An (SiGe)C layer having a stoichiometric ratio of about 1:1 is locally formed on an Si layer, a large forbidden band width semiconductor device is prepared inside the layered structure thereof and an Si semiconductor integrated circuit is formed in the regions not formed with the layered structure, whereby high frequency high power operation of the device is enabled by the large forbidden band width semiconductor device and high performance is attained by hybridization of the Si integrated circuit.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device having a plurality of single crystal semiconductor layers each containing at least one of silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge), and carbon (C) as essential constituent elements and a method of manufacturing the same. The semiconductor device of the invention concerns a technique which is effectively applied to high frequency amplifying semiconductor devices and integrated circuits used in wireless communication apparatus and, further, a technique it is useful for use in broad forbidden band semiconductor devices for wireless communication in quasi-milliwave to milliwave regions.
Along with rapid popularization of mobile communication terminals and internet communication in recent yearn, wireless communication capacity has been increased rapidly year by year. Accordingly, necessary band width in the wireless communication has been extended and increase for the demand of communication apparatus intended for usual consumers is expected necessarily in higher frequency bands, that is, from quasi-milliwave to milliwave regions. Semiconductor devices used for electronic circuits in the frequency band described above are predominantly those using compound semiconductor materials represented by GaAs. Recently, SI carbide (hereinafter simply referred to as SIC) having broader forbidden width and more preferred electron transportation characteristics compared with GaAs has been investigated since it is applicable to higher power density at high frequency waves.
Existent methods of forming single crystal semiconductor layers containing Si, Ge, and C, were reported, for example, in Japanese Patent No. 2798576 (Paragraph 10, FIG. 1). In the manufacturing method of the prior art example, a gaseous starting material containing Si atoms, a gaseous starting material containing C atoms and a gaseous starting material containing Ge atoms are used. Further, such gaseous starting materials am thermally decomposed and grown into an Si epitaxial layer containing C and Ge at a vacuum degree of 10$−2 Torr or less capable of neglecting the gas phase reaction. Further, the prior art example shows that a substrate having, on its surface, at least an Si layer and a mask pattern formed on the Si layer is disposed in a gas phase growing vessel, and a gaseous starting material containing Si atoms, a gaseous starting material containing C atoms and a gaseous starting material containing Ge atoms are applied simultaneously to the surface of the substrate at a vacuum degree capable of neglecting the gas phase reaction to selectively grow the Si layer containing C and Ge only at the region on the substrate where the Si layer is exposed.
Further, an example of a method of forming a single crystal layer comprising Si, Ge, and C by using a single starting material gas is described in Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 65, pp 2960, 1994. A polycrystal layer with a Ge compositional ratio of 13% and a C compositional ration of 50% is grown by using tetrakis germane (Ge(Si(CH3)3)4) as the starting material gas.
Further, an existent example of a semiconductor device using a single crystal semiconductor layer containing Si, Ge, and C is also described in JP-A No. 9-283533 (Paragraph 25, FIG. 6). FIG. 19 shows the cross-sectional structure of a bipolar transistor of this example. A high concentration n-Si region 102 is grown on a p-Si substrate 101, an n-Si layer 103 is formed thereon as a collector region, on which a p-SiGe layer 104 as a base region and an n-SiGeC mixed crystal 105 as a an emitter region are grown. Each of the junction boundaries for the collector, the base and the emitter is formed by, e.g., the UHV/CVD process or the like so that relocation is not caused. As the starting gas for effecting epitaxial growth, an organic silane such as silane, disilane, or methyl silane, or an organic germane such as methyl germane and, optionally, ethylene is used. As the doping gas, arsenic or phosphorus is used as an n-impurity and boron or the like is used for a p-impurity.
Since SiC has a high melting point, it is extremely difficult to prepare a large diameter substrate by the pulling-up method as for the Si substrate. Accordingly, a method of forming a substrate by sublimation of a starting material is used. However, even use of the method still involves a drawback that a substrate having high crystal quality and a large area cannot be obtained.
Further, in a semiconductor integrated circuit for use in communication, not all of the circuits handle signals in a high frequency region since integrated circuits requiring information processing of a large capacity in a low frequency region are also necessary. For the integrated circuits, it is optimal to use existent Si semiconductor integrated circuits. Accordingly, a desirable integrated circuit is a combination of an SIC semiconductor device and an Si semiconductor device described above. In this case, while individual semiconductor chips can be mounted in one module, it is more preferred to manufacture born of the semiconductor devices on one and the same substrate. In order to attain the structure, it is necessary to form an SiC layer on an Si substrate.
Further, in the existent semiconductor device using the single crystal semiconductor layer containing Si, Ge, and C described above, the amount of C contained is small and it is of a diamond structure not a blende structure. The solid solubility of C in Si or SiGe mixed crystal as the diamond structure is several % or less, which involves a drawback that the crystallinity is worsened as the C compositional ratio is increased.
The manufacturing methods reported generally so far include the general drawbacks concerning the crystallinity as described above as well as the following drawbacks in fabricating the semiconductor device. In the semiconductor device using SiC for the active layer, it is difficult to dope SiC to a high concentration p-type, which involves drawbacks that a base resistance of a bipolar transistor cannot be formed, and that manufacture of a short channel device which is essential to the high-speed operation of a field effect transistor is difficult.
Further, the drawback in the field effect semiconductor device is that high-speed operation characteristics to be expected inherently for the SiC semiconductor cannot be achieved since the quality of the gate insulating film formed on the SiC surface is poor.

Semiconductor device, semiconductor circuit module and manufacturing method of the same


An electronic motion picture camera for recording a sequence of images includes a sensor device having a two-dimensional arrangement of sensor elements that generate electrical signals in dependence on an exposure to light. A first group of the sensor elements forms a recording region of the sensor device and generates recording signals, and a second group of the sensor elements forms a monitoring region of the sensor device and generates monitoring signals, wherein the monitoring region surrounds the recording region. A memory device stores the recording signals, but not the monitoring signals. A display device displays the recording signals, the monitoring signals and a frame signal representing a border between the recording region and the monitoring region of the sensor device, and the border between the recording region and the monitoring region is kept fixed during the recording of the sequence of images.

The invention relates to a motion picture camera for full motion recordings of high picture quality such as television movies, cinema commercials, cinema movies or even industrial or medical applications. Motion picture cameras for the exposure of a photochemical negative film are known for such recordings. This recording technology allows a high resolution, large brightness dynamics and good color rendering. However, the development and the printing of such a negative film are undesirably complex and/or expensive since specialist equipment is required. Furthermore, it is required for an electronic picture processing, which has become customary in the meantime—for example for the changing of the color or for the insertion of synthetic picture elements—to subsequently digitize the exposed film material.
Digital video cameras are also known which record the recorded pictures with three CCD sensors provided for different colors and store them in a digital format on magnetic tape. The recording is observed by means of an electronic viewfinder in the form of an integrated display monitor which reproduces the recorded pictures recorded by means of the CCD sensors. Such cameras therefore have the advantage that the recorded film pictures are already present in digital form. However, such video cameras do not satisfy the demands occurring in all typical recording situations with respect to handling and picture quality and they are consequently not used in full motion recordings in which a particularly high picture quality is desired. For example, such a camera design with three CCD sensors requires recording lenses with a comparatively long back focal length, which is disadvantageous for the imaging performance of the optical systems. Furthermore, splitter prisms are required in the optical reception path which can likewise result in an unwanted reduction in the recording quality.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Arnold and Richter Cine Technik GmbH and Co. Betriebs KG


A network control device including a network controller for transmitting/receiving data through a network and storing received data in a storage and a network processor for processing data stored in the storage is provided with a usage information acquiring section for acquiring usage information indicating usage state of a CPU, a determining section for determining load state of the CPU from the usage information based on a determination condition, and a mode setting section for setting an interrupt mode to the network processor when the determined load state is low and setting a polling mode when the determined load state is high, the network processor processes data stored in the storage when receiving interrupt notification of the network controller during the interrupt mode, deters the interrupt notification of the network controller during the polling mode and processing data stored in the storage at predetermined intervals.

