This invention provides a document database management system that reduces time to retrieve a structured document and improves precision of a result of the retrieving. Query input unit inputs a query including structural elements and a relationship between them. Document type retriever retrieves at least one document type that matches to the structural elements and the relationships between them included in the inputted query. Document type display displays the at least one retrieved document type on the screen of the display device. Document type input unit selects a document type from the at least one document type displayed on the screen. Document retriever retrieves a document satisfying the inputted query from prospective documents, each of which is created according to the document type inputted by the document type input unit.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a document database management system that retrieves a structured document from a document database that stores structured documents, and a document database retrieving method for retrieving a document from a document database that stores structured documents. More specifically, this invention relates to a document database management system which manages plural structured documents that are created according to a variety of document types, and a document database retrieval method for retrieving a structured document from plural structured documents that are created according to a variety of document types.
2. Description of the Related Art
A structured document is a document having a logical structure, which is represented as a tree structure comprising structural elements, such as a chapter, a section and a figure. Standardizing logical structures make it easier to share documents and to process document structure.
FIG. 12 shows an example of the logical structure of a structured document. This figure includes an element 31 whose element type is "article" at the top, i.e., the root of the tree, and two elements 32 and 33 whose element type is "section" as children of the root. The element 32 has three children: an element 34 whose element type is "title", an element 35 whose element type is "paragraph" and an element 36 whose element type is "section". The element 33 has three children: an element 37 whose element type is "title" and two elements 38 and 39 whose document type is "paragraph". The element 36 has three children, which are an element 40 whose element type is "title" and two elements 41 and 42 whose element type is "paragraph".
In the typical structured document models, the logical structure is created according to a syntactic rule referred to as a document type. Structured documents have an advantage of ease in document processing, since it is defined by predetermined structural rules. A structured document is simply referred to as "document" hereinafter.
FIG. 13 shows a syntactic rule to which the logical structure of FIG. 12 conforms. In this figure, a square node defines a type of element (element type) and a label of the node indicates a name of the element type. Nodes having the same name are identical
An oval node defines a relationship between elements. This node is referred to as a constructor. There are four constructors comprising "SEQ", "REP", "OPT" and "CHO". The constructor "SEQ" means that instances of the nodes appearing under it should be created in this order. An "instance" of an element type is an element in a document that is created according to the element type. The constructor "REP" means that an instance of a node following thereto is created repeatedly. The constructor "OPT" means that an instance of a node following thereto is not always required to be included in a document. The constructor "CHO" means that an instance of an element node following thereto is always created.
In this figure, the node 51 defining an element type "article" is a root node, the node 52 is a constructor "REP", the node 53 defines an element type "section", the node 54 is a constructor "SEQ", the node 55 defines an element type "title", both nodes 56 and 59 are constructors "OPT", both nodes 57 and 60 are constructors "REP", the node 58 defines an element type "section" and the node 61 defines an element type "paragraph" respectively. These nodes are arrange and connected in their numerical order.
FIG. 13 includes two nodes 53 and 58 whose element type is "section". This means that the element type "section" is defined recursively.
A document database management system managing structured documents stores many documents that are created according to a variety of document types. The document database management system provides a query language that allows users to describe queries to retrieve required documents from the document database. Typically, there are two types of query languages: the one is described in a textual form, and the other is graphically described by using a graphical user interface.
FIG. 14 is an example of a query described graphically. A query for retrieving structured documents can include a condition regarding a structure of a document comprising element types and a relationship therebetween. In the query, each node corresponds to an element of a structured document, and a string in a node indicates an element type thereof. Nodes are connected by an arc each other. An arc drawn by a solid line represents parent-child relationship between elements corresponding to nodes at the both ends of the arc. An arc drawn by a dashed line represents ancestor-descendant relationship between elements corresponding to the nodes at the both ends of the arc. A "parent-child relationship" means that a node in a tree is immediately subordinate to another. An "ancestor-descendant relationship" means that a node in a tree is subordinate to another. Thus, the "ancestor-descendant relationship" includes the "parent-child relationship". The query for retrieving structured documents also can include a condition regarding contents of a document. A string under a node in FIG. 14 indicates that the string should be included in a text held by an element of the node.
Plural arcs come from a node in a query mean that the retrieving result should satisfy all the conditions defined by relationships between nodes. Thus, the query is conjunctive. In this example, a node 71 whose element type is "section" is the root node. A node 72 whose element type is "title" is a child of the node 71, and the node 72 includes a string "document". A node 73 whose element type is "paragraph" is a descendant of the node 71, and the node 73 includes a string "database". This is briefly explained that this query designates instances of "section" each of which has both at least one title including a string "document" as its child and at least one paragraph including a string "database" as its descendant. Here, a "child" means a node immediately subordinate to another in a tree. A "descendant" means a node immediately subordinate to another in a tree. Thus, a child of a node is also a descendant of the node.
Structured documents can be retrieved by using such a query. The query may include an author of a document, a date of creation, a security level, or the like, as retrieving conditions as well.
There are two database management methods: one defines a schema for each document type (referred to as a first conventional system hereinafter) and another defines a unique schema representing an arbitrary logical structure (referred to as a second conventional system hereinafter).
The first conventional system is a common system in a general-purpose database management system such as a relational database management system or an object-oriented database management system. In a database management system using this method, the document type of documents to be retrieved is designated for retrieval, and documents that conform to the schema of the document type are searched.
The second conventional system is, for example, disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined patent publication No.7-44579. Since this method has only one schema, all documents stored in the database system will be prospective documents to be retrieved. Accordingly, even if there are more than one document type for the documents in the database, all stored documents are searched simultaneously.
Document types are very often altered or improved as time lapsed. If there is a long time lag between the time a document type is designed and the time documents are created according to the document type, the document type should be altered according to the change of the requirement to the document type. Document types that are occasionally altered in such a way are used for the same purpose, but structural restrictions of the document types are different from each other.
For instance, when a document type is designed, the following steps are repeatedly executed. It is checked whether a logical structure that the document type specify satisfies requirements to the document type or not. If it does not satisfy the requirements, it is corrected to satisfy the requirement. Thus, the definition of the document type is very often altered.
The design of a document type is strongly dependent on the requirement of the organization that uses the document type. Furthermore, each organization often designs its own document type to make documents appropriate for a particular purpose. However, these document types share structural similarities in many cases. Thus, documents created according to such document types are often exchanged between organizations and are stored in one database.
Here, an example is shown. Suppose that the document type shown in FIG. 13 is used in multiple departments. In a department, an element "cited references" is added to the document type and the document type shown in FIG. 15 is created as a result.
FIG. 15 shows the document type, which is created by adding the element referred to as "cited references" to the document type as shown in FIG. 13. Nodes 81, 84, 86, and 88 through 95 in FIG. 15 correspond to nodes 51 through 61 in FIG. 13, respectively. In this example, a node 82 whose element type is "body text" is inserted between the node 81 whose element type is "article" and the node 84 representing constructor "REP". A node 83 whose element type is "cited references" is newly added as a child of the node 81. Further, a node 87 whose element type is "reference" is connected with the node 83 via the node 85 representing constructor "REP". An instance of "body text" is an element that has instances of "section", and an instance of "cited references" is an element that holds a list of instances of "reference".
The document type shown in FIG. 15 and the document type shown in FIG. 13 have different structural rules, but are used for the same purpose. If the department that creates the document type shown in FIG. 15 creates documents according to this document type, and other departments create documents according to the document type shown in FIG. 13, plural documents that are created according to a variety of document types, but are used for the same purpose, co-exist in one database.
As described above, a database might have plural document types that have different structural definitions, but are used for the same purpose simultaneously. In particular, when a large scale database is used for a long time, such situation is unavoidable. Since documents that are created according to a variety of document types originally have the same purpose for use, such documents are required to be searched at once.
When a document retrieving is conducted to existing database management systems storing plural documents created according to such a variety of document types, the following problems happen.
The first conventional system needs to designate a document type in a query. Therefore, when documents to be retrieved are created according to a variety of document types, it is a burden for users to organize a query and execute a retrieval for each document type. For instance, documents satisfying the condition of the query shown in FIG. 14 can be created according to both document types shown in FIG. 13 and FIG. 15. Therefore, documents created according to both of the document types must be designated as prospective documents in a retrieving process. In this case, each document type must be designated on the execution of each retrieving process. When the number of document types that have the same purpose for use is large, it is a heavy burden on the user.
In the second conventional system, all documents in the system are always designated as prospective document regardless of the number of document types. Therefore, when the user intends to retrieve a document that is created according to a specific document type, all documents in the database including documents created according to the document types that the user does not desire are searched as well. As a result, since precision (a ratio of the desired document to the retrieved documents) decreases, the user should do an extra work to pick desired documents up from the retrieved results.
Further, in the second conventional system, all documents in the system are always designated as prospective document, even if a query includes an element that is included only in a document created according to a specific document type.
For instance, this is explained by a case that a database that includes both documents created according to the document type shown in FIG. 13 and documents created according to the document type shown in FIG. 15 is searched by using a query including an element type "body text".
FIG. 16 shows an example of a query including "body text" as an element. In this query, a node 101 of "body text" is the root node, and a node 102 of "section" is connected to the node 101. Configurations of nodes 102 through 103 are the same as those of the nodes 71 through 73 shown in FIG. 14, respectively. Since this query designates a condition regarding the element "body text", which is not included in the document type shown in FIG. 13, every document that is created according to the document type shown in FIG. 13 never satisfies the query.
However, in the second conventional system, when the query shown in FIG. 16 is designated, all documents are designated as prospective documents, even though a document created according to the document type shown in FIG. 13 never satisfies the condition. Accordingly, the response time of the system increases because of unnecessary processing.

