An induction charging device for an electrically operated motor vehicle includes a charging assembly having a charging coil, and a temperature-control assembly having a fluid pipe. The charging coil can be inductively coupled to a primary coil, such that a battery in the motor vehicle can be inductively charged. The charging assembly has a ferrite plate for directing the electromagnetic alternating field, which is established between the charging coil and the fluid pipe, such that waste heat from the ferrite plate and the charging coil can be transmitted to the fluid in the fluid pipe. The fluid pipe is formed by a shell-type metal shielding plate for shielding electromagnetic field emissions and a shell-type lower shell heat-conductingly in contact with the ferrite plate. The metal shielding plate and the lower shell are secured on one another in a fluid-tight manner and spaced apart from one another with a stiffening insert.

Induction charging devices are already known from the related art and are used for the contact-free charging of a battery in a motor vehicle. An external primary coil is thereby inductively coupled to a secondary coil in the motor vehicle. An alternating current, which generates an electromagnetic alternating field around the primary coil, flows through the primary coil. In the secondary coil, the electromagnetic alternating field induces an alternating current, which is rectified with the power electronics and is supplied to the battery.
To reduce the charging losses in the induction charging device, the electromagnetic alternating field around the secondary coil is influenced by a magnetic ferrite plate. However, electromagnetic field emissions, the height of which increases with the charging power, are nonetheless created in the induction charging device. The field emissions can be reduced with a metal plate or with a shielding plate, respectively, mostly made of aluminum, in order to protect electronic equipment in the motor vehicle and to rule out a negative health effect on a human. An induction charging device of this type is described, for example, in WO 2013/142064 A1.
During a charging process, a waste heat which is usually dissipated to a fluid in a cooling device, is generated in the ferrite plate, in the metal plate, or in the shielding plate, respectively, and in the charging coil. The waste heat can be used for heating purposes in the motor vehicle, as it is described, for example, in DE 10 2011 088 112 A1, for preheating a lubricant. The metal plate and the ferrite plate can furthermore negatively influence one another and the charging power of the induction charging device during a charging process.


A method, system, apparatus, and computer program product are provided for facilitating advanced authentication techniques. For example, a method is provided that includes receiving at least one request to access at least one resource and receiving at least one composite authentication credential, the composite authentication credential comprising a first credential component and a second credential component. The method further includes determining whether the first credential component is valid, determining whether the second credential component is valid and, in an instance in which it is determined that the first and second credential components are valid, causing access to the at least one resource to be permitted.

Various authentication techniques are used to restrict access to electronic devices and ensure that only authorized users may gain access to sensitive resources. For example, biometrics may be used as a convenient and reasonably secure basis for authenticating users. Biometric signatures, such as fingerprints or iris images, are acquired from the user's person, meaning a user authenticated through biometrics would not need to remember cumbersome passwords or the like. However, biometric signatures are vulnerable to spoofing. Fingerprints, for example, can be duplicated with off-the-shelf materials, while many iris scanners can be fooled with simple high-resolution photographs. Because most biometric signatures by their very nature cannot be changed, users who have had one or more of their biometric signatures compromised may perpetually remain susceptible to security breaches. Accordingly, a need exists for advanced authentication techniques that avoid some of the disadvantages of conventional authentication techniques.


A method is provided for manufacturing removable contact structures on the surface of a substrate to conduct electricity from a contact member to the surface during electroprocessing. The method comprises forming a conductive layer on the surface. A predetermined region of the conductive layer is selectively coated by a contact layer so that the contact member touches the contact layer as the electroprocessing is performed on the conductive layer.

Conventional semiconductor devices generally include a semiconductor substrate, usually a silicon substrate, and a plurality of sequentially formed dielectric interlayers such as silicon dioxide and conductive paths or interconnects made of conductive materials. The interconnects are usually formed by filling a conductive material in trenches etched into the dielectric interlayers. In an integrated circuit, multiple levels of interconnect networks laterally extend with respect to the substrate surface. The interconnects formed in different layers can be electrically connected using vias or contacts. A metallization process can be used to fill such features, i.e., via openings, trenches, pads or contacts by a conductive material.
Copper (Cu) and copper alloys have recently received considerable attention as interconnect materials because of their superior electromigration and low resistivity characteristics. The preferred method of copper metallization is electroplating. FIG. 1 shows a substrate 10 prepared for an electroplating process. The substrate 10 is an exemplary surface portion on a front surface of the wafer W shown in FIG. 2, which includes a border region between the edge of the surface and the rest of the surface or the central surface region of the wafer W. Referring back to FIG. 1, for interconnect fabrication, the substrate 10 includes a dielectric layer 12 having features 14, such as vias and trenches, formed in it. The substrate 10 is typically coated with a barrier layer 16 and a seed layer 18. Typical barrier layer materials include tungsten, tantalum, titanium, their alloys, and their nitrides. The barrier layer 16 coats the substrate to ensure good adhesion and acts as a barrier to prevent diffusion of the copper into the dielectric layers and into the semiconductor devices. The seed layer 18, which is often a copper layer, is deposited on the barrier layer 16. The seed layer 18 forms a conductive material base for the copper film growth during the subsequent copper deposition. As shown at the left side of FIG. 1, to enable copper deposition from a copper containing electrolyte, an electrical contact is connected to the seed layer 18 and a potential difference is established between an electrode and the seed layer 18.
The copper seed layers for copper interconnects are typically deposited by physical vapor deposition (PVD) techniques. As the feature size goes to 32 nanometers (nm) and below, seed layers in the thickness range of 5-20 nm will be desirable to coat such tiny features. The most common problem associated with such thin seed layer deposition is poor step coverage, which may give rise to discontinuities in the seed layer and related defects especially within the smallest features having the highest aspect ratios. Due to imperfect conformality, the seed layer thickness at the lower, portions or on the side-walls of the vias and trenches may be very low, such as less than 3 nm, or the seed layer at such locations may be discontinuous. Thin portions of the seed layer may contain large amounts of oxide phases that are not stable in plating solutions. During the subsequent copper deposition process, such defective areas cause unwanted voids in the copper filling, leading to inadequately filled vias and trenches, high resistance and short lifetime for the interconnect structure. Oxidation problems are further exacerbated by exposure of seed layers to outside conditions as the wafers coated with seed layers are transported from the seed deposition unit to an electrochemical deposition unit for copper fill.
Establishing an electrical connection to such thin seed layers presents another difficulty. When such delicate layers are physically touched by electrical contacts they may get smeared, scratched, lifted up or otherwise damaged. Damaged areas of seed layers do not conduct electricity adequately. Therefore, any discontinuity or damaged area in the seed layer around the perimeter of the workpiece or wafer causes variations in the density of the delivered current, which in turn negatively impacts the plating uniformity.
As technology nodes are reduced to 32 nm and below, one option is to eliminate the use of the copper seed layer and deposit copper directly on the barrier layer or on a nucleation layer, such as a ruthenium (Ru) layer. In this case, the resistivity of the barrier layer or the nucleation layer is much larger (by at least a factor of 5) than the resistivity of the copper layer. Consequently, when an electrical contact is made to this high resistivity layer for the purpose of electrodepositing a copper layer, the contact resistance is expected to be larger than the contact resistance with a copper seed layer. When the density of current passed through contacts made to high resistivity thin layers is large, heating occurs at points where the electrical contacts physically touch the thin layers. Excessive voltage drop at these locations, in addition to sparking and heating, causes damage to the thin barrier layer and/or the nucleation layer, thus exacerbating the problem even further and causing additional non-uniformities in the deposited copper layers.
To this end, there is a need for alternative methods to enable deposition of conductors, such as copper, on workpieces or wafers comprising very thin seed layers or barrier/nucleation layers without causing damage to such thin layers and without causing non-uniformities in the deposited conductor thickness.

Method of forming contact layers on substrates


Polymeric compositions and methods of making and using such compositions are provided. The compositions incorporate at least one component that is a polymer including propylene-derived units and at least one component that is a styrenic block copolymer. The polymeric compositions are found to have desirable elastomeric properties while at the same time exhibiting beneficial processability characteristics. The unique combination of processability and performance attributes result in the polymeric compositions useful in a variety of applications such as films, fibers, woven and non-woven fabrics, sheets, molded objects, extruded forms, thermoformed objects, and all products made from such application materials.

