2001, IEEE, USA, describes a self-oscillating half-bridge inverter. FIG. 2 in this document shows a known half-bridge inverter with a feedback transformer. The electronic switches in this document are in the form of MOSFETs.
The cited half-bridge inverter is widely used as a circuit arrangement for operation of lamps, since it requires only a small number of low-cost components, and operates reliably. One disadvantage of this circuit arrangement is due to the fact that the oscillation frequency of the half-bridge inverter is governed by the feedback device that is used and, initially, there is no capability to influence the oscillation frequency. This is the case in particular with half-bridge inverters using bipolar transistors, since bipolar transistors are driven with high currents, which are complex to influence.
A capability to adjust the oscillation frequency offers the following advantages:                the oscillation frequency of the half-bridge inverter can be used to control the lamp current or the lamp power.        the preheating of lamp filaments can be adjusted by means of the oscillation frequency.        the lamp ignition process can be controlled by resonant ignition with the aid of the oscillation frequency.        the oscillation frequency of the half-bridge inverter can be set as a function of a temperature, thus allowing the lamp power and hence the power losses to be reduced when the ambient temperature is high or the installation conditions are poor.
The first item of the above list is covered by the cited document. It is proposed that the feedback transformer be followed by a drive transformer. The oscillation frequency is now influenced by feeding a constant current to the drive transformer. The current that is fed in is superimposed on the magnetization current of the drive transformer, thus allowing the oscillation frequency to be adjusted. This solution has the disadvantage that the oscillation frequency depends on the magnetic characteristics of the drive transformer. Since these can be reduced only inaccurately, this solution is not suitable for large-scale production. Furthermore, the proposed solution does not have a closed control loop for lamp parameters such as the lamp current and lamp power.
The documents U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,648 (De Bijl) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,346,779 (Aiello) also propose self-oscillating half-bridge inverters with the capability to influence the oscillation frequency. However, once again, these documents do not disclose any control of lamp parameters such as the lamp current or lamp power.

Circuit arrangement and method for operation of lamps

Patent-Treuhand-Gesellschaft für Elektrisch Glühlampen mbH


A method and computer program product are provided for selecting switching cells for voltage contribution in a phase arm of a multilevel converter, a cell selecting control device for a multilevel converter and a multilevel converter. The cell selecting control device and multilevel converter includes a balancing control element that obtains a reference voltage for the phase arm, obtains a measurement of the current running through the phase arm and selects cells for contributing to an AC voltage output from the multilevel converter based on the reference voltage and the magnitude of the phase arm current.

Multilevel converters are of interest to use in a number of different power transmission environments. They may for instance be used as voltage source converters in direct current power transmission systems. They may also be used as reactive compensation circuits such as Static VAR compensators. The multilevel converter is then typically based on a number of converter cells, where a cell essentially provides a voltage contribution that is either zero or based on the voltage of an energy storage element of the cell, such as the voltage across a cell capacitor.
In the operation of these multilevel converters there is typically provided a reference voltage which the cells are together switched to resemble. Furthermore, in operation the cells will typically be charged or discharged. In order to allow this charging and discharging the cells may furthermore operate in a cell voltage range that is bounded by an upper and a lower cell voltage boundary. A cell is typically not allowed to have a voltage above the upper cell voltage boundary or below the lower cell voltage boundary.
In this switching the cells are thus switched both for obtaining the reference voltage and in order for the cell voltage not to go outside of the cell voltage range, which latter control is also termed cell voltage balancing. However, switching is associated with losses as well as other undesirable phenomena such as the causing of ripple. It is therefore of interest to reduce the switching
One way of reducing the switching for load balancing purposes is described in CN102130619A1, where cells with highest and lowest cell voltages are selected based on the current direction.
There is however still a need for improvement in the way that cells are switched in a multilevel converter in order to reduce the switching losses.

Multilevel converter with cells being selected based on phase arm current


The invention relates to a cleaning device (1) for removing particles from a surface (11). Thereto the device sprays droplets (200) of a fluid (201) into a space (213). The droplets (200) are expelled from a rotatable brush (3) as a mist of droplets. Air carrying dirt particles (202) is exposed to the mist, whereby dirt particles coalesce with droplets in the mist in the space (213). The coalesced particles (22) are conveyed to a cleansing unit (14) to be separated from the air. Finally, clean air exits from the device (1).

Such a cleaning device is known from U.S. Pat. No. 7,377,009. U.S. Pat. No. 7,377,009 discloses a complex type cleaner implementing both a vacuum cleaning function for sucking dust and a water cleaning function. The cleaner has a cleaner body including a container mounting part. In the container mounting part either a dust collecting container for storing dust or a water collecting container for storing contaminated water can be selectively mounted. The water collecting container includes a container mounted at the container mounting part and having a space for storing contaminant water, a suction pipe connected to the side of the container, extended in a downward direction of the container, and connected to a water suction hose. A discharge passage is formed at the lower side of the container and discharges air from the container. A water discharge preventing unit is mounted at the discharge passage and prevents contaminated water introduced into the container from being leaked outside through the discharge passage. The cleaner has a suction head with a dust suction opening sucking dust when the cleaner performs a vacuum cleaning and a suction head with a nozzle for sucking contaminated water when the cleaner performs cleaning in a water cleaning mode of the cleaner. The suction nozzle is mounted at the front side of the suction head with the dust suction opening in order to suck contaminated water which has cleaned the carpet or the floor after being sprayed from a washing water spraying unit in the water cleaning mode of the cleaner. A brush is rotatably mounted in the dust suction opening. When the cleaner is in a vacuum cleaning mode, dust or foreign materials on the floor are brushed up to an inner side of the dust suction opening. In case of the water cleaning mode the brush rubs on the carpet where washing water has been supplied from the washing water spraying unit to wash the carpet. The washing fluid gets contaminated by the dust and dirt particles on the surface. After the washing operation, the contaminated fluid is being removed from the surface by suction force generated by a vacuum fan and is collected in the water collecting container. By the known cleaning device a relatively large amount of washing water needs to be applied to the surface to ensure that all dust particles become wet. If relatively small particles do not become wet, these small particles might still be transported by the air to the water collecting container. However, it is relatively difficult to separate such small dry particles from the air by means of the water discharge preventing unit. For small particles it is even more important to be removed from the surface and to be separated from the exhaust air because of the risk of health problems. A disadvantage is that the cleaning device needs to be moved twice over the surface, a first time to perform a washing operation and a second time to remove the contaminated fluid from the surface. Another disadvantage of using large amounts of water is that the debris collecting container needs to be emptied relatively often.


An arrangement is described that includes a compartmentalized structure having a multiplicity of compartments defined by associated links and each having a bottom surface. The arrangement also includes a multiplicity of fiducials. The fiducials are positioned at top surfaces of the links that surround each compartment such that each compartment includes at least one associated fiducial at the top surface of an adjacent link that defines the compartment. The arrangement further includes an adhesive layer positioned on the bottom surface of each compartment. The at least one fiducial that surrounds each compartment is suitable for use by a vision system to identify the location of the associated compartment.