Document database management system and document database retrieving method


A housing includes upper and lower holders in which a number of compact discs are stored. An arm is provided so that the proximal end may turn around a vertical shaft in the housing, and the distal end of the arm holds one of the compact discs in the upper holder. The arm turns sideward through an opening of the housing, and lowers along the vertical shaft to transfer the compact disc to a tray which is drawn from a printer. The compact disc is printed in the printer, held by the end of the arm again and transferred to the lower holder in the housing.

The present invention relates to a compact disc feeder, and especially a compact disc feeder for transferring compact discs in a holder of a housing to a processor such as a printer.
For example, a conventional automatic writing apparatus for writing data into a number of compact discs (CD) or a printer for printing on the surface comprises a CD holder for storing a number of CD and a transfer device for transferring CD from the holder to a processor and conveying the processed CD to the holder one by one.
The conventional automatic writing apparatus and printer has a receiving portion and a transfer device therein to increase size of the whole apparatus, which is too expensive. The foregoing receiving portion and transfer device are used only for the automatic writing apparatus and printer, and cannot be used with another device or for different purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,734,629 discloses a CD transporter in which the automatic writing device and printer are stacked such that the centers of the CD recorder drawers therefrom are aligned on a common axis, the carousel turntable which has a plurality of bins for holding CD being provided thereunder, the bins being selectively matched with the vertical axis by turning the table, one of CD from the bin being fed to the automatic writing appratus or printer, the processed CD being stored into another bin.
In the U.S. Patent, it is advantageous to simplify the CD feeder which comprises only elevating means, but it is blocked by drawing the drawer from the printer to take the CD out of the bin, thereby delaying operation time and requiring drive means for turning the table to make the whole transporter more complicated and larger in size to increase cost, which is disadvantageous.
In view of the above disadvantages in the prior art, it is an object of the invention to provide a multi-purpose feeder for a compact disc which can be fed and discharged one by one surely to a processor such as an automatic writing device and printer.


A lightning surge protector configured for use with coaxial lines is disclosed. The lightning surge protector includes an inner conductor comprising two conductive portions mechanically and capacitively coupled together, and displaced from one another, by a dielectric material which may be injection molded or snapped onto the conductive portions. Insulating material extends between the inner conductor and an outer conductor to electrically insulate the inner conductor from the outer conductor. An inductor inductively couples the inner conductor to the outer conductor and is coupled between the two using a solderless connection. The inductor has a bent end which may be inserted in a hole in the inner conductor and a straight end that may be staked in a hole in the outer conductor. The outer conductor is formed from a case and a plug which are frictionally coupled. The configuration of the components allows for components to be assembled into modules and sub-assemblies which facilitates pressing the modules and sub-assemblies together to reduce assembly costs.

This invention relates generally to surge protection and more particularly to surge protectors for hardware receiving signals via coaxial cable.
It is well known to provide electronic devices with surge protectors, lightning arrestors and bypass circuitry to protect the device from surges on the power input and signal input. Surge protectors, lightning arrestors and bypass circuitry are shown in Jones et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,236,551B1, issued May 22, 2001; Jones et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,227, issued Sep. 5, 2000; Jones et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,223, issued May 9, 2000; Knoedl, Jr. et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,987,335, issued Nov. 16, 1999; Zahlman et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,963,413, issued Oct. 5, 1999; Joulie et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,875,090, issued Feb. 23, 1999; Girard, U.S. Pat. No. 5,831,808, issued Nov. 3, 1998; Kashara et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,790,362, issued Aug. 4, 1998; Minich, U.S. Pat. No. 5,790,361, issued Aug. 4, 1998; Mansfield et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,652,690, issued Jul. 29, 1997; Shirakawa et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,709, issued Feb. 1, 1994; Igarashi, U.S. Pat. No. 4,644,441, issued Feb. 17, 1987; Cline, U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,805, issued Dec. 4, 1984; Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 4,447,848, issued May 8, 1984; Block, U.S. Pat. No. 4,409,637, issued Oct. 11, 1983; Franchet, U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,345, issued Oct. 19, 1982; Bitsch et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,314,303, issued Feb. 2, 1982; Miske, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 3,663,856, issued May 16, 1972; McStrack, U.S. Pat. No. 3,577,032, issued May 4, 1971; Stetson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,504,226, issued Mar. 31, 1970; Loy, U.S. Pat. No. 1,987,575, issued Jan. 8, 1935; and Narans et al., U.S. Pat. No. 1,430,674, issued Oct. 3, 1922, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by this reference.
Jones et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,236,551 B1 ("Jones '551") Jones et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,227 ("Jones '227") and Jones et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,223 ("Jones '223") ("collectively the Jones patents") are a family of patents issuing on the parent and continuations thereof and therefore provide the same disclosure. The Jones Patents show a connector for coaxial lines having a capacitive element and a spiral shaped inductive element designed to provide lightning protection while matching impedance of the incoming line. Thus, it is well known to configure and design connectors to match the impedance of incoming lines. It is also well known to utilize inductive and capacitive elements in a lightning surge protection device to tune the connector as shown in the Jones Patents, Block and Minich. Such devices use impedance matching techniques so that the lumped inductances and capacitances of the various components and structures of the connector, when taken together, exhibit the same characteristic impedance as the transmission line to which it is connected. However, such devices typically include multiple parts requiring calibration and tuning and often incorporate time intensive or complicated assembly techniques.
The present invention comprises one or more of the following features or combinations thereof. A lightning surge protection device is provided that is simple to manufacture and assemble yet provides lightning surge protection while remaining transparent to transmitted signals.
The surge protector for a signal receiving device configured to receive signals via a transmission line includes an inner conductor having a capacitance, an outer conductor, insulating material electrically insulating the inner conductor from the outer conductor and an inductor inductively coupling the inner conductor and outer conductor. Illustratively, the outer conductor is formed of two components that are coupled together. To aid in assembly of the lightning surge protector, the outer conductor may be formed from a case and a plug that is frictionally secured within the case. The inductor is solderlessly connected to the inner conductor and the outer conductor. The inner conductor includes a first conductive portion and a second conductive portion. Dielectric material separates the first conductive portion from the second conductive portion. The dielectric material may be injection molded to the first and second conductive portions of the inner conductor or may be a separate dielectric portion configured to snap onto the conductor portions. Illustratively, the dielectric portion partially encapsulates the first and second conductors to mechanically secure the conductors together. The dielectric material may be injection molded simultaneously with the insulating material to the first and second conductive portions to form an insulated inner conductor module. The insulating material includes a first insulating material insulating the first conductive portion from the outer conductor and a second insulating material insulating the second conductive portion from the outer conductor.
To reduce assembly costs, the inner conductor may include an inductor-receiving hole formed therein to receive a portion of the inductor therein to electrically and mechanically couple the inductor to the inner conductor. To facilitate solderless connection of the inductor to the inner conductor the inductor may include a bent portion which when inserted in the inductor-receiving hole is deformed so as to generate a restorative force-acting to couple the inductor to the inner conductor. To reduce the cost of manufacturing the surge protector, the conductive portion, case and plug may each be cast.
A method of manufacturing such a surge protection device is provided. The method comprises the steps of providing an insulated inner conductor, an inductor and an outer inductor which are assembled. The provided insulated inner conductor includes a first insulating portion coupled to a first conductor configured to be coupled to a signal carrying component of the signal receiving device and a second insulating portion coupled to a second conductor configured to be coupled to the inner conductor of the coaxial line. The first and second conductors are capactively coupled to one another. The provided outer conductor is a two component outer conductor. Each component of the outer conductor is configured to include a cavity sized to receive one of the first and second insulating portions therein and is configured to couple to the other component of the outer conductor. One component of outer conductor is configured to be coupled to an outer conductor of the coaxial line. The other component is configured to be coupled to a ground of the signal receiving device. The first insulating portion of the insulated inner conductor is inserted into the cavity of a selected one of the components of the outer conductor. The inductor is coupled between the insulated inner conductor and the selected one of the components of the outer conductor. The second insulating portion of the insulated inner conductor is inserted into the cavity of the other component of the outer conductor. The two components of the outer conductor are coupled whereby the inner conductor is electrically insulated from, but inductively coupled to, the outer conductor. The provided insulated inner conductor includes dielectric material mechanically and capacitively coupling the first conductor to the second conductor. The first insulating portion and the second insulating portion may be simultaneously molded to the first and second conductors. Similarly, the first insulating portion, the second insulating portion and the dielectric material may be simultaneously molded to the first and second conductors.
The inductor may include an inner conductor end and an outer conductor end, the provided insulated inner conductor includes an inductor-receiving hole, the selected component of the outer inductor includes an inductor-receiving hole and wherein the coupling the inductor step includes the steps of inserting the inner conductor end into the inductor-receiving hole of the insulated inner inductor and inserting the outer conductor end into the inductor-receiving hole of the selected component of the outer conductor. The outer conductor end of the inductor may be inserted into the inductor-receiving hole of the selected component of the outer conductor simultaneously with the insertion of the first insulating portion of the insulated inner conductor into the cavity of a selected one of the components of the outer conductor.
To facilitate solderless assembly of the inductor to the inner conductor, the inner conductor end of the inductor may include a bent portion so that insertion of the inner conductor end into the inductor-receiving hole of the inner conductor step causes deformation of the bent portion to generate a restorative force acting to couple the inductor to the inner conductor. Similarly, the outer conductor end of the inductor may be staked into the inductor receiving hole.
One component of the provided two component outer conductor may be a case having a cavity therein and the other component of the provided two component outer conductor may be a plug configured to be received in the cavity of the case. The plug may be the selected component. The first and second conductors of the insulated inner conductor and/or the two component of the outer conductor may be cast.
By pressing the two components of the outer conductor together, assembly costs may be reduced. Assembly costs may be further reduced by simultaneously inserting the second insulating portion of the insulated inner conductor into the cavity of the other component of the outer conductor while coupling the two components of the outer conductor.
Thus, the surge protector components are configured to generate modules and subassemblies facilitating assembly by pressing modules and subassemblies together.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of illustrated embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.


