The present invention relates to a method and device for performing automatic gain control. The method comprises predicting an AGC setting to be used based on statistical data with respect to a plurality of previously stored AGC settings. The method also comprises receiving an interference signal during an idle time period using the predicted AGC setting. The method further comprises detecting received power of the interference signal. The method additionally comprises adjusting the predicted AGC setting based on a result of the detecting. With the method and device of the present invention, an initial AGC setting with high accuracy and usability can be obtained and the glitch effect can be overcome.

Receivers for wireless communications, which may be incorporated into a base station (BS) or a user equipment (UE), and the like and operate in accordance with multiple standards, are generally equipped with an AGC function, as depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2, which respectively illustrate schematic block diagrams of an analogy part 10 and a digital part 20 of a receiver for performing AGC.
The processing chain of the analogy part 10, among other things, includes a radio frequency (RF) filter, a controllable attenuator, an intermediate frequency (IF) filter, a variable gain amplifier (VGA), an IF mixer, an anti-aliasing (AA) filter, and an analog to digital converter (ADC). Upon completion of the processing of the analogy part 10 of the receiver, the received signal would come into the processing of the digital part 20 of the receiver. As illustrated, having been subjected to the processing of the analog part 10, the resulting digital signal enters into the digital part 20, in which in addition to the conventional processing including a fast fourier transform (FFT) decoding, and Eb/I0 reading, the power level of the received signal would be measured by a power meter and then compared with a number of predefined thresholds. Then the receiver would apply the AGC setting resulting from the digital part 20 to the analogy part 10, as illustrated in FIG. 1 by a dashed line, based on the result of the comparison of the measured power level with the predefined thresholds.
The AGC is advantageously used to ensure that the signal received by the receiver should be processed at a suitable signal level (e.g., suitable signal power) by correspondingly adjusting the gain of the receiver in response to varying input signal levels. For example, the AGC scales the received signal such that the signal can be represented by a limited number of bits for digital processing without significant loss of information. The receiver gain determined by the AGC should be large enough to minimize quantization noise. In the meantime, the AGC should ensure that the power of the scaled signal does not exceed a maximum range of the digital processing, i.e., the digital part 20 does not get saturated.
FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of active periods and deactivate periods of the above-discussed AGC in a time division duplex (TDD) frame. As seen from FIG. 3, during the time interval including time periods of a subframe #2 and a subframe #3, which are scheduled to transmit on the uplink (UL), the AGC keeps active. In other words, during the reception period in which a BS plays a role as a receiving party, the AGC retains active mode unchanged. In contrast, during the time interval including time periods of a subframe #4 and a subframe #5, which are scheduled to transmit on the downlink (DL), and a special subframe, which includes a DwPTS part, a guard period (GP) part, and an UpPTS part, the AGC keeps deactivated. That is, the AGC retains deactivate mode unchanged during the transmission period of the BS.
Simply put, in the UL subframes, the AGC function is continuously active based on the instantly detected received power level while in the DL subframe and special subframe, the AGC function is deactivated and determines a constant receiver gain setting so as to keep the receiver gain unchanged or maximize achievable attenuation.
In the UL subframe, when the received power level reaches one of multiple predefined thresholds, such as those illustrated in FIG. 2, the AGC would be trigged and thus the gain setting of the receiver would be updated. In other words, different received power levels may trigger multiple AGC states when comparing with the predefined threshold. Due to different states, the receiver gain would be correspondingly set to a different gain setting.
In view of the foregoing discussions made with respect to FIGS. 1-3, it can be understood that the current AGC is a complete passive protection method for received high power level interference and is only triggered by incoming high power level interference, resulting in some drawbacks as discussed below.
First, the AGC reaction needs extra reaction time to update the gain setting in the receiver and this reaction time may occupy the normal receiving time periods, thereby adversely impacting the normal receiving operations.
Second, the rapid changes in the signal level and phase will generate spurious effects (also known as "glitch") during transitions through different gain/attenuation paths in the receiver when the AGC changes the receiver gain setting, which is shown in FIG. 4, which is a schematic illustration of glitches upon AGC gain changes (decrement or incensement) or receiver gain setting changes. During the glitch period, as depicted by "tglitch_dur," the normal receiving operations cannot be properly performed and the processing in the baseband will be affected in a negative way. The glitch suppression method implemented in the common signal processing is to simply insert zero data instead of the samples affected by the glitch. Generally, the AGC needs extra time to re-stabilize the receiver gain after the interference signal injects into the receiver. Lots of glitches spread in time can cause receiver efficiency to decrease rapidly and impact throughput seriously. In worst case, wireless communications could be temporarily interrupted or may even break down.
For instance, in a TDD communication system in which the UL subframes are not continuous, the proportion of wasted UL time period resources is higher than what is in the FDD system due to the glitch and consequently the glitch impact to system performance becomes more critical in complex application scenarios.
In particular, in the TDD system, all possible UL/DL subframe configurations are exemplarily shown in table 1.
TABLE 1DL to ULUL-DLswitch point Subframe numberconfigurationperiod012345678905 msDSUUUDSUUU15 msDSUUDDSUUD25 msDSUDDDSUDD310 ms DSUUUDDDDD410 ms DSUUDDDDDD510 ms DSUDDDDDDD65 msDSUUUDSUUD
It can be considered that configuration 5 is the worst case from an AGC point of view because it merely has one UL subframe (i.e., subframe 2). In all else subframe time intervals of 9 ms (1 ms per subframe), instant interferences are complex and changeable. Due to this, the AGC setting in the last UL subframe almost cannot be a correct reference for AGC setting in the next UL subframe. At the same time, due to lack of UL resource for AGC detection, correct recovery of normal receiving takes rather longer time. In the TDD mode, it takes time duration of more than one orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol for AGC gain convergence, which results in a significant glitch effect.
There are proposed some existing solutions for addressing some drawbacks in the AGC. For example, in the paper entitled "A Fast Automatic Gain Control Scheme for 3GPP LTE TDD System" in Vehicular Technology Conference Fall (VTC 2010-Fall), 2010 IEEE 72nd, a fast AGC circuit is proposed, wherein an average signal amplitude ratio of the received sample signal is applied after the ADC to trigger the AGC, in order to avoid large signal power variation. The problem with this solution is that the average signal amplitude ratio could bring about a risk of instant burst interference, which cannot be detected by the AGC function and it needs a total new digital architecture, which is not a common and easy design. Further, in the U.S. Pat. No. 8,144,634B2, entitled "reducing automatic gain control process in time division duplex communication mode," the noise level detected in the DwPTS or GP part of a special subframe is proved to be used as input of the AGC setting in the next UL subframe. The problem associated with this patent is that an additional hardware circuit is needed for detection of the noise level so as to build a new AGC feature and extra ADC and digital resources are requisite for processing the detected noise signal. It would be more challenged to achieve high accuracy of noise detection circuit with low cost and the noise detection circuit with high accuracy would incur more undesirable hardware cost and consume more potential resources.

Method and device for performing automatic gain control


Secure erase of files and unallocated sectors on storage media such that any previous data is non-recoverable. The database contains sets of data patterns used to overwrite the data on different physical media. The software programs manage the overwriting process automatically when a file has been deleted. When de-allocated sectors in the file system are pruned from a file or escaped the file deletion process also finds them. Data will never be found on deleted sectors or on pruned sectors is overwritten.

There has long existed a basic need for rendering old, expired, or sensitive data unreadable by forensic methodologies. Businesses routinely reformat and/or carry out other actions, such that externally attached disk drives and other storage media such that sensitive data can not be read by persons who should not have access to that data. Over the years several schemes have been designed to thwart attempts to recover data from storage devices where the files have been deleted and in some cases where the storage device itself has been reformatted. However, it is believed that it is still possible to recover sensitive classified and business data from such a hard drive.
Typical methods of rendering data residing on storage devices unreadable involve writing different patterns over the old data. While this would seem to render the older data unrecoverable, it often is not the case. Different physical media types often do not completely switch the magnetic state of bits of the old data when written over. Sophisticated recovery techniques, therefore, can still obtain the data that has been "deleted" in this way.
Generally the types of utilities that attempt to render data unrecoverable require the user to explicitly execute the program and to name the file to be security wiped or erased. Other utilities are launched on a scheduled basis and are driven by script files. Still other methodologies are in place to allow IT departments and administrators to decide when and what behavior the security erase programs are to exhibit.

