The invention concerns a method for three-dimensional spatialization of audio channels from a filter BRIR incorporating a theater effect. For a specific number N of samples corresponding to the size of the pulse response of the BRIR filter, it consists in breaking down (A) the BRIR filter into at least a set of delay and amplitude values associated with the times of arrival of reflections; extracting (B) on the number of B samples at least one spectral module of the BRIR filter; and constituting (C) from each successive delay, its amplitude and its spectral module associated with an elementary BRIR filter (BRIRe) directly applied to the audio channels in the time, frequency or transformed domain. The invention is applicable to binaural or multichannel spatialization.

The invention relates to sound spatialization, known as 3D-rendered sound, of audio signals, integrating in particular a room effect, notably in the field of binaural techniques.
Thus, the term "binaural" is aimed at the reproduction on a pair of stereophonic headphones, or a pair of earpieces, of an audio signal but still with spatialization effects. The invention is not however limited to the aforementioned technique and is notably applicable to techniques derived from the "binaural" techniques, such as the "transaural" reproduction techniques, in other words on remote loudspeakers. TRANSAURAL® is a commercial trademark of the company COOPER BAUCK CORPORATION.
One specific application of the invention is, for example, the enrichment of audio contents by effectively applying acoustic transfer functions of the head of a listener to monophonic signals, in order to immerse the latter in a 3D sound scene, in particular including a room effect.
For the implementation of "binaural" techniques on headphones or loudspeakers, the transfer function, or filter, is defined for a sound signal between a position of a sound source in space and the two ears of a listener. The aforementioned acoustic transfer function of the head is denoted HRTF, for "Head-Related Transfer Function", in its frequency form and HRIR, for "Head-Related Impulse Response", in its temporal form. For one direction in space, two HRTFs are ultimately obtained: one for the right ear and one for the left ear.
In particular, the binaural technique consists of applying such acoustic transfer functions for the head to monophonic audio signals, in order to obtain a stereophonic signal which, when listened to on a pair of headphones, provides the listener with the sensation that the sound sources originate from a particular direction in space. The signal for the right ear is obtained by filtering the monophonic signal by the HRTF of the right ear and the signal for the left ear is obtained by filtering this same monophonic signal by the HRTF of the left ear.
The essential physical parameters that allow these transfer functions to be characterized are:                the ITD, for "Interaural Time Difference", defined as the interaural arrival time difference of the sound waves from the same sound source between the left ear and the right ear of the listener. The ITD is principally linked to the phase of the HRTFs;        the spectral modulus, which notably allows level differences to be perceived between the left ear and the right ear as a function of frequency;        when the HRTF, or the HRIR, of the head of the listener are not considered as corresponding to conditions of free field sound propagation (anechoic condition), the aforementioned transfer functions can take into account reflection, scattering and diffraction phenomena which correspond to the acoustic response of the room in which these transfer functions have been measured or simulated. The aforementioned transfer functions are then called BRIR, for "Binaural Room Impulse Response", in their temporal form.
The aforementioned binaural techniques may for example be employed in order to simulate a 3D rendering of the 5.1 type on the pair of headphones. In this technique, to each loudspeaker position of the multi-speaker, or "surround", system corresponds an HRTF pair, one HRTF for the left ear and one HRTF for the right ear. The sum of the 5 channels of the signal in 5.1 mode, convoluted by the 5 HRTF filters for each ear of a listener, allows two binaural channels, right and left, to be obtained, which simulate the 5.1 mode for listening on a pair of audio headphones.
In this situation, binaural spatialization simulating a multi-speaker system is referred to as "binaural virtual surround".
In the 3D rendering, when the fact of the listener perceiving the sound sources at variable distances away from his head, a phenomenon known by the term 'externalization', is taken into account, and in a manner that is independent from the direction or origin of the sound sources, it frequently happens, in a binaural 3D rendering, that the sources are perceived to be inside the head of the listener. The source thus perceived is referred to as 'non-externalized'.
Various studies have shown that the addition of a room effect in the binaural 3D rendering methods allows the externalization of the sound sources to be considerably enhanced. Cf., notably, D. R. Begault and E. M. Wenzel, "Direct comparison of the impact of head tracking, reverberation and individualized head-related transfer functions on the spatial perception of a virtual speech source", J. Audio Eng. Soc., Vol. 49, No. 10, 2001.
Currently, there are two main methods allowing the room effect to be integrated into the HRIR:                the first, relating to the real room effect, consists of measuring HRIRs in a non-anechoic room, therefore comprising a room effect. The HRIRs obtained, which are actually the BRIRs, must be of sufficiently long duration in order to integrate the first sound reflections, a duration longer than 500 time samples for a sampling frequency of 44,100 Hz, but this duration must be even longer, in other words longer than 20,000 time samples at the same sampling frequency, if it is desired to integrate the delayed reverberation effect. It is however noted that the aforementioned BRIRs may be obtained in an equivalent manner by the convolution of the HRIRs measured in an anechoic environment with the desired room effect, represented by the pulse response of the room;        the second, relating to the artificial room effect, comes from virtual acoustics and consists of synthetically integrating the room effect into the HRIR. This operation is carried out thanks to spatializers that introduce artificial reverberation effects. The drawback of such methods is that obtaining a realistic rendering requires a significant processing power.
As far as "binaural" sound spatialization is concerned, a common method consists of modeling the binaural filters, by decomposing the HRTFs, or HRIRs, into a minimum-phase component (minimum-phase filter determined by the spectral modulus of the HRTF) and a pure delay. For a more detailed description of such a method, reference may usefully be made to the articles by D. J. Kistler and F. L. Wightman, "A model of head-related transfer functions based on principal components analysis and minimum-phase reconstruction", J. Acoustic Soc. Am., 91(3) pp. 1637-1647, 1992 and by Kulkarni A. et al. "On the minimum-phase approximation of head-related functions", 1995 IEEE ASSP Workshop on Applications of Signal Processing Audio and Acoustics (IEEE catalog number: 95TH8144).
The difference in delay observed between the HRTFs or the HRIRs of the left ear and of the right ear then correspond to the ITD localization index. Various methods exist for extracting the delays from the HRIRs or HRTFs. The main methods are described by S. Busson in "Individualization of acoustic indices for binaural synthesis", Doctoral thesis from the Université de la Méditerranée Aix-Marseille II, 2006.
The spectral modulus is obtained by taking the modulus of the Fourier transform of the HRIRs. The number of coefficients can then be reduced, for example by averaging the energy over a reduced number of frequency bands, for example according to the frequency smoothing techniques based on the integration properties of the auditory system.
Irrespective of the manner in which the HRTF, HRIR or, where appropriate, BRIR filters are modeled, several methods for implementation of binaural sound spatialization exist.
Amongst the latter, the simplest and most direct method is the dual-channel implementation of the binaural technique shown in FIG. 1.
According to this method, the spatialization of the sources is carried out independently from each other. One pair of HRTF filters is associated with each source. The filtering can be carried out either in the time domain, in the form of a convolution product, or in the frequency domain, in the form of a complex multiplication, or alternatively in any other transformed domain, such as for example the PQMF (Pseudo-Quadrature mirror Filter) domain.
Multi-channel implementation of the binaural technique is an alternative to dual-channel implementation offering a more efficient implementation that consists of a linear decomposition of the HRTFs, in the form of a sum of products of functions of the direction (encoding gains) and of elementary filters (decoding filters). This decomposition allows the encoding and decoding steps to be separated, the number of filters then being independent from the number of sources to be spatialized. The elementary filters may subsequently be modeled by a minimum-phase filter and a pure delay in order to simplify their implementation. It is also possible to extract the delays from the original HRTFs and to integrate them separately in the encoding.
The aforementioned prior art techniques exhibit major drawbacks, when BRIR filters are implemented, taking into account the room effect, in particular:                the complexity: owing to the long duration of the room responses, the number of time samples contained in the BRIRs can be very high, greater than 20,000 samples for rooms of average size, this number being linked to the delay of the room echoes and therefore the dimensions of the latter. Consequently, the corresponding BRIR filters require a processing power and a memory size that are very large;        externalization: the modeling in the form of a minimum-phase filter, associated with a pure delay, allows the size of the filters to be reduced. However, extracting a single interaural delay for each BRIR filter does not allow the first reflections to be taken into account. In this case, the sound timber is correctly adhered to but the externalization effect is no longer reproduced.
The object of the present invention is to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art.

Method for binaural synthesis taking into account a room effect


The present invention relates to a method in which a signal is transmitted between a base station and a terminal in a multi-antenna wireless communication system. The method transmits pre-estimated channel information to the terminal when the terminal moves to a specific position when channel estimation for a specific position is performed. As for the terminal which moves along a fixed route or the route of which can be estimated, the position of the terminal in the near future can be easily detected. Therefore, the transception of channel information can be performed in a more efficient manner in consideration of the above-described special environment.

