There are provided an image processing apparatus and method, which are excellent in speed, quality, and memory amount by appropriately switching a portion to be subjected to extraction of outline vector data and a portion not to be subjected to such extraction on the basis of an input binary image.. For example, whether an input binary image is a character/line image region or a pseudo halftone image region is roughly discriminated in units of predetermined amounts. Only image data determined as character/line image regions is extracted, and outline vector data are extracted from the extracted image data. The extracted outline vector data are stored in a memory. The amount of data stored in the memory is monitored, and when it is determined that the amount of vector data is too large as compared to a given image amount, and the memory overflows, vector smoothing processing including variable magnification processing for a region of interest is suspended, and a binary image subjected to binary SPC processing is selected.

The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and method and, more particularly, to an image processing apparatus and method for converting a binary image and outputting the converted image.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a technique for performing smoothing processing of a binary image on the basis of outline vector information extracted from an outline portion of a binary image obtained in outline smoothing processing of an original image.
The image processing technique according to the present invention can be applied to a resolution conversion technique and a bit-map image smoothing technique in OA equipment such as an electronic file apparatus, a facsimile apparatus, and the like.
The image processing technique according to the present invention can be applied to a resolution conversion technique and smoothing technique in multimedia image processing.
As a conventional resolution conversion technique of a digital binary image in, e.g., a facsimile apparatus, an SPC (Selective Processing Conversion) method, a projection method, and the like have been proposed and used.
The SPC method is a technique for attaining resolution conversion by repetitively using or periodically thinning out certain pixels of an original image a plurality of number of times corresponding to the variable magnification factor of an image (see Matsumoto & Kobayashi, "Examination of Image Quality Evaluation in Facsimile Resolution Conversion", Journal of Image Electronics, Vol. 12, No. 5, pp. 354-362, 1983).
The projection method is a technique for determining the pixel values of a converted image by projecting an original image onto a conversion image surface having a different line density, and binarizing the integrated values of corresponding pixels in the surface on the basis of the threshold value theory (see Arai & Yasuda, "Examination of Facsimile Line Density Conversion", Journal of Image Electronics, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 11-18, 1978).
Furthermore, as the resolution conversion and smoothing technique of a binary image, a smoothing technique which refers to a pixel pattern around the pixel of interest (Imanaka et al., "High-image Quality Conversion of Facsimile Received Image by Smoothing Processing", Preparatory Manuscript for Annual Conference of Society of Image Electronics, No. 18, 1991), or the like has been proposed, and is used in a facsimile apparatus, an electronic file, and various peripheral devices.
However, the resolution conversion method cannot avoid deterioration of image quality since a curved portion of an image becomes a stepwise (zigzag) pattern upon conversion with a large variable magnification factor. On the other hand, the resolution conversion and smoothing technique which refers to a pixel pattern around the pixel of interest can only cope with fixed variable magnification factors such as .times.2, .times.4, and the like of the pixel of interest in the main scanning and sub-scanning directions of an image.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an outline smoothing method for extracting the outline of a black image (when a binary image is defined by white or black pixels) as vector data (to be referred to as "outline vector data" hereinafter) in place of directly processing a binary image in a bit-map format, and performs subsequent processing operations such as variable magnification processing, smoothing processing, and the like for the outline vector data so as to obtain a high-quality image (to be referred to as "outline processing" hereinafter), has been proposed (see Japanese Patent Application No. 3-345062).
When outline vector data is defined by the coordinate data of start and end points, the variable magnification processing can be attained in accordance with the variable magnification factor of the coordinate data. When outline vector data is defined by a difference value (length) of vectors (Japanese Patent Application No. 4-152461), the coordinate values of the origin of a vector loop can be multiplied with the variable magnification factor, and the respective vector difference values can be enlarged/reduced in accordance with the variable magnification factor. Furthermore, the smoothing processing such as isolated point/notch removal, jaggy (zigzag pattern) smoothing, and the like is attained by re-defining outline vectors by pattern matching using, as elements, the lengths and directions of outline vectors near the vector of interest with respect to the vector of interest, to be subjected to smoothing processing, of extracted vectors.
When a processing image includes a pseudo halftone image such as a picture which is not suitable for outline processing, a pseudo halftone region and a character/line image region in the image are discriminated in advance by region discrimination of a binary image, and a final image is synthesized by selecting pixels obtained by the outline smoothing method for the character/line image region, and pixels obtained by the above-mentioned SPC method for the pseudo halftone region, thereby realizing high-image quality resolution conversion.
On the other hand, a method of reducing the memory capacity required for processing and shortening the processing time by executing the outline smoothing method in units of image blocks of a predetermined amount expressed in units of lines in a binary image, e.g., in a stripe pattern (to be referred to as "stripe processing" hereinafter), has been proposed.
When the outline smoothing method is used, a resolution conversion of an image with relatively high quality, which cannot be obtained by the conventional method, can be realized within an arbitrary variable magnification factor range from a small magnification factor to a large magnification factor.
On the other hand, when the conventional outline smoothing processing is executed, a very large number of outline vectors are extracted depending on processing images, and processing such as smoothing processing, binary image reproduction processing, and the like must be performed for a large amount of outline vector data. For this reason, a work memory for storing vector data during processing must have a very large capacity, resulting in a large disadvantage in terms of cost.
Furthermore, it is difficult to integrate a large-capacity memory on an LSI. Even when a system for externally connecting a large-capacity memory to an LSI (e.g., a secondary memory such as a hard disk device) is used, the time required for memory accesses is prolonged, resulting in a low processing speed as a whole.
On the other hand, the work memory can be reduced by the method of dividing an image into stripe patterns and executing processing in units of stripes. However, this method is not necessarily satisfactory, either.


An improved catalytic substrate for use with a can in an automotive exhaust system, the substrate being of the type which is disposed in use in the can, the improvement comprising: an insulation material thermally separating the substrate into a central zone and a tubular outer zone surrounding the central zone, the insulation material, central zone and outer zone collectively defining a modified substrate, the insulation material being adapted such that, in an operating condition, the temperature difference across the insulation material is at least 25° C.

Catalytic converters are widely used in motor vehicle exhaust systems to reduce the toxicity of emissions. In a typical catalytic converter, a substrate takes the form of a porous structure that is coated with catalytic materials. The porous structure is often a ceramic that has been extruded through a die such that a large number of parallel flow channels (cells) are formed. The exhaust gas is expelled by the engine at velocity and is routed to the catalytic converter through an exhaust pipe. The catalytic converter is typically placed in a metal can having a diameter larger than that of the exhaust pipe which is connected to the remainder of the exhaust system by sections of flared pipe called inlet and outlet diffusers.
The interposition of a catalytic converter into the exhaust system can impede gas flow, creating backpressure that can significantly reduce engine power and increase fuel consumption.

