The present invention provides a novel ion-laser tube possessive of a high output characteristic. The ion-laser tube includes an improved slender discharge tube made of silicon carbide possessive of a high resistivity to sputtering caused by high energy ions and electrons involved in a large discharge current. The improvement in the novel ion-laser tube over the prior art manifests in the discharge tube having an inner wall surface possessive of a small roughness, typically approximately 4 micrometers or smaller. Such small roughness in the inner wall surface of the discharge tube is possessive of preventing silicon carbide molecules existing in the inner wall surface thereof to be sputtered by high energy ions and electrons involved in the large discharge current. As a result of those, the novel ion-laser tube is free from a substantial reduction of laser output. The ion-laser tube also includes a tubular enclosure member for enclosing the discharge tube, which is made of aluminum nitride possessive of a high heat conductivity.

The invention relates to an ion-laser tube, and more particularly to an ion-laser tube which provides a high output with a discharge of a relatively large current.
In general, the structure of such high output ion-laser tube includes a slender discharge tube made of a ceramic material such as silicon carbide. For such ion-laser tube, the possibility of the accomplishment of a high output with a large discharge current is likely to depend upon the quality of the discharge tube.
The ion-laser tube which employs an ionized gas such as argon and krypton ionized gases is well known in the art. Such ion-laser tube utilizes a laser oscillation caused by transitions of electrons between different energy levels possessed by such atoms of the ionized gas. In order to secure a high output, such ion-laser tube requires a discharge of a large current, typically 30 A or larger, for which a high ion-concentration of the ionized gas is required.
Such gas laser tube is likely to be possessive of a lower efficiency of a laser oscillation. Then, a greater part of a supplied electrical energy by a large discharge current is likely to be converted into a thermal energy and thus be consumed as a thermal energy, although this is undesirable. As a result of those, the slender discharge tube and its vicinity portions are forced to have a heat of a high temperature. Such accumulated heat in the laser tube causes a deformation of the laser tube and a depression of the ability of optical functions and characteristics possessed by the laser tube. Thus, such discharge tube requires a high quality material which is resistive to such high temperature. It is further desirable that the discharge tube and its enclosure members, in which the discharge tube is enclosed, are made of a material having a high heat conductivity so as to eliminate a great deal of the accumulated and unnecessary heat from the laser tube. It is furthermore desirable that the laser tube is possessive of a cooling feature for making an elimination of the undesirable heat. It is yet a further requirement that the slender discharge tube involved in the ion-laser tube is made of a material which is resistive to a high ion-concentration.
In addition, since the discharge tube has an inner wall which is exposed to a high energy plasma gas, or a high energy ionized gas, the inner wall of the discharge tube is subjected to sputtering accomplished by high energy ions and electrons of the plasma gas. Such sputtering causes the quality, or the characteristic of the discharge of the ion-laser tube to substantially be depressed. Then, the discharge tube is required to be made of a resistive material to such sputtering.
In recent years, for complying with the above requirements, it has been considerable to employ silicon carbide (SiC) and aluminium nitride (AlN) as materials of tubular members, for example, the slender discharge tubes and the enclosure members, both of which are involved in the ion-laser tube. The conventional structure of the ion-laser tube will now be described with reference to FIG. 1. The conventional structure of the ion-laser tube includes a slender discharge tube 21 which serves as a discharge tube. The slender discharge tube 21 is made of silicon carbide which is a resistive material to the sputtering caused by a high energy plasma gas. The silicon carbide slender discharge tube 21 is located along a center axis of the ion-laser tube. The silicon carbide slender discharge tube 21 also includes one end with a flange. The silicon carbide slender discharge tube 21 also defines a through hole 2 which serves as a discharge guiding way in which the discharge is occurred.
The silicon carbide slender discharge tube 21 is enclosed by a tubular enclosure member 3 being made of aluminium nitride which has a high heat conductivity. The aluminium nitride tubular enclosure member 3 includes a plurality of gas return holes 4, through which the ion-gas which has been served for discharge is transmitted. The aluminium nitride tubular enclosure member 3 has an inside diameter which corresponds approximately to an outside diameter of the silicon carbide slender discharge tube 21 so that the silicon carbide slender discharge tube 21 is inserted into the aluminium nitride tubular enclosure member 3. The silicon carbide slender discharge tube 21 is connected to the aluminium nitride tubular enclosure member 3 through a frit glass 6 so as to support a high heat conductivity possessed by the aluminium nitride tubular enclosure member 3 thereby resulting in a formation of a combined coaxial tubular member 25 comprising the silicon carbide sledder discharge tube 21 and the aluminium nitride tubular enclosure member 3.
A plurality of such combined coaxial tubular members 25 are connected to one another along the center axis through a frit glass 7 so as to support a high heat conductivity possessed by the aluminium nitride tubular enclosure member 3. The alignment of the combined coaxial tubular members 25 is carried out by using a jig which is not illustrated. The number of the combined coaxial tubular members 25 is variable by matching various requirements. The alignment of the plural combined coaxial tubular members 25 is terminated in borosilicate glass tubes 8. Namely, the alignment of the combined coaxial tubular members 25 is connected at its opposite ends with two of the borosilicate glass tubes 8.
Further, the alignment of the combined coaxial tubular members 25 terminated in the borosilicate glass tubes 8 is sealed at its opposite ends with two metal sealing members 11 respectively. One of the metal sealing members 11 is provided with an anode 9 through an anode side terminal 14. The anode 9 is enclosed by the borosilicate glass tube 8. This metal sealing member 11 further includes an exhaust tube 13 which serves for exhausting an unnecessary discharge gas. The one of the metal sealing members 11 including the anode 9 is located at the side of the one end with the flange of the silicon carbide slender discharge tube 21. Another of the metal sealing members 11 is provided with a cathode 10 through a cathode side terminal 15. The cathode 10 is enclosed by the borosilicate glass tube 8.
Both metal sealing members 11 have slender tubular projective portions which are located along the center axis respectively. Further, the slender tubular projective portions of the metal sealing members 11 are respectively provided with glass members such as Brewster windows 12, each of which has a predetermined locative angle, typically Brewster's angle. After mounting the Brewster windows 12, the ion-laser tube is filled with a predetermined deal of a discharge gas such as the argon gas thereby completing the ion-laser tube.
Since a silicon carbide material is possessive of a high resistivity to sputtering caused by a high energy ion-gas, the employments of the silicon carbide material for the slender discharge tube 21 is likely to be permissive of suppressing but not sufficiently various undesirable affections occurred by sputtering caused by a high energy ion-gas. As an aluminium nitride material is possessive of a high heat conductivity which permits eliminating a great deal of undesirable heat, the employment of the aluminium nitride material for the tubular enclosure member 3 is likely to allow an elimination of an undesirable heat generated by a large current of the discharge. Further, the implementation of cooling by applying a cooling medium on a surface of the ion-laser tube is permissible for the elimination of the unnecessary heat from the laser tube to external portions.
The desirable characteristics possessed by the above materials, or silicon carbide and aluminium nitride are permissive but not sufficiently of rendering the discharge of a large current stable. The characteristics of the output possessed by the conventional ion-laser tube is insufficient to implement a high output generated by a large current flowing the discharge slender tube. The reasons of those are as follows. As described the above, the inner wall of the silicon carbide slender discharge tube 21 is directly exposed to a high energy ionized gas, or plasma gas of a high temperature. Such high energy ionized gas including high energy ions and electrons supplied by a large discharge current, typically 30 A is likely to make sputtering to silicon carbide molecules involved in a surface of the inner wall of the silicon carbide slender discharge tube 21. Silicon carbide molecules which has been subjected to such sputtering are forced to be driven out from the surface of the inner wall of the silicon carbide slender discharge tube 21. After that, the sputtered silicon carbide molecules are likely to be deposited on inner surfaces of the Brewster windows 12. This renders the high output characteristics of the ion-laser tube be substantially depressed.
As a result of an aging test of the ion-laser tube for a high output of 30 A, following matters are observed. The output of the ion-laser tube is slowly reduced due to sputtered silicon carbide molecules. Further, the output of the ion-laser tube sometimes drops out, and thus are rapidly reduced during the operation of the ion-laser tube. The reduction of the output of the ion-laser tube manifests especially in a high output laser tube, but insufficiently in a middle output laser or a low output laser. It is considerable to suppress the substantial reduction of the output of the laser tube due to sputtering to the inner wall of the silicon carbide slender discharge tube 21, which is provided by the large discharge current.
From the aging tests of the output characteristics, it is found that the reduction of the output of the ion-laser tube caused by sputtering provided by the large discharge current is associated with a degree of a roughness in the surface of the inner wall of the silicon carbide slender discharge tube 21. When the degree of the roughness of the inner wall of the silicon carbide slender discharge tube 21 is relatively large, the reduction of the output of the ion-laser tube is also large. In contrast to the above, when the degree of the roughness of the inner wall of the silicon carbide slender discharge tube 21 is relatively small, the reduction of the output of the ion-laser tube is also small. Therefore, in the ion-laser tube involving the silicon carbide slender discharge tube and the aluminium nitride tubular enclosure member, a further improvement of the resistivity to the sputtering to the inner wall of the silicon carbide slender discharge tube 21 requires an uniformity and thus a smaller degree of the roughness in the surface of the inner wall of the silicon carbide slender discharge tube 21. Such improvement of the resistivity of the discharge tube to the sputtering provides the high output ion-laser tube with desirable and excellent output characteristics without reduction or dropping down.