Currently, in preparation for a mobile traffic explosion which may not be solved by third-generation and fourth-generation mobile communication capacities, fifth-generation mobile communication technology needs to be developed. Fifth-generation mobile communication provides high capacity using a wider frequency band in order to provide improved performance and capacity as compared to a conventional mobile communication scheme and provides an optimal structure for communication between a base station and a user equipment (UE) in consideration of available frequency band. In addition, coverage can be supplemented and enlarged using heterogeneous network technology composed of a macro-cell and a small-cell and data processing capacity and speed can be increased using multiple bands.
In order to control increased data traffic, device-to-device (D2D) technology for performing direct communication between devices without via a network or machine-to-machine (M2M)/Internet of Things (IoT) technology for connecting peripheral things via a network to deliver or obtain necessary information at anytime and anywhere have become important.
Fifth-generation mobile communication provides high capacity using a wider frequency band in order to provide improved performance and capacity as compared to a conventional mobile communication scheme and provides a communication structure between a base station and a user equipment (UE) in consideration of available frequency band.
It is possible to enlarge coverage and increase data capacity using heterogeneous network technology, to reduce network traffic using D2D technology and to improve service quality using M2M technology.
A 4G cellular communication system which is currently being discussed is designed based on one basic frame and is designed to provide optimized performance to a user who moves at a low speed. Such a system is designed to support a user who moves at a speed of 350 km/h, but the performance thereof is inferior to that of a user who moves at a low speed. If such a cellular communication system is applied to a high-speed train, link quality between a network and the high-speed train is deteriorated and sufficient link capacity cannot be ensured due to high mobility of 350 km/h. If the speed of the high-speed train will exceed 500 km/h in the future due to technological development, performance deterioration will become more serious and quality of a wireless data service provided to a passenger will be significantly decreased. If a scenario in which a high-speed train uses some capacity of a macro base station (BS) is used, data communication of other users in a cell may be deteriorated.
Accordingly, instead of wireless communication, wired communication may be used for communication between a network and a high-speed train. For example, communication between a high-speed train and a network may be performed through an AC signal using a railroad, with which the high-speed train is in contact. However, in such a system, capacity of the railroad is low and it is difficult to establish more links due to physical restriction that the number of simultaneously connected railroads is restricted to two. Similarly, a power line communication (PLC) method of performing communication using a power line may be used. However, this method has the same disadvantages as the communication method using the railroad and cannot be disadvantageously applied to a train without a power line.
A conventional mobile terminal is portable and compact, but has relatively low performance. However, as digital communication apparatuses have been increasingly used and services have been diversified, demand for seamless high-speed data transmission at anytime and anywhere has increased. Thus, demand for high-speed data transmission in high-speed moving objects such as cars, trains or aircrafts has increased.
A conventional cellular system was designed to operate at the movement speed (e.g., 120 km/h) of a general vehicle, but was mainly optimized for a low-speed mobile terminal, such that a data transfer rate is low and network connection is barely maintained at a predetermined speed or more. In addition, since the conventional cellular system is designed in consideration of high frequency selectivity, pilot overhead is significantly high. If such a system is applied to a very high speed (e.g., 350 km/h or more) of a high-speed train without change, quality of a link between a network and the high-speed train may deteriorate. As a problem of the conventional communication technology, an open-loop transmission and reception scheme should be applied to a high-speed mobile terminal. While a closed-loop transmission and reception scheme is far superior to an open-loop transmission and reception scheme in terms of performance in a low-speed environment, the open-loop transmission and reception scheme is far superior to the closed-loop transmission and reception scheme in terms of performance in a high-speed environment. The closed-loop transmission and reception scheme is based on accurate channel estimation according to the position of a UE. However, at a high speed, channel estimation is difficult due to Doppler shift according to the speed and overhead for channel information feedback rapidly increases due to a time-variant channel property. Accordingly, in a high-speed environment, better performance can be obtained by improving spatial diversity via an open-loop transmission and reception scheme which does not require channel estimation except for link quality (or channel quality) estimation for determining a modulation/demodulation level.
The present invention proposes a channel estimation scheme for guaranteeing high-speed data transmission in such a communication environment and a fixed route prediction based transmission and reception scheme for simplifying a related process and efficiently reducing resources.
The present invention proposes a route prediction based transmission and reception scheme for remarkably reducing channel estimation overhead and feedback overhead as compared to a conventional closed-loop transmission and reception scheme even in a high-speed environment via channel estimation based on route prediction of a UE which moves on a fixed or predictable route, such as a vehicle or a train, and obtaining performance similar to that of the closed-loop transmission and reception scheme at a low speed.

Wireless communication system for high-speed moving object that moves along fixed route


A compact carbon dioxide separation module for a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is provided. The module is a set of plates, typically two plates, sandwiched together and enclosing a membrane permeable to carbon dioxide. The anode output stream of the DMFC stack feeds into one of the plates. The other plate has an exit hole to vent carbon dioxide permeated through the membrane. As such the module does not draw any power; hence the module will improve the overall efficiency of a DMFC system. In addition, the module is small in size and can easily be stacked and integrated with a DMFC stack. From a DMFC system perspective the module could also be nicely integrated and stacked with a mixing device/module, a water management device/module and a methanol source.

A direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC), like an ordinary battery, provides dc electricity from two electrochemical reactions. These reactions occur at electrodes to which reactants are continuously fed. The negative electrode (anode) is maintained by supplying a fuel such as methanol, whereas the positive electrode (cathode) is maintained by the supply of oxygen or air. When providing current, methanol is electrochemically oxidized at the anode electro-catalyst to produce electrons, which travel through the external circuit to the cathode electro-catalyst where they are consumed together with oxygen in a reduction reaction. The circuit is maintained within the cell by the conduction of protons in the electrolyte.
A direct methanol fuel cell system integrates a direct methanol fuel cell stack with different subsystems for instance for the management of water, fuel, air, humidification and thermal condition of the system. These subsystems are aimed to improve the overall efficiency of the system, which typically suffers from kinetic constraints within both electrode reactions together with the components of the cell stack. For instance, one issue with traditional DMFC systems relates to the separation of carbon dioxide from the anode exhaust stream. Carbon dioxide is typically separated prior to re-circulating the liquid mixture (methanol and water) back to the fuel cell stack inlet and is implemented by means of a gas/liquid separator system. In this traditional approach, the methanol and water vapor are first condensed by means of a cooling fan (or radiator) and the carbon dioxide gas thus separated from the liquid (methanol and water) is vented out. The recovered liquid methanol and water are then pumped by means of a re-circulating pump to a mixing tank where they are mixed with fresh methanol prior to being fed to the fuel cell stack. The fresh methanol is diluted with the recovered methanol and water to achieve a desired concentration prior to feeding it to the stack. The traditional process of separation of carbon dioxide from the methanol and water mixture is power consuming, requires bulky equipment and quite inefficient since some of the methanol and water present in a vapor form in the anode exhaust stream are lost along with the carbon dioxide. Accordingly, there is a need to develop new subsystems in particular related to carbon dioxide separation that could be integrated with a direct methanol fuel cell and system.

Carbon dioxide management in a direct methanol fuel cell system


It comprises at least one first lower main deposit (1) arranged at a lower level and at least one second upper main deposit (2) arranged at an upper level, both containing polluted water to be purified, while at the same time the bottom of the large area main deposits (1-2) are communicated with each other through at least one intermediate pipe (3) through which the polluted water is circulated in both directions successively and alternatively under turbulent regime. From the bottom of the main deposits (1-2) the pollutants will be removed or purged to a cavity (9) that receives part of the water together with a high concentration of pollutants decanted and precipitated at the bottom of said main deposits (1-2), said pollutants being treated and separated in that cavity (9).

In the present day, the purification of polluted water is a topic that has been sufficiently developed. There are currently many systems on the basis of the characteristics of the polluted raw water that is intended to be purified.
In short, the purification of polluted water consists of a series of chain unit processes (physical, chemical and biological) that reproduce in an enclosure the natural self-purification and they are intended to successively separate the pollutants from the polluted water containing them.
The separation technique of particles in suspension is based mainly on the physical phenomenon of decantation, with different variants and configurations. However, the separation of dissolved and colloidal pollutants is more problematic, requiring physical-chemical treatments and others more advanced.
In the case of polluted water of urban origin, different types of treatment plants are designed depending on the flow rate of water to be treated, the characteristics of the polluted water and the area of available land. Thus, we can find from the simpler, such as septic tanks, to the more complex, such as the so-called waste water treatment stations (WWTS).
In the case of polluted water of industrial origin, the different purification systems are highly conditioned primarily by three factors, such as the flow rate to be treated, the nature of water (acidic or basic), the polluting substances that it has and the concentration of said pollutants.

System for purifying polluted water and purification method


An amplifier having orthogonal tuning elements is provided. In one embodiment, an amplifier comprises an input amplifier stage having a first tuning element used to control a first performance criteria of the amplifier; an output amplifier stage operatively coupled to the first amplifier stage; a bias circuit operatively coupled to the second amplifier stage and having a second tuning element used to control a second performance criteria of the amplifier; and wherein the first tuning element operates substantially independent of the second tuning element.