Apparatus and method for engine backpressure reduction


There is provided a technique for obtaining a magnetic susceptibility-weighted image in which contrast difference of a tissue of interest and a surrounding tissue can be emphasized regardless of the positional relationship of the B0 direction and the imaging slice. A phase image is converted into a susceptibility map not depending on the B0 direction, and then a weighting image used for weighting is generated by using the susceptibility map. The weighting image to be generated is for emphasizing contrast of a tissue of interest and a surrounding tissue depending on the purpose. Then, by multiplication of the weighting image and an absolute image, a magnetic susceptibility-weighted image in which the magnetic susceptibility difference is emphasized depending on the purpose is obtained.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatuses are diagnostic imaging apparatuses for medical use, which apply a radio frequency magnetic field and a gradient magnetic field to a subject placed in a static magnetic field, measure signals generated from the subject by nuclear magnetic resonance, and form an image from the signals. There are mainly two kinds of MRI apparatuses, i.e., tunnel type apparatuses utilizing a horizontal magnetic field and open type apparatuses utilizing a vertical magnetic field, those of the former type apply a static magnetic field in the direction parallel to the body axis of the subject, and those of the latter type apply a static magnetic field in the direction perpendicular to the body axis of the subject.
With the MRI apparatuses, images can be obtained for arbitrary imaging planes. The imaging planes include those of the three kinds of sections perpendicular to one another, i.e., axial sections dividing the body into a head side and a leg side, coronal sections dividing the body into a belly side and a dorsal side, and sagittal sections dividing the body into a right side and a left side, as well as oblique sections obliquely dividing the body at arbitrary angles.
In MRI apparatuses, in general, a slice gradient magnetic field for specifying an imaging plane, and an excitation pulse for exciting magnetization in the plane (radio frequency magnetic field pulse) are simultaneously applied, and magnetic resonance signals (echoes) generated at the time of convergence of the excited magnetization are obtained. In the above process, in order to impart positional information to the magnetization, a phase encoding gradient magnetic field and a read-out gradient magnetic field perpendicular to each other on the imaging plane are applied during the period from the excitation to acquisition of the signals. The measured echoes are arranged in the k-space having a kx horizontal axis and a ky vertical axis, and subjected to inverse Fourier transform to perform image reconstruction.
Each of the pixel values of the reconstructed image is a complex number consisting of an absolute value and a declination (phase). These absolute value and phase are determined depending on the static magnetic field intensity, direction of the static magnetic field (B0 direction), imaging parameters such as type of imaging sequence, pixel size, and repetition time, magnetization density in the subject, relaxation time (T1, T2), and so forth.
For usual diagnoses, gray-scale images of which pixel values are absolute values (absolute images) are used. The absolute images are advantageous for depiction of tissue structures, and include various kinds of images, such as proton (hydrogen nucleus) density-weighted images, T1-weighted images, T2-weighted images, diffusion-weighted image, and vascular images. On the other hand, gray-scale images of which pixel values are phase values (phase images) are images reflecting spatial distribution of magnetic field intensity. The phase images are frequently used for adjustment of measurement parameters or the like, but are not used for diagnosis so frequently.
However, the SWI (susceptibility-weighted imaging) method based on the fact that the phase images reflect difference of magnetic susceptibility between tissues has been developed in recent years, and actively utilized (refer to, for example, Patent document 1). The SWI method is a technique for image processing, and in this method, weighting is performed for an absolute image by using a phase image. In the images obtained through the image processing according to the SWI method, there are imaged veins, small hemorrhagic lesions, siderotic tissues, and so forth, containing a lot of paramagnetic substances and showing a higher magnetic susceptibility value compared with surrounding tissue.
In the SWI method, a phase mask image as a weighting image in which signal intensities of negative phase regions are reduced is formed first by using a phase image, and an absolute image is multiplied by this phase mask image to form an image in which the negative phase regions are emphasized in black (magnetic susceptibility-weighted image). Further, when the magnetic susceptibility-weighted images are displayed, the minimum intensity projection (minIP) processing is performed for a plurality of continuous magnetic susceptibility-weighted images. The minIP processing is one of the methods for projecting a plurality of images in one image. In the projected image, the minimum pixel value among the corresponding pixel values of the plurality of image to be projected is set as the pixel value for every pixel.
The contrast of the phase images reflects local change of magnetic field caused by the magnetic susceptibility difference between tissues and changes depending on the B0 direction. Therefore, the contrast of the magnetic susceptibility-weighted images generated by the SWI method, which uses a phase image for creation of the weighted images, also changes depending on the B0 direction. For example, it is known that the magnetic susceptibility-weighted images created by the SWI method suffer from a B0 direction dependency, for example, veins in an imaging slice substantially perpendicular to the B0 direction can be emphasized, whereas imaging ability for veins of the other imaging slices, especially an imaging slice parallel to the B0 direction, is reduced (refer to, for example, Patent document 2).

Magnetic resonance imaging device, and method for generating magnetic susceptibility enhanced image


A length of impact absorption material has a configuration including a channel closed at the top and open at the bottom of substantially uniform width of less than one eighth of an inch. The portion of the configuration above and exteriorly adjacent to the top end of the channel is at least a quarter of an inch thick. An interior portion and an exterior portion of the configuration are laterally opposed to each other upon either side of the channel. A length of absorption material possessing this configuration is positioned upon the vertical leg of an L-shaped steel rail of a metal bed frame, which is approximately one tenth of an inch thick, such that the top edge of the rail meets the closed top end of the channel. The top portion and uppermost portion of the exterior portion of the length of absorption material provide cushioning for the top edge of the rail. The exterior portion may extend downward a distance sufficient to cover the outward face of the rail and may also extend at the lower end of the same inward beneath the bottom exterior corner of the rail in order to fully cushion the exposed part of the rail in a bed frame and to better secure the length of absorption material to the rail. Elastomeric material is recommended as is a thickness of the top portion and the uppermost part of the exterior portion of at least three eighths of an inch.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the present invention relates generally to attachments or accessories to beds, more particularly to attachments adapted to cover or protect a rail or frame portion of a bed and most specifically such attachments adapted to provide a cushion for an L-shaped steel rail comprising a portion of a bed frame.
2. General Background
Historically bed frames are considered generally to have been made from wood. The utilization of steel in bed construction was perhaps first known and widely practiced in the manufacture of springs in a box frame which is commonly known as box springs. Head and foot boards, as the terms connote, were and still preferably are, made from wood. Neither box springs nor head nor foot boards, however, are considered to comprise components of a typical, modern, bed frame. Box springs are considered to be separate from a bed frame though typically disposed directly upon the frame, and both head and foot boards, though historically a part of a wooden bed frame, are unnecessary to a steel bed frame which typically lacks both. Brass bed frames, though quite popular earlier in this century, are considered fairly uncommon today and bed frame construction currently is considered to be predominantly in steel despite this practice being relatively recent.
Modern bed frames of steel construction are further considered typified by the use of a pair of L-shaped steel side rails attached proximate either end to a perpendicularly disposed L-shaped steel end rail to which a pair of feet are attached. While both pairs of steel rails are typically constructed from an extruded L-shaped length of steel possessing a corner from which two legs extend perpendicularly, each leg having a longitudinal free edge diagonally parallel to the other, the side rails are invariably oriented upward and the end rails typically oriented downward. Upward and downward in this case is understood to connote the direction of a vertical leg in relation to the corner of the rail with the other leg disposed horizontally.
The side rails are further considered to be necessarily oriented upward in a modern bed frame of typical construction in order to provide, at the minimum of expense in construction, lateral positioning of the box spring disposed therebetween thus ensuring that the box spring remains immobile with respect to the bed frame. The box springs rest upon the upper surface of the horizontal, inward oriented, legs of the side rails and the end rails are attached to the lower surface of the same. The end rails necessarily are oriented downward in this construction with the upper surface of the horizontal legs flush with the lower surface of the horizontal legs of the side rails. The legs, furthermore, are typically attached to the vertical legs of the end rails which, for this reason also, must be oriented downward. This arrangement is considered to be the most economic and the most common construction of bed frames known at present.
It is also noted that, historically, beds commonly possessed greater height than that which is common today. Heat was relatively more expensive in centuries past and sleeping closer to the floor, where it was colder, was undesirable. Today residential ceilings are commonly only nine feet high or less whereas a century ago ceilings were commonly twelve feet high or more. With relatively lower energy costs and newer technology such as central heating and air conditioning, it is more economic to build residential structures with relatively low ceilings and to build beds which are lower to the ground than the equivalent historical structures. A bed construction which is lower to the ground than another construction is more economic to manufacture than the other. Less material is required of the structure of lesser height, obviously, and the structure itself may be made of lighter gauge material since a lower structure of the same gauge material is inherently more stable than the higher structure.


Highly convenient automobile engine starting uses an individual authentication device which utilizes biological information and provides a security function required when starting the engine, while protecting a sensor for receiving the biological information. An engine starting system can comprise an ignition switch for controlling a state of an automobile; a key for changing a state of the ignition switch; a registration key for registering biological information; a switch for starting an engine; a sensor for inputting biological information; a device for storing biological information; a collating unit for collating the inputted biological information with the stored biological information; and a lid for covering the sensor of an authentication device.

In order to start an automobile, a key is inserted into an ignition switch, and then the key is turned. As a result, a state of the automobile is changed, causing an engine to start. At this time, if the key is stolen, if the lock is picked or in other similar cases, there is a possibility that the automobile will be driven by a malicious person or other non-owner of the automobile. A method for starting an automobile having an immobilizer function is described in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-108848. According to this method, only a key in which an IC called a transponder is embedded can start an engine, which prevents lock picking, or use of a copied key. In addition, a method for authenticating an individual, which uses a finger-vein pattern as biological information in order to increase security, is described in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. authentication of an individual using biological information and a key switch are combined is described in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-352245.

Automobile controller using biological information, and system and method which use the automobile controller


An X-ray microscope having an incident X-ray beam (10) from an X-ray source, a first crystal element (14) extending at an angle (.beta.) across the path of the incident X-ray beam (10), a second crystal element (16) extending parallel to the first crystal element (14) and in spaced relationship (22) thereto, a sample (20) in spaced relationship to the second crystal element (16) and downstream thereof relative to the incident X-ray beam, the first and second crystal elements being movable relative to each other and to the incident X-ray beam so that the orientation of atoms in the second crystal element do not match the orientation of atoms in the first crystal element to thereby produce a forward incident X-ray beam (26) in the direction of the original beam (10) and a diffracted X-ray beam (28) at an angle relative to the incident X-ray beam, the forward and diffracted beams being directed onto the sample (20), a forward beam detector (12) for receiving the forward X-ray beam and a diffracted X-ray detector (38) for receiving the diffracted X-ray beam. Aperture elements (32, 36) are provided in front of the detectors (12, 38) for controlling the forward and diffracted beams incident on the detectors.

