The present invention relates to system diagnostic circuitry for antenna systems with active antenna components. More specifically, the present invention discloses an apparatus comprising a connection between an antenna and a power supply conducting a first DC voltage, a source of a pulse width modulated signal, a lowpass filter for converting the pulse width modulated signal to a second DC voltage, and a comparator for comparing the first DC voltage and the second DC voltage and generating an output signal responsive to the difference between the first DC voltage and the second DC voltage.

Satellite television receiving systems usually comprise an "outdoor unit" including a dish-like receiving antenna and a "block" converter, and an "indoor unit" including a tuner and a signal processing section. The block converter converts the entire range ("block") of relatively high frequency RF signals transmitted by a satellite to a more manageable, lower range of frequencies.
In a conventional satellite television transmission system, television information is transmitted in analog form and the RF signals transmitted by the satellite are in the C (e.g., 3.7 to 4.2 GHz) and Ku (e.g., 11.7 to 14.2 GHz) bands. The RF signal received from the satellite by the antenna of the receiving system are converted by the block converter to the L band (e.g., 900 to 2000 MHz). An RF filter section of the tuner of the indoor unit selects the one of the RF signals received from the block converter corresponding to the selected channel, and a mixer/local oscillator section of the tuner converts the selected RF signal to a lower, intermediate frequency (IF) range for filtering and demodulation.
In newer satellite television systems, such as the DirecTv™ operated by the Hughes Corporation of California, television information is transmitted in digital form. The RF signals are transmitted by the satellite in the Ku band, and are converted by the block converter to the L band. The frequency range of the RF signals transmitted by the satellite is somewhat smaller (e.g., between 12.2 and 12.7 GHz) than that for the analog satellite television system, and the frequency range of RF signals produced by the block converter is accordingly somewhat smaller (e.g., between 950 and 1450 MHz).
In a digital satellite television broadcast system, the television information is digitized, compressed and organized into a series or stream of data packets corresponding to respective video, audio, and data portions of the television information. The digital data is modulated on to a RF carrier signal in what is known as QPSK (Quaternary Phase Shift Keying) modulation and the RF signal is transmitted to a satellite in earth orbit, from which it is retransmitted back to the earth.
In QPSK modulation, the phases of two quadrature phase signals, I and Q, are controlled in response to the bits of respective digital data streams. For example, the phase is set to 0 degrees (.degree.) in response to a low logic level ("0"), and the phase is set to 180.degree. in response to a high logic level ("1"). The phase shift modulated I and Q signals are combined and the result transmitted as a QPSK modulated RF carrier signal. Accordingly, each symbol of the modulated QPSK carrier indicates one of four logic states, i.e., 00, 01, 10 and 11
The conversion stage of the block converter of the outdoor unit is powered by a DC voltage supplied by the indoor unit. The satellite television signal receivers are typically located at the subscriber's residence. When a problem with the system occurs, it is desirable for the service provider to be able to remotely diagnose the problems with the receiver, thereby possibly avoiding having to send a service technician to the remote location. If the problem is simple enough, instructions can be given to the subscriber, and the problem immediately remedied. If the problem is too complex for the subscriber to remedy, or there is an equipment failure, advanced information on the problem can be provided to the service technician, thereby allowing the technician to bring the required parts or equipment to the subscriber's location. Among the parameters desirable to be diagnosed remotely is the low noise block (LNB) line voltage. In addition to supplying operating power to the LNB, different LNB line voltages are used to select between different signals or polarizations of signals received by the LNB. There are defined ranges for each of the two allowed voltages. In order to diagnose certain kinds of problems in the receiving system, it is desirable to know with reasonable accuracy what voltage is being presented on the antenna connector at the back of the indoor unit. Having greater knowledge of the voltage allows better decision-making in determining cause and effect of problems in the receiving system. Knowing that the LNB line voltage is somewhere between or very, very close to one limit of allowable voltage is more desirable than just an indication of the voltage is higher than the allowable band for the lower voltage setting.

Apparatus for verifying a low noise block output voltage


Methods, systems and apparatus for automatically maintaining a pressure differential for the continuous delivery of a liquid to semiconductor manufacturing equipment. A refillable bulk liquid delivery system includes a plurality of canisters residing along a liquid flow path, whereby an over pressure is detected within at least one of the canisters. The over pressure may be detected using an automatic venting circuit or a programmable logic controller programmed for detecting such over pressures. The over pressure is then exhausted by removing excess pressure from the canister through a venting valve to maintain a Delta pressure across the canisters for continuously delivering the liquid along the liquid flow path.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to refillable bulk liquid canisters, and in particular, to methods, systems and apparatus for automatically controlling and maintaining a pressure differential between supply canisters and receiving canisters within a bulk delivery assembly for continuous delivery of a liquid chemical to manufacturing process tools
2. Description of Related Art
In the manufacture of semiconductor devices, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques are often used to deposit various layers onto a substrate. The liquid chemicals (hereinafter "liquid") used by the CVD tools are received at the CVD processing tools via bulk feeding from a remote bulk delivery cabinet. Various remote delivery cabinets exist in the art including, for example, those that bubble a liquid from a canister to the processing tools, or those that push a liquid along a path running from a refillable bulk supply source to a process canister and out to the processing tools. Since liquid bubbling cabinets are limited to the amount of liquid residing with the bubbled canister, these systems are generally not as extendable to the various processing techniques in the art as compared to those systems having a supply source of liquid for continued supply.
Refillable bulk liquid delivery cabinets include a bulk canister in combination with a process canister. The bulk canister retains the liquid (e.g., liquid precursors, such as, TEOS), and when it is determined that the liquid within the process canister falls below a preset level, the bulk canister delivers and refills the process canister with enough liquid to satisfy the preset level. The process canister pushes this liquid to the manufacturing equipment (e.g., the CVD tool). A delivery system that includes the bulk and process canisters alone is generally beneficial when the manufacturing equipment consumes small quantities of liquid chemicals, such as, for example, thin film depositions.
However, when the manufacturing equipment consumes large quantities of liquid chemicals, it is often necessary that the liquid chemical delivery equipment also include bulk canisters that can supply this demand. One approach in the prior art is to replace the bulk canister while the process canister continues to run. In so doing, the bulk canister is taken offline while the process canister continues to supply the chemical. This approach is undesirable since the liquid in the process canister can quickly deplete while the bulk canister is off-line, leading to manufacturing interruptions, which in turn, often result in time delays, decreased production yields and increased costs.
Another approach for providing large quantities of liquids is to provide the bulk delivery system with a large central supply canister that can supply multiple bulk canisters located at source cabinets for the production equipment. Such a configuration may include a 200 Liter central supply canister within a secondary cabinet that fills the bulk canister(s) at the source cabinets. The use of a larger central supply canister eliminates the need to take production equipment off line, thereby reducing the number of container changes, labor, and shipping costs.
In order for bulk delivery systems having a large central supply canister(s) to work properly, it is necessary that the pressures within the central supply canister, each bulk canister and each process canister be continuously maintained for continued flow of the liquid to the processing tools. The flow path is ideally a hierarchial flow path output from the central supply canister, to the bulk canister(s), to the process canister(s), and then out to the processing equipment. Along this flow path, a Delta pressure must be maintained such that the central supply canister has a higher pressure than the bulk canister(s) it supplies liquid to, and in turn, the bulk canister(s) has a higher pressure than the process canister(s) to which it supplies such liquid for proper functioning of the bulk delivery system.
Currently, pressures within such bulk delivery systems are regulated through the use of manually preset pressure regulators, which are programmed to a desired set point delivery pressure. Each canister within the system may be provided with one of these manually preset pressure regulators. However, manually preset pressure regulators only determine if the pressure within a given canister falls below (or under) the programmed set point, and if so, the pressure within such canister is increased through the use of a pneumatic valve for adding Helium to the canister. These manually preset pressure regulators do not take into account over pressures within the canisters of the bulk delivery system.
Another deficiency of the manually preset pressure regulators is that they have a five percent fluctuation range from the preset desired set point delivery pressure. This means that the pressure for a given canister can undesirably drift five percent above or below its desired pressure set point. A five percent drift below the desired pressure set point may slow the liquid flow path, which can undesirably slow production and decrease production yields. Similarly, a five percent drift above the desired pressure set point may increase the liquid flow path to undesirably result in a thicker than desired layer deposition, which may also decrease production yields. The five percent pressure fluctuation of these manually preset pressure regulators may further interfere with the Delta pressure between the large supply canister, supply canister(s) and process canister(s), causing a potential equilibrium therebetween, such that, the liquid flow stops within the delivery system (i.e., the liquid is not pushed along the flow path), thereby also slowing production and decreasing production yields.
While prior art is directed to pressure and flow regulators on the output of the regulator to control the flow of push gas pressure into other source canisters based on under pressure conditions, the prior art does not take into account over pressure conditions as a result of the pressure of the liquid being supplied or any variations from the regulator settings. Currently, to recover from a pressure imbalance due to over pressure conditions, an operator must wait for such an event to occur, and then manually vent off the helium supply pressure to regulate the pressure back down to the desired set point delivery pressure.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for methods, systems and apparatus that automatically take into account both under and over pressure imbalances within a liquid bulk delivery system for the uninterrupted stream of liquid chemicals to multiple process tools.