Electrical components including dice are presented to assembly systems in a variety of carrier forms including waffle pack, tape-and-reel and wafer ring formats. In general, specialized automated equipment must be used to pick up, align and position the electrical components onto suitable substrates.
For waffle pack handling, one relevant issue is the aspect ratio and size of the electrical components relative to the associated waffle pack compartments the components are positioned in. Conventional waffle packs are typically formed from plastic and produced using an injection molding system. Electrical components positioned within conventional waffle packs can be easily displaced during transportation and typical handling of the waffle pack. Even machine vibrations are sufficient to displace some miniscule components. In some cases, the electrical components may even be ejected from their associated compartments and/or damaged. Miniaturized components such as resistors, capacitors and inductors are especially prone to jostling and are easily displaced. The larger the compartments relative to the components they hold, the greater the opportunity for jostling, displacement and misalignment. Reducing the size of the compartments of the waffle pack allows for a reduction in the maximum displacement of the associated components positioned within the compartments during handling. However, conventional waffle packs are limited in available sizes, and in some instances, the compartments are even too large for certain very small components used in various modern applications. Furthermore, the use of custom-sized waffle packs is often cost-prohibitive.
Some automated assembly systems utilize vision systems and pattern recognition software. The pattern recognition software, or "machine vision," tools are used to guide a variety of robotic handling and assembly processes such as, by way of example, picking up electrical components from a waffle pack. In this case, the pattern recognition software is used to identify an electrical component within the waffle pack so that the system's pick-up tool can align itself to the electrical component and pick up the targeted electrical component. More specifically, in these applications, a robotic element moves to where the targeted electrical component is approximately located and captures an image of the waffle pack. The software is then used to find, identify and calculate the position of the targeted electrical component by recognizing patterns on the component. A pick-up tool then orientates (aligns) itself with the electrical component. The tool then picks up the electrical component and positions it on an appropriate substrate such as a printed circuit assembly or printed circuit board (PCB).
Although conventional arrangements and processes work well for many applications, there are continuing efforts to develop more efficient automated processes.


A system and method for providing calling party identification information to a called party in an intelligent network. A long distance calling card company maintains a subscriber database that includes preferred calling number data and calling name data for each subscriber. When a subscriber places a calling card call, the service provider looks up the subscriber's database record, retrieves the preferred calling number data, and sends the calling number data to the terminating end office. A calling name query from the terminating end office is routed to a database that includes data from the service provider's subscriber database. The caller's name is retrieved and returned to the terminating end office and displayed on the called party's display device, along with the calling number data, date, and time. By directing the calling name inquiry to the service provider's subscriber database, or to a database that includes relevant data from the subscriber database, the called party's caller ID display device is able to display both the calling party's identity and a valid call back number.

Many local telephone companies provide calling line identification services, such as those marketed as Caller ID and Caller ID-Deluxe. When a subscriber receives a telephone call, these services allow the subscriber to view on a display device the phone number from which the call originated and, in some cases, the name of the person making the call. These services are increasingly popular because, in many cases, they allow the called party to know both the identity of the calling party and the telephone number at which the calling party may be reached.
Current calling line identification services work best when the calling party is a residential subscriber calling from his or her residential telephone. In other cases, some of the displayed information may be missing or erroneous. For example, when a subscriber receives a call from a pay phone, the originating number will be displayed, but the calling party will not be identified. In the case of calls from some businesses, the displayed number will identify the directory number associated with an outgoing trunk line instead of the inbound telephone number the business uses to receive telephone calls. Callers who prefer to be called back on an 800 number face similar problems because 800 numbers are "fictitious" numbers that are translated to the directory numbers that are actually used to route the call. Although an 800 number is the proper call back number, it will not be displayed because the call did not originate from a subscriber line having that number.
In order to understand the drawbacks associated with current calling line identification services, it is helpful to understand how the services are provided. Basic Caller ID displays only the originating phone number. In order to accomplish this, the calling number is captured by the originating end office and sent to the terminating end office in an Initial Address Message, which is part of the call setup protocol. The terminating end office sends the calling number over the subscriber's line to the display device after the first ringing signal. The calling number is also referred to as the Incoming Calling Line Identification (ICLID) number.
Caller ID-Deluxe, which is also referred to as calling name delivery service, requires additional features available in an intelligent telecommunications network. Like the basic Caller ID scenario described above, the calling number is captured by the originating end office and sent to the terminating end office in an Initial Address Message. At that point, the terminating end office recognizes that the call is for a Caller ID-Deluxe subscriber and launches a calling name query on the intelligent network. The query message includes the calling number in the message's called party address field. A signaling transfer point (STP) performs a global title translation on the called party address to determine which service control point (SCP) to route the query to, and forwards the query to that SCP. The SCP searches the name database, which is built from the local phone company's billing records, for the calling number record and retrieves the associated name. The SCP returns the caller name to the terminating end office in a TCAP response. When the terminating office completes the call to the subscriber's phone, it sends the caller name and calling number, along with the current date and time, over the subscriber's line to the display device.
From the foregoing, it is apparent that in order for called party to know both the identity of the calling party and the telephone number at which the calling party may be reached, two things must happen. First, the calling number data received by the terminating end office must be the correct call back number. Second, the calling name database that is queried as a result of the terminating end office's calling name query must be able to match the caller's name with the calling number that was received at the terminating end office.
AT&T has addressed some of the drawbacks that relate to the provision of caller identification services in the context of credit card calls. U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,824 to Shaw describes a system in which the caller can specify the number that is sent to the terminating end office as the calling number. The system allows the caller to specify that the transmitted calling number data include the calling card number, which may include the customer's home or business number, the calling station number, or a personal identification number.
In the described system, the customer places a calling card call. The calling card system prompts the customer to enter the calling card number and to select the calling card number, calling telephone number, or personal identification number as the calling number data. The customer then dials the called party's phone number and the system sends the selected number to the terminating end office. At that point, the terminating end office launches a calling name query using the provided calling number.
If the user instructs the AT&T system to send a telephone number at which he or she may be called back (e.g., an office or hotel number, personal number, 800 number, wireless phone number, etc.), the Caller ID display device will not display the caller's name. If the user instructs the system to send his or her home telephone number, the display device will display the identity of the calling party (along with his or her home telephone number), but will not display the telephone number at which the calling party may actually be reached. Although the described system allows the user to send a meaningful number as the calling number, the calling party must determine whether the display device will display the proper call back number or properly identify the calling party.
In prior art caller identification systems, it is apparent that the only way to ensure that the displayed data properly identifies the calling party and provides a useful call back number is for the caller to place the call from a phone that is billed to him. This results in large part because the calling name databases are compiled from the local phone company's billing records.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved system and method for providing calling party identification data, which will allow a calling party to ensure that the called party's display device displays both the calling party's proper identity and a valid call back number in situations where the calling party is not calling from a phone that is billed to him.

System and method for providing caller identification in conjunction with calling card calls


The disclosure relates to a transmission device, comprising: a processor configured: to generate a multicarrier signal based on a combination of data symbols and reference symbols, wherein the multicarrier signal comprises a first plurality of inband subcarriers and a second plurality of out-of band (OOB) subcarriers, and to precode the multicarrier signal based on a mapping function with respect to the first plurality of inband subcarriers and the second plurality of out-of band subcarriers, wherein the mapping function is configured to mitigate the OOB subcarriers.