A method for generating a computer representation of a two-dimensional or three-dimensional object featuring recursive and anisotropic division of the representation. A bitree approach is provided for successively dividing into two equal parts any portion of the computer representation of the object. Each subdivision into two parts is accomplished by dividing the portion either horizontally or vertically. The method is implemented over a user interface to an information handling system comprised of one or more processors, a memory system, I/O devices, and an operating system program. Each subdivision of the computer representation of the object is comprised of a data structure that is efficiently stored in the memory system and dynamically updated to contain information about its neighboring subdivisions in order that balancing can be effectively achieved.

Prior Art.
Many areas of engineering and physics require taking a computer representation of a two-dimensional or three-dimensional object, dividing the representation into pieces and storing the pieces. The division is aimed at providing easier storage, transmission or manipulation of the representation. Examples of fields in which such division is important include (i) the field of mesh generation which arises in computational physics and computer aided design, and (ii) the field of communications where image storage, transmission and representation is fundamental.
In the prior art there are many techniques for subdividing and storing a computer representation of an object. Perhaps the most commonly used methods are the quadtree and octree division methods. The quadtree method applies to representations of two-dimensional objects. The octree method applies to representations of three-dimensional objects. A basic reference describing the quadtree method is M. A. Yerry and M. S. Shepard, A Modified Quadtree Approach to Finite Element Mesh Generation, 3 IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications 39 (January/February 1983). Both the quadtree and octree division methods are achieved by the use of simple recursive algorithms that isotropically divide the representation into pieces. In many actual applications the quadtree and octree algorithms are inefficient, because the subdivision process is isotropic (meaning in equal divisions in both the x- and y-directions for a computer representation of a two-dimensional object and in equal divisions in the x-, y-, and z-directions for a computer representation of a three-dimensional object). Both methods are limited in versatility. Of course, the computer representation typically is extremely anisotropic (meaning far from symmetric about the x-, y-, and z-axes).
Examples of prior art that teach or utilize the quadtree or octree division method include (i) Finnigan et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,490, issued Sep. 6, 1994, entitled Method and Apparatus For Converting Computed Tomography (CT) Data Into Finite Element Models, and (ii) Meager, U.S. Pat. No. 4,694,404, issued Sep. 15, 1987, entitled High Speed Image Generation of Complex Solid Objects Using Octree Encoding.
A modification of the quadtree method is taught in Imao, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,023, issued Jul. 24, 1990, entitled Method of Describing Image Information. The method described in Imao, et al., however, is limited, as the quadtree and octree methods are, by requiring division of regions of the representation into equal subregions.
The present invention also differs from the division method described in M. Tamminen and H. Samet, Efficient Octree Conversion by Connectivity Labeling, 18 Computer Graphics 43 (July 1984). The article presents an algorithm for converting an octree or quadtree subdivision into a compact representation of the boundary of the object being analyzed. The division method described in the article divides computer representations into equal halves about a single axis, and cycles through a new axis at each level. The present invention is for constructing a compact representation of the entire volume, not just the boundary. Moreover, the present invention does not require performing the quadtree or the octree division method prior to application of the bitree division method. The present invention is more efficient and more versatile in that it does not require cycling to a new axis at each level.
Although the references cited above generally teach methods of dividing a computer representation, none of the references teach the bitree division method invention taught and claimed herein.
The two-dimensional bitree idea is described in M. Shpitalni, P. Bar-Yoseph and Y. Krimberg, "Finite Element Mesh Generation Via Switching Function Representation", 5 Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 119 (1989). However, the article does not describe implementation specifics such as controlling the level variation of adjacent subdivisions, known as "balancing" the subdivisions. Balanced subdivisions are often required for computer-aided design, computational physics and communications applications. Balancing the subdivisions in the context of the quadtree division method is discussed in D. Moore, "Cost of Balancing Generalized Quadtrees", Symposium on Solid Modeling and Applications-Proceedings 1995, 305-311 (ACM, New York 1995).
The three-dimensional bitree idea is not in the literature.
An article published in the IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 37, No. 04A, April 1994, entitled Method for Geo-Referencing an Octree Data Structure, describes a method for tying an octree data structure to geographic coordinates.
An article published in the IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 32, No. 8B, January 1990, entitled Two-Pass Antialiasing in Constructive Solid Geometry Rendering, describes a two step method utilizing the quadtree approach for antialiasing a picture. Neither article provides a technique for recursive and anisotropic division of a computer representation that is an alternative to and an improvement of the traditional quadtree or octree division method as is shown and claimed herein.

Recursive and anisotropic method and article of manufacture for generating a balanced computer representation of an object

International Business Machines Corporation


A semiconductor device includes an on-die termination (ODT) latency clock control circuit and an ODT circuit controlled by the ODT latency clock control circuit. The ODT latency clock control circuit includes an ODT enable signal generator receiving an ODT signal input through an ODT pad of the ODT circuit, and generating an ODT enable signal, and an ODT latency clock generator generating a plurality of ODT latency clocks in response to the ODT enable signal. The ODT enable signal includes an enabling period of a first logic level and a disabling period of a second and different logic level, and the ODT enable signal generator generates the ODT enable signal by increasing the width of the enabling period by a predetermined clock cycle and only generating the clocks during the increased enabling period.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the inventive concept relate to a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a circuit for controlling an on-die termination latency clock of a semiconductor memory device.
2. Discussion of Related Art
When semiconductor devices operate at high speeds, a swing width of interfaced signals communicated between the devices may be reduced to lessen a delay experienced in the communication. However, reducing the swing width may cause the signals to be more greatly affected by fluctuations in external noise, which may result in mismatching of impedances. The mismatching of impedances may also be caused by a fluctuation in a power voltage, a change in an operation temperature, the manufacturing process, etc.
The mismatching of impedances may adversely affect transmission of data at high speeds or data distortion when data is output from semiconductor devices.
Semiconductor devices that operate at high speeds may include an impedance matching circuit including an on-die termination (ODT). The ODT may receive an ODT signal to trigger an ODT operation therein.
A Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) may include an ODT latency circuit and an ODT latency clock generation circuit to delay the ODT signal. The ODT latency circuit is controlled by ODT latency clocks generated by the ODT latency clock generation circuit.
However, even when an operation of the ODT latency clock generation circuit is unnecessary, the ODT latency clock generation circuit operates, which may increase the amount of power used by the ODT latency circuit and the ODT latency clock generation circuit.