It is known to blend two or more polymeric materials to achieve beneficial performance characteristics in the resulting polymeric composition. One such conventional blending process is the blending of elastomeric and thermoplastic polymeric materials. For example, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,642,316, it is known to blend ethylene propylene based interpolymers with polypropylene so as to provide a polypropylene dispersed phase and an elastomeric continuous matrix phase. The overall blend may be elastomeric in nature. The ethylene propylene based interpolymers may be of the type described in WO 02/083754.
It is also known to blend an inverse distribution of phases, where the continuous matrix phase is a polypropylene and the dispersed is an ethylene propylene based interpolymer. The blends of this type are often referred to as TPO's (Thermoplastic Polyolefins). The dispersed phase acts as an impact modifier and improves the impact strength of the original polypropylene.
It is known to provide soft or softened resilient articles using styrenic block copolymers ("SBC's"). The SBC's may have a variety of hardness levels, expressed generally in Shore A. Generally elastomeric SBC's exhibit poor processability, limiting production capacity. For example, during continuous extrusion of SBC's for production of fibers or films, and the like, the extrudate may experience melt fracture, and therefore, may limit production line speeds.
WO 04/014998 discloses blends of polypropylene impact copolymers and SBC's. These blends also incorporate non-functionalized plasticizers.
U.S. Patent Application 2003/022975 discloses a blend of a highly crystalline isotactic polypropylene ethylene copolymer with a polyolefin elastomer, which may be a hydrogenated SBC. The compositions are described as having excellent rigidity and do not provide an elastic composition. U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,711 discloses elastomeric molding compositions that are blends of crystalline propylene-ethylene copolymers with block copolymers. EP 0 921 151 discloses compositions that are crosslinked blends of ethylene-alpha olefin copolymers and block copolymers. The blends are said to be useful for molding medical articles.
WO 2004/039907 discloses a hot melt adhesive incorporating up to 40 wt. % of a SBC, 4 wt. % to 50 wt. % of an RCP copolymer, and from 20 wt. % to 65 wt % of a tackifier. U.S. Patent Application 2002/0122953 discloses an elastic adhesive composition of a rubber-based adhesive, which may be a SBC and a semicrystalline polymer.
Other background references include U.S. Pat. No. 5,885,908, EP 0 241 667 A, EP 0 499 472 A, JP 2000 129027 A and JP 2004 338289 A.

Polymeric compositions including their uses and methods of production


Disclosed is a semiconductor package structure that incorporates the use of conductive pins to electrically and mechanically connect a semiconductor module and a substrate (e.g., printed wiring board). Specifically, one or both ends of the pins are hooked and are adapted to allow a press-fit connection with the walls of the plated through holes of either one or both of the semiconductor module and the substrate. The hook-shaped ends of the pins may have one or more hooks to establish the connection. Additionally, the pins may be formed of a temperature induced shape change material that bends to allow engaging and/or disengaging of the hook-shaped ends from the walls of the plated through holes.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to semiconductor packaging structures and, in particular, to interconnections between organic semiconductor modules and substrates such as printed wiring boards.
2. Description of the Related Art
Retention hardware incorporated into semiconductor packages often exerts excessive stress upon semiconductor modules and especially onto semiconductor modules designed with low insertion force or designed to be field replaceable. Excessive stress can cause reliability concerns for a semiconductor package. For example, the stress induced by retention hardware in land grid array or similar connection schemes used to connect organic modules to printed wiring boards can result in cracking, bowing, poor interconnect integrity, etc. The present invention, therefore, presents a low insertion force/low stress interconnect scheme.

International Business Machines Corporation


A radiation detection apparatus comprises a sensor panel including a plurality of sensor units which detect radiation and are arrayed, each of the plurality of sensor units comprising a pixel array including a plurality of pixels which detect light and are two-dimensionally arranged, a scintillator layer which converts radiation into light, and a first scintillator protective layer disposed to cover the scintillator layer, and the radiation detection apparatus further comprising a second scintillator protective layer disposed to cover the plurality of sensor units.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radiation detection apparatus, a method of manufacturing the same, and an imaging system.
Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-48870 discloses the structure of a radiation detection apparatus for a large screen in which a plurality of sensor panels are arranged. Each sensor panel includes a scintillator layer 3 formed on a light-receiving portion 22 (pixel portion) disposed on a substrate 20 and a protective film 4 (scintillator protective layer) formed to cover the scintillator layer 3. In this manner, in a radiation detection apparatus using a scintillator layer, it is necessary to cover the scintillator layer with a protective layer to prevent the deliquescence of the scintillator layer.
According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-48870, each of adjacent panels is fixed on its side surface via a UV curable resin. In the above structure, since no pixels can be arranged on the boundary between a sensor panel and its adjacent sensor panel, there are portions where no pixels exist. This leads to a noticeable problem unless the distances between the adjacent sensor panels decrease while the pixel size decreases with an increase in pixel density.

Radiation detection apparatus, method of manufacturing the same, and imaging system


The invention concerns a prop headboard (10) which is used in conjunction with an elongate mine prop. The headboard supports a preload bag (50) inflatable with a settable grout. The headboard is composed of a headboard member (12) and a pot (34). The headboard member includes a pressed steel sheet (14) having relatively higher end regions (16) and a relatively lower central region (22). The central region is formed with an opening (24). The headboard member also has bag retaining formations (30) which receive opposite ends of a preload bag located on the headboard member. The pot is engaged in the opening in the central region and receives the upper end of an elongate prop, thus supporting the headboard member on the prop with the headboard member extending transversely to the prop.

THIS invention relates to a preload headboard for an elongate prop.
In underground mine stoping practice, elongate props, typically having timber as their major component, are used widely to provide yielding support for the hanging wall of the stope. Conventionally, elongate props are cut to length to suit the stope width and are then installed normal to the reef plane. A wedge or headboard is hammered between the upper end of the prop and the hanging wall. This serves to wedge the prop in position but applies very little axial preload force to the prop.
A more substantial preload force is desirable since a prop which is already compressively stressed is in a better state to accept the substantial loads imposed by the hanging wall.
It has already been proposed to preload an elongate prop by placing a bag on a headboard on top of the prop, inflating the bag with a settable grout so that the bag presses on the hanging wall and applies an axial compressive force to the prop, and allowing the grout to set to maintain the applied force.
It is an object of this invention to provide a headboard suitable for supporting the bag.


This invention provides for an apparatus and method to isolate ports on layer 2 switches on the same VLAN to restrict traffic flow. The apparatus comprises a switch having said plurality of ports, each port configured as a protected port or a non-protected port. An address table memory stores an address table having a destination address and port number pair. A forwarding map generator generates a forwarding map which is responsive to a destination address of a data packet. The method for isolating ports on a layer 2 switch comprises configuring each of the ports on the layer 2 switch as a protected port or a non-protected port. A destination address on an data packet is matched with a physical address on said layer 2 switch and a forwarding map is generated for the data packet based upon the destination address on the data packet. The data packet is then sent to the plurality of ports pursuant to the forwarding map generated based upon whether the ingress port was configured as a protected or nonprotected port.

Modern computer networks are divided up into layers. Each layer is responsible for providing some service to the layer above it, and may use the services of the layer below it. The International Standards Organization ("ISO") defined seven layers as a standard for computer networks. The layers are defined as follows:
1. A physical layer, which is responsible for transmitting unstructured bits of information across a link;
2. A data link layer, which transmits chunks of information across a link. It handles error notification, network topology, and flow control. Ethernet, Token Ring, and FDDI are media access methods that offer the functionality defined by the data link layer;
3. A network layer, which is responsible for ensuring that any pair of systems in the network can communicate with each other;
4. A transport layer, which establishes a reliable communications stream between a pair of systems;
5. A session layer, which offers services above the simple full-duplex reliable communication stream provided by the transport layer;
6. A presentation layer, which is responsible for providing a means by which applications can agree on representations of data; and
7. An application layer, which runs applications.
This invention relates only to layer 2, the data link layer or the MAC layer. Layer 2 is the communication protocol which contains the physical address of a client or server station which is inspected by a bridge or switch. The layer 2 switch then forwards traffic based on the MAC layer (Ethernet or Token Ring) addresses. Currently, traffic flows such as such as broadcast, unknown multicast, or unknown unicast received at the switch are not isolated between ports on the switch so that every user on the same virtual local area network (VLAN) is able to see the traffic generated by another user on the same VLAN. There are currently many users, such as multi-dwelling unit or multi-tenant unit users which obtain network connectivity through layer 2 switches, which have confidentiality and security concerns and would like to prevent others from seeing their traffic.
Currently, one way to achieve complete isolation between access ports at layer 2 is to assign each user port an individual VLAN. The disadvantage of this approach is that the number of VLANs can grow considerably large as the number of user ports increase. This is also not a practical solution where a large number of switches are connected to each other as well as providing connections to home users, thereby increasing the number of VLANs dramatically. Thus, there exists a need for access port isolation that is more efficient and would allow port isolation at a layer 2 switch that belongs to the same VLAN.

