Provided is an acceleration sensor that has high detection sensitivity and that can enhance production efficiency. The acceleration sensor has: a ceramic substrate made of Al2O3; a ferroelectric layer formed in a predetermined area on the ceramic substrate by screen printing, the ferroelectric layer being made of BaTiO3; a proof mass disposed so as to face the ferroelectric layer, the proof mass being formed at a predetermined distance d from the ferroelectric layer; and a first electrode and a second electrode that are formed on that side of the proof mass which faces the ferroelectric layer, so as to be fixed thereto. The first electrode and the second electrode are each formed in the shape of comb teeth, and comb tooth portions and thereof are arranged in an alternating manner.

Conventionally, a capacitance type acceleration sensor formed by using a MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System) technology is known. Such a capacitance type acceleration sensor in general has a structure in which a proof mass (a weight: a movable portion) that is provided in the sensor and has a predetermined mass is supported by a beam or the like. As a result, when the acceleration sensor undergoes acceleration, the proof mass provided in the sensor is moved by an inertial force. Therefore, by equating the amount of movement with a change in capacitance value, the acceleration is detected.
Incidentally, as the capacitance type acceleration sensor described above, conventionally, an acceleration sensor having comb teeth on the sides of the proof mass is generally known.
FIG. 47 is a plan view showing an example of a conventional acceleration sensor. With reference to FIG. 47, in a conventional acceleration sensor 100, a proof mass 102, beam portions 103, supporting portions 104, fixed electrodes 105, and the like are formed on a silicon substrate 101 by a surface micromachining technique. In addition, the proof mass 102 has comb teeth 102a on the sides thereof. Moreover, the fixed electrodes 105 are each composed of a first fixed electrode 106 and second fixed electrodes 107, and the first fixed electrode 106 is composed of a fixed electrode supporting portion 106a and comb tooth-shaped fixed electrodes 106b formed on the side of the fixed electrode supporting portion 106a, the comb tooth-shaped fixed electrodes 106b being placed alternately with the comb teeth 102a of the proof mass 102. Furthermore, the second fixed electrodes 107 are formed so as to extend parallel to the comb tooth-shaped fixed electrodes 106ba as seen in a plan view. At least part of the second fixed electrode 107 is arranged between the comb tooth 102a of the proof mass 102 and the comb tooth-shaped fixed electrode 106b. Moreover, the proof mass 102 is generally made of polysilicon (a conductor), and is so constructed that the comb teeth 102a of the proof mass 102 function as movable electrodes 102a. As a result, the sides of the comb teeth (movable electrodes) 102a formed in the proof mass 102 and the sides of the fixed electrodes 105 (the comb tooth-shaped fixed electrodes 106b and the second fixed electrodes 107) form capacitors.
In the above-described conventional acceleration sensor 100 shown in FIG. 47, when the sensor undergoes acceleration, an inertial force acts on the proof mass 102, whereby the proof mass 102 moves in a horizontal direction (a direction indicated by arrow X or Y). This causes a change in distance between the sides of the movable electrodes 102a and the fixed electrodes 105 (the comb tooth-shaped fixed electrodes 106b and the second fixed electrodes 107), resulting in a change in capacitance value. By detecting the change in capacitance value, the acceleration the sensor undergoes is detected.
However, in the above-described conventional acceleration sensor 100 shown in FIG. 47, to increase the capacitance of the capacitors formed with the sides of the comb teeth (movable electrodes) 102a of the proof mass 102 and the sides of the fixed electrodes 105 (the comb tooth-shaped fixed electrodes 106b and the second fixed electrodes 107), it is necessary to increase the area of the sides of the comb teeth 102a and the area of the sides of the fixed electrodes 105 (the comb tooth-shaped fixed electrodes 106b and the second fixed electrodes 107). This makes it necessary to increase the thickness of the proof mass 102 and the fixed electrodes 105, resulting in the inconvenience of having to use a DRIE (deep reactive ion etching) process when the comb teeth 102a are formed in the proof mass 102a, or when the fixed electrodes 105 are formed. This undesirably reduces production efficiency.
It is for this reason that a capacitance type acceleration sensor that can prevent a reduction in production efficiency has been conventionally proposed (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1).
FIG. 48 is a schematic sectional view showing the structure of a conventional acceleration sensor proposed in Non-Patent Document 1 described above. With reference to FIG. 48, in a conventional acceleration sensor 200 proposed in Non-Patent Document 1 described above, two electrodes (a first electrode 202 and a second electrode 203) are disposed on the upper surface of a silicon substrate 201 so as to be adjacent to each other. Here, in the acceleration sensor 200 proposed in Non-Patent Document 1 described above, as a result of a voltage being applied between electrodes, a fringe field 204 (an electric field generated beside a space between the electrodes) is generated between the first electrode 202 and the second electrode 203. In addition, above the first electrode 202 and the second electrode 203, a proof mass 205 made of parylene (relative permittivity: 3.15) is supported by beam portions 206 so as to be located in the fringe field 204. Incidentally, the proof mass 205 is so structured as to be movable in a vertical direction (a direction indicated by arrow Z) with respect to the upper surface of the silicon substrate 201.
In the conventional acceleration sensor 200 structured as described above, when the proof mass 205 moves in a direction indicated by arrow Z as a result of the sensor undergoing acceleration, the proportion of the volume of the proof mass 205 (dielectric) in the fringe field 204 changes, causing a change in capacitance value. Therefore, by detecting the change in capacitance value, the acceleration the sensor undergoes is detected.
Moreover, in the above-described acceleration sensor 200 proposed in Non-Patent Document 1, unlike the above-described acceleration sensor 100 having the comb teeth 102a as shown in FIG. 47, there is no need for a DRIE process in the fabrication process. This helps prevent a reduction in production efficiency.
Non-Patent Document 1: the Collection of the Lecture Treatises Presented at the Symposium held by Kansai University Organization for Research and Development of Innovative Science and Technology, Vol. 8th, Pages 153-156 (2004. 01. 10)

Acceleration sensor and method of fabricating it


The present invention discloses a data transmission apparatus and method to lower a data transmission voltage for eliminating EMI. In the data driving apparatus, a timing controller aligns input pixel data, lowers input data voltages of the input pixel data, and outputs to a plurality of data transmission lines. A data driver raises the lowered input data voltages for driving the liquid crystal display panel and then converts into analog pixel voltage signals to supply the analog pixel voltage signals to the data lines.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data transmission method, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for data transmission for minimizing electromagnetic interference (EMI) occurring upon parallel data transmission. Although the present invention is suitable for a wide scope of applications, it is particularly suitable for a data driving apparatus of a liquid crystal display.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Nowadays, the amount of video data transmitted through a transmission medium has been increased to satisfy a user's demand on a high quality image. As a result, the video data has been transferred at a high speed. In an effort to achieve this end, a transmission frequency of the video data has been increased and the number of transmission lines for transmitting the video data has also been increased. As the video data having a high frequency is transferred synchronously over the increased data transmission lines, electromagnetic interference (EMI) occurs among the data transmission lines.
In order to reduce the EMI, the number of the data transition has been reduced in the liquid crystal display (LCD) by using a data modulation system. Alternatively, the transmission frequency has been reduced by using a six-bus system.
FIG. 1 shows a data driving apparatus of a conventional LCD that transmits video data by using a six-bus system.
Referring to FIG. 1, the data driving apparatus includes data driving IC's 8 for driving data lines of a liquid crystal display panel 10, and a timing controller 2 for controlling a driving of the data driving IC's 8. Each data driving IC 8 is mounted on a tape carrier package (TCP) 6 to be connected to the liquid crystal display panel 10. Further, each data driving IC 8 is connected to a timing controller 2 through the TCP 6 and a printed circuit board (PCB) 4.
More specifically, in the liquid crystal display panel 10, gate lines and data lines are arranged in such a manner to cross each other. Liquid crystal cells are positioned at every area where each gate line cross each data line. The liquid crystal display panel 10 is provided with pixel electrodes and a common electrode for supplying an electric field to each of the liquid crystal cells. Each pixel electrode is connected to one of data lines through source and drain electrodes of a thin film transistor as a switching device. The gate electrode of the thin film transistor is connected to one of the gate lines allowing a pixel voltage signal to be applied to the pixel electrodes for each line. Accordingly, the liquid crystal display panel 10 controls light transmittance by the electric field applied between the pixel electrode and the common electrode in accordance with the pixel voltage signal for each liquid crystal cell, thereby displaying a picture thereon.
The data driving IC's 8 apply a pixel voltage signal to each data line whenever a gate signal is applied to one of the gate lines by gate driving IC's (not shown). Particularly, the data driving IC's 8 convert digital video data (pixel data) inputted from the timing controller 2 into analog pixel voltage signals.
The timing controller 2 controls driving of the data driving IC's 8 and the gate driving IC's and applies the pixel data to the data driving IC's 8 at the same time. To this end, as shown in FIG. 2, the timing controller 2 includes a control signal generator 3 for generating control signals, and a data aligner 5 for aligning the pixel data in conformity to the six-bus system.
The control signal generator 3 generates data control signals (i.e., SSC, SSP, SOE and POL, etc.) for controlling the data driving IC 8 using a main clock signal MCLK and horizontal and vertical synchronizing signals H and V inputted from the exterior thereof. The data control signals are applied to the data driving IC 8 through each transmission line included in a data control signal bus 16. Further, the control signal generator 3 generates and supplies gate control signals (i.e., GSC, GSP and GOE, etc.) for controlling the gate driving IC (not shown) to the gate driving IC through a control signal bus (not shown).
The data aligner 5 aligns pixel data R, G, and B inputted from the exterior thereof in conformity to the six-bus system to supply to the data driving IC 8. In other words, the data aligner 5 divides the pixel data R, G, and B into even-numbered pixel data RO, GO, and BO and even-numbered pixel data RE, GE, and BE to simultaneously supply to the data driving IC 8 through each three odd-numbered data buses 12 and each three even-numbered data buses 14. Herein, when each pixel data RD, GD, and BD consists of a 6-bit signal, each of the odd-numbered data buses 12 and the even-numbered data buses 14 consists of 6 data transmission lines. Thus, the data buses include 36 data transmission lines in total.
The data driving IC of the conventional LCD transmit the pixel data by the six-bus system to reduce the transmission frequency, thereby reducing the EMI. However, the conventional data driving apparatus fails to reduce the EMI because the number of data transmission lines is increased.