The popularity of battery-operated portable electronics with wireless connectivity has driven the design of radio frequency (RF) analog circuitry to consume less power while maintaining or increasing performance. The fabrication of these complex circuits using complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) fabrication processes increases variability over voltage, temperature, age and the like, resulting in lower yields. The requirement for low power and high yield is difficult to achieve using traditional static circuit design techniques. Thus, there is a need for adaptive or reconfigurable wireless systems that use underlying tunable RF, analog or mixed-signal elements. By using a tunable element such as a tuning circuit, a wireless system is more capable of improving power consumption and performance considering variables such as environment, process or performance requirements. Such adaptability is enabled using tuning elements in circuits to allow a trade-offs between various criteria such as power consumption and performance. However, a tuning element used in a traditional RF circuit design typically impacts multiple performance criteria, making it more difficult to adjust a tuning element for a particular criteria. Further, traditional circuit designs may lack sufficient tuning elements to achieve independent or orthogonal control of any particular criteria.
Furthermore, traditional wireless circuits and systems are typically overdesigned to allow operation in various environments, which impact wireless channel conditions by adding delay spread, fading, co-channel and adjacent channel interferers/blockers and the like. RF systems are typically designed to adapt to such environments by trading-off the performance of the RF receiver's front-end circuits to reduce power consumption during stronger channel conditions. For example, when the received signal strength is moderate and there is no co-channel or adjacent channel interference/blockers, the linearity of the low-noise amplifier (LNA) may result in the LNA consuming more power than needed.
In addition, increased semiconductor process variations may lead to loss of yield as components fail one or more performance criteria. Further, RF circuits and systems typically exhibit lower yields than digital circuits and systems due to the interdependence and complex nature of multiple performance criteria and the inability to adequately adjust for such performance criteria. Accordingly, there is a need for techniques to independently or orthogonally tune various performance criteria of amplifiers. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present disclosure will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures and the foregoing technical field and background.

Amplifier having orthogonal tuning elements


The present invention provides a pellicle frame that can prevent generation of haze and reduces a surface glittering defect under irradiation with collected light, and a method of manufacturing the pellicle frame. Specifically, provided are a pellicle frame, including: an aluminum frame material formed of aluminum or an aluminum alloy; and an anodic oxide film on a surface of the aluminum frame material, in which the anodic oxide film includes a film formed by using an alkaline anodic oxidation solution and a film formed by using an acid anodic oxidation solution, and a method of manufacturing the pellicle frame.

A pellicle device is obtained by bonding a transparent optical thin film (pellicle film) to a pellicle frame having a shape corresponding to that of a photomask or a reticle, while expanding the film. The pellicle device prevents foreign materials from directly adhering onto the photomask or the reticle. In addition, even when the foreign materials adhere onto the pellicle film, such foreign materials do not form images on a semiconductor substrate or the like. Therefore, it is possible to accurately transfer a circuit pattern, and thus improve a manufacturing yield in a photolithography step.
In recent years, along with high integration of a semiconductor device or the like, a circuit pattern has been required to be drawn more finely with a smaller line width, and a mainstream exposure light source to be used in the photolithography step has employed a short-wavelength light. The light source employing such short-wavelength light has a high output power and high light energy. Therefore, when an inorganic acid, such as sulfuric acid, remains in an anodic oxide film on a surface of an aluminum frame material for forming the pellicle frame, there arises a problem in that such inorganic acid reacts with a basic substance, such as ammonia, which is present in an exposure atmosphere, to generate a reaction product, such as ammonium sulfate, and the reaction product causes fogging (haze) and affects a transferred image.
In view of the foregoing, there has been proposed a pellicle frame which is obtained by forming an anodic oxide film on the surface of an aluminum frame material through anodic oxidation treatment using an alkaline anodic oxidation solution containing, as an electrolyte, a salt of an organic acid, such as citric acid or tartaric acid, and thus reduced in the amount of the inorganic acid, such as sulfuric acid, and prevents the generation of haze as much as possible even under irradiation with high-energy light (see Patent Literatures 1 and 2).
Meanwhile, it is necessary to strictly control particles in a manufacturing process of the semiconductor device or the like, and also the pellicle device has generally been confirmed for the presence or absence of dust adhesion by visual observation or with an inspection device. However, in recent years, the thinning of the circuit pattern in the semiconductor device or the like has increasingly progressed, and along with this, inspection standards for the pellicle device have become stricter. Therefore, a white spot involving light reflection in visual inspection not only under irradiation with fluorescent light but also under irradiation with collected light, that is, a surface glittering defect of the pellicle frame (hereinafter sometimes referred to simply as "glittering" or the like) under irradiation with collected light is required to be reduced because such defect maybe falsely recognized as dust, or an incorrect pattern may be formed in the photolithography step when light from a light source is irregularly reflected owing to the glittering.

Pellicle frame and process for producing same


A drive power supply circuit for driving liquid crystal display of the present invention generates necessary levels in an LCD drive power supply circuit that generates drive levels for LCDs in an LCD controller/driver IC by means of switching connection to capacitors in a constant manner or in synchronism with the timing of LCD driving. It allows reduction in number of the components such as amplifiers for level generation and external capacitors, which in turn reduces current consumption of the entire system, chip areas, and mounting areas.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power supply circuit for driving a liquid crystal display (LCD). More particularly, the present invention relates to a power supply circuit used to generate different levels of voltage required to drive an LCD.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Portable electronic devices including cellular phones have become ubiquitous in recent years. Such portable electronic devices comprise an LCD panel as their display screen. The LCD panel is driven by a certain kind of power supply circuit which is well known in the art. More specifically, a multi-level power supply circuit is necessary to drive LCD panels which generates different levels of voltage The power supply circuit used for this purpose is hereinafter referred to as an "LCD drive power supply circuit". It is noted that the term "LCD panel" as used herein is not limited to a particular LCD panel. Instead, it includes any kinds of similar LCDs which are used in portable electronic devices.
The multi-level LCD drive power supply circuit is incorporated within LCD drivers or LCD controller/driver ICs to generate necessary levels of voltage. Some conventional multi-level LCD drive power supply circuits use a separate power supply IC and resistors. However, the demand for lower power consumption and smaller driving circuit has been increasing as the LCD panels have found more and more applications in the portable electronic devices. A solution to meet such demand is to use a single chip LCD controller/driver on which an LCD drive power supply circuit is also incorporated.
A conventional single-chip LCD controller/driver with an on-chip LCD drive power supply circuit comprises a resistive voltage divider. The resistive voltage divider provides scaling of the peak voltage for LCD driving on desired voltage levels. However, charging and discharging the capacitive load of the panel would result in rounding of the waveform even when the voltage levels generated by the resistance division are used directly. Thus, the outputs of the resistive voltage divider are supplied to amplifiers where they are converted to have a low impedance. The low impedance waveforms are then supplied to multiplexers (drivers) where a certain level is selected in accordance with frame and display signals. The outputs of the multiplexer are used to drive segment electrodes and common electrodes configuring the panel.
In practice, the panel incorporates a plurality of electrodes and a plurality of corresponding outputs. For example, the panel may be configured of n number of segment electrodes and m number of common electrodes, which provides a display panel of n by m pixels. As is well known in the art, the common electrode is also referred to as a scanning electrode. Only one common electrode generates an output at the selected voltage level (selective output). The outputs from the remaining common electrodes are at the non-selected voltage levels. The segment electrodes generate outputs at the selected and unselected levels in synchronism with the selective output supplied from the common electrode. The outputs from the segment electrodes control the ON/OFF of the corresponding pixel because each cross point of the segment and common electrodes is a display pixel. It is noted that the voltage applied to the LCD is similar to the alternating current. Accordingly, the level selective/unselective modes for LCD driving fluctuate periodically according to a time period called a "frame".
The voltage levels V1 to V5 for LCD driving are typically connected to capacitors C0 to C4 in order to stabilize the levels. The amplifiers A1 to A4 used to provide the levels for LCD driving are designed to reduce idling current and prevent shoot-through current as much as possible due to the capacitive load of the panel. Instantaneous switching of the load may result in fluctuation of the levels for a time period determined by the through rate of the amplifiers. This may adversely affect the display itself. With respect to the above, an external capacitor (bypass capacitor) may be added to each amplifier in order to eliminate any fluctuation of the levels if the through rate of the amplifier is not enough.
On the other hand, there have been increasing demands for lower power consumption and size reduction in the portable electronics field. In particular, it is required to eliminate any external capacitor and reduce the size of a chip as much as possible, in addition to reducing current consumption of a power supply circuit.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-31200 discloses an LCD drive power supply circuit that meets the above-mentioned demands for lower power consumption, in which intermediate levels are used as the power supplies for level amplifiers with potential levels V3 and V4. Alternatively, Japanese Patent No. 2695981 (corresponding to EP0 479 304 B1) discloses an LCD drive power supply circuit having a configuration where the bias on an amplifier is turned OFF temporarily.
The LCD drive power supply circuits disclosed in the above specifications require lowerpower consumption. However, the chip size is increased due to the additional circuits. In addition, none of the above LCD drive power supply circuits are directed to the reduction of the circuit scale reduction.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an LCD drive power supply circuit with which the scale of the circuit can be reduced with a smaller number of components and in which switches and control signals are used to achieve a lower power consumption.

Power supply circuit for driving liquid crystal display


A well log is obtained that includes log data gathered along a trajectory of a wellbore. An orientation parameter defining a perspective for displaying the log data along the trajectory is also obtained. Following a path of the trajectory, an image strip is rendered from the log data based on the orientation parameter, where the image strip is a pictorial representation of the log data. The image strip is displayed along the trajectory.