In an FDD system, the transmitter receives its data stream at a neighboring carrier frequency. When the receiving carrier frequency is placed close to the transmit carrier frequency, the received signal which is already distorted from path loss and channel fading will suffer further distortions from the transmit signal's sidelobes, a phenomena known as self-interference. By packing the transmit and receive signals closer to each other in the frequency domain, we yield a higher spectral efficiency since there is no longer need to insert a guard band between the transmit and receive frequency bands.
To solve this problem various approaches exist. Sometimes RF analog filters are used to filter out the transmit signal using bandpass filters. Analog filters occupy large area and consume a lot of energy deeming it not practical for future transceivers. Alternatively, the receiving frequency can be placed as far as possible from the transmit signal frequency.
In the time correlation approach that is based on time domain processing, a controlled correlation between the time samples of the signal is introduced so that high frequencies are suppressed. In the Active Interference Cancellation approach a set of subcarriers (usually at the edge of the spectrum) is tuned to cancel the OOB emissions according to the data symbols which are not modified. In the Data Precoding approach information symbols are modified in order to suppress OOB emissions. In this approach some error is introduced at the transmitter side which introduces Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) leading to a reduction of SNR. In ultra-reliable communications, however, SNR reduction is not acceptable.
Generally speaking, most of the known solutions are based on distorting the transmit signal or consuming higher energy to reduce the out-of-band emission.

Techniques for pre- and decoding a multicarrier signal based on a mapping function with respect to inband and out-of-band subcarriers


A method of forming a package structure includes providing a plurality of dies; attaching the plurality of dies onto a heat-dissipating plate; and sawing the heat-dissipating plate into a plurality of packages, each including one of the plurality of dies and a piece of the heat-dissipating plate.

With the evolving of semiconductor technologies, semiconductor dies are becoming increasingly smaller and thinner. As a result, the packaging of the semiconductor dies becomes more difficult, adversely affecting the yield.
Package technologies can be divided into two categories. One category of packaging is referred to as chip level packaging, in which dies are sawed from wafers before they are packaged. Advantageously, only "known-good-dies" are packaged. Another advantageous feature of this packaging technology is the possibility of forming fan-out chip packages, which means that the I/O pads on a die can be redistributed to a greater area than the die, and hence the number of I/O pads packed on the surfaces of the dies can be increased.
The other category is typically referred to as wafer level package (WLP), in which dies on a wafer are typically packaged before they are sawed. The WLP technology has some advantages, such as greater throughput and lower cost. Further, less under-fill or molding compound is needed. However, WLP suffers drawbacks. Typically, wafer level packages are formed in a bare-die form as shown in FIG. 1. Solder balls 12 are formed on the top surface of die 10. After being sawed from the respective wafer, die 10 is not protected by any molding compound. Corners 14 of die 10 are thus subject to chipping. A further problem is that since increasingly more circuits and functions are packaged into a single die, the dies needs better heat dissipation ability. Such a requirement is not addressed by existing wafer level packaging processes. Accordingly, new packaging techniques are required.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


A method for analyzing image identifications. An optical character recognition (OCR) identification of an image, an associated confidence value, and a photograph of the image are received. After determining that the received confidence value is below a predefined threshold, a data store is searched to find OCR identifications matching the received OCR identification. If the searching fails to find a matching OCR identification, then a manual agent males a correct identification of the image in the received photograph; otherwise a search score associated with each OCR identification is received. If no received search scores is above a predetermined threshold, then the message is sent to the manual agent for correct identification; otherwise the correct identification is determined based on the OCR identifications associated with the search scores above the predetermined threshold and the correct identification thus determined is subsequently transmitted to a billing system.

More and more systems, whether these are security systems or road charging systems, rely on the taking of photographs in order to identify people or vehicles. Information is extracted from the photograph, such as a vehicle registration number or an employee number, in order to identify the person or vehicle in the photograph.
When relying on these photographs for identification or data extraction purposes, the quality of the photograph plays a vital part. There are many variables that can hinder the taking of a good photograph. Often the weather obscures the image in a photograph. For example, the weather may be sunny and bright and although this would seem good weather conditions for taking a photograph, the sun may reflect on the vehicle's paint work and cause a certain amount of glare, thus causing distortion of the image in the photograph. On another day it may be snowing and thus a clear image cannot be taken because the snow is adhering to the vehicle thus obscuring the vehicle registration number. The availability of an adequate light source in which to illuminate the vehicle's registration number has an impact on whether a clear image of the vehicle's registration number can be taken. Other facts may include how fast the vehicle is travelling, the vehicle's height and size, etc. The fact that the characters that make up the vehicle licence plate have been manipulated and therefore display an invalid vehicle registration number or the angle of the camera may be positioned too narrowly in relation to the position of the vehicle's registration number and therefore the resulting photograph is of poor quality.
In order to use information that is contained within a photograph, optical character recognition (OCR) systems are deployed to translate characters within the image into a standard encoding scheme. The translated characters can then be processed by a computer program to perform a data look up operation against, for example, a vehicle registration number database, in order to locate the registered owner of a vehicle and to interface with a charging system in order to charge the registered owner of the vehicle a sum of money for travelling through the charging point area. Problems arise when a photograph taken of a vehicle registration number plate is not a true and accurate representation of the vehicle registration number due to a camera taking a poor quality photograph.
In order to process a photograph in order to extract information from it, an OCR system processes a photograph by translating each character identified in the photograph into a series of computer readable characters. The OCR translates the characters identified in the images according to a defined format. For example, a predefined format may state that for all vehicles having a GB vehicle registration number, the format is two alphabetic characters, followed by two numerical characters, followed by three alphabetic characters. However, when an OCR device is translating characters identified in the image and the image is of poor quality, the OCR device has to 'guess' what a character might be. For example, is the alphanumeric character an 'I' or an '1' etc. Often, around five to twenty percent of characters are misrecognised, which leads to the incorrect registered owners being charged or some registered owners not being charged at all. This problem is also compounded, in a congestion charging environment, by the fact that some vehicles will drive through a charging point several times a day. Often, when a charging system is unable to locate the registered owner of a vehicle, the charging system will send the translated OCR identification along with the photograph that the translation comes from to a manual agent for identification. Manual agents, through their own experience are then able to interpret the OCR translation for sending back to the charging system.
Thus there is a need for a method and an apparatus in which erroneous OCR identifications generated by OCR devices can be corrected.

Apparatus and method for analyzing image identifications generated by an OCR device