Apparatus and method for data transmission


The invention relates to a method for producing a solid molded article, in particular a ceramic and/or metallic article made of pulverized particles. The invention also relates to stable dispersions of pulverized particles in an aqueous fluid medium, solid molded articles made of pulverized particles, and sintered ceramic and/or metallic molded articles.

The invention relates to a method for producing a solid molded article, in particular a ceramic and/or metallic article made of pulverized particles. The invention also relates to stable dispersions of pulverized particles in an aqueous fluid medium, solid molded articles made of pulverized particles, and sintered ceramic and/or metallic molded articles.
High-tech ceramics exhibit a combination of exceptional qualities, which are not attained in this form by any other class of materials. Two of the main reasons why there has not been a breakthrough in the manufacturing and use of such ceramics so far have been the lack of cost-efficient manufacturing methods and the fact that mass-produced components have proved unreliable (Aldinger, Technische Keramik- eine Herausforderung, Keramik-zeitschrift 40 (1988), 312). The failure probability of ceramic components depends on the defect population in the material (Evans and Wiederhorn, Crack Propagation and Failure Prediction in Si3N4 at Elevated Temperatures, J. Mat. Sci. 9 (1974), 270-278). Most defects are introduced into the component during processing and during manufacture of the component (Lange, xe2x80x9cPowder Processing Science and Technology of Increased Reliabilityxe2x80x9d, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 72 (1989), 3-15).
In most of the standard processes used in industrial-scale ceramics manufacturing, the introduction of large defects is intrinsic and thus unavoidable. For example, the use of spray drying for the production of pourable granulated powder for dry press molding results in the formation of agglomerate relicts, which constitute the basis for very large defects in the resulting ceramic components. At the same time, the variables in the production process lead to differing defect populations and thus to varying statistical characteristics.
In order to avoid these defects, one can resort to a technique referred to as xe2x80x9ccolloidal processingxe2x80x9d (cf. Lange (1989), supra). This colloidal processing technique involves the following steps: production of a liquid dispersion of ceramic particles in a medium, filtration to remove impurities, addition of a precipitant in order to obtain a solid product, and subsequent molding.
Specific examples of such processes are the Direct Coagulation Casting (DCC) process, the HAS process and the Vibraforming process. The basic idea behind all of these processes is that, in order to achieve solidification in an aqueous system, the surface charge of powder particles is altered by means of a chemical reaction, or else salt or other compounds have to be added to the system.
In the DCC process (cf. eg, Graule et al., DKG 71 (1994), 317-322; Graule et al., Chemtech 25 (1995), 31-37; Graule et al., Industrial Ceramics 16 (1996), 31-34 and Baader et al., Industrial Ceramics 16 (1996), 36-40), the surface charge of powder particles is increased strongly by addition of citric acid, so that a dispersion with a high volume content of powder particles can be produced. The dispersion also contains urea or modified urea, which is broken down to NH3 and CO2 by addition of the enzyme urease. This leads to a rise in pH of the dispersion, and initiates the solidification process. A disadvantage of this process, however, is that the solidification is not reversible. If the dispersion is not poured into the mold quickly enough, the entire slurry has to be disposed of. The same applies to the green body should it become damaged. An added disadvantage is that the green body is very brittle. The DCC process has, moreover, so far been limited to Al2O3 ceramics, being poorly suited, in particular, for nitridic ceramics or mixtures of ceramics.
In the HAS process (see patent application S195 000 73), aluminum nitride is used as additive, and is converted during solidification into aluminum oxide. The process can therefore only be used for ceramics which contain aluminum oxide. With the HAS process, too, fragile molded articles of low mechanical strength are obtained, which cannot be redispersed.
The Vibraforming process (Lange, supra) involves adjusting the forces acting between the powder particles by means of adding salts and other substances, so that the molding compound is almost solid at room temperature and only liquefiesxe2x80x94on account of shear forcesxe2x80x94when subjected to vibration. The compound is then introduced under pressure into a mold. Disadvantages here are the high salt content and the fact that the molding compound is relatively difficult to handle. The high salt content, eg, NH4Cl, causes the release of toxic gases such as HCl and ammonia during burnout, or the presence of undesirable compounds such as metal chlorides in the grain boundary phase of the resulting ceramic. In addition, to achieve complete solidification, the pH of the suspension is altered by means of breaking down urea. Here too, fragile molded articles of low mechanical strength are obtained, which cannot be redispersed.
In another coagulation process, that of Bergstrom (U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,532), organic solvents are used and it is necessary to lower the temperature in order to consolidate the ceramic.
The WO84/02519 describes a method of producing silicon dioxide glass, in which colloidal silicon dioxide is added to a hydrolyzed metal oxide sol, the sol containing the colloidal silicon dioxide gels and is dried to a dry gel, and the dry gel is sintered to form silicon dioxide glass. The solidification of a dispersion of pulverized particles by means of a temperature increase is not disclosed.
The DE-A41 31 335 describes a method of producing ceramic articles, in which a dispersion of pulverized ceramic material is prepared and cast in shape. The raw material is dispersed in a curable organic compound, in particular a synthetic resin, to form a relatively thin dispersion. The dispersion is poured into the mold and allowed to cure prior to demolding. The demolded green body is annealed in an inert gas atmosphere, and the organic compound broken down by way of cracking into volatile components and maybe residual components. The solidification of an aqueous dispersion by means of a temperature increase is not disclosed.
The EP-A-O 260 577 describes a water-soluble polymer for the dispersion of a powder. The solidification of a dispersion of pulverized particles by means of a temperature increase is not disclosed.
The DE-A43 36 694 discloses a method of producing sintered metallic and ceramic articles and layers, in which nanocrystalline ceramic or metallic powder is dispersedxe2x80x94in the presence of at least one low-molecular organic compound with at least one functional group which can react and/or interact with groups present at the surface of the powder particlesxe2x80x94in water and/or a polar organic solvent serving as dispersing medium, the dispersing medium is removed and the surface-modified ceramic or metallic powder, having been processedxe2x80x94either before or after removal of the dispersing mediumxe2x80x94eg, by means of freeze drying or freeze spray drying, to green bodies or layers, is sintered. Solidification of the dispersion by means of heating is not disclosed.
The DE-A-44 17 405 describes a method of producing textured organic layers on substrates, in which a composition obtained by means of hydrolysis and polycondensation of at least one hydrolyzable silane, at least one organosilane and maybe one or more compounds of glass- or ceramic-forming elements, is applied to a substrate, the applied composition is textured and the textured coating is densified thermally to a textured layer. The production of molded articles by means of increasing the temperature and thus causing a dispersion of pulverized particles to solidify is not disclosed.
The DE-A-195 40 623 describes a method of producing composite materials with a high interfacial fraction, in which a nanoscale filler is dispersed in a polymeric matrix. The filler particles, which may be surface-modified and which have an affinity for the matrix phase and a particle size of not more than 200 nm, are incorporated in the matrix phase in such a way that they are dispersed in an essentially agglomerate-free state therein. The production of molded articles by means of increasing the temperature and thus causing a dispersion of pulverized particles to solidify is not disclosed.
The problem on which this invention is based was thus to provide a method with which the disadvantages of the prior art are at least partially overcome and which, in particular, allows simple and efficient colloidal processing in an aqueous medium.
This problem is solved by means of a method for producing a solid molded article made of pulverized particles and comprising the steps:
(a) preparation of a dispersion of pulverized particles in an aqueous fluid medium, the particles exhibiting a temperature-dependent charge state;
(b) if necessary filtering the dispersion to remove impurities;
(c) transferring the dispersion to a mold;
(d) supplying heat to solidify the molding compound in the mold;
(e) maybe demolding the solidified body and
(f) maybe drying the body.
The principle on which the method of the invention is based is that a dispersion of pulverized particles exhibiting a temperature-dependent charge state is prepared in an aqueous medium. By raising the temperature, it is possible to lower the charge on the particles in the dispersion, resulting in temperature-controlled solidification. Until now it was assumed that the amount of charge on the particles was only slightly temperature dependent (Intermolecular and Surface Forces, Jacob lsraelachvili, Second Edition, Academic press, Harcourt Brace and Company, Publishers, Page 176-193). It was thus surprising that with the method of the invention, it is possible, by controlling the temperature increase, to influence the amount of charge on the particles in such a manner as to allow control over the solidification process.
In a preferred embodiment, the method is characterized in that, in step (a), the pulverized particles are coated with a dispersant.
This involves preparing a dispersion of pulverized particles in an aqueous medium to which a dispersant is added. The dispersant exhibits temperature-dependent solubility properties, and attaches itself to the dispersed particles. Any molecule may be used as dispersant, eg, any organic or inorganic compound or ion, which is able to attach itself to the dispersed particles. It is preferable to use a dispersant with which a short-range repulsive potential is established at the surface.
A short-range repulsive potential is achieved by means of mechanically blocking the space at the surface of the particle. As result, the surfaces of the particles are no longer able to touch each other, being kept a very small distance apart which corresponds to the size of the molecule. This means that the absolute maximum of the attractive forces acting between the particles, being strongly dependent on the distance the particles are apart, is avoided. Reduced attractive forces of this kind, resulting from mechanical spacers, are described as a short-range repulsive potential.
The effect of limiting the maximum attractive force by means of spacers is that the particles begin to flow against each other before, under the influence of a mechanical force, they break inelastically into many fragments. Thus one can also refer to them as lubricating forces.
The dispersant is 0.2 nm to 10 nm in size. It is especially preferable if the dispersant contains an anchoring group for attachment to the particle surface, and a stabilizing group to effect stabilization in water at the temperature used for dispersion. The dispersant may exhibit one or more anchoring groups for attachment to the particle surface, the attachment being, for example, in the form of a chemical bond and/or in the form of physical adsorption. In the case of a chemical bond, the presence of a single anchoring group is sufficient, whereas for physical adsorption, it is preferable to have several anchoring groups. The stabilizing group is preferably a hydrophilic organic chain which behaves like a concertina. At low temperatures, eg, room temperature, a chain of this kind is extended; as the temperature rises, it contracts. A controlled approach of powder particles with a dispersant attached to their surfaces is allowed when there is a gentle rise in temperature. In this way, the approach of the particles towards each other, and thus the solidification process, is controlled synergistically as a function of temperature by means of the charge on the particles and the steric properties of the stabilizing group. This leads to a controlled increase in the attractive forces (van der Waal""s forces) and to homogeneous and rapid solidification of the dispersion.
Attachment of the dispersant to the powder particles can be effected by adding the dispersant to a dispersion of the pulverized particles in an aqueous medium. Alternatively, the dispersant can also be attached to the surface of the powder particles under non-aqueous conditions. This procedure is preferred in particular for particles which are sensitive to moisture and/or oxygen, such as nitridic ceramic particles. The method of the invention thus allows the pulverized particles to be coated in a process separate from the molding process, if so desired. The particles can be coated, for example, by the powder manufacturer, who then supplies the coated particles to the manufacturer of the molded article. On the other hand, it is of course possible to carry out the coating and molding processes in a single operation.
The method of the invention makes it possible to work in an environmentally friendly aqueous medium, i.e. in a medium containing at least 50 wt. % water. It is to advantage if the medium contains at least 70 wt. % water, or, best of all, if it consists essentially of water. The use of aqueous media makes it easier to disperse the pulverized particles; it is beneficial if dispersion is promoted by the influence of shear forces, for example, by means of grinding, eg, in a ball mill. In aqueous media, much shorter grinding times suffice (10% of the time needed for organic media), more energy is introduced than into organic solvents, and less oxygen, which can be of importance, eg, for nitridic and carbidic ceramic powders.
The method of the invention, which comprises the solidification of a powder compound by means of a temperature increase in an aqueous medium and involves the use of suitable dispersants, is universally applicable for any kind of pulverized particles desired, e.g. for ceramics, paints, metals, pharmaceutical substances, and pigments. It is to advantage, however, to select the pulverized particles from inorganic particles such as ceramic and/or metallic particles. The greatest preference is given to ceramic particles. All kinds of carbidic, nitridic and oxidic materials, e.g. hard materials, metal oxides, or ceramics based on Si3N4, Al2O3, TiO2, SiC or ZrO2, or also mixtures of different kinds of particles, can be processed.
It is of advantage to use particles which, with increasing temperature, show an increase in the solubility of materials out of the particles, eg, metal ions. This increase in solubility raises the salt content of the dispersion, and contributes to solidification by means of coagulation.