Operations, such as geophysical surveying, drilling, logging, well completion, and production, are performed to locate and gather valuable downhole fluids from subterranean formations. During drilling and production operations, well logs are often generated that describe properties of the subterranean formations. Specifically, the well logs include values of one or more properties in the immediate vicinity of the wellbore.


A new cultivar of hybrid Rhododendron plant named ‘Microhirs9’ that is characterized by its inflorescences that are conical in shape, its flowers that are pink in color with the upper surface of the center of the corolla lobes white in color, its compact plant habit, and its tolerance to alkaline soils.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Rhododendron plant of hybrid origin, botanically known as Rhododendron hybrid 'Microhirs9' and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, 'Microhirs9'. 'Microhirs9' is a new cultivar of deciduous Rhododendron grown for use as a landscape plant.
The new cultivar arose from a controlled breeding program with the objective of developing lime tolerant rootstock cultivars of Rhododendron. The new cultivar was derived from a cross made by the Inventors in 1997 in Edewecht, Germany between an unnamed and unpatented plant of Rhododendron hirsutum as the female parent, and an unnamed and unpatented plant of Rhododendron micranthum, as the male parent. The Inventors selected 'Microhirs9' as a single unique plant amongst the seedlings that resulted from the above cross in 2016 in Edewecht, Germany.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished by softwood stem cuttings in Apen, Germany, in 2016 by the Inventors. Asexual propagation by softwood stem cuttings has determined that the characteristics of the new cultivar are stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.


A buffer circuit includes an input terminal configured to receive an input signal, an output terminal, a buffer, and an RC circuit coupled in series with the buffer between the input terminal and the output terminal. The RC circuit includes a first transistor and an RC network including a resistor and a capacitor, the first transistor is coupled in series with the resistor between a power supply node and a reference node, and the buffer and the RC circuit are configured to generate an output signal based on the input signal.

Integrated circuits (ICs) are often protected from electrostatic discharge (ESD) and other potentially damaging transient events by external protection circuits referred to as overvoltage protection circuits (OPCs) or transient voltage suppressor (TVS) circuits in some cases. Such protection is typically provided while the IC is powered on and can include switching on a clamp circuit to discharge transient current, thereby avoiding a large voltage stress on an input pad.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.


A differential two-stage Miller compensated amplifier system with capacitive level shifting includes a first stage differential transconductance amplifier including first and second output nodes and an output common mode voltage, a second stage differential transconductance amplifier including non-inverting and inverting inputs and outputs and an input common mode voltage, and a level shifting capacitor circuit coupled between the first and second output nodes and the non-inverting and inverting inputs for level shifting between the output common mode voltage of the first stage and the input common mode voltage of the second stage.

A typical conventional two-stage Miller compensated amplifier system relies on directly coupling the outputs of the first stage with the inputs of the second stage. The result is that the headroom or signal swing of the second stage is limited by the output common mode voltage of the first stage. This is undesirable in many designs where a maximum swing is needed to achieve a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).
One conventional two-stage Miller compensated amplifier system attempts to improve this problem by utilizing a wide swing output stage. This results in outputs of the second stage being able to swing within one VDSAT of the rails. However, this limits the output common mode voltage of the first stage to one VGS above ground due to the direct connection of the first stage outputs with the inputs of the second stage. The result is the headroom and input compliance of the first stage is severely restricted, especially if current source devices are used.

Differential two-stage miller compensated amplifier system with capacitive level shifting


A baitcasting reel has a clutch mechanism mounted in a transmission line between a handle and a spool, an annular cam for operating the clutch mechanism, and a rotary member interlocked to the handle. The annular cam includes a return piece movable to a position to interfere with projections formed on the rotary member when the annular cam is operated to a clutch disengaging position. The return piece transmits a pressing force from the rotary member to the annular cam when the handle is turned in a line winding direction, to engage the clutch mechanism. A guide member guides the return piece to a predetermined position while preventing contact between the return piece and the projections of the rotary member, and thereafter allows the return piece to move radially of the rotary member to the interference position. This guide member is movable in contact with the return piece when the handle is turned in the line winding direction.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to baitcasting reels, and more particularly to a baitcasting reel having a control mechanism for operating a clutch mechanism mounted in a transmission line between a handle and a spool, and a rotary member mounted in a transmission line interlocked to the handle, the control mechanism including a return piece movable to an interference position inside a locus of revolution of projections formed on the rotary member when the control mechanism is operated to a clutch disengaging position, the return piece being operable to transmit a pressing force from the projections to the control mechanism to engage the clutch mechanism when the handle is turned in a line winding direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
A baitcasting reel having the above construction is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication Kokai No. 1987-181169, for example. In the prior construction, the control mechanism comprises a slide type plate having a return piece pivoted to an end thereof, and the rotary member comprises a ratchet wheel mounted on a handle shaft. During an operation to disengage the clutch mechanism, the return piece is switched to a position for moving into a locus of revolution of teeth (projections) formed on the ratchet wheel. When the handle is turned in the line winding direction with the clutch mechanism disengaged, the return piece transmits an operating force from the teeth of the ratchet wheel to the plate, thereby to move the plate to a clutch engaging position.
During the operation to disengage the clutch mechanism, the return piece pivotally attached to the plate is switched to a position for swinging radially of the rachet wheel into the locus of revolution of the teeth of the ratchet wheel. Consequently, this reel has the advantage of avoiding the inconvenience of the return piece contacting the teeth in the course of an operation to disengage the clutch mechanism.
According to this prior construction, during the operation to disengage the clutch mechanism, the plate is moved in a direction to rotate the ratchet wheel backward, with the return piece erected. This change in the position of the return piece occurring during the operation to disengage the clutch mechanism includes a component of force to displace the return piece axially of the ratchet wheel, and a component of the force to move the return piece in the direction to rotate the ratchet wheel backward. If, for example, an end of the return piece contacts a front surface of a tooth (the surface in the direction of forward rotation of the ratchet wheel) in the course of an operation to disengage the clutch mechanism, the clutch mechanism cannot be disengaged because of the component of force acting in the direction of backward rotation.
This phenomenon seldom occurs where the ratchet wheel has a large amount of play. However, this inconvenience is frequently encountered where, as in modern reels, a roller type mechanism allowing little backward play is used for preventing backward turning of the handle. Thus, there is room for improvement.
When the return piece contacts an outer periphery of a tooth of the ratchet wheel during the operation to disengage the clutch mechanism, it is possible to disengage the clutch mechanism by turning the handle in the line winding direction. However, when the return piece contacts a front surface of a tooth as noted above, the handle cannot be turned in the line winding direction. A suitable improvement in this aspect is desired.

Baitcasting reel having a clutch control mechanism


Aspects of a method and system for signal generation via a PLL with a DDFS feedback path are provided. In this regard, a phase difference between a reference signal and a feedback signal may be utilized to control a VCO, wherein the feedback signal is generated by a DDFS. Voltage, current and/or power levels of the generated feedback signal may be limited to a determined range of values. Moreover, the feedback signal may be based on an output of the VCO and a digital control word input to the DDFS. The digital control word may be programmatically controlled by, for example, a processor. Additionally, the control word may be determined based on a desired frequency of the generated feedback signal and a desired output frequency of the VCO. Accordingly, the DDFS may be clocked by the output of the VCO, or by a divided down version of the VCO output.

As wireless communications continue to evolve and become increasingly relied upon for the conveyance of data, new challenges continue to face wireless system designers. In this regard, the increasing number of wireless technologies and wireless devices has led to increasing congestion in many frequency bands. Accordingly, efforts exist to utilize less congested frequency bands. For example, in 2001, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) designated a large contiguous block of 7 GHz bandwidth for communications in the 57 GHz to 64 GHz spectrum. This frequency band was designated for use on an unlicensed basis, that is, the spectrum is accessible to anyone, subject to certain basic, technical restrictions such as maximum transmission power and certain coexistence mechanisms. The communications taking place in this band are often referred to as '60 GHz communications'. However, in order to transmit, receive, and/or process signals with such high frequencies as 60 GHz, new methods and systems for signal generation are necessary. In this regard, conventional methods of signal generation, such as integer-N and Fractional-N phase locked loops may be difficult or costly to implement as frequencies increase.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

Method and system for signal generation via a PLL with DDFS feedback path


A method of autonomously convoying vehicles traveling along a route with a leader vehicle being in communication with at least one follower vehicle. The at least one follower vehicle receives a communication relating to a target offset position and route data. Tracking data is generated and derived from on-board sensing devices of the at least one follower vehicle that includes a traveled path of the leader vehicle sensed by the at least one follower vehicle. The route data is compared to the tracking data for identifying accuracy between the route data relative to the tracking data. An adjusted target offset position and a set of trajectory points that provides a trajectory path of travel from a current position of the at least one follower vehicle to the adjusted target offset position are determined based on the accuracy between the route data and the tracking data.

An embodiment relates generally to vehicle-to-vehicle communications.
Autonomous vehicle platoons, also known as convoys, utilize a common route planning among vehicles in the convoy for maintaining a formation among the vehicles of the convoy. The convoy consists of a leader vehicle and trailer vehicles wherein the trailer vehicles receive a guidance signal from the vehicle ahead of it for maintaining a path of travel. Such systems may utilize a sensing system to maintain a safe distance with the vehicle ahead. Each member vehicle of the convoy knows the route and destination in advance, and the location along the route at any given point in time. Such systems require a shared drivable route, such as a maplet with way points, speed, and other driver vehicle target tracking using a combination of sensors.
The drawbacks of prior art approaches are that the routes need to be known in advance. Prior art systems have relied on external positioning systems such as magnetic strips and GPS, and may also experience computational latencies caused by scene construction, simultaneous localization, and real time object detection and classification.

