A method and apparatus for handling a large-capacity register file by using a small instruction field as to support a software pipeline. The invention includes a register file having a plurality of physical registers corresponding to a plurality of physical register numbers and a converter which converts logical register numbers included in instructions to be executed into physical register numbers. A physical register, which is used when a logical register is accessed as a result of execution of an instruction, is specified by a pointer corresponding to the logical register number included in the instruction. The pointer used for the access is incremented if so specified in the instruction to ensure that subsequent instructions making access to the same logical register use different physical registers.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus that performs instruction level parallel processing. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus including a register configuration suited for a software pipeline which is a software technique that makes the instruction level parallel processor function effective, and to a processor having such a register configuration.
The performance of a computer is determined by a machine cycle and the number of clock cycles per instruction (CPI). Hence, it is important to reduce the machine cycle and the CPI in improving the performance of a computer. Conventional techniques for reducing the CPI include organizing instructions into a software pipeline and an instruction level parallel processing as represented by superscalar processing and very long instruction word (VLIW) processing.
The pipeline is a parallel processing technique that divides the execution of a single instruction into a plurality of small stages, such as fetch, decode, execute and write-back, and simultaneously executes a plurality of instructions among the stages. This pipeline theoretically can make the CPI equal to a unit by processing each stage in one machine cycle.
Instruction level parallel processing can execute a larger number of instructions simultaneously by performing the pipeline on a plurality of instructions at once and aims at realizing the CPI of less than 1. The difference between superscalar and VLIW processing in terms of instructions performed at the same time is that for superscalar processing, executable instructions are selected dynamically from an instruction sequence by hardware and then executed, whereas VLIW processing has an instruction format that allows specifying a plurality of operations with a single instruction, with the simultaneously executable operations being statically set in an instruction by the compiler.
In using the processor employing these techniques, what is most important is to arrange instructions by the compiler so as to keep the pipeline filled with valid instructions. This is more important for the VLIW system that do not have the function to select executable instructions dynamically. The software technique for arranging instructions by the compiler in a software pipeline is hereinafter referred to as SWPL. The SWPL divides an instruction sequence of a loop body shown in FIG. 1 into a plurality of lumps (hereinafter referred to as stages of SWPL) based on the dependency relationship between instructions and the number of resources and then puts new iteration stages into the pipeline for each machine cycle called a prologue interval, as shown in FIG. 2. As a result, in an ideal steady state interval, all the stages with different iterations (iteration is a single loop in the loop processing) are executed at once, so a high level of parallelism can be obtained, allowing efficient use of the processor that performs the instruction pipeline and the instruction level parallel processing. Thereafter a decreasing number of iteration stages are executed until the end of the instruction sequence in a epilogue interval.
With the processor that has only ordinary registers, however, when there is a read operation for the same register that has been written into, because the correct order of the read with respect to the write must be guaranteed, it is necessary that the write into the register in the subsequent iteration be scheduled after the read from the register in the current iteration. That is, the write and the read for the same register must be sequenced. Thus, the number of instructions that can possibly be executed simultaneously decreases, giving rise to the problem of reduced effectiveness of the software pipeline.
Regarding this problem, there is disclosed in "A Register File Architecture For Instruction Level Parallel Processing and Its Evaluation" by H. Fuji, et al, Parallel Processing Symposium JSPP'93, pages 307-314, 1993 (referred to as a first conventional technique), a method whereby a physical register of queue structure and a pointer for read/write of physical registers are provided for each logical register specified by an instruction. The pointer is incremented by a register control field in a logical register specification field of the instruction according to whether read or write is specified. By advancing the pointer when writing the data into the register, it is possible to control the register writing associated with the same instruction so that the write can be made to different physical registers at different iterations, which in turn allows the write to the same logical register at a subsequent iteration to be executed prior to the read. "Code Generation Scheme For Modules Scheduled Loops" by B. Ramakrishna, et al., IEEE, pp 158-169, 1992 (referred to as a second conventional technique), proposes a method in which a base register for a physical register is provided, wherein an access is made to the physical register according to a value, which is the sum of the logical register number specified by the instruction and the value of the base register; and wherein the base register is decremented each time a new software pipeline (SWPL) stage is thrown in. In this method, because the write of subsequent iteration is thrown in as a new SWPL stage, even the same logical register numbers have different base register values and can obtain different physical register numbers, thus allowing the write of subsequent iteration to be performed before the read operation.
In the first conventional technique, when ordinary use of register during the execution of instructions is considered, a number of same logical registers are sometimes read out overlapping different SWPL stages in order to reuse as many register values as possible. In that case, this technique performs control to update the pointer by only the last register read and use the same physical register for the remaining accesses. Thus, because the write of subsequent iteration cannot be executed before the last read, the prologue interval increases. In the event that a reuse of register beyond the current SWPL stage occurs, it is necessary to insert a copy instruction to make the interval from register definition to register use less than the initiation interval. This gives rise to a problem of software overhead due to copy instruction and consumption of logical registers for the copy operation.
Further, because each logical register has an independent physical register, a value defined by a certain logical register number cannot be read out by another logical register. Hence, even if there are a sufficient number of physical registers as a whole, only the physical registers associated with the logical registers used by the instructions are used, deteriorating the utilization of the physical registers.
In the second conventional technique, because the field representing a logical register in an instruction must be able to specify all physical registers, the register field increases with the capacity of the physical registers. Another problem is that because the base register and logical register numbers are added up when making a register access, the register access time may increase. The former problem, in particular, becomes large when a VLIW is used because a number of register specifying fields are contained in one instruction. Further, an instruction for updating the base register at each repetition of loop must be added and this results in a software overhead.

Processor having a register configuration suited for parallel execution control of loop processing


The invention relates to a method for producing enantiomers form of 2,3-diaminopropionic acid derivatives of formula (I) by asymmetric hydrogenation from compounds of formula (II).

It is known that α,β-diaminopropionic acid derivatives can be prepared by Rh-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation according to Scheme 1 (J Org Chem, Vol. 66, 11, 2001, pages 4141-4147). However, the asymmetric hydrogenation succeeds only when both nitrogen atoms have been acylated.

The attempt to hydrogenate N,N-dimethyleneamines or N,N-dimethylene-enamines was without success.

Method for producing enantiomeric form of 2,3-diaminopropionic acid derivatives


A nonwoven web is made by displacing an air-permeable mesh-belt conveyor in a horizontal travel direction and spinning and then depositing crimped continuous filaments as a web at a deposit region on the air-permeable mesh-belt conveyor. A first preconsolidation stage is provided downstream of the deposit region and a second preconsolidation separated by a suction gap from the first stage. Air is drawn air through the web and the conveyor at the deposit region at a first predetermined speed, the first and second consolidation stages at a second and third predetermined speeds, and at the suction gap either not at all or at a fourth predetermined equal to at most substantially less than the second predetermined speed.

In such an apparatus at least one spinneret or at least one spinning beam spins the filaments and deposits them on an air-permeable deposit conveyor, in particular a mesh belt, as a nonwoven web of the continuous filaments. Continuous filaments differ due to their almost endless length from staple filaments that have significantly shorter lengths of for example 10 mm to 60 mm. The nonwoven web made according to the invention is preferably composed of such continuous filaments. The apparatus according to the invention is particularly preferably a spunbonding apparatus, the method according to the invention is a spunbonding method and the nonwoven web made is a spunbonded nonwoven web.
An apparatus and method of the type described above are known from practice and from the prior art in various embodiments. For many applications, nonwoven webs having a considerable thickness and a high degree of softness are required. These are so-called high-loft products or high-loft nonwovens. Considerable thickness of a nonwoven web is usually achieved by using crimped filaments. In particular, multicomponent filaments or bicomponent filaments with side-by-side configuration or with eccentric core-sheath configuration are used for this purpose. Achieving a large thickness and considerable softness is often associated with a relatively low strength of the nonwoven web. This applies both to the tensile strength of the nonwoven web in the machine direction (MD) and to the abrasion resistance of the nonwoven web surface. Increases in thickness and/or softness generally have a detrimental effect on strength, and conversely increases in strength due to strengthening of the nonwoven web lead to a reduction in thickness and/or a decrease in softness of the nonwovens. Therefore, there is a conflict of objectives when creating high-loft products.
Another problem with the manufacture of high-loft nonwovens is that the deposited nonwoven webs often do not have the desired homogeneity, particularly with regard to their surface. Defect sites in the nonwoven surface or nonwoven area are often found. Such defect sites are mainly caused by backflow effects (so-called blow-back effects). When the nonwoven web deposited on the deposit conveyor changes from a more suctioned region of the deposit conveyor to a less suctioned region of the deposit conveyor, filaments or nonwoven components are withdrawn from the less suctioned region into the more suctioned region (blow-back effect). This results in disturbing defect sites or filament clumps in the nonwoven web or in the nonwoven web surface. Thus, there is room for improvement.