Security erase of a delete file and of sectors not currently assigned to a file


A fire extinguishing access port includes a port and nozzle assembly where the nozzle has a plurality of radial outlets defining a pattern of dispersal for a fire extinguishing agent. According to a presently preferred embodiment, the port and nozzle assembly is dimensioned to be mounted in an existing mounting hole (e.g. a switch mounting hole) of an aircraft electrical panel with the nozzle residing in the rear of the panel and the port residing on the front of the panel. A plurality of different nozzles are provided for different electrical panels, each nozzle having a different pattern of dispersal. A fire extinguisher access port kit includes a plurality of threaded nozzles, each with different dispersal patterns, a plurality of threaded ports which mate with the nozzles, and a plurality of different length threaded tubes which mate with the nozzles and the ports. According to the presently preferred embodiment, the nozzles are provided with a plurality if radial slots which deflect the flow of fire extinguishing agent substantially perpendicular to the direction of entry through the port. This provides excellent dispersal of fire extinguishing agent throughout the electrical compartment and also provides two unexpected advantages, prevents foreign objects from passing through the port and potentially causing a short circuit, and eliminates the possibility of blowback.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to fire extinguishing equipment. More particularly, the invention relates to a nozzle assembly adapted to be mounted in an aircraft electrical panel so that a fire extinguishing agent can be dispersed behind the panel.
2. State of the Art
Electrical fires are a well known hazard in aviation. These fires often start behind fuse panels or switch panels. One of the chief difficulties in dealing with such fires is the difficulty in getting access to the space behind the panel.
Several prior art devices have addressed this problem by providing various kinds of xe2x80x9caccess portsxe2x80x9d through which a fire extinguishing agent may be introduced. These access ports generally include a hole or a pipe with a flapper valve to prevent dirt from entering behind the panel .when the port is not in use. The hole or pipe is dimensioned to allow the nozzle of a hand operated fire extinguisher to fit through.
The state of the art fire access ports have several disadvantages. First, the flapper valves are less than fully effective in preventing foreign objects from entering behind the electrical panel. Second, they only provide for limited dispersion of the fire extinguishing agent. Third, they allow xe2x80x9cblowbackxe2x80x9d. Blowback occurs when fire extinguishing agent hits the back wall of an electrical panel and is deflected back out the port into the cockpit. This not only hampers the extinguishing of the fire, it is dangerous to the personnel in the cockpit.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a fire extinguishing access port for an aircraft electrical panel.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a fire extinguishing access port for an aircraft electrical panel which does not permit the passage of foreign objects.
It is another object of the invention to provide a fire extinguishing access port for an aircraft electrical panel which provides enhanced dispersal of fire extinguishing agent.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a fire extinguishing access port for an aircraft electrical panel which prevents blowback.
In accord with these objects which will be discussed in detail below, the fire extinguishing access port of the present invention includes a port and nozzle assembly where the nozzle has a plurality of radial outlets defining a pattern of dispersal for a fire extinguishing agent. According to a presently preferred embodiment, the port and nozzle assembly is dimensioned to be mounted in an existing mounting hole (e.g. a switch mounting hole) of an aircraft electrical panel with the nozzle residing in the rear of the panel and the port residing on the front of the panel. According to the invention, a plurality of different nozzles are provided for different electrical panels, each nozzle having a different pattern of dispersal. A fire extinguisher access port kit according to the invention includes a plurality of threaded nozzles, each with different dispersal patterns, a plurality of threaded ports which mate with the nozzles, and a plurality of different length threaded tubes which mate with the nozzles and the ports.
According to the presently preferred embodiment, the nozzles of the invention are provided with a plurality if radial slots which deflect the flow of fire extinguishing agent substantially perpendicular to the direction of entry through the port. This provides excellent dispersal of fire extinguishing agent throughout the electrical compartment and also provides two unexpected advantages. First, it prevents foreign objects such as paper clips and the like from passing through the port and potentially causing a short circuit. Second, it eliminates the possibility of blowback.
In an exemplary embodiment, the port and nozzle are machined out of solid aluminum stock and the port is provided with a TEFLON seal. The TEFLON seal is machined from a solid rod and forms a tapered entry to the port so that the nozzle of a fire extinguisher is sealed to the port during use.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the detailed description taken in conjunction with the provided figures.

Fire extinguishing access port nozzle assembly


Disclosed is a single-chip twin light source light emitting device including a first epitaxial layer, a substrate, and a second epitaxial layer. The first epitaxial layer includes a first n-type semiconductor layer with a n-type conducting structure, a first light emitting layer with a multi-quantum well structure, and a first p-type semiconductor layer with a p-type conducting structure. The second epitaxial layer includes a second n-type semiconductor layer with a n-type conducting structure, a second light emitting layer with a multi-quantum well structure, and a second p-type semiconductor layer with a p-type conducting structure. Therefore, the light emitting device can emit one-color or two-color light by controlling the first epitaxial layer and the second epitaxial layer respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light emitting device, and more particularly to the single-chip twin light source light emitting device capable of emitting two light sources simultaneously by using a single-chip structure and emitting lights from both sides to achieve a full-angle light emission.
2. Description of the Related Art
Light emitting diode (LED) is a light emitting device made of a semiconductor material, and the principle of its light emission mainly resides on a P-N junction of an LED chip, a p-type semiconductor at an end of the LED chip for providing holes, and a n-type semiconductor at the other end of the LED chip for providing electrons, such that when a current passes through the LED chip, the electrons in a conduction band are combined with the holes in a valence band to release extra energy in form of photons.
Due to the factor of the light emission characteristics of the conventional LED chip, the LED chip cannot provide 360-degree full-angle light emission as the fluorescent tubes do, so that the application and design of the LED chip are limited. In general, the LED chip comes with a single-sided light emitting structure, and the light emitting angle can be up to 180 degrees, and the LED chip can emit a light uniformly from a light emitting surface to the outside. To emit light at different angles, the LED chip requires different packaging technologies such as packaging an optical lens into the LED chip or installing the LED chip on a substrate with a multi-faceted structure, so that the LED chip can emit the lights at different light emitting angles.
However, the optical design or packaging process of the LED chip simply increasing the light emitting angle of the LED chip incur greater manufacturing time, manpower and cost. Therefore, it is an urgent and important issue for related manufacturers to design and develop a single-chip twin light source light emitting device to provide a 360-degree light source and reduce the overall manufacturing time and cost of the LED chip manufacturing process.

Single-chip twin light source light emitting device


A user connected to the Internet (102), over his or her telephone line (105), through an Internet Access Provider (IAP) (104) can place the Internet connection on hold to take an incoming telephone call from a calling party at a telephone set (110). The user is informed of the waiting call by means of a signal send by the Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) (103) to the IAP that indicates the presence of the waiting call and the identity of the calling party. This information is then transmitted by the IAP to the user's terminal (101). Upon an affirmative decision to take the call, indicated to the IAP by means of a "click" on the screen of the user's terminal, the call to the IAP is placed on hold and the incoming call is connected to the user's telephone set (111).

Most users today connect their computer terminals to the Internet over a telephone line through their Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) to an Internet Access Provider (IAP), which provides access to the Internet and connection to a plethora of various Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that offer information and interactive services. Modems operating at rates such as 14.4 kbps or 28.8 kbps are available to connect a user's terminal to the telephone line for transport of data to and from the IAP, and thus the Internet and the ISPs.
As more and more information and services have been made available over the World Wide Web, people are spending more and more time "surfing the Net", and thus tying up their telephone line. If an Internet user has only a single telephone line, callers trying to reach such a user may not find it uncommon to get a busy signal for hours on end. Call Waiting services available from local telephone companies, which allow a subscriber to answer an incoming call from a second party while conversing with a first party cannot be used while a user is engaged in an Internet call since the user is not made aware of the incoming call and has no ability to switch his or her connection to the Internet to take the telephone call. In fact, a service such as Call Waiting must be disabled by the user prior to placing an Internet call to prevent a Call Waiting alerting tone from causing the user's modem to drop the telephone connection to the IAP.