Ion-laser including a silicon carbide discharge tube having a small arithmetic roughness


The expandable band is used to secure a sealing element within a generally cylindrical structure, such as a pipe or manhole, or other round hole. The expandable band includes a band body having a first band end portion and a second band end portion. The first band end portion includes a plurality of slots, and the second band end portion includes a first and second aperture. A locking member is a separate element adapted to fit within the first and second apertures and includes a first tab for extending through the first aperture and into one of the plurality of slots to lock the expandable band at the desired diameter and a second tab for engaging the second aperture. The second tab is designed not to interfere with the first band end portion while expanding the band. The locking member may also include at least one rib or protrusion.

Expandable bands are commonly used to secure flexible sealing elements or gaskets against an internal surface of a pipe, manhole, or other similar structure. Expandable bands typically fit against an annular surface within the sealing element and are expanded to apply pressure against the sealing element. Various types of locking mechanisms are used to lock the band into the expanded position against the sealing element.
The existing bands and locking mechanisms, however, have a number of limitations and disadvantages. Many of the existing expandable bands are expandable to only one diameter and therefore have a limited overall expansion range. Many of these bands also require a number of steps to both expand and lock the band and are not capable of quickly and securely locking the band over a range of diameters. Moreover, other existing bands do not slide easily or bind when being installed or adjusted. Overall, the existing bands are not useful with seals of various sizes that need to be installed in pipes or manholes having various sizes.
Accordingly, a need exists for an expandable band that is easily adjusted and securely locks over a range of diameters. A need also exists for an expandable band that is more easily released from a locking position.
It is important to note that the present invention is not intended to be limited to a system or method which must satisfy one or more of any stated objects or features of the invention. It is also important to note that the present invention is not limited to the preferred, exemplary, or primary embodiment(s) described herein. Modifications and substitutions by one of ordinary skill in the art are considered to be within the scope of the present invention, which is not to be limited except by the following claims.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An electronic percussion instrument which is capable of accurately discriminating roll performance to thereby electronically produce percussion tones closer to tones produced by a natural percussion instrument. A waveform memory 6 stores waveform data of percussion tones to be output for roll performance and waveform data of percussion tones to be output for non-roll performance. A work memory 4 stores values of parameters. A drum pad 1 has a percussion surface part 10, and a percussion pattern-detecting section detects a pattern of percussion applied to the percussion surface part 10 of the drum pad 1 and outputs a value of the parameter indicative of the detected pattern of percussion. The values of the parameter output from the percussion pattern-detecting section are sequentially stored in a buffer area of the work memory 4 in the order of output. Whenever a new value of the parameter is stored in the buffer area, a waveform data-determining section determines one of the two waveform data stored in the waveform memory 6 according to at least two values of the parameter stored before the new value of the parameter was stored and the new value of the parameter. A tone generation controller 7 reads out the determined waveform data from the waveform memory 6 and outputs a musical tone signal generated based on the read-out waveform data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic percussion instrument and a percussion tone control program, and more particularly to an electronic percussion instrument and a percussion tone control program that optimize generation of percussion tones for roll performance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there have been proposed various techniques for optimally dressing musical tones electronically produced by an electronic percussion instrument, or more specifically, various techniques for approximating percussion tones electronically produced by an electronic percussion instrument to percussion tones acoustically produced by a natural percussion instrument.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H05-80754 discloses an electronic percussion instrument which is capable of automatically applying sound effects to enhance a performer's expressive power. According to the publication, when it is detected that tone generation instruction information responsive to percussion applied to a drum pad has been consecutively given within a predetermined time period, the electronic percussion instrument adds a predetermined sounding effect, such as pan, to a musical tone signal generated in response to the tone generation instruction information.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H05-100680 discloses a technique for optimizing generation of musical tones (percussion tones) during repeated beating performance by an electronic percussion instrument. The electronic percussion instrument described in the publication stores a pair of waveform data for normal performance and waveform data for repeated beating performance, on a pad-by-pad basis. When a beat is applied to one pad, a time interval between the beat and an immediately preceding beat applied to the pad is detected, and if the detected time interval is shorter than a predetermined value, a musical tone signal indicative of the associated percussion tone is generated using the waveform data for repeated beating performance. More specifically, the electronic percussion instrument stores two types of waveform data as a pair on a pad-by-pad basis, and when percussion is applied to one pad within a predetermined time period, waveform data used for producing a musical tone signal for each beat is switched between one beat and the following beat, as deemed appropriate.
Performance methods realized by repeatedly beating a percussion instrument include flam performance and roll performance. In flam performance, a single beat by each of left and right sticks is applied with a short stroke, whereas in roll performance, a plurality of short-stroke beats by each of the left and right sticks are consecutively applied over a certain time period. When a natural percussion instrument is played according to these two performance methods, a clear difference in tone color appears between the percussion tones produced by the respective performance methods. Therefore, to approximate a percussion tone electronically produced by an electronic percussion instrument to a percussion tone acoustically produced by a natural percussion instrument, it is desirable that roll performance and flam performance should be accurately distinguished from each other such that a specific musical tone signal can be generated by each of the performance methods.
However, in the technique described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H05-100680, one of the two types of waveform data is selectively used only based on whether or not a time interval between two consecutive beats is shorter than a predetermined value, and hence it is impossible to distinguish roll performance from flam performance for which waveform data different from that used for roll performance should preferably be used.
Further, in the conventional electronic percussion instrument in which switching of waveform data is performed only based on whether a time interval from an immediately preceding beat is within a predetermined value, when application of a beat within the predetermined time interval from an immediately preceding beat occurs a plurality of consecutive times, musical tone signals in a number corresponding to that of the succeeding beats are simply generated based on the same waveform data, which can give an impression that the performance is monotonous.

Electronic percussion instrument and percussion tone control program


The primary invention is to cool a water vapor cryopump using a Gas Balanced Brayton cycle refrigerator. The refrigerator is comprised of a compressor, a gas balanced reciprocating engine and a counterflow heat exchanger. It is connected to the cryopump through insulated transfer lines. Options include a gas storage volume with valves that can adjust system pressures, a variable speed engine, gas lines between the compressor and cryopanel that by-pass the engine, and a gas line that by-passes the heat exchanger. This system can cool down and warm up rapidly, rapidly warm and cool the cryopanel without warming the engine, and reduce power input when the cryopanel heat load is reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a water vapor cryopump cooled by a Gas Balanced Brayton cycle refrigerator, typically having input power in the range of 5 to 20 kW.
2. Background Information
Three recent patent applications assigned to SHI Cryogenics describe gas balanced Brayton cycle expansion engines and a control system that minimizes cool down time from room temperature to cryogenic temperatures. A system that operates on the Brayton cycle to produce refrigeration consists of a compressor that supplies gas at a discharge pressure to a counterflow heat exchanger, which admits gas to an expansion space through a cold inlet valve, expands the gas adiabatically, exhausts the expanded gas (which is colder) through in outlet valve, circulates the cold gas through a load being cooled, then returns the gas through the counterflow heat exchanger to the compressor.
Patent application Ser. No. 61/313,868 dated Mar. 15, 2010 by R. C. Longsworth describes a reciprocating expansion engine operating on a Brayton cycle in which the piston has a drive stem at the warm end that is driven by a mechanical drive, or gas pressure that alternates between high and low pressures, and the pressure at the warm end of the piston in the area around the drive stem is essentially the same as the pressure at the cold end of the piston while the piston is moving. Patent application Ser. No. 61/391,207 dated Oct. 8, 2010 by R. C. Longsworth describes the control of a reciprocating expansion engine operating on a Brayton cycle, as described in the previous application, which enables it to minimize the time to cool a mass to cryogenic temperatures. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/106,218 dated May 12, 2011 by S. Dunn, et al., describes alternate means of actuating the expander piston. The engines described in patent application 61/313,868 and Ser. No. 13/106,218 are referred to in this application as "Gas Balanced Brayton cycle engines". This engine has a lot of advantageous characteristics when it is used to cool a cryopanel that is condensing water vapor at temperatures in the range of 110 K to 170 K. The compressor system that is used in this application to illustrate the innovations is described in published patent application US 2007/0253854 titled "Compressor With Oil Bypass" by S. Dunn filed on Apr. 28, 2006.
Starting in the late 1950's a lot of work was done in cryopumping technology to support the space program. U.S. Pat. No. 3,010,220 dated Nov. 28, 1961 by Schueller describes a space chamber with cryopanels cooled by liquid cryogens. U.S. Pat. No. 3,175,373 dated Mar. 30, 1965 by Holkeboer, et al., describes a large vacuum system that has conventional mechanical and diffusion pumps, and liquid cryogen cooled cryopanels. A paper by C. B. Hood, et al., titled "Helium Refrigerators for Operation in the 10-30 K Range" in Advances in Cryogenic Engineering, Vol. 9, Plenum Press, New York (1964), pp 496-506, describes a large Brayton cycle refrigerator having a reciprocating expansion engine capable of producing more than 1.0 kW of refrigeration at 20 K. This refrigerator was developed to cryopump air in a large space chamber. An early small cryopump cooled by liquid nitrogen and a GM refrigerator is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,338,063, dated Aug. 29, 1967, by Hogan, et al. GM type refrigerators that draw less than 10 kW of input power have dominated the market for cooling cryopanels that pump all gases since then, U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,549 dated April 1979 by Longsworth, is an example. Starting in the early 1970's cryopumping water vapor at temperatures in the range of 120 K to 170 K and capacities of 500 to 3,000 W have been dominated by refrigerators that use mixed gases as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,768,273 dated Oct. 30, 1973 by Missimer. A more recent patent, U.S. Pat. No. 6,574,978 dated Jun. 10, 2003 by Flynn, et al., describes means of controlling the rate of cooling and heating a refrigerator of this type.
The present application is a departure from present practice of using mixed gas refrigerant refrigerators having capacities of about 500 to 3,000 W at about 150 K to pump water vapor, by using a Gas Balanced Brayton cycle refrigerator which typically circulates helium.