Method and apparatus for making a nonwoven from crimped filaments

REIFENHAEUSER GMBH & CO. KG MASCHINENFABRIK


A valve assembly including a block forming a bore. An air inlet opening is in communication with the bore, and provides a volume of air into the bore. The bore provides communication between the air inlet opening and at least one air outlet passage. A fuel inlet opening is in communication with the bore, and provides a volume of fuel into the bore. The bore provides communication between the fuel inlet opening and at least one fuel outlet passage. A pintle is slidably positionable within the bore to control the volume of air directed out of the bore through the air outlet passage and the volume of fuel directed out of the bore through the fuel outlet passage.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an air:fluid distribution system and, more particularly, to an air:fluid distribution system including a valve assembly that regulates or controls an amount of air and an amount of fluid that enters the valve assembly and/or exits the valve assembly.
2. Description of Related Art
Optimal mixtures are dependent on the provision of an exact amount or volume of two or more fluids (such as air and fuel, pigment and concentrates, or a liquid and powdered mass) and the mixture of the optimized quantities within a flow pattern that enables the required degree of atomization and mixedness. In existing systems, a lack of consistency exists between individual batches (such as paint, processed food, or medicinal mixtures) and within combustion processes for a number of reasons. For example, exact or optimal amounts of fluids are seldom consistently delivered by weight or by volume because of variances in air pressure, humidity and/or temperature. In addition, an incomplete or inexact atomization and mixedness may result from the failure to optimize the momentum and velocity of the air and fluid flow from the point of delivery within a forced swirling vortex. The resulting axial velocity of the air and fluid flow may also be negatively affected by adverse pressure gradients, nozzles and/or friction. In certain configurations, such as those that use fan assemblies, centrifugal rather than centripetal force directs the flow outward to points of dissolution or recirculation rather than inward toward the center. Finally, a turbulent flow rather than a laminar flow is typically used to direct the fluids.
Numerous processes are designed to function with a predetermined theoretical stochiometric amount of air and fluid. While this is especially the case in terms of combustible fluids, this stochiometric or theoretically exact air:fuel ratio is seldom if ever achieved in currently available heating units (including, but not limited to, standard and industrial furnaces, boilers, hot water heaters, dryers, torches, stoves, auxiliary heating devices and heat engines). This occurs for various reasons, including the fact that the flow of the fuel is closely controlled either manually or automatically, while the air required for the purposes of combustion is either unregulated or more loosely regulated than the fuel. In addition, if a greater amount of air is delivered by using a fan or other means, the air flow is delivered to the inlet in a centrifugal rather than a centripetal vortex. As a result, a significant reduction in economy and efficiency occurs as systems draw in ambient air at a less-than-optimal ratio and at a volume and density that is deleteriously affected by changes in temperature, pressure, humidity and altitude, as well as the amount, velocity and momentum of the flow.
In actual combustion processes, a slightly excess amount of air that is greater than the stochiometric amount is required for the more complete combustion of the air:fuel mixture. The optimal amount required for a more complete combustion is dependent on the design and intended use of the burner or unit. Although the amount of oxygen required for a more optimal combustion could be increased by compressing the charge, in the past, the costs associated with supplying compressed air have not been sufficiently low to warrant the development of such a distribution system. In addition, the focus of air:fuel induction systems has been on the required or stochiometric ratio rather than on the ratio necessary to achieve the optimal mixture.
In standard existing heat engines, the amount of oxygen delivered to individual cylinders and the associated turbulence is dependent on speed, and the greatest amount of turbulence occurs with the throttle wide open. Systems that use fans, turbochargers or superchargers to increase the flow of air directed into the intake manifold or engine cylinders create a swirling centrifugal vortex. If the centrifugal vortex extends into each cylinder, the flow is toward the outside rather than the interior of the piston where the mixture would pick up more residual gases acting as insulators. If the amount of the air charge is not regulated, excess boost pressure created by a turbocharger or supercharger must be controlled by a waste gate that is opened mechanically, a vacuum diaphragm or other means. Conventional fuel injection systems typically create a spray that is not effectively mixed with air that is injected or otherwise introduced under greater pressure than the fuel. As a result, the amount of atomization and mixedness is not enhanced to enable a more complete pyrolysis of the mixture.

Air:fluid distribution system and method


A motion behavior pattern classification method, system and device relating to the human motion recognition field. The method includes: S1, determining a candidate motion behavior pattern which includes a motion behavior pattern to be classified; S2, acquiring time series of behavior data of the candidate motion behavior pattern through a motion control sensor; S3, establishing an LSTM motion behavior pattern classification model through the time series; S4, predicting the motion behavior pattern to be classified through the LSTM motion pattern classification model, comparing the prediction result obtained using the sequence within the T time with the prediction result obtained using the sequence within the T+Δt time using the iterative process to obtain the final prediction result, wherein T1≤T≤T2, T1>0, T2>T1, and the incremental step is set to be Δt, Δt>0. The technical solution of the present invention may improve accuracy while reducing the latency of the motion behavior pattern classification.

The application of sensor-based motion recognition in modern society is becoming more and more popular. Especially, the appearance of consumer-level devices for Virtual Reality (VR), such as Oculus, HTC Vive and the like, and the maturing technology lead to an increasing interest of the mass consumers on VR applications. The characteristic of immersive experience that brings by the VR application shows its extraordinary potential in the fields of education, broadcasting, entertainment etc. Enabling the experiencer to move freely in the virtual scene and ensuring the maximum degree of naturalness in the movement process is a critical functions of the VR applications, is also a major goal of researchers' ongoing efforts.
At present, motion modes mainly applied to VR environments for interaction mainly includes: in-place motion and motion based on an assistant device, such as a joystick, a handle or the like. Obviously, the natural motion mode completely identical with that in real world is the best motion mode capable of providing the best immersive experience, the highest intuition, and the greatest naturalness. However, it is always a challenging task to map the motion in real world to a standard motion capture system in the VR environment, such as Vicon, because it requires additional efforts in setting up external devices (specialized cameras and tracking suits etc.) will bring huge overhead in production, time and computing. Although alternative solutions, such as Kinect, can implement fast setup and accurate locating, users are physically constrained in a limited locomotion space and may not use such devices in outdoor environment due to the influence of the factors, such as light and noise etc.
Therefore, exploring a set of solutions that allow users to map their motion behaviors to virtual scenes in an intuitive and natural interactive manner in complex and changeable real scenes is significant for the long-term development of VR technology.

Motion behavior pattern classification method, system and device


There is provided a base station comprising: an estimation unit for estimating a second or higher order statistics for each user terminal in a set of user terminals to be served; an estimation unit for estimating a scheduling metric based on the estimated second or higher order statistics; and a scheduling unit for controlling scheduling based on the estimated scheduling metric.

In a multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) uplink channel, the presence of multiple receive antennas enables a base station to serve a number of users simultaneously, thus increasing overall system throughput. In practice, users have to be scheduled instead of being served all at once. In the MIMO uplink channel, several transmitters (e.g. user terminals) send data to a single receiver (e.g. base station) simultaneously. Such a concurrent transmission is enabled by the presence of multiple antennas at the base station, which can apply spatial processing to separate data streams. Having multiple antennas, the base station is able to receive data streams from several users concurrently by exploiting the spatial properties of the transmission channel, resulting in a significantly enhanced system throughput. The concept of serving several users at the same resource is sometimes also referred to as "Virtual MIMO".
A practical problem in this situation is the difficulty of selecting a suitably small user subset for simultaneous transmission (multi-user scheduling). The number of simultaneously decodable independent data streams is in practice limited by the number of receive antennas at the base station; therefore, it is usually not possible to serve all the users in the same resource unit. Instead, a subset of users has to be selected by the base station for simultaneous transmission. A spatial compatibility metric (scheduling metric) is used for evaluating which users can be beneficially grouped together. Based on a scheduling metric, a scheduling algorithm is employed which checks certain candidate groupings via their respective compatibility metric value, and it finally makes a scheduling decision. A straight-forward scheduling algorithm is an exhaustive search which probes all possible user combinations and picks the one with the best scheduling metric. However, this approach is often practically infeasible due to its excessive computational complexity.
Suboptimal scheduling algorithms aiming at reduced complexity have been proposed, e.g., based on sequential scheduling, simulated annealing, and a tree data structure. As a scheduling metric, instantaneous channel capacity, resulting SINR, or related measures such as the minimal transmit power necessary for achieving a given target performance have been proposed. However, these known approaches are based on instantaneous channel knowledge, such as SINR, or capacity used for calculating the scheduling metric. This makes the amount of required channel sounding at each transmission band excessive at the scheduling stage, thus increasing the usage of radio system resources.

Scheduling method, radio system, base station, and scheduling module


An optical disc drive, and a method of driving the optical disc drive are provided. Where the optical disc drive has a connectivity or a compatibility with a host that is incompatible with the optical disc drive, a file system and device information accepted by the host are provided. The host may have a compatibility with limited external medium devices and a specific command set for data exchange. The optical disc drive and the method of driving the optical disc drive may transmit compatible information to the host and select the specific command set accepted by the host, so that the optical disc drive is compatible with the host.