Autonomous convoying technique for vehicles


An image processing apparatus capable of performing calibration includes a storage unit configured to store a calibration job for performing calibration and a normal job for performing image processing in order of reception, a judgment unit configured to judge whether to interrupt the normal job during execution of the normal job and to perform the calibration job, and a control unit configured to interrupt processing of the normal job to be in a state where the processing can be resumed and perform the calibration job if it is judged that the calibration job is to be performed, and to perform the calibration job after the stored normal job is completed if it is judged that the calibration job is not to be performed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus for performing calibration, a method for controlling the image processing apparatus, and a storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
In image processing apparatuses such as printers and copying machines, printing characteristics of a printer engine may change due to change in environmental conditions (for example, temperature and humidity), change in temperature of a fixing device included in the printer engine, change in charging conditions of a charging device, effects due to displacement and deformation of various components included in the printer engine, and the like. If printing is performed in a state where the printing characteristics have changed, the printing may result in outcomes different from those expected by a user, for example, different reproducibility in gradation and tint in a printed image as compared to its original image. To solve the problem, in many apparatuses, color misregistration correction processing and color tone adjustment processing is performed for every predetermined number of printed sheets, or at the time of startup. Hereinafter, the color misregistration correction processing and the color tone adjustment processing are collectively called "calibration processing".
The calibration processing takes some time and consequently, if a user issues a print instruction during the execution, the time from the user's print instruction to the actual execution of the printing becomes longer than usual. To solve the problem, a method for determining whether to execute calibration processing based on a sensor value or the time passed since the last calibration processing to restrain the execution of the calibration processing is proposed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-90457).
In the known method, by reducing the frequency of the execution of the calibration processing, the frequency of occurrence of printing standby states of the user can be reduced. Once the calibration processing is executed, however, the user cannot perform printing until the calibration processing is completed.

Image processing apparatus, method for controlling the image processing apparatus, and storage medium


In an automated data storage library having a plurality of accessors which access portable data storage media with respect to storage shelves and data storage drive(s) along a path, a controller, in response to detection of restricted movement of an accessor at a position along the path, determines a range of motion of another accessor along the path which avoids interfering with the accessor having the restricted movement. The controller also determines a limit to commands of a work queue of commands for operating the accessors, the limit extending from and past the position of the accessor having the restricted movement, along the path; and prevents execution of the limited commands. The limited commands may be failed with a “hardware” error.

Automated data storage libraries provide a means for storing large quantities of data in portable data storage media, such as magnetic tape cartridges, optical disk cartridges, etc., that are stored in a readily available form at storage shelves of the library. The portable data storage media are accessed and transported with respect to the storage shelves and at least one data storage drive by an accessor, and the data storage drive(s) transfer data with respect to the portable data storage media.
Typically, data stored at portable data storage media of an automated data storage library, once requested, is needed quickly. Thus, it is desirable that an automated data storage library continue to be in operational condition as much as possible, such as the well known "24×7×365" availability. If only a single accessor is supported, an error to operation of the accessor can cause customer downtime. Hence, the addition of another accessor will aid in reducing customer downtime and impact. The accessors typically operate on the same path to serve the entire library on the one path, and can work in a "hot standby" configuration, or in a "dual active" or "multiple active" configuration. In a hot standby configuration, only one accessor is active at any single time, and another accessor is in standby mode, waiting for an operational failure to occur on the active accessor. Thus, the standby accessor would only take over in the event of a failure of the active accessor, and the standby accessor may push the active accessor into a service bay, and would become the active accessor. Examples of active/standby accessors comprise U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,461 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,309,162. In a multiple active configuration, both of the accessors are active, and move within separate virtual libraries, or sections of the automated data storage library, which may overlap. In the event of a failure of one of the accessors, another accessor would push the failed accessor into a service bay, and would take over for the entire automated data storage library. An example of multiple active accessors comprises U.S. Pat. No. 6,304,524.
A key element in reducing customer downtime and impact is to clear the aisle or accessor path in the event of an accessor failure so that the library is fully functional and to allow the other accessor full access to the whole library. Therefore, if the failing accessor is unable to move out of the path, another accessor must try to push the failing accessor into a service bay, so that the another accessor will have full access to the whole library, which eliminates customer downtime. However, there are certain scenarios where failures can halt the library. An example of an error that causes customer downtime is if there is a stuck portable data storage media cartridge between the accessor and a drive or storage shelf. Another example is if a cartridge has been dropped and is blocking the accessor along the path. The path is typically a rail, and the cartridge may jam between the accessor and the rail. In each example, the accessor is failed due to the stuck or jammed cartridge, and it may not be possible to move the failed accessor, halting the operation of the library.

Continued execution of accessor commands on a restricted multiple accessor path of an automated data storage library

International Business Machines Corporation


An organic electroluminescent (EL) display panel which includes a pixel circuit is provided. The pixel circuit includes a first transistor, a second transistor, and a display element. The first transistor has control and main electrodes and outputs a current which corresponds to a voltage charged in at least one capacitor being provided between the control and main electrodes. The second transistor has a second control electrode coupled to the control electrode of the first transistor. The second electrode is diode-connected. The display element displays image data corresponding to an amount of the current output by the first transistor. The first transistor and the display element are electrically decoupled during the first period for applying a pre-charge voltage to the control electrode of the first transistor and the second period for applying the data voltage to the control electrode of the first transistor.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display panel and a driving method thereof. More specifically, the present invention relates to an organic electroluminescent (EL) display panel and a driving method thereof.
(b) Description of the Related Art
In general, an organic electroluminescent (EL) display electrically excites a phosphorous organic compound to emit light. A light emitting pixel includes an anode (ITO), an organic thin film, and a cathode layer (metal). The organic thin film has a multi-layer structure including an emitting layer (EML), an electron transport layer (ETL), and a hole transport layer (HTL) for maintaining balance between electrons and holes and improving emitting efficiencies. Further, the organic emitting cell includes an electron injecting layer (EIL) and a hole injecting layer (HIL).
The organic emitting cells are arranged in an N×M matrix format to configure an organic EL display panel which displays image data by voltage- or current-driving.
FIG. 1 shows a brief diagram of a general organic EL display. Exemplary embodiments of the present invention can be applied to the EL display of FIG. 1, as well as other suitable displays.
As shown, the organic EL display includes an organic EL display panel 10, a scan driver 20, and a data driver 30.
The organic EL display panel 10 includes a plurality of data lines D1 to DM arranged in the row direction, a plurality of scan lines S1 to SN arranged in the column direction, and a plurality of pixel circuits 11. The data lines D1 to DM provide data voltages for displaying image signals to the pixel circuits 11, and the scan lines S1 to SN provide select voltages for selecting the pixel circuits 11 to the pixel circuits 11. The pixel circuits 11 are formed at pixel areas defined by two neighboring data lines and two neighboring scan lines.
The scan driver 20 sequentially applies the select signals to the scan lines S1 to SN, and the data driver 30 applies the data voltages for displaying the image signals to the data lines D1 to DM.
Methods for driving the organic emitting cells through the pixel circuits 11 include a passive matrix method and an active matrix method which uses thin-film transistors (TFTs). The passive matrix method includes forming anodes and cathodes arranged perpendicular to each other, selecting lines, and driving the organic emitting cells. The active matrix method includes using the TFTs to select lines, storing data in capacitors of the pixels, and driving the organic emitting cells.
The active matrix method includes a voltage programming method and a current programming method according to patterns of signals applied to maintain the voltage at a capacitor. The current programming method supplies a data current for representing gray scales to pixel circuits to display the image, and the voltage programming method supplies a data voltage for representing gray scales to the pixel circuits to display the image.
The current programming method fails to obtain a charge time for charging loads of data lines since it controls an organic EL element by using a fine current, and accordingly, the voltage programming method is generally used.
Regardless of whether the programming methods are voltage or current, an organic EL element may emit light that is not intended because of undesired current during programming of the data in the pixel circuits, and, thus, normal black levels may not be properly represented.

Display panel and driving method thereof


A pulling head for a crystal growth furnace. The pulling head includes a servomotor and a rotatable housing attached to the servomotor, wherein the housing includes first, second, third and fourth housing magnets. The pulling head also includes a shaft attached to a scale and a connection device having first and second connection magnets. The first connection magnet is arranged between the first and second housing magnets to generate first and second magnetic repulsion forces and the second connection magnet is arranged between the third and fourth housing magnets to generate third and fourth magnetic repulsion forces. A rotation coupling is attached between the shaft and the connection device wherein the scale weighs the shaft, rotation coupling and the connection device. The servomotor rotates the housing and rotation of the housing is transmitted by the magnetic repulsion forces to the connection device to rotate the connection device.