When receiving data (packet) from a network, a network control section (network controller) of a computer connecting to the network directly stores the received packet in a data storage section (ring buffer), and notifies a CPU of an interrupt.
When receiving the interrupt notification of the network controller, the CPU executes an interrupt handler of a network driver registered in an operating system (OS). The interrupt handler of the driver checks the ring buffer, and processes the packet stored in the ring buffer.
A method for processing the packet of the ring buffer by the network driver includes the following two types.
1. A method for processing the ring buffer only by the interrupt (interrupt method)
In the interrupt method, the network driver checks the ring buffer for every interrupt notification of the network controller, and processes the stored packet.
2. A method for processing the ring buffer by polling (polling method)
In the polling method, the network driver periodically checks the ring buffer, and when the ring buffer includes the packet, the network driver processes the included packet.
For example, the network driver suppresses an interrupt notifying function of the network controller for the first interrupt notification, after that, the network driver periodically checks the ring buffer, and processes the included packet. When the ring buffer is periodically checked, and when the packet is not included, the interrupt notifying function of the network controller is caused to be available, and the periodical checking is stopped.
As an opportunity for the periodical checking for the ring buffer, the following one or a plurality of timings are used.
(1) timer: the ring buffer is checked every certain time based on time monitoring by a timer.
(2) interrupt of another driver: the ring buffer is checked after it is completed to process the interrupt of another driver.
(3) a low priority daemon program: when a priority is set to a program, a low priority daemon program is provided, and the ring buffer is checked when the CPU is assigned to the daemon program.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 07-49822
The conventional data processing for the ring buffer includes the following problems.
(1) In the above interrupt method, when the network controller continuously receives a lot of the packets, that is, the network is highly loaded, the interrupt notification of the network controller frequently occurs, and the CPU is occupied by network processing of the network driver. As a result, another application program becomes unable to operate, and an original service of the system becomes unable to be provided.
(2) In the conventional polling method, because the data processing is executed by the polling, even when the network is highly loaded, such a state is not induced that the interrupt of the network driver frequently occurs. However, when the number of the packets received in a polling interval exceeds the number of the packets which can be stored in the ring buffer, the exceeding packets are discarded.
The following problems are induced because of methods for specifying the polling opportunity.
(2-1) When the polling opportunity is specified by the timer, latency (delay time) until the network driver processes the packet received by the network controller needs up to a timer interval time. Thus, processing timing of the network driver can not be advanced, so that performance of the original service of the system is degraded.
When the timer interval time is shortened, in the case of the network high load, such a state is induced that the network driver occupies the CPU, the application program becomes unable to operate, and the original service of the system is not provided.
(2-2) When the polling opportunity is specified by the interrupt of another driver, the interrupt of another driver is issued in an irregular interval, so that the latency until the network driver processes the packet received by the network controller can not be forecasted. Thus, in some state that the interrupt of another driver occurs, the performance of the original service of the system may be degraded.
Further, when the interrupts of another driver are many, another driver and the network driver occupy the CPU, the application program becomes unable to operate, and the original service of the system becomes unable to be provided.
(2-3) When the polling opportunity is specified by the low priority daemon program, because another application programs mostly continue to use the CPU, such a state is induced that the CPU is not assigned to the low priority daemon program. Thus, the daemon program is not initiated, and the packet received by the network driver can not be processed, so that the original service of the system becomes unable to be provided.
As described above, when such a state that a lot of the application program drivers use the CPU, and such a state that the network is highly loaded, and the network driver uses the CPU occur at the same time, in the conventional method, any processing for the application program and the network driver is sacrificed. Thus, such a problem is included that the original service of the system becomes can not be provided on the whole system.

Device and method for controlling network processing mode, and non-transitory computer-readable medium recording program for controlling network processing mode


Systems, methods and computer-readable storage media for determining an outcome of a content promotional message are described. For example, a media network may be configured to transmit content to a plurality of content playback devices, such as a television or a computing device. The content may include a content promotion message configured to promote content, such as a television program or a website, available through the media network. The content promotion message and the content may be associated with network identifiers generated by the media network for tracked content. When the content is played by the content playback device, a device identifier may be generated for the content. The device identifiers may be compared with the network identifiers to determine which, if any, content tracked by the media network has been played by the plurality of content playback devices.

Content providers and media network operators may use program promotion advertising to promote available programming. A challenge for program promotion advertisers is measuring the effectiveness of the advertisements. According to conventional technology, effectiveness may only be determined based on sampling data and test groups. This is an inefficient and error-prone process. As such, program promotion advertisers are not able to accurately realize the effect of their advertisements on content viewers. In this type of environment, content providers and media network operators are not able to take advantage of successful program promotions and advertising campaigns or avoid ineffective advertisements that do not persuade viewers to watch the promoted programs. Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide a method for determining the outcome of a program promotion or campaign in an automated, efficient manner that is able, among other things, to capture which advertisements are watched by which viewers and compare this information with which programs are watched by the same viewers.

Systems, methods and computer-readable media for determining outcomes for program promotions


A charge pump circuit having a fast rise time and reduced physical area is disclosed. The charge pump includes a plurality of stages having a non-uniform series of bootstrap capacitors. By using non-uniform capacitors at the various stages, charging rise time is enhanced while at the same time reducing the overall physical size of the charge pump.

In semiconductor applications, a charge pump is used to increase a small input voltage (for example, Vcc) into the larger voltages that are passed to the word lines and bit lines of semiconductor memory devices. These voltages affect the reading and writing of data from/to the memory device. The voltage is increased by channeling the relatively small input voltage through a series of stages. The more stages a charge pump has, the greater the resulting output voltage.
Rise time, or charge pump-up time (the amount of time necessary to convert the input voltage, Vcc, to the required output voltage) directly affects the time needed to read information from and write information to a particular byte of memory. Currently, charge pumps are constructed using several bootstrap capacitors having the same size (capacitance) C at each respective node of the charge pump. A bootstrap capacitor is defined as the capacitor connected to each respective node of a charge pump. Thus, to reduce rise time, the capacitance at each successive node is increased until the application defined speed requirement is met.
With conventional charge pumps, by increasing the capacitance at each stage the time required to generate the necessary output voltage decreases. However, the rise time does not improve significantly with the increase of capacitance. The decrease in rise time reaches a limit that cannot be surpassed. Thus, with conventional charge pumps, there is a limit to the attainable rise time.
As the required voltages for applications increases, the number of stages necessary to generate the higher output voltages also increases. Another drawback associated with conventional charge pumps is that with the increased number of stages, all having a common capacitance, the physical area taken up by the charge pump also increases.
A further drawback associated with conventional charge pumps is that as the number of stages increases, the power required to drive the charge pumps also increases due to the increased number of capacitors present in the charge pump.
Still a further drawback associated with conventional pumps is that as you increase the number of capacitors in a charge pump, the efficiency of the charge pump decreases.
Thus, there is a need for a charge pump having reduced rise time while at the same time taking up less physical area on an integrated circuit chip.


A base station for a mobile communications system, a mobile communications system including the base station and a method of increasing base station capacity. Each base station antenna is coupled to a transmission line that may be connected to a triplexer. The triplexer separates uplink signals from a duplex signal on the transmission line. The uplink and downlink signals are both in two sub-bands that are separated by a third sub-band. The triplexer passes the uplink signal to a duplexer/combiner that forwards the uplink signal to a combiner. The duplexer/combiner and combiner each pass downlink signals in one of the sub-bands to the triplexer, which combines the passes to the duplex signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to mobile communications and, more particularly, to increasing existing base station capacity without requiring additional antennas.
2. Background Description
Wireless communication systems, such as those supporting Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technologies, are characterized by cells or cell sectors with a base transceiver station (BTS) in each. Each BTS, also commonly referred to simply as a "base station," has one or more antennas to support wireless communications with local mobile units, each on a corresponding one of a given number (X) of carriers. Typically, any of the base station antennas can handle mobile units on any of the X carriers. At the antenna and between the particular mobile unit and the antenna, downlink or transmit signals (Tx) are duplexed with uplink or receive signals (Rx) to share a common carrier frequency. A duplexer in the base station separates/combines the channel signals, essentially blocking the outgoing or downlink transmit signal to prevent it from returning to a connected receiver at the incoming or uplink side.
As cell phone technology has become more popular, the number of mobile units in use at any one time has increased proportionately. Thus, the number of mobile units that each base station must handle simultaneously has correspondingly increased. However, keeping pace with this ever-increasing demand has been difficult and very expensive.
If space is available and local authorities are amenable, the most straightforward way to increase wireless network capacity is simply to add more antennas, either by adding more base stations or by adding antennas to existing base stations. Each additional antenna increases the number of carriers available for the base station and, correspondingly, the number of mobile units the base station can handle. However, even with community approval, this is very expensive.
Alternately, capacity may be increased by inserting a standard hybrid combiner stage between an existing antenna and base station duplexers to combine the duplexed carriers for the particular antenna. While a typical state of the art hybrid combiner stage may serve to boost the number of carriers that a base station can handle, the carrier capacity increase does not come without a penalty. Each hybrid combiner stage reduces path signal strength in both directions between the antenna and base station by half or more, i.e., reduces by at least 3 dB both downlink power at the antenna and uplink power to the base station. While an amplifier may be used to amplify the uplink signal at the antenna (and before the hybrid combiner) to recover uplink power and minimize the resulting impact on Rx sensitivity, downlink power can only be recovered by increasing base station transmitter power. Consequently, in cells serviced by downlink-limited base stations, mobile units at the original cell perimeter no longer receive service as a result of increasing base station carrier capacity without increasing transmitter power. This is because losing half of the duplex signal at the duplexer reduces base station coverage for the cell, i.e., to a quarter or less of its original area. So, to maintain coverage when increasing transmitter power is not feasible, base station sites must be added to the network to fill in any remaining coverage holes. Unfortunately, both of these solutions to recovering the signal lost by introducing hybrid combiners are accompanied by serious disadvantages.
Both consume resources that add to base station/network costs including added equipment, installation and operating costs, and complicated network support and maintenance. Adding expensive components to increase downlink power further increases the footprint of each base station and increases base station energy consumption. Also, since each new component has a quantifiable failure rate that combines non-linearly with that of other components, adding these components reduces site reliability. Each new base station site adds not only equipment costs, but also requires real property purchases and construction costs. Furthermore, adding a base station site may require an appreciable effort to obtain the necessary local/national approvals, regulatory and otherwise.
Thus, there is a need for a way to increase existing network capacity with minimal negative impact to the existing network.