On-die termination latency clock control circuit and method of controlling the on-die termination latency clock


A method of copying data includes receiving a command instructing copying of data from a source location in the memory die to a destination location in the memory die. The method includes determining if a criterion is met, including comparing a predefined parameter to a dynamic threshold. In response to determining that the criterion is met, the method includes executing the copying by moving the data from the source location in the memory die to the controller die and, after moving the data to the controller die, moving an error-corrected version of the data from the controller die to the destination location in the memory die. In response to determining that the criterion is not met, the method includes executing the copying by moving the data inside the memory die source location to the destination location without moving the data to the controller die.

Non-volatile memory devices, such as universal serial bus (USB) flash memory drives and removable storage cards, provide increased portability of data and software applications. Such devices may copy data from a source location in memory to a destination location in the memory using error detection and correction techniques to remove errors in the copied data. Alternatively, such devices may copy data from the source location to the destination location without using error detection and correction during the copy operation. Copying data without using error detection and correction reduces copy latency but increases a risk that the data becomes unrecoverable due to too many errors accumulating in the data. Therefore, it would be beneficial to improve an average speed of data copying within a non-volatile memory device while maintaining an acceptably low risk that the data becomes unrecoverable due to accumulated errors.


A camera includes an image sensor for sensing an image of an object to be photographed and producing an image data, a first memory for storing information concerning compression, a setting device for setting a compression ratio based on the information stored in the first memory, a compression device for compressing the image data at the set compression ratio, and a second memory for storing the compressed image data. Also, This camera includes a displaying device for displaying an image corresponding to the compressed image data in the viewfinder system so that the photographer can observe the image quality deterioration caused by the compression.

This invention relates to a camera system capable of compressing a photographed image data and then storing the compressed image data in a memory.
To increase the S/N ratio of image data, and reduce the size of camera, it has been required that image data is converted into the form of a digital signal and stored in a semiconductor memory. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-183582 discloses an image storing method in which an output of a image pick-up device is A/D-converted into a digital image signal, and the digital image signal is stored in a semiconductor memory, e.g., SRAM, provided in a memory card detachably attached to a camera body.
However, the market price of semiconductor memories is remarkably high. Also, the semiconductor memories have a small storage capacity and cannot store a sufficient number of image data. To overcome these drawbacks, signal compression has been practiced of compressing image data before storing in a semiconductor memory. However, this signal compression raises another problem that a camera photographer cannot observe the image quality deterioration caused by the signal compression until the stored image is reproduced.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1-165267 discloses an electronic still camera which makes it possible that before storing a photographed image data, the photographer can check whether the photographed image data is suitable for photographer""s purpose. In this electronic still camera, however, the checked image data is a photographed image data itself, and not a compressed image data. Accordingly, in the electronic still camera of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1-165267, the photographer cannot observe the image quality deterioration caused by the signal compression.
Also, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-286078 discloses a digital image data storing method which enables the photographer to select one among a compression mode and a non-compression mode to store image data in a memory card with high efficiency.
There are many kinds of memory card having different storage capacities. For example, in a case that one frame of still image has an information content of 200 Kbytes, a 128 Kbyte memory card cannot store even one frame of still image, and also 1 Mbyte memory card cannot store more than five frames. Accordingly, it could be seen that the 128 Kbyte memory card cannot be used unless the image data is compressed before stored.
It is a great inconvenience that the storability of a memory card is determined by the storage capacity of the memory card. As mentioned above, also, there are memory cards having different storage capacities. Accordingly, it could be seen that the storage capacity of a memory card cannot be utilized only by changing from the compression mode to the non-compression mode and vice versa. Also, this will place the photographer in a state that the memory card cannot be relied on.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a camera which has overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a camera which makes it possible that the photographer can observe a compressed image data before storing.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a camera which makes it possible to set a proper compression ratio in accordance with the storage capacity of a memory card and photographer""s purpose.
According to the present invention, a camera comprises image sensing means for sensing an image of an object to be photographed and producing an image data, first storing means for storing information concerning compression, setting means for setting a compression ratio based on the information stored in said first storing means, compression means for compressing the image data at the set compression ratio, and second storing means for storing the compressed image data.
Also, according to the present invention, an image storing medium comprises first storing means for storing data representative of an image, and second storing means for storing information which is used for compressing the data to be stored in said first storing means.
Further, according to the present invention, a camera system comprises a camera main body, image sensing means provided in said camera main body for sensing an image of an object to be photographed and producing an image data, a storing medium detachably attached to the camera main body and including first storing means for storing information concerning compression and second storing means for storing compressed image data, readout means for reading out the information stored in said first storing means, setting means for setting a compression ratio based on the information read out by said readout means, and compression means for compressing the image data at the set compression ratio.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, a photographing apparatus comprises image sensing means for sensing an image of an object to be photographed and producing an image data, processing means for processing the image data, first storing means for storing the image data processed by said processing means, second storing means for storing information concerning processing to be accomplished by said processing means, readout means for reading out the information stored in said second storing means, and controller means for controlling said processing means so as to process the image data in accordance with the information read out by said readout means, and controlling said first storing means so as to store the processed image data.
Moreover, according to the present invention, a camera comprises image sensing means for sensing an image of an object to be photographed and producing an image data, compression means for compressing the image data, setting means for setting a compression ratio for said compression means, displaying means for displaying an image representative of the compressed image data, and storing means for storing the compressed image data.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon a reading of the following detailed description and drawings.

Camera system capable of storing compressed data


An overwrap provides cushioning and protection for an object, stored in a bag or other container, during transport and/or storage. The overwrap has a generally smooth exterior surface and textured interior surface that is pliable for conforming to bumps or other raised portions of the object thereby providing a generally smooth exterior covering that minimizes frictional forces with the bag. The overwrap may include one or more folding scores that allow the body of the overwrap to bend into a channel. A plurality of material discontinuities may also be included that allow the overwrap of conform to the object without bunching.

Wire used in certain processes may be wound and stored on cores as coils. The wire is frequently wound around a central core and secured by metal tie wires that extend through the coil, and across the outer turns of the coiled wire. The tie wires are typically spaced circumferentially around the diameter of the coil and secured by twisting and cutting off the ends of the metal wire forming bumps or protrusions on the surface of the coil.
In packaging the wire, the coil may be placed in a bag constructed from generally pliable material like plastic, paper, or vapor corrosion inhibiting (VCI) paper. The bag may also be constructed from foil laminate structures to preserve conditions inside bag. In certain welding processes, the coil of wire, or electrode, is hermetically sealed to prevent ambient conditions from affecting the wire. To ensure freshness, the air in the bag may be evacuated to preserve the atmospheric conditions inside the package. This ensures that the electrode meets performance specifications when the coil arrives at the desired location. However, during transportation and/or handling, protrusions on the surface of the enclosed article, e.g. wire, form pressure points that act abrasively to damage the bag, rupturing or breaking the vacuum seal. The abrasion increases friction that may lead to eventual tearing of the bag or breaching of the bag seal.


A diffraction grating excellent in surface precision and allowing its miniaturization and weight reduction and a method for manufacturing the same. The present invention includes: a glass substrate having a thickness of 0.5 mm to 8 mm; a resin-made microstructure body having an unevenness pattern and formed on one surface of the glass substrate; and a flat resin layer formed on the other surface of the glass substrate. Even if the glass substrate has surface precision of λ/2 or greater, the replica of the diffraction grating, in which the microstructure body is not influenced by the surface precision of the glass substrate and which is excellent in surface precision, can be manufactured by the flatness of the resin layer. In addition, since the glass substrate can be made thin, the miniaturization and weight reduction of the diffraction grating can be achieved.

A spectroscope is a device that analyzes the spectrum of light emitted from a sample. A diffraction grating is one of the key components of the spectroscope. The performance of the spectroscope is determined based on the performance of the diffraction grating. The performance of the diffraction grating is determined based on the interval between grooves matching the wavelength of light to be analyzed, the precision of the interval, the reflectance of the light to be analyzed, and surface precision expressing the size of unevenness spots on the surface of the diffraction grating.
A diffraction grating for use in a spectroscope is manufactured by cutting off a metal piece with a ruling engine and an electron beam irradiation apparatus. It is unfavorable to manufacture the diffraction grating with such apparatuses since the introduction and maintenance costs of the apparatuses are required.
As a diffraction grating for use in a general-purpose spectroscope, a replica manufactured using a diffraction grating, which is manufactured with the method described above, as a master is used. The manufacturing method in which the replica is extracted from the master is suitable as a method for manufacturing the diffraction grating for use in the general-purpose spectroscope since the introduction and maintenance costs of a ruling engine and an electron beam irradiation apparatus can be reduced.
In recent years, nano-imprint technologies have been developed and applied to various products. The nano-imprint technology is a technology for transferring a microstructure having a size of several nanometers to several micrometers from a master to a replica or from the replica to the master. The nano-imprint technology is high in versatility in that it can be applied to various products. In addition, the nano-imprint technology includes a technology that allows cost reduction and mass production with automation. With the application of such a nano-imprint technology, it becomes possible to manufacture the replicas of diffraction gratings at low costs and in large amounts (e.g., Patent Literature 1 or the like).

