Search log data may specify map results that were provided to a user, and may further specify, for each map result, a geographic location to which the map result has been identified as relevant. For each geographic location, a number of the search results that have been identified as relevant to the geographic location may be determined, and a result suggest boost factor for the geographic location may be determined based on the number of search results that have been identified as relevant to the geographic location. A result suggest boost factor may be stored in an index, and is a value indicative of a likelihood that a query received from the user is requesting map results that are relevant to the geographic location.

The subject matter of this specification relates to data processing and result suggestions.
The Internet facilitates access to online geographic data systems (e.g., online maps). These online geographic data systems can provide information about geographic locations and the relationships between the geographic locations. For example, a mapping system may store information about geographic locations, and may allow a user to search for a particular location or locations of interest.
Users can interact with map interfaces that enable them to request presentation of particular portions of a map, and to request information about geographic locations. For example, users can submit search queries through a map interface to request information about locations of businesses or other attractions as well as other information about various geographic locations.
Some mapping systems can provide result suggestions to a user based on partial search input. A result suggestion may include, for example, search results that have been previously generated by the mapping system and provided to users in response to previous queries. The previously generated search results included in the result suggestion may be dynamically displayed to the user as input is received by the mapping system, and may reference geographic locations that relate to the partial search input.
However, existing methods for producing result suggestions may generate and/or provide result suggestions that are over inclusive and/or under inclusive. For example, the result suggestions that are provided to a user may include results that reference geographic locations that are not of interest to the user and/or results that do not reference geographic locations that are of interest to the user.

Generating and using result suggest boost factors


A multiple thermoelectric cooling device in which both ends of thermoelectric elements in first and second cooling units are soldered to the corresponding electrodes. In the first cooling unit, the melting point of a solder for soldering is higher, while in the second cooling unit the melting point of another solder for soldering is lower. Thus, in case soldering is performed in the second cooling unit with the same placed on the first cooling unit, the soldered connection in the first cooling unit will not be remelted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multistage thermoelectric cooling device including a plurality of stacked cooling units each of which is interposed between two vertically adjacent substrates so as to cool a substance on the most upper substrate, and in particular to a soldering structure between an end of a thermoelectric element and an electrode at which an amount of heat is evolved or absorbed by the Peltier effect.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known conventional multistage thermoelectric cooling device is disclosed in Japanese patent Laid-open Print No. Hei 2 (1990)-10781. This conventional multistage thermoelectric cooling device includes a plurality of cooling assemblies, each of which provides heat absorption at one side thereof by the Peltier effect, which are stacked in the vertical direction such that each cooling unit is interposed between two adjacent substrates so that the most upper substrate is brought into the most cooled condition. For providing the foregoing heat absorption, an electrode which constitutes a cold junction of two adjacent different type thermoelectric elements of the lower side cooling unit is adhered to a lower surface of its upper side substrate. The electrode is soldered with ends of the thermoelectric elements. Such soldering in the upper side cooling unit is established after completion of the soldering in the next lower cooling unit.
However, the heat used for soldering in the upper cooling unit which is mounted on the upper side substrate of the next lower cooling unit is transferred thereto when the upper side substrate is thin, resulting in that sometimes the soldering in the next lower cooling unit may become damaged or remelted. Thus, in the next lower cooling unit the connection strength becomes weak between the electrode and each of the thermoelectric elements and an unexpected offset of the former from the latter occurs. This means the designed performance and reliability of the multistage thermoelectric cooling device not be attained.

Multistage thermoelectric cooling device


This disclosure concerns optical packages such as may be used in optical transceivers and transmitters. In one example, an optical package includes a header assembly having a base portion to which is attached a header structure that is split into first and second portions that are separated from each other by a space. The header structure further includes one or more electrical leads extending through the base portion and into one of the first and second portions of the header structure. An active temperature control device is included in the optical package and resides in the space between the first and second portions of the header structure. Finally, an optical element, such as a laser, is provided that is arranged for thermal communication with the active temperature control device so that operation of the optical element can be controlled by way of the active temperature control device.

It is well known that varying the temperature of a laser diode (which is a type of laser emitter) may affect the wavelength (λ) of the emitted optical signal. For some applications, the wavelength of the optical signal is not critical, and a heat sink is generally sufficient for cooling a laser diode for these applications. Optical signals with precise wavelengths are required for some applications such as Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM), however. For those applications, a laser diode must be maintained at a precise temperature, and a heat sink alone is not sufficient.
Some conventional laser diode packages contain a large built-in temperature controller to control the temperature of the laser diode. Some laser packages even contain an elaborate built-in coolant-circulation system for cooling the laser diode. Because of their large size, such conventional laser diode packages cannot be easily incorporated into pluggable fiber optic transceiver or transmitter modules, which typically have strict form factor requirements.
In addition, conventional laser diode packages containing large built-in temperature controllers consume a significant amount of power. Many industry standards for pluggable transceiver or transmitter module have strict limitations on power consumption. These limitations make it even more difficult to incorporate conventional laser packages with large temperature controllers into pluggable transceiver or transmitter modules.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an apparatus for precisely controlling the temperature of a laser diode without using a laser diode package that contains a large built-in temperature controller such that temperature control functionality can be implemented in an optoelectronic transceiver or transmitter modules.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Compact laser package with integrated temperature control


Provided are a vehicle such that drive state can be suitably selected in a configuration including an internal combustion engine, and a vehicle control method. In a vehicle and a method of controlling the same, different values are set for a first switching threshold value for switching from a first independent drive state (in which one of a front wheel and a rear wheel is driven) to a combined drive state, and for a second switching threshold value for switching from a second independent drive state (in which the other of the front wheel and the rear wheel is driven by an internal combustion engine) to the combined drive state.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,299 (hereinafter referred to as "U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,299A") discloses a method of driving a vehicle having an engine 2 for driving front wheels 1FL, 1FR (primarily driven wheels) and motors ML, MR for driving rear wheels 1RL, 1RR (secondarily driven wheels) (see, Abstract, FIG. 1, and Claim 1). According to U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,299A, when a lateral G (lateral acceleration) is of a predetermined value or greater (W23: YES in FIG. 15), execution of normal driving is inhibited, in view of the fact that it is preferred to leave control over the posture of the vehicle body under the manual operation of the driver (see, W31 in FIG. 15, and column 22, lines 22 through 33). The term "normal driving" implies an assisting drive, and is defined as an antonym of the term "reverse driving", which implies braking (see, column 8, lines 55 through 59). When the answer to W23 in FIG. 15 is YES, it also is made possible to forcibly execute normal driving in an independent mode, from the viewpoint that it is preferred that stability of the vehicle is improved by operating the vehicle in a four-wheel drive mode (see, column 22, lines 33 through 40).
A four-wheel drive vehicle has also been proposed in which the front and rear wheels thereof can be driven independently of each other (see, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0015772, hereinafter referred to as "US2012/0015772A1"). According to US2012/0015772A1, a drive unit 6, which comprises an internal combustion engine 4 and an electric motor 5 arranged in series, drives the front wheels Wf, whereas electric motors 2A, 2B drive the rear wheels Wr (see, FIG. 1, and paragraphs [0084], [0085]).


A variable-resolution screen apparatus and methodology for transforming an image from a microdisplay, display or projector into a variable-resolution image is described herein. The apparatus and methodology could take a high resolution part and a low resolution part, which could be created as a continuous stream of images that are masked to split into two, or as two interleaved images separated by time (or both). The two image streams are reassembled, the high resolution portion into the low resolution background, using various optical embodiments. The various embodiments use beam splitters, beam combiners, shutters, optical masks, lenses, mirrors, optical slabs, lens arrays and other optics in various combinations to create the variable-resolution image. The image from the microdisplay, display or projector is split (in some embodiments), transformed, and recombined to display on a screen or viewer's retina. This apparatus could be implemented in a virtual reality headset.

Since the early days of computing and television, display systems have relied on displaying of visual information across a screen. Through the years, processing power and miniaturization have allowed the screen resolution to increase dramatically, but the basic approach of uniformly displaying pixels across the screen has prevailed. However, this approach requires significant increases in communications and computational performance to deliver all of the pixels as the resolution increases. These problems have become particularly acute with the advent of virtual reality headsets, where the images, when viewed through, but not limited to, an eyepiece or waveguide cover significant amount of the viewer's field of view compared to traditional displays and end up having some of their pixels usually or always in or near to the viewer's peripheral vision.
Traditional displays have pixels or scanlines with fixed sizes and distances from each other in typically a regular grid or similar uniformly distributed pixel or scanline pattern on a flat or slightly curved screen. See FIG. 1A which shows the single pixel 101 approach to display devices such as LCD (Liquid crystal display) or OLED (Organic light-emitting diode) computer or television displays. FIG. 1B shows the scanline approach 102 used in other display devices such as CRT (Cathode-ray tube) computer or television displays and CRT or LBS (Laser beam steering) video projectors. But the eye interprets the field of vision 103 with high resolution at the center 104 and a decreased vision at the periphery 105, as seen in FIG. 1C. Although human vision is quite different from the single pixel 101 or scanline 102 design with far more photoreceptor cells and visual acuity in the foveal vision 104, this kind of fixed and even distribution of pixels or scanlines ensures a similar quality image when viewing every part of a screen from many distances and angles.
Current examples where this uniform distribution of pixels or scanlines does not apply is very limited and mostly unintentional, for example in the projection mapping industry where often 3d surfaces are used as the screens of video projectors.
Lately, a need for variable-resolution screens 103 has emerged because of increasing manufacturing costs of high resolution microdisplays, displays and projectors and much more demanding computational, bandwidth and storage requirements for display content created for traditional screens due to their increasing resolutions and fields of view, especially in virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality headsets (from now on referred to as "XR headsets").
Current XR headsets aim to provide a field of view close to the human field of view, which is on average 270 degrees horizontally by 135 degrees vertically taking into account eye rotations and is usually lower than that, for example 90 degrees horizontally by 100 degrees vertically for virtual reality headsets and lower than 50 degrees horizontally by 50 degrees vertically for augmented reality headsets which is still higher than many screens at normal viewing distances such as monitors, TVs and projection screens.
Other examples are video projectors that can be set up to project very wide and cover more of the viewer's field of view than with display technologies such as CRT, LCD, OLED or microLED monitors and TVs and projection screens at normal viewing distances.
A hybrid of the two is also a potential use case for this method and display apparatus such as has been demonstrated by HMPDs (Head-Mounted Projective Display) which are both a head-mounted device but project onto a retroreflective projection screen like the ones used for video projectors rather than to a waveguide or projection screen viewed with an eyepiece lens or other optics similar to other XR headsets.
At such high fields of view, the same amount of pixels or scanlines provides less pixels or scanlines per degree of the field of view of the viewer and can suffer from noticeable lack of detail, pixelation and screen-door effect or gap between scanlines.
Current methods of displaying less pixels in the periphery is done by having very high pixel density everywhere on the display and displaying less resolution on the pixels displayed near or in the viewer's peripheral vision rather than having less pixels or scanlines there to begin with. This is a technique the Sony PlayStation VR and Oculus Go head-mounted displays use (similar to 103).
This approach of increasing the pixel or scanline count on the display uniformly poses both cost and computational challenges as way more pixels or scanlines are required to cover the high fields of view, especially for the average human field of view of 270 degrees horizontally (195 degrees per eye) by 135 degrees vertically which for a 60 pixels per degree resolution needed for a 20/20 vision would require about 11,700 pixels horizontally and 8100 pixels vertically per eye.
Manufacturing custom screens with more pixels where the viewer's foveal view can reach will be very expensive and require custom display controllers.
Even if it were possible and economically feasible, the computational power required for creating real-time foveated content described above for such screens could be used for other tasks such as rendering and displaying more detailed virtual reality images in real-time.
So far methods have been proposed of optically combining two projectors or displays to achieve variable-resolution screens such as with a beam splitter. There are disadvantages to this approach such as higher cost, weight, size, requirement for color correction and synchronization between different displays or projectors and only being able to have one high resolution part and one low resolution part on the image with two displays or projectors (see the teachings in the following patents: US20160240013A1, U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,711,072B1, 9,983,413B1, 9,989,774B1, 9,711,114B1, 9,905,143B1).
Also, tilting beam splitters or steering an image with mirrors or prisms to reposition the high resolution area is challenging and results in perspective distortion and some optical aberrations which some of the methods described herein solve. Additionally, tilting or rotating mechanical parts have disadvantages associated with mechanically moving parts which some of the methods described herein solve.