Port isolation for restricting traffic flow on layer 2 switches


A plasma addressed liquid crystal display apparatus includes a first base having plurality of first electrodes arranged substantially in parallel to each other on one principal surface, a second base having plurality of second electrodes arranged substantially in parallel to each other and substantially perpendicular to the first electrodes on the principal surface opposite to the first electrodes on the first base, a dielectric sheet provided between the first and second bases, a liquid crystal layer provided between the first base and the dielectric sheet, a plurality of barriers formed along the second electrodes within a discharge chamber formed between the second base and the dielectric sheet, and a seal member provided in a manner to seal the discharge chamber. In the plasma addressed liquid crystal display apparatus, the spacing between the barriers and the spacing between the barrier positioned nearest to the seal member and the seal member are set to 1.8 mm or less. Thus, in the vacuum evacuation process step and the gas injection process step of the manufacturing process for the plasma addressed liquid crystal display apparatus, the dielectric sheet can be prevented from being cracked or broken. As a result, yield can be improved to greater degree as compared to the conventional apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a plasma addressed liquid crystal display apparatus adapted for driving liquid crystal by making use of plasma to thereby display an image (pictorial image).
2. Background Art
As an image display apparatus for driving liquid crystal to carry out display of an image (pictorial image), a plasma addressed liquid crystal display apparatus utilizing discharge plasma is disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 265931/1992 publication, etc.
The proposed plasma addressed liquid crystal display apparatus comprises, as shown in FIG. 1, a liquid crystal side glass 12 having a plurality of electrodes 11 arranged in parallel to each other, a base (substrate) glass 14 having a plurality of discharge electrodes 13 arranged in parallel to each other and perpendicular to the electrodes 11, a thin glass plate 15 provided between the liquid crystal side glass 12 and the base glass 14, a liquid crystal layer 16 provided between the liquid crystal side glass 12 and the thin glass plate 15, a plurality of barrier ribs 18 formed on the discharge electrodes 13 within a discharge chamber 17 formed between the base glass 14 and the thin glass plate 15, and frit 19 provided so as to seal the discharge chamber 17.
The liquid crystal side glass 12 is flat and non-conductive, and sufficiently transparent from an optical point of view. A plurality of strip-shaped electrodes 11 are formed on one principal surface of the liquid crystal side glass 12, and a liquid crystal layer 16 comprised of nematic liquid crystal, etc. is disposed in a manner in contact with the electrodes 11. In particular, a plurality of the electrodes 11 formed with a predetermined width on the principal surface of the liquid crystal side glass 12 opposite to the base glass 14 are formed by transparent conductive material, e.g., indium tin oxide (ITO), etc., and are transparent from an optical point of view. In addition, these electrodes 11 are disposed in parallel to each other, and extend, e.g., in a vertical direction of the display screen.
The liquid crystal layer 16 is held between the thin glass plate 15 which is a thin dielectric plate and the liquid crystal side glass 12. A liquid crystal cell is formed by. By the liquid crystal side glass 12, the liquid crystal layer 16 and the thin plate glass 15. This thin glass plate 15 functions as an insulating shielding layer between the liquid crystal layer 16 and discharge chamber 17 which will be described later.
On the other hand, the base glass 14 on which a plurality of the discharge electrodes 13 are formed as a strip-shaped electrode and the thin glass plate 15 are adapted so that their peripheries are sealed by frit 19 as the sealing agent. In addition, a space formed between the base glass 14 and the thin glass plate 15 serves as the discharge chamber 17 for producing discharge plasma.
Respective discharge electrodes 13 are equi-distantly disposed on the base glass 14. Moreover, barrier ribs 18 respectively serving as barriers are formed on these discharge electrodes 13 by printing as described later. The discharge chamber 17 is partitioned by the plurality of barrier ribs 18 so that it is divided into respective plasma chambers P.sub.1, P.sub.2 . . . which form independent discharge channels, respectively.
The discharge electrodes 13 formed on the principal surface of the base glass 14 opposite to the liquid crystal side glass 12 are directly formed on the base glass 14 by a conductive paste including, e.g., silver powder, etc. The discharge electrodes 13 are also arranged in parallel to each other, wherein the arrangement direction thereof is the direction perpendicular to the electrodes 11 formed on the previously described liquid crystal side glass 12. Namely, these discharge electrodes 13 are arranged in a horizontal direction with respect to the display screen. Accordingly, respective plasma chambers P.sub.1, P.sub.2 . . . correspond to e.g., respective scanning lines within the display picture on screen. Ionizable gas is hermetically sealed into the respective plasma chambers P.sub.1, P.sub.2 . . . . As such ionizable gas, helium, neon, argon or mixture gas thereof is used.
Barrier ribs 18 are formed on the strip-shaped discharge electrodes 13 for every scanning unit. In particular, the barrier ribs 18 are formed by printing, plural times, in a stacked manner, using glass paste into which ceramic such as alumina, etc. is mixed by the printing method, e.g., the screen printing method, and also serves to limit the distance between the base glass 14 and the thin glass plate 15 (hereinafter referred to as the gap interval of the discharge chamber 17). The gap interval of the discharge chamber 17 can be controlled by adjusting the number of screen printing operations when forming the barrier ribs 18 or the quantity of glass paste at the time of each printing, etc. Ordinarily, the gap interval is to be about 200 .mu.m.
The discharge electrodes 13 function as the anode electrode or the cathode electrode, and discharge electrodes are constituted by pairing these electrodes. In the case where the barrier ribs 18 are formed on the discharge electrodes 13 as described above, each of the discharge electrodes 13 are commonly used for the two adjacent plasma chambers where the respective plasma chambers P.sub.1, P.sub.2 . . . are partitioned by these barrier ribs 18. Namely, e.g., the discharge electrode 13 between the plasma chamber P.sub.1 and the plasma chamber P.sub.2 serves as both the discharge electrode of the plasma chamber P.sub.1 and the discharge electrode of the plasma chamber P.sub.2.
A manufacturing process for the above-described plasma addressed liquid crystal display apparatus will be briefly described.
Initially, a plurality of discharge electrodes 13 are made on the glass base 14 by printing so that the barrier ribs 18 can then be stacked on these discharge electrodes 13 Further, frit 19 is coated at the periphery of the glass base 14 to form the discharge chamber 17. Thereafter, thin glass plate 15 is placed onto the upper portions of the barrier ribs 18 is vacuum evacuated the inside of the discharge chamber 17 is vaccum evacuated thereafter to inject gas thereinto.
The thickness of the thin glass plate 15 is about 50 .mu.m. The thin glass plate 15 functions an insulating shielding layer between the liquid crystal layer 16 and the discharge chamber 17 as described above. In the vacuum evacuating process and the gas injection process described above, as shown in FIG. 1, large stresses are applied to the portions indicated by Q.sub.1 and Q.sub.2 of the thin glass plate 15, i.e., the portions Q.sub.1 and Q.sub.2 at which the thin glass plate 15 is in contact with the edge portions of the barrier ribs 18. In addition, small cracks, so called micro cracks exist within glass.
Accordingly, in the above-described plasma addressed liquid crystal display apparatus, there was the problem that micro cracks at the portions Q.sub.1 and Q.sub.2 of the thin glass plate 15 become large by carrying out vacuum evacuation and injection of gas, so the thin glass plate 15 is cracked or broken.
In view of the actual circumstances as described above, an object of this invention is to provide a plasma addressed liquid crystal display apparatus capable of preventing the thin plate glass from being cracked or broken.

Plasma addressed liquid crystal display apparatus


A method for powering up an optical network is provided. The method comprises remotely and safely increasing power to optical links in the optical network while monitoring signal levels in the network to discover installation errors, incorrect equipment configuration, and faulty components. In a modification to the method, attenuations of optical attenuators and gain values of optical amplifiers are set. The methods for powering up the optical network of the embodiments of the invention apply to both new optical networks and to new optical links added to pre-existing optical networks.

Optical networks, especially metropolitan area networks (MANs), are subject to numerous upgrades and reconfigurations because of the nature of MANs to provide dynamic connections in order to service growing and changing metropolitan areas.
Existing methods for powering up an optical network are manual, utilizing mobile, on-site optical measurement equipment. These methods are not performed remotely or automatically, and are labour intensive and error-prone.
When powering up new optical links in an optical network, it is possible to damage sensitive optical components or to disrupt existing optical links. This may occur due to cabling errors or the use of defective components.
Therefore, there is a need in industry for the development of alternative solutions for powering up an optical network that would be simple, automatic, remote, and would ensure the network is not damaged during the procedure.