Method for manufacturing a diffraction grating


A magnetic core member, an antenna module, and a portable communication terminal having this, which have a configuration capable of satisfying enhancement of communication characteristics of antenna coils as well as their sufficient electromagnetic shielding function from a shield plate. A magnetic core member (4) is disposed between an antenna substrate having antenna coils (11), (12) formed therein and a conductive shield plate (3), and is formed by filling an insulating material (30) with a magnetic powder (31). The magnetic core member (4) has a two-layered structure including a first layer (4A) and a second layer (4B), thereby making a filling rate of the magnetic powder (31) in the first layer (4A) be lower than that of the magnetic powder (31) in the second layer (4B) so that a first surface (4a) on a side opposed to the antenna substrate (2) and a second surface (4b) on a side opposed to the shield plate (3) have magnetic properties different from each other.

Conventionally, as an IC card and an identification tag using RFID technology (these are hereinafter referred to collectively as "IC tag" as well), devices are known in which an IC chip having recorded information therein and a resonant capacitor are electrically connected to an antenna coil. In these devices, it is configured to implement identification or monitoring by transmitting an electric wave of a predetermined frequency from a transmission/reception antenna of a reader/writer to the antenna coil, to activate an IC tag, and then to read the information stored in the IC chip in accordance with a read command based on data communication via the electric wave, or depending on whether or not resonance occurs with the electric wave of the specific frequency. Additionally, many of IC cards are configured to be able to update the information read, and write history information.
As a conventional antenna module for use mainly as an identification tag, a device is available in which a magnetic core member is inserted into an antenna coil formed by spirally winding wire in a plane, so as to be substantially parallel to the plane of this antenna coil (see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-48152). The magnetic core member in this antenna module is made of an amorphous sheet or an electromagnetic steel strip. The magnetic core member is inserted into the antenna coil so as to be substantially parallel to the plane of the antenna coil, for reducing the thickness of the entire antenna module.
However, since the antenna module having the above-mentioned configuration has its magnetic core member made of an amorphous sheet or an electromagnetic steel strip, a Q factor usable for frequencies of about 100 kHz is obtainable, but for a case of a high frequency such as several MHz to several tens of MHz, there has been an inconvenience that its Q factor drops due to eddy currents occurring in the amorphous sheet or the electromagnetic steel strip of the magnetic core member. Particularly, in recent years, IC tags using the RFID technology operating at 13.56 MHz have come into practice, and the antenna module disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-48152 is not usable for tags operating in such high-frequency electric waves.
On the other hand, a sintered ferrite has hitherto been known as a magnetic core member usable at high frequencies. However, the sintered ferrite is comparatively fragile. Particularly, when a sintered ferrite plate is made thin for use as a magnetic core member in order to obtain a thin antenna coil, the magnetic core member is susceptible to breakage, thus imposing a handling quality problem that its actual usable environment is limited. In order to overcome this problem, an antenna coil has been proposed which has a relatively high rigidity and is designed to be usable at relatively high frequencies, by forming a magnetic core member of a composite material including soft magnetic metal, amorphous or ferrite powder or flakes, and a plastic or rubber (see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-325013).
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-113142 discloses an antenna module having a configuration in which an antenna coil is formed by spirally winding wire within a plane, and a flat-shaped magnetic core member is laminated thereon so as to be parallel to this antenna coil.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Hei 11-74140 discloses a dust core manufacturing method in which a metal powder, which is used as a choke coil magnetic core and which is made of a composite material, is aligned in a direction of extrusion during extrusion molding. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-289414 discloses a configuration using a composite magnetic body in which a flat metal powder is pressed onto an electric wave absorber for adhesion to the back or the like of a liquid crystal of a portable information terminal in order to satisfy a noise standard for 100-400 MHz.
By the way, in recent years, a reliable operating environment is needed for RFID-based IC tags operating at 13.56 MHz. For example, also in terms of their communication characteristics, the longest possible communication distance, as well as a flat, wide communication area for a reader/writer facing a tag are called for.
For example, in a case where an article to be identified is made of a metal, an antenna coil used as an identification tag has an electrically insulating spacer interposed between the antenna coil and the article in order to avoid influence by the article, and the spacer may be substituted for by a magnetic core member in some cases (see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-113142).
On the other hand, since there may be cases where an antenna coil is incorporated into various communication equipment, the antenna coil may be easily affected by a metallic part, even if it is not the article to be identified, positioned therearound. In order to avoid this, there is a device in which a shield plate is adhered to the back (surface for adhesion) of a communication surface to suppress fluctuations in communication characteristics caused by a metallic body (see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-325013).
Although the fluctuations in the communication characteristics can be prevented by the shield plate, this also means that the communication characteristics of the antenna coil are degraded to a certain level by the shield plate. Thus, from the viewpoint of enhancing the communication characteristics, the presence of the shield plate could be a serious negative factor.
To overcome this situation, in order to suppress degradation of the communication characteristics of an antenna coil due to the influence of surrounding metals, if an antenna module is configured such that the above-mentioned magnetic core member is interposed between the antenna coil and the shield plate, the shield plate can be made to function as if it were not present as viewed from the side of the antenna coil (Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-092893).
In an antenna module having a laminated structure including an antenna coil, a magnetic core member, and a shield plate, the magnetic core member in the middle performs both a function of allowing the antenna coil to exhibit its communication performance, and an electromagnetic shielding function of preventing the antenna coil from being affected by the shield plate.
However, magnetic properties required of the magnetic core member to allow the antenna coil to exhibit the required communication performance are not necessarily compatible with magnetic properties required of the magnetic core member to satisfy the electromagnetic shielding function between the antenna coil and the shield plate. Thus, the present situation calls for proper selection of a magnetic core member that can trade off the communication characteristics of the antenna coil against its electromagnetic shielding function from the shield plate.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and therefore has an object to provide a magnetic core member, an antenna module, and a portable communication terminal having this, which has a configuration capable of satisfying enhancement of the communication characteristics of the antenna coil, as well as its electromagnetic shielding function from the shield plate.

Magnetic core member, antenna module, and mobile communication terminal having the same


Integrated circuits with small feature sizes are obtained using a phase shifting mask which has reduced back reflection and improved optical contrast. These improvements result from reduced etching of the chrome and chrome oxide layers on the phase shifting mask. In one embodiment, the phase shifting mask is formed by depositing an image reversible photoresist layer (22) which overlies the optical mask (18). Forming a first exposed region (24) and an unexposed region (26) in the image reversible photoresist layer (22). Treating the first exposed region (24) to form a hardened first exposed region. Forming a second exposed region (30) within the remaining portion of the unexposed region (26) by exposing the back surface (16) of the substrate (12) to an optical illumination source. Removing the second exposed region (30) to uncover a portion (32) of the substrate (12) and to form an etch mask (34). The uncovered portion (32) of the substrate (12) is etched to form a trench region (38).