A Czochralski crystal growth technique is frequently used to grow single crystals. In this technique, a melt is formed by heating a material in a crucible. A single crystal is then grown by withdrawing a rotating seed crystal that is in contact with the melt. As the seed crystal is withdrawn or pulled from the crucible, the melt solidifies on the seed. A pulling head arrangement, which is part of a crystal growth furnace apparatus, is typically used to pull the single crystal.
An oxyorthosilicate material may be used to form a single crystal. For example, single crystals fabricated from an oxyorthosilicate material may be used in detectors for positron emission tomography (PET) medical scanners utilized in molecular imaging. An oxyorthosilicate crystal is typically grown in the form of a long cylindrical boule. The boule is grown until a target weight is achieved to form a full size boule. A relatively large capacity load cell or scale is used to weigh a full size boule. On the other hand, the boule is relatively light during initial stages of formation of the boule.
It is important to be able to determine the weight of the boule during initial stages of formation of the boule. However, the relatively large capacity scales that are used to weigh a full-size boule do not have sufficient resolution to be able to accurately determine the weight of a relatively light boule.


The invention refers to a method and apparatus for converting NOx and comprises the step of controlling a temperature in a NOx-LNT by adsorbing NOx in the LNT at a temperature below a predetermined temperature value to a predetermined value being the maximum amount of NOx to be stored at the predetermined temperature value, thereafter heating the LNT to the predetermined temperature value, and thereafter starting a regeneration process by addition of reducing agents.

In the field of lean-burn internal combustion engines, reduction of NOx, such as NO and NO2, in exhaust gas is a well known problem. It is known to use so called Lean NOx Traps (LNTs) in the exhaust system for adsorbing NOx when the engine is run lean and to convert NOx into N2 (Nitrogen gas) during a regeneration period when the engine is run rich. Here lean refers to an air-fuel ratio above lambda equal to 1, i.e. the stoichometric air-fuel ratio, where the production of HC (hydrocarbons) and CO (carbon oxides) are low and where the production of NOx is high. Rich refers to a value below the lambda equal to 1 and where the production of HC and CO is high and where the production of NOx is relatively low. However, NOx does not have to be low at this running mode, but the oxygen O2 level always is. The hydrocarbons and carbon dioxides are reductants in the regeneration process. Reductants may also be called reducing agents or reducing compounds. An additional example of a reductant is hydrogen gas H2.
When the engine is run rich the excess amount of reductants reacts with the adsorbed NOx and forms N2. The engine is then run lean again and NOx is again adsorbed until the engine is run rich.
The optimum NOx conversion temperature value in the LNT is dependent, for example, on such factors as which fuel is used, how the LNT is constructed and the materials used, the age of the LNT, etc. However, the optimum NOx conversion temperature value is chosen in a temperature region where optimum conversion of NOx into N2 is possible. The temperature of the LNT is dependent on the temperature of the exhaust gas which becomes higher when the number of revolutions in the engine increases and/or when the load on the engine becomes higher and/or when the engine is run rich.
One problem with prior art occurs when the engine is run at conditions where the temperature of the LNT is well below the optimum NOx conversion temperature. At this low temperature the conversion of NOx is low, but it is known one scenario where to start regenerate at the low temperature by running the engine rich and continue running rich until the temperature has increased to the temperature close to or on the optimum temperature for regeneration. One problem with the latter solution is that the NOx conversion is low per se at this temperature and the process is thus a waste of fuel. Another problem is that NOx adsorbs well at low temperatures and desorbs with increased temperatures, why the procedure would yield an amount of desorbed NOx that cannot be converted and thus will escape to the environment with the exhaust gas.
Another known scenario is to wait for the engine to produce exhaust gas with temperatures high enough to heat up the LNT to the optimum NOx conversion temperature. However, as described above, the NOx adsorbs well at low temperatures and desorbs with increased temperatures, why this procedure would yield an amount of desorbed NOx that cannot be converted at the optimum NOx conversion temperature and thus will escape to the environment with the exhaust gas.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved method and apparatus for NOx conversion when the engine is run at conditions where the LNT temperature is well below the optimum NOx conversion temperature.

Method and apparatus for conversion of NO


A system for generating a digital representation of a video signal comprised of a sequence of video frames which each include two video fields of a duration such that the video plays at a first prespecified rate of frames per second. The sequence of video frames includes a prespecified number of redundant video fields. Redundant video fields in the video frame sequence are identified by a video processor, and the video frame sequence is digitized by an analog to digital convertor, excluding the identified redundant video fields. The digitized video frames are then compressed by a video compressor to generate a digital representation of the video signal which plays at a second prespecified rate of frames per second.

This invention relates to techniques for electronically editing film.
Film video and audio source material is frequently edited digitally using a computer system, such as the Avid/1 Media Composer from Avid Technology, Inc., of Tewksbury, Mass., which generates a digital representation of a source film, allowing a film editor to edit the digital version, rather than the film source itself. This editing technique provides great precision and flexibility in the editing process, and is thus gaining popularity over the old style of film editing using a flatbed editor.
The Avid/1 Media Composer accepts a videotape version of a source film, created by transferring the film to videotape using the so-called telecine process, and digitizes the videotape version for editing via manipulation by computer. The operation of the Media Composer is described more fully in copending application U.S. Ser. No. 07/866,829, filed Apr. 10, 1992, and entitled Improved Media Composer. The teachings of that application are incorporated herein by reference. Editing of the digitized film version is performed on the Media Composer computer using CRT monitors for displaying the digitized videotape, with the edit details being based on videotape timecode specifications. Once editing is complete, the Media Composer creates an edited videotape and a corresponding edit decision list (EDL) which documents the videotape timecode specification details of the edited videotape. The film editor uses this EDL to specify a cut and assemble list for editing the source film. While providing many advantages over the old style flatbed film editing technique, this electronic editing technique is found to be cumbersome for some film editors who are unaccustomed to videotape timecode specifications.

Electronic film editing system using both film and videotape format


The invention relates to a safety joint and a method of operation, the safety joint comprising: a first riser part and a second riser part overlapping in an axial direction and having end connections to be connectable as part of a riser, a release unit, locking the two riser parts together in a not activated mode, the release unit having other modes comprising a partly activated mode and fully activated mode, where the release unit comprises at least one axial extending tension rod connected between the two riser parts, which tension rod is configured to deform plastically before breaking, thereby activating the partly and fully activated modes.

Risers are normally used to link hydrocarbon wells on the seabed to offshore floating structures. A riser is normally made up of lengths of tubing of steel having significant diameter, making them heavy. The floating structure therefore needs to apply tension to the riser to prevent it from buckling and possibly to collapse under its own weight, and prevent the weight from acting on the wellhead. This tension system is also compensated for movements of the platform relative the seabed, e.g. to keep a relative steady tension in the riser. Problems may occur when the platform experiences conditions out of normal operation range such as drive-off and drift-off, or if the heave compensation system is not working properly. All these conditions may result in excessive tension in the riser, and at some point the riser will break. To address this problem, risers may be provided with a weak link which has a lower tensile rating than the other components of the riser such that one gets a breakage at a given/predetermined point in the riser when there is a given tension in the riser, known prior to the incident.
A weak link shall comply with the following requirements:                Protect barriers, both primary and secondary        Protect personnel        Protect environment
A conventional weak link comprises two parts which are releasable attached to one another by, for example, studs, which fracture at a predetermined tensile force. Such conventional weak link systems shall be able to withstand tensile forces applied to the weak link not only by the offshore structure, but also by well pressure. The studs therefore have to be rated to separate at a tension which is a combination of the separation force supplied by the well pressure and the tension applied from surface. The well pressure fluctuates. At high well pressures a conventional weak link can provide a very limited operational utilization as it will require a very limited external tension before it breaks, and at low pressures a conventional weak link can fail to protect the system as it will require a relatively higher external tension before it breaks. This might be a problem, both with regards to the operational window, but also in relation to safe protection of existing equipment at the wellhead, such as the barrier within the well.
Another element with standard weak links is that breaking a weak link in a riser due to excessive tension, e.g. as a result of drive-off, drift-off or sudden raise in the fluid pressure within the riser, will release massive forces which will act on the riser giving the riser an undesired behaviour. If the riser breaks, due to excessive tension, the riser will act like a pulled-out spring and may, in a worst case scenario, shoot out of the water like a projectile towards the offshore structure and cause severe damage to personnel and/or the structure/platform. Another problem may be that if the weak link and/or riser connection break, entrapped gas or hydrocarbons may be released to the sea or surface. In such situations it is desirable to be able to control the behaviour of the riser and the riser content, and, possibly perform a controlled disconnect. Different solutions have been used in the technical fields of weak links and pressure compensated riser connections, including EP 2310613, U.S. Pat. No. 8,181,704, U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,052, U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,165 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,059,288.
An objective of the present invention is therefore to provide a safety joint that limits the problems related to prior weak links and allow for a larger operational envelope compared to traditional weak links.


This invention relates to a liquid crystal composition comprising a water insoluble organic compound, a nonionic surfactant, wood particles, an ethoxylated alkyl ether sulfate surfactant, a cosurfactant and water.