1. Field
The following description relates to an optical disc drive having a compatibility with an audio/video (A/V) host and a method of driving the optical disc drive.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optical disc drives, which are one of optical medium devices, may store and reproduce information. Formats of optical disc drives may include compact discs (CDs) and digital versatile discs (DVDs) and may further include blue-ray discs (BDs). Recently, most optical medium devices may secure a compatibility with CDs and DVDs. Even optical medium devices having a compatibility with BDs are popularized.
Further, information display devices may include general-purpose devices such as computers, for example. Other information display devices may include TV receiver sets, which receive broadcasting via a terrestrial wave, a coaxial cable, the Internet, and the like. The TV receiver sets may be general-purpose image display devices capable of receiving various types of information in real-time. The TV receiver sets recently may include a function allowing access to peripheral devices and displaying various types of contents stored in the peripheral devices.
Audio/video (A/V) hosts including the TV receiver sets allow only a limited connectivity, and thus lack compatibility with various types of media. Furthermore, A/V devices may have a universal serial bus (USB) host function to reproduce multimedia content stored in USB storage devices (a USB memory, an MP3 player, a portable HDD, etc.) that are currently connected to the A/V devices. However, since A/V devices support only a file allocation table (FAT) file system defined by the International Standard Organization (ISO) 9293, the A/V devices are unable to reproduce data of optical discs that use a compact disc file system (CDFS) or a universal disc format (UDF) file system.

Selective interfacing apparatus and method

Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology Korea Corporation


An exemplary UCL estimation system including: an output section configured to present to a user a first sound, and a second sound after lapse of a first predetermined time from a point of presenting the first sound, the first sound having a sound pressure within a predetermined sound pressure range, and the second sound having a same sound pressure as that of the first sound; a measurement section configured to measure an electroencephalogram signal of the user; an extraction section configured to extract, from an electroencephalogram signal measured within a second predetermined time from a point of presenting the second sound, a characteristic amount of an event-related potential of the signal; and an estimation section configured to estimate, by referring to a predetermined relationship between characteristic amount values of event-related potential and uncomfortableness threshold values, an uncomfortableness threshold value corresponding to the extracted characteristic amount of the potential.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a technique of assessing whether a speech sound has been comfortably heard or not. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a device, method, program, and the like for estimating an uncomfortableness threshold value for a pure tone or a speech sound, for the "fitting" of a hearing aid or the like to provide a sound of appropriate loudness for each individual user by adjusting the amount of amplification of external sounds with respect to each frequency.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, people suffering from presbycusis are increasing in number due to the aging society. Due to the increased opportunities for listening to loud music for long hours as well as other influences, there is an increasing number of young people suffering from hypacusia associated with acoustic traumas. Moreover, due to the downsizing and improved performance of hearing aids, users have come to wear hearing aids with less of a psychological barrier. This has led to an increasing number of users wearing hearing aids.
A user suffering from hypacusia has difficulty in hearing sounds of a specific frequency(s). This specific frequency varies from user to user. A hearing aid amplifies the amplitude of a sound signal at this specific frequency, thus making it easier for the user to hear sounds.
A hearing aid is required to change the amount by which it amplifies sounds, in accordance with the level of deterioration in the hearing of the user. Therefore, before beginning use of a hearing aid, "fitting" is required for adjusting the amount of sound amplification in accordance with the hearing of each user.
The purpose of fitting is to keep the output sound pressure of a hearing aid at an MCL (most comfortable level). As used herein, the "output sound pressure" of a hearing aid refers to the fluctuations in air pressure that are perceivable to humans as a sound. The MCL defines a sound pressure which guarantees comfortable hearing by the user. The hearing aid needs to ensure that the output sound pressure satisfies MCL for each sound frequency.
Examples of inappropriate fitting may be: (1) an insufficient amount of amplification for sound pressure; or (2) an excessive amount of amplification for sound pressure. For example, if the amount of amplification for sound pressure is insufficient, the user cannot aurally distinguish audios. In this case, the aforementioned purpose of using a hearing aid is not met. If the amount of amplification for sound pressure is excessive, the user is capable of aural distinction of audios, but may find the audio to be loud, which prevents the user from using the hearing aid over a long time. Therefore, a fitting of a hearing aid needs to be done in such a manner that neither (1) nor (2) occurs. Especially (2) possesses a possibility that the hearing aid may present an audio with an unduly high sound pressure to the user. This has created danger of hurting the user's ear with audios having high sound pressure.
Fitting generally comes into two steps. A first step of fitting is measuring an audiogram. An "audiogram" refers to a measurement of a threshold value (hearing threshold level: HTL) defining the smallest sound pressure of a pure tone that allows it to be heard by a user. An audiogram may be, for example, a diagram in which such a threshold value (decibel value) is plotted for different frequencies (e.g., 250 Hz, 500 Hz, 1000 Hz, 2000 Hz, 4000 Hz).
A second step of fitting is determining an amount of amplification for sound pressure. For example, by using a mathematical function (called a fitting theory) for estimating an amount of sound amplification, an amount of amplification is determined for each frequency and for each sound pressure of an input sound. There are a number of types of fitting theories, for example: the half-gain method, in which an insertion gain of each frequency is made half of the threshold value of that frequency; Berger's method, which slightly augments the amplify from 1000 Hz to 4000 Hz by taking into consideration the frequency band and level of conversational voices; the POGO method which, based on the half-gain method, reduces the gains at 250 Hz and 500 Hz (where there is not so much speech sound information but a lot of noise component is included) by 10 dB and 5 dB, respectively; and the NAL-R method, which performs amplification so that a frequency of long-term sound analysis of words will fall around a comfortable level.
Moreover, the "fitting theory" is also inclusive of a method of determining an amount of amplification for sound pressure by utilizing the information of a threshold value, a UCL (uncomfortable level) which is a high sound pressure level that is felt uncomfortable to the user, and the MCL. In that case, before determining an amount of amplification for sound pressure, the UCL and MCL are either measured or estimated. In order to avoid problem (2) above, it is necessary to measure the UCL, and set an amount of amplification in a range such that the UCL is not exceeded.
Similarly to audiogram measurement, a UCL is to be measured for each frequency. Conventionally, the UCL is measured based on subjective reporting. "Subjective reporting" involves, after a user hears a sound, the user making a subjective account as to how the sound was felt to him or her. For example, while using an audiometer, continuous sounds or discontinuous sounds are presented to the user by using an ascending method (i.e., the sound pressure level is gradually increased), and the user is asked to report whether the sound pressure is so loud that he or she cannot tolerate hearing it for a long time. Then, a sound pressure beyond which the user cannot retain tolerance over a long time, according to their own reporting, is defined as a UCL (Takashi KIMITSUKI et al., "Inner ear auditory testing in patients with normal hearing showing hyperacusis", 2009; hereinafter "Non-Patent Document 1").
A UCL measurement through subjective reporting is difficult because the UCL criterion will fluctuate under individual influences or the influences of linguistic expressions, and thus there is no established technique. Therefore, methods of taking an objectively measurement of UCL by using electroencephalogram are under development. For example, in a technique disclosed in Thornton, A. R. et al., "The objective estimation of loudness discomfort level using auditory brainstem evoked responses", Scandinavian Audiology, Vol. 16, No. 4, P. 219-225, 1987 (hereinafter "Non-Patent Document 2"), a UCL is estimated based on a relationship between the stimulation intensity and the latency of a V wave that is contained in a brainstem response called ABR (auditory brainstem response). As the sound pressure increases, the V wave latency decreases. The sound pressure of the sound which the user was hearing when the decrease in V wave latency became saturated is identified. A sound pressure which is obtained by adding a constant (e.g., 15 or 10) to this identified sound pressure is defined as the UCL.
On the other hand, generally speaking, an MCL (most comfortable level) is difficult to be measured through subjective reporting, and therefore is often approximated as a gradient (half gain) which is a half of the hearing threshold value or a median between the UCL and the hearing threshold value.
Thus, in order to measure a UCL, it is necessary to actually present a loud sound to the user before the UCL can be calculated based on the user's reply, or a brain stem response, e.g., ABR.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Uncomfortableness threshold value estimation system and method, and a program thereof; hearing aid adjustment system; and uncomfortableness threshold value processing circuit

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.