The process of the present invention is based on a tri-cellular, hexagonal platform where six, or a multiple of six, frequency groups are directionalized and reused in the same direction. Directional antennas are located in the center of each tri-cell group. Each antenna radiates into a 120.degree. sector of the tri-cell group. The reused frequency groups are aligned along the 0.degree., 120.degree., and 240.degree. axes of each cell. Each axis has three layers, the two outer layers having an identical frequency reuse series. The frequency groups are reused in the same direction along each axis, reducing the number of dominant interfering cells to one.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to radio communications. More particularly, the present invention relates to cellular radiotelephone communications.
II. Description of the Related Art
Cellular radiotelephone systems enable mobile subscribers to communicate with land-line telephone networks while moving through a geographical area. High density, high capacity cells in typical cellular radiotelephone systems are made up of six directional antennas centrally located in the cell. Each antenna radiates into a 60.degree. sector of the cell. A number of these cells are combined to form the cellular radiotelephone system.
The cell shapes are determined by both the radiation pattern of the antennas and the local conditions at the cell site. Cells, however, are typically idealized as hexagonal patterns since such a pattern closely approximates the ideal antenna radiation pattern.
Cellular radiotelephone systems use different channel frequencies for each mobile subscriber. The transmission from the mobile to the cell uses one frequency while the transmission from the cell to the mobile user uses another frequency. These two frequencies are not used by other nearby mobiles as this would lead to interference on the channel and a reduction in signal quality. This interference is referred to in the art as co-channel interference.
Another type of interference experienced by mobile subscribers is adjacent channel interference. This interference is due to the energy slipover between adjacent channels.
Both types of interference affect the signal quality, referred to as the carrier to interference ratio (C/I). This ratio is the signal strength of the received desired carrier to the signal strength of the received interfering carriers. A number of physical factors can also affect C/I in cellular systems including: buildings, geography, antenna radiation patterns, mobile traffic transmitting power, and mobile traffic location within the cell.
Due to the low power of the cell's transmitters, the same frequencies can be reused in other cells, referred to as co-channel cells, in the same geographical area. Greater frequency reuse allows more mobile traffic to use the cellular system. There are, however, constraints on the location of the co-channel cells. Even though the transmitters are typically low power, placing co-channel cells too close may cause interference.
Frequency planning optimizes spectrum usage, enhances channel capacity and reduces interference. A frequency plan also ensures adequate channel isolation to avoid energy slipover between channels, so that adjacent channel interference is reduced. Moreover, an adequate repeat distance is provided to an extent where co-channel interference is acceptable while maintaining a high channel capacity. In order to accomplish these diverse requirements, a compromise is generally made so that the target C/I performance is acquired without jeopardizing the system capacity. However, the existing frequency planning schemes do not always permit this. As a result, with growing cellular subscribers, today's cellular networks are overloaded and do not provide an adequate service.
A prior art method of symmetrical frequency planning begins with two integers, i and j, that are referred to as shift parameters. The frequency plan is established by starting with a reference cell and moving over i cells along the chain of cells. After reaching the i.sup.th cell, a counter-clockwise turn of 60.degree. is made and another move of j cells is made. The j.sup.th cell can safely be a co-channel cell. The frequency plan can also be established by moving j cells before turning i cells or by turning 60.degree. clockwise.
After all the possible co-channel cells of the initial cell are laid out, another reference cell is chosen and the procedure is repeated. this entire procedure is repeated as often as necessary to establish the frequency plan of the entire metropolitan cellular system.
The cells thus established by the above procedure form a reuse pattern of i.sup.2 +ij+j.sup.2 cells. The number of cells in this reuse pattern is a predominant concern of the cellular industry since this number determines how many different channel groups can be formed out of the frequency spectrum allocated to cellular radiotelephones. A low number of cells in a reuse pattern means more channel groups can be formed and more users accommodated.
Another method for determining frequency reuse is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional N=4, 60.degree. sectorized cell cluster. This system is based on dividing the available channels into 24 frequency groups that are distributed evenly among four 60.degree. cell sites (a cluster). One frequency group is allocated per sector.
FIG. 2 illustrates a growth plan using the cluster of FIG. 1. Each cluster is repeated throughout the network. As a result, there are at least five co-channel sites that are randomly oriented. The C/I performance, therefore, is due to the five randomly oriented co-channel interferers.
The reuse distance of this plan is D/R=.sqroot.4.times.3=3.46. From the reuse distance, the C/I prediction equation, well known in the art, is estimated as: ##EQU1## where .gamma. is the pathloss slope and .DELTA.dB is due to the antenna directivity. The antenna directivity is typically 3-5 dB, depending on the antenna beam width.
The pathloss slope, also referred to in the art as the propagation constant, is well known in the art. This constant is the rate of decay of signal strength as a function of distance. The pathloss slope increases as the environment surrounding the cells becomes more crowded with buildings and other obstructions. These values range from 2 for free space with no obstructions, 2.5 for rural areas, 3-3.5 for suburban areas, 3.5-4 for urban areas, and 4-4.5 for dense urban areas.
In the above example, .DELTA.dB is conservatively estimated at 5 dB. In this case, C/I.apprxeq.19.6 dB. Additional measures, such as antenna downtilt and beam width, have to be properly engineered for satisfactory performance and operation of this system.
In the Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) used in North America, 416 frequencies are available for cellular use. These 416 frequencies must be divided among the cells and reused as necessary to provide coverage to a metropolitan or other geographical area. Additionally, 21 of these channel frequencies must be used as control frequencies to establish calls between users and cells. This further reduces the number of channels to 395 for use as voice channels.
In the above N=4 system, the number of voice channels per sector is 395/24.apprxeq.16. This results in 16.times.6=96 voice channels per cell.
There is a need for even greater frequency reuse to expand the capacity of the cellular system without performance degradation. There is an additional need for an economical method of frequency reuse.

N=4 directional frequency assignment in a cellular radio system


A charged particle beam apparatus includes: a charged particle beam source which generates a charged particle beam to irradiate the charged particle beam onto a specimen; a demagnification optical system which demagnifies the charged particle beam; a deflector which deflects the charged particle beam to scan the specimen; and a first charged particle detector having a detection surface to detect a charged particle generated from the specimen which has been irradiated with the charged particle beam; wherein the detection surface of the first charged particle detector is disposed so as to face towards the charged particle beam source.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a charged particle beam apparatus, a charged particle detection method, and a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device.
2. Related Background Art
Various methods have been proposed for increasing the efficiency of detection of secondary electrons generated from the surface of a specimen in a scanning electron microscope, such as a method of disposing a micro channel plate (MCP) detector and a metal casing to which a negative potential is applied, in a lower portion of the objective lens (such as that disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-175325) and a method of disposing an MCP detector in an upper portion of the objective lens (such as that disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-243814 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-162384). Note that the terminology is used in this document so that "charged particles" has a broad meaning that includes reflected charged particles and "secondary electrons" has a broad meaning that includes reflected electrons, as long as they are not particularly mentioned otherwise.
The charged particle detection device proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-175325 is provided with an MCP detector to detect secondary electrons and a metal casing in a lower portion of the objective lens that focuses the electron beam onto the wafer W to irradiate it. Secondary electrons that are generated from a position on the wafer that has been irradiated by the electron beam are drawn in the direction of the optical axis by the magnetic field of the objective lens 65, but these secondary electrons are repelled by the electrical field generated by the negative potential (of −50 to −150 V) that is applied from a power source to the metal casing, to follow a trajectory that detours even further below the lower edge of the metal casing and be detected by the lower surface of the MCP detector.
The scanning electron microscope disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-243814 comprises two electron detectors disposed so as to sandwich the objective lens, making it possible to detect secondary electrons (where "secondary electrons" is used in the narrower sense, excluding reflected electrons) and reflected electrons simultaneously, by detecting the secondary electrons (in the narrower sense) emitted from the wafer by the electron detector on the scan deflector side and detecting the reflected electrons emitted from the wafer by the electron detector on the wafer side.
In the scanning electron microscope disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-162384, the secondary electrons emitted from the wafer are accelerated between the wafer and the objective lens immediately after emission by an electrical field that draws them out on the electron gun side, in a state in which a negative potential (a retarding potential) is applied to the wafer, making it difficult to detect them at a lower portion of the objective lens. For that reason, a Wien filter is provided between the objective lens and the MCP detector disposed on the upstream side thereof, to excite an orthogonal electromagnetic field by this Wien filter. The deflection force with respect to the primary electron beam is canceled by this orthogonal electromagnetic field, but the deflection force with respect to the secondary electrons generated from the wafer and traveling through the objective lens is not canceled thereby so that the secondary electrons are deflected away from the optical axis and thus can be detected by the MCP detector that is disposed around the perimeter of the optical axis.
However, the above-described detection methods have problems, as discussed below.
Specifically, the effect of the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-175325 only occurs with an optical system in which the distance from the objective lens to the wafer is sufficiently long and the negative potential applied to the metal casing is comparatively large (−50 to −150 V), which lead to blurriness of the focus.
If an electron beam is accelerated to a high acceleration and strikes a resist on the wafer, the proximity effect occurs, in which the irradiating electron beam is reflected by the various thin films formed in the lower surface of the resist on the upper surface of the wafer and is again directed upward from the resist. Since this causes deterioration in the focus and resolution of the drawing pattern, a charged particle beam lithography apparatus employing a shaping aperture method using an electron beam with a low-acceleration voltage has been proposed recently. In this low-acceleration voltage type of charged particle beam lithography apparatus, loss of focus of the beam due to the space charge effect becomes a problem, and thus it is essential to reduce the dimensions of the optical system in order to reduce this loss of focus. With the detection methods disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-243814 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-162384, the MCP detector is disposed above the objective lens, making it necessary to provide sufficient distance between the wafer and the MCP detector in both methods. For that reason, these methods cannot be applied to a low-acceleration voltage type of charged particle beam lithography apparatus in which the optical system must be compact.

Charged particle beam apparatus, charged particle detection method, and method of manufacturing semiconductor device


A shutter device can switch between a state where illuminating light from a lamp of an illuminating device is blocked (referred to as a closing state of the shutter device) and a state where illuminating light passes through (referred to as an opening state of the shutter device). A system control circuit instructs a panel cooling fan-use power source to decrease a fan rotation speed, when receiving information indicating that the shutter device is in the closing state from the detecting portion. After receiving this instruction, the panel fan power source decreases power supplied to the panel cooling fan (fan motor).