This invention relates to an X-ray microscope and more particularly to a new type of X-ray microscope using an imaging technique combined with production and control of Moire patterns by X-ray diffraction from crystals. Hereafter referred to as the X-ray Moire microscope (XMM)
X-ray microscopes are described in "X-ray Microscopes", by Malcolm R. Howells, Janos Kirz and David Sayre, Scientific American, Feb. 1991, Vol. 264, pp. 8-94. As stated in this publication, the development of X-ray crystallography early in the twentieth century yielded accurate images of matter at atomic resolution. Subsequently electron microscopes have been developed and provide direct views or viruses and minute surface structures. Another type of microscope utilizing X-rays rather than light or electrons, provides a different way of examining tiny details, and considerably improves on the resolution of optical microscopes. They can also be used to map the distribution of certain chemical elements, form pictures in extremely short times, and have the potential for special capabilities such as 3-dimensional imaging. X-ray microscopy differs from conventional electron microscopy in that specimens can be kept in air and in water, whereby biological samples can be studied under conditions similar to their natural state.
As further described in the above article, imaging X-ray microscopes use focusing optics to form an image magnified a few hundred times, which can then be recorded by a detector of modest resolution. The principle benefit of imaging X-ray microscopes is that the entire sample is illuminated and imaged at once, which permits rapid picture taking thereby combatting blurred images resulting from motion and minimizing radiation damage in biological samples.
FIGS. 1 and 2 from the above article show examples of an imaging X-ray microscope and a scanning X-ray microscope. In FIG. 1, an X-ray beam 100 from an X-ray source (not shown) passes through a condenser zone plate 102 which focuses the beam on a sample 104 held in a sample holder 106. A micro-zone plate 108 magnifies images of the sample on a detector 110. The image field is indicated at 112. Fresnel zone plates serve as condenser 102 and objective 108 X-ray lenses. In the scanning X-ray microscope shown in FIG. 2, X-ray beam 114 from an X-ray source passes through a source pinhole 116 onto a zone plate 118 and then through an aperture 120 onto the sample 122 held in a sample holder with X-Y raster scan 124 and then onto an X-ray counter 126. The focused X-ray beam scans back and forth, top to bottom across the sample. The rays that penetrate at each point are measured using a proportional X-ray counter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,674 shows an X-ray microscope of the type wherein the object is illuminated at least partially coherently by a condenser with quasi-monochromatic X-ray radiation and is imaged enlarged in the image plane by a high-resolution X-ray objective. An element which imparts a phase shift to a preselected order of diffraction of the radiation is arranged in the Fourier plane of the X-ray objective to obtain the highest possible image contrast.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,377 describes an X-ray microscope or telescope having a connected collection of Bragg reflecting planes comprised of either a bent crystal or a synthetic multi-layer structure disposed on and adjacent to a locus determined by a spherical surface, for producing sharp chromatic images of magnification, which may be greater than or less than unity, from radiation within X-ray band widths propagated from X-ray emitting objects.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,001 describes investigating materials by the use of X-rays including a chamber having a wall with an aperture in which is mounted a support substrate composed of a material substantially transparent to X-rays, a first surface on the substrate facing the interior of the chamber and a second surface facing outside the chamber, a metal foil on the first surface having a thickness of less than about 0.1 .mu.m exposed to the interior of the chamber. A beam of electrons is focused within the chamber on the metal foil to a beam diameter of less than about 1,000 .ANG. incident on the metal foil. The specimen outside the chamber is positioned adjacent to the second surface of the substrate, and at least one X-ray detector is positioned to detect X-rays leaving the specimen. The X-ray detector is an energy dispersive type capable of selecting and recording a narrow range of peak energy and energies close to peak energy.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,265 describes a variable magnification variable dispersion glancing incidence X-ray spectroscopic telescope capable of multiple high spatial high revolution imaging at precise spectral lines of solar and stellar X-ray and extreme ultraviolet radiation sources, wherein the spectrum bandpass is readily selectable from a plurality of multi-layer diffraction grating mirrors aft of the primary focus of the primary glancing mirrors on a rotatable carrier, and the magnification and field of view are selectable from a plurality of such carriers, the image being resolved onto one or more X-ray detectors. X-rays of the selected wavelength are reflected and diffracted to produce an overlapping array of images to a detector at the second focus of elliptical diffraction mirrors. Each image corresponds to the emission from the plasma in a single spectral line. The different diffraction grating mirrors on each rotating carrier have the same surface contour, but are coated with multilayer coatings of different multilayer compositions or 2D parameter.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,439,164 describes a method of obtaining X-ray interference patterns using two parallel perfect crystals of the same thickness which exhibit the Borrmann effect, wherein the crystals are oriented so that a monochromatic X-ray beam incident on the first crystal is simultaneously diffracted from two independent sets of planes in the crystal, the two forward diffracted beams are parallel and are directed at a second highly perfect relatively thick crystal whereby four forward diffracted rays are transmitted from the second crystal, two of the four forward diffracted rays transmitted by the second crystal coincide with each other and the phase of the one of the rays incident on the second crystal is varied relative to the other to vary the interference pattern formed by the coincident rays.
Conditions for the formation and observation of X-ray Moire patterns in crystalline systems are discussed in "Main Crystallographic Situations for the Formation of X-ray Moire Patterns", by P. A. Bezirganyan, S. E. Bezirganyan, and A. 0. Aboyan, Phys. Stat. Sol. (a) 126, 41 (1991); "Use of the Ewald Sphere in Aligning Crystal Pairs to Produce X-ray Moire Fringes", by Jay Bradley and A. R. Lang, Acta Cryst. (1968) A 24, 246; and "Dynamic Scattering of X-rays in Crystals" by G. Pinsker, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1978.
The development of X-ray microscopes has faced a number of technology problems and up to the present time it cannot be claimed that all of these problems have been solved.
The established approaches can be placed in one of several categories including scanning microscopes, imaging X-ray microscopes, image converting microscopes, and X-ray holography. Scanning X-ray microscopes, like scanning electron microscopes, use a small probe beam of X-rays to produce a signal. which is recorded as either the probe is scanned across the sample or as the sample is scanned through the beam. The small size of the probe beam can be produced either by a focusing element or by a simple pinhole. Imaging X-ray microscopes are more analogous to conventional optical microscopes in that the sample is uniformly illuminated and imaged onto an area detector or film by a magnifying optical element. Image converting X-ray microscopes involve a simple contact image of the sample being recorded onto a photoresist, with the actual magnification performed by electron micrography of the developed resist. X-ray holography depends upon recording the patter of interference between radiation scattered by the sample and a coherent reference source of X-rays.
The technological limitations for these traditional approaches toward X-ray microscopy involve the difficulties of producing suitable optical elements, detectors, photoresists and sources for the X-ray wavelengths employed. X-rays interact weakly with matter, which is an advantage for many applications, but is a severe disadvantage for producing optical elements. Even producing a pinhole, as required for some scanning microscopes, is difficult in that the material around the pinhole must be thick enough to stop the unwanted portions of the illuminating X-ray beam. Both imaging X-ray microscopes and X-ray holography require position sensitive area detectors whose position resolution is ultimately limited by the volume of material required to completely contain the energy deposited by the X-rays upon detection. Production of coherent beams of X-rays tends to limit the total signal even from the brightest X-ray sources available. In addition to holography, X-ray coherence is required for optimal performance of Fresnel zone plates which are the most successful type of X-ray focussing element demonstrated to date. All of the above problems have been addressed with the most success in the soft X-ray regime, i.e., 100 eV-1000 eV where they are typically less severe than at higher photon energies.
The concept of forming images through mathematical transformation is related to Hadamard Transform Imaging used in X-ray astronomy. A Hadamard transform is analogous to a Fourier transform where the former uses square-wave modulation and the latter uses sine-waves. Computed X-ray tomography is also an is imaging technique that depends upon a mathematical transformation of recorded data (G. K. Sinner, Scientific American 260 (8) (1988) 84; P. J. Treado and M. D. Morris, Anal. Chem. 61 (1989) 723A).
X-ray Moire patterns produced by X-ray diffraction from two or more crystals have been observed on a macroscopic scale. These patterns are used in studies of crystal defects and are observed in X-ray interferometry (J. Bradley and A. R. Lang, Acta Cryst. A 24 (1964) 246., U. Bonse and M. Hart, Z. Phys. 188 (1965) 154).


Technologies are provided for reducing or eliminating transaction consistency anomalies that can occur during data replication, such as during database table replication. For example, commit values can be used to coordinate requests so that the requests are not performed on database tables with inconsistent data.

A database management system (DBMS) may provide for replicating database data among a number of database nodes. For example, replicating database data can improve the performance of the database system. However, replication of database data can lead to different versions of the data being stored at different locations within the database system.
Therefore, there exists ample opportunity for improvement in technologies related to data replication in a DBMS.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Ensuring snapshot monotonicity in asynchronous data replication


In accordance with the teachings described herein, systems and methods are provided for a precision adaptive equalizer. A variable gain equalizer may be used to apply a variable gain to an input signal to generate an equalized output signal. A phase and pattern detector circuit may be coupled in a feedback loop with the variable gain equalizer. The phase and pattern detector circuit may be used to identify a high frequency data pattern in the equalized output signal and compare the high frequency data pattern with a clock signal to detect a high frequency phase error. The phase and pattern detector circuit may be further operable to generate an automatic gain control signal as a function of the high frequency phase error, the automatic gain control signal being fed back to the variable gain equalizer to control the variable gain applied to the input signal.

Standard equalization techniques for adapting a communication signal, such as a video signal, to the channel length are typically coarse in that the applied equalization is dependent upon the input swing or spectrum content. The equalization error that results from such techniques directly translates into jitter. As a rule of thumb, 1 dB of equalization error at a half data rate translates into 0.1UI (unit intervals) of jitter. Process variation adds to the equalization error.