The object of the present invention is to provide a planographic original plate which can be engraved directly according to digital signals by laser beams and which can be water-developed or can be used directly for printing without a developing process. This objective has been achieved by a planographic original plate comprising a substrate and a photosensitive layer which is supported by the substrate and which contains a polymeric compound having as a side chain at least one structural unit selected from the structural units represented by the general formulas (1) to (3).. General Formula (1) EQU --SO.sub.3 --CH.sub.2 --L.sub.n --O--Z. In the general formula (1), L represents a linking group composed of a non-metallic atom. --O--Z represents a group which is decomposed by an acid to become --OH. n is 0 or 1.. General Formula (2) EQU --SO.sub.3 --L--W.sup.1. In the general formula (2), W.sup.1 represents a group which is decomposed by an acid and selected from an ester group, a ketal group, a thioketal group, an acetal group and a tertiary alcohol group. L represents a polyvalent linking group comprising a non-metallic atom, which is necessary for linking the structural unit which is represented by the general formula (2) to a polymer skeleton, and whose decomposition accompanies the decomposition of W.sup.1, which is decomposed by an acid, to generate sulfonic acid.. General Formula (3) ##STR1## In the general formula (3), R.sup.1 to R.sup.3 may be the same or different, and each represents a group selected from a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group, a substituted amino group, an alkylthio group, an arylthio group, an alkoxy group, an aryloxy group, a carboxyl group, an alkoxycarbonyl group, an aryloxycarbonyl group, an acyl group, a cyano group, a halogen atom, and an amido group. Any two of R.sup.1 to R.sup.3 and a carbon atom linked thereto may form a ring together with a non-metallic atom.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a planographic original plate. More specifically, the present invention relates to a planographic original plate which can be engraved directly by visible rays or laser beams such as infrared rays according to digital signals, and which can be water-developed, or can be mounted directly on a printing machine and used for printing without a developing process.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional manufacturing process of a printing plate by a PS (presensitized plate) includes a wet developing process to remove image-wise the photosensitive layer prepared on a substrate after exposure, and post-treatment processes of the developed printing plate such as rinsing with water and desensitization by means of rinsing with water containing a surfactant, or a solution containing gum arabic and a starch derivative.
In recent years, the plate making and printing industries have had to face the problem of environmental pollution due to the alkaline waste water from the developing process. At the same time, these industries have had been pursuing the rationalization of the plate making process. Accordingly, there is a demand for an original printing plate which does not require the above-mentioned complicated wet developing process by means of a developing solution and post-treatment process, and which can be used for printing directly after exposure without further processing.
As an example of an original plate which does not require a developing process after exposure, U.S. Pat. No. 5,258,263 discloses a planographic printing plate having a photosensitive hydrophilic layer whose curing or insolubilization is accelerated in the exposed region together with a photosensitive hydrophobic layer laminated on a substrate. However, because of the two-layer structure of the plate, this printing plate has a drawback that the adhesion between the upper layer and the lower layer is too weak to print a large number of printings.
On the other hand, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,353,705 and 5,379,698 disclose a planographic original plate having a silicone layer and a laser-thermosensitive layer beneath the silicone layer, so as to provide a plate which does not require wet developing after the formation of an image. Although these plates dispense with wet developing, they have the drawback of requiring treatment by rubbing or by a special roller in order to ensure the complete removal of the silicone layer with laser abrasion, and therefore the process is complicated.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) Nos. 5-77,574, 4-125,189, U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,047, and JP-A No. 62-195,646 disclose the preparation of a planographic original plate which does not require a developing process by using as the printing material a film which is made by the sulfonation of a polyolefin, and changing the surface hydrophilicity of the film by thermal writing. The drawback associated with this technique is that, although the developing process is not necessary, the thermal writing generates a noxious gas because an image is formed by desulfonation of the surface of the planographic original plate.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,102,771 and 5,225,316 disclose a planographic original plate which is made up of a combination of a polymer having an acid-susceptible group in a side chain and a photo acid generating agent so as to provide a planographic original plate which dispenses with a developing process. The drawback associated with this technique is that the durability of the planographic original plate is poor and the sharpness of the printed image is inferior, because the acid generated is a carboxylic acid and the level of hydrophilicity is too low to keep the plate clean.
JP-A No. 4-121,748 disclose a photosensitive material which is made up of a combination of a polymer having a sulfonate group in a side chain and an acid generating agent together with a dye. This technique, however, involves a developing process by use of an alkaline developing solution, and therefore it does not propose any system which employs water-processing or dispenses with a developing process.


Disclosed is a switching element including: an insulative substrate; a first electrode and a second electrode provided to the insulative substrate; an interelectrode gap between the first electrode and the second electrode, comprising a gap of a nanometer order which causes switching phenomenon of resistance by applying a predetermined voltage between the first electrode and the second electrode; and a sealing member to seal the interelectrode gap such that the gap is retained.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a switching element, a method of manufacturing the switching element, and a memory element array.
2. Description of Related Art
As devices are reduced in size and densities are enhanced, it is now required to further miniaturize electric element. As one example, there is known a switching element capable of carrying out a switching operation by applying voltage between two electrodes (interelectrode nanogap) which are separated from each other by a fine gap (see Japanese patent application Laid-open Nos. 07-321292, 10-22403, 08-242008 and 07-273355).
More specifically, there is developed a switching element which is made of silicon oxide and gold, which are stable materials, by a simple producing method called shadow evaporation (inclined deposition). According to this switching element, switching operation can stably be repeated (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Nos. 2005-79335 and 2007-123828 for example).
In order to make the switching elements disclosed in the above two documents be operative under any atmosphere (e.g. air atmosphere), the entire switching elements can be covered with a sealing member. Thus, in order to make a memory element array where the switching elements (memory elements) of the two documents are aligned in array be operative under any atmosphere, the entire memory element array is covered with a sealing member.
However, when an entire memory element array is covered with a sealing member, it has been problematic that if the sealing member brakes, all switching elements disposed in the memory elements array break down.

Switching element, method of manufacturing the switching element, and memory element array

Funai Electric Advanced Applied Technology Research Institute Inc.


A process device for use in a process control system includes output circuitry configured to couple to a process control loop. The output circuitry controls electrical current through the loop. Loop override circuitry is configured to override operation of the output circuitry and set the electrical current in the loop to a desired level.

The present invention relates to process devices of the type used in industrial processes. More particularly, the present invention relates to devices which control electrical current in a process control loop of such process devices.
Field devices such as process controllers, monitors and transmitters, are used in the process control industry to remotely control, monitor or sense a process variable. For example, a process variable may be transmitted to a control room by a transmitter for use in controlling the process or for providing information about process operation to a controller. For example, information related to pressure of process fluid may be transmitted to a control room and used to control the process, such as oil refining.
One typical prior art technique for transmitting information involves controlling the amount of current flowing through a process control loop. Current is supplied from a current source in the control room and the transmitter controls the current from its location in the field. For example, a 4 mA signal can be used to indicate a zero reading and a 20 mA signal can be used to indicate a full scale reading. More recently, transmitters have employed digital circuitry which communicates with the control room using a digital signal which is superimposed onto the analog current signal flowing through the process control loop. One example of such a technique is the HART® communication protocol developed by Rosemount Inc. The HART® protocol and other such protocols typically include a set of commands or instructions which can be sent to the transmitter to elicit a desired response, such as transmitter control or interrogation.
Fieldbus is a communications protocol proposed by the Fieldbus Foundation and is directed to defining a communications layer or protocol for transmitting information on a process control loop. In the Fieldbus protocol, the current flowing through the loop is not used to transmit an analog signal. Instead, all information is digitally transmitted by modulating current flowing in the process control loop. Further, the Fieldbus Standard, and a standard known as Profibus, allow transmitters to be configured in a multi-drop configuration in which more than one transmitter is connected on the same process control loop. Other communication protocols include the MODBUS® protocol and Ethernet. In some configurations, two, three, four or any number of wires can be used to connect to the process device, including non-physical connections such as RF (radio frequency).
Some process transmitters are also capable of transmitting an alarm signal which can provide an indication that the process variable measurement is saturated (i.e. process upset). One type of alarm signal fixes the current through the loop at predetermined levels or outside of predetermined threshold values. For example, one type of alarm signal is a current level which is greater than 21 mA or less than 3.8 mA can be used to send a "high alarm" or a "low alarm", respectively. The alarm signal can be sent by the transmitter upon the occurrence of an alarm condition.