Mobile communications network with expanded carrier capacity and method of expanding base station carrier capacity


A method includes a step of bringing a plastic matrix substance in contact with a reinforcement fiber structure to form an intermediate material. Further, the method includes a step of curing the matrix substance of the intermediate material to form a composite material. Before the plastic matrix substance is brought into contact with the reinforcement fiber structure, it is mixed with a diluent to form a mixture.

In many constructions, such as aircrafts, ships, boats, sports cars, wind mills, and golf clubs, it is highly desirable to achieve lightweight constructions having high strength and stiffness. Often, the choice of material for such constructions is some sort of composite material, such as fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP). FRP materials often have a relatively high strength-to-weight ratio and are relatively resistant to fatigue and corrosion.
Many types of plastics and types of fibers may be combined to create a FRP and material properties, such as strength and elasticity, depend on choice and combination of matrix and reinforcement material respectively.
A FRP material contains a matrix material, being the plastic, and a reinforcement material, being the fiber. Commonly used types of reinforcement fibers are glass fibers, aramid fibers and carbon fibers.
Glass fibers are relatively inexpensive fibers, and are commonly found in FRP products, such as hulls for leisure boats, for which a low price is of higher importance than a high strength-to-weight ratio.
Carbon fibers are more expensive than for example glass fibers but offer a higher strength-to-weight ratio when used in a FRP material.
Not only the choice and combination of matrix and reinforcement materials affect the material properties of the composite material. Experience in the art shows that also the method of production of the composite material, including for example combination of different reinforcement structures in different layers and use of special molds, vacuum systems and/or autoclaves, may affect the material properties of the composite material.
When producing a composite material not only is it desirable to achieve good material properties but also it is often desirable to achieve a good production economy.
One factor which may affect production economy is the capacity of the production in terms of throughput. A high throughput makes it possible to distribute the fixed production costs on a higher number of units. Another factor which affects production economy is the amount of fixed costs, such as cost for expensive special machinery (for example large ovens or autoclaves). Also, direct and indirect material costs and material waste affect the total production costs.
WO 01/41993 A2, discloses a method of producing a composite material. The described method is an attempt to achieve a composite material without using large and expensive autoclaves for removing voids in the material, and the method comprises the steps of assembling a preform from a suitable reinforcement material, in a mold; tackifying the preform with a tackifier in the mold; vacuum debulking the tackifier preform; double bagging the debulked preform with an inner bag and outer bag to control bag relaxation and to improve vacuum integrity; and infusing resin to the debulked preform using a vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding process.
However, the method disclosed in WO 01/41993 A2 has disadvantages, such as being complex to perform, and giving a relatively low strength-to-weight ratio.
As background art, the considerably older U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,957, claiming priority from a German patent application filed in 1979, should be mentioned as well. The inventors of U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,957 have recognized that particularly in connection with the impregnation of structural components having large surfaces, for example, rotor blades of helicopters and the like, or in connection with structural components having complicated shapes, it is difficult to properly control the resin flow during resin injection. This flow control problem is, according to the inventors of U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,957, due to the fact that the temperature of the resin at any particular location determines the viscosity of the resin and thus also its flowability. One way of solving the flow control problem is to use expensive and very complicated heated molds. Another way of solving the flow control problem is to use a method such as the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,957, in which a resin is injected into a carbon fiber webbing which may comprise one or several layers of carbon fiber web. The required flowability of the resin and its curing is accomplished by a heat application directly through the carbon fiber webbing which is heated by passing an electrical current through the carbon fibers. Thus, the carbon fiber webbing operates directly as an electrical internal heating mat in the structural component.
Another object of U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,957 is to provide a method for manufacturing of fiber compound components or structures of any size and/or shape without the need for expensive heated molds and with reduced energy consumption as compared to using heated molds.
According to the disclosed method, electric current is fed through a carbon fiber webbing in order to generate a curing temperature of the resin. U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,957 also suggests controlling the strength of the electrical current so that it is different in different areas of the webbing whereby the intensity of the heating may be adapted to the particular area or configuration of the webbing. An unheated and electrically conducting mold is used for defining the shape of the FRP component and glass fiber webbing is used to insulate the carbon fiber webbing from the conductive mold.
Disadvantages of the method of U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,957 are that the method gives materials having low durability with regards to repeated stress and long term stress, and a relatively low strength-to-weight ratio.
Further background art is disclosed in EP 1724306 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,494.

Method for producing a composite material


An apparatus for and method of detecting fires comprising detecting (with one or more detectors) levels of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and smoke in an ambient environment, computing (using a processor) over time rates of increase of each of the levels, and generating an alarm if one or more of the rates of increase exceed predetermined threshold rates of increase.

1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to the detection of fires in closed compartments such as aircraft cargo bays and buildings using fire alarm algorithms and sensors for monitoring fire signatures.
2. Description of Related Art
Fire signatures for flaming and smoldering fires have included temperature, smoke, and chemical species. The chemical species may include oxygen (O2, hereafter O2), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2, hereafter CO2), water vapor (H2O, hereafter H2O), nitric oxide (NO), hydrogen cyanide (HCN), acetylene (C2H2, hereafter C2H2), etc. Fire alarm algorithms based on fire signatures are developed using intuition (e.g., threshold and rate of increase), systematic methods (i.e,. involving mathematical formula), and variable methods (e.g., artificial neural network). Simple algorithms are based on thresholds for maximum values, rates of increase, and combinations thereof.
Fire detection systems of current aircraft cargo compartments are primarily smoke detectors. The false alarm rates, defined as the percentage of alarms with no verified smoke in the cargo compartment, are as high as 99 percent. The cost of a false alarm is estimated between $30,000 to $50,000 per incident (D. Blake., "Aircraft cargo compartment smoke detector alarm incidents on U.S.-registered aircraft, 1974–1999, DOT/FAA/AR-TN00/29, 2000). Moreover, regulations mandate that the alarm sounds within one minute after the onset of a fire condition. Pilots may have only about ten to fifteen minutes in which to land before smoke or damage to the structure from an uncontained fire prevents the pilot from controlling the aircraft. Reducing the time to alarm will allow pilot to suppress the fire at an earlier stage and permit more time to land the aircraft safely.
Several fire detection systems have been developed to reduce false alarms and decrease the time response of smoke detectors. Several approaches have been taken to improve the performance of smoke detectors. Other detection systems have taken a totally different approach to fire detection.
J. A. Milke, "Monitoring multiple aspects of fire signatures for discriminating fire detection," Fire Technology 35, 195–209 (August 1999), uses a pair of CO and CO2 detectors to identify flaming and non-flaming fires. Flaming fires is detected by the CO2 threshold concentration or rate of increase. Non-flaming fire is detected by the rate of increase of CO or CO2. Reduction in false alarms and detection times were observed when compared to a commercial smoke detector.
D. T. Gottuk, et al., "Advanced fire detection using multi-signature alarm algorithms," Fire Safety Journal 37, 381–394 (2002), use a fire alarm algorithm based on the product of CO absolute concentration and smoke obscuration level. Results have shown improvements over both ionization and photoelectric smoke detectors alone in terms of reduction in nuisance alarms and response times.
B. C. Hagen, et al., "The use of gaseous fire signatures as a mean to detect fires," Fire Safety Journal 34, 55–67 (2000), use a fire detection system comprising two Taguchi sensors (820 and 822), two gas sensors (CO and CO2), and temperature. The fire alarm algorithm uses threshold values to classify flaming fire (when CO2>210 ppm and temperature>40° C.), smoldering fire (when CO>17 ppm, and CO2>22 ppm, and Taguchi 822>0.270V), and nuisance sources (when Taguchi 822>0.9V and Taguchi 880>0.15V). This combined system was found to perform better than two smoke detectors without introducing additional false alarms.
S. L. Rose-Pehrsson, et al., "Real-time probabilistic neural network performance and optimization for fire detection and nuisance alarm rejection," 12th International Conference on Automatic Fire Detection (March 2001), use ionization and photoelectric detectors, CO and CO2 sensors using magnitude and slope information, and background subtraction to evaluate a fire alarm algorithm based on probabilistic neural network. Flaming fires were identified correctly, but smoldering fires were problematic.
T. Kaiser, et al., "Temperature fluctuation as a detection criterion," Fire Safety Journal 29, 217–226, (1997) use a fire detector based on temperature fluctuations to provide an additional criterion for fire detection.
Y. R. Sivathanu, et al., "Fire detection using time series analysis of source temperatures," Fire Safety Journal 29, 301–315 (1997), have shown that power spectral density and the probability density function of the source temperatures are be sufficient to determine the presence of a fire in the vicinity of the detector.
R. J. Roby, "Multi-signature fire detector," U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,703 (1997), uses two sensors or detectors to detect two different signatures, and their outputs are compared to predetermined values or combined in a sum or a product which is compared to predetermined reference values. In the case of the sum, the outputs can be multiplied by a weighting coefficient prior to adding the outputs. Smoke and CO are used to evaluate this invention.
J. Y. Wong, "False alarm resistant fire detector with improved performance," U.S. Pat. No. 5,798,700 (1998), is a continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,147 (1997). The invention uses a smoke and CO2 sensors to generate a fire alarm when both CO2 and smoke exceed threshold values at the same time, or the rate of increase of CO2 exceeds a predetermined threshold rate.
D. A. Peralta, "Smoke and carbon monoxide detector with clock," U.S. Pat. No. 5,936,532 (1999), combined a smoke detector with a CO detector for residential use. When the presence of smoke or CO is detected, an alarm is initiated. Capability is provided to manually de-activate the annunciator in case of false alarms. The annunciator is then automatically re-activated after a predetermined time interval.
D. H. Marman, et al., "Fire and smoke detection and control system", U.S. Pat. No. 5,945,924 (1999), use a fire alarm algorithm based on the rate of change of CO2 and/or smoke. The algorithm has shown reduction in nuisance alarms and response times. The rate of change of CO2 was specified in parts per million per minute (ppm/min).
J. Y. Wong, "Fire detector," U.S. Pat. No. 5,966,077 (1999), is a continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,704 (1997) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,767,776 (1998). The invention combines a CO2 detector and a smoke detector to detect the presence of a fire when CO2 rate of increase exceeds a first predetermined level and smoke exceeds a predetermined level, or when the rate of increase of CO2 exceeds a second predetermined rate.
J. Y. Wong, "Method for dynamically adjusting criteria for detecting fire through smoke concentration," U.S. Pat. No. 6,107,925 (2000), uses CO2 measurements to dynamically adjust the smoke detector output signal fire detection criterion. The CO2 measurements are used to determine the probability of the existence of a fire.
J. Y. Wong, "Fire detector," U.S. Pat. No. 6,166,647 (2000), combines a smoke detector with an electronic nose that detects fire radicals to detect the presence of a fire. A fire alarm is initiated with the rate of increase of both the smoke and fire radicals exceed predetermined threshold rates.
D. S. Johnston et al., "Carbon monoxide and smoke detection apparatus," U.S. Pat. No. 6,426,703 (2002), combine a smoke detector and a CO sensor to make a fire alarm algorithm. Smoke and CO outputs are processed independently. When CO exceeds a predetermined limit, without the presence of smoke, alarm sounds.
The present invention improves on the art by using a fire detection system that comprises a smoke detector, a gas sensor for carbon dioxide, a gas sensor for carbon monoxide, and a fire alarm algorithm based on the rates of increase of these three fire signatures. Concentrations of CO and CO2 are usually expressed in parts per million (ppm) and smoke signal in Volt (V). These rates of increase are specified in parts per million per second (ppm/sec) for CO and CO2, and in V/sec for smoke. The decision to alarm is based on the condition when the smoke rate of increase is exceeded, and CO or CO2 rate of increase exceeds its predetermined threshold rate as well. The fire alarm algorithm provides a way to reduce or minimize false alarms generated by smoke detectors alone. Fire detection algorithm is interrogated once per second, offering a fast response to the detection of incipient fires. Furthermore, the algorithm is immune to signal offsets caused by background changes or sensor aging, and noises that are inherent in the measurements of smoke, CO and CO2.