International Business Machines Corporation


In an injection compression molding method of a lens, in which a mold is closed to preserve a predetermined compressing margin in a cavity 3 for a lens, molten resin is injected and fed into the cavity 3 for the lens, and compressed for the aforementioned predetermined compressing margin before or after the injection and the feed of the molten resin is completed, the predetermined compressing margin (the degree of slightly opening S.sub.(-)) for producing a minus lens is molded is defined to be larger than the predetermined compressing margin (the degree of slightly opening S.sub.(+)) for producing a plus lens is molded. As a result, even when the minus lens is molded, the larger area of the cavity can be ensure and a flow property of the molten resin in the cavity is improved, so that the molten resin reached the inside of the cavity 3 flow through the central portion of the cavity 3 into the peripheral portion, with the result that the appearance of a weld mark in the central portion is avoided.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an injection compression molding method of a spectacle lens, in which the spectacle lens is obtained by injecting, compressing and molding a thermoplastic resin, and a spectacle lens produced by using the injection compression molding method. More specifically, this invention relates to an injection compression molding method of a spectacle lens, being capable of molding a plus lens and a minus lens with high-precision and high-quality, and a spectacle lens produced by using the method.
2. Description of the related art
As a molding method for obtaining a lens from a thermoplastic resin, an injection compression molding method is well-known (e.g.: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Sho 2-26723, Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. Hei 6-9826 and so on). The spectacle lens, within the range of -4.00 Diopter to -8.00 Diopter of the degree of lens, is preferably used for the molding method.
The injection compression molding method is a method that, in order to obtain uniform high-precise of the configuration by correcting shrinkage of molten resin, the mold is closed to retain a compressing margin in a cavity for lens, and the molten resin is injected to feed into the cavity for lens, and then compressed for the compressing margin to obtain the lens.
Provided that the lens has the different thickness so that the lens is brought about the different thickness when the curvature between the rear face and front face of the lens is different, the lens has two kinds of a plus lens, which the thickness of the central portion is thicker than the peripheral portion, and a minus lens, which the thickness of the central portion is thinner the peripheral portion. Further, the thickness of the lens is different dependent upon a design of an optical lens, for example, an aspherical lens, having approximate 1.50 of index of refraction, can be adjusted to designing values of 4.2 mm of the thickness of the central portion and 1.0 mm of the thickness of the peripheral portion in the case of +2.00 Diopter of the degree of lens, and of 1.4 mm of the thickness of the central portion and 7.9 mm of the thickness of the peripheral portion in the case of -4.00 Diopter of the degree of lens. However, when the above lenses are molded to be compressed under the same conditions, the following disadvantages are produced by the difference of a shape properties.
In the molding of the minus lens, the central portion of the lens is thinner than the peripheral portion thereof, so that the central portion of the cavity has a large flow-resistance. Therefore, the molten resin injected into the cavity hardly flows in the central portion of the cavity, so that the resin flows around from the peripheral portion to the central portion by separately flowing, resulting in a disadvantage that a lot of weld marks are easily produced in the central portion.
Further, in the molding of the plus lens, when the difference between the volume of the cavity and the quantity of the fed molten resin is extremely big, the flow property of the molten resin is reduced, and naturally, a non-fed part is produced, with the result that a flow mark is easily produced on the lens after molding.
It is a object of the present invention to provide an injection compression molding method of a spectacle lens, in which a lens having a different thickness regardless of the shape properties of lens, namely a plus lens and a minus lens, can be molded with a high degree of precision and high quality.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an injection compression molding method of a spectacle lens, in which a plus lens and a minus lens can be efficiently molded from an injecting process to a process for removing from the mold.
It is still object of the present invention to provide a spectacle lens being outstanding for uniform optical properties with a high degree of precision and high quality.

Injection compression molding method of a spectacle lens and a spectacle lens produced by using the same


A vehicle utility mat comprised of a thermoplastic polymer having a surface for receiving objects to be stored and transported within the cargo areas of vehicles and wherein the vehicle utility mat can be modified to form sidewalls.

It is common for operators of motor vehicles to store and transport various articles in the cargo areas thereof. The types of articles stored and transported in the cargo are of a particular vehicle vary greatly depending in large part on the size of the cargo area but include items as diverse as shrubs, flowers, potting soil, mulch, sod, lumber, hardware, other construction materials, containers filled with plants and other destructive liquids, furniture, tires, tire irons, car jacks, suitcases, bags, boxes, purses, pets, groceries, sporting goods and accessories therefor, etc. Common problems for associated with storing and transporting goods in a vehicular cargo area include damage to the vehicle, particularly the surfaces defining the cargo area and difficulties associated with contained articles within the cargo area.
Indeed, it is well known that manufacturers of vehicles often sell molded liners designed for use within the cargo areas of vehicles to address the foregoing problems. Existing cargo area liners are often very expensive and are not versatile in terms usage because they are rigidly constructed and can only be placed in specific cargo areas (often permanently) in specified ways in order to afford the cargo area protection.
An alternative to the use of manufactured cargo area liners comprises the use of tarps or blankets to protect cargo areas when storing and transporting objects that might damage thereto. Tarps and/or blankets are undesirable solutions to the problems encountered in storing and transporting goods because they tend: not to be made of materials that are easily cleaned after use, not to maintain a flat surface as objects move around upon them, and not to be of a desirable size for use within cargo areas.
The present invention addresses the problems encountered by individuals seeking to store and transport goods within the cargo areas of vehicles and overcomes the foregoing problems inherent in the use of the liners, tarps, and blankets for such proposes. The invention comprises a vehicle utility mat made of a unitary and substantially square section of woven thermoplastic polymer such as polypropylene that is further coated with a thermoplastic polymer such as polypropylene. Thermoplastic polymers are desirable for use as a vehicle utility mats because they are resistant to water, many chemical solvents, tearing, and have high melting points. Furthermore, mats constructed of thermoplastic polymers can be easily washed and air-dried. Additional coating with thermoplastic polymers causes the vehicle utility mat to be even more impervious to liquids.
The vehicle utility mat of this present invention is manufactured to fit most vehicle cargo areas, including both sports utility vehicle cargo areas and car trunks. The mat has a spillage retarding lip extending around its outer periphery created, in one embodiment, by folding the edge of the mat over itself and hemming it.
The vehicle utility mat of the present invention may also be constructed with hook-and-loop fasteners attached to the mat substantially perpendicular to one another at each of the mat's four corners. These fasteners may be secured one to another at each corner to form a partial enclosure resembling a tray that further retards spillage.
The hook-and-loop fasteners can also be used to secure the mat to the carpet typically found in the cargo areas and trunks of vehicles. To do so the mat is turned over so that the hook-and-loop fasteners face downwardly toward the carpet and secure the mat thereto. In this position the mat is secure and will not move about the cargo area or wrinkle when items are placed thereon.
Finally, vehicle utility mats of the present invention are collapsible so that they may be easily stored. The mats have a strap attached adjacent one corner that is used to wrap around and secure the mat once the mat is folded and rolled into a substantially cylindrical shape. The strap secures the mat through the use of hook-and-loop fasteners.


The disclosed subject matter relates to computer-implemented methods for navigating to a selected location. One method includes receiving from a client device, which includes a graphical user interface, a search query for locations. The method includes performing a search using the search query to obtain one or more locations corresponding to the search query. The method includes sending to the client device, for display on the graphical user interface, the one or more locations corresponding to the search query. The method includes receiving from the client device, an indication of a selected location which corresponds to one of the location or locations corresponding to the search query. The method includes calculating navigation instructions for the secondary device to navigate to the selected location. The method includes sending to the client device, the navigation instructions for the secondary device, and a request to forward the navigation instructions to the secondary device.

1. Field
The present disclosure generally relates to navigating to a selected location, and more particularly to interactively using a client device to navigate to a selected location.
2. Description of the Related Art
Devices with Global Position System ("GPS") capabilities can be used to obtain directions. For example, automobiles may offer built-in GPS-based navigation devices. Consumers who do not have a factory-fitted GPS-based navigation device in their automobiles may utilize after-market GPS devices. In addition to use in automobiles, hand-held GPS devices can be used to obtain directions. Computing devices such as laptops, smartphones, and tablet computers may also offer GPS capabilities.
Many devices with GPS capabilities offer the ability to conduct searches. For example, a device with GPS capabilities may allow a consumer to search specifically for a particular location or generally for locations by a category. Once a search query is submitted, the device with GPS capabilities typically presents to the consumer, locations nearest to the device's current location.