An antimicrobial glass is provided which can release a predetermined amount of silver ion rapidly for a long period of time and can provide a predetermined antimicrobial treatment repeatedly to a matter to be antibacterialized during or after washing and which is excellent in discoloration prevention effect and discriminativity, and a method for producing the same is also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to antimicrobial glass and methods for producing antimicrobial glass, and particularly to antimicrobial glass excellent in discoloration prevention effect and in discriminativity which contains an inorganic coloring agent, and to methods for producing antimicrobial glass.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, in the field of construction materials, home electric appliances (including television sets, personal computers, mobile telephones and video cameras), sundries, packaging materials, etc., there have been used antimicrobial resin compositions produced by mixing a predetermined amount of antimicrobial glass having a predetermined particle size into resin in order to impart an antimicrobial effect.
As such an antimicrobial resin composition, a synthetic resin molded body which contains, in the resin, a borosilicate antimicrobial glass capable of releasing silver ion is disclosed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
More concretely, this synthetic resin molded body is constituted by containing, in a synthetic resin, a borosilicate antimicrobial glass containing 0.1 to 20 parts by weight of Ag2O as monovalent Ag in 100 parts by weight of glass solid formed of one or two or more kinds of network-forming oxides selected from the group consisting of SiO2, B2O3 and P2O5 and one or two or more kinds of network-modifying oxides selected from the group consisting of Na2O, K2O, CaO and ZnO. In the example of the patent publication, an antimicrobial glass is disclosed which contains, in a synthetic resin, an antimicrobial glass having an average particle diameter of 20 μm or less formed by adding 2 parts by weight of Ag2O to 100 parts by weight of a mixture formed of 40 mol % of SiO2, 50 mol % of B2O3 and 10 mol % of Na2O.
As an antimicrobial resin composition, a resin composition is disclosed which contains a scale-like, antimicrobial glass having a particle diameter of 10 to 1000 μm and a thickness of 0.1 to 20 μm (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
More specifically, the composition of the scale-like glass is composed of 20 to 60% by weight of SiO2, 30 to 70% by weight of B2O3, 5 to 35% by weight of Na2O and 0.5 to 3% by weight of Ag2O when containing B2O3, and 55 to 80% by weight of SiO2, 0.5 to 30% by weight of Al2O3, 19.5 to 42% by weight of Na2O and 0.5 to 3% by weight of Ag2O when containing no B2O3.
Moreover, a water-related antimicrobial product is disclosed which contains a silver ion-containing inorganic antimicrobial agent capable of producing an eluted amount of silver ion of 0.5 ng/cm2/day or more when it is immersed in boiling water at 100° C. for 500 to 1,000 hours and subsequently immersed in water or an acid at 20° C. for 24 hours, and an inorganic filler (see, for example, Patent Document 3).
More specifically, a water-related antimicrobial product is disclosed in which a silver ion-containing inorganic antimicrobial agent having an average particle diameter of 2 to 20 μm and containing 0 to 5% by weight of Ag2O to glass components composing of 56 to 59 mol % of P2O5, 33 to 38 mol % of MgO+CaO+ZnO and 6 to 8 mol % of Al2O3 are added in an amount within the range of 0.5 to 5% by weight, and further an inorganic filler is added in an amount within the range of 5 to 80% by weight.
Antimicrobial resin compositions are also proposed in which electric items, such as a dish washer, a dish dryer, a refrigerator, a washing machine and a pot, are provided as examples of the applications of an antimicrobial glass (see, for example, Patent Documents 4 to 6).
According to Patent Documents 4 to 5, that is, antimicrobial resin compositions are proposed which contain, in a molded resin constituting such electric items, an antimicrobial glass having an average particle diameter of 20 μm or less and composing of 40 to 80 mol % of ZnO, 5 to 35 mol % of SiO2 and 5 to 30 mol % of CaO, and an antimicrobial glass having an average particle diameter of 20 μm or less and composing of 54 to 60 mol % of ZnO, 25 to 32 mol % of B2O3, 7 to 12 mol % of SiO2 and 5 to 8 mol % of alkali metal oxide in predetermined amounts, respectively.
According to Patent Document 6, there is disclosed an antimicrobial glass wherein the maximum diameter (t1) of the antimicrobial glass is adjusted to a value within the range of 1 to 50 mm and the eluted amount of silver ion is adjusted to a value within the range of 0.5 to 100 mg/(g·24 hrs) and a silver ion containing water is prepared by bringing the antimicrobial glass into contact with water directly and a predetermined antimicrobial treatment is applied to a matter to be antibacterialized during or after washing. A method for the production thereof is also disclosed.
Furthermore, as an application of an antimicrobial glass, proposed is a glass water treating agent to be used in water treating apparatuses such as water tanks and cooling towers (see, for example, Patent Document 7).
This is a glass water treating agent which comprises a phosphoric acid-based glass having a maximum diameter of 10 mm or more, wherein the weight composition ratios are (RO+R2O)/P2O3=0.4 to 1.2 and R2O/(RO+R2O3)=0 to 10 (R is Ca, Na, etc.) and B/A≧⅓ where the initial dissolution rate is represented by A and the terminal dissolution rate is represented by B, and the content of metal ion is 0.005 to 5% by weight.    [Patent Document 1] JP1-313531A (Claims)    [Patent Document 2] JP7-25635A (Claims)    [Patent Document 3] JP10-72530A (Claims)    [Patent Document 4] JP2002-3238A (Claims)    [Patent Document 5] JP2002-3239A (Claims)    [Patent Document 6] WO2005/087675 (Claims)    [Patent Document 7] JP7-63701B (Claims)

Antimicrobial glass and method of producing antimicrobial glass

Abstract: A tabular antimicrobial glass capable of exerting an antimicrobial effect by releasing silver ions, wherein the maximum diameter (t1) is adjusted within the range of 3 to 30 mm and which contains an inorganic coloring agent as a compounded component, wherein the addition amount of the inorganic coloring agent is adjusted to a value within the range of 0.001 to 0.5% by weight to the total amount.


A rotation angle detection device has a first yoke, an inside surface of which is formed of a first concave curved surface and a second concave curved surface, and a second yoke, an inside surface of which is formed of a third concave curved surface and a fourth concave curved surface. Each concave curved surface does not extend in a second direction but extends toward a first flat surface or a second flat surface in an inclined manner. The first flat surface and the second flat surface face each other sandwiching a Hall element therebetween and are parallel to each other. The magnetic flux, which leaks from the first yoke into an inside space and reaches the second yoke, flows in the second direction over a wider area around the Hall element.

A conventional rotation angle detection device is formed of a first magnet spaced apart from a rotation axis of a rotary body, a second magnet positioned oppositely to the first magnet relative to the rotation axis, a first yoke connecting N-poles of the first magnet and the second magnet, a second yoke connecting S-poles of the first magnet and the second magnet, and a magnetism detection element positioned on the rotation axis. For example, the first yoke and the second yoke are fixed to the rotary body, while the magnetism detection element is fixed to a support body. The rotation angle detection device detects a rotation angle of the rotary body based on an output of the magnetism detection element, which varies with a rotation of the rotary body relative to the support body.
A rotation angle detection device disclosed in JP-A-2003-185471 has two stator core pieces, which sandwich a magnetism detection element, to linearize magnetic flux passing near the magnetism detection element. According to this rotation angle detection device, the magnetic flux passing near the magnetism detection element bends when the stator core pieces are removed. When the magnetic flux passing near the magnetism detection element bend, a detection result changes in response to a positional deviation between the rotary body and the support body even in a case that the rotation angle of the rotary body is the same.


According to example embodiments, a high electron mobility transistor includes: a channel layer including a first semiconductor material; a channel supply layer on the channel layer and configured to generate a 2-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the channel layer, the channel supply layer including a second semiconductor material; source and drain electrodes spaced apart from each other on the channel layer, and an upper surface of the channel supply layer defining a gate electrode receiving part; a first gate electrode; and at least one second gate electrode spaced apart from the first gate electrode and in the gate electrode receiving part. The first gate electrode may be in the gate electrode receiving part and between the source electrode and the drain electrode. The at least one second gate electrode may be between the source electrode and the first gate electrode.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a high electron mobility transistor.
A. 2. Description of the Related Art
Devices for controlling a current flow through ON/OFF switching, e.g., power devices, may be used for various power conversion systems. In such a power conversion system, the efficiency of a power device affects that of the whole system.
Power devices being commercialized currently are mostly classified into silicon-based power metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) or insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs). However, due to the limits of silicon's physical properties and manufacturing processes, it is difficult to increase the efficiency of the silicon-base power devices. To overcome these limits, research and development for increasing conversion efficiency by applying the group III-V-based compound semiconductors into power devices are in progress. In a related development, high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) using a heterojunction structure of compound semiconductors are in the spotlight.
Such a HEMT may include semiconductor layers having electrical polarization characteristics different from each other. In the HEMT, a semiconductor layer having relatively large polarizability may induce a 2-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the other semiconductor layer bonded to the semiconductor layer. Here, the 2DEG may have very high electron mobility.
If a gate voltage is 0 V in the HEMT, when the HEMT is in a normally-on state in which current flows due to low resistance between a drain electrode and a source electrode, current and power loss may occur. Thus, to turn the current between the drain electrode and the source electrode off, a negative voltage should be applied into the gate electrode. Recently, to solve the above-described limitation, a HEMT which includes a depletion formation layer or a recess structure under the gate electrode to realize a normally-off characteristic in which the current between the drain electrode and the source electrode is turned off when the gate voltage is 0 V is being studied.

High electron mobility transistor including plurality of gate electrodes


A ceiling fan light kit and a ceiling fan connecting module are provided. The ceiling fan light kit includes the ceiling fan connecting module, a light board, and a light cover module. The ceiling fan connecting module includes a mounting plate and a base. The mounting plate has a plurality of arc holes, a plurality of rotary fixing structures, and a plurality of backstop structures, and a placing hole and a fixing hole are respectively formed at two ends of each of the arc holes. The mounting plate has one of the rotary fixing structures and one of the backstop structures that are spaced apart from one another formed at two sides of each of the arc holes. The base has a bottom plate, a cooling portion, and a plurality of dowels that are respectively disposed in the placing holes.

When a conventional ceiling fan light kit is assembled, a plurality of fixing members (such as screws) are often used to assemble various components of a ceiling fan (such as motors and ceiling fan blades) and the ceiling fan light kit together, and the assembled ceiling fan will then be mounted on a ceiling.
However, since the conventional ceiling fan light kits have numerous styles, and the corresponding fixing members have different sizes and quantities, the ceiling fan light kits of different styles cannot be used with components of the same ceiling fan.
In addition, since the ceiling fan light kits of different styles cannot be shared for components of the ceiling fan, the ceiling fan light kit cannot be produced in a modular manner to reduce costs. Therefore, how to overcome the above-mentioned deficiencies through an improvement in structural design has become one of the important issues to be solved in the related art.

Ceiling fan light kit and ceiling fan connecting module


A method of manufacturing an active matrix device (10) comprising a row and column array of active elements wherein each element comprises a transparent pixel electrode (12) associated with a self-aligned, top gate transistor (14, R2) having a transparent gate electrode (26). The method comprising the steps of forming opaque source (22) and drain (22xe2x80x2) electrodes on a transparent substrate (51); forming a semiconductor channel layer (23) so as to join source (22) and drain (22xe2x80x2) electrodes; forming a gate insulating (24, 25) layer; and depositing a transparent conductive layer and forming both the transparent gate electrode (26) and the pixel electrode (32) therefrom. The transparent gate electrode (26) may be formed by depositing a layer of negative resist (52) over the transparent conductive layer, exposing the layer of negative resist through the substrate such that regions of the negative resist shadowed by the opaque electrodes (22, 22xe2x80x2) remain unexposed, removing the unexposed negative and, having masked the region (53) associated with the transparent pixel electrode (32), removing the exposed transparent conductive layer.