Fire alarm algorithm using smoke and gas sensors


A method and a system for monitoring access of a person from an exterior to an interior of a partition via a passage having an openable closed opening, using a detection device and supervision of an operator. A monitoring unit is coupled to both the detection device on the exterior, for handling in manual self-scanning procedure, and an input/output unit on the interior, for use by the operator. The monitored person handles the detection device, which transmits at least a first type handling signal, and at least a second type recognition signal to the monitoring unit. The operator rates the monitored person and transmits a third type rating signal to the monitoring unit, indicating crossing permission or crossing denial. The monitoring unit then derives an access signal from the three types of signals received from at least two sensors to allow or to deny access via the passage.

The present invention relates to crowd screening for the detection of hidden prohibited articles, such as concealed by terrorists, and more particularly, to a method and a system for monitoring access by detecting searched-for articles, such as bombs, before allowing access via the passage.
During the last decade, a large and ever-increasing number of explosive-carrying terrorists blew themselves up among random or selected victims, often killing and inflicting heavy casualties to their intended targets and to passers-by, and also causing severe material damage. Existing devices and methods for the detection of explosives carried by terrorists achieve only partial success.
Nowadays, guards for the detection of terrorists are positioned in front of the entrance to shops, restaurants, and public buildings. Evidently, access monitoring is also necessary for controlling the entrance into buses and trains, and in general, the entrance into public transportation vehicles.
Guards usually scan each monitored person by operating hand-held devices, such as metal detectors, or have people pass through a detection gate. In addition, personal belongings, such as purses and bookbags are searched through. FIG. 1 depicts the present art, in which a crowd 11 of individual persons 13 wishes to pass from an exterior side EXT to an interior side INT via a passage 15 entered in a partition 17. An operator 19, or guard 19 handling a manual device 21 is charged with the scanning of each single person 13 before allowing crossing to the interior INT, via the passage 15.
The presently used terrorist uncovering scheme is dangerous, since a terrorist most often blows himself up when believing he has been found out, to kill guards and crowds of queuing-up individuals. This practice exposes security personnel, which have to come close to a potential suicide bomber, to high risks, which might impair their effectiveness. Although U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/026,384 by Fisher D., which is incorporated herewith in whole by reference deals with this problem, the sensors recited therein are at some distance from the monitored person.

Rafael Armament Development Authority, Ltd.


The invention relates to a method and apparatus for controlling one or more characteristics of a service received by a mobile station in a mobile communications network across a radio communications link with a dynamically varying bandwidth. Bandwidth-sensing data packets are created for the purpose of determining changes in the bandwidth available across the link and transmissions of bandwidth-sensing data packets across the link are monitored. If timing information generated from the monitored transmissions indicates a change in the bandwidth, then one or more characteristics of the service received can be altered. With this new measure of the available bandwidth, the service received by a mobile station can be managed more intelligently, for example by instructing a bandwidth control function to alter the bandwidth available across the link, by instructing a handover control function to control a handover of the link from one fixed node to another fixed node, or by altering a data rate of the service data packets.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for controlling one or more characteristics of a service received by a mobile station in a mobile communications network across a radio communications link with a dynamically varying bandwidth.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Current mobile communication networks have the capability to carry different types of payload. These payloads may for example comprise voice traffic, video traffic or other types of service data. One such mobile communication network is the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) network, which employs Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) techniques to transmit information by dividing frequency channels into a number of different time slots.
GSM is a second generation system which uses circuit-switched technology to carry speech information, but also incorporates a radio access packet data facility known as the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). This gives the capability to carry data traffic using packet-switched technology with the option to be always connected to the data network. GPRS is also available in third generation systems.
In such a network, it is usual to only allocate one time slot in a cell to packet-only services with the remaining time slots (seven in GPRS) being made available as and when they not carrying voice traffic. Further, the number of mobile stations using GPRS in a cell also varies. Hence, the available GPRS bandwidth to a mobile station has a time variant and unpredictable characteristic. This is compounded on a handover event when the receiving cell may have a different number of available time slots. No mechanism exists in current architectures such as GPRS to make the number of time slots being used to be made available to either the mobile station or application, a situation made worse on handover where a prior knowledge of the receiving base station's available capacity is not known. It can be argued that this is not a significant drawback as packet traffic is best effort and changes in available bandwidth will be accommodated by store forward techniques. However, best effort means no quality control. Future releases of GPRS will support Quality of Service (QoS) with "guaranteed" bandwidth allocation. However, if upon handover the receiving cell does not have the number of time slots available to guarantee the bandwidth, the call is dropped.
A method for broadcasting data packets in a data packet communication system is described in UK Patent Application GB A 2 370 200. An enhancer is inserted into a communication link. It sends spoof acknowledgments to an upstream unit, which perceives that the acknowledgments have come from a downstream unit. The enhancer measures efficacy of operation of the downstream units (the transmission quality) by monitoring the round trip time (RTT) or/and the amount of unacknowledged data sent to the downstream units. It uses the measurements to control the data flow sent to the downstream units. The method is only suitable for the broadcast of data packets and requires acknowledgement by the mobile stations of all data packets broadcast by the enhancer, which produce an undesirable amount of loading over the radio interface. Further, the method requires monitoring of large amounts of data being sent to determine the transmission quality.
A system for transcoding multimedia information within a network communication system is described in International Patent Application WO A 02/093866. Multimedia information communicated between a transmitter and a receiver may be transcoded by intercepting the multimedia information within a network communication system. The available transmission rate of the downlink channel may be estimated by, for example, calculating a ratio of the smoothed round trip time of packets communicated to the receiver and a smoothed congestion window associated with the downlink channel. If the transmission rate at which the multimedia information is encoded is greater than the available transmission rate, the multimedia information may be transcoded to conform the multimedia information to the available transmission rate. Again, the system is suitable only for broadcast information, and further, large amounts of multimedia information needs to be monitored in order to determine the available transmission rate. A method for measuring the QoS at the application level in a mobile packet-based telecommunications network is detailed in International Patent Application WO A 04/010648. Data indicating the behavior of the network is measured and stored at a number of points across the network and used to indicate the emergence of a critical situation where QoS could be compromised. If such a situation arises a trigger signal is sent to a central node where attempts can be made to alleviate the situation to keep the QoS up to an acceptable level.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,760,344 different logical link identifier values are assigned by a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) to mobile stations which reflect their QoS ratings. The values can then be evaluated by a base station and used to allocate network resources in order to maintain as high a level of QoS as possible.
One attribute defined in the GPRS standard is the mean, data rate for a Packet Data Protocol (PDP) context, which may be calculated over the entire time an Internet Protocol (IP) address is allocated to a mobile station. This time may be up to several days, so may not give an accurate measure for the time that the mobile station is actually active. Various new parameters are introduced in International Patent Application WO A 02/39769 in an attempt to improve the level of QoS available. The idle capacity is allocated to counteract the mean data rate dropping below an acceptable level by investigating whether the parameters would be affected by differing allocation of resources. If the differing allocation within the cell, such as allocating resources to a new mobile station or a handover event, would cause the parameters to indicate that the QoS level for the mobile station in question would be lost, then such allocation changes are rejected. In inter-technology handover schemes like Internet Protocol Mobility
Management (IPMM), the disparate nature of the access technology bandwidths can have a serious effect on the service provided to the mobile station, which may have only temporary effect or may be longer-term.
It would be desirable to provide ways to ameliorate the above problems.