A optical assembly (10) for directing and/or focusing a beam of light energy (11) for an exposure apparatus (28) is provided herein. The optical assembly (10) includes one or more optical sections (12) which are assembled together. At least one of the optical sections (12) includes an optical housing (14) having an inner wall (15) which defines a optical chamber (16). One or more optical elements (18) can be secured to the optical housing (14) of each optical section (12). Additionally, each optical section (12) can include a plurality of outlet ports (20) and a plurality of inlet ports (22) for purging the optical chamber (16). The inlet ports (22) and the outlet ports (20) are uniquely positioned to minimize the time required to purge the optical assembly (10) and the amount of replacement fluid (24) used to purge the optical assembly (10).

The present invention is directed to an optical assembly for an exposure apparatus. More specifically, the present invention is directed to an optical assembly having ports strategically positioned for purging the optical assembly and a method for efficiently purging an optical assembly.
Exposure apparatuses are commonly used to transfer an image from a reticle onto a semiconductor wafer. A typical exposure apparatus includes an apparatus frame, an illumination source, a reticle stage, a wafer stage, and an optical assembly which cooperate to transfer an image of an integrated circuit from the reticle onto the wafer. The illumination source generates a beam of light energy which passes through the reticle. The optical assembly directs and/or focuses the light passing through the reticle to the wafer.
The size of the integrated circuits transferred onto the wafer are extremely small. Accordingly, the precise directing and/or focusing of the light by the optical assembly is critical to the manufacture of high density semiconductor wafers.
Unfortunately, depending upon the type of light generated by the illumination source, the type of fluid in the optical assembly can influence the performance of the exposure apparatus. For example, some types of light are absorbed by oxygen. As is well known, air is a gaseous mixture which is approximately twenty-one percent oxygen. Thus, air in the optical assembly can influence the performance of the optical assembly and the exposure apparatus. As a result thereof, the quality of the integrated circuits formed on the wafer can be compromised.
In light of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an exposure apparatus which is capable of generating high resolution patterns on a semiconductor wafer. Another object of the present invention to provide an optical assembly which can be purged of any unwanted fluid relatively easily and efficiently. Still, another object of the present invention is to provide an optical assembly which minimizes the amount of time required to dilute the unwanted fluid and the amount of replacement fluid used to dilute the unwanted fluid in the optical assembly to acceptable levels.
The present invention is directed to an optical assembly for directing and/or focusing a beam of light energy. The optical assembly includes an optical housing having an inner wall which defines an optical chamber. One or more optical elements are secured to the optical housing. Additionally, the optical assembly includes an outlet port and an inlet port for purging the optical chamber. Uniquely, the inlet port directs a replacement fluid from a fluid source into the optical chamber substantially tangential to the inner wall of the optical housing so that the replacement fluid swirls in a first rotational direction in the optical chamber. This minimizes the time needed to purge the optical assembly of any unwanted fluid and the amount of replacement fluid used to dilute the unwanted fluid in the optical chamber to acceptable levels.
Preferably, the optical housing includes a plurality of inlet ports and a plurality of outlet ports placed at various strategic locations around the circumference of the optical housing. The inlet ports are strategically positioned to maximize flow velocities and fluid mixing within the optical chamber. For example, upper inlet ports can be positioned near an upper region of the optical housing and lower inlet ports can be positioned near a lower region of the optical housing. These inlet ports circulate the fluid in a circular pattern in the optical chamber and direct the fluid towards an intermediate region of the optical housing.
The outlet ports are also designed to assist in creating and controlling the flow patterns of the fluid in the optical chamber. For example, outlet ports are positioned in the intermediate region of the optical housing to receive the fluid forced to the intermediate region. Additional outlet ports are positioned near each optical element to exhaust the fluid in the tight spaces near each optical element. These outlet ports reduce the amount of trapped gasses and reduce the amount of dilution time required to replace the unwanted fluid with the replacement fluid.
Additional inlet ports can be used to reverse the direction of the swirl within the optical chamber. With this design, the inlet ports may be pulsed on and off in both directions to create turbulence within the optical chamber. The turbulence improves mixing of the fluids in the optical chamber and reduces the amount of time required to dilute the unwanted fluid in the optical chamber.
The present invention is also a method for purging an optical housing of an optical assembly. The method includes the step of directing a fluid into the optical chamber substantially tangential to the inner wall so that the fluid swirls in a first rotation direction in the optical chamber.

Optical assembly for an exposure apparatus


A light guide plate can include: a first end surface coupled to a reflection surface and a second end surface; where an incident light entering the light guide plate through the first end surface is reflected by the reflection surface and then output from the second end surface; and a diffusion structure configured to increase a transmission path of the incident light in the light guide plate.

As shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C, an example optical structure of the electronic device can include sensor 820 and light guide plate 830. The light receiving surface of light guide plate 830 may be located below the light transmission opening of the frame of the electronic device. The light can enter from the light receiving surface, may transmit through light guide plate 830 to the light emitting surface, and can finally reach sensor 820. This example optical structure can realize a narrow frame of the electronic device, such that the proportion of the display portion can be increased. However, the surface of light receiving surface 810 of light guide plate 830 is a relatively smooth surface, and light of some angles may not be transmitted to the sensor through the light guide plate. In the example of FIG. 1D, the field of view (FOV) of the sensor receiving light may only be ±30°, which may make the field of view of sensor 820 receiving light greatly different from the ideal FOV, thereby reducing the accuracy of sensor 820.