The semiconductor industry's continuing drive toward advanced integrated circuits with increased performance and higher device packing densities has required an accompanying decrease in the minimum feature size of devices. Therefore, each new generation of advanced integrated circuit has required an increase in lithographic resolution. Traditionally, optical lithography has been used to define integrated circuit patterns on semiconductor substrates.
Optical lithography uses a transmission mask in conjunction with a light source to define patterns in a photoresist layer overlying a semiconductor substrate. A conventional transmission mask usually consists of a quartz substrate covered by an opaque composite layer of chrome and chrome oxide that has open slits or apertures defined within it. The chrome oxide that lies on the top surface of the chrome serves as an anti-reflective coating and is essential for high resolution optical lithography because it minimizes the back reflection of light from the mask. A specific configuration or layout of apertures within the composite chrome layer is used to define a specific integrated circuit pattern. The integrated circuit pattern on a transmission mask is transferred to a photoresist coated semiconductor substrate by placing the substrate under the transmission mask, which is then illuminated with a light source. Light passing through the apertures on the transmission mask causes a pattern to be photochemically defined in the photoresist layer. If the photoresist layer has a positive tone, subsequent development of the photoresist layer results in the exposed portion, or the photochemically transformed portion, to be selectively removed with respect to the unexposed portion of the photoresist layer. For a negative tone photoresist, the unexposed portions of the photoresist layer would be selectively removed with respect to the exposed portions of photoresist layer. In either case, the transfer of the integrated circuit pattern from the transmission mask to the photoresist layer, however, is not perfect. This becomes especially true as the distance separating adjacent apertures on the transmission mask decreases.
When light passes through an aperture on the transmission mask, it is diffracted by the composite chrome layer. This results in a partial illumination of the area surrounding the aperture, in addition to the illumination of the area located directly underneath the aperture. Therefore, as the distance between two adjacent apertures is decreased, the light diffracted from each of the apertures constructively interferes. On the semiconductor substrate, this results in the unwanted exposure of photoresist that lies between two exposed regions such that the resulting integrated circuit pattern is either smaller or larger than desired. Consequently, the ability to optically resolve a photoresist pattern with closely spaced features is degraded. Therefore, the continuing reduction of device feature sizes, as required for advanced integrated circuits, is limited.
Phase shifting masks, however, have been proposed for the fabrication of advanced integrated circuits because of their ability to improve the resolution of optical lithography. Phase shifting masks make use of the fact that out of phase light waves destrictively interfere with one another. For example, if the light passing through an aperture is 180 degrees out of phase with light passing through an adjacent aperture, then the diffracted light from both apertures destructively interferes and is canceled in the region between the adjacent apertures. As a result, photoresist patterns with closely spaced features can be resolved.
Although the basic principle of using phase shifting masks to achieve improved optical resolution is relatively straight forward, the actual fabrication of phase shifting masks is more difficult. Many phase shifting masks use a composite layer of chrome and chrome oxide to define phase shifting apertures, similar to transmission masks. Phase shifting masks differ from transmission masks in that the substrate is contoured and non-planar. Thus the substrate is thicker in some areas than in others. The purpose of using a substrate with varying, but controlled, thickness is to achieve the destructive interference associated with phase shifting. Phase shifting is accomplished by decreasing or increasing the path length of light traveling through an aperture with respect to an adjacent aperture. The path length of light traveling through an aperture can be changed by changing the thickness of the substrate appropriately. Typically, thickness differences across a substrate have traditionally been accomplished by forming trenches in the substrate. Thickness differences, however, can also be achieved by forming trenches in a phase shifting layer which overlies the substrate, and which has optical properties which are nearly the same as the substrate. Unfortunately, the existing etches used to form the trenches also etch portions of the chrome oxide anti-reflective coating and thins or roughens the underlying chrome layer. Therefore, chrome-based phase shifting masks suffer from high back reflection and from degraded transmission profiles, since portions of the composite chrome mask are etched. Consequently, the formation of advanced integrated circuits using chrome-based phase shifting masks is limited. Accordingly, a need exists for a process that forms trenched phase shifting apertures, on chrome-based masks, with reduced or no etching of the composite chrome mask.

Method for forming integrated circuit devices using a phase shifting mask


A method and apparatus for switching at least one wavelength component of an optical signal beam from a first state to a second state. The phase characterizing the optical signal component is incremented by interaction with one or more escort beams in a non-linear medium thereby switching the state of the optical signal component on the basis of its incremented phase. Multiple escort beams may also be employed to switch different wavelength components of the signal. The method may be employed to achieve high speed, and substantially transparent, switching of phase, intensity or polarization of a signal.

The present invention pertains to methods and apparatus for routing optical signals, and more particularly to rapid switching of optical signals on the basis of frequency-selective interaction with an escort beam in a non-linear medium.
Fast optical switching is an essential component of high-speed optical networking. Optical switching methods currently employ either mechanical motion, such as the motion of mirrors driven by micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) or, otherwise, are based upon modification of a material characteristic of the switching medium, which may be expressed in terms of the nonlinear polarizability of the medium. Thus, the effective index of refraction of the medium is modified, either by virtue of modifying the lattice structure of the medium or, as in the case of optical nonlinearity in semiconductor devices, by generation of real charge carriers.
A straightforward approach to switching based on nonlinear polarizability encompasses electro-optic devices, relying, for example, on the Pockels effect (or the Kerr effect) to induce (or modify) birefringence as a function of an applied electric field, thus changing the phase for certain polarizations. This is used in all electro-optic waveguide modulators. A salient disadvantage of such effects is that the induced phase modification will be nearly the same for all nearby wavelengths. Therefore, there is no simple way to make a wavelength-dependent switch. Moreover, to achieve a stable zero-phase configuration, electro-optic devices typically have "dither-and-feedback" circuits to hold quadrature points; however those both add to complexity and limit the extinction ratio.
While the nonlinearity of a switching medium may be naturally occurring, nonlinearities may also be achieved through synthesis of photonic crystals, as described, for example by Mazurenko et al., Ultrafast Optical Switching in Three-Dimensional Photonic Crystals, Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 91, p. 213903, (2003), which is incorporated herein by reference.
Switching speeds are limited, in the case of real carrier generation, by recombination times which can be long (˜ns). Off-resonance excitation in the optical Stark effect regime (a splitting or shifting of energy levels of the material) is subpicosecond, however, typically requiring very high switching intensities, often >109 W-cm−2. Moreover, such fields give rise to generation of real carriers by one- or two-photon absorption, again implicating recombination time limitations mentioned above.
Limitations of the foregoing optical switching methods may be traced to their reliance upon the generally small third-order non-linear polarizabilities of materials, and the high absorption inherent in the fact that these third-order non-linear polarizabilities are achieved close to the semiconductor absorption-band edge.
It is thus desirable to implement a fast optical switch in a medium which is transparent and suitable for switching over a wavelength band sufficiently broad to accommodate a typical optical communications band, and in which optical switching may be based upon the typically stronger second-order non-linear polarizability of the material and is not limited by recombination times of free carriers in the medium.

Optical switch based on parametric interaction

The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois


A lithographic apparatus comprising a projection system comprising at least one optical component and configured to project a pattern onto a substrate. The lithographic apparatus further comprises a control system arranged to reduce the effects of heating and/or cooling of an optical component in a lithographic process. The control system is configured at least: to select at least one of a plurality of mode shapes to represent a relationship between at least one input in the lithographic process and an aberration resulting from the input and to generate and apply a correction to the lithographic apparatus based on the mode shape.

A lithographic apparatus is a machine constructed to apply a desired pattern onto a substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). A lithographic apparatus may, for example, project a pattern at a patterning device (e.g., a mask) onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on a substrate (e.g., a wafer).
In a lithographic apparatus, the dose of radiation received by the projection system causes heating and subsequent cooling of the projection system. Herewith, the projection system induces some aberrations in the projected image, therewith adversely affecting imaging performance, e.g., overlay and/or focus, of the lithographic process.
As semiconductor manufacturing processes continue to advance, the dimensions of circuit elements have continually been reduced while the amount of functional elements, such as transistors, per device has been steadily increasing over decades, following a trend commonly referred to as 'Moore's law'. To keep up with Moore's law the semiconductor industry is chasing technologies that enable the creation of increasingly smaller features. The smaller the features, the greater the need to overcome aberrations in the projected image.
It is known that lens heating effects can be calculated in advance by using mathematical models. These models are helpful in determining (expected) aberrations of the projected image caused by the lens heating effect. With the knowledge of the expected aberration, corrections may be applied by introducing compensating aberrations. These counter measures may be provided by adjustable lens elements arranged in the projection system. Herewith, the effect of lens heating may be at least mitigated.
With increasing demands on imaging performance of a lithographic apparatus, the complexity of the model increases. In an effort to effectively correct for the effects of lens heating, the increasing complexity of the model may result in overfitting, increased numerical effort, and/or erroneous fitting.
One of the objects of the disclosed embodiments is to provide a method of correcting aberrations, which obviates or mitigates a problem associated with conventional systems.

Method of reducing effects of lens heating and/or cooling in a lithographic process


The disclosure relates to a sensor system for detecting a position of a movable plunger in a drug delivery device, the sensor system comprising a sensor capable of detecting a magnetic field, the sensor adapted to be fixed within a housing of a drug delivery device, and a ferromagnetic or permanent magnetic component magnetically interacting with the sensor and adapted to move relative to the sensor as the plunger is moved.

Administering an injection is a process which presents a number of risks and challenges for users and healthcare professionals, both mental and physical. Injection devices typically fall into two categories—manual devices and autoinjectors. In a conventional manual device, manual force is required to drive a medicament through a needle. This is typically done by some form of button/plunger that has to be continuously pressed during the injection.
Autoinjector devices aim to make self-injection easier for patients. A conventional autoinjector may provide the force for administering the injection by a spring, and trigger button or other mechanism may be used to activate the injection. Autoinjectors may be single-use or reusable devices.
Conventional injection devices may deliver the entire contents of a syringe/cartridge or may provide a predetermined or set dose. Conventional injection devices can lack mechanisms to ensure accurate dose delivery. For example, when the entire contents of the syringe/cartridge are intended to be delivered, a residual amount may remain which either means that a full dose was not delivered or the syringe/cartridge must be overfilled to ensure a proper dose is administered. As a further example, when the predetermined/set dose is delivered, over- or under-dosing may occur.
For purposes of user compliance it may be desirable to detect a position of a plunger in a drug delivery device.
Thus, there remains a need for an improved sensor system for detecting a position of a movable plunger in a drug delivery device.