It is an additional advantage if the increase in solubility of materials out of the particles alters the system""s pH. This also promotes consolidation. A pH change in the direction of the powder particles"" isoelectric point is especially beneficial.
In general, only very small quantities of dispersant need be added to the pulverized particles, for example, enough to coat the surface of the pulverized particles with just a monolayer of dispersant. It is beneficial if the dispersant is added in a proportion of 0.0001 to 5 wt. %, expressed in terms of the weight of pulverized particles. It is particularly beneficial if the dispersant is added in a proportion from 0.001 to 2.5 wt. %, or, best of all, 0.01 to 1.5 wt. %.
One effect of the dispersant is that it serves as a spacer, and prevents the dispersion from flocculating at low temperatures due to direct contact between the particles. It can also serve to adjust the isoelectric point of the dispersion, thus further promoting solidification. For example, by varying the amount of citric acid or citric acid salts added as dispersant to aluminum oxide particles in water, it is possible to adjust the isoelectric point of an aluminum oxide dispersion to any desired value between pH 9 (no citric acid) and pH 3.
In another preferred embodiment, the method of the invention is conducted in the presence of one or more inorganic adhesion promoters. These are dissolved inorganic substances which are present in the particle dispersion and which, during solidification and/or drying of the dispersion, are preferably precipitated at the points of contact between the particles. By means of this localized precipitation, a maximum increase in the strength of the green body is achieved with a minimum quantity of inorganic adhesion promoter. It is of advantage to use an inorganic adhesion promoter the solubility of which is temperature and/or pressure dependent.
A preferred inorganic adhesion promoter, especially for ceramic powders containing silicon, is SiO2, which dissolves in an aqueous medium from the surface of the ceramic particles andxe2x80x94as already describedxe2x80x94is precipitated again during subsequent solidification and/or drying. A temperature rise, as provided for in the invention, particularly promotes the dissolution of SiO2. On account of the subsequent reprecipitation, the green strength of the ceramic article is automatically increased.
The concentration of dissolved inorganic adhesion promoters in the dispersion can be further increased by additional measures. The dissolved SiO2 content, by way of example, can be increased by leaching of the ceramic powder, eg, by adjusting to an acidic pH. In addition, and/or as an alternative, soluble SiO2 may be added.
For ceramic powders with no soluble surface silicon, or in cases where no SiO2 content is allowed, other soluble inorganic compounds can be selected as adhesion promoters, e.g. aluminum hydroxide, yttrium hydroxide, or similar compounds.
Should the addition of soluble compounds lead to problems with the powder preparation, the adhesion promoters can be packaged in microcapsules. These capsules are designed such that they can be destroyed, and the inorganic adhesion promoter released, when the molding compound is heated, and/or during drying.
It is expedient to use the inorganic adhesion promoter in a proportion of 0.00001 wt. % to 5 wt. %, expressed in terms of the ceramic powder. It is even better to use 0.0001 wt. % to 1 wt. %, and best of all to use between 0.005 wt. % and 0.1 wt. %.
According to a preferred embodiment, one uses pulverized anisotropic particles in step (a). Pulverized ceramic particles, for example, especially such particles with surfaces which, on account of the crystalline character, are anisotropic, exhibit anisotropic force-distance curves. It was surprising to find that by adjusting the temperature suitably, the forces between the different surfaces of pulverized particles can be adjusted such that the particles can be oriented crystallographically. In this way, it is possible to obtain large, highly ordered, crystallographically oriented areas, which can be transformed after sintering into selectively strongly textured polycrystalline materials, highly ordered polycrystalline materials or even single crystals. The method of the invention thus provides a simple means for the cost-efficient production of crystallographically oriented materials of complex shape, and also of single crystals. By means of simple experiments, persons versed in the art will be able to determine the combination of suitable pulverized particles and dispersants, and also the processing temperature required to effect the crystallographic alignment of the particles.
There is, moreover, no need to add a binder, since with the method of the invention, an elastic, water-containing molded article is obtained after solidification, from which, if necessary after drying, an easy-to-handle, brittle green body results.
Certain embodiments of the invention provide for the possible addition of water-soluble polymers to the dispersion. It is expedient to add them in a proportion of 0.01 to 10 wt. % or, better still, in a proportion from 0.01 to 5 wt. %, expressed in terms of the weight of the dispersion. Examples of suitable water-soluble polymers are polyvinyl alcohol, starch, modified starch, polyethylene oxide, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, polyoxymethylene, organosilicon polymers such as siloxanes, or mixtures thereof. When water-soluble polymers of this kind are used, subsequent sintering of the molded article must be preceded by burn-out.
It is to advantage if the pulverized particles in the dispersion have an average diameter of  less than 5 xcexcm, or better still, of  less than 2 xcexcm. Particles of this size are obtained either by using starting materials which fulfil this size requirement, and/or by means of additional grinding, eg, with a ball mill, during dispersion.
The method of the invention expediently includes a filtration step to remove impurities. Filtration is best carried out at a temperature at which the dispersion is of low viscosity. For the filtration, fine filters are used which remove impurities  greater than 5 xcexcm, better still  greater than 2 xcexcm. This makes it possible, in the case of ceramics, to achieve an increase in Weibull""s modulus after sintering.
The dispersant used in the method of the invention preferably has the general formula (I):
Axe2x80x94Rxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(I)
where
A stands for one or more anchoring groups which are capable, eg, by means of a chemical bond and/or physical adsorption, of attaching to the surface of particles, eg, of ceramic and/or metallic particles, and
R stands for one or more stabilizing groups characterized by temperature-dependent solubilityxe2x80x94which preferably decreases with increasing temperaturexe2x80x94in an aqueous medium.
A is preferably a group selected from xe2x80x94OH, xe2x80x94I, xe2x80x94SO3H, xe2x80x94PO3H2, aldehyde, tosylate, epoxide, and a silicon-containing group. It is to advantage if A is a silicon-containing group, eg, a silane group. An example of a suitable dispersant with a silicon-containing anchoring group is a compound with the general formula (II):
SiXYZxe2x80x94Rxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(II)
where
R has already been defined, and
X,Y and Z are substituents on Si, which are preferably selected independently from H, halogen, especially Cl or Br, OH, OR1 and R1, where R1 is an alkyl, alkenyl or alkinyl radical which may be substituted (for example, by halogen or heteroatoms such as groups containing O, N or S), the alkyl, alkenyl or alkinyl radical preferably having 1 to 10 or, better still, 1 to 6 C atoms. At least one of the substituents on Si must be different from R1.
Higher homologues of compounds with the formula (II) are also suitable, ie, dimers, trimers or oligomers which contain Si atoms linked via -O- bridges and which can be linear or branched. Examples here are compounds of the general formula (III):
Rxe2x80x94Si(XY)xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94Si(R)(XY)xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(III)
where
R,X and Y are defined as before.
It is, of course, also possible to use silicon-free anchoring groups, provided they adhere sufficiently well to the pulverized particles under the conditions prevailing during dispersion. Examples of such compounds include Rxe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94OH, Rxe2x80x94CH2-tosylate, Rxe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94I and epoxides, and here too, the compounds can be monomeric or oligomeric.
The stabilizing group R is preferably a group comprising at least two C2-C4 alkylene oxide units. It is particularly expedient if the stabilizing group is a chain built up from ethylene oxide units, propylene oxide units, or mixtures thereof, and comprising at least two units. The stabilizing group R can, in addition, contain one or more groups which may be protonated and/or deprotonated, ie, Brxc3x6nsted acid and/or Brxc3x6nsted base groups. Examples of such acid and/or base groups are xe2x80x94NR2xe2x80x94, xe2x80x94NR2xe2x80x94COxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94N(R2)2, xe2x80x94COxe2x80x94N(R2)2xe2x80x94 and COOR3 groups, where R2 stands for H or an alkyl, alkenyl or alkinyl radical (as defined above), which may be substituted, and R3 stands for H or a metal or ammonium cation.
Step (c) of the method of the invention comprises transferring the dispersion to a mold. This can be done in any familiar manner, eg, by means of pouring. The dispersion can be cast as a preformxe2x80x94eg, an ingot, a slab or a billetxe2x80x94which is suitable for further forming. Alternatively, the dispersion can be cast in molds of a given and maybe complex shape, in which case little or no finishing is required. A special advantage of the method of the invention is that for castingxe2x80x94in contrast to the hitherto customary slip castingxe2x80x94a non-porous mold can be used, since consolidation does not necessitate withdrawing water through a porous wall. This means that no inhomogeneities occur due to body formation, as is common with slip casting. Techniques which are facilitated by the method of the invention include, for example, constructive film casting. It is always possible to cast and then to print by means of the screen printing process. The techniques used in a potter""s workshop, as well as the entire range of shaping methods used to manufacture conventional ceramics (washbasins, plates, etc.) can be used, since at temperatures above room temperature, the damp molding compound can be processed plastically. Techniques such as extrusion and injection molding can also be used.
Step (d) of the method of the invention comprises heating to effect solidification of the molding compound in the mold. It is beneficial if heating is conducted such that the viscosity of the dispersion is increased by a factor of at least 103, or, better still, by a factor of 104. The heating step can comprise increasing the temperature by 20 to 95xc2x0 C., preferably by 20 to 70xc2x0 C., eg, from room temperature (25xc2x0 C.) to 50 to 95xc2x0 C. The dispersion solidifies as a result of the heating process, and a water-containing, mechanically stable elastic molding is obtained, which can be removed from the mold right away. It is not necessary to first remove the water.
The molding can then be dried, if necessary, and sintered. Drying may be effected simply and quickly using familiar methods, eg, in an oven. Sintering can be conducted without prior burnout, since only small amounts of dispersant need to be used (eg, 0.4 wt. %).
Additional subject matter of this invention is a dispersion of pulverized particlesxe2x80x94preferably particles with a mean diameter  less than 2 xcexcmxe2x80x94in an aqueous fluid medium, said dispersion containing 0.0001 to 5 wt. % dispersant, expressed in terms of the weight of pulverized particles, which is attached to the surface of the particles and exhibits temperature-dependent solubility properties. The addition of dispersant renders the dispersion of the invention stable over a protracted period of time, both in respect of sedimentation and of chemical changes such as oxidation. The molding compound can be redispersed even after drying. The dispersion of the invention can, in addition, contain at least one inorganic adhesion promoter.
Further subject matter of the invention is a solid green molded article made of pulverized particles, obtained by means of a method of the type described above and consisting of particles to the surface of which a dispersant is attached, the dispersant exhibiting temperature-dependent solubility properties in an aqueous medium. Further subject matter again is a solid green molded article of pulverized particles, obtained by means of a method of the type described above and having crystallographically oriented, anisotropic polycrystalline areas. In a molded article according to the invention, therefore, the choice of temperature not only serves to establish the packing characteristics in green condition but, in addition, the crystallographic orientation of the particles and a defined texture in the molded article. It is especially beneficial if the molded article has an essentially anisotropic texture. The proportion of dispersant relative to the powder particles is preferably 0.0001 to 2.5 wt. %, or, better still, 0.001 to 1.5 wt. %. It is furthermore to advantage if the molded article has a density of 40 to 70 vol. %, expressed in terms of the theoretically achievable density. The molded article of the invention is essentially free of density gradients and is redispersible. Another advantage is that it is essentially free of salts such as NH4Cl, containing less than 1 wt. % or, in particular, less than 0.5 wt. % thereof.
A sintered ceramic and/or metallic molded article, obtained by the method of the invention with subsequent sintering, is also subject matter of the invention. Additional subject matter is a highly ordered, crystallographically oriented, anisotropic polycrystalline molded article obtained by the method of the invention with subsequent sintering. The article can also be very thin, so that it is possible, also for ceramic films, to lay down the desired crystallographic orientation, and not only to obtain textural effects in the direction of pouring, as was the case until now. The final subject matter of the invention is a single-crystal molded article, obtained by the method of the invention with subsequent sintering. The sintered article of the invention is more homogeneous than a sintered article made by means of slip casting with subsequent sintering. Moreover, the sintered article of the invention contains fewer residues of undesirable substances than does a sintered article according to the prior art and made by means of preceding coagulation processes. This is because, apart from the dispersant, only very small quantities of which are required, no additional substances must be added to the dispersion that could lead to combustion residues.
With the method of the invention, it is possible to produce polycrystalline materials of defined texture and complex single-crystal shapes, for which, until now, complicated and expensive processes were needed. Textured polycrystalline systems or single crystals as claimed in the invention can be used, for example, as superconductors, ionic conductors or electronic conductors, eg, fuel cells or electric cables.