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a projection type video display such as a liquid crystal projector, and the like.
One of methods of utilizing the liquid crystal projector is to receive a video signal output from a personal computer and to project an image. That is, when a person who makes a presentation operates a personal computer and displays the image that the person intends participants of the presentation to see on a display of the personal computer, the same image as the above-described image is projected on a screen by the liquid crystal projector, so that all the participants can see the image. On the other hand, in some cases, the person who makes a presentation may not wish to show all the images which appear in the course of operating the computer to the participants. It is noted that there is a liquid crystal projector equipped with a shutter on a light-emission side of a light source (see Japanese Patent Application Laying-open No. 2002-365607).


The present invention is directed to an energy bar having a mean hedonic score for consumer acceptability of at least about 5.2. Preferably, the energy bar is either a grain based energy bar or a chewy energy bar.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to energy bars, and methods of making and improving the taste of energy bars. More particularly, the present invention is directed to energy bars that taste good, as exemplified by a mean hedonic score that is superior to similarly categorized energy bars.
2. Related Background Art
Food products identified as energy food products, such as energy bars, are gaining in popularity among all consumers. Energy bars are designed to provide a healthful nutritious serving high in protein, vitamins and minerals, in a low fat food product, shaped in a bar or other convenient form. The thought of eating a healthful nutritious energy bar that is shelf stable and packaged in a portable format is appealing to most people, especially individuals who want and/or need a functional benefit from the nutrients offered by such products.
Energy bars generally fall in one of two categories: grain based or chewy. The grain based energy bars are primarily made of a particulate matrix held together by a binder. The chewy variety is typically comprised of ingredients that have been processed into a homogeneous mass. In either case, the matrix or mass is then pressed, extruded or molded to form bar shaped pieces that are dried or solidified. Both deliver high levels of protein, vitamins and minerals, in a low fat bar. Other ingredients and toppings may be added to both the grain based and chewy energy bars.
Many of the currently marketed products do not appeal to consumers, who prefer more food like properties. Moreover, the homogeneity of the chewy bar/extruded mass makes an energy bar that has a singular taste throughout the homogeneous product. This leads to mediocre tasting products since nutritious ingredients such as protein, vitamins, and minerals, which often taste bad, are haphazardly mixed in with other ingredients. The combination degrades the overall taste of the product, leaving many of the presently marketed energy bars with an unappealing taste that consumers dislike.
For example, energy bars are typically fortified with protein powders, which appeals to most consumers who perceive protein as a desirable nutrient. Protein powders are typically made with whey proteins, soy proteins, egg proteins, caseins, and the like. In general, the protein powders along with the other ingredients are mixed together.
However, the inclusion of protein powders tends to produce a mouth drying sensation that many consumers find undesirable. The mouth drying sensation can be so intense that some consumers will only eat an energy bar with a beverage.
A method of processing a protein-containing component to improve the taste of a food product is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,696 to Holst et al. ("Holst") which is directed to a partially denatured whey protein product that is 65-95% by weight protein relative to the dry matter. The protein product is further characterized by the protein denaturation level which is 55-80%, and the mean particle diameter, which is in the range from 30 to 60 microns. The protein product has been used in cold prepared food emulsions, where it is added to provide emulsification properties and for improving textural attributes, such as grittiness and sandiness. However, whey proteins are expensive to use. Moreover, the whey protein product of Holst must be processed so that the denaturation level is 55-80%. This requires an additional processing step, which also adds to the cost of the product, further making it cost prohibitive.
The energy bars that are currently marketed may provide the healthful nutritional benefits mentioned above, but they do not deliver the taste attributes desired by many consumers leaving them dissatisfied. As a result, some consumers settle on poor taste in order to get the healthful nutritional benefits, while many other consumers choose not to buy energy bars.
What is missing from the marketplace, what food manufacturers have not been able to deliver, is a truly good tasting energy bar that delivers healthful nutritional benefits, i.e. high protein, fortified with vitamins and minerals, and low in fat.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Methodology, and associated circuitry, for encoding and decoding an incoming data stream utilize a coordinated code constellation that effects robust signal detection in the presence of channel interference. The encoder partitions the incoming data stream into contiguous data segments in proportion to the number of levels for a given coordinated code. Each data segment is mapped with reference to the coordinated code to signal levels suitable for transmission over a plurality of channels. The decoder measures the received signals on the channels and estimates noise statistics for the channels. A metric relationship engendered by the coordinated code is evaluated with reference to the received signals, estimates to the received signals, and the noise statistics. An output data stream is then generated based on the evaluation of the metric.

New telecommunications services recently introduced and presently being planned require that high-speed terminating equipment be interconnected to telecommunications service points using high capacity digital facilities. Accordingly, there is currently special interest in high rate digital subscriber lines (HDSL) to carry 1.544 Mbit/sec bidirectional data over local copper telephone loops. As originally proposed, HDSL utilized two twisted wire pairs for transmission of the 1.544 Mbit/sec over the required distance range with an acceptable error rate. The basic communication environment of HDSL then is one wherein there are two channels available for transmission and each channel has additive noise with different power. Moreover, the transmitter has no knowledge of the power of the noise on each channel. Also, the noise powers are constant or vary slowly so that the receiver may estimate the noise statistics.
The initial implementation of HDSL utilized so-called "uncoordinated" transmission to meet the acceptable error rate criterion, but oftentimes only marginally. With uncoordinated transmission, the total message represented by a data stream is divided and each channel independently carries a part of the stream. Uncoordinated transmission has good performance when each channel has about the same noise power, but if just one channel is very noisy then the message is lost. Another technique deployed to overcome limitations of uncoordinated transmission is called "symbol splitting" diversity. With symbol splitting diversity, a copy of the entire message is transmitted on each channel so that the message may still be fully recovered if one channel is very noisy. However, symbol splitting has relatively poor throughput performance if each channel has nearly the same noise power.
Recently, in a paper entitled "Coordinated Transmission for Two-Pair Digital Subscriber Lines, " IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, Special Issue on High-Speed Digital Subscriber Lines, Vol. 9, pp. 920-930, August, 1991, J. W. Lechleider proposed an improvement to the performance of HDSL by coordinating the transmission on the two lines. In order to achieve the required improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio as well as other enhancements and benefits, the coordinated transmission technique relates loop signal amplitudes transmitted on the two lines to each other and processes the received signals according to the prescribed relation between the amplitudes. The system for coordinated transmission includes both a central office transceiver and a remote transceiver terminating the corresponding ends of the pair of lines. Each transceiver includes a near-end transmitter and a receiver for a far-end transmitter. The near-end transmitter distributes first and second data signals originated by first and second data sources, respectively, over the pair of transmission lines. The lines are coupled to this transmitter by first and second hybrid arrangements which each have transmit and receive ports. The receive ports of the hybrid arrangements provide first and second received line signals, respectively, each having echo and NEXT (Near-End Crosstalk) interfering components. Each transmitter in the coordinated transmission system is adaptive and requires knowledge of the noise on the transmission lines. The statistics are formed at the far-end receiver and are fed back to the near-end transmitter so that the amplitudes and power of the transmitted data signals on the first line are typically different than the amplitudes and power on the second line.
Another method of implementing coordinated transmission using an adaptive transmitter was also considered by Lechleider in "Averaging of the Signal to Noise Ratios of the Constituent Pairs of a Two-pair HDSL," ECSA Contribution, T1E1.4.89, Dec. 11, 1989. In this Contribution, Lechleider's adaptive matrix transmitter essentially whitens the noise, and leads to the optimal "water-filling" power allocation. D. D. Falconer, in his article "Simple Reception Techniques for Coordinated Two-Pair Digital Transmission," 1991 Globecom Conference, showed that significant performance gains can be achieved simply by allowing the average transmitted signal power on each channel to vary, while keeping the sum of the transmitted power on all the channels constant.
As pointed out above, the techniques taught or suggested by the prior art relating to coordinated transmission systems have only achieved the aforementioned improvements by utilizing adaptive transmitters. Adaptive transmitters have the disadvantage of requiring that knowledge of the channel response be supplied to the transmitter, and moreover, such transmitters send different average powers on different channels.

Coordinated coding for digital transmission


The invention provides a method for automatic calibration of slides and a method for automatic calibration of slide frames and a slide for performing the method. To this end, slide frames (4; 210) with at least one slide seat and slide (212a-212h; 300) are provided with a calibration marking (304). In particular the inventive slide (212a-212h; 300) includes a slide substrate (302) and a calibration marking (304), the calibration marking (304) being connected to the slide substrate (302).