Method and system for powering up an optical network


A semiconductor integrated circuit configured for connection to an external ROM includes a decryption code block storing a decryption code; a decoder circuit connected to the decryption code block and decrypting encrypted data such that the encrypted data can be stored in the external ROM, by utilizing the decryption code; a configuration circuit connected to the decoder circuit; an FPGA circuit connected to the configuration circuit, the circuit structure of the FPGA circuit determined by the configuration circuit; and an internal circuit connected to the FPGA circuit, the circuit operation of which is determined by the FPGA circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor integrated circuits, in particular, it relates to semiconductor integrated circuits that have data input is from an external ROM, data transfer systems utilizing the semiconductor integrated circuits, and a method for data transfer for the semiconductor integrated circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are semiconductor integrated circuits that have been developed with an embedded field programmable gate array (FPGA). An FPGA is a programmable logic device that allows user-design and operation. Lately, increases in integration, and as a result, increased appeal, have led to widespread usage of RAM FPGA circuits. RAM FPGA circuits allow reset of the circuit configuration each time the user turns on the power, as well as dynamic changes in the circuit configuration. Nevertheless, static random access memory (SRAM) is normally used with the RAM FPGA circuit, and because of the characteristics of volatile memory, the circuit data is erased each time the power supply is turned off As a result, configuration, which is an operation that promptly writes circuit data from an external read only memory (ROM), must be performed each time the power supply is switched on. In this case, configuration is an operation that includes inputting circuit-specific programming data into one or a plurality of FPGA, and connecting logic modules to surrounding internal connection path transistors to regulate functions. Immediately following configuration, the semiconductor integrated circuit is initialized, and then normal operation of the semiconductor integrated circuit begins.
With the conventional semiconductor integrated circuits and the data transfer systems such as those described above, the following problems occur: In an FPGA circuit where non-volatile memory (ROM) is used instead of RAM, design data written in the non-volatile memory can be easily read out externally. Accordingly, in the case of a ROM FPGA circuit, design data can be read out and parsed. Recent technology for FPGA circuits using ROM type non-volatile memory includes a technique where output buffer characteristics at the design data read-out terminal are changed after design data has been written to prevent the content of the internal non-volatile memory (ROM) from being externally read out. While this design data read out prevention using non-volatile memory (ROM) which can be used for IC products embedded with a non-volatile memory (ROM) FPGA circuit, it cannot be used for semiconductor integrated circuit products embedded with a RAM FPGA circuit. This is because circuit data must be input from the external ROM when the power supply is switched on, since the circuit data stored in the volatile memory (RAM) disappears when the power supply is cut off.
However, therein lies a problem where, since the FPGA circuit is all-purpose, analysis of the data stored in the external ROM allows for easy reading as to what kind of circuit should be formed and how the FPGA circuit should function. Thus, if a RAM FPGA circuit is used, since design data is stored on an external ROM and both the FPGA circuit and the external ROM are mounted on the same board, the confidential information contained in the design data can be easily revealed through analysis of the external ROM data. Among other things, this situation makes so-called "dead" copies possible. Accordingly, a semiconductor integrated circuit embedded with an FPGA circuit capable of protecting the secrecy of design data is also desired for a semiconductor integrated circuit embedded with a RAM FPGA circuit.
Similarly, in a semiconductor integrated circuit or system which has an internal CPU and operates by reading software in or from an external ROM, confidential software design data can be easily revealed through analysis of external ROM data. Since CPU instructions are generally published, the software program codes can easily be interpreted by analyzing ROM data. Accordingly, a high-security semiconductor integrated circuit that does not permit either design data or software read out is desired.

Semiconductor integrated circuits, data transfer systems, and the method for data transfer


A lighting module and a lighting device are disclosed. The lighting module includes a base, a light-transmitting component and a sealing component, the base includes a bottom plate and a base sidewall, the light-transmitting component includes a light-transmitting component includes a light-transmitting component body and a light-transmitting component sidewall; the bottom plate and the light-transmitting component body are disposed opposite to each other to form an accommodation space between the bottom plate and the light-transmitting component body; the base sidewall and the light-transmitting component sidewall are disposed opposite to each other in a direction parallel to the base plate; the sealing component is located between the base sidewall and the light-transmitting component sidewall, and is in close contact with the light-transmitting component sidewall and the base sidewall, respectively, so as to seal the accommodation space.

With the continuous development of economy and the acceleration of urbanization, the market of lighting devices is also increasingly growing. Generally, the lighting device may include one or more lighting module, and the lighting module may include a light-emitting component, a sealing component and a heat sink. The light-emitting component is used for emitting light, the sealing component is used for sealing the light-emitting component, and the heat sink is used for dissipating heat of the light-emitting element.
Light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor light-emitting element. Generally, the light-emitting diode includes a semiconductor chip. By applying a current to the semiconductor chip, excess energy can be released through a recombination of carriers in the semiconductor to cause photon emission, so that the semiconductor chip can emit light.


Streams of data are processed. A stream of data including a plurality of encoded symbols is received. Symbols from a first subset of the encoded symbols are processed contemporaneously to determine a second subset of encoded symbols, each of which uses a common coding context. At least one symbol from the second subset is evaluated to determine the common coding context. The common coding context is used to process the second subset of encoded symbols.

Arithmetic coding is an entropy coding scheme that addresses certain shortcomings of other current encoding methods, such as Huffman coding. For example, current methods require an integral number of bits for each element of data to be encoded. However, elements with nonintegral entropy require a nonintegral number of bits in the code stream to achieve optimal compression. In addition, the probabilities for each element to be encoded can vary based on a coding context (e.g., the contents of neighboring elements or recently processed elements). One method of addressing the varying probabilities employs a coding table for each context to properly model the conditional probability. However, as the number of contexts rises, the inefficiencies also increase.
Furthermore, the probabilities for each element may vary significantly over time and thus require adaptive, dynamic modifications, which can be expensive in terms of time and/or hardware resources. However, while providing improved results on matching the entropy of the input stream and addressing the issued outlined above, arithmetic coding introduces other implementation difficulties.
Most straightforward implementations of arithmetic coding (particularly those implemented in hardware) require that all of the elements to be coded be binary elements. This generally requires that the potentially multi-bit symbol be 'binarized' to a stream of binary digits (bits) (or 'bins' in the parlance of the H.264 standard). Furthermore, most hardware implementations code only one bit per clock cycle, and in some cases fewer when multi-bit re-normalization is required.
For some coding standards, the worst case (highest) number of bits being supplied to an arithmetic encoder or out of a corresponding arithmetic decoder can be quite large. For example, an apparatus using the H.264 standard for processing video data and running at a clock rate of 200 MHz, may be required to process 10-20 bits per clock cycle to keep up with real time requirements in the worst case. However, typical implementations handle, at best, one bit per clock cycle.


A zoom lens including a first lens unit exhibiting a positive refractive power and always being statically positioned along an optical axis when a power of the zoom lens is varied or the focusing is conducted and including a reflective optical element for bending an optical path, a second lens unit exhibiting a negative refractive power and including a negative lens, a negative lens and a positive lens, along the optical axis in this order from an object side, a third lens unit exhibiting a positive refractive power, a fourth lens unit exhibiting a positive refractive power, and including at least two positive lenses, and a fifth lens unit exhibiting a negative refractive power, wherein the second lens unit, the fourth lens unit and the fifth lens unit are moved for varying the power of the zoom lens.

The present invention relates to a zoom lens for focusing an optical image onto a solid state image pickup device such as a CCD image sensor or a CMOS image sensor, and an image pickup apparatus mounted herewith.
Recently, small sized digital still cameras or video cameras in which a small sized image pickup unit provided with a solid state image pickup element such as CCD (charge coupled device) or CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) type image sensor is mounted, the requirement for a zoom lens having the higher imaging performance is increased following the higher pixelation of the solid state image pickup element. Further, for the zoom lens of a small sized image pickup apparatus, further size-reduction is required.
As a small sized zoom lens for a small sized image pickup apparatus, a zoom lens is provided with a first lens unit with a positive refractive power, a second lens unit with a negative refractive power, a third lens unit with a positive refractive power, and a fourth lens unit with a positive refractive power, and in which the size-reduction in the thickness direction of the zoom lens is achieved by arranging a prism which bends the optical path in the first lens unit (for example, refer to Patent Document 1). [Patent Document 1] JP-A 2000-131610
However, the zoom lens described in Patent Document 1 has only a small triple variable power ratio, and its overall length is relatively long compared to its focal length. Accordingly, desired is a zoom lens for the small sized image pickup apparatus, being more compact and having a higher variable power ratio.


A gun is disclosed having conventional components and a holster. The gun has means for detecting removal of the gun from the holster, means for processing the output of the detection means, and means for authenticating the user of the gun. The gun has means for notifying remote authorities that the gun has been removed from the holster, means for receiving remote commands to lock the trigger and/or initiate a global positioning system. The gun has means for selectively locking the trigger from a remote location and means for selectively activating a global positioning system from the remote location.

Guns enhanced for security purposes are known in the art. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,580,876 and 6,363,223 to Gordon (commonly referred to as "Gordon") disclose a "Photographic Firearm Apparatus and Method" and are incorporated herein by reference. Gordon discloses enhancing a gun with a digital camera. The purpose of the camera is to take pictures of the target. A variety of means are disclosed to activate the camera. Once activated, the camera waits for instruction to take pictures. The gun has an accelerometer and circuitry which instructs the camera to take pictures responsive to the accelerometer detecting impulse movement, such as when the gun is fired.
Regarding the means for activating the camera, Gordon discloses a heat sensor that is capable of sensing the body heat of a user. Gordon also discloses an IR sensor that senses when the gun is near the face of a user. The IR switch could consist of a retina scanner which activates the camera upon detecting a retina. Alternatively, Gordon discloses a manual switch for activating the camera. Another alternative is a pressure sensor or strain gauge potentiometer that detects the pressure from a person's grip. An electronic sensor can be used to detect when the firearm is removed from a holster. An electromagnetic sensor can be placed in the gun and the holster that senses when the gun is removed from the holster.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,636 to German discloses an "Eye Safe Laser Security Device" incorporated herein by reference. German teaches a gun, a camera and a remote console. The camera is mounted to the gun and responsive to a person using the gun, the camera sends images of the target to the remote console. German also teaches a power source and a laser diode mounted on the gun. The laser diode illuminates following a firing of the gun.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,149 to Pike teaches a "Weapon Use Monitoring and Recording System" and is incorporated herein by reference. Pike discloses a gun for a police officer, where the gun has an audio sensor and a location sensor. In response to the gun being removed From the holster, the sensors record information. The recorded information is transmitted to the police station which can then provide required assistance.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,024 to Myers and U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,621 to Black both teach guns capable of recording images of targets through the gun barrel in lieu of shooting projectiles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,491,464 to Carter et al. discloses a "Remotely Controlled Radar Gun and Video Recording Apparatus." Carter teaches placing video cameras in and around a police car capable of recording outside, front seat and backseat activity. A plurality of actuators is used to activate each camera without having to actually engage each camera. Remotely located screens are capable of displaying images recorded by the cameras.
The above patents, separately or in the aggregate, fail to consider two-way communication between the gun and for example, law enforcement agencies, to confirm that the user of the gun is the registered owner of the gun. The patents also fail to consider a trigger that is capable of being remotely locked. A gun with these features would prevent inappropriate use of guns by thieves, helping to deter crimes in general.