Molding method for ceramics and metals in aqueous systems by means of temperature variation

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Fulderung der Wissenschaften E.V.


Equipment and a method by which power consumed by a ranging receiver (12) is reduced without appreciably impairing performance of the GPS receiver (12), the method including: a step (21) in which a controller (15) reads sensor signals provided by a motion sensor (14) mechanically coupled to the ranging receiver (12); and a step (22) in which the controller (15) powers down selected components of the ranging receiver (12) based on whether the sensor signals indicate only at most insubstantial motion of the ranging receiver (12). The motion sensor is advantageously a motion sensor constructed using MEMS technology, but at any rate is of a type using so little power as to provide a power savings when used according to the invention, i.e. when it is always on and at least partially based on its sensor signals, the ranging receiver (12) is sometimes at least partially turned off.

For a GPS receiver integrated into a cellular phone, power-consumption is an issue. Since only a limited storage of energy is available, every module inside a cellular phone should consume as little power as possible. Besides the required cellular transmitter and receiver modules, cellular phones today often include a GPS receiver module, a Bluetooth receiver module, a WLAN module, and even a camera.
There are several ways to reduce power consumption in an electrical device; e.g. the device can be miniaturized, modules/components can be selected that consume less power, or modules in the device can be selectively shut down (partially or wholly). Shutting down a module, however, is really only viable if it is possible to maintain the same level of performance with the shut down/reduced power-on time.
Of the modules now often included in cellular phones, the GPS receiver consumes significant power. There are many generally known techniques for saving power consumed by a GPS receiver (in a cellular phone or in a standalone application): Parts of the GPS receiver hardware can be shut down; for example, any excess channels not useful in tracking satellites due to poor local constellation can be powered-down. The GPS receiver hardware can be run at a lower frequency. And the GPS receiver RF (radiofrequency) front-end can be shut down and only the tracking loops at the DSP (digital signal processing) baseband run (to enable fast reacquisition). All of these methods, however, without more, can sacrifice GPS receiver performance.
For saving power in a cellular phone generally, it is noted that U.S. Pat. No. 6,067,460 for a MOBILE STATION HAVING ENHANCED STANDBY MODE discloses using motion sensors or a GPS receiver (or other devices) to determine when a user of a cellular phone might not be moving (or moving only very slowly), in which case—usually only after the user confirms both that the user is not moving and is not likely to be moving in the next several minutes—the cellular phone stops making neighbor channel measurements for DCCH (dedicated control channel) reselection, thereby saving power.
What is still needed is a way to reduce power use by a GPS receiver—in either a standalone application or in a mobile phone—without a significant sacrifice of the GPS receiver's performance.