In general, slides are used for microscopy. For instance, cell or tissue specimens are applied to or positioned on a slide. The slide with the cell or tissue specimen is then placed on a microscope stage of a microscope so that the cell or tissue specimen may be examined with the microscope.
In addition, microscope scanning systems are used for automatically finding objects like cells in a tissue specimen that is positioned on a slide. These may be, for instance, cells with a certain property (e.g. a marking) that are present in a tissue slice that is on the slide. A marking may be for instance staining of a cell.
Microscope stages and scanning stages are equipped as measuring elements with coordinate systems so that, for instance, the position of the found object may be precisely determined using coordinates from the measuring element and/or slide.
As a rule the position of the found objects is stored. This may be done so that after a specimen (e.g. tissue specimen) on a slide has been scanned, the found objects (e.g. cells) can be automatically relocalized or reexamined, i.e. re-presented to the viewer for visual examination. An absolute X-Y-Z coordinate system is not necessary to guarantee precise relocalization as long as the relocalization takes place immediately after the specimen has been scanned, i.e. the specimen has not been removed from its original position on the scanning stage. In this case it is enough to approach the relative coordinates stored during the search.
In many cases it is not possible to relocalize immediately after the specimen has been scanned. This is especially the case when the scan is performed in "batch" mode. In this case, for instance, a certain number of specimens on the slides are automatically scanned first, e.g. overnight, and the found objects are not to be reviewed until the next morning.
In such a mode, it will regularly be necessary to remove the scanned slide from the stage using an automatic exchanger/robot module and to load a new set of slides. This is preferably not performed with individual slides, since direct manipulation of glass slides is prone to faults due to the normal tolerances of the slide dimensions. Instead, slides are placed into a frame (hereinafter referred to as a "slide frame"), which is then exchanged as a unit. Depending on size and configuration, one slide frame may accommodate one or a plurality of slides.
For receiving slides in a slide frame, corresponding slide seats are provided so that one slide may be placed into each slide seat.
The slide frames are stored for instance in a magazine, from which magazine the robot module can remove the slide frames. Once the slide(s) that is/are arranged in the slide frame has/have been scanned, the slide frame may be returned to the magazine.
In addition, specimen exchangers may be provided that have for instance 1 to 11 magazines, each magazine accommodating e.g. 16 slide frames, each with 5 slides. In order to be able to receive the slide or plurality of slides in one slide frame, the slide frames have one slide frame seat for each slide.
A 3-point self-centering support provides positioning accuracy for the slide frames themselves on the scanning stage.
The slide frames are not exactly identical; on the contrary, there are production tolerances. Although as a rule these production tolerances lead to positioning errors of a few tenths of a millimeter, this is still enough for instance to displace a cell out of the microscope image field when this cell is relocalized based on relative coordinates.
Consequently, the "absolute" coordinates for any position on a slide must be known for a slide frame in which the slide is arranged in order to be able to reliably relocalize any coordinates for an object that is mounted on the slide, regardless of the slide frame used and the slide frame receiving unit used.
In practice, it may happen that one slide is placed into successive different slide frames. For instance, one slide may contain a tissue specimen that was stained in order to mark a certain cell(s) with color. The slide is now placed into a "first" slide frame in order to scan the slide automatically. The stained cells are detected and their position on the slide is determined and stored. After this automatic scanning has concluded, the slide is removed from the "first" slide frame in order to destain the slide. Then the cells are stained again in order to obtain additional information about the cells to be examined. To this end, the slide is placed into a "second" slide frame and is again placed under the microscope for examination. It is necessary to be able to perform precise relocalization in order to be able to, immediately and in a simple manner, further examine the cells that were previously examined.
Therefore, for precise relocalization the position of a slide must be calibrated in each slide frame so that a slide may be placed into different slide frames and the positioning coordinates for a "found" object are accurate regardless of the slide frame used.
The same is true when a slide frame includes a plurality of slide seats. In this case, a calibration must be conducted for each slide seat so that the same slide may be placed into any slide seat of the slide frame and a "found" object can still be reliably relocalized.
In the past, calibration of a slide frame or a slide seat was performed such that a special slide (calibration slide) that was provided with a highly precise coordinate grid was placed into the slide seat that was to be calibrated. Then three defined coordinates (three calibration positions) that were covered with cross-hairs were approached in succession, and this was displayed in a live image on a monitor for the microscope scanning system. Software stored the coordinates for the scanning stage that belonged to these three calibration positions and the coordinates were used for converting coordinates between different positions on the slide with respect to the slide frame.
However, the current generation of specimen exchanger can include up to 880 slides, so that this approach to calibrating slide frames is no longer practical.
This is because it is necessary to perform a placement process for the calibration slide for each slide seat for a slide in a slide frame and it is also necessary to perform three precise manual positioning operations. Interactive centering of the three grid positions is time-consuming, as well. If these steps are to be skipped, a large number of identical calibration slides (for instance, 80 calibration slides) are needed to be able to automatically calibrate a magazine of slide frames. The costs for the high-precision calibration slides are a drawback in this process in accordance with the prior art, and the calibration precision is limited by the precision of the calibration slide. Producing calibration slides with tolerances of 1 to 5 μm is complex, and therefore expensive.

Automatic calibration of a microscope scanning system


A sensing device for detecting the presence of carbon monoxide in a selected space of concern and communicating with a remote monitoring device is provided. The sensing device comprises (a) a detection device configured to sense the presence of carbon monoxide in the selected space of concern, (b) a monitoring device remote from the detection device, for communicating information to an operator, and (c) the detector in circuit communication with the monitoring device, to transmit information from the detection device to the monitoring device that is related to carbon monoxide in the selected space. According to one preferred embodiment, the sensing device is designed for an aircraft. The remote monitoring device is the multifunctional display of the aircraft cockpit. In addition, in a preferred embodiment, a reset/retest actuator is connected with the multifunctional display, and is in circuit communication with the detection device. The reset/retest actuator is selectively actuated from the multifunctional display to send a reset/retest signal to the detection device, to reset the detection device, and to initiate operation of the detection device to repeat its carbon monoxide detection process and provide a signal related to the level of carbon monoxide detected by the detection device. Moreover, in a preferred embodiment, a heating element is provided that is proximate to the carbon monoxide detection component. The heating element is selectively actuated to heat the air space about the carbon monoxide detection component. Also, an adjustment device associated with the output of the CO detection device, for adjusting the output of the detection device in response to a signal related to the air pressure in the selected space of concern. These features are particularly useful in a detection device for an aircraft, where ambient temperatures may drop to levels that can adversely affect the performance of the detection device, or where pressure changes in the aircraft may affect the sensitivity of the detection device.

The present invention relates to a new and useful CO sensing system, and components of such a system, for detecting and remotely monitoring carbon monoxide (CO) in a space of concern.
Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, tasteless gas that often results from incomplete combustion of fuel. Carbon monoxide can be particularly dangerous when accumulated in a space such as an aircraft cabin, a motor vehicle occupant compartment, a garage, an unventilated room or office, etc.
CO detectors are generally intended to identify when CO levels in a space of concern reach dangerous levels (e.g. 50 ppm). In applicant's experience, prior CO detectors are designed to emit visual and/or audio alarms that alert an occupant of the space that the CO level is dangerous. Such detectors are usually in the form of detection boxes that provide a visual alarm or audio signal to those in the vicinity of the detection box.

Sensing system and components for detecting and remotely monitoring carbon monoxide in a space of concern