There is provided a lighting control system of a vehicle lamp. The system includes: a plurality of lamps including: a main lamp; and a separate lamp which is separated from the main lamp; and a lighting controller configured to control lighting of the plurality of lamps. The main lamp includes: a first lamp lighting circuit configured to perform a lighting operation of the main lamp; and a control circuit configured to output a lighting signal based on a lighting control signal output from the lighting controller. The separate lamp includes: a second lamp lighting circuit configured to perform a lighting operation of the separate lamp. The first lamp lighting circuit and the second lamp lighting circuit are configured to perform the lighting operations based on the lighting signal output from the control circuit.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a lighting control system for controlling lighting on and off and light intensity of a vehicle lamp including a plurality of lamps.
2. Related Art
In general, in addition to a main lamp such as a head lamp (HL), an auxiliary lamp such as a clearance lamp (CLL) or a daytime running lamp (DRL) is provided in an automobile. In recent years, in automobiles, as a lighting control device for the plurality of lamps, a lighting control system which performs a lighting control using a body electronic control unit (ECU) for performing various controls of the automobiles has been suggested. For example, FIG. 6 is a conceptual configuration view of a lighting control system of the HL including the CLL and the DRL, and here, only lamps mounted on one side of the automobile, that is, the left side thereof are shown. In an HL 100, a high beam lamp (HiL) performing illumination by a main beam and a low beam lamp (LoL) performing illumination by a low beam are mounted in one lamp housing, and a DRL/CLL 101 in which the CLL and the DRL are integrally mounted in a separate lamp housing is provided. The HiL has a bulb BUL as the light source, and the LoL has an LED1 (light-emitting diode), which is light-emitted by an LED drive circuit 102, as the light source. Moreover, the CLL and the DRL have one LED2 (light-emitting diode) as a common light source, and the lighting of the CLL or the DRL is controlled as the lamp by switching light intensity at the time of light-emitting of the LED2 by the LED drive circuit 102 used for the low beam lamp LoL.
The lighting controls of the HL 100 and the DRL/CLL 101 are performed by the body ECU (B-ECU) 103. The body ECU 103 generates lighting control signals based on a switching state of a lamp switch SW which is operated by a driver or detected signals of an illuminance sensor S which detects brightness of a running environment of the automobile, and controls four relay switches RL11 to RL14 in a relay box, which is disposed in an engine room, based on the lighting control signals. Each of the relay switches RL11 to RL14 is wire-connected so as to perform ON and OFF controls with respect to power lines L11 to L14 connected to the HiL, LoL, CLL, and DRL, and the body ECU 103 controls each of the relay switches RL11 to RL14 and controls the lighting of each lamp. Right lamps (not shown) are similar to the left lamps. However, here, since each of the left and right lamps is simultaneously controlled by one relay switch, four relay switches RL11 to RL14 can be configured. Accordingly, the size of the relay box in which four relay switches RL11 to R14 are built-in is increased, the number of harnesses, which configure control lines Lc connecting each of the relay switches RL11 to RL14 to the body ECU 103 or power lines L11 to L14 for connecting each of the relay switches RL11 to RL14 to each of lamps HiL, LoL, CLL, and DRL, is significantly increased, and thus, there is a problem that a wiring structure is complicated.
With respect to this, in JP-A-2006-62594 discloses that an electric equipment connector is disposed in each of a plurality of lamps and each electric equipment connector performs the lighting control of each lamp based on signals from a control ECU corresponding to the body ECU. In this disclosure, since each electric equipment connector controls the power source with respect to each lamp, the plurality of relay switches shown in FIG. 6 corresponding to the number of the lamps are not needed. However, instead of this, electric equipment connectors in the number corresponding to the number of the lamps are needed, and thus, a configuration of the system is complicated. Moreover, the number of power lines or control lines which connect the control ECU and each lamp is also increased, and thus, it is difficult to decrease the number of harnesses.
Accordingly, in recent years, a system has been suggested, in which one lamp ECU is disposed in a complex type HL and the lighting controls of the HiL, LoL, CLL, and DRL are performed by the lamp ECU. That is, in this system, relay switches are controlled by signals from the body ECU, power supply to the lamp ECU is controlled, and simultaneously, the lamp ECU performs the lighting control of each lamp by lighting control signals from the body ECU. Since only one relay switch is provided for the HL, a reduction in the size is possible, the body ECU and the lamp ECU, that is, the complex type HL may be connected by one power line and one control line, and thus, the number of harnesses is decreased, and the wiring structure can be simplified.
However, this technology can be applied to a lamp in which a plurality of lamps are assembled in one lamp housing as one complex type lamp. However, in a case where the plurality of lamps are configured as an independent lamp, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, in the case where the CLL and DRL are integrated and configured of a lamp (hereinafter, referred to as C/DL) separate from the HL, the lighting control of the separate C/DL cannot be performed by the lamp ECU built in the HL. Accordingly, although one power line can be configured with respect to the HiL and the LoL configuring the HL, with respect to the C/DL, the power lines are needed to be connected to the CLL and the DRL via relay switches respectively, and as a result, a total of three relay switches and three power lines are needed, and it is difficult to decrease the number of harnesses (see e.g., JP-A-2006-62594).
As described above, in the lighting control system of the related art, there is a problem that the number of the relay switches or the number of the harnesses of the power lines, the control lines, and the like is increased in accordance with the number of the lamps. Even in a case where the lamp ECU is provided and the lighting is collectively controlled, in order to solve the problems, there is a problem that reduction effects in the number of the relay switches or reduction effects in the number of harnesses cannot be obtained when some lamps are configured as the separate lamps, and there is a problem that simplification or a reduction of cost of the lighting control system is not easily realized.