Light guide plate, optical structure and associated electronic device

Silergy Semiconductor Technology (Hangzhou) LTD


There is provided an in-line multicylinder combustion engine of a type, in which the length and the width of the combustion engine can be reduced; which can be assembled compact in size with its center of gravity lowered in position; in which mass centering in the combustion engine can be accomplished, The engine (E) includes a crankshaft (17), an input shaft (18) and an output shaft (19). The crankshaft (17) is connected with the input shaft (18) through a clutch gear (40). An imaginary plane (H) containing respective axes (70, 80) of the crankshaft (17) and the input shaft (18) lies substantially horizontally, while the axis (90) of the output shaft (19) is positioned above the imaginary plane (H). An electric generator (30) having a drive gear (52) is positioned adjacent the center of gravity (G) defined between the crankshaft (17) and the output shaft (19), with its generator longitudinal axis (30C) positioned above another imaginary plane (M) connecting between the respective axes (70, 90) of the crankshaft (17) and the output shaft (19). The drive gear (52) of the electric generator (30) is meshed with the clutch gear (40).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an in-line multicylinder combustion engine for use primarily in motorcycles and, more particularly, to provide the in-line multicylinder combustion engine of a kind that is assembled compact in size with its center of gravity lowered and that a relatively large banking angle can be obtained when such combustion engine is mounted on a motorcycle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An in-line multicylinder internal combustion engine of a large engine displacement that is mounted on motorcycles has a substantial weight and, accordingly, efforts have been made to render the motorcycle as a whole to have a lower center of gravity by installing a crankshaft at a relatively low position such that the combustion engine has a lower center of gravity. In the in-line multicylinder combustion engine of the type referred to above, the combustion engine has a relatively large width because multiple engine cylinders are arranged in-line, that is, because the multiple engine cylinders are laid transverse relative to a motorcycle frame structure, and, accordingly, where an electric generator, generally known as dynamo, is disposed on one end of the crankshaft that is positioned in a lower region of the combustion engine, the lower region of the combustion engine tends to exhibit an increased width.
Also, it is well known that if a cylinder bore is designed to be large in size and a piston stroke is also designed to be short, the combustion engine can provide a high rotational speed, hence a large drive output. However, the larger the cylinder bore, the greater the total width of the combustion engine. Accordingly, considering also that the electric generator is disposed on one end of the crankshaft as discussed above, it is difficult to obtain a relatively large banking angle of the motorcycle frame structure. As a result thereof, increase of the size of the cylinder bores is difficult to achieve.
On the other hand, the Japanese Laid-open Publication No. 58-065936, for example, discloses an in-line multicylinder combustion engine of a design in which an electric generator is disposed not on one end of the crankshaft but at a rear side of an engine cylinder. According to this known design, the total width of the combustion engine can advantageously be reduced as compared with that of the engine design in which the electric generator is disposed on one end of the crankshaft and, accordingly, a relatively large banking angle of the motorcycle can be obtained.
However, where the crankshaft is arranged in line with input and output shafts as shown in FIG. 1 of the above discussed patent publication, it has been found that not only does the front-to-rear length or the longitudinal dimension of the combustion engine become great along with increase in weight thereof, but a wheelbase of the motorcycle also increases, resulting in an undesirable increase of the size and weight of the motorcycle.
Also, where the crankshaft and the output shaft are arranged level relative to each other with the input shaft positioned below them, the length of the combustion engine can be reduced, but the positioning of the crankshaft above the input shaft requires the electric generator, drivingly coupled with the crankshaft by means of a generally endless belt, to be positioned above the input shaft, shifting the center of gravity of the combustion engine to a higher position. With this design, setteing the center of gravity of the combustion engine at a lower position is difficult to achieve.


According to the invention a well-switching arrangement, with a semiconductor circuit including a switch having an input terminal, an output terminal and a body region and at least one comparator having a first input coupled to at least one of the terminals and a second input coupled to a positive voltage rail, and logic coupled to an output of the comparator and responsive to the output to selectively couple the body-well region to one of the terminals or to the positive voltage rail.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an analog electronic switch circuit with reduced current leakage when the voltage on the input or output of the switch goes either below ground level voltage or above positive rail voltage.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic switches in integrated circuits ("IC") are commonly constructed with Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor transistors ("CMOS") in which an n-channel transistor and a p-channel transistor are directly coupled at their input and output terminals. The switch is controlled by a drive signal applied to both transistor gates in a complementary fashion to make both transistors ON or OFF simultaneously.
FIG. 1 shows a double-diffused CMOS substrate 10 with an n-well region 16 and a p-well region 14 isolated from the substrate 10. These well regions may be the bodies of P-channel and N-channel transistors of a CMOS analog switch. FIG. 2 shows a conventional CMOS transmission gate analog switch 28, with complementary switch transistors 22 and 24 as described above and complementary drive signals 40 and 26 for their respective gates. The body terminals 34 and 36 of switch transistors are connected to their respective voltage rails, as shown in FIG. 2.
In IC's which contain CMOS electronic switches, unintended parasitic bipolar transistors may be formed due to the interaction of the p-n junctions which are in close vicinity of each other. Such a parasitic transistor 17 is shown in FIG. 1. The switch functions correctly when the input voltage is between ground and high voltage supply levels. That is, the switch is in open or closed state depending on the state of the drive signals and little or no unintended current leakage occurs. However, the parasitic transistors can turn on and conduct under certain conditions, which results in undesirable current leakage. Conditions under which current leakage takes place occur when the input voltage on the switch input terminal goes beyond the negative or positive rail voltages, that is, when the input voltage becomes more negative than ground or exceeds the positive supply voltage, thus causing conduction in the parasitic bipolar transistors. In FIG. 2, the input terminals of the transistors 22 and 24 are connected to each other to form a common input terminal 32 and the outputs are connected to each other to form a common output terminal 30. A switch signal on line 38 is input to the gate of 24 and via inverter 20, to the gate of 22 to enable or disable the switch for passing the input signal to the output terminal 30.
In the prior art, a number of approaches have been taken to prevent or minimize this leakage current. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,218,707 and 5,834,826 provide proposed solutions to this problem, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Analog switch with reduced parasitic bipolar transistor injection


A device comprising: a bus master, including a bi-directional data and clock lines, configured to produce a select signal output for enabling data transmission on the bi-directional data line to first/second different data busses supporting multiple slave devices configured to receive/transmit data over a respective data bus and to receive a clock signal from the bus master from the clock line; and a de-multiplexer including an input, first and second outputs and a control input, the input coupled to the bi-directional data line of the bus master, first/second outputs of the de-multiplexer coupled to first/second data busses, respectively, and the control input configured to receive the select signal from the bus master that is configured to communicate to a first slave device when the select signal is in a first state, and a second different slave device when the select signal is in a second different state.

This specification relates to electronic communication.
Electronic devices can communicate in accordance with a communication protocol over a communication medium. Some communication protocols require that a given device be addressed, and communications from and to the given device can include the address. Different addresses can be used to disambiguate one component from another.

Connecting multiple slave devices to a single master controller in bus system


ACS (Add Compare Select) implementation for radix-4 SOVA (Soft-Output Viterbi Algorithm). Two trellis stages are processed simultaneously and in parallel with one another (e.g., during a single clock cycle) thereby significantly increasing data throughput. During each processing iteration, an ACS module generates a hard decision for each of two trellis stages, as well as a corresponding reliability for each of the two hard decisions. Also, the ACS module is operative to generate the updated state metric for the state at the current trellis stage. Multiple operations are performed simultaneously and in parallel, and control logic circuitry and/or operations employed to select which of the multiple simultaneously-generated resultants is to be employed for each of the hard decisions, reliabilities, and next state metric for the current trellis stage.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to communication systems; and, more particularly, it relates to communication devices that perform SOVA (Soft Output Viterbi Algorithm) decoding of signals within such communication systems.
2. Description of Related Art
Data communication systems have been under continual development for many years. One such type of communication system that has been of significant interest lately is a communication system that employs iterative error correction codes. Of those, one particular type of communication system that has received interest in recent years has been one which employs turbo codes (one type of iterative error correcting code). There are other types of iterative decoders in the art as well including those that employ LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) codes, as well as other types of codes. Communications systems with iterative codes are often able to achieve lower bit error rates (BER) than alternative codes for a given signal to noise ratio (SNR).
Within the context of many iterative type decoders, some of decoder implemented therein oftentimes employs a trellis to assist in the decoding of such signals. The typical prior art approach is to process one trellis stage (or trellis iteration) each clock cycle. One type of SISO (Soft-In Soft-Out) detector that can be employed within iterative decoding systems is a detector that performs decoding in accordance with the SOVA decoding approach. A main difference between a SOVA detector and a Viterbi detector is that while the Viterbi detector only outputs a hard decision, the SOVA detector outputs not only a hard decision but also a reliability (sometimes referred to as a 'confidence' of the hard decision) as well. This reliability information can be updated during subsequent decoding processing if desired as well.
A continual and primary directive in this area of development has been to try continually to lower the SNR required to achieve a given BER within a communication system. The ideal goal has been to try to reach Shannon's limit in a communication channel. Shannon's limit may be viewed as being the data rate to be used in a communication channel, having a particular SNR, that achieves error free transmission through the communication channel. In other words, the Shannon limit is the theoretical bound for channel capacity for a given modulation and code rate.
Generally speaking, within the context of communication systems that employ coding, there is a first communication device at one end of a communication channel with encoder capability and second communication device at the other end of the communication channel with decoder capability. In many instances, one or both of these two communication devices includes encoder and decoder capability (e.g., within a bi-directional communication system).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

ACS (add compare select) implementation for radix-4 SOVA (soft-output viterbi algorithm)


A method in a non-volatile memory, which includes multiple memory cells that store data using a predefined set of programming levels including an erased level, includes receiving a storage operation indicating a group of the memory cells that are to be retained without programming for a long time period. The memory cells in the group are set to a retention programming level that is different from the erased level. Upon preparing to program the group of memory cells with data, the group of memory cells is erased to the erased level and the data is then programmed in the group of memory cells.