Systems and methods of controlling one or more characteristics of a service


An apparatus for applying thermal energy to a prostate gland, comprising a support tube having a longitudinal passageway, a power lead channeled through the longitudinal central passageway and an ultrasound crystal disposed around at least part of the support tube. The ultrasound crystal is coupled to the power lead which provides the power to energize the ultrasound crystal and generate ultrasound energy providing thermal therapy to the prostate gland. The ultrasound crystal further includes inactivated portions for reducing ultrasound energy directed to the rectal wall of the patient. A sealant is disposed in contact with the ultrasound crystal allowing vibration necessary for efficient ultrasound energy radiation for the thermal therapy of the prostate gland.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for performing a thermotherapy patient treatment protocol. More particularly, the invention relates to a novel apparatus and method for heating the prostate gland for therapeutic purposes.
2. Description of Related Art
Thermotherapy treatment is a relatively new method of treating diseased and/or undesirably enlarged human prostate tissues. Hyperthermia treatment is well known in the art, involving the maintaining of a temperature between about 41.5° through 45° C. Thermotherapy, on the other hand, usually requires energy application to achieve a temperature above 45° C. for the purposes of coagulating the target tissue. Tissue coagulation beneficially changes the density of the tissue. As the tissue shrinks, forms scars and is reabsorbed, the impingement of the enlarged tissues, such as an abnormal prostate, is substantially lessened.
The higher temperatures required by thermotherapy require delivery of larger amounts of energy to the target prostate tissues. At the same time, it is important to shield nontarget tissues from the high thermotherapy temperatures used in the treatment. Providing safe and effective thermotherapy, therefore, requires devices which have further capabilities compared to those which are suitable for hyperthermia.
Though devices and methods for treating benign prostatic hyperplasia have evolved dramatically in recent years, significant improvements have not occurred and such progress is badly needed. As recently as 1983, medical textbooks recommended surgery for removing impinging prostatic tissues and four different surgical techniques were utilized. Suprapubic prostatectomy was a recommended method of removing the prostate tissue through an abdominal would. Significant blood loss and the concomitant hazards of any major surgical procedure were possible with this approach.
Perineal prostatectomy was an alternatively recommended surgical procedure which involved gland removal through an incision n the perineum. Infection, incontinence, impotence or rectal injury were more likely with this method than with alternative surgical procedures.
Transurethral resection of the prostate gland has been another recommended method of treating benign prostatic hyperplasia. This method required inserting a rigid tube into the urethra. A loop of wire connected with electrical current was rotated in the tube to remove shavings of the prostate at the bladder orifice. In this way, no incision was needed. However, strictures were more frequent and repeat operations were sometimes necessary.
The other recommended surgical technique for treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia was retropubic prostatectomy. This required a lower abdominal incision through which the prostate gland was removed. Blood loss was more easily controlled with this method, but inflammation of the pubic bone was more likely.
With the above surgical techniques, the medical textbooks noted the vascularity of the hyperplastic prostate gland and the corresponding dangers of substantial blood loss and shock. Careful medical attention was necessary following these medical procedures.
The problems previously described led medical researchers to develop alternative methods for treating benign pro static hyperplasia. Researchers began to incorporate heat sources in. Foley catheters after discovering that enlarged mammalian tissues responded favorably to increased temperatures. Examples of devices directed to treatment of prostate tissue include U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,383 (Harada). U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,765 (Turner), U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,383 (Sogawa) and German Patent No. DE 2407559 C3 (Dreyer). Though these references disclosed structure which embodied improvements over the surgical techniques, significant problems still remained unsolved. Recent research has indicated that enlarged prostate glands are most effectively treated with higher temperatures than previously thought. Complete utilization of this discovery has been tempered by difficulties in shielding rectal wall tissues and other nontarget tissues. While shielding has been addressed in some hyperthermia prior art devices, the higher energy field intensities associated with thermotherapy necessitate structures having further capabilities beyond those suitable for hyperthermia. For example, the symmetrical microwave-based devices disclosed in the above-referenced patents have generally produced relatively uniform cylindrical energy fields. Even at the lower energy field intensities encountered in hyperthermia treatment, unacceptably high rectal wall temperatures have limited treatment periods and effectiveness. Further while shielding using radioreflective fluids has been disclosed in the prior art (see for example European Patent Application No. 89,403,199) the location of such radioreflective fluid appears to increase energy field intensity at the bladder and rectal wall. This is contrary to one of the objects of the present invention.
In addition, efficient and selective cooling of the devices is rarely provided. This increases patient discomfort and increases the likelihood of healthy tissue damage. These problems have necessitated complex and expensive temperature monitoring systems along the urethral wall.
Finally, the symmetrical designs of the above-referenced devices do not allow matching of the energy field to the shape of the abnormally enlarged prostate gland. Ideally, the energy field reaching the tissues should be asymmetric and generally should expose the upper and lateral (side) impinging lobes of the prostate gland to the highest energy. In addition, the field is ideally substantially elliptical such that the energy reaching the sphincters is minimized.

Apparatus for thermal therapy of prostate gland with ultrasound energy

The Regents of the University of California


A unit cell for use in an optical active pixel sensor (APS) includes a photodiode having a first terminal connected to a photodiode biasing PDB line, and a second terminal opposite from the first terminal; a reset switch transistor having a first terminal connected to the second terminal of the photodiode, and a second terminal connected to a reference voltage line, and a gate of the reset switch transistor is connected to a reset signal RST supply line; and an amplification transistor having a first terminal connected to an output readout line, and a second terminal connected to a driving voltage supply line, and a gate of the amplification transistor is connected to a node constituting the connection of the second terminal of the photodiode and the first terminal of the reset switch transistor. An optical APS device includes a sensor matrix formed of a plurality of unit cells according to any of the embodiments arranged in an array of rows and columns.