Automatic venting of refillable bulk liquid canisters

International Business Machines Corporation


A noise shaping arrangement for a phase locked loop includes a first order sigma-delta modulator arranged to provide a first-order quantized output and a feedback path output. A second order sigma-delta modulator is arranged to receive the feedback path output and provides a second order quantized output. A combination block combines the first and second order quantized outputs to provide a combined third order quantized output, which provides noise shaping with a frequency notch spectrum. In this way a new quantization noise shape of third order is provided, such that quantization phase noise may be lowered, the PLL loop bandwidth may be increased, modulation phase error may be reduced and PLL locking speed increased.

In the field of this invention it is known that a fractional-N PLL implemented for GSM (Global System for Mobile telecommunications) standards employs a sigma-delta modulator such as the Multi Accumulators noise Shaping (MASH) II or MASH III architecture. These systems were first described in the IEEE paper: "A multiple modulator fractional divider", May 1990 by B. Miller and B. Conley. Such systems provide a corrected quantization noise spectrum shape for a synthesised non-modulated frequency.
Modern radios use fractional-N PLLs to synthesize the carrier frequency of the radio, as shown in the circuit of FIG. 1. A reference signal is synthesized from a stable and known reference frequency 10. This is fed to a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) 40 via a phase-frequency detector (PFD) 20 and a loop filter 30. The VCO 40 outputs a carrier signal according to its tuning voltage. Control of the tuning voltage is achieved by a feedback loop which provides a feedback signal to the PFD 20 via a multi modulus divider (MMD) 50, which in turn is controlled by a digital sigma-delta modulator 60 coupled to receive a digital number 70 indicating the frequency location of a carrier.
The PFD 20 compares the phases between the reference frequency 10 and the feedback signal, which is the output of the VCO 40 after being divided. Finally, the loop filter 30 (a low-pass filter) smoothes the output of the PFD 20 and provides it to the VCO 40. In locked conditions, both inputs to the PFD 20 have the same frequency and phase.
Therefore, the frequency synthesized is a multiple of the reference frequency 10, controlled by the digital sigma-delta modulator 60 that drives the MMD 50. The loop dynamic, principally defined by the loop filter 30, has the ability to average the division ratio. Therefore if the MMD 50 is modulated fast enough by the digital sigma-delta modulator 60, the frequency synthesized is a fractional multiple of the reference frequency 10.
There are a wide range of techniques that modulate the MMD 50 to provide the desired average division ratio. The main drawback of these known techniques is the quantization noise injected into the loop. Much effort has been expended to provide arrangements which reduce the amount of noise added and several solutions have been proposed using sigma-delta modulators which attempt to overcome this major problem.
Such arrangements perform noise shaping in the form of a high pass characteristic that is removed from the low-pass loop filter 30. The MASH III structure is popularly used due to its ability to generate shaped quantization noise.
A problem with this known arrangement is that removing the quantization noise implies constraints on the loop filter bandwidth that reduce the loop lock time and enlarges the modulation phase error when performed through the modulator.
Furthermore, implemented in a frequency synthesizer for GSM standards, this limitation degrades the direct modulation phase error and reduces the PLL lock time. A further known arrangement, the MASH IV structure, can mathematically reach the desired performance criteria, but provides an output range twice that of the MASH III structure. Therefore, the loop non-linearity is exercised twice and degrades performance by increasing the overall phase noise.
A need therefore exists for a fractional-n PLL frequency synthesizer wherein the abovementioned disadvantage(s) may be alleviated.

Arrangement, phase locked loop and method for noise shaping in a phase-locked loop