Method and apparatus for lowering power use by a ranging receiver


A direct current boost converter which has a simple structure using only one coil, and which can apply a driving voltage to a capacitive load which reciprocates in polarity is discussed. A first direct current branch circuit composed of first and second transistors is connected in parallel to a second direct current branch circuit composed of the third and fourth transistors. A coil is connected between the intermediate nodes of the transistors of these direct current branch circuits, and these nodes are further connected to both terminals of an EL panel through first and second diodes. The nodes between the first and second diodes and the EL panel are grounded through fifth and sixth transistors, respectively. A clock signal is applied to the first and third transistors, and a gate signal with an opposing phase is applied to the second and fourth transistors. Zener diodes can be connected in series to the switching circuits connected between the negative terminal of the DC power supply DC power supply and the side of the EL panel. Since these Zener diodes would be in parallel with respect to the EL panel, the flow of energy to the circuit board through the parasitic transistor structure of the Zener diodes is prevented. As a result, the loss of energy due to both electrical leaks and high-frequency spikes is eliminated.

Various types of these direct current boost converters are widely known, and they are divided into those using one coil and those using two coils.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a conventional direct current boost converter using one coil. The coil (1) and the first transistor (2) are connected in series between the positive terminal and negative terminal (grounding terminal) of a DC power supply, and the node of this coil and the first transistor is connected through the diode (3) to the node of the EL panel (4) and the second transistor (5). The other terminal of this EL panel (4) and the second transistor (5) is connected to the negative terminal of the DC power supply. The clock signal shown in FIG. 2A is applied to the gate of the first transistor (2), and a gate signal with a repeating frequency which is lower than the clock signal shown in FIG. 2B is applied to the gate of the second transistor (5).
With respect to this example of a direct current boost converter, when a clock signal is applied to the gate of the first transistor (2) during the period in which the second transistor (5) is off, a voltage which gradually increases, as shown in FIG. 2C, is applied to the EL panel (4).
FIG. 3 shows another example of a conventional direct current boost converter using one coil, and this converter is described in the detailed explanations of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,527,096 and 4,208,869. The coil (1) and first transistor (2) are connected in series between the positive terminal and negative terminal (grounding terminal) of the DC power supply, and that node is grounded through the diode (3) and the capacitor (6). The cathode of this diode (3) and a first plate of the capacitor (6) are connected to the switching bridge circuit which is composed of the second and third transistors (5a) and (5b), connected in series, and the fourth and fifth transistors (5c) and (5d), connected in series, and is connected between the node (A) of the EL panel (4) and the second and third transistors (5a) and (5b), and the node (B) of the fourth and fifth transistors (5c) and (5d).
The clock signal shown in FIG. 4A is applied to the gate of the first transistor (2), and the gate signal shown in FIG. 4B is applied to the gates of the second and fifth transistors (5a) and (5d), and the second gate signal having the opposite phase to the first gate signal, as shown in FIG. 4C, is applied to the gates of the third and fourth transistors (5b) and (5c). Therefore, the second and fifth transistors (5a) and (5d) go on simultaneously, and then the third and fourth transistors (5b) and (5c) go on simultaneously. As a result, a boosted voltage is applied to the nodes (A) and (B) as shown in FIGS. 4D and E.
FIG. 5 shows another example of a conventional direct current boost converter using one coil, and this is described in the detailed explanation of U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,141. The coil (1) and series circuit of the first and second switching elements (2a) and (2b) is connected between the positive and negative terminals of the DC power supply, and the node between the first switching element (2a) and the coil (1) is connected to the cathode of the first diode (3a), while its anode is connected to the third switching element (5a), the node of the second switching element (2b) and the coil (1) is connected to the anode of the second diode (3b), while its cathode is connected to the fourth switching element (5b), these third and fourth switching elements are connected to one terminal of the EL panel (4), and the other terminal of the EL panel is grounded.
A clock signal as shown in FIG. 6A is applied to the first and second switching elements (2a) and (2b), and the first and second gate signals which have the opposite phase to one another, as shown in FIG. 6B and C, are applied to the third and fourth switching elements (5a) and (5b). As a result, a boosted voltage is applied between the two terminals of the EL panel (4) as shown in FIG. 6D.
FIG. 7 shows an example of a conventional direct current boost converter using two coils, and this is described in the detailed explanation of U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,269. The series circuit of the first coil (1a) and the first transistor (2a) is connected between the positive and negative terminals of a DC power supply, and the node of this coil and transistor is connected to one terminal of the EL panel (4) through the first diode (3a). The node between the first diode (3a) and one terminal of the EL panel (4) is grounded through the second transistor (5A). Also, the series circuit between the second coil (1b) and the third transistor (2b) is connected between the positive and negative terminals of a DC power supply, and the node between this coil and transistor is connected to the other terminal of the EL panel (4) through the second diode (3b). The node between the second diode (3b) and the other terminal of the EL panel (4) is grounded through the fourth transistor (5b).
The clock signal shown in FIG. 8A is applied to the gates of the first and third transistors (2a) and (2b), and the first and second gate signals of opposite phase to one another are applied to the gates of the second and fourth transistors (5a) and (5b). As a result, a boosted voltage is applied between the two terminals of the EL panel (4) as shown in FIGS. 8D and 8E.
With respect to the conventional direct current boost converter shown in FIG. 1, although the structure is simple because it only requires a single coil, its weakness is that the voltage which is applied to the EL panel (4) is of single polarity, and the efficiency of light-emission is low.
With the conventional direct current boost converter shown in FIG. 3, one coil is sufficient as well, and although it has the advantage that in addition to the structure being simple, a voltage of alternating polarity is applied to the EL panel (4), making the efficiency of light emission high, because the capacitor (6) is charged with a driving voltage, when the driving voltage becomes high, it requires a capacitor with a high resistance to voltage, and its weakness is its size and cost.
With the conventional direct current boost converter shown in FIG. 5, one coil is sufficient as well, and since a voltage of dual polarity is applied to the EL panel (4) it has the advantage that the efficiency of light emission is high, but when the transistors which compose the switching elements (5a) and (5b) are composed of integrated circuits, a negative voltage is applied to a semiconductor substrate, so there is the need to construct it to prevent the flow of electricity into the semiconductor substrate, which makes the structure of the integrated circuit complex, resulting in the weakness of high cost.
With the conventional direct current boost converter shown in FIG. 7, because the voltage which is applied to the EL panel (4) alternates in polarity, the efficiency of light emission is high; however, since it requires two coils (1a) and (1b), it has the weakness of complex structure and high cost.
The type of drive circuit described above is well known from, for example, the detailed explanation of U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,269, and its structure is shown in FIG. 9. As shown in FIG. 9, the series circuit of the first coil (1a) and the first transistor (2a) is connected between the positive and negative terminals of the DC power supply, and the connection point between this coil and transistor is joined to one terminal of the EL panel (4) by way of the first diode (3a) and the first Zener diode (7a). The connection point between the first Zener diode (7a) and one terminal of the EL panel (4) is grounded through the second transistor (5a). Also, the series circuit of the second coil (1b) and the third transistor (2b) is connected between the positive and negative terminals of the DC power supply, and the connection point between this coil and transistor is joined to the other terminal of the EL panel (4) through the second diode (3b) and the second Zener diode (7b). The connection point between the second Zener diode (7b) and the other terminal of the EL panel (4) is grounded through the fourth transistor (5b).
A clock signal is applied to the gate of the first and third transistors (2a) and (2b), and gate signals that have opposite phases from one another are applied to the gates of the second and fourth transistors (5a) and (5b). As a result, a boosted voltage is applied between the terminals one and two of the EL panel (4).
With the widely known drive circuit described above, because the first and second Zener diodes (7a) and (7b) are connected to the current path between the first coil (1a) and the EL panel (4) and the current path between the second coil (1b) and the EL panel (4), these Zener diodes (7a) and (7b) serve the purpose of preventing electrical leaks from the DC power supply. Consequently, when the second transistor (5a) is in a conductive state, the path through the positive terminal of the DC power supply, the first coil (1a), the first diode (3a), the second transistor (5a), and the negative terminal is broken by the Zener diode (7a). When the fourth transistor (5b) is in a conductive state, the path through the positive terminal of the DC power supply, the second coil (1b), the first diode (3b), the fourth transistor (5b), and the negative terminal is broken by the Zener diode (7b). As a result, through the action of these Zener diodes to prevent electrical leaks, the effect of greatly reducing the loss of energy is achieved.
However, when the above drive circuit is built into an IC substrate, a parasitic transistor is formed in the structure of the Zener diode between it and said IC substrate, and a high-speed, in other words a high-frequency, spike flows into the substrate side through this parasitic transistor, and eventually flows to a ground, with a resulting a loss of energy. When this type of energy loss occurs, the benefit of placing a Zener diode cannot be realized.