Gas balanced brayton cycle cold water vapor cryopump

SUMITOMO (SHI) CRYOGENICS OF AMERICA INC.


A heterogeneous home network (with possibly multiple hops between devices) uses a push button configuration mechanism that ensures only one single new network node device is registered for a single push button key press event and overlapping Push-Button Configuration sessions within the heterogeneous network are prevented by an enhanced mechanism for running Push Button Configuration sessions based on a Push-Button Configuration handshake procedure triggered and initiated by a virtual or physical Push-Button-Event on a new device, which wants to join the heterogeneous network for a user friendly security bootstrapping, in which multiple network node devices in the heterogeneous network belonging already to the heterogeneous network are involved in registering the new device. The Push-Button Configuration handshake procedure is initiated to get a permission information to join the network or to proceed with the Push-Button Configuration or to get a rejection information not to join the network.

Described below is a method for running Push-Button Configuration sessions within a heterogeneous network, a network node device for running Push-Button Configuration sessions within a heterogeneous network, a computer readable storage media executable by a processor to run Push-Button Configuration sessions within a heterogeneous network and a heterogeneous network for running Push-Button Configuration sessions.
The current data-centric use of networks (Internet access, media streaming) is increasingly extended towards home control functionality (home automation for climate control, lighting, burglar alarm, home energy network). Such home networks use according to FIG. 1 for instance various communication network technologies like Ethernet (IEEE 802.3), WLAN/WiFi (IEEE 802.11), and Power Line Communication (PLC; IEEE 1901). For this reason they are heterogeneous The standard IEEE P1905.1, which is currently under development, defines a home network standard supporting different network technologies by a specified "IEEE P1905.1"-Abstraction Layer.
FIG. 2 shows the design of the abstraction layer based on the ISO/OSI-Reference Model with a management and data plane. The abstraction layer is embedded in an IEEE P1905.1-Architecture above a Media Access Control (MAC)-layer and a Physical layer as part of a "Network Node Device" NND within the heterogeneous network. Thus, the network node device NND uses the cited technologies like Ethernet (IEEE 802.3), WLAN/WiFi (IEEE 802.11), and Power Line Communication (PLC; IEEE 1901) and additionally a technology according to the specification of the Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) via corresponding interfaces according to FIG. 2. It is not compulsory or mandatory for a typical network node device to support all cited communication technologies. It is possible that the network node device NND supports only one or two of the cited technologies or completely other network technologies. Thus the network node device NND supports at least one network technology.
At least one goal of the IEEE P1905.1 standardization activities is the security mechanism during a setup or registration of a new device, called an "enrollee", which wants to join the heterogeneous network. The security mechanism is needed to protect the home network from external attacks. Such security mechanisms have to be configured with a security credential (password, passphrase, cryptographic key) that is burdensome to set-up manually.
Therefore there is a need for an easy user-friendly setup of a security credential for a network supporting different communication network technologies such as using a push button configuration method.
The specific problem of using a push-button configuration in an IEEE P1905.1 network comes from the fact that multiple devices (belonging even to different technologies and possibly connected via multiple hops) are activated to accept a new device. So in the current version of the standard, more than one device could register with the IEEE P1905.1 network after a single button press. An attacker node device may therefore register undetected when an authorized registration of the new device takes place.
Section 9 of the current IEEE P1905.1 draft version "1905_1-11-0067-00-WGDC-proposal-for-cdhn-standard.doc" defines rudimentary signalling procedures for an automatic cross-technology security setup. However, important functionality is missing so far.
The closest technical solution is defined Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS). Described is a monitoring for simultaneous push-button configurations. If a session overlap is detected, the PBC configuration fails.
There exist different technologies for user-friendly security set-up specific for a single technology.                Bluetooth defines Pairing procedures (legacy and secure simple pairing) to set-up a secret key between two Bluetooth devices (see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth#Pairing.2FBonding).        Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) defined by the Wi-Fi Alliance is the de-facto standard for WLAN security setup (see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_Protected_Setup and www.wi-fi.org/wifi-protected-setup). As part of the Push Button Configuration (PBC) protocol run, a check for an overlapping session is performed. If an overlapping PBC session is detected, the set-up procedure is aborted. The simultaneous announcement by a single device on two frequency bands is not considered as session overlap.        According to the WPS Specification 1.0 Section 10.3, page 77 the following is known:        The button press or equivalent trigger event on the enrollee causes it to actively search for a Registrar in PBC mode. However, the enrollee must not proceed immediately with the registration protocol when it first discovers a registrar, which is a network node device authenticated for the network and registering the new device. Instead, the enrollee must complete a scan of all IEEE 802.11 channels that it supports to discover if any other nearby registrar is in a Push Button Configuration mode (PBC mode). The enrollee performs this scan by sending out probe requests with a device password identifier (ID) indicating that the enrollee is in the PBC mode and receiving probe responses indicating a selected registrar with a PBC device password ID. During this scan, the enrollee must abort its connection attempt and signal a "session overlap" error to the user if it discovers more than one registrar in the PBC mode. If a session overlap error occurs, the user should be advised through the enrollee or the registrar user interface (UI) or product literature to wait some period of time before trying again.        Note: In the case of a dual-band access point (AP) and a dual-band station, the station may discover more than one registrar in the PBC mode. If the dual-band station does discover more than one registrar in the PBC mode, one each RF band, and the Universal Unique IDentifier (UUID) in the beacon and probe-response are the same for all RF bands, then the station shall not consider this to be a session overlap.
FIG. 3 shows the message chart (WPS PBC Message Exchange) for push-button configuration involving the new device to be registered (called Enrollee), an access point (AP) being in direct communication with the Enrollee, and a Registrar that actually performs the registration (i.e. it establishes a credential with the Enrollee). The registration messages (M1 . . . M8) are embedded in EAP messages that are forwarded by the AP. Before the actual registration starts, a monitoring is performed to detect an overlapping PBC session: After button press B_E by the Enrollee, the Enrollee sends Probe Request messages indicating that it is in the PBC mode. The AP forwards the information to the Registrar. After a button press B_R or an equivalent trigger event on the Registrar, the Registrar checks whether more than one Enrollee PBC Probe Request has been received by the Registrar within 120 seconds prior to the PBC button press on the Registrar (PBC Monitor Time). If more than one Enrollee PBC Probe Request has been received within the Monitor Time interval, the Registrar signals a session overlap error and refuses to enter the PBC mode or perform a PBC-based Registration Protocol exchange. In general, the two buttons B_E and B_R may be pressed in any order as long as both are pressed within a 120 sec time interval. Note: The message "SetSelectedRegistrar" notifies the AP that the Registrar is currently in the PBC mode. So this message causes the change in behaviour of the AP that it answers with a PBC Probe Response message (positive answer instead of negative answer).
This technical solution has as main drawback that it is suitable only for a limited usage scenario:
Only a single technology (WLAN) is supported.
The case of multiple access points (nodes) belonging to the same (home) network and each of them being potentially used for the PBC is not considered.
"Appendix A" in WPS Specification 1.0 Section 13 describes a setup in which multiple registrars are supported, so that the user (enrollee) has to select with which registrar it wants to register.
The current IEEE P1905.1 draft version "1905_1-11-0067-00-WGDC-proposal-for-cdhn-standard.doc" includes the following description for the push button configuration in section 9.2.2 (P1905.1 PBC (Push Button Configuration) Setup Method):
The IEEE P1905.1 PBC method works between two IEEE P1905.1 devices on the same IEEE P1905.1 Network, even when these two devices do not include an IEEE P1905.1 interface of the same underlying network technology if they are bridged by a device with the same underlying network technologies.
An example of the IEEE P1905.1 PBC method is illustrated in FIG. 4 (Example of IEEE P1905.1 Push Button Event Notification and IEEE P1905.1 Push Button Configuration).
In section 184.108.40.206 "P1905.1 Push Button Event Handling" of the current IEEE P1905.1 Draft Version "1905_1-11-0067-00-WGDC-proposal-for-cdhn-standard.doc" it is said: The handling of IEEE P1905.1 Management messages in IEEE P1905.1 Devices is a common behaviour (powering up the interfaces and generating a sequential message ID across all message types from the device).
If the physical or logical PBC button is pushed on an IEEE P1905.1 Device and if an underlying network specific Push Button Configuration sequence is not currently being performed on any of the network interfaces of this IEEE P1905.1 Device, then a Push Button Event is triggered on an IEEE P1905.1 Device
If a Push Button event is triggered on an IEEE P1905.1 Device, then the Application Layer Management Entity (ALME) shall:                Generate an eventID for this Push Button Event        Send a Push_Button_Event Notification IEEE P1905.1 Multicast message over its Authenticated IEEE P1905.1 Links using §7.2 Relay Multicast Transmission Procedures        Initiate the underlying network specific Push Button Configuration sequence on the IEEE P1905.1 interfaces supporting Push Button Configuration methods.
FIG. 5 describes how an IEEE P1905.1 Device handles an IEEE P1905.1 Push Button Event Notification message (Push Button Event Notification Handling).
The handling of IEEE P1905.1 Management messages in an IEEE P1905.1 Device is a common behaviour (powering up the interfaces and generating a sequential message ID across all message types from the device).
If an ALME receives an IEEE P1905.1 Push Button Notification message, then an IEEE P1905.1 ALME shall:                1) If an underlying network specific Push Button Configuration sequence is currently being performed of any of the network interface of the device, then ignore the message.        2) If the message SourceAddress and eventID are a duplicated notification for this given P1905.1 Push Button event, then ignore the message.                    The aging of a SourceAddress and eventID pair is P1905.1_PBC_WALK_TIME. P1905.1_PBC_WALK_TIME should be defined to be longer than the underlying network. No more than a single eventID need to be stored by the P1905.1 device since Push_Button_Event cannot be triggered or handled if an underlying network Push Button Configuration is in progress (cf. 3.2.3 & 3.2.5-1).                        3) If message is not ignored, repropagate the received IEEE P1905.1 Push_Button_Event Notification message using §7.3 Relay Multicast Reception Procedures.        4) Initiate the underlying network specific Push Button Configuration sequence on all IEEE P1905.1 interfaces supporting Push Button Configuration methods.
From the IEEE P1905.1 draft version "1905_1-11-0067-00-WGDC-proposal-for-cdhn-standard.doc" it is further implicitly known that according to FIG. 6 (Push button configuration in IEEE P1905.1) a push button event on one network node device D1 belonging to a home network activates a push button configuration mode on other nodes belonging to the home network. Network node devices D1 . . . D4 are part of the existing IEEE P1905.1 network (authenticated IEEE P1905.1 devices). The network node device D1 sends a push button notification message PBN to some or all other network node devices belonging to the home network (the message may be sent directly or forwarded by an intermediate network node device). The PBN message as specified in the current version of the IEEE P1905.1 draft standard contains TLV type, message type, event id fields. A technology-specific push button configuration protocol (PBC) is executed between a new device ND (not yet part of the home network) and the device D3. After finishing the technology-specific PBC protocol, the new device ND is part of the home network and a new network node device.
FIG. 7 (Push button configuration in IEEE P1905.1 showing an attacker node AN) shows based on FIG. 6 an example of an attack scenario. An attacker node device AN runs a push button configuration protocol as well, here with the network node device D4. So, after finishing the PBC protocol, the attacker network node device AN is now part of the home network. As different nodes may use even heterogeneous communication technologies, and therefore different technology-specific PBC protocols, the network node device D3 (and the new device ND) may not even detect the second PBC protocol run.