There is provided a test apparatus including a PLL circuit for generating a strobe signal of which the timing is shifted according to a given delay control voltage, a variable delay circuit being provided divergently from a path connecting the PLL circuit and the timing comparator and delaying the strobe signal according to the predetermined phase difference of the strobe signal for the output signal, and a first phase comparing unit for comparing a phase of the strobe signal output from the variable delay circuit and a phase of the output signal output from the device under test and supplying the delay control voltage according to the phase difference to the PLL circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a test apparatus testing a device under test such as a semiconductor circuit, a timing generator provided in the test apparatus, and a program making the test apparatus function.
2. Description of Related Art
When conventionally testing a device under test, there has been a method of inputting a test signal into the device under test and comparing an output signal output from the device under test with an expectation pattern in order to decide the good or bad of the device under test. In this case, the output signal output from the device under test is sampled by means of a strobe signal with a desired phase, and then a sampled result is compared with the expectation pattern. Moreover, in order to measure a waveform of an output signal output from the device under test, there has been a method of sampling the output signal by means of a strobe signal of which a phase for the output signal is changed by degrees.
In this manner, when testing a device under test, it is necessary to generate a strobe signal having a desired phase difference for an output signal output from the device under test. Conventionally, as an apparatus for generating a strobe signal with a desired phase, there has been known a circuit that delays a clock signal by means of a plurality of delay paths having a delay amount different from one another and selects a clock having a desired delay amount among the delay clocks delayed by each delay path to output the selected clock.
Now, since a related patent document is not recognized, the description is omitted.
However, a conventional apparatus has a problem that a circuit scale is large. For this reason, there is expected an apparatus that can generate a strobe signal having a desired phase difference for an output signal by means of a simple circuit configuration.

Test apparatus, timing generator and program therefor


In apparatus and method for controlling a driving force for an automotive vehicle having an internal combustion engine, a slip condition of a driven road wheel is detected, an opening angle of an engine throttle valve so as to control the slip condition of the driven road wheel to a predetermined condition is adjusted, a target opening angle of the throttle valve according to the detected slip condition is derived, the opening angle of the throttle valve is determined, a steady state deviation of an output of the engine developed between the target opening angle of the throttle valve and the actually detected opening angle thereof is derived, and the derived steady state deviation is compensated using another driving force reducing control unit such as an engine control unit used for, for example, cutting off a fuel supply to a determined number of engine cylinders.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for controlling a driving force derived from an internal combustion engine to driven wheels of an automotive vehicle, especially related to the vehicular driving force controlling apparatus and method in which an intake air quantity to the engine is adjusted and a fuel supply to the engine is cut off or reduced so as to control an output of the engine, thus enabling the control of the driving force over each driven road wheel.
When a vehicular driver depresses deeply an accelerator pedal of the vehicle to accelerate the vehicle, such as a rear wheel driven road wheel vehicle, two driven road wheels slip largely than required so that a sufficient acceleration characteristic and a sufficient steering stability cannot be achieved in a case where the vehicle runs on a small (a low) road frictional coefficient which is smaller or lower than the driver's image. The road frictional coefficient is herein after also called .mu.. To avoid such an inconvenience as described above, various types of the driving force controlling apparatuses have been proposed in which a control of a driving torque transmitted to the driven wheels is carried out so that the driving force acted upon between the driven road wheels and the running road surface is in accordance with the road frictional coefficient .mu. so as to suppress the slips on the driven road wheels and so as to assure the acceleration characteristic: of the vehicle and running stability (steering stability) thereof.
There are a variety of objects to be controlled by the above-described driving force controlling apparatus and controlled variables thereof.
One of the driving force controlling means (or apparatuses) includes such means (or apparatuses) arranged for imparting a braking force to the driven road wheels on which a slippage occurs, specifically, for forcefully activating a wheel cylinder (s) of a braking system to control the driving force (hereinafter, also referred to as a braking force control type driving force controlling means (or apparatus). Such a braking force control type driving force controlling means as described above is superior in a responsive characteristic of the driving force control. However, whenever the slippage occurs on the driven road wheels, the wheel cylinder(s) is activated so that such a frictional body as a brake pad or braking shoe is tended to be worn out.
On the other hand, one of the driving force controlling means includes the driving force controlling means arranged for directly controlling an output of the engine mounted in the vehicle, such as controlling an opening angle of an engine throttle valve disposed within an intake air system of the engine (hereinafter, referred also to as a throttle valve opening angle control type driving force controlling means). Such a throttle valve opening angle type driving force controlling means as described above can achieve a smoother driving force control characteristic through the opening angle control of the throttle valve. However, although the throttle valve is rapidly controlled toward a close direction, a rotation inertia that the engine (or whole drive train) has causes an engine revolution speed not to rapidly be reduced. Hence, the braking force caused by an engine braking given from the engine to the driven road wheels, so-called, a back torque has a possibility of not rapidly reducing the slippage on the driven road wheels. Hence, a sufficient driving force control responsive characteristic cannot be achieved.
Hence, the driving force controlling means arranged for forcefully cutting off or reducing a supply of fuel to the engine in which a combustion state of each combustion chamber is electronically controlled so that the back torque described above can largely and speedily be achieved has been proposed.
In such a fuel cutoff type driving force controlling means as described above, the engine has a plurality of cylinders and is electronically controlled so that a fuel injection for each of the cylinders can individually and independently be controlled. In this case, a slip rate of a driven road wheel velocity (speed) with respect to a target driven road wheel velocity is derived, the number of the cylinders to be fuel supply cutoff is set according to the slip rate, i.e., a desired reduction quantity of the driving force (torque), and the fuel supply is cut off for the set numbers of the cylinders (hereinafter, also referred to as a fuel cutoff) so that the large and speedily back torque causes the suppression or elimination of the slippage on the driven road wheels.
It is noted that, in the above-described type driving force controlling means, the target driven road wheel velocity when the vehicle runs steadily at a vehicle speed higher than a certain vehicle speed is set to a non-driven road wheel speed (hereinafter, simply referred to as a non-driven road wheel velocity). In a case where the vehicle starts, in other words, where the vehicle speed is equal to or below a certain predetermined vehicle speed value, the target driven wheel velocity is set to a predetermined value previously set.
Suppose that both of, for example, the throttle valve opening angle control type driving force controlling means and the fuel supply cutoff type driving force controlling means are installed in the vehicle together in order to compensate for the mutual inconveniences. Since the throttle valve opening angle controlling means is inferior in the response characteristic of the driving force control, the fuel supply cutoff type driving force control, the fuel supply cutoff type driving force controlling means is efficiently acted upon during a start of control to reduce the driving force but thereafter the throttle valve opening angle control type driving force controlling means effectively achieves a smooth driving force characteristic.
Hence, for example, the fuel supply cutoff type driving force controlling means, the number of cylinders for the fuel supply to be cut off are, for example, set in the fuel supply cutoff type driving force controlling means from a proportional component to the slip rate and a differential component having a phase advance with respect to the proportional component. In the other throttle valve opening angle control type driving force controlling means, when a close variable of the throttle valve is, for example, set from a proportional component to the slip rate and an integral component having a phase lag with respect to the proportional component, for example, in order to effectively activate the respective characteristics of both control type driving force controlling means, the differential component of the former may be enlarged, i.e., a differential gain may be enlarged and the integral component, i. e., an integral gain may be enlarged.
In details, in a case where the vehicle runs on a low .mu. road surface having a low frictional coefficient state (simply referred to as a low frictional coefficient state (simply referred to as a low .mu.) between the road surface and each road wheel such as a normal snow road or a steady-state slip occurs on the driven road wheels during a relatively smooth start and acceleration. If even in this state of the steady state slip occurrence, the fuel supply cutoff is carried out, the driving force to the driven road wheels becomes too small so that a sufficient acceleration cannot be achieved. Therefore, in the fuel supply cutoff type driving force controlling means according to the proportional-integral control form, for example, the proportional gain is to a certain degree reduced and if the slip on the driven wheels is converged to some degree, the fuel supply is not cut off or is carried out by a slight quantity and a minute adjustment of the slip rate thereafter is rested on the throttle valve opening angle control type driving force controlling means.
On the other hand, when, in the throttle valve opening angle control type driving force controlling means, both of the throttle valve whose opening angle is adjusted according to a depression of the accelerator pedal and a throttle valve whose opening angle is controlled by means of the throttle valve opening angle control type driving force controlling means are used simultaneously and both are interlocked with each other via the throttle valve, the accelerator pedal is independently moved with no intention (depressed or released) against an intention of the vehicular driver when the driving force controlling means causes the throttle valve to be opened or closed. Or in a case where both accelerator pedal and the throttle valve opening angle control type driving force controlling means are not: interlocked, it is difficult to make the opening angle of the throttle valve which has been controlled by means of the driving force controlling means coincident with the opening angle which is in accordance with a depression angle (rate) of the accelerator pedal.
Therefore, a second throttle valve whose opening angle is adjustable by means of an actuator such as a DC motor or so on (hereinafter, also referred to as a sub throttle valve) is serially and independently installed in the throttle chamber of the engine intake air system with a first throttle valve whose opening angle is adjusted by means of the accelerator pedal (hereinafter, also referred to as a main throttle valve) so that the opening angle of the sub throttle valve is controlled by means of the throttle valve opening angle control type driving force controlling means.
On the other hand, in a case where, in so-called an engine cold state (wherein a temperature of the whole engine is not raised up to a steady state and, hence, a temperature of an engine coolant is not sufficiently raised), a viscosity of an engine lubricant in the engine, i.e., the engine oil is high, a frictional loss (friction loss) of an engine revolution force is large due to the high viscosity resistance. Hence, if is necessary for the engine not to be stalled in order to increase an engine idling speed for the engine to be stopped. In a vehicle in which the combustion state of the engine is electronically controlled, the engine coolant temperature is detected, the opening angle of an idling valve or a combustion state of the engine is managed or adjusted according to -the detected engine coolant temperature so that a fuel rate or percentage in a air-fuel mixture ratio is enlarged to secure a required idling speed.
Hence, as described above, in a case where the main throttle valve and the sub throttle valve are installed together in series with each other, it is necessary to install a mechanical full close stopper on the sub throttle valve so as to provide a clearance through which the intake air flows in the intake air system in order to secure the required intake air quantity to maintain the idling speed at the engine cold state even if the sub throttle valve is at least fully closed.
It is herein defined that the opening angle of the sub throttle valve which corresponds to the clearance through which the intake air quantity passes includes the actual opening angle of the sub throttle valve.
Then, when both means play different roles such that the fuel supply is cut off by the fuel supply cut off type driving force controlling means only when the driving force control is started and thereafter opening angle control of the sub throttle valve is carried out by the throttle valve opening angle control type driving force opening angle control type driving force controlling means, a large slip occurs immediately on the driven road wheels when the vehicle starts on an extremely low .mu. road surface on which the frictional coefficient between the driven road wheels and road surface is extremely low such as a frozen road. To cope with the large slippage, even if the fuel supply cutoff control type driving force controlling means carried out the fuel supply cutoff, the slippage on the driven road wheels is not sufficiently decreased. In this case, the throttle valve opening angle control type driving force controlling means would output a full close command to the throttle valve (especially, the sub throttle valve).
However, the fuel supply cutoff type driving force controlling means which carries out the fuel supply cutoff to the engine only during the increase in the slippage with the differential gain increased as described above does not carry out the fuel supply cutoff or reduction by the slight quantity even if although the slippage on the driven road wheels is not increased any more, the slippage of the driven road wheels itself is not converged into a predetermined state. In addition, since the intake air is sucked into the engine even if the sub throttle valve is fully closed (actually, although the full close command is outputted, the sub throttle valve is not fully closed), a steady state deviation occurs between the engine output under a virtual sub throttle valve fully closed state used in a calculation processing and the actual engine output, It is natural that the actual engine output is larger.
Hence, the steady state deviation of the engine output, i.e., the driving force corresponding to the steady state deviation of the engine output developed between the target opening angle of the sub throttle valve and actual opening angle thereof is continued to be applied to the driven road wheels. In addition, in a case where the road surface on which the vehicle is to start is the extremely low .mu. road surface, the slip is further tended to be difficult to be converged.
This problem may be applied equally well to the case wherein in the driving force controlling apparatus in which both of the throttle valve opening angle control type driving force controlling means and braking force control type driving force controlling means are used simultaneously, the braking force control type driving force controlling means applies to the braking force to the driven road wheels only during an earlier stage of the vehicle start.