Bridge-type direct current boost converter for driving a capacitive load


A navigation apparatus capable of outputting the guide information concerning a necessary point input by a driver in response to a request of the driver previously stores map information, specifies an automobile position on the map information by detecting signals such as GPS signals, gyroscopic signals and speed pulse signals, etc., retrieves a point to be guided from the map information on the basis of the present position of the automobile, produces the guide information concerning the point to be guided by processing the map information, and displays the guide information concerning the point to be guided. Further, a guide switch (a touch panel key) as a display mark, a distance to a target destination point and an azimuth toward the target destination point, and a running direction to go at or near the target destination point are also displayed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a navigation apparatus for generating and providing a guide information about a target destination point to a driver of an automobile or a car by means of either or both of a voice on a speaker and a display on a screen while the automobile incorporating the navigation apparatus is in motion, and more particularly relates to a navigation apparatus which is capable of generating and providing generated guide information to a driver by means of a display based on the driver's request.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional navigation apparatus detects when an automobile having the navigation apparatus becomes within a specified range of an intersection, and then informs the driver of an advancing direction to take at the intersection by means of a voice, or a voice and a visual display, as disclosed in Japanese Published Un-examined Patent Application (or in Japanese Laid Open Patent Un-examined Application) No. 202307/85 (Tokkai-Sho 60-202307).
Since the conventional navigation apparatus provides guide information to the driver independently from the driver's request or the driver's will by means of the conventional navigation system while the automobile is running, the driver does not always obtain guide information when the driver wants to get it. For example, since the guide information concerning an intersection is not provided to the driver until the automobile is close to the intersection, it is often difficult for the driver to make advance decision. If guide information is provided every specified distance or every specified time so as to solve the aforementioned problem, the driver can become annoyed and unnecessarily stressed because he hears the guide information even when he does not want it. That is to say, since the conventional navigation apparatus supplies the guide information to the driver regardless of his will, there is a problem that the driver must wait to get the guide information until the conventional navigation apparatus incorporated in the automobile provides the guide information to the drive even if the driver wants to hear the guide information.
In order to solve the conventional problem described above, another conventional navigation apparatus, for example which is disclosed in Japanese Published Laid Open Un-examined Patent Application No. 99678/93 (Tokkai-Hei 5-99678), is constructed so as to output guide information along a predetermined route by means of a voice in response to the manipulation of a driver when requested. But, since the amount of information which can be expressed by voice is relatively small, the conventional navigation apparatus has a drawback in that it cannot always supply the guide information to the driver when the driver wants precise and detailed guide information. For example, this conventional navigation apparatus has the following drawback:
Although the conventional navigation apparatus can provide guide information about a road intersection to a driver, the guide information provided by the conventional navigation apparatus typically only includes simple directions such as "Turn to the right" or "Turn to the left" by means of a voice about a point where there is the road intersecting to which several roads having oblique angles are gathered. However where there are a plurality of roads with a similar azimuth toward which the automobile having the conventional navigation apparatus can enter, it is difficult for the driver to select the road and the driver will often be at a loss to determine which road to enter.
In addition, the guide information which drivers typically want is not only a direction to turn to the right or the left, but also includes various guide information items such as a name of a point, the existence of a facility or the like on a road side by which the driver can specify the point, and the name and route number of a road to enter. Consequently, there is also a problem that it is not sufficient to supply a guide information to the driver only by means of a voice based on a driver's request.


A content list including contents processable by a designated processing device, among the contents to be processed including a specific content managed with respect to each user, is received by a portable terminal from an ECG server, and a content is selected by a user. Then, a processing request for the selected content is transmitted from the portable terminal to the designated device via the ECG server and a device control server, and unit information of the selected content is acquired by the portable terminal and displayed or reproduced. A user can thereby use the content and the unit information by selecting the content using the portable terminal without depending on the content and the processing device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information providing apparatus, a portable information terminal, a content processing device, a device control apparatus, a content processing system and a program.
2. Description of the Related Art
Content providers provide users with various contents using various kinds of service models and recording media today. On the other hand, users use contents using various kinds of content processing devices such as television terminals, set-top boxes (STB), personal video recorders (PVR), various recording and reproducing apparatus and personal computers. Thus, a user selects and uses a content with use of a content processing device capable of performing processing such as viewing, recording, reproduction, viewing reservation and recording reservation, for example, according to the type of the content.
Further, a content processing device that has a function to acquire and display or reproduce content information related to the content such as electronic program guide (EPG) information and data broadcast information, for example, together with or separately from the acquisition of the content is known.
Further, a content processing device that has a history management function to support selection of the content by accumulating the history information of the contents selected by a user, a content processing device that has a content recommendation function to analyze the preference of a user based on history information and recommend the content matching the preference to the user are known.

Information providing apparatus, portable information terminal, content processing device, device control apparatus, content processing system and program


Methods of inhibiting lipoprotein lipase and controlling the body fat and the body weight of an animal employ an effective amount of at least one 20 carbon, conjugated, unsaturated, fatty acid. Pharmaceutical compositions for use in the method are also disclosed. The 20-carbon conjugated fatty acids are selected from an eicosadienoic acid, an eicosatrienoic acid, and an eicosatetraenoic acid. Preferably, the fatty acids are 11,13-eicosadienoic acid; 12,14-eicosadienoic acid; 8,11,13-eicosatrienoic acid; 5,8,11,13-eicosatetraenoic acid; 5,8,12,14-eicosatetraenoic acid, or an ester, salt, or mixture thereof.

In today's health conscious society there is a great interest in the fat content of food. There is a special concern about the saturated fat content of meat because of its alleged relationship to blood cholesterol. As a result, most consumers would prefer to have meats of lower total and saturated fat content. As a result some meats, such as beef, are declining in popularity. There also is a great interest in dieting and other means of controlling (i.e. reducing and/or maintaining) the body fat and/or body weight of humans.
There is an obvious need for both a safe and effective method of controlling the body fat of animals and for pharmaceutical compositions for use in a method of controlling body fat and/or body weight in humans.

Method for controlling body fat and/or body weight in animals and pharmaceutical compositions for use therein comprising 20-carbon conjugated unsaturated fatty acids


Disclosed is a method and a device for optimizing load balancing based on cloud monitoring that relate to loading balancing and that can improve the primary/backup Availability Zone (AZ) switchover efficiency of an load balancing instance by intelligently switching the preferences of load balancing devices. The method includes: obtaining statistics on traffic distribution within a controlled area of a load balancing system, statistics on backend servers within a plurality of AZs of the load balancing system, and monitored network quality of the AZs; determining an AZ suitable to serve as a corresponding primary AZ of a load balancing instance based on the traffic distribution statistics, the backend server statistics, and the monitored network quality; and performing a primary AZ switchover of the load balancing instance based on the determined result. The present application is intended for the optimizing of load balancing.

Efficient and accurate load balancing and scheduling technology is the foundation for the actual operations of cloud computing and large-scale application systems. Load balancing can enable the cloud computing platform to run stably and efficiently to fulfill high-volume concurrent requests, thus playing an important role in cloud computing and large-scale application systems. In the field of cloud computing, the so-called load balancing mainly refers to distributing a large number of client requests that arrive over a short period of time across multiple backend servers in a balanced and reasonable manner.
Load balancing systems of most current public clouds, however, support only primary/backup HA (High Availability) technology. When switching between primary and backup Availability Zones (AZ's), the route preferences of load balancing devices need to be adjusted manually; for example, a preference value filled in each AZ at the time of launching and routing of a load balancing instance needs to be modified manually. Then the route preferences are based on to make a decision on to which AZ the load balancing instance is to be distributed, thereby achieving the purpose of switching.
However, by manually adjusting the route preferences of load balancing devices, the primary/backup AZ switchover efficiency of the load balancing instance may be affected and the intelligent switching of the preferences of load balancing devices cannot be fulfilled. Furthermore, misoperations are also possible, affecting the primary/backup AZ switchover accuracy.

Methods and devices for optimizing load balancing based on cloud monitoring


A barrier configured to be located at a door a vehicle having a lift platform to enable an individual using a mobility device to exit and to enter an interior of the vehicle. The barrier includes a support base configured to be fixedly coupled to the vehicle. A first side and a second side each extend from the support base are spaced apart to define an access location for the individual using the mobility device. A barrier gate or a barrier plate include an entry position and a blocking position wherein, in at least one embodiment, movement of the lift platform moves the barrier plate from the entry position to the blocking position.

Vehicles that provide transportation, such as taxis and the like, can be adapted for mobility-challenged individuals in order to provide such individuals the ability to travel in a manner similar to ambulatory passengers. Some of these vehicles have consisted of full-sized vans having an electrical or hydraulic powered wheelchair lift installed on the vehicle to assist wheelchair occupants into and out of the van. These lifts consisted of a horizontal platform that translates vertically to allow the wheelchair or scooter occupant easy access from ground level to the interior of the vehicle for transport. Other vehicles may have a ramp that can be electrically, hydraulically, or manually operated.
Some form of lift allows the wheelchair occupant to be transported from the ground external to the vehicle to the floor within the modified vehicle. The lift is typically stored in a vertical position in the rear or slide door entrance of the vehicle. To access the lift, the lift may be rotated outwardly about a pivot consisting of the lower end of the lift located approximately at the floor of the van, until the opposite end of the lift comes into contact with the ground.
Corresponding reference numerals are used to indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

Movable baseplate cover and inboard barrier gate of a lift system for a motorized vehicle


A personal reach system includes a network, a personal reach unit, a cellular network, and a landline telephone station. The personal reach unit is coupled to the cellular network and the landline telephone through the network. When a first party pages a second party through the personal research unit, the first party is connected to the second party by either the personal reach unit through the landline telephone station or the cellular network through the cellular phone.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a personal reach service that provides an optional cellular network point of entry.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional cellular phones have become extremely popular. One of the reasons for this popularity is the ability to reach highly mobile individuals carrying cellular phones. Cellular phones have all the advantages of pagers with the additional convenience of being able to answer the page immediately with the cellular phone.
When answering a page using a cellular phone, a subscriber is connected with the paging party through a cellular network as well as through a bridging and signaling unit of a personal reach service system. Both the cellular network and a bridging and signaling unit of the personal reach service are required to provide the convenient option of answering a page via the cellular phone. Thus, the subscriber pays for both the cellular network and the bridging and signaling unit of the personal reach service resulting in a high cost to the subscriber. Accordingly, there is a need to reduce subscriber's cost for cellular phone paging.