Method and network node device for running push-button configuration sessions within heterogeneous network and heterogeneous network


A first pattern of bumps and a second pattern of bumps are formed on a substrate (10) with bumps (14,15). During a transfer process, only the bumps (14) of the first pattern of bumps are transferred to pad extensions (20) of a device (17). The bumps (15) of the second pattern of bumps are not affected by this process and can be later transferred to a second device.

This invention relates, in general, to electronic devices, and more particularly to transferring bumps to form an electronic device.
Some electronic devices require a physical and electrical bond between two components as is commonly done using flip-chip techniques. Traditional flip-chip techniques form a bump on each of the bonding pads of an integrated circuit and then mates each bump with the contacts of a plastic package or other device. The bumps are generally formed on the bonding pads using an electroplating process. This requires that a plating layer or conductive layer must be formed over the integrated circuit to attract conductive material in order to form the bumps. After the bumps are formed, the plating layer is removed using a wet etch solution or a reactive ion etch (RIE). The process steps required to form the bumps increase the manufacturing cost of the electronic device and introduce yield limiting problems such as particle defects.
By now it should be appreciated that it would be advantageous to provide a method for forming bumps on an electronic device, such as an integrated circuit, that did not require the formation of a plating layer on the electronic device.

Substrate for transferring bumps and method of use


An image signal processor of a device, apparatus, or computing system that includes a camera capable of capturing video clips may be configured to apply non-warping and warping transformations (including image stabilization transformations) to image data received from the camera's image sensor. The transformations may be applied piecewise to pixels of the image data gathered into multiple line buffers. The line buffers may be divided into vertical slices, each of which may be processed in parallel by a respective portion of the image signal processor circuitry (or circuitry of an output rescaling unit thereof). The image signal processor may not write the received image data to system memory until after the transformations have been performed. By leveraging existing filters and scalers of the image signal processor, rather than a CPU or GPU, image stabilization may be provided that consumes half of the bandwidth and power consumed by existing techniques.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates generally to image processing, and, more specifically, to image stabilization in a device that includes a camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
When recording a scene with a video capturing device (e.g., a video camera), the captured frames may reflect any motion of the camera caused by a shaking hand, a foot-fall while walking, or other types of disruptions. In some cases, image stabilization techniques can be applied to reduce the amount of motion exhibited in the captured video sequence and/or to reduce the effects of motion caused by the camera's rolling shutter. A variety of techniques may be used to determine the motion reflected in the scene, such as using data from a gyroscope in the camera, or generating motion vectors based on optical flow calculations.
Regardless of how the motion data is generated, the resulting images (e.g., the frames of the video sequence) will require the application of one or more image transformations to adjust for the motion. These transformations can include any combination of offset translation, rotation, scaling, shear transformation and/or perspective transformation. Typically, such operations are applied piecewise to the images to account for the changes in motion during the frame capture due the rolling shutter. Typically, such transformations are applied to each frame of the image data after the data for that image frame is written to system memory. For example, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) or similar hardware may access the system memory in order to perform the piecewise transformations to different sections of the image data for each of the frames. Alternatively, software running on a CPU in the system may access the system memory in order to perform such transformations.

Image stabilization using striped output transformation unit


A multifunction image processing apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes a communications module, a scan subsystem, a print subsystem, and a digital signal processor (DSP) block. The communications module is used to communicate with a host computer to send and receive image data files. The scan subsystem is used to scan images. The print subsystem is used to print images. The DSP block includes at least two digital signal processors. The digital signal processors can be programmed to symmetrically multiprocess portions of an image data file to process it more quickly. Alternatively, digital signal processors can be programmed to simultaneously process the image data for the scan subsystem and image data for the print subsystem.

The present invention relates to image processing systems, and more particularly, to a multifunction printer, copier, and scanners.
Increasing number of documents, pictures, and other forms of information (generically refer herein to as a "document") are scanned, stored, printed, copied, and otherwise processed as digital format, each document represented and processed as digital image data. In addition, these documents are processed at ever-increasing resolution to capture and reproduce detailed information about the document.
To perform these operations (such as scanning, printing, and copying) many different apparatuses and systems are available in the marketplace. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates a multifunction printer (MFP) 10 designed to perform these operations. The MFP 10 includes a scan subsystem 20 for scanning documents to generate a scan image data 22 and a print subsystem 30 for printing print image data 32 on paper. The scan subsystem 20 and the print subsystem 30 are connected to a processor 40 which processes the scan image data 22 and print image data 32 as well as to control the operations of the scan subsystem 20 and the print subsystem 30. The processor 40 is also connected to a communications module 50 which manages communications of the MFP 10 with a host computer 60. Here, the connections between various components of the MFP 10 are realized using a system bus 12.
The MFP 10 can function as a scanner by scanning a document to generate a scan image data 22, processing the scan image data 22 to generate a scan data file 24, and sending the scan data file 24 to the host computer 60. The MFP 10 can function as a printing by receiving a print data file 34 from the host computer 60, processing the scan data file 34 to generate a print image data 32, and printing the print image data 32. The MFP 10 can function as a copier by first scanning a document to generate a scan image data 22, processing the scan image data 32 to generate a print image data 32, and printing the print image data 22. The scan image data 22, the print image data 32, the scan data file 24, and the print data file 34 arrives at the processor 40 as a data stream and leaves the processor 40 as a processed data stream.
For each of these operations, the processor 40 performs various operations on the image data and the data files. For example, the print data file 34 from the host computer is encoded in a page description language encoding the layout of the page described therein including, for example, fonts, text, and graphics. The processor 40 processes the print data file 34 by performing various operations, for example, font substitution, rotating, edge sharpening, and dithering. Further, the print data file 34 may include RGB (red, green, and blue) color encoding. In that case, the processor 40 needs to perform color space conversion to negative colors of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black and color reinforcement. This is because most printers utilize negative color space CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) while most displace devices and computer files utilize positive color space (red, green, and blue).
The processor 40 performs these and other operations for each scan image data 22 and print data file 34. As the resolution of the documents increase and the speed of the scan subsystem 20 and the print subsystem 30 increases, the processor 40 is required to process increasing amounts of data. For example, if a letter size paper (8.5 inches by 11 inches) is scanned at 600 dpi (dots per inch), the total number of pixel positions is 33,660,000 (calculated as 600×600×8.5×11) for a single page of the document. For RGB color information, it is common to use 36 bits for each pixel position (12 bits for each of the three colors). Thus, a single page of color document can scan into a scan image data 22 having size of approximately 151.2 Megabytes (MB) (calculated as 33,600,000×36/8). The processor 40 needs to process this amount of data within several seconds or less.
In the current art, the processor 40 is typically implemented using a general purpose processor programmed to control the subsystems 20 and 30 as well as to process the data streams 22, 24, 32 and 34. As the scan subsystem 20, the print subsystem 30, and the communication module 50 are improved to handle the ever-increasing amounts of data at ever-increasing speeds, the processor 40 is becoming the bottleneck at which the data throughput of the entire image processing apparatus 10 is slowed.
Accordingly, there remains a need for an image processing apparatus with improved processing design allow for faster processing of various data streams.