This invention relates to a method of manufacture of an active matrix device, especially an active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD), wherein the device comprises a row and column array of active elements, and wherein each element is associated with a self-aligned, top gate (TG) thin film transistor (TFT) connected to corresponding row and column conductors.
A conventional AMLCD is shown schematically in FIG. 1. The AMLCD 10 comprises an display area 11 consisting of m rows (1 to m) and n columns (1 to n) of identical picture elements 12. Only a few of the picture elements are shown for simplicity whereas in practice, the total number of picture elements (mxc3x97n) in the display area may be 200,000 or more. Each picture element 12 has a picture electrode 13 and associated therewith a switching TFT 14 which serves to control the application of data signal voltages to the picture electrode. The switching TFTs have common operational characteristics and are each arranged adjacent to their associated picture element with their respective drain being connected to the picture electrode. The sources of all switching TFTs associated with one column of picture elements are connected to a respective one of a set of parallel column conductors 15 and the gates of all switching TFTs associated with one row of picture elements are connected to a respective one of a set of parallel row conductors 16. The TFTs 13 are controlled by gating signals provided via the row conductors by row driver circuitry 17 external to the display area 11. Similarly, the TFTs associated with picture elements in the same column are provided with data signal voltages for the picture electrodes by column driver circuitry 18 also external to the display panel. Of course, the operation of picture elements in such AMLCDs is well known and further described in our U.S. Pat. No. 5,130,829, and accordingly will not be elaborated upon here further.
During the manufacture of such an AMLCD, it is desirable to keep the capacitance of the switching TFTs to a minimum and one way of achieving this is to use self-aligned TFTs as the switching TFTs. Furthermore, using self-aligned TFTs does not require any increase in the mask count to achieve said reduction in capacitance.
FIGS. 2A to 2D show schematically a known process for producing a self-aligned TFT 14 requiring 4 photomask steps and a single back exposure. The process comprises the steps of forming opaque source 22 and drain electrodes 22xe2x80x2 on a transparent substrate 21 (mask 1); forming an amorphous silicon semiconductor channel 23 so as to join the source and drain electrodes, and a first gate insulating layer 24 thereon (mask 2); forming a second gate insulating layer 25 (mask 3); depositing a layer of transparent gate material, typically indium tin oxide (ITO), and patterning the material by back exposure so as to form the gate electrode 26; and forming a gate contact 28 (mask 4). The transparent gate material may be patterned by providing a negative resist layer (not shown) over the material and selectively exposing it to UV radiation from beneath the substrate 21. The source and drain electrodes 22, 22xe2x80x2 shield the UV light, so that the passage of light through the transistor structure only takes place in the spacing between the source and drain electrodes. The UV light diffracts and scatters as it passes through this opening, and results in source/drain overlap 27 wherein the exposed region of the resist layer is wider than the spacing between the source and drain electrodes. Source/drain overlap is useful in that the gate electrode may then modulate the whole of the semiconductor channel area. The overlap may be alternatively provided, inter alia, by overexposing the photoresist.
In order to realise the benefits of using self-aligned TFTs, the method of manufacturing the self-aligned TFTs must be incorporated into the whole picture element manufacturing process.
FIG. 3 shows, schematically, a conventional picture element 12 comprising a self aligned TFT of the type whose the manufacture is illustrated in FIGS. 2A to 2D. The picture element comprises 6 regions: a conductor crossover (R1, R1xe2x80x2); the self-aligned TG TFT (R2); a first transparent pixel electrode contact (R3); a transparent pixel electrode (R4); a capacitor (R5); and a second transparent pixel electrode contact (R6).
In addition, a known 6 photomask single back exposure method of manufacturing the picture element 12 of FIG. 3 is illustrated in FIGS. 4A to 4C wherein FIGS. 4A to 4C are cross sections of the picture element of FIG. 3 along lines A1-A2-A3-A4 and A3-A5.
Referring to FIG. 4A, the method comprises the steps of forming a transparent pixel electrode 32, typically ITO, on a transparent substrate 21 (mask 1); forming opaque source 22 and drain electrodes 22xe2x80x2, and column conductors 15, part of which act a capacitor plate 15xe2x80x2 and a pixel electrode contact 15xe2x80x3 (mask 2); and forming a semiconductor channel layer 23 so as to join the source and drain electrodes, and a first gate insulating layer 24 thereon. Referring to FIG. 4B, a second gate insulating layer 25 is formed (mask 4) and a layer of transparent gate material deposited, typically ITO, and patterned by a back exposure so as to form the gate electrode 26 (back exposure plus mask 5). Mask 5 is required so as not to etch away the pixel electrode 32 whilst patterning the gate electrode 26. Lastly, as shown in FIG. 4C, a gate contact 28 and gate row conductors 16 are formed (mask 6).
It is an object of the invention to provide a simplified method of manufacturing an active matrix device, especially an AMLCD, using self-aligned TFT switching as described above.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing an active matrix device comprising a row and column array of active elements wherein each element comprises a transparent pixel electrode associated with a self-aligned, top gate transistor having a transparent gate electrode, and an active matrix device manufactured using the same. The method comprises the steps of:
forming opaque source and drain electrodes on a transparent substrate;
forming a semiconductor channel layer so as to join source and drain electrodes;
forming an insulating layer, at least part of which comprises the gate dielectric; and
depositing a transparent conductive layer over the insulating layer and forming both the transparent gate electrode and the transparent pixel electrode therefrom.
The present invention provides a manufacturing process for active matrix devices with a reduced mask count compared to known methods. This is, at least in part, attributable to the manufacture of the transparent gate electrode and the transparent pixel electrode from the same deposited layer.
Conveniently, the transparent gate electrode is formed by depositing a layer of negative resist over the transparent conductive layer, exposing the layer of negative resist through the substrate such that regions of the negative resist shadowed by the opaque electrodes remain unexposed, removing the unexposed negative and, having masked the region associated with the transparent pixel electrode, removing the exposed transparent conductive layer.
The pixel electrode may be formed over the insulating layer so as to reducing the amount of etching of the insulating layer required and in which case, the insulting layer may include etched contact holes so as to enable the drain electrode to be connected to the transparent pixel electrode.
Further provided in accordance with the present invention is an active matrix device comprising a row and column array of active elements wherein each element comprises opaque source and drain electrodes on a transparent substrate; a semiconductor channel layer joining the source and drain electrodes; an insulating layer, at least part of which comprises a gate dielectric; and transparent pixel and gate electrodes, both of which positioned over the insulating layer.

Method of manufacturing an active matrix device


An object is to select destination mobile stations so as to prevent directional beams directed to the respective mobile stations from interfering with each other in application of a directional antenna, and to allocate the radio resources to the mobile stations thus selected. A base station 10, which is capable of forming a plurality of directional beams directed to a plurality of mobile stations by applying a directional antenna 11 capable of adaptively varying directivity, to a transmission-reception antenna, is provided with a location estimator 19 for estimating a location of each mobile station on the basis of orientation information of the directional antenna; a reception quality estimator 22 for estimating a reception quality of each mobile station; a transmission priority calculator 21 for calculating a transmission priority of a packet to be transmitted; a determiner 16 for determining the number and directions of directional beams to be formed, based on the reception quality of each mobile station, location of each mobile station, and transmission priorities of packets; and an allocation controller 13 for allocating the plurality of directional beams thus determined, to a plurality of mobile stations.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radio resources allocating method, a radio resources allocating apparatus, and a mobile communication system and, more particularly, to a radio resources allocating method in which a base station capable of forming a plurality of directional beams by applying a directional antenna capable of adaptively varying directivity, to a reception-reception antenna, allocates radio resources to a plurality of mobile stations, a radio resources allocating apparatus for carrying out the method, and a mobile communication system comprising a base station with the radio resources allocating function.
2. Related Background Art
The conventional mobile communication systems used antennas to radiate omnidirectional beams, as transmission-reception antennas of base stations, and thus each base station performed scheduling of transmission and reception without the need for paying attention to detailed location information of a destination mobile station in a cell or in a sector as long as it was known that the destination mobile station existed in the cell or the sector.
On the other hand, when a directional antenna, e.g., an adaptive array antenna (Adaptive Array Antenna=AAA) is applied as a transmission-reception antenna of the base station, it becomes feasible to direct an antenna beam with sharp directivity to each mobile station existing in the cell or the sector. If interference power ratios between beams are small, i.e., if the beams are spatially separated from each other, with the directional beams being directed to the respective mobile stations, it becomes feasible to implement simultaneous transmission and reception of packet data to different mobile stations with the respective directional beams, without the application of code division multiplex or frequency division multiplex.
However, if a plurality of directional beams interfere with each other with the separate directional beams being directed to a plurality of mobile stations, there will arise the need for application of code division multiplex or frequency division multiplex or time division multiplex to the packet data. For this reason, in the field of the mobile communication systems adopting the directional antennas, there were demands for a technique of selecting destination mobile stations so as to prevent the directional beams directed to the respective mobile stations from interfering with each other, and allocating the radio resources to the mobile stations selected.
An object of the present invention is to provide a radio resources allocating method, a radio resources allocating apparatus, and a mobile communication system capable of selecting destination mobile stations so as to prevent directional beams directed to the respective mobile stations from interfering with each other in application of the directional antenna as described above, and allocating the radio resources to the mobile stations selected.