Lighting control system for vehicle lamp


An integrated control module for a dual clutch transmission that includes a valve body having an inlet, a plurality of outlets with a plurality of internal hydraulic passages disposed therebetween, and a hydraulic control assembly mounted to the valve body. The hydraulic control assembly is adapted to operatively control the pressurized hydraulic fluid from the inlet through the plurality of internal hydraulic passages to the plurality of outlets. The hydraulic control assembly includes at least one assembly from a group including, a shift actuation control assembly adapted to actuate the synchronizers of the transmission, a clutch actuation control assembly adapted to allow the selective and independent engagement and disengagement of each clutch, and a clutch cooling fluid control assembly adapted to control the cooling fluid provided to the clutches of the transmission. The module also includes a transmission control assembly that is mounted to the valve body in electrical communication with the hydraulic control assembly and operatively responsive to a higher level control system to provide the requisite control signals to control the operative functions of the dual clutch transmission.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, generally to a control module for a dual clutch transmission and, more specifically, to a module that integrates control and actuation components used to control the operation of a dual clutch transmission into a single unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally speaking, land vehicles require a powertrain consisting of three basic components. These components include a power plant (such as an internal combustion engine), a power transmission, and wheels. The power transmission component is typically referred to simply as the "transmission." Engine torque and speed are converted in the transmission in accordance with the tractive-power demand of the vehicle. Presently, there are two typical transmissions widely available for use in conventional motor vehicles. The first and oldest type is the manually operated transmission. These transmissions include a foot-operated start-up or launch clutch that engages and disengages the driveline with the power plant and a gearshift lever to selectively change the gear ratios within the transmission. When driving a vehicle having a manual transmission, the driver must coordinate the operation of the clutch pedal, the gearshift lever, and the accelerator pedal to achieve a smooth and efficient shift from one gear to the next. The structure of a manual transmission is simple and robust and provides good fuel economy by having a direct power connection from the engine to the final drive wheels of the vehicle. Additionally, since the operator is given complete control over the timing of the shifts, the operator is able to dynamically adjust the shifting process so that the vehicle can be driven most efficiently. One disadvantage of the manual transmission is that there is an interruption in the drive connection during gear shifting. This results in losses in efficiency. In addition, there is a great deal of physical interaction required on the part of the operator to shift gears in a vehicle that employs a manual transmission.
The second and newer choice for the transmission of power in a conventional motor vehicle is an automatic transmission. Automatic transmissions offer ease of operation. The driver of a vehicle having an automatic transmission is not required to use both hands, one for the steering wheel and one for the gearshift, and both feet, one for the clutch and one for the accelerator and brake pedal in order to safely operate the vehicle. In addition, an automatic transmission provides greater convenience in stop and go situations, because the driver is not concerned about continuously shifting gears to adjust to the ever-changing speed of traffic. Although conventional automatic transmissions avoid an interruption in the drive connection during gear shifting, they suffer from the disadvantage of reduced efficiency because of the need for hydrokinetic devices, such as torque converters, interposed between the output of the engine and the input of the transmission for transferring kinetic energy therebetween. In addition, automatic transmissions are typically more mechanically complex and therefore more expensive than manual transmissions.
For example, torque converters typically include impeller assemblies that are operatively connected for rotation with the torque input from an internal combustion engine, a turbine assembly that is fluidly connected in driven relationship with the impeller assembly and a stator or reactor assembly. These assemblies together form a substantially toroidal flow passage for kinetic fluid in the torque converter. Each assembly includes a plurality of blades or vanes that act to convert mechanical energy to hydrokinetic energy and back to mechanical energy. The stator assembly of a conventional torque converter is locked against rotation in one direction but is free to spin about an axis in the direction of rotation of the impeller assembly and turbine assembly. When the stator assembly is locked against rotation, the torque is multiplied by the torque converter. During torque multiplication, the output torque is greater than the input torque for the torque converter. However, when there is no torque multiplication, the torque converter becomes a fluid coupling. Fluid couplings have inherent slip. Torque converter slip exists when the speed ratio is less than 1.0 (RPM input>than RPM output of the torque converter). The inherent slip reduces the efficiency of the torque converter.
While torque converters provide a smooth coupling between the engine and the transmission, the slippage of the torque converter results in a parasitic loss, thereby decreasing the efficiency of the entire powertrain. Further, the torque converter itself requires pressurized hydraulic fluid in addition to any pressurized fluid requirements for the actuation of the gear shifting operations. This means that an automatic transmission must have a large capacity pump to provide the necessary hydraulic pressure for both converter engagement and shift changes. The power required to drive the pump and pressurize the fluid introduces additional parasitic losses of efficiency in the automatic transmission.
In an ongoing attempt to provide a vehicle transmission that has the advantages of both types of transmissions with fewer of the drawbacks, combinations of the traditional "manual" and "automatic" transmissions have evolved. Most recently, "automated" variants of conventional manual transmissions have been developed which shift automatically without any input from the vehicle operator. Such automated manual transmissions typically include a plurality of power-operated actuators that are controlled by a transmission controller or some type of electronic control unit (ECU) to automatically shift synchronized clutches that control the engagement of meshed gear wheels traditionally found in manual transmissions. The design variants have included either electrically or hydraulically powered actuators to affect the gear changes. However, even with the inherent improvements of these newer automated transmissions, they still have the disadvantage of a power interruption in the drive connection between the input shaft and the output shaft during sequential gear shifting. Power interrupted shifting results in a harsh shift feel that is generally considered to be unacceptable when compared to smooth shift feel associated with most conventional automatic transmissions.
To overcome this problem, other automated manual type transmissions have been developed that can be power-shifted to permit gearshifts to be made under load. Examples of such power-shifted automated manual transmissions are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,409 issued on Jan. 27, 1998 to Murata for a Twin-Clutch Type Transmission, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,966,989 issued on Apr. 4, 2000 to Reed, Jr. et al for an Electro-mechanical Automatic Transmission having Dual Input Shafts. These particular types of automated manual transmissions have two clutches and are generally referred to simply as dual, or twin, clutch transmissions. The dual clutch structure is most often coaxially and cooperatively configured to derive power input from a single engine flywheel arrangement. However, some designs have a dual clutch assembly that is coaxial, but with the clutches located on opposite sides of the transmissions body and having different input sources. Regardless, the layout is the equivalent of having two transmissions in one housing, namely one power transmission assembly on each of two input shafts concomitantly driving one output shaft. Each transmission can be shifted and clutched independently. In this manner, uninterrupted power upshifting and downshifting between gears, along with the high mechanical efficiency of a manual transmission is available in an automatic transmission form. Thus, significant increases in fuel economy and vehicle performance may be achieved through the effective use of certain automated manual transmissions.
The dual clutch transmission structure may include two dry disc clutches each with their own clutch actuator to control the engagement and disengagement of the two-clutch discs independently. While the clutch actuators may be of the electromechanical type, since a lubrication system within the transmission requires a pump, some dual clutch transmissions utilize hydraulic shifting and clutch control. These pumps are most often gerotor types, and are much smaller than those used in conventional automatic transmissions because they typically do not have to supply a torque converter. Thus, any parasitic losses are kept small. Shifts are accomplished by engaging the desired gear prior to a shift event and subsequently engaging the corresponding clutch. With two clutches and two inputs shafts, at certain times, the dual clutch transmission may be in two different gear ratios at once, but only one clutch will be engaged and transmitting power at any given moment. To shift to the next higher gear, first the desired gears on the input shaft of the non-driven clutch assembly are engaged, then the driven clutch is released and the non-driven clutch is engaged.
This requires that the dual clutch transmission be configured to have the forward gear ratios alternatingly arranged on their respective input shafts. In other words, to perform up-shifts from first to second gear, the first and second gears must be on different input shafts. Therefore, the odd gears will be associated with one input shaft and the even gears will be associated with the other input shaft. In view of this convention, the input shafts are generally referred to as the odd and even shafts. Typically, the input shafts transfer the applied torque to a single counter shaft, which includes mating gears to the input shaft gears. The mating gears of the counter shaft are in constant mesh with the gears on the input shafts. The counter shaft also includes an output gear that is meshingly engaged to a gear on the output shaft. Thus, the input torque from the engine is transferred from one of the clutches to an input shaft, through a gear set to the counter shaft and from the counter shaft to the output shaft.
Gear engagement in a dual clutch transmission is similar to that in a conventional manual transmission. One of the gears in each of the gear sets is disposed on its respective shaft in such a manner so that it can freewheel about the shaft. A synchronizer is also disposed on the shaft next to the freewheeling gear so that the synchronizer can selectively engage the gear to the shaft. To automate the transmission, the mechanical selection of each of the gear sets is typically performed by some type of actuator that moves the synchronizers. A reverse gear set includes a gear on one of the input shafts, a gear on the counter shaft, and an intermediate gear mounted on a separate counter shaft meshingly disposed between the two so that reverse movement of the output shaft may be achieved.
While these power-shift dual clutch transmissions overcome several drawbacks associated with conventional transmissions and the newer automated manual transmissions, it has been found that controlling and regulating the automatically actuated dual clutch transmissions is a complicated matter and that the desired vehicle occupant comfort goals are difficult to achieve. There are a large number of events to properly time and execute within the transmission to achieve smooth and efficient operation, not only during the power-shifting events but also throughout the entire operating range of the transmission as well. To this point, the control of the various components within the dual clutch transmissions has been generally adequate, but still leaves room for improvement. More specifically, the current approaches to providing the physical control of the functions of the dual clutch transmissions remain similar to automatic manual transmissions, which employ a number of separate components hydraulically plumbed together both inside and outside of the transmission case. The use of separate components to provide control over the shift actuation, clutch engagements, and cooling fluid flow of the dual clutch transmission is costly and inefficient. There are particular manufacturing and assembly costs inherently involved with using the separate components. First, each of the separate components must be individually assembled throughout portions of the transmission. Second, the separate components necessitate the use of the separate hydraulic lines and connections to provide the proper fluid communication between the components. Inefficiencies result from operative performance losses through the hydraulic piping, which most often occur as actuation delays and hysteresis since the components are not in immediate proximity to each other.
Furthermore, employing separate control components requires a number of separate wiring harnesses to electrically connect each electro-mechanical and electro-hydraulic part, increasing transmission cost and complexity. The use of separate hydraulic and electrical connections for each separate control component also increases the likelihood of a failure at these connection points either during manufacture or during the service life of the transmission.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the related art for a control module that integrates many of the previously separate components that are used to control the functions and operation of a dual clutch transmission.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Integrated control module for a dual clutch transmission


The invention provides a process for preparing amino acid esters and/or their acid addition salts from monomeric or polymeric amino acids, peptides, proteins and alcohols, which comprises carrying out the reaction in supercritical alcohols, preferably at pressures and temperatures which are at least 5% above the critical parameters, the alcohols serving both as the solvent and as reactants.