Image processing apparatus with symmetric processors


A method and system for preventing delivery of unsolicited, e.g., “spam,” SMS messages. The system and method operate to: 1) receive an SMS message destined for an end user; 2) determine that one or more telephone numbers are associated with the SMS message; 3) compare the one or more telephone numbers to a plurality of predetermined telephone numbers; and 4) prevent delivery of the SMS message if any of the one or more telephone numbers associated with the SMS message matches any of the plurality of predefined telephone numbers. The predefined telephone numbers may be included in the text of the SMS message or in the “callback_num” parameter of the SMS message.

Mobile messaging is a widely utilized form of communication that continues to gain in popularity. One form of mobile messaging, the short message service (SMS), has particularly contributed to rapid deployment of mobile messaging over wireless networks. SMS messaging is known in the art and is defined in EIA/TIA IS-637 versions A and B, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
As with many other forms of electronic communications, mobile messaging has come to be abused by certain users of the SMS network. As explained below, spamming, i.e., the mass distribution of unsolicited communications, is of particular concern in SMS messaging.
SMS attempts to mimic real-time communications by sending a message to an intended destination as quickly as possible over the SMS network. The delivery time of SMS messaging is adversely affected by spamming because the large quantity of messages that may be associated with a single spamming event absorbs limited and valuable SMS network resources.
Moreover, most SMS messaging services charge a per-use fee, e.g., 2 cents, to a user for every message received. Thus, a recipient of a spam message will incur a cost for receiving messages the user does not want.
A common method of protecting against spamming, namely, blocking messages based on the identification of the sender, is of limited use in SMS messaging because SMS messages may be sent from an e-mail account. To circumvent such a blocking system, a spammer may easily avoid detection by simply changing his e-mail account periodically, thus effectively hiding his identity. This technique can be utilized repeatedly by a spammer because it is simple to implement and has no associated real costs when free e-mail services, e.g., Yahoo!® or Hot Mail® are utilized.
Spamming is often times used as a form of mass marketing and advertising of a particular product or service. As such, it is common for many SMS spammers to include telephone numbers with their spam messages. This feature is particularly conducive to SMS messaging because in SMS messaging a call-back number may be associated with an SMS message. Using a call-back number, a recipient of the message may dial the call-back number by simply pressing one or two buttons on their handset in order to find out more information concerning the advertised product or service. Alternately, a telephone number may be included in the text of the SMS message.
What is desired, and has heretofore been unavailable, is an effective system and method for preventing spam SMS messages from being delivered to an SMS-capable mobile devices by more accurately identifying the spam messages.

System and method for preventing delivery of unsolicited messages on an SMS network


A hearing aid according to an embodiment includes a hardware module, a case, and a receiver module. The hardware module is configured to control the hearing aid. The case has an open side and an internal space for accommodating the hardware module. The receiver module is united with the case to form an integrated structure. The receiver module includes a receiver connector fixedly connected at one side thereof with the case, and a receiver formed at the other side of the receiver connector. The hearing aid may further include a case interface unit fixedly formed at a closed side of the case. The hearing aids according to other embodiments are also disclosed.

A hearing aid is an electro-acoustic device which is designed to amplify sound for the wearer, usually with the aim of making speech more intelligible, and to correct impaired hearing as measured by audiometry. There are many types of hearing aids (also known as hearing instruments) such as BTE (Behind The Ear), ITE (In The Ear), CIC (Completely In the Canal), RIC (Receiver In the Canal), and the like.
Among them, a hearing aid of the RIC type has a structure that a receiver is inserted in the ear. Normally the RIC hearing aid is composed of a receiver, a hardware module, a case for covering the hardware module, and an interface unit for connecting the receiver and the case. Such RIC hearing aids are often classified into an integrated style in which the receiver and the hardware module are united together, and a connected style in which the receiver and the hardware module are separable from each other. A hearing aid of the connected style further requires another interface unit for connecting the receiver and the hardware module.
When a hearing aid of the integrated style, even though only one of both the receiver and the hardware module is damaged, it may not be possible to replace only the defective with a new one. This is inefficient.
When a hearing aid of the connected style, a connecting part between the receiver and the hardware is prone to damage. For example, if a user applies much excessive force or tries to connect in a wrong direction, the connecting part is easily damaged.


A method and system for providing distributed printing is disclosed. The method and system include providing a plurality of printers, at least one print spooler, and at least one relational database coupled with the print spooler. The print spooler(s) are for managing printing operations. The relational database(s) are coupled with the print spooler. The relational database also includes a plurality of tables that store a plurality of print objects.

Large scale printing, particularly within a large corporation, can generally be divided into two classes: legacy printing and distributed printing. In legacy printing, the volume of pages printed in a single print job is typically very large, often on the order of a million pages and the source of the printing is typically a main frame. Typically a relatively small number of high volume printers are used to perform legacy printing. Legacy printing could include, for example, the printing of customer invoices by a telephone or other utility company. Distributed printing is typically done by business applications or users of the business applications. The volume of pages being printed in a single job is typically relatively small compared to legacy printing, often on the order of tens of pages or less. The sources of the print jobs are typically large in number and may be disparate in nature. Consequently, a large number of low volume printers are typically used to perform distributed printing. Distributed printing includes a variety of printing typically performed by employees of an enterprise in the course of the day-to-day business of the enterprise. Examples of distributed printing include, but are not limited to, printing of accounting information, local payroll data or checks, palette tickets for attachment to crates being shipped, bay diagrams, or other routine printing for the particular enterprise that is relatively low volume.
FIG. 1 depicts a conventional system 20 that can perform distributed printing in an enterprise. The system 20 includes conventional print servers 26 and 34, clients 22 and 24, and printers 28, 30, 32, and 36, 38, and 40 which correspond to servers 26 and 34, respectively. Although depicted as being connected to the print servers 26 and 34, the printers 28, 30, 32, 36, 38, and 40 may be directly connected to the network. However, the printers 28, 30, and 32 and the printers 36, 38, and 40 are associated with and accessed through the conventional print servers 26 and 34, respectively. Although depicted as a simple network, the conventional components 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, and 40 may be widely spaced geographically and may not represent all of the components for a large scale enterprise. For example, in a global corporation, the conventional print server 26 and printers 28, 30, and 32 may reside in Europe, while the conventional print server 34 and printers 36, 38, and 40 reside in the United States. Furthermore, although only a few components 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, and 40 are shown, there may be a large number of each for a large enterprise. Thus, the system 20 might include tens of thousands of clients, printers, and/or servers.
In order for a client or user of the system 20 to perform distributed printing on a particular printer 28, 30, 32, 36, 38, or 40, a print job is routed through the corresponding print server 26 or 34. For example, if a user of the client 22 desires to print on the printer 32, the client 22 would send the print job to the conventional print server 26, which controls and would schedule the print job for the printer 32. In order to control and schedule print jobs, the conventional print server 26 might internally store information such as the identity and attributes of the corresponding printers 28, 30, and 32, as well as the authorized users such as clients 22 and 24. Such information may take the form of linked lists and tables written to disk. The conventional print server 26 queries its internally stored information and, based upon the attributes of the print job provided, can schedule the print job to one of the printers 28, 30 or 32. The conventional print server 26 may also track the status of the print job or the printers 28, 30, and 32 and write this information in a file stored on disk.
Although the conventional system 20 functions, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that as the number of components (printers, clients, print servers, and the like) increase, the manageability and performance of the system degrade significantly. For example, in order to print, a user typically manually determines what printer 28, 30, 32, 36, 38, or 40 as well as what print server 26 or 34 to use. This may be quite time consuming as the number of printers and print servers for the system 20 grows. Furthermore, because the print job is sent to a specified printer 28, 30, 32, 36, 38, or 40, in the event of a failure, a manual reprint may be required. The manual reprint may result is wasted time and resources. In addition, data used in tracking of the use of a particular printer 28, 30, 32, 36, 38, or 40, supplies used by the printers 28, 30, 32, 36, 38, and 40 and the status of print jobs is relatively difficult to convert into a form that can be analyzed to determine the efficiency of the system 20. This is particularly true as the number of components of the system 20 increases. Consequently, management of printing equipment such as printers 28, 30, 32, 36, 38, or 40 and supplies may be especially difficult to accomplish for a large enterprise having a large number of printers.
In addition, because the printers 28, 30, and 32 and the printers 36, 38, and 40 are accessed through the print servers 26 and 34, respectively, printing on a particular printer 28, 30, or 32 and 36, 38, or 40 may become impossible if the corresponding print server 26 and 34 is inoperable. Although the system 20 might allow a switch from one print server 26 or 34 to the other print server 34 or 26, respectively, such a switch is often time consuming. Furthermore, in the conventional system 20, the clients 22 and 24 and their users are typically associated with specific print server(s) 26 or 34 that is in proximity to the client 22 or 24. A user of the client 22 or 24 may thus be unable to access another print server 34 or 26. For example, in a large enterprise, the print servers 26 and 34 may be widely separated geographically. In such a case, users of one print server 26 or 34 may not have visibility or other access to the other print server 34 or 26, respectively. Thus, a user in one location of an enterprise may not be able to print to a printer in another, desired location of the enterprise.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method for improving distributed printing, particularly for a large enterprise. The present invention addresses such a need.