Apparatus and method for controlling driving force derived from internal combustion engine to road wheel of automotive vehicle


The technical task of the present invention is to provide a lead-free glass for semiconductor encapsulation, which is easy to automate an appearance inspection, and furthermore, has excellent refinability and encapsulatability of semiconductor devices. In the lead-free glass for semiconductor encapsulation according to the present invention, a temperature at which the viscosity of glass is 106 dPa·s is 670° C. or lower, and, as a glass composition, the content of CeO2 is from 0.01 to 6% by mass, and the content of Sb2O3 is 0.1% by mass or less.

Semiconductor devices, such as thermistors, diodes and LEDs, require an air-tight encapsulation. In the past, a lead glass has been used for air-tightly encapsulating semiconductor devices, but recently, a lead-free glass has also been known, which is introduced in Patent Document 1 or 2. For a glass used for a semiconductor encapsulation, a glass raw material is melt in a melting furnace to form the molten glass in a tube shape, and then, the obtained glass tube is cut to a length of about 2 mm, and washed to produce a short glass tube which is referred to as a bead. Subsequently, by an inspection, the glass tube with defects or cracks are removed, and then shipped. Further, in an assembly of a diode, there is a case where the glass is exposed to an acidic plating solution or a flux in order for terminal treatment.
For the glass for semiconductor encapsulation, the following characteristics are required: (1) to be able to encapsulate semiconductor devices at a low temperature which does not deteriorate them, (2) to have a thermal expansion coefficient corresponding to the thermal expansion coefficients of metallic wires which input and output signals to and from semiconductor devices as well as the semiconductor devices, in order to ensure a reliable adhesion, (3) to have a sufficiently high adhesion between the glass and metal wires, (4) to have a high volume resistivity, (5) to have a sufficiently high chemical resistance, and the like.

Lead-free glass for semiconductor encapsulation


A ceramic honeycomb filter comprising a ceramic honeycomb structure having porous partition walls defining a plurality of flow paths, and plugs disposed inside the flow paths such that an exhaust gas passes through pores of the porous partition walls, thereby removing particulates from the exhaust gas; a catalyst being carried at least partially on the partition walls and/or the plugs; and at least one of plugs on the side of exhaust gas inlets being disposed at a position separate from the inlet-side opening ends of the flow paths. Particulates are removed from the exhaust gas by injecting unburned fuel and/or hydrocarbon in a gaseous state upstream of the inlet-side plugs to maintain at least part of the inlet-side plugs and their downstream regions at a temperature substantially equal to or higher than the lowest activation temperature of the catalyst.

Recently, ceramic honeycomb filters comprising ceramic honeycomb structures with a plurality of flow paths sealed alternately at both ends have been finding applications in removing particulates containing carbon as a main component from exhaust gases from diesel engines. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a porous ceramic honeycomb filter 1, which is usually substantially cylindrical or elliptical, comprises (a) a porous ceramic honeycomb structure 10 comprising an outer wall 20, and porous partition walls 30 disposed inside the outer wall 20, with a large number of flow paths 40 encircled by the outer wall 20 and the porous partition walls 30 or by the adjacent porous partition walls 30, and (b) plugs 50, 52 for alternately sealing the inlet-side opening ends 12 and the outlet-side opening ends 13 of the flow paths 40.
An exhaust gas-cleaning mechanism in the honeycomb filter 1 is shown in FIG. 4. Because the plugs 52 are disposed at the outlet-side opening ends 13 of the flow paths 40, an exhaust gas (shown by the black arrow 90) flowing into flow paths 41 open at the inlet-side opening end 12 of the honeycomb filter 1 passes through the pores of the partition walls 30, and is discharged from flow paths 43 open at the adjacent outlet-side opening end 13 (shown by the white arrow 92). At this time, particulates contained in the exhaust gas are captured in the pores of the partition walls 30, resulting in the cleaning of the exhaust gas. When particulates captured in the pores exceed a predetermined amount, the clogging of the pores takes place, causing the pressure loss of the honeycomb filter 1 to increase and thus resulting in decrease in an engine output.
When the pores are clogged, the supply of an exhaust gas to the honeycomb filter 1 is stopped, and the captured particulates are burned by a burner or an electric heater to regenerate the honeycomb filter 1. In a case where particulates are burned and removed by a burner or an electric heater, the larger the amount of particulates captured, the more difficult it is to uniformly control the temperature in the honeycomb filter 1. Particularly in portions in which particulates are accumulated in a high concentration, the temperature of the honeycomb filter 1 is likely elevated, the honeycomb filter 1 is highly likely to be broken by thermal stress generated by the burning of particulates. In some cases, the temperature of the honeycomb filter 1 is elevated to the melting point of a ceramic material forming the partition walls 30 or higher, so that the partition walls 30 are broken or melted. On the other hand, if the highest temperature of the honeycomb filter 1 were suppressed to avoid breakage and melting, the regenerated honeycomb filter 1 would fail to have sufficiently low pressure loss because of the cinders of particulates.
JP 3-68210 B discloses an exhaust gas-cleaning structure for easily regenerating a honeycomb filter, comprising a honeycomb structure having a large number of cells, plugs for alternately sealing the inlet and outlet sides of each cell, a shell covering the honeycomb structure and having exhaust gas inlet and outlet, and a heating means disposed on the inlet side of the honeycomb structure in the shell, the plugs on the inlet side being disposed inside the inlet-side opening ends of the cells, and the plugs on the outlet side being disposed at the outlet-side opening ends of the cells. This exhaust gas-cleaning structure has a space between the inlet-side plugs and the outlet-side opening ends of the cells, and a large amount of particulates are attached to the partition walls of the cells facing the space. Accordingly, heat generated by the heating means disposed at the inlet-side cell opening ends is effectively conducted downstream, making it easy to burn particulates in a downstream region.
However, in the honeycomb filter of JP 3-68210 B, because the heating means is disposed only on the inlet side of the cells, it is difficult to uniformly control the temperature inside the honeycomb filter long in a flow path direction from the inlet side to the outlet side. Accordingly, as the amount of particulates increases, the temperature locally becomes too high due to heat generation by the burning of particulates, making it likely that the honeycomb structure is broken and melted. Also, the control of the heating means should be conducted precisely, resulting in a high energy cost, which in turn makes the overall exhaust gas-cleaning apparatus expensive.
JP 7-106290 B discloses a filter for particulates in a diesel exhaust gas, which comprises a catalyst comprising a platinum-group metal and an alkaline earth metal oxide, which is carried on the surfaces of partition walls, the burning start temperature of particulates being lowered by the action of the catalyst to continuously remove the particulates. This filter can be continuously regenerated even at such low temperatures as the exhaust gas temperatures of diesel engines, thereby preventing the clogging of the filter by particulates.
However, this filter cannot prevent pressure loss increase due to clogging by particulates in some cases. The reason therefor is that because driving continues at an exhaust gas temperature lower than about 300° C., which is the lower limit of the activation temperature of a catalyst carried on the filter, in a low-speed driving environment like a big city, the burning of particulates by the catalyst is less likely to be conducted well.
To solve such problems, JP 2002-122015 A discloses a method for cleaning an exhaust gas by capturing particulates in an exhaust gas by a catalyst-regenerable filter disposed in the middle of an exhaust pipe in which an exhaust gas from a diesel engine flows and burning and removing particulates accumulated in the filter, comprising injecting a fuel inside a filter region upstream of the plugs at the start of the diesel engine; igniting the fuel to elevate the temperature in the filter to a temperature substantially equal to or higher than the lowest activation temperature of the catalyst; and injecting a fuel into a filter region upstream of the plugs without ignition during the subsequent stationary operation, thereby causing heat generation by an oxidation reaction of the fuel on the catalyst, to maintain the temperature in the filter to a temperature substantially equal to or higher than the lowest activation temperature of the catalyst. The catalyst is always kept in a stably active state by the oxidation reaction of the fuel without regard to the operation conditions of the diesel engine, so that particulates captured in the filter are continuously burned. However, even this exhaust gas-cleaning method is likely to fail to prevent the filter from prematurely suffering from pressure loss increase by clogging by particulates.