The reliability of analog memory cells, such as Flash cells, typically deteriorates with usage. In some cases, however, it is possible to rejuvenate analog memory cells, e.g., by retaining them in a programmed state for a certain time period and/or by heating the memory cells. Rejuvenation techniques for analog memory cells are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,248,831, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference describes a method for data storage in a memory that includes multiple analog memory cells fabricated using respective physical media. The method includes identifying a group of the memory cells whose physical media have deteriorated over time below a given storage quality level. A rejuvenation process, which causes the physical media of the memory cells in the group to meet the given storage quality level, is applied to the identified group. Data is stored in the rejuvenated group of the memory cells.

Mitigating reliability degradation of analog memory cells during long static and erased state retention


A calibrator to process an output signal of an analog digital converter in a wireless communication device, the calibrator comprising a level filter to remove noise from the output signal of the analog digital converter using mask information regulating a signal level; a timing filter to remove pulses from the level-filtered signal that are beyond a reference duty ratio by using timing information; a pattern filter to remove pulses from the timing-filtered signal that are judged to not comprise a reference number of consecutive pulses by using pattern information; and a duty correction circuit to correct a duty of the pattern-filtered signal to improve performance of the wireless communication device by separately performing a filtering operation on noise and a damping component included in a normal signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present inventive concept herein relates to wireless communication devices, and more particularly, to a wireless communication device performing a near field communication (NFC) function.
2. Description of the Related Art
A NFC function is generally performed between a card and a reader. The card may be embedded in a mobile device, such as a smart phone, to perform a noncontact electronic communication, such as a payment.
A NFC protocol is one area of conventional radio frequency identification (RFID) and may operate a terminal with a built-in tag in an active mode. As a result, the NFC protocol may perform not only a tag function but also functions associated with a reader function of reading a tag, a writer function of inputting information in a tag, and peer-to-peer (P2P) functions between terminals.
The NFC protocol is prescribed by standards in an ISO 18092 and may perform a short-distance wireless communication using a signal of various frequencies including 125 kHz, 135 kHz, and 900 MHz as well as a frequency of 13.56 MHz. The NFC protocol may support a reader such as ISO 1223 TYPEA (Mifare), TYPEB, TYPEF (Felica), and ISO 15693 TYPEV, and a card such as TYPEA, TYPEB, TYPEF, and TYPEV.
Under various NFC protocols, transmission data may be source-coded in a predetermined coding method and then transmitted through a transmission channel, and a reception unit of a reader or a card receives various kinds of transmission signals as reception data. For example, in the case of a card of ISO 14443 TYPEA, a miller coding signal may be received as reception data. In the case of a reader of TYPEA, after a Manchester coding or a BSPK coding is performed, a signal, which is subcarrier load modulated in a subcarrier frequency, may be received. Also, in the case of a card of TYPEB, an NRZ coding signal may be received, and in the case of a reader of TYPEB, after a BPSK code, a signal, which is subcarrier load modulated in a subcarrier frequency, is received. In the case of a reader of ISO 15693, after a miller code, a signal which is subcarrier load modulated in a subcarrier frequency may be received. A communication speed of the reception data may include a distribution range of 26 kpbs through 847 kbps.
In the case of a reader supporting various NFC protocols, since the reader receives a signal of various frequencies, it is important to adaptively remove a noise according to a communication frequency. In the case of removing a noise by uniformly determining a level of mask information, not only a noise but also a damping component included in a wireless signal may not be properly filtered, and a normal signal that should not be removed may be filtered. Moreover, since a damping component increases according to a level of a signal, there is a limit to increase a communication distance. Thus, it is becoming an important issue to improve performance of a wireless communication device (for example, a NFC reader, or a smart phone including the NFC reader) by filtering both a noise and a damping component.

Wireless communication device and method of operating the same


A system and method for assessing the minimum number of RNA:DNA sequence combinations whose properties need to be determined for selecting antisense oligonucleotide sequences that will form the most stable hybrid among all those possible in a given target mRNA sequence is provided.

It is well known that using the techniques of molecular biology specific sequences may be selected and engineered to modify useful microorganisms to create molecules that may be used for treating cancer, leukemia and HIV-related diseases. Generally, bodily states in mammals, including infectious disease states are directly affected by proteins. Those proteins acting directly or through enzymatic functions contribute in large proportion to many diseases in animals and humans. In the past, therapeutic treatment has focused on interactions with those proteins in an effort to moderate the disease. Attempts have also been made to moderate the actual production of such proteins by interaction with molecules that directly affect their synthesis, i.e., the DNA sequence that underlies the gene product. It is well known that by interfering with the production of the proteins, the effect of the therapeutic results can be maximized. Likewise, therapeutic approaches have been developed that interfere with gene expression, leading to undesired formations which need to be patrolled.
There are numerous methods that have been formulated for inhibiting specific gene expression which have been adopted to some degree and have been defined as antisense nucleic acids. The basic approach is that an oligonucleotide analog complimentary to a specific targeted messenger RNA or mRNA sequence is used. Pertinent references include those of Stein and Cohen (1988); Walder (1988); Marcus-Sekura (1988); Zan (1988); Van der Krol (1988) and Matteucci and Wagner (1996). Each of the foregoing concern general antisense theory and prior techniques.
For example, prior attempts to inhibit HIV gene synthesis by various antisense approaches have been made by a number of researchers. Zamecnik and coworkers have used a transcriptase primer site and splice donor/acceptor sites (P. C. Zamecnik, et al., 1986). Goodchild and coworkers have made phosphodiester compounds targeted to the initiation sites for translation, the cap site, the polyadenylation signal, the 5' repeat region and a site between the gag and pol genes (J. Goodchild, et al., 1988). In the Goodchild study, the greatest activity was achieved by targeting the polyadenylation signal. Agrawal and coworkers have extended the studies of Goodchild by using chemically modified oligonucleotide analogs, which were also targeted to the cap and splice donor/acceptor sites (A. Agrawal, et al., 1988). A portion of one of these oligonucleotide analogs overlapped a portion of the HIV TAR region but was not found to have an exemplary effect. Neither was this oligonucleotide analog designed to interfere with the HIV TAR region. Agrawal and coworkers have used oligonucleotide analogs targeted to the splice donor/acceptor site to inhibit HIV infection in early infected and chronically infected cells (S. Agrawal, et al., 1989).
Sarin and coworkers have also used chemically modified oligonucleotide analogs targeted to the cap and splice donor/acceptor sites (P. S. Sarin, et al., 1988). Zia and coworkers, on the other hand, used an oligonucleotide analog targeted to a splice acceptor site to inhibit HIV (J. A. Zia, et al., 1988). Matsukura and coworkers synthesized oligonucleotide analogs targeted to the initiation of translation of the rev gene mRNA (M. Matsukura, et al., 1987; R. L. Letsinger, et al., 1987; and R. L. Letsinger, et al., 1989). Mori and coworkers used a different oligonucleotide analog targeted to the same region as targeted by Matsukura (K. Mori, et al., 1989). Shibahara and coworkers used oligonucleotide analogs targeted to a splice acceptor site as well as to the reverse transcriptase primer binding site (S. Shibahara, et al., 1989). Letsinger and coworkers synthesized and tested oligonucleotide analogs with conjugated cholesterol targeted to a splice site. Stevenson and Iversen conjugated polylysine to oligonucleotide analogs targeted to the splice donor and the 5'-end of the first exon of the tat gene (Stevenson and Iversen, 1989). Buck and coworkers have recently described the use of phosphate-methylated DNA oligonucleotides targeted to HIV mRNA and DNA (H. M. Buck, et al., 1990). In addition, a U.S. Patent issued to Ecker, has disclosed the use of synthetic oligonucleotides to inhibit the activity of the HIV virus (U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,195). The method utilized, however, lacks in forethought and efficacy.
The need has, therefore, arisen for a systematic method and apparatus for identifying target DNA and RNA sequences in a predictable, logical pattern. Also required is a process that optimizes a ranking of nucleic acid sequences for targeting with antisense oligonucleotides. In addition, there is a long felt need for a means of assessing the thermodynamics and strength of nucleic acid hybridization in sequences that are to be the targets of antisense gene targeting technology in order to efficiently and expeditiously affect their expression.