A baffle for use in a fuel tank has a sidewall and an interior space. The sidewall is formed of a flexible material so as to be radially compressible. The compressibility of the sidewall allows the baffle to be inserted through a hole which is smaller in diameter than the uncompressed diameter of the baffle. The baffle is preferably also longitudinally compressible so that it can be mounted in fuel tanks of varying depths.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates to automotive fuel systems, and in particular to a compressible baffle for use in a fuel tank; the baffle may be used to install an in-tank fuel pump when the tank was not originally designed for use with such an in-tank pump, when an additional in-tank pump is required, or to add a fuel pickup for an external pump.
Description of the Related Art
Modern automobiles using electronic fuel injection systems utilize a fuel pump mounted inside the fuel tank of the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as an "in-tank pump") to pick up fuel from the tank and deliver it to the engine. Older automobiles, which typically used carburetors to mix fuel with incoming air, did not use in-tank pumps, but instead relied on mechanical or electric pumps mounted outside of the fuel tank.
Recently, it has become increasingly popular among automobile enthusiasts to modify an older car, such as a muscle car from the 1960s or 1970s, by installing a modern fuel injected engine in place of the original power plant, or by replacing the original carburetor with an aftermarket fuel injection system. This type of modification can produce a vehicle with increased performance, improved fuel efficiency and better emissions while retaining the look and feel of the classic muscle car. One problem frequently encountered during the course of making such a modification is the difficulty of mounting an in-tank fuel pump in a fuel tank not originally designed to accept an in-tank pump.
In other applications, it may be advantageous to add an in-tank pump to a fuel system in order to supplement a pre-existing fuel pump. The additional pump may be mounted in parallel to the pre-existing pump and used on-demand to provide additional fuel volume as needed by the engine. The pre-existing fuel pump may be either an external pump or an in-tank pump, such as an original equipment in-tank pump. If the pre-existing fuel pump is an original equipment in-tank pump, it then becomes necessary to modify a fuel tank which was originally designed for use with a single in-tank pump in order for it to accept a second in-tank pump.
In either of the above applications, the problem of mounting an in-tank pump in an existing tank is further complicated by an additional requirement that baffling be added to the tank along with the pump. In-tank fuel pumps need to be surrounded by baffles that prevent all of the fuel from sloshing away from the pump during turns or other abrupt maneuvers. These baffles act to retain a column of fuel over the pump's fuel pickup so that the pump never draws air into the fuel injection system, which can lead to fuel starvation and/or vapor lock. (Carburetors, because they have reserve fuel in their fuel bowls, are more tolerant of momentary fuel deprivation and do not require similar baffles around the fuel pickups.)
In order to add an in-tank pump and baffle to the existing fuel tank, a hole must first be cut into the top of the tank through which the pump and baffle can be inserted. It is advantageous that the hole not be any larger than necessary, and therefore, the baffle should be able to fit through the smallest diameter hole possible (a hole not much larger than the diameter of the pump). The baffle, therefore, should be of thin material, or of a material that can be radially compressed in order to fit though the hole and then allowed to expand once inside the tank. Fuel tanks also vary substantially in depth. In order for the baffle to fit in a wide variety of different tanks, it should be able to be height-adjustable to correspond to the depth of virtually any tank.
What is needed is an apparatus and method for mounting an in-tank pump in a fuel tank, the apparatus including sufficient baffling to retain a column of fuel over the fuel pickup in order to provide an uninterrupted fuel supply to the engine. The apparatus should be adaptable to fit a variety of fuel tanks of differing depths.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A clocked authentication, authorization and accounting (CAAA) system and method offers private and secure credit/debit card online and offline financial transactions (FT) including an embedded privacy and security layer (EPSL) architecture. EPSL includes an authentication stage prior to the authorization stage that is automated and enabled through a back office, and enhanced by associating the authentication stage with projected timing, security and accounting parameters. It enables legal financial account holders to perform buy/sell or withdraw/deposit transactions without disclosing private personal information to the transaction counterparts, while preserving highly elevated and enhanced security and fraud protection as compared with conventional methods. The CAAA method enables efficient mass user EPSL implementation at back offices utilizing high frequency synchronized global clocking of EPSL logic blocks.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for providing a private and secure transaction environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Basic financial transactions including buy and sell transactions and withdraw and deposit transactions, have always required security to protect the account holder, the financial institution where the account resides, and a party at the point of sale from identity theft and fraudulent transactions. Due to widespread use of computer networks and electronic commerce as a new medium to perform transactions, new requirements to maintain validity and integrity of financial transactions are arising. There are companies violating consumer privacy by gathering, sorting, researching and selling for profit personal information about consumers acquired during financial transactions. It would be advantageous to provide an efficient system and method to protect customers' privacy during financial transactions. Another new requirement is associated with the fact that hackers and intruders may get illegal access to the computer network and compromise financial transactions. This aspect of transaction security is addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,202 to Veil et al.
Throughout the history of financial transactions, privacy and security have been addressed using the best contemporary technologies. Since the onset of the computer network era, computer power, relational databases, software environments and communication lines have been used by financial institutions for security and privacy functions. Banks, then credit card companies and eventually brokerage companies and other financial institutions have used computer systems to perform authentication, authorization and accounting, referred to as AAA, at their back offices during financial transactions.
Due to weaknesses in the authentication stage in financial transactions with credit cards, consumers have suffered significant losses. The authentication stage is based on a party at the point of sale who compares human signatures visually on a card (if there is any) and on a selling slip. This operation is error prone when identifying faked signatures in fraudulent actions. Also, if an account holder loses an unsigned credit card, it is easy to fake signatures as one can place any signature on a card before requesting a financial transaction. Another typical malfunction at the authentication stage of credit card transactions occurs when someone gets a credit card account number and a copy of the card owner's signature. This enables fraud even with non-stolen credit cards. Another example in which financial institutions incur losses arises when account holders change their minds after concluding a financial transaction. An account holder can repudiate the financial transaction by claiming that somebody acted in his or her place.
These examples show that there is a real and substantial need for improvements in financial transaction architectures at the authentication stage. Mistakes in authenticating fraudulent actors are often followed by successful authorization and accounting sessions at financial institution back offices, illustrating another weakness of the prior art financial transaction architecture. This occurs because the authorization and accounting stages are de-coupled from the actual account holder, while the authentication stages are de-coupled from financial institution back office computers.
Though credit cards have been used as a financial transaction instrument since the beginning of electronic commerce, there are a number of issues in the electronic commerce architecture that have become apparent. For instance, credit card data, a social security number, a card holder name, a phone number, an address etc., while transferred through the Internet, are not absolutely secure and can fall into the "wrong hands" due to communication channel leaks. It is obvious that while the high speed data flow through the Internet or other communication channels is a big advantage for financial transactions, insufficient data security makes it highly desirable to alter the financial transaction architecture to avoid potential data leaks.
Another issue jeopardizing financial transactions in electronic commerce is weakness of the authorization stage in credit card transactions. Neither the authorization stage nor the accounting stage is actively controlled and timed by the account holders. A number of fraudulent sell transactions may happen before the account holder regains control on his/her account after it has been breached. U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,510 to Colbert and U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,675 to Checchio disclose attempts to improve the authorization stage of financial transactions in order to enhance security. The Colbert patent proposed to alter financial transactions by authorizing an account holder before he/she applies to a merchant (a vendor). Information supplied to the back office includes a credit card account number, a secret PIN and information specific to the merchant and the financial transaction (including at least, a merchant ID number and a transaction amount). Then the merchant is given only the authorization code, while the card number and the PIN remain unknown to the merchant. A similar architecture is offered in the Checchio patent, except a merchant does not get any authorization code, but rather a credit card account number. Since the financial transaction is pre-authorized in this case, a merchant sends into the back office a credit card account number and merchant and financial transaction specific information, which are compared with data given by the account holder during the pre-authorization stage. Use of a lost or stolen card is prevented in the Checchio system using a secret PIN.
Though both Colbert and Checchio improve security against fraudulent usage of credit cards for certain types of transactions, there are limitations to be addressed. Both patents are centered on phone lines, when communicating to financial institution back offices. Frequent usage of a pair of static numbers (account numbers and PINs) over phone lines is insecure due to leaks at the line entries and on the lines themselves. This insecure communication line issue gets aggravated, if one would like to replace phone lines by wireless or the Internet communication lines. Another weakness common to both patents is lack of technology enabling the back office to handle the proposed architectural changes for large numbers of financial transactions. Financial transaction architectures ought to cover account holders, financial institutions and a party at the point of sale in a mutually dependent way. Both prior art approaches require knowledge of a party at the point of sale and other financial transaction specifics prior to the authorization stage. This requirement for authorization is an additional limitation in both Colbert and Checchio, narrowing down the types of possible financial transactions and the locations from which they can be performed.
There is a public concern that financial transactions with credit cards in electronic commerce channels and in other traditional channels could lead to personal information about the consumer being accessed, monitored, tracked, stolen and fraudulently used or sold for profit without the consumers' approval. Privacy related problems arc exacerbated with the advanced Internet related technologies due to the ease with which information can be collected, processed and combined with other information.
It is not only financial transactions with credit cards that raise numerous privacy issues. For example, an account holder would not always like a bank teller during standard withdraw and deposit transactions at a bank to have access to his/her personal information file. It would be beneficial if an account holder could decide whether this privilege should be given to the bank teller. More often than not, withdraw and deposit transactions at a bank require an account holder to reveal identification documents This requirement to reveal personal identification documents is a privacy related inconvenience justified by the current authentication process for such financial transactions.
FIG. 1A illustrates a block diagram of a conventional system for performing withdraw and deposit transactions. In order to perform financial transactions, a legal adult 101 (or a legal business) sets up an account with a financial institution. Typically, a personal information profile 102 is disclosed to the financial institution during the account application process 103. At step 104, the financial institution, which permitted an account opening, creates a personal log file in the financial institution back office, establishes a withdraw and deposit mechanism, and issues personal checks and cards. Then the account holder can perform deposit 105 or withdraw 106 transactions. Typical deposit transactions to a bank or a brokerage house 107 are made either with a personalized deposit slip 109 or a personal check, disclosing a name and account number. Another way of obtaining deposits used by insurance 117 and credit card companies 115, is to receive payments for account statements 119 from an account holder. Checks 110, debit cards 112 or Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) over the Internet 113 are used by account holders for withdraw transactions with a bank or a brokerage house 108. The credit card 116 is a typical withdraw mechanism for credit card companies (including banks like Visa and Master Card and other types of financial institutions, like American Express). Another withdraw mechanism is used by account holders with insurance companies 118. A request for payment 120 is to be made in accordance with the insurance policy.
There are deficiencies in the deposit and withdraw transaction system described above related to privacy and security of the account holder and the financial institution, including the following:
1) Direct and urgent deposit transactions can be hindered, if the account holder is located far away from the bank and its branches where the account resides. It should be possible to deposit to one's account via other financial institutions, without disclosing personal information at intermediate service levels in other financial institutions.
2) During depositing, bank tellers get access to the personal information of the account holder. There are two issues here. Firstly, a teller can make mistakes altering personal and account balance information without any immediate back office computer and database control. In other words, each deposit transaction has a probability of mistakes, hurting the bank and the account holder. Secondly, the account holder may not like a bank teller to have access to his/her personal information file during a direct deposit transaction. At this stage it would be beneficial, if the account holder could decide by himself/herself whether this privilege should be given to the bank teller.
3) Insufficient theft and fraud protection during withdrawal transactions with checks, credit, charge and debit cards or during electronic commerce financial transactions.
4) Personal information is not protected and often intentionally or unintentionally misused by a party at the point of sale or bank tellers during withdrawal transactions.
FIG. 1B illustrates a block diagram of a conventional system for performing buy and sell transactions. Once account holder 121, has made a buying decision 122 and applied to a party at the point of sale, the actual selling transaction is enabled through cash 124, credit cards 116, debit cards 112, checks 110 or electronic commerce 125. Though cash is handy for low value financial transactions, it is usually impractical for the bulk of financial transactions due to low cash amounts on hand. All other financial transaction instruments except cash, such as credit cards 116, debit cards 112, electronic commerce 125 and checks 110 lead to either complete or partial disclosure of personal information 127, and are therefore prone to misuse and fraudulent actions 128.
FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a conventional system and method for performing authentication, authorization and accounting sessions during buy/sell transactions with a credit card, a charge card or a debit card. As illustrated in FIG. 1B and FIG. 2, once account holder 121 has made a buying decision 122 and applied to a party at the point of sale, a point-of-sale (POS) device scans static information on a credit card and sends an authorization request to the financial institution back office, specifying a price (money transaction amount), to perform a withdraw transaction 205. The back office computer checks whether there is enough money in the database under this account and if yes, then if the card is not marked in the database as lost, stolen or fraudulently used, authorizes the withdraw transaction 206, sending an authorization code to the point of sale POS device. Steps 205 and 206 constitute the authorization stage 201 of the financial transaction. It is worthwhile to note that in the conventional financial transaction system with credit/debit cards, the authorization stage is performed prior to the authentication and the accounting stages of the financial transaction.
Once the transaction authorization is sent to a party at the point of sale 206, the first accounting step 202 is performed. The account involved in the transaction is left with a locked sum of money to assure a payment to a party at the point of sale 207. The payment is made after deduction of the transaction fee to the card issuing bank and the discount rate fee to the acquiring bank or an independent sales organization, which provided merchant status to a party at the point of sale. Once step 207 is completed, the back office is ready for another transaction of the same account holder, provided the requested spending limit is not exceeded.
Then if the credit card is signed, the signatures on the selling draft and on the card are visually compared by a party at the point of sale for off line financial transactions 208. If the card is not signed, identification documents are requested from account holder 209. Steps 208 and 209 are components of the authentication stage of financial transaction 203 for the conventional off line financial transaction system. It can be noted here that the signature comparison step 208 is skipped by the conventional electronic commerce on line financial transaction system based on credit/debit card usage. Such electronic commerce systems enforce step 209, requiring wider disclosure, than in the case of an off line financial transaction, of personal information about the account holder. Then the final step of the accounting stage 204 is performed. Step 210 includes the following: a party at the point of sale sends the selling draft inside the selling batch after trade hours to the acquiring hank (or an independent sales organization). The acquiring bank re-routes the relevant part of the batch to the card issuing bank, which unlocks the payment and transfers it to a merchant account after deductions, specified in the merchant's agreement. Then in a few days, the money is placed into a merchant account.
The conventional financial transaction architecture based on credit or debit cards and shown in FIG. 2 has a number of weaknesses, which the present invention addresses, including the following:
1) The authentication stage is de-coupled from the back office CPU and dB, making it subjective, embarrassing, and error and fraud prone.
2) The authorization stage is de-coupled from account holder for both on and off line financial transactions, making it especially dangerous for on line financial transactions (for example, due to on line financial transaction latency, a number of unauthorized financial transactions may happen before the account holder regains control on the account).
3) Personal information leaks are possible on the Internet communication lines during electronic commerce sessions (browsing technology, TCP/IP protocols, PKI, SSL and other Internet technologies do not guarantee sufficient financial transaction security).
4) The accounting stage is de-coupled from the account holder, potentially causing inconvenience during a series of buy and sell financial transactions.
5) A party at the point of sale may collect and analyze personal information about the account holder, and market and sell the information for profit. This leaves the public at large unaware of the privacy and confidentiality status of the data.
Present on line and off line financial transaction architectures have substantial security and privacy deficiencies at the authentication, authorization and accounting stages. It would be highly desirable to provide an improved system and method wherein consumers can perform financial transactions with financial institutions without privacy and security concerns. The present invention addresses these problems.