Ceramic honeycomb filter and exhaust gas-cleaning method


A method of testing an optical network with an optical time-domain reflectometer includes determining a reference power of the optical time-domain reflectometer based on a power level of a reflected light pulse reflected from an optical reflector. After determining the reference power, the method includes connecting the optical time-domain reflectometer to one end of the optical network and connecting the optical reflector to an opposite end of the optical network. The method also includes determining a return power through the optical network based on a power level of a reflected light pulse reflected through the optical network from the optical reflector to the optical time-domain reflectometer. The method further includes determining a loss of the optical network based on the reference power and the return power.

Testing of fiber optic cables and fiber optic networks generally requires multiple steps with different hardware, e.g., test instruments, used in different steps. Generally, a loss test is performed with a separate light source and power meter in one step and a map or trace of the fiber optic cable or network is captured with an optical time-domain reflectometer in another step.
Light source power meter methods are generally known and utilized in the fiber optics industry to measure the insertion losses of the optical fibers in fiber optic cables. Typically, a fiber optic cable, network, or other system under test may be connected between two test cables. One test cable is connected to a light source, and the other test cable is connected to a power meter. Light is transmitted from the light source through the test cables and fiber optic cable to the power meter, and the loss in an optical fiber of the fiber optic cable is determined based on the measured power at the power meter and the power measured by referencing the light source to the power meter directly.
A fiber optic network can be as short as a few meters or as long as tens of kilometers. Monitoring both ends, particularly, of multi kilometer fiber optic networks typically requires at least two people, as well as additional time and expenses associated therewith.
An optical time-domain reflectometer ("OTDR" or "device") is typically connected to one end of an optical system (e.g., cable, network, etc.) under test and transmits pulsed light signals along the fiber. The optical time-domain reflectometer records reflected light as a function of time, called an OTDR trace or simply a trace. The trace is used by software to detect reflections, e.g., fiber backscattering of the pulsed light signals due to discontinuities or intensity changes within the optical system, such as connectors, breaks, splices, splitters, or bends in the optical fiber, generally called events. The optical time-domain reflectometer analyzes the detected reflected light signal with respect to time in order to locate such events along the length of the optical fiber. The results of such analysis may be output as a table of events of the optical system.
Further, optical time-domain reflectometers may be used to measure end-to-end loss of the optical system by comparing fiber backscatter levels at both ends. However, conventional methods of using an optical time-domain reflectometer to measure loss depend on the accuracy of the fiber backscatter coefficients. Therefore, conventional OTDR methods are less accurate than measuring loss using a separate light source and power meter on opposite ends of the optical system. Thus, as mentioned, complete and accurate testing of an optical system generally requires multiple steps with different test instruments used in different steps, e.g., loss testing with a light source and power meter and event tracing with an optical time-domain reflectometer.
Moreover, an OTDR trace captured on one side of the network is not a complete representation of the network under test. When light is transmitted from one section of fiber to another section, the trace can reflect the loss in addition to a backscatter coefficient of each section. To determine the true loss, an OTDR trace captured from opposite directions is needed. The true loss can then be calculated by averaging the values of the two different losses captured from both directions. However, and as previously described, this is typically more time consuming and expensive and requires people positioned at opposite ends of the network.
The use of separate test instruments or repetitive measurements is time consuming, cumbersome, and may result in damage to the optical connector on the fiber span under test and/or the test port optical connector.
Integrated versions of the two previously described methods use optical multiplexers to connect different test hardware sequentially in order to avoid manual switching of different test instruments. As previously noted, this requires at least two people to complete the job—a first person at a first end of the optical system and a second person at a second end of the optical system.
Accordingly, improved testing devices and methods for optical fibers are desired. In particular, testing devices and methods that reduce or eliminate the requirement for multiple separate instruments, that eliminate the necessity of a second person, and that thus reduce the associated time and risk involved in such testing, would be advantageous.

Optical time-domain reflectometers and related methods


An optical instrument comprises a control section for driving a lens group in an optical axis direction, a first position detection section for detecting an absolute position of the lens group, a second position detection section for detecting a relative position of the lens group, and a storage section for storing first data corresponding to output of the second position detection section corresponding to a specified position, and second data corresponding to a target position, wherein, the control section acquires output of the second position detection section, at a point when a specified variation has occurred, as third data, calculates a stop target position based on the first data and the third data and executes a stop operation for the lens group to stop the lens group, and corrects output of the second position detection section in a state, based on the second data, and the stop target position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical instrument having a lens group, and capable of driving this lens group in an optical axis direction, and to a control method for an optical instrument.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an optical instrument having a photographing lens etc., it has been proposed to carry out positional control of a lens group by controlling a lens group with an actuator instead of a cam tube etc. For example, Japanese Patent laid-open No. 2007-286225 (hereafter referred to as patent publication 1) discloses providing a plurality of photosensors for a single lens group in order to carry out position control of the lens group, and determining a specific position of the lens group based on output of these photosensors.

Optical instrument, and control method for optical instrument


Methods and apparatus for extending discharge over-current trip time in a battery protection circuit are disclosed. The protection circuit includes a safety circuit that asserts a first discharge over-current indicator when the discharge current of the battery exceeds a first discharge over-current threshold corresponding to a sustained over-current limit, a delay circuit that applies an added delay to the assertion of the first discharge over-current indicator, and a short circuit detection circuit that asserts a second discharge over-current indicator, with no delay added, when the discharge current exceeds a second discharge over-current threshold corresponding to a cell-specific peak output current limit. The battery protection circuit includes a logic circuit configured to assert a discharge over-current control signal to disable the battery responsive to assertion of the first discharge over-current indicator or the second discharge over-current indicator.

Feature rich portable electronic devices, including portable communication devices, require ever increasing amounts of energy from batteries in terms of higher peak load currents and higher average load currents. For example, radios have evolved from simple analog devices with peak transmission power demands to multifunction computing systems in which different software-controlled modes have different peak current demands. When multiple radio functions or modes are enabled on a radio at the same time, this can lead to radio load current levels greater than the load current at which a battery protection circuit in the radio will trip and disable the battery. For example, the battery protection circuit may trip and disable the battery in response to brief spikes in the load current or in response to increases in the load current of a longer duration. The radio may be restricted in terms of power consumption or current consumption to satisfy compliance with one or more safety standards, including Appareils destinés à être utilisés en ATmosphères EXplosibles (ATEX), Underwriters Laboratories (UL), and International Electrotechnical Commission System for Certification to Standards Relating to Equipment for Use in Explosive Atmospheres (IECEx), or to avoid damaging the battery or the radio due to over-charge, over-discharge, or over-current conditions.
Designing batteries and battery protection circuits to meet standards such as the IEC 60950-1 requirements for limited power source (LPS) developed and published by the International Electrotechnical Commission, tends to limit power delivery. One requirement specifies that an output current exceeding 8 amps cannot be sustained for over five seconds. Another requirement specifies that the peak output power cannot ever exceed 100VA for over five seconds. For a battery with a maximum output voltage of 8.4 Volts, the peak output current limit corresponding to the 100VA peak output power limit would be 11.9 amps. The lower of the two limits apply. When these limits are exceeded, the battery must be disabled to prevent damage to the battery and to the load. Some portable devices can detect these conditions and take actions to reduce the output current below the specified limits, such as by disabling certain functions. However, these actions can take more time than is available given the relatively short discharge over-current trip delays in existing battery protection circuits.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by suitable symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.