Method and apparatus for a variable-resolution screen


The invention relates to rylene dyes of the general formula (I), wherein the variables have the following meanings: R represents hydrogen; optionally substituted C1-C30 alkyl-C5-C8-cycloalkyl, aryl or hetaryl; Rxe2x80x2 represents optionally substituted C2-C30 alkyl or C5-C8 cycloalkyl, substituted methyl; and n is 0 or 1. The invention also relates to the preparation and use of said dyes for coloring highly molecular organic and inorganic materials and to 9-amino-perylene-3,4-dicarboxylic acid imides (Va) as their intermediate products.

The present invention relates to novel rylene dyes of the general formula I
where
R is hydrogen or C1-C30-alkyl, whose carbon chain may be interrupted by one or more xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94NR1xe2x80x94, xe2x80x94COxe2x80x94 and/or xe2x80x94SO2xe2x80x94 groups and which may be monosubstituted or polysubstituted by cyano, C1-C6-alkoxy, aryl, which may be substituted by C1-C18-alkyl or C1-C6-alkoxy, or a 5- to 7-membered heterocyclic radical which is bonded via a nitrogen atom and may contain further heteroatoms and may be aromatic; C5-C8-cycloalkyl, whose carbon skeleton may be interrupted by one or more xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94 and/or xe2x80x94NR1xe2x80x94 groups and which may be monosubstituted or polysubstituted by C1-C6-alkyl; aryl or hetaryl, each of which may be monosubstituted or polysubstituted by C1-C18-alkyl, C1-C6-alkoxy, cyano, xe2x80x94CONHR2, xe2x80x94NHCOR2 and/or aryl- or hetarylazo, each of which may be substituted by C1-C10-alkyl, C1-C6-alkoxy or cyano;
Rxe2x80x2 is C2-C30-alkyl, whose carbon chain may be interrupted by one or more xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94 and/or xe2x80x94COxe2x80x94 groups and which may be monosubstituted or polysubstituted by cyano, C1-C6-alkoxy, C5-C8-cycloalkyl, whose carbon skeleton may be interrupted by one or more xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94 and/or xe2x80x94NR1xe2x80x94 groups and which may be C1-C6-alkyl-substituted, aryl, which may be substituted by C1-C18-alkyl or C1-C6-alkoxy, or a 5- to 7-membered heterocyclic radical which is bonded via a nitrogen atom and which may contain further heteroatoms and which may be aromatic;
methyl, which is monosubstituted or disubstituted by aryl, hetaryl and/or C5-C8-cycloalkyl, each of which may be substituted by C1-C18-alkyl or C1-C6-alkoxy;
C5-C8-cycloalkyl, whose carbon skeleton may be interrupted by one or more xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94 and/or xe2x80x94NR1xe2x80x94 groups and which may be monosubstituted or polysubstituted by C1-C6-alkyl;
R1 is hydrogen or C1-C6-alkyl;
R2 is hydrogen; C1-C18-alkyl; aryl or hetaryl, each of which may be substituted by C1-C6-alkyl, C1-C6-alkoxy or cyano; n is 0 or 1,
and to the preparation of these dyes, and to their use for coloring high-molecular-weight organic and inorganic materials.
The present invention furthermore relates to the preparation of 9-bromoperylene-3,4-dicarboximides of the general formula IIIa and aminorylenedicarboximides of the general formula V, and to novel 9-aminoperylene-3,4-dicarboximides of the general formula Va
where:
R3 hydrogen or C1-C30-alkyl, whose carbon chain may be interrupted by one or more xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94NR1xe2x80x94, xe2x80x94COxe2x80x94 and/or xe2x80x94SO2xe2x80x94 groups and which may be monosubstituted or polysubstituted by cyano, C1-C6-alkoxy, aryl, which may be substituted by C1-C18-alkyl or C1-C6-alkoxy, or a 5- to 7-membered heterocyclic radical which is bonded via a nitrogen atom and may contain further heteroatoms and may be aromatic; C5-C8-cycloalkyl, whose carbon skeleton may be interrupted by one or more xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94 and/or xe2x80x94NR1xe2x80x94 groups and which may be monosubstituted or polysubstituted by C1-C6-alkyl; aryl or hetaryl, each of which may be monosubstituted or polysubstituted by C1-C18-alkyl, C1-C6-alkoxy, cyano, xe2x80x94CONHR2, xe2x80x94NHCOR2 and/or aryl- or hetarylazo, each of which may be substituted by C1-C10-alkyl, C1-C6-alkoxy or cyano, where
R1 is hydrogen or C1-C6-alkyl;
R2 is hydrogen C1-C18-alkyl; aryl or hetaryl, each of which may be substituted by C1-C6-alkyl, C1-C6-alkoxy or cyano;
as intermediates for the rylene dyes (I).
Perylene-3,4-dicarboximides which are substituted on the imide nitrogen atom, unsubstituted perylene-3,4-dicarboximide and perylene-3,4-dicarboximides which are substituted on the perylene skeleton are suitable not only as pigment precursors, but are themselves also advantageously employed as pigments and fluorescent dyes. The perylene-3,4-dicarboximides substituted on the perylene skeleton which have been disclosed hitherto are substituted in the 1,6-, 1,7-, 1,6,9-, 1,7,9- and 1,6,7,12-position and also only in the 9-position. The perylene skeleton in each case carries a halogen atom, in particular a bromine atom, in the 9-position (WO-A-96/22331, EP-A-596 292 and WO-A-97/22607 and the references cited therein, and Dyes and Pigments 16, pages 19-25 (1991)). EP-A-657 436 and Liebigs Annalen 1995, pages 1229-1244, also describe an N-(1-hexylheptyl)-9-aminoperylene-3,4-dicarboximide which is prepared by nitrating the corresponding N-substituted perylene-3,4-dicarboximide using dinitrogen tetraoxide followed by reduction with metallic iron in the presence of hydrochloric acid. However, this process is restricted to perylene-3,4-dicarboximides carrying unsubstituted alkyl groups on the imide nitrogen atom and gives exclusively isomer mixtures (1- and 9-isomers), which are difficult to purify, in low yields. Corresponding N-substituted 4-aminonaphthalene-1,8-dicarboximides are disclosed in Yuki Gosei Kagaku Kyokaishi 12, pages 504-508 (1956) (see Chemical Abstracts 51:8052a (1957)).
EP-A-648 817 describes fluorescent dyes containing imide groups whose imide nitrogen atom, for reversible solubilization, has been converted into a carbamate function, which renders the dye soluble in the application medium and can be re-cleaved thermally. Inter alia, unsubstituted perylene-3,4-dicarboximide whose NH function is reacted correspondingly is also listed here as fluorescent dye. Since the solubilization takes place via the imide nitrogen atom there is no possibility of modifying the dye on the nitrogen atom by specific substitution. In addition, the hue of the dye does not change on thermal removal of the alkoxycarbonyl protecting group, and the dye is therefore not thermochromic.
It is an object of the present invention to provide further dyes having advantageous applicational properties which can in particular not only be incorporated readily into the respective application medium and matched to this medium, but are also thermochromic.
We have found that this object is achieved by the rylene dyes of the formula I defined at the outset.
Preferred rylene dyes are given in the subclaim.
We have also found a process for the preparation of the rylene dyes of the general formula I which comprises
a) regioselectively monobrominating a perylene-3,4-dicarboximide of the general formula IIa
xe2x80x83using elemental bromine in the presence of an aliphatic monocarboxylic acid,
b1) reacting the 9-bromoperylene-3,4-dicarboximide of the general formula IIIa
xe2x80x83formed in step a) or a 4-bromonaphthalene-1,8-dicarboximide of the general formula IIIb
xe2x80x83prepared in a known manner by imidation of 4-bromonaphthalene-1,8-dicarboxylic anhydride with a benzophenonimine of the general formula IV
xe2x80x83where
Rxe2x80x3, Rxe2x80x2xe2x80x3, independently of one another, are hydrogen, C1-C6-alkyl or C1-C6-alkoxy and
x, y, independently of one another, are an integer from 1 to 3,
in the presence of an aprotic organic solvent, a transition-metal catalyst system and a base in an aryl-N coupling reaction and
b2) hydrolyzing the resultant ketimine in the presence of an acid and in the presence of a polar, aprotic solvent to give an aminorylenedicarboximide of the general formula V
xe2x80x83and
c) subsequently reacting the latter with a dicarbonate of the general formula VI
in the presence of a polar, aprotic solvent and in the presence of a base to give the rylene dye I.
We have also found a process for the preparation of aminorylenedicarboximides of the general formula V, which comprises reacting a bromorylenedicarboximide of the general formula III with a benzophenonimine of the general formula IV in the presence of an aprotic organic solvent, a transition-metal catalyst system and a base in an aryl-N coupling reaction to give the corresponding ketimine, and subsequently hydrolyzing the latter in the presence of an acid and in the presence of a polar, aprotic solvent.
In addition, we have found the 9-aminoperylene-3,4-dicarboximides of the formula Va defined at the outset as intermediates for the rylene dyes of the general formula I.
We have also found a process for the preparation of the 9-bromoperylene-3,4-dicarboximides of the general formula IIIa which comprises reacting a perylene-3,4-dicarboximide of the general formula IIa with elemental bromine in the presence of an aliphatic monocarboxylic acid.
Not least, we have found the use of the rylene dyes of the general formula I for coloring high-molecular-weight organic and inorganic materials.
All the alkyl groups which occur in the formulae I to VI can be either straight-chain or branched. If the alkyl groups are substituted, they generally carry 1 or 2 substituents. Substituted aromatic radicals can generally have up to 3, preferably 1 or 2, of said substituents. Preferred aryl radicals are naphthyl and in particular phenyl.
Examples which may be mentioned of suitable radials R, Rxe2x80x2, Rxe2x80x3, Rxe2x80x2xe2x80x3, R1, R2 and R3 (and their substituents) are detailed below:
methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, butyl, isobutyl, tert-butyl, pentyl, isopentyl, neopentyl, tert-pentyl, hexyl, 2-methylpentyl, tert-pentyl, hexyl, 2-methylpentyl, heptyl, 1-ethylpentyl, octyl, 2-ethylhexyl, isooctyl, nonyl, isononyl, decyl, isodecyl, undecyl, dodecyl, tridecyl, isotridecyl, tetradecyl, pentadecyl, hexadecyl, heptadecyl, octadecyl, nonadecyl and eicosyl (the above names isooctyl, isononyl, isodecyl and isotridecyl are trivial names and originate from the alcohols obtained in the oxosynthesis);
2-methoxyethyl, 2-ethoxyethyl, 2-propoxyethyl, 2-isopropoxyethyl, 2-butoxyethyl, 2- and 3-methoxypropyl, 2- and 3-ethoxypropyl, 2- and 3-propoxypropyl, 2- and 3- butoxypropyl, 2- and 4-methoxybutyl, 2- and 4-ethoxybutyl, 2- and 4-propoxybutyl, 3,6-dioxaheptyl, 3,6-dioxaoctyl, 4,8-dioxanonyl, 3,7-dioxaoctyl, 3,7-dioxanonyl, 4,7-dioxaoctyl, 4,7-dioxanonyl, 2- and 4-butoxybutyl, 4,8-dioxadecyl, 3,6,9-trioxadecyl, 3,6,9-trioxaundecyl, 3,6,9-trioxadodecyl, 3,6,9,12-tetraoxatridecyl and 3,6,9,12-tetraoxatetradecyl;