Optical sensors are employed in a variety of applications by which a parameter, device characteristic, or state is determined based upon an amount of light detected by the sensor. Optical sensors have numerous applications, such as in imaging, x-ray detection (whereby x-rays are converted to visible light for detection), position detection, photo-electric detection, and others. One current usage in the field of displays and security is fingerprint sensing used for identification, such as for example to unlock a mobile telephone.
One type of optical sensor is a passive optical sensor, which simply incorporates a light sensor that converts light into an electronic output signal that is read directly by a suitable reading device. In many applications, however, enhanced performance is achieved by using an active sensor, which subjects the output signal from the light sensor to some type of signal treatment, typically signal amplification. For active sensing, an active pixel sensor (APS) may be employed. Optical APS devices are formed of an array or matrix of photo-sensing unit cell pixel circuits, whereby each unit cell pixel circuit includes an individual light sensor component, such as a light sensing photodiode, that is coupled to amplification circuit components. A driver integrated circuit (driver IC) provides input control signals and driving voltages for row selecting and sensing, and a data reader integrated circuit (data reader IC) reads out signals from the sensor matrix of unit cells. As referred to herein and known in the art, the data reader IC also may be referred to as an analogue front end (AFE).
In conventional configurations, APS devices have been made using CMOS silicon transistors in the unit cell pixel circuitry. CMOS transistors are small (potentially on the order of nanometers) and have high performance, but they are expensive to fabricate. CMOS transistors generally are grown on a semiconductor wafer and thus typically require a common semiconducting back substrate and/or common epitaxial well. Typical CMOS-based optical APS circuits employ three or more transistors. One of the most successful architectures employs a photodiode, four transistors, a capacitor and a potential well, to provide amplification and control reset noise (one of the most common noise sources in APS architectures). This high number of components is possible in CMOS technology mostly due to the small size of CMOS transistors.
An alternative transistor type known in the art is a thin film transistor (TFTs). Multiple TFTs readily may be fabricated on a glass or similar substrate, and thus it is inexpensive and easier to fabricate large TFT arrays on glass as compared to CMOS silicon technology. TFTs, therefore, have found application in technologies that employ pixel circuit arrays, including for example pixel circuit arrays in high-resolution LCD and emissive displays.
TFTs, however, have certain drawbacks that have hindered their use in APS devices. As compared to CMOS transistors, TFTs tend to have lower carrier mobility, and are larger in size (typically on the order of micrometers). Accordingly, conventional APS unit cell topographies would require large unit cells, with a deleterious impact on sensor density. Accordingly, the benefits of low cost and easy fabrication on glass associated with TFTs have not been realized in the field of APS devices.

Optical active pixel sensor using TFT pixel circuit


An apparatus is provided for wirelessly charging a mobile computing device and utilizing the mobile computing device as a power source. The apparatus includes: a first data and power interface; a second data and power interface; a wireless charging unit; and a control unit. The operation of the wireless charging unit and the control unit is configured to provide a first mode of operation of the apparatus when an external source connected to the apparatus via the second data and power interface is a load device in which power is delivered from the mobile computing device to the load device via the first and second data and power interfaces, and a second mode of operation of the apparatus in which power is delivered from a power receiver of the wireless charging unit to the mobile computing device via the first data and power interface.

Wireless charging technologies have found application in the field of mobile computing devices and accessories pertaining thereto, particularly with respect to smartphones. Two general types of wireless charging currently exist, including magnetic induction-type charging and magnetic resonance-type charging. Of these two types, magnetic induction-type wireless charging components are relatively more common.
Magnetic induction-type charging standards are set by a standards body, and a prominent magnetic induction-type charging standard that currently exists is the Qi (Chi) standard. Using the Qi standard, mobile computing devices are available to receive 5 W of wireless power transferred over distances of up to 4 cm. A typical wireless charging configuration using the Qi standard includes a power receiver having an RX antenna coil with a power receiver integrated circuit (IC), which receives power from a wireless charging pad having a TX antenna coil when the RX antenna coil is placed in alignment with the TX antenna coil.
Magnetic induction-type charging is available in mobile computing devices, such as smartphones, equipped with a wireless charging unit having an RX antenna coil and a corresponding IC. For smartphones that are not equipped with a wireless charging unit, smartphone cases have been developed that allow for the case, which includes a wireless charging unit, to be plugged into a smartphone to provide wireless charging functionality to the smartphone. However, the existing products typically use proprietary standards and are not Qi compatible, and additionally monopolize the smartphones' power and data port (for example, the mini-Universal Serial Bus (USB) port in Android and Windows-compatible phones and the "lightning" port in recent Apple smartphones) such that other uses of the port (whether for power or for data) become unavailable.

Wirelessly charging a mobile device and utilizing the mobile device as a power source


A method is provided to allow a mobile station to communicate with two different cells during a handoff between the cells. During the handoff, the mobile station may controllably combine information received from both of the cells with which it is communicating.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to telecommunications, and more particularly, to wireless communications.
2. Description of the Related Art
In evolving wireless data systems, such as the well-known 1×EV-DO and 1×EV-DV standards, as well as the High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) specification in the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) standard, the Forward link (base station to mobile station) scheduling function has been moved from a radio network controller (RNC) to the base station (BS) to provide "fast" scheduling based on channel quality feedback from the users. Moreover, new technologies such as adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) and hybrid ARQ (HARQ) have also been introduced to improve the overall system capacity. In general, a scheduler selects a user for transmission at a given time and adaptive modulation and coding allows selection of the appropriate transport format (modulation and coding) for the current channel conditions seen by the user. Due to errors in channel quality estimates, a relatively high level of frame errors may occur in the transmissions performed at a given rate (transport format). Hybrid ARQ makes use of fast retransmissions and combines the newly received copy of the transmission with the previously received copy to recover from transmission errors without a significant loss in throughput.
In a CDMA cellular system, a mobile station can be in soft handoff with cells in the same cell site (softer handoff) or with cells in different cell sites (soft handoff). For voice or circuit switched data communication, a mobile station may be in soft/softer handoff both on the uplink (mobile to base) and downlink (base to mobile). However, for packet data services, it has been found that a higher capacity can be achieved if the mobile station communicates only with the best cell on the downlink. Such an approach called SSDT (Site Selection Diversity Transmit power control) is adopted in the Universal Mobile Telecommunication system (UMTS) standard. In the case of SSDT, the best cell is reported to the network using physical-layer (DPCCH) signaling with a maximum rate of 500 Hz. In SSDT, the mobile station selects one of the cells from an active set to be "primary;" all other cells are classed as "non-primary." The main objective is to transmit on the downlink from the primary cell, thus reducing the interference caused by multiple transmissions in a soft handover mode. A second objective is to achieve fast site selection without network intervention, thus maintaining the advantage of the soft handoff. To select a primary cell, each cell is assigned a temporary identification (ID) and the mobile station periodically transmits a primary cell ID to the connecting cells. The non-primary cells selected by the mobile station switch off their transmission power, thereby avoiding interference from multiple transmissions. The primary cell ID is delivered by the mobile station to the active cells via an uplink Feedback Information (FBI) field. Moreover, SSDT activation, SSDT termination and Cell Identification (ID) assignment are all carried out by higher layer signaling.
Other wireless standards like 1×EV-DO and 1×EV-DV support Fast Cell Selection (FCS). The FCS approach is similar to the SSDT approach in UMTS. In the 1×EV-DO system, for example, a DRC (Data Rate Control) Channel is used by the mobile station to indicate to the access network the selected serving sector and the requested data rate on the Forward Traffic Channel. The requested Forward Traffic Channel data rate is mapped into a four-bit DRC value. An 8-ary Walsh function corresponding to the selected serving sector is used to spread the DRC Channel transmission. The 8-ary Walsh function ensures that only the selected sector (cell) can successfully decode the DRC. The successful decoding of the DRC indicates that the cell has been selected for transmission.
An example of the fast cell selection process in a 1×EV-DO system is depicted in FIG. 1. The mobile station selects cell-1 between time instants T1 and T2 by addressing the DRC to cell-1. At time T2, the mobile station decides to switch to cell-2 and transmits DRC with cell-2 Walsh cover. After successfully receiving the DRC, cell-2 can start scheduling the mobile station. Due to the use of the Walsh cover, only the selected cell can successfully decode the DRC and subsequently schedule the mobile station for transmission.
In general, a mobile station can select any of the cells in its active set for downlink transmission. The cells in the active set are added and deleted based on the downlink received signal quality. To reduce the delay, the data destined for the mobile station is forwarded to all the cells in the active set on the backhaul network from the Radio Network Controller (RNC). A cell can then transmit data to the mobile station as soon as the mobile station selects this cell. If the data is not forwarded to all the cells in the active set, there can be additional delay associated with forwarding data to the new cell before the new cell can start transmission to the mobile station.
In the cell selection approaches used in the prior art, a mobile station is communicating with only a single base station at a given time. This limited ability to communicate with only a single base station at a given time results in interrupted communications during cell switching. The interruption in communication may result in loss of data or additional delays that affect the performance of delay sensitive applications such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and wireless multi-party gaming.
The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing, the effects of, one or more of the problems set forth above.

Cell switching and packet combining in a wireless communication system


Dynamic Hierarchical Empirical Bayes techniques and systems are described that are implemented to control output of digital content. In one example, a system identifies splitting variables included in data. An amount of loss is then determined for each of the identified splitting variables by the system using a loss function. Based on the determined amounts of loss, the system selects at least one splitting variable from the plurality of splitting variables that are to be used to partition data in a respective node, e.g., a parent node to form a plurality of child nodes. The system, for instance, may select the splitting variable that minimizes the cost, i.e., has the lowest amount of cost. The selected splitting variable is then employed by the system to generate at least one hierarchical level of the hierarchical structure of the statistical model by partitioning data from the parent node into respective child nodes.