Method and system for performing large scale distributed printing using a relational database

International Business Machines Corporation


A fuel vapor treatment apparatus is provided with a purging passage for introducing and purging fuel vapor produced in a fuel tank to an intake system for an internal combustion engine, a volume chamber located in the purging passage for enlarging a passage volume and a pump received in the volume chamber for generating a fluid flow in the purging passage.

There is conventionally known a fuel vapor treatment apparatus in which a fluid flow is generated by a pump in a purging passage for introducing fuel vapor produced in a fuel tank to an intake system for an internal combustion engine, forcibly purging the fuel vapor (for example, refer to JP-2002-332921A, U.S. Pat. No. 6,695,895). In such a fuel vapor treatment apparatus, in order to avoid the state where an air-fuel ratio control for the engine is complicated due to the fluctuation of a purge concentration of the fuel vapor, it is desirable to stabilize the purge concentration.
In addition, there is known a fuel vapor treatment apparatus which generates a fluid flow by an intake vacuum in an internal combustion engine in a fuel vapor passage where the fuel vapor produced in a fuel tank flows and at the same time, detects a physical quantity such as a flow quantity in correlation with a fuel vapor concentration in the fuel vapor passage, calculating a fuel vapor concentration from the detection result (for example, refer to JP-5-18326A). In such a fuel vapor treatment apparatus, in order to implement a prompt concentration measurement, it is desirable to stabilize the fuel vapor concentration in the fuel vapor passage.
However, in the apparatus for communicating a purging passage with a fuel tank through a canister, which is disclosed in JP-2002-332921A, since the concentration of the fuel vapor desorbed from the canister and flowing into the purging passage changes with time in response to a remaining fuel adsorption quantity in the canister, it is difficult to stabilize the purge concentration. Further, when the pump is located as exposed to an outside, an operating sound of the pump may be the cause of noises.
In the apparatus for communicating a fuel vapor passage with a fuel tank through a canister, which is disclosed in JP-5-18326A, since the concentration of the fuel vapor desorbed from the canister and flowing into the fuel vapor passage changes with time in response to a remaining fuel adsorption quantity in the canister, it takes time to measure the purge concentration. Yet, since the detection quantity is easily changed due to the fluctuation of an intake vacuum, this makes it more difficult to promptly carry out the concentration measurement.


A CPU acting as a mother chip, in combination with a DRAM acting as a subsidiary chip, is mounted. A mode output circuit is able to set the storage capacity of the DRAM as well as the refresh cycle of the DRAM for forwarding to a mode input circuit of the CPU through a mode output terminal of the DRAM and a mode input terminal of the CPU. The CPU controls an address generator according to the data from the mode input circuit, to set the number of bits of address data for access to the DRAM according to the DRAM storage capacity and the DRAM refresh cycle.

This present invention relates generally to a semiconductor integrated circuit (SIC) formed of a plurality of chips of different types.
The level of SIC integration, especially the level of DRAM integration, has been increased rapidly in recent years, in other words the number of devices per chip has been quadruplicated every three years. System on silicon, which is a structure capable of mounting one system on one chip, is no longer an impracticable idea.
Meanwhile, recent improvements in packaging technology expedites an approach of forming one system with a plurality of chips. NIKKEI MICRODEVICES (pp. 90-91, published February 1994 shows a multi-chip module (MCM) that is implemented by mounting chips with their surfaces facing each other by means of a face-to-face packaging technique.
Conventional packaging techniques, however, have some drawbacks. There are constraints on the type of terminal and on the placement/location of terminals and, conventionally, only specific chips are allowed to be mounted onto a single chip.
FIG. 14 is a conceptual diagram useful in understanding prior art packaging technique problems. A mother chip X, in combination with a subsidiary chip x, is mounted, and a mother chip Y, in combination with a subsidiary chip y, is mounted, and a mother chip Z, in combination with a subsidiary chip z, is mounted. An interface section 91 of the mother chip X corresponds to only the subsidiary chip x and an interface section 94 of the subsidiary chip x corresponds to only the mother chip X. An interface section 92 of the mother chip Y corresponds to only the subsidiary chip y and an interface section 95 of the subsidiary chip y corresponds to only the mother chip Y. An interface section 93 of the mother chip Z corresponds to only the subsidiary chip z and an interface section 96 of the subsidiary chip z corresponds to only the mother chip Z.
Accordingly, when trying to mount the mother chip X in combination with the subsidiary chip y, the interface section 91 of the mother chip X must be re-designed for correspondence with the subsidiary chip y and, additionally, the interface section 95 of the subsidiary chip y must be re-designed for correspondence with the mother chip X. For example, when mounting the subsidiary chip x onto each of the mother chips X, Y, Z, three different subsidiary chips which have the same function as the subsidiary chip x and which are designed in such a way as to correspond to the mother chips X, Y, Z respectively must be prepared. As the number of combinations of subsidiary chips and mother chips increases, much more time is required for the design of chips and the cost of manufacturing chips increases.

Semiconductor integrated circuit having a plurality of chips

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An imaging apparatus is provided in which a plurality of pixels, each having a conversion element and a thin-film transistor, are arranged in a two-dimensional fashion on an insulating substrate; the photoelectric conversion element is arranged over the thin-film transistor, with an insulating film, which serves as an interlayer insulating film, inserted between the conversion element and the thin-film transistor; and by way of a contact hole portion provided in the insulating film, the source electrode or the drain electrode of the thin-film transistor and the photoelectric conversion element are connected with each other. The imaging apparatus has a pixel in which the contact hole portion is removed through a laser-beam irradiation so that the connection portion between the conversion element and a conductive layer, which serves as the source electrode or the drain electrode of the thin-film transistor, is discontinued.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus in which pixels each having a switching element, such as a thin-film transistor (TFT), and a conversion element for converting a light signal into an electric signal are arranged in a two-dimensional fashion, and to a radiation imaging apparatus utilizing the imaging apparatus and a scintillator. Moreover, the present invention relates to a radiation imaging apparatus utilizing conversion elements for converting radiations into electric signals. Still moreover, the present invention relates to methods for manufacturing the imaging apparatus and the radiation imaging apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, enlargement of a TFT matrix panel, in which TFTs as switching elements are formed on an insulating substrate, has rapidly been promoted. In addition, techniques for area sensors utilizing switching elements and sensor elements have also been put to practical use. In an area sensor utilized as an imaging apparatus, pixels, in each of which a TFT and a conversion element that serves as a photoelectric conversion element make a pair, are arranged in a matrix form. In the case where an area sensor is utilized as a radiation imaging apparatus, a scintillator, which converts a radiation into light, such as visible light or infrared light, that falls within a wavelength bandwidth that can be sensed by a photoelectric conversion element, is arranged on the area sensor as an imaging apparatus; light from the scintillator is photoelectrically converted by a conversion element that serves as a photoelectric conversion element. Area sensors as radiation imaging apparatuses include an area sensor utilizing TFTs and conversion elements made of a semiconductor conversion material that converts a radiation directly into an electric signal.
With regard to the foregoing imaging apparatus and the radiation imaging apparatus, enhancement of the sensitivity of a conversion element and the driving speed of a switching element have also been promoted. For the purpose of achieving the high sensitivity and the high speed, a laminate-structure pixel in which a conversion element is arranged on a switching element or a wiring connected to a switching element is desirable.
An imaging apparatus having pixels of the foregoing laminated structure is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-097660.
To date, in a laminate-structure imaging apparatus or a laminate-structure radiation imaging apparatus in which, after TFTs are formed, conversion elements are formed, proposals have been made in which, in the case where a defect is caused in a pixel, the defective pixel is electrically isolated by means of a laser beam so as to be removed without affecting the peripheral pixels.
In an imaging apparatus or a radiation imaging apparatus that is disclosed, as a conventional example, in the specification of US Patent Publication No. 2004-159794 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-179645), semiconductor conversion elements are arranged on switching elements. In addition, it is described that the imaging apparatus or the radiation imaging apparatus is formed in such a way that part of an electrode of the conversion element within a region onto which a laser beam is irradiated is removed.
Additionally, the lower electrode of the conversion element is provided with an opening on the corresponding TFT. As a result, in the case where a defect is caused in a conversion element of a pixel, by irradiating a laser beam through the corresponding opening onto the TFT, thereby electrically isolating the TFT from the conversion element.
In the imaging apparatus or the radiation imaging apparatus that is disclosed in US Patent Publication No. 2004-159794 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-179645), a lower electrode and a second semiconductor layer that configure a semiconductor conversion element are arranged in such a way as to avoid the top side of the corresponding TFT. Since the TFT is covered with neither the lower electrode nor the second semiconductor layer, visibility for the TFT portion is enhanced when the remove is carried out, whereby alignment can be made without mixing up a portion to be removed with a wrong portion.