A portable device and a key hit area adjustment method are provided. The portable device includes a touch screen and a processor coupled with the touch screen. The touch screen is configured to display an input method editor comprising a plurality of virtual keys. The processor is configured to detect an input event triggered via the input method editor and adjust key hit areas of the virtual keys in response to the input event. The key hit area adjustment method is applied to the portable device to implement the aforesaid operations.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable device and a key hit area adjustment method thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to a portable device comprising a touch screen, which dynamically adjusts key hit areas of an input method editor displayed on the touch screen, and a key hit area adjustment method thereof.
2. Descriptions of the Related Art
Various portable devices (e.g., conventional mobile phones, smart phones, notebook computers, tablet computers, etc.) have become indispensable to everyday lives of modern people. Almost all portable device manufacturers have tried to design portable devices to keep up with consumer needs. Among these designs, combining touch screens with portable devices has been regarded as a requirement for people over recent years.
Touch screens may be integrated with portable devices to sense touch or the proximity of the users' fingers or touch objects (e.g., styluses) so that users can interact with portable devices via the touch screens. Due to the integration, conventional physical input keypads have been gradually replaced by various input method editors displayed on the touch screens, of which an example is the software keypad/keyboard (also known as the "screen keypad/keyboard").
In general, an input method editor displayed on a touch screen may comprise a plurality of virtual keys with fixed key hit areas to represent different characters, symbols, numbers, etc., or provide some specific functions. Nonetheless, various conditions such as different typing habits, different parallaxes, different finger sizes, different postures of holding a portable device, etc., make a problem that a virtual key which a user want to touch on is not actually touched by the user. In other words, these conditions make a deviation of the positions where the user actually touches and the user want to touch.
In view of this, efforts still have to be made in the art to provide a solution to the problem of mistyping on an input method editor displayed on a touch screen.

Portable device and key hit area adjustment method thereof


A knock sensor employs a piezoelectric element and includes a ring-shaped weight which has a chamfered surface portion formed at an inner peripheral edge of the weight. The knock sensor basically comprises a housing which includes a disc-shaped flange portion and a cylinder portion covered with an insulating tube. A lower lead plate, the piezoelectric element, an upper lead plate, an insulating sheet, a weight, a disc spring, and a nut are stacked on the flange portion and disposed around the cylinder portion in the order of mention. The nut is tightly screwed to the external thread portion of the cylinder portion to fixedly sandwich the stacked parts with the flange portion of the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in a knock sensor which detects vibrations of a cylinder block of an internal combustion engine by means of a piezoelectric element.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, to increase a compression ratio of a gasoline engine effectively improves a thermal efficiency of the engine although an octane number of gasoline, which is measure of the anti-knock properties, limits this improvement of the thermal efficiency. In case of a turbo-charged engine, it is important to effectively operate the engine so as not to generate knocking. Therefore, a knocking control system is employed in such a turbo-charged engine so as to maintain the high compression ratio of the engine as possible. Such a knocking control system is arranged to detect vibrations of an engine block by means of a knock sensor and to delay a spark timing of the engine if the knock sensor detects a knocking of the engine. The knock sensor employed in the knocking control system is generally arranged as shown in FIG. 11.
A knock sensor 1 shown in FIG. 11 comprises a cover portion 2 including a connector portion 2A. A housing 3 is constituted by a disc shaped flange portion 3A and a cylinder portion 3B which extends from a center portion of the flange portion 3A in the direction perpendicular to a surface of the flange portion 3A. An external thread portion 3C is formed at an upper portion of the cylinder portion 3B. An upper groove portion 3D is formed at an upper end portion of the cylinder portion 3B and at a portion located in the vicinity of an upper end of the external thread portion 3C. A lower groove portion 3E including three flange portions is formed at an outer periphery of the flange portion 3A. The upper and lower groove portions 3D and 3E are engaged with the cover portion 2 and function to prevent water from entering into an inside space of the cover member 2.
An insulating tube 2 made of a heat-shrinkable material is set at an outer periphery of the cylinder portion 3B. An end of the insulating tube 4 is in contact with the flange portion 3A, and the other end of the insulating tube 4 extends to a center portion of the cylinder portion 3B and in the vicinity of an upper end of the external thread portion 3C. The insulating tube 4 is fittingly connected with the cylinder portion 3B by heating it after installed on the cylinder portion 3b. The insulating tube 4 functions to insulate the cylinder portion 3B from a lower lead plate 5, an piezoelectric element 6, an upper lead plate 7 and a weight.
The lower lead plate 5 made of conductive metal is formed into a ring-shaped disc having a center hole. The lower lead plate 5 is constituted by a disc portion 5A, an arm portion 5B outwardly projecting from an outer periphery of the disc portion 5A, and a terminal portion 5c welded to the arm portion 5B. The lower lead plate 5 is set to be in contact with a lower surface of the piezoelectric element 6 under the assembled condition.
The ring-shaped piezoelectric element 6 is set around the cylinder portion 3B of the housing 3 so as to be in contact with the lower lead plate 5 set on the upper surface of the flange portion 3A. The piezoelectric element 6 is made of piezoelectric material such as lead titanate. The piezoelectric element 6 is, for example, constituted by d33-element which has a characteristic that the directions of a strain axis, a polarization axis, and a signal axis correspond with respect to the axis of the element 6. That is, the piezoelectric element 6 generates a voltage signal corresponding to the oscillating pressure applied in the axial direction thereof.
The upper lead plate 7 made of conductive metal is formed into a ring-shaped disc having a center hole. The upper lead plate 7 is constituted by a disc portion 7A, an arm portion 7B outwardly projecting from an outer periphery of the disc portion 7A, and a terminal portion 7C welded to the arm portion 7B. The upper lead plate 7 is set to be in contact with an upper surface of the piezoelectric element 6 under the assembled condition.
An insulating sheet 8 made of insulating resin is formed into a ring-shaped disc having a center hole. The insulating sheet 8 is installed to the cylinder portion 3B of the housing 3 to be located on an upper surface of the upper lead plate 7 so as to insulate the upper lead plate 7 from the weight 9. The weight 9 made of metal such as steel is formed into a ring-shape or short cylinder and is installed to the cylinder portion 3B of the housing 3 to be located on the insulating sheet 8. The weight 9 together with a disc spring 10 and a nut 11 function to apply a pre-load to the piezoelectric element 6. The disc spring 10 is formed, for example, into an initially coned disc spring or wave washer. The disc spring 10 is installed around the cylinder portion 3B so as to be located on the weight 9. The nut 11 is screwed with the external thread portion 3C of the housing 3. By screwing the nut 11 with the external thread portion 3C, the lower lead plate 5, the piezoelectric element 5, the upper lead plate 7, the insulating sheet 8, the weight 9 and the disc spring 10 are fixed with the housing 3 so that the pre-load is applied to the piezoelectric element 6 through the disc spring 10 and the weight 9. The nut 11 is tightly screwed to the external thread portion 3C of the cylinder portion 3B so as to fixedly sandwich the lower lead plate 5, the piezoelectric element 6, the upper lead plate 7, the insulating sheet 8, the weight 9 and the disc spring 10 between the nut 11 and the flange portion 3A of the housing 3. A resistor for picking up a voltage has a resistance value 560 k.OMEGA. and is installed between the upper and lower lead plate 5 and 7.
The procedure for producing the knock sensor 1 is executed as follow:
(1) The cylinder portion 3B of the housing is covered with the insulating tube 4.
(2) The lower lead plate 5, the piezoelectric element 6, the upper lead plate 7, the insulating sheet 8, and the weight 9 are, in turn, installed to the cylinder portion 3B of the housing 3.
(3) Upon installing the disc spring 10 on the weight 9, the nut 11 is screwed with the external thread portion 3C of the housing 3.
(4) The assembled elements are covered with the cover portion 2 by means of a resin molding. Simultaneously, the connector portion 2A of the cover portion 2 is integrally formed with the cover portion 2 so that the terminal portions 5C and 7C project at the connector portion 2A.
The knock sensor 1 constructed as mentioned above is installed to a cylinder block of the engine by inserting a bolt to the cylinder portion 3B of the housing 3 to detect knocking vibrations of the engine.
However, the conventional knock sensor 1 yet has a possibility to generate the insulation defective thereof even if the insulating tube 4 and insulating sheet 8 are provided therein.