Radio resources allocating method, radio resources allocating apparatus, and mobile communication system


A wood-splitting tool includes at least one system with n parallel elemental wedges (3a, 3b, 3c, . . . 3n) which in succession are given a movement for penetrating the wood. The system for actuating the wedges can be a hydraulic, chain-type, connecting rod-type, or percussive-type system attached to a motive power unit.

The present invention relates to a tool for splitting balks of firewood and to a wood-splitting machine equipped with this tool.
Wooden balks, cut to a length of one meter and a diameter greater than 15-20 cm, are systematically split longitudinally to make it easier to handle them, accelerate subsequent drying, and favor combustion.
In most cases, splitting is carried out manually, with the aid of wedges, weights and cleaving axes. In the remaining cases, splitting is mechanized, either using a tapered screw system, or using a hydraulic wedge system.
For each of these systems, various types of drive may be used. Electric motors have been used, but such use is not very widespread as splitting is not carried out in the forest and performance is mediocre. Steam engines have been used, but such systems have far too high a cost. Systems have been coupled to a "three-point" hitch of a tractor or to its hydraulic take-off, and the performance of such systems are good. However, a powerful tractor is required.
Presently, only owners of agricultural tractors use mechanical splitting machines. Splitting machines using a tapered screw (for example, as described in FR 2 462 979) are the most widespread and least expensive.
It remained desirable to provide a machine of a completely new type, which was directed to the vast majority of users, primarily lumberjacks (amateur or semi-professional), who still split wood manually.

Tool with parallel corners for splitting wood


In one embodiment, a set of lock and unlock instructions in a read phase of a computer-readable program is replaced with a first set of tracking instructions, wherein the first set of tracking instructions track a set of locked objects identifying objects that would have been locked by executing the set of lock and unlock instructions. A second set of tracking instructions is inserted into the read phase of the computer-readable program, wherein the second set of tracking instructions track a set of read objects indicating versions of objects that are read. Validation instructions are inserted into the computer-readable program, wherein the validation instructions validate that the versions of objects in the set of read objects have not changed since they were last read and lock the set of locked objects that would have been locked upon completing execution of the set of lock and unlock instructions. Update instructions are added to an update phase of the computer-readable program, where the update instructions increment a current version of an object each time a value of the object is updated or a lock of the object is released.

The disclosed embodiments relate generally to computer-implemented methods and apparatus for performing automatic lock removal from source code.
Many platforms such as distributed file systems and key-value stores use concurrent data structures that may be accessed by multiple devices or threads. Traditionally, the way to implement such data structures has been to use locks. Locks are typically obtained immediately prior to access of concurrent data structures and released immediately after the access of the concurrent data structures. Such access may include writing data to the data structures, as well as reading data from the data structures.
The use of locks ensures integrity of the concurrent data structures. However, these same locks may also lead to bottlenecks. To increase the efficiency of such systems, scalable concurrent data structures may be developed. However, these data structures are time-consuming to implement and are error-prone.

Automatic lock removal method for scalable synchronization in dynamic data structures


A method and a system for data traffic offload are provided. The method includes the following steps. Create a local tunnel between a first base station and a second base station according to a first record and/or a second record. The first base station and the second base station are located on a front-end network. The first record corresponds to a first user equipment and the first base station. The second record corresponds to a second user equipment and the second base station. Route network packets transmitted between the first user equipment and the second user equipment via the local tunnel.

Data traffic in mobile telecommunication networks has been rapidly growing in recent years. Radio resource insufficiency is not only a problem on a front end but also on a back-end core network. On the traditional 3G telecommunication network, all data traffic enters the core network and increases the loading thereon.
Hence, traffic offload is an issue that the current mobile telecommunication network operators are facing to. The so-called traffic offload refers to routing data locally as possible to prevent the data from transmitting to the core network, and thus the loading on the core network may be reduced.
There exist two conventional solutions for resources insufficiency on mobile telecommunication systems due to a significant increment on data traffic. The first solution to solve the radio resource insufficiency is to establish small cell networks with low power so as to enhance a re-use rate of spectrum and data traffic offloading ability on a unit area. The second solution to solve resource insufficiency on the back-end core network is a local Internet protocol access (LIPA) plan and a selected Internet protocol traffic offload (SIPTO) plan set by the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) for Intranet and Internet respectively.
No matter whether the future mobile telecommunication network adapts a new generation of the long term evolution (LTE) technology or the LTE-Advanced technology, the system architectures thereof both use Internet protocols to be their transmission standard.
Peer-to-peer transmission such as speech or video transmission, a shared white board, file transfer, and instant messaging is a commonly used service type in telecommunication. Data traffic of peer-to-peer service transmission is quite large and is considered as a significant loading with respect to the core network. Therefore, if the data traffic of peer-to-peer services is able to be offloaded, not only the loading of the core network may be reduced, but also user satisfaction of the mobile network user may be enhanced. However, 3GPP has not yet provided any solution specific to peer-to-peer data traffic.

Method and system for data traffic offload

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A leash for a baby bottle or other food/beverage container has a padded band with a redundant attachment to the shoulder harness strap of a car seat, or the like. Similarly, the second attachment strap for attaching to the bottle has a redundant set of latches to ensure that the bottle is held thereby. The strap suspending the bottle has a dangle length of 3″ to 5″ to maintain the bottle within easy reach of the child obviating intervention by the parent to restore control of the container to the baby. The second attachment strap is provided with a non-slip fabric for engaging the surface of the container.

Applicant claims priority of provisional patent application 60/681,331 filed May 13, 2005, provisional patent application 60/684,662 filed May 25, 2005, and 60/692,693 filed Jun. 20, 2005.
One of the (many) difficulties in traveling with infants and young children, is keeping them entertained. If the child is hungry or thirsty, often a bottle or sippy cup will serve to provide the parent(s) a brief respite from the vocal displeasure of a cranky passenger. All too often, however, the solution to the crabbiness problem becomes, instead, a problem in itself. The baby repeatedly drops the drink/liquid-food container requiring the non-driving parent to unfasten their seat belt and lean over the seat-back to gain access to the container which is, doubtlessly, rolling around on the floor in the least reachable location possible. This procedure is both aggravating and difficult for even the most well-conditioned parent, as well as a distraction to the driver. Should there be only a single adult in the vehicle, the maneuver, to be properly and safely done, requires stopping the vehicle by the roadside to afford the driver free hands to access the drink container. Depending on the traffic flow and neighborhood of the mishap, this technique may not be all that safe, either. An equally aggravating, if generally safer, time awaits the parent pushing a stroller through the mall with the added complication that the dropped container may go undetected for a number of stores.
Several attempts at dealing with this situation have appeared in the patent literature. Some of these developments ease the parent's difficulty of locating the container: they need merely follow the string which is tied to the car seat to its end and, voila!, there's the baby's bottle. However, the retrieval still requires the non-driving parent (if any) to unfasten their seat belt and rummage around in the back seat to restore the drink container to the child. Another problem which arises with some of the available bottle suspenders is that the shoulder strap connections and the bottle attachments can both be tampered with. When the child has drunk her/his fill and is looking for an alternate form of entertainment, these disconnectable devices provide an all-too-ready "toy", defeating this supposed solution to the "bottle drop" problem.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a bottle/beverage container leash which maintains the bottle within easy reach of the child. This has two principle advantages: 1) it enables the child to develop her/his own manual dexterity skills and, 2) it preserves the sanity and cheery disposition of the parent. This is accomplished by having a short (on the order of 3-5 inches) leash which attaches to the seat belt harness or shoulder strap of a stroller in the area of the child's chest region. This keeps the container within easy reach should the elusive bottle slip from her/his grasp. In addition, the securement means attaching the leash to the shoulder strap and the latching means attaching the leash to the bottle are fail-safe: each of them has a back-up, at least one of which is not easily manipulated by the child.
The leash system of the present invention includes a) a strap having a first and second end; b) a first attachment band secured to the first end of the strap for suspending the leash system from a shoulder strap of a seatbelt harness, or the like, the attachment band having a first and a second securement means for suspending the leash from the shoulder strap; c) a second attachment band secured to said second end of the strap for securely attaching to the child's drink container, the second attachment band having first and second latching means for securing the attachment band to the child's drink container; whereby the first and second securement means and the first and second latching means provide a fail-safe leash system for maintaining the child's drink container within reach of a thirsty child. Preferably, the second securement means protects the first securement means from being tampered with. In addition, the second securement means preferably comprises a padded fabric band to ensure the child's comfort.
The first securement means most preferably comprises a clip which attaches to the shoulder strap and the fabric band of the second securement means wraps around the clip. Virtually any type of clip can be used including suspender clips, buckles, key rings, glides, slides, D-rings, hook buckles, snap hook Arabia belt buckles, side release clips, center release clips, camp locks, binder clips, belt buckles, snaps, buttons, zippers, alligator clips, and any other type of clip. The fabric band of the second securement means is retained in a wrapped position by first and second portions of hook-and-loop (VELCRO) fabric. The clip is preferably selected from a group consisting of an alligator clip, a snap, a button, and a suspender clip, with the latter having been found to be most successful in keeping the child from tampering with it, even if she/he succeeds in opening the fabric band. The clip is sewn inside the fabric band to avoid its being misplaced. An optional feature of the bottle leash of the present invention is that the strap has an adjustable length.
The first latching means comprises a width of fabric whose length can be adjusted to accommodate different diameter containers. The length-adjustable fastening means comprises third and fourth portions of hook-and-loop fabric. The length of these third and fourth portions of fabric are longer than necessary to accomplish the attachment providing significant adjustability. The second latching means comprises a two-part, snap-together buckle, a first part secured to a distal end of a first strap and a second part secured to a distal end of a second strap, the first and second straps overlying and being attached to the width of fabric constituting the first latching means. Most preferably, a length B of the first latching means is not exceed by a length A of the strap. This ensures that the bottle is maintained with the ready reach of the child.
Various other features, advantages, and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent after a reading of the following detailed description.