Personal reach service with paging and optional point of entry via cellular network


The present invention are two crystalline salts, 17α-acetoxy-21-methoxy-11β-(4-,N,N-dimethylaminophenyl)-19 norpregna-4,9-diene-3,20-dione hydrochloride and 17α-acetoxy-21-methoxy-11β-(4-,N,N-dimethylaminophenyl)-19 norpregna-4,9-diene-3,20-dione hydrobromide, of the corresponding free base which is an amorphous solid.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention produces crystalline salts of a known 19-norsteroid which are useful as antiprogestational agents.
2. Description of the Related Art
International Publication WO97/41145 of PCT/US97/07373 patent application discloses 11β-(4-substitued)phenyl-21-substituted-19-norprogesterone derivatives useful as antiprogestational agents and processes to prepare these compounds. More specifically, International Publication WO97/41145 discloses 17α-acetoxy-21-methoxy-11β-(4-,N,N-dimethylaminophenyl)-19-norpregna-4,9-diene-3,20-dione, see Example IX, Step 10, compound 38. The 11β-(4-substitued)phenyl-21-substituted-19-norprogesterone derivatives are amorphous solids and difficult to work with. The compounds of the present invention are crystalline solids which are much easier to work with for pharmaceutical compounding purposes.
International Publication WO01/74840 of PCT/US01/08681 patent application discloses additional 11β-(4-substitued)phenyl-21-substituted-19-norprotesterone derivatives with the same utility as set forth in International Publication WO97/41145.


A rodent trap having a remote arming capability and a method of deploying a rodent trap in an unarmed state and then arming the trap after a wait period without the user having to again physically access the trap. The trap, preferably embodied as an electronic rodent trap, may be configured with wireless remote arming capability, timed arming functionality, activity based arming and the like. When in the unarmed state, the trap operates in a monitoring mode in which the trap can monitor and evaluate activity and/or interactions with the trap and can send and receive wireless communication signals.

Rodents, and rats in particular, are neophobic, meaning that they are skeptical of new objects in their environment. It is well documented that rodents will avoid a new object for a period of time which may be hours, days or even weeks, even if there is bait or food associated with the new object.
To deal with this neophobic tendency, one technique used by pest control professionals and other persons knowledgeable about trapping rodents is to introduce the rodent traps into an environment with bait but without being set. After a determined wait period has passed for the rodents to become acclimated to the traps, the pest control technician returns to the traps and sets them. This technique accomplishes at least two goals. First, the baited but innocuous state of the traps allows rodents to interact therewith for the wait period without being killed. Second, as rodents successfully feed at the traps without injury, they leave behind urine and scents/pheromones that are reassuring to other rodents, making them feel that the new object is safe to approach.
The drawback of the foregoing technique is the time and labor required to bait and place the traps without setting them, to thereafter leave the traps for the wait period, and to then return to actually set each of the traps at a later date.
Accordingly, a need exists for a device and method by which introduced rodent traps may be placed in a baited or unbaited configuration, but without being set, and then, after a waiting period, be non-manually activated or set, thereby eliminating the need for a technician to return to the traps a second time.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Self-arming electronic rodent trap and system and method for use thereof


A distributor for a post-combustion lance, comprising: an annular member, an inner reinforcing sleeve and an outer sleeve, wherein the inner reinforcing sleeve defines a plurality of first openings and the annular member defines a plurality of second openings, wherein each of the first and second openings is in fluid communication, directly or indirectly, with a first cooling fluid passageway of the lance. Each of the first openings may be contiguous with and in direct fluid communication with one of the second openings. Additionally, the annular member may define a plurality of third openings, wherein each of the third openings is in fluid communication with a second cooling fluid passageway of the lance.

As shown in FIG. 1, metallurgical processes such as basic oxygen steelmaking often employ large (typically, about 8 inches to about 16 inches in diameter, approximately 65-85 feet long, and up to approximately 10 tons in weight) water-cooled oxygen lances 1 to efficiently remove oxidizable elements from molten metal 8 below slag 7 in a metallurgical converter such as a basic oxygen furnace 6. Typically, in addition to the primary oxygen ports 2 at the tip 3 of the lance 1, the prior art oxygen lance 1 may include a ring 4 of small oxygen ports 5 located on the outside of the lance 1 a distance up the lance 1 from the primary oxygen tip 3. These lances 1 are known as post-combustion lances. The ring 4 of small ports 5 distributes oxygen to the furnace atmosphere to react with gases from the process and is known as a post-combustion (or "PC") distributor.
Due to heat transfer requirements, and also to protect the PC distributor from the furnace atmosphere and the localized heat generated from the post-combustion reaction, the PC distributor (and often, the piping associated therewith) is made of high thermal conductivity metals such as high purity copper.
Although the post-combustion lance often is used to direct oxygen into a metallurgical converter, various other gases may be directed through the lance, depending on the reactions desired. Any and all reaction gases directed through the lance are generally referred to hereinafter as a "gas" for convenience, it being understood that the gas may be oxygen or any other reactive or non-reactive gas or gases. Typically, the gas is injected through the lance at very high rates. For example, oxygen may be injected into the lance at rates of between 300 cubic meters/min. and 600 cubic meters/min.
As is well known in the art, lances are subjected to bending stresses during their service lives, particularly during loading and unloading operations and during lance deskulling operations when the lance is typically placed horizontally on the service floor. During movement of the lance, whether for installation or deskulling, the lance typically is lifted only at the upper end (i.e., above the distributor) with the tip at the lower end resting on the floor at some point during such movements. Accordingly, the prior art lance typically is subject to deflection (i.e., substantially or at least partially transverse deflection) due to the bending loads to which it is subjected.
The maintenance interval for a lance is normally driven by lance tip life, with the lance body lasting many times the life of the tip. Lances equipped with the PC distributor typically are prone to severe bending (i.e., permanent deflection) and, in some cases, failure at the PC distributor, because of the relatively low yield strength of the high thermal conductivity components in the PC distributor. Since the introduction of the mid-lance PC distributor (i.e., at least in the 1980s, and possibly earlier), no effective solutions to the bending and/or failure problems have been implemented. Prior art post-combustion lances typically bend after a relatively short period in service, requiring relatively frequent replacement of the PC distributor.
Previous attempts to address this problem included the development of external removable protective sleeves which are put on new and refurbished PC distributor equipped lances to protect the lances during shipping to the user's facilities. However, the protective sleeves must be removed before the lance is put into service. In practice, sleeves are typically removed prior to completion of the unloading and installation of the lance. As a result, the lance is often bent subsequent to the protective sleeve removal, i.e., during the completion of installation, while in service, or while the lance is loaded back onto the truck for return and repair at the end of its maintenance interval.
Other attempts to address these problems included the use of an internal reinforcing tube disposed within the main gas passageway with apertured support collars that allow gas flow through the collars, wherein the internal reinforcing tube is not part of the PC distributor but extends within the main gas passageway upstream and downstream of the PC distributor.

Reinforced distributor for post-combustion lance


A computer implemented user contribution method is provided. The method includes receiving identifying information from a plurality of users and receiving from the plurality of users indications of one or more geographic areas. A quality value of the one or more geographic areas is determined based on the indications of the one or more geographic areas from the plurality of users, and the quality value is transmitted to one or more of the plurality of users. The present invention further provides a user contribution based mapping system.

As increasingly unfettered mobility has become a normal part of modern life, people frequently desire to determine a quality of a particular travel destination. They may want to know typical traffic conditions of a particular road, whether a particular neighborhood is safe and accommodating to children, or whether a particular area is more residential or commercial in nature. Someone may desire this information for their own direct benefit, or alternatively, for use in supervising travel of others who they are responsible for, such as their children or employees. Teachers or parents may require that children for whom they are responsible avoid certain locations or adhere to certain pre-defined routes on their way to and from school or other destinations. Employers, in an effort to enhance worker productivity, may wish to enforce schedules defining where employees should be at particular times during the work day.
Locatable mobile devices such as mobile telephones, cellular-enabled personal computers and GPS systems provide reliable means to determine the location of a user. It would be desirable to provide effective methods for determining a quality of a particular geographic area and for establishing and maintaining mobility control over a user of a locatable mobile device.