In contrast to the synthesis of carboxylic esters, which generally proceeds without any problem by a proton-catalyzed reaction of the free acid with an alcohol, typically with the additional use of acidic catalysts, for example sulfuric acid, hydrogen chloride gas, toluenesulonic acid or acidic ion exchangers (see, for example, Organikum, 21st edition, p. 474 ff), an esterification of a carboxylic acid group of amino acids is only possible with difficulty and with addition of the abovementioned activators or catalysts. Additionally, the esterification of the carboxylic acid group of amino acids using such a technique typically results in moderate yields (from 45 to 90%, depending on the amino acid). See, for example, G. C. Barrett, Amino Acid Derivatives (1999), 37.
The solubilities of amino acids are determined by the typical zwitterionic structure. In the solid state and in solution, a carboxylate and an ammonium group are present As a result, amino acids dissolve readily only in water, but only very slowly and with difficulty in alcohol, if at all. This considerably prolongs the reaction time in comparison to alkylcarboxylic acids.
For an esterification, the solid is initially suspended in an alcohol. Subsequently, hydrogen chloride can be passed through the mixture. See, for example, E. Fischer, Ber. Dt Chem. Ges. 39 (1906), 2893. An alternative approach is the stoichiometric addition of thionyl chloride. See, for example, M. Brenner, W. Huber, Helv. Chim. Acta 36 (1953), 1109.
In order to further increase the reaction rate, the mixture may be heated. After a few hours (or even days), the products are obtained as hydrochlorides.
It is also known that the process of azeotropic distillation can be used for the preparation of amino acid esters. This is reported, for example, in M. Dymicky, E. F. Mellon, J. Naghski, Anal. Biochem. 41 (1971), 487.
However, all of these preparation processes are time-consuming batch syntheses of the corresponding amino acid esters which can decompose as a result of reactions of the amino acid side chains under the reaction conditions required.
One method of preparing amino acid esters directly from proteins or peptides is possible according to the prior art only in a laborious process by hydrolytic cleavage (enzymatically with proteases or peptidases or chemically by acid catalysis) in a first step and subsequent esterification of the fragments. When the abovementioned prior art method is used, a multitude of by-products and a high salt burden are obtained.
There is therefore still a need for a method for the simple and inexpensive synthesis of amino acid esters and their acid addition salts, in which these products can be prepared in high space-time yields, continuously or batchwise, by direct reaction of peptides, proteins or amino acids, substantially without additions of catalysts or activators.

Process for preparing amino acid esters and their acid addition salts


Hydrophilic polyquaternary polyorganosiloxane copolymers and their use as wash-resistant hydrophilic softeners.

Polysiloxanes containing amino groups are known as textile softeners (EP 441530). The introduction of amino structures modified by ethylene oxide/propylene oxide units as side chains causes an improvement of the effect (U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,880, U.S. Pat. No. 5,650,529). The alkylene oxide units permit in this case the selective setting of the hydrophilic-hydrophobic balance. Disadvantageous from the synthetic standpoint is the fact that, included in the synthesis strategy, there is the difficult esterification of amino alcohols with siloxane-bound carboxylic acid groups and, with respect to the softening properties, the general comb structure of the products.
To eliminate these disadvantage is has been proposed to convert α,ω-epoxymodified siloxanes with α,ω-aminofunctionalized alkylene oxides and to use these products as hydrophilic softeners (U.S. Pat. No. 5,807,956, U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,681).
To improve the substantivity, experiments were undertaken to introduce quaternary ammonium groups in alkylene oxide-modified siloxanes.
Branched alkylene oxide-modified polysiloxane quats have been synthesized from α,ω-OH terminated polysiloxanes and trialkoxysilanes by condensation. The quaternary ammonium structure is introduced via the silane, where the quaternary nitrogen atom is substituted with alkylene oxide units (U.S. Pat. No. 5,602,224).
Severe comb-like alkylene oxide-modified polysiloxane quats have also been described (U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,979). The hydroxyl groups of comb-like substituted polyether siloxanes are converted with epichlorohydrine into the corresponding chlorohydrine derivatives. Subsequently a quaternization is done with tertiary amines.
For this reason, the hydroxyl groups of comb-like substituted polyether siloxanes have been esterified alternatively with chloroacetic acid. Through the carbonyl activation the concluding quaternization can be completed in a simplified manner (U.S. Pat. No. 5,153,294, U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,297).
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,242,554 the α,ω-difunctional siloxane derivatives are described that each have a separate quaternary ammonium and alkylene oxide unit. These materials are distinguished by an improved compatibility with polar environments.
The reaction of α,ω-diepoxides with tertiary amines in the presence of acids provides α,ω-diquaternary siloxanes which can be used for the purposes of hair-grooming (DE-PS 3 719 086). Along with tetraalkyl-substituted quaternary ammonium structures, aromatic imidazolinium derivatives are also claimed.
A reduction of the ability to be washed out of the hair can be achieved if the α,ω-diepoxides are converted with ditertiary amines in the presence of acids into long-chain polyquaternary polysiloxanes (EP 282720).
Aromatic quaternary ammonium structures are not disclosed. Derivatives of this type are treated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,240,929. In a first step two diamines having two imidazole units are synthesized from imidazole and suitable difunctional alkylation agents, said diamines subsequently being converted into polyquaternary polysiloxanes in a manner analogous to EP 282720. Cationic compounds produced in this way should have a further increased compatibility with respect to the anionic surfactants present in cosmetic formulations. However, the resistance to being washed out of the hair relates to short-term attack of primarily water and very mild surfactants not irritating the skin while wash-resistant, hydrophilic softeners for textiles have to withstand the attack of concentrated surfactant solutions with high fat-dissolving and dirt-dissolving power. Making it more difficult in addition is the fact that modern detergents contain strongly alkaline complex promoters, oxidatively acting bleaches, and complex enzyme systems, with the fibers often being exposed to the action for hours at elevated temperatures.
Alternative approaches to the improvement of the compatibility with anionic surfactant systems or the efficiency of the siloxane deposition on surfaces are targeted at the use of greater amounts of cationic surfactants (WO 00-71806 and WO 00-71807) or the utilization of cationic polysaccharide derivatives (J. V. Gruber et al., Colloids and Surfaces B; Biointerfaces 19 (2000), 127-135) in mixtures with polydimethyl siloxanes.
Highly charged, very hydrophilic synthetic polycationics are also in the position to improve the compatibility with anionic surfactant systems (U.S. Pat. No. 6,211,139) or in the presence of solutions of anionic surfactants to associate with fibers (WO 99-14300). In the latter document, polyimidazolinium derivatives, among others, are described.
None of the proposals treated represents a satisfactory solution to the problem of obtaining the soft feel possible through silicone and the pronounced hydrophily after initial finishing of a textile material even when it is exposed to attack of aggressive detergent formulations, that is, among others, detergent formulations with a high pH value (>10) and highly active surfactants in the course of repeated washing processes at, in given cases, an elevated temperature.
A fundamentally different approach is described in DE-OS 3 236 466. The conversion of OH-terminated siloxanes with alkoxysilanes containing quaternary ammonium structures provides reactive intermediate products which are supposed to be cross-linked with suitable cross-linking agents, such as trialkoxysilanes, on the fiber surface to form wash-resistant layers. A decisive disadvantage of this approach is the fact that the necessary hours-long stability of an aqueous finishing bath cannot be guaranteed and unforeseen cross-linking reactions in the batch can already occur before the textile finishing.
Self-cross-linking emulsions of aminosiloxanes are also known (U.S. Pat. No. 4,661,577). For this, trialkoxysilyl structures terminal in the molecule are introduced.
A cross-linking of aminosiloxanes can also be achieved by reaction with epichlorohydrine or diepoxides (WO 01-27232) or, analogous to Michael addition, by a reaction with diacrylates (DE 198 03 468).
Alternative approaches with the participation of cross-linked structures deal with, among other things, mixtures of hydrocarbon-based quats (compounds containing quaternary ammonium groups) and cross-linked siloxanes (U.S. Pat. No. 4,908,140) or the additional incorporation of straight-chain siloxanes (U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,462).
WO 02-10257 describes linear polysiloxane compounds which contain polyalkylene oxide structural units, ammonium groups, and polysiloxane structural units in which the possibility of a branching is in fact mentioned but no branched polysiloxane compounds or actual branching components needed to build them are described. The mentioned multi-functional groups thus do not serve for building branches but rather the saturation within the linear main chain or for building monofunctional side chains.
These linear polysiloxane compounds, however, still always have disadvantages with regard to their substantivity.
Branched polysiloxane compounds were previously considered by those skilled in the art as unsuitable to serve as soluble or emulsifiable, i.e., applicable, softeners because they incline toward-the formation of highly molecular gels so that they cannot be applied to the fibers from aqueous solution.
It was thus completely surprising that the special, branched polysiloxane polymers, as they were prepared for the first time by the inventors of the present patent application, were, on the one hand, soluble and applicable and have, at the same time, a higher substantivity (durability), and even in many cases an increased softening action, with respect to the linear polysiloxane compounds.
The hydrophilic, polyquaternary polysiloxane copolymers according to the invention can thus lend textiles, after appropriate application, a soft feel typical of silicone and a pronounced hydrophilicity, and this profile of properties is also not lost after the action of detergent formulations during repeated washing processes at, in given cases, an elevated temperature.
Furthermore, the hydrophilic, polyquaternary polysiloxane copolymers according to the invention can serve as separate softeners or as softeners in formulations for washing fibers and textiles which are based on non-ionogenic or anionic/non-ionogenic surfactants as well as an aid to ironing and means for preventing or reversing creases in textiles.