Liquid aqueous synthetic organic detergent compositions have long been employed for human hair shampoos and as dishwashing detergents for hand washing of dishes (as distinguished from automatic dishwashing machine washing of dishes). Liquid detergent compositions have also been employed as hard surface cleaners, as in pine oil liquids, for cleaning floors and walls. More recently they have proven successful as laundry detergents too, apparently because they are convenient to use, are instantly soluble in wash water, and may be employed in "pre-spotting" applications to facilitate removals of soils and stains from laundry upon subsequent washing. Liquid detergent compositions have comprised anionic, cationic and nonionic surface active agents, builders and adjuvants, including, as adjuvants, lipophilic materials which can act as solvents for lipophilic soils and stains. The various liquid aqueous synthetic organic detergent compositions mentioned serve to emulsify lipophilic materials, including oily soils, in aqueous media, such as wash water, by forming micellar dispersions and emulsions.
Although emulsification is a mechanism of soil removal, it has been only comparatively recently that it was discovered how to make microemulsions which are much more effective than ordinary emulsions in removing lipophilic materials from substrates. Such microemulsions are described in British Patent Specification No. 2,190,681 and in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,075,026; 5,076,954 and 5,082,584 and 5,108,643, most of which relate to acidic microemulsions useful for cleaning hard surfaced items, such as bathtubs and sinks which microemulsions are especially effective in removing soap scum and lime scale from them. However, as in U.S. Pat No. 4,919,839 the microemulsions may be essentially neutral and such are also taught to be effective for microemulsifying lipophilic soils from substrates. In U.S. Ser. No. 7/313,664 there is described a light duty microemulsion liquid detergent composition which is useful for washing dishes and removing greasy deposits from them in both neat and diluted forms. Such compositions include complexes of anionic and cationic detergents as surface active components of the microemulsions.
The various microemulsions referred to include a lipophile, which may be a hydrocarbon, a surfactant, which may be an anionic and/or a nonionic detergent(s), a co-surfactant, which may be a poly-lower alkylene glycol lower alkyl ether, e.g., tripropylene glycol monomethyl ether, and water.
Although the manufacture and use of detergent compositions in microemulsion form significantly improved cleaning power and greasy soil removal, compared to the usual emulsions, the present invention improves them still further and also increases the capacity of the detergent compositions to adhere to surfaces to which they have been applied. Thus, they drop or run substantially less than cleaning compositions of "similar" cleaning power which are in microemulsion or normal liquid detergent form. Also, because they form microemulsions with lipophilic soil or stain material spontaneously, with essentially no requirement for addition of any energy, either thermal or mechanical, they are more effective cleaners at room temperature and at higher and lower temperatures that are normally employed in cleaning operations than are ordinary liquid detergents, and are also more effective than detergent compositions in microemulsion form.
The present liquid crystal detergent compositions may be either clear or somewhat cloudy or milky (opalescent) in appearance but both forms thereof are stable on storage and components thereof do not settle out or become ineffective, even on storage at somewhat elevated temperatures for periods as long as six months and up to a year. The presence of the cosurfactant in the liquid crystal detergent compositions helps to make such compositions resist freezing at low temperatures.
The present invention relates to a liquid detergent composition containing wood particles which act as an abrasive as well as a surfactant carrier. The compositions are suitable at room temperature or colder, for pre-treating and cleaning materials soiled with lipophilic soil, is in liquid crystal form and comprises synthetic organic surface active agents, a cosurfactant, a solvent for the soil, and water. The invention also relates to processes for treating items and materials soiled with lipophilic soil with compositions of this invention to loosen or remove such soil, by applying to the locus of such soil on such material a soil loosening or removing amount of an invented composition. In another aspect of the invention lipophilic soil is absorbed from the soiled surface into the liquid crystal.
In recent years all-purpose liquid detergents have become widely accepted for cleaning hard surfaces, e.g., painted woodwork and panels, tiled walls, wash bowls, bathtubs, linoleum or tile floors, washable wall paper, etc. Such all-purpose liquids comprise clear and opaque aqueous mixtures of water-soluble synthetic organic detergents and water-soluble detergent builder salts. In order to achieve comparable cleaning efficiency with granular or powdered all-purpose cleaning compositions, use of water-soluble inorganic phosphate builder salts was favored in the prior art all-purpose liquids. For example, such early phosphate-containing compositions are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,560,839; 3,234,138; 3,350,319; and British Patent No. 1,223,739.
In view of the environmentalist's efforts to reduce phosphate levels in ground water, improved all-purpose liquids containing reduced concentrations of inorganic phosphate builder salts or non-phosphate builder salts have appeared. A particularly useful self-opacified liquid of the latter type is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,840.
However, these prior art all-purpose liquid detergents containing detergent builder salts or other equivalent tend to leave films, spots or streaks on cleaned unrinsed surfaces, particularly shiny surfaces. Thus, such liquids require thorough rinsing of the cleaned surfaces which is a time-consuming chore for the user.
In order to overcome the foregoing disadvantage of the prior art all-purpose liquid, U.S. Pat. No. 4,017,409 teaches that a mixture of paraffin sulfonate and a reduced concentration of inorganic phosphate builder salt should be employed. However, such compositions are not completely acceptable from an environmental point of view based upon the phosphate content. On the other hand, another alternative to achieving phosphate-free all-purpose liquids has been to use a major proportion of a mixture of anionic and nonionic detergents with minor amounts of glycol ether solvent and organic amine as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,130. Again, this approach has not been completely satisfactory and the high levels of organic detergents necessary to achieve cleaning cause foaming which, in turn, leads to the need for thorough rinsing which has been found to be undesirable to today's consumers.
Another approach to formulating hard surfaced or all-purpose liquid detergent composition where product homogeneity and clarity are important considerations involves the formation of oil-in-water (o/w) microemulsions which contain one or more surface-active detergent compounds, a water-immiscible solvent (typically a hydrocarbon solvent), water and a "cosurfactant" compound which provides product stability. By definition, an o/w microemulsion is a spontaneously forming colloidal dispersion of "oil" phase particles having a particle size in the range of 25 to 800 .ANG. in a continuous aqueous phase.
In view of the extremely fine particle size of the dispersed oil phase particles, microemulsions are transparent to light and are clear and usually highly stable against phase separation.
Patent disclosures relating to use of grease-removal solvents in o/w microemulsions include, for example, European Patent Applications EP 0137615 and EP 0137616--Herbots et al; European Patent Application EP 0160762--Johnston et al; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,991--Herbots et al. Each of these patent disclosures also teaches using at least 5% by weight of grease-removal solvent.
It also is known from British Patent Application GB 21 44763A to Herbots et al, published Mar. 13, 1985, that magnesium salts enhance grease-removal performance of organic grease-removal solvents, such as the terpenes, in o/w microemulsion liquid detergent compositions. The compositions of this invention described by Herbots et al. require at least 5% of the mixture of grease-removal solvent and magnesium salt and preferably at least 5% of solvent (which may be a mixture of water-immiscible non-polar solvent with a sparingly soluble slightly polar solvent) and at least 0.1% magnesium salt.
The following representative prior art patents also relate to liquid detergent cleaning compositions in the form of o/w microemulsions: U.S. Pat No. 4,472,291 --Rosario; U.S. Pat No. 4,540,448--Gauteer et al; U.S. Pat No. 3,723,330--Sheflin; et al.
Liquid detergent compositions which include terpenes, such as d-limonene, or other grease-removal solvent, although not disclosed to be in the form of o/w microemulsions, are the subject matter of the following representative patent documents: European Patent Application 0080749; British Patent Specification 1,603,047; and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,414,128 and 4,540,505. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,128 broadly discloses an aqueous liquid detergent composition characterized by, by weight:
(a) from 1% to 20% of a synthetic anionic, nonionic, amphoteric or zwitterionic surfactant or mixture thereof; PA1 (b) from 0.5% to 10% of a mono- or sesquiterpene or mixture thereof, at a weight ratio of (a):(b) being in the range of 5:1 to 1:3; and PA1 (c ) from 0.5% to 20% of a polar solvent having a solubility in water at 15.degree. C. in the range of from 0.2% to 10%. Other ingredients present in the formulations disclosed in this patent include from 0.05% to 2% by weight of an alkali metal, ammonium or alkanolammonium soap of a C.sub.13 -C.sub.24 fatty acid; a calcium sequestrant from 0.5% to 13% by weight; non-aqueous solvent, e.g., alcohols and glycol ethers, up to 10% by weight; and hydrotropes, e.g., urea, ethanolamines, salts of lower alkylaryl sulfonates, up to 10% by weight. All of the formulations shown in the Examples of this patent include relatively large amounts of detergent builder salts which are detrimental to surface shine. PA1 1% to 15% of an ethoxylated alkyl ether surfactant; PA1 1% to 30% of a water-mixable cosurfactant having either limited ability or substantially no ability to dissolve oily or greasy soil; PA1 1% to 30% of an ethoxylated nonionic surfactant; PA1 1% to 10% of magnesium sulfate heptahydrate or magnesium chloride; PA1 0.6% to 10% of a perfume, essential oil, or water insoluble hydrocarbon having 6 to 18 carbon atoms; PA1 0.1% to 10% of wood particles; and PA1 the balance being water, wherein the liquid crystal detergent composition does not contain any sulfonate surfactant, and the liquid detergent composition has a storage modulus equal to or higher than one Pascal (1 Newton/sq. m.), more preferably higher than 10 Pascal at a temperature of 20.degree. C. to 40.degree. C. at a strain of 0.1% to 5% second as measured on a Carr-Med CS Rheometer and is thermally stable and exist as a clear liquid crystal in the temperature range from 8.degree. C. to 43.degree. C., more preferably 4.degree. C. to 43.degree. C. and wherein the instant compositions do not contain any alkyl glycoside having a degree of oligomerization of from about 1.2 to about 1.4; any polymeric thickener such as a cellulose gum or any plant derived hydrophilic colloids, or biological polymers, any fatty acid or salt thereof and any inorganic or organic builder salt.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,826 teaches liquid crystal compositions but these compositions exhibit thermal stability in the limited temperature range of 19.degree. C. to 36.degree. C.