An electrorheological fluid composition comprising a dispersion of disperse-phase particles formed of a sulfonated polymer possessing aromatic rings substituted with sulfonic acid groups in an electrically non-conducting oil which electrorheological fluid is characterized by the fact that the number of sulfonic acid groups in said sulfonated polymer forming said disperse-phase particles exceeds the number of aromatic rings present in said sulfonated polymer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrorheological fluid compositions. More particularly, it relates to electrorheological fluid compositions which excel in electrorheological properties in the presence of an electric field as manifested in the phenomenon of generating a large shear stress in response to even a relatively weak electric field applied thereto and consequently causing the current density existent therein to remain at a depressed level during the presence of the large shear stress, also excel in the ability to stabilize the high shear stress and the low current density enough to defy the effect of aging, and find utility in devices of all types operatable with electrorheological fluids such as, for example, actuators for transmission of torque represented by clutches and brakes and actuators for regulation represented by engine mounts, dampers, and valves, and in ink of electrorheological fluid for ink jet system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The electrotheological fluid is a fluid which is obtained by dispersing and suspending disperse-phase particles of a varying solid substance, for example, in an electrically non-conducting oil and which has rheological properties or properties of flow thereof transformed by increasing electric field strength into visco-plastic properties. Generally, it has been known as a fluid which manifests the so-called Winslow effect, namely the effect of notably gaining in viscosity and inducing a large shear stress in response to an external electric field applied thereto. Since the Winslow effect is characterized in that the viscosity of the electrorheological fluid can be freely controlled with an electric signal and the control can be attained at an extremely high response speed, attempts are being made to adapt electrorheological fluids for use in actuators such as clutches, brakes, engine mounts, dampers, and valves and in ink of electrorheological fluid for ink jet system.
Heretofore, as electrorheological fluids, those products which are obtained by dispersing solid particles such as of cellulose, starch, soybean casein, silica gel, a polystyrenic ion-exchange resin, and a cross-linked polyacrylate in electrically nonconducting oils such as silicone oil, chlorinated biphenyl, and transformer oil have been known to the art.
The electrorheological fluids which use cellulose, starch, and soybean casein as a disperse-phase, however, have a problem of deficiency in the shear stress to be generated in response to an electric field applied thereto. The electrorheological fluids which use a cross-linked polyacrylate as a disperse-phase have a problem of inability to induce a practically sufficient shear stress in response to application of a relatively weak electric field thereto.
The electrorheological fluids which use an ion-exchange resin of the form of an alkali metal salt of polystyrenesulfonic acid, one of the polystyrenic ion-exchange resins, as a disperse-phase derive a large shear stress from application of even a relatively weak electric field. They nevertheless have a problem of large growth of the current density existent therein and deficiency in the ability to stabilize the generated shear stress and current density enough to resist the effect of aging.
The present invention is directed to solving the problems encountered by the conventional electrorheological fluids as described above.
An object of this invention, therefore, is to provide an electrotheological fluid composition which excels in electrorheological properties in the presence of an electric field as manifested in the phenomenon of generating a large shear stress in response to even a relatively weak electric field applied thereto and consequently causing the current density existent therein to remain at a depressed level during the presence of the large shear stress and further excels in the ability to stabilize the generated large shear stress and low current density enough to defy the effect of aging.


Different sized features in the array and in the periphery of an integrated circuit are patterned on a substrate in a single step. In particular, a mixed pattern, combining two separately formed patterns, is formed on a single mask layer and then transferred to the underlying substrate. The first of the separately formed patterns is formed by pitch multiplication and the second of the separately formed patterns is formed by conventional photolithography. The first of the separately formed patterns includes lines that are below the resolution of the photolithographic process used to form the second of the separately formed patterns. These lines are made by forming a pattern on photoresist and then etching that pattern into an amorphous carbon layer. Sidewall pacers having widths less than the widths of the un-etched parts of the amorphous carbon are formed on the sidewalls of the amorphous carbon. The amorphous carbon is then removed, leaving behind the sidewall spacers as a mask pattern. Thus, the spacers form a mask having feature sizes less than the resolution of the photolithography process used to form the pattern on the photoresist. A protective material is deposited around the spacers. The spacers are further protected using a hard mask and then photoresist is formed and patterned over the hard mask. The photoresist pattern is transferred through the hard mask to the protective material. The pattern made out by the spacers and the temporary material is then transferred to an underlying amorphous carbon hard mask layer. The pattern, having features of difference sizes, is then transferred to the underlying substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to integrated circuit fabrication and, more particularly, to masking techniques.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a consequence of many factors, including demand for increased portability, computing power, memory capacity and energy efficiency in modern electronics, integrated circuits are continuously being reduced in size. To facilitate this size reduction, the sizes of the constituent features, such as electrical devices and interconnect line widths, that form the integrated circuits are also constantly being decreased.
The trend of decreasing feature size is evident, for example, in memory circuits or devices such as dynamic random access memories (DRAMs), static random access memories (SRAMs), ferroelectric (FE) memories, etc. To take one example, DRAM typically comprises millions of identical circuit elements, known as memory cells. In its most general form, a memory cell typically consists of two electrical devices: a storage capacitor and an access field effect transistor. Each memory cell is an addressable location that can store one bit (binary digit) of data. A bit can be written to a cell through the transistor and read by sensing charge on the storage electrode from the reference electrode side. By decreasing the sizes of constituent electrical devices and the conducting lines that access then, the sizes of the memory devices incorporating these features can be decreased. Additionally, storage capacities can be increased by fitting more memory cells into the memory devices.
The continual reduction in feature sizes places ever greater demands on techniques used to form the features. For example, photolithography is commonly used to pattern features, such as conductive lines, on a substrate. The concept of pitch can be used to describe the size of these features. Pitch is defined as the distance between an identical point in two neighboring features. These features are typically defined by spacings between adjacent features, which are typically filled by a material, such as an insulator. As a result, pitch can be viewed as the sum of the width of a feature and of the width of the space separating that feature from a neighboring feature. Due to factors such as optics and light or radiation wavelength, however, photolithography techniques each have a minimum pitch below which a particular photolithographic technique cannot reliably form features. Thus, the minimum pitch of a photolithographic technique can limit feature size reduction.
Pitch doubling is one method proposed for extending the capabilities of photolithographic techniques beyond their minimum pitch. Such a method is illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1F and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,328,810, issued to Lowrey et al., the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. With reference to FIG. 1A, photolithography is first used to form a pattern of lines 10 in a photoresist layer overlying a layer 20 of an expendable material and a substrate 30. As shown in FIG. 1B, the pattern is then transferred by an etch step (preferably anisotropic) to the layer 20, forming placeholders, or mandrels, 40. The photoresist lines 10 can be stripped and the mandrels 40 can be isotropically etched to increase the distance between neighboring mandrels 40, as shown in FIG. 1C. A layer 50 of material is subsequently deposited over the mandrels 40, as shown in FIG. 1D. Spacers 60, i.e., material extending or originally formed extending from sidewalls of another material, are then formed on the sides of the mandrels 40 by preferentially etching the spacer material from the horizontal surfaces 70 and 80 in a directional spacer etch, as shown in FIG. 1E. The remaining mandrels 40 are then removed, leaving behind only the spacers 60, which together act as a mask for patterning, as shown in FIG. 1F. Thus, where a given pitch formerly included a pattern defining one feature and one space, the same width now includes two features and two spaces defined by the spacers 60. As a result, the smallest feature size possible with a photolithographic technique is effectively decreased.
It will be appreciated that while the pitch is actually halved in the example above, this reduction in pitch is conventionally referred to as pitch "doubling," or, more generally, pitch "multiplication." That is, conventionally "multiplication" of pitch by a certain factor actually involves reducing the pitch by that factor. The conventional terminology is retained herein.
Because the layer 50 of spacer material typically has a single thickness 90 (see FIGS. 1D and 1E) and because the sizes of the features formed by the spacers 60 usually corresponds to that thickness 90, pitch doubling typically produces features of only one width. Circuits, however, often employ features of different sizes. For example, random access memory circuits typically contain arrays of memory cells and logic circuits in the so-called "periphery." In the arrays, the memory cells are typically connected by conductive lines and, in the periphery, the conductive lines typically contact landing pads for connecting arrays to logic. Peripheral features such as landing pads, however, can be larger than the conductive lines. In addition, periphery electrical devices such as transistors can be larger than electrical devices in the array. Moreover, even if peripheral features can be formed with the same pitch as the array, the flexibility required to define circuits will typically not be possible using a single mask, particularly if the patterns are limited to those that can be formed along the sidewalls of patterned photoresist.
Some proposed methods for forming patterns at the periphery and at the array involve etching a pattern into the array region of a substrate and into periphery of the substrate separately. Thus, a pattern in the array is first formed and transferred to the substrate using one mask and then another pattern in the periphery is formed and separately transferred to the substrate using another mask. Because such methods form patterns using different masks at different locations on a substrate, they are limited in their ability to form features that require overlapping patterns, such as when a landing pad overlaps an interconnect line, and yet a third mask may be necessitated to "stitch" two separate patterns with interconnects. Additionally, such a third mask would face even greater challenges with respect to mask alignment due to the fine features defined by the pitch multiplication technique.
Accordingly, there is a need for methods of forming features of different sizes, especially where the features require different overlapping patterns and especially in conjunction with pitch multiplication.

Method for integrated circuit fabrication using pitch multiplication