2-methylthioethyl, 2-ethylthioethyl, 2-propylthioethyl, 2-isopropylthioethyl, 2-butylthioethyl, 2- and 3-methylthiopropyl, 2- and 3-ethylthiopropyl, 2- and 3-propylthiopropyl, 2- and 3- butylthiopropyl, 2- and 4-methylthiobutyl, 2- and 4-ethylthiobutyl, 2- and 4-propylthiobutyl, 3,6-dithiaheptyl, 3,6-dithiaoctyl, 4,8-dithianonyl, 3,7-dithiaoctyl, 3,7-dithianonyl, 4,7-dithiaoctyl, 4,7-dithianonyl, 2- and 4-butylthiobutyl, 4,8-dithiadecyl, 3,6,9-trithiadecyl, 3,6,9-trithiaundecyl, 3,6,9-trithiadodecyl, 3,6,9,12-tetrathiatridecyl and 3,6,9,12-tetrathiatetradecyl;
2-monomethyl- and 2-monoethylaminoethyl, 2-dimethylaminoethyl, 2- and 3-dimethylaminopropyl, 3-monoisopropylaminopropyl, 2- and 4-monopropylaminobutyl, 2- and 4-dimethylaminobutyl, 6-methyl-3,6-diazaheptyl, 3,6-dimethyl-3,6-diazaheptyl, 6-diazaoctyl, 3,6-dimethyl-3,6-diazaoctyl, 9-methyl-3,6,9-triazadecyl, 3,6,9-trimethyl-3,6,9-triazaundecyl, 12-methyl-3,6,9,12-tetraazatridecyl and 3,6,9,12-tetramethyl-3,6,9,12-tetraazatridecyl;
propan-2-on-1-yl, butan-3-on-1-yl, butan-3-on-2-yl and 2-ethylpentan-3-on-1-yl;
2-methylsulfonylethyl, 2-ethylsulfonylethyl, 2-propylsulfonylethyl, 2-isopropylsulfonylethyl, 2-buthylsulfonylethyl, 2- and 3-methylsulfonylpropyl, 2- and 3-ethylsulfonylpropyl, 2- and 3-propylsulfonylpropyl, 2- and 3-butylsulfonylpropyl, 2- and 4-methylsulfonylbutyl, 2- and 4-ethylsulfonylbutyl, 2- and 4-propylsulfonylbutyl and 4-butylsulfonylbutyl;
2-cyanoethyl, 3-cyanopropyl, 2-methyl-3-ethyl-3-cyanopropyl, 7-cyano-7-ethylheptyl and 4-methyl-7-methyl-7-cyanoheptyl;
methoxy, ethoxy, propoxy, isopropoxy, butoxy, isobutoxy, sec-butoxy, tert-butoxy, pentoxy, isopentoxy, neopentoxy, tert-pentoxy and hexoxy;
carbamoyl, methylaminocarbonyl, ethylaminocarbonyl, propylaminocarbonyl, butylaminocarbonyl, pentylaminocarbonyl, hexylaminocarbonyl, heptylaminocarbonyl, octylaminocarbonyl, nonylaminocarbonyl, decylaminocarbonyl and phenylaminocarbonyl;
formylamino, acetylamino, propionylamino and benzoylamino;
phenylazo, 2-naphthylazo, 2-pyridylazo and 2-pyrimidylazo;
cyclopentyl, 2- and 3-methylcyclopentyl, 2- and 3-ethylcyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, 2-, 3- and 4-methylcyclohexyl, 2-, 3- and 4-ethylcyclohexyl, 3- and 4-propylcyclohexyl, 3- and 4-isopropylcyclohexyl, 3- and 4-butylcyclohexyl, 3- and 4-sec-butylcyclohexyl, 3- and 4-tert-butylcyclohexyl, cycloheptyl, 2-, 3- and 4-methylcycloheptyl, 2-, 3- and 4-ethylcycloheptyl, 3- and 4-propylcycloheptyl, 3- and 4-isopropylcycloheptyl, 3- and 4-butylcycloheptyl, 3- and 4-sec-butylcycloheptyl, 3- and 4-tert-butylcycloheptyl, cyclooctyl, 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-methylcyclooctyl, 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-ethylcyclooctyl, 3-, 4- and 5-propylcyclooctyl, 2-dioxanyl, 4-morpholinyl, 2- and 3-tetrahydrofuryl, 1-, 2- and 3-pyrrolidinyl and 1-, 2-, 3- and 4-piperidyl;
phenyl, 2-naphthyl, 2- and 3-pyrryl, 2-, 3- and 4-pyridyl, 2-, 4- and 5-pyrimidyl, 3-, 4- and 5-pyrazolyl, 2-, 4- and 5-imidazolyl, 2-, 4- and 5-thiazolyl, 3-(1,2,4-triazyl), 2-(1,3,5-triazyl), 6-quinaldyl, 3-, 5-, 6- and 8-quinolinyl, 2-benzoxazolyl, 2-benzothiazolyl, 5-benzothiadiazolyl, 2- and 5-benzimidazolyl and 1- and 5-isoquinolyl;
2-, 3- and 4-methylphenyl, 2,4-, 3,5- and 2,6-dimethylphenyl, 2,4,6-trimethylphenyl, 2-, 3- and 4-ethylphenyl, 2,4-, 3,5- and 2,6-diethylphenyl, 2,4,6-triethylphenyl, 2-, 3- and 4-propylphenyl, 2,4-, 3,5- and 2,6-dipropylphenyl, 2,4,6-tripropylphenyl, 2-, 3- and 4-isopropylphenyl, 2,4-, 3,5- and 2,6-diisopropylphenyl, 2,4,6-triisopropylphenyl, 2-, 3- and 4-butylphenyl, 2,4-, 3,5- and 2,6-dibutylphenyl, 2,4,6-tributylphenyl, 2-, 3- and 4-isobutylphenyl, 2,4-, 3,5- and 2,6-diisobutylphenyl, 2,4,6-triisobutylphenyl, 2-, 3- and 4-sec-butylphenyl, 2,4-, 3,5- and 2,6-di-sec-butylphenyl and 2,4,6-tri-sec-butylphenyl; 2, 3- and 4-methoxyphenyl, 2,4-, 3,5- and 2,6-dimethoxyphenyl, 2,4,6-trimethoxyphenyl, 2,3- and 4-ethoxyphenyl, 2,4-, 3,5- and 2,6-diethoxyphenyl, 2,4,6-triethoxyphenyl, 2,3- and 4-propoxyphenyl, 2,4-, 3,5- and 2,6-dipropoxyphenyl, 2,3- and 4-isopropoxyphenyl, 2,4-, 3,5- and 2,6-diisopropoxyphenyl and 2,3- and 4-butoxyphenyl; 2-, 3- and 4-cyanophenyl; 3- and 4-carboxyamidophenyl, 3- and 4-N-methylcarboxamidophenyl; 3- and 4-acetylaminophenyl, 3- and 4-propionylaminophenyl and 3- and 4-buturylaminophenyl; 3- and 4-N-phenylaminophenyl, 3- and 4-N-(o-tolyl)aminophenyl, 3- and 4-N-(m-tolyl)aminophenyl and 3- and 4-N-(p-tolyl)aminophenyl; 3- and 4-(2-pyridyl)aminophenyl, 3- and 4-(3-pyridyl)aminophenyl, 3- and 4-(4-pyridyl)aminophenyl, 3- and 4-(2-pyrimidyl)aminophenyl and 4-(4-pyrimidyl)aminophenyl;
4-phenylazophenyl, 4-(1-napthylazo)phenyl, 4-(2-naphthylazo)phenyl, 4-(4-naphthylazo)phenyl, 4-(2-pyridylazo)phenyl, 4-(3-pyridylazo)phenyl, 4-(4-pyridylazo)phenyl, 4-(4-pyrimidylazo)phenyl and 4-(5-pyrimidylazo)phenyl.
The rylene dyes of the general formula I can advantageously be prepared by the multistep process according to the invention, in which, in step a) a perylene-3,4-dicarboximide of the general formula IIa is regioselectively monobrominated, in step b1), the resultant 9-bromoperylene-3,4-dicarboximide of the general formula IIIa or the corresponding 4-bromonaphthalene-1,8-dicarboximide of the general formula IIIb obtained in a known manner by imidation of 4-bromonaphthalene-1,8-dicarboxylic anhydride is reacted with a benzophenonimine of the general formula IV to give a ketimine, in step b2), the ketimine is hydrolyzed under acidic conditions to give the aminorylenedicarboximide of the general formula V, and the latter is subsequently reacted, in step c), with a dicarbonate of the formula VI to give the rylene dye of the general formula I.
Step a) of the process according to the invention, the bromination of the perylene-3,4-dicarboximide of the general formula IIa in the 9-position using elemental bromine, is carried out in the presence of an aliphatic monocarboxylic acid as solvent and, if desired, in the presence of iodine as catalyst.
Particularly suitable here are C1-C4-carboxylic acids, such as formic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid and mixtures thereof.
From 5 to 30 kg, preferably from 15 to 25 kg, of carboxylic acid are usually used per kg of (IIa).
In general, the presence of a halogenating catalyst is not necessary. However, if it is desired to accelerate the bromination reaction (for example by a factor of 1.5 to 2), it is advisable to add elemental iodine, preferably in an amount of from 1 to 5 mol %, based on (IIa).
The molar ratio between bromine and (IIa) is usually from about 1:1 to 5:1, preferably from 3:1 to 4:1.
The reaction temperature is generally from 0 to 50xc2x0 C., preferably from 15 to 40xc2x0 C.
Depending on the reactivity of the perylene-3,4-dicarboximide of the general formula IIa and the presence or absence of iodine, the bromination is usually complete in from 2 to 12 hours.
An advantageous technical procedure in step a) is as follows:
The perylene-3,4-dicarboximide (IIa) and monocarboxylic acid are initially introduced, the mixture is adjusted to the desired reaction temperature over the course of 15 to 30 minutes with stirring, any catalyst to be used and subsequently, over the course of 5 to 10 minutes, the desired amount of bromine are added, and the mixture is stirred at the reaction temperature for from 2 to 12 hours with exclusion of light. After removal of excess bromine by means of a vigorous stream of nitrogen, the reaction mixture is introduced into the approximately equal amount of an aliphatic alcohol, such as methanol, and stirred overnight, and the precipitated product is filtered off, washed, preferably with the same alcohol, and dried at about 120xc2x0 C. under reduced pressure.
In general, the 9-bromoperylene-3,4-dicarboximide of the general formula IIIa obtained in step a) already has such high purity ( greater than 98%) that it can be used directly for the subsequent reaction.
In step b1) of the process according to the invention, the 9-bromoperylene-3,4-dicarboximide of the general formula IIIa or the corresponding 4-bromonaphthalene-1,8-dicarboximide of the general formula IIIb, which is obtainable, analogously to the procedure described in Dyes and Pigments 22, pages 191-198 (1993), by imidation of 4-bromonaphthalene-1,8-dicarboxylic acid is reacted in an aryl-N coupling reaction with a benzophenonimine of the general formula IV in the presence of an aprotic organic solvent, a transition-metal catalyst system and a base to give a ketimine, which is subsequently hydrolyzed in step b2) in the presence of a polar, aprotic solvent and an acid to give an aminorylenedicarboximide of the general formula V.
Suitable benzophenonimines of the general formula IV for the ketimine formation in step b1) are, in particular, benzophenonimine, 4,4xe2x80x2-dimethyl- and 4,4xe2x80x2-diethylbenzo-phenonimine, 2,2xe2x80x2, 4,4xe2x80x2-tetramethylbenzophenonimine and 4,4xe2x80x2-dimethoxy- and 4,4xe2x80x2-diethoxybenzophenonimine, benzophenonimine itself being preferred.
In general, from 1 to 4 mol, preferably from 1.5 to 2.5 mol, of (IV) are employed per mole of (IIIa) of (IIIb).
Particuarly suitable aprotic organic solvents in step b1) are anhydrous, inert, aromatic solvents, such as benzene and its alkylation products, for example toluene and o-, m- and p-xylene, and mixtures of these compounds.
The amount of solvent is usually from 30 to 200 kg, preferably from 80 to 150 kg, per kg of (IIIa) or (IIIb).
Particularly suitable transition-metal catalysts are palladium compounds, where palladium(0) and palladium(II) complexes, such as tris(dibenzylideneacetone)dipalladium(0), dichloro[1,1xe2x80x2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene]palladium(II) and dichloro(1,5-cyclooctadiene)palladium(II), and palladium(II) acetate may be mentioned as preferred examples.
The transition-metal catalyst is usually employed in an amount of from 0.5 to 5 mol %, especially from 1 to 3 mol %, based on (IIIa) or (IIIb).
In addition, a phosphine-based cocatalyst is preferably employed. Preferred examples thereof are bidentate phosphine ligands, such as racemic 2,2xe2x80x2-bis(diphenylphosphino)-1,1xe2x80x2-binaphthyl, 1,1xe2x80x2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene, 1,1xe2x80x2-bis(di-o-tolylphosphino)ferrocene, 1,1xe2x80x2,-bis(di-p-methoxyphenylphosphino)ferrocene and 2,2xe2x80x2-bis(di-o-tolylphosphino)-diphenylether, and phosphines which act as monodentate phosphine ligands, such as tri-o-tolylphosphine, tri-tert-butylphosphine and triphenylphosphine.
Suitable amounts of cocatalyst are generally from 1 to 5 mol %, preferably from 1 to 3 mol %, based on the transition-metal catalyst.
Particularly suitable bases are alkali metal amides, especially alkali metal di(C3-C6-alkyl)amides, and alkali metal alkoxides, especially the alkali metal salts of secondary and tertiary aliphatic (C3-C6)-alcohols. Preferred examples of these bases are lithium diisopropylamide, sodium diisopropylamide and potassium diisopropylamide, and lithium isopropoxide, sodium iospropoxide, potassium isopropoxide, lithium tert-butoxide, sodium tert-butoxide and potassium tert-butoxide, particular preference being given to sodium tert-butoxide and potassium tert-butoxide.
In general, an amount of base which his equimolar to the benzophenonimine of the general formula IV is employed.
The reaction temperature is usually from 50 to 120xc2x0 C., preferably from 70 to 100xc2x0 C.
Depending on the reactivity of the brominated rylene dicarboximide of the general formula IIIa or IIIb and the amount of catalyst employed, the reaction time is generally from 6 to 20 hours.
An advantageous technical procedure in step b1) is the following:
The solvent, catalyst and cocatalyst are initially introduced under a protective-gas atmosphere, the bromorylenedicarboximide of the general formula IIIa or IIIb, the benzophenonimine of the general formula IV and the base are added successively with stirring, and the mixture is heated at the desired reaction temperature under a protective gas for from 6 to 20 hours. After the mixture has been cooled to room temperature, the solid constituents are filtered off, and the solvent is removed by distillation under reduced pressure.
The purity of the resultant ketimine is generally adequate for further processing. If desired, the crude product can be purified further by re-precipitation from a mixture of chloroform or methylene chloride and petroleum ether or by column chromatography on silica gel using chloroform as eluent.
The hydrolysis of the ketimine in step b2) is carried out in the presence of a polar, aprotic solvent. Preferred solvents are aliphatic ethers, where acrylic ethers, such as, in particular, di (C2-C4-alkyl) ethers and C2-C3-alkyleneglycol di-C1-C2-alkylethers, and cyclic ethers are suitable. The following particularly preferred ethers may be mentioned by way of example: diethylether, dipropylether, dibutylether, ethylene glycol dimethyl and diethyl ether, tetrahydrofuran and dioxane.
In general, from 50 to 300 kg, preferably from 70 to 200 kg, of solvent are employed per kg of ketamine.
The hydrolysis is preferably carried out using an inorganic acid, such as hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid or nitric acid.
From 3 to 6 kg of a 2 to 4 normal aqueous solution of the acid are usually employed per kg of ketimine.
The reaction temperature is generally from 10 to 50xc2x0 C., preferably from 20 to 35xc2x0 C.
The hydrolysis is generally complete in from 0.5 to 2 hours.
An advantageous technical procedure in step b2) is the following:
The ketimine is dissolved in the solvent with stirring, the mixture is brought to the desired reaction temperature, the aqueous acid is added and the mixture is stirred at this temperature for from 0.5 to 2 hours. The remaining acid is subsequently neutralized, for example using concentrated aqueous ammonia and the solvent is removed by distillation under reduced pressure.
The following procedure can then be used for further work-up of the reaction product:
The residue is suspended in an excess of dilute aqueous base (for example ammonia water) and filtered off, the filter material is, if desired, stirred repeatedly in a 30- to 50-fold amount of hot aqueous base (for example semiconcentrated aqueous ammonia) and again filtered off, and the filter material is washed with water until neutral and dried at 100xc2x0 C. under reduced pressure. In order to remove benzophenone and further organic impurities, the dried crude product is subsequently extracted with petroleum ether.
Step c) of the process according to the invention, the reaction of the aminorylenedicarboximide of the general formula V with a dicarbonate of the general formula VI to give the rylene dye of the general formula I is carried out in the presence of a polar, aprotic solvent with base catalysis.
Particularly preferred dicarbonates of the general formula VI are dialkyl carbonates, especially di(C2-C8-alkyl) dicarbonates, such as diethyl dicarbonate, dipropyl dicarbonate, diisopropyl dicarbonate, di-n-butyl dicarbonate, di-sec-butyl dicarbonate, di-tert-butyl dicarbonate, di-tert-pentyl dicarbonate and bis(2-ethylhexyl) dicarbonate, dicycloalkyl dicarbonates, especially di(C5-C8-cycloalkyl) dicarbonates, such as dicyclopentyl dicarbonate, dicyclohexyl dicarbonate and dicycloheptyl dicarbonate, dicycloalkylalkyl dicarbonates, such as bis(1- and 2-cyclohexylethyl) dicarbonate and bis(1,2- and 3-cyclohexylpropyl) dicarbonate, diaralkyl dicarbonates, especially diphenyl-C1-C4-alkyl dicarbonates, such as dibenzyl dicarbonate, bis(1- and 2-phenylethyl) dicarbonate and bis(1-, 2- and 3-phenylpropyl) dicarbonate, and diphenyldicycloalkyl-C1-C4-alkyl dicarbonates, such as bis(1- and 2-cyclohexyl-2-phenyl) dicarbonate, bis(1-, 2- and 3-cyclohexyl-2-phenyl) dicarbonate and bis(1-, 2- and 3-cyclohexyl-3-phenyl) dicarbonate.
In general, from 2 to 5 mol, preferably from 3 to 4 mol of (VI) are employed per mole of (V).
Particularly suitable polar, aprotic solvents are the ethers mentioned for step b2), which are advantageously used in anhydrous (dried) form.
The amount of solvent is usually from 50 to 300 kg, preferably from 80 to 200 kg, per kg of (V).
Particularly suitable bases are nitrogen bases, especially tertiary aliphatic amines, preferably tri(C1-C4-alkyl)amines, whose alkyl radicals may be identical or different and which are preferably used in combination with dialkylamino-substituted pyridines. Very particular preference is given to combinations of tri(C2-C4-alkyl)amines, such as triethylamine, diisopropylethylamine and tributylamine, with 4-(N,N-dimethylamino)pyridine in a molar ratio of from 4:1 to 1:1, in particular of about 2:1.
In general, from 5 to 20 mol %, preferably about 10 mol % of base, based on (VI), are employed.
The reaction temperature is generally from 20 to 70xc2x0 C., preferably from 35 to 50xc2x0 C.
The reaction time is usually form 2 to 12 hours.
An advantageous technical procedure in step c) is the following:
the solvents, the aminorylene dicarboximide of general formula V and the base are initially introduced under a protective-gas atmosphere, the dicarbonate of the general formula VI is added, and the mixture is stirred at the desired reaction temperature under a protective gas for from 2 to 12 hours. In order to work up the rylene dye of the general formula I, from about 70 to 80% by vol. of the solvent are subsequently removed by distillation under reduced pressure, a 2- to 4-fold amount of an aliphatic alcohol, for example methanol, is slowly added, and the precipitation of the rylene dye of the general formula I is completed by cooling to from 3 to 6xc2x0 C., and the dye of the general formula I is filtered off and dried at 100xc2x0 C. under reduced pressure.
The purity of the resultant rylene dyes of the general formula I is generally  greater than 97% and is generally adequate for use. For particular requirements, the purity can be increased by recrystallization from a halogenated hydrocarbon, such as methylenechloride or chloroform, or an aromatic solvent, such as benzene, toluene or xylene, or by column chromatography on silica gel using chloroform as eluent.
The process according to the invention enables the preparation of the rylene dyes of the general formula I and their intermediates in an advantageous economical manner. The purity of the products obtained in the individual process steps is generally  greater than 95% without further purification, and the yield of all process steps, in each case based on the rylene dicarboximide derivative employed, is generally  greater than 60% for perylenedicarboximide derivatives and  greater than 40% for naphthalenedicarboximide derivatives.
The rylene dyes of the general formula I according to the invention are highly suitable for homogeneous coloring of high-molecular-weight organic and inorganic materials, in particular, for example, plastics, especially thermoplastics, surface coatings and printing inks, and oxidic layer systems.
A particularly advantageous property of the rylene dyes of the general formula I according to the invention is their thermochromicity, i.e. the irreversible conversion of the dyes from a molecular species having a primary color A into a structurally different species having a secondary color B. The thermochromic effect is induced by warming the colored material to temperatures above the conversion temperature of the rylene dye of the general formula I. The primary and/or secondary color of the colored material can in addition be varied in a simple manner by employing rylene dyes of the general formula I according to the invention in the form of a mixture with one another and/or with conventional pigments and dyes.
The thermochromicity of the rylene dyes of the general formula I according to the invention can in addition advantageously be utilized for the production of laser-markable or laser-inscribable colorings. Through a suitable choice of the substituent Rxe2x80x2, the conversion temperature of the rylene dyes of the general formula I can be set in particular for this application, which was unexpected. Thus, the conversion temperatures of rylene dyes of the formula I according to the invention in which Rxe2x80x2 is primary or secondary alkyl or aralkyl are generally  greater than 280xc2x0 C. These rylene dyes of the general formula I can be incorporated into classical thermoplastics (for example polystyrene, poly(acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene), poly(styrene-acrylonitrile), polycarbonate or polymethyl methacrylate) in a conventional manner (for example by extrusion or injection molding) and used for industrial laser marking or inscription.
A laser-markable or laser-inscribable color can be produced using the rylene dyes of the general formula I according to the invention (or mixtures thereof with one another and with other colorants) in combination with one or more transparent or translucent, organic or inorganic (N)IR absorbers having, in particular, a neutral or only weak inherent color in the visible region which converts the incident (N)IR laser energy into the thermal energy needed for the thermochromic conversion.
For this purpose, conventional, commercially available (N)IR absorbers, for example those from the classes of the methines, azamethines, transition-metal dithiolenes, squaric acid derivatives, phthalocyanines, naphthalocyanines, amidinium and iminium salts and in particular quaterrylene derivatives can be used. For use together with semiconductor lasers, particular preference is given to absorbers having an absorption maximum at from 780 to 850 nm, and for use together with conventional Nd-YAG lasers, particular preference is given to absorbers having an absorption maximum at about 1064 nm, in each case having a gram absorptivity of at least 50 at the absorption maximum.

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der Wissenschaften e.V.


In an automatic transmission connector for interconnecting circuits provided inside and outside an automatic transmission, there are provided a plurality of terminals, a housing for receiving the terminals, and a rear holder engageable with the housing. The housing has a plurality of cavities for receiving the terminals, respectively, and the cavities are separated from one another in such a manner that the cavities communicate with one another through partially-notched wall portions. The housing has terminal passage holes into which the terminals are press-fitted, respectively. The rear holder has wall piece portions, and when the rear holder is engaged with the housing, the wall piece portions cooperate with notches, formed in the wall portions of the cavities, to separate the cavities from one another, and also retain the terminals within the respective cavities.

This invention relates to an automatic transmission connector for interconnecting circuits provided inside and outside an automatic transmission, and a method of assembling this connector, and more particularly to a connector for an automatic transmission in which a sealing resin material can be certainly and easily filled in cavities so as to enhance a sealing effect, and a method of assembling this connector.
An electric circuit, such as a solenoid, is contained, together with transmission oil, in a transmission casing of an automatic transmission, and this circuit is connected to a control device such as a control unit, provided outside the transmission casing, through an automatic transmission connector mounted on a side wall of the transmission casing.
In such an automatic transmission connector, the interior of a connector housing is sealed by a sealing resin material so that the oil in the transmission casing will not leak to the exterior along circuit-connecting wires and that water will not intrude from the exterior into the transmission casing along the wires.
FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b) show a conventional connector for an automatic transmission. FIG. 6(a) is a side cross-sectional view, and FIG. 6(b) is a front view as seen in a direction of arrow R in FIG. 6(a).
In FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b), the conventional automatic transmission connector 100 comprises a plurality of terminals 101, a housing 110 receiving these terminals 101, a rubber plug 120 fitted in the housing 110, and an O-ring 130 mounted on a body of the housing 110.
The housing 110 includes a plurality of cavities 111 separated from one another by wall portions 111a, terminal passage holes 112 which communicate respectively with the cavities 111 and through which the terminals 101 pass, lances 113 each retaining the associated terminal 101 in the cavity 111, an injection hole 114 for a sealing resin material 40, and a filling space 115 which is continuous with the injection hole 114 and is filled with the sealing resin material 40.
Next, a method of assembling the above conventional automatic transmission connector will be described with reference to FIGS. 7(a), 7(b), 8(a) and 8(b).
FIGS. 7(a), 7(b) and 8(a) are views respectively showing steps of the method of assembling the conventional automatic transmission connector, and FIG. 8(b) is a view showing the state of inflow of the sealing resin material.
First, the terminals 101 are inserted respectively into the cavities 111 as shown in FIG. 7(a). As a result, the lance 113 in each cavity 111 retains the inserted terminal 101, so that the terminal 101 is fixed within the cavity 111. Then, the rubber plug 120 is fitted into the housing 110, so that the filling space 115 for the sealing resin material 40 is formed.
Then, as shown in FIG. 7(b), the housing 110 is vertically placed with the terminals 101 disposed at the upper portion, and the sealing resin material 40 is filled into the filling space 115 through the injection hole 114 in the housing 110. As a result, the sealing resin material 40 flows through the injection hole 114 into the filling space 115, and further reaches the cavities 111, as shown in FIG. 8(b).
Thereafter, the sealing resin material 40, filled in the housing 110, is cured by application of heat thereto, so that the resin-sealing within the housing 110 is completed (FIG. 8(a)). Thus, the assembling of the connector is completed.
In the above conventional automatic transmission connector, however, the cavities 111 are completely separated from one another by the wall portions 111a, and the lances 113 are provided respectively within the cavities 111, so that the construction is complicated. Therefore, the sealing resin material 40 of high viscosity can not easily flow into the cavities 111, and there has been encountered a problem that the positive resin-sealing between the terminals 101 has been difficult.
In the method of assembling the conventional automatic transmission connector, the sealing resin material 40 is caused to flow from the filling space 115 at the lower position into the cavities 111 at the upper position, that is, the sealing resin material 40 is caused to flow from the lower position to the upper position against the gravity, and therefore there has been encountered a problem that the sealing resin material can not be easily filled in the cavities 111, so that the sealing between the terminals 101 can not be ensured.

Connector for automatic transmission and method of assembling the same


Embodiments of the present invention provide a multicast-based wireless communication method, a terminal device, and a base station. The method includes: in a process of receiving a current multicast service, receiving, by a terminal device, downlink control information DCI transmitted by a base station, where the DCI is used to schedule a current multicast traffic channel MTCH, and the DCI includes indication information used to indicate that configuration information of the MTCH is modified in a next modification period MP or a current MP; and obtaining, by the terminal device, modified configuration information according to the indication information. System flexibility is improved according to the embodiments of the present invention.

Machine type communication (MTC), also referred to as machine to machine (M2M) communication or the Internet of things (IoT), is an important application in the future communications field. Future IoT communication may mainly cover smart metering, medical examination and monitoring, logistics inspection, industrial inspection and monitoring, Internet of vehicles, smart communities, communication of wearable devices, and the like.
Among IoT systems, an important IoT communications system is a communications system based on an existing cellular architecture. This communications system may be referred to as a cellular IoT. In this communications system, generally, a very high data transmission rate is generally not required between an MTC base station and a terminal device, but the MTC requires a very large coverage area. Therefore, a large quantity of terminal devices may exist within coverage of an MTC base station, and the terminal devices may cover various terminal devices such as smart water meters or electricity meters, smart communities, monitor, vehicles, and wearable terminal devices. During communication between such terminal devices and the MTC base station, high requirements are imposed on power consumption and costs of the terminal devices. Therefore, capabilities of the terminal devices are always limited.
In a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, single cell point-to-point (SC-PTM) is a multicast-based transmission technology. In the multicast technology, two logical channels are included: a single cell multicast control channel (SC-MCCH) and a single cell multicast traffic channel (SC-MTCH). The SC-MCCH is a control channel, and is used to transmit configuration information required by a terminal device for receiving the SC-MTCH (namely, SC-MTCH configuration information). The SC-MTCH is a data channel, and is used to transmit multicast service data. When receiving an SC-MTCH transmitted by a base station, a capability-limited terminal device in the IoT system is always incapable of receiving an SC-MCCH transmitted by the base station. Therefore, in the process of receiving the SC-MTCH transmitted by the base station, the terminal device cannot modify configuration information of the SC-MTCH that is currently being received, and therefore, system flexibility is affected.

Multicast-based wireless communication method, terminal device, and base station


An adhesive composition applicator includes a housing having sidewalls and a neck that tapers to an opening. The housing encloses a gelled adhesive composition. The housing has a cross-sectional area and the opening has a cross-sectional area less than that of the housing cross-sectional area. A cap is provided that engages the housing. A mechanism is provided for urging the gelled composition material from the housing through the opening. The neck optionally also includes a shield to prevent gelled adhesive composition from running down the neck and provides a barrier against gelled adhesive smear reaching the point of intersection between the cap and the housing. To facilitate application of gelled composition to a point of application, a spatula is provided adjacent to the opening.

Historically, thread lockers have been liquids of varying viscosity. These liquids have met with limited acceptability owing to handling properties. Liquid thread lockers tend to be difficult to apply in overhead settings and are generally considered to be imprecise owing to drippage from the cap running down the exterior of the primary package and seepage of the material to places where locking is deemed undesirable. As a result of these handling properties, a conventional liquid thread locker typically requires a secondary package to prevent leakage onto surrounding tools or apparel.
Various attempts have been made in the prior art to add various waxes, polymers, and organic species to a liquid thread locker composition in order to address these limitations. Representative of these attempts are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,547,851; 4,497,916 and 6,451,927. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 6,451,927 B1 utilizes an organically thickened anaerobic composition provided in a lipstick-type applicator. While this thickened composition is effective in allowing overhead thread locker application and the prevention of drippage, the method of application of wiping a bolt across a raised applicator face tends to smear thread locker composition onto the outer surfaces of the applicator so as to require applicator wiping prior to cap replacement. Additionally, under compressive forces, liquid and conventionally thickened thread locker compositions tend to be forced from the site where adhesive bonding is actually required. Thus, there exists a need for a gelled anaerobic composition that is provided in a readily resealable applicator where the gelled anaerobic composition is delivered with greater precision.


According to one embodiment, there is provided an anonymization system including at least one encryption apparatus, an anonymization apparatus, and a decryption apparatus. The encryption apparatus store personal data including one or more values for each item, and generates encrypted data from the personal data by encrypting the one or more values for each item included in the personal data. The anonymization apparatus generates encrypted anonymized data from the encrypted data without decryption by anonymizing one or more values for at least a portion of the items of the encrypted data. The decryption apparatus generates anonymized data from the encrypted anonymized data by decrypting the encrypted anonymized data.

Companies and the like (to be referred to as data holders hereinafter) that hold an enormous amount of personal data such as customer information or clinical record information are increasing. Some data holders use information obtained by performing statistical processing for the enormous amount of personal data for the purpose of predicting the trend of a business or customer or preventing a disease, and then consider obtaining a new business finding or starting a new service.
However, when using the personal data for the above-described purposes, it is necessary to pay close attention in handling the personal data to protect privacy. In addition, because the statistical processing requires a high level of specialty, the data holders use companies or service providers (to be referred to as data analyzers hereinafter) which perform the statistical processing as outside services. For this reason, the data holder needs to more carefully notice the privacy protection and the purpose for use, and execute appropriate operations. The operations of this type include, for example, reducing the amount of personal data information to be provided to the data analyzer. However, if the amount of the personal data information is reduced too much from the viewpoint of privacy protection, a useful analysis result cannot be obtained.
Hence, in many cases, anonymization processing is used, which makes it difficult or impossible to specify an individual while preventing reduction of the amount of personal data information as much as possible. At this time, the data holder performs the anonymization of an enormous amount of personal data and provides obtained anonymized data to the outside data analyzer that performs the statistical processing.
On the other hand, there are cloud computing services (to be also referred to as cloud services hereinafter) as an example of the outside services. As the cloud services recently become widespread, equipment used to manage an enormous amount of data are changing from in-house servers of the data holders to the outside cloud services. At this time as well, the data holders take a security measure of, for example, encryption processing or anonymization processing for the enormous amount of personal data and causing the cloud services to manage obtained encrypted data or anonymized data.
M2M (machine to machine) services are also becoming popular in which devices, such as a vending machine, an elevator, or plant equipment (devices rather than information devices), are equipped with a sensor, a processing unit, a communication unit, and the like, and the M2M services perform information exchange, remote supervisory/control, and the like via a network without intervention of a human. In such M2M services as well, services using an enormous amount of information collected from each device is expected to be implemented in the future.
In the M2M services as well, a security measure needs to be taken for personal data included in the collected information. On the other hand, if encryption processing is applied to the collected information as the security measure, the obtained encrypted data cannot be analyzed. However, if anonymization processing is applied for the security measure, the obtained anonymized data can be analyzed. The anonymized data can be analyzed by statistical processing, although information related to individuals, devices, locations, and the like cannot be identified. Hence, this method is preferable from the viewpoint of privacy protection.
Representative methods of anonymization processing include, for example, deletion, pseudonymization, top coding, grouping, resampling, sort, swapping, and noise addition (for example, see "Guideline for Creation/Providing of Anonymous Data, Annex 2, Technique of Anonymization Processing", [online], Mar. 28, 2011, Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications of the government of Japan, [searched on Apr. 25, 2014] Internet <URL: http://www.stat.go.jp/index/seido/pdf/35glv4.pdf>).
Here, "deletion" is a method of deleting identification information such as a household or a place of residence capable of directly or indirectly identifying an individual.
"Pseudonymization" is a method of deleting information such as a name capable of directly identifying an individual and assigning another ID or pseudonym.
"Top coding" is a method of grouping special attributes which has discreminatingly large or small values with respect to attributes such as an age or the number of house hold members and facilitates identification of individuals. For example, discreminatingly large or small are classified as values equal to or more than an upper threshold or values equal to or less than a lower threshold.
"Grouping" is a method of grouping by a specific value with respect to an attribute such as an age and changing the specific value to a class category. As for an age, for example, a specific value "age 23" is changed to a class category "20s".
"Resampling" is a method of providing only some of all data to the data analyzer, for example, extracting 80% data from all data at random and providing the extracted data to the data analyzer.
"Sort" is a method of changing the arrangement order of the records of data at random to make it impossible to specify individuals.
"Swapping" is a method of exchanging some attribute values between two records, for example, exchanging the ages or heights of two persons between the records of the two persons.
"Noise Addition" is a method of adding noises with respect to some attributes of records, for example, adding an noise to heights.
In the above-described anonymization processing, normally, no critical matter arises. However, according to discussion of embodiments of the present invention, there is room for improvement in both a case (A) in which the data holder saves encrypted data in an outside service and a case (B) in which the M2M service saves encrypted data in an outside service. A description will be made below using a cloud service as an example of the outside service.
(A) In a case in which the data holder simply encrypts personal data and saves the obtained encrypted data in a cloud system, the data holder downloaded the encrypted data, decrypts it, anonymizes the obtained personal data, and provides the anonymized data to the data analyzer. When the data holder downloads the encrypted data and decrypts it, the data holder obtains all personal data. This situation is not preferable because it makes the use of the cloud system not so meaningful for the data holder. Note that the situation in which the data holder obtains all personal data may be avoidable if the data holder does not decrypt the encrypted data.
Accordingly, a case in which the data holder converts the encrypted data such that it can be decrypted on the data analyzer side to provide the converted data to the data analyzer will be discussed. In this case, the situation in which the data holder obtains all personal data can be avoided. However, this is not preferable from the viewpoint of privacy protection because the personal data decrypted by the data analyzer is not anonymized.
A case in which the cloud system decrypts the encrypted data and anonymizes it will be discussed in consideration that the data holder anonymizes personal data without decryption of the encrypted data. In this case, the personal data obtained by the decryption is distributed within the cloud system. This is not preferable from the viewpoint of security.
A case will be discussed in which the data holder anonymizes personal data, encrypts the anonymized data, and saves the encrypted data in the cloud system, and the data analyzer downloads the encrypted data in the cloud system and decrypts the encrypted data. In this case, the encrypted data in the cloud system is obtained by encrypting the anonymized data information the amount of which is reduced from the original personal data. In this case, the data holder has to manage the original personal data independently of the cloud system. This is not preferable because it makes the use of the cloud system less meaningful for the data holder.
(B) When performing information collection or remote monitoring/control by use of each device of the M2M service, the data holder is required to provide, to the data analyzer, anonymized data the amount of information of which is reduced from the personal data in the collected information. If the data holder collects the personal data and saves it in the cloud system, the load on the data holder is heavy. Hence, it is preferable that the device collecting the personal data by itself saves the personal data in the cloud system. Even in the case in which the device collecting the personal data saves the personal data in the cloud system, however, the encrypted data obtained by encrypting the personal data may be saved in the cloud system from the viewpoint of security.
However, as in the case (A) described above, if the encrypted data is saved in the cloud system, an undesirable situation occurs in which the data holder obtains all personal data when the data holder downloads and decrypts the encrypted data.
Note that a method of anonymizing the encrypted data saved in the cloud system and providing the anonymized data to the data analyzer without applying the load of decryption processing or anonymization processing on the data holder is not known.
According to the study by the present inventor, he considers that the undesirable situations in the cases (A) and (B) can be avoidable if the encrypted data obtained by encrypting the personal data can be anonymized without decryption.
It is an object of embodiments of the present invention to provide an anonymization system configured to anonymize the encrypted data obtained by encrypting the personal data, without decryption of the encrypted data.
An anonymization system of an embodiment includes at least one encryption apparatus, at least one anonymization apparatus, and at least one decryption apparatus.
The at least one encryption apparatus includes first storage means and encryption means.
The first storage means stores personal data including one or more values for each item.
The encryption means generates encrypted data from the personal data by encrypting the one or more values for each item included in the personal data.
The anonymization apparatus includes second storage means and anonymization means.
The second storage means stores the encrypted data generated by the encryption apparatus.
The anonymization means generates encrypted anonymized data from the encrypted data without decryption by anonymizing the one or more values for at least a portion of the items in the encrypted data stored in the second storage means.
The decryption apparatus includes third storage means and decryption means.
The third storage means stores the encrypted anonymized data generated by the anonymization apparatus.
The decryption means generates anonymized data from the encrypted anonymized data by decrypting the encrypted anonymized data in the third storage means.


A liquid crystal display (LCD) interface that includes a plurality of first transmission lines including N sets of transmission lines, each set of the first transmission lines being associated with a pixel formed in the LCD device, and a plurality of second transmission lines, each being coupled to one the plurality of first transmission lines, the plurality of second transmission lines including a plurality of sets, alternating in odd-numbered and even-numbered sets, each set of the second transmission lines corresponding to the plurality of first transmission lines, and each set including a plurality of subsets, each being associated with a pixel formed in the LCD device, wherein an M-th subset of each of the odd-numbered sets of the second transmission lines is coupled to an M-th set of the first transmission lines, and an M-th subset of each of the even-numbered sets of the second transmission lines is coupled to an (N−M+1)-th set of the first transmission lines, M being an integral between 1 and N.

Conventional thin film transistor liquid crystal display ("TFT-LCD") devices or low temperature poly-silicon ("LPTS") LCD devices include a matrix of transistors for actuating display of an image. Each transistor includes a gate electrically coupled to a scan line, a source electrically coupled to a data line, and a drain electrically coupled to a storage capacitor. Scan lines and data lines are in turn respectively coupled to a scan line driving circuit and a data line driving circuit disposed at an LCD interface. The data line driving circuit usually includes shift registers and switches to control application of data into an LCD device through a plurality of data signal lines. Specifically, data, for example, video image data, are provided from the shift registers through the data signal lines and the switches to the data lines of an LCD device.
FIG. 1 is a layout of a conventional LCD interface showing how a conventional technique provides data signals to an LCD device. Referring to FIG. 1, a first set of data including data signals DS1 to DS12 is provided to an LCD device (not shown) from a shift register (not shown) to a plurality of data signal lines DL1 to DL12, and data lines DK1 . . . DKn of the LCD device through switches SW1 . . . SWn. For instance, a first data signal DS1 of the first set of data DS1 to DS12 is provided by a first shift register to data signal line DL1 and then through a switch SW1 to a data line DK1 which corresponds to, for example, a red ("R") sub-pixel region of a pixel (not shown) of an LCD device. Subsequently, a second data signal DS2 of the first set of data DS1 to DS12 is provided by the first shift register to data signal line DL2 and then through a switch SW2 to a data line DK2, which corresponds to a green ("G") sub-pixel region of a pixel. Likewise, a third data signal DS3 of the first set of data DS1 to DS12 is provided by the first shift register to data signal line DL3 and then through a switch SW3 to a data line DK3, which corresponds to a blue ("B") sub-pixel region of a pixel. The R, G and B sub-pixel regions constitute a pixel of the LCD device.
As a result, the first set of data is provided in the order of writing data signals DS1 to DS12 from the first data signal line DL1 to the final data signal line DL12. After the first set of data, a second set of data DS13 to DS24 is provided by a second shift register (not shown) to the LCD panel in a same order of writing from data signal line DL1 to data signal line DL12. This order of applying data signals from a shift register to data lines of the LCD device is also applicable to any set of data that follows.
The conventional technique may encounter a disadvantage in that a difference in the gray scale between the same sub-pixel regions of two adjacent pixels may become visible to the human eyes. The problem is caused by a difference in resistance and distributed capacitance present between two data lines of significantly different transmission lengths. For example, for the R sub-pixel regions of two adjacent pixels, the transmission length associated with data signal DS10 of the first set of data is significantly longer than that of data signal DS13 of the second set of data. Similarly, for the G sub-pixel regions, the transmission length associated with data signal DS11 is significantly longer than that of data signal DS14. Again, for the B sub-pixel regions, the transmission length associated with data signal DS12 is significantly longer than that of data signal DS15. As a result, the pixel represented by data signals DS10 to DS12 of the first set of data may have a visible difference in the gray scale from an adjacent pixel represented by data signals DS13 to DS15 of the second set of data.
The problem of different gray scale usually occurs at two adjacent pixels where in the respective R, G and B sub-pixel regions are coupled to a leading set of data signal lines such as DL1 to DL3 and an ending set of data signal lines such as DL10 to DL12, respectively. Besides, the problem would become worse as more data signal lines are used.

Data arrangement for liquid crystal display device


The inclusion of metadata within an application description file allows a virtual machine to create an application descriptor file that may be registered with the mobile device operating system so that an icon associated with the application description file may be displayed in the main ribbon. Execution of an application defined by the application definition file may then be initiated by the selection, by the user, of the icon that is associated with the application definition file. This improves over the situation wherein execution of the application defined by the application definition file would require a selection of the runtime environment for the application and then the selection of the application.

Wireless connectivity is a feature of the modern telecommunications environment. An increasing range of people are using a wide variety of wireless data networks to access corporate data applications.
However, there are numerous competing mobile devices that can be used to achieve this. Each mobile device has its own operating system and its own display characteristics. Operating systems are not mutually compatible, nor are the display characteristics—some are color, some are black and white, some are text-only, some are pictorial.
To allow for applications to be executed on a variety of different mobile devices, often a virtual machine is employed. The virtual machine may be mobile-device-specific so that applications designed to run on the virtual machine need not be. However, in some cases, to execute an application on a virtual machine on a mobile device, a user may be required to open an interface associated with the virtual machine and then select an application to be executed by the virtual machine.
An increasing number of mobile device users are people without a technical background or high level of educational achievement. Such people are often intimidated by the need to first open the interface associated with the virtual machine and then select an application to be executed by the virtual machine.
Therefore, a mechanism is desired by which an application may be enabled for multiple mobile devices yet still appear, in a user interface for a given mobile device, among those applications specific to the given mobile device. That is, it is desirable that the execution of the application should be accomplished without the need for separately opening an interface to the virtual machine that runs the application.

Transparent virtual machine for mobile applications


A blade structure for centrifugal fan includes a hub, a first blade unit, and a second blade unit. The hub includes at least one connection section, to a radially outer end of which an annular body is connected. The annular body has a first side and an opposite second side; and the first and the second blade unit are arranged on and spaced along the first and the second side of the annular body, respectively. By providing the first and the second blade unit around the hub of a centrifugal fan, the air flows and pressure produced by the centrifugal fan can be largely increased at effectively reduced noise.

With the quickly developed electronic industrial field, the currently available electronic elements have constantly upgraded performance and accordingly, very fast computing speed. As a result, a large amount of heat is generated by the electronic elements during the high-speed operation thereof. The large amount of heat must be timely removed from the electronic elements to protect the electronic elements against lowered operational performance or even burnout. Therefore, a small-size centrifugal fan is usually utilized in the limited space of an electronic product for removing heat therefrom. The centrifugal fan mainly includes a frame, a hub, and a plurality of blades externally spaced along the hub. The frame defines at an upper and a lower side with an air-in opening each, and at one lateral side with an air-out opening. When the centrifugal fan operates, the blades rotate to cause ambient air to flow. Air axially flows into the frame via the upper and lower air-in openings is guided by the blades to flow in a radial direction of the hub and out of the centrifugal fan via the air-out opening. To produce higher air pressure and more air flows, fan manufacturers have made efforts to change the shape of the blades. However, the effects of increased pressure and air flow that can be obtained via modification of blade shapes are limited and fail to satisfy general users' demands. Further, since the centrifugal fan has a relatively small frame, which also limits the possible change of the blades in shape. In brief, the blades for the conventional centrifugal fan have the following disadvantages: (1) being limited in the structural design thereof; (2) providing only limited pressurizing effect; (3) having relatively poor air guiding efficiency; and (4) producing relatively high noise.


An object of the present invention is to provide a nonvolatile semiconductor storage device with a superior charge holding characteristic in which highly-efficient writing is possible at low voltage, and to provide a manufacturing method thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nonvolatile semiconductor storage device that is electrically writable, readable, and erasable, and its manufacturing method. In particular, the present invention relates to a structure of a charge accumulating layer in the nonvolatile semiconductor storage device.
2. Description of the Related Art
The market is expanding for nonvolatile memories as one kind of semiconductor memories, in which data can be electrically rewritten and data can be stored even after the power is turned off. Features of a nonvolatile memory lie in that its structure is similar to that of a MOS transistor and a region capable of accumulating charges for a long period of time is provided over a channel formation region. A floating gate type nonvolatile memory holds charges by injecting the charges in a floating gate through a tunnel insulating film over a channel formation region. In a MONOS (Metal-Oxide-Nitride-Oxide Semiconductor) type nonvolatile memory, a trap or a silicon cluster of a silicon nitride film is used as a charge holdback carrier.
FIG. 16 shows a typical structure of a nonvolatile memory. Over a semiconductor film 800 forming a channel formation region, a nonvolatile memory has a first insulating film 801 which is also called a tunnel insulating film, a charge accumulating layer 802 which is also called a floating gate, a second insulating film 803, a control gate electrode 804, a source 805, and a drain 806.
Such a nonvolatile memory can store one-bit data by one transistor. In a case of writing data, voltage is applied between the source 805 and the drain 806 and between the semiconductor film 800 and the control gate electrode 804 to inject charges from the semiconductor film 800 to the charge accumulating layer 802 through the first insulating film 801; then, the charges are accumulated in the charge accumulating layer 802 that is electrically insulated from its periphery. In a case of reading data, information can be read out by utilizing a characteristic that threshold voltage of a MOS transistor changes depending on whether there are charges in the charge accumulating layer 802. That is to say, the information of "0" and "1" can be stored and read. In a case of erasing data, on the contrary, high voltage is applied to the semiconductor film 800 or the source 805 so as to extract the charges from the charge accumulating layer 802 through the first insulating film 801.
The charges are injected in the charge accumulating layer 802 by increasing voltage applied between the semiconductor film 800 and the control gate electrode 804 and using hot electrons (NOR type) or Fowler-Nordheim type (F-N type) tunnel current (NAND type) flowing through the first insulating film 801 by an intense electric field. In the both types, a high electric field is applied between the semiconductor film 800 and the control gate electrode 804; therefore, the charges are injected in the insulating film that is formed to be thin.
The nonvolatile memory having the charge accumulating layer 802 is required to have a characteristic that can hold charges accumulated in the charge accumulating layer 802 for ten years or more in order to assure the reliability. Therefore, the first insulating film 801 and the second insulating film 803 are required to have a high insulating property so that the charges do not leak from the charge accumulating layer 802. A floating gate type nonvolatile memory has difficulty in thinning the first insulating film 801 so that F-N type tunnel current flows therethrough (7 to 8 nm thick in a case of a SiO2 film) and it is difficult to reduce writing voltage and erasing voltage (10 to 20 V). In addition, a MONOS type nonvolatile memory is required to have a silicon nitride film with a comparatively large volume so that a trap or a silicon cluster in the silicon nitride film holds the charge and threshold voltage of a MOS transistor is changed. Thus, it is considered that element miniaturization and voltage reduction have limitation.
A nonvolatile memory in which the second insulating film 803 in FIG. 16 is formed by a plurality of insulating films and a deep trap level is provided at high concentration in order to reduce writing voltage and improve a charge holding characteristic is known (for example, Reference 1: Japanese Published Patent Application No. H11-40682). Moreover, a MONOS type nonvolatile memory in which a charge holding characteristic is improved by controlling hydrogen concentration of silicon nitride used for the charge accumulating layer 802 is known (for example, Reference 2: Japanese Published Patent Application No. 2004-221448).

Nonvolatile semiconductor storage device and manufacturing method thereof

Abstract: The nonvolatile semiconductor storage device includes a semiconductor film having a pair of impurity regions formed apart from each other and a channel formation region provided between the impurity regions; and a first insulating film, a charge accumulating layer, a second insulating film, and a conductive film functioning as a gate electrode layer which are provided over the channel formation region. In the nonvolatile semiconductor storage device, a second barrier formed by the first insulating film against a charge of the charge accumulating layer is higher in energy than a first barrier formed by the first insulating film against a charge of the semiconductor film.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd


Various apparatuses are provided for planetary rotor machines including a plurality of helical rotors and a corresponding manifold. In one example, the manifold includes a head plate to which each of the rotors is rotatably mounted. The head plate includes a fluid flow opening having a center coaxial with a central axis of the machine. The fluid flow opening comprises a plurality of ports that each correspond to one of the rotors. Each of the ports comprises an inwardly curving inner side extending between a starting point and an ending point, a first lateral arcuate side that forms with the inner side a first pointed notch in the head plate, and a second lateral arcuate side that forms with the inner side a second pointed notch in the head plate. The second lateral arcuate side is a mirror image of the first lateral arcuate side. The manifold substantially prevents fluid from bypassing a cavity created by the rotors of the machine.

Multi-rotor planetary rotor machines may be utilized as positive displacement devices in a variety of applications. A planetary rotor machine typically employs 3 or 4 rotors equally disposed around a central machine axis. All of the rotors have the same shape and rotate in the same direction. Together, the multiple rotors cooperative to form an internal working volume, or cavity, bounded by the rotors themselves.
Planetary rotor machines utilize rotors having lobes with an axial helical twist to create an internal "progressive cavity" that conducts fluid along the machine axis in a manner similar to a screw auger. Fluid is introduced at one end of the rotor assembly from a first pressure regime, and is transported by the rotor-formed cavity to the opposite end for discharge into a different pressure regime. In this manner the planetary rotor machine either produces or extracts shaft power.
In a planetary rotor machine, the mutually engaging planetary rotors constitute the radial walls of the progressive cavity, without requiring an external housing. Axial walls of the cavity are provided by flat, stationary head plates, or "manifolds", that abut opposite ends of the rotor assembly. In this manner, and unlike conventional twin screw machines, planetary rotor machines do not require a precision encasement surrounding the rotor assembly. Rather, the cavities are formed by the meshing rotors in cooperation with the flat manifolds abutting the rotor ends.
The general concept of using planetary rotor machines for positive displacement applications has been proposed; however, in practice certain challenges have prevented the commercial adoption of such machines. For example, with some rudimentary manifold configurations, such as a single circular fluid entry opening or port, at certain angular orientations of the rotors pressurized fluid at the manifold-rotor junction may bypass the cavity entirely and flow freely around the outside of the rotors. Such escaping fluid may significantly comprise the efficiency of the planetary rotor machine, and thereby constrain or eliminate the functional and/or commercial viability of such machines. Conversely, sizing a fluid entry port at the manifold-rotor junction too conservatively creates an internal pressure drop and loss of operating efficiency.
One prior attempt to address the problem of manifold-rotor fluid traversal is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,234,888, which discloses a four-rotor rotary pump enclosed in a rotor casing. A complex valving arrangement utilizes separate rotatable valve "plates" that are mounted on each rotor shaft. Each rotatable valve plate mates with a corresponding stationary portal to channel fluid into the cavity at the correct rotor angular orientation. Such a configuration, however, is ill-suited for a planetary rotor machine that does not utilize an external housing, and further introduces manufacturing and design complexities as well as moving parts that require precision tolerances.


A content explanation method and apparatus applied to content explanation includes identifying, by a content explanation apparatus, an emotion of the user, when identifying a negative emotion showing that the user is confused about delivered multimedia information, obtaining, by the content explanation apparatus, a target representation manner of target content in a target intelligence type, where the target content is content about which the user is confused in the multimedia information delivered to the user by an information delivery apparatus associated with the content explanation apparatus, and presenting, by the content explanation apparatus, the target content to the user in the target representation manner.

Rapid development of artificial intelligence technologies, for example, maturity of an expression recognition technology, enables a machine to dynamically capture an emotion and a status of a user in real time. In addition, the expression recognition technology is applied to a scenario of human-computer interaction, and content presented by a machine is adjusted based on an identified emotion and status of a user in order to implement more effective human-computer interaction.
Currently, when presenting content to a user (including machine playback or a personal speech), a machine in human-computer interaction with the user obtains a point, about which the user is confused, in the presented content by identifying an expression of the user, and simply repeats the identified point of confusion for the user's next time of understanding.
However, in most of the time, it is not the case that the user does not hear a statement clearly. Therefore, simple repetition cannot help the user to understand the content effectively, which causes low effectiveness of human-computer interaction.

Content explanation method and apparatus


A method and system for decoding signals includes a transmitter configured for transmitting signals encoded with a mapping, with different and separable configurations in a real part and an imaginary part of the signal. The signals may be encoded according to a Gray or QAM mapping, and may be transmitted on a selective MIMO channel and/or multiplexed with an OFDM technique. The corresponding receiver is configured for decoding the real part and the imaginary part of the signals separately, and may include a filter for subjecting the encoded signals to a Wiener filtering and a MMSE detector for minimizing the mean-square error between the encoded signals and the result of the Wiener filtering. The receiver may also include a soft decoder for performing a soft estimation of the signals and cancelling, using the results of the soft estimation, an interference produced on the signals.

Wireless Local Area Networks (W-LANs) have become a widespread technology on the telecommunications market for providing a wide-band connectivity between computers and other electronic devices. W-LANs are currently deployed in various environments, for example industrial companies and public and residential premises, in so far as they enable a high-speed data access for users. The most recent standards, IEEE 802.11a and 802.11 g, are able to provide transmission rates of up to 54 Mb/s, exploiting, as technology for the physical layer (PHY), a technique of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) and a Bit-Interleaved Coded Modulation (BICM) on 5.2 GHz and 2.4 GHz, respectively. However, the demand for high-rate services for data is continuously growing, and a wider range of coverage is much appreciated in these types of applications. These factors are currently leading to the definition of a new W-LAN standard based upon an innovative technology capable of improving the performance of the entire system.
The adoption of OFDM reduces the complexity of equalization at the expense of a partial loss in bandwidth due to cyclic prefix insertion.
Thanks to pseudo-random bit interleaving, in order to de-correlate successive encoded bits the channel encoder and the QAM modulator (QAM—Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) can be selected independently, thus providing the possibility of different system configurations.
Multiple-Input/Multiple-Output (MIMO) radio interfaces have been studied in depth over the last few years, and have been widely considered as a suitable solution for improving the performance of modern wireless communication systems. The joint use of MIMO and OFDM techniques, in combination with a Space-Frequency Bit-Interleaved-Coded-Modulation (SF-BICM) architecture, as described in D. Zuyderhoff, X. Wautelet, A. Dejonghe, and L. Vandendorpe, "MMSE turbo receiver for space-frequency bit-interleaved coded OFDM", IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference, 2003, which is incorporated by reference has proven able to provide a high data rate and simultaneously a mitigation of the effects of channel fades.
New-generation W-LAN systems, in addition to guaranteeing an ever-faster data rate, should also guarantee higher levels of performance in terms of system reliability. These factors lead to adopting, at the receiver end, innovative, yet at the same time sophisticated, techniques of decoding and detection, such as, for example, ones based upon the "turbo"-MIMO principle.
To concentrate on the aspect of detection, the optimal technique is based upon the MAP algorithm, which maximizes the a-posteriori probability (MAP—Maximum A-posteriori Probability). The MAP algorithm may, however, not be physically implementable, above all when combined with a high order of modulation, as in the case of 64-QAM.
In fact, by adopting more than one antenna at both the transmitter end and the receiver end, the computational complexity is found to grow exponentially with the order of modulation and also with the number of transmitting antennas.
Consequently, in order to cope with questions of complexity and performance, sub-optimal schemes have been proposed, based upon simpler detectors, such as Minimum-Mean-Square-Error (MMSE) detectors to be used in iterative decoding and detection schemes instead of the MAP algorithm, which, as has been said, maximizes the a-posteriori probability. However, even using MMSE detectors, the computational complexity increases proportionally with the number of iterations, with a consequent major impact also on the latency constraints. Finally, also the constraints on the size of the memory can become a significant aspect especially at the user-terminal end.

Method and system for decoding signals, corresponding receiver and computer program product