System and method for private secure financial transactions


The present invention relates to an ultrasonic transducer that has a diaphragm in which an electrode layer is formed thereon. A fixed electrode having a plurality of asperities on the surface facing the diaphragm is provided. An alternating current signal is applied between the electrode layer formed on the diaphragm and the fixed electrode to generate ultrasonic waves. A groove is formed on the upper surface of the projections of the asperities of the fixed electrode to prevent the diaphragm from sticking to the fixed electrode.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic transducer and a method of manufacturing the ultrasonic transducer. In particular, it relates to an electrostatic ultrasonic transducer capable of increasing the efficiency of conversion between an electrical signal and a sound signal to increase an output sound pressure level and facilitating micromachining of a fixed electrode (a lower electrode) necessary therefor and a method of manufacturing the electrostatic ultrasonic transducer.
2. Related Art
Most related-art ultrasonic transducers are of a resonance type that use piezoelectric ceramics. A structural example of the related-art resonant ultrasonic transducers is shown in FIG. 10. The ultrasonic transducer shown in FIG. 10 performs both conversion from an electrical signal into an ultrasonic wave and conversion from an ultrasonic wave into an electrical signal (transmission and reception of an ultrasonic wave) using piezoelectric ceramics as a vibration element.
The bimorph ultrasonic transducer shown in FIG. 10 includes two piezoelectric ceramics 61 and 62, a cone 63, a case 64, leads 65 and 66, and a screen 67. The piezoelectric ceramics 61 and 62 are bonded together. The leads 65 and 66 are connected to the surfaces opposite to the bonded surfaces, respectively. The resonant ultrasonic transducer uses the resonance phenomenon of the piezoelectric ceramics, so that ultrasonic transmission- and reception-characteristics are in good condition in a relatively narrow frequency band around its resonant frequency.
Unlike the resonant ultrasonic transducer shown in FIG. 10, electrostatic ultrasonic transducers have been known as broad-band-oscillating ultrasonic transducers capable of generating high sound pressure across a high frequency band. A concrete example of the broad-band-oscillating ultrasonic transducers is shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B.
The electrostatic ultrasonic transducer shown in FIG. 11A uses a dielectric (an insulator) 131 of the order of 3 to 10 μm thick, made of polyethylene terephthalate resin, as a diaphragm or vibrator. To the dielectric 131, an upper electrode 132 made of metal foil such as aluminum is formed on the upper surface thereof by vapor deposition, and a fixed electrode (a lower electrode) 133 made of brass or the like is disposed below the lower surface of the dielectric 131. The dielectric 131 and the upper electrode 132 (Bank of the upper electrode 132) contact each other by applying a DC bias voltage, and the dielectric 131 vibrates by applying an AC voltage.
Random uneven microscopic asperities of the order of tens to several hundred μm are formed on the surface of the lower electrode 133 adjacent to the dielectric 131. The asperities form a space between the lower electrode 133 and the dielectric 131, so that the distribution of the capacitance between the upper electrode 132 and the lower electrode 133 varies slightly. The random microscopic asperities can be formed by roughening the surface of the lower electrode 133 manually. The electrostatic ultrasonic transducer has such asperities to form a large number of capacitors. Accordingly, the frequency response of an ultrasonic transducer 122 can be a broad band response as shown by curve Q1 in FIG. 11B. The asperities also offer the advantage of increasing the efficiency of conversion between an electrical signal and a sound signal (increasing the level of output sound pressure).
The characteristics of the electrostatic ultrasonic transducer are thus improved by the asperities on the fixed electrode. However, when the surfaces (the upper surfaces) of the projections of the asperities are flat, a strong electrostatic force is applied to the space between it and the diaphragm to make the diaphragm stick to the flat surfaces of the projections, so that the diaphragm is sometimes restrained by the projections and so hardly vibrates, decreasing the efficiency of conversion between a sound signal and an electrical signal.
Several inventions of an electrostatic ultrasonic transducer have been disclosed in which asperities (voids) are provided between the diaphragm and the fixed electrode (the lower electrode). For example, an invention in which voids are formed by a dielectric spacer is disclosed in JP-A-2000-50392 and an invention in which the fixed electrode is provided with communication holes connecting with the groove, thereby decreasing the resonant frequency and increasing the conversion efficiency between a sound signal and an electrical signal is disclosed in JP-A-58-46800.
However, the related arts have not been able to solve the problem of the diaphragm sticking to the flat surfaces of the projections so that the diaphragm is restrained by the projections and hardly vibrates.

Ultrasonic transducer and method of manufacturing ultrasonic transducer


A wireless communication device that executes applications receives keep-alive messages including keep-alive data from the applications. The device processes the keep-alive data to select keep-alive messages for keep-alive message integration. The wireless communication device transfers integrated keep-alive data for the selected messages during a transfer window. A wireless communication system receives and processes the integrated keep-alive data to transfer individual keep-alive messages having the keep-alive data.

The typical wireless communication device executes various software applications that obtain services for the user from remote servers. Some of these applications periodically send keep-alive messages to the remote servers to maintain their services. Examples of services that utilize keep-alive messaging include email, social networking, and video streaming—among others. The remote servers shut down the service for the user if they do not receive the expected keep-alive messages.
In some cases, multiple applications concurrently transfer several periodic keep-alive messages. If the timing of these numerous keep-alive messages is distributed, then the wireless communication device may continually transfer keep-alive messages, which drains the battery and leaves less time to handle other communication tasks. The numerous keep-alive messages also consume valuable bandwidth in the wireless communication network.

Keep-alive message integration over a wireless communication network


A light diffusing resin film is formed by curing a light-curable liquid resin composition whose indispensable components are a photo-polymerizable monomer (A), an organic compound (B) that is incompatible with the photo-polymerizable monomer (A), a cosolvent (C) that is compatible commonly with the photo-polymerizable monomer (A) and the organic compound (B) that is incompatible with the photo-polymerizable monomer (A), and a photo-polymerization initiator (D), a light diffusing film having the resin film on a film substrate, an edge lighting type backlight unit in which the light diffusing film is used, and a liquid crystal display device provided with the edge lighting type backlight unit.