The amount of data processed by "big data" digital analytical systems continues to increase, especially with the development of cloud computing. Analysis of this data by digital analytical systems is leveraged in a wide variety of ways to allocate computational and digital content resources, examples of which include recommendation engines and to control output of digital content as part of business decisions. One challenge confronted by these systems as part of resource allocations in the real world is that at a decision unit level, the data used as a basis to make the decision by the systems is sparse, despite the vast amount of data made available to the systems as a whole.
One technique used to address this challenge in data sparsity leverages the rest of the information in the big data, which is referred to as Hierarchical Bayes (HB). In Hierarchical Bayes, a statistical model includes multiple levels that form a hierarchical structure that is used to estimate parameters of a posterior distribution using a Bayesian method. Bayes theorem is used to integrate sub-models to form the hierarchical structure and account for uncertainty. The hierarchical structure of the statistical model is then used to update a probability estimate as additional evidence on a prior distribution is received in order to form a prediction based on past observances.
Hierarchical Bayes is implemented to statistically borrow information with a shrinkage-based estimation at an individual decision unit level. However, there are still challenges confronted by digital analytical systems when applying a Hierarchical Bayes model. First, a hierarchy structure must be determined by the system in advance in order to apply the model. This is especially challenging when the data does not possess a clear hierarchical relationship as typically encountered in real world scenarios.
Second, in practice, practitioners are limited to use two or three levels for HB models. The reason is that for full Bayesian analysis, simulation-based approaches are required in conventional techniques to obtain a joint posterior distribution. If there are too many levels, however, the model may become computationally expensive and sensitive to distribution assumptions and priors when applied to real-world data by the systems in order to converge. This limits accuracy and involves significant amounts of computational resources by conventional digital analytics systems and thus limits operation of these systems in these real-world scenarios.

Dynamic Hierarchical Empirical Bayes and digital content control


A wall support and reinforcing apparatus that applies a constant force on a structural support member, such as a steel I-beam, that is adjacent the wall. The apparatus includes a bias that is interposed between the building, or a bracket mounted to the building, and the structural member. Thus, the bias force is applied to straighten the wall at all times, thereby having the straightening effect and keeping the structural member from being displaced laterally due to complete release of all forces to the structural member.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of wall reinforcements, and relates more particularly to the field of structural members for reinforcing inwardly bowed or otherwise damaged subterranean walls with damage that can vary seasonally or throughout the period of reinforcement.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known in the field of construction and repair of homes and other buildings that basement walls are typically made of concrete. The concrete can be poured as solid walls, or individual concrete blocks can be stacked, with mortar placed therebetween, to form a wall. Concrete block walls are commonly hollow, but can be filled with concrete and reinforcing rods of metal or other material in order to strengthen the walls and make them less susceptible to the infiltration of water through the walls.
Concrete walls of all types are extremely strong in compression, and have disproportionate weakness in tension. This causes concrete walls subjected to substantial tensile forces to fracture. A common source of tensile force in basement walls is a horizontally-directed inward force applied to the walls by the soil that is backfilled against the subterranean walls. This bending force on the walls creates a tensile force on the inside of the wall, and causes walls to crack once the force becomes substantial enough. Additionally, such inwardly directed forces can move rows of blocks, or the entire wall, inward in shear from the foundation rather than causing bowing. Obviously, this has a deleterious effect on the structural integrity of the building, and can cause water infiltration.
Reduction in horizontal forces can alleviate the bowing of basement walls, and this can be accomplished by reducing water flow into the soil surrounding the building and other methods. Additionally, or alternatively, the walls themselves can be strengthened in order to alleviate the bowing. Historically, the strengthening of subterranean walls has been accomplished by placing a structural member against the interior surface and bracing that member against other structural members of the building, such as the concrete floor at the base of the bowed wall, and the floor joists at the top of the bowed wall. This can be carried out using simple fasteners, or more complex jacks.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,662,505 to Heady et al., which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses an apparatus for applying a horizontal force at the top of a structural member, such as a steel I-beam. The beam is mounted to the basement floor at its base, and the top is mounted in the apparatus of Heady. Upon the application of force to the top of the beam by screwing in the threaded bolt of Heady's device, the beam is forced against the bowed wall, and exerts a force to the wall that opposes the bowing force.
One disadvantage of the Heady patent and other conventional wall reinforcement methods of which the inventors are aware is that they do not supply a force against the wall that remains if the soil contracts and the wall moves outward toward the soil. For example, in most regions of the world, subterranean forces against walls vary throughout the year, due to seasonal changes in moisture content or temperatures, or due to other variations that occur over time. As these forces vary, the wall can move away from a beam supporting the wall. Thus, conventional wall reinforcement apparatuses apply a force to the wall when the apparatus is first installed, but do not continue to apply a force if there is movement of the wall away from the supporting beam unless the apparatus is manually tightened. In extreme cases in which a bowed wall is straightened substantially, the beam can be unsupported enough to fall over. In this case, anyone nearby could be injured by heavy steel structures striking them. Likewise, property could be damaged by the heavy beams. The only alternative in the prior art is to check the force on the beam frequently and manually tighten the screw that applies the force.
Therefore, there is a need for an invention that applies a force to the wall in any situation, or at least retains the structural beam if the inwardly-directed force relaxes enough to permit the beam to move under its own weight.


A two-cycle internal combustion engine is of the type having one cylinder (2), one piston (4) with connecting rod, one head (3) closing the cylinder (2) on the explosion chamber side, one crankcase (12) closing the cylinder (2) on the side opposite the explosion chamber, one spark plug (5) inserted in the head, and one burnt gas exhaust pipe (8) with inlet port opening onto the internal surface of the cylinder (2) near bottom dead center of the piston (4). One air input duct (6) with combustion chamber inlet ports (13) is located near bottom dead center of the piston (4) and inlet ports are located either in the cylinder (2) near the crankcase (12) or in the crankcase. One duct (7) lets lubrication oil into the air input duct (6) and one sensor (9) senses rotation speed and angular position of the drive shaft. One fuel injector (1) is inserted in the cylinder wall (2) with an inclination such that the fuel jet produced thereby penetrates into the combustion chamber and impacts on the wall of the head (3) near the spark plug (5) and at a position such that the piston (4), at its top dead center, is placed between the injector (1) and the combustion chamber. A control unit (10), based on the signals output by the sensor (9), synchronizes the cyclic movement of the drive shaft with the sparking times of the spark plug (5) and the opening time of the injector (1), and also regulates the quantity of fuel injected upon each cycle of the engine based on rotation speed, engine load and accelerator regulation set by the user.

The reciprocating internal-combustion engine of the two-cycle type is universally recognized as the simplest engine of those at present available. This has led to its almost universal adoption in the field of propulsion designed for small vehicles consisting of motorbikes and scooters with piston displacement between 50 cc and 125 cc in addition to so-called quadricycles with engine and a whole series of small tools and devices such as generating sets, chain saws, lawnmowers, outboard engines for aquatic use et cetera. The need for adoption of propulsion systems with 'simple' construction layout is required by the fact that they are low-value-added articles and therefore the industrial cost of propulsion systems as well as of the other components must be kept as low as possible. Other influencing factors are low weight (high power/weight ratio) and the limited maintenance they need.

Two cycle internal combustion engine with direct fuel injection combustion system


A method and apparatus for mounting a motherboard to a chassis of a personal computer using only a single screw. A number of standoffs snap into the base of the chassis, electrically contacting the chassis. Each standoff includes a projection. The motherboard includes apertures for accepting the projections such that when an ramp and shelf of each projection is aligned with the motherboard, the motherboard is positioned a fixed distance from the chassis. A mounting bracket also includes a number of projections. Apertures provided in the motherboard correspond to the projections of the mounting bracket. The surface of each side of the motherboard surrounding each aperture is plated with an electrically conductive material to form a conductive path between the motherboard and the standoffs and the bracket. The projections of the bracket are inserted into the corresponding apertures in the motherboard. A screw is inserted through a wall of the chassis and into a threaded hole in the bracket. As the screw is tightened, the bracket is drawn toward the wall of the chassis. This firmly engages the motherboard to the stand-offs and to the bracket, firmly maintaining the motherboard in a fixed position relative to the chassis and forming a solid electrical ground connection between the motherboard and the chassis. Also, as the screw is tightened, input and output connectors, which are coupled to the motherboard, are drawn toward the wall of the chassis making firm contact with a plate or gasket.