A method including measuring time periods in which a reflex point of a subject is struck and a reflex response is observed. A method including determining a resting metabolic rate of a subject by applying the Kail-Waters equation. An apparatus including a striking instrument capable of delivering a kinetic energy to a reflex point of a subject; and a measurement instrument capable of being coupled to a subject and measuring a reflex response. A machine-readable storage medium containing executable program instructions which when executed cause a digital processing system to perform a method including determining time periods in which a reflex point is struck and a reflex response is observed. A machine-readable storage medium containing executable program instructions which when executed cause a digital processing system to perform a method including determining a resting metabolic rate of a subject by applying the Kail-Waters equation.

Thyroid dysfunction affects more than 30 percent of the U.S. population. Sub-clinical hypothyroidism appears to greatly affect the subject's health risk of many chronic degenerative diseases. The risks associated with sub-clinical hypothyroidism can be grouped into the following risk categories: Cardiovascular Risk, Diabetes Risk, Arthritis and Inflammatory Risk, Neurological Risk, Bone Risk and Pregnancy complications.
The current methods of testing for thyroid hormone dysfunction include the "gold standard," which is resting metabolic rate, and serum thyroid measurements.
Reflexometry was studied in the 1960's and 1970's with Achilles tendon reflexometry, and various pieces of testing equipment were developed, which gave somewhat varied results. They were difficult to operate and use on a subject, and were never widely accepted. The original studies looked at the height of the waveform and the length of the firing interval.
It was determined that the height of the waveform did not correlate with thyroid events. It was found, however, that the descending slope of the firing interval was elongated with the point of least variance at half of relaxation. This was difficult to determine.


Methods 300 and systems 100 for evaluating proposed food purchases which vary from a pre-planned diet are provided. A nutrition-related scheme, the pre-planned diet, is developed on the basis of achieving a primary goal such as increasing the intake of a particular nutrient or losing a certain amount of weight. The nutrition-related scheme, which may be stored in a memory 103 of a computer 120, includes a list of approved food items. When a user proposes to substitute a food item for an approved food item a version of the program stored on a PDA 120 determines whether the substituted item negatively interacts with any of the approved diet items, for example, affecting the user's ability to metabolize a nutrient in the approved item.

1. Field
The present embodiments relate generally to systems and methods for shopping, and more specifically to systems and methods for evaluating the impact of proposed food purchases on a pre-planned diet.
2. Background
People have good intentions when it comes to setting goals related to their health and personal well being. Each new year we set New Year's resolutions to lose weight, eat healthier, exercise more, or other equally well-intentioned goals. More often than not these goals for the new year soon fall by the wayside as lost causes, only to be taken up again the following year. Many systems and methods have been devised in an effort to improve the chances of achieving one's goals, especially diet-related goals.
Published U.S. Patent Application 2005/0049920 to Day et al. describes a system for tracking the nutritional content of food purchases. Day et al's system monitors purchases a consumer is contemplating and suggests an alternative purchase which is appropriate to the consumer's diet. U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,312, issued to Moore discusses a system of dieting which takes into account the physiological parameters of a person, for example, age, height, weight and build of the person. Records are kept to account for food consumed by the dieter. If necessary, the system suggests changes to the person's diet after considering the caloric intake and physiological parameters of the person. Another conventional system described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,249,773 entails the creation of supermarket shopping lists based on the shopping history of a particular shopper. Similarly, the convention system of Canadian CA 1996002193869 creates a shopping list based on properties of the shopper or the shopper's family, the previous purchase history and household size.
One problem with these conventional systems is that they do not take into account the effect of the interaction between the present diet food items with an item substituted by the dieter.

System and methods for supermarket shopping list elections based on goals

International Business Machines Corporation


A head protection assembly which can be secured to a seat includes a plurality of chambers or pads, inflated to a pre-selected pressure which provide protection of the occupant of the seat from side and rear impacts. The head protection assembly is placed in a seat in lateral alignment with the side of the head of an occupant of the seat and adjusted to restrain movements of the head caused by vehicle collisions. The chambers or pads are inflated or deflated to permit the chambers or pads to be adjusted to the size of the occupant of the seat. The assembly includes a device to indicate the correct inflation pressure. The chambers or pads are fluidly interconnected to distribute fluid throughout the assembly to help absorb the impact of the head of the occupant. The chambers or pads can be secured to an existing seat to afford additional protection or can be incorporated into the seat during the manufacture of the seat. An inflatable body restraint can also be provided to help protect the occupant of the seat.

The neck of an individual, in particular a child, is not strong enough to hold the individual's head in a position to prevent damage to the head during vehicle accidents or sudden stops. While many vehicle seats are provided with head restraints to protect an adult occupant of the seat from rearward motion during an accident, the seats do not include restraints to afford the occupant protection from side impacts. This is also true for child safety seats. While the child safety seat affords some protection from side impacts, it is not sufficient to prevent neck and back injury. Physically handicapped individuals are also susceptible to head injuries which may occur in vehicle collisions or sudden stops and will benefit from the present invention.

Head and body protection system for a child safety seat


A cask for storing and transporting highly radioactive materials includes an inner shell and a number of layers of depleted uranium wire wound on the inner shell to create a radioactive shield against emanation of radioactivity from the material stored within the inner shell.

Nuclear reactors generate substantial amounts of radioactive waste material in the form of spent fuel rods which are still highly radioactive. Special containers or casks are needed to transport them to preprocessing plants or for storing them. These casks must act as shields against radioactivity and must be structurally strong and sound as well as inexpensive as possible. Lead is well known to be a good shield against radioactivity but lead is too soft for secure fabrication and fastening. Depleted uranium is better and the shielding material of choice. It is cast into the desired shape and then sandwiched between steel or other structural members to provide the necessary strength and rigidity for the cask. However, castings suffer from voids due to cracks, gas holes, shrink holes and the like, which results in less than the specified thickness of depleted uranium for shielding. In addition, the large castings required are in the range of fifty to sixty thousand pounds while the largest uranium furnaces in current operation have typically no more than a five to six thousand pound capacity. As a result, the casks must be cast in pieces and then securely fastened together in such a way as to not only provide a rigid, unitary container but also so as to provide no clear, unshielded line of sight path through the cask along which radiation could escape.

Cask for storing and transporting highly radioactive material and method of making same


A method for estimating a molecular mass parameter in a sample that includes at least one component of given molecular mass, comprising the steps consisting of passing the sample through a processing chain comprising a mass spectrometer with a MEMS or NEMS electromechanical sensor, in this way obtaining a signal representing the molecular mass parameter and estimating the molecular mass parameter by means of a signal processing device. The molecular mass parameter is defined on the basis of a parameter of time distribution of successive detections, by the MEMS or NEMS electromechanical sensor, of the adsorption of said component, and the estimation of the molecular mass parameter is made by Bayesian inference, on the basis of a direct analytical modeling of said signal according to the molecular mass parameter and to technical parameters of the processing chain comprising at least one technical parameter of the MEMS or NEMS electromechanical sensor.

A particularly promising application of such a method is for example the analysis of biological samples such as blood or plasma samples in order to extract therefrom biological parameters such as a mass spectrum estimation for revealing molecular concentrations of proteins. Knowledge of this mass spectrum and/or these concentrations makes it possible to detect abnormalities or illnesses. In particular, it is known that some illnesses such as cancers, even at an early stage, may have a possibly detectable impact on the molecular concentrations of certain proteins. The study of these proteins, referred to as proteomics, thus becomes an essential element in many fields in medicine. This is because proteins are particularly interesting cases of biomarkers that describe both the expression of genes and the influence of the environment and are more accessible in a good number of organic fluids (blood, serum, urine, biological fluid, lysate of a biological sample, etc). However, more generally, the analysis of samples for extracting relevant molecular mass parameters affording for example an aid to the diagnosis of a state (health, pollution, etc) that can be associated with these samples is a promising field of application of a method according to the invention.
Among the concrete applications that can be envisaged, the following may be noted: the biological analysis of samples by detecting proteins and their masses; the characterization of bacteria by mass spectrometry; the characterization of the state of pollution of a chemical sample (for example the analysis of a gas in an environment or the analysis a heavy metal in a liquid sample). The relevant parameters extracted may comprise mass spectra of components such as molecules (peptides, proteins, enzymes, antibodies, etc) or molecular assemblies. Molecular assembly means for example a nanoparticle or a biological species (bacterium, microorganism, cell, etc).
In the case of a biological analysis by detecting proteins, the entire difficulty is arriving at the most precise possible estimation in a noisy environment where the proteins of interest are sometimes present in the sample in very small quantities.
In general, the sample passes through a processing chain comprising at least a mass spectrometer. This processing chain is designed for the supply of a signal representing masses of components in the sample according to a mass/charge ratio in the mass spectrometer.
Optionally, the processing chain may comprise, upstream of the mass spectrometer, making it necessary for the sample to be in nebulized gaseous phase, a vaporizer and an electrospray (or equivalent, in order to carry out ionization and/or desorption of the components of the sample) able to proceed with the phase change necessary when the sample to be analyzed is for example available in liquid or solid phase.
Finally, when the mass spectrometer used has a MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System) or NEMS (Nano Electro Mechanical System) electromechanical sensor, the processing chain may optionally comprise focusing electronics, for example a hexapole, guiding the ionized components through a chamber at very low pressure. MEMS Sensors are used for compounds with high molecular masses, for example molecular assemblies, while NEMS sensors are used for detecting compounds with lower molecular masses, for example single molecules.
The major advantage of using a mass spectrometer with a MEMS or NEMS electromechanical sensor in the processing chain is to allow a quantification and estimation of the mass parameter (for example the mass or mass spectrum) at the level of the single component. The mass spectrometry task is then carried out in counting mode, which gives rise to great sensitivity and a reduction in the measurement noise.