A two-piece oil ring, for use in an internal combustion engine, with the oil ring being made from a martensitic stainless steel material having high consisting essentially of more than 0.8 wt % but less than 0.95 wt % of C, not more than 1.0 wt % of Si, not more than 1.0 wt % of Mn, from 15.0 wt % to 20.0 wt % of Cr and a balance substantially Fe and incidental impurities. The oil ring has a hardness ranging from HV300 to HV450 and a substantially H- or X-shaped cross-section. A web portion interconnecting left and right halves of the H- or X-shaped cross-section has a thickness not greater than 0.3 in terms of the ratio of the total thickness of the ring. Oil passage holes are formed in the web portion. A nitrided layer is formed on the sliding surface thereof which makes a sliding contact with the inner surface of a cylinder of the engine. The material may further contain suitable amounts of at least one of Mo, W, V, Nb, Ni and Co. The oil ring is produced by bending a wire of the martensitic stainless steel material by a process including warm roll dies plastic working and a subsequent cold roll dies plastic working through which a modified cross-section is imparted to the material, continuous annealing, punching for forming oil passage holes by punching, and continuous hardening and tempering.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a two-piece steel oil ring for use in internal combustion engines, to a steel wire of a modified cross-section for use as the material of the oil ring, and to a method of producing the steel wire.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, there are two types of steel oil rings for use in internal combustion engines, namely, a three-piece type steel oil ring composed of a pair of rings having a rectangular cross-section and a spring, and a two-piece type steel oil ring which is rather new and which is composed of a single grooved ring with a modified cross-section and a spring.
Demand for two-piece oil rings in lieu of three-pieces oil rings is increasing in order to reduce the number of parts and, hence, cost. The grooved ring with modified cross-section used as a part of the two pieces oil ring has a cross-section of a complicated shape such as, for example, substantially H-shaped or X-shaped cross-section. In addition, this ring has a comparatively large degree of a modification of cross-section, that is, the ratio of the thickness of the web portion bridging both side portions to the thickness of both side portions is relatively small.
Demand also exists for use of steel alloys having large contents of alloying elements as the ring material, in order to improve resistance to wear, scuffing and sulfuric acid corrosion.
Usually, an internal combustion engine employs a plurality of piston rings including compression rings and oil rings. The compression ring can be produced without substantial difficulty because it has a simple cross-section approximating a rectangle. In fact, compression rings have been shifted to be made of steel alloys having high contents of alloying elements, e.g., 17% Cr type martensitic stainless steel.
Three-piece oil rings usually have a ring member which is generally referred to as "side rail", with the side rail, in most cases, being made of a stainless steel such as SUS 420 J2 (0.36% C-13% Cr type) or a martensitic stainless steel of 0.65% C-13% Cr type. This member also has a simple cross-section approximating a rectangle so that it can be produced by conventional methods such as cold rolling or cold drawing. Examples of the side rail for use in three-piece oil ring are a ring of 0.65% C-13% Cr type stainless steel as disclosed in Japanese Patent Examined Publication No. 61-54862 and 0.55% C-7% Cr type stainless steel as disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 61-59066.
Demand also exists for higher degree of alloying of oil ring materials. Resistances to wear, scuffing and corrosion of two-piece oil ring are expected to be appreciably improved by increasing the contents of alloying elements in the ring material. It is, however, extremely difficult to employ, as a material of the ring member of two-piece oil rings with modified cross-section, a steel having higher carbon content than conventional material, e.g., a martensitic stainless steel containing more than 0.8 wt % of C and more than 15 wt % or Cr. More specifically, a thin ring has a complicated cross-sectional shape with large degree of modification from ordinary rectangular shape, so that a heavy plastic working has to be performed when deforming the cross-section. It has been experimentally determined, that cracks tend to be generated in the boundary between the web portion which undergoes strong vertical compression force and flange portions which do not receive comparatively small compression during the plastic working. Furthermore, in order that an oil ring performs expected functions, the ring surface is strictly required to be highly smooth, e.g., 3S or smoother in terms of surface roughness, and to be devoid of defects such as dents or scratches. When conventional cold drawing is employed in the production of an oil ring from an alloy material having high contents of alloying elements, cracks tend to be generated in the boundary between the web and the flanges due to inferior workability of this type of material and due to the large degree of modification of cross-section. In order to prevent such cracking, it is necessary to reduce the amount of the working to be effected per single pass of the cold working and the amount of working per single annealing cycle. Consequently, the number of passes and the number of annealing cycles to be performed before the final product is obtained are increased. The increase in the number of passes and annealing cycles not only increases the risk of damage to the ring material but also raises the production cost. For these reasons, two-piece oil rings could not be commercially produced from a martensitic stainless steel containing more than 0.8 wt % of C and more than 15 wt % or Cr.
The ring member of a two-piece oil ring is produced by modifying the cross-section of a wire into a required shape and then perforating the web portion so as to form a series of plurality of through-holes as oil passage holes. Such perforation can be practically effected only by punching, due to restriction from the production cost and work efficiently. It has proved that such punching is extremely difficult to conduct when the material has high contents of alloying elements.
More specifically, while conventional steel materials having low contents of alloying elements enables punching even when they have been quenched and tempered to the required hardness of HV300 to HV450, punching is materially impossible to conduct for the material having high contents of alloying elements even when the material has been heat-treated to exhibit hardness falling within the above-described range. A method also has been adopted conventionally in which punching is executed subsequently to shaping into the desired cross-section without employing annealing. Such method also cannot be applied to the production from the above-mentioned material having high contents of alloying elements.

Two-piece oil ring for use in internal combustion engine, steel wire of modified cross-section for use as material of the oil ring and method of producing the steel wire


Methods and system for achieving improved copyright protection for programmable logic devices are disclosed. One preferred embodiment comprises a programmable logic device comprising a programmable element programmed by a mutated programming pattern, said mutated programming pattern causing the PLD to generate a mutated output; and a circuit element that translates the mutated output into a normal output.

Programmable logic devices (PLD) such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) and complex programmable logic devices (CPLD) are digital logic circuits that can be programmed by certain "programming patterns" such as programmable object files (POFs) to perform logical functions. These devices have grown significantly in capability and complecity. Yet intellectual property (IP) protection embedded in such devices, such as the programming patterns, has not enjoyed similar development.
Currently, most IP protection schemes rely on encrypting/decrypting the programming patterns on chip. FIG. 1 shows a typical encryption/decryption IP protection scheme that includes a decrypter 120 that receives an encrypted POF 110 and a decryption key 160. The encrypted POF 110 is decrypted by the decrypter 120 using decryption key 160. The decrypted POF 130 is then used to program a programmable logic circuit 140. An output 170 of the programmable logic circuit 140 is coupled to a utility circuit 150. The drawback of this IP protection scheme is that it relies on a decryption key 160, which must be stored somewhere on the chip. As a result, this IP protection scheme is vulnerable to attack because it is not difficult for an attacker to reverse engineer the chip to obtain the decryption key.
In addition to being vulnerable to reverse engineering, storing a key on the chip may add production cost and complexity to chip manufacturers. For example, a battery must be used to store the encryption key in a SRAM FPGA. For an antifuse FPGA, extra fuses have to be blown to store the encryption key.
There is therefore a need to develop an IP protection scheme that achieves improved protection without using any decryption key.

Methods and systems for achieving improved intellectual property protection for programmable logic devices


The invention relates to the field of immunology and vaccine development, in particular to the development of vaccines based on native antigen oligomers. Provided is an immunogenic composition in particulate form, comprising oligomers of a surface exposed polypeptide of pathogenic origin or tumor origin, or antigenic part thereof, said oligomers being bound non-covalently to a particulate carrier, and a pharmaceutically acceptable diluent or excipient. Also provided is a recombinant polypeptide comprising (A) an N- or C-terminal antigenic domain, comprising at least one surface exposed polypeptide of pathogenic or tumor origin, or antigenic part thereof, the antigenic domain being fused to (B) an oligomerization domain (OMD), said oligomerization domain being fused via (C) a linker domain to (D) a peptidoglycan binding domain (PBD) consisting of a single copy of a LysM domain capable of mediating the non-covalent attachment of the polypeptide to a non-viable bacterium-like particle (BLP) obtained from a Gram-positive bacterium.