At the receiver in a wireless communications system, the likelihood of a false CRC pass that can occur when a weak received signal produces an all ZERO output from a convolutional or a turbo decoder is minimized. To prevent an all ZERO output, a convolutional decoder selects from among those determined equally most likely transmitted sequences of bits in a data block one that has a weight greater than the one having the minimum weight. A turbo decoder selects a ONE rather than a ZERO as the value of a transmitted bit in a data block when for that bit a bit value of a ZERO and a ONE are determined to be equally likely.

3GPP UMTS and 3GPP2 cdma2000-1x EVDO (or EVDO herein after) standards specify the use of convolutional and/or turbo coding as an error correction method to protect the transmitted data between a base station, referred to as NodeB in UMTS terminology, and a mobile terminal, referred to as user equipment (UE) in UMTS terminology. A CRC code is also applied as a measure of error detection to detect errors that cannot be corrected by the convolutional or turbo decoder to guarantee the integrity of a data block before reporting it to the higher layer. The CRC is defined by its generating polynomial and the initial state of the CRC generator. The current 3GPP UMTS/3GPP2 EVDO standards specify the initial state for the CRC generator to be all ZEROs. When receiving conditions are weak, meaning that the received signal strength has become insufficient to support the radio-like normal operations, problems can arise through this selection of an initial state causing a false pass to be generated for a block of data when it should otherwise really be a fail due to the inaccuracy of a detected block of bits. This can happen when the UE is in a soft handoff mode when one or more radio links are significantly weaker than others, or when the UE temporarily goes into a deep fade, but will exit the fade before the network can disable the radio link.
In a receiver at either a NodeB or a UE, after a received Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) signal is despread and demodulated, the output is a sequence of soft symbol metric values consisting of signed numeric values, which are inputted to either a convolutional decoder or a turbo decoder to determine the transmitted bit stream. In weak receiving conditions, each of the soft symbol metric values at the output of the demodulator are likely to have close to a zero value. In the convolutional decoder, in processing an input sequence of soft symbol metric values associated with a block of data, the likelihood of each possible transmitted bit sequence is calculated and the sequence with the largest likelihood is used to determine the transmitted sequence. When the received signal is weak and the soft symbol metric values are likely all close to a zero value, there is a high probability that multiple code sequences will have the same likelihood, which is also a maximum among all possible code sequences. Among these equal maximum likelihood sequences is always the all-ZERO sequence. The convolutional decoder picks the code sequence with the least weight so that in a weak signal condition, the all ZERO sequence is always chosen as having been the transmitted sequence. In the turbo decoder, in processing an input sequence of soft symbol metric values in a block of data, two likelihood values of each bit are calculated (one for bit value ZERO and the other for bit value ONE) and for each bit the bit value with the larger likelihood is outputted. When the received signal is weak and each soft symbol metric value is close to zero, there is a high probability that the two likelihood values for a bit are the same for all the bits in the data block. The decoder picks the bit value ZERO for each bit and thus produces an all-ZERO decoded bit stream for the block.
In weak signal conditions, therefore, both the convolutional decoder and the turbo decoder produce an all-ZERO output sequence resulting in an all ZERO decoded bit stream consisting of blocks that have an all-ZERO data part and an all-ZERO CRC part, regardless of what actually has been transmitted. When the initial state for the CRC recalculation at the receiver is set to all ZEROs, an inputted all-ZERO data part for the CRC recalculation results in an all-ZERO CRC, which then matches the all-ZERO CRC part in the decoded block. A CRC pass is then declared for this data block regardless of the fact that the transmitted data has been totally corrupted by noise and/or interference. The result of this false pass can be significant. For voice calls, the receiver passes bad data (i.e., all ZEROs) to the vocoder, which can cause screech on the receiving end when the UE goes into deep fade for up to a 16 frame period (160 ms) before the network makes the decision to disconnect the radio link. For data calls, an all ZERO input can result in a hang-up of the connection, requiring the connection to be reset.
Since the initial state of the CRC generator has been set by the standards to be ZERO and has been implemented in equipment already installed, the initial state of the CRC generator cannot be changed to avoid the problem. A solution is needed, therefore, to avoid false CRC-passes at a NodeB or UE receiver when receiving conditions are weak.

Method and apparatus for preventing a false pass of a cyclic redundancy check at a receiver during weak receiving conditions in a wireless communications system


A computer-implemented method is provided and includes by at least one processor, obtaining an available bandwidth on the network communications link over a predetermined period of time in the future based on a measured present bandwidth and historical bandwidth measurements, determining required bandwidths for each of one or more of video sources over the predetermined period of time in the future, partitioning the calculated available bandwidth among the one or more video sources in proportion to the required bandwidths of each of the one or more video sources, and selecting one or more of a plurality of video streams from each of the one or more video sources based on a partition assigned to each of the one or more video sources. The selecting of the one or more video streams causes the one or more video streams to be transmitted over the network communications link.

An enterprise video surveillance installation may contain anywhere from one to thousands of cameras at a site. Resolution and encoding capabilities of cameras are in many cases heterogenous. For example, each camera may encode video at a different resolution and using different encoding formats. Many encoding formats perform compression, which typically causes portions of a video to be of different size than other portions, depending on scene complexity. The heterogenous and unpredictable scene complexity of video surveillance cameras leads to different network bitrate requirements per camera. The required bitrate changes with time, due to changes in scene activity, changes in user preferences, etc. The variable bitrate requirements in settings like these presents problems for cloud services providers. Available uplink bitrate from a site to the cloud is a key factor that determines successful adoption of cloud storage. However, the available uplink bitrate from a site to a cloud system varies with time, due to varying network congestion, the uplink being shared by other applications and users, variable network traffic, among others. Thus, the time-varying bitrate needed by a video source site is mismatched with the time varying bitrate available to the site. This causes video loss, high latency and customer dissatisfaction.

Dynamic rate adaptation across multiple video sources


The invention refers to an apparatus for the control of brakes in bicycles and the like, to be used, in particular, for disc brakes mounted on bicycles and comprising a pump able to push fluid into a hydraulic circuit connected to the brake, characterized in that the pump is held inside the handlebar or a part associated therewith.

It is known that the action exerted upon the brake's lever is transmitted to a calliper acting on the disc through a hydraulic connection associated with a pump to urge the same calliper acting on the disc.
A drawback of the brake-controlling devices is due the fact that the brake pump, with relevant accessories, is applied to the handlebar, thereby constituting a separate element. This characteristic may result unsuitable owing to the fact that the handlebar has larger dimensions, the brake pump can be damaged by possible strokes, and may hurt the user in case of falls.

Apparatus for the control of brakes in bicycles and the like


A dog coat or blanket includes a generally rectangular body section with chest and stomach straps extending from front and side edges respectively. The straps are adjustable so that a few sized will fit most domesticate dog breeds. Both the body section and the straps are two ply construction and the straps both secure the coat to the dog and cover a substantial portion of either the chest or the stomach to limit heat loss. The dog coat can be mounted on a dog from above merely by draping the coat over the dog and attaching the chest and stomach straps.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to a coat or covering that can be worn by a four legged animal, such as a dog.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Design Pat. 313,676 discloses a protective garment for pets, which appears to be intended for use with dogs. Chest straps extend around the dog's chest from opposite sides and lap over each other, where they appear to be attached by hook and loop fasteners. The garment is placed over the dog's back, and front and rear straps extend under the dog's torso and are buckled on an opposite side. One of these straps is adjacent the dog's front legs and the other strap is near the dog's rear legs. The longitudinal position of this garment on a dog appears to be determined by the fore and aft straps extending beneath the dog's torso, since the garment must be placed so as not to restrict movement of the dog's legs. Therefore, this garment does not appear adjustable so that the same garment can be used on dogs of different size. Even though the chest straps may allow minor adjustment, this adjustment would not allow the garment to be shifted longitudinally relative to the dog because of the two straps extending beneath the dog's torso. The length of these two lower straps appears to be adjustable, but this adjustability should only compensate for the girth or weight of the dog. The rear strap also appears to be located so that it could contact a male dog's genitals, which may account for the relatively loose fit illustrated in that disclosure. If the lower straps are indeed loose fitting, they would not help retain heat radiated from the dog's stomach area, and the buckled straps illustrated in that disclosure do not appear suited for insulating the dog's stomach.
There are other prior art dog coats that employ only a single strap or strap assembly extending beneath the stomach. A commercially available Sherpa Lined Fleece Jacket employs a tapered body section extending rearwardly from a single stomach strap subassembly. This jacket has an extra wide chest strap subassembly with a cutout that extend almost to the same longitudinal position as the stomach strap assembly leaving a relatively large opening for the dog's head and neck. This configuration does not appear to provide much room for adjustment and appears to be specifically sized for various standard size dogs, especially smaller dogs.