Imaging apparatus, radiation imaging apparatus, and manufacturing methods therefor


An AC-coupled interface circuit on a semiconductor integrated circuit apparatus performing a bidirectional data transfer via a differential transmission line includes a differential driver, a differential receiver and a potential setting section. The differential driver includes a pair of output terminals connected to a pair of signal lines. The differential receiver includes a pair of input terminals connected to the pair of signal lines. In a data transmission operation, the differential driver converts transmit data to a differential signal to output the differential signal. In a data reception operation, the differential receiver receives a differential signal transferred to the pair of signal lines and converts the differential signal to receive data. The potential setting section sets a potential of the pair of signal lines to a predetermined stable potential before the differential signal is transferred to the pair of signal lines.

In recent years, a serial differential transfer method has been widely known in the art as a data transfer method between LSIs, in which parallel data is converted to serial data, and the serial data is transferred as a small-amplitude differential signal. In a serial differential transfer method, data can be transferred at a high speed with two terminals, and it is therefore possible not only to reduce the power consumption and the circuit area but also to improve the anti-noise property and suppress the noise generation, thus ensuring a high reliability. With a serial differential transfer method, a clock recovery method can be employed, whereby the clock signal can be incorporated in the data signal. This eliminates the need for a line for transferring the clock signal, thereby reducing the number of cables, and eliminating the need for timing compensation between the clock signal and the data signal, and it is therefore possible to improve the signal quality.
Data transfer systems have been used not only in electric appliances such as TV sets and DVDs, but also in environments where jump-in noise is likely to occur, such as in automobiles. For example, there is a system in which a video signal is transferred from a camera unit for taking an image at the rear of an automobile to a monitor unit installed at the driver's seat, and the image at the rear of the automobile is displayed on the monitor unit, thereby assisting in backing the automobile. Under such circumstances, LSIs may break down due to ESD (Electro-Static Discharge) such as jump-in noise. Therefore, it is preferred that the differential cable and the LSI are AC-coupled together with a capacitor on the substrate wiring so as to prevent LSI breakdown due to ESD and to thus improve the LSI's resistance to a disconnection failure, as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3699764 (Patent Document 1), Japanese Patent No. 3419359 (Patent Document 2), Japanese Published Patent Application No. H05-37504 (Patent Document 3).    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 3699764    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent No. 3419359    Patent Document 3: Japanese Published Patent Application No. H05-37504


A brake warning apparatus for bicycles is provided, including a lighting device and a switch handle, to be installed on the handles of bicycles. The lighting device includes a light case, a lighting unit and a power unit. The light unit includes at least a switch. The switch handle is partially coupled to the inside of the light case and the rod of the switch handle extending outside the light case is located on the path of the movement of the handbrake of the bicycle when braking the bicycle. When the switch handle is pressed by the handbrake, the rod inside the light case will trigger the switch of the lighting unit so that the lighting device will display the pre-defined lighting condition to achieve the warning effect.

Contemporary people usually lead a busy lifestyle lack of physical exercise. As the oil price gets higher and the environmental awareness grows, more and more people turn to bicycles for short distance transportation in addition to conventional recreational or health purpose in order to reduce the energy consumption and carbon-dioxide production.
To provide warning or lighting, most bicycles use a fixed frame and a lighting device. The fixed frame is for fixing a lighting device to the appropriate location on a bicycle, such as the frame, the handle, the back of the seat, and so on. The lighting device provides different lighting conditions, such as blinking, continuous lighting or different color lights for warning or lighting purposes. However, once turned on, the conventional lighting device usually stays in the default lighting condition; thus, lack of interactive or meaningful effects. In addition, when the biker forgets to turn off the lighting device, the battery could use up all the power. Therefore, it is imperative to devise a lighting device that allows interactive warning effects to improve the safety for bicycle riding.


Digital logic processing devices capable of reduced power consumption may be provided. A digital logic processing device may include one or more processing elements, an input FIFO for storing data, a processing unit, and a clock controller circuit. The processing unit may process data from the input FIFO and the clock controller circuit may control a clock signal supplied to the input FIFO and the processing unit. The clock controller circuit may monitor whether there is data to be transferred to the input FIFO and states of the input FIFO and the processing unit and may control the clock signal.

1. Field
Example embodiments relate to a semiconductor integrated circuit and, for example, a clock control technique of an integrated circuit.
2. Description of Related Art
In modern VLSI designs, clock power is a design limitation. In spite of increasing of power leakage, clock power may take a relatively large portion of total power consumption within a modern microprocessor. Clock gating has been proposed as a technique for reducing dynamic power consumption. Clock gating may be one power saving technique that may be applied to logic blocks.
With conventional gating techniques, it is possible to reduce power consumption by making an integrated circuit operate at a clock signal of a relatively low frequency based on loading of application programs. Further, a method has been used which interrupts a clock signal applied to processing units unnecessary for an operation based on the control of software. In the case of clock gating using software control, the unit of a circuit to be controlled may be relatively large and it may be impossible to gate a clock in a desired time unit.

Instantaneous data-driven clock-gating device and hard-wired streaming processing system including the same


To provide a contact, formed in an amorphous state, having better spring properties as compared to conventional one; a method for manufacturing the contact; a connection device including the contact; and a method for manufacturing the connection device.

A semiconductor inspection device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is used to temporarily electrically connect a semiconductor device to an external circuit board or the like. A large number of spherical contacts are arranged on the back of the semiconductor device in a grid or matrix pattern. An insulating substrate opposed to the spherical contacts has a large number of recessed portions, which contain spiral contacts opposed to the spherical contacts.
If the back of the semiconductor device is pressed against the insulating substrate, the spiral contacts are brought into contact with the spherical contacts such that the spiral contacts are spirally wound around the spherical contacts. This allows the spherical contacts to be electrically connected to the spiral contacts securely.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-175859

Contact, method for manufacturing contact, connection device including contact, and method for manufacturing connection device

Abstract: The present invention provides a contact comprising an elastically deforming portion that includes at least one amorphous part. The elastically deforming portion includes an auxiliary elastic member 41 made of, for example, NiP (a P content of 15 atomic percent). In this case, an amorphous phase 50 is predominant in the auxiliary elastic member 41. This enhances spring properties such as a yield stress.


A shower head, for example, a hand shower contains in its interior a means with which the flow of the water leaving the shower head through a jet orifice can be modulated relatively slowly. The means for modulating the flow of water may be powered, more particularly, by a turbine wheel arranged in the interior of the shower head. When two arrays of jet orifices are provided for producing two different types of jet the means may be used for automatic changeover between the two types of jet. The invention provides a shower with which the user is showered by all types of jet possible with the aid of the shower without requiring him to make a change by hand.

The invention is based on a shower having a shower head from which a jet of water emerges through at least one jet orifice of a jetting disk. Shower heads of this kind are known as head showers, hand showers and also as side showers.
Means are known in conjunction with shower heads for manually selecting several kinds of jets, for example, a hard jet and an aerated, more softer jet of water. For this purpose selectors are provided on the shower head, for example, a selector lever.
Known furthermore are massage showers in which a jet of water is interrupted at a high frequency by an element arranged in the shower head. The resulting jet thus consists of a sequence of short jets, the interruptions being, however, so short that the user is unable to discern the switching actions.
A shower head is also known which has automatic cleaning means in which cleaning fingers are thrust into the jet orifices by a turbine.


A hippotherapy device for supporting a rider comprises a rider mount, which includes ribs and a backbone, a support frame, a drivetrain, and an enclosure. The hippotherapy device is configured to mimic the back of a horse and its undulating motion while a horse is walking.