User contribution based mapping system and method


A method, computer program product, and system for generating holistic maps and relocating social media assets. The computer may receive a plurality of social media assets to be relocated or merged from a user. A snapshot of each asset within the plurality of social media assets may be generated. The snapshot may be a record of the plurality of social media assets at any one time. A machine learning model may be generated for the plurality of social media assets based on the generated snapshot. A projected location may be identified based on the generated machine learning model. A new snapshot may be generated based on the projected location. It may be determined whether a transaction was successful based on a comparison of the snapshot with the new snapshot. An action may be performed based on the determination.

The present invention relates generally to the field of relocating assets, and more particularly to relocating social media assets with holistic mapping.
Many times, a company will acquire another company that has social media assets or they want to consolidate multiple channels within the company. A lot of the time this requires manually backing up the assets and then manually uploading them. This can change the Uniform Resource Locators (URL's), delay search engine indexing, comments/votes/likes/dislikes can be lost, subscribers/followers can be lost, and any tags or descriptions must be re-entered when they are not automatically moved. Holistic mapping and relocation of social media assets will maintain the original URL's, complete holistic maps of attributes such as tags and description, pull the comments across different channels for summarization, and maintain current subscription levels.

International Business Machines Corporation


In an inner memory type tamper resistant microprocessor, a requested secret protection attribute requested for each access target memory page by a task is set and stored exclusively from other tasks, at a time of reading a program into memory pages and executing the program as the task, and a memory secret protection attribute is set and stored for each access target memory page by the task, at a time of executing the task. Then, an access to each access target memory page is refused when the requested secret protection attribute for each access target memory page and the memory secret protection attribute for each access target memory page do not coincide.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tamper resistant microprocessor capable of preventing the illegal alteration of execution codes and processing target data under the multi-task program execution environment, which has a large capacity internal memory capable of storing a plurality of programs and their work areas, that is provided inside a package.
2. Description of the Related Art
The open system is widely spread today as an information network system. In the open system, hardware information of a computer for general user such as PC and system program (or OS) information are disclosed, and the end-user can make any desired improvement by modifying the system program.
Under such a circumstance, in order to guarantee the copyright protection for data handled by application programs or the copyright protection for programs themselves, there is a need for hardware that protects the secret of the program, which is based on the presumption that the OS of the system can carry out hostile operations with respect to applications. Such hardware has been proposed especially in a form of a microprocessor (see commonly assigned co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/781,158 and No. 09/781,284; and Lie et al., "Architectural Support for Copy and Tamper Resistant Software", Computer Architecture News 28(5), pp. 168-).
These microprocessors have a function for encrypting a program and data handled by that program under the multi-task environment in order to protect them from the peeping and the alteration. In the following, such a microprocessor will be referred to as a tamper resistant microprocessor.
The main purpose of the tamper resistant microprocessor is to protect the rights of the copyright owners of programs, contents and network services by protecting applications operated on the end-user's system. More specifically, three major concerns are:
(1) the protection of secrets of algorithms implemented in programs;
(2) the protection of secrets of trade secrets and contents embedded in programs, or the protection against the illegal copying; and
(3) the protection of the program operations and the processing results against the alteration.
The protection of algorithms implemented in programs is necessary in order to protect the copyright owners of the programs. The protection of the trade secrets embedded in programs is necessary in order to prevent illegal copies of copyright protected contents handled by the programs. In the application in which a program that utilizes a network service exchanges a charging information with a server, it is particularly important to prevent the illegal alteration so that the charging information transmission operation is executed properly, for the purpose of protecting the right of the service provider. As a practical example, it is well known that a program for reproducing DVD on PC was analyzed to obtain the trade secret for decrypting the encryption of DVD and a program (DeCSS) for illegally copying DVD was produced.
Here, the currently proposed application program secret protection mechanisms in the open system will be briefly described, according to the proposition made by the present inventors and others (see commonly assigned co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/781,158, 09/781,284, 09/984,407 and 10/059,217, for example). The exemplary mechanism described here has the feature that it is capable of protecting secrets independently from the OS that manages the system resources, for each one of a plurality of programs of a plurality of program vendors that are to be operated in a pseudo-parallel manner on a single system. Such a protection environment will be referred to as a "multi-party application protection environment".
FIG. 11 shows an outline of the currently proposed multi-party application protection environment. A target system (PC, for example) 1102 has a built-in tamper resistant microprocessor 1103, as well as a secondary memory 1107 such as hard disk and a memory 1108 provided at external of the processor. The system 1102 and a user 1112 constitute a system environment 1101.
A plurality of different program vendors 1121-1 to 1121-n respectively deliver the encrypted programs 1123-1 to 1123-n to the target system 1102 through a network. The encrypted program will be also referred to as a protected program.
The encrypted program delivered from the vendor is stored in the secondary memory 1107 of the target system 11-2, and read into a region 1109 secured on the external memory 1108 at a time of the execution. On the external memory, the program is still in the encrypted state. The encrypted program is decrypted when it is read from the external memory 1108 into the microprocessor 1103. The decryption processing is carried out by the protection function 1106 by using a key sent from the vendor in correspondence to each program. The decrypted program is read into the cache memory 11-4. In the decryption of the program and the reading into the cache memory 1104, the entire program is not read all at once, and the reading is carried out portion by portion according to the execution of the program. The program portion read into the cache memory is in the plaintext state.
Inside the microprocessor 1102, the program is handled in the plaintext form by the protection function 1106, and there is no room for the OS 1110 to intervene. Also, the content of the cache memory 1104 cannot be directly read from the external, except for the operation defined by the specification of the microprocessor 1103.
On the other hand, in recent years, due to the advance of the integrated circuit technology, it becomes possible to implement a large capacity memory within the same package as the microprocessor. In such an internal memory type processor, even though there is a limit to the maximum memory capacity, there is a possibility of reducing the encryption processing load at times of the memory reading or writing which has been an overhead in the conventional tamper resistant processor that presupposes the external memory.
However, even if the memory is arranged inside the microprocessor as an internal memory, the memory resource management is under the management of the OS so that there is a possibility for the hostile operations by the OS. Consequently, in the internal memory type microprocessor, there is a need for the program secret protection under the management of the OS, but there has been no concrete proposition for realizing the secret protection.
In addition, in the case of processing a plurality of different encrypted programs rather than a single program, in a pseudo-parallel manner in the internal memory type microprocessor, there is a need to guarantee the secret protection for each one of a plurality of programs individually, but there has been no proposition in this regard either.
In order to realize the multi-task processing while guaranteeing the secret protection in the internal memory type tamper resistant microprocessor, the following should be taken into consideration:
(1) the integrity of the memory operations that can protect a plurality of programs from the intentional alteration;
(2) the compatibility of the resource management by the OS and the secret protection of the internal memory; and
(3) the communications between the task and the OS.
More specifically, in the case where some task carries out the "n" memory operations with respect to some address in the internal memory, it must be protected during this process from the memory operations by another task as well as from the intentional attack by the OS. This is because the execution of the task comprises many instruction steps, and the correct result can be obtained only when all of these are executed correctly. In the case where the attacker including the OS executes only some part of the program or excludes only a specific operation among a series of memory operations, the operation of the program is willfully changed and the correct program execution becomes impossible.
Also, at a time of the memory page operation that is carried out by the OS as a part of the resource management, there is a possibility for an attack utilizing the release of the memory, and in order to eliminate such an attack, there is a need to make the resource management and the program secret protection compatible.
In addition, when the task issues a system call, the data exchange with the OS is carried out and for this purpose there is a need to carry out the communications by sharing the memory with the OS.
Here, consider the internal memory type processor to which the protection mechanism of the conventional external memory type tamper resistant microprocessor is directly applied. First, the main internal memory is divided into units (4 Kbyte pages) called blocks or pages. Inside the processor, a table for maintaining the secret protection attribute for each memory page is provided, where a table entry maintains the secret protection attribute of a corresponding memory page. In the secret protection attribute descriptor of the memory page operated by the task TØ, the ID of the task TØ is automatically set such that it becomes impossible for the other tasks including the OS to read or write the content in plaintext.
However, the OS can forcefully release the secret protection attribute of some memory page for the purpose of the re-utilization of the memory page. When the secret protection attribute of the memory page is released, the content of the page is completely deleted and initialized to the prescribed value, so that the secret of the original task can be protected.
Now, suppose that the task TØ carries out the "n" memory operations Op1 to Opn with respect to the memory page MØ of some address AØ, from the initial state of the memory page MØ. The initial state may be indeterminate, and the purpose is to obtain the result in the final state by surely carrying out the operations Op1 to Opn. Of course the memory operations by another task should not be mixed during this process.
The memory operation by the general task can be eliminated by the conventional external memory type protection mechanism. However, an attack in which the OS releases the secret protection attribute of the memory page MØ and then rewrites this page by the intended data of the attacker cannot be eliminated or detected even when the external memory type protection mechanism is directly applied to the internal memory type. The secret of data before the releasing of the secret protection attribute can be protected, but the replacement by the other data cannot be prevented.
As a result, the attacker having the OS privilege can freely rewrite the secret memory content of the task according to the attacker's intention.
The forceful releasing of the secret protection attribute of the memory page can be a threat to the task secret protection. However, under the multi-task system, it is impossible to use a configuration which does not have such a forceful release function such that only the task itself can release the protection attribute, because in such a configuration, it becomes impossible for the OS to control the situation where some task occupies an excessively large part of the memory.
Also, the memory access in the non-protected state for the purpose of carrying out communications between the OS and the task and the protected memory access must be compatible.

Internal memory type tamper resistant microprocessor with secret protection function