The invention relates to the field of immunology and vaccine development, in particular to the development of vaccines based on native antigen oligomers.
Many surface exposed proteins of pathogens and tumour cells are functional as oligomers. Examples for pathogens are for example, influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) which occurs in virions as a homotrimer, and neuraminidase (NA) as a homotetramer. Also, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) glycoproteins gp140/gp120 is a homotrimer in its active form. Likewise, the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) glycoproteins G and F occur in virions as tetrameric and trimeric homo-oligomers, respectively. Likewise, coronavirus spikes consist of homotrimers as is the case for the human respiratory coronaviruses and for SARS coronaviruses. Examples for tumour cells are for example, receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). RTKs are the high-affinity cell surface receptors for many polypeptide growth factors, cytokines, and hormones. Growth factor receptors include: epidermal growth factor receptor, fibroblast growth factor receptors and platelet-derived growth factor receptor. Hormone receptors include: androgen receptor and estrogen receptor. An example of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is the ErbB protein family of four structurally related RTKs. The four members of the ErbB protein family are capable of forming homodimers, heterodimers, and possibly higher-order oligomers upon activation by a subset of potential growth factor ligands. ErbB-1 is overexpressed in many cancers. The platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGF) family consists of PDGF-A, -B, -C and -D, which form either homo- or heterodimers (PDGF-AA, -AB, -BB, -CC, -DD). The four PDGFs are inactive in their monomeric forms. Such oligomeric proteins of pathogens and tumour cells are often involved in the pathogenicity and immunogenicity of the disease-causing entity (viruses, bacteria, parasites) or in cancer development, respectively, and are therefore important targets for vaccine development.
However, during vaccine preparation the integrity and, hence, the antigenicity of these oligomeric structures may be negatively affected e.g. if the manufacturing process involves inactivation of the pathogen. Alternatively, the oligomeric status of the antigen may not be obtained due to the production process used for the manufacturing of (recombinant) subunit vaccines. In both cases, this may result in aggregation or dissociation into a monomeric and/or misfolded state of the proteins.
Conformational epitopes embedded in the quaternary structures of oligomers may critically contribute to immunogenicity (Weldon et al. PLoS One 5 [2010], pii: e12466). Du et al. (Virology 395 [2009], 33-44) e.g. found that immunization of rabbits provided no evidence that trimerized gp140 constructs induced significantly improved neutralizing antibodies to several HIV-1 pseudoviruses, compared to gp140 lacking a trimerization motif. On the other hand, Grundner et al. (Virology 331 [2005], 33-46) showed that immunization of rabbits with the gp140 trimer elicited neutralizing antibodies of greater potency and breadth than did either gp120 or solid-phase proteoliposomes containing a cleavage-defective Env. Also Wei et al. (J. Virol. 82 [2008], 6200-6208) demonstrated that trimeric viral spikes serve as the optimal protein immunogens to elicit neutralizing antibodies against H5N1 isolates. Of other note, Bosch et al. (J. Virol. 84 [2010], 10366-10374) provided evidence that the combination of soluble trimeric HA and tetrameric NA of pandemic swine-origin 2009 A(H1N1) influenza virus in the presence of adjuvant provides protection against infection in ferrets.
Therefore, it is conceivable that the presence of native oligomeric protein antigens in vaccines is pivotal for their protective capacity. In many instances, oligomerization is determined by a subdomain having strong oligomerization properties. Also in many cases, such oligomerization subdomain of vaccine antigens is embedded in a membrane. To enable oligomerization of vaccine subunit antigens in the absence of a lipid environment, native oligomerization subdomains can be substituted by a heterologous coiled-coil motif with similar conformation-inducing properties. Examples of such motifs that have been successfully applied to obtain native oligomeric protein structures are a 32-amino-acid form of the GCN4 transcription factor (GCN), a 27-amino-acid trimerization domain from the C-terminus of bacteriophage T4 fibritin (T4F), and a soluble trimerization domain of chicken cartilage matrix (CART) protein (Selvarajah et al., AIDS Res. Hum. Retrovir. 24 [2008] 301-314; Yang et al., J. Virol. 74 [2000], 5716-5725; Yang et al., J. Virol. 76 [2002], 4634-4642).
Hence, technology to produce native oligomeric subunit vaccine antigens is available. Nevertheless, it is known that soluble subunit vaccine antigens are poorly immunogenic in general and need adjuvants and/or a particulate carrier system in order to raise robust immune responses. In the recent past there has been a growing interest in the development of novel non-replicating antigen presentation systems in order to increase the immunogenicity of antigens that could be used as vaccines. Many of these systems are designed in such a way to present the antigen as a polyvalent particulate structure. Some of the well appreciated examples are those of hepatitis B virus core and surface proteins genetically fused to foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) (Clarke et al., Nature 330 [1987], 381-384) and HIV (Michel et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85 [1988], 7957-7961; Schlienger et al., J. Virol. 66 [1992], 2570-2576) antigens; the development of Ty virus like particles (VLPs) as antigen carriers (Adams et al., Nature 329 [1987], 68-70) where antigens are genetically fused to the C-terminus of the TYA gene encoded protein of the yeast retro-transposon Ty to form hybrid Ty-VLPs, parvovirus like particles (Miyamura et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91 [1994], 8507-8511). These technologies ensure that the antigen in question is presented in multiple copies in relatively large particles.
Other known particulate carriers for antigens are virosomes which are complexes composed of lipids and at least one viral envelope protein, produced by an in vitro procedure. The lipids are either purified from eggs or plants or produced synthetically, and a fraction of the lipids originates from the virus providing the envelope protein. Essentially, virosomes represent reconstituted, empty virus envelopes devoid of the nucleocapsid including the genetic material of the source virus(es). Virosomes are not able to replicate but are pure fusion-active vesicles. Known virosomes for use as antigen carrier include virosomes termed immunopotentiating reconstituted influenza virosomes (IRIVs). IRIVs are spherical, unilamellar vesicles with a mean diameter of 150 nm and comprise a double lipid membrane, consisting essentially of phospholipids, preferably phosphatidylcholines (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamines (PE). IRIVs may contain the functional viral envelope glycoproteins HA and NA intercalated in the phospholipid bilayer membrane. The biologically active HA does not only confer structural stability and homogeneity to virosomal formulations but also significantly contributes to the immunological properties by maintaining the fusion activity of a virus.
Although these known technologies can provide particulate carriers which enhance the immunological properties of a vaccine preparation, the methodologies are typically rather cumbersome and require specialized equipment and personnel. In addition, the use of viral material as carrier is preferably to be avoided. Furthermore, none of the existing technologies have been reported to be applied successfully in the manufacture of native oligomeric subunit vaccines.
Whereas it is known in the art (see e.g. WO 02/101026) to present an antigen to the immune system by fusion to a peptidoglycan binding sequence and attachment to particles derived from a Gram-positive bacterium, this particulate carrier technology has thus far only been described and applied in relation to the presentation of monomeric antigens.
WO 99/25836 and Bosma et al. (Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72 [2006], 880-889) teach that one LysM domain suffices to mediate antigen obtain binding to Gram-positive microorganisms and/or peptidoglycan microparticles (BLPs, formerly called GEMs). This approach was for example followed by Raha et al. (Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol 68 [2005], 75-81) and Moeini et al. (Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol 90 [2011], 77-88). However, antigen binding via only a single LysM domain is rather limited (Bosma et al.) and not very stable, as shown by Raha et al. (FIG. 6) who determined that approximately 30 to 45% of the initially bound antigen is lost after a storage period of 5 days. In agreement with that observation, Moeini et al. shows in FIG. 6 that approximately 40% of the antigen bound through a single LysM domain is lost after a storage period of 5 days.
The successful manufacturing of vaccines requires long term storage for several months or sometimes even for years. The use of a single LysM binding domain results not only in low binding yields (Bosma et al.) but also in low stability of the bound antigens (Raha et al., Moeini et al.). Thus, this approach is unsuitable for an economically viable vaccine production process for BLP-based vaccines, which require optimal loading of antigens to the particles, i.e. high loading yields, in combination with antigens that remain stably bound over a prolonged period.
Prior to the present invention, the commonly held view to improve the efficacy and stability of antigen binding was to increase the number of LysM domains. In fact, it was demonstrated in the art that consecutive LysM domains in a single construct (2 to 3 domains in line; in cis/intramolecular) provides the most optimal and stable binding. See FIG. 3 of Bosma et al., showing a steep increase in binding affinity by the addition of a second LysM domain, and the level was even higher than that of wild-type AcmA comprising 3 LysM domains in cis. However, the present inventors observed that the approach of using two (or more) consecutive LysM domains in a single construct does not yield the expected results in case of oligomeric antigen binding. This is because the LysM tandem repeat mediates such a strong binding that not only functional oligomers but also non-functional monomers are bound to the carrier. The presence of non-functional monomers in vaccines is highly undesirable because such a heterogeneous complex makes it more difficult and cumbersome to characterize formulated vaccines. Furthermore, non-functional monomers containing LysM tandem repeats compete strongly with the functional oligomers for the available binding sites on the BLPs. Most importantly, non-functional monomers in vaccines may impose a health risk for the vaccinated subject since it is known in the art that non-functional, improperly folded antigens can induce a detrimental immune response.
The inventors therefore aimed at providing stable native oligomeric subunit vaccines not only having improved immunogenicity but which can also be produced in a relatively easy and economically attractive manner. In particular, it was an object to increase the safety and efficacy of (current) vaccines in a simple and reliable manner while avoiding the use of pathogenic or otherwise unsafe starting materials.

Immunogenic compositions in particulate form and methods for producing the same


Novel polypeptide compositions based on the amino acid sequence of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) are provided having improved properties over natural tissue plasminogen activator. Particularly, enhanced specific activity, reduced response to inhibition by plasminogen activator inhibitor, fibrin stimulation of plasminogenolytic activity and/or enhanced affinity to fibrin surfaces are provided by modifying one or more loci by deletions or substitutions. One or both of the N- or C-termini may be modified.

Field of the Invention
Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is a serine protease involved with the dissolution of blood clots. The molecule has a number of distinct regions which display amino acid sequence homology with other naturally occurring polypeptides. Beginning at the N-terminus is a region homologous to fibronectin. The next region has homology with various growth factors. The growth factor region is followed by two kringle regions. Finally, there is the active site finding analogy with other serine proteases.
There are at least four different properties associated with tissue plasminogen activator and its ability to lyse blood clots in vivo. The first is the specific activity of the protease function in cleaving plasminogen to produce plasmin which in turn degrades fibrin. The second property is the sensitivity to inhibition by plasminogen activator inhibitor. The third property is the fibrin dependence of plasminogen activator for its plasminogenolytic activity. The fourth is the binding of tPA to fibrin surfaces. Each of these factors plays a role in the rapidity and the specificity with which plasminogen activator will cleave plasminogen to plasmin in the presence of blood clots. It would therefore be of substantial interest to be able to produce polypeptides having tissue plasminogen activator activity which will provide for improved properties in one or more of these categories.


CRF-antagonists are useful in the treatment of emesis.