Method for selectively ranking sequences for antisense targeting

Board of Regents The University of Texas


The present invention provides a Creating unit that creates a color conversion table to be used to convert a CIE color to a device color, a Converting unit that converts a CIE color to a device color using the CIE color conversion table created by the Creating unit, a managing unit that holds data of the CIE color conversion table in a nonvolatile storage medium, and a Controlling unit that, for color conversion from a CIE color to a device color, uses appropriate CIE color conversion tables held in the nonvolatile storage device or creates, when no appropriate CIE color conversion table is available, an appropriate CIE color conversion table and uses the created CIE color conversion table, and causes the color conversion to be performed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for converting a Commission Internationale de I'Eclairage (CIE) color to a device color.
2. Description of the Related Art
In PostScript language, it is possible to specify colors for drawing objects (text, image, and graphic) in a document. Specifically, it is not only possible to specify a color format, such as RGB or CMYK, that is dependent on specifications of the input and output devices, but also possible to specify a color format called CIE that is independent of the specification of the input and output devices and uses a color system based on human's perception of colors. When colors are specified in the CIE format, a unit called an interpreter internally converts the specified CIE colors into CMYK color values that are supported by the printer engine and are device dependent. The conversion is controlled by two dictionaries: a first dictionary (color space dictionary (CSD)) that defines conversion of an input CIE color space to XYZ stimulus values (intermediate values) of the CIE 1931 XYZ color space, and a second dictionary (color rendering dictionary (CRD)) that defines conversion from XYZ stimulus values (intermediate values) to CMYK color values specific to an output device. How such a conversion can be performed has been described in detail in "PostScript Language Reference, 3rd edition" from Adobe System Incorporated. Because the conversion processing is complicated and requires a large amount of calculations, it takes more time for color conversion than the processing using colors specified in RGB or CMYK, causing a significant degradation in the printing performance.
To suppress the degradation in the printing performance, conversion calculations are performed beforehand with some color samples of CIE colors thereby calculating CMYK color values of those sample colors. Then, a conversion table is prepared that includes the sample color values, i.e., CIE color values, and their equivalent CMYK color values, and color conversion is performed by using the conversion table. To convert CIE colors that are not in the conversion table, a method of interpolation (e.g., tetrahedral interpolation or triangular prism interpolation) is employed. Although the process of creating the conversion table is time consuming, once the conversion table is created, an approximate conversion of almost any color can be performed in a shorter time.
A typical interpreter assigns/applies a single CRD to a single document or page, so that it is sufficient to create the conversion table only once. Further, the interpreter includes a function for improving the finish of the entire document for which colors are specified in CIE, i.e., a color expansion function of a PostScript (PS) interpreter that assigns/applies a CRD that reproduces optimal rendering intents for each type of drawing objects (text, image, and graphic), thereby improving the finish of the entire document for which colors are specified by CIE. This function is also called as a CRD automatic switching function.
Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 2004-103017 discloses a related technology. This publication discloses to embed a render table for graphics and a render table for images by coupled to each other in a one CRD. Further, means is provided that dynamically determines whether a calculation for color conversion using the CRD is to be performed on graphics or images, and allows access to one of the render tables based on the result of the determination. When such a configuration is employed, it becomes possible to perform the color conversion appropriately for each of two different drawing objects by using one CRD.
The expansion function requires the recreation of the CIE color conversion table every time the type of the drawing object switches. Thus, if the number of drawings of PS data to be processed is large, then there is an increase in the number of processing times and the execution time for the creation of CIE color conversion table, causing a significant degradation in performance.
The technology described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-103017 supports only two types of drawing objects: graphic and image. In other words, it does not support text. Further, color conversion is performed for any one of those drawing objects only by switching between the render tables, each serving as an element in the CRD. Thus, there is a limitation on the level for appropriate color conversion.
The technology described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-103017 is not suitable if the drawing object is of other type, such as text, or when other elements (e.g., MatrixPQR or TransformPQR relating to CIE gamut mapping) of the CRD need to be used to improve the level for appropriate color conversion. In other words, it is necessary to implement a method including defining (preparing) a CRD corresponding to each drawing object, switching a CRD corresponding to each drawing object, and then performing CIE color conversion. Thus, this technology fails to solve the problem of degradation in performance.

Color processor and computer program product


A computer-implemented method, carried out by one or more processors, for utilizing one or more input methods for passwords. In an embodiment, the method comprises the steps of determining, by one or more processors, one or more input methods supported for a password entry, wherein the password entry verifies a user's credentials; receiving, by one or more processors, a candidate password through the one or more input methods, wherein each character of the candidate password has an associated input method; and storing, by one or more processors, the candidate password as the password entry, along with the associated input method for each character of the candidate password.

In the present day, touch based electronic devices are widely utilized in day to day scenarios. Common touch based electronic devices can include tablet computers, automated teller machines (ATMs), medical devices, and smartphones. A touchscreen enables a user to directly interact with the content being displayed without a secondary input device, such as, a mouse, touchpad, stylus, or any other intermediate device. When utilizing a touch based electronic device, the user may encounter a scenario where security credentials are verified in order for access to be granted to a resource. The user can typically utilize a conventional virtual keyboard to input security credentials, which when inputted correctly grant the user access to the resource. However, in an example scenario where the user is prompted for security credentials in the form of a pin number to gain access to account information at an ATM, the typical pin number is a four digit number which is simple to remember, but can be relatively easy to emulate.