Commercially available personal computer systems include a printed circuit board known as the motherboard. The motherboard contains the central processing unit for the personal computer, general control circuits, input and output connectors and also includes card slots or edge connectors for attaching various expansion cards.
Conventional personal computer systems also include a system chassis. The system chassis provides a mechanical structure for the personal computer. Various components of a personal computer system, such as a floppy disk drive, a hard disk drive, an optical disk drive, a cooling fan, a power supply and the motherboard are all attached to the system chassis.
Generally, the system chassis forms an enclosure, the interior surface of which is metallic to provide governmentally required electromagnetic shielding. This shielding prevents electromagnetic energy produced by the personal computer system from escaping the chassis where it can interfere with other electronic devices located near the personal computer system. Such shielding may also improve the performance of the personal computer system by preventing environmental electromagnetic energy from entering the enclosure and interfering with circuits of the personal computer system located therein.
The motherboard is typically mounted to the system chassis using standoffs. A conventional standoff is a piece of sheet metal folded into a U-shape which is inserted into a rectangular opening cut into a base of the chassis. A threaded hole is formed in the base of the U-shape and a screw is passed through a aperture in the motherboard and secured to the standoff through the threaded hole. Other conventional standoffs include pressed in studs or may be formed by stamping and folding the system chassis.
The standoffs prevent electrical contact between this electromagnetic shielding and exposed electrically active circuitry on the motherboard, such as printed traces, solder bonds, jumper wires and the like. The standoffs prevent such contact by positioning the motherboard at a fixed distance from the chassis. In addition, the insertion into and removal of expansion cards from the motherboard can apply significant forces to the motherboard which may tend to dislodge the motherboard from the chassis. Therefore, the standoffs must be able to resist such forces.
In addition to mechanically positioning the motherboard, the standoffs and screws provide an electrically conductive path between the system chassis and a ground plane or ground node on the motherboard. A solid, low impedance connection to ground is important to ensure the reliability of the computer system. For example, a low impedance ground connection helps suppress electromagnetic interference. For this purpose, a portion of the motherboard surrounding each mounting aperture is plated with an electrically conductive material. Less commonly, the interior of each mounting aperture may also be plated. An electrical connection is then established between the plating material and the standoff when the screw is tightened.
Personal computers are typically manufactured on a large scale wherein small reductions in per-unit cost can aggregate to a significant amount of savings or increased profit. Conventional methods for mounting a motherboard to the system chassis generally utilize from five to eight screws for each motherboard. It is well known that using screws adds time and expense to a manufacturing process. For example, the motherboard must be properly aligned with the screw holes, any lock washers must be applied to the screws, then the screws are typically applied and loosely threaded into the accepting screw holes, and finally, once all the screws are in place, the several screws are tightened. This repetitive and recursive process is difficult to automate and thus requires significant human labor. In addition, screws can add to product quality problems as incorrect installation can cause damage to the motherboard or screws may be forgotten. Therefore, a technique is needed for mounting the motherboard of a personal computer system to the chassis of the personal computer system that uses a minimum number of screws. Such a technique should provide a solid electrical ground connection between the motherboard and the chassis and should provide a secure mechanical attachment of the motherboard to the chassis that is able to resist forces associated with insertion and removal of expansion cards.
Further, the input and output connectors which are mounted to the motherboard must be accessible from the exterior of the personal computer system. An opening is therefore provided in the chassis for such access. This opening may, however, reduce the effectiveness of the electromagnetic shielding. Conventional personal computer systems provide a gasket to fill gaps between the input and output connectors and the system chassis or between the input and output connectors and a trim panel of a computer case that is exterior to the chassis. To form an effective electromagnetic shield, however, this gasket must firmly contact the chassis or trim panel and the input and output connectors. Therefore, what is further needed is a means for ensuring firm contact between a gasket surrounding the input and output connectors and the chassis or trim panel of a personal computer system.

Method and apparatus for attaching circuit board to chassis and forming solid ground connection using a single screw


An embodiment of the present invention provides a fabricating method of a thin film transistor, a fabricating method of an array substrate, and a display device. The fabricating method of a thin film transistor comprises: forming a gate electrode on a substrate; and forming a gate insulating layer, a semiconductor layer, source and drain electrodes and a channel region on the substrate, wherein, the semiconductor layer is formed of a metal oxide, and two etching steps are used to form the channel region, and in a first etching step, a part of a source-drain metal layer above the semiconductor layer corresponding to the channel region is removed by using a dry etching, and in a second etching step, a remaining part of the source-drain metal layer above the semiconductor layer corresponding to the channel region is removed by using a wet etching, thereby forming the channel region.

A metal oxide thin film transistor has been paid much attention due to its high mobility and good uniformity and has become a hot research topic recently. The fabrication of an array substrate comprising the metal oxide thin film transistor can be completed by using four patterning processes, specifically comprising: forming a gate electrode and a gate line on a substrate by using a first patterning process; forming a gate insulating layer; forming a pattern of a semiconductor layer, a source electrode, a drain electrode, a data line and a channel of a thin film transistor (TFT) on the gate insulating layer by using a second patterning process; forming a passivation layer in which a via hole is formed by using a third patterning process; forming a pixel electrode being connected with the drain electrode through the via hole by using a fourth patterning process.
The second patterning process specifically comprises: sequentially forming a semiconductor thin film and a source-drain metal layer on the gate insulating layer; coating a photoresist on the source-drain metal layer; using a gray tone or half tone mask to expose and develop the photoresist to form a photoresist-completely-retained region, a photoresist-partially-retained region and a photoresist-completely-removed region, wherein, the photoresist-completely-retained region corresponds to a source electrode region and a drain electrode region, the photoresist-partially-retained region corresponds to a TFT channel region, and the photoresist-completely-removed region corresponds to regions other than the photoresist-completely-retained region and the photoresist-partially-retained region; using an etching process to remove the source-drain metal layer in the photoresist-completely-removed region and the semiconductor thin film below the source-drain metal layer to form the pattern of the semiconductor layer; using an ashing process to remove the photoresist in the photoresist-partially-retained region; removing the source-drain metal layer in the photoresist-partially-retained region by using an etching process, and forming the source electrode, the drain electrode, the data line and the channel region.
When the etching process is used to remove the source-drain metal layer in the photoresist-partially-retained region, as the substrate has a certain thickness, etching end points at different positions of the substrate judged by an etching EPD (End Point Detector) may not be consistent with each other, then a phenomenon of overetching the metal oxide semiconductor thin film in the channel region may occur. When a drying etching is used, an etching gas will react with the metal oxide and then take away oxygen ions in the metal oxide, so that the metal oxide becomes a conductor. When a wet etching is used, because of a relatively longer duration thereof, usually a high-concentration etching solution is used to reduce the etching duration, while the etching solution will react with the metal oxide and take away oxygen ions in the metal oxide, so that the metal oxide becomes a conductor. Therefore, regardless of using the dry etching or the wet etching, the metal oxide in the channel region may become a conductor, so that the transistor fails.
For the above problems, one solution is to form, corresponding to the TFT channel region, an ESL (Etching Stop Layer) above the metal oxide semiconductor layer, thus, during etching the source-drain metal layer, the ESL can protect the semiconductor layer in the TFT channel region. However, this requires an additional patterning process to form the ESL, and then makes the processes complex, the fabricating time long and the fabricating cost high.

Fabricating method of thin film transistor, fabricating method of array substrate and display device


Disclosed herein is a method of manufacturing a gate insulator and a thin film transistor (“TFT”) incorporating the gate insulator, including forming an oxygen-containing, conductive gate on a substrate; forming a gate insulator material layer on the substrate so as to cover the gate; and applying a heat treatment so as to diffuse oxygen from the oxygen-containing gate layer into the gate insulating material layer thereby forming the gate insulator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method of forming a gate insulator for a thin film transistor ("TFT"), and more particularly, to a method of forming a gate insulator using oxygen diffusion and a TFT incorporating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Gate insulators of thin film transistors ("TFTs") are dielectric layers formed between gates and channels of TFTs, and are important elements for the proper operation of TFTs. In particular, the thickness of a gate insulator is related to the performance of a TFT. As the thickness of a gate insulator decreases, the capacitance of the TFT increases.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating conventional bottom gate type organic TFT structures. Referring to FIG. 1A, a gate 2 is formed on a substrate 1, and a gate insulator 3 is formed over the gate 2 and substrate 1. An organic semiconductor layer 4 is formed on the gate insulator 3 above the gate 2, and a source electrode 5s and a drain electrode 5d are formed on either side of the organic semiconductor layer 4.
Referring to FIG. 1B, a gate 2 is formed on a substrate 1, and a gate insulator 3 is formed over the gate 2 and substrate 1. A source electrode 4s and a drain electrode 4d are formed on the gate insulator 3 so as to be spaced apart from one other, and a semiconductor layer 5 is formed on the gate insulator 3, source electrode 4s and the drain electrode 4d such that lower surfaces of either side of the semiconductor layer 5 contact the source electrode 4s and the drain electrode 4d.
In conventional organic TFTs having the above-described structures, the gate insulators 3 are generally formed from deposited inorganic or organic dielectric materials, having requisite electrical insulation characteristics and high capacitances. Because organic dielectric materials must be formed so as to have requisite electrical insulation characteristics, they therefore have thicknesses greater than or equal to a predetermined value. On the other hand, since the organic dielectric materials are coated using a spin coating method, gate insulators are formed to be relatively thick. However, as is well known, such thick gate insulators are not suitable for ensuring the desired characteristics of TFTs.
The gate insulators may also be formed from inorganic materials, for both organic and inorganic TFTs. Silicon oxide is a typical example of a material from which such an inorganic gate insulator is formed, such as through a sputtering process or a chemical vapor deposition ("CVD") process. In view of the above, it would be desirable to provide a novel method of forming a gate insulator for a TFT with desirable dielectric constant and insulating properties.

Method of forming a gate insulator and thin film transistor incorporating the same