CRF antagonists are drugs which can counter the deleterious effects associated with high levels of CRF through receptor blockade. For both CRF and CRF binding sites a wide distribution in the central and peripheral nervous system has been described. Increasing data substantiate that CRF is involved in the brain and periphery in coordinating endocrine, behavioral, autonomic and immune responses to stress and recent clinical data implicate CRF in the etiology and pathophysiology of a variety of endocrine, psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders [Dietrich et al., Corticotropin-releasing factor receptors: An overview, Exp.Clin. Endocrinol.Diabetes 105: 65-82 (1997)]. It is thus anticipated that CRF-antagonists play a beneficial role in normalizing pathophysiological states associated with high CRF-levels.
Several peptide CRF-antagonists including .alpha.-helical CRF.sub.9-41 have been disclosed e.g. in Rivier et al., Synthetic competitive antagonists of corticotropin-releasing factor: effect on ACTH secretion in the rat, Science 224: 889-891 (1984), and more recently non-peptide CRF recptor antagonists were disclosed e.g. in Chen et al., Design and synthesis of a series of non-peptide high-affinity human corticotropin-releasing factor 1 receptor antagonists, J.Med.Chem. 39: 4358-4360 (1996), in Whitten et al., Rapid microscale synthesis, a new method for lead optimization using robotics and solution phase chemistry: application to the synthesis and optimization of corticotropin-releasing factor 1 receptor antagonists, J.Med.Chem. 39: 4354-4357 (1996) or in Chen et al., Synthesis and oral efficacy of a 4-(butylethylamino)pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidine: a centrally active corticotropin-releasing factor 1 receptor antagonist, J.Med.Chem. 40(11) 1749-1754 (1997).
CRF-antagonists are proposed to be useful in the treatment of a variety of disorders associated with high levels of corticotropin-releasing factor, and inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, asthma and allergies, anxiety, depression, fatigue syndrome, headache, pain, cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, including Crohn's disease, spastic colon and irritable colon, immune dysfunction, HIV infections, neurodegenerative diseases such as senile dementia, gastrointestinal diseases, eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, drug and alcohol withdrawal symptoms, drug addiction and fertility problems.

Use of CRF-antagonists for treating emesis


A method of controlling electric motor torque in an electric vehicle for improved vehicle performance and energy conservation includes receiving a throttle torque request and a brake torque request, and sensing the speed of the vehicle. The brake torque request is split into a creep cancellation component and a brake regenerative component. The throttle torque request is adjusted based upon the creep cancellation component and the brake regenerative component to produce a torque sum. The electric motor torque is then controlled based upon the torque sum.

On a typical internal combustion engine vehicle, a significant amount of energy is wasted as the engine generates creep torque when the brakes are applied in the 0 to 6 mph range, and a significant amount of kinetic energy is lost in higher vehicle speed ranges when the brake is applied but the engine continues to burn fuel. However, on an electric vehicle, where energy conservation is extremely important to maximize vehicle driving range, it is highly desirable to provide a method of controlling electric motor torque in the vehicle to improve vehicle performance and energy conservation, particularly in the creep torque range and high speed braking range.
For purposes of this disclosure, it is important to understand electric vehicle related terminology. "Brake regen" is a term referring to the creation of regenerative torque, as a function of the brake signal input, which opposes the direction of vehicle travel, causing the motor to produce a regenerative current into the electric vehicle battery. The torque produced aids the mechanical brakes in reducing the vehicle speed. In other words, when the brakes are applied at a high vehicle speed, the negative torque generates a current to the battery which recharges the battery and assists in slowing the vehicle by slowing the motor.
"Compression regen" is a term which refers to the creation of regenerative torque, as a function of vehicle speed and accelerator pedal position, which opposes the direction of vehicle travel, causing the motor to produce a regenerative current into the electric vehicle battery. The amount of torque produced is set to emulate the engine compression drag feel of an internal combustion engine vehicle.
"Creep torque" is a term which refers to the creation of motor torque under zero accelerator depression which causes the vehicle to move forward when the vehicle is at lower speeds, typically between 0 to 6 mph. The amount of torque produced is set to emulate the creep forward driving feel of an internal combustion engine vehicle.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method of controlling electric motor torque in an electric vehicle in which both regenerative (negative) torque is produced at higher speeds during braking and "creep" (forward) torque cancellation is provided at lower speeds.

Method of controlling electric motor torque in an electric vehicle


In order to insert a punch into a punch mounting hole formed in a turret by a robot hand, the present method includes the following steps: (a) grasping the punch above the upper turret by a robot hand, and horizontally moving the punch to a position above a mounting hole formed in the upper turret; (b) moving the punch downwardly by the robot hand; (c) detecting whether the lower end of the punch is in contact with the wall of the mounting hole (d) detecting the height of the lower end of the punch when the lower end of the punch comes in contact with the wall of the mounting hole; (e) comparing the detected height of the lower end with a predetermined height; and (f) further moving the punch downwardly if the detected height is smaller than the predetermined height. In the preferred embodiment, if the insertion in accordance with the previous steps fails, the punch is moved upwardly and the center of the mounting hole is re-calculated on the basis of the data by a three-point search method.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to method and apparatus for automatically exchanging a punch for a turret punch press, and more particularly to method and apparatus for automatically exchanging a punch mounted on an upper turret of the turret punch press by a robot hand.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, exchanging of a punch and a die mounted respectively on upper and lower turrets of a turret punch press are performed in various ways such as follows: (1) a block-like punch holder supporting a punch, and a block-like die holder supporting a die are loaded into and unloaded from the turret; (2) each punch and die is manually loaded into and unloaded from the turret.
The first method above requires holders for the punch and die. As a result, the punch press are costly to manufacture. Further, in the punch press in accordance with the first method, it is difficult to mount a large number of punches and dies on a turret because of the large dimensions of the punch and die holders. On the other hand, in the second method, operator are forced to perform troublesome operations, and working efficiency is decreased.

Method and apparatus for automatically exchanging a punch for a turret punch press


A three-dimensional graphics data rendering method. The method divides initially inputted first graphics data into a static object and a dynamic object, performs a rendering process with respect to the static object, and updates a predetermined buffer with the rendering result. Then the method performs a transformation process, a portion of the rendering process with respect to the dynamic object, determines an updating area, and stores a rendering result of the buffer corresponding to the updating area in a predetermined storage unit; performs a remaining rendering process with respect to the dynamic object, updates the buffer and outputs a first image whose rendering is completed. Finally, the method restores a rendering result of the updating area to the buffer by referring to the storage unit and utilizes a rendering result of the restored buffer as a rendering result of subsequently inputted second graphics data.

1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to a method and system of rendering three-dimensional graphics data which can reduce a rendering area, and more particularly, to a rendering method and system which can reduce an amount of graphics data and a rendering area to be rendered and also improve a rendering speed by determining whether a viewpoint between consecutively inputted first graphics data and second graphics data is identical, and when identical, utilizing a rendering result of a static object of the first graphics data as a rendering result of the second graphics data, and rendering only the dynamic object.
2. Description of the Related Art
A process of rendering three-dimensional graphics data according to the conventional art will be described.
1) When three-dimensional graphics data is inputted, a three-dimensional graphics data rendering system according to the conventional art clears buffers, including a back buffer, a Z buffer, etc. In this instance, the three-dimensional graphics data rendering system clears buffers by setting a value of the back buffer as a background color value and setting a value of the Z buffer as a maximum value that the Z buffer can indicate.
2) While performing a pipeline operation with respect to all of the objects included in the three-dimensional graphics data, the three-dimensional graphics data rendering system updates other buffers, such as a back buffer and a Z buffer.
The pipeline operation includes a transformation process to convert three-dimensional graphics data into two-dimensional graphics data, a lighting process to adjust a color according to light source information, and a rasterization process to converting a transformed and color-adjusted triangle into a corresponding image. When all triangles of three-dimensional graphics data are processed as described above, each small image of each triangle is collected to generate a final image.
3) The three-dimensional graphics data rendering system transmits the updated back buffer to a print buffer to display the processed image on a screen.
4) When three-dimensional graphics data corresponding to a next frame is inputted, the three-dimensional graphics rendering system repeats operations 1) through 3).
However, the conventional three-dimensional graphics rendering technique according to the conventional art performs the operation 1 whenever rendering inputted three-dimensional graphics data. Accordingly, when additional three-dimensional graphics data is inputted, all objects displayed on the screen have to be re-drawn.
In particular, even when maintaining a certain viewpoint and moving only a particular object, such as a mobile three-dimensional user interface, the operation 1) of clearing a buffer is repeated whenever rendering three-dimensional graphics data, which is extremely ineffective.
Also, the conventional three-dimensional graphics data rendering technique as described above renders all objects regardless of whether the image viewpoint moves. Similarly, the conventional three-dimensional graphics rendering technique renders all objects regardless of whether the object itself moves. Accordingly, rendering speed is decreased and the quality of the rendered image is reduced. In addition, the rendering process consumes a lot of power.
Accordingly, a rendering method is needed which can increase a rendering speed, improve the quality of a rendered image, and can also reduce power consumption by adjusting a rendering range according to a movement of a rendering point and a movement of an object.

Method and system of rendering 3-dimensional graphics data to minimize rendering area, rendering time, and power consumption