In a liquid crystal display device for a word processor, a personal computer, a TV, a liquid crystal display instrument or the like, in order to increase visibility, in a backlight unit, a light diffusing film or sheet (generally called a light diffusing plate; in the present specification, hereinafter this will be typically referred to as a light diffusing film) is used. The most primary optical characteristics required for the light diffusing film are total light transmittance of at least 90% for visible light and a haze of at least 85% thereto. The light diffusibility of the light diffusing film can be given, for instance, by giving concavities and convexities on a film surface, or by mixing and dispersing several tens % by weight of a light diffusing agent such as fine particles inside of the film or in a resin (binder) coated on a film surface.
As one in which the light diffusibility can be given by forming the concavities and the convexities on the film surface, light diffusing films in which the concavities and the convexities are formed on a surface of a transparent resin film made of polyethylene terephthalate resin, polymethylmethacrylate resin, or polycarbonate resin can be used. However, only by giving the concavities and the convexities on the film surface by embossing or sand blasting, it is difficult to obtain excellent light transparency and light diffusibility in combination.
As one in which the light diffusing agent such as fine particles is dispersed inside of a film, a light diffusing film in which in a transparent film made of polymethylmethacrylate resin, polycarbonate resin or the like, a light diffusing agent such as calcium carbonate, titanium oxide, glass beads, silica particles, polystyrene particles, silicone resin particles, cross-linked polymer particles or the like is dispersed can be used. These are disclosed in, for instance, JP-A-50-146646, JP-A-56-33677, JP-A-60-175303, JP-A-61-4762, JP-A-63-291002, JP-A-1-172801, JP-A-2-173701, JP-A-3-78701 and so on.
As one in which a light diffusing agent is dispersed in a solution in which a plastic or curable resin is dissolved in a solvent and coated on a film surface, a light diffusing film in which fine particles such as calcium carbonate, silica particles, acrylic polymer particles, silicone resin particles, polystyrene particles, urea resin particles, polyethylene particles, polycarbonate particles, polyvinyl chloride particles, cured melamine resin particles or the like can be used. These are disclosed in JP-A-1-172801, JP-A-6-138308, JP-A-7-209502, JP-A-7-218705, JP-A-9-113708, JP-A-11-160505 and so on.
In JP-A-160505, a method in which a liquid resin composition in which plastic particles are dispersed as the light diffusing agent in a UV-curable resin is coated on a transparent film followed by curing by irradiating with a UV light, and thereby a coating type light diffusing film is produced is also proposed.


An integrated circuit manufacturing process for substantially eliminating negative electrostatic charge on a wafer surface after resist processing, comprising contacting the wafer with a dilute electrolyte solution having positive ions, restores the fidelity of CD's as measured by low-voltage SEM'S.

As integrated circuits become smaller and faster, the critical dimensions (CD's) of the devices and interconnections also must decrease. As these CD's get closer to the resolution limits of optical lithography and microscopy measurement techniques, great care must be taken to eliminate all possible sources of measurement error in order to obtain accurate and reproducible critical dimensions. One nearly universally used measurement technique is Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), which utilizes highly focused energetic beams of electrons impinging on the sample and measures the yield of secondary emitted electrons. SEM is the most widely used tool for VLSI measurement and morphology analysis, due to its high resolution of approx. 10-30 Angstroms, and relative ease of use.
FIG. 1 depicts an SEM system, showing the electron source and the acceleration, focusing, and detection electronics. FIG. 2 shows a typical electron emission energy spectrum resulting from the incident electron beam of an SEM. The highest energy peak results from the backscattered electrons, which have energies close to that of the incident beam, and which have undergone only elastic collisions with the target atoms. Peaks 20 seen at intermediate energies are the Auger electrons emitted due to relaxation of electrons between atomic energy levels. The lowest energy emitted electrons 22, produced by inelastic collisions between the primary beam and the inner shell electrons of the sample, are known as the secondary electrons and are generally the most useful for morphology studies in VLSI. This is due in part to the extremely short escape depth of secondary electrons, which yields high surface sensitivity. In addition, since the incident electron beam undergoes beam broadening due to multiple collisions as it penetrates into the sample, the backscattered electrons originating from deeper into the sample reflect this broadening with degraded point-to-point resolution. The lower energy secondary electrons which escape the sample originate from the surface region above the penetration depth where beam broadening becomes influential, and therefore yield higher point-to-point resolution than evidenced by backscattered electrons.
The detected electron current, typically chosen to be the secondary electron current as described above, is used to intensity modulate the z-axis of a CRT. An image of the sample surface is produced by synchronously raster scanning the CRT screen and the electron beam of the SEM.
The contrast of the image depends on variations in the electron flux arriving at the detector, and is related to the yield of emitted electrons per incident electron. The yield is dependent on both the work function of the material and the surface curvature. These factors allow the SEM to distinguish between materials such as metal, oxide, and silicon, and also to distinguish surfaces which differ in slope. Thus, Critical Dimensions (CD's) of patterned and/or etched lines and gaps can be measured.
Two factors affecting the accuracy of SEM measurements are resolution and charging effects. The resolution of the SEM depends on the type of sample under inspection and on the incident beam diameter or "spot size". The high voltages of the electron beam required to produce small scanning spot sizes were historically one of the sources for charging of the surface when examining insulating surfaces. When incident beam energies exceeded the secondary electron crossover point, i.e., when the incident beam penetration depth was high enough that the number of emitted secondary electrons was less than the number of incident electrons, the surface in the region of the scanning beam would acquire excess negative charge. This would cause the incident beam trajectory to be disturbed, and would therefore degrade the image. Grounding schemes such as coating the surface with gold and attaching a ground wire to the coating were used to reduce charging effects. These methods prohibited further processing following inspection of wafers. More recent SEM machines have eliminated high energy accelerating voltages, thus eliminating that source of charging. High voltage SEM's with gold coated samples are still used to verify CD's as measured in low-voltage SEM's.
However, semiconductor wafers can also acquire appreciable electrostatic charge during processing steps such as photoresist spin and expose. For example, it has been experimentally found that the charge on the resist layer after resist processing at the contact level is negative and can reach a magnitude of up to several hundred volts. This accumulated electrostatic charge can create severe undesirable effects in metrology, as well as to the devices themselves. For example, due to deflection of the incident e-beam during SEM linewidth/image inspection, the image focus is degraded. The negative surface charge also acts to accelerate emitted electrons away from the sample surface, thereby changing the time-of-flight to the detector and affecting the magnification. This has caused pitch measurement errors of as much as 10% for a 1.8 micron pitch.
Additionally, accumulated electrostatic charge on the wafer can adversely affect product yield by attracting airborne contaminant particles to the surface.
A non-destructive method of substantially eliminating accumulated electrostatic charge before SEM measurements or inspection, and which would permit continued processing of the inspected wafers, would restore the fidelity of CD measurement and reduce the undesirable effects of charging.

Restoration of CD fidelity by dissipating electrostatic charge


The activity of multiple proteins in a single living cell, portion of a cell or in a group of cells is simultaneously measured by introducing reporter molecules into the cell(s) or a portion thereof, chemically modifying the reporter(s) by the enzyme of interest, terminating the modification reactions, removing the reporter(s) and modified reporter(s), and determining the amount of enzyme activity present by measuring or comparing the amount of reporter(s) and modified reporter(s) present. By performing a series of experiments at different time points, conditions, and varieties of cell types, a database is developed for molecular cellular mechanisms in health and disease states. By exposing cells to a variety of compounds data for drug development and screening is provided.

1 Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the areas of the biochemical and chemical analysis of molecules in cells, and in particular to an assay and method for measuring the activation of internal chemical activity of a plurality of proteins in a single cell, a population of cells, or portion of a cell.
2. Description of the Prior Art
All cells are composed of complex networks of proteins that allow them to respond to the environment and to go about the business of life (FIG. 1-2). At any given time all of the proteins in a cell are not active. The determination of which proteins are active in a living cell and how networks of proteins interact in a living cell is a complex problem in biology and in pharmaceutical development.
The ability of an organism to respond to a stimulus is essential for its survival. Disease often results from a breakdown in communication between and within cells. For example, type II diabetes results from the inability of cells to receive and/or process the insulin signal that regulates carbohydrate metabolism. Signals are generally received at the cell membrane by molecules called receptors. The binding of a signaling molecule to a receptor at the outside cell surface causes the receptor to change shape. This, in turn, modulates the chemical activity of the receptor on the inside of the cell. Any given cell will have a number of different receptors enabling it to respond to various signals. The type of tissue from which the cell comes determines which receptors are present on its surface. Different cells respond to different signals, and the same signal can elicit a different response in cells that come from different tissues. For example, epinephrine causes the contraction of vascular smooth muscle but the relaxation of intestinal smooth muscle. How a cell responds to a signal is a result of which proteins are present and activated in the cell at the time of and after the signal is received.
In response to a signal, various proteins in the cell are activated and deactivated. A common strategy used by cells to change the activity of a protein is to add or remove a phosphate group to or from the protein. The addition of a phosphate group to a protein is performed by enzymes (which are themselves proteins) called kinases. Many of the proteins in the above described networks are enzymes. In addition to kinases, many other types of enzymes also exist in cells. Phosphatases, nucleases, glycosidases, lipases and proteases are but a few examples. Enzymes are important drug targets. A challenge in developing drugs against kinases and other types of enzymes is to find molecules that are specific for only the enzyme of interest. Many potential drugs may have a desired effect on its expected target, but may also have an undesired effect on the activity of one or more additional proteins within the cell. Presently available in vitro biochemical assays for enzyme activity often give misleading results since other enzymes and modulators of enzyme activity present in a living cell are not present in the assay (Table I). These factors are difficult to add to an assay because their identity and concentration are often unknown. The situation is further complicated by the fact that the concentration of these factors and the activity of the proteins can change over time (Table II). In order to accurately study the full effect of a drug, all of the components of the signaling pathways must be present and intact.
Thus, it is highly desirable to be able to analyze the activity of a protein in its native cellular environment. Additionally, since the proteins exist in interconnected networks, the activities of many proteins will be affected by perturbations in the cellular environment or by the abnormal activity of another protein within the networks. Thus, it is important to be able to measure the activities of a plurality of proteins at the same time in the cell(s) of interest. We are not aware of any biochemical assay for protein activity capable of measuring the activities of multiple proteins simultaneously in living cells except that described below.
It is now known that many disease states are related to inappropriate protein activity, either too much or too little activity. An example is the human cancer chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). In most cases of CML a kinase, the protein product of the oncogene bcr-abl, is present in an inappropriately "turned-on" state. This inappropriate activation leads to the uncontrolled growth of blood cells that is manifested as cancer. Other protein products of oncogenes are known to play a role in the development of cancer. However, the presence of the gene or its protein product is not perfectly correlated with the appearance of cancer. A means to measure the activity of such proteins and that of normal proteins in the same cell with the relationships of the protein pathways intact will reveal important insights into disease processes. A profile of a disease composed of a map of the active and inactive proteins in affected cells can be expected to provide a more accurate understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of the disease than even that revealed by current genomic and proteomic techniques (Table III). A database of protein activity in the cells of different tissues, in healthy and diseased cells, and in cells responding to different environmental and pharmacolgic stimuli would have a dramatic impact on biomedical research, pharmaceutical research, and even on our basic understanding of the natural processes of all living organisms.
Existing techniques for the measurement of enzyme activation in a single cell, group of cells, or a portion of a cell have inherent limitations. In recent years much has been made of proteomics, the identification of all proteins produced by an organism, as a means for extending our knowledge beyond the genomics revolution. Unfortunately, current proteomic technologies have significant shortcomings in the study of enzyme function. For the past two decades, the gold standard has been two dimensional-gel electrophoresis. This technique gives a very high resolution for protein separations, but it is difficult to perform, and it cannot detect many important cellular proteins, especially those in low abundance or those with a hydrophobic character (traits typical of many if not most enzymes). The new mass spectrometry techniques combined with bioinformatics have improved the identification of proteins separated by electrophoresis techniques, but do not solve the fundamental issues of performance difficulty and sensitivity. The new chip-based methods hold the as yet unfulfilled promise for identifying large numbers of proteins quickly; however, sensitivity, specificity, and quantification are still issues to resolve. It is important to understand that nearly all current proteomic approaches strive to identify proteins, and in some cases to provide a rough quantitation of protein concentration. However, these approaches do not directly measure the critical parameter of the most crucial proteins: the activity of enzymes. Neither the presence or concentration of an enzyme is a valid measure of its activity. Attempts are made to measure a protein's activity by the identification of a phosphorylated species (many proteins are "switched on" by the addition of one or more phosphate groups), but such an approach can provide only an indirect measure of activity, and detecting such species in a single cell, group of cells, or a portion of a cell is fraught with difficulty.
Until recently, traditional biochemical assays have been the only reliable means of measuring enzyme activity. For kinases most of these methods use the phosphorylation of kinase substrates by cellular extracts or isolated proteins to estimate in vivo kinase activity (FIG. 3). There are three major drawbacks to this approach: 1) the methods have poor sensitivity so that the cytoplasm of large numbers of cells must be pooled; 2) a time-averaged level of the kinase activity is actually measured since the cells are not synchronous with respect to their activation status; and 3) the normal relationships of the pathways and networks within which signal transduction enzymes reside are disrupted. Similar drawbacks exist for measurement of the activity of most other types of enzymes. Recent imaging methods enable some enzymes to be spatially localized in single cells (FIG. 4). Generally the enzyme of interest is labeled within the cell by specific antibodies, inhibitors of the enzyme, or fluorescent tags. Unfortunately, both inactive and active enzyme molecules are highlighted by this method, although some attempt may be made to infer the activity level of the enzyme from its location within the cell. A third strategy still under development is the use of a fluorescent indicator to measure enzyme activity. This strategy has worked well for the measurement of various ion concentrations (i.e., Ca2+), but thus far has not been generally applicable to the measurement of enzyme activity in the living cell. A further limitation to all of these techniques is their inability to measure multiple enzyme activities simultaneously in a cell.

Method to measure the activation state of signaling pathways in cells

The Regents of the University of California


A system for managing an account having at least one sub-account, including: a memory element, a processor, and an interface element for at least one specially programmed general-purpose computer. The memory element stores a transaction history for the account, an incentive previously offered to the account, and an artificial intelligence program (AIP). The transaction history includes at least one transaction involving the main account or sub-accounts from the at least one sub-account. The processor is for: comparing the transaction history with a metric; generating, using the comparison of the transaction history with the metric, a desired transaction involving the account and a business entity; and modifying the incentive using the AIP and the comparison of the transaction history with the metric. Rewarding of the modified incentive is conditional upon execution of the desired transaction. The interface element is for transmitting the desired transaction and the modified incentive.

The management of rewards for an account is known, for example, as disclosed in U.S. Published Patent Applications 2002/0087410 (Walker et al.), incorporated by reference herein. Unfortunately, such programs are not self-learning.
Thus, there is a long-felt need to provide a system and a method to manage rewards for a multi-tiered account that is dynamic and can be readily adapted to meet various and variable requirements.

Method and system to manage multiple party rewards using a single account and artificial intelligence


An index ranking optimization system and method are provided herein.

The Internet is a worldwide, publicly accessible network of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). The "network of networks" consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and government networks, which together enable various services, such as electronic mail, online chat, file transfer, and the interlinked web pages and other documents of the World Wide Web.
The World Wide Web (commonly shortened to the "Web") is a system of interlinked nodes accessed via the Internet. With a Web browser, a user may view nodes (e.g. Web pages) that may contain text, images, videos, and other multimedia. More pertinently, a node's content may also contain hyperlinks (or simply "links") that allow users to navigate from one node to another. A link is a reference or navigation element in the content of a source node that refers to, indicates, or "points" to a target node. In some cases, the target node may be the same as the source node (e.g., a link may target another location within the same node). In other cases, the target node may be a different node or a location within a different node.
Within an HTML document, links are typically specified using the  (anchor) elements, although there are many other types of links, including media (e.g. audio or video) embeds, javascript includes, ajax redirects, 301/302 HTTP redirects, meta refreshes, and the like. HTML code may specify some or all of five main characteristics of a link:                target node (e.g. HTML "href" attribute, pointing to a target node);        link label or "anchor text";        link title (e.g., HTML "title" attribute);        link browser window target (e.g., HTML "target" attribute, indicating which browser window to open the target node in);        link class or link id (e.g., HTML "class" or "id" attributes).
For example, an HTML link specification may use the HTML element "a" with the attribute "href" and optionally also the attributes "title", "target", and "class" or "id":
anchor text
A vast amount of information is available via the Internet, taking the form of Web pages, images, and other types of files. At the present time, "search engines" offer one of the primary resources used by Internet users to locate information of interest. Due at least to the staggering number of nodes on the Internet, search engines tend to operate largely algorithmically. Oversimplifying, search engines operate generally as follows. The search engine "crawls" the Web, storing data (on the search engine's own server or servers) from nodes it encounters. Using the stored data, a second program, known as an indexer, extracts various information about each node and its content, such as the words it contains and where these words are located. The indexer may also extract information about links contained in the node's content.
In recent years, the Web has grown so large that, as a general rule, creating such indexes involves so many resources that only very large, very well funded corporations have the resources to crawl and index the Web. Indeed, assuming that the average size of the HTML code of nodes on the Web is roughly 25 kilobytes per node, then 3.9 billion nodes (which is a small portion of what would be required to keep an up-to-date index of the Web) represent approximately 90 terabytes of data. Merely storing 90 terabytes of data, let alone processing it, would cost many thousands of dollars at current bulk-storage rates. Accordingly, indexing the Web has largely been the exclusive province of large, well-funded organizations.
Early versions of search algorithms relied on webmaster-provided information such as the keyword "meta" tag, which was intended to provide a guide to each node's content. But using such webmaster-provided metadata to index nodes could be unreliable because the webmaster's account of keywords in the meta tag were often not truly representative of the node's actual content. Inaccurate, incomplete, and inconsistent data in meta tags often caused nodes to rank highly for irrelevant searches. Moreover, Web content providers often manipulated a number of attributes within the HTML source of a node in an attempt to rank well in search results.
By relying so much on factors within a webmaster's control, early search engines were subject to abuse and ranking manipulation. Search engines responded by developing more complex ranking algorithms, taking into account additional factors that were more difficult for webmasters to manipulate. Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who went on to found Google Inc. of Menlo Park, Calif., developed one of the more successful of these complex ranking algorithms. Their algorithm, PageRank, estimates the likelihood that a given node will be reached by a web user who randomly surfs the web and follows links from one node to another. In effect, PageRank treats some links as being stronger than others, as nodes with a higher PageRank are more likely to be reached by the random surfer.
The original PageRank algorithm's rankings were more robust than earlier rankings based on webmaster-provided information. However, webmasters found methods to game the PageRank system, such as by creating "link farms"—or groups of web sites, each of which hyperlinks to every other site in the group—for the purpose of influencing search engine rankings. By 2007, search engines had incorporated a wide range of undisclosed factors in their ranking algorithms to reduce the impact of link manipulation. For example, Google may rank sites using more than 200 different signals. At the current time, the three leading search engines are Google; Yahoo!, operated by Yahoo! Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif.; and Microsoft's Bing (formerly Live Search), operated by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. None of these search engines currently disclose the algorithms they use to rank nodes. Indeed, for most, if not all, major search engines, their index and rankings within that index remain a closely held trade secret.
While such secrecy may have made it harder for unscrupulous Web site operators to manipulate search results, it has also made it difficult for legitimate Web page providers to optimize their pages and sites so that they would organically rank highly in search results. The major search providers provide a few tools of use to Web operators desiring to optimize their rankings, including for example, Google Webmaster Tools, Bing Webmaster Tools, and Yahoo! Site Explorer. However, such tools leave much to be desired. As a general rule, current offerings may measure and publish certain metrics about pages, but not metrics about the individual links pointing to or from a page.

Index rank optimization system and method


An object is to improve visibility without causing increases in device size and cost. Another object is to improve visibility and reduce the burden on a user without blocking external light when reflection of external light is high. An electronic book includes a display panel having an electrophoretic display element controllable by a pixel circuit of each pixel, and an illuminance sensor, and a display control portion having a circuit configured to correct an image signal for the electrophoretic display element to display a grayscale image in accordance with illuminance that is detected by the illuminance sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
The technical field relates to an electronic book.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, electronic paper (also referred to as digital paper or a paper like display) has attracted attention and has been partly put into practical use. The ultimate form of electronic paper is that which has small thickness and high visibility like paper, and is rewritable and maintains display even after power is turned off.
Among electronic paper techniques, a method for displaying images by using an electric field to promote movement and rotation of microparticles is referred to as an electrophoretic method. Electronic paper employing the electrophoretic method (hereinafter referred to as an electrophoretic display device) is disclosed in Patent Document 1.

Electronic book using grayscale inversion for image signal correction

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A circuit for embedding within a SCSI control device for generating REQ or ACK signals in a flexible manner as required for SCSI synchronous data transfer mode. The circuit of the present invention utilizes a single counter and associated logic to provide flexible waveform generation of the REQ or ACK signal in a SCSI control device. The counter value counts up from zero and is compared against one of two values applied to a comparator. The first value is the desired period (duration) of the assertion of the REQ/ACK signal. When this count value is reached, the counter is restarted, the REQ/ACK signal is de-asserted, and the second count value--the de-assertion time--is applied to the comparator. When the second count is reached, the cycle starts over. An enable and reset signal allow other portions of the SCSI control device to start, stop, and reset the counter circuit of the present invention as required for SCSI synchronous data transfer controls. An alternative embodiment of the invention utilizes a down counter circuit which may embed a comparison against zero thereby obviating the need for a separate comparator circuit. The waveform generated may be applied to either the REQ signal in a target mode of the SCSI device or to the ACK signal in the initiator mode of the SCSI device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to SCSI bus interface circuits and in particular relates to a circuit for generation of variable period and variable width REQ or ACK signal pulses as used in synchronous SCSI bus transfers.
2. Description of Related Art
Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) buses are common interconnect buses between computer systems and peripheral devices such as mass storage devices. The SCSI bus is a parallel bus comprising a number of parallel data signal paths (collectively referred to as the data bus) and a plurality of control signal paths to coordinate the exchange of information over the bus. A device wishing to initiate communications with another device is referred to as an initiator and the other device is referred to as the target.
The REQ and ACK control signals of the SCSI bus are used to pace the rate of transfer of information over the data bus. The target applies a signal to the REQ signal path to assert that it is ready for the next data transfer. The initiator applies a signal to the ACK signal path to assert that the transfer has completed. This sequence continues for each unit of data transferred until the transfer is completed (or interrupted for other reasons).
Generally, SCSI buses operate in one of two data transfer modes: asynchronous transfers and synchronous transfers. In the asynchronous transfer mode, each unit of data transferred requires a complete cycle of the REQ and ACK signals. Specifically, for each transfer, the REQ signal is asserted by the target, followed by assertion of the ACK signal by the initiator (indicating that the transfer is complete), followed by de-assertion of the REQ signal, lastly followed by de-assertion of the ACK signal. This asynchronous mode of data transfer is limited, in part, by the minimum timing requirements for the assertion and de-assertion of the REQ and ACK signals. Other timing constraints of asynchronous transfer mode further limit the maximum bandwidth available.
In read operation of the synchronous transfer mode, a number of data transfers may be completed by REQ signals from the target before a first ACK signal is required from the initiator. The number of such transfers permitted before an ACK signal is required is a configurable parameter referred to as the REQ/ACK offset. In a write operation, one or more REQ signal assertions precede the data and ACK signal. So long as the differences between the number of REQ signals asserted and the number of ACK signals asserted is less than the REQ/ACK offset parameter value, the transfer may continue (until exhaustion or interruption). This counting mechanism for pacing of transfers enables faster transfer. Bursts of data are thereby transferred without awaiting the handshake signal for each unit of transfer.
Parameters may be programmed in each SCSI device to define the REQ/ACK offset as well as other parameters used in the REQ/ACK handshake protocol for synchronous transfer mode. Specifically, a SCSI SDTR command is used to "negotiate" the REQ/ACK offset value as well as a transfer period. The transfer period is the minimum time allowed between leading edges of successive REQ pulses and of successive ACK pulses to meet the device requirements for successful reception of data.
Programmable parameters define the pulse timing of the REQ or ACK signal pulses. The assertion period is the minimum time that a target shall assert REQ while using synchronous data transfers (or the assert time for ACK with respect to an initiator device). The total pulse cycle period (transfer period) is also specified to fully characterize the pulse timing. The de-assertion period of the signal may be derived from the transfer and the assertion period.
This collection of programmable parameters permit flexible definition of the period and assertion shape (timing) of the REQ and ACK pulses used in SCSI synchronous transfer mode. By supporting shorter transfer period times and shorter pulse width timings, the synchronous data transfer rate can be increased dramatically as is known in the art. Specifically, it is presently known to achieve transfer rates as high as 40 MB per second on an 8-bit wide SCSI bus operating in synchronous transfer mode.
SCSI interface circuits in devices therefore include circuits for programming the waveform timing and period of REQ and ACK pulses for application to the SCSI bus signal paths. SCSI interface circuits (typically VLSI integrated circuits--ICs) typically include a section whose function is to flexibly control the timing and period of the REQ and ACK pulses. The generation of REQs and ACKs is complicated in that each device type (target or initiator) may be different and therefore capable of differing signal speeds. A REQ/ACK generator design must therefore account for the various combinations of functions and states.
Prior REQ/ACK generation circuits may have utilized complex finite state machine models and/or a plurality of counter circuits in their designs to achieve this flexible programmability. Such prior solutions are relatively complex. It is always a problem in IC designs to minimize complexity by reducing the number of lower level circuits (gates) required for a particular function. Simplicity in the design, as measured by reduced gate count, typically translate to a number of important benefits including: smaller chip/wafer size, lower power consumption, reduced gate delays (higher speeds), and others.
It is apparent from the above discussion that a need exists for a simpler REQ/ACK pulse signal generator for integration into SCSI interface peripheral control integrated circuits.

Variable period and assertion width REQ/ACK pulse generator for synchronous SCSI data transfers


A multiplexor for use with a computer having a parallel port, for providing multiple separately addressable auxiliary parallel ports.

Commercially marketed personal computers are generally equipped with an industry standard parallel port for driving a peripheral device such as a printer, plotter, or local area network (LAN) adapter, such as the Xircom Pocket LAN Adapter. Although such computers are usually capable of selectively driving, via software, multiple logical parallel ports, generally designated LPT1, LPT2, and LPT3, they frequently come equipped with only a single physical parallel port. The industry standard physical parallel port utilizes a 25 pin D shell female connector. A cable having a mating male connector is typically used to connect the computer parallel port to a peripheral device.
At any one time, a single parallel port can only control a single peripheral device. Thus, a computer equipped with only one physical parallel port can connect to only a single printer. In order to facilitate connection of the computer to multiple peripheral devices, various manufacturers have marketed switch boxes which enable a user to manually switch a single input port to any one of N output ports. Such switch boxes can functionally connect only one peripheral device at a time to the computer, so therefore only one such device can be active at a time. The user must manually toggle the switch box to select a new active connection.
Because certain peripheral devices, such as the aforementioned network adapter, must be accessible to the computer at all times, conventional manually operated switch boxes are not suitable for use with these devices.

Parallel port multiplexor for PC parallel port


A multi-joint bending structure includes: a first-band-piece including joint potions on both ends; bending-units enabling the multi-joint-bending-structure to change in position between a straight state and a bent state; a third-band-piece including a joint potion provided on one end, the joint portion connected to the joint potion of the end of one of the bending-units; one pair of two linear bodies, each of the linear bodies having one end fixed to the housings and another end movable along the housings; and an assisting-force-generation-mechanism provided at predetermined opposed positions of the pair of two linear bodies and configured to generate assisting force, wherein the assisting-force-generation-mechanism includes rod-like bodies, a contracting-elastic-body inserted into the gap, and two piece members which both the ends of the overlapping potions energized by the piece members switch over, and the contracting force of the elastic-body acts as the assisting force between both the ends.

In recent years, wearable devices have been put into practical use with achievement of downsizing of information terminals such as mobile phones. The wearable device is a small information terminal usable by being attached to a human body by a band (such a wearable device is hereinafter referred to as a wearable terminal). Promising wearable terminals are of types such as a watch type and a wrist band type in which a terminal is attached with a bendable band wound about an arm.
Meanwhile, only few wearable terminals are used by being continuously attached to the human bodies in spite of their names "wearable". Normal wearable terminals are often used in both states attached to or detached from the human body.
Then, as a band usable in a wearable terminal to attach or detach the wearable terminal, there are a band having a structure disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-034340 and a band disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 11-239504. Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-034340 discloses a band with magnet in which hard band pieces are joined to make the band elastic and magnets are arranged not to project from the band.
On the other hand, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 11-239504 discloses a decorative bracelet in which multiple links (pieces) are joined by columnar bars one after another like joints and the links and the columnar bars are held together by flexible connecting materials.
However, when a wearable terminal is attached or detached, similar to a watch belt, a belt has to be hooked or unhooked every time. Thus, there is a problem that an attaching/detaching operation is troublesome. There is also another problem that a belt made of resin or a bending-type wrist band tends to keep a bent form even when detached, and is bothersome since the belt or the wrist band bends even after being detached. Similarly, the band disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-034340 has problems that since the band has spring force only in a direction in which the band shrinks, the band may not be easily detached, and is bothersome as the band remains bent even after being removed.
In one aspect, the present application has an object of providing a multi-joint bending structure that may be attached to or detached from a human body with a single touch, and a wearable device (wearable terminal) using the structure.

Multi-joint bending structure and wearable device using multi-joint bending structure


Method for producing an exposed substrate, which has at least two different image areas. The substrate is provided with at least two photoresist layers, which are adjusted to the type of image areas to be produced.

The invention relates to a method for producing an exposed substrate, which has at least two image areas.
For protecting security documents, such as bank notes, ID cards or the like, optically variable elements are often used, which are made up of diffraction gratings. In the following such elements are referred to as grating images. These may be grating images, in which for the viewing the first and higher diffraction order is made use of, as it is the case with e.g. holograms or with grating images that are composed of grating areas. Alternatively, grating images are used, in which the zero diffraction order is made use of, as described for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,892,385 and 4,484,797.
The first-order grating images and the zero-order grating images mainly differ from each other in that with the first-mentioned the grating constant has to be greater than the light wavelength, while with the last-mentioned the grating constant preferably is selected smaller than the wavelength, in particular when one wants to observe the pure zero order. While for first-order grating images the grating constant is decisive for the color variability and the grating line structure plays an only minor role, with the zero-order grating images it is precisely the other way round.
The diffraction structures used as security elements mostly are produced as embossed holograms. For that purpose a photoresist layer applied to a substrate is exposed with laser light or with electron beams. The term photoresist refers to film-forming materials sensitive to radiation, e.g. photoresins, the solubility behavior of which changes when exposed to light or radiation. One differentiates between positive- and negative-working photoresists. The first-mentioned become easily soluble by photochemical degradation or conversion of active groups when exposed to radiation, while the last-mentioned become hardly soluble or insoluble by crosslinking or photopolymerization.
The development of the photoresist layer leads to a peak-and-valley structure, which can be galvanically molded. In first-order grating images the profile structure preferably has a sinusoidal form, in zero-order grating images it has a box-type or trapezoidal form. The molded structure can be duplicated and used for producing embossing dies.
Furthermore, grating images are known for which a plurality of exposure steps have to be combined with each other. For this purpose mainly two methods are known.
In a first method partial areas of a photoresist layer are covered with the help of masks and then the unmasked partial areas of the photoresist layer are exposed with e.g. laser light of a first wavelength as to produce a diffraction structure. In further procedure steps the already exposed parts of the photoresist layer are covered and the parts of the image now freed of the masks are exposed with e.g. laser light of different wave lengths as to produce further diffraction structures.
This method has the disadvantage that it cannot be used, if in a grating image different resist layer thicknesses are required, as it is the case e.g. when zero-order grating images are combined.
In a further known method this problem is avoided by galvanically producing a plurality of embossing dies out of independently exposed photoresist layers. Each embossing die contains only a partial area of the complete image. In order to obtain the complete image the embossing dies are embossed side-by-side into thermoplastic material. With this method, however, it is disturbing that such a side-by-side embossing leads to the forming of seams.
Starting out from this prior art it is the problem of the invention to provide a method, wherein the exposure with different types of radiation can be effected in a simple fashion and wherein, optionally, the layer thickness in different areas can be adjusted to the exposure.


A video surveillance system comprises two or more video cameras each providing a video signal, the cameras each being positioned at a respective known location; a motion detector to detect image motion of an image feature within the field of view of one of the video cameras and for deriving a corresponding physical motion of an object represented by the image feature; and a motion predictor to predict the physical motion of the object with respect to the known locations of the cameras so as to derive an expected time when the object may be observed in the field of view of another one of the video cameras, in which the motion predictor is responsive to routing data defining possible routes from the observed location of the object to the field of view of another of the cameras.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to video surveillance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Video surveillance systems generally use video cameras at fixed spatial positions to generate video signals representing a scene under surveillance.
This type of system generates a large amount of video data, particularly when multiple cameras are used. Previously, two main solutions have been used to deal with this quantity of data.
One solution is to store everything, which is to say that the video signal from each of the cameras is stored, generally in a rolling storage arrangement holding (for example) the preceding seven days of material. This means that video material relating to an incident can be obtained from the stored material, if the incident is discovered before the storage medium is overwritten by more recent video material.
Another solution is to have a human operator view one or more video displays in real time, watching for incidents or other points of interest.
It is an object of the present invention to provide improved techniques for video surveillance.