Disclosed are an imaging method and an arrangement for the computer-assisted evaluation of projected object trajectories obtained from a computer-tomographic measurement. According to the inventive method, the trajectories are arranged in a previously known sequence into a projection matrix as traces of the respective voluminous elements, and the following steps are iterated until a sufficient reconstruction quality has been attained; (a) at least one of the traces is selected; (b) a reconstructed element that is true to the original position is formed from each of the selected traces so as to be added to a reconstructed image; (c) the selected traces are removed from the projection matrix.

This object preferably is achieved by the characterizing features of the present invention.
Computer tomography is widespread in medical diagnostics and in material sciences. With this and with the methods known until now, computer tomopraphs are imaged from recordings of through-transmission of radiation with X-rays.
However, within the context of the present patent application, the term of a computer-tomographic measurement here includes any interaction of a measured object with an electromagnetic or corpuscular irradiation or with an acoustic wave field.
The projection data resulting from the computer-tomographic measurement is acquired with the measurement from numerous directions, and is processed with the help of a computer-assisted evaluation for imaging structural details.
According to the state of the art at present, an imaging method of "filtered back-projection" is applied for this computer-assisted evaluation. This method based on a Fourier transformation or its computer-optimized implementation demands the preparation of projection data over the full angular range of 180°0 with parallel irradiation and 360° with fan irradiation. For this reason, a complete rotation of the object amid a suitable irradiation and measurement of the interactions over the mentioned angular range is required.
In order to ensure an acceptable picture quality with an adequate local resolution, with low noise and whilst avoiding the formation of artefacts, it is further necessary with the computer-tomographic measurement to apply a high angular resolution over the complete angular range, i.e. to keep the angular distance between adjacent "individual measurements" during a computer-tomographic measurement procedure as low as possible. At the same time these methods process the signal noise basically at the expense of the local resolution.
A grave disadvantage which stems from this last mentioned high sensitivity of the method to noise, as well as from required high angular resolution on measurement, and from the wide angular range which must be acquired, is a high irradiation dose which has a negative effect on the costs of a measurement and in particular also on the health of the patient with medical applications.

Imaging method and device for the computer-assisted evaluation of computer-tomographic measurements by means of direct iterative reconstruction

Bam Bundesanstalt fur Materialforschung und -Prufung


A plasma display panel (PDP) is made of front panel (2) and rear panel (10). The front panel includes display electrodes (6), dielectric layer (8), and protective layer (8) that are formed on glass substrate (3). The rear panel includes address electrodes (12), barrier ribs (14), and phosphor layers (15) that are formed on rear glass substrate (11). The front panel and the rear panel are faced with each other, and the peripheries thereof are sealed to form discharge space (16) therebetween. Primary dielectric layer (13) is provided to cover address electrodes (12), and barrier ribs (14) are formed on primary dielectric layer (13). Primary dielectric layer (13) is made of dielectric glass containing at least bismuth oxide and having a softening point exceeding 550° C.

A plasma display panel (herein after referred to as a PDP) can achieve higher definition and have a larger screen. Thus, a television screen using a PDP approx. 65 inch in diagonal is commercially available.
A PDP is basically made of a front panel and a rear panel. The front panel includes a glass substrate made of sodium borosilicate glass by the float method, display electrodes that are made of stripe-like transparent electrodes and bus electrodes formed on the principle surface of the glass substrate on one side thereof, a dielectric layer covering the display electrodes and working as a capacitor, and a protective layer that is made of magnesium oxide (MgO) formed on the dielectric layer. On the other hand, the rear panel is made of a glass substrate, stripe-like address electrodes formed on the principle surface of the glass substrate on one side thereof, a primary dielectric layer covering the address electrodes, barrier ribs formed on the primary dielectric layer, and phosphor layers formed between the respective barrier ribs and emitting light in red, green, or blue.
The front panel and rear panel are hermetically sealed with the electrode-forming sides thereof faced with each other. A Ne—Xe discharge gas is charged in the discharge space partitioned by the barrier ribs, at a pressure ranging from 400 to 600 Torr. For a PDP, selective application of image signal voltage to the display electrodes makes the electrodes discharge. Then, the ultraviolet light generated by the discharge excites the respective phosphor layers so that they emit light in red, green, or blue to display color images.
Silver electrodes are used for the bus electrodes in the display electrodes to ensure electrical conductivity thereof. Low-melting glass essentially consisting of lead oxide is used for the dielectric layer. The examples of a lead-free dielectric layer addressing recent environmental issues are disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Nos. 2003-128430, 2002-053342, 2001-048577, and H09-050769. Further, an example of using binding glass that contains bismuth oxide and has a low softening point for the primary dielectric layer covering the address electrodes is disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. H10-275564.
Because a PDP can achieve higher definition and have a larger screen, a television screen using a PDP approx. 65 inch in diagonal is commercially available. Recently, with advancement of application of PDPs to high definition televisions having scanning lines at least twice as many as conventional televisions compliant with the National Television System Committee (NTSC) system, PDPs containing no lead to address environmental issues have been required.
However, such compliance of a PDP with high definition increases the numbers of scanning lines and display electrodes, and decreases the spacing between the display electrodes. These changes decrease the pitch and width of the barrier ribs of the rear panel. Thus, defective shapes of the barrier ribs are likely to occur, and affect the display quality.


An apparatus for mounting a plurality of heat sinks onto a circuit board during testing while the circuit board is tested in a fixed manufacturing station. The apparatus has a polygonal shaped frame with a size that is limited to an area on the circuit board which contains a plurality of data processing elements to be cooled. At least four apertures are on the frame, wherein each of the apertures corresponds to a different one of the plurality of data processing elements to be cooled. A slot is positioned on the frame to receive oversized processing elements. At least four pillars extend from the frame and mount into mounting holes provided on the circuit board. The apertures on the frame support the heat sinks above the data processing elements to be cooled. No additional screws, adhesives, clips or other fixing mechanisms are required to secure the heat sinks.

In a blade board system, each blade or circuit board contains components such as microprocessors, memory, network, interfaces, disk drives, etc., depending on the blade's intended function. The terms blade, blade board, circuit board and board are used interchangeably and have the same definition. The circuit boards plug into slots or sockets in a bus which interconnects the boards. Buses are used to distribute signals between or among components or subsystems such as memories or processors, for example.
After the assembling of a blade board, the manufacturer executes a number of tests that do not require the board to be powered such as in-circuit tests and flying-probe tests. Most severe errors such as noise, misplaced components and bad soldering are found during logic tests. Logic tests are performed by executing programs. To perform logic tests, it is necessary to attach power to the board and execute logic tests on the microprocessor to test the assembled parts like memory, I/O chips, to name a few. As the power level increases, the microprocessor generates excess heat which must be dissipated by some means. Conventionally, a heat sink, a thermally conductive device, is used to dissipate heat from one or more circuit board components into the surrounding air. Typically, a heat sink is mounted to a circuit board component.
Conventional approaches of mounting a heat sink include screwing the heat sink onto the board or using an adhesive to be applied to the heat sink which is then directly placed onto the circuit board component. Both approaches require additional time spent during the manufacturing process. For example, when using the adhesive approach, pressure must be applied to the heat sink for a strict amount of time to provide adequate holding strength. Similarly, screwing the heat sink to the board requires careful attention paid to where the screws are secured and to whether the screws have scratched or cut the surface of the circuit board.
Due to time constraints and possible damage from the adhesive or screws to the circuit board if the heat sink were removed, the heat sinks stay permanently fixed on the board during manufacturing. There are several disadvantages of fixing a heat sink to the circuit board during this early circuit board manufacturing phase. One disadvantage is that using screws to secure the heat sink utilizes space immediately around the circuit board component. Specifically, screwed heat sinks cover more area then the components themselves, which means, that it is not possible to access parts under the heat sink for measurements or reworks. Another disadvantage is that removing heat sinks mounted by adhesive requires thermal treatment of the adhesive, which is a time consuming process and is likely to damage the circuit board component such as a chip.

Method of providing flexible heat sink installations for early blade board manufacturing

International Business Machines Corporation