Method and apparatus for estimating a molecular mass parameter in a sample

Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives


In a load shiftable group transmission with a high number of gears, particularly suitable for utility vehicles, the transmission includes a dual clutch a split unit, a direct gear, a main group and a hollow shaft on a countershaft in an arrangement, wherein the various gear stages can be established by a change of the input constants within the split unit without a change in the transmission stage in the main transmission without an interruption in tractive force during shifting between two adjacent gears within the main group.

The invention relates to a dual clutch group transmission shiftable under load with the power transmitted via the two clutches to the two transmission groups via concentric shafts.
FIG. 3 of WO 00/39484 already discloses a load-shiftable group transmission having at least two input constants, including a countershaft and having a dual clutch comprising two individual clutches. One power path extends from the first individual clutch via a fifth gear, which is a direct gear, to a main shaft. The two forward gears IV and VI which are directly adjacent to the direct gear extend via the second individual clutch and the countershaft. A hollow shaft, which is arranged concentrically with respect to the countershaft, supports two gearwheels of which one gearwheel belongs to the input constant. A gearwheel, which is situated closest to the dual clutch, of the first input constant is a fixed wheel.
FIG. 1 of WO 00/39484 shows a load-shiftable group transmission in which the gearwheel, which is situated closest to the dual clutch, of the first input constant is a loose wheel. Here, the laod-shiftable group transmission has two second forward gears.
Further transmissions are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,425 B, DE 103 38 355 A1, DE 43 30 170 A1, DE 35 46 454 C2 and DE 101 02 028 A1.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a laod-shiftable group transmission for utility vehicles which allows for a high number of sequentially load-shiftable gears.

Dual clutch group transmission shifttable under load


An image projector is supported by a vehicle to project a two-dimensional image on a projection surface, such as a portion of a windshield, an instrument panel, or a seat back, within the vehicle, for viewing by an occupant of the vehicle.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to electronic displays, and, more particularly, to a laser projection display within a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a vehicle, considerable information may be presented to the occupants. Some of the information relates to the operating conditions of the vehicle, such as speed, RPMs, temperature, oil pressure and the like, and is generally of substantially continuous interest and importance to at least the driver of the vehicle. Other information, may relate to more transitory events, such as alarms, warning conditions, and the like, and their importance may be high but not of continuous interest. Finally, other information may be considered entertainment, such as a radio or DVD player, and its importance may be substantially reduced, depending on other factors.
Typically, these various types of information are presented to the occupants of the vehicle using separate and distinct devices that are specifically designed for that purpose. Typically, a vehicle's speedometer and climate control have two separate displays that are located according to their importance to the driver. Moreover, these devices are typically assigned a position in the vehicle that is relatively permanent. For example, under normal operating conditions the driver of a vehicle may be most interested in the speed of his vehicle. Accordingly, the speedometer is located in a prominent position in the driver'direct field of view. At other times, however, it may be useful for the driver to have access to other more interesting or compelling information. For example, warning information may take precedence over normal operating information, and yet, the warning information may be assigned a less prominent location. Further, entertainment type devices, such as radios and CD players, are assigned the least prominent position relative to the driver. Thus, when the driver operates the radio, his/her attention may be diverted from the primary task of driving the vehicle.
The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing, the effects of one or more of the problems set forth above.

Method and apparatus for displaying information in automotive application using a laser projection display


A diaphragm having an aperture, the size of which is equal to or smaller than .lambda.f/p (.lambda. is the wavelength, p is the imaging resolution, and f is the focal length of an imaging optical system) is arranged on the focal plane of the object space of the imaging optical system, and object light via the aperture is imaged by the imaging optical system. The object light via the imaging optical system and reference light are brought to interference to form interference fringes, and an image of the interference fringes is sensed. Using the hologram sensed in this manner, the image of the object to be sensed is reconstructed by adopting an imaging optical system equivalent to that upon imaging, and setting the positional relationship between the formed hologram and the imaging optical system in correspondence with that between the imaging optical system and the imaging surface upon imaging. In this way, a holography imaging apparatus which can vary the field of view and can sense a high-quality hologram using an imaging device having a relatively low spatial resolution is realized, and a holography display apparatus which can display an image by eliminating distortion with respect to the original image from a hologram sensed by the holography imaging apparatus of this invention is realized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a holography imaging apparatus for recording three-dimensional information of an object, and a holography display apparatus for reading out the three-dimensional information of an object from the holography imaging apparatus and displaying a three-dimensional image of the object.
2. Related Background Art
Holography has received considerable attention as a technique for displaying a three-dimensional image of an object, a. The holography technique includes a holography imaging technique for recording three-dimensional information of an object, and a holography display technique for reading out the three-dimensional information of an object recorded by the holography imaging technique and displaying the three-dimensional image of the object.
The conventional holography technique is designed based on the premises that the imaging device has a high resolution upon holography imaging, and most of holography imaging apparatuses use a high-resolution photography dryplate or thermoplastic as imaging devices.
Since such imaging technique is basically a high-level photography technique because of the high resolution, holography imaging labor intensive. In view of this problem, the holography techniques using a CCD camera as a relatively low-resolution imaging device are proposed in "Sato et. al., Journal of Television Society, Vol. 45, No. 7, pp. 873-875 (1991)" (hereafter referred to as prior art 1) and "N. Hashimoto et. al., SPIE, Vol. 1461, Practical Holography V (1991), pp. 291-302" (hereafter referred to as prior art 2).
Prior art 1 corresponds to an example of a Fresnel type holography technique which does not use any lenses that are normally used in the holography imaging technique. In the holography imaging technique disclosed in prior art 2, an imaging lens is used so that the spatial resolution of a real image matches that of an imaging device, and a diaphragm is arranged immediately before the position of the object space of the imaging lens.
Interference fringes bearing both the distance information in the optical axis direction and the position information in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis are sensed, and an image to be reconstructed is read out from the interference fringes.
When holography imaging apparatuses of prior arts 1 and 2 are adopted, since the spatial resolution of a CCD is about 10 .mu.m in general, the angle object light and reference light make must fall within the range from 2.degree. to 3.degree.. If the angle object light and reference light make becomes large, the spacing between adjacent interference fringes becomes smaller than the resolution of the imaging device and, hence, the interference fringes cannot be sensed with high contrast.
In the holography imaging apparatuses of prior arts 1 and 2, the pixel pitch and pixel size of the CCD as the imaging device are different from those of a spatial modulation device used in image reconstruction, and the optical system upon holography imaging is different from that upon reconstruction. As a consequence, the enlargement factor of the reconstructed display image essentially varies depending on the position.

Holography imaging apparatus holography display apparatus holography imaging method and holography display method


A method for graphical hairstyle generation presents an interactive technique that produces static hairstyles by generating individual hair strands of the desired shape and color, subject to the presence of gravity and collisions. A variety of hairstyles can be generated by adjusting the wisp parameters while the deformation is solved efficiently accounting for the effects of gravity and collisions. Wisps are generated employing statistical approaches. As for hair deformation, a method is used based on physical simulation concepts but is simplified to efficiently solve the static shape of hair. On top of the statistical wisp model and the deformation solver, a constraint-based styler models artificial features that oppose the natural flow of hair under gravity and hair elasticity, such as a hairpin. Our technique spans a wider range of human hairstyles than previously proposed methods, and the styles generated by this technique are pretty realistic.

The present invention relates to a method and system for graphical hairstyle generation using statistical wisp model and pseudophysical approaches. More particularly, this invention relates to a method and system for graphical hairstyle generation, in which the hairstyles with realism and diversity is produced quite fast using the combination of the statistical wisp model, the hair deformation solver, the constraint-based styler and the stochastic hair color model.

Method and system for graphical hairstyle generation using statistical wisp model and pseudophysical approaches

Seoul National University Industry Foundation