The word "hippotherapy" is of Greek origin, meaning "therapy with the assistance of a horse." In particular, hippotherapy is a form of physical, occupational, and/or speech therapy that may provide motor and/or sensory input to a patient. Hippotherapy treatment strategy focuses on the therapeutic benefits from interactions between a rider and a horse. While hippotherapy can benefit several physical and emotional aspects, the method is generally implemented to improve an individual's strength, control, balance, and/or posture through the beneficial motions involved with riding a horse. Further, the method can be applied to increase endurance, motor planning, visual and tactile recognition, coordination, timing, respiratory control, sensory integration, and/or attentiveness. Conditions that can be treated with this type of therapy include lower extremity amputations, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, spinal injury, Down Syndrome, deafness and blindness, autism and/or post-surgery rehabilitation needs. A number of care organizations and recipients cite benefits from this type of therapy. Hippotherapy may be provided using a horse or a hippotherapy device that mimics a horse in some capacity.


An abrasion resistant and chemical resistant damper is provided for installation in the sludge transport section of a wastewater treatment system of the type having a damper inlet chute and a damper outlet chute and a damper between the damper inlet chute and the damper outlet chute. The damper is formed from a fabric woven substantially of yarns of high performance material selected from the group consisting of aramid, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, and liquid crystal polymer. The damper includes a body having an inlet end and an outlet end, whereby the body creates a volume for sludge to move through. An inlet flange is formed about the inlet end and an outlet flange is formed about the outlet end.

The passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972 led to a boom in the construction of municipal wastewater treatment facilities needed to meet at least the minimum levels of treatment for the national drinking water supply.
A typical wastewater treatment plant comprises two treatment operations: a primary treatment, and a secondary treatment. The primary, or initial, treatment involves the removal of solids from an incoming waste stream. Larger objects are typically removed by "bar" screens, allowing smaller suspended and floating solids to pass. Downstream, scrum and grit may be removed before the remaining solids are permitted or forced to settle out in a primary settling tank. To accumulate and maximize the separation and settling of solids, a centrifuge-type action may be employed in connection with the settling tank. The accumulated solids, or "sludge," are then carried away for treatment or disposal, while the remaining liquid is transported for secondary treatment involving aeration, activation, chemical treatment, etc.
The sludge that is removed from the wastewater is diverted from the settling tank in the primary treatment system to a conveyor or repository in the sludge treatment system for subsequent processing of the solids. The interconnection between the two systems (primary and sludge treatment) for transport of the sludge may be in the form of piping or ductwork. Due to the movement and vibration of rotating and other processing equipment (vibrators, air handlers, conveyors, etc.) in operating mechanical plant systems, some type of device is provided between certain interconnected components to dampen the vibration and inherent movement of mechanical components to protect the interconnected equipment and systems from damage. In a municipal wastewater treatment plant, the interconnection between sludge transport components is often in the form of a damper placed in-line between the inlet chute that is delivering sludge from a settling tank or basin, and the outlet chute that delivers the sludge to the conveyors or pumps that move the sludge to the sludge treatment system.
For many years, the damper that interconnects the inlet and outlet sludge chutes has been constructed of a heavy, reinforced solid, natural or butyl rubber. This rubber damper comprises an inlet flange, and outlet flange, and a flexible, sometimes bellows-like, body between the flanges. The body provides an open volume through which the sludge passes. While the heavy rubber construction is somewhat resistant to abrasion and harsh chemical exposure, it nonetheless requires routine maintenance, or replacement within the first several thousand hours of use. Even under the most favorable operational conditions, natural and butyl rubber damper constructions rapidly deteriorate, dry rot, and crack, requiring frequent repair (patching) or replacement that require the wastewater system to be removed from operation. The repair and/or replacement work unfortunately dictates loss of operational capacity with significant resulting costs.

Chute for transporting sludge in a wastewater treatment system


An apparatus for generating a prediction that a patient will experience a seizure by monitoring a patient's body temperature over time is provided. The apparatus may include a sensor to sense temperature. The apparatus may monitor, using the sensor, the body temperature of the patient and compare the body temperature over a first period of time and a second period of time. The apparatus may generate a prediction of whether the patient will experience a seizure following the second period of time based at least in part on a result of the comparing.

Epilepsy often leads to a poor quality of life for patients in part because seizures cannot be reliably predicted and, in extreme cases, are associated with sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP).
Existing methods to predict seizures focus principally on analysis of brain electrical activity by electroencephalogram (EEG) or invasive monitoring.

Seizure prediction based on comparison of biological information across wake and sleep periods


A laser treatment device provided with a laser light source, a laser-light transmitting optical fiber for transmitting laser light output from the laser light source and a probe for guiding the laser light transmitted by the laser-light transmitting optical fiber to an object to be irradiated. Further, the probe is constituted by a laser-light guiding optical fiber separated from the laser-light transmitting optical fiber. Moreover, a cooling chamber for cooling the optical fibers is provided in the neighborhood of an output end of the laser-light transmitting optical fiber, from which the transmitted laser light is output, and an input end of the laser-light guiding optical fiber, from which the laser light output by the laser-light transmitting optical fiber is input to the laser-light guiding optical fiber. Thereby, a medical treatment of a deep part of an affected or diseased region can be achieved without worsening the state of the exit of the laser-light transmitting optical-fiber. Moreover, the output end of the laser-light transmitting optical-fiber can be kept in a favorable condition even after the medical treatment of the deep part of the affected region. Thus there is no obstacle to the next treatment thereof.

1. Field of The Invention
This invention generally relates to a laser treatment device used for a medical treatment to be performed by irradiating laser light, which is transmitted through an optical fiber from a laser light source, on an object and more particularly to a laser treatment device suitable for a medical treatment of a hard tissue (e.g., a tooth) to be irradiated.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, in each conventional laser treatment device, a probe for guiding laser light, which is output from an optical fiber for transmitting laser light, to an object to be irradiated is provided at an output end of the optical fiber. Further, there are publicly-known two types of probe. One is a non-contact type of probe as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai Tokkyo Koho) Official Gazette No. 61-20544, which does not contact an object to be irradiated. The other is a contact type of probe as disclosed in, for instance, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (kokai Tokkyo Koho) Official Gazette No. 63-318934, which contacts an object to be irradiated.
A probe of the non-contact type is operative to irradiate laser light output (namely, emitted) from the output end of the optical fiber on the object by converging the output laser light on a spot having a predetermined spot size thereon. Further, a probe of the contact type is formed as an individual device other than the optical fiber by using, for example, a sapphire rod and abrading (namely, tapering) the sapphire rod in such a manner that the diameter of the transverse section of the probe becomes smaller gradually toward one end thereof. Furthermore, the laser light output from the output end of the optical fiber impinges on the probe of this type and thereafter undergoes an internal reflection on an abraded surface. As the result, the reflected laser light is converged on an end portion of the probe of this type and is then irradiated on the object by bringing the end portion of this probe into direct contact with the object.
Incidentally, in case of another laser treatment device manufactured by, for example, Laserscope Inc. of U.S.A., an output portion of an optical fiber for transmitting laser light is used as a probe of the contact or non-contact type.
Additionally, in recent years, an Er:YAG laser (namely, E.sub.r.sup.S+ laser) has been developed as a laser light source, by which a hard tissue, as well as a soft tissue, can be processed. Consequently, a laser treatment device can be used for a medical treatment of dentin (or dentinum) or enamel by employing such a laser.
The aforesaid conventional laser treatment devices, however, have encountered the following problems.
First, the diameter of the converging lens employed in the probe of the non-contact type is at least 1 millimeter (mm) .PHI. or so. Namely, it is difficult to make a probe of this type, the converging lens of which is less than 1 mm .PHI. in diameter. Thus, in case of a medical treatment of the inside of a narrow diseased region (for example, a crooked root canal, which is not more than 500 microns (.mu.m) .PHI. in diameter, or a periodontal concavity (i.e., a periodontal pocket)), a deep part of the diseased region cannot be sufficiently irradiated with laser light.
Moreover, although an end of an ordinary probe of the contact type is 0.3 mm .PHI. in outer diameter or so, a base of the tapered portion thereof is thick and 2 mm .PHI. or so in outer diameter. Therefore, similarly as in case of the probe of the non-contact type, a deep part of an affected region cannot be sufficiently irradiated with laser light.
In contrast, in case where the output end of the optical fiber is used as a probe, even a deep part of an affected or diseased region can be sufficiently processed. However, in case of such a type of probe, the output end of the optical fiber may melt due to heat produced at the time of irradiation. Further, matters scattered at the time of irradiation sometimes adhere to the output end of the optical fiber. Moreover, the output end of the optical fiber, to which the scattered matters adhere, may melt as a result of being heated by laser light. Such a melting of the output end of the optical fiber and an adhesion of the scattered matters thereto result in that the intensity of laser light output therefrom becomes uneven and the performance of the probe becomes deteriorated and that additionally, after such an output end of the optical fiber is used as a probe, it becomes impossible to perform a medical treatment of soft tissues by fitting an ordinary probe of the contact type made of sapphire or the like, which has been separated from the optical fiber, to such an output end thereof.
Further, especially in case of performing a medical treatment of hard tissues such as dentin by using an Er:YAG laser, it is preferable for effectively preventing vaporized matters, which are generated at the time of performing the medical treatment, from adhering to dentin or the like to spurt washing water from the vicinity of a probe simultaneously with outputting laser light. However, there has been raised a problem that an optical fiber including a fluoride (hereunder sometimes referred to as a fluoride fiber), which can efficiently transmit laser light output from an Er:YAG laser, is liable to influence of water or moisture.