A wireless headphone having a headband with ear pieces that insert into the ear or encompass the ear with a headphone control module attached to said headband incorporating rechargeable power supply, transceiver, microprocessor, firmware, memory, storage, D/A, speakers, microphone and display with the display incorporated into said control module having actuators and firmware for engaging and disengaging processor resident function for uploading and downloading audio files to said wireless headphones.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to headphones and, more specifically, to multi media wireless headphones. The headphone body has ear pieces that insert into the ear or may encompass the ear, with a headband extending between said ear pieces having a headphone-function control module attached to said headband. The headphone body components further incorporates rechargeable power supply, transceiver, microprocessor, firmware, memory, storage, D/A, speakers, microphone and display with the display incorporated into said control module having actuators and firmware for engaging and disengaging headphone attributes.
The control module housing provides a multi-media port, preferably USB and optionally provides for a SD card port. The control module housing provides for an enablement wherein said control module forms an integral part of the headphone body and also provides for an enablement having a housing pivotally attached to the headphone body and further provides for an enablement of a display pivotally deployable from the control module housing with the latter enablements providing for the display to pivot into the user's peripheral vision.
The display is preferably touchscreen whereby on/off, volume and other features can be controlled through screen touch. Control module firmware provides graphical user interface (GUI) and actuators in circuit communication with the headphone components for engaging and disengaging headphone attributes.
Enabling the headphone's Wi-Fi connection through headphone firmware enables data exchange with other Wi-Fi devices and Wi-Fi-locations using the firmware's GUI.
Also envisioned by the multi media wireless headphone of the present invention is a downloadable app for mobile devices, such as smart phones, thereby increasing the functionality of the wireless headphones and ease in performing some of the more screen intensive GUI functions of the control module.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other headphones which provide for control features. While these headphones may be suitable for the purposes for which they where designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.
It is thus desirable to provide headphones having microprocessor and data storage, such as 16 GB, and firmware for enabling the headphone attributes.
It is further desirable to provide a multi media wireless headphone that is Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled and having mute media port, preferably USB thereby Internet capable. Bluetooth is a registered trademark of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group for a wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances.


An n-type InP sub collector layer 2 heavily doped with silicon (Si), an InP collector layer 3, a p-type GaAs(0.51)Sb(0.49) base layer 4 heavily doped with carbon (C), an n-type In(1-y)Al(y)P emitter layer 7 doped with Si, an n-type InP cap layer 8 heavily doped with Si, and an n-type In(0.53)Ga(0.47)As contact layer 9 heavily doped with Si are stacked on a substrate 1.

GaAsSb is attracting attention as a compound semiconductor used as a base layer material of an InP-based heterostructure bipolar transistor (HBT). GaAsSb lattice-matches an InP substrate by a composition GaAs(0.51)Sb(0.49). An InP/GaAs(0.51)Sb(0.49)/InP-based HBT using GaAsSb as a base can realize good high-frequency characteristics and high-breakdown-voltage characteristics at the same time (reference 1: "300 GHz InP/GaAsSb/InP Double HBTs with High Current Capability and BVceo≧6 V", M. W. Dvorak, Student Member, IEEE, C. R. Bolognesi, Member, IEEE, O. J. Pitts, and S. P. Watkins, Member, IEEE,: IEEE ELECTRON DEVICE LETTERS, VOL. 22, NO. 8, AUGUST 2001 p. 361). Heterostructures include a type-I heterostructure in which a conduction band ECA and valence band EVA of a semiconductor A and a conduction band ECB and valence band EVB of a semiconductor B have potentials (energy potentials) represented by "ECA>ECB" and "EVA>EVB" as shown in FIG. 14, and a type-II heterostructure in which "ECA<ECB" and "EVA<EVB" as shown in FIG. 15. The heterostructure bipolar transistor described above is made of the type-II heterostructure.
When GaAs(0.51)Sb(0.49) is used as a base, the potential of this conduction band edge becomes higher than that of the conduction band edge of an InP collector layer, and this eliminates the current blocking effect in the collector which is a problem in an InGaAs/InP-based HBT. As described above, therefore, good high-frequency characteristics and high-breakdown-voltage characteristics can be obtained at the same time. In addition, when GaAsSb is applied to a base layer, carbon atoms having a small diffusion coefficient can be doped at a high concentration, and this is advantageous in reducing the base parasitic resistance.
Even when InGaAs is applied to a base layer, carbon atoms can be used as a p-type dopant, but ultrahigh-concentration doping at 5×1019 cm−3 or more is difficult. Also, it is pointed out that when an InGaAs layer is to be formed by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) as a general growth method, carbon acceptors are passivated by hydrogen atoms. This passivation of the carbon acceptors by hydrogen not only deteriorates the characteristics of a device by increasing the resistance of the base layer, but also causes a burn-in effect by which the resistance value fluctuates because the ratio of the carbon acceptors passivated by hydrogen changes while an electric current is applied, thereby deteriorating the reliability of the device as well. GaAsSb has a very high resistance against this hydrogen passivation.

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation


A lower stop assembly for slide fasteners comprises a left stop member and a right stop member. The inside of the right stop member is provided with a right slot and an annular orifice both extending in the direction of the inside, the annular orifice being located at the front end of the right slot and in direct communication with an opening of the right slot. The left stop member can be movably inserted into the opening of the right slot and then released from lateral notches of the right slot. As the left stop member can be released from the lateral notches of the right slot, when the left stop member needs to retreat from the right slot, the left stop member may rotate around the outer lateral wall of the annular orifice under the drive of the left slide fastener belt to come out from the right slot.

As fasteners for clothes and other fabrics, slide fasteners have been well known. To be applied to fabrics, slide fasteners generally comprise a lower stop assembly. The lower stop assembly, generally disposed at the end of a slide fastener where a slider starts from, is mainly used for fastening the separated left and right slide fasteners together before the slider starts so as to bring convenience for the slider of the slide fastener to fasten the slide fastener.
In the prior art, Chinese Utility Model Publication No. CN2489625Y disclosed a lower stop structure with anti-pull effect for slide fasteners (as shown in FIG. 9). The lower stop structure for slide fasteners also comprises a left stop member 101 and a right stop member 102, the inside of the right stop member 102 being provided with a right slot 103 and an annular orifice 104 extending in the direction of the inside, the annular orifice 104 being located at the front end of the right slot 103 and in direct communication with an opening 105 of the right slot 103, the right slot 103 being provided with a lateral notch 106; and, the top end portion 107 of the left stop member 101 can be inserted into the annular orifice 104 when the left stop member 101 is inserted into the opening 105 of the right slot 103. However, as described in the PCT International Search Report, the left stop member 101 is unable to depart from the lateral notch 106 quickly as the width of the lateral notch 106 is less than the thickness of the left stop member 101. Therefore, the structure in the prior art is unable to provide for users an effect of quickly opening the lower stop assembly of the slide fastener.
In another prior art, Chinese Patent Application No. CN101152030A disclosed a slide fastener with separable bottom end stop (as shown in FIG. 10), comprising a slider through which fastener element rows of a pair of right and left slide fastener belts pass and a separable bottom end stop, wherein a fitting body 201 is provided on one slide fastener belt while a pivot stopper body 202 capable of engaging with the fitting body 201 is provided on the other slide fastener belt; the pivot stopper body has a pivot stopper portion 203 that is capable of rotatably engaging with the fitting body 201 by fitting the fitting body 201 in the pivot stopper portion 203 from a side portion of the pivot stopper body 202 and capable of rotatably engaging with the fitting body 201 by inserting the fitting body 201 in the pivot stopper portion 203 through a fastener element guide passage from a shoulder mouth of the slider. The bottom end stop end of this structure generally is the so-called lower stop assembly. This bottom end stop can realize quick release. However, the fitting body 201 is just partially held in a groove 204 and a slit 205 of the pivot stopper body 202, and a portion 206 thereof to be pivoted requires no poisoning and limitation in the up-down direction; in addition, as the pivot stopper portion 203 of the bottom end stop is shaped like a hook, thus actually shaped like a cantilever, it is easy to break; and the intensity of the portion 206 thereof to be pivoted in the up-down direction has high risk. Particularly, when such slide fastener is applied to occasions of high-intensity physical sports, a fitting plate portion 207 inserted into the groove 204 and the slit 205 and located on the fitting body 201 is easy to crack as it is too thin.

Lower stop assembly for quick release slide fasteners

KEE (GUANGDONG) GARMENT ACCESSORIES LTD.


A system and method for charging a battery. In one embodiment, the system includes a charging circuit that charges the battery with a constant current during a first phase and charges the battery with a constant voltage during a second phase. The system also includes a control circuit for minimizing glitches when the charging transitions from the first phase to the second phase. According to the system and method disclosed herein, a battery may be charged in a controlled and reliable manner.

Battery chargers are well known. When charging a battery, a battery charger may operate in a constant-current mode, where the battery charger provides a constant current to charge the battery. The battery charger may also operate in a constant-voltage mode, where the battery charger provides a constant voltage to charge the battery. A problem with conventional battery chargers is that when the battery transitions from a constant-current mode to a constant-voltage mode, the battery charger may experience significantly large increases in charge current. Unfortunately, large charge currents may cause irreversible damage to the battery charger if its package is not able to dissipate the excess power. Accordingly, what is needed is an improved system and method for charging a battery. The present invention addresses such a need.

Soft transition from constant-current to a constant-voltage mode in a battery charger