A Mixed-Signal Semiconductor Platform Incorporating Castellated-Gate MOSFET device(s) capable of Fully-Depleted operation is disclosed along with a method of making the same. The composite device/technology platform has robust I/O applications and includes a starting semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type. One or more isolated regions of at least a first conductivity type is separated by trench isolation insulator islands. Within an isolated region designated for castellated-gate MOSFETs there exists a semiconductor body consisting of an upper portion with an upper surface, and a lower portion with a lower surface. Also within the castellated-gate MOSFET region, there exists a source region, a drain region, and a channel-forming region disposed between the source and drain regions, and are all formed within the semiconductor substrate body. The channel-forming region within the isolated castellated-gate MOSFET region is made up of a plurality of thin, spaced, vertically-orientated conductive channel elements that span longitudinally along the device between the source and drain regions. One or more of the trench isolated regions may contain at least one type or polarity of logic and/or memory computing device. Alternately or additionally, one or more type of Logic and/or memory device may be incorporated within vertically displaced regions above the active body region of the semiconductor wafer, embedded within Interlevel Dielectric Layers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device primarily intended for mixed-signal and analog applications which incorporates devices to perform logic operations and devices to perform an Input/Output (I/O) function, and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly to a semiconductor device including Castellated-Gate MOSFET devices capable of Fully-Depleted operation and complimentary MOS (CMOS) transistors functioning as logic devices, and to a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Related Applications
An application related to the present invention is entitled "An Improved Fully-Depleted Castellated Gate MOSFET Device and Method of Manufacture Thereof", Ser. No. 10/940,093 filed Sep. 13, 2004. The related application listed above has been assigned to the Assignee of the present invention.
3. Description of the Prior Art
In complex systems that perform signal processing, power management, and computing operations, the logical, analog, and other functions are often performed by various and often different semiconductor device structures that are fabricated by various manufacturing methods. In the effort to reduce system cost, increase performance, or increase reliability, one or more of these manufacturing methods are often integrated to create a semiconductor device that can perform a greater variety of functions on a single chip. In the field of analog, mixed-signal, and power electronics in particular, technologies that combine different types of active devices onto a common wafer substrate are quite prevalent. Some examples of these semiconductor technology platforms include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,404,450, 4,475,279, 4,960,726, 6,288,427, and 6,392,275.
More particularly, in the area of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor VLSI devices involved in high-speed communications, the Input/Output (I/O) device must be able to drive relatively large loads, while simultaneously being robust from a reliability standpoint, as it may be used or exist in a less-controlled signaling environment than found in all-digital systems The aforementioned device performance characteristics are often at odds with those of the devices that perform low power logic and/or computing functions within modem, highly integrated VLSI chips, including Application-Specific-Integrated-Circuits (ASICs), Application-Specific-Standard-Products (ASSPs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), or Systems-On-A-Chip (SoCs). In silicon-based technologies at the present time, these logic and computing functions are overwhelmingly performed by Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor devices (CMOS).
The progression of CMOS device scaling, that is planer MOSFET, has seen a continuous shrinking of transistor dimensions in both the vertical and the horizontal dimensions resulting in an approximate doubling of the number of transistors per unit area every 18 months or so. From the economics perspective, this scaling progression has resulted in CMOS becoming the preeminent technology for packing system functions on a microchip. The desire to shrink MOSFET gate channel lengths and hence area, as width-to-length ratios remain roughly constant, requires the simultaneous vertical scaling of both the gate oxide and the source/drain junctions. This creates the requirement that the power supply (Vdd) also scale, as indicated above. The power supply voltage must scale so as to maintain gate oxide integrity (breakdown/wear-out due to voltage stress), to provide adequate junction breakdown margin, and to minimize device lifetime reduction due to hot carrier injection. Unfortunately, while CMOS scaling has enabled the circuit and system designer to pack a tremendous amount of functionality onto a silicon die, it has simultaneously created a number of significant problems as far as the chip's ability to interface with the outside world.
The CMOS device scaling behavior, discussed above, combined with the continuing drive to utilize semiconductor chip area while maintaining I/O compatibility has resulted in the evolution of baseline CMOS ASIC/SOC process technologies that now have two or more gate oxides to account for the need to operate efficiently at two, and sometimes three, power supply levels. Having begun at roughly the 0.25 um node, this is currently the approach taken by certain mainstream ASIC/ASSP semiconductor producers or foundries. These technology offerings generally consist of a baseline process flow that has a fully scaled and optimized thin oxide core device to the extent that the current process manufacturing technology allows, and a thick oxide device which is essentially the core device from the previous technology generation. Unfortunately, in such technology evolution, the thick oxide I/O device has become somewhat of a "forgotten stepchild", as only the thin-oxide core devices can truly take advantage of the shrinking feature sizes that are enabled by state-of-the-art photolithography. More importantly, as the thick oxide device is a "leftover" from the previous technology node, it typically under-performs the thin-oxide core device in terms of speed/bandwidth (ft).
In addition to the speed performance and oxide reliability issues stated above, a number of other I/O robustness issues arise in analog and mixed-signal applications. These issues include EMI (electromagnetic interference)/ESD (electrostatic discharge), and more generally, EOS (electromagnetic overstress). For example a power amplifier must be able to withstand a high VSWR (voltage standing wave ratio) in the event that its output load becomes mismatched during transmission. In a second example, Latch-Up phenomenon must also be taken into account when using bulk-wafer based semiconductor devices, which can pose additional challenges in analog and mixed-signal applications. Consequently, while CMOS technology scaling provides a clear path to a greater degree of chip-level system integration in the digital domain, the scaling behavior of the planer CMOS transistor does not provide equivalent advantages in the area of analog and mixed-signal I/O.
At present, BiCMOS (bipolar-CMOS combination) technologies, and particularly SiGe bipolar, offer a solution to some of the problems discussed above. However, a number of difficulties persist including, in particular, power consumption, cost and scalability. Bipolar devices consume significantly more power than CMOS devices, which increases package cost and at some point renders them unsuitable as a system solution, in particular for portable devices. From the standpoint of scaling, bipolar technologies have hit an apparent limit in terms of increasing performance for a given density and power consumption. Bipolar devices by nature, like the thick oxide CMOS I/O devices discussed earlier, cannot take full advantage of decreasing feature sizes which result from advances in wafer patterning technology (photolithography). The integration of CMOS and bipolar devices (BiCMOS) reduces the power consumption problem but leads to a second difficulty, i.e. cost. High performance technologies, such as SiGe BiCMOS cost upwards of 25% or more than CMOS-only devices at the same feature sizes. Finally, the combined SiGe BiCMOS technology platform faces another very significant cost related obstacle: manufacturability. The production of SiGe NPN bipolar devices involves the formation of a very delicate Germanium doping profile which requires stringent process control. The sensitivity of the resulting NPN device to thermal processing generally means that it must be added last in the BiCMOS process sequence. Consequently the core digital devices must absorb the effects of additional thermal and plasma processes, many of which can lead to device parametric shifts and subsequent parametric yield loss. While sophisticated SiGe BiCMOS technologies have been demonstrated at MOSFET gate lengths down to 90 nm on 300 mm wafers, future nanoscale CMOS, or other digital core technologies are likely to require physical structures (strained Si/SiGe, high-k gates) that may be as delicate and sensitive from a process integration perspective, as the SiGe bipolar base structure; this trade-off could be a major obstacle in a combined mixed-signal SoC platform.
Clearly, the trends and problems discussed above may soon create a situation where it is no longer desirable to integrate a significant amount of analog functionality into a single-chip mixed-signal system solution, thus eliminating one of the traditional paths to reduce cost and power consumption in electronic systems. Accordingly, there is a need for a new type of combined silicon technology platform that takes advantage of the low power and economic advantages of CMOS in addition to enhancing the I/O function through decreasing feature sizes. There continues to be development of technology platforms which overcome some of the aforementioned problems. Some specific recent examples of these efforts are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,756,274 and 6,806,554. In other more-specific developments related to the present invention, the combination of planer MOSFETs and vertical FinFETs (e.g. a single channel castellated-gate MOSFET) have recently been published by Masahara et.al., "A Novel Process for Co-Integration of Vertical Double-Gate and Planar Single-Gate MOSFETs" IEEE DRC #61 (2003), pp. 49-50. In this case however, the combination of these two device types was proposed for core logic applications to solve the problem of a lack of channel length design selectability in the case where the vertical dimension of the fin defines the device channel length; this is a substantially different problem than the one solved by the invention disclosed herein. In spite of these recent developments in the art, a number of problems continue to persist. Therefore, there remains a need in the art for a silicon semiconductor device and technology platform that combines a high density core device technology for logic and computing functions with a high performance I/O device for analog and mixed-signal applications. The present invention addresses and solves these particular problems in the art.

Mixed-signal semiconductor platform incorporating fully-depleted castellated-gate MOSFET device and method of manufacture thereof


An integrated circuit (IC) device for driving a light emitting device, such as a laser diode, includes a heat-absorbing structure fabricated on a substrate over an electrical component, such as an output transistor, to reduce the heat transfer between the electrical component and the light emitting device. The heat-absorbing structure is designed to absorb some of the heat generated by the electrical component so that less heat from the electrical component is transferred to the light emitting device, which reduces the operating temperature of the light emitting device. A method of fabricating the IC device includes forming the electrical component on the substrate and forming the heat-absorbing structure on the substrate over the electrical component. The heat-absorbing structure may be configured to substantially encase the electrical component.

Laser diodes are widely used in optical communications systems to transmit optical signals because of their desirable characteristics, such as high output power, narrow spectral width and fast switching speed. Unfortunately, laser diodes are intolerant of high temperatures. Currently, the performance of a laser diode typically degrades sharply as the operating temperature rises to around 80 degree Celsius. Thus, the operating temperature of a laser diode should be maintained at a temperature below 80 degrees Celsius to ensure that the laser diode performs at a desirable level.
One conventional technique to maintain the operating temperature of a laser diode below a prescribed temperature, e.g., 80 degrees Celsius, is to thermally connect a cooling device, such as a heat sink or a thermoelectric cooler, to the laser diode. The cooling device operates to dissipate the heat from the laser diode to reduce the operating temperature of the laser diode such that the laser diode can be maintained below the prescribed temperature. However, the operating temperature of a laser diodes is not only dependent on the heat generated by the laser diode itself but also on the heat generated by electrical components in close proximity to the laser diode. In particular, the heat generated by an output transistor of an integrated circuit (IC) device for driving the laser diode contributes a significant amount of heat to the laser diode, increasing the operating temperature of the laser diode. Due to the heat contribution of the output transistor of the IC device to the operating temperature of the laser diode, the cooling device may not be able to maintain the operating temperature of the laser diode below the prescribed temperature. Alternatively, the required size of the cooling device to maintain the operating temperature of the laser diode below the prescribed temperature may exceed a practical limit when the heat contribution from the output transistors is taken into consideration. Therefore, reducing the heat contribution of the output transistor of the IC device to the operating temperature of the laser diode is desirable.
One solution to reduce the heat contribution of the output transistor of the IC device to the operating temperature of the laser diode is to increase the distance between the output transistor and the laser diode. However, due to inductive effect, the output transistor must be placed very close to the laser diode for high speed applications. In addition, there is an increasing demand to reduce the size of the overall product and increase port density. Thus, increasing the distance between the output transistor and the laser diode is not, in general, a practical solution.
Another solution is to decrease the power dissipation of the output transistor to correspondingly decrease the heat generated by the output transistor. However, a laser diode typically require high driving currents, and consequently, the high driving currents must be passed through the output transistor of the IC device to drive the coupled laser diode.
In view of these constraints, what is needed is an IC device for driving a laser diode that reduces the amount of heat transferred from an output transistor of the IC device to the laser diode without reducing the driving currents supplied to the laser diode.

Integrated circuit device for driving a laser diode with reduced heat transfer and method for fabricating the device

Avago Technologies Fiber IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


The surface of a magnesium or magnesium alloy part is protected from corrosion by a coating of adherent, electrically conductive material that is electrolytically anodic to the magnesium-containing substrate. For example, the magnesium alloy has a microstructure with portions that are anodic and cathodic to each other, but the coating contains species (e.g., lithiated graphite particles in a polymeric binder) that are anodic to all phases in the magnesium alloy microstructure so that when the coating is damaged and the part surface is exposed, the coating is sacrificially consumed by electrochemical corrosion and the part is spared.

Magnesium and its alloys offer the combination of low specific gravity and relatively high strength for automotive body panels and other useful components. But magnesium alloys are subject to oxidation and other corrosive reactions in the often humid, oxidizing outdoor environment to which such automobile components are exposed. Further, magnesium is electrochemically anodic with respect to many other materials that might be used to cover or isolate the magnesium or magnesium alloy from oxidation.
Ferrous metal and other metals used in vehicle components can often be protected from corrosive attack by coating systems that are anodic to the structural metal portion of the part. For example, anodic zinc coatings are applied (galvanizing) to iron and steel parts to provide protection against corrosion of the base cathodic part for substantial periods of time. In this layered combination of zinc surface coating and iron substrate, the zinc is consumed first by water-promoted or air-promoted oxidation at the exposed surface of the part. Zinc is oxidized to a salt or other non-useful material and, thus, consumed sacrificially for protection of the underlying, stronger functioning material of the vehicle part. But no such anodic coating material has been discovered for magnesium and magnesium alloy parts and components.
The surfaces of magnesium alloy components can be painted or otherwise provided with barrier-type organic-based coatings or other barrier coatings, for protection that lasts as long as the coextensive coverage of the coating is maintained. But when some portion of the barrier coating is damaged and that portion of the underlying part is exposed, the exposed magnesium is anodic with respect to its surroundings and undergoes severe local corrosion which may be more damaging to the component than if it had not been coated in the first instance. There remains a need for more protective coatings for magnesium and magnesium alloy parts, coatings that are anodic in a water-containing environment to the underlying magnesium substrate.

Sacrificial coatings for magnesium components


Apparatuses and methods for conditioning a liquid stream with a liquid dispensing system associated with a refrigerator, preparing an enhanced beverage using one or more of the individually conditioned liquid streams and a liquid enhancement device and minimizing the potential for back contamination of the liquid dispensing system are provided.

Dispensing liquid from an indoor dispenser of a refrigerator is well known. In fact, many new and existing refrigerators have an indoor dispenser having a liquid outlet to dispense liquid from the refrigerator. All though these existing refrigerators can dispense one or more types of conditioned liquid streams, no concept or platform exists wherein the refrigerator is configured to dispense a number of conditioned liquid streams, such as a heated liquid stream, a chilled liquid stream, a carbonated liquid stream, a filtered liquid stream, an irradiated liquid stream, an oxygenated liquid stream and/or other conditioned liquid streams. Because current refrigerators lack one or more of these conditioned liquid streams, they are incapable of producing a broad gammit of enhanced beverages. Even where an existing refrigerator is capable of producing one or more conditioned liquid stream, the devices or the systems for enhancing or flavoring the conditioned liquid stream are typically internal to the refrigerator and not liquid enhancement hardware, architecture or componentries that can be connected at the liquid dispensing outlet to enhance the conditioned liquid stream dispensed from the indoor dispenser to provide an enhanced beverage for drinking.
Therefore, a need has been identified in the art to provide an apparatus and method for a refrigerator with a liquid dispensing system having the advantage of multi-level conditioning of a liquid stream before being dispensed and a liquid enhancement system to prepare an enhanced beverage using the conditioned liquid streams
Still some systems exist within the refrigerator platform that use a conditioned liquid stream combined with a liquid enhancement component to provide an enhanced beverage; however, these systems often require purging of either the liquid dispensing system or the liquid enhancement systems to try and keep contaminates from being drawn back into either or both systems. Purging these systems does not always insure or minimize the potential for back contamination of the liquid dispensing or liquid enhancement systems.
Therefore, a need has been identified in the art to provide apparatuses and methods for conditioning a liquid stream with a liquid dispensing system associated with a refrigerator, preparing an enhanced beverage with a liquid enhancement system using one or more of the individually conditioned liquid streams and minimizing the potential for back contamination of the liquid dispensing system.

Apparatuses and methods for a refrigerator having liquid conditioning and enhancement components for enhanced beverage dispensing


This invention relates to methods and compositions for combating mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) which causes severe damage to pine trees in North America. A method and apparatus for reducing attack by mountain pine beetles Dendroctonus ponderosae on pine trees, Pinus species, by spacially deploying verbenone (4,6,6-trimethylbicyclo[3.1.1]hept-3-en-2-one) in stands of pine trees.

Several methods exist for management of mountain beetle population but few effectively prevent damage of high value pine trees, for example, in campgrounds near administrative sites, near summer homes and wildlife refuges, and in riparian zones. One method of management of the mountain pine beetle is to harvest infested trees and kill the beetles resident in the inner bark during milling. This method often fails because it is not feasible or desirable to harvest the pine trees before the beetles emerge and disperse to new trees; also, many stands of trees are inacceptible and harvesting of all infested or high risk stands is not compatible with management of other resource values.
Use of conventional chemical pesticides against the beetles is also of limited utility because the beetles spend most of their life protected under the bark of infested trees and thus do not come in lethal contact with the pesticides.
A new method of management of beetles is the use of semiochemicals (message-bearing chemicals). The mountain pine beetle produces and releases several attractive semiochemicals during tree colonization. Several of these chemicals are attractive to other beetles and serve to initiate mass attack on host trees (Borden et al. 1987). During initial and mass attack, the host tree releases extraordinarily high quantities of pitch which contain terpenes, some of which are attractive to the beetles. One of these terpenes, myrcene (7-methyl-3-methylene-1,6-octadiene) synergizes attraction of beetles to two beetle-produced attractants trans-verbenol (trans-4,6,6-trimethylbicyclo[3.1.1]hept-3-en-2-ol) and exo-brevicomin (exo-7-ethyl-5-methyl-6,8-dioxabicyclo-[3.2.1]octane) (Borden et al. 1983, 1986, 1987; Conn et al. 1983). A beetle attractive mixture of myrcene, trans-verbenol and exo-brevicomin is currently used in North America to bait trees on which it is desired to induce attack (Borden et al. 1986).
There are several current strategies for combatting the mountain pine beetle using these attractive semiochemicals. One involves attraction to baited trees within an infested area, to effect containment and concentration of the infestation prior to removal of the beetles by logging. A second involves attraction to baited trees in which the beetles will be killed by injection of a chemical pesticide, or treating the outside bark with lethal pesticides.
In some instances it is more desirable to repel the beetles from trees or stands by use of a repellant than it is to lure beetles to trees for the purpose of destroying both the tree and attracted beetles. This approach has been investigated using pine oil obtained from the pulping process but due to the high cost of experiment and registration, and possibly for its limited use in high value oils, further testing is not recommended at this time.
The negative enantiomer of verbenone (4,6,6-trimethylbicyclo[3.1.1]hept-3-en-2-one) has been shown to inhibit response of both sexes of the mountain pine beetle to the attractive volatiles, a-pinene, trans-verbenol and myrcene in laboratory bioassays, as well as in field trap bioassays (Ryker and Yandell, 1983). Verbenone has been shown to inhibit male beetle response to multiple funnel traps baited with attractive mixtures of trans- verbenol, exo-brevicomin and myrcene but it did not significantly alter response of female beetles to these baited traps (Borden et al. 1987). Vite (U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,383) discloses antiaggregant activity for the negative enantiomers of verbenone, endo-brevicomin and exo-brevicomin, on the southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis. His data cannot be extrapolated to other species of the genus Dendroctonus. Species within a genus may respond differently to the same compound, or its enantiomers. For example, the ambrosia beetle Gnathotrichus sulcatus is attracted by racemic sulcatol (6-methyl-5-hepten-2-ol), while G. retusus, a sympatric species, is attracted by S-(+)-sulcatol, while even as little as 5% of the R-(-)-enantiomer affects its response negatively (Borden et al. 1980). Lanier and Wood (1975) demonstrated that interspecific attraction to pheromones occurs mainly within the same species group in the genus lps. They also demonstrated differences in attraction between two subspecies of l. calligraphus, and between eastern and western populations of l. pini. This shows that extrapolations of data from one species to another cannot always be made.
Several instances of repulsion of bark beetles by their own attractive chemical emissions have been documented. On the basis of trapping experiments, exo-brevicomin and endo-brevicomin (endo-7-ethyl-5-methyl-6,8-dioxabicyclo[3.2.1.]octane have both been reported to exhibit repellant behaviour toward mountain pine beetle (Rudinsky et al. 1974a), yet exo-brevicomin is part of the presently used operational attractive bait used to lure these insects to baited trees. Frontalin (1,6-dimethyl-6,8-dioxabicyclo[3.2.1]octane) is produced by feeding male beetles and is reported to have a repellant effect in beetle trapping experiments (Libbey et al. 1985). However, frontalin has also been shown to induce attack on pine by the mountain pine beetle (Chatelain and Schenk, 1984) and has been shown to be attractive in one of two trapping experiments by Borden et al. (1987). Conversely, E-myrcenol has been shown to repel another bark beetle, Ips pini, from traps, but to induce attack on host logs (D. R. Miller, Unpublished).
3-Methyl-2-cyclo-hexen-1-one (MCH) has been shown to serve as an anti-aggregation pheromone for the Douglas-fir beetle, Dendroctonus pseudotsugae, and the spruce beetle, D. rufipennis (Rudinsky et al 1974b). An aerially applied bead formulation of MCH for protecting felled Douglas-fir trees (Furniss et al. 1981, 1982; McGregor et al. 1984) has been protected in U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,631 (Young, R. W. and M. M. Furniss, Oct. 9, 1979). The use of MCH formulated in bubble gaps and applied to the trunk of individual, felled Douglas-fir trees and spruce trees were demonstrated to be efficient for protection against attacks by Douglas-fir beetle and spruce beetle, respectively (Lindgren et al. 1988; 1989). Based on this knowledge, it is not possible to predict or infer the response of the mountain pine beetle to pine trees or pine forests treated with verbenone.

Method and composition for controlling mountain pine beetles


A high-speed marker-free motion capture, which is capable of powerfully detecting a body's feature points corresponding to a body's end portions such as a head, hands, feet, trunk, arms and legs at a high speed in an illumination change or background or noises of cameras. The extracted feature points of the body can be directly tracked stably in a 3-dimensional space. The position errors of the feature points due to the change of the illumination conditions or a shadow can be automatically corrected and the feature points can be stably tracked with respect to overlapping and disappearance of the feature points. Further, when coordinates of the middle joints are estimated using 3-dimensional coordinates of the extracted feature points of the body, the present invention restores a human model by estimating the positions of the middle joints of the actor with high accuracy without using a motion database, thereby securing the stability and reality of the 3-dimensional motion data required in the motion capture.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motion capture apparatus and method used in various fields producing animations, movies, broadcasting contents, games, and the like, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for a high-speed marker-free motion capture.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
As well known to those skilled in the art, motion capture techniques are widely used to make character's natural and vivid animation in various fields of producing 3-dimensional image contents such as animations, movies, broadcasting contents, games, etc.
According to kinds of sensors attached to an actor's joints, conventional motion capture techniques are divided into a magnetic type measuring positions using a variation amount of a magnetic field, a mechanical type directly measuring a bending of joints using a mechanical method, an optical type using images of passive (infrared rays) or active (LED, color) markers obtained by a camera, and an optical fiber type using a variation amount in transmission of light according to a bend degree of joints.
However, the conventional motion capture techniques have a disadvantage that sensors or makers must be attached to an actor's clothes or body and they must be operated under limited space and illumination conditions.
Meanwhile, in one method for detecting a human body's particular portion such as a head, hands and feet, corresponding pixels are made into a blob models and then adjacent pixels having a similar attribute in an image are compared with the blob models. In another method, based on a contour of a human body, the human body's particular portion is detected using type and strength of the contour. In case of making the blob models, the process of making the pixels having the similar attribute into the blobs is complicated. When there are many noises, it is difficult to make the blobs. Since the topology of the blobs is changed much according to a 3-dimensional movement, all the blob models with respect to various angles cannot be always made, so that it is difficult to achieve a stable and high-speed detection.
In practice, in the case of detecting a human body's end portion based on the contour, there may be a movement type that is not detected.
For example, if hands are raised over a head to cover the head, the contour that has formed in the head is not formed so that the head is not detected. Even when the contour is formed, it is difficult to stably detect the head because the corresponding contour is much different from a general contour of the head. In addition, if the hands are positioned at the front of the body, the contour corresponding to the hands disappears so that it is impossible to detect the hands. When detecting the food, if the foot is fixed to the ground, it can be stably detected without any change of attributes such as the type and strength of the contour. However, if the foot is raised, it is difficult to correctly detect the actual position of the foot due to the variation of the illumination condition, the magnitude variation of an image displayed on an imaging device, and the like.
In the above-described motion capture techniques, a method for tracking a human body's particular portion in the 3-dimensional space has a disadvantage that it cannot handle much information of the 3-dimensional space such as a depth information because images from the camera for obtaining the information on the 3-dimensional space is tracked in 2-dimensional plane. In addition, since the body's characteristic is distinguished using the contour model of an actor, it is difficult to extract the correct positions of the feature points such as the head, hands, foot, etc. Further, there is a disadvantage that a phenomenon of an overlapping or a disappearance of the feature points cannot be processed.
In particular, as a method for estimating a position of a middle joints of an actor using a feature point of the body's end portion such as the head, the hands and the feet, a paper of N. Badler, M. Hollick and J. Granieri, entitled "Real-time Control of a Virtual Human Using Minimal Sensors" (Presence, 2(1):82-86, 1993), discloses that after attaching four magnetic sensors to the hands, a waist and a head of an actor and capturing corresponding position information, a position of a middle joint of the upper part of the body is generated using the captured information. A paper of Ryuya Hoshino, Satoshi Yonemoto, Daisaku Arita and Rin-ichiro Taniguchi, entitled "Real-time Motion Capture System Based on Silhouette Contour Analysis and Inverse Kinematics" (FCV2001, 2001, p157-163), discloses that positions of the feature points of the body are extracted using a silhouette information extracted from an actor's motion image captured by six cameras, and similar movements are selected in previously-provided database using coordinates of a middle joint and positions of captured feature points, obtained by calculating 3-dimensional coordinates of the middle joint using the extracted positions. However, the method disclosed in the former paper is limited to only the movement of the upper part of the body. Noises are contained in the captured position information due to the sensors that are sensitive to an environment change. In addition, there is a disadvantage that an operation is limited due to the attachment of the magnetic sensor. The method disclosed in the latter paper has problems that an additional database for many situations must be established and which movement to be selected in the database must be taken into consideration.

Apparatus and method for high-speed marker-free motion capture

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A torch suitable for use in recreational applications, such as with patios or decks, includes a gas cylinder, a holder for the cylinder, a pole to support the holder and a burner for producing a stable, visible flame. The burner includes one or more holes for injecting primary air near a flow-controlled gas orifice and a burn tip spaced from the orifice. A bowl is mounted about the burn tip and is preferably shaped for providing wind resistance and admitting secondary air at its exit to produce a stable, visible flame. In the preferred embodiment, the enclosure is made from plastic, and has a socket for receiving the pole. An oil, such as citronella oil, may be mixed with the propane or other gas in the cylinder to scent the area in which the torch is used.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the art of burners and torches, and more particularly to a torch which may be used in recreational environments such as with patios, decks or the like. Still more specifically, the present invention relates to a torch including a gas burner having gas flow and air control for producing a visible, stable flame.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many types of torches and burners are known for mixing air and gas to produce a flame for a variety of applications such as welding, cooking, illumination and the like. For some applications, a visible flame is desired, independent of the heat output of the flame.
An example of the latter is the Olympic Torch. To produce such flames, less air is typically used than for heating burners, resulting in a cooler, but more visible, yellow flame. However, when such torches are employed outside, they tend to extinguish in adverse weather conditions, such as with high winds. An example of an application in which the problem is particularly pronounced is with the small, hand-held Olympic Torches carried by runners across the United States in 1996 before the Olympic Games in Atlanta. Torches with gas cylinders were used for such application. The initial "burner design" for the Olympic Torch included a complex and expensive secondary burner arrangement prepared from copper tubing, with multiple precisely defined orifices, coiled around a primary burner. This proposed Olympic relay torch is illustrated in a drawing dated Jun. 6, 1995 and submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office with this application. The burner was prepared on behalf of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games by the College of Industrial Design and Architecture of the Georgia Institute of Technology.
While this burner provided an efficient torch and achieved the purpose intended, the product was quite expensive and ill-suited for use in recreational applications where both reliability and low cost are required.
One solution recently proposed by the inventors of the present application is described in greater detail later. This torch used a burner which included a gas inlet with gas-flow control and a primary air hole located in the vicinity of a gas orifice. The design also included a sintered filter flame holder, an inner cup, and an outer cup with inner cup air holes for flame stability. In addition, a wire mesh flame holder mounted on the inner cup also helped to keep the flame lit. This design was useful and represented a significantly less complex design but still did not meet the low cost and manufacturability requirements demanded by the mass retail market.
A burner which is low in manufacturing costs, reliable, attractive and which produces a stable, visible flame over an extended period of time would be a significant improvement in the art.
While torches using bottled gas as the fuel supply are known, as indicated above, the present inventors are not aware of any attempt to use a gas cylinder in a recreational patio or deck torch in which the cylinder may be supported above the ground, a deck or a table top. Although liquid fuel patio or deck burners have become increasingly common in recent years, they are relatively more difficult to use because they require periodic refilling and wick maintenance. A torch which could be used in a patio or deck environment, or for similar applications, and which employs a replaceable cylinder of fuel gas, rather than liquid fuel, would also represent an advance in this art.
Furthermore, citronella has been added to a wide variety of products in recent years, including candles, fuel oils, insect sprays and the like. While there is some debate as to the effectiveness of citronella as an insect repellent, some people believe that it is at least partly effective in reducing insects in the area in which the citronella product is used. In addition, citronella has a characteristic smell which many find to be pleasing. To date, and to the knowledge of the present inventors, no one has prepared a mixture of citronella oil and fuel gas in gas cylinders. The addition of citronella oil to propane or other gases in a gas cylinder would result in yet a further advance in this art.


A radar system is provided that includes a radar monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC). The radar MMIC includes a plurality of radar signal channels; and at least one sensor configured to measure a physical parameter related to a temperature of the radar MMIC, and to generate sensor data corresponding to measured values of the physical parameter; and a controller configured to receive the sensor data from the at least one sensor, and to determine a channel operation of the plurality of radar signal channels, including selectively disabling at least a first radar signal channel of the plurality of radar signal channels and selectively enabling at least a second radar signal channel of the plurality of radar signal channels based on the measured values.

Modern radar devices such as radar range and velocity sensors can be integrated in so-called monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs). Radar sensors may be applied, for example, in the automotive sector, where they are used in so-called advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) such as, for example, "adaptive cruise control" (ACC) or "radar cruise control" systems. Such systems may be used to automatically adjust the speed of an automobile so as to maintain a safe distance from other automobiles travelling ahead. Radar sensors may also be used for emergency braking, parking assistance, and blind spot detection. However, RF circuits are also used in many other fields such as RF communication systems.
A radar MMIC (sometimes referred to as single chip radar) may incorporate all core functions of the RF frontend of a radar transceiver (e.g., local oscillator, power amplifiers, low-noise amplifiers (LNA), mixers, etc.), the analog preprocessing of the intermediate frequency (IF) or base band signals (e.g., filters, amplifiers, etc.), the analog-to-digital conversion, and the digital signal processing in one single package. The RF frontend usually includes multiple reception and transmission channels, particularly in applications in which beam steering techniques, phased antenna arrays, etc. are used. In radar applications, phased antenna arrays may be employed to sense the incidence angle of incoming RF radar signals (also referred to as "Direction of Arrival", DOA).
A microcontroller acts as a supervisor for a radar MMIC by sending commands and receiving responses over one or more communication channels. In the context of radar MMICs, so-called "cascaded systems" have emerged, whereby multiple MMICs are interconnected to embody a single overall system with increased resolution for radar targets discrimination. In the presence of internal (on-chip) or external (environmental) causes for overheating, the system might be brought to damage and/or failure. A first countermeasure to such occurrences is to shut the entire system down to allow the temperature to decrease. However, in such case the system and its functionalities will become unavailable. In other words, radar functionality is disabled altogether until the system is brought back online. In this sense therefore, system shut-off shall be considered purely a means to prevent physical damage, but it does not handle the issue actively.
Therefore, an improved system that monitors for temperature overages and provides countermeasures thereto while enabling system functionality may be desirable.

Dynamic radar signal channel deactivation in a cascaded radar system for active temperature control


A method and apparatus for use in locating the eyes of a vehicle driver or passenger in a vehicle for controlling vehicle systems including the positioning of vehicle sideview mirrors in relation to the driver""s eyes to maximize the view of traffic on either side of the vehicle or the characteristics of vehicle airbag deployment. The location of a driver""s or passenger""s eyes is derived from the adjustment by the driver (or passenger, if capable of doing so) of adjustable light beam(s) emanating from light source(s) or illuminated indicia, until it (or they) intersect the driver""s or passenger""s eyes. From the angles of adjustment of the light beam(s) and other known coordinates of the vehicle, the location of the driver""s or passenger""s eyes or the target may be computationally derived as a set of Cartesian coordinates. The determined eye location of the driver may be used together with the known mounting locations of the driver""s and passenger""s sideview mirror assemblies to derive exterior sideview mirror pitch and azimuth adjustment signal sets correlated to the vehicle blind spots. The adjustment signals are applied to servo motors operating in a feedback control loop to correct the actual driver""s side and passenger""s side sideview mirror pitch and azimuth settings to properly reflect images of the driver""s side and passenger""side vehicle blind spots to the driver""s eyes. The determined eye locations of the driver and passenger may be also or alternatively employed in the control of the airbag deployment system and in other vehicle safety and comfort systems. The relative fore-aft distance away from the airbag and the height of the person or target can be computed, and airbag deployment force and/or duration adjusted to compensate for deviation from the standard height and fore-aft distance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for use in locating the eyes of a vehicle driver or passenger for controlling vehicle systems including the positioning of vehicle sideview mirrors in relation to the driver""s eyes to maximize the view of traffic on either side of the vehicle and the characteristics of vehicle airbag deployment.
2. Description of the Background Art
Passenger and commercial vehicles, e.g. automobiles and light trucks, are typically provided with a number of comfort features for the benefit of occupants and safety features and systems that are intended to help avoid collisions or to ameliorate the effects of collisions. At this time, virtually all enclosed vehicles, i.e. automobiles, sport utility vehicles, vans, trucks, etc., are provided with safety belts for use by occupants to strap themselves in. In addition, at least front seat driver""s side and passenger""s side explosively inflated airbags have become standard equipment in such vehicles. Typically, airbags are mounted in the steering wheel hub and in the dash area forward of the front seat passenger and, in some cases, in the vehicle side doors. The airbags are inflated when sudden deceleration of the vehicle is sensed. A force and duration of deployment is currently prescribed that is standardized to average driver and passenger size and seat adjustment position.
Moreover, vehicle mirror assemblies and adjustment systems are provided as standard safety systems in such vehicles. An interior rearview mirror for viewing rearward of the vehicle and exterior left (driver""s side) and right (passenger""s side) sideview mirrors with which the vehicle driver can view traffic to the sides and rear of the vehicle within certain fields of view dictated by the positioning of the mirrors are provided as standard equipment. Typically, the interior rearview mirror can be manually adjusted about horizontal (pitch) and vertical (azimuth) axes through its mount to the headliner or windshield to provide corresponding pitch and azimuth angle adjustment of the view through the vehicle rear window. Even when properly adjusted, the bordering structure of the rear window limits the view to either side. Consequently, vehicles are provided with left and right exterior rearview or sideview mirrors that are typically mounted at the junctures of the left and right windshield pillars with the adjacent front seat side windows. Mechanical or electro-mechanical, remote joystick controls are provided to allow the driver to adjust the sideview mirrors for azimuth (side to side about a vertical axis) and pitch (up and down about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle). Improper adjustment of the sideview mirrors, particularly in azimuth angle results in wide xe2x80x9cblind zonesxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cblind spotsxe2x80x9d on either side of the vehicle.
Such blind zones or spots are widely described in the prior art, and examples are depicted as shown, for example, in the FIGS. 1 and 4 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,835. The blind zones on either side generally subtend an azimuth arc angle between the limits of the driver""s peripheral vision while looking ahead and the left and right limits of the fields of view of the left and right sideview mirrors when the mirrors are aimed along the vehicle sides and a pitch angle generally bisected by the horizon. The blind zones are really cone-shaped tunnel areas expanding outward from the sides of the vehicle slightly downward from the eye level of the driver and away from the vehicle sides. Customarily, these right and left blind zones are referred to as blind spots, and that term will be used hereafter.
The current method of exterior sideview mirror alignment used on virtually all domestic and imported passenger vehicles simply relies on the driver""s judgment as to the proper imagery he/she should see reflected by the sideview mirror. This is supposedly gained by experience with different settings. Many drivers erroneously believe that correct azimuth angle alignment is achieved when the side panels of their own vehicle are reflected back to them along one edge of the exterior sideview mirrors when they are in their normal driving position.
A wide number of solutions to the problem of correctly setting the sideview mirror position to maximize the view of the blind spot have been proposed but not adopted. One approach is to attempt to enlarge the viewing angle. Wide viewing angle, static mounted, sideview mirrors and dynamically movable sideview mirrors are the subjects of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,019,812, 4,187,001, 4,318,590, 4,439,813, 4,575,202, 4,792,220 and 4,971,930. All of these proposed solutions require either bulky assemblies, distort the image in the field of view so that the driver does not see all the potential safety hazards in correct prospective, or are complex electro-mechanical systems with intermittent or continuously running motors and subsequent noise and vehicle power drain.
Further approaches to solving the problem of correctly aligning the sideview mirrors to eliminate or minimize blind spots are set forth in U.S., Pat. Nos. 5,022,747, 5,033,835, 5,122,910 and 5,237,458. The ""747, ""835 and ""910 patents employ an auxiliary mirror built into a corner of the sideview mirror which images a reference point or marker on the vehicle side to which the mirror is mounted when the main mirror is properly aligned to image the vehicle blind spot. In another form of the ""835 patent, the sideview mirror is first adjusted by the driver to image the reference point, and then the electro-mechanical system changes the alignment a preset amount to image the blind spot. A lamp on the adjustment mechanism lights when the final alignment position is achieved by the system.
The use of auxiliary mirrors on or visible through the front surface of the main sideview mirror that are large enough to view a vehicle reference point reduces the mirror surface area for viewing into the blind spot. Also, the imaged target on the side of the vehicle may not always be clearly visible due to road grime on the vehicle or simply because of low ambient lighting. Finally, salient auxiliary mirrors and targets on the side of the vehicle large enough to be seen by the driver are anathema to automotive stylists.
Moreover, such approaches provide only a limited range of correct mirror adjustment and are not usable in all seat positions for all driver heights. In this regard, it should be noted that the ""747 and ""910 patents profess that their disclosed systems are insensitive to driver height and seat position of up to 8 inches fore and aft and up and down from a xe2x80x9cstandard driverxe2x80x9d. However, the illustrations of FIGS. 8 and 9 confirm that the rearward views attained at these nonstandard positions do widely vary and are not ideal. The ability of the non-standard driver to rely on the setting attained by imaging the vehicle targets depends greatly on how large the sideview mirror surface is. As vehicle manufacturers seek to minimize sideview mirror size for styling and economy reasons, it is clear that this approach may well mislead drivers of non-standard height or seat position preference.
The ""458 patent professes to be an improvement on the earlier system of the ""747 and ""910 patents and discloses a light source 9 in the mirror housing 3 that illuminates a target 7 or is an illuminated target. The target 7 is reflected by an auxiliary mirror 6 and through a light transmissive portion 5 of the sideview mirror 4. It would appear that the targeting approach taken in this system is geared toward ensuring that an exact correct alignment is attained for a xe2x80x9cstandard driverxe2x80x9d, and all other driver positions are only approximately correct. Again, the adequacy of the sideview mirror setting for non-standard driver eye locations is highly dependent on the amount of the sideview mirror surface area.
In a further approach, certain automobiles have auxiliary turn signal indicators mounted above the front wheel wells to alert the oncoming driver in the blind spot to the intention of the blinded driver to make a turn or lane change into that lane. It is also proposed to mount the auxiliary turn signal lights to the sideview mirror structure as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,906,085, 5,014,167 and 5,207,492 Unfortunately these forward mounted, auxiliary turn signal lights may alert an overtaking driver in the adjacent lane too late to be totally effective, and may even encourage drivers to fail to properly set their sideview mirror azimuth angles or to even use their sideview mirrors before initiating a lane change. In the latter case, careless drivers frequently change lanes without using their turn signals or sideview mirrors. Finally, due to their fields of view, if sideview mirrors having such auxiliary turn signals are not properly adjusted in the first place, the auxiliary turn signals may not be seen by an overtaking vehicle in time to react.
Turning to a further aspect of sideview mirror adjustment, frequently, two or more individuals may drive the same vehicle and each adjust the rearview and sideview mirrors to their own liking. To avoid the inconvenience of each driver in having to readjust the rearview and sideview mirrors, it has been proposed that mirror settings be memorized for re-use when a specific driver identification code is entered. The adjustments that are typically made by different drivers are mirror pitch about the horizontal axis depending on the driver""s height or both the mirror pitch and azimuth, if the driver changes the seat height or distance from the steering wheel. In certain vehicles having memorized driver seat positions, the mirror pitch and azimuth adjustment angles are memorized with the seat positions as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,267,494, 4,625,329 and 4,727,302. Such systems do not necessarily provide the optimum mirror adjustments for eliminating blind spots, but instead rely on the drivers to make the initial settings that are then memorized.
Many vehicle accidents could be prevented with a simple opto-electronic mirror adjustment aid for left and right sideview mirror alignments to embrace the blind spots peculiar to each vehicle model in the reflected images seen by the driver. To be adapted by vehicle manufacturers, such an aid must be inexpensive, reliable, consume minimal power, and be able to be incorporated with new or existing mirror housings subject to whatever styling considerations are imposed. To be accepted by the driving public, the aid must be simple to operate and must inherently compensate, at least approximately, for variations in driver height and seat position. This inherent compensation should be automatic and occur as the vehicle operator uses the aid""s optical cues during mirror alignment. Moreover, when used, the aid should provide positive feedback to the driver that assures him/her that the alignment is correct, even if it appears to the driver to be incorrect. These goals are all met with the embodiments of the present invention described in detail hereafter.
Returning to the use of explosively inflatable airbags, the deployment of the airbags is beneficial or not harmful in the majority of cases. However, injuries to or death of small stature adults, children and infants have been attributed to the airbag deployment force. The force and duration of deployment is standardized to protect an average sized adult located at an average distance from the airbag. If the person is smaller in size and closer than the average distance, the force and duration can be excessive and cause injury or death. In the case of injuries to or deaths of infants, many are caused by failure to use or to properly attach an infant seat to the front passenger""s seat belts. Moreover, while the airbag force and duration is standardized to a particular distance, the combination of the seat adjustment and the form or shape of the infant""s seat may place the infant in jeopardy. This has led to efforts to educate the driving public to locate infants and children in rear seats which many parents find unacceptable or inconvenient. Despite the clear evidence that airbags and seat belts combine to save many lives, some are urging that they be allowed to optionally disable the airbag deployment system. Rather than such an extreme solution, it would be more desirable to modulate the force and duration of the deployment to take into account the size and location of the driver and front seat passenger or infant""s seat.
Many of the considerations to be taken into account and a system block diagram for making the deployment decision and controlling the deployment force and duration or rate of deployment of single stage or multi-stage airbags are set forth in the article entitled xe2x80x9cRestraint system electronicsxe2x80x9d, Automotive Engineering August, 1996, pp. 27-31, incorporated herein by reference. In this article, a variety of sensors are described for attempting to determine the position of the driver, passenger(s) and infant seat and other vehicle characteristics, e.g. vehicle speed and the like, that provide signals that are proposed to be combined to control the deployment of airbag(s). Unfortunately, many of these sensors, e.g., seat position sensors, seat belt attachment sensors, weight on the seat measuring sensors are ambivalent or imprecise and can be fooled. Difficulties encountered with attempted use of a variety of sensors to locate a person in a front driver""s or passenger""s seat are set forth in the article xe2x80x9cWhat""s a smart airbag""s real IQxe2x80x9d, Automotive News, Feb. 24, 1997, p.1.
One further methodology for determining the location of a vehicle occupant employing optical rangefinding techniques is described in the article by W. Chapelle entitled
xe2x80x9cSensing Automobile Occupant Position with Optical Triangulationxe2x80x9d, SENSORS, December 1995, p. 18+, incorporated herein by reference. This system requires use of a light projector, imaging lenses and photosensor arrays that are similar to those used in photographic cameras with a projection light source. In such systems, it is difficult for the system to determine just what aspect of the driver, passenger of other object is being imaged. Again, such systems can be fooled by imaging on the wrong feature.
The above-described patents do not determine the location of the eyes of a driver or passenger. Further U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,797,824 and 4,843,892 do seek to determine the eye positon of a driver. The ""824 patent is directed to a system for locating the driver""s eye height in order to control the automatic adjustment of the height of a seat head rest. A horizonatal array of differently colored light sources provide a corresponding vertically stacked array of light beams that are spread horizonatally so that the driver can see one of the fight beam colors with both eyes. The driver indicates which of the light beam colors is most intensely visible, and the coordinates of that light beam are used with the fore-aft seat and seat back angle position information to determine the driver""s eye height or xe2x80x9cYxe2x80x9d component of the X, Y, Z Cartesian coordinates of the driver""s eyes. In this case, it is not necessary and no means are provided to determine the xe2x80x9cXxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cZxe2x80x9d components.
The ""892 patent discloses an eye position detection system for adjustment of vehicle mirrors that relies upon the driver aligning a sight marking on the interior rearview mirror with a sight marking on the vehicle rear window and pickoffs for detecting the pitch and azimuth adjustment angles of the rearview mirror. When the driver indicates that the alignment is achieved, the driver""s eye position is determined using the fore-aft seat plane and rearview mirror Cartesian coordinates, assuming the the driver is centered in the fore-aft seat plane. This approach cannot be used in dim light or at night.
Moreover, most people tend to favor one eye over the other eye when sighting or aligning images and objects. This can lead to an error in azimuth determination of the hypothetical xe2x80x9cXxe2x80x9d coordinate component, which is ideally the center-point between the right and left eyes.
A more accurate and less ambivalent system for determining the X, Y, Z Cartesian coordinates of the centerpoint of the eyes of a driver or passenger in a vehicle seat is needed for the adjustment of the vehicle sideview mirrors and other vehicle components and systems.
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for locating a driver""s eyes or a passenger""s eyes to allow for the automatic adjustment of vehicle systems to their eye locations.
The methods and systems or the present invention derive the location of a driver""s or passenger""s eyes from the adjustment by the driver (or passenger, if capable of doing so) of a light beam pair comprising right eye and left eye light beams. The directions of the right and left light beams are adjustable in tandem by the driver, the adjustments in pitch and azimuth about pitch and azimuth light beam adjustment axes having known Cartesian coordinates. The driver or passenger adjusts the left eye beam and a right eye beam in tandem until they impinge upon the respective left eye and right eye with perceived maximal equal intensity. The right and left eye beams may be of the same or differing colors.
In certain embodiments, the right eye beam and left eye beam are emitted from a common light beam housing, particularly from respective right and left light beam emitting locations that are offset in the horizontal, azimuth, direction (or X coordinate) from one another and from the common adjustment axes of the light beam pair. The right and left eye light beams are nominally directed in the same direction but diverge apart slightly in the azimuth direction. The angular adjustment of the light beam housing is detected, and the location of the driver""s or passenger""s eyes is computationally derived as a set of Cartesian coordinates from the tandem adjustment of the binocular light beams and other known Cartesian coordinates of the vehicle.
Assuming a single light source housing for the moment, the pitch and azimuth adjustment angles of the housing are measured when the driver or passenger indicates that he or she perceives the right and left eye light beams to be equal and maximal in intensity. Pitch and azimuth angle adjustment measurement means, e.g., miniature angle resolvers or xe2x80x9cpickoffsxe2x80x9d are associated with the housing to measure the pitch and/or azimuth angles of adjustment of the light beams. The location of the driver""s or passenger""s eyes is determined using triangulation techniques employing the measured angles and the known Cartesian coordinates of pitch and azimuth axes of adjustment of the adjustable light beam housing and the known fore-aft seat adjustment plane for the respective driver""s or passenger""s front seat. This approach assumes that the driver or passenger is centered in the driver""s or front passenger""s seat and therefor is centered in the fore-aft seat plane.
To provide a somewhat more accurate location of the respective eyes, at least two light housings are employed, each emitting right and left eye light beams. The direction of the light beams is adjusted using either a pitch and azimuth adjustable light mount or an adjustable light beam reflector intersecting a fixed direction light beam from a fixed light source. The angles of adjustment in pitch and azimuth of both light beams are measured when both light beam pairs are adjusted to be seen by the eyes. The location of the driver""s or passenger""s eyes is determined from both sets of measured pitch and azimuth angles and the known Cartesian coordinates of the light beam pitch and azimuth axes, employing triangulation techniques.
The present invention may be embodied in other embodiments where the light beam pair housing is not itself adjustable, and the right and left eye light beams are reflected from an auxiliary mirror or reflector associated with the interior rearview mirror or one or both of the sideview mirrors. The combined mirror and reflector is adjustable in pitch and/or azimuth about respective pitch and/or azimuth adjustment axes by the driver until the light beams are visible to the driver""s or passenger""s eyes. Pitch and azimuth angle adjustment measurement pickoffs are associated with the mirror to measure the pitch and/or azimuth angles of adjustment of the reflector. The eye location intermediate the right and left eye is derived from the measured angles of adjustment. Then, the sideview mirror pitch and azimuth adjustment signal sets and/or airbag deployment control signals are derived and employed as summarized above.
The determined driver""s eye location can be used together with the known pitch and azimuth axes of adjustment of the driver""s and passenger""s sideview mirror assemblies and known Cartesian coordinates of the vehicle blind spots to derive exterior sideview mirror pitch and azimuth adjustment signal sets. The adjustment signals are applied to feedback servo motors operating in a feedback control loop to correct the driver""s side and passenger""s side sideview mirror pitch and azimuth settings to properly reflect images of the driver""s side and passenger""s side vehicle blind spots to the driver""s eyes.
The determined eye locations of the driver and passenger may be also or alternatively employed in the control of the airbag deployment system. The relative fore-aft distance away from the airbag and the height of the person can be computed, and airbag deployment force and/or duration adjusted to compensate for deviation from the standard height and fore-aft distance.
The determination of the location of the driver""s and passenger""s eyes also allows a number of vehicle safety and comfort systems to be advantageously optimized, including climate control, seat level, radio settings, other mirrors, etc.
The eye location aids of the present invention may advantageously be employed with both vehicle sideview mirrors and coordinated with the setting of the interior rearview mirror in a variety of combinations and permutations. The additional components of the mirror assembly (if any, in the particular combination) are relatively inexpensive and durable. In the disclosed embodiments and variations where the light source(s) are located within the vehicle in association with the vehicle rearview mirror or otherwise positioned therein, the existing vehicle sideview mirror assemblies need not be modified, other than adding mirror pitch and azimuth angle pickoffs to control sideview mirror positioning under feedback control by the microcomputer. The eye location, sideview mirror alignment and air bag deployment adjustment may be implemented employing the existing vehicle microcomputer or a separate inexpensive on-board microcomputer.
The interior locations of the light sources avoids any problems of passing the light beam pair through the vehicle door windows in bad weather or due to grime.
Through use of the alignment aids of the present invention, accuracy in positioning of the sideview mirrors to reflect objects in the vehicle blind spot and driver appreciation of the proper mirror settings are greatly increased, hopefully resulting in lower frequency of accidents and injury. In each case where sideview mirror positioning signals are derived outside of direct control by the driver, the driver may be provided with the ability to manually override the sideview mirror pitch and azimuth settings for safety reasons.
The risk of injury due to airbag deployment force may be diminished through correlation of the airbag deployment force and duration to the size and location of a driver or passenger in the driver""s or passenger""s seat as determined in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
This summary of the invention and the objects, advantages and features thereof have been presented here simply to point out some of the ways that the invention overcomes difficulties presented in the prior art and to distinguish the invention from the prior art and is not intended to operate in any manner as a limitation on the interpretation of claims that are presented initially in the patent application and that are ultimately granted.

Method and apparatus for determining the location of an occupant of a vehicle


Systems and apparatuses are provided for analytical data processing. A system includes a processor and a non-transitory computer readable medium, comprising machine readable instructions executable by the processor. The instructions include a query compiler to identify a call to a user defined function within a query. The call to a user defined function includes an input argument and a parameter expression defining a parameter value for the user defined function. A processing engine executes the user defined function to provide a function output according to the input argument and the defined parameter value.

Analytical processing systems consume tables of data which are typically linked together by relationships that simplify the storage of data and make queries of the data more efficient. A standardized query language, such as Structured Query Language (SQL), can be used for creating and operating relational databases. Analytics involving statistical and other numerical procedures is the application of computer technology to solve problems in business and industry. The science of analytics is concerned with extracting useful properties of data using computable functions and, generally speaking, involves the extraction of desired properties of data sets from large databases. Analytics therefore bridges the disciplines of computer science, statistics, and mathematics.

Parameter expressions for modeling user defined function execution in analytical data processing systems

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP


Service impact data is efficiently propagated in a directed acyclic graph with restricted views. One or more service components, impact rules and business rules are grouped together into a directed acyclic graph and a related metadata array. Impact propagation uses related metadata array to minimize traversal of the graph. As nodes of the graph are updated to propagate impact data, a determination is made as to when no further impact propagation is required. Subsequently, calculations are terminated without having to traverse the entire graph. This method allows a system or business administrator to view and receive real-time notification of the impacted state of all nodes in the graph that are available to their permitted view. Restricted views ensure that available service impact data is only displayed to end users having the proper authorization to view the underlying impact model data.

Impact calculation and propagation in a graph is normally a very resource intensive and computing expensive process, typically requiring recursive traversal of large impact models. For example, an impact model having hundreds of thousands of nodes are not uncommon for an enterprise computing environment. The nature of system or service monitoring requires that multiple impacting events (e.g., computer off-line or sub-network outage) will have to be processed at the same time or in close proximity to each other. Furthermore, such close processing of events often results in overlapping impact sets (the set of graph nodes impacted by a given event). Consequently, traditional impact propagation techniques often require redundant graph traversal and impact calculations to be performed.
In an enterprise computing environment, some end users in one domain may not have access to certain information about service components in another domain, due to security reasons, privileges, etc. As is common, an enterprise computing environment can have multiple domains and end users with various restrictions and privileges. Due to complexity, segregating restricted information from a service impact model and restricting access to the information can be difficult to track and handle.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Impact propagation in a directed acyclic graph having restricted views


The present invention relates generally to the treatment of volume deficiency disorders of body structures and related syndromes, and more particularly to devices that deliver fluid at a controlled pressure into an interstice of a patient to effect tissue expansion and to surgical procedures for augmenting volumetrically deficient structures or for reconstructing damaged natural body tissue by attachment of tissue segments cultivated by dilation. Methods of delivering fluid at a controlled pressure into an interstice are also disclosed.

The present invention relates generally to the treatment of volume deficiency disorders and syndromes, and more particularly to devices that deliver fluid at a controlled pressure into an interstice of a patient to effect tissue expansion and growth of the surrounding tissue, and to surgical procedures for augmenting volumetrically deficient natural body structures or for reconstructing damaged natural body tissue by attachment of tissue segments cultivated by tissue expansion. Methods of delivering fluid at a controlled pressure into an interstice are also disclosed.
Biological volume deficiencies, such as short gut syndrome, are persistent conditions that result when the volumetric capacity of a natural body structure, such as a bladder or a lung, is insufficient to allow the organ to operate effectively or at all. Additionally, the lack of volumetric capacity can create internal fluid pressures and fluid refluxes that damage other organs and tissue. Among the many causes of such deficiencies are birth defects and abdominal trauma.
Presently, the afflicted population receives surgical treatment, typically in the form of augmentation procedures that increase volumetric capacity of the body structure by rebuilding the structure in a procedure that attaches a flap of additional tissue to the afflicted structure. For example, an infant born with insufficient bladder capacity can receive a bladder augmentation in a procedure that typically rebuilds the infant's bladder by attaching a flap of gastrointestinal tissue to the bladder wall. The surgeon attaches the gastrointestinal tissue to the bladder wall in a manner that increases the surface area of the surrounding wall and thereby increase the volumetric capacity of the bladder. Generally, the surgeon selects gastrointestinal tissue because this tissue normally is available in sufficient amounts within the patient to provide the needed tissue for the augmentation procedure
Although these procedures are often quite successful at relieving the volumetric capacity deficiency of the body structure, the complications that arise from attaching different tissue types are often quite severe and persistent. For example, with respect to bladder augmentation by attachment of gastrointestinal tract, the resulting complications for any patient can include lithiasis, metabolic complications, increased mucous production, increased infections, perforations and even malignant growths within the treated body structure. It is generally understood by the medical community that these complications arise due to the attachment of a tissue type that lacks sufficient compatibility with the natural tissue of the body structure.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide systems and methods for providing a supply of tissue that is more compatible with the augmentation or reconstruction procedure.

Systems and methods for promoting tissue growth


An anchor for fixing a ligament or tendon replacement in a bore formed in a bone has two parts. A first partially cylindrical part has a semi-circular bore therethrough extending along an axis. The bore tapers conically inwardly with respect to the axis from a larger radius at a first end to a smaller radius at second end. The outer surface of the partially cylindrical part is spaced at a constant radius from the axis between the first and second ends. The first and second parts have side walls formed between the bore and the outer surface which walls extend along a plane which forms an angle with respect to the central axis. When the two parts are engaged along their side wails and slide with respect to the axis the outer diameter of the two parts enlarges.

The present invention relates to a tendon anchor to be used within the knee or other parts of the body.
The present invention is directed to the reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL). The ACL helps stabilize the knee joint, and prevents posterior displacement of the femur on the tibia in hyperextension of the knee joint.
The ACL is sometimes torn during sports or as a result of traumatic stresses. Ligament reconstruction with allograft or autograft tissue has been shown to improve joint function and provide long term improvement in restoration of physical activity. A typical surgical procedure for ligament replacement and reconstruction involves obtaining a tissue graft or a suitable synthetic graft to replace the damaged ligament. A graft may come from either another part of the patient's body (autograft), from a cadaver donor (allograft), or the graft may be synthetically manufactured.
Structurally, the ACL attaches to a depression in the front of the intercondylar eminence of the tibia and extends posterior-superiorly to the medial wall of the lateral femoral condyle. Partial or complete tears of the ACL are common, comprising over a 120,000 cases annually in the United States.
The preferred treatment of the torn ACL is ligament reconstruction, using a bone-ligament-autograft. Methods for placement of such bone-ligament-bone grafts are generally described in Goble et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,772,286; 4,870,957; 4,927,421; 4,997,433; 5,129,902; and 5,147,362. Other methods are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,833 to Kurland; U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,478 to Jurgustis; U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,766 to Hillal et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,668,233 to Seedhom et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,793 to Parr et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,752 to Vankampen; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,013,520 to Rosenberg.
Although the use of a bone-tendon-bone graft may provide the advantage of effective healing due to the efficient integration of the bone graft to the bone host, the harvesting of a bone-tendon-bone graft typically results in extensive morbidity to the donor knee joint. It is, therefore, often preferable to harvest grafts made up entirely of tendon tissue such as the hamstring. However, it has been found to be more difficult to effectuate and maintain accurate fixation of such grafts throughout the healing period where high-tension forces of the knee may act to disrupt the graft construct.
ACL reconstruction procedures generally include the formation of a tunnel through the patient's femur and tibia bones and implanting a natural ligament or tendon or a synthetic ligament in the bone tunnel which eventually attaches itself to the bone and holds the tibia and femur together.
In order to anchor the ligament within the bore or tunnel a device is necessary for grasping the ligament which can then integrate itself with the bone surrounding the bore. In the past, devices such as interference screws have been used when a bone-tendon-bone system has been used. See Mahony, U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,843; or Roger et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,878; Steininger et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,767; and Hubner U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,811. Interference screws function by creating a tight fit between the bone graft and the surrounding bone. Such a system may result in the tendon being damaged which can result in impeded healing or loosening of the interference fixation.
There has been a need for a ligament anchor which can fix the ligament in the bone bore which anchor includes a porous inner and outer surface for tissue ingrowth.


An integrated circuit has an untrimmed bandgap generation circuit; and a bandgap generation circuit coupled to the untrimmed bandgap generation circuit. The bandgap generation circuit has a current source controlled by the untrimmed bandgap generation circuit and coupled in series with a resistor and a first bipolar diode device, one or more of bipolar diode devices, each bipolar diode device coupled in parallel with the first bipolar diode device, wherein a trimmed bandgap reference voltage output of the integrated circuit is a function of the number of bipolar diode devices.

In analog circuit design, it may be difficult to obtain precise voltages or measurements because analog components have many parameters that vary with process, temperature, and/or or power supplied. Therefore, one or more reference voltages for an integrated circuit may be generated from a bandgap reference voltage circuit. If, however, the bandgap reference voltage is not accurate due to variations in the power supplied or temperature, then all reference voltages derived from the bandgap reference voltage will also be inaccurate. This could induce substantial errors in the operation of the integrated circuit.
Accurate resistor values are also important in analog circuits for achieving precise current values. For example, if resistor values in A/D converters are inaccurate, then the voltage range associated with each of the bits of the A/D converter may be in error.
Current techniques for achieving more precise resistor values includes the use of lasers to trim a resistor after fabrication, in order to obtain a precise value for that resistor. For example, a film resistor may be fabricated with a lower resistance value than desired whereby a laser beam can be used to remove a portion of the film of the resistor thereby increasing its resistance and effectively "trimming" the resistor to precisely the desired value. However, such trimmed resistors may drift after trimming and such drifting can be accelerated by thermocycling.
Another technique for trimming element values in an integrated circuit by the use of multiple fusible link elements. However, such a technique consumes substantial area on the integrated circuit, and requires additional external pins.

Systems and methods for trimming bandgap offset with bipolar elements


A shield case of the invention includes a base of a generally U-shape in front view having widthwise end portions, the end portions each having a front surface and a back surface; a pair of folded-back portions, provided on the front the back surfaces of the end portions of the base and folded back backward, or alternatively provided on the back surfaces of the end portions of the base and folded back forward; a pair of side walls, extending from the folded-back portions along a length of the end portions of the base; a pair of first locking pieces, extending downward from the side walls; and a linking portion adapted to link between the side walls. The base, the side walls, and the linking portion define a body containing portion.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a shield case to be mounted on a circuit board, a receptacle connector including the shield case, and an electronic equipment including the receptacle connector.
2. Background Art
A conventional receptacle connector of this type has a shield case as disclosed in paragraph 0024 and FIGS. 1 and 4 of Patent Literature 1 for the purpose of reducing the mounting height. More particularly, a bottom plate of the shield case having a generally O shape in front view is directly placed on a circuit board and is fixed onto the circuit board by engaging locking pieces of the shield case with locking holes of the circuit board. The locking pieces are formed by cutting out portions of the bottom plate of the shield case, resulting in holes formed in the cut-out portions of the bottom plate. The locking pieces also function as ground terminals in connecting the shield case to the circuit board by soldering. A problem with the conventional connector is that solder or flux enters the shield case through the holes when soldering the locking pieces to the circuit board, so that solder coagulates inside the shield case and hinders insertion of a plug into the shield case, or that the flux adheres to some receptacle contacts and thereby causes connection failure of the receptacle contacts with plug contacts.
The above problem may be solved in other conventional receptacle connectors such as ones disclosed in Patent Literatures 2 and 3. Particularly, the shield case has a body containing portion that contains a body of the connector, a pair of folded-back portions that is provided on front or back surfaces of end portions of the body containing portion and is folded back backward or forward, a pair of side walls that is provided continuously from the folded-back portions, and locking pieces extending downward from the side walls. In the shield case with the locking pieces provided in the side walls continuing from the folded-back portions, the bottom plate of the body containing portion have no holes that allow solder and flux to enter the body containing portion.

Shield case with u-shaped base with a first plate and second plates and side walls parallel to second plates


According to one embodiment, a multiplex delay unit comprises an optical all-pass filter (OAPF) adapted to apply continuously tunable group delay to a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) signal so that all of its WDM components are delayed by substantially the same delay time. The OAPF has a free spectral range (FSR) that matches spectral separation between carrier wavelengths of the WDM signal. Advantageously, an optical multiplex synchronizer suitable for feeding a synchronous optical switch fabric can be implemented as an integrated waveguide circuit using a plurality of such multiplex delay units.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical communication equipment and, more specifically, to optical packet routing systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical packet router is one of the key enabling components of an optical communication network. One of the most efficient optical packet routers is based on a synchronous optical switch fabric, which enables substantial enhancement of bandwidth and reduction in network latency. Proper operation of a synchronous optical switch fabric is achieved when all incoming data packets are appropriately synchronized to a reference clock. However, if the synchronization is not sufficiently accurate and/or stable, then the resulting skew and/or jitter in incoming data packets may cause transmission errors or other deleterious effects on the network traffic. For example, one deleterious effect of poor alignment is that it might force the use of a relatively large guard time between packets, bits, cells, and/or envelopes, which appreciably reduces the throughput of the switch or router.