A liquid crystal panel, a scanning circuit and a method for generating angle waves are provided. A scanning circuit for generating angle waves includes a scanning module and a plurality of angle wave modules. The scanning module has a plurality of scan output ends for outputting scan driving signals respectively in order, wherein the scan driving signal includes a first voltage and a second voltage. The angle wave modules are electrically connected to the scan output ends respectively in order; wherein a second output end of each angle wave module is electrically connected a first output end of next one of the angle wave modules, whereby a part of electrical energy received by the second output end of the angle wave modules is transmitted to the first output end of the next one of the angle wave modules.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a liquid crystal panel, a scanning circuit and a method for generating angle waves, and more particularly to a liquid crystal panel, a scanning circuit and a method can generate angle waves by using a voltage dividing manner.
2. Related Art
By transmitting start signals (i.e., gate driving signal) to gate lines of a typical liquid crystal panel respectively, semiconductor channel layers of thin film transistor (TFT) elements can be energized to control a suitable charge time of liquid crystal units corresponding to the gate lines, and then each pixel data signal is transmitted from a source electrode to a drain electrode through the energized semiconductor channel layer so as to charge the liquid crystal units. When the liquid crystal units are charged, the waveforms of the start signals are deformed because the number of the liquid crystal units is gradually increased so as to cause the start signals to be affected by an electrical impedance of the increased liquid crystal units. The deformed waves of the start signals can cause electrical charges to be different when the liquid crystal units are charged. Thus, an angle wave module is disposed between a timing controller and a gate driving circuit by a supplier, and the angle wave module is adapted to generating angle waves at the start signals, whereby the affection of the electrical impedance of the increased liquid crystal units is decreased, voltage waveforms of standard work signals which is provided to the liquid crystal units are kept, and the electrical charges can be balanced when the liquid crystal units are charged.
In order to generating angle waves, the voltage of the start signal at a high voltage level is changed in a discharging manner by the angle wave module, and a discharging slope can be controlled by designing resistors and capacitors. However, the electrical energy of the start signal can be consumed and not fully utilized during the discharging process, and thus the energy-saving requirement of a green product cannot be met at present and in the future.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a scanning circuit and a method, which can fully utilize the electrical energy of the gate driving signals, generate angle waves and be capable of solving the above-mentioned problems.

Liquid crystal panel, scanning circuit and method for generating and utilizing angle waves to pre-charge succeeding gate line


Systems, methodologies, media, and other embodiments associated with electrocardiogram electrode characterization and compensation are described. One exemplary system embodiment includes a characterization logic configured to generate signals designed to facilitate characterizing an electrocardiogram electrode. The characterization logic may also be configured to analyze signals produced in response to introducing the signals into a subject. The example system may also include a compensation logic configured to determine whether an electrode is performing in a desired manner and to selectively compensate for electrode performance.

Human (and other) autonomous nervous systems generate and conduct electrical signals to and from the heart muscle. These cardiac electrical signals can be monitored by an electrocardiogram (ECG) apparatus configured to receive electrical signals associated with the physical cardiac activity, which is manifested through electrical activity available generally on the surface regions of the thorax. In normal operation, an ECG can measure voltages associated with the nerve and muscles involved in cardiac activity. Thus, surface-adhering electrodes may receive electrical signals generated by cardiac activity. The electrodes may be positioned at various, specific, pre-determined locations on the body determined, for example, with reference to various electrical (e.g., resistive) models of the body or by empirical, clinical studies. In one example, the thorax can be modeled using parallel columns with two electrically conducting tissue paths. One path may include a relatively lower resistive blood path while a second path may include a relatively higher resistive tissue path. These paths may be employed to form circuits between ECG electrodes.
ECG signals and other biomedical signals may be measured as analog differential signals. Acquiring biomedical signals may involve selectively amplifying very small analog signals found in the same environment as larger common-mode signals. Both small and large signals may be present in an environment from which biomedical signals are acquired. The biomedical signals may be effectively found as additive values with respect to the measurement system. An intended measured signal may be enhanced by using differential measurement techniques since the unintended signals from the environment are normally found as common-mode signals. Thus, when subtracted using a differential amplifier, the unintended signals may be rejected or attenuated with respect to the desired signal. In practice, for ECG signals of interest, small differential analog signals may have a small amplitude (e.g., on the order of ±5 mV). Therefore, the signals typically require amplification by amplifiers capable of significant common mode rejection.
ECG electrodes employed in clinical use typically require skin preparation to achieve low impedance electrode coupling. Low impedance electrode coupling facilitates minimizing the variation of DC coupled ECG input amplifiers. However, conventional electrode impedance variations have been commonplace with DC resistance values in the 2 kΩ to 10 kΩ range. At higher frequencies, impedance may drop to a few hundred ohms, but signals of interest to an ECG are typically low frequency (e.g., less than 500 Hz).
Patient impedance measuring may be affected by impedance associated with the interface between an electrode and the patient. This impedance is often referred to as an electrode/skin impedance. The electrode/skin impedance, which may also be referred to as contact resistance, may be as high as 1 MΩ. Due to the high input-impedance of amplifiers associated with receiving electrocardiac signals, small differences (e.g., 10 KΩ) in skin/electrode impedance between electrodes can yield differential-mode signal amplitudes exceeding ECG signal amplitudes, which may negatively affect ECG analysis and diagnosis, by compromising accuracy of the measured values.

ECG electrode characterization and compensation

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A high-voltage tolerant circuit includes a first level shifter responsive to an input signal having a first logic high voltage and a first logic low voltage for providing a first intermediate signal having the first logic high voltage and a second logic low voltage referenced to a second reference voltage higher than the first logic low voltage, a second level shifter responsive to the input signal for providing a second intermediate signal having a second logic high voltage referenced to a first reference voltage lower than the first logic high voltage, and the first logic low voltage, an output stage responsive to the first and second intermediate signals for providing an output signal having the first logic high voltage and the first logic low voltage, and a reference voltage generation circuit providing the second logic high and second logic low voltages without drawing current from the reference voltage generation circuit.

An inverter is an electrical circuit that performs a logical inversion of a binary input logic signal to produce a binary output logic signal. Each of the input and output signals have voltage levels sufficient to indicate their respective logic states in a particular power supply voltage domain. For example, an input voltage has a minimum voltage level for logic circuitry to recognize a logic high state known as "VIH", and a maximum voltage for the logic circuitry to recognize a logic low state known as "VIL". Likewise, the circuitry provides an output voltage having a minimum voltage to indicate a logic high state known as "VOH" and a maximum voltage to indicate to logic low state known as "VOL".
In complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) circuitry, the VIH and VOH levels are approximately equal to the more-positive power supply voltage because P-channel MOS transistors are fully conductive as their drain voltages rise to around the level of their source voltages. Likewise, the VIL and VOL levels are very close to the more-negative power supply voltage, typically at ground or 0 volts, because N-channel MOS transistors are fully conductive when their drain voltages fall to around the level of their source voltages. Moreover, CMOS logic circuits do not consume any significant static current, but only consume dynamic current during actual switching. As CMOS manufacturing technology has improved with smaller and smaller transistors, CMOS circuits are able to switch faster using lower and lower power supply voltages, while reducing power consumption. Because of these characteristics, CMOS has become the predominant technology used for modern logic integrated circuits.
However, as CMOS transistor sizes have shrunk, the voltages to which they may be reliably exposed have also shrunk. For example, if CMOS transistors are exposed to voltages between their terminals that are too high, they may experience electrical overstress (EOS). EOS causes at least two breakdown mechanisms. The first EOS breakdown mechanism is known as hot carrier injection. As channel length decreases, MOS transistors experience high lateral electric fields with large drain-to-source voltages. Since the average carrier velocity saturates at high fields, the kinetic energy of the carriers increases. Because of their high kinetic energy, the carriers may penetrate and become trapped in the gate oxide or substrate and cause device failure. The second EOS breakdown mechanism is known as gate oxide breakdown. If the gate-to-source, gate-to-drain, or gate-to-body voltage difference exceeds an EOS tolerance voltage, it will create a large electric field and cause the gate oxide to breakdown. Both of these EOS breakdown mechanisms can cause transistor failure and damage the transistor over time.
Thus, for circuits that require operation at relatively high power supply voltages while using state-of-the-art CMOS manufacturing technology, it may be necessary to add on-chip voltage regulators to generate lower power supply voltages along and level shifters to convert logic signals referenced to a relatively large power supply voltage domain into logic signals referenced to a relatively small power supply domain. These additional circuits increase power consumption and integrated circuit area and cost.
In the following description, the use of the same reference numerals in different drawings indicates similar or identical items. Unless otherwise noted, the word "coupled" and its associated verb forms include both direct connection and indirect electrical connection by means known in the art, and unless otherwise noted any description of direct connection implies alternate embodiments using suitable forms of indirect electrical connection as well.


An apparatus for growing a high-quality single-crystalline semiconductor film on a substrate based on vapor phase growth while rotating the substrate and preventing micro-particles generated by a rotary drive unit from adhering onto the major plane of the substrate. The substrate 2 set inside the reaction chamber 21 is rotated using the rotary drive unit 7, a reaction gas 10 is fed to the major plane side of the substrate 2, a purge gas 3a is fed to the back space of the substrate in the reaction to chamber 21 to replace a space 11a with a carrier gas atmosphere, where the rotary drive unit 7 is located in the purge gas discharge section 13, a purge gas discharge duct 12 connected to the purge gas discharge section, and further to the purge gas discharge duct 12 is connected a gas flow controller 8, and serially in the downstream side thereof is connected an evacuation pump 9.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for growing single-crystalline semiconductor film based on vapor phase growth.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 4 shows one typical example known as a conventional apparatus for depositing a single-crystalline silicon film on a single-crystalline silicon substrate based on vapor phase growth. In a transparent quartz glass-made reaction chamber 21 of this apparatus, a single-crystalline silicon substrate (abbreviated on occasion as "substrate", hereinafter) is set on a susceptor 22 in parallel with a chamber wall 1. The substrate is heated by a series of infrared lamps 23 equipped as a heating unit externally along the chamber wall 1, and reaction gas 10 consisting of carrier gas and source gas is supplied from a reaction gas supply port 24 to be flown over the major plane of the substrate 2. When the substrate 2 is heated to a temperature suitable for the growth of single-crystalline semiconductor film, as high as 800 to 1200.degree. C. for example, a single-crystalline semiconductor film can deposit on the major plane of the substrate 2 by chemical reaction of the reaction gas 10.
The vapor phase growth while the substrate 2 being held in an immobile state will result in a thicker single-crystalline semiconductor film on the upstream side along the flow direction of the reaction gas 10 and in a thinner film on the downstream side. Thus the susceptor 22 for holding the substrate 2 is directly coupled with a rotary shaft 4 to be rotated by a rotary drive unit 7, to assure an uniform thickness of the single-crystalline semiconductor film. To prevent the reaction source from admitting into a back space 11a of the substrate 2 in the reaction chamber 21, a purge gas 3a same as the carrier gas is supplied from a purge gas feed pipe 3, and flown through a purge gas feed section 14 located at the rotary drive unit 7 to completely replacing the space 11a with an atmosphere of the purge gas 3a. The purge gas 3a is thus allowed to flow as indicated by arrow 5 via a gap 6 between the periphery of the susceptor 22 and the chamber wall 1 to reach the major plane side of the substrate 2, and is then brought into confluence with the reaction gas 10 to be discharged from a reaction gas exhaust port 25.
The above apparatus has, however, been suffering from particles generated at the rotary drive unit 7 due to mechanical friction and adhere on the major plane of the substrate 2 after transported thereto together with the purge gas 3a, which could cause defects including stacking fault and abnormally grown matter in a form of protrusion on the surface of the grown film.

Apparatus for growing single-crystalline semiconductor film


A system for optically detecting an object comprises a light source associated with the object and operated to produce a temporal pattern of emissions and a detector, synchronized to the operation of the light source by signals from a global positioning system, to identify light emissions according to the temporal pattern.

The present invention relates to a system for optically detecting the presence of an object.
Human vision is the primary sensory agency through which a vehicle is navigated and through which collisions with other vehicles and objects are avoided. Vision is relied on to detect both stationary and moving objects in sufficient time to enable navigational decisions and to permit effective evasive action. To aid visual detection, many vehicles, structures and other objects are painted, marked or equipped with lighting systems intended to increase the conspicuousness of the object and the likelihood that the object will be observed.
Vehicles, including aircraft, emergency vehicles and slow moving vehicles; structures, such as tall buildings, communication towers and power lines; and other objects, such as runways and highway and other hazard warning signage, are commonly equipped with lighting systems that are intended to draw the attention of potential observers. These lighting systems typically comprise variable intensity or flashing lights which are commonly accepted to be superior to steady-state illumination for attracting human attention. For example, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations require that aircraft be equipped with an anti-collision lighting system comprising sufficient numbers of flashing lights arranged to illuminate the vital areas around the airplane, considering its physical configuration and flight characteristics, and covering a field extending 75 degrees above and below the horizontal plane of the aircraft. In addition to the anti-collision lighting system, aircraft are equipped with external recognition lights, including a position light system comprising red and green forward lights to distinguish the right and left sides of the plane and a rear mounted white light. Similarly, emergency vehicles and slow moving vehicles are commonly equipped with one or more flashing lights intended to make the vehicle more conspicuous to potential observers, including operators of other vehicles.
However, psychological factors, such as inattentiveness and fatigue; physiological limitations of human vision; atmospheric conditions and visual obstructions commonly prevent observation of objects of interest, including objects that might threaten collision or be important to navigation even if they are equipped with attention attracting lights. For example, more than 80% of mid-air collisions involve a first aircraft overtaking a second aircraft at a converging angle. Any one of many factors, including psychological and physiological factors, may explain the failure of a pilot of an overtaking aircraft to observe flashing lights of the anti-collision system of an aircraft being overtaken. On the other hand, even if the pilot's attention were focused to the rear, in all likelihood, the structure of the aircraft that is being overtaken would block the pilot's view of the overtaking aircraft.
Campanella, U.S. Pat. No. 3,652,981, discloses a proximity warning system based on the detection of the illumination of an exterior flash lamp or strobe mounted on a first aircraft by one or more electro-optical sensors in a second aircraft. The output of the electro-optical sensor is displayed in the cockpit to warn of nearby traffic and an audible alarm may emit an aural tone to draw the pilot's attention to the display. The system detects the presence of one or more sources of light emissions and provides an indication of the relative positions of the detected light source and the detector. However, generally, the system does not distinguish between light sources. Many objects of interest, such as airplanes, include multiple light sources. Including combinations of steady-state and flashing lights, and the environment, such as the vicinity of an urban airport or a crowded highway, may include large numbers of sources of light emissions, only a few of which may be of interest. Distinguishing between sources of illumination aids in rapid identification of sources of interest and enables more timely decision making concerning the significance of the source to the potential human observer. Campanella does disclose an embodiment of the proximity warning system in which a weather radar of one airplane is used to initiate flashing of a light in a second plane. The appearance of a new source of light may aid in distinguishing the flashing light associated with the second airplane from other light emitters in the vicinity. However, weather radar is typically only focused forward and many vehicles, including many aircraft, are not equipped with radar.
What is desired, therefore, is an optically-based system for detecting the presence of objects that are likely to be of interest to a human observer.


An anode includes a base body of a sintered porous material of niobium particles, a surface layer made of crystalline niobium oxide formed on the base body, and an anode lead having partly buried in base body 1a. A dielectric layer containing amorphous niobium oxide is formed by anodic oxidation on the cathode. An electrolyte layer made of polypyrrole is formed on the dielectric layer and a cathode is formed on the electrolyte layer. A conductive adhesive layer and cathode terminal are formed on an upper surface of the cathode. The anode lead exposed from the base body is connected to an anode terminal by welding. In addition, a mold resin is formed to cover the second conductive layer, the cathode terminal and the anode terminal so as to expose cathode terminal and an end of anode terminal.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to solid electrolytic capacitors and methods of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of Related Art
Amorphous niobium oxide has received much attention as a dielectric material for next generation high-capacity solid electrolytic capacitors since it has high insulation and a high dielectric constant of about 1.8 times compared with tantalum oxide, which is employed for conventional solid electrolytic capacitors.
In a related art, solid electrolytic capacitors with niobium oxide are often influenced by heat-treatment such as reflow soldering processes. The stability of capacitance is inferior compared with solid electrolytic capacitors that employ other dielectric materials such as tantalum oxide. An improvement in this respect is shown in Japanese Published Unexamined Application No. 11-329902 discloses a solid electrolytic capacitor which has a formed niobium nitride region in the niobium oxide, which is a dielectric.
FIG. 16 shows a sectional view of a representative structure of a conventional rectangular solid-shaped solid electrolytic capacitor. As shown in FIG. 16, a conventional solid electrolytic capacitor 200 has an anode 101, which includes a rectangular solid-shaped base body 101a made of a porous sintered body of niobium powder, and an anode lead 101c with one part buried in the base body 101a.
Dielectric layer 102 is made of amorphous niobium oxide and formed by anodic oxidation on the anode 101 to cover the anode 101. The dielectric layer 102 has a niobium nitride region.
In addition, an electrolyte layer 103 made of polypyrrole is formed on the dielectric layer 102 to cover the dielectric layer 102. On the electrolyte layer 103, a cathode 104 is formed to cover the electrolyte layer 103. The cathode 104 has a first conductive layer 104a made of the carbon paste formed to cover the electrolyte layer 103, and a second conductive layer 104b made of the silver paste formed to cover the first conductive layer 104a.
A conductive adhesive layer 105 is formed on the upper surface of the cathode 104, and a cathode terminal 6 is formed on the conductive adhesive layer 105. An anode lead 101c exposed from the base body 101a is connected to an anode terminal 107 by welding. In addition, a mold resin 108 is formed to cover the second conductive layer 104b, the cathode terminal 106 and the anode terminal 107 so as to expose cathode terminal 106 and an end of anode terminal 107. The solid electrolytic capacitor of related art 200 is composed as above.
As described above, since the niobium nitride region is formed in the dielectric layer 102, the conventional solid electrolytic capacitor 200 is somewhat resistant to heat-treatment process, such as reflow soldering processes. The capacity thus remains can be rather constant during these heat treatment processes.
However, a solid electrolytic capacitor that comprises the niobium oxide with a niobium nitride region as described above, is less resistant to heat treatment process. That is leakage current between the cathode and anode increases after heat-treatment process such as a reflow soldering process.

Solid electrolytic capacitor and method of manufacturing the same


Provided are a pattern formation method and a method for manufacturing a polarizing plate using the pattern formation method, the pattern formation method having: a step for forming, on a substrate, a linear guide pattern which is arranged at a predetermined pitch and is compatible with a portion of block chains of a block copolymer, and a neutral pattern embedded in the pattern of the guide pattern; a step for forming a layer including a block copolymer on the guide pattern and the neutral pattern; a step for heat-treating the layer including the block copolymer and forming a lamellar structure in which lamellar boundaries are arranged perpendicular to the substrate by microphase separation of the block copolymer; and a step for selectively removing a portion of the block chains of the block copolymer and thereby forming a line-and-space-shaped fine pattern having a smaller pitch than the guide pattern.

A polarizing plate is an optical element that absorbs or reflects polarized light in one direction, and allows polarized light in a direction orthogonal to the one direction to be transmitted therethrough. In recent years, in an optical apparatus such as a liquid crystal projector for which heat-resistance is required, a wire grid type inorganic polarizing plate has been employed instead of an organic polarizing plate.
A wire grid type polarizing plate has a configuration in which a plurality of conductive wires extending in one direction are arranged in parallel on a transparent substrate at a pitch (cycle) shorter than a wavelength of light in a use band, and is manufactured by etching a metal film formed on the transparent substrate to form the wires extending in the one direction. Typically, a mask pattern when etching the metal film is formed by a photolithography method or a nanoimprint method. When light is incident to the polarizing plate, polarized light (TE wave (S wave)) having an electric field component parallel to the extension direction of the wires cannot be transmitted and polarized light (TM wave (P wave)) having an electric field component perpendicular to the extension direction of the wires is transmitted as is.
By the way, it is known that optical characteristics (for example, a transmittance) of the wire grid type polarizing plate depend on a pitch of the wires. To improve the optical characteristics of the polarizing plate, it is necessary to narrow the pitch of the wire, and it is predicted that a pitch of 100 nm or less will be required in the future. Therefore, it is also required to narrow the pitch of a mask pattern when etching the metal film in accordance with the pitch of the wires.
However, in a case where a photoresist pattern formed by the photolithography method is set as the mask pattern, a major alteration on a process such as shortening of a wavelength of a light source and employing of an immersion exposure method is necessary to narrow the pitch of the mask pattern. In addition, in a case where a pattern formed by the nanoimprint method is set as the mask pattern, in order to narrow the pitch of the mask pattern, it is necessary to manufacture a mold conforming to the pitch, and thus it is difficult to narrow the pitch.
From the background, in Patent Document 1, it is suggested to form the mask pattern by using a block copolymer capable of forming a lamellar structure by microphase separation when manufacturing the wire grid type polarizing plate.
In a method disclosed in Patent Document 1, first, grooves with a predetermined pitch are formed in a surface of a base body such as a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sheet, and then a metal film is formed on the entire surface of the base body including the bottoms of the grooves. Next, a diblock copolymer composed of an A-polymer chain and a B-polymer chain is applied on the metal film, and a heat treatment is performed. Through the heat treatment, the diblock copolymer is aligned with the grooves in the base body surface set as a guide, and a lamellar structure is formed. Then, the A-polymer chain is removed to form a line-and-space-shaped mask pattern constituted by the B-polymer chain. In addition, the metal film is etched through the mask pattern to form wires, and the mask pattern is removed to obtain a wire grid type polarizing plate.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2008-149447

Pattern formation method and method for manufacturing polarizing plate


A method for providing location dependent information to a user for selective colleague assistance. The method on a Client Wireless Component includes the steps of receiving location data from a plurality of Global Positioning System GPS satellites and transmitting the location data to an Active Calendar Component. The method further includes on an Active Calendar Component the steps of receiving Client Wireless Component location data and determining if within a threshold distance a Colleague item list exists for user completion.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to improvements in the dissemination of useful information. More particularly, the invention is an improved method and system for providing relevant information at a communication point.
2. The Prior Art
Individual and group scheduling applications are known in the prior art. Such scheduling applications display a person's schedule, indicating free and busy times. The schedules of several people may be compared and the common free times displayed. A meeting may therefore be scheduled at a time when all persons can attend.
In many enterprises, organizations, and work groups, members of the aforementioned are responsible for completion of identical or nearly identical tasks. These organizations seek to reduce infrastructure cost by eliminating central support organizations and passing identical tasks down to the individual employee. However, a problem arises in that the dissemination of identical tasks to a plurality of employees leads to a redundancy in effort and a concomitant loss in worker efficiency. As such, there presently exists no tools with which to assist individuals to overcome this problem. Hence, a need exists for a solution to the aforementioned problem. The instant invention satisfies such a need. Further, in addition to the aforementioned, there are several location determining architectures that are well known in the art.
In particular, there exists location tracking architectures available with Wireless Local Area Network or WLAN, Global Positioning System or GPS, badge reader tracking or Radio Frequency Identification tags tracking and generic location tracking devices. First, in the simplest of terms, WLAN is local area networking without wires, providing all the features and benefits of traditional LAN technologies like Ethernet in addition to location tracking. The location tracking used in WLAN includes both determining a location based upon the nearest cell and determining a location based upon a triangulation of the transmission source. Instead of using twisted pair wire, coaxial cable or fiber optics, wireless LANs use radio frequencies to send and transmit data between PCs or other network devices without wires or cables. Wireless LANs "talk" on spread spectrum radio waves which are less susceptible to radio noise and interference and therefore ideal for data communications. There are two types of spread spectrum: direct sequence and frequency hopping. Direct sequence is the only one that supports 11 Megabits per second (Mbps) Ethernet-like speeds.
Second, Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers normally determine their position by computing relative times of arrival of signals transmitted simultaneously from a multiplicity of GPS (or NAVSTAR) satellites. These satellites transmit, as part of their message, both satellite positioning data as well as data on clock timing, so called "ephemeris" data. The GPS location process comprises the searching for and acquiring of GPS signals, reading the ephemeris data for a multiplicity of satellites and computing the location of the receiver from this data. There are two principal functions of GPS receiving systems: (1) computation of the pseudo-ranges to the various GPS satellites, and (2) computation of the position of the receiving platform using these pseudo-ranges, satellite timing and ephemeris data. The pseudo-ranges are simply the time delays measured between the received signal from each satellite and a local clock. The satellite ephemeris and timing data is extracted from the GPS signal once it is acquired and tracked.
Finally, badge reader tracking or Radio Frequency Identification tags tracking, as well as generic location tracking devices are well known in the art and serve today in a variety of fields.

International Business Machines Corporation


The image processing device according to the present invention comprises: a first image acquisition device which acquires a portrait image, a first color conversion processing device which subjects the acquired portrait image to a first color conversion, a second image acquisition device which acquires a non-portrait image relating to the portrait image, a second color conversion processing device which subjects the non-portrait image to a second color conversion that is different from the first color conversion, an image superimposing device which superimposes the portrait image which is subjected to the first color conversion and the non-portrait image which is subjected to the second color conversion, and an image output device which outputs the superimposed image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing device, and more particularly to an image processing device that is capable of superimposing an image in which a human subject(s) is photographed with an image such as a decorative image or a template image.
2. Related Art
An image processing device that superimposes various types of decorative images with a photographic image of a human subject(s) to decorate the photographic image is conventionally known (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-145880). For example, a decorative image can be superimposed on an area that is the background, foreground or contour of the human subject as the photographic subject, and the superimposed image can be printed on seal paper or the like.
In this kind of conventional image processing device, since it is less fun when only the standard decorative images can be used for superimposing, in recent years devices have been provided that enable superimposing of a variety of decorative images. For example, a device is provided which allows a user to freely input handwritten characters or a picture using a pen input device, and then superimposes the handwritten image with a photographic image.

Mutually different color conversion image processing device


The present invention relates to a flame retardant resin composition comprising:                100 parts by weight of a thermoplastic polyamide resin (A),        1 to 100 parts by weight of a phosphazene compound (C), and        a polyphenylene ether-based resin, a polystyrene-based resin or mixture thereof (B) being present in an amount of 10 to 500% by weight based on the weight of said phosphazene compound (C).

The present invention relates to a flame retardant resin composition, and more particularly, it relates to a flame retardant polyamide resin composition which are excellent in flame retardant property, mechanical properties and heat resistance, and free from bleed-out of flame retarder and mold deposits.
Flame retardant polyamide resins reinforced by adding inorganic filler thereto have been extensively used in electric parts such as power breakers, electromagnetic switches, wiring connectors and electric tools because of excellent mechanical properties thereof.
As the reinforced flame retardant polyamide resins, there have been proposed compositions prepared by blending a flame retarder such as halogen compounds, red phosphorus and magnesium hydroxide in the polyamide resin as starting material. A part of these resins have been already put into practice. However, the compositions prepared by blending halogen compounds in the polyamide resin, tend to generate corrosive decomposition gases upon molding, resulting in corrosion of molding machine or mold, or tend to cause environmental pollution due to generation of harmful gases upon incineration thereof. Also, the compositions prepared by blending magnesium hydroxide in the polyamide resin are insufficient in mechanical properties because a large amount of magnesium hydroxide must be added thereto. In addition, the compositions prepared by blending red phosphorus in the polyamide resin tend to generate harmful gases upon molding. Thus, any of the conventional polyamide resin compositions has problems upon practical use.
As flame retardant polyamide resins which are free from the above problems, there have been proposed resin compositions prepared by blending a phosphazene compound as flame retarder in the polyamide resin as starting material (refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 51-34946). However, according to experiments made by the present inventors, it has been found that the phosphazene compound has a poor compatibility with aliphatic polyamide resins and, therefore, suffers from remarkable bleed-out.
Resin magnets prepared by blending a magnetic powder as inorganic filler in a thermoplastic resin as binder are excellent in moldability, mechanical properties and magnetic properties and, therefore, have been widely used in various applications such as motors, audio devices, OA devices, electric or electronic parts or the like. In recent years, these resin magnets have been required to show a flame retardant property for ensuring high safety.
As the thermoplastic resins presently used in the resin magnets, polyamide resins have been most extensively used because of excellent moldability, magnetic properties, mechanical properties and so on. In particular, polyamide 6 has been preferably used for this purpose. However, since the polyamide resins themselves are combustible, the addition of a flame retarder is required for imparting a flame retardant property thereto. Hitherto, as such flame retarders used for imparting a flame retardant property to the polyamide resins, there have been extensively used halogen-based flame retarders containing halogens such as bromine and chlorine. The use of the halogen-based flame retarders, however, not only causes corrosion of molding machines or molds due to generation of corrosive gases upon molding, but also generates harmful substances such as dioxin which cause environmental pollution, upon disposal and incineration of molded products containing the flame retarder.
As a result of the present inventors' earnest studies to solve the above problems, it has been found that these problems can be eliminated by using a polyamide resin composition prepared by blending a specific amount of polyphenylene ether-based resin and/or polystyrene-based resin in a polyamide resin composition containing a phosphazene compound as flame retarder. The present invention has been attained on the basis of the finding.


A lighting apparatus for a vehicle includes a light source and a light pipe. The light pipe has a first end coupled with the light source, a second end, and a side surface extending between the first and second ends for radially emitting light. A carrier surrounds the side surface and includes an opaque portion and a translucent portion. The opaque portion abuts the side surface for preventing light from emitting beyond the side surface. The translucent portion extends adjacent to the opaque portion.

It is becoming more common to provide lighting assemblies on vehicles for specialty lighting or accent lighting, especially on interior surfaces of vehicle passenger compartments. With the inclusion of lighting assemblies on modern vehicles interiors, it is increasingly important for the lighting assemblies and surrounding vehicle components to be designed and assembled to avoid light loss into undesired areas, such as beneath trim panels that may leak light through surrounding seams or other spaces. As specialty and accent lighting is desired in more discrete locations, this problem may be increased.


A method classifies data to determine hidden states of a system, by first randomly permuting the data and inserting client to generate private data. A server classifies the private data according to a hidden Markov model (HMM) to obtain permuted noisy estimates of the states and the chaff, which are returned to the client. The client then removes the chaff, inverts the permuted noisy estimates to obtain unpermuted noisy estimates of the states.

The determination of underlying, unknown or hidden states of a system from noisy observations of the system is a fundamental classification problem relevant to various system diagnostics and data analytics applications.
A classification method that addresses this problem takes as input acquired data, and outputs estimates of the underlying states, or other relevant information regarding the states.
For example, a system may be in either a normal or broken state. In general, there can be many more than two relevant states, e.g., "failure in component X, Y or Z, etc.", and the system can switch between these states over time. These states cannot be directly observed. Instead, only noisy data, that are somehow related to the underlying states, can be acquired. Determining whether the system is operating normally or is broken is a matter of inferring the underlying state from the acquired data.
A model for the noisy data and the unknown temporally-evolving state can be a hidden Markov model (HMM). Parameters of the HMM include statistical distributions describing how the state evolves over time, and how the data are related to the underlying states. Given knowledge of these parameters, the Viterbi classification method outputs a most likely sequence of the underlying states that produced the acquired data. Lacking knowledge of the model parameters can make the design of the classification method significantly more difficult.
In a simple method, a client acquires the noisy data and has a classification method. However, when the client is resource constrained, a server can assists the client in estimating the underlying hidden states. The motivation for such a two-party coordination between the client and the server can be due to asymmetries of information or capabilities of the client and server, e.g., the server may have exclusive information about a system model, better classification methods, and better computational resources. In a case of information asymmetry, it may be that neither the client nor the server alone have full knowledge of the system parameters, and thus the coordination of the two parties may serve to jointly produce a better reconstruction than either could do alone.
Naturally, there may be privacy concerns for both the client and the server in participating in this coordination. The client desires to protect the privacy of the acquired data and the estimated states. The server desires to protect the privacy of its exclusive knowledge of the system parameters and its classifier.

Method for determining hidden states of systems using privacy-preserving distributed data analytics

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.


In a focal point network, adjacent nodes may agree to a relationship where one node (a focal point or server node) supplies network management services to the other node (a non-focal point or served node). A served node forwards management services data to its server node without waiting for any request. There is a risk that the nodes will become configured into a closed loop within which data, once introduced, will circulate endlessly. To eliminate this risk, a loop-detection message is generated when a node acquires a new server node and is itself a server node for other nodes. The message, which includes the originating node's name, is passed from served node to server node. Each node inspects the message. If it does not find its own name, it appends its name to the message and passes it on to its own server node. If the node does find its own name, it generates a loop-detected message that revokes the server/served relationship with the current server node.

The importance of computer networks in day-to-day business operations has become a fact of life for many enterprises. The ability of an enterprise to effectively manage the resources of a computer network becomes increasingly important to the enterprise as its use of the network intensifies and as the network itself becomes larger and more complex.
The need for effective network management is most apparent for a large network consisting of individual computer systems or nodes interconnected through communication links. The topology or configuration of such a network typically changes constantly as nodes and/or links are added or dropped.
Because the network itself changes dynamically, a network manager should be capable of responding dynamically to changes in the network when providing management services. A suitable type of network manager is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,035, issued Feb. 19, 1991, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
According to the teachings of this patent, nodes in a computer network are classified either as: (1) control nodes, called focal point (FP) or server nodes; or (2) managed nodes, called non-focal point (NFP) or served nodes. Focal point or server nodes are nodes capable of providing management services to other nodes in the network. One example of such management services is the reception and handling of Alerts, which are messages indicating an event (typically an error event) occurring somewhere in the network. A network which implements the focal point/non-focal point concept is sometimes referred to as a focal point network even though every node in the network is not necessarily a focal point.
A server/served relationship may be established at the request of either of the two potentially-paired nodes. For example, node A may offer to provide a particular management service to node B. If node B accepts the offer, the server/served relationship is established for the particular management service covered by the offer. Alternatively, node B may ask node A to provide a particular management service. If node A accepts, the same server/served relationship is established.
The server/served relationship can also be described as a nested/nesting relationship. Any node which receives a management service from another node is referred to as a nested node with respect to that service. The node that provides the service is referred to as the nesting node.
For any given service, the same node may act both as a server node and as a served node relative to the different nodes with which it is paired. Thus, a given node A may provide Alerts services to a second node B while concurrently receiving Alerts services from a third node C. In fact an entire chain of nodes can exist where all of the intermediate nodes provide a management service to the next node in the chain while receiving the same service from the previous node in the chain.
Once a server/served relationship is established between two nodes, management service data originating at a served node is forwarded on an unsolicited basis to its server node. If a node which receives such data from an originating node is itself also a served node relative to a different server node, it will also forward the management service data to its own server node. Management service data can propagate along an entire chain of nodes.
Allowing two nodes to decide independently of any other nodes whether one will provide management services to the other provides considerable flexibility in determining by whom and to whom necessary management services will be made available. Unfortunately, it can also lead to problems.
If a node at one end of a chain of nodes contacts or is contacted by the node at the opposite end of the chain, a server/served relationship may be set up between those two nodes without regard to the fact the nodes are at the opposite ends of a chain. If that happens and each of the other nodes in the chain has a particular relationship relative to the other two nodes with which it is paired, a closed or continuous loop will be formed.
Management service data originating at any node in the loop will will automatically be passed around the loop from each served node to its server node. Since there is no "end" to the loop, the same data will eventually return to the originating node and thereafter continue to flow around the loop. It goes without saying that continuous circulation of old data through multiple nodes in a computer network isn't viewed as a productive use of the network's resources.

Loop detection and dissolution in a focal point network


A cooler arrangement for connection to an exhaust gas manifold or to an exhaust gas outlet of an engine block of an internal combustion machine includes an exhaust gas cooler comprising at least one exhaust gas duct and a coolant jacket. The exhaust gas cooler is configured to be mounted at the engine block or at the exhaust gas manifold. An exhaust gas recirculation valve is configured to regulate an exhaust gas flow. An actuator is disposed on a side of the exhaust gas recirculation valve opposite the exhaust gas cooler. The actuator is configured to actuate the exhaust gas recirculation valve. A coolant duct segment is arranged between the exhaust gas manifold or the engine block and the actuator. The coolant duct segment is fluidically connected to the coolant jacket.

For the sake of a simpler assembly and because of their reduced space requirements, exhaust gas cooler modules have been developed in increasing numbers in recent years, wherein an exhaust gas recirculation valve is arranged in a valve housing upstream or downstream of an exhaust gas cooler, the valve housing and the exhaust gas cooler forming a structural unit, by which they are jointly connected directly to the outlet portion of the engine block or of the exhaust gas manifold of the internal combustion engine in order to reduce the number of the conduits needed in the engine compartment.
EP 1 643 097 A1 describes an exhaust gas cooler module wherein a heat exchanger housing is fastened to a flange plate through which the coolant ducts of the housing are connected with the coolant circuit of the internal combustion engine. A valve housing is fastened to the heat exchanger housing via a flange and extends into an exhaust gas inlet region of the heat exchanger that is arranged upstream of the actual cooling path but is nevertheless already formed with cooling ducts that surround the valve housing. This inlet region correspondingly serves to cool the valve body. There is a drawback, however, in that no thermal separation from the actuator is provided, while the housing thereof is still subjected to a high thermal load, especially due to heat radiation from the engine block. Since, however, very high temperatures of about 700° C. prevail at this site, there is a problem, especially when electric controllers are used, of excessive thermal load on the actuator, which may cause both inaccuracies in position control and a failure of the actuator and thus of the valve.
Another cooler module is described in WO 2009/047278 A1 which also comprises an exhaust gas cooler as well as a bypass valve and an exhaust gas recirculation valve, which are connected with the housing of the exhaust gas cooler through a distributor housing. For the cooling of the exhaust gas recirculation valve, the distributor housing comprises coolant ducts. The actuator is arranged on a side of the module remote from the engine block so that a shielding is provided by the distributor housing. This embodiment, however, comes with an increased space requirement in the direction remote from the engine block. Modern internal combustion engines, however, often offer no additional space in that area.


Dry mixes for forming dough and batters are provided comprising homogenous dispersions of glycerine on one or more ingredients in particulate form. The dry mixes are rendered more resistant to microbial growth due to the presence of glycerine. Food products prepared from the dry mixes exhibit several benefits including improved moisture retention and/or increased shelf-life.

The staling of bread is an important issue in the baking industry because it imposes sharp limitations on the shelf life of bread products. To mitigate the impact of staling, special storage and packaging of bread is typically employed, which is costly and can be unattractive to the consumer. Such measures provide moderate improvement in shelf life, but even under optimal storage conditions, such as sealing the bread in a high humidity environment, most bread will begin to stale after only a few days. Improved packaging cannot eliminate staling.
Further, special packaging is not possible for the segment of the industry that desires to offer unpackaged products, including, for example, smaller bakeries which market "fresh baked" products, donut shops which offer their products on racks or the like, as well as retail grocery stores which are increasingly exploiting the market for unpackaged baked goods, such as bread loafs, muffins, bagels, donuts, and cookies. Often, the shelf life of unpackaged bread products is measured in hours and the entire inventory must be discarded and replaced with fresh product one or more times throughout the day. The value of discarded bread products in the United States exceeds $1 billion annually. Therefore, preventing or slowing the staling of bread products will provide a significant economic advantage.
Staling is a complex process involving numerous chemical and physical changes in the bread which have deleterious effects on the taste, texture, aroma, crumb structure, and mouthfeel of the product. While several models have been proposed to explain staling, it may be generally said to arise as a result of starch retrogradation, water loss from the bread, and water migration within the bread.
Water provides the moist mouthfeel characteristic of fresh bread and the loss of even small amounts of water, on the order of 1 or 2 percent, through evaporation has a pronounced negative impact on bread quality and shelf life. Staling may occur even in the absence of net water loss, not only due to starch retrogradation, but also as a result of water migration within the bread. Bread comprises numerous components, such as starch, sugar, fiber, and protein, each of which has a certain affinity for water. In freshly prepared bread, an initial equilibrium condition is established between the available water and each of these components, based in part on their relative binding energies with water molecules. During storage, the equilibrium is perturbed by water loss from the bread and chemical and physical changes within the bread. For example, starch retrogradation profoundly alters the moisture equilibrium, as free water will migrate to the crystalline domains of retrograded starch, where it is tightly held and unavailable to other bread components. Consequently, the starch-gluten network becomes more rigid as less free water is available to act as a plasticizer, resulting in a firmer, less soft crumb.
It is generally not possible to increase the moisture content of bread simply by adding more water to the dough because the dough becomes sticky and unworkable.
Glycerine, also called glycerin or glycerol, is a sweet, colorless, syrupy liquid which is miscible with water. It is generally known to include glycerine in baked goods to improve flavor, texture, color and to increase moistness. See Leffingwell, Georgia and Lesser, Milton A., "Glycerine in Modern Baking Practice," The Bakers Digest, Vol. XIV, No. 12, June 1940, pp. 228-229, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. Leffingwell and Lesser state that "the most important property of glycerine, however, is its natural hygroscopicity, and through this ability to retain and attract moisture is widely employed to maintain the essential freshness of breads and cakes."
In conventional practice, glycerine is incorporated in baked goods at the bowl stage, by which is meant the stage of the dough making process where the solid ingredients are charged into a mixing bowl and water, along with other liquid ingredients, is added. Thus, a precise amount of liquid glycerine must be weighed and transferred to the bowl, a process made difficult or inconvenient by its sticky nature. It is generally preferred in the baking industry, particularly for production on a commercial scale, to handle dry as opposed to liquid ingredients. However, at present, there is not believed to exist a more convenient method of delivering glycerine in the dough making process. What are lacking are compositions for handling, transporting, storing, and using glycerine in a convenient dry, solid form.
The foregoing discussion is presented solely to provide a better understanding of nature of the problem confronting the art and should not be construed in any way as an admission as to prior art nor should the citation of any reference herein be construed as an admission that such reference constitutes "prior art" to the instant application.


A pipe connector assembly which is locked and assembled on a holder after required parts are assembled in sequence on a nut of a pipe connecting device during the process of connecting a joint of a pipe, and a method for connecting a pipe using same are disclosed. A holder can be unlocked from a nut only when a pipe is inserted up to a precise point in an insert hole in a part assembled to a nut for pipe fitting, and the assembly and method can not only ensure the assembled sequence of parts, but can accurately maintain the assembled position of a pipe.

In general, a pipe is widely used for transporting a fluid such as water or oil or a gas. The pipe is manufactured by a uniform standard (length) due to limitations on transporting and handling to be sold.
Therefore, when a section longer than the standard length of the pipe or a curved section is constructed, a pipe connecting device must be used or the pipe must be welded to be connected.
There are various pipe connecting devices for connecting the pipe used for a piping. In particular, a pipe connecting device in which a grip ring is used to prevent a pipe inserted into a connector from escaping is widely used for pipe fitting due to easiness of a connecting work.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a conventional pipe connecting method. FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of FIG. 1. In the conventional pipe connecting method, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a pipe 3 is inserted into a nut 2 including a female screw 2a and, in a state where an O-ring 6, a washer 5, and grip ring 4 are sequentially installed in the pipe 3, the nut 2 is screw combined with a male screw 1a of a piping 1.
Therefore, in a state where the grip ring 4 installed in the pipe 3 is kept close to a first stopper 1b of the piping 1, when a protrusion 2b of the nut 2 compresses the O-ring 6, since external circumferences of the O-ring 6 and the pipe 3 are sealed up to maintain air tightness and the washer 5 pushes the grip ring 4, a grip 4a of the grip ring 4 presses the pipe 3 to perform clamping so that the pipe 3 is not separated from the pipe connecting apparatus. Such an operation is performed until the nut 2 is completely screw tightened to the piping 1.
However, in the conventional pipe connecting method, there are limitations on the grip ring 4 inserted into the pipe 3 maintaining a predetermined insertion (installation) depth. Therefore, when the insertion depth of the grip ring 4 is small, the pipe 3 escapes from the pipe connecting device and, to the contrary, when the insertion depth of the grip ring 4 is large, the nut is tightened in a state where a leading end of the pipe 3 is kept close to a second stopper 1c of the piping when the nut 2 is screw combined with the piping 1 so that the grip ring 4 is damaged, the external circumference of the pipe 3 is scratched by the grip 4a, or a bottle neck phenomenon of the pipe is caused by excessive compression of the O-ring 6 to lead the pipe to escape from the pipe connecting device.
Furthermore, in the conventional pipe connecting method, when a worker makes a mistake or has poor workmanship, an assembly sequence of parts is changed so that the pipe 3 is separated from the pipe connecting device.
Due to the above-described problem, the pipe connector assembly illustrated in FIG. 3 is developed and used.
FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view illustrating a conventional pipe connector assembly. FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view illustrating that a pipe is inserted into an insert hole of parts in a state where a cover is separated from a housing. A first stopper 7a is formed in a housing 7 formed of synthetic resin so that the grip ring 4, the washer 5, and the O-ring 6 are assembled in the order and positions of the grip ring 4, the washer 5, and the O-ring 6 are determined. A second stopper 7b for restricting the insertion depth of the pipe 3 that passes through the grip ring 4, the washer 5, and the O-ring 6 is formed under the first stopper 7a. The grip ring 4, the washer 5, and the O-ring 6 assembled with the housing 7 are protected by a cover 8.
Therefore, in order to perform a connecting work of the pipe, when over 8 is removed from the housing 7 and the pipe 3 to be constructed is pushed to the insert hole of the parts, since the leading end of the pipe 3 is locked on the second stopper 7b and the grip ring 4, the washer 5, and the O-ring 6 are sequentially positioned on the external circumference of the pipe 3, the connecting work of the piping may be performed.

Pipe connector assembly and method for connecting a pipe using the same


An encapsulated electrically and thermally enhanced integrated circuit is disclosed. An integrated-circuit die is attached to a thermally conductive, electrically-insulated substrate. A lead frame having inwardly-extending bonding fingers has the bottom sides thereof attached to the top of the substrate. A contiguous layer of insulating material is bonded to the top sides of the bonding fingers, such that the layer of insulating material peripherally surrounds the integrated-circuit die. A conductive layer of material is then bonded to the top of the insulating layer. A second layer of insulating material followed by a second conductive layer may be bonded on top of the first conductive layer. Electrical connections are made from the integrated-circuit die to the conductive layers surrounding the die. The device is then encapsulated in a plastic material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to integrated circuit manufacturing techniques and particularly to plastic encapsulation techniques for of electrically and thermally enhanced integrated-circuit package designs.
2. Prior Art
Conventional integrated circuit devices are commonly manufactured by attaching an integrated-circuit die to a lead frame. The lead frame includes a centrally located die-attach paddle, upon which the integrated-circuit die is mounted. The lead frame also includes a plurality of conductive leads, the inner ends of which converge at the die-attach paddle. Bonding finger portions at the inner ends of the leads are used to make electrical connections between the integrated-circuit die and the conductive leads of the lead frame. The entire assembly described above is encapsulated in a molded plastic material to form a molded-plastic body.
As semiconductor technologies improve, individual semiconductor circuit devices become smaller, allowing for greater die packing densities and increased operating speeds. However, these advancements present new problems as well. For example, as operating speeds increase, the inductance of the leads of the lead frame causes signal cross-talk and ground bounce. Additionally, as die densities increase, additional heat is produced by the die which can result in decreased operating performance or even failure of the integrated-circuit die.
As the operating speeds of the circuits on an integrated-circuit die increase, the inductance problems become more significant. Inductance can cause the VSS voltage on a ground bus to vary as various devices within the integrated circuit are switched on and off. Inductance in the leads of the integrated circuit and the lead frame can cause the VSS voltage to vary on the ground bus. This variation is referred to as ground bounce and degrades the high speed performance of the integrated circuit.
One technique for reducing inductance is to designate a number of leads or conductors which are connected in parallel. This increases the number of I/O package pins being required.
Another technique for reducing inductance is to use a multilayer printed-circuit substrate. This type of package is extremely expensive due to high manufacturing costs and low production yields for the printed circuit substrate.
A number of techniques have been used to alleviate the problems caused by heat buildup in a densely packed integrated-circuit die. One technique uses a thermally-conductive, electrically-insulated substrate to which the integrated-circuit die is attached. The bottom surface of the die is attached to the top surface of the thermally conductive substrate so that the thermally conductive substrate can transfer heat away from the integrated-circuit die. The thermally-conductive, electrically-insulated substrate is formed, for example, of a material such as alumina nitride. For good thermal operation, the thermally conductive substrates are relatively thick, significantly thicker than the die-attach paddle of a conventional lead frame.
However, because of this increased thickness and bulk of the substrate, the thicker thermally conductive substrates can impede or restrict the flow of the plastic molding compound to certain areas of the mold during encapsulation of the integrated circuit. The plastic molding material flows more freely over the top of the integrated circuit than under the integrated circuit. As a result of differences in flow rates, the air which is forced through the molds by the molding compound may be trapped on the bottom side of a package, which leaves blowholes or voids in the body of the molded package. Consequently, use of the thicker thermally conductive substrates has created moldability problems, such as formation of voids.
Consequently, the need exist for an integrated-circuit package configuration which has improved thermal performance, reduced inductance, and superior moldability characteristics.

Electrically and thermally enhanced integrated-circuit package


A method of manufacturing a heat transfer device includes manipulating the microstructure of a metal alloy to thereby remove one or more chemical components of the alloy to form resultant heat pipe structure having an envelope composed of the precursor metal alloy and a porous wick structure composed of the dealloyed metal. Manipulation of the microstructure may be conducted by selective etching of a substrate composed of a metal or metal alloy using a dealloying process.

Heat pipes are a general class of passive two-phase (liquid/vapor) heat transfer devices used in thermal management for a wide variety of applications and industries. While there are many types of heat pipes, all traditional heat pipes rely on passive liquid transport by capillary action that is generated by a wick structure. Commercially-available wick structures are typically sintered copper powders or copper mesh screens. For certain applications requiring long heat pipe lengths, and/or a thin heat pipe profile, and/or high heat load, and/or low thermal resistance, some heat pipe designs have yielded unsatisfactory results.

Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America, Inc.


A memory system includes a first memory, a second memory, a determining unit, and an accessing unit. The capacity of the second memory is different from the capacity of the first memory. The first and the second memories are virtually partitioned into a first section and a second section. The determining unit determines to which of the first and the second sections an address corresponds, the address being associated with data to be transferred. The accessing unit is coupled to the determining unit and the first and second memories for transferring the data to or from the first memory and a first portion of the second memory when the determining unit determines that the address corresponds to the first section; and for transferring the data to or from a second portion of the second memory when the determining unit determines that the address corresponds to the second section.

This disclosure relates to a memory system, and more particularly, to a memory system comprising memories with different capacities and storing and reading method thereof.
A memory is an essential component of many kinds of electronic devices. In the early days, memories were independently soldered onto an electronic device's main board, or independently plugged into sockets that were soldered onto the main board. This scheme worked fine since electronic devices in the early days did not require much memory space. However, as the requirements of memory space and memory bandwidth increased, the number of memories demanding space on a main board of an electronic device was also increased. To deal with this problem, an idea of integrating a plurality of memories and supporting components into a single apparatus, which is referred to as a memory system, had been proposed.
In a memory system of the related art, memories with equal capacity must be used. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a conventional memory system 100. The memory system 100 includes a memory controller 110, a first memory 120, and a second memory 130. The capacity of the first memory 120 is equal to the capacity of the second memory 130. Both the first memory 120 and the second memory 130 have a data bus width of N and a control and address bus width of M. As for the memory controller 110, since the data buses of the two memories are shunted and the control and address buses of the two memories are shared, the memory controller 110 has a data bus width of 2N and a control and address bus width of M.
Since memories with equal capacity must be used in a memory system, the total capacity of a memory system of the related art does not have flexibility. For example, if a 48 megabytes (MB) capacity is required, it is not allowed to assemble a first memory of 16 MB capacity with a second memory of 32 MB capacity to build a memory system. Instead, two memories each of 32 MB capacity must be used to build the memory system, even though the excess 16 MB of memory space is not required. The cost of the whole memory system is therefore increased.

Memory system comprising memories with different capacities and storing and reading method thereof


A device that includes a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions executable by the processor such that the device is programmed to identify a wearable device and a set of vehicle data from a vehicle. The user device sends a human machine interface (HMI) message to the wearable device. The HMI message is based at least in part on the set of vehicle data.

A wearable device is a computer that is incorporated into items of clothing and/or accessories, e.g., bracelets, pendants, etc., and typically can comfortably be worn on the human body. Generally, wearable devices have some form of communications capability, e.g., Bluetooth or the like, and allow the wearer access to local and global computers via a wired or, usually, a wireless, network. Data input and output capabilities are also features of such devices. Examples of wearable devices include watches, glasses, contact lenses, e-textiles and smart fabrics, headbands, beanies and caps, jewelry such as rings, bracelets, and hearing aid-like devices.

Customizable reporting with a wearable device


A printing apparatus receives a plurality of print jobs containing print data from a host computer connected thereto through a network. The printing apparatus temporarily stores the print job in a storage unit to print the print data. The printing apparatus receives a request to pause or restart printing of a print job, and controls execution of the print job in response to the request. Upon receiving a request to restart a print job being paused, the printing apparatus determines a printing order according to a predetermined condition to print the print job.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional network printers sequentially receive and store a plurality of print jobs, and process the print jobs in the order in which they are received. By assigning a priority to a print job, the print job can be preferentially printed. Besides, a print job can also be paused or restarted. When any print job is specified to be paused, the print job is suspended, and a subsequent print job is printed before the print job. When the restart of printing is specified, the order of print jobs is rearranged according to a predetermined method that varies depending on the type of printer, and the print jobs are printed in the order.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-157098 discloses print-job management device which increases a variation of states upon management of print jobs to improve printer usability. In a printing system structured via a network, a job management device is provided in a printer to manage states of the print jobs according to international standards. In this case, a create control unit is provided in addition to function blocks for processing the print jobs according to the standards. When a user sends an "create" instruction for the print job of which execution is held, the create control unit newly generates a slave job using the print job instructed as a master job, and executes printing of either one of the jobs. At least one of the print jobs is kept in its held state and stored as it is, and a document stored can thereby be repeatedly printed at any time.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-131828 discloses image forming apparatus which controls a process order of a plurality of print jobs which are requested from a plurality of uses. A job control unit acquires job attribute information in a print queue. When the state is a "wait for completion of preceding job" state, the job control unit determines that the print job is not a target for print order control, and acquires job attribute information for a next print job. When the state is not the "wait for completion of preceding job" state, the job control unit determines whether the start of execution is held. If the state is changed to the "wait for completion of preceding job" state or to a "Sprint wait" state, the job control unit acquires job attribute information for a next print job. Furthermore, when the print job subjected to the process of "determination whether to hold the start of execution" is changed to "printing", the job control unit determines that the start of printing process is possible and starts execution. The job control unit repeats the print order control until any print job which is not in the "wait for completion of preceding job" state or in the "print wait" state is detected.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-305928 discloses image forming apparatus which holds a job, with which an error occurs, in the apparatus and can specify restart of the job whenever a user wants it. The image forming apparatus can process a plurality of continuous jobs. The image forming apparatus includes an operation panel, a storage unit, a set-contents management unit that manages various set contents, and a data processing unit. When the printing process is suspended due to an error during printing, the print data from a relevant page to the last page of the job being paused is stored in the storage unit as a print-uncompleted document by entry of an instruction through the operation panel, and the printing process of the relevant job is terminated. By entry of a restart instruction of the document stored in the storage unit, printing of the job interrupted due to the error is restarted from the page where the error has occurred.
In the conventional printers, however, to restart a print job being paused, the execution order of the print job is not considered at all. Therefore, the user does not know when the print job is printed. In another case, the execution order of the print job to be restarted is fixed and cannot be changed.
In recent years, networking of personal computers (PCs) is progressed, and a network-type image forming system is structured in such a manner that an image forming apparatus such as a printer is connected to not only one PC but a plurality of PCs via a network to enable sharing of the printer with the PCs.
The image forming apparatus used in the network-type image forming system incorporates a spooler function, and hence, it is configured to accept a subsequent print job before completion of a preceding print job.
The spooler has a function of temporarily storing print data of a plurality of print jobs received via the network in the image forming apparatus, and a function of managing the printing order of the print jobs. When a subsequent print job is received before the preceding print job is not completed, the subsequent print job is changed to the "print wait" state in the spooler.
Each print job can be provided with an attribute of preferential printing. When the print jobs in which a higher-priority print job and an ordinary print job are mixed are in the print wait state, the higher-priority print job can also be preferentially printed. Moreover, some of the printers have a function of estimating a printing time.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-324471 discloses an image forming apparatus capable of preferentially printing a higher-priority print job and accepting a subsequent print job before completion of a preceding print job. The image forming apparatus includes a setting unit that sets a maximum printing time for each user or each print job; an estimating unit that estimates the time when the print job is received, the time when the process is started, or the amount of time required from start of printing to completion of the printing; and a control unit that controls so as to delay the start of printing of the print job when the time required is shorter than the maximum printing time of the print job. This allows the image forming apparatus to preferentially print the higher-priority print job or to print another print job in parallel or preferentially. In the image forming apparatus, however, if "memory full" occurs in the image forming apparatus when print data of a plurality of print jobs are temporarily stored therein, this causes occurrence of such a state that a subsequent printing process or the like cannot be performed.
The printing process has been performed by image forming apparatuses. Recently, in particular, an increase in printing speed has been demanded of the image forming apparatuses.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-098332 discloses an image forming apparatus capable of continuing facsimile reception without disconnecting a line even if the printer is in the copying operation when the memory full occurs during facsimile reception.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-235769 discloses an image forming apparatus that causes another image forming apparatus connected to a network to form an image when the image forming apparatus has run out of memory.
In the conventional examples, however, to preferentially print an urgent job, the image forming apparatuses can pause a job to cause a subsequent job to be processed before the process of the job, but if the image forming apparatus has run out of storage space due to jobs being paused, a next process cannot be performed.
As for conventional printers for printing print data received, there is known a technology of executing print jobs in the order in which the print data is received. In the technology, once reception of one print data is started, the printer cannot receive another print data until the reception is completed. If a large amount of print data is received or if a print job is paused due to shortage of paper or so, a print job subsequently instructed cannot be printed until a print job previously instructed is completed.
As a printer configured to solve the problems, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-36675 discloses a printer as follows. When a print job is instructed so as to be printed preferentially to the printing process of a print job currently performed, the printer stores print pages created from print data being currently received, and completes the printing process of the print job to be preferentially output, and then prints the print pages stored. In the conventional technology, however, if the print job of which printing has been started is once paused, some printed results are output by the time the print job is paused, and thereafter, a preferentially printed result is output. Therefore, the printed results for one print job cannot continuously be output. This may sometimes lead to a case where the printed result of the user gets mixed with other printed results.
Moreover, because the pause can be instructed for all the print jobs which are in the print wait in a certain printer, if a user is about to pause the printing process, the user may erroneously pause a print job of another user, or another user may erroneously indicate "print restart" or "print pause". These sorts of failures may sometimes happen.
Furthermore, because the operation for printing is required for each print job, if a plurality of print requests are made, instructions to pause the printing and instructions to restart the printing of the print jobs are complicated, which imposes heavy workloads on users.

Printing apparatus and image forming apparatus


A communication apparatus includes an image sensing unit, voice recognition unit, keyword detection unit, auxiliary image selection unit, input image selector switch, and transmission unit. The image sensing unit senses a camera image. The voice recognition unit recognizes a phrase from input voice. The keyword detection unit detects coincidence between a registered keyword and the phrase output from the voice recognition unit. The auxiliary image selection unit selects a specific auxiliary image associated with the registered keyword in response to a coincidence detection output from the keyword detection unit. In response to the coincidence detection output, the input image selector switch selectively outputs one of the camera image output from the image sensing unit and an image containing the auxiliary image output from the auxiliary image selection unit. The transmission unit transmits the input voice and the image output from the input image selector switch. A communication method is also disclosed.

The present invention relates to a communication apparatus and method and, more particularly, to a communication apparatus and method which selectively transmit/receive a sensed camera image and an image containing a specific auxiliary image.
Generally, a speaker who is using a TV phone often looks at only the video image of the other party during the speech communication. In some cases, however, he/she may want to have conversation while seeing auxiliary materials and the like. In, e.g., a video conference, if a presentation is done while showing presentation materials such as concrete charts, the participants can more easily understand the contents. Even in TV phones for home use or in cellular phones, people can much more enjoy in conversation if they can see photographs or maps together with other parties. A conventional video conference system having a function of sending auxiliary materials has a means for transmitting still images in addition to a video image and voice data. Materials are stored in advance as still images such as JPEG and transmitted by a predetermined key operation.
A video conference system using voice recognition saves users from doing such a predetermined key operation. FIG. 13 shows an example of the video conference system.
Referring to FIG. 13, the conventional video conference system includes a transmission apparatus 50 and a reception apparatus 51. The transmission apparatus 50 comprises a voice reception unit 3, an image sensing unit 4 such as a camera, a voice encoder 5 which encodes received voice, and a moving image encoder 6 which encodes a received moving image.
The transmission apparatus 50 also comprises a still image database 52 and a still image encoder 53 which encodes still image data received from the still image database 52. The still image database 52 stores still image data as auxiliary materials to be used in a conference together with voice data as a keyword.
Voice obtained by the voice encoder 5, a moving image obtained by the moving image encoder 6, and still image compressed data obtained by the still image encoder 53 are multiplexed by a multiplexing unit 54 and transmitted to the reception apparatus 51 through a transmission unit 7. The auxiliary images stored in the still image database 52 are transmitted to the reception apparatus 51 in advance.
The reception apparatus 51 comprises a demultiplexing unit 55 which demultiplexes the received multiplexed data into individual compressed data, and a voice decoder 9, moving image decoder 10, and still image decoder 56, which decode the voice, moving image, and still image compressed data. The reception apparatus 51 also comprises a voice recognition unit 58 and a still image database 57.
In the reception apparatus 51, the auxiliary image data received in advance are held in the still image database 57. The keyword is registered in the voice recognition unit 58 and associated with specific still image data in the still image database 57.
During video conference, multiplexed data received through a reception unit 8 is demultiplexed into moving image and voice compressed data by the demultiplexing unit 55. The moving image and voice data are decoded by the moving image decoder 10 and voice decoder 9 and output to a display unit 12 and a voice output unit 11, respectively. Simultaneously, the output data from the voice decoder 9 is input to the voice recognition unit 58. When the recognized voice data coincides with the registered keyword, the result is sent to a data determination unit 59. The data determination unit 59 selects still image data corresponding to the recognized keyword from the still image database 57 so that the selected still image data is displayed on the display unit 12 as an auxiliary image.
With the above arrangement, the device on the other party side can be caused to display the auxiliary image without any specific key operation (e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-355747).
However, in communication using a communication apparatus which displays an image in real time, a communication apparatus and method with higher operability, which allow displaying an auxiliary image other than a main image without taking care to the operability, are demanded.


A convertible utility/camper unit for use in a trailer, truck bed, or other similarly shaped vehicle. The convertible unit is separate from the trailer or truck thereby allowing the convertible unit to be used in virtually any utility trailer or truck. The convertible unit comprises a frame and supports which can be placed in multiple positions to allow the unit to serve as a utility trailer or a camper.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,159,893 and 7,165,779 disclose a convertible combination utility/camper tow trailer. The trailer disclosed in these patents can be used as a utility trailer for hauling camping gear, ATVs, or other camping equipment and then converted into a camper. To allow the trailer to be converted, two sidewall supports are pivotally attached to the frame of the trailer to allow the sidewall supports to be moved between different positions to provide the intended function.

Convertible utility/camper unit for use in trailer or truck bed


The invention relates to an asymmetric Mach Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) having a reduced drive voltage, coupled to a compact low-loss arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) to provide a broader passband with low ripple. The integrated device has a compact stackable design for improved manufacturing yield. Inputs and outputs of the device are disposed in alignment on opposite sides of a silicon chip with the MZI having an opposite curvature to the AWG. To achieve this alignment, waveguide arms of the MZI are crossed without coupling between them before the optical signal is combined and coupled into the AWG.

Increasing the transmission capacity in optical networks requires demultiplexers such as AWG's (also termed waveguide grating router WGR) with wider passband and lower ripple within the passband, particularly since the higher bit-rate signals propagated through the optical networks have wider spectra to be transmitted. Moreover, optical networks using reconfigurable optical add-drop modules (ROADM) have optical signals passing through cascades of demultiplexers and multiplexers. Hence, loss at each stage must be minimized.
AWG "flat-top" designs, where the passband has as broad and flat a shape as possible, have been proposed in the past to widen the passband to expand the transmission characteristics. One example of flat-top AWG's is based on a parabolic horn design, which enables an increase in the 0.5 dB passband to about 50% of the channel spacing, at the expense of some penalty loss.
Other designs have been proposed to improve the passband characteristics with reduced penalty loss, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,680 by Corrado Dragone in the name of AT&T Corp. As shown in FIG. 1, this prior art design 10 includes a first frequency routing element 12 having at least one input port and P output ports, where P>2 coupled to a grating 14. This approach gives a wide passband with significantly reduced insertion loss compared to the parabolic horn design. In one configuration, Dragone discloses a Mach-Zehnder structure 12 coupled to the input of the AWG 14. The MZI 12 is composed of an input Y-branch coupler 16 which splits the optical power equally in two waveguide arms of different lengths 18, 18′, and a 3 dB coupler 20 at the slab 22 interface of the AWG 14. The MZI 12 disclosed has the same curvature as the second grating 14, meaning that the shorter waveguide 18 of the MZI 12 is on the same side as the shorter arm of the grating One inconvenience of this structure is that it cannot be stacked compactly, which reduces the total number of devices one can print on one wafer.
A similar integrated structure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,728,446 by C. R. Doerr in the name of Lucent Technologies Inc. Doerr shows an alternative design 30, seen in FIG. 2, which allows one to stack the MZI-AWG and maximize the number of waveguides. In this layout, the MZI 32 is composed of one Y-branch coupler 34, two waveguide arms of different delays 36, 36′, which are coupled into a full 180 degree coupler 38 which transfers the energy of each arm 36, 36′ into the other arm, and finally a 3 dB coupler 40 at the slab 44 interface of the AWG 42. The 180 degree coupler 38 added in this design allows Doerr to "flip" the curvature of the MZI 32, making the overall layout more compact and stackable. However, the fabrication challenge of realizing a perfect 180 degree coupler that transfers 100% of the light from one arm to the other one across a broad wavelength spectrum is prohibitive. Process variations, wavelength and polarization sensitivity of the coupler can all lead to degraded performance for the overall passband shape in the form of polarization dependent loss (PDL), chromatic dispersion (CD) and polarization mode dispersion (PMD).
A stackable AWG with a broad flat-top passband which overcomes the limitations of the prior art remains highly desirable.

Asymmetric Mach-Zehnder interferometer having a reduced drive voltage coupled to a compact low-loss arrayed waveguide grating


A variable height reservoir system that allows for reliable ink replenishment to an on-carriage pen reservoir from an off-carriage ink reservoir on an as needed basis. The off-carriage reservoirs are mounted on a platform that is actively moved up and down in a vertical motion. A pen cartridge with an internal spring to provide vacuum pressure is intermittently connected to an off-carriage reservoir, by movement of the pen carriage to a refill station for ink replenishment. In the refill station, a valve is engaged into the pen, thus connecting the ink reservoir to the pen cartridge. Using only the vacuum pressure present in the pen cartridge, ink is pulled into the pen from the reservoir. The ink replenishment occurs in a first stage with the reservoir placed very close to the pen cartridge elevation, with only a small offset between the top of the ink reservoir and the pen nozzles. This small offset distance ensures flow of ink into the pen cartridge, and results in acceleration of ink into the pen, decreasing the fill time. The pen can be overfilled, decreasing the pen vacuum pressure such that high print quality will be sacrificed. The reservoir is then lowered which results in a small amount of ink moving back into the reservoir, raising the vacuum pressure into the appropriate range.

A printing system is described in the commonly assigned patent application entitled "CONTINUOUS REFILL OF SPRING BAG RESERVOIR IN AN INK-JET SWATH PRINTER/PLOTTER" which employs off-carriage ink reservoirs connected to on-carriage print cartridges through flexible tubing. The off-carriage reservoirs continuously replenish the supply of ink in the internal reservoirs of the on-carriage print cartridges, and maintain the back pressure in a range which results in high print quality. While this system has many advantages, there are some applications in which the relatively permanent connection of the off-carriage and on-carriage reservoirs via tubing is undesirable.
A new ink delivery system (IDS) for printer/plotters has been developed, wherein the on-carriage spring reservoir of the print cartridge is only intermittently connected to the off-carriage reservoir to "take a gulp" and is then disconnected from the off-carriage reservoir. No tubing permanently connecting the on-carriage and off-carriage elements is needed. The above-referenced related applications, entitled SPACE-EFFICIENT ENCLOSURE SHAPE FOR NESTING TOGETHER A PLURALITY OF REPLACEABLE INK SUPPLY BAGS, PRINTING SYSTEM WITH SINGLE ON/OFF CONTROL VALVE FOR PERIODIC INK REPLENISHMENT OF PRINTHEAD, and APPARATUS FOR PERIODIC AUTOMATED CONNECTION OF INK SUPPLY VALVES WITH MULTIPLE PRINTHEADS, describe certain features of this new ink delivery system.
This invention optimizes the performance of this new off-carriage, take-a-gulp ink delivery system. In this type of IDS, a print cartridge that uses an internal spring to provide vacuum pressure is intermittently connected to an ink reservoir located off the scanning carriage axis. Starting with a "full" print cartridge, the printer will print a variety of plots while monitoring the amount of ink used. After a specified amount of ink has been dispensed, the carriage is moved to a refill station for ink replenishment. In the refill station, a valve is engaged into the print cartridge, thus connecting the ink reservoir to the print cartridge and opening a path for ink to flow freely. Using only the vacuum pressure present in the print cartridge, ink is "pulled" into the print cartridge from the reservoir.
Print cartridge vacuum pressure varies with the amount of ink contained in the print cartridge. Typically, low ink volume relates to high vacuum pressure and high ink volume is associated with low vacuum pressure. The vacuum pressure-ink volume curve exhibits hysteresis, in that a different vacuum pressure is realized in the print cartridge during printing (ink volume reduction) than when refilling (ink volume increase) for a given ink volume. Additionally, the refill vacuum pressure curve contains several relative peaks or "bumps" whereby several ink volumes can yield the same vacuum pressure. This poses a significant problem for this type of self regulating refill system where the flow of ink into the print cartridge stops when the vacuum pressure in the print cartridge is equal to the distance the ink reservoir is offset below the print cartridge. Thus, for a given offset distance, the print cartridge will always refill to the smallest volume that yields a pressure equal to the offset distance. These small "topped-off" refill volumes are unpredictable and often quite small (roughly half the print cartridge reservoir volume), and this is undesirable.

Variable pressure control for ink replenishment